Benjamin Cedarland is the co-founder and managing member of Cedarland Forest Resources LLC, TBC Enterprises LLC, Future Home Solutions LLC and ABG Capital Partners LLC. With over 20 years of experience in real estate investing, Benjamin has bought and sold over 1500 investment grade properties – focusing mainly on commercial grade timberland and residential real estate, and rental properties.
Here’s some of the topics we covered:
- The Magnitude of 2008 & 2009
- The Mindset To Pull You Out Of Your Failures
- Where Does The Drive Come From
- The “ Why” Will Change Overtime
- Advice For Those Who Are Waiting
- Taking Action Quickly and Successfully
To find out more about partnering or investing in a multifamily deal: Text Partner to 72345 or email Partner@RodKhleif.com
Full Transcript Below
Intro
Hi. My name is Rod Khleif, and I’m the host of “The Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing” podcast. And every week, I interview Multifamily Rock Stars and we talk about how they built incredible wealth for themselves and their families through multifamily properties. So hit the “Like” and “Subscribe” buttons to get notified every Monday when a new episode comes out. Let’s get to it.
Rod
Welcome back to Multifamily Rock Star. So as you know, this is where we interview people that are crushing it in this business. And we show you guys the inside scoop into how multifamily investors are creating just incredible success in their businesses and in their lives. And as always, I’ve got my co-host, Mark Nagy, who’s, you know, the director of our Massive Action team for our Warrior mentorship program on the call. Mark, what’s up, bud?
Mark
Well, I think we’re going to have a little bit of a different perspective from last week. I know last week we had a couple of Warriors that had been in the group for two years. Now, we got a guy who’s been in for under a year. So some good stuff for the newbies who are looking to get into multifamily today, I think.
Rod
Love it. Love it. Yes. So we’re interviewing Ben Cedarland today. Now, Ben has quite the extensive bio and I’m not going to chop it up in my brevity, so I will let him give us his story. But, you know, since he’s been a Warrior, he’s gotten in over 900 doors in Washington, Texas, and Georgia through his ABG Capital Partners. But all the other stuff that he’s doing, I will let him tell you. Welcome to the show, Ben.
Benjamin
Thank you, Rod and Mark, and thanks for having me.
Rod
Absolutely. So I know you’re in Washington, but why don’t you give us a little background on, you know, you and real estate. And, you know, you’ve got quite an interesting background. You couldn’t make some of this stuff up from forestry to contracting to manufactured homes and on and on. So please, you know, give us some background.
Benjamin
Yeah, absolutely. So, I think real estate has been something that’s fascinated me for as long as I can really remember. I actually bought my first piece of real estate when I was a senior in high school. Had to wait till I was 18 to sign the contract. But saved up my lawn mowing money and found a two-and-a-half acre piece of property and bought that on contract from an owner for $5,000 down and a dollar a day for the rest of my life kind of thing and didn’t really have a plan of what I was going to do with it other than I knew that real estate was something that I wanted to do. And, you know, growing up, my dad was actually a pastor when I was growing up and so he had dabbled in a few things on the side. He had a friend who was a real estate investor and I think I had seen that gentleman and seen what he had done and was fascinated by that. And so I had talked to him about the property that I bought and he said, well, you know, you have a lot of trees on there, there’s a lot of timber on that property, even though it’s a small piece, probably has some value to it. And so I said, well, you come out and take a look at it. And he was nice enough to do that for me, and came out, took a look at that and said, yeah, I think you should get a logger out here. And so I did that and ended up taking enough value off in the timber to pay for the property.
Rod
Nice.
Benjamin
And I thought, wow, that was a pretty good deal, so now I want to do that again. So that’s kind of how I started and buying a piece of property here and there. And then, you know, once I understood the value of timber, you know, really finding those properties that had timber value on them, doing a timber harvest, paying for the property, and then that led into developing the property before I would sell it again, and then that led into building. And so one thing sort of progressed into another. And, at one point, as that business grew and as those things grew, I had a full operating construction company and a fully operating logging company and we were doing flat developments and things like that all prior to 2008. This is back in– I started my company in 1999, I guess, so I had a good run there leading up to the crisis there in 2008.
Rod
How were you impacted by the crisis before we moved past that?
