This blog is written by Jen Josey, Real Estate Investor, and REIGN Coach. She is not a professional writer and writes like she talks so put your red pen away. Jen is extremely opinionated but reserves the right to change her opinion at any time because, well, that's the way she rolls. She may also use colorful language so don't be offended. Jen does not claim to be an expert, she is just sharing her personal thoughts and adding a perspective on investor topics that may benefit her readers. Jen also finds it strange to write in the third person. Enjoy!
Yep, it's a crazy time right now.
Feeling so disconnected from others, social media has been the main source for people to communicate and it hasn't been pretty. Everyone on Facebook is either fearing the end of the world or saying you're stupid to believe the world is ending. How dare you not support the local businesses or how dare you leave your house to support the local businesses. Republicans are cheering "their" president for sending out $1000 checks to those in need when that's actually socialism in its purest form, a concept they would never support. Democrats are blaming the president for not taking action sooner, or just blaming him for everything in general. Parents are complaining over the new norm of homeschooling. As a former middle school teacher, they're about to learn the hard truth that the teachers really aren't the problem. People are disgusted over empty toilet paper shelves at Target yet they're the ones trying to buy Charmin by the truckload. Info-graphics of recipes for making your own hand sanitizer has replaced Baby Yoda memes. And enough with the "brighten my day and post the 6th picture on your camera, no matter how ugly..."
Yesterday, I desperately needed a break.
I popped in my earbuds and sat in the hammock during the few minutes the sun came out of hiding. Many questions were going through my head. How was my investment business going to fare during these times? What are interest rates going to do? Will there be home buyers when my projects are finished? Will our supply companies close? Will our tenants be able to pay rent in two weeks? There are so many unknowns so I made a very intentional choice to guide my thoughts towards anything positive.
I started listening to Tony Robbins and he said the most profound statement,"In life you need either inspiration or desperation."
Desperation. That's what I was feeling.
Desperate for a change.
Desperate to put my focus on the positive.
I started to think about all the things I have WANTED to do but never seemed to have the time. What a gift I had just received from the universe to catch up on all those things. Here are a few ideas that are inspiring me during these desperate times...
Dive Into Education
I'm a big believer in education and have paid tens of thousands of dollars for a handful of programs. Most of these programs come with online educational modules of some sort. If it's a reputable company, I'm sure they update or add new educational modules from time to time. I opened the Knowledge Business Blueprint, a course I took last year and found they had added an entire second half! This is a course created by Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi to teach you how to run Virtual Masterminds. I created the Real Estate Investor Growth Network last year but have hit a little lull in that business. I spent four hours yesterday going through several modules on mastering your mindset and now I'm fired up to create new content for my REIGN members.
My husband and I recently took a three-day course on tax deeds as a new source of real estate leads for us here in North Carolina. Part of the course talked about tax liens which are available in other states and are sold online. Vance has decided he will put his focus now on learning more about tax liens because of the virtual convenience. He will start diving into those educational modules next week.
Update Your Website
When was the last time you looked at your own website? I opened mine and saw a home that was listed "For Sale" when it actually sold several months ago! Yikes! I use WIX to host our websites and they have added some fun new features like pop-up boxes where visitors can add their email so they never miss a new blog post. There's also a new carousel feature to combine all my before and after photos into a little movie. Our bios are two years old so that will get updated in the next few days. There are tons of new graphics to comb through so I can revise the backgrounds. This is a big item on my growing to-do list.
Move Meetings Online
I have two local groups that I meet with regularly. One is an accountability group and one is a ladies' business group. Both groups meet for lunch every other week but were canceled this week because restaurants and bars have been shut down until further notice. This morning, I created a Zoom meeting so we could continue to meet online. You can create a Zoom account for free and schedule meetings for up to 45 minutes. If you pay for an account, the calls can be longer. Tomorrow, Property Sisters will have our first virtual meeting on our laptops where we will be able to see each other and catch up on our businesses, just like we traditionally do. I strongly believe keeping some type of normalcy with your tribe will break up the monotony of quarantine.
Keep a Schedule
My day-to-day life is different because there are two of us working from home now. My husband typically leaves at 8 am to drive to his office. Now, since the gym is closed, he's sleeping right up to when he needs to log onto his work computer which threw me off for a couple of days. Today, I was back into my regular morning routine of 6:30 am meditation and affirmations. This simple grounding puts me in the right mindset to attack the day. While there's another (noisy and distracting) body in this house, I have moved my office downstairs to the sofa. Even though the dog steals my pen each time I get up, I am able to keep the focus on what's at hand...like this blog...
My block scheduling is also going to need an overhaul. In an effort to stay home as much as possible, my project management time slot will be replaced with a phone call to my contractors until they too, decide to stay home. My marketing time slot will be replaced with learning additional ways to assist clients in this trying time. My gym time slot will have to change to yoga videos or hikes with the dogs. All of these changes will need to adapt to what the rona throws our way. Most important is to replace that activity with something productive instead of just canceling.
Read, Read, Read!
While reading entrepreneur/business books has always been scheduled into my daily time blocking, truth be told, it was often the first thing I gave up if the day got busy. Now, it feels like a much-needed mini escape from reality. If I can tolerate the pollen, I try to sit outside since the temps are warming up. I have a pile of books that I can't wait to get through so I'm super excited about the next few weeks. I just picked up a thick book on NLP: Neuro-Linguistic Programming which is a topic I've been wanting to explore. If you were not able to load up on books prior to businesses shutting down, check out the Libby app. This is an app that connects to your local libraries where you can download books (and audiobooks) for free, all you need is a library card!
Update Your Business Social Media
Do you have a Facebook account for your business? Instagram? LinkedIn? YouTube? Take the time to make sure your business message is clear and all the logos are the same for continuity. LinkedIn is one of the most overlooked platforms to promote your business so spend a lot of time there connecting with others in the real estate industry. Don't forget about bankers, hard money lenders, realtors, mortgage brokers, attorneys, other investors, etc. Our last two projects have come from referrals so amp up your visibility over all the platforms.
One of my favorite social media coaches, also a ginger, has a great blog out right now, it's a must-read: Make the Most of Quarantine Time.
Revise Your Goals
We are only the third month into 2020 and we all need to revisit our annual or quarterly goals. The great part about Real Estate Investing is that there are several different niches. When Vance and I started out, we put our focus on fix and flips. After a couple of years, we shifted our focus to include AirBnB and long-term rentals. I later created an online coaching program to help other investors accelerate their business. Vance has recently earned his broker-in-charge license which has allowed us to open a Real Estate Firm.
Since the fix and flip side of our business will probably slow down as contractors decide (or may be mandated) to stay home, we need to shift our goals elsewhere. See how I said "shift?" Yes, we are all about to face some unknown challenges. You have the choice to go down with the masses or your can choose to keep going. When the 2008 real estate bubble busted, many investment businesses failed. Those that survived, shifted.
I am going to take this time and focus on my online coaching while Vance focuses on opening his Real Estate Firm. We will also start investing more money into tax liens which provide a little more confidence in predetermined return on investments. If the unemployment rate increases, we may shift again and increase our rental portfolio to provide housing for those in need.
So...to wrap up this blog...I leave you with as much positivity I can muster. While this rona can kiss my ass, I hope you can see the opportunity it also provides.
Be safe.
Be smart.
But most important, be in the right mindset...
*Read more blogs by Jen Josey at www.REIGNmastermind.com.