In the world of commercial real estate, gaining financial freedom isn’t just a dream—it’s an achievable goal. As discussed by host Jonathan Hayek and guest Jay Conner in this insightful episode of the Scott Paton Podcast, understanding the intricate details of raising capital, fostering meaningful relationships, and having a strategic investment approach are pivotal for success.
Raising Capital for Real Estate
One of the first steps towards achieving financial freedom in commercial real estate involves raising capital. Jonathan Hayek highlights that while familiarity with real estate can be beneficial, it’s not strictly necessary. Interestingly, his initial deal was made possible by borrowing $110,000 from a contact named Ryan via a self-directed IRA, and another $50,000 from a friend. This emphasizes that leveraging personal networks can be an effective strategy for securing funds.
Moreover, having a proven track record can significantly attract private money lenders. Hayek himself leveraged a mix of funding sources which included private money, hard money, balance transfers from credit cards, and local banks. He stresses the importance of presenting specific deals with clear terms to potential investors rather than vague promises of future opportunities.
Strategic Investment Approaches
Both Jonathan Hayek and Jay Conner emphasize a non-aggressive approach when it comes to finding investors. Rather than chasing or begging for money, they advocate for building genuine relationships. Hayek stresses the importance of attracting investors who are confident, financially secure, and a good fit for the deal.
Straightforwardly presenting investment opportunities is crucial. It promotes trust and clarity, which, in turn, can lead to successful, long-term investment partnerships. A critical takeaway from their discussion is that the quality of investors often outweighs the quantity.
Growing Mindset and Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
Jonathan Hayek’s journey from being a special education teacher and non-profit worker to a full-time real estate investor underscores the importance of personal growth and overcoming limiting beliefs. He shares how he realized the need for greater financial growth and decided to pursue bigger goals.
One of Hayek’s personal growth strategies involves adopting mantras like “You’re Not Thinking Big Enough.” He encourages listeners to challenge deeply ingrained beliefs, many of which are rooted in childhood, to achieve their true potential. This mindset shift enabled him to leave his job and fully commit to real estate, exploring non-traditional opportunities such as industrial deals.
Building a Sustainable Business
A key insight from this episode is the concept of “rightsizing” your business to fit individual, family, and lifestyle needs, as discussed by Jay Conner. Jonathan Hayek emphasizes understanding one’s “why” in real estate to avoid the pervasive pressure of constant scaling driven by social media influences. Bigger isn’t always better; the focus should be on creating a business that aligns with personal goals, whether it’s spending more time with family or enjoying freedom.
The Power of Networks and Referrals
Trust and relationships are central to raising private money. Jay Conner and Jonathan Hayek both highlight that investors essentially invest in the person, based on reliability and trustworthiness. Jonathan’s network of lenders is primarily based on established relationships with friends and family, leveraging their faith in his ability to manage their investments securely.
Additionally, referrals play a crucial role. By delivering successful deals, Jonathan and Jay have benefited from referrals from existing lenders, further broadening their network and enhancing their investment opportunities.
Real Estate Investment Strategies
Jonathan Hayek has a focused approach when it comes to investing in commercial properties. He prefers small industrial properties (under 20,000 sq. ft.) with single tenants, such as tradesmen and manufacturers, often on triple net leases. This type of lease means the tenant covers taxes and insurance, minimizing the owner’s expenses and reducing management burdens.
Hayek looks for older properties with expiring leases where rents can potentially be raised, allowing for value enhancement. He is open to investing in properties across 39 states in the U.S., managing these remotely without third-party management. His strategy includes sourcing deals through platforms like LoopNet and Crexi, broker relationships, and direct marketing.
Conclusion: Taking Action Towards Financial Freedom
Jonathan Hayek’s story and insights offer valuable lessons for anyone interested in achieving financial freedom through commercial real estate. The podcast concludes with a call to action, encouraging listeners to engage further by visiting Jonathan Hayek’s website, https://www.JonathanHayek.co, and arranging consultations. The episode also promotes reviews and subscriptions to increase the podcast’s reach and offers a free guide on private money for real estate investing.
