Nov 11
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The Vancouver Investor Forum was a hit! I’ve received dozens of emails from attendees saying that they learned a lot, had some fun, and were really impressed with how ‘real’ and ‘easy to approach’ all of the speakers were. Love those kind of emails. If you missed the event, you really did miss a fantastic array of speakers with so much to share.
I was hopping for the weekend with my talk on Day 1 and MC duties on Day 2 so I missed a lot of the sessions, but here are my 3 favourite thoughts from the weekend and from what I caught (plus some pictures because I know you love pictures).
3 Thoughts and Tips from the Vancouver Investor Forum
1. Most People Quit Too Soon – Tahani Aburaneh
My favourite talk of the weekend was from our dear friend Tahani Aburaneh. She shared a bit about her story and how she came to Canada at the age of 15 – a brand new bride. The responsibility of taking care of her family and her new husband was a big weight to carry on her shoulders at such a young age. She said that she became an adult in an instant.
My favourite take away from her talk was almost a side comment she made as she shared her story of creating a successful real estate brokerage. When she was out looking for her first listing she cold called, knocked on doors and busted her butt for SIX MONTHS to get her first listing. She said “I don’t know why it took so long – maybe it was my accent? I talked different.”
All she knows is that she heard a lot of NO’s before she FINALLY got her first listing. Her business grew from there into a multi-million dollar company. She said “most people give up too soon.”
I thought to myself, “I wonder where I give up too soon?”
And that is the question I’ve brought back to the office to figure out. I work hard and I push hard but I KNOW there are places where I give up too soon and I bet you probably do too. Had she given up before that first listing she may not have created the successful business she has today, or be coming out with a soon to be best selling book (it’s coming out in January!), or be into real estate development (she has some cool potential projects on the horizon).
2. Surround Yourself With Like Minded People (and get a coach!)
The Investor Forum had Western Canadian Investor of the Year Awards. We heard some really impressive stories from the winners … people changing neighbourhoods to people building businesses in five years or less.
Notably every single winner thanked a coach. Most people belonged to at least one investing club or organization. They had worked hard to surround themselves with like minded people.
Two of our clients, Kelly and Jeff, were up for Best New Investor. They have both worked hard this year AND have made an effort to surround themselves with like minded people (like us and our other coaching clients).
The folks who are out there making it happen are not doing it alone. It’s possible to figure it out on your own but it is A LOT OF WORK. It’s much easier to team up with someone who has done what you want to do and follow their system.
We don’t do it alone either. After years of fumbling around and making a ton of mistakes we’ve realized the value of investing in a great coach. For the last three years we’ve been investing a lot of money into courses, coaching and surrounding ourselves with great folks. The results have come back to us 10 fold financially and with massive fulfillment and awesome friendships.
One of our coaches we mention all the time: Greg Habstritt. This event was pretty cool because not only was Greg one of the keynote speaker but 4 of his VIP coaching clients (these are the people that pay Greg big bucks for very personal and high level coaching and masterminding) were also keynote speakers.
Do you think it’s a coincidence that the folks that have invested in high level coaching like Greg’s program are the same folks who are invited to speak in front of 300+ paying attendees at a prestigious real estate event? I don’t …
I think it’s because they’ve been following Greg’s teachings for several years AND because they are being held accountable that they’ve elevated their business so quickly and effectively as to be experts worthy of the stage at the event. (By the way – I am counting myself as Greg’s client even though it’s Dave that is the official member. I feel like an honourary member of the group most days!! The picture to the left is of Wade Graham, another VIP coaching member & my co-host for Day 2, Greg Habstritt, Me, Dave Peniuk and Kourosh Assef, Greg’s Business Partner).
3. Cheap Is Usually Just That – Cheap
“How do you make $100,000 in Detroit?” Thomas Beyer asked me over dinner after the event was over Sunday night.
“I don’t know – how?”
“Buy an apartment building for $600,000” he laughed.
I was running around like crazy on Sunday as MC for Room #2 at the Forum so I missed part of Thomas’ presentation but I caught enough to know that I have mad affection for the lessons this man has to share with investors out there.
He’s made mistakes and he has no problems sharing them so that others may learn from them. His 2007 or 2008 purchase (I can’t remember) of a Detroit Apartment building is no exception.
But the lesson he shared is one that was reiterated in the last panel of the day as well, and that is:
Price is not that important. Value is what you get. Price is what you pay.
When you buy ANYWHERE, but especially in the US these days where many people are screaming that houses are ‘on sale’, you can’t focus on the price you’re paying because cheap is usually cheap for a reason. Look at what it’s actually worth. What kind of cash flow are you going to get? What are other properties in the area selling for? What kind of tenants will the property attract? What kind of work will the property need to be in good condition?
If you were at the Forum, what was your big take away? I missed so many of the talks I would love to hear what you took away from the event??
