The Biggest Mistakes In Syndication

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 to another edition of How to Build Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing. I’m Rod Khleif, and I’m thrilled you’re here. And I know you’re going to get great value from the gentleman I’m interviewing today. His name’s Marcin Drozdz, and he’s in 1500 doors across the country. And he’s raised funds, he’s raised money, he’s a managing partner for M1 Real Capital, and they focus on acquiring multifamily real estate just like we do. But we’re going to drill down on raising equity today. Welcome to the show, Marcin.

Marcin
Thank you, sir. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here.

Rod
Yeah, let’s have some fun. So, why don’t you take a minute and tell your story? You know, just give us a little bit of better bio than I did, and then we’ll drill down on raising money.

Marcin
Sure. I appreciate you saying my last name correctly.

Rod
That’s really funny. So you guys don’t know that I had to practice about ten times before we went live, so yeah, he’s giving me a hard time now.

Marcin
No, no, no. People ask me how to impress my last name, and I say, not very well, and it’s a tough one. So my background real quick. I read the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” when I was a teenager like so many other people, and thought to myself, hey, I could do this. 19 years old, I beg and pleaded my way to work at a real estate brokerage, and the only thing that they could let me do is to carry the for sale sign. So literally, that’s what I did. Got into good grace. A few realtors. One thing led to another. They helped me buy my first rental property. I think I was 20 or 21, and I immediately learned about negative cash flow at the tender age of 21, 800 a month, and for– 800 a month is a lot of money for people today. It was a lot of money for me then. So I turned around, flipped the property, did quite well, and one thing led to another. You know, starting buying cash flow positive properties.

Rod
Where at?

Marcin
Oh, this is up in Canada. I’m actually a Canadian, but I’ll get to the US part here in a second.

Rod
Yeah.

Marcin
So I got recruited by a firm that did funds and syndications out west in the real estate space, and it was a Canadian firm that focused on buying US assets. So this takes you to 2007, 2008. Obviously, a lot happened in the US back then, and, you know, a whole bunch of Canadians came down to the US. So our firm was no different. We raised tens of millions of dollars on a quarterly basis, and we bought up everything we can find in Arizona, multifamily, all kinds of different assets.

Rod
So, Marcin, I know that you–you know, are excellent at raising capital, and so I’d love to drill down on that because that’s one of the biggest pieces of this multifamily game. You know, it’s not just finding the deals, you got to raise the money. So, you know, one of the questions that I want to ask you, because I know this is something you talk about is the mindset. And of course, in my podcast, it’s one of the biggest topics. And so, you know, what is a mindset that’s required for you to be able to raise money for your–you know, for projects?

Marcin
So, you know, it’s so good that you brought it up from that perspective because everybody typically goes like, what are the tricks? What are the tips?

Rod
Yeah.

Marcin
And I always say, look, those things don’t matter if the six inches between your head aren’t set up properly.

Rod
Right.

Marcin
And the mindset piece is so huge. So, I remember I went to one of Robert Kiyosaki’s events years and years ago. It was probably 14 or 15 years ago, and he introduced me to a concept called “Be, Do, Have. And I’m sure– I think I’ve heard you talk about it. I’ve seen it out before, and, ultimately–

Rod
No, go ahead. No, I haven’t talked about it. So, no. I mean, it sounds good, but no, go, please elaborate.

Marcin
Okay, so “Be, Do, Have” is a concept that– the best way to explain it is in the context of you’ve got the victim, the worker, and the winner. And the victim doesn’t look at “Be, Do, Have”. They look at “Have, Do, and Be”. So they think to themselves, oh, well, when I have the support, when I have the resources, when I have the deals, that I can go out and do the things that I need to do, and then I can be happy. Right?

Rod
Right.

Marcin
That’s a victim. They’re always depending on existential circumstances, things they don’t have, things they need to have before they can do anything, before they can be the person that they think that having is going to allow them to be. The worker, a lot of people are in the worker mentality, and I sometimes get stuck in it too. We all do, is you think in the context of “Do, Have, Be”. So in other words, you think to yourself, okay, I got to go do this. I got to go find this deal, I got to go find this stuff, I got to get these things done. And then once I have those things done, I’ll have the cash to be the person that can buy that, you know, next 100-unit, 500-unit portfolio.

