Ep #608 – MFRS – You don’t know your potential, so why limit it?

 

Warrior Ryan Dworak started his multifamily journey with a 4 unit. He quickly realized he needed some guidance and joined the Warrior Program. Since that time Ryan and his wife Britni have closed on over 200 doors, half of them as General Partners. Ryan and Britni have a daughter and another on the way.

Here’s some of the topics we covered:

  • Starting out in Multifamily
  • Transitioning from residential to commercial real estate
  • Pushing through fear
  • Internal and external team
  • The role of uncertainty
  • Unknown potential
  • Your ecosystem
  • Be, Do, Have
  • Importance of mindset

Full Transcript Below

Rod
Welcome back to Multifamily rock stars. 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 massive success in both their businesses and their lives. Now, as always, I’ve got my cohost who’s the director of my massive action team for our “Warrior Mentorship Program” Mark Nagy on the call. Mark, what’s up, brother?

Mark
Hey Rod, doing really well, just super excited to jump into another amazing story here. I’ve been getting so much feedback from these podcasts of just a lot of people hearing from regular, everyday people and how they’ve been crushing it. And, you know, it’s a nice, refreshing spin to what we normally do. So I’m loving it.

Rod
And I’m loving the hat today, Mark. Okay, he’s got a hat on. For those of you on iTunes, says Lifetime Cash Flow. So I told him I want to get those hats and sell them at the Orlando boot camp coming up in December. By the way, if you guys haven’t heard of that, for God’s sakes, get your ticket now. The price is as cheap as it’s gonna be. Thank God we’re going live again. Everybody has just been jones and to have a live event that’s going to be a big one in Orlando, December 3rd, 4th, and 5th. And if you want to get tickets, it’s rodinorlando.com or you can text “Rod in Orlando” to “72345”. They’re ridiculously reasonable. And if you’ve never been, it’s not a sales pitch. If you’re in by Big Multi-Family Group search the word boot camp to see what people think about the events. And I think you’ll be really you know pleasantly impressed and surprised and realized you need to be there. So it’s incredible networking opportunities. I was just on another interview yesterday and I was talking about the last event we had live event we had in La, January two years ago, and there was as much going on networking outside the room as the one is inside the room. I mean, it was just incredible. And so it’s an incredible networking opportunity besides, just a learning opportunity. So anyway, let’s get to the show. Today we have Ryan Dworak on the call. And Ryan, I think he’s in almost 200 doors, half of that as a limited partner and the other you know, half as the general partner JV and I think he’s been in the program, our warrior program actually, for about a year, but welcome to show Ryan.

Ryan
Yeah, grateful to be here. Thanks for having me. I’m just excited to get into it and see what I can share with you guys.

Rod
Love it. So why don’t you tell a little bit of your story? Just go back and give us a little background on you know, what you did before real estate, briefly, and then why you got into real estate. And if any of these skills you learned prior to getting into real estate have translated into skills in the multi-family space.

Ryan
Yeah, absolutely. So I actually had a corporate career for ten years now in the electric utility industry. So that’s kind of my job coming right out of College. You know, I learned a lot in that space, working with teams, just driving results, collaborating with others definitely translates well into real estate. On top of that, definitely passionate about creating other income streams, other businesses. So you know, I’m on the side. I’ve created a small ATM business that I still work on today. And also in the past, I’ve started a Kombucha tea company with my brother back in 2017, and that was a great small business. Very unique. We grew that business to be a profitable one but eventually exited that in 2019.

Rod
Is this you with Goggles and masks down in your basement? Like I’m thinking breaking bad?

Ryan
Yeah, not quite. There are some funky smells, but that’s about it.

Rod
Okay. Sorry. Please continue.

