In the world of real estate, the journey from boom to bust—and back again—can teach us far more than a streak of unbroken wins ever could. On this episode of Raising Private Money, Jay Conner sits down with acclaimed investor Rod Khleif, whose story of losing and then rebuilding a $50 million fortune reveals the mindset and strategy every real estate entrepreneur needs to understand.
The Seminar of Failure: From Loss to Learning
Rod Khleif’s resume is staggering: over 2,000 owned properties and a host of thriving businesses. But what truly sets his perspective apart is how he frames a catastrophic $50 million loss during the 2008 financial crisis—not as failure, but as an “expensive seminar” in life and business. His warning is clear: never let your investment vehicle become your identity, or the pain of loss becomes too much to bear. Resilience comes from seeing business setbacks as lessons, not definitions of self, and getting up after every fall.
If you take an entrepreneurial leap, stumbling is inevitable. But as Khleif observes, “We fail our way to success.” More crucial than fearing failure is fearing regret—because as a famous hospice nurse once observed, the greatest regret of the dying isn’t failure itself, but not living life fully, or not pushing towards their real potential.
Mindset is Everything: The Comeback Formula
So how did Khleif recover? The process is instructive for anyone starting, restarting, or scaling in real estate:
- Reassociate with Your Goals: After a period of self-doubt, Khleif re-immersed himself in his goals—goals that provided a “burning desire” to fuel action and push through fear. Goal-setting isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing exercise in designing your life, and it’s foundational for breaking free from analysis paralysis and comfort zones.
- Make a Real Decision: Decision comes from the Latin for “to cut off.” Once a path is chosen, there’s no looking back or second-guessing—commitment is total.
- Take the First Step: As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Progress happens through action, not endless preparation.
- Get in the Right Room: Surround yourself with achievers; being the “dumbest person in the room” is by design. The right peer group changes your expectations and your standards, transforming what once felt impossible into second nature.
- Play to Your Strengths: In real estate, it’s a team sport. Focus on your unique abilities and role, rather than trying to do everything. This leads to more fulfillment, resilience, and ultimately, better results.
Why Most Fail, and How Winners Stand Out
The uncomfortable truth? Deals fail for lack of due diligence, inadequate teams, and overreaching without proper systems or accountability. Surface reasons like lack of capital or market timing matter, but the root is almost always mindset or team choices.
What separates consistent winners? According to Khleif, it’s not IQ, degrees, or location—it’s “massive freaking action.” The best performers don’t wait for perfect conditions. They move, learn from “imperfect action,” and keep going. Limiting beliefs (“I’m not smart enough,” “I’m not experienced enough”) are common, but must be dragged into the daylight and exposed as falsehoods to be overcome.
Scaling With Systems—and Avoiding Self-Destruction
Many investors flounder trying to scale too fast, skipping over vital systems and controls. Real estate is a business of checklists, context, and execution. Grow methodically, with frameworks and processes to keep you from missing deadlines, underestimating costs, or trusting the wrong partners.
The Investment that Pays Forever: Education
Both Khleif and Jay Conner agree: education is not optional. The cost of ignorance is always greater than the cost of learning, especially in high-stakes real estate. Whether through seminars, coaching, or masterminds, every investor should surround themselves with the right information and guidance before leaping in.
The Final Word: Take Action (Imperfectly!)
Most will listen to advice and do nothing. The few who act—even imperfectly—are the ones who will build true lifetime cash flow. Let this episode be your spark. As Khleif recommends, don’t let the value you’ve gained here be just entertainment. Take one step today to move your real estate ambitions forward, and get in the rooms where success is the expectation, not the exception.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode
- What does it mean to separate your identity from your investment “vehicle,” and why is this distinction important for long-term success in real estate?
- How did reframing the loss of $50 million as a “seminar” rather than a failure impact the guest’s ability to rebuild?
- In what ways can the fear of regret be a more powerful motivator than the fear of failure in taking action as an investor?
- What role does surrounding yourself with the right people and mastermind groups play in overcoming setbacks and achieving business growth?
- Why does focusing on one’s strengths, rather than weaknesses, contribute to greater resilience and enjoyment in real estate investment?
- What are the most common, “uncomfortable” reasons people fail in real estate, according to the speaker, and how can they be avoided?
- How can reassociating with your goals help when facing a lack of confidence or paralysis due to fear?
- What is the significance of taking “massive imperfect action,” and how does it differ from waiting until every box is checked before moving forward?
- What are some dangers of trying to scale a real estate business too quickly, and how do systems and accountability help mitigate those risks?