Rod
Right.

Marcin
And the worker is always doing and trying to have, and they never really get to be. And then the “Be, Do, Have” concept is the hardest one to grasp. But the best starting point is you think to yourself, okay, so you want to buy 1,000 doors. You want to buy 500 doors. Who is the person that you have to become to be able to do the things that have to be done to have that outcome? And the having is simple. Once you understand the mindset of a Rod Khleif or someone like a Mark Cuban or somebody who’s operating at 100 million, billion, multi-billion dollars. They occupy their mind with different thoughts. They have a different fact patterns on a daily basis. They notice different things, they ignore different things. What do they pay attention to? Who do you have to become? And that is the real starting point from my perspective, from a mindset piece. Every time I’ve gone, you know, from the first $100,000 to a million dollars, from million to ten, ten to 20, 20 to X, you have to become someone else. And the first thing is to actually think to yourself, what is an example of somebody that can emulate that person? Who can you emulate? That’s why the boot camps, the trainings that you do and, you know, some of the other people that are operating at a level are powerful because you can be part of that person’s world and you can see how they conduct themselves, how they speak, what they focus on because that’s the roadmap. Then you’ll know what to do after. And the having, that’s the outcome.

Rod
No, I really appreciate you explaining that because I had not heard that before. If I had, I’d forgotten. But that is actually what I do at my boot camps, believe it or not. Because, you know, one of the first things we do there is a goal-setting session on steroids. Literally, the first thing is because how the heck are you going to get anything if you don’t know what it is, okay? What do you want with clarity and why do you want it? But then the last thing we do is we– I have each person describe who they have to become to achieve those goals, okay? Because the person that got there is not the person that’s going to go buy 1000 doors. And so they have to embody some qualities to make that happen. I really love that. I’m going to use that, Marcin. I appreciate you sharing that with me. So, you know, as you approach a deal, you know, you’ve got to position it and, you know, a project, a deal, whatever, however you want to call it, what are some things that you will do to set yourself apart from other people in the environment? Because obviously, I mean, right now as we record this, we’re heading into a recession. I mean, that’s just no question, it’s coming. Hopefully, it’s going to be a mild one. I think it is. I just did a Facebook Live on this last night about the coming recession. I mean, we’ve had just about every major player in the industry say it’s coming from the Bank of America to Wells Fargo to Morgan Stanley. All their CEOs of–, Fannie Mae have said it. I think it’s inevitable because inflation is rampant and they have to raise the interest rates and continue the fed has to continue to raise them until it slows down. But, you know, so I think things are going to become a lot more normal than they’ve been in the past. It’s been crazy, you know, money, you know, a million dollars going hard on a deal, day one, without any due diligence, for example. You know, we wrote 240 plus million dollar deals a couple of weeks ago, and 600,000 hard on each one of them, day one if we–, we backed out because, you know, the lending environment has just gotten so weird. But back to my question. You know, there’s still competition. So what do you do to make a deal or a project stand out?

Marcin
So, you know, and you’re right because the market is softening now a little bit.

Rod
Oh, yeah.

Marcin
And the competition–like I wrote on a deal in Jacksonville, and I think it was January or February, no it’s February or March?

Rod
So did I. I wonder if it’s the same one.

Marcin
If it’s the same one.

Rod
Yeah, I drove out there.

Marcin
I think it was 140, 160 doors, and they told me, congrats, your best and final. I’m like, with how many others? He’s like, 12. I’m like jeez.

Rod
Right. Oh, yeah, it’s ridiculous. Yeah. We made best and final, too. It’s very possible. It’s the same deal. There are some great deals out there. But anyway I’m sorry, interrupted. Please continue.

Marcin
So, look, you may have heard– some of your listeners may have heard of, you know, the “Blue Ocean Strategy”, right?

Rod
Great book.