Benjamin
It knocked me down pretty hard, you know.
Rod
Yeah.
Benjamin
Obviously, I got bit by the real estate bug pretty hard, so I never finished college. I just was in full-time real estate investing and building and developing and just rocking and rolling. And so I learned quickly that if I was, you know, had some smarts and some work ethic that I could make this thing go and work. But probably, you know, looking back, I had a pretty low level of financial sophistication. So I really wasn’t as prepared mentally as I should have been for that. At the time that that happened, I had several thousand acres and– that we had accumulated through the logging. We were building over 100 homes a year. We were doing flat development. I had over 70 single-family rental houses. I had a 28-unit building here, all this in Washington. So, you know, and I was a 26-year-old kid, you know, so I felt like I was doing pretty darn good and really wasn’t prepared for the magnitude of that.
Rod
I lost 50 million, so maybe that makes you feel a little better.
Benjamin
Yeah, I can’t quite compete with that. But it hurts.
Rod
Yeah. But it still hurts and it sucks. It was no fun. I got you. Very impressive, buddy. I mean super impressive with what you did at that age. Holy cow. So, you know, how did you recover from that? You know, because I get asked that question all the time because you know, I had to recover but what do you think– you know, give me your version.
Benjamin
Yeah, well, I mean, you know, I think you wallow in that for a while. It certainly hurts, and, you know, you’re trying to figure out what went wrong. You go through all of that. You know, a lot of the stuff you feel like wasn’t your fault, and, you know, you kind of go through that, but you recover through mindset. That’s the only way out, you know. And I had to come to that place where it’s like, okay, you know, nobody else really cares. So, you kind of got to get over it and move on with life. And so I sat down and I wrote out a business plan for myself, and I said, look, here’s where you are. Everything is kind of unraveled on you. You’ve got to survive. So number one, you got to survive, and you got to come up with a plan to survive this just on a basic level financially. And then, you know, number two, you got to stabilize. After you figure out how you’re going to survive this, you got to get stable again. You know everything is up in the air, and you’re just kind of grasping at, you know, straws and trying to stay afloat. And so I kind of developed a plan around the idea of how I’m going to stabilize myself. And then, number three was sustainability. And I was looking at myself in the mirror, and I said, you know, you thought you were pretty cool. You did all this stuff. You built all this stuff up. You’re 26 years old. It wasn’t sustainable. So, you got to educate yourself on how to not just make money, but keep the money that you make.
Rod
I have to ask you something, and I’m sorry, this is more from, you know, my personal interests than anything else. Hopefully, it’ll add some value. But did you find at all that your focus may have been a little diluted because you were doing all these different things? Did that come to play, or are you really good at having multiple plates spinning like that?
Benjamin
I hope I’m good at delegating and surrounding myself with good people.
Rod
Okay.
Rod
So, I don’t know that– I think in 2008, looking back on that, I don’t know that it was so much that I was diluted as that. I just probably wasn’t as financially sophisticated as I should have been.
Rod
Got you. Yeah, same. Same. So, you know, you joined the Warrior program back in September of last year. Why? You got so much experience, I mean, you didn’t even mention– in fact, I shut you off before you finished your entire bio here. Please finish. Bring us to current. Bring us to current. Sorry.
Benjamin
Okay. Well, yeah, fast forward, so, you know, after I kind of got myself back together from the crash and got businesses going again and, you know, going back to what you know how to do, we were building again, logging again, developing again. All that stuff was going well. And then, but you know, you realize that, hey, everything I’m doing is a one-off. Right? If I don’t sell another spec house, you know, if I’m not able to sell another lot out of a plat I’ve developed, if I’m not able to, you know, get another logging contract, then that’s it. I’m only as good as my last deal. And so that was really motivating me toward the idea of having rentals and some residual income and some passive income and some things that would provide more stability, which would take me to that sustainable pillar that was sort of the last kind of pillar of my recovery program there. And so in that, I was just listening to a podcast, and I found your podcast in 2020, early 2020, and I thought– and I just– it was like a breath of fresh air for me, honestly.
Rod
Oh, thank you.
