ATE-The Right Mindset with Rod Khleif and Marc Cesar

Getting out of your head and and taking the leap with Rod Khleif and Marc Cesar in our most motivational episode ever! 

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This episode originally aired on November 1st, 2021

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Rod Khleif
Rod Khleif is an entrepreneur, real estate investor, multiple business owner, author, mentor, and community philanthropist who is passionate about business, life, success, and giving back. As one of the country’s top real estate trainers, Rod has personally owned and managed over 2,000 properties.
Rod is Host of the Top-Ranked iTunes Real Estate Podcast which has been downloaded more than 10,000,000 times – “The Lifetime Cash Flow Through Real Estate Investing Podcast.” Rod is the author of “How to Create Lifetime Cash Flow Through Multifamily Properties” considered to be an essential “textbook” for aspiring multifamily investors.
As an accomplished entrepreneur, Rod has built several successful multi-million dollar businesses. As a community philanthropist, Rod founded and directs The Tiny Hands Foundation, which has benefited more than 100,000 community children and families in need. Rod has combined his passion for real estate investing and business development coaching with his personal philosophy of goal setting, envisioning, and manifesting success to become one of America’s top real estate investment and business development trainers.

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Marc Cesar
Marc A. Cesar is a real estate professional, founder and owner of Cesar Property Group, LLC which was established in 2015. Marc kicked off his career in real estate investing 5 years ago as a residential wholesaler in the NJ/PA area, specifically in Philadelphia. He has completed over 500k+ in sales as a wholesaler. In late 2018, he decided to pivot over to the Commercial Multifamily space as he’s always had a love for owning apartment buildings. Marc has gained his vast investing knowledge through mentorship from The Michael Blank group, Renatus Real Estate Investing, and more. He is also a proud member of the GOB Network of Apartment Investors which is a one stop shop platform for all needs pertaining to Multifamily Investing. He has put together an amazing team of operators with various skills sets with the sole purpose of locating underperforming assets, when stabilized and repositioned, can yield preferable returns for investors. 

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Your host, Brian Briscoe, is a co-founder and principal in the real estate investing firm Four Oaks Capital.  He and his team currently have 629 units worth $36 million in assets under management and are continuing to grow.  He will retire as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps in 2021. Learn more about him and the Four Oaks team at www.fouroakscapital.com  or contact him at brianbriscoe@fouroakscapital.com - be sure to let him know where you found him.

Connect with him on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Transcript

Brian Briscoe: 0:00

Hey Mark, we got Rod Khleif on the line here. What do you want to ask him?

Marc Cesar: 0:03

How would you help someone who's stuck in their head? How would you help them get out of their own way so that they can achieve the success they aspire for. But one

Rod Khleif: 0:14

of the first things you've got to do is you've got to create that desire. So that's got to be there, they've got to want it. But then you've got to help them recognize the fact that you don't have to see the whole road. You can drive all the way across the country at night, we're seeing 50 feet in front of you and get there, you know that other people have done it. You know, you may encounter some obstacles, but you know, you're going to be able to get through them and it's the same way with this or any business and with your goals, but you've got to take that first step.

Brian Briscoe: 0:50

Welcome to the diary of an apartment investor podcast with your host Brian Briscoe. In this podcast we bring some of the top professionals in the apartment investment field to discuss various aspects of the apartment investing journey, with the sole purpose of educating listeners to make wise investment decisions. The Diary of an apartment investor podcast is sponsored by four oaks capital, bringing you high yield returns through apartment complex investing. Welcome to the diamond apartment investor podcast. I'm your host Brian Briscoe with four oaks capital. And today is one of our Ask the Expert episodes and I am super excited for our guests today. We've got a man with a ton of experience that most people will recognize rod Cleef and up and coming, you know soon to be apartment investor, Mark Cesar. And that said, You'll we'll start typically with our experienced investor first. So rod, welcome to the show.

Rod Khleif: 1:39

Oh, thanks for having me, Brian. I appreciate it. Mark, pleasure to meet you. Looking forward to having some fun with you guys.

Brian Briscoe: 1:45

Yeah, absolutely. Well, once again, thanks. Thanks for coming on this show. And just want to say that, you know, your podcast was was very beneficial to me, you know, as I was, you know, learning about the multifamily industry as I was learning about what was possible. So, thank you very much for starting that for putting it on. And I've also been to a couple of your boot camps too. And those are amazing events. So thank you.

Rod Khleif: 2:05

No kidding. Wow. Awesome. Thank you. Okay, cool.

