EP267: 7 Money Traps That STOP You Becoming Rich

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68% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And a staggering 38% or more than one-third of the US working population that earns $200,000 are in the same boat!

So, if you’re fine staying broke, keep doing what you’re doing. But if you want to get rich, you need to stop doing these 7 things immediately. The last 2 might be a bit controversial.

By the way, we run a $300 million real estate business portfolio and have sold our last 3 businesses for $45.2 million. We’re going to compress 6 years of business advice into one video.

Stop being an asset, buy assets.

Here’s the reason why… 

Earl Nightingale. Once asked, “Ever wondered why so many [people] work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular, and others don’t seem to work hard and yet seem to get everything?  They seem to have the Magic Touch.” 

You’ve heard people talk about hustle culture. 

We’ve all been there – work harder, grind more, and put in longer hours in the hopes of achieving more success. 

But what if we told you that the key to success isn’t about working harder, but it’s about disconnecting income generation from your time?

The better you are at this, the higher your income potential will be.

Rich people have figured out how to disconnect their income generation from their time. 

The key is they’ve mastered leveraging their skills and resources to create multiple assets—like cloning themselves, but even better—so they aren’t the asset themselves.

Those who fail to figure this out will be stuck at the financial success plateau, not understanding that the difference between where they are currently and where they want to be is just a few degrees apart.  

That’s how you stop being the only asset in your business.

Stop doing everything yourself.

When you learn how to leverage… your life truly changes.

There are 5 levels of leverage –  team, time, tools, debt, and tax.

Why do we love each level of leverage? Because it’s the ultimate leverage in business.

Wealth truly begins to be created when you learn how to harness all 5 levels effectively. 

Many people make the mistake of trying to work harder within their current level, only to become frustrated when their income doesn’t go up.

It all begins with focus. Understand that right now, you might be just one leverage or one level away from achieving your next or even your first million.

No more starting small…

We hear it all the time—people saying they have to start small in real estate because they don’t have the money, resources, or know-how. We used to feel the exact same way.

But after attending a real estate conference, we realized that thinking small—buying one rental at a time and waiting for equity to build—won’t truly lead to financial freedom. 

And if it does, it’ll take forever…

But how to avoid starting small?

The key to breaking away from starting small is teaming up with people who share your values, and business goals, and those you know, like, and trust. 

That was exactly how we jumpstarted our multifamily apartment investing journey. We formed our own Avengers team and started by acquiring a $6.9 million 

multifamily apartment complex using other people’s money!

What’s Other People’s Money (OPM)?

We’re huge fans of OPM, and here’s why…

Instead of going it alone with the little money we had, we teamed up with other investors who, like us, wanted to buy larger multifamily apartments but didn’t have enough money, a track record, the access to profitable deals or the expertise to manage such big assets on their own.

But together, like the saying goes, “a rising tide lifts all boats.”

For example our $77M apartment complex.  

You know how people always said your network is your net worth?

I couldn’t agree more.

If your circle hasn’t changed, but you have, something’s off. 

To achieve what you want, you have to become the kind of person who does what it takes to get it. 

Most people won’t change, so you’ll have to stop hanging out with them.

We used to hang out with a different crowd, but now our circle is filled with people who are deep into real estate, and wealth accumulating. Every time we meet, we talk real estate, and that focus helps us stay on track with our goals. When you’re alone, it’s easy to lose focus. But surrounding yourself with people who share your goals has a direct impact on your net worth.

Listening to people who haven’t achieved what you want is a recipe for going nowhere. 

Ask yourself: Has the person giving you advice done what you’re aiming to do? If not, it’s time to stop listening and find someone who has.

The question is who should you listen to?

Stop waiting for everything to be perfect.

Speed of implementation is everything. You don’t have to be the smartest or the richest; you just have to take action quickly. 

When we started raising capital for our first 76-unit multifamily deal, we were far from ready. We didn’t have the right tools, resources, or skills. 

But hitting roadblock after roadblock showed us the massive gap between where we were and where we wanted to be.

Back then, there weren’t capital-raising consultants or coaching programs like ours, so we had to piecemeal a lot on our own. We took our share of scars and bruises. Now, our goal is to help our clients learn from our mistakes so they can reach success faster.

Stop avoiding problems.

As entrepreneurs, solving problems is what we do best. It’s our job to find solutions that make a real difference.

We’re part of the 1% who are more obsessed with our clients’ challenges than they are. We live, breathe, and sleep, thinking about how to overcome their obstacles.

Take last year, for example. We took on a significant challenge with one of our newest multifamily acquisitions—a mixed-use property that included both apartments and retail space.

The problem? The developer had built 18 Triple Net Lease retail units on the ground floor, but after a year and a half, they had only managed to sign three leases. 

That left 15 out of 18 units vacant—a huge issue for us when we took over. Not only was there no income from those empty units, but we were also on the hook for all the expenses—property taxes, insurance, utilities—without tenants to share the load.

So, we built it into our business plan to get this problem solved.

Fast forward 13 months, and we’ve secured letters of intent (LOIs) or signed leases for all but three of the units. If everything goes as planned, this could boost the property’s value by $10 to $12 million in just 13 months of ownership.

Pretty amazing, right? Where else can you solve one problem and create a multi-million dollar gain for you and your investors?

So, remember, the fastest path to cash is your ability to solve someone else’s problem.

And if you combine it with this one skill set, which I break down in this video, you will get ahead of 99% of people.