Benjamin
You know, I love your mindset. I love your enthusiasm. I love the attitude. I just like, man, I love this. I can totally– this resonates with me, you know. So I started listening, and I think you had a virtual– Covid just broken out and all that. So you had a virtual boot camp, I think, in August or September of that year.
Rod
That sounds about right.
Benjamin
And so I attended that and I thought, man, this is great. And so I wanted to move forward and join the Warrior program and get things rolling. And so I had started all of that with Mark, and we had started down that road. And one of the things that I had been looking at was this other business. And that came up at the last minute right before joining that program. And I had an opportunity to buy it again. And I knew that you know, hey, this is something I’ve got to do. And it’s turned out to be great.
Rod
This was a year before you joined the Warrior program. You talked to Mark and it was really funny. Before we started recording, you said you left him at the altar a year before. That was really funny.
Mark
Yes. We had a long history.
Benjamin
I did. I knew that Mark was like he was right there. He’s like, I got this guy locked down. It was the morning of the phone call where I was going to commit to it. And I said you know what? I got bad news.
Rod
By the way. What business did you get? Just curious. And all these businesses.
Benjamin
It’s actually a manufactured home dealership.
Rod
Okay. Yeah. I saw that you hit–
Benjamin
I was developing some properties and I was trying to figure out, you know, what kind of product to put on those properties to sell. And the stick-built homes just weren’t really penciling out, and I– this isn’t– you know, can’t make these work. And so I was looking around for a product, and I discovered you know, I said oh, I got to try manufactured homes. So I put a few out there and they just sold like boom, boom.
Rod
Wow.
Benjamin
Okay, I’m on to something here. So I started doing more of those, and I was doing about maybe 35 a year or something like that. And then literally, right as I was in the process with Mark there of going through the sign-up for the Warrior program, the owner of that business called me and said, hey, I’m 70 years old. I’m thinking of retiring. He said you’re my biggest customer, why don’t you just buy this from me? And I said, well, you know, that wasn’t really on my radar screen, but I’ll take a look at the numbers. Anyway, I figured out pretty quickly that my cost savings alone by owning the thing would more than cover any overhead service I had on it.
Rod
Wow.
Benjamin
So in the last year and a half, we’ve taken that to the largest manufactured home dealership in the state of Washington.
Rod
Wow.
Benjamin
And we doubled the volume and tripled the revenue out of that place.
Rod
Wow.
Benjamin
It was a good thing.
Rod
That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Yeah. Let me tell you a little sidebar story, which is funny. I actually bought some waterfront lots here in Sarasota, well, actually in Northport Florida, which is south of Sarasota here. I found these canal front lots where you could take a boat from your backyard out to the Gulf of Mexico. I’m like, this is incredible. And I got them for, like, 50,000 apiece. Okay. And so I’m like, you know what? I want to build houses on these. So I actually placed a couple of manufactured homes on them, and I didn’t keep going because the ones I got, the floors were spongy and the quality was just crap. But we did some cool stuff. We hinged the roofs so that when they were on-site, they were actually a higher pitch than a normal manufactured home, which was really kind of cool. And then we stuck out them, and you couldn’t tell except those floors were spongy, but anyway, I bet I digress. So, yeah. So you joined the Warrior program, and now you’re already in 900 doors. Holy cow.
Mark
Take us through that. That’s what I want to know.
Rod
Yeah. How did that all come about?
Mark
I remember, yeah, me and you spoke in December, eight months ago at the Orlando boot camp. And I can’t remember if you had done any deals then yet or not. I know you’re only a couple of months in, but yeah, walk us through what you’ve been doing since then and how– well, all your progress.
Benjamin
Yeah, absolutely. So you had your– backing up, I think you had your virtual boot camp last year. I think it was maybe August again–
Rod
Yeah. That sounds about right. July or August. Yeah.
Benjamin
And coming right out of that, I went ahead and joined the Warrior program. And I think that was all happening right about the same time as the Sarasota deal. And so we went into that deal as a limited partner. So, I just did–
Rod
Do you mean the San Antonio deal?
Benjamin
San Antonio. I’m sorry. Yeah.
Rod
Yeah. So, you came into our San Antonio asset that we bought in September of last year, which has just been a screaming deal. I just was on the phone call today with the property manager, and they’re out there adding lights. They got a boom lift out there and just all the stuff they’re doing that’s making the place look better. So it’s really good stuff. Yeah.