Brian Briscoe: 2:08

So Ron, if you do us a favor, tell us about yourself. Tell us a little bit about your story. Sure. Sure.

Rod Khleif: 2:13

Sure. Well, let's see. So I'm an immigrant. I was born in the Netherlands in Holland, you know, wouldn't choose windmills and immigrated to this country. When I was six years old. My mother is Vanya, my brother Albert, and we ended up in Denver, Colorado, struggled by my we struggled financially, my mom struggled. And I remember eating expired food because we'd go to the expired food store. We drink powdered milk with our cereal in the morning, because that was cheaper. And we're close in the goodwill and the Salvation Army all the way through junior high school till I lied about my age, because I was tall when I was 14 at Burton got a job at Burger King flipping burgers. And you know, and so we struggled. But luckily, my mom had an incredible work ethic. And and I'm sure, by the way, let me say this, I'm sure there are people listening that probably struggled harder than we did, and maybe struggled harder now with all this COVID nonsense going on. But let's see, I knew I wanted more. And like I said, my mom had an incredible work ethic. So she babysat kids, so we'd have enough money to eat. And with her babysitting money, she was a bit of an entrepreneur. So she bought the house across the street from us when I was about 14 for about$30,000.19 60 Forget it, I can't even think about what 70 would have been sitting for. It would have been 74. And when I in about three years later, she told me she made $20,000 in her sleep on it that he got up$20,000 in value. And I'm like, what? Wow, true screw college Mom, I'm getting into real estate. So I got my real estate broker's license, which you could do back then with education. Now they got smart, and you need some experience. But I was a broker right out of the gate at 18. And I was gonna be rich selling other people's houses. Well, my first year in real estate, I made about eight grand, my second year, maybe 10 grand, but my third year I made well over $100,000. And so what happened between year two and year three that caused me to TEDx my income 600 grand back in 1981 was pretty decent change. And so what happened was I met a guy that taught me about mindset and psychology and how truly 80 to 90% of your success in anything is just that your mindset and your psychology. If it was just knowledge, there'd be a bunch of wealthy librarians and college professors out there, right? It's you actually have to take action with what you learn. And so, you know, fast forward to today, I've owned a couple 1000 houses that I've rented long term, a few 1000 apartment units in 2006 my net worth went up $17 million while I slept. And you know, and if you do the math on that, it's like $8,300 an hour over a 40 hour work week for the year and of course I did and I got ahead so big I can barely fit it through a door. And you know, I thought I was a real estate God and you know, when that happens, God of the universe will give you a nice little smack Well, that was 2008 I lost everything I lost $50 million in 2008. And so you know what, what I'm mostly known for is is talking about mindset and psychology and my my podcast just broke 11 million downloads, I'm really proud of that. And, you know, and I appreciate the shout out on that. And, and I think it's because people resonate with that they recognize the fact that they actually have to take action. So many people, you know, especially in this business, you get a lot of analytical people, and, you know, people need it Space Engineers, and so on and so forth. And, you know, they need to check off every single box. And, and, and there's fear holding them back. And, and so the mindset really resonates. And so, you know, like, if you come to one of my live events, you said, you came to a couple of my boot camps. And you remember, the first thing we did was goal setting. I mean, on steroids, you know, we went through, we went through what you wanted with clarity, and, and we discovered your why. So that was the first thing that we do at my boot camps. And, you know, and by the way, if you're not interested in coming to one, I did that on January 2 of this year. And if you and I did it with music, and you get a free guide, and everything, and if you go, if you ping me on any social media channel, I'll get you the link to that. And it's really awesome. It'll, it'll, it'll really help juice you. I do it every first of the year. I did it on the second this year, because it was a Saturday, but But feel free to reach out to me. And by the way, while I'm on the topic, I have a bootcamp coming up. The first one, since for two years, the first live one for years now. And I'm super excited about it's going to be in Orlando, December 3, fourth, and fifth and three full days. And I'll give your listeners a fantastic deal because the price is going to go up before this airs. And so if you're interested text rod in Orlando, 272345, or go to rod in Orlando, calm. And if you use the code rod friend, you can come for$197 I mean, it's three full days, not a sales pitch. As you know, Brian, I spent about 45 minutes talking about my coaching, that's it, you know, and you're certainly not obligated to take advantage of it. But the rest of the time is full on training. And if you went twice, and you obviously saw the value,

Brian Briscoe: 6:51

it's a world class event. And I'll just tell everyone, I'm going to jump in on this give you my my endorsement, you know, world class event in $197, you can't beat that. So I'd be jumping over that.