Marcin
So you have Blue Ocean– yeah, great book. Yeah, great, great book. For those of you who haven’t read it, definitely pick it up. So the Red Ocean is where all the sharks are, and they’re chewing every–each other apart, and they’re fighting over the same deals. Blue Ocean, obviously, you swim where no one is. And what I’ve done recently is I actually just launched a new fund where we’re actually focusing on slightly smaller assets that we can go in all cash. And it’s a smaller asset. It’s not that $20, $30, $40 million bite-size, but it’s closer to that 5$, maybe $10 million price range, and, you know, you get less density, fair enough. But I’m able to make very compelling offers all cash. And that’s my Blue Ocean today. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Rod
No, I like it a lot, actually. I liked that a lot, and, you know, I think that really has merit. But, you know, I think you’ve got some strategies that you talk about, like some factors that you do to make a deal stand out. Can you speak to those a little bit?

Marcin
Yeah, 100%. Well, I mean, in the context of–so, let’s assume–you know, we tie up a project, and, you know, if you’re syndicating one at a time, I think maybe that’s a good way to go with this. So sometimes you have a situation where you tie up a deal and you have very little time to work your way through the paper, work your way through the closing, and you got to make sure that your investors and your LPs are lined up. So I created something for my own, you know, edification, just to kind of create some clarity around this. I call it the “EASY system”. And the EASY is an acronym for E, Exclusive, A, Abundant, S, Scarcity, and Y, allocation. So, for example, let’s assume I had a property that I tied up and I need to syndicate it. Specifically, I’ve got a very limited fuse time frame, and I got to get everything lined up. Great. So the biggest mistake that I see syndicators make is that they talk to investors in terms that they think they would understand. They talk about going in cap rates, coming out cap rates. They talk about these terms that people don’t typically internalize. Whereas the everyday investor that can write a check for 250 or 150 grand, the dentist, the doctor, the business owner, if you tell them, rather than going in capper, you tell them, look, the appraisal came in at X. We thought it would be Y. There’s a benefit there potentially of half a million dollars right out of the gate. We also got, you know, a tax deferral from the city. We also were on the buildings on the corner of Maine and Maine. It’s right across the street from the VA office. These are things that everybody– even if you’re not in real estate, you understand. It shows the exclusivity of transaction. Don’t tell me about the price per square foot because if I’m a plumber that runs a business, I don’t know what the price per square foot is. But I do understand if there’s $300 a month in the rent, I may not know what cash on cash is, but I do understand that you know, you can increase the value by 20% by doing XYZ. Like there’s– you got to simplify it. Think about three or four things that makes your deal exclusive.

Rod
Instead of a cash on cash, would you might– maybe do a multiple?

Marcin
Yeah.

Rod
Okay.

Marcin
Great point, Rod. So I always talk about everything in the context of an equity multiple.

Rod
Okay.

Marcin
Whenever somebody asks me, what’s the projection? I say, look, my goal is to create X equity multiple over X period of time. And that’s a combination of cash flow, mortgage, pay down, and appreciation. And I bundle it up because it’s really easy to be able to say X turns into Y, Y turns into Z, and of course, you don’t want to complicate it. And again, if you’re dealing with accredited investors or sophisticated investors, they typically, in my experience, don’t need the cash flow. They’re mostly looking for the gains anyway. So it’s not like they’re waiting for that quarterly check anyway. They just want the outcome.

Rod
Interesting. Okay, interesting. So, yeah, you keep it easy. I man, I love that. And that makes complete sense.

Marcin
So that’s the exclusivity piece. So when you get on the phone, hey, are you still looking for something? Yes. Okay. Boom, boom, boom. The next piece is the abundance piece. So another mistake Syndicators make is they call their investors with this mentality of, hey, what do you think? Because I need you on this deal. And you’re almost asking the investor for permission to bless the transaction. Our approach is different. I say, look, I thought of you first and then we talked about it. We didn’t get to work on the last deal. I wanted to give you a call on this. My challenge is I also have another 18 people, 30 people, 12 people, 97 people, whatever amount of people you have to talk to. But I did want to call you first, and the implication is that I’m doing this anyway. I’d like you to come along with me. And it’s not being arrogant or cocky, it’s just stating a fact. I thought of you. But, you know, as a subliminal note, I’m doing this anyway.