By leveraging knowledge, building relationships, and maintaining a strategic investment approach, gaining financial freedom through commercial real estate is not just a possibility—it’s a tangible goal waiting to be realized.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode:
- Raising Capital for Real Estate:
- How important is it to have a track record when attempting to raise private money for real estate? Can you think of alternative ways to build credibility if you’re new in the field?
- Investment Approach:
- Jonathan and Jay both emphasize building relationships over aggressively chasing money. What are some ways to nurture these relationships to successfully attract investors?
- Mindset and Personal Growth:
- Jonathan Hayek discusses the importance of overcoming limiting beliefs. How can limiting beliefs affect your career in real estate, and what are some strategies to overcome them?
- Balance and Rightsizing:
- Jay Conner talks about “rightsizing” your business to suit your lifestyle needs. How can you determine the right size for your real estate business, and why might bigger not always be better?
- Commercial Property Valuation:
- The episode touches on the concept of Net Operating Income (NOI) and cap rates. How do these metrics influence your evaluation of commercial properties, and what should you look for in a potential investment?
- Investment Strategy:
- Jonathan prefers properties with the potential for value enhancement over high-value properties with low cap rates. What are the risks and rewards associated with this investment strategy?
- Raising Private Money:
- Jonathan has raised over $1 million in private money primarily through relationships with friends and family. How can one expand their network to raise private money from new investors?
- Trust and Relationships:
- Trust is critical when raising private money. What are some ways to build and maintain trust with your investors?
- Educational and Professional Background:
- Jonathan transitioned from a career in special education to real estate investing. How can skills from unrelated careers contribute to success in real estate, and what skills might those be?
- Deal Sourcing and Evaluation:
- Jonathan finds deals through platforms like LoopNet and Crexi and broker relationships. What are the benefits and potential drawbacks of using these sources for finding real estate deals?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- Multi-Sourced Funding: Jonathan Hayek’s first real estate deal was funded unusually through a combination of sources, including $110,000 from a self-directed IRA and $50,000 from a friend.
- Mindset Shift: Jonathan transitioned from being a special education teacher to a full-time real estate investor in his thirties, driven by a desire for greater financial freedom and personal growth.
- Triple Net Lease Enthusiast: Jonathan prefers small industrial properties with single tenants on triple net leases, which minimize management responsibilities by having tenants cover taxes and insurance.
Timestamps:
00:01 Raising Private Money Without Asking For It
03:32 Podcast interviews experts on commercial real estate.
06:52 Investing nationwide in low-management properties remotely.
09:59 Cap rate influenced by market, building, and tenant.
15:46 Trust is essential for acquiring private lenders.
18:47 Borrowed, renovated, refinanced property with private lenders.
19:40 Used credit cards, banks, and private lenders successfully.
22:59 Open to building relationships for real estate investing.
26:09 Think bigger to overcome limiting beliefs.
29:52 Bigger isn’t better; prioritize work-life balance.
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Real Estate Investment Mastery: Expert Perspectives from Jonathan Hayek and Jay Conner
Jay Conner [00:00:01]:
Welcome to another amazing episode of Raising Private Money. I’m Jay Conner, your host, also known as the Private Money Authority. This is the show where we talk about how to raise private money without ever having to ask for money. Well, my special guest today, has raised over $1,000,000 so far in private money, and we’re gonna dig inside his brain to see where he finds these private lenders, how he starts conversations, and how he goes about raising private money. And he’s got all kinds of experience in different asset classes of real estate. But before getting into real estate, his the first 10 years of his working career, he was a special education teacher, and he also worked for a non-profit organization. Well, when he got to his thirties, he figured out, you know, I’m just a little bit unhappy with my financial situation, with what have I got going on. So he started investing in real estate, in his thirties with almost no money whatsoever in his pocket to get started.