- When starting in real estate today, what should new investors focus on, and what should they ignore to maximize their chances of success?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- $50 Million Loss as a “Seminar”
Rod Khleif refers to his massive $50 million loss during the 2008 real estate crash as an “expensive seminar,” emphasizing the importance of learning from failures instead of being defeated by them. - 2,000+ Properties Owned
Rod Khleif has owned over 2,000 properties throughout his real estate career, showcasing the sheer scale of his experience in multifamily investing. - Unusual Childhood Footwear
As a child new to America, Rod went to school wearing actual Dutch wooden shoes and leather shorts, attracting plenty of attention—and a few bullies—helping him develop resilience from an early age.
Timestamps:
00:00 Avoiding identity with investments
04:12 John Maxwell on embracing failure
07:53 Goal Setting and Overcoming Fear
09:57 Surrounding Yourself with Achievers
14:07 Importance of Choosing the Right Team
18:39 Overcoming negative beliefs
21:52 The importance of due diligence
25:58 Starting real estate investing
27:43 Connect with Rod Khleif:
29:24 Sharing the podcast for growth
30:37 Get the free investment guide
Connect With Jay Conner:
Private Money Academy Conference:
Free Report:
https://www.jayconner.com/MoneyReport
Join the Private Money Academy:
https://www.JayConner.com/trial/
Have you read Jay’s new book, Where to Get the Money Now?
It is available FREE (all you pay is the shipping and handling) at https://www.JayConner.com/Book
What is Private Money? Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner
http://www.JayConner.com/MoneyPodcast
Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $67,000 per deal.
#RealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #RealEstateInvestingForBeginners #Foreclosures #FlippingHouses #PrivateMoney #RaisingPrivateMoney #JayConner
YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/RealEstateInvestingWithJayConner
Apple Podcast:
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jay.conner.marketing
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JayConner01
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/JConner_PrivateMoneyAuthority
From Losing $50 Million to Building Wealth: Mindset and Strategies for Multifamily Success with Rod Khleif
Jay Conner [00:00:02]:
What do you do when you lose $50 million? Do you fold or do you rebuild stronger than ever before? And what separates the investors who disappear from the ones who come back and dominate? Welcome to Raising Private Money. I’m Jay Conner, the Private Money Authority. And if you’re a real estate investor looking to fund more deals without begging for money, you are in the right place. Now today I’m sitting down with Rod Khleif. This guy has owned over 2,000 properties. Let me say that again, over 2,000. But what makes this conversation different? It’s not just the success, it’s the crash. Rod lost $50 million in 2008.
Jay Conner [00:00:47]:
Most people never recover from that. Rod calls it a seminar, and today he’s gonna break down the mindset. The psychology and the strategies that took him from losing everything to building it all back again and even better. We’re talking about real estate, peak performance, and how to think at a level where money follows you instead of you chasing money. And by the way, Rod’s foundation has also impacted over 130,000 children. So yeah, this is going to be a powerful conversation. Put on your seatbelt, buckle up, and you’re gonna hear stuff here that you’ve never heard before. So before we jump in with Rod, you’re gonna meet him in just a moment, right after this.
Narrator [00:01:36]:
If you are a real estate investor and are wondering how to raise and leverage Private Money to make more profit on every deal, then you are 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 get the money because the money comes first. Now here’s your host, Jay Conner.
Jay Conner [00:02:04]:
Rod, welcome to Raising Private Money.
Rod Khleif [00:02:07]:
Well, I’m, I’m, I’m really pleased to be here, Jay. You’ve got a hell of a dynamic personality. I’m looking forward to this.
Jay Conner [00:02:14]:
Well, thank you so much. Here’s where I wanna, here’s where I wanna start, Rod. I wanna start with the breaking point. Which really, from what I understand about your story, was really a turning point, not only a breaking point. When you lose $50 million in a single collapse, what actually breaks first, your finances or your identity?
Rod Khleif [00:02:37]:
Well, that’s a, that’s an awesome question actually, Jay, because, uh, you should never allow your vehicle, i.e., real estate or buying businesses or stocks or whatever, never allow crypto, never allow your vehicle to be your identity. Because if that, if it’s your identity, then you’re a failure. If it’s your vehicle, the vehicle may have failed. So, I’m very careful about that. I teach an identity exercise at my boot camps because, you know, people that make it their identity jump off buildings when the shit hits the fan, or, you know, that crypto guy killed himself in his Lamborghini about a year ago. That’s when it’s your identity. So, never let it be your identity. But no, it was the vehicle, you know, and I call them seminars when they fail.