Rod
Right. Got it. Okay. It’s just positioning. Okay.

Marcin
Yeah. 100%.

Rod
All right. And then what’s the S?

Marcin
The S is scarcity. There are two ways to create it, obviously. One is the timing in terms of when the project is closing. By the way, and I know most people definitely have realized this after a few deals, is the closing date for the project is not the closing date for when you ask for the money. So I always make sure they know the closing. And scarcity, I always let them know about the allocation. I let them know, look, we have a million dollars left. Our average investors, you know, call it $150,000. So, you know, we’re only looking for another seven or eight people to participate.

Rod
Okay.

Marcin
And then the Y, there’ll be a conversation, your allocation, they might have a few questions. I might say, look, obviously, you need the information, I’ll send you the package. But if everything checked out, is there an amount you’d potentially be comfortable allocating? And if somebody is not interested, they’ll tell you they’re not interested. If they are, they’ll give you a number. Obviously, you verify their accreditation or whatever rules you’re following by. But the “EASY” is a quick way to re-engage in a conversation with a potential investor that you may have not had a deal for when you first met them three months or three years ago.

Rod
Right. Very nice. So let’s talk about a deal structure for a minute.

Marcin
Sure.

Rod
How do you structure a deal to attract more high-net-worth investors?

Marcin
Well, high net worth investors are typically fee sensitive as much as deal terms sensitive. So, sophisticated investors will look at cute language in agreement, I call it cute language. So they typically will look for deals where they’re part of the deal in perpetuity. I know there are some syndications where–you know, once you refinance or recapitalize, the investors are out.

Rod
That’s more like debt, honestly.

Marcin
Right, yeah, 100%. I’ve seen some syndications on the equity side where they’ll do the same thing. So that’s a big no-no.

Rod
Right.

Marcin
Being fees sensitive– most of my accredited investors typically want to see at least 80% of the total compensation coming out on the back end. That’s a big deal. That’s been a big deal. And that’s all forms of fees, whether it’s an acquisition, disposition fees, whatever it is, financing fees. Also, a lot of our investors are quite comfortable with waterfall. So we typically start with a 70 30 after a 7% preferred return, and then after a 15% IRR, we split to a 50-50. So most of our investors are very comfortable with that. I find that if you do more than two waterfalls, things start to get really confusing.

Rod
Oh, it’s confusing. Yes, confusing. We do the same thing. We go to 50-50 after a certain IRR [inaudible].

Marcin
Oh, great. Okay.

Rod
Yeah, that’s great. That’s great. So Marcin, did you start in a single-family? Did I hear you say that? And you started in smaller assets?

Marcin
Yeah. So the first property I bought was just a single-family house. Rented it out and made my way, and then I started buying sort of small multifamily, and then I started working in the private equity real estate.

Rod
Was that in Canada initially?

Marcin
Yeah, that was in a town called Oakville, Ontario, just outside of Toronto.

Rod
Okay.

Marcin
Nice area. They’ve got one of the links golf courses and a nice Canadian town. A good place to be. But I’ll be honest with you, what opened my eyes to multifamily was when I realized that every dollar that you add to the bottom line, creates %25 or $30 or whatever it is in profit. As soon as I learned that concept, I was like, just hooked instantly. It is a good business.