Ryan
No, you’re good. You’re good. A unique business. But again, just another side business and kind of focusing on building up my different income streams. And in parallel, I’ve always had just real estate itch. I’ve been learning about real estate ins and outs of it for probably the last five years. And Rod, honestly, you were one of the first that I’ve listened to as far as podcasts go. So a good three, four years listening to your podcast learning and then branching out, learning from other sources and people, and you know eventually just wanted to take the leap and take some action. The strength of mind is not only just learning a bunch of information, but taking the action, implementing and kind of building confidence in doing that. So I think just through all those experiences, I’ve realized that you can take action, you know build up your income, and then eventually you want to put it somewhere where you know, you’re going to be able to multiply your wealth and add value to other team members, especially in the real estate space, which I’ve been learning a lot as well being a team member. So eventually I’ll let into me wanting to expand my network. I started out doing real estate, basically on my own. I approached a larger eleven-unit building right away on my own. I thought I was confident enough to take that down and I was close, but it didn’t happen. There were a few things that came up and we’ll get into that later. But what it led me to was taking a step back. I got a more manageable four-unit property that I still managed to this day. And I do everything for that building. And it just taught me a lot of good lessons. But it also made me realize that I need to level up my game, get around the right people, build my network and get on a team that supports me and pushes me to learn more in the business. So ultimately, in 2020, I joined the warrior group, and you know that was a leap of faith at the time. You know, I knew about it and then kind of just learning more and more about it eventually, I was like, I got to do this. I jumped in and it’s honestly been the best thing I’ve done you know to date. So it’s been fantastic. And as I’m sure you’ll learn here, I’ve taken some big strides.

Rod
Thank you for those kind words buddy.

Ryan
Yeah, absolutely.

Rod
And you absolutely have taken massive freaking action. And I’ve got a quick question before I let Mark ask his. And that is– was that fourplex, the first deal, or did you start with some single-family to get started and break you know–

Ryan
The four flex It was the first deal.

Rod
Oh, fantastic. Awesome. What a great place to start.

Ryan
It was. And I would recommend, you know, people get into those smaller units and then take on more of the management you know experience the leasing side of it, the tenant side of it, the maintenance, the lawn cutting, the snow removal. I mean, everything that goes with it, you learn real quick what you’re good at, what you don’t really want to be involved in as much, and you start to whittle away at your strengths and weaknesses. And I think it’s a key kind of leveling up in this business.

Rod
I want to hammer home what Ryan just said, guys. Okay, that is such a great tip when you can do it the way he did it. Start with a Plex, manage it yourself. You know get your hands dirty, deal with the tenants and the toilets and the maintenance and the remodel and the financing and all the nuances of getting the deal done. It’s just such a great foundation to move into the larger deals. So really, I just want to hammer that home with an exclamation. Mark.

Mark
Let’s talk about that, Ryan. I mean what initially was your first pivotal moment here in your multi-family journey.

Ryan
Yeah, my first pivotal moment, I guess the kind of like I mentioned before, you know I was learning all the terminology of real estate, especially getting out of the one to four units and jumping into the five-plus multi-family. I mean, looking at properties from an income approach versus like, a sales comp approach. Right. You really got to get into the numbers, kind of learn the underwriting. What’s a good deal? What’s not a good deal. And you know, in doing that, I gained all that knowledge. And then, like I said before, I like, kind of taking those steps in action. So I found a direct-to-seller deal off Craigslist, and it was an eleven-unit deal comprised of all Studios you know in an okay part of town. And eventually, I got it under contract after negotiating with the seller. But there were just a couple of missteps that I took. You know, I was using the sellers’ banker. I was using a real estate attorney that I wasn’t familiar with. We weren’t using a broker. So there were a lot of things that I kind of stumbled into. And eventually, when it came time to you know inspect the property and go through those motions, it turns out there’s a lot of things that the seller was hiding that was uncovered in the due diligence process, and you know eventually we couldn’t come to terms on where you know credits and pricing needed to fall. So the deal fell apart. But that’s kind of the pivotal moment for me because I stepped back into the smaller unit to get more confidence going forward. So I think going through some of those may be failures or Rod, I know you like to call them seminars and just taking it and learning from it. You just grow so much quicker, you know how to handle things better, and you know who to involve sooner than later because I was kind of doing that stuff on the back end, like on the fly. And I think eventually that just more or less got me into trouble with that deal. So definitely a pivotal one moment.

Rod
I’m going to tell you, buddy, it’s probably a godsend, because I will tell you, all Studios are tough unless they’re large, really nice units. I’ve had you know complexes. I remember 22 units and Fort Myers. It was all Studios, and it just had such a huge turnover because people ultimately just want more room. In most cases, you know that’s a general statement. These units were really small. I don’t know what they were on yours.