Benjamin
Yeah, it was great. So, yeah, we’ve been really happy with it. So we came into that deal and then that was kind of it. And then, you know, you’re a new Warrior and, you know, I’m trying to kind of absorb all of this information and try to figure out where do I fit, what am I good at, right? What’s my role? And, like, you know, I know really to be able to get involved in any of these deals, I have to be able to bring some value to the table. And so, you know, you’re trying to go, okay, how do I do that? You know, it’s like I have some construction expertise, I can bring that, I can certainly help doing some due diligence and certainly help doing some, you know, project management and things like that.
Rod
Sure.
Benjamin
I have some liquidity, I can meet some net worth requirements. I can put up at-risk capital. Like, you know, those are things I can do. So, trying to kind of figure out, okay, these are things that I can do. I don’t see myself as a great underwriter. I don’t see myself as, you know, some of these other roles. So I got to find somebody that can compliment me in those areas. And so when you had your December boot camp there in Orlando, it came down to that. And that was kind of my main goal is to try to find some team members and really made some great connections with some other Warriors down there. And that was where the first GP deal came out as a result of a relationship with an employer that I met there in Orlando.
Rod
Fantastic, fantastic. That was a fun event. I’m really excited because you know, we’re recording this. It’ll actually come out after the event, but we’ve got another one coming up in Denver next week.
Benjamin
I’ll be there.
Rod
Oh, you’ll be there? Oh, fantastic. Fantastic.
Mark
Oh, perfect.
Rod
Fantastic. Well, it’s going to be a big one. We should be upwards of 800 people there, so it’ll be another big one. It should even be bigger than the Orlando one. But anyway, so–
Mark
Yeah, there’s a cool story though of meeting somebody at the actual boot camp and doing deals with them.
Rod
Oh, that’s so common. That’s actually so common. It’s more common than not, actually. So, yeah. This is why, you know, in the Warrior program we have our Warrior-only events as well. Like, we’ve got one in October here in Sarasota, and, you know, 250, the Warriors will be there. It will be about 250 in Denver as well. I got account. And so, you know, that’s how these deals are made, guys, those of you listening, I mean, this business is a team sport and you need to be around people that are doing this so you can, you know, put things together like Ben did here. And a lot of the Warriors have done very, very successfully. I mean, we’re pushing somewhere between 65 and 70,000 doors owned by the Warriors that we’re aware of, by the way– yes, that I’m aware of. It’s probably more than that. But if you’re interested in the Warrior program, let me just say this so I don’t forget. Text the word “Crush” to “72345” to apply. So you just text “Crush” to “72345” to apply to the Warrior program. And trust me, just by getting on the call with my team, you will leave that call better than when you got on it, whether we work together or not. But anyway–
Mark
And by the way, I know you mentioned that briefly there, this is going to come out after Denver, so people listening have missed it. But we do have another Warrior event, obviously, just for the Warriors in person that’s coming up in October, I believe [inaudible]
Rod
In October. Yeah, and we’ll have a virtual event in October as well. Actually, the Warrior events are in November. I might have that wrong. The virtual [inaudible] . The one coming up [inaudible]
Mark
Well, there’s one coming up in the future from one of these podcasts. So there are still opportunities for you to [inaudible]
Rod
Yeah.
Mark
But before the end of the year.
Rod
I’ll actually pull up the dates while we’re talking here.
Mark
Okay. Perfect.
Rod
Yeah. The Warrior-only event is at the end of October. They’re both in October. The warrior-only event is from the 28th to the 29th of October and the virtual event, boot camp, virtual boot camp, which is only two days, is October 15th and 16th. And so, you know, if you have an interest in attending that, go to “MultifamilyVirtualBootcamp.com”. Or you can text my name, “Rod” to “72345” and it’ll send you that link for that website. But anyway, all right, back to the question.
Mark
Let’s go back to Mindset, especially because you have a long journey. You know, you were thinking about jumping into multifamily and had a business opportunity to hit you three off for a while. How do you think the mindset has helped you in this process of building up to, you know, where you’re at today?
