The Butler Project

Interview with G, a Real Estate Broker, Investor, and Entrepreneur

About a month ago I had the chance to talk with G, owner of a successful real estate brokerage and also a respectable portfolio of rental properties. He started in the mid-nineties “really from zero, from Pell grants”, and in the last ten years or so has built his businesses to the point that he has total financial independence.

G went into real estate straight from college, helping “hundreds and hundreds of families” get into their own home. But it hasn’t been easy; he has built his success on “hard knocks and just having to scrape my face a little bit and learn the hard way…”

A self-professed “hands-on” businessman who still makes the big decisions for his companies, he has first-hand experience on what it takes to be successful, both in his business and personal life.

My interview with G will probably cover a couple of posts; this one will focus more on attributes and attitude.

Mark: As you look back over your career, do you ever remember a…particularly tough setback or obstacle that you had to overcome, and what you learned from the experience?

G: In real estate, you don’t make any money when you help buyers unless you can get them financed. So the lending side of real estate…was a struggle because my initial few years were 80 [to] 90% dealing with the Hispanic community, and there weren’t very many avenues to facilitate their loans. So I was doing so much work and not being compensated because there just weren’t traditional loan brokers that served the Hispanic community.

I had to get through that, and end[ed] up actually creating my own mortgage company that’s been a good source to help them.

Mark: [W]hat do you think has been the attribute that has contributed most to your success?

G: Just a high level of determination. I’m very much involved in the day-to-day, and very active in the decision-making. I haven’t been one that has been able to explode this into a franchise formula or anything like that because I’m still very hands-on and kind of a control guy. I want control and if I mess up, I want to be able to look in the mirror and say “I messed up”, versus somebody else that I entrusted.

I’m always working, if that makes sense, whether it’s on the phone, [or] I’m in the car.

[Note: He was in his car on his cell phone for this interview.]

I don’t really listen to the radio; there’s not really a lot of downtime in my day, so I try to be productive in the amount of work hours I give myself.

I don’t go out to lunch; I eat lunch in my office. I just really try to focus and get things done while I am available…because there [are] other church callings and things like that that I have to give time to, and I’ve got 5 girls and so I’ve got to try to achieve balance there.

That’s been probably my greatest attribute, just to be able to balance and be highly effective during the time that I have.

[G went on to describe his philosophy on working...]

I just feel that a lot of people, especially that are in an hourly or W-2 environment don’t give everything they [can] give. When you’re self-employed, if you don’t produce, you don’t make any money that month. So the time that I do have is time that I really focus on creating income versus just messing around on the computer, wasting time doing whatever, you know, I just use the time to create income.

[Later in the interview, we talked about how to be successful in a commission-based environment (my day job). GJ had some great advice that he shared on being successful; I think it applies in any professional situation, not just sales.]

Mark: I manage a group of about 18 [people]. What would you tell [them] as far as how to become successful?

G: I guess what I would tell them is sort of what I told you. I would counsel and suggest that they do everything in their power to eliminate debt in their lives … cutting up credit cards, [etc.]

I would do everything I could do to better their social skills, you know, better their ability to get along with all kinds of people, because you are going to face all kinds of personalities, whether it’s a person or on the phone…

[Get to] where you can adapt and immediately recognize, “hey, in a few minutes in this conversation, I can see where this guy’s buttons are based on the dialogue that we are having.” That’s a real thing out there - you can kind of ride that [social skill] and make yourself less threatening to [people] if you can understand what kind of personality you are dealing with…

[His comments were actually directed toward my sales reps, but do you see how the advice has universal application? He followed with more on maximizing your time.]

G: And to give…as much as they can of an honest day, a lot of times people will try to kind of pick out the best hours, [and say,] “you know, 6:00-9:00 is my most productive time, so I am going to slack from 2:00-4:00”, or whatever. But the most successful guys I have seen have not ever really had a slacking moment because they will pick up the one or two [sales] that were in that 2:00-4:00 segment that the other guys missed out on, just because they worked harder.

For example, I have partial ownership in a pest control company, and that type of mentality where you are running door-to-door, as opposed to just walking and taking a long lunch. Over time, when you add [it] up, 6 months of doing that, you missed 20 or 30 sales.

[If] I am going to go work out, I’m not going to go just to spend an hour and do some light reps. I’m going to bust my brains out until I’m sweating and I’m feeling an impact and a change in my body. The same thing applies with my work style; if I’m going to work and spend the time to do that, I’m really going to go after it… sometimes you just gotta take a break, but…treat it as precious time, because [you’re] not going to get it back.

Think about your own life—are you getting the most out of every moment, or do you have your own “2:00-4:00” slacking time? Are you letting the other guy get those extra sales (or whatever applies to your profession), letting them get the advantage, or are you “busting your brains out”?

Tomorrow we’ll look more at G’s financial and investing philosophy. You’ll be interested to see how a real estate professional doesn’t seem too worried about what’s going on in the market today.