Overcoming The Initial Fear

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 this is where we interview people that are crushing it in this business. And today’s interview is no exception. And we show you guys the inside scoop into how multifamily investors are creating massive success, not just in their businesses, but also in their lives. And as always, I’ve got my co-host who’s the director of our massive action team for the warrior group, Mark Nagy on the call. What’s happening, Mark? Well, yeah, I know what’s happening. You’re about to go on vacation, so you’re pretty happy right now.

Mark
I am about to go on vacation. Yeah. Vegas. It’ll be a fun trip, but, yeah, outside of that business as usual, same old, same old. Excited to again, see another familiar face less than a year after I met her. So excited to dive into this podcast.

Rod
Yeah. So today we’ve got– my email is beeping here. Let me turn that off. Today, we’ve got Candice Crawford, who is just a joy to be around. She’s been to several of my events over the last year, and she’s got quite an eclectic background. And I won’t do it much justice, but I will say this about her. She’s been with us less than a year. She’s a General Partner at 124 doors in Houston. She’s under contract tune 272 doors in Missouri. Got a best and final on another 134 doors. You know, all of these have warriors involved in them, which is just cool, and just really going to enjoy today’s interview. Welcome to the show, Candice.

Candice
Oh, thank you so much. It’s such an honor, Rod. Hi, Mark.

Mark
Hi.

Rod
Good. That’s awesome to hear you say that. And it’s just such a treat to have you on because, again, I’ve enjoyed hanging with you at our events. And so we’re going to have a lot of fun today. So why don’t you give us a summation of all these really cool things? I mean, you know, whatever you think is relevant to this conversation, but a little bit of your background, which is very eclectic.

Candice
Okay. So basically, I’m an artist. I do kinetic sculptures, and I like to have the viewer be an integrate part of the piece. So you turn little cranks on my sculptures and things move. And it’s like it’s a moment of letting the child, like, within to come out and be kind of breaking the rules a little bit. You know, there’s the whole phobia of like, don’t touch the art. It’s precious. It’s not about that. It’s about connecting with your inner self. And so that’s what– actually, I got my degree in– my graduate degree and my Masters actually, which led me, ironically, all the way to being in real estate, which I never thought the two would have connected.

Rod
Right.

Candice
Yeah.

Rod
How did they connect? I don’t even understand. I can’t make that leap. How did that happen?

Candice
Well, I remember– well, when I went to graduate school, went to–there was this gentleman that walked around to our studio spaces. He wasn’t a professor anyone. And he was looking for artists to work. And he came up and he said– he looked at me and we have our studios there, and you see all the art, and he’s looking at my art, and he says, I need you to work for me. And I’m like, who are you? And then one of the other students, it was her boyfriend. And he actually was an artist that was working for a construction company that built artificial trees and rocks for Zoos. At that time, I was in New York City at graduate school. They were building the Central Park Zoo, and they were desperate for artists to carve the rocks. So at first, I was like, no way. I don’t know what you’re doing, what you’re talking about. I have no experience. And then he said, look, just please, I can tell by your art. Come and I can teach you how to do it. And it was, you know, I was working freelance, trying to put myself through graduate school. So I was like, wow. When he told me how much money I would make, I was like, and it’s consistent. I wouldn’t have to keep chasing jobs. And they would work around our schedule at school because they were talking to multiple students. So I ended up working with 17 artists. And while I was putting myself to graduate school, I built artificial trees and rocks with the Central Park Zoo.

Rod
Wow.

Candice
There, work from that, got hired to work at the Bronx Zoo and did quite a few exhibits there. Amazing experience to be behind the scenes with the animals. The Snow Leopards were my best friends every morning.

Rod
Very cool.