Ryan
They’re small.

Rod
Yeah. Yeah. And so it’s a blessing, brother. I will just tell you that right now. So let me ask you this. You know, how did you push through the fear initially? And this probably even predates the warrior group like to take action on that eleven-unit. Talk about that for a minute. Talk about you know, I know there’s a lot of listeners listening that haven’t taken action yet because of fear or limiting beliefs or you know not realizing they need to get uncomfortable to make this happen for themselves. How did you push through all of them?

Ryan
Yeah, that’s a good question. And one I think I’m realizing more and more as I go on in my journey. The more you put yourself in situations, the more you build your confidence. And sometimes you just think you can’t do something or you just don’t have all the pieces put together before you get into that situation. You know It goes back to you know even my corporate career, taking on bigger challenges, working with different cross functional groups and kind of just be more of a critical thinker and then starting businesses I mean going in and cold calling you know, certain locations for ATMs or trying to sell beverages at a farmers market. I mean, you’re putting yourself out there all the time. And quite honestly, you’re always selling yourself in some fashion. Everybody’s selling themselves to somebody for something. I think just putting yourself in those situations, I would say, do it if you’re thinking about it. And if you got, like, a little bit of a butterfly feeling, you should probably go and do it because, you know, it’s never as bad as you think it is. I think we’ve all experienced that. And I think more and more you put yourself in those situations and seek out those kinds of discomforts, you can push through. And, you know, the other thing is I was able to save enough money for that eleven-unit to go in on my own and try and confidently go in financially. But it was all those other pieces. It’s not always about the money, right? I think that the team aspect is huge.

Rod
Oh, yeah, the inspections, the crunch, and the numbers properly. All of that, the communication and relationships with that new attorney and broker and being able to vet them properly and so on and so forth. You know you said something about that I want to hammer home. Tony Robbins has got a saying that something goes along the lines of this. “The quality of your life is in direct proportion to the amount of uncertainty you can live with”. So meaning, pushing yourself past your comfort zone. And that truly equates when you think back up the most amazing moments in your life. Invariably, there were times you got outside the comfort and pushed yourself. And so that just kind of puts again an exclamation mark in a comment that you just made about you doing that. And so I just wanted to mention that as well.

Ryan
Yeah. And you don’t realize it at the time, either. I think you realize, like, years after you’ve been doing all these things, like those five experiences that I was thinking about doing and I did actually, I feel a lot more confident about doing these other things. And somebody else mentioned this. But this kind of sticks with me is, you know I don’t know, my potential so why would I limit myself? And I always kind of think about that every once in a while. It’s kind of a powerful statement. And you’re like, yeah, why would I limit where I go or who I talk to if I don’t truly know my potential? So you’re kind of always, like, striving to get better and better.

Rod
Say it one more time. That is such a good one.

Ryan
If you don’t know your potential, why would you limit yourself?

Rod
Yeah. Love it.

Ryan
Yeah. That’s a good one.

Mark
So after taking some action, then Ryan and knocking down some smaller stuff there, what ultimately was your thought process that made you decide to get a mentor and join a group, then.

Ryan
Yeah. For me, it was just the realization that the market I was looking in. So I’m based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. You know It’s a decent market. I’ll still look here. It’s not a cyclical market or anything like that. It’s a pretty safe market. I just knew that I wanted to experience looking outside of your backyard. I’ve heard a lot of people talk that is possible and how it can be possible. And obviously, it goes back to the team mentality, and I really wanted to experience that. And I knew I needed to just get into a network of people that are doing bigger and better things than I am but have the same mindset, if not a stronger mindset. So I wanted to surround myself in that ecosystem. And the warrior program is a great example of that. I mean, you’re injected into that system or that ecosystem, and immediately you’re connecting with people. You’re learning about their experiences. Everybody’s super helpful. It’s just been amazing. Yeah. Just being helpful. And I feel like that’s what I needed was to be engaged with a bigger group of people doing bigger things.

Rod
I know you just aligned with one of you know successful warriors in the group, and you’ve kind of joined in. So that’s an awesome thing as well. You know, what is your definition of success, buddy? When you think about success to you, what does that look like?