Rod Khleif [00:03:16]:
Yeah, it was a $50 million, it was an expensive freaking seminar. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s only a failure if you don’t get the lesson or you don’t get back up. up. And I’ve built 30 businesses so far in my career. I was shocked when I counted them. Several are worth tens of millions of dollars. 2 right now are.
Rod Khleif [00:03:31]:
However, most were spectacular flaming seminars, okay? Because we fail our way to success. So, you know, if you’re listening and you haven’t taken action on something yet, don’t fear failure. Fear regret. Fear being in the same freaking place you are right now a year or 2 from now, unless you love where you are right now. That’s what you should fear. You know, Jay, there was this nurse in Australia, a hospice nurse, who took care of patients when they were about to die. And she asked them a question. And the question was, do you have any regrets? And she wrote a book about it.
Rod Khleif [00:04:00]:
It’s a bestseller, something like The 5 Regrets of Dying. And you know what the number one regret was? Not living the life I could have lived, living someone else’s life, not doing what I know I’m capable of. Fear that.
Jay Conner [00:04:12]:
Awesome advice, Rod. As you were sharing your story there, it reminded me of 2 things. First of all, John Maxwell- we were so blessed to meet him last year and have a chat with him. And, you know, one thing, of course, one of the books he’s written is over 80 books. But one of his books is Failing Forward. And from his talk, there was a lady in the audience who, when it came to Q&A, said, what is it about- what’s your characteristic or your personal characteristic, Mr. Maxwell, that lends itself mostly to your success? And his answer was very interesting. He says, I just fail more than anybody else.
Jay Conner [00:04:57]:
And, uh, and she says, well, what do you mean by that? She says, well, he said, well, only about 30%, 3 out of 10 ventures that I try really are successful. Uh, the other, you know, 70% don’t make it. He says, so somebody might try 10 things and, and succeed at 3. He says, I’m gonna try 100 things. I got 30 wins instead of 3 wins. And, um, so your story reminded me of John Knight.
Rod Khleif [00:05:24]:
I, I met Sara Blakely, the billionaire owner of Spanx. You know, the guys- that’s the women’s undergarments that hold everything together under there. And she started with $5,000. And I met her at a mastermind I went to. And she told me that her dad used to ask her and her brother almost on a weekly basis, what have you failed at this week? And I thought, what an awesome, awesome freaking question to ask your kids so they don’t fear failure.
Jay Conner [00:05:47]:
Right? Exactly. Well, and going along with that, I heard someone say, I wish I could remember who to give credit to. It’s not original with me. And the quote is, success is a horrible teacher.
Rod Khleif [00:06:02]:
Interesting. Yeah. We fail our way to success, Jay. You know? And, you know, an entrepreneur is kind of like a shark. You only die if you stop swimming. And that’s the bottom line. And, you know, don’t fear failure. Like I said, fear regret.
Rod Khleif [00:06:17]:
And, you know, there’s so many people watching that know they need to do something with their lives. They need to spend time with their kids and their families, and time’s going by. That clock is ticking, you know, and we live in the greatest time on freaking earth right now, Jay, to take advantage of what’s happening. There’s 10,000 people a day turning 65 in this country. They have businesses they wanna sell. There’s 10,000 people a day turning 80 in this country. I’m in senior housing. I’m closing on 6 assisted living facilities.
Rod Khleif [00:06:42]:
Friday. You know, and there’s incredible opportunity in multifamily. It’s a meltdown in multifamily. I mean, there’s a ton of deals in distress, deals being sold for less than you can build them for. So, there’s incredible opportunity. But, you know, there’s a lot of fear because there’s blood running in the streets. You know, I think I’m reminded of Warren Buffett’s famous quote: be fearful when others are greedy. A lot of greed in ’21, ’22, ’20.
Rod Khleif [00:07:04]:
But the flip side of that is, be greedy when others are fearful. And right now, there’s a lot of fear. So, if there’s ever a time to get going. You know, smarter people than me say it could be the greatest transfer of wealth we see in our lifetimes, but you gotta decide what your vehicle’s gonna be. You know, if it’s gonna be real estate, get your butt to one of my boot camps. If it’s, uh, stocks, go learn that. If it’s buying businesses, go learn that. But don’t wait.
Rod Khleif [00:07:25]:
Don’t sit on the sidelines is my advice.
Jay Conner [00:07:28]:
Let’s go back to that crash in 2008 because, you know, so, so much of your success, other people’s success, it’s 99% mindset. Yes, you got another strategy.
Rod Khleif [00:07:38]:
Oh, absolutely.
Jay Conner [00:07:39]:
You gotta know the strategies, you gotta have the skill set. But what, what, what it really comes down to, I’m sure you’ll agree, is the mindset. What was the first decision you made after the crash that started your comeback?
