This is the year of Happy Holidays. 2015 was a great year for the Diamond Equity Investments team. We welcomed new partners, new buyers, & many new wholesalers in Chicago, Philadelphia, & Tampa. The economy is stable, if not, growing, and the general feeling is that things are good in real estate again.
I’m celebrating the good times with a Trump Style Christmas:
Helicopter ride to check out the Chicago Christmas lights, check.
Big huge pile of Christmas presents for friends and family, check.
Drones for the upcoming drone show, check.
Now I just need to build a few buildings and put my name on the side-in the most prime pieces of real estate that exist in the country. A man must have a strong vision of the future to wake up and work as hard as I do, right?
Will the Good Times Roll through 2016? This is the big question on everyone’s mind. I’ve invited Paul Sloate, an economic forecaster & financial advisor to high net worth individuals, to give his prediction for the state of Real Estate in 2016. Keep an eye out- this episode will be published early in January.
Lessons I’ve Learned in 2015 2015 was a big year for me personally. I’ve had a few new life experiences and watched as my business has taken flight to new heights-thanks to people like you who continue following our progress, buying & selling deals with us, lending us money, & just being here and a part of the Diamond Equity Investments family. You’re appreciated.
1. How to Be a REAL Dad-Up until this year, my daughter lived in Chicago; 700 miles away from me back in Philadelphia. As a result of a few key people joining my team-Jon Potter, George Beatty, Howard, & Craig-I was able to move to Chicago and finally become a real Dad.
Before the move, being a father was a part-time, few times per year piece of my life. When she visited at holidays, and over the summer, I could try being a dad. It was great that I could have her in my life then.
But now that I’m here, I am just 15 minutes up the road from where she lives with her mom. She comes over on the weekends and I see her 5-6 days per week. Because I’m now present, I’ve learned quite a few lessons in fatherhood and am blessed to finally have a much more fulfilling & active presence in her life.
2. I Don’t Need to Physically SEE Houses to Make Deals-For a long time, I believed that I needed to see every house in order to make the deals. Once I opened up my mind to invite other people to participate in my deals, my vision and my ability to work many more deals exploded.
In the beginning, I didn’t want any partners. I thought I could do everything myself and didn’t trust other people to get the job done. Thank God the RIGHT PEOPLE came into my life and I learned to trust & guide them to better results. They have also brought their high intelligence to the table and guided me to better results. I guess I finally understand Napoleon Hill’s mastermind principal. The efforts of multiple people committed to the same cause creates a multiple of the results, not a sum.
3. The True Value of High Caliber People-This year I’ve been blessed to forge new
relationships & even realize some relationships I’ve had with High Caliber people. I used to think of everyone as though that had equal capabilities. As though with a little guidance, anyone could become a great performer in their field.
Now I realize that the great people in my life MADE A DECISION TO BE GREAT. It didn’t happen by accident, they built their skills, networks, and abilities to the degree which they are now considered great.
This is very rare in the world-to find truly great people. Now when I meet a high caliber person, I do my best to add value-to bring something to the table-in order to build my relationship with that person.
In the past, I am embarrassed to admit, I used to think that the only thing I needed was private money. It was always the burning question in my mind-“Could this person fund my deals?” How crass. Now the question burning in my mind is “How Can I Add Value, or Do Something to Help this Person become Even More Successful?” Which brings me to my next lesson:
4. The Power of Tithing-I learned the power of giving away money years ago. At a mentor’s suggestion, I donated money to church & charity-even bums on the corner. This was supposed to be a signal of prosperity to the Universe-“I have so much money that I can give it away freely-with no fear of running out” It was also taught to me that I would receive the money back in another form. Like the donation was a seed and the harvest was the return-of that donation-by God. And that’s exactly what happened. I donated $300 and low and behold-I receive an unexpected check for $10,000 on a deal I was working. A check that wasn’t due to me for another 8 months!!
This year I learned the power of giving my time, energy, & information. The power of giving value. This is why I created the REI Diamonds Podcast-to create more prosperity within the REI Diamonds family. I am constantly receiving feedback thanking me for the great advice, tips, & strategies that are discussed on the show.
I sell nothing on the Podcast. My guests and I are freely giving away valuable information-like a tithe. As a result of the Podcast, I’ve been contacted by several high caliber successful people and built relationships as a result.
People contact me about funding my deals using their IRA accounts/investment accounts as a result of hearing the REI Diamonds Podcast. Interesting how that works-I used to look for people to fund my deals, and now that I look for ways to add value to as many people as possible, the people who fund my deals come looking for me.
It’s been the Year of Happy Holidays!! The one size fits all, politically correct statement for this time of year. Happy Holiday’s & Happy New Year 2016. May your Holiday Season be filled with Joy, Prosperity, & Peace and you Achieve ALL of Your Goals in 2016!! Thank you for being a part of the REI Diamonds family!!
-Dan Breslin
P.S.-Below is a Short Clip from the Trump Style Heli-Ride over Chicago. ( I know-Donald Trump’s Helicopter is a whole lot nicer-but the views were absolutely stunning !!)
P.P.S.-Ready to Download “Become a Wholesale Real Estate Master”? The download
instructions are in the Atomic Buyers List Audio. Go to www.AtomicBuyersList.com & listen to the audio to claim your copy now. Limited to 25 downloads-not trying to create too much competition!
Justin Turner, & Dan Breslin discuss Investing in Single Family
Houses & Scaling Up to Large Commercial Deals of $10 Million
Dollars or More
Justin built a rental portfolio of more than 100 units scattered
throughout Philadelphia before shifting his focus to larger deals.
Now his operating procedure is to find multi-unit property in higher
demographic neighborhoods, complete renovations, and manage
them for long term portfolio income.
Discussion Includes:
Effective Rental Property Management Systems
Why to Invest in More Expensive Areas Even Though Initial Returns are Often Less
How to Construct Deals in the $10-$15 Million Range