Jay Conner [00:01:04]:
So what did he do? Well, he started using creative strategies and began flipping houses on nights weekends, and school breaks. And then after that or along with that, started building a portfolio of small multi-family properties. Time permitting, we’ll dig into how he went about that as well. And then shortly thereafter, he was able to quit teaching and went to pursue real estate on a full-time basis. And then after the single-family houses, he decided to pivot his focus on larger non-residential commercial properties, even after getting into multifamily. And so I’m so excited to visit in just a moment with my friend and fellow podcaster, Jonathan Hayek, right after this.
Narrator [00:01:54]:
If you’re a real estate investor and are wondering how to raise and leverage private money to make more profit on every deal, then you’re in the right place. On Raising Private Money, we’ll speak with new and seasoned investors to dissect their deals and extract the best tips and strategies to help you get the money because the money comes first. Now here’s your host, Jay Conner.
Jay Conner [00:02:21]:
Well, hello there, Jonathan. Welcome to Raising Private Money.
Jonathan Hayek [00:02:26]:
Hey, Jay. It’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Jay Conner [00:02:29]:
Well, I’m excited to have you. I was on your podcast, which, of course, is called The Source of Commercial Real Estate Podcast. I was on that not too long ago with you. And now you’ve got more than 100 episodes on your podcast. And, take a second and tell my audience about your podcast because it’s different and it’s one of a kind.
Jonathan Hayek [00:02:54]:
Sure. As you mentioned in your intro, I am now looking to invest in nonresidential commercial properties. And so, for me, that’s largely a focus on small industrial properties. These are single-tenant properties. Think about, tenants like plumbers, cabinet makers, granite fabricators, commercial landscapers, window manufacturers, and tenants like this. They need a place to do business, And they generally do not own their real estate. And so there’s a huge opportunity in these types of assets. And, I started the podcast because I wanted to learn this asset class.
Jonathan Hayek [00:03:32]:
I did not know how to invest in commercial properties. There are all kinds of places to learn about, multifamily and small multifamily and flipping houses, residential stuff, but I really couldn’t find a great place to learn about commercial, properties and investing in commercial and starting in commercial. And so I started my podcast over 2 years ago. It’s interview-based, and I interview experts in nonresidential commercial real estate. These are brokers, investors, attorneys, and lenders who are experts in their niche and their asset class, and it’s focused on non-residential commercial real estate. So industrial office retail asset classes like that. So if you have any interest, if you’re curious about learning, how do I invest in that kind of stuff? The source of commercial real estate might be a place where you can get some value out of it.
Jay Conner [00:04:23]:
So that is such a niche of a niche of a niche. How did you get interested in this asset class? It’s very different.
Jonathan Hayek [00:04:30]:
Yeah. So my, I mean, I would like you said in your intro, I had this portfolio of small multifamily properties, and the original plan was to build this empire of small multifamily properties. And, I got up to about 22 or 24 units of duplexes and 4 plexes, things like that. And, I realized that it was gonna be a lot of work managing this stuff. And, of course, you could have a third-party property manager manage it, but that cuts into your returns. And, so I thought, wow, are there other options? Are there other asset classes in real estate that are less management-intensive? And so my first commercial property was an office building. I bought a vacant office building, leased it up, and then sold it.
Jonathan Hayek [00:05:17]:
I’m not looking for any more office buildings. That was a great experiment. I learned a million lessons from that deal. But then I started buying some small industrial properties. These are generally under 20,000 square feet, single tenant properties, and, they’re generally on triple net leases. And what that means is the tenant pays for taxes, insurance, and maintenance. So, me as the owner, I am not getting those calls, about, you know, the faucet running or the toilets clogged, or a light bulb is out or anything like that. The tenant is responsible for the majority of those things.