Rod Khleif [00:07:53]:
Let me give you the sequence, because the sequence that I used is the same thing you would use to get started. Okay? The first thing is, you gotta do your goals. If you come to one of my virtual boot camps, I do one about every 30 days. First thing we do is goal setting on steroids, cuz how do you get anything if you don’t know what it is? So the first thing I did was reassociate with, well, after a couple of months hiding under a rock, feeling sorry for myself, I came out from under the rock and reassociated with my goals. Because you’ve got to create what Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich says is a burning desire. You’ve got to want it because that’s how you push through fear. That’s how you push through limiting beliefs. That’s how you actually take— or maybe that’s how you get uncomfortable.
Rod Khleif [00:08:30]:
You know, a lot of people are in comfort, and that comfort zone is a nice warm place, and nothing freaking grows there, right? So, I did my goals. Then, you got to make a decision. And so, again, it’s the same sequence. So, back then, I decided, okay, enough. Pity party. Let’s get, let’s get off your butt and make things happen again. And so I just decided. Now, the Latin root for the word decision means to cut off.
Rod Khleif [00:08:49]:
Uh, an example of a good decision would be if you’re going to attack the island, you burn your ships because you’re taking their ships home. Okay, that’s a decision. It’s not dipping your toe in the water. It’s not one foot in, one foot out. It’s freaking done. So that’s what I did. I decided. And then, then the next thing is you got to take the first step.
Rod Khleif [00:09:04]:
You know, Dr. Martin Luther King said, you take that first step in faith, the next step will be revealed. And you may not see the whole journey. And a lot of people that get into, you know, what we do, as you know, Jay, are analytical. And I love you. You know who you are. And you also know how you have to check off every freaking box before you make a move. Well, you can’t do that.
Rod Khleif [00:09:22]:
You’ve got to recognize, I guess the best analogy would be, you can drive all the way across the United States at night with your headlights, only seeing 50 feet in front of you, and you know you can make it. You know other people have done it before you. You may have some obstacles, but it’s, you can do it. And it’s the same way in my business, in commercial real estate. It’s the, you know, and it’s the same way with really any business. So, associate with your goals, make a decision, take that first step, and then get around the right people. You know, when I was losing everything in 2008, ’09, I was in Tony Robbins’ Platinum Partnership. And it was a high-level mastermind.
Rod Khleif [00:09:57]:
It was about $100 grand back then. It’s more than that now. And I was around people that were killing it in that crash. They were thriving. I don’t know if it was luck or if it was planned, but they’re like, get up, you puss, $50 million schmillion. You know, that’s who you need to be around when the you-know-what hits the fan, right? And so, you know, most people default to people they go to school with or went to school with or work with as peers. No, you want to be around people that want more out of life, people that think what you think is hard is easy. Like, I’ve got a coaching program, and we just discovered literally 2 and a half weeks ago that my students now own 305,000 units that we know of, and we know it’s more than that.
Rod Khleif [00:10:35]:
And, and, and it’s because of the group. It’s not because of Rod being great. It’s because, you know, it’s the— it’s that rising tide that lifts all ships. So get around people that want more out of life. And I could keep going here, Jay, but, but there’s, there’s more to this. But, you know, I guess then I’ll say one more thing. Play to your strengths. Your strengths are your greatest assets.
Rod Khleif [00:10:55]:
Don’t try to build your weaknesses. There are lots of different hats you can wear in what we do, multifamily. Senior housing. I mean, I’ve got students that have done all of— tons of senior housing. I’m doing it as well. I just bragged about my multi— the student success in multifamily, mobile home parks, self-storage, industrial flex space, you name it, all of it. But you want to play to your strengths because there’s a lot of different hats you can wear. It’s a team sport.
Rod Khleif [00:11:20]:
You could be the person that finds the deals. You could be the one, if you’re analytical, that underwrites them. If you’ve got construction experience or management experience or project management experience, you can do the asset management. There’s just a lot of different hats you can wear, but you want to play to your strengths. Why? Because when you’re playing to your strengths, you love what you do. And when you love what you do, you never work another day in your life, right? And if you encounter setbacks, you’re able to push through them because you’re doing what you love. You’re more innovative, you’re more creative. And the biggest thing is you’re more passionate.
Rod Khleif [00:11:49]:
And if you’re raising money, which is what this show’s about, you better be passionate because passion is required to influence people.
Jay Conner [00:11:55]:
Absolutely, Rod. Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. And one thing that you just said is so powerful. In fact, everything you just said is powerful, but one particularly is resonating with me, and that is being very, very intentional. And be very intentional about who you’re going to be around, and just as intentional about who you’re not going to be around.
