
The Real Estate Syndication Show
With over 2000 episodes and counting, The Real Estate Syndication Show - hosted by entrepreneur, philanthropist, and investor Whitney Sewell - is your comprehensive guide to all things real estate and beyond. Here you’ll find real, raw conversations full of expert insights and practical strategies, along with powerful and inspirational personal journeys.
From real estate tycoons like Scott Trench (CEO @ Bigger Pockets) and Spencer Rascoff (Zillow co-founder) to investing gurus like Joe Fairless (Best Ever CRE) and philanthropy leaders like Lloyd Reeb (Halftime Institute) – each conversation brings its own unique edge, inspiration, and actionable value.
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The Real Estate Syndication Show
WS1880 Myths and Realities of Real Estate Investing | Jason Kosena
In this episode, Jason is going to shed light on the often misunderstood world of gentrification and real estate investment, pinpointing the optimal buying window and the risks and potential of investing in areas on the brink of popularity. He'll candidly discuss why chasing the newest properties on the block might not always yield the returns you're hoping for and unpack the real-world complexities of executing business plans in the value-add space.
We'll also navigate through the inevitable landscape of mistakes, why expecting the unexpected is part of any investor's journey, and why even legends like Warren Buffett have faced investment hiccups. For our passive investors tuning in, Jason’s got insights just for you, though today's snippet doesn't dive into that.
And there's more – Jason will also share his personal mantra of making "sleep easy decisions" and how it applies to real estate and beyond, all while emphasizing the foundational importance of market analysis, supply-demand dynamics, and that leap of faith necessary to invest amidst uncertainties.
If you're looking to step into the world of real estate investing or eager to sharpen your strategy, you're in the right place. So share this episode with your fellow investors, hit the like and subscribe button, and join us on lifebridgecapital.com to begin your real estate journey. Get ready to take notes as Jason Kosena separates fact from fiction in this detail-rich episode.
Interested in expert real estate advice or just want to make a valuable connection? Jason is eager to assist. Reaching out has no downside; the reward is the joy of helping others. Connect with Jason directly at Jason@lifebridgecapital.com for insights or guidance on your real estate journey. It's a simple act that could lead to significant gains for you and others. Jason is just an email away, so don't hesitate to tap into his wealth of knowledge!
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Jason Kosena [00:00:00]:
I think that one of the misnomers of investing into real estate is that it's seemingly easy and that can actually be true. You have money and you have a seller who's willing to sell you their property for a price that makes sense to them. You and anyone else you know can own real estate. That's not necessarily how you will successfully make money owning real estate, though. And so you.
Whitney Sewell [00:00:31]:
Your daily real estate syndication show. I'm your host, Whitney Sewell. Today I'm thrilled to have Jason Casino as our guest. He is our chief acquisitions officer at Lifebridge Capital. He brings a wealth of expertise in the real estate sector. His journey in the industry began at Cardinal Group Investments, where as vice president of acquisitions, he was instrumental in completing over $1.3 billion in primary commercial real estate acquisitions and played a pivotal role in advising on developments worth in excess of $2 billion. Prior to his real estate career, Jason cofounded and led Echelon Energy, a company specializing in the value added reselling and contracting of energy efficiency infrastructure in commercial buildings. And interestingly enough, Jason's professional path also includes a dynamic tenure in journalism and as an investigating and political journalist.
Whitney Sewell [00:01:25]:
He covered national presidential campaigns and was a capital correspondent covering significant events at the Colorado legislature and governor's office. So Jason just brings an amount of experience and expertise that I am so grateful we have at Lifebridge Capital. And you're going to hear that come out today. And whether you are active or passive, you're going to learn a lot from Jason today on the show. I'm excited to introduce another team member of Lifebridge Capital Today, a newer team member that has just an amazing amount of experience that's been so valuable to us. And I'm thrilled to have him on the show and showcase some experience or experience of the team and some ways that we operate. Jason, welcome to the show.
Jason Kosena [00:02:12]:
Thanks, Whitney. Glad to be here.