Jonathan Hayek [00:06:00]:
And so I can still get the checks. I get the rent checks every month, and I get the appreciation over the long term. I get the tax benefits, but I don’t have the headaches of, people to say, tenants, termites, and toilets. I generally don’t have to deal with that stuff, and so that’s why I love this asset class.
Jay Conner [00:06:23]:
Well, that makes a lot of sense, particularly when you’re not having to deal with, repairs as well. So how do you find these deals? I mean, a niche of a niche of a niche. I mean, there’s there’s lots of single-family houses. Right? There’s lots of multifamily out there, but these industrial, you know, 20,000 square feet or less or whatever. I mean, do you have to go outside your area? Do you are you able to stay in your area? What do you do? How do you find them?
Jonathan Hayek [00:06:52]:
I am open to investing in, like, 39 states across the country. So the cool thing about this asset class, and so, you know, I mentioned that they’re low management property, so you do not have to be local. I own I live in Colorado. I own properties in Wyoming and Oklahoma, and I do not have a third-party manager for them. I self-manage these properties from a distance, and I don’t lose sleep at night. I do not get phone calls about, you know, all those things that I mentioned earlier. So that’s the cool thing I can invest nationwide. There’s a handful of states that I don’t invest in or, you know, I’m not open to investing in for various reasons.
Jonathan Hayek [00:07:38]:
But you really can do this from a distance, and, you know, deals come from a lot of the same places that residential deals come from. So I look at the market. So you might be familiar with a website like LoopNet. There’s a similar website called Crexi. I’ve gotten deals through brokers, and I don’t own a ton of these right now. I own 2, and I’m under contract for a third. So I have a very specific buy box of what I’m looking for. I’m looking for deals that have below-market rents and expiring leases.
Jonathan Hayek [00:08:14]:
And those are hard to find because that’s, a seller that’s selling in that situation is selling low, and that’s why I look for them. I’m looking for value. And so, when I buy properties with expiring leases and low rents, that means I can take the property over, get a long-term lease, and increase rents, and that increases the value of the property. Those deals are hard to find, but they do come. I’ve bought deals, off the market. I’ve also bought deals off the market from a broker who just brought me a deal. I also do some direct mail, direct-to-seller, and direct-to-owner kinds of marketing. Haven’t landed any industrial deals that way.
Jonathan Hayek [00:08:53]:
I’ve landed a bunch of residential deals that way, but no industrial deals that way. But, I will one day if I continue doing it. I will at one point.
Jay Conner [00:09:03]:
Right. How do you go about evaluating the value of an industrial property?
Jonathan Hayek [00:09:10]:
Yep. So in the commercial world, values are derived by the net operating income. And since these are triple net leases, meaning the tenant is paying taxes and insurance, I have very few expenses. And so, generally, my NOI is the amount of rent that the tenant is paying. And so once you know the rent, the amount of rent, the annual income that the property is producing, it’s oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes valued on a cap rate basis. And the cap rates can vary from 6 to 10% cap rates. And so a 6% cap rate will have a higher value. A 10% cap rate will have a lower value.
Jonathan Hayek [00:09:59]:
And, you know, between a 6a10 cap, though, that’s a really wide, wide range of value. And so the factors that impact the cap rate are the the market, the quality of the building, the lease that’s in place, and the type of tenant. And so you’re probably familiar with driving down the freeway, and you see these giant warehouses go up that is a 100,000 to 500,000 to a 1000000 square feet, and, oftentimes, they’re occupied by Amazon or another, large tenant like that. That value that property is gonna be valued at a very low cap rate. Amazon is a great tenant. It’s a brand-new building, and it’s likely a long-term lease. And so the owner of that property has a very highly valued building, and that’s great for them. But, for people like me, I’m not interested in those properties.
Jonathan Hayek [00:11:00]:
I don’t have Amazon as a tenant. I’m not interested in those properties because there’s no way to increase the value. It is what it is. There are probably at least 10 years left on that lease. You’ve got a top-tier tenant, and, you know, that’s a coupon clipper. You’re not gonna have to do much to that building. So that owner has a very steady check very steady rent check coming in, but there’s no opportunity to increase the rents over time. So what I’m interested in is a, is a property that is you know, it might be a c class property.