Candice
And, yeah. From that– New York City, I’m a country gal. I grew up in a little, tiny town called Short Pump, Virginia. And so from there, I came to Cape Cod on vacation, at the tip of the Cape Provincetown. And it was like the best. It was the best of a little city and fed the nature that I need for my own well-being, just being surrounded by the national seashore. So I moved here. And in the process of doing so in the early 90s, that’s when the housing crisis started happening here, because investors, this is the first I learned that what, you know, multifamily or any type of real estate investor was, they were buying up these homes, and they were chopping them up and turning them into condos. People were making anywhere from $200 to $700,000 in buying a $100,000 house and just fixing it and flipping it.

Rod
Wow.

Candice
So it was like, you know, local investors are like, I’m in on this. So they started just gobbling up the homes, and, you know, a lot of the local families saw the money that cash that they were offering, that that was a great deal. And they took advantage of, you know, that cash. So it created the housing prices. I had been working– I started my landscaping business, which is another eclectic thing that I do, hope the land basically. And what ended up happening was the– I was doing a lot of work for condos and saw that I really needed– I just need to get my contractor’s license, you know. You just need to do it for commercial properties. So I took the test. Turns out that working at the Zoo provided me with all of the time that I needed in order to qualify, to even take the test.

Rod
Because you need some experience. That was the question I had. That’s fantastic. That they let you use it.

Candice
Yeah, I was like, stated it. And, in fact, I qualified for the construction supervisor’s license.

Rod
Wow.

Candice
It was great. So that’s, you know, I could be licensed to build a skyscraper.

Rod
And this is in New York. Yes?

Candice
No, this is in Massachusetts.

Rod
This is in Massachusetts, which is also a tough state to get licensed in. Right.

Candice
Yeah. It’s not easy. And that test is not easy. I have to say.

Rod
Right.

Candice
So, yeah. So I got my license. About a year passed by, and at that point, the rents were so high here, they were more than a mortgage. And it was driving me crazy. So I had a dog. I had a landscaping business. The landlords didn’t necessarily want to rent anyone that had a pet nor self-employed. And so I started looking around to buy and to buy a 100-year home, I would have to put the same amount of money into it, that I would if I just built a home. So I moved to the next tiny town over, bought almost an acre of land, and built my house for less than what I would have purchased a house that would need to be fixed up in the little town over. And that’s how I discovered– I really like this. This is fun.

Rod
And now here we are.

Candice
Yes.

Rod
So tell me–I know you joined our warrior program, like, less than a year ago, and you’ve just been killing it. Tell me how you found your spot in the business and your role in the multifamily business. Tell me how that happened?

Candice
I will say that was the toughest thing for me to determine, and that’s because I am a Jane of all trades, and so I can do the numbers, I can easily to look at a property, as management. I was just like, a people person. What do I do? How do I narrow down what is my strength? And it ended up being in the best and final. Ironically, in Maryland. Not this, you know, this was a while ago that we didn’t quite do it right, Rod. We got everything together, best and final. And we didn’t have the money.

Rod
Just a little speed bump, you know.

Candice
A little scary. So we needed to be able to start connecting up with someone that could sponsor us, that had investors pulled to bring in the 4.1. I think it was million, in two days, so that we could confidently enter this best and final interview. So I was on the phone for pretty much 16 hours. You know, whoever would talk to me, whatever the day and through the Warrior program and connections found a sponsor that would be able to help us in that. We didn’t get that deal, which was probably a blessing. And the people that did get it, my gosh, they came in, four people, JVs, and they bought it. It was a cash-flowing machine. It was a beautiful deal. But that taught me that the communication and the interaction with people, which is really strong on the syndication side because, in my landscaping business, I talk one on one with them to really understand what their needs are and see if I can create their gardens for them of what they’re looking for. Not just your poster stamp garden. And that 30 years of experience of–

Rod
Yeah. Communication.

Candice
Our clients. Gave me the communication to talk to investors.

Rod
Okay. So your role is now investor relations, then. Yes?

Candice
Yes, it is. Yeah. Investor relations.