Ryan
Yes, success to me. I think it’s just identifying a journey you want to be on. For me, it’s a part of the chase that is important to me. It makes me happy that I’m working towards something, and I’m making small achievements along the way. My end game is, I eventually like my time freedom to occur. I’d like to be in a place where you know, I can have more time with my daughter and my wife and in the future have that become more available and put in the work today to achieve that. I mean, that’s kind of the end goal. But I’m the type of person that I’m always going to be working towards something and trying to be better and better. So that to me, makes me happy. And I’m not the type that’s just going to want to say, retire and sit back and watch things happen.

Rod
We’ve had warriors that have retired after you know, three years in the program from their jobs. And you hear me say, grind for a few years like most people won’t. So you can live the rest of your life like most people can’t. But the reality is when you love what you do, why would you stop. I mean it’s just fun, right?

Ryan
Yeah. So that kind of makes me happy. At least that’s what I’ve found has made me happy so far. And I’m still learning what makes me happy. I think I’m very grateful for what I have today and the people that are supporting me. And you know I’m surrounded by so ever grateful for that and just seeking more happiness. And now I’m shifting a little bit in my mind to help other people and add more value to people because, in my short period on this Earth, I realized that I have achieved some things and I can share you know quite a bit of thing with other people that are striving for that as well.

Rod
And Mark, I want to add one follow-up on what he just said. I see that what he just said about wanting to help other people time and time and time again in our group because I seem to attract people that want to make the world a better place and help others. It’s just the craziest thing. I don’t know how that happens, but it just does. And do you see that as well, Ryan, from others in the group, right? Everybody just wants to pitch in. And it’s crazy. I mean, it’s amazing. It’s astounding to me how prevalent it is in that group. But anyway, go ahead, Mark.

Mark
No, I see that. You’re absolutely right. The most successful warriors are the ones that come in and say, how can I give to others and how can I help others? It’s not the people that say, oh, what can this group do for me? It’s what can I do for this group, right? Absolutely. I see that all the time as well. For you Ryan, you know obviously had the couple of other businesses. What has multi-family given you that those other businesses haven’t. You know that made you decide hey, I want to leave the tea business and get into multi-family.

Ryan
Yeah. Great question. I think it’s very apparent for people that are in the industry of what multi-family can provide. You know, it’s just such a strong business in the sense that it can provide you generational wealth. The asset class itself is very stable, and, you know, it’s taxi fishing. I mean, there’s all these things that it is as far as providing financial support. And, like as I said, generational wealth. So I think just you know looking at it from a macro sense, there’s such a demand for rentals across the US. And I think going forward in the next five, ten years, it’s going to just keep increasing. And I want to be a part of that. I want to shift. Like I said before, income streams is something that I’m passionate about is building up those income streams, kind of building my capital and then putting it into multi-family, because it’s almost like you’re for sure, going to get there with your financial goals when you’re in this asset class. And I think that as more people learn about it, they’re just amazed by kind of what it can do and how powerful it can be. And they don’t really realize that, hey, there’s a group of people that own this apartment complex. I always thought this was like a big bank or an institution or something like that. So it’s just exciting to talk to people about it. And that’s why I chose multi-family. I learned about it early on, and then I just figured out a way to be a part of it. And I think there are more people out there a lot of people listening to this that are thinking the same thing. And these are honestly the steps that you should be thinking about taking if you want to be serious about it.

Rod
I couldn’t agree more. Obviously, I mean that seems like a self-serving comment, but it’s not. I mean it’s the most resilient asset class there is. You know within a couple of years of the crash, the rents were higher than they were before the crash, and you know the government doesn’t help other asset classes survive things like they’ve helped landlords with rent relief in the billions and billions of dollars helping tenants that don’t have or asset classes. Yeah. Let me ask you this. Were there any previous failures that happened or even setbacks that happened initially in this real estate endeavor of yours that may have set you up for future success? Anything comes to mind, and they may not be. But if there are any setbacks that you learned from and grew from– I guess maybe there were probably numerous examples in that eleven-unit. Yes.

Ryan
Yeah. I was going to reference that. I’m trying to think of some others. I mean, there were others. You know I think a big part of this journey is how do I want to say it? Maybe like testing partnerships or testing relationships because I want to operate with integrity. I want to be authentic to the people I’m around, and I want to make sure that those people are being the same to me, you know transparency and doing things on the up and up quite honestly. And you know that comes from even like in the ATM business. Let’s say. There can be some shady characters in the ATM business.