Jonathan Hayek [00:11:36]:
It might be 20 to 50 years old, and the lease is expiring and the tenant but the tenant wants to stay, and they’re paying below-market rent. And so they’re willing to pay more and they’re willing to sign a long-term lease. And so when I can increase the value of the property and, extend the lease to a longer period, that increases the value of the property. And so then once I increase the value of the property, I have options. Then I can refinance and take some cash out, or I can sell it and move on to another property.
Jay Conner [00:12:08]:
Makes sense. Well, you’ve raised private money, and the name of this show is Raising Private Money. So I suppose we should talk a little bit about raising private money. You’ve raised over $1,000,000, so let’s dive into your experience with that. So first of all, what type of asset classes have you raised private money for?
Jonathan Hayek [00:12:30]:
I’ve raised private money for single-family homes. My residence, my first personal residence that I bought with my wife, we had private money on. I’ve done it with small multifamily, and I’ve even raised private money to buy a small industrial property. So you can do it with almost any asset class.
Jay Conner [00:12:50]:
Nice. So how have you gone about raising private money? What have been some of your favorite ways to do it? You know, who have you know, what type of relationships have you borrowed from? Are these people you already had a relationship with, etcetera?
Jonathan Hayek [00:13:08]:
In my experience, the successful, the successful raises through private money happen through relationships. These are friends and family. These are not strangers that I see meet on the street, that I play pickleball with, or anything like that. These are people that I’ve had relationships with for years, and they trust me. I explain a deal to them, but they’re investing with me as a person, and they trust me. And they’ve known me for years and they trust and believe me that I’m going to pay them back. And so that’s really what’s been successful for me. I’m not an especially outgoing person.
Jonathan Hayek [00:13:49]:
I’m not a salesperson, but yet I’ve raised a bunch of money, from friends and family. And these are straight debt deals. They don’t have any equity in the property. So, generally, it’s secured by a promissory note and a mortgage. And there’s a general time frame that I put on it. I’m always very open about, my time frame. If it’s, you know, a straight flip, I tell them, you know, this is probably gonna be in the 6-month range, could be 12 months, but I always communicate with them along the way, especially if anything changes. I have an industrial deal right now where I have private money on it, and, I’ve had that private money for 18 months now.
Jonathan Hayek [00:14:33]:
And that’s just because of the way in that particular deal, the way interest rates have been. But I was I was upfront with that private money lender, and, truthfully, this industrial deal that, my friend is lending on is the safest deal she’s ever lent on. She’s probably lent to me 8 different times for different deals, and I keep telling her this is the safest one she’s ever done. Not that her money is ever in danger. I’m always gonna pay her back, but, the tenant that’s in this property, the lease, the rent that’s coming in, it’s it’s a very, very secure investment. And so I yeah. For me, it’s just it’s always been relationship-based through friends and family.
Jay Conner [00:15:16]:
Yeah. And I know what you mean. I mean, the word trust is very, very important. I couldn’t agree with you more when you say that they’re investing in you. They’re not investing in the property even though the property is securing the note. And I like it when I hear you say you gave them a mortgage here in North Carolina, so deed of trust. It’s that legal document that collateralizes that note and gives your lender, of course, legal recourse. They could foreclose if they had to.
Jay Conner [00:15:46]:
But as you say, the trust factor is, you know, very, very important. That’s why I call it relationship capital. Now I’ve got 47 private lenders today. A lot of them I’ve never met. So how did they come about? Well, I was referred to them by an existing private lender that I already had a relationship with, and then, you know, got referred over. So when you’ve been raising the private money, have you been, like, pitching a deal or telling about a deal, or do you talk with them first about, hey. I’ve got a private money opportunity, and, here’s what I pay. And when I have an opportunity to come along, I’ll put you in a minute to work for you as soon as I can.