Rod
Okay, fantastic. No, go ahead, Mark.

Mark
Well, if you try to do all this starting on your own, what do you think that path would have looked like versus the team and all the relationships that you have now?

Candice
Well, first of all, remember, maybe not all the listeners, but the Tasmanian Devil. It would be a mess. It’s an old cartoon with Bugs Bunny, and there was this character that every time he went anywhere, he was a tornado. And that’s exactly what it would look like if I tried to do this on my own. There are too many moving parts, and I need to have a team and to help me do it because I don’t know, if you’ve said that there was one person that did it, and I just–I mean, awful.

Rod
There’s one. In fact, I just texted him today. He’s buying a jet. But I’m going to tell you that he’s in my mastermind because I said, hey, listen, I may go in on it with you. So we’ve been communicating today, but the point is it’s very, very, very unusual, and there’s some luck involved. Now, I don’t want to take anything away from him, but, yeah, in this business is a team sport. But let me ask you this. What was your biggest hurdle in all of this, in the multifamily space? What was your biggest hurdle, you think?

Candice
Well, I had two hurdles. First, I’d say the biggest one, maybe three, which I just described and learning my role. Then the second hurdle was really trying to talk to people outside of this program about multifamily investing. I’m really shocked at the number of people that are completely unaware.

Rod
Clueless. Yeah.

Candice
And they think when you present it to them that you’re presenting something that’s a scam or it’s illegal.

Rod
Oh, no kidding. Wow.

Candice
Yeah. To that point. And I realized, you know, your surroundings– who you surround yourself with is, you know, who you are. So I hadn’t been in the multifamily realm, so of course, I’m talking to people that are not in that space. So that was one of the biggest hurdles. And for the life of me, the third one just escaped me.

Rod
Okay, well, that sounds good. I forgot what I had for breakfast. So don’t worry about it. It’s never pretty when you lose your mind. And I always do, daily.

Candice
I know what it was. I do remember now.

Rod
Okay.

Candice
It’s the very thing that’s really important in this business is building a team. I’ve been a self-employed for 30 years, you know. My own business. I’m the boss. And that really was scary for me to think about building a team. Like, how would I do that? And, you know, thankfully, your program has really helped a lot with that because of the quality of people that you’ve brought in. It’s the first time I’ve ever come into a group of people that we all are in the same mindset. And that’s a beautiful thing.

Rod
It is a beautiful thing. I was just going to say the exact same. It is a beautiful thing. You know, when we get together, like at that last Warrior event and, you know, the goodwill and everybody wanted to help each other and, you know, people– everybody has a philanthropic you know thing they want to do as well, which is going to talk about yours in a minute because it’s amazing. But go ahead and ask a question, Mark. I know you’ve got several.

Mark
Yeah, it could be yourself, it could be just what you’ve seen with other people. But what do you think is the biggest reason that keeps people from getting started and then just doing that first deal in multifamily?

Candice
Well, fear. However you look at your fears, fear of the unknown. I know for myself, you know I have an engineering mind, and if I don’t know all of the steps and how it’s going to work, I will keep trying to understand how it’s all going to work. And multifamily taught me that every single deal is different. Just like when you do construction, every design of a house is different. It’s all different. So I can’t learn everything. And I’m also interacting with people. And in order to do that, you have to realize that every person, every new seller, every broker, everything is going to be different. So just learn the basics, you know, just the outline of the things that don’t change. Underwriting, numbers, that kind of stuff, that I can know. But for the rest of it, I just had to step into the fear. And, you know, throughout my life, those opportunities, like I said, deciding to take that job at the Zoo, stepping into that fear allowed me to– leads me to the life, you know, right now where I am. And that, you know, I believe in the law of attraction and intuition and stepping into the fear and seeing now in hindsight how those are small little entities, the little steps I’ve taken that have led me to the path where I am today.