Whitney Sewell [00:02:14]:
Yeah, honored to have you. And just to dive in on a few topics. And you are no doubt expert in so many areas of this business and been so valuable to Lifebridge. And so again, grateful for you, grateful you're part of the team and grateful to be able to share some of this with the listeners as well today. And I know you and I discussed and just jumping in to how Blackbridge analyzes, finding a deal, right, or just breaking that down from market to neighborhood in a few different ways. But why don't you take us at kind of a high level? Some things we should be thinking about as we're doing that, as we're getting to that final step that everybody wants to get to right is closing on that project or on that deal. But some areas and things that we need to be thinking about way beforehand, and I think this is going to be so valuable, whether you're an active operator or whether you're a passive investor, you're going to learn a lot from Jason today and how Lifebridge looks at these things.
Jason Kosena [00:03:17]:
Yeah, great. Thanks, Whitney. I think that one of the misnomers of investing into real estate is that it's seemingly easy and that can actually be true. You have money and you have a seller who's willing to sell you their property for a price that makes sense to them. You and anyone else you know can own real estate. That's not necessarily how you will successfully make money owning real estate, though. And so that's where the specifics around how to think about investing and acquiring assets really comes into play. And when I first started in this space, longer ago now than I like to admit, because it ages me, but I thought of buying commercial real estate for an investment purpose.
Jason Kosena [00:04:04]:
And commercial doesn't necessarily have to mean a large building. It could mean small buildings, it could mean a duplex. Commercial to me means a piece of real estate that I'm intending not to use for myself or for my family and my own real estate. My house, for example, is not an investment per se. That's not to say that I won't make money owning my house, but the reason that I purchased my house was to give my family and my kids a stable home, a place that we can come home to every night, neighbors that we can get to know, it's a very different outcome that we're trying to achieve owning our house. And it would be even buying a rental house down the street. And at that point, I'm not trying to live in that house anymore. It's an investment.
Jason Kosena [00:04:48]:
And so when we really think about buying real estate and we bifurcate into a commercial property, as in I'm trying to treat it as an investment and make money on it. It's a different process that you should go through in order to decide what is the right property, what is the right price, and how are we going to put together a business plan that takes us from a to b and a to b is selling that asset for more money somewhere down the road than we bought it for. I think the best way to think about that is to start at a high level. We'll call it 100,000ft. When you're flying at 100,000ft, you don't see a lot of detail, the granular details of what's on the ground beneath you. You're so high above it, you can't see that. And investing into real estate is very similar in that sense. When somebody sends a property over to us, maybe a broker or an off market opportunity, that's about where we're starting from.
Jason Kosena [00:05:44]:
We're starting from 100,000ft. Is this a good asset to buy in order to make money? I don't know. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. We got to figure out how to go from 100,000ft down to maybe 10ft, where you have a full picture of the granular details of every little rock or twig or whatever else might be on the ground. So how do we do that from investment standpoint? I think it's really simple. You start with a series of three questions, and in this order. The first question is this a market that I want to own real estate in? And now there's a whole series of factors and determinations that investors need to come up with in order to determine whether or not this is a market that they want to own real estate in. But from the most fundamental, highest kind of 100,000 foot level, is this a market we want to own assets in? And if the answer to that question is no, well, then don't spend any more time trying to go even down to 90,000ft.
Jason Kosena [00:06:37]:
Doesn't matter. You don't want to own that asset because it's in a market that you don't want to own assets in. Let's say we do want to own the assets in the market. We really like the market. It's got great macros, it's got great stories around economic growth or job growth or population growth or the things that really matter for multifamily investing. If you're investing into retail, has this got good foot traffic? Does it got good traffic of cars? Whatever your determinations are, if the answer to that is yes, I like the market. The next question, it takes us from like 100,000ft till call it like 75, 80,000ft, is, do I like this neighborhood? Within the market, there's going to be markets that we get real excited about when thinking about investing into real estate. But then within those markets, there's submarkets or neighborhoods that I say, oh, we would really want to be in this submarket or this neighborhood.
