As many of you are aware from my podast, I’ve been spending a few days in the Whitsundays for a little bit of rest and relaxation in a tropical paradise…
And by the way, you don’t have to go the Greek Islands to enjoy spectacular island scenery on your holiday. I’ve never seen any place more stunningly beautiful than the Whitsunday Islands, right here in Australia. Although, come to think of it, if I’m writing and podcasting on my holiday, am I really on holiday? I’ll just leave that one alone for the time being…
Today, however, I want to talk about a day in the life of passive income. This is especially important for those who are just starting out in real estate investing. For my many students who have pulled the pin on their old jobs, this will be a trip down memory lane. You have already taken the steps needed to get to a place in your life where passive income is, happily, a daily fact of your lives. You know jolly good and well what it means to be able to spend your time where you like, how you like.
But think back one, two or three years ago to how your lives used to be. Perhaps you woke up each and every day and went to a job where you worked for somebody else. Your schedule and your rewards were dependent on someone else. Your very livelihood was dependent upon someone else. And of course, you went to work every day making money for someone else. Sounds a lot like life on a hamster wheel, doesn’t it? To be painfully honest, it probably was.
You certainly weren’t doing what you wanted to do with your time or your lives, were you? Your weekends were either crammed with chores and events that you hadn’t time for during the week, or maybe you were spending every penny you earned trying to enjoy life two days out of seven.
And then the penny dropped, so to speak. You attended my courses, you studied the strategies I talk about, and you brought structure and discipline into your daily life. You finally had a plan and a means to escape. You could see how easy it really is but that it would take a bit of hard work along the way, too. You identified your goals, wrote down the steps needed to achieve them, and followed them. You got your financial house in order.
Then, one day, you bought a property. And then you soon bought one more, then three…then two or three more after that. It all happened rather quickly when you look back on it. The first property was what led to all the others, wasn’t it? You learned that from my boot camp that you attended.
Today, you no longer work for someone else. You work for yourself. Best of all, you decide how and when you work. You wake up in the morning, perhaps spend a couple of hours on your rental property portfolio, and then decide what you’re going to do with the rest of the day.
If you’re like me, you’ll want to get an hour or so in the gym, enjoy lunch out somewhere nice with your significant other, and then go see a property or two that you might want to buy. If you’re the sociable type—sometimes I am—you’ll have a few friends over for dinner or have dinner out. You might talk about property. Your friends will certainly talk about your new life and how you got it, and you might also talk about your recent trip to Europe… or how you’re planning to spend a few days—maybe more—on a catamaran in the Whitsundays doing as much or as little as you want.
Now I want to speak to you, my students who are just beginning my courses. Does that kind of life sound like an impossible dream? Can such a life of passive income and freedom really be accomplished with real estate?
One student told me recently that he didn’t believe you could really buy a property for less than it’s worth. Clearly he was still under the spell of negative gearing that has been drilled into our heads by tax accountants. The idea of spending a dollar to save thirty cents has been the source of keeping many people poor in real estate. It just doesn’t make any sense!
The good news is that since he has become my student, he has already learned how people buy under-valued property every day. If that weren’t the case, then no one would ever really get ahead in real estate would they? Profit margins would be very low and rents would be too low, just servicing the debt and nothing more.
He is learning about manufacturing value and joint ventures, seller financing and subdividing and lots more. He is beginning to see the steps necessary to financial freedom and I have no doubt that he will take those steps. But more than that, he, like all my students, is learning about success and how it really is a choice we make in this life.
What I Love Real Estate is really all about is showing you a way forward, a path to making your own life how you want it to be. Maybe that’s why I’m writing you from these beautiful islands. I want you to want to be here, too. Enjoying scenery like this is one of the reasons why I wanted passive income. Ask yourself, “What, in this life, would you really like to enjoy?”
Sure, the answer to that question will be different from one person to the next. What’s important to understand is that what you do with your life is truly up to you. It’s not about you believing in me; far from it. It’s all about you believing in you.