Do you ever feel like you are destined for more? That you are not living up to your potential? Do you live the life you want or the life you are forced to live because of your circumstances? Do you know that YOU have the power to change your circumstances? You can WAKE UP from the matrix.
The Matrix
In the blockbuster movie The Matrix (1999), the main character Neo is living in a digital world. A dream world created by machines that use humans as their power source. The humans are connected to the matrix and spend their entire life not knowing that everything around them is not real. Neo is given the opportunity to take the red pill or the blue pill. If he takes the blue pill, life will continue as he knows it. He will wake up, go to work at the same job he’s been doing, leaving him unfulfilled in life and nothing will change. However, if he takes the red pill, he will wake up from the Matrix and life will be more challenging but it will be his life to live. He will be in control of his destiny.
Here is a clip from the Red Pill decision moment : The Matrix red pill scene
What does the Matrix have to do with this blog?
I am not here to suggest movies for you to watch. Although I do really like the Matrix and you should watch it if you haven’t. However, the point of talking about The Matrix is for your Mindset. Mindset plays a HUGE role in how you view the world and your circumstances. Many people keep doing the same job they hate, or keep living in debt and never improving their life simply because they don’t know that there is a better way. They don’t know or don’t believe that they can change. So, they just keep doing what they know and accepting their circumstances.
I myself felt that way not many years ago. In more ways than one. I was overweight and eventually just accepted that I can’t change that. I just convinced myself that it’s in my genes. But, I eventually made a change. I started doing P90X every day, pushed through the pain, then started using an elliptical machine and eventually moved to a treadmill and slowly worked my way up to running 5 miles per day on the treadmill. My starting weight was around 255 pounds. I got down to 167 pounds and had ripped abs and toned muscles. I was in the best shape of my life and I was in my early 30’s. I felt great about my accomplishment. This opened my mind to knowing that I can do hard things.
My mindset for work was different. I had a decent job. I enjoyed the work but the pay wasn’t great. But again, I just accepted that I can’t do anything about it. I was too old to try to do something else. However, I went back to school and got another degree. Unfortunately for me it was also right when the 2008 market crash happened and there were no finance jobs available. I did at the time pay attention to home values dropping everywhere. I wanted to take advantage and buy some houses to hold onto until they recovered but I didn’t know how or understand how I could. First of all, at the time, I for whatever reason didn’t even consider renting them. I just wanted to buy and hold them for a couple of years and then sell them. Had I even considered renting them for cash flow then maybe I would have discovered rental real estate sooner. So in my mind, I needed cash to buy the house, and pay the mortgage until I could sell. My problem was I could barely afford to pay the mortgage on my personal home at the time. So there was no way I could pay for another. I didn’t understand that renters pay the mortgage when it is being rented.
I WOKE UP
It wasn’t until years later, like almost 10 years later, that I finally educated myself enough about rental real estate that I was able to change my destiny. As mentioned many times here before, I began my education on BiggerPockets.com. I had read some books previous to that, and still read more to this day. You can see some of my book suggestions on my suggested reading page. After reading, listening to podcasts, analyzing multiple properties, I finally made the jump and bought my first property. Yes it was scary. And it will probably be scary for you for the first time as well.
Just like Neo, if we don’t take a risk of the unknown, we cannot change. With rental real estate, there is very little unknown. You need to do a thorough analysis and know your risk level, but if the numbers work, don’t let fear hold you back. Get over the fear so that you can change your life for now and for your posterity. Your future generations will thank you.
I realized that given my circumstances, I would not likely ever get a high paying job. It would be impossible to win the lottery, and I did not have wealthy relatives that could one day leave me an inheritance. I had no good ideas to create my own business, though I did try to create a translation business, but it would take many, many years to get to the level I needed. So, real estate seemed to be the best option for me. It doesn’t take a lot of money, does not require a lot of education, and it creates both cash flow and future appreciation. And can be leveraged like a bank, to pull cash back out of it every few years if desired to do a cash-out refinance. Essentially I can use other people’s money (the bank, or a partner) to purchase a property with a relatively low down payment, get cash flow, tax advantages, appreciation, and have someone else pay the mortgage for me.
This was it!
