Negotiation—whether in real estate or life in general—is all about creating agreement. But often times, when we share our ideas with another person (like the Seller of a piece of real estate), they don’t accept our ideas, and we fail to get agreement. But there’s one idea that a Seller will ALWAYS accept: the one they came up with! In this episode, Jeff discusses the power of helping others come to the conclusions you want them to, so that you can reach more agreement in your Seller negotiations.

What if you could simply make the decision that you would never have a bad day again—no matter what? In this inspiring interview, host Jeff interviews successful real estate investor and podcast host Jeffrey Holst. Jeffrey brings a perspective to life and real estate that is one-of-a-kind, and extremely thoughtful. In this conversation, Jeffrey and Jeff discuss a wide range of topics, from the keys to having a successful real estate partnership, to how to have “radical responsibility,” and how to decide to give up having bad days.

If you want to reach your goals—whether in your real estate business, or your life—there’s one major key: you need to “arrive before you depart.” In this episode, Jeff shares the philosophy of “Arrival Before Departure,” a principle taught by Greg Pinneo (the guest in episode 100). Jeff explains that you have to be able to see yourself as the person capable of accomplishing something, before you can ever actually accomplish it. He shares many examples from his own personal life about how this principal is applied to help achieve goals, both large and small.

People often ask, “what’s your response rate on your direct mail marketing to Sellers?” It seems like a simple question, but the answer is not as simple as one might think. The counterintuitive truth is this: good marketing is hard to measure. In this episode, Jeff explains what good marketing is—and what it is designed to accomplish—and explains that good marketing should be difficult to track because it is relational in nature, not transactional.

Common real estate investing advice says, “if you want to buy more properties, you need to analyze more deals and make more offers.” While that may seem to make sense on the surface to mainstream investors, we Thoughtful Real Estate Entrepreneurs see it very differently. In this episode, Jeff explains why entrepreneurs don’t believe in “finding” deals, but instead believe in “creating” deals, and why analyzing deals in spreadsheets should only come much later in the process, after truly understanding the Seller. Lastly, Jeff shares what real estate entrepreneurs SHOULD be focused on: talking to more Sellers.

When we think about what creates stress and anxiety in our lives and businesses, it usually all comes down to “problems.” But, problems can also carry with them the seed of equivalent opportunities—if we can learn to rewire our perspective. In this episode, Jeff shares how the problems we experience in real estate negotiations and deals can actually turn into some of the greatest improvements to our deals. After listening to this episode, you may even find yourself being thankful for the problems you encounter.