Rod
Yeah. Isn’t that funny how that works? Even the setbacks. You know, you wouldn’t be where you are if you hadn’t had them. Right?

Candice
Oh, yeah.

Rod
And I’m sure you can resonate with that statement. Yeah, no, now listen, what do I want to ask you? I actually want to ask you a couple more real estate-related questions. So now you know all the pieces. You know you can’t do them all. Now you’re in investor relations and you’re building– and that’s why, you know, I see you at all these events, because you’re building relationships, which is critical.

Candice
That’s right.

Rod
But what is your definition of success, Candice?

Candice
I think my definition of success means doing what you love, and being happy at it. You know, having that joy, and that happiness. Yes, money allows us to have peace of mind, to be free, enough to enjoy our lives. But no matter what circumstances, you can still find joy at any moment, on any given day, no matter what’s happening. And I think success is as long as you’re trying, you’re successful. Because if you’re trying and doing something different, then success is a given. I believe.

Rod
Especially if you enjoy it. You know, if you’re doing–you know, if you love what you do, you never work another day in your life, you know. That’s why my wife puts up with me doing what I’m doing. And, you know, I know you and your wife– you have a giving heart because I know you adopted a sibling group of two boys and a girl, which is just incredible. I mean, it warms my heart like nothing else. You took three siblings in and adopted them. It’s just beautiful. And I know you guys do lots of charitable work as well. You volunteer a lot. You’ve done, you know, garden space at your local community scanners in your elementary school, which is so cool because that’s your business. You know, I don’t want to steal your thunder. I am stealing your thunder. And I didn’t mean to do that. But you do some amazing things. Talk about your community project with the group of senior women. Talk about that. That’s cool, too.

Candice
This inspired me to do what, you know, eventually I want to do– once I get the multifamily, like, really rolling. So the community here, we have a community center and below budget for a small town. They were building a children’s playground. And the actual–the kids of the local community, the board of selectmen, went in and talked to them, and the kids designed it. But in order to build it, we needed volunteers. And so I show up and there are so many senior women, they’re standing and they’re just so happy and excited, but no one’s putting–you know, giving them tasks. And I walked over to them and I said, do you guys want to do something? Because one of the other contractors who knew how to, you know, build said, can you help us? And I’m like, yeah. And I’m like, what do you need? And he said we need all of these boards routed. So if anyone doesn’t know what a router is it’s a little round machine that just–

Rod
Oh, when I saw a router, I was thinking computer router. You actually put tools in their hands and you had to make and do some wood. Oh, I freaking love it.

Candice
Oh, yeah. Empower them. Oh my God. Guys, it was so fantastic.

Rod
Oh, I bet.

Candice
You know, the trailer, people who volunteered brought tools. So here I see a whole like, 12 routers lined up and I just walked up and I said, sign my name so you have to check them out. I said I want all 12 of those routers. And I motioned the women over, literally, I’m telling you, 80 and up. I don’t even–

Rod
Wow.

Candice
And they came over. I put a router in each of their hands. You should have seen their eyes. They lit up like little children. And I had to–you know, there were a couple of moments where there was a little– they did great, I have to say. I did a demonstration. I got each of them to do one little line and then I’m like, go for it. And then I stood there and supervise them like you do children with fishing bowls.

Rod
Yeah, it’s not a bad analogy, actually. Now, I know, you know, you’ve gotten a lot of value from our program, from our Warrior program. What do you think has been the biggest value you’ve received?

Candice
Well, I think I finally found my people. You know, not to sound snobbish, but when you’re an entrepreneur and rather intelligent and an artist and I tend to isolate myself because I like to think big. And if you’re not around people that think big, they try to squash your ideas and I didn’t want that. So I isolated to protect myself and would only find a few people to surround myself. And within two days of your first Warrior event, because I did only the virtuals because of where I live for the boot camp.

Rod
Right.

Candice
You forced us to network, which was horrifying for me at the moment. Thank you for that. That was incredible to make–

Rod
It’s important. Yeah.