Jay Conner [00:16:32]:
Which approach do you take?
Jonathan Hayek [00:16:34]:
It varies. So let me tell you about the first deal that I raised private money for. I was a teacher at the time. I had basically no money. It was my wife and I’s first home. This was a deal that I bought from an online auction. I bought it from auction.com.
Jay Conner [00:16:53]:
Oh, yeah. I bought houses from auction.com.
Jonathan Hayek [00:16:55]:
Nice. And, at the time, I think things may have changed. This was, 7 or 8 years ago. You had to pay cash, and, the purchase price for this property was $136,000 500. And I didn’t have $136,000, but I knew there was an opportunity in this property. And so, I had this friend who is a little older than me, and I’ve kind of always known him since childhood, a friend of a friend of the family, and I’ve always kinda looked up to him. And in having a conversation with him one day, he said, he said I was talking to him about getting involved in real estate. He said, well, I’ve got this self-directed IRA, And so if you’re looking for any investment, let me know because I’m looking to put this money in a self-directed IRA to work.
Jonathan Hayek [00:17:47]:
I think I had that conversation with him before I had a deal. And so that was just it was a conversation. It was listening. It was talking to someone interested in real estate. And so, that’s kind of been the pattern, from from a lot of my private money lenders, and I only have a handful of of private money lenders. They’re all kind of in they’re all interested in real estate. They’ve had investment properties. They’ve had rentals.
Jonathan Hayek [00:18:13]:
They understand real estate a little bit. I’m not saying you can’t raise money from people who are unfamiliar with real estate, but it certainly helps that you don’t have to explain everything, like, in one course to them for them to understand how it works. And so, you know, in that first deal, you know, I went back to him. His name is Ryan. And I said, hey, you, at one point, mentioned that you had this self-directed IRA you were looking to invest in. I have this deal and I explained it. I said, would you be interested in lending on it? And he said, yeah. Sounds great.
Jonathan Hayek [00:18:47]:
And so he lent a $110,000 on it, and then I had, another friend who lent $50,000 on it. And so that got me close to, well, it got me it got me over the purchase price and a little bit of rehab money. And so after about 6 months, I was able to, fix up the property. It needed a lot of work, so I fixed up the property and refinanced it into a conventional mortgage, paid these private money lenders back, and that’s how that worked. With other private money lenders, it took time. You know, you may have to for people unfamiliar with private money, you may have to have to create a track record, and you may have to get some successful deals under your belt. And so, you know, there are other ways to, get money creatively. There’s hard money.
Jonathan Hayek [00:19:40]:
I’ve used balance transfers from credit cards. I’m not endorsing that. I’m just saying I’ve done it. And then eventually, I was able to use banks and, you know, local community banks. And so all these funding sources helped me to create or build a track record so I could go to private money lenders, or I could just casually say or they could observe and say, hey. You know, I’ve done 5 of these deals or 10 of these deals, and they’ve I’ve made money on all of them. Everyone has gotten paid back on time. And so a person’s history is likely to be how they operate in the future.
Jonathan Hayek [00:20:18]:
And so, yeah, some people, I would say some lenders are gonna be a little more, ambitious, a little more aggressive, and just say, sure. Yep. You can I’ll I’ll lend you money. No problem. Some are gonna wanna see a track record. Some, it might take years. You might have to talk with them for years. But, yeah, it generally helps to have a track record and to have a deal opportunity in front of someone.
Jonathan Hayek [00:20:44]:
So you can tell someone, this is the deal. These are the numbers. This is my plan, and this is when you’re gonna get paid back. That gives someone something to hold on to rather than having this nebulous situation of, hey. One day, if I get a deal like this, would you be interested? And it also puts, like a a time frame on a lender. Because if you talk to someone but you don’t have a deal for a year, they might say, well, you know, that was last year. Things have changed. I need the money.