Jay Conner [00:12:18]:
And the reason that comes to mind is my most, uh, my quickest, my most, um, efficient growth that I’ve had has been because of the mastermind groups I have been in and the mastermind groups that I’m in now. And quite frankly, you know, I’m a giver. I want to give, I want to serve, I want to provide value. But my selfish desire is to be in a room, and I’m the dumbest kid in there.
Rod Khleif [00:12:47]:
That’s, that’s the room you want to be in. That’s the room you want to be in. You want to be around people that think what you think is hard is easy. That’s who you want to be with. And, you know, I formed a mastermind for multifamily. It was the largest at the time, probably about $40, $50 billion in assets in there. And I formed it selfishly ’cause I wanted to be in the room with people that thought what I thought was hard was easy. And it was like herding cats, so I gave it up a few years ago.
Rod Khleif [00:13:09]:
But yeah, that’s, I’m in multiple masterminds almost all the time. I’ve got multiple coaches. And, you know, I believe in that. In fact, I show a picture at my boot camps where I’ve got hundreds of lanyards literally around my neck, and I have my arms out. With lanyards hanging on both arms from all the boot camps and masterminds and workshops that I’ve gone to. That’s my college education. I didn’t go to college. That’s my college education.
Jay Conner [00:13:35]:
Well, I went to college, I went to university, and I’ll tell you, I have learned a whole lot more in my mastermind groups than I did in practical application at the university, for sure.
Rod Khleif [00:13:47]:
There you go.
Jay Conner [00:13:48]:
You know, we’ve been talking about failure. I don’t want to leave the topic quite yet. In your opinion and your experience and observations, what are the real reasons people fail in real estate? Not surface answers, but the uncomfortable truth nobody wants to admit.
Rod Khleif [00:14:07]:
Oh God, there’s, there’s a lot of reasons. Um, you know, they, they put you, you put a team together that’s the wrong team. Um, you don’t do your, your, your due diligence before you join a team or form a team. Now, in my Linktree. It’s rodslinks.com. I’ve got a free book section, and there’s a book in there about the questions you should ask before you get into partnership, okay? And, and, you know, because a partnership, like a marriage, is easy to get into and hard to get out of, okay? Ask me how I know. And I, by the way, I say ask me how I know so often because I made every mistake in the book, and one of my students gave me a shirt that says #AskMeHowIKnow. It’s hilarious.
Rod Khleif [00:14:43]:
We give them away at my live events. But anyway, so that’s one piece for sure. And then, you know, there are so many reasons that deals fail. You don’t raise enough money. You don’t, you know, and I’m blessed to tell you, I think we’ve only lost one deal in my Warrior Program, my coaching program, because I teach everybody to be so conservative. 6 months of operating reserves. You know, don’t be aggressive in your rent assumptions and be just as aggressive in your expense acceleration, uh, and, and be conservative in your exit cap rate and all these other things that we teach. And, and, uh, and, and to be conservative, the bottom line.
Rod Khleif [00:15:22]:
And so that’s, that’s another piece. But the biggest piece is the team. I’m going to tell you, it’s who you align with, because you can get a great deal and you’ve got the wrong team, it’ll fail. You can have a lackluster deal with the right team, and you’ll be okay. And so I, I think the, the biggest reason people fail is it’s the wrong people on the team,m and you didn’t do your due diligence. You’ve got people that really aren’t enrolled, that don’t, you know, aren’t as invested in their investors’ money as you are. And so, you know, I think that’s the biggest one, Jay, is, is really who you align with to do these deals.
Jay Conner [00:15:56]:
When someone is feeling, um, that they have that feeling of a lack of confidence, um, and it paralyzes them, what advice would you give them?
Rod Khleif [00:16:08]:
Well, that’s very common. And they have, you know, people have fear, and fear paralyzes. We achievers, we call it stress. But, you know, the bottom line is, you know, when that happens, I would tell you to reassociate with your goals. At my Linktree, that Rod’s Links, at the bottom is my goal-setting workshop. It’s about an hour. There’s a guide you can download. I’m not going to try to sell you anything.
Rod Khleif [00:16:28]:
Here’s the sad reality, Jay. People spend more time planning a freaking birthday party or a Christmas party than they do designing their lives. Doing Your Goals Is Designing Your Life. You go to Roz’s links, but there’s my goal-setting workshop. It’s a free guide you can download. Have your spouse do it. Have your kids, if they’re over 10 years old, do it. Okay? And design your life because, yeah, I forgot what the question was, but that was the answer.