Rod Khleif: 7:02

Thank you appreciate that. Very much. So anyway, yeah. So um, you know, I love this business. And oh, you let me go ahead and you go ahead and lead with questions. I'm so used to talking. Yeah, no question. So override people sometimes.

Brian Briscoe: 7:17

So I really do enjoy the mindset. And we were talking before we hit the record button that, you know, your your podcast has, you know, the mindset episodes. And I was one of those very analytical type, you know, still kind of am I two degrees in math, and, you know, I very much discounted the mindset, and I used to skip over those episodes every time but, you know, after after a year or so of banging my head against the wall, I started realizing that, oh, my goodness, this mindset thing has something to do has a lot to do with it. So how about this question, you know, if for for somebody who's an aspiring investor, or somebody who's trying to get into the game, you know, what would you suggest doing to help them improve their mindset? Sure,

Rod Khleif: 8:03

well, it's self serving, or for God's sakes, come spend a couple days with me three days with me, it's kind of a duck. But but there is that because I spent a lot of time on mindset as you remember. I mean, people pry they laugh, we do all kinds of cool stuff there. But but but you know, if you don't want to come see me, that's cool. Go to YouTube University learn, but But learn, obviously, you got to learn the business. But as it relates to mindset, you've got to know exactly what you want, why you want it, this is how I recovered from losing 50 million bucks, you know, I had to reassociate with my goals reassociate with my wife, and just get really honed in on that. Because, you know, when people have a negative thing happened to them, it's very easy to get to have that become their story. And and and it becomes a limiting story. And and so and I fell into that trap for a couple months, it's like, oh, you know, what was me I lost 50 million bucks. But no, it you have to you have to pay very, very attention very much attention to your focus. So let me give you a couple quick high level tips about about about this one is you got to be around the right group of people. Okay, and most people so your peer group is critical and you've heard this before guys but but you know, the five you show me your three best friends that you hang out with, I'll show you you are because that's that's who you are. And and so you know, you're going to be them financially, your happiness level, your health level, everything. And so, and most people default to the people they went to school with or the people they go to work with and and that can be a mistake, because because those people might be threatened by your dreams. They might be jealous of your dreams, they might be afraid of your dreams, and they'll they'll impact you. So be very proactive and who you allow to influence you. That's number one. Sometimes it's family. Okay, so I'll tell you love your family but choose your peers right so be very careful there. Second thing focus right now if you're listening to Brian, you are a freakin leader. I know you are you wouldn't be here otherwise. And right now more than ever. The world needs leaders. Okay with all the craziness going on. Don't get me started but but the point is, as a leader, you must direct your focus and people attention to it. And even stand guard at your mind the door to your mind. You know, don't bring in the don't get me started on the fake news and all that crap but but don't bring in that stuff don't get caught up in that stuff because, you know, it's just gonna build whatever you focus on grows positive or negative. So you want to bring in the good stuff like you said, My Own Your Power clips on my podcast, they'll juice you once a week, but go to YouTube, look at motivational videos, I'll go on, I'll watch soldiers coming home and I'll tear up like a big baby, but I feel good about it. And I get you know, and I get juiced about it. And so, you know, bring in that stuff. Don't bring in the negativity. So very important, your focus is super important. And then lastly, again, get aligned on your goals. Napoleon Hill call in thinking Grow Rich calls it a burning desire, you've got to really want something because, again, you know, to accomplish anything, you got to push through fear, you got to push through limiting beliefs. You've got to, you know, maybe you're comfortable, the comfort zones, a warm place, but we all know nothing freakin grows there, right? So you've got to know what you want with clarity. Make sure it juices you know what your y's are. And, you know, I've got it and put pictures of your goals around you. I mean, I've got my planner here in the back of this thing. I've got pictures that have been in here for 20 years. Let me show you I'm literally 20 years I've had these plastic, first pictures of my gratitude pictures, everything starts from a place of gratitude. Okay, so, you know, these are pictures of my kids when they were young, and you use gratitude to manifest these things in your life. But then I've got pictures of the things that I want it I built this $10 million house and please, I'm not going to this, I'm going to share some things I'm not bragging here, please know that this is just to hopefully inspire you. That's all because these things really don't juice me that much anymore. But I built this $10 million house on the beach, which was unthinkable when I was 18 but I dreamt about it and I made it happen. And that picture looks just like it before it was built. It's crazy. This bottom picture I live in I lost that house and all the craziness when I lost 50 million this bottom picture I live in a compound now I've got six buildings, my daughter's staying in my guest house I've got a guest house I've got a media building I turned into a video studio with a beautiful exercise facility and a theater room and on and on just spectacular home yeah and and this bottom picture this is kind of cool. This picture behind me this green screen is my backyard you see the white walls in those bottom pictures. You see the see the white walls look behind me it's my backyard and this is this is way before I ever had this thing it's just crazy how this stuff works. But even you know stupid shit like watches I got a few $100,000 with a watches that stuff that I thought was important but I had pictures and I got it had a Lamborghini I thought that was important one time Rolls Royce been you know, Bentley, get pictures, put them around you because I got all these things. And and so you know, that'll do shoe that'll create that burning desire. So once you do your goals, one of the things I tell you is go out there and get pictures of them, put them around you. I've got vision boards here behind my green screen of Yeah, you see right there on the floor. There's only one picture on that one. But I've got vision boards right there, you know, because that's how you get this stuff. So if you're not motivated, sit out every morning I'll sit for literally like two minutes, I'll sit in that recliner behind the behind me here. And I'll just do gratitude. I'll do gratitude for my amazing beautiful wife, you know, my kids, my my coaching students my foundation, and I'll just do gratitude, but then I'll do gratitude for the things that I want as if I already have them. And I know I'm losing some of you analytical ones but big big freakin mistake because this is how I had 50 million to lose and how I got back to the success that I have today was doing this. And so you know, I'll do gratitude for things I want as if I were to have them and that's how I get them. So anyway that's how I motivated that's how I stay motivated. Yeah,