Jonathan Hayek [00:21:14]:
But if you say, hey. I’ve got this deal right now, and, I’m closing in 2 weeks. Would you be interested in lending on it? Here are the terms. Here’s the deal.
Jay Conner [00:21:24]:
Yeah. And you’re taking, a very similar approach to what I do. It doesn’t sound like you’re chasing, begging, trying to persuade, trying to sell anybody. You’re just simply instead of asking for a mortgage, you’re offering a mortgage.
Jonathan Hayek [00:21:41]:
Yeah. A 100%. I am not interested in taking someone’s last dollar to invest in my deal. I’m not interested in having, you know, Uncle Joe, you know, stay up at night, wondering if his money is safe. I want people to invest with me who are confident, who are financially confident, who are, confident in real estate, and who feel good about the situation. Like you said, I’m not interested in begging. I don’t wanna have to convince someone. I want it to be a good match.
Jonathan Hayek [00:22:20]:
So if someone has money to invest, I have a deal that they’re interested in. They trust me. It’s a good match. That’s a good situation for me. I am not interested in doing, your phone calls and follow-up phone calls and text messaging and and and, you know, all that kind of stuff. Reaching out to people cold on LinkedIn and Twitter, that’s not me. I’m a relationship-based person, and, if there’s a good match there, that’s what I’m looking for.
Jay Conner [00:22:48]:
Yeah. Same thing for me. So by the way, do you, Jonathan, have an opportunity now for investors or private lenders to get involved?
Jonathan Hayek [00:22:59]:
I always have opportunities. I mean, if there’s money, I can I can find a deal to put it to work? But, you know, that being said, I’m a relationship-based person. And so if someone’s interested in building a relationship and talking about real estate, I’m happy to have that conversation. But, again, I’m not, you know, I’m not on my hands and knees, asking for money. But, you know, the more money and the more investments more investors I can bring on board, the more deals we can do. And so for most people, capital is a limiting aspect to investing in real estate. And so, sure, if I had more capital, I’d be doing more deals.
Jay Conner [00:23:43]:
Sure. So what’s the best way for people to reach out to you and find you?
Jonathan Hayek [00:23:50]:
You can go to my personal website. That’s jonathanhaeick.co. I have, some properties that are in my portfolio, some deals that I’ve done, all the ways to get a hold of me, and links to my podcast. I’m most active on LinkedIn, but not super active on social media. But if you’d like to get a hold of me, reach out, through my website, www.JonathanHayek.co.
Jay Conner [00:24:13]:
And that is spelled www.JonathanHayek.co, Again, that’s jonathan Hayek, www.JonathanHayek.co. Jonathan, I know one of the topics that you love to talk about is mindset, And it goes without saying, that for someone to be successful in real estate investing or just something to be successful as an entrepreneur, it takes some special mindset characteristics. Tell us about your mindset tips that help achieve big results.
Jonathan Hayek [00:25:04]:
You know, when I started my working career, I was a special ed teacher. I had this idea in my head. I said to my wife one day, we’re just not gonna make very much money. We had been married for maybe 2 years at this point, and I said, I’m sorry. We’re we’re just not gonna make very much money. I was a teacher. She was working for peanuts for a non-profit. And, after I said that to her out loud, I reflected on that and I said, you know what? I am at the time, I was, like, 31, 32 years old.
Jonathan Hayek [00:25:37]:
I said, you know what? I’m not okay with that. I still have the majority of my life ahead of me. I am not okay with being stuck where I am right now. This is I was a teacher at the time, and it was not a life sentence. I was not, you know, I was not handcuffed to being a teacher. And so, you know, that sort of examining my own limiting beliefs got me thinking. And, I have some mantras that I think about. I would encourage other people to have mantras.