Jay Conner [00:16:55]:
Hey, man, I know the feeling. I know the feeling.
Rod Khleif [00:16:58]:
I’m 66, and I forget what I had for breakfast. It’s ridiculous.
Jay Conner [00:17:03]:
What is a pattern? And I mean, you’ve, you have observed a lot of people in real estate investing, those that are successful, those that aren’t. What is, what is one of the main patterns that you see winners have versus losers?
Rod Khleif [00:17:23]:
Massive freaking action.
Rod Khleif [00:17:25]:
My most successful students aren’t the smartest. They didn’t, it’s not the college degrees. They don’t live in the biggest cities. They don’t come with the most money. I’ve had NFL players, NBA players, I’ve had famous actors. The ones that kick ass are the ones that just take massive action. They fail forward, as you said. Are they gonna have mistakes? Sure.
Rod Khleif [00:17:44]:
But they just— that’s the secret. And a lot of people have a story for why they don’t take action, you know, limiting beliefs. Let’s talk about limiting beliefs for a minute because I got a funny prop here. When I immigrated to this country, I got thrown into school. I didn’t speak English. I was 6 years old. And came from Holland, you know, wooden shoes and windmills. And my mom sent me to school, so I got beat up occasionally.
Rod Khleif [00:18:03]:
I didn’t speak English. My mom sent me to school in these wooden shoes right here. These are the actual freaking wooden shoes and these leather shorts the Germans wear for Oktoberfest. That was like crack cocaine for the freaking bullies. So, I got my ass kicked again. And, you know, I came up with this belief system that I wasn’t good enough. And a lot of people have these limiting beliefs. I’m not good enough.
Rod Khleif [00:18:26]:
I’m not courageous enough. I’m not strong enough. I’m not analytical enough. That was another one of mine. I’m too old. I’m too young, whatever. There’s a reason the acronym for belief systems is BS because 99% of them are BS. But you see, we believe they’re real.
Rod Khleif [00:18:39]:
And so, if you’re listening and you’re consciously aware of one of these, sometimes you’re not consciously aware, but if you’re consciously aware, drag it out into the daylight. Look at it with your adult rational mind. Recognize that it’s BS. And I promise, if you do that enough, it will dissipate. I used to be afraid to raise my hand in front of 10 kids in a classroom. And now I literally speak in front of thousands and thousands of people a year, typically in flip-flops and shorts. So, you know, you can mitigate this, you know, a negative belief system.
Jay Conner [00:19:05]:
I wanna come back for a moment to what you were saying: take massive action. And I just gotta insert here because I never heard anybody else say this until probably, I don’t know, 10 years ago. I have a dear friend. His name is Tom Kroll, K-R-O-L-L. He, uh, founded the largest wholesaling, uh, coaching company. Oh, probably 20 years ago.
Rod Khleif [00:19:28]:
I know that name. I know that name.
Jay Conner [00:19:30]:
Mm-hmm. An amazing person, Rod. I need to, if you, if you and Tom don’t know each other, I gotta get you two connected anyway. Yeah. The phrase that he says, I love, he says, okay, take massive imperfect action. There you go. Massive imperfect action.
Rod Khleif [00:19:48]:
I have Tom in my phone, so we know each other. I, I just been, it’s been a long time.
Jay Conner [00:19:52]:
Oh my gosh.
Rod Khleif [00:19:53]:
Real Estate Influencer Mastermind. Yeah.
Jay Conner [00:19:56]:
I gotta get you two reconnected. Um, so, so the pattern we’re talking about that you just talked about is, is massive action. I’m so glad we’re spending a good amount of time here talking about, um, the psychology.
Rod Khleif [00:20:12]:
Um, it’s 80 to 90% of this, buddy. That’s, you know, if you’re listening, you think it’s the mechanical stuff, the real estate. You know, I host the largest commercial real estate podcast, really,y in the world at this point, but it’s 80 to 90% psychology and mindset. That’s it. It’s only 10 to 20% the mechanical stuff. So, you know, you’ve got to get your mindset right. Go do my goal setting or do somebody else’s goal setting, but get your mindset right because that’s how you take that imperfect action and you change the trajectory of your life for you and your kids and their kids and their kids.
Jay Conner [00:20:46]:
Why do you think most real estate investors get that backwards?
Rod Khleif [00:20:51]:
Because they’re analytical and they get caught up in analysis paralysis, you know? And I love you because you’re some of my most successful students. After all, my business is primarily empirical. You get the numbers right, you ask all the right questions, pretty hard to make a big mistake. But you know who you are. And again, I love you, but you know how you have to check off every single box? You can’t do that here. You just gotta take that imperfect action.