Brian Briscoe: 13:38

you know, I'm like six times more motivated than I was 30 minutes ago. So they're very excited. So talking about the burning desire I call it the burning why and you're talking about things that used to motivate you what is your big burning desire right now? My why yeah sure. My

Rod Khleif: 13:56

desire my desire Well, you know, I've got material wise that I kind of like that I think about but I'll tell you my big my big why right now is see behind me on the wall there. Those are some of the hundreds of thank you cards the whole you can't even see the whole wall behind me is covered here behind the green screen. So I've got hundreds of thank you cards and please no this is not ego again, please know this. I get literally I get love a dozen times a day. Okay. And so somebody will tell me you know, how grateful they are to have me in their in their life, they'll send me send me an email, they'll you know, I get I get a card. I get you know, I get a gift in the mail and and and I mean it's my greatest gift in life and I'm just looking because I literally just got one this morning and I get them all day long. And and again this please No, it's not ego, but it's my greatest blessing. I mean, I'm addicted because you know who wouldn't be they get all this love from people whose lives have been impacted my students, my warriors, my coaching students, they've they now own over 40 are right at 46,000 doors that we're aware of. And I mean, and I've only been teaching them Four years. So 46,000 units is pretty freaking awesome. Right? And, and so I'm really, really proud of that. But, but anyway, you know, so So my Y is, is, is adding value and I just, I just absolutely love the love that I get because of you know, these people's lives are changing I've got numerous people that have retired from high paying jobs, you know, because of the income from their, from their apartment investing and, and so it's it's a real blessing I had I had a an event for my warriors here in Sarasota two weeks ago, when and with COVID we only had about 130 of them show but the gratitude and the the print, you know, we did deep dives on deal analysis and had some attorney speak there and it was just two full days of training all on me. I pay for everything and, and it was just incredible. And so again, I love I've never loved what I've done for work more than I love what I'm doing right now because, you know, we're changing lives. So yeah, you know, I'll

Brian Briscoe: 16:03

tell you what, your programs had a big impact in mine and one of my partners is actually one of your warriors. So, yep. Todd, you

Rod Khleif: 16:11

got to tell me who it is who? Todd Butler, Todd baller, you know, you know how I met Todd. Anytime he told

Brian Briscoe: 16:17

me he had a swimming pool.

Rod Khleif: 16:19

He was that up to you? Yeah, I was at a pool in Miami with TV. And and this guy comes up to me. He goes, Are you rod Cleef? You know, Tiff. He's like Rockstar, supermodel beautiful. And so she didn't recognize me. They recognize her. But I'm like, yeah, and then yeah, so anyway, that's yeah, he's a cool guy. Him and his wife. Yeah, awesome. Yeah. Yeah,

Brian Briscoe: 16:37

they're, they're amazing people. But you know, hopefully, hopefully, you have our 600 or so doors added not 40 something 1000? Oh,

Rod Khleif: 16:44

no, actually, no. Well, you know, if if Todd's in those, I didn't know that. So that's really good to know. All of those, there's probably so many that we're not aware of. So that's, that's really good to know. Thank you.