Rod
So what he’s talking about, guys, is any increase to the NOI, obviously, is an exponential increase to the value. So, you know, a dollar in NOI can beat as much as $25 in value. In fact, I’ll give you a great example of this. I was just on a clubhouse call and I used this example. We’ve got a 296-unit asset in San Antonio and we numbered the parking spaces and we allowed the tenants to pick their own parking space, and it’s $25 a month for that privilege. Well, we had 77 of them do it, and we have a $740,000 instant increase in value. Another example, another great example is my manager, there’s a rock star, and she was doing a fire inspection of all the units, making sure that fire extinguishers on the takeover, that they weren’t expired, and so on and so forth. And she found 64 pets that we didn’t know about. And so they’re $20 a month on those pets, which is a 300 and I think– actually, $400,000 instant increase in value. So it’s like, you know, pretty exciting stuff in our business, which is why we love this. So the reason I asked you about the single-family is I’m just curious if there was an aha moment, like a, you know, okay, now I get it, moment. And I’m sure you’ve had quite a few, like all of us have. But if anything stands, I want to ask that question as it relates to, you know, the asset type that you were buying.

Marcin
Yeah.

Rod
Okay.

Marcin
So when I was buying houses, I realized that I couldn’t afford to hire somebody to cut the grass and that peed me off to no end. Like I literally couldn’t afford it. There wasn’t enough revenue in the asset to replace me from having to show up and cut the grass. And that was, you know, the early 20s. And I remember that yesterday, the tenants living in the house, he’s nice and cozy, great. Everything is beautiful. And I’m out front– it was forever in my brain. I’m like, never again. Never again.

Rod
No, that’s motivation. That’s leverage right there. But speaking of motivation, where do you get your drive? What’s your why?

Marcin
Well, my wife and I had a daughter six months ago.

Rod
Oh, congratulations, buddy. That’s awesome, man. That’s beautiful.

Marcin
That is definitely my why. At this point, that’s my why. I mean, you know, I always used to laugh when my buddies would show baby pictures and I’d be like, ahh you know, and then you move on with your day, but as soon as you have that little one grab your– her hand, her entire hand grabs your pinky, it’s like, you know–

Rod
It’s life-changing.

Marcin
Yeah.

Rod
Yeah. That’s beautiful, man. Congratulations. So, you know, I have a lot of aspiring real estate investors on my show. People that haven’t pulled the trigger yet, through whatever reason, fear, comfort, maybe they’re comfortable, you know, maybe they’re caught in analysis, paralysis, and they feel like they have to check off every box before they make a move. You know, what words of wisdom would you share with an aspiring investor that hasn’t taken action yet?

Marcin
So there are two things I’d share. One is pretty direct with Jeff Bezos. He had a quote when he was asked about Amazon’s vision. He said that “they’re flexible on details but stubborn on the goal”. And what I take from that is whatever plan you think you have for multifamily real estate or fundraising or deal flow, or what market you think you’re going to get into, I’ll tell you right now, as soon as you get going, you may re-look at who, what, where, how. The important part is that you just started, and I mean, Jeff Bezos started selling books on the Internet. Now the man sells everything. And I mean–

Rod
I remember when everybody was making fun of him, oh, it’ll never work, selling books on Amazon. And now, you know, he fights Elon for the richest man in the world.

Marcin
That’s perfect.

Rod
And I think ultimately, Jeff will eclipse Elon just because his model is just so incredible. I mean, where can you go? And, you know, I could buy, you know, anything within my eyesight within about 30 seconds. I mean, it’s just, you know, the people that have the most value in this world are the most successful.

Marcin
Yeah.

Rod
And so, yeah, that’s a great example. You know, what’re some of the best advice you’ve ever received? It can be of a personal nature. It can be business. If anything jumps out at you, I didn’t prepare you for these.

Marcin
Some of the best advice I think I got was to– I had someone tell me once, when things are going well, you’re never as smart as you feel. And when things go to shit, you’re never as dumb as you look.

Rod
Nice. Nice. Remember that through this next period. And guys, you know–

Marcin
Right.

