Nearly two years ago, I had the pleasure of having Ken McElroy on my podcast. He has completed and published six books — which tells you a little about his intense work ethic. We talked in-depth about how he built his billion-dollar real estate empire.
Ken McElroy has the great ability to explain in detail how to follow his path — likely from the many speeches he has given as an internationally recognized speaker, and he disseminates a powerful prescription that you can follow moving forward in your own quest. Ken is also a real estate advisor to Robert Kiyosaki of The Rich Dad Company.
Please watch or listen to the full episode here.
This podcast with Ken McElroy was so highly successful that I’ve had Ken on the show more than once, and I use many points that we’ve discussed in my masterclass. We can all learn from and use information from a vast variety of sources to learn and perfect our craft — and to find our way to our own personal LifeStyle investing.
A Billion Dollar Real Estate Empire Doesn’t Happen Easily
All success begins with hard work, and that fact will never change. There are those who fall into a few good deals here and there, but mostly, your hard work will get you there.
As I visit with people on my podcast, I am amazed at the work ethic that each of these outstanding individuals has, and Ken McElroy is one of these.
Ken was a wrestler and had a wrestling scholarship for college. He felt like he was poor because his parents couldn’t help him out with college. But the reality is that many parents can’t help their kids out with college. But that didn’t stop Ken. He found a way to get what he needed for school.
One of the things that helped him financially was managing an apartment building while he was going through school. Ken thought that managing this apartment was the deal of a lifetime — and would be easy peasy. We both chuckled when he said this because so many of us have been in this situation. Ken got the education of a lifetime managing these apartments in this building.
Look for the Deal, and the Money Will Appear
I heard once that if you jump — a net will appear. Along the same line of thinking, I truly believe that if you find the deal, the money will follow. Ken McElroy jumped into apartment management, then found a two bedroom, two bathroom, and purchased it with his own money. He said that he wanted to start small and make small mistakes — but then he made a giant leap with a building he still has some twenty years later. That building was not a small leap.
I, too, had a challenging time taking the leap into real estate. I knew I would do well but kept hesitating because of a limiting mindset that said I had to have all the money upfront — and needed more money to even begin. Now I know that if I have worked hard enough on a deal with all due diligence and if the deal is good enough, the money will show up. I also assert that money is the easiest thing to come up with and is not as scarce as I once thought.
“Way Leads the Way Leads the Way”
What an incredible visual that statement makes — way leads the way leads the way. It’s a quote from one of Ken McElroy’s friends. As with all things in life, the more you do something — anything — it becomes easier — even if it’s a hard thing. The item or path is still the same — nothing has changed with that — but your ability to do (whatever it is) becomes greater the more you practice.
You may start out playing chopsticks on the piano. Still, with a ton of practice and listening to your mentor and teacher, you will soon have the sweet melody of success.
You will want to listen to the part in the podcast where Ken meets Robert Kiyosaki and then is invited up on stage, where Ken realized that everyone is trying to learn how they can improve their own lives. That was 25 years ago, and they are still good friends now.
I wish I could give you all the important tidbits of information in this podcast, but you are going to want to listen to the many golden nuggets. One of the most valuable pieces (I thought) is to have long-term relationships.
Long-Term Relationships and the Theory of “Watch the Red Flags”
These are the questions I ask when looking for a deal. It’s part of my due diligence.
- Is an investor one that is always turning to new relationships?
- Do they keep the same vendors or clients they work with, time after time?
- How long have you used the same relationships and brokers and lenders and whoever it might be?
And I kind of have this philosophy that as long as someone in my network is an expert at something — if I’m going to spend money on it — I might as well make the investment inside my family and my family of friends.
And so, sometimes it’s friends first, and then I do business with them, but other times it’s doing business with them, and then we become friends, and it’s just such a rewarding relationship. But I try to keep the relationship intact with these people that are trustworthy, and we can rise in our wealth together.
The World’s Collide When You’re Building a Billion Dollar Empire
You will be amazed, as I have been, how often your worlds will collide with people who can help you. You will be surprised at how collaborative this industry is and how very helpful people can be — long before you make it big.
For those of you that know me, I’ve tried, just like Ken, to turn my wonderful good fortune into a learning-then-teaching.
I sure haven’t written as many books as Ken Ken McElroy, but I also try to give back through my book, podcast, mastermind, and other groups. And hope these things can all be learning experiences and help everyone because of the many who have helped me as they have gone before.
Featured Image Credit: Ketut Subiyanto; Pexels; Thank you!