Brian Briscoe: 16:56

All right. Wow. So cool. So run with all this amazing stuff going on. But one question for you. What's what's next for you? What's what's on your Horizon?

Rod Khleif: 17:05

Oh, good question. Yes. So, you know, we just created a new free course, you know, listen, I read something in Success Magazine this morning, you know, that the people that are the wealthiest and and the most successful are the ones that add the most value. And I've lived by that motto forever. And, and so you know, like, for example, I've got all of these books that we give away for free, all this stuff we give away for free. And these are some of the best in class books, like, you know, due diligence book, you see how thick it is, you know, syndication book, I mean, so, you know, we're always improving in the thing that we're doing right now, which I'm really excited about is we're doing this Getting Started right program, it's free. It's like a whole bunch of module, video modules. It's got a resource center, yes, of course, you can pay more and pay for speed and bring me in, you know, into coaching or get a course or whatever. But the value just in the free part is so incredible. I'm filming the rest of it this Sunday afternoon and evening. And it'll be done here in a couple of weeks. I'm super excited about getting that rolled out. Because I think people are just gonna love it. It's perfect for people that just getting started in the business, get an overview on the business, kind of understand, you know, at a high level what it is and, and help them hone in on what part of the business they may want to do. Because as you know, this is a team sport. So you aligned with Todd for a reason. And most people align with someone that shores up areas that they're not as strong. So you know, I teach people focus on your strengths focus on what you're strong at why because first of all, you'll be passionate about it, you because you love it. And then you align hire a partner for any areas that that you're not as strong in. And when you get that together, that's a frickin recipe for disaster. I mean for success, I mean, super success recipe for success. You know, if if, if you get two people working in their strengths, and what I commonly see is an analytical person with an outgoing person. And and when you get you know, that combination, success is inevitable.

Brian Briscoe: 18:56

Yeah, amazing. Amazing. Well, that's a lot a lot of goodness there. I'm excited to see the the courses it rolls out. But we're gonna shift gears a little bit and introduce Mark to the group. And so Mark, welcome.

Rod Khleif: 19:09

Thank you, Brian. It's a pleasure to be on your platform today, sir.

Brian Briscoe: 19:12

Thank you very much. Hey, and do me Do me a favor and let's let's talk a little bit about you first, before we jump into questions, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. Sure. So

Marc Cesar: 19:23

I initially started my journey back in 2012 after someone introduced me to the Rich Dad Poor Dad concept in the book, and I truly believe that that book changed my life because I've never been to tie to like W tubes I never, you know, fared well with W tubes. And once I got the understanding of what Robert Kiyosaki was preaching his book, which is you know, having your passive incomes, supersede your expenses. Everything just clicked and I, you know, instantly jumped into real estate. on the residential side. I started out as wholesaling. And of course, I didn't did very well. But then it became a transaction, I realized that it was transactional. And you know, it was another job. And again, I'm not too big on jobs, I do it, but I'm not too big on it. So I decided, Hey, I've always aspired to get into multifamily. And I've never known how to do it. So I always don't hate on the person who has a million dollars, cut your check tomorrow, can I can own a building. And you know, I decided, in 2018, I took a leap of faith, I joined a coaching program. And from there, I saw how easy it is how easy it was that an average Joe can buy an apartment building just the systems and the people around you. And I've been at it ever since it's been a it's been a blast returning. I'm all started every day.

Brian Briscoe: 20:40

Awesome. Awesome. And let me ask you same same question as everybody else. What is your big burning? Why?

Marc Cesar: 20:46

So my big burn and why it's very interesting that you mentioned that because I currently have a coach who actually on challenged my thought process, he, I guess he heard it from Dean Graziosi, the seven levels of seven levels deep to success. And I gave him a generic why which was I wanted the time freedom and flexibility to do what I want. But he challenged it by saying by asking the simple questions why? Every time I gave him an answer, he asked me why. And we went seven layers deep, and it literally stung. And I pretty much really went deep and found out that my why is tied to my parents and my current circumstances. My parents are hardworking individuals they're from they're from Haiti. So I'm a native Haitian. So they're very hard, worked in college educated, and so forth. When they came up here, they sacrificed a ton for my brother and I and from there, I've seen, you know, just pour out into making sure that we have the best we have the best education, we had the right upbringing were gone, men of faith and so far, so to see them have to having to see them struggle and work endlessly. And to this day, they're still working. And there are hard times and of course, with myself making my stupid mistakes along the way. That that is a very burning passion for me where I want to get back to them, I want to make sure that you know, before they live, they leave the earth that they are proud of what their son has able to attain and that I'm able to just bless them every way that I can. Because of all the sacrifice, especially with time, because you know, you're investing so much time, you can't get that back. So I want to make sure that hey, whatever time I can give them and whatever I can give them with this materialistically or whatever, I want to make sure that they're suffice and they're proud. And they you know, they can rejoice with that. So that is my burning desire.