Benjamin
Well, I mean, I think it’s just indispensable, right? I mean, you have to have an outlook that is positive and you have to wake up every day excited about the opportunities in front of you, you know. And if you’re engaged at that level and coming to every day with, you know, what is out there today, you know, that is for me and that I can take advantage of and be a part of. And then, you know, beyond that, also, how can I add value to people today, you know? That’s a huge thing for me, you know. And that is the rewarding part, you know, too, because when you’re coming and you’re looking for opportunities but those opportunities are related to adding value to other people, you know. That’s a motivator for me, and I love doing that. But I think that having that positive mindset is just critical. If you don’t have that if you’re waking up and you’d rather roll over and go back to bed, then, you know, you’re missing out, you know. Who wants to spend their life sleeping? I don’t want to sleep in. I want to get up and get after it, you know.
Rod
On that note, what drives you, brother? What is your driver? What’s your why?
Benjamin
Well, you know, I think it changes over time, you know. I think when I was younger, you know, we came from a home that didn’t necessarily have a whole lot of means. We had a lot of love and a lot of support. Great parents. Couldn’t ask for, you know, a better childhood as far as that goes, but always, you know, being aware that you didn’t have as much, you know. And so I think when you’re younger, that’s pushing you. And then as you get older, you know, and losing most of that stuff in 2008 and all of that, you realize that hey, I’m the same person that I was, and, you know, I can be happy with money, without money. So it changes. I think the why becomes more– certainly, more about my family. I’ve got four kids.
Rod
Oh, no, I was going to ask you. I kept meaning to ask. Wow, good for you. What’s the age range?
Benjamin
Yes. My oldest is 19. He’s a freshman in college this year. And my youngest is seven.
Rod
Wow.
Benjamin
So we didn’t have the best family planning there. Cause I just wanted two.
Rod
Sounds like that’s about the only thing you didn’t plan very well. But that’s okay. You can’t get them all.
Benjamin
Yeah, that’s all right. They’re all great. So anyway, yeah, obviously, it becomes about your family and your legacy for them.
Rod
Yeah.
Benjamin
And then I think for me, still, on a personal level, it really becomes, I find so much satisfaction in making things better and improving things. And I think that’s where the building comes from and the development comes from. And now some of these value add deals and things like that, you know, you can take something, you make it better, not just the product, but you’re making people’s lives better in the process by giving them a better opportunity or a better place to live. So, I just find a lot of satisfaction in that.
Rod
It’s a great approach. It’s a great approach. Yeah.
Benjamin
Yeah.
Mark
What are some common misconceptions that you think people have about multifamily that keep them from getting started and maybe even some that you’ve had that have changed over the past year?
Benjamin
Yeah, that’s a great question. I think the idea that you need to know everything, that you have to be an expert in everything.
Rod
Oh, that’s so good. Okay, please finish. But I want to expand on what you just said. Please go on.
Benjamin
Yeah, absolutely. That’s one of the things that I loved about you know, Rod and his program and the Warrior program and everything else is this idea that it is truly a team sport. And these deals are so big and there’s so much going on with them that you can’t be an expert at everything.
Rod
Right.
Benjamin
And you need to find those team players and those partners that can help you and fill those gaps. And it’s just critical. So don’t feel like you have to be an expert in everything to get started. Just know what you are good at. Identify your strengths, and then find the people that you can partner up with.
Rod
Fantastic. Yeah. And guys, just so you know, so, you know, Ben brings, obviously, the construction experience. Good Lord, that’s a no-brainer. He’s a GC in Washington, and I’m sure lots of business acumen as well for all these businesses, I mean, you’ve done businesses since you were freaking 18. So, you know, you’ve got all that business acumen as well and you’ve gotten your butt handed to you like I have. Which also is an incredible proving, training, and educational process. And so, it’s all good. And guys, so the different hats in this business are of course what Ben is doing. If you’ve got any business acumen, that’s a piece of this. You know, if you’ve got some asset– you know, project management experience can equate to asset management experience, of course, construction like Ben. You know, maybe you’re super analytical, you do the underwriting. You know, maybe you’re a great people person, you build relationships with brokers or you’re raising equity by building relationships with investors. So there are a lot of places you can find the deals. There are a lot of places. You can come into this business and add value like Ben said, he’s always looking to add value and that’s the best approach you can take here. So let me ask you this, Ben. You know, there are a lot of people that haven’t taken action on this. And, you know, they’re kicking the tires. Maybe they’re listening to the podcast, maybe not. Well obviously, they are if they hear this, but, you know, maybe they haven’t really done much beyond listening to the podcast. Any words of wisdom for them, for the people that haven’t taken action yet? Any thoughts there?