Candice
But when I realized when we started talking, we all were talking about the same thing, with the same amount of passion and enthusiasm. And it wasn’t just– now, Rod, this is really key about why I joined your program. Your emphasis on your personal performance, you know, your self-development and your mindset. It’s key to success in anything in life.

Rod
Yeah.

Candice
And to not have had that with this program, well, not for myself, but I think a lot of people would not continue. But to have that ability to know, to keep stepping forward, stepping forward, and challenging yourself allows when you get to a challenge in any different new property, you just like, okay, how are we going to work around this instead of being paralyzed by fear?

Rod
Yes. What a great example. I love what you just said. Guys, if you’re listening and you have an interest in applying to the Warrior program, just text the word “CRUSH” to “72345”. You can actually go to “RodKhleif.com” as well and apply there. But it’s just–you know, the application is not a big deal. We just get your information. We set up a call and you see if we’re a fit. We see if you’re a fit. And we don’t take everybody. But, you know, there’s a reason my students have somewhere between 60 and 70,000 doors. Now we’ve lost count. I’m trying to keep track, but it’s crazy. Every day seems like, you know, someone’s announcing a new closing in our big Facebook group.

Mark
I saw two more just today and yesterday. Right? So it’s all that’s going on.

Rod
Right.

Mark
And on that topic, real quick of what Candice mentioned, it’s so easy to get around people that have a negative mindset. I was watching a YouTube video just yesterday, like a quick 32nd video about multifamily success. 99% of the comments are all negative. People looking for reasons not to do it. And, oh, this doesn’t work and you can’t do it. You have to be a billionaire. All this. And then there’s maybe 1% of the people that are positive and actually want to take action on it. And so it’s so true what you said there. Getting around those like-minded people, whether it’s with us or not. It’s a game-changer of just people thinking bigger versus all these negative people out there in the world. And that’s why there are only a few percentages of people that are successful.

Rod
You wouldn’t believe the hate I get on some of my social media is like, good Lord, really? You’re a loser capitalist. There’s you know, I get stuff like that all the time. Oh, come on, seriously?

Candice
I have to say, Rod, that I actually– I had some people that I was forming friendships with, and when I said I was, you know, expanding to multifamily, I got pegged in that hole and we’ve kind of drifted apart.

Mark
It happens.

Rod
Yeah, it’s sad that you know, that that happens, but, you know, I just want to draw attention to something else because you– I had no idea that you had an interest in this. But you’re also– and guys, that’s another thing in the warrior group. You know I teach, and I think it just attracts people that know we have two hands, one to pull ourselves up and one to pull people up underneath us. And so many people in the group are doing building schools, doing all kinds of amazing things. And, you know, I know you want to create a nationwide nonprofit for young single moms to learn basic construction. That is so freaking cool. I love that, Candice. And then real estate investing as well, to help transform their lives and leave legacies for their families. And, you know, that really resonates with me because I pretty much had a single mom as well. My dad came into the picture late, and he wasn’t much of an influence, my stepdad. And so, you know, I love, you know, anything to do with single moms and have an affinity for them. And I know you want to help people with addiction and do some other things as well. You have big dreams, and it’s just very, very cool. So, you know my hats off to you, Candice. And I’m so freaking proud of you. What you’ve accomplished already in one year, it’s just really very, very cool. Well, listen, it’s been a real treat to have you on the show, and just so impressed with everything you’re doing in your heart and, you know, you’re a real inspiration to other people that want to get into this business. So thank you for coming on. And Mark, it was good to see you, brother. And we’ll see you all soon.

Candice
Thank you both.

Rod
All right. Take care.

Candice
Have a nice flight.

Rod
Thanks.

Rod
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 nonstop 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 “CRUSH” to “72345” so you can check us out and we can check you out. That’s “MentorWithRod.com or text “CRUSH” to “72345”.