Brian Briscoe: 22:39

Am I right? Thank you for sharing that I very much felt the impact when you were saying that. So appreciate you for for digging deep and sharing. Now comes my favorite part of the show where I get to say something like, Hey, Mark, we got rod Cleef on the line here. What do you want to ask him?

Rod Khleif: 22:55

Yeah. Can I interject something? Just for a moment? Buddy, I really loved seeing your heart there, Mark. And you know that question, I Dean Graziano. been on the show. He's a great guy. And and that that series of questions. You know, I've spent a lot of time with Tony Robbins about 20 years found him around the planet. And just because he's incredible. And I encourage anyone to see him if you can. But that question that line of questioning what's what's fascinating about that, is if you really get down deep and dig deep in yourself, everybody just wants love. They just want love, they want love and happiness. And and and it's such an awesome series of questions. So I just wanted to I just wanted to salute you for your vulnerability, buddy. That was awesome.

Marc Cesar: 23:38

Thank you. I appreciate that. So I will definitely say before I kick off my line of questions on rod, it is an honor to actually be on the same platform with you. I actually heard about you earlier this year. In passing on LinkedIn, and your mindset video, it really stuck with me and it just like kicked. It just opened a whole doorway for me to where I am right now. And I strapped that site, I work to emulate everything that you do. And I'm very big on mindset all because of you. So with that said, I do have one questions, just want to top it of mindset, how would you help someone who's stuck in their head? Or you know, who has that mental block that they've created? And they're trying to succeed? How would you help them get out of their own way so that they can achieve the success they aspire for? Yeah,

Rod Khleif: 24:27

and that's, that can be a complicated question to answer, but I will tell you, I've touched on it already. One of the first things you've got to do is you've got to create that desire. So that's got to be that they've got to want it. Okay, if they don't want it. It's like pushing a rope. Okay, so that's the first thing you've got to help them associate with clarity, really what they want and what you might do as a visualization is visualization with them with whatever that goal is. Tell them to close their eyes and visualize it that that particular item that or whatever it is they want getting larger and brighter and filling up their face. What are the you know, and having them engage all their senses their smell, what do they smell? What do they hear what do they feel, but but really associating with them associating them with that, why? Because they've got to want it. But then you've got to help them recognize the fact that you don't have to see the whole road, you can drive all the way across the country at night, we're seeing 50 feet in front of you. And get there, you know that other people have done it. You know, you may encounter some obstacles, but you know, you're going to be able to get through them. And it's the same way with this or any business and with your goals. But you've got to take that first step like Dr. Martin Luther King said, You take that first step in faith, and the next step will be revealed. And you know, Lao Tzu 1000s of years ago said, the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. So they've got to take that first step. And, you know, there's the law of the first deal as well, I see with my students all the time, they're like, stressed out six, eight months, they finally get a deal, that first deal is always the hardest, it takes the longest, it's the scariest. And then once it's done, the next thing I know, they have six of them, okay, and, and so, you know, but but you've got to push them to recognize that they don't, they, they're not going to know everybody super well, they're not going to know every piece of this business super well. I give examples. When I'm doing my boot camp of like a couple of deals that we did, like one deal that we literally found out about it, and we had 24 hours to make an offer, it was Labor Day weekend, and we got the offer done. And that's a 12, that deal is worth 12 million more than what we paid for it. Okay, so so, you know, but we didn't have we didn't know everybody involved, we, you know, we had, there's some leaps of faith involved here. And that's the thing with an analytical person, in their mind, they have to check off every box, and they are the most successful people in this business, but they're the hardest to get to take action and actually do it. And so this is something that, you know, we encounter every single day, you know, with people that that are interested in our work in our program, and so on, and so forth. And, and again, those are, those are kind of the things, you know, you get them around other people that they see that it's possible, ideally, you know, we try to show them people that, you know, of all walks of life, when they realize that it doesn't take a lot of money, it doesn't take a super IQ, it doesn't take, you know, incredible, you know, off the chain abilities in any form of this, you just, you just take action you align with other people, you you get connected and with people that are stronger, where you're weaker, and you focus on what you're strong at, and the analytical would probably be focused on the underwriting and the analysis. And if they align with someone that's outgoing and, and loves to build relationships, you know, I had these kids on my podcast kids that call them kids, because I'm 61. And they were in their 20s or more in their 20s. But they had about, I don't know, 80 to $100 million, with assets between them. And every single one of them was that combination, an analytical person with an outgoing person. So again, I don't know if that helps. But that's, that's my answer.