Jason Kosena [00:07:28]:
Or maybe I love the market, but I don't like this neighborhood. This neighborhood isn't going to offer us an opportunity to enact a business plan that makes sense. And so if the answer to the submarket question or the neighborhood question is no, I don't like this submarket or this neighborhood, even though I like the market full stop, don't ask any more questions. Go look for another opportunity. If the answer to that question is, yeah, we really like this neighborhood or this submarket, then take it a little bit lower. Now we're coming down to maybe 50,000ft. Do I like this asset, this particular piece of real estate that is being offered up through a broker or through whatever the means are that it's coming to you? And if the answer to that question is, well, no, I don't really like the asset, even though I like the neighborhood and I like the market, well, don't ask any more questions. There's nothing else to answer.
Jason Kosena [00:08:14]:
Don't buy that deal and go look for the next one. If the answer to is no, I actually really like this asset and I like this neighborhood and I like this market. Taking it down to even a lower elevation, then the next question would be, okay, well then at what price should we buy the asset at in order to try and make money? And that really requires a business plan. And that's where people say value add investing. Coupon clipping. Coupon clipping is just, I'm just going to buy it and do nothing and continue to operate it as is. There's a lot of different ways in which business plans can be attached to a piece of real estate. But before you can actually buy an asset, or if you're being smart about it, I should say you can always buy an asset without a business plan.
Jason Kosena [00:08:58]:
But if you're being smart about it, you want to know what is my business plan? Because this isn't my house where I'm trying to just live with my kids and my family and enjoy a place to live, this is going to be an investment. And every investment needs a good business plan. And so as we kind of take it down to the next level, I love this asset. I love this neighborhood. I love this market. What is the business plan that I'm going to try and enact once I'm lucky enough to be the owner of that asset? And when you're trying to capitalize a deal, whether it's with equity, whether it's your own money, whether it's your friends and family money, whether it's with more institutional types of capital, or even just going to a bank and asking for a loan, they're all going to want to know, what is your business plan? What do you assume that you're going to do with this asset in terms of how much money is it going to create? What are your operating expenses going to be? And at the end of the day, how much excess, how much profit is going to come off of that? And so each asset, the business plan of an asset, has to coordinate directly with and correlate directly with the market, the submarket, the neighborhood and even that piece of real estate. Sometimes I'll see listings come out with a brand new asset. They haven't even finished leasing it up.
Jason Kosena [00:10:16]:
It's so brand new, you could still see the construction tape on it. And then a broker will say, here's the value add business opportunities of this asset. And I'm thinking value add. There's nothing to add value here. You just got to fill it up and hopefully collect rent. So compared to 1970s apartment building that's 60 years old at this point, or getting close to 60 years old at this point, there's going to be a significant value add opportunity there just because of the nature of that real estate. And so the business plan has to be very specific to that asset. And that takes you from the 35 or 40,000ft all the way down to that.
Jason Kosena [00:10:52]:
We're hovering 10ft above the ground, and the business plan is knowing where every rock is and every twig that we're flying over and knowing how we can use those features to create a profitable enterprise, owning commercial real estate. And so once you've gotten to that business plan and it's something you believe in, and you use that to go capitalize it with your money or other investor money and with the bank, and now you own the real estate. Well, now that's a commercial asset. You've made an investment into a business plan and into an opportunity to create profits. So that kind of takes us from 100,000ft to the 10ft. Now, of course, every single one of those steps has a lot of substeps underneath them and nuances to, how do you answer the question, is this a market I like? How do you answer a question of what's the right business plan? Each one of those can be a short discussion or you can write books and many people have about how to answer those questions. But I think from the highest level, when we're thinking about looking for opportunities at Lifebridge or anywhere else, it kind of starts with that process. And if we can't get down to 10ft, we don't buy the asset.
Jason Kosena [00:12:01]:
And if we can get down to 10ft, by the time we're there. We've got a great business plan that we've been able to capitalize the opportunity with and hopefully make money over time.