Rod
Again, I do believe we’re going into a recession. It’s not something to fear, but it is definitely something to prepare for. And so, you know, how I’m preparing is I’m pre-framing my investors as it relates to equity raising, to let them know we’re getting ready and that there’s going to be incredible opportunities. So to mitigate the potential fear that’s going to happen because you know what the media is going to do, they’re going to oh my God, the sky is falling. Real estate will never come back. It’ll be ten years before it comes back. And just you know they’re–just remember, they’re not there to inform us, they’re there to startle us, scare us, or just blatant BS, it’s fake. But, you know, just remember that. And I would encourage you to talk to your investors and let them know that, you know, we feel it’s going to be an incredible opportunity. And there is, there are exponential opportunities when there’s a downturn. At the very least, if it’s a mild one, as I suspect, it’ll just get back to normal where there’ll be 30-day due diligence and brokers will actually call you back and, you know, there won’t be 12 people in a best and final. There’ll be some normalcy. But I do think there’s going to be some opportunity. There have been some super aggressive purchases made over these last couple of years and I’m sure you’ve scratched your head a few times, Marcin when you’re in best and final, you see what these properties trade for, you know, and you’re like, how the hell could they make the numbers work, you know?

Marcin
I mean, my only guess is that somebody is coming out of a 1031 and they rather just roll before eating the tax bill because of some of the prices that guys are paying, I mean–

Rod
That makes no sense. Yeah.

Marcin
Yeah. Well, and to your point in terms of just keeping your eye on the ball, there’s something I’ve been reading up on quite heavily lately. It’s RAS, your Reticular Activating System.

Rod
Oh. yeah.

Marcin
For me, when I started reading up on that, it changed my perspective on the whole concept of mindset and manifestation. Because, you know, if you’re focusing on– the things you focus on, your brain will give you. So if you focus on the fact that there are no opportunities, no deals, there’s a recession coming, then you’re right, your brain is going to go, okay, well those are the things we’re going to notice and then those are the things you’ll pick up for the media, the news, the TV, whatever it is. But if you keep your head on straight and you follow, you know, good personalities and people that are out there doing things and productively trying to assist you in your life like yourself, then you know, you’ve got the edge because the mindset when the news, the media, and everybody else is going to push everybody into– potentially try to push people into a negative state, keeping that focus on the positivity is going to change it.

Rod
Yeah.

Marcin
I mean it’s– people are going to be tested over the next few years and the people that are going to be able to manifest the best outcomes are going to start with the best headspace, in my opinion.

Rod
Agreed. Yes. Agreed. That’s the power of goals as well, is they trigger a Reticular Activating System. You know, whatever you’re focused on gets larger, positive or negative, you’re absolutely right. And please know, you know, as it relates to the recession, I’m not telling you to focus on it, but I am telling you there’s going to be an opportunity and not to fear it. And so, you know, but I think the greatest example of the RAS, the Reticular Activating System is when you first buy a car, you know, you never really notice them, and then they’re everywhere. You know, were they there before? Of course, they were. That’s your brain. And what it is is it’s really a subconscious filter in your brain. You’re not aware of it consciously, but it absolutely applies to goals. It applies, you know, to your outlook on life. It applies to whatever you bring in, you know, that you focus on. It really directs your focus, and it’s very, very powerful. So I’m really glad you brought it up. So, you know, do you have any favorite quotes or anything that inspire you, that helps you know, keeps you on track?

Marcin
Yeah, Rod, actually, I read a book. I reread this book every couple of years. I got to share it with you. It’s called “The Obstacle is the Way”. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, but it’s a fantastic book.

Rod
No. No.

Marcin
The guy who wrote it, his name’s Ryan Holiday. I stalk him on all the social media out there. I love his stuff. The book is rooted in a philosophy called Stoicism, which is all about–well, Marcus Aurelius and the whole history of, you know, the last great emperor of Rome and whatnot. But essentially the subtitle of the book is what is in the way becomes the way. And it’s a brilliant distillation of Stoicism and modern examples. And Ryan Holiday just does a really good day of– really good job of weaving it all together. And it really helps. If I ever feel like I’m in a victim mentality or if I ever feel like I need, you know, a checkup from the neck up, so to speak, I open up a few pages of the book, and it immediately just helps me reset my headspace.

Rod
Love it. I appreciate that. All right, well, listen, I think I’ve asked the questions that I want to ask, and, you know, so a couple of last questions, actually. Talk about a failure or a setback and– a big one that you learned from and, or help you position for future success.