Marc Cesar: 27:47

Yeah. Oh, that's that's definitely awesome. Because, um, I know what a great quote that one of my coaches also mentioned to me is go as far as you can go. And when you get there, you'll figure the rest. So I definitely like that alphabet. See you for sharing that. Yeah.

Brian Briscoe: 28:00

And Mark, all ad, you know, taking action. I'm one of those analytical guys. He talked about one of those guys that had to have all those checks in the box. And I found exactly what he said is you take action, and in my case, the action created momentum. And once you got momentum, the next step is always easier to take, you know, the

Rod Khleif: 28:19

snowball rolling downhill.

Brian Briscoe: 28:20

That's it. Exactly. Right. Right. And so, alright, so

Marc Cesar: 28:24

thank you, Brian, I do have another question for you, Rod. So for an inspiring and fun, inspiring investor like myself, what would you recommend be the very first step outside of my set for me to actually get into my first deal?

Rod Khleif: 28:36

Well, let's let me say this. I didn't plan to do this. But let me let me put in a quick plug, because I have a book. In fact, I just did a Facebook Live on it. It's free, you pay for the shipping. Okay, but in the back of this thing, there is a 90 day action plan step by step week one, week two, if I'll read you week one here, hang on a second here. So but but again, if you want the book, if if you would just put in the show notes, it's lcfa book.com lifetime cashflow book. So lcfa book calm is and it comes with all kinds of free courses and stuff like that 795 for shipping, it's kind of and again, I didn't plan on bringing this up. But just because you asked. It's got a 90 day action plan in the back. So let me again, I was going to read the but lcfa book.com. So the first thing is you you have to perform a self evaluation, you've got to take a look at your strengths and your weaknesses to see how you're going to fit into a team because this business is absolutely a team sport. So you've got to take a look in the mirror, see what you bring to the table, whatever, you know, whatever your skill set is in there lots of different areas in this business that you can add value to a team and get involved with a team. For example, the sales if you've got some sales background, it's building relationships with brokers and sellers and investors. If it's analytics, it's the underwriting. It's the due diligence on a deal if you've been a manager or been involved in it Project management is the asset management piece so you know there's there's lots of areas that you can contribute to a team. So let's see so yes so the first thing I've got to set short term goals you need to set some short term goals which don't thing I do obviously my courses in my in my boot camps but but if you know if someone hasn't done that that's the first step then then they perform a self evaluation then you've got to select a target market you can't be all things to all people so again this is week one I'm just going through so you select a target market and and I suggest as the best markets to consider first in the book but then you know then you establish your investment criteria and what do I mean by that what size type asset class are you going to go after and where and what market and sub market then I've got name your business and so you've got to set you know, you got to hang your shingle as it were, you're going to put it put a brand together and you know, most names end in real estate or investments or group or, or equity or you know, like ours is cre equity capital or you know, pick a name you check that name at the Secretary of State's if it's available, you check it on uspto.gov See if it's nobody's trademarked it you, you find a domain name that looks like it. I know I'm giving you a long answer, but I just thought I'd add you know, this is hopefully this is helpful, then then let's see, and then you start up you set up a process to set up an LLC for that first for that business and that's week one. Okay, so So anyway that answers your question but again, if you want that it's kind of a no brainer because i i created a companion course that goes with this which is cool because a bunch of videos that follow along with each chapter so it really is kind of a cool thing for you know, again, less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks. You get you get this in these courses and that all that stuff so anyway, I love

Brian Briscoe: 31:47

love that in Martin like a guidebook is worth its weight in gold I started doing speaking with no guidebook you gave us I don't know if it's the same one you gave us one at the this is what I give away as they move the exact same one. Yes, well, yes,

Rod Khleif: 32:00

exactly when I got the bootcamp Thank you.