Whitney Sewell [00:12:12]:
Yeah, love that, Jason. I appreciate the detail and just even the questions to start asking ourselves or as a group. There's no reason to go down 10ft if we can't get past 90,000, right, and save all that time. Unfortunately, we don't have time to write a book on each of these steps today. But just to leave the listeners, or whether they're passive or active, with a few things even more specific, like maybe some mistakes you've seen operators make, whether it's at the 100,000 or 50,000 foot view that have been made, especially over the last, even 510 years that you've seen just operators. What's happened? Right. So even to the point today, it's like, man, if they'd have caught that then or had this even down to the business plan, if they'd had that in their business plan five years ago when they started this opportunity, they wouldn't be having this issue today.
Jason Kosena [00:13:02]:
Yeah. I think the biggest mistake, and we can kind of spend a short summary of kind of different mistakes I've seen made at each one of these kind of steps that we outlined. But from a high level, I think the biggest mistake that I've seen real estate investors make, I've made it myself, candidly, as I was cutting my teeth and learning the lessons. The hard life is expensive. So is education. But I think the biggest mistake I see investors make, and even seasoned investors can get stuck into this trap, is believing that just because I think something is true, it means that it is. That can really get you into big trouble when you're talking about investing money or when you're talking about creating a business plan. And so I'll give you an example for market selection.
Jason Kosena [00:13:47]:
I might really love a given market as a guy, me personally, I may really enjoy this city for the following reasons. And it's a place I like to vacation or take my family to or visit for any number of reasons. Or maybe I live in that market and I'm kind of biasedly excited about the opportunity to own real estate in the city that I live in. And that's where most people start their investing is where they live. What you know is where you start. That doesn't necessarily mean that's a good place to go buy a commercial asset. Just because you live somewhere doesn't mean that's a good opportunity. Or just because you enjoy visiting somewhere doesn't mean that that's going to make a good opportunity.
Jason Kosena [00:14:25]:
And so I think early on, investors need to learn how to bifurcate what they believe to what the market maybe believes. And when we're talking about what the market believes, that's really just stone cold hard facts. And so in commercial real estate, as it relates to multifamily, the biggest question to ask is demand. If I'm going to own an apartment complex or even a single family home as a rental property, I need somebody to sign a lease to want to live there. And so where does my demand come from? Is the first, most basic, but also like the most important macro question you can ask when you're selecting the market. Do I like this market? 100,000ft? Easy enough to say, is there people in this market that would rent apartments from me or a house from me or whatever it might be most places the answer to that is going to be, well, yeah, I mean, there's demand. There's people that are living here and they need somewhere to live. Next question.
Jason Kosena [00:15:22]:
Supply. Is there way too much supply of apartments for the number of people that are looking for a place to live? So supply and demand, it's pretty 101 macroeconomic supply and demand. But it's a really important question to ask from a real estate investment standpoint. And I think one of the biggest mistakes investors make when choosing markets is to either ignore the supply and demand imbalances that are there, or to see them, but believe that they aren't going to have the impact on their business plan that they likely will. And so even though the market's oversupplied, this asset is not going to be faced with the challenges of trying to find renters because it's brand new, it's in a great location, you fill in the blank. So market selection, I think, just know what you're looking for, which is supply and demand. And so long as you've got the right supply and demand aspects, not only today, but kind of going forward, you'll likely find success in that market down into the next level, the neighborhood or the submarket. This one can actually be pretty tricky, I think, at times.
Jason Kosena [00:16:29]:
As one of my mentors early on in real estate investing said to me, if you drive your mom down the street and she says, oh, I would love to own real estate here, you probably miss the best buying window for it, and you're more into coupon clipping, you're going to buy something that's already been priced up by the market. It's a commodity type of a location. At that point, the secret is out. There's no kind of big gentrification that's coming. Lower risk on that in a sense, but also lower return. Now, on the flip side of that, when you go into an area that's gentrifying or getting ready to gentrify, you kind to look around and your mom might look around and say you don't want to put any money into here. This is like a dangerous street, or this doesn't look like a place where people want to live. And that's actually maybe where the best opportunities are.