Jay Conner [00:21:14]:
Yeah. Um, I had another question, uh, that I wanted to ask you, and you’ve sort of begun answering it. I don’t know if another answer comes to mind. So, you know, you talk a lot about systems. You’ve already talked about teams. And what I wanted to ask you is, what’s the biggest mistake investors make when trying to scale, um, their business? And you’ve talked about action, you’ve talked about teams.
Rod Khleif [00:21:39]:
No, no, no, I, I can answer that question. The biggest mistake is trying to go too fast. You know, every business is nothing but systems and people. You’ve got to get the systems down; otherwise, you’ll implode.
Jay Conner [00:21:51]:
Okay?
Rod Khleif [00:21:52]:
There are a lot of details in our business. If you miss things in your due diligence, if you if you miss a deadline and your money goes hard and you don’t raise all the money, or you don’t you know whatever it is, you miss you know our our business is a lot of a lot of checkboxes, and and you know I’ve got due diligence checklists and and closing checklists and all these things that. That you have to implement to be successful. And I think that’s probably the biggest failing is people move too fast. They don’t dot the i’s and cross the t’s, and they don’t have some sort of an accountability framework in their business to make sure that they don’t miss anything. And so, I happen to be pretty much an expert in systems. I have to say, that’s how I bought 2,000 houses. That I rented out long-term over, you know, a long period of time.
Rod Khleif [00:22:40]:
And I’ve bought thousands of apartments and, and it’s, it’s really all about systems, Jay, and, and good people. Yeah.
Jay Conner [00:22:45]:
Yeah. If you had to start all over again today, as you did in 2008, and you had to rebuild from zero today with your current knowledge, going through what you’ve already been through, build it all back and even better than before, what would your first 90 days look like starting today?
Rod Khleif [00:23:06]:
Well, I gave you a lot of the pieces. OK? You know, reassociate with my goals, make a decision. Enough is enough. Take that first step. Get around the right people. Pay attention to my focus as well. Very— focus is very important. And, and, and, but the key is, is get in the environment, get in the rooms of people that, that, you know, know more than you do, because a rising tide lifts all ships.
Rod Khleif [00:23:31]:
Even if you’re just in the room, it doesn’t even matter if you’re connected with these people. You will become more just by being in the room. And then just massive freaking action. That’s it. You know, just, just be okay with making mistakes. You know, obviously you minimize your mistakes, but massive action is, is the answer. And that’s what I’ve seen so many times with my students.
Jay Conner [00:23:52]:
Yeah, you just said a very, very powerful word. And that powerful word is the word focus. That leads me to this question. So if someone is just getting started in real estate today, and this may depend on, or it may not depend, I’m, I’m gonna be interested in your answer on the, on the type of asset class. Maybe, maybe not. What should they focus on first and what should they ignore completely?
Rod Khleif [00:24:19]:
I, I wanna talk about focus more generally if you gimme a moment on that, because what we focus on gets larger, both positive and negative. You know, I’ll have stu— people call me and say, how do I get outta student loan debt? I’m like, wrong question. How do you make so much money that debt’s irrelevant is what you should be asking yourself. They asked Mother Teresa if she was anti-war. She said, no, I’m pro-peace. I mean, you get the answer. Focus. You know, I listen to— I’ve— my podcast’s been downloaded about 30 million times, which doesn’t sound like a lot in this social media world, but in my little niche, it’s pretty darn good.
Rod Khleif [00:24:48]:
And I listen to 2 podcasts, Joe Rogan and Tim Ferriss. Both sides of the aisle. I’m definitely on the Joe Rogan side, but on the Tim Ferriss side, he interviews the best of the best in the world. The best athletes, Michael Phelps, NFL, NBA players, actors like Hugh Jackman, Ed Norton, Arnold, billionaires like Ray Dalio, heads of the biggest companies like Zuckerberg. And he deconstructs their success. It’s a fascinating conversation. And I started to hear a pattern, Jay. They almost all meditate.
Rod Khleif [00:25:14]:
What does meditation enhance? Focus. Right? And so, you know, what should somebody focus on first? Their education. Get your butt to one of my boot camps. I charge $17. If you want to learn multifamily, no excuses. $17. I don’t sell anything there. 2 days of training.
Rod Khleif [00:25:30]:
So, there are no excuses if that’s what you want to learn. But focus on your education. Get around the right people that are doing this, not the naysayers. Because, as you said, be careful who you allow to influence you. And there are people around you that don’t want you to succeed, that love you because they’re afraid of feeling less than if you succeed, or they’ll hold you back because they’re afraid of getting left behind. So be careful who you allow to influence you. Get in the right rooms, get educated, and go kick ass.