Brian Briscoe: 32:02

So the guide book is great and like I said I started out I was all over the map I didn't really have you know, a path in front of me no 90 day course it was just you know me trying to muscle through and you know, get get some sort of guide and if you have a guide book like that follow and that's yeah,

Rod Khleif: 32:21

it's it's high level but it's it you know, I shouldn't say that actually goes into a lot of detail to us. Best Seller in three categories. My number one best seller but again lcfa book calm. What else buddy?

Marc Cesar: 32:32

I think that's all the questions I have for you, Roger fashion really? Everything in in a nutshell for me so Oh,

Rod Khleif: 32:40

man, you're gonna hurt me and go deep and test me okay. This is this has been very easy for me. Thank you. Well, listen, it's a pleasure to meet you mark and if I can help with anything obviously don't don't hesitate but yeah, you know, I love this freakin business truly love it. And And guys, let me say this to you. Those of you listening you know, if you don't know if you love multifamily real estate yet it's okay. And you can associate pleasure with it and learn to love it because you can truly learn to love anything I tell my students associated to hunting for buried treasure and you can learn to love anything even exercise. But but if you can't if you don't end up ultimately loving it for God's sakes go do something else life is too freakin short. You know, you agree with me, Brian.

Brian Briscoe: 33:23

Absolutely, absolutely. You know, it's something I enjoy you know doing multifamily investing. You know, I retired from my my previous career to do this. And and I'm enjoying it and right I can tell just by the way you talk that you absolutely love what you're doing. So I think if it's something that you enjoy, you know, pursue it and it's if you do it right, you're gonna make enough money to do whatever you want to have you the Lamborghinis, the Rolexes, or the big houses, whatever it is, yeah, whatever. It is exact right, whatever it is, so I don't know Lamborghinis scare me. I don't know. I don't know if I could.

Rod Khleif: 34:02

Well, I wrecked or this old woman pulled right in front of me. Literally, I was going 50 miles an hour. And if that thing, you know those things turn like they're on, you know, railroad track. And if I had been able to turn it toward the whole left side of the car often, and I was actually pretty injured, but I could have easily died. It totaled the car. But anyway, that was my fun. No, it was the cop said he ticketed her for driving while old. That's a quote.

Brian Briscoe: 34:25

Anyway, yeah, I'm more afraid of how heavy my foot is and how much trouble I'd get myself into. But anyway, Rod in Mark, both of you, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Appreciate your time. And I learned a lot. I'm a lot more motivated right now than I was, you know, 40 minutes ago. So thanks. But thank you very much rod and last question for both of you. how can listeners learn more about you and and rod you gave a couple of websites. Is there anything else

Rod Khleif: 34:54

you want to add? Yeah, let me let me mention a couple of quick things. So one, if you know if you Do the Orlando event. Just trust me, you'll be glad you came. The only I've had 1000s of people attend my events. The only complaint aggregate is too cold in the room or the didn't like the food or the hotel, whatever. But but so do that. And then again, that's right in Orlando text that does one word 272345 or go to rod in orlando.com. My website is Rod Cleef. And nobody can spell my name. So if you put in real estate with Rod, you, it takes you right to the website, and there's so many free resources there. There's all these books I just held up to show you and, and articles and videos and it's all free and there's just a ton of tremendous content there that'll help you and then and then again, the book if you want the free book, I just again, it's 795 shipping, but But you get so much stuff with this. It's it's it's truly a de and that's lcfa book.com lcfa book.com. But anyway, thanks,

Brian Briscoe: 35:50

buddy. Appreciate it. And Mark, same question for you. how can listeners learn more about you?

Marc Cesar: 35:54

Sure. So I'm very easy to find on LinkedIn. I'm very active there so you can just type my name Mark Cesar ma RC C s AR and you'll find me or if you want to have a detailed list of where my meetups and my podcasts and so forth, feel free to jump on. Log into bit.li for slash mark Cesar all one word bit.li forward slash mark Cesar. Thanks.

Brian Briscoe: 36:17

We'll put links to everything in the in the show notes. And once again, thanks for your time, guys. And that's a wrap. Alright, take care guys. Thank you for listening to the diary of an apartment investor podcast today brought to you by four oaks capital. If you'd like to know more about how to invest in apartment buildings or want to be a guest in our show, visit our website at four oaks capital comm slash podcast or email us directly. If you're still listening, you obviously like the show. So pull out your phone app, subscribe, and leave us a five star rating on your favorite podcast app. And we'll see you again next week.