Jason Kosena [00:17:14]:
But to see it in the moment can be pretty challenging. And so I think where a lot of people can get stuck on the submarket aspects is to either believe that the place their mom wants to own real estate is still going to gentrify or still have kind of above market growth. Not likely. But people can convince themselves of that, or on the flip side of that, going into areas that they've convinced themselves are going to gentrify in the next five years, and maybe it's 15 years before that actually occurs or never at all. And so trying to figure out the best ways to identify the neighborhood you're in and where it's at in its cycle and how it sits within the larger market as a whole are areas that people can get in trouble with. Now, coming down to the next level, is this an asset that we want to buy? Kind of similar to the neighborhoods. Sometimes the most obvious assets to buy are going to give you the lowest returns. Why? They're shiny, they're new.
Jason Kosena [00:18:10]:
They're a place that you would want to live if you were a renter. And that's okay. There's people that make good investment decisions buying that type of real estate. But they also don't assume that they're going to be getting these 20 30% annual returns buying that level of real estate, there's not going to be that opportunity. Anyone who tells you there is, or they've got some special sauce, or if you're telling yourself that and looking at your underwriting and you're going to get a 30% IRR annually buying a five year old building, probably you're telling yourself something that's not true, and so start questioning your assumptions that got you there. On the flip side, buying something that's a heavy value add business plan also can create risk for people because they either assume that the value add plan that they're going to enact is going to be cheaper than it really will be, will go faster in terms of execution than it really does. Or that they're not anticipating just the speed bumps that come along the way of executing value add business plans. Anytime you got to take an asset from what it is today, doesn't matter what it is to something different in the future.
Jason Kosena [00:19:18]:
There is risk and there's expense, and there's time that you have to absorb to get from where it is to where it's going. And there's a lot of profit that can be made along that journey, which is why so many people do so well doing value add real estate investing. But there's also a lot of unknowns that can come. And so people that are kind of walking into that just saying, oh, we'll just renovate the units and immediately get 30% more for rent probably won't go that smooth. Not to say it won't be successful, not to say the 30% is not there. It's just there's going to be a lot more to it than that. And the most experienced value add investors are the ones that end up buying fewer and fewer value add deals because they've been burned by that process enough, where they start underwriting all these contingencies in, and then all of a sudden they're not as competitive on the buy as they used to be, coming down even lower. The business plan, that kind of gets into the next aspect of a business plan.
Jason Kosena [00:20:11]:
Where do people go wrong? I think in a lot of ways, just assuming that it's going to be easier, cheaper, and faster to get from point a to point b is the biggest mistake that people make. And I don't know that there's like a book that anybody could buy or that really anybody could write that would explain how to minimize that risk. It's kind of like one of those things where you just have to go do it a number of times and feel the pain of some missed assumptions and then get more conservative about how you're making those assumptions going forward to become a seasoned investor and seasoned investors. I met a guy who was in his 60s when I was getting going. He said, you'll never meet a real estate investor my age who's not grizzled. And I know what he means now. You do it long enough, you're going to have really challenging investments, and that's okay. By the way, that guy was a multimillionaire ten times over.
Jason Kosena [00:21:03]:
He was very wealthy, so he was grizzled. He was also successful. And the grizzled aspects is probably what made him successful, is he had learned his lessons along the way. And that's true in real estate investing. That's true in life. That's true in parenting. We don't get an easy free ride anywhere, but the reward when we go through the work is where we find our greatest success.
Whitney Sewell [00:21:26]:
That's awesome. Jason. You did such a great job laying out a number of mistakes or places. People overlook items in every step of that process. There at the end, it's neat to think through. It's those that don't give up. Right? They have those hard times and those that don't give up hopefully don't give up in parenting, like you mentioned, but especially in business either, right? You're going to have those hard knocks. It's interesting talking to guys even like yourself that's been doing this a long time.
Whitney Sewell [00:21:55]:
There's going to be mistakes made. Right? And that's where your lessons have been learned. And that's why that guy's where he's at today that you're talking.
Jason Kosena [00:22:06]:
Yeah. You know, mistakes are part of investing. Even Warren Buffett is probably one of the most successful value add investors of all time. He almost wrote the book on how to be a value add investor, has made a lot of bad investments, and the greatest sports players throw a lot of interceptions or miss a lot of game winning shots, and you're never going to be successful 100% of the time. And whatever you think it's going to be will be something different. So I think ultimate success in investing in life really stems from being flexible, kind of knowing that I have a plan and I'm going to stick to this plan until life and the world and reality kind of bump up against that plan, and then I'm going to have to Bob and I'm going to have to weave. I'm going to have to amend my plan. But that doesn't mean we just throw up our arms and give up and say, well, this was a fail investment and I'm going to go try and take my hand somewhere else.