This was the way to get out of the Matrix and live my life the way I want to live. With the fear of that first property, little did I know that just four years later I would be developing a commercial strip mall in another state, be working with a team to develop 700+ condos and town homes, be featured on some podcasts as a guest, and well on my way to reaching financial freedom.
By waking up from the Matrix, things were difficult and scary. For a while things were very tight. The cash flows covered the mortgage but if any major problem came up I was not ready for it. But I knew I had to get started and I needed to take the risk. In my case I knew the risk was low, it was a newer property and in good condition. The only thing really out of my control was the tenants. Luckily I inherited pretty good ones, but as they moved out I learned how to properly screen new tenants to select the best and it has been great since. I learned a lot about that process from The Book on Managing Rental Properties. That is probably one of my favorites.
I took the Red Pill
Since taking the leap on that first property, I have never looked back. I look forward now to growing my portfolio even more. I have my eye set on purchasing apartment complexes and more commercial properties. Things that I could have never dreamed of being able to do when I first started. But as I continue to learn and grow, so does my mindset. Things that we at one point view as being impossible, become possible over time. The thing itself doesn’t change, but how we perceive it does. Like in the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, we need to ask HOW can I do that. Stop thinking we cannot do it. Anything is possible with the right mindset.
Meet Jerome Myers
I can’t talk here about the Red Pill without mentioning a good friend of mine, Jerome Myers. Jerome is now a coach and mentor to many who are waking up from the Matrix. He has a podcast and hosts a multi-family conference at least a couple times a year. His conference was the very first multi-family real estate conference I ever attended, and it was done online early in 2021. Had it not been for him I would not have started meeting some other people I later connected with and have built a strong relationship.
In addition to all of that, he is a strong proponent of the Red Pill. It has become his trademark slogan. Everything he does is branded with “I Took the Red Pill”. I myself have a car decal sticker with it and a t-shirt with it. If you see him on LinkedIn or anywhere on social media, he will likely be wearing something with that on it. He does top notch video production to create awesome videos and pictures involving the Matrix, including himself as Morpheus. It is really cool. To learn more about Jerome and his company and podcast and how he can help you, visit his website at https://www.jeromemyers.co
But he didn’t start out that way. He did work his way up to a great job. He had success, but he wasn’t happy. It wasn’t the life he wanted for himself or his family. He discovered his freedom through real estate.
YOU TOO CAN WAKE UP!!
It isn’t as hard as it seems. You CAN make a positive change in your life. You CAN live the life you want to live. You CAN change your circumstances. I still believe real estate is the absolute best way to build wealth and reach financial freedom. It isn’t difficult or complicated. It is relatively simple, that does not mean it is easy. But if you find mentors who can help, or at the very least, read blogs like this, listen to podcasts like Jerome’s or Bigger Pockets, you can learn and feel confident in yourself and begin to change your mindset. Until one day….you will wake up from the Matrix!
It doesn’t have to be through real estate alone. If you have a high paying job, try to spend less and save more. Build up a nice IRA portfolio and learn how to live off of income from it. You can learn a lot about that from the Mad Fientist. Or start a business, become an entrepreneur. If you have a high demand skill, you can become a consultant. Another good friend of mine that I met through another real estate conference, is now living his dream, earning multi-million dollar contracts through consulting jobs. And guess what he does with those earnings? I can tell you this, he isn’t buying mansions and Lamborghinis. He buys real estate. That way, eventually those millions will become billions as the real estate appreciates.
Be smart with your finances. You can’t live the life you want if you dig yourself in a hole. No matter your level of income, you can reach financial independence. You can invest in real estate. There are multiple ways to do it. But you cannot do it if you spend all of your income on lifestyle. You don’t need the nicest new car, or the biggest house you can afford. This leaves you in a bad situation where you become a slave to support your lifestyle. You can’t invest if every penny goes toward things. Don’t buy things, buy assets.
If you need help in knowing how you can get started investing or buying real estate, contact me and I will be happy to discuss your circumstances and figure out the best solution for you. But I know this much, if I can do it, so can you. I started with $50k in debt and not a high income job. I used creative financing and now I have over a million dollar net worth. Keep in mind, that does not mean I have a million dollars. But on a balance sheet, a million dollar net worth looks good to banks. You too can get there and maybe even do it faster than I did. YOU CAN DO IT! WAKE UP FROM THE MATRIX!!!