Benjamin
Yeah, well, you know, I mean what do they say? Time and tide waits for no man, right? So, you know, you just got to engage. Find a foothold. Find a way. Find some little niche that you can bring some value to the table and engage and get going, you know because otherwise you know, you’re just going to sit there and watch other people continue to do this and another year is going to roll by and you’re going to be in the same spot thinking about well if I had this or if I had that, you know. And you just got to take action. You just find something somewhere that you can contribute and add some value somewhere and find some people that you can team up with and get in there and take some action.
Rod
Yeah. Yes, guys, and that’s the other thing. If you’re fearful, believe it or not, it’s counterintuitive but action actually mitigates fear. But you got to take action. You got to take that first step. Sometimes that first step is the hardest step in your life and it could be the most important step of your life. But you’ve just got to make a decision. You know, the Latin root for the word decision means to cut off. Okay? It’s freaking done. It’s not a one-foot-in, one-foot-out out sort of a thing. It’s freaking done. And then you got to take that first step and then the next step will be revealed. And, you know, you can drive all the way across the country at night with your car only seeing 50ft in front of you, your headlights, and you know you’re going to make it. You know other people have made it. You might have some obstacles, but it’s the same way in this business. But you got to take that first step. You can’t check off every single box before you get started. Those of you that are analytical know what I’m talking about with that. But anyway, I just want to interject that.
Benjamin
Yeah. No, it’s 100%, Rod. And, you know, I think one of the things practically that people can do is really sit down with yourself and ask yourself, what am I good at, you know? What am I good at? Because if you can answer that question and you feel confident, then, you know, you can go out, you can go to the boot camp, you can go to these different events. And when you’re meeting people and networking, you’re confident in what you already have to offer, you know. And if you’re so caught up in all the nuances and all the other things that you’re trying to figure out and learn and know and be an expert on, which you can’t be an expert on everything anyway, you’re distracted and you don’t have anything to offer. You’re coming, trying to maybe grab, you know, inject yourself into some group or find some partnership or whatever, but you’re not offering anything.
Rod
Yeah.
Benjamin
So sit down and say, what am I good at? What can I bring? And then take that and go forward with that in confidence.
Rod
Yeah.
Benjamin
And, you know, that’s a good place [inaudible].
Rod
And that’s the operative word. If you’re good at it, you’re going to be confident at it. And if you’re good at it, you’re going to love it. And if you love it, you’re going to be great at it. And it kind of feeds on itself. And if you love it and you’re good at it, you’re going to be passionate about it and you’ll be able to influence people as well. So, you know, that’s a match made in heaven. When everybody’s playing– on the team is playing to their strengths, success is inevitable. It’s just how it works. So, you know, is there anything– I like to ask this question, especially if someone is accomplished and seasoned, as you are, you know if you could go back in time– you know the question I’m going to ask and tell your 18-year-old self something. Is there anything you do differently? Would you have different life experiences? you know, I know that if I answer the question I’m like, you know, I wouldn’t be where I’m at if I hadn’t had my ass handed to me and I hadn’t had this and this and this happened, I wouldn’t have my wife, which I would give everything up for her. But I’m just curious if there’s anything you would do differently. Maybe?
Benjamin
Yeah, you know, I mean, I think the biggest thing that I would have done differently is to educate myself in a more intentional way, especially in relation to finances.
Mark
What do you mean by that?
Rod
More formal training. Me too. I wish I knew how to read a P&L, read a balance sheet, understand raising equity, all these things– you and I are completely aligned on that response because I would say the exact same thing. That’s what he means. Do you understand, Mark? It’s just being able to understand the finances around us. What?
Mark
No, I know. For the listeners that [inaudible]
Rod
Oh, you know. Okay.
Mark
Yeah.
Rod
I thought you were actually asking the question. For the listeners to hear it. Yeah.