Jason Kosena [00:22:58]:
You keep trudging forward and saying that one didn't work or that aspect of this business plan isn't going to work, and how are we going to change that so that we can find more success even within the same deal tomorrow than we did yesterday? And the greatest investments of all time. I've underwritten thousands and thousands of real estate assets. I have purchased dozens and dozens of them for round trips. I can assure you 100% of the time, it never goes the way that my underwriting thought. Sometimes it's way better, sometimes it's not as good. I've never once hit my underwriting to a t. And so I think that that's kind of something that seasoned investors also understand is that you kind of have to get comfortable with some squishy numbers on the front end of an investment. And that doesn't mean that you're not doing your job as an investment manager.
Jason Kosena [00:23:46]:
It's just that you're being realistic about how things go.
Whitney Sewell [00:23:49]:
Yeah, Jason, I would love to do some follow up shows with you and dive into some of these things even more. We'll have to do that. And I think you can add so much value to the listeners, no doubt about it. But we're going to jump to a few final questions for time's sake. So, Jason, what's your best advice for passive investors right now?
Jason Kosena [00:24:14]:
Don't be afraid to jump into the market. I think that this is a point in time. This is harking back to Warren Buffett. If everyone's running one way, you will run the other, and that's where the profit is. I think at this point in the market, there's a lot of uncertainty. And markets and investors can respond to good news and they can respond to bad news, but uncertainty just tanks everybody because they don't know what to do in those moments. And we're in a moment of uncertainty. It's tough.
Jason Kosena [00:24:39]:
There's a lot of geopolitical things happen around the world that create uncertainty. There's a lot of economic aspects, whether it's inflation or interest rates or this seeming recession, that everyone keeps telling us is somewhere along the horizon, but yet kind of never comes. It creates a lot of uncertainty. And I think the easy kind of protective nature of who we are, we work really hard to get to what we have, and then it's really hard to want to go invest that money into uncertainty. But that can also be one of the biggest risks today for passive investors is to be on the sideline. And so I think that from that perspective, no matter where we're at in an economic cycle, there's an opportunity to invest money. And don't ever be afraid of taking risk. Be afraid of not getting paid to take that risk.
Jason Kosena [00:25:23]:
And value add or risk adjusted returns, excuse me, should really be on the forefront of people's minds, whether they're a passive investor or an active investor. Don't get out of the game just because the game's uncertain. Just be a little more careful about how you're entering the game and that the payoff that you're anticipating is worth the risk that you're taking, Jason, this.
Whitney Sewell [00:25:45]:
Could be towards personal or professional your life, but what are some of the most important metrics that you track?
Jason Kosena [00:25:56]:
Wow, that's a good question. I like to call it sleep easy decisions. There's decisions that we make in life that either right away or somewhere down the road keep you up at night, wake up at 02:00, 03:00 in the morning, you're kind of staring at the ceiling in the dark. We've all had those decisions and those moments and those challenges, and as I've gotten, I'm not an old guy, but I'm old enough now that I've had enough of those moments and those decisions that I've kind of realized sleep easy decisions are ones that kind of a new metric that I use. Is this a decision that is going to allow me to sleep easy tonight and next week and next month? Unfortunately, sometimes, even without being the metric, it's impossible to avoid the sleepless nights at times, especially if you've got kids, we're investing money or we're running companies or whatever it might be, none of us get to have that. But I think for me, if I think about my decisions through, is this a sleep easy decision or not, at least I'm eyes wide open on the front end that, no, this isn't a sleep easy decision. I still need to make it. It's still the right decision.
Jason Kosena [00:27:07]:
But there's more risk, there's more on the line, or this is a sleep easy decision. And I know that's the case, and I'm comfortable making it. And so I think from a high level, whether it's personal, professional business investing, just understanding on the front end of major decisions, whether it's a sleep ed decision or not, is a really good way to be honest and kind of eyes wide open as we're starting whatever it is, a new venture, an investment, or just trying to figure out how to best help our kids as they.