Marcin
Well, that is a big question. In my life, I think the biggest– I think if I had to totally acknowledge the biggest professional failure I had is what I ventured outside of the real estate. So I ventured outside of the real estate. I tried to build a business that I wasn’t as familiar with in the consumer services business because I saw the exponential potential. So, the one thing about real estate as we all know, it’s great, it’s fantastic but historically, pre-Covid, it’s a fairly slow-moving asset class. You don’t have the 10%, 20%, or 30% year-over-year growth that we’ve seen. So I tried my hand at an operating business, a consumer services business, and, you know, the things I learned from the business were fantastic. But, you know, there’s a reason why Michael Jordan played basketball and came back to basketball because that’s his gift. He was Michael Jordan on the basketball court, but he was just a third-string whatever, left fielder when it came to baseball. Right?

Rod
Yeah.

Marcin
And that was probably my biggest lesson. Again, in some respects, I’m happy I did it. I was young enough to take the risk and spend the time and energy on it. But in hindsight, I probably could have learned many of those lessons just by sticking to real estate.

Rod
That’s funny you say that. I built 27 businesses, and I call them– I don’t call them failures. I call them seminars. And, you know, several of them are worth tens of millions of dollars. I had a $50 million seminar in ’08, and ’09.

Marcin
Wow.

Rod
But most of my businesses were spectacular flaming seminars. You know, we fail our way to success.

Marcin
Right.

Rod
And that really resonated with me because pretty much any time I’ve gotten out of the real estate, for the most part, I’ve got–had my ass handed to me. So, you know, I totally connect with that. Well, let me ask you the question I ask regularly of successful operators on the show. You know, if you were to go back and tell your 18-year-old self something with what you know now, what if anything, might you do differently?

Marcin
So the biggest thing that I would have done differently at 18, you know, all those years later today, is I would have taken the time to enjoy the progress and not been so hard on myself. Because what I did is I would always be– I was the worker. The mentality I gave you is the “Do, Have, Be”. I never allowed myself to be. I was always doing to have. And eventually, I told myself, one day I’ll be happy. So an example is, okay, I’ll buy our first rental property. We’ll figure it out. Okay, great. That happened. Then I’ll buy the next one. Then, okay, but after this, then I’ll be happy. Okay. Then when I’m, you know, financially independent, then I’ll be happy. Okay, but then after, then I got– so it was like, I don’t even remember my 20s, Rod. Like, I don’t remember them. And it’s not, you know, a negative thing.

Rod
I totally get it. Yeah, no, I totally get it. It resonates with me as well, I have to tell you. You know, we’ve been taught to achieve, to be happy.

Marcin
Yeah.

Rod
And, you know, that’s a common conception. We can’t be happy until we’ve achieved. And I use an example of an epiphany I had. I built this $8 million house on the beach, and I’m looking up at this thing two months after it’s done, and I got depressed. And I recognize that I’ve been totally focused on me, and I hadn’t been giving back in any fashion. I had an epiphany and started giving back. And, you know, I tell people. I use that as an example that, you know, find something to give back to right now, and then you’ll be happily achieving. Okay. You’ll recognize that– Tony Robbins calls it “the science of achievement versus the art of fulfillment”. Achievement really is a science. I mean, if you want to learn multifamily, come to one of my boot camps. There’s a roadmap. You just have to go do it. But the fulfillment is an art, and that comes through giving back. And I know you give back as well and so, you know, that’s when you’re happily achieving when you recognize it’s more than just about that achievement. It’s about who you’re becoming and growing and helping and so on and so forth. Really impressed with your answers, buddy. Well, listen, I appreciate you coming on the show, Marcin. It’s been a real treat. It’s a pleasure to meet you, and I’m sure that our paths will definitely cross again, my friend.

Marcin
Yeah, 100%. I really appreciate the opportunity to share my story with you.

Rod
Thank you. Thank you.

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 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”, and we’ll set up a call so you can check us out and we can check you out. That’s “MentorWithRod.com” or text “CRUSH” to “72345”.