Jay Conner [00:25:58]:
Hey, Rod, let me tell you, I’m so glad you gave that advice of get your education, because I tell you what, if you think education is expensive, uh, try failed experiences and, and those seminars, you know? And I wish someone had given me that advice. Carol Joy, my wife and I, we started investing in single-family houses. All the way back in 2003, and I didn’t go to my first seminar or conference until 2009. I was trying to rely on my experience from being in the mobile home business or manufactured homes up until 2003. Not the way to go. Now, yes, your experience in the past is going to help you a lot, but if you’re interested in a new niche of something that you’ve never done before, for goodness sakes, as Rod and I’ve been saying, get your education, get your coaching, get around the people like Rod that’s already gone through the minefield and keep you from getting blown up.
Rod Khleif [00:26:56]:
That’s it. That’s it. If I save you from making a mistake, there are a lot of zeros in what we do. Uh, and yeah, so, and yeah, it’s, it’s sound advice. Um, and you know, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, you’re basically paying for speed. You know, you can do it yourself in 5 to 7 years. But with me, you can do it in 1 or 2 years. So, or with Jay here or whatever, you know, I mean, just, but you, you know, that’s, I always have 2 or 3 coaches going.
Rod Khleif [00:27:24]:
I got 2 relationship coaches going right now because I’m going through a breakup. So, you know, I mean, I’m working on me. I’m always working on me. And I hope you do the same if you’re listening.
Jay Conner [00:27:33]:
Excellent, Rod. Rod, I know my listeners are wanting to connect with you, continue the conversation, learn more from you. What’s the best way for them to get started to learn more about how they can learn from you?
Rod Khleif [00:27:48]:
Yeah, Rod’s Links is the best place. Go to rodslinks.com and, uh, my podcast site is there. My podcast, you’ll really enjoy that. Um, I’ve got a bunch of free books there. My goal-setting workshop’s there. My boot camp site is there. Like I say, it’s $17, so there’s no excuses for 2 days of training. It’s on a weekend, but, uh, that’s the best place.
Rod Khleif [00:28:07]:
All my social media links are there as well. I answer every question. So Rod’s Links is the place, and I hope I see you.
Jay Conner [00:28:13]:
Yeah, that’s www.rodslinks.com. And of course, all this is going to be in the, in the show notes as well. Um, Rod, wow, I could, I could just keep right on talking to you. Uh, we could have a lot of fun. Any parting comments or advice you’d like to leave the listeners with?
Rod Khleif [00:28:33]:
Yeah, just, just don’t let it be entertainment. Go make something happen. By the way, if you’re driving, you can text the word links to 72345, links to 72345, and we’ll send you that link. But yeah, just go do it. Don’t wait. Nike’s— just do it.
Jay Conner [00:28:48]:
Rod, thank you so much, man.
Rod Khleif [00:28:51]:
Pleasure to meet you, brother.
Jay Conner [00:28:52]:
You got it. If you’re listening to this right now, Here’s the reality. Most people will hear this conversation with Rod and me, nod their head, feel inspired, and then do absolutely nothing with it. Probably 95%, at least, of those listening. But let me ask you a question. Are you in the 5% that can take massive imperfect action? And a small group, just a small group, will take what they heard today and actually apply it. That’s the difference in real estate. And that’s the difference in life.
Jay Conner [00:29:24]:
So let me ask you directly: if this episode gave you just even one idea, one mindset shift, one strategy that could change you personally and your business, don’t keep it to yourself. Send it to another person, another real estate investor who is important to you in your life that needs to hear this. Post it, share it, text it to someone who is stuck. Trying to figure out how to fund their deals, how to find the deals, how to do real estate. Because here’s the truth. There are people in your world right now who are just one conversation away from breaking through, just like Rod did after losing $50 million. And if you’re serious about raising Private Money and scaling your real estate business without chasing deals or begging or, or, you know, for, for funding like that, then make sure you are subscribed to this podcast, Raising Private Money. Because every episode is designed to give you one thing: clarity on how money actually moves, the right mindset, and how you can put it to work in your business.
Jay Conner [00:30:29]:
I’m Jay Conner, the Private Money Authority, and I’ll see you right here on the next episode of Raising Private Money.
Narrator [00:30:37]:
Are you feeling inspired by the knowledge you gained in this episode? Then head over to www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide. That’s www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide, and download your free guide that shares 7 reasons why Private Money will skyrocket your real estate investing business right now. Again, that’s www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide to get your free guide. We’ll see you next time on Raising Private Money with Jay Conner.