Whitney Sewell [00:27:36]:
Go through life, love that metric. I don't think I've ever heard anybody say that on the show. That's incredible. Love that. What are some habits, Jason, that you are disciplined about that have produced a higher return for you?
Jason Kosena [00:27:51]:
Healthy choices, healthy relationships, and a healthy lifestyle are the three things are my pillars of life in a lot of ways. If I can't be my best self, then I can't be a good husband. I can't be a good dad. I can't be a good investor. I can't be even just a good stranger on the street to people that I don't know, but that I might be in a position to help. So it really starts with ourselves and whatever it is that we collectively we, or that I need in order to feel good about myself. And for me, it's my relationships, it's my health, my personal health, it's the people that I surround myself with and how they make me feel and how I make them feel. So long as I've got those things in place, no matter what life throws at me, I'm going to be able to absorb it.
Jason Kosena [00:28:37]:
Well, if those things aren't in place, no matter what life throws at me, I'm not going to absorb it well. And I'm kind of just a hair on fire mess at those points. And so I try and make healthy decisions, focus on relationships, focus on health and the things that matter to me. And then from there, everything else will kind of find its way and find its place.
Whitney Sewell [00:28:58]:
And finally, how do you like to give back?
Jason Kosena [00:29:03]:
I like to help people. One of my guiding philosophies in life is I want to help people get to where they're going. And that could mean I tend to tip really high at restaurants. I'm not like, oh, I got all this money I want to do. It's just like, I know that server really needs that money and they wouldn't be serving at a restaurant if they didn't. And so putting 30% tip on there is helping that person get to where they're going. Or you see somebody on the side of the road trying to change a bike tire. I'm a big cyclist.
Jason Kosena [00:29:32]:
I'll always pull over and help them change, retire, and most times they're good. But every once in a while I'm running on somebody who says, I'm so glad you stopped. I didn't know how to do this or I didn't have the right tool. And so I just like to help people get to where they're going. And honestly, that brings me my greatest joy in life is when I get to help others. And it's cliche to an extent, but it's the things we do for other people that will give us our greatest joy, not the things we do for ourselves. And then ironically, or maybe not ironically, by helping other people get to where they're going, I'm helping myself get to where I'm going as well, which is feeling good about the day in, day out of my efforts, my time, the people that I'm interacting with and the people I get to help. And so if I can help somebody today or this hour or even this minute, then I'm feeling like I'm winning life and doing it right.
Whitney Sewell [00:30:20]:
Jason, thank you so much. I appreciate your willingness to give back to us today. And you've just laid out some amazing items for, I think, whether they're passive or active, it's just great to know this process to go through and finding that asset before they buy it. Right? Just always continue to be impressed with your experience and expertise again and again. So thank you so much. Jason, is there a way maybe a listener could reach out to you if they have a question or want to follow up on something? Is it possible for them to connect with you in some way?
Jason Kosena [00:30:56]:
Oh, yeah, certainly. I like to help people get to where they're going. So any of your listeners, if I can help you, you let me know, and I'll take the time in my day to help you or anyone you know on anything. So even if strangers, I love helping strangers actually almost the most. It's the most selfless thing we can do because there's really no upside for us other than the fact that we got to help a stranger. So I can be reached at my email. Jason@lifebridgecapital.com I'm pretty much on my email all the time, begrudgingly. My wife says sometimes, but I'm there and shoot me an email and say, you heard me on the podcast.
Jason Kosena [00:31:30]:
You have a question or a follow up. And if it's a quick question, I can answer every mail. I will. If it requires a phone conversation, I can do that as well. So happy to help anybody get to where they're going and any way that I can do that.
Whitney Sewell [00:31:46]:
Thank you for being with us again today. I hope that you have learned a lot from the show. Don't forget to like and subscribe. I hope you're telling your friends about the real estate syndication show and how they can also build wealth in real estate. You can also go to lifebridgecapital.com and start investing today.