Real estate investors know the oldest rule in money. Pay yourself first. Then we wake up and pay everybody else first. With the one thing we can't refinance. The morning. This week I'd been awake about three seconds. Then I grabbed my phone. A long text thread between a couple of my business partners. Almost all bad news. (Yes, I'm the guy who wrote The Intention Journal. I'm aware.) Those texts would've said the exact same thing an hour later. I just wouldn't have been the same guy reading them. Grumpy and reactive all day. So now I decide the night before who gets the first word. For me it's coffee made the slow way, a chapter of the Bible, and prayer while I stretch. Then the texts. The contractor's "quick question" will still be there. Who gets your first word tomorrow?

I don't know who needs to hear this, but if you have an expensive pair of sunglasses, did you know you can order replacement lenses for like $12 on Amazon, and they'll be at your house tomorrow...

Most people who follow me won't care about this... but if you are a content creator... this is SO cool. Two-shotted this. (It was perfect... but it missed the angle change at my "Snap". Otherwise, 100%.) (If you're wondering, I connected Higgsfield to my Claude and trained it to make all this. It's me... and then its... not me...)

Ok... so we've got to teach our parents... that anyone who calls them is probably fake. So many billions of dollars are about to be stolen from people who don't realize how good Ai voice agents have gotten. But also... can't wait to put voice agents this good into answering all phone calls at my property management company!

Talked with several new investors tonight who were looking at “other markets” than their own. Despite living in good real estate markets. My advice: the grass isn’t greener. Stay close if you can!

Real estate investors keep telling me that things are HARD right now. My answer is the same every time... "Rates are 7.5%. Nothing cash flows." Good. "Renting by the room is a headache." Good. "Mobile home parks are hard." Good. "Assisted living is buried in red tape." Good. "Finding great deals is hard." Good. Hard is the filter. Every hard thing on that list keeps your competition out. Next time a deal feels hard, don't ask "should I pass?" Ask 3 things: 1. Is the hard part why it's priced this way? 2. Can I fix it, or hire someone who already has? 3. What does fixing it cost, in months and dollars? If those answers work, hard is good.

I was on a call with @kanekallaway and he said something that hit me hard: (I'll summarize) The biggest enemy of anyone with something that's working isn't the market or the competition. --> It's getting bored with your own process. Your brain is a problem-solving machine. Once you've cracked the thing that works, whether it's a content system, a deal strategy, or a sales process, there's nothing left to solve. And your brain hates that. So it starts inventing problems that aren't real. "I need to change everything." And that's exactly what kills momentum. His fix: point that problem-solving energy at a part of your business that actually needs it. Keep feeding the machine that's ripping. Everything is cyclical, so when it really starts to plateau, bring your brain back in. Easier said than done. But don't mess with the machine that's working. I needed to hear that today.

I had 30 rental units when I heard one sentence from Gino Wickman: "It is often more important that you decide than what you decide." For years I was stuck in indecision. I didn't even know it. So I finally decided: - Niche: mobile home parks - Goal: 1,000 units - Deadline: 3 years - All in It didn't take 3 years. It took about one. Today: 13,000 units. Mobile home parks weren't the "best" strategy. Deciding was. The biggest constraint for most investors isn't money. It isn't time. It's indecision. Before you look at another listing, fill in 4 blanks: 1) My strategy: ___ 2) My market: ___ 3) My property type: ___ 4) My number + deadline: ___ by ___ Then stop shopping for strategies and start shopping for deals.

At 24, I told a guy at church I wanted to buy an apartment complex. He said, "Hmm. I actually have a 24-unit I want to get rid of." It still took a year. I managed it for him first. Did the maintenance myself. Learned every unit. Then he sold it to me on seller financing. It was 60% empty. It took a couple years of hustle to fill it. But once it was full, it threw off enough cash flow that my wife and I both quit our jobs. That freedom is the only reason I could take a risk on a little startup called BiggerPockets. Which eventually led to 13,000+ units. If you want your one deal, here's the playbook: 1. Prove yourself small first. I read 100+ books my first year, did a couple house hacks and a flip with a partner. 2. Pick one clear target. Mine came from reading Ken McElroy's ABCs of Real Estate Investing. 3. Say it out loud to other investors. Deals find the people who've announced what they want. 4. Offer to manage it before you buy it. A tired owner hands seller financing to the person who's been handling his maintenance calls for a year.

A buddy called me a few years back. "Our triathlon relay swimmer backed out. You live in Hawaii. You can swim, right?" I surf. I don't swim. I practiced once. Then jumped into Lake Coeur d'Alene for a 1.2-mile swim. Five minutes in I was flailing 20 feet from shore while grandmas passed me. I was looking for the kayak guys to pull me out. So I stopped staring at the finish line and went back to basics: Arm. Arm. Arm. Breath. I started passing people. Then I looked up. I was way off course. My 1.2-mile swim turned into about 1.7. That's real estate. Finish line = your monthly freedom number. Buoys = this year's property goals. Look up and check them. Strokes = what you do THIS week. My stroke list if you're chasing your first (or next) deal: - Talk to 3 agents - Take one old dude from your market to lunch - Analyze 12 properties - Track it If you don't track it, you don't do it. Head down. Look up at the buoys. Repeat.

Maybe I’m just drinking the koolaid here… but it sure seems GrokBot is improving 100x faster than Claude or OpenAi. Every day it’s faster, smarter, and easier to use. Is this the singularity, @elonmusk ?