Mark
It’s for the people listening, so what do you mean? Yeah.
Rod
Okay.
Benjamin
Yeah, you know, I mean, I knew that if I bought a piece of property for 25,000 and I sold it for 35,000, I was making money. And that’s about all I knew. And I knew if, you know, I bought a piece of property for $25,000 and I took off 20,000 in timber and I sold it for 15,000, I was making money, and that’s about all I knew. I didn’t understand lending. I just didn’t understand finance at a deep level. I had a lot of work ethic and a lot of drive, and so I was making those things work, and I was relying on that. And that’s good to a point. But when things get bigger and your organization gets bigger and your companies get bigger, you have to have a higher level of understanding about what’s going on.
Rod
Yeah. Let me ask you a question. Just because this is still resonating with me because it’s exactly how I am, you know, did you do boot camps or read books or do supplement your learning like I did. I mean, I know I’ve got a library that rivals you know, most libraries.
Benjamin
Yes. I think leading up to 2008, not nearly as much as I should have, very little.
Rod
I see. Yeah.
Benjamin
And I think that’s part of my problem, you know. But certainly now, absolutely, all the time, I can’t live without that stuff, you know. I’m always trying to learn more and get better and educate myself more.
Rod
Learners are earners, you know, guys, and that’s the way with this business and your network is your net worth as well. I mean, I know these are cliches, but it’s absolutely the truth in this business and just about any business, but well, listen, Ben, it’s been a real treat to have you on the show. I appreciate you coming on and sharing a little few bits of wisdom. Is there anything you wish I’d ask you that I didn’t ask?
Benjamin
You know, no, I think you covered it all. I think, you know, the only other thing I would say to if asking about my former self, my younger self, educate yourself and understand who you are and what you’re trying to do. There’s so much financial advice out there you know, and there are so many different viewpoints and things coming at you, and very little that actually applies to you. And I didn’t understand that when I was younger either. You know, so you listen to these things and they push you around and you start generating random thoughts. I call them. You know, you have to understand very clearly what it is you’re trying to do and have a clear focus so that you’re filtering out the information that you let in and lets you know, take root in your mind.
Rod
Yeah. You’re triggering your reticular activating system to focus on the things that you know are going to forward you if you’ve taken the time to actually consciously think about it.
Benjamin
Absolutely. And one other thing, when I first listened to you, and when I started listening to you in 2020, and this was probably spring, early spring, February, March 2020, something like that, and you resonated with me so much, one of my goals at that point was I’m going to be on that podcast.
Rod
No kidding. It’s awesome. See? That’s the way this works, guys. That’s the way this works. You make a declaration like that and you put it into your brain, and your brain is going to work, is going to do whatever it takes to make it happen. That’s just how it works. And so, you know, thank you for sharing that, because that’s huge for everyone listening. And that applies to anything, guys. You know, you decide what you want. You really make that decision, you know, and then that’s how it happens. Well, listen, brother, thanks for coming on. It’s a pleasure to see you.
Mark
See you in Denver.
Rod
And I’m sure we’ll see you next week. Yeah.
Benjamin
Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Really appreciate it. Great to see you. And we’ll look forward to seeing you in person next week here.
Rod
Love it.
Outro
Rod, I know a lot of our listeners are wanting to take their multifamily investing business to the next level. Now, I know you’ve been hard at work helping our Warrior students do just that using our “ACT” methodology, which is Awareness, Close, and Transform. Can you explain to the listeners how they can get our help?
Rod
You bet. Guys, we’ve been going non-stop for three years building an amazing community of like-minded people, and our coaching students which we call our Warriors have had extraordinary results. They’ve purchased thousands and thousands of units, and last year we did over 1000 units with our students. And we’re looking to grow this group and take it to the next level. We’re looking for people who want to follow a proven framework that’s really step by step and then leverage our systems and network to raise equity, to find and close deals, and to build partnerships nationwide. Now, our Warrior community is finding success in any market cycle. So if you’re interested in finding out more about how you can become more of our incredible network and take advantage of the incredible opportunities that are coming very soon, apply to work with us at “MentorWithRod.com” or text the word “CRUSH” to “72345” and we’ll set up a call so you can check us out and we can check you out. Again, to apply text “CRUSH” to “72345”.