Jonathan Hayek [00:26:09]:
You know, one mantra that comes to mind that I think about is you’re not thinking big enough. And, you know, I think I was brought up to be kind of I love my parents, but I was brought up to be kind of a small thinker, to be an inside-the-box thinker, to tow the tow line and, look for and cling to comfort and security. But as I got into adulthood, I was just not okay with that. And so as my mindset, continued to encourage me to think bigger, I started thinking outside the box a little more and quit my W2 jobs and pursued real estate full time and, you know, started pursuing bigger deals and deals that other people weren’t doing. I mean, these industrial deals, I didn’t know anybody doing these deals, but I thought that that was something that would be an asset class that I could be successful with. So, I would just encourage people to, examine their limiting beliefs, and consider why they believe the things that they do. It generally is gonna go back to your childhood and the way you were brought up and the things you were taught and encourage yourself to think bigger to do bigger things to live your best life.
Jay Conner [00:27:30]:
So another thing that you talk about, Jonathan, is you talk about rightsizing. In other words, you talk about rightsizing a business for the individual, the family, their their lifestyle, etcetera. So what kind of suggestions do you have for people that are wanting to either get into real estate, build a real estate business, or grow their real estate business that is a quote, unquote right size for them?
Jonathan Hayek [00:28:00]:
You have to know your why. You may not know your why from day 1, but what needs to be on the forefront of your mind is, why am I doing this? There is such a, it there’s a pervasive pressure on the Internet and social media and podcasts to always go bigger, to scale up, do bigger deals, and partner. You need to build your portfolio. You need more doors. You need to, you know, you need to syndicate. You need a fund. And, you know, there’s this undertone that bigger is better, that if you’re in real estate, you always need to be doing bigger deals, build your team, get more money. And I am not convinced that that is the right way for everybody to go.
Jonathan Hayek [00:28:50]:
There is nothing wrong with having a big portfolio and building a big business. If you want to like, as a personal challenge, you wanna syndicate deals and build a fund and you want to build a business and you want to see how big of a business you can build, and that is your why, great. Go at it. But I think the majority of people, their why is they wanna spend more time with their family. They wanna travel. They wanna live life on their terms. Well, if you have this huge business that you are the CEO of or you have, you know, 200 investors on this deal that you are trying to, you’re trying to keep updated and give monthly updates, that is not freedom. So, be very careful about crafting the business and your real estate portfolio so that you are building the life that you intend, not the life that you believe people on social media think you should be building.
Jay Conner [00:29:52]:
That’s great advice. I mean, I’ve got a lot of friends that have gone down this road of bigger is better, and they end up asking themselves, wait a minute. Why in the first place did I get into real estate? I didn’t get into real estate to be working 60, 70, and 80 hours a week and having the business run me instead of me running the business. Jonathan, what a delight. I’ve been so happy to have you here on the show. Thank you for joining me. One more time, folks, if you would like to have a visit with Jonathan, as you can tell, he’s got integrity. He’s got a lot of experience in real estate, and he can get you nice high rates of return safely and securely.
Jay Conner [00:30:35]:
You can visit with Jonathan or set up a time to visit www. Jonathanjohnathayek.c0. Thank you so much, Jonathan. God bless you.
Jonathan Hayek [00:30:48]:
Jay, thank you so much.
Jay Conner [00:30:50]:
Thank you so much. And there you have it. Another amazing episode of Raising Private Money, and I need your help. I appreciate your rating and reviewing the show. That allows me to keep having more amazing guests come here on the show to inspire and enlighten audiences just like you. So be sure and follow me as well. If you happen to be watching on YouTube, be sure to like, share, subscribe, and click that bell so you don’t miss out on any more upcoming amazing episodes. I’m looking forward to seeing you right here on the next episode of Raising Private Money.
Narrator [00:31:29]:
Are you feeling inspired by the knowledge you gained in this episode? Then head over to https://www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide. That’s https://www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide and download your free guide that shares seven reasons why private money will skyrocket your real estate investing business right now. Again, that’s https://www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide to get your free guide. We’ll see you next time on raising private money with Jay Conner.