Rod
Really.

Ryan
Met a couple, and you know, I know in real estate, that can be the case, too, but I’m trying to align myself with people that are acting with integrity. And I think I went through a lot of different relationships or connections where I was testing some people out, and it just didn’t work out for one reason or another. Not necessarily really negative. But I think it took me time to go through those steps, those relationships. And maybe that held me back a little bit at first, or I wasn’t talking to the right people. But outside of the direct Eleven-unit example, which was a big one, I think just waiting was maybe one that I wish I would have acted quicker in this space instead of maybe focusing on others.

Rod
That answers a question that I ask almost all the time. Which are you know if you tell your 18-year-old self, what might you do differently? It’s always bigger, faster. Right. And I feel the same way. And you know it took me 2000 freaking houses to get that memo. So you know don’t feel bad.

Ryan
Yeah, you know it’s really interesting, even when I was you know 23 I think it was. As I read the “Rich Dad Poor Dad” book like everybody did, or a lot of people have. Back then, you know I was even interested in buying plots of residential land in Arizona. I have some relatives in Arizona, and it just kind of like shifted my mind. And I was already looking at, like, investing in some way, in real estate in some fashion. And I just didn’t act on it. I think I was just too young, too naive. I had a couple of people saying, like, you know why would you do that or kind of get in my ear about it? And at that time, you’re thinking, okay, I’m in college. I got to get a job, kind of go the standard route, which I think is important, and it is a path that is good for people. But at the same time, I knew I was already starting to shift my mindset from that.

Rod
I want to expand on something you just said because, guys, you have to be so careful who you allow to influence you. You know when you haven’t got built that confidence up, like your example back then, I’ve got numerous examples for me personally, of things I should have done that turned out to be incredible opportunities that I missed out on. I think most people have the same thing happen. And you just got to be careful who you allow to influence you. And I tell you, you know have to be so careful to choose a peer group that’s excited about your success. We have that blessing in the warrior group. I will tell you. We don’t let everybody in. If I get a hint of narcissism when you speak to integrity, you know that’s our number one core value of my company. Number one by far, we do what’s right, even if it hurts. And so you know if I get a hint of that, I don’t let them in the group. And there are people we absolutely turn down. And so, and by the way, if you’re interested in the warrior group, text the word “crush” to “72345”. And that’s how you apply. Text “crush” to “72345”. And then you know you have an opportunity to check us out. And vice versa, we have an opportunity to check you out as well to see if it’s a fit. And if it is fantastic, even if it’s not, you’ll get a lot of value from the phone call you have with my team. Mark’s team. Yeah. So, yeah. Be very careful to protect your dream number one, because you know when you initially have that dream, it’s a fragile thread. It’s very easy to break that thread. Or people will break it based out on their jealousy or their fears, you know their own limiting beliefs. You know and so it’s so important to you know to be very, very careful with who you share your dreams with.

Ryan
Yeah. Especially when you’re younger, too. I think you’re a little more vulnerable as far as trying to figure out what you’re excited about, what you want to be doing in the future. You allow external forces to really shaped kind of where you’re going early on. So what you said just getting around the right people that are supporting you, regardless, is very important.

Rod
Every day there are winds listed in the Warrior Facebook group, but people that have done a deal got one under contract, went and met with other warriors, and you know that’s that support. I don’t care if you do it in the warrior group, get into a support system like that. To have these people around you. Go to a local, meetup, whatever, and get around people that want more out of life. That is not afraid of doing more in life. So you know it’s just such a critical piece.

Mark
So, Ryan, for this last one for me here. But for people listening that are maybe a little bit overwhelmed by the size of apartment buildings, whether it’s the amount of units, the money, whatever, what words of wisdom or message would you give to those people?

Ryan
Yeah. I mean foundationally, I would say educate yourself. I think being educated on any topic that you’re passionate about or looking to go after. It really helps just speaking with other people on the topic, you kind of break down that first layer. Just in knowing what you’re talking about. So I’d say get educated. Obviously, we all hear take action that’s super important. But even before that, there’s a saying that I kind of like to go by, and it’s the be, do, have instead of have, do, be. And if you flip it. So if the be, do, have, it means you start out as being the person that you think you’re eventually going to be. So you start out with that thinking, I’m already that person, and then you start doing those things that those people are already doing, and then eventually you’ll have those things that those people have. So it’s kind of like you’re starting out like you’re already that person instead of the flip of that or the reverse of that where some people think they have to have it all already before they start doing. And then we’ll eventually become that person. So I think it’s interesting you can just flip that and just mentally think I’m already that person. And since I’m that person and I know these things, I’ve educated myself. I’m going to start doing them and eventually down the road, I’ll have the things that I think are important coming out of that. So I think it’s just powerful to kind of think about it that way. And again, it’s more of a mindset shift than anything. But it works. Yeah. That would be my advice.

Rod
Great advice. I’ll spend it a different way. It’s really acting as if you know and emulating people that are successful in whatever you want to do. It can be relationships, but it doesn’t even have to be business, but you act as if you’re like they are, and eventually you won’t be acting. And you just embody and I love that, I’ve never heard that described that way before. But when you own it and operate that way, as if you already that piece of what it is that you want, ultimately, you will be. That’s just the way this universe got whatever you believe works.

Ryan
Absolutely. And you know the other part of that, too, I wanted to mention, was support is key, I think if–and I know we’ve touched on this already, but having people around you that support you and what you’re even thinking about doing is just critical. You know I’ve got a beautiful wife, Brittany, and we’ve got a 15-month-old daughter, Reese, and we’ve got another on the way.

Rod
Oh, Congratulations. I didn’t know that buddy. That’s freaking awesome.

Ryan
I probably should have led with that. Maybe thinking do a reverse on that one.

Rod
That’s awesome.

Ryan
Yeah. So, I mean, having that support you know at those levels is just critical as far as your confidence and moving forward and still balancing things out, because it’s not all about real estate and finances and money. I mean the relationship side of your life is just invaluable. So having that support from them has just been fantastic.

Rod
It’s a critical piece you know. It’s a critical piece. And you know one of the things that I try to do is have people, if they’re coming to one of my events, bring the spouse because you know you both go through you know the first thing we do is goals. You’ve got to know what you want and why you want it. You’ve got to have what Napoleon Hill calls that burning desire. But you got to make sure you’re aligned. And so you each do your goals, you compare them and see if you’re headed in the same direction because if not, you’re in push-pull. And a lot of times, the spouse may have the fear that needs to be worked through and explained. And you know it’s just such a critical component to have that foundational support at home for sure. So I’m really glad you brought that up.

Yeah. And it’s almost like a full cycle, because, you know Mark, I think I talked to you a year ago prior to joining the Warrior program, and we were having that discussion with my wife because we were expecting our first child. So this is going through our head as like, can we do this now? Can we balance this with what’s about to come and just to see how far we’ve gone? Having that addition in our life has been great to see. And again, it goes back to a kind of stepping into those challenges and growing from them. It’s a case study right there.

Rod
Getting a little uncomfortable. I love that. I love that man. And please give Brittany our Congratulations on the new addition that’s coming. That’s awesome. Well, listen, brother, thank you. It’s been a real treat to see you and get that great news. And I appreciate you coming on and sharing a little wisdom. And you really had some great Nuggets that even enlightened me on a couple of instances that I really appreciate. And we’ve got our Warrior only event coming up next week. I don’t know if you’re able to make it. Probably not with the baby coming, but–

Ryan
You know what? I am super disappointed because we have a family vacation plan. This was like the one live event since COVID started.

Rod
Right, it’s the first one. Right.

Ryan
And I joined and I’ve been at the boot camps, but I’m not able to make this one, unfortunately, but I think there’s another boot camp coming up this December.

Rod
Yeah. No, December. December is the live one. That’ll be a big one. And there’ll be tons of warriors there. Yeah, we do warrior-only events as well, and that’s next week, and we do deep dives on deal analysis and area analysis, but you’ll get the recordings, so it’s all good, buddy. But anyway, thank you. Thank you for coming on. Mark, it’s good to see you bud, and you guys have a good one. We’ll talk to you later.

Ryan
Yeah. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.