How My Digital Nonfiction Book Hit #1 In Less Than 30 Days… And How Yours Can Too.

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

First a little on “the book”. As some of you know my real estate investing book was recently added to Amazon’s digital online book store. This investing book does not revolve around the how-to steps or real estate theory. Instead this new book looks at people finding and maintaining happiness while investing in real estate.

Over the past 3 years I have been researching what other active and successful investors “do” to:

Build a thriving real estate business.
Remain happy throughout their days.
Enjoy a closer relationship with their loved ones.

After receiving hundreds of responses, some of them repeating over and over, I decided to research them all (research included in the book) and try them out myself. Over the past 12 months I have been searching my heart, monitoring my happiness levels and my levels of productivity simultaneously. This research has greatly influenced 50 Simple Secrets To Be A Happy Real Estate Investor.

The project has been a labor of love that should be free for everyone to learn and grow from.

It is my personal belief that most real estate investors are too focused on making money and creating a profit. Profit only comes from creating value for our sellers and buyers. The more value we create and the more we help others, the more income we can expect to create for ourselves.

To gain clarity let us first understand that your successful and profitable real estate investing business is going to (and likely already does) require hard work, dedication, persistence, daily action, and education.

With that said it is vital to understand that “a Happy investor is a productive and motivated investor”.

The tips and secrets included in 50 Simple Secrets To Be A Happy Real Estate Investor are only the most powerful and most popular secrets of happiness I have collected. Our real estate investing community is a small family; we should strive to help one another to learn and grow our businesses together. Although we all have separate businesses we are not in this journey alone.

I have made this book free in its digital format. Please:

Enjoy the book.

Share the link with your friends

& Leave a great review on Amazon if the book has helped you. (These reviews help others know this book has been helpful and valuable.)

Click. Download. Read. Implement. Take Action. Be Happy. Get Results.

If you have any additional secrets for happiness as a real estate investor please comment your thoughts and ideas below.

First, I think it is very important to remember that this book was a labor of love for me. At the time I started writing and researching this material I was unhappy and depressed. Although my investing business was very successful I was unhappy with in general. Depression does not run in my family so I was unclear at the root cause. My goal was to understand why and how other happy and successful investors lived and worked.

Next, I thought about the simplest way to present these secrets. I concluded that I would list all 50 secrets, with these secrets I would like to include scientific research backing up the secret and also include a challenge for the reader to take pertaining directly to this secret.

Some of the major steps and milestones I made before publishing this book.

Research the topics and organize my thoughts. This process took me 2+ years to research and write. In theory you could create a book in a weekend if properly researched.
Understand my outcome. I wanted to create an easy to read, very helpful, guide that would challenge it’s readers to achieve more.
Rough draft edited. Used fiverr.com. Paid $40.00 due to book being 13,000 words.
Changes made. This took less than a few hours of time.
Second draft edited.
Title brainstormed created. Title based on Keyword popularity and related number of searches. Found using Google’s keyword-finder tool.
Book front-cover and back-cover outsourced to artists. Fiverr.com used. Went through 5 designs before deciding. Asked friends and local investors their opinions. Decided to use the most popularly voted cover.
Keywords for advertising on Amazon researched and decided. Using Amazon’s search bar. Taught in book below.
Amazon formatting outsourced. Taught step-by-step in the book below.
Book uploaded and book details created.

In the beginning of my journey to write this book I was very unclear at the path ahead of me. I chose to learn from someone who has already been on this journey before me and succeeded. I learned all the steps above (and much more) in the book How To make A Killing On Kindle. I highly recommend this book to you as well if you are unsure about how to proceed forward. This book is well worth the small investment.

Love what you do daily,
John Fedro

What Type Of Real Estate Investor Should I be? (Answer)

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

Let me first start off answering this reader question by disagreeing with it. The question, “What type of real estate investor should I be?” insinuates that you can and will be investing in only 1 type of property forever.

There are hundreds of ways to make money with real estate. Some of these methods involve a good deal of time while some real estate investing strategies require capital to get started. Likewise, some methods require both time and capital. All of the methods I can think of require education and training.

If you are over 30 years old than it is safe to say you may have changed your career a few times since leaving high school. You may have wanted to be a doctor, then changed to a law degree, then changed to a business education. If you too, are a serial career hopper than please realize that you only had enough insights and experience to change careers once you were exposed to one in detail.

Personal example: I was pursuing my medical degree when I had the overwhelming urge that I did not want to deal with sick people or a boss every day for the rest of my life.

Real estate investing in no different. Only after having a clear picture and path to take in real estate can you decide that this “is” or “is not” the right choice for you.

Personal example: When I got started I was competing against countless other investors in my market looking for traditional house behind on payments or in foreclosure. The high degree of needed capital and the stiff competition drove me to pursue other niches. That is when I fell into mobile home investing; the passive cash-flow, low competition, low barrier of entry, and high ROI fit my goals perfectly.

How to proceed forward when you are unsure how or what properties to invest in for profit?

Step 1. Make a list of all the types of real estate investing niches that you have heard of. Here is a small list you may use; single family homes, raw land, duplexes, triplexes, small apartments, large apartments, REITs, commercial properties, mobile homes tax liens, wholesaling, retailing, lease options, property management, hard money lending, being a Realtor, foreclosures, mortgage assignments, rentals, and many more strategies and niches not listed here.

Step 2. Know your goals. Fast cash, Big pay-days, and/or long-term passive cash flow.

Step 3. Learn more about the methods that interest you the most. Understand a clear path moving forward. Talk to a seasoned investor specializing in your desired niche and gain clarity from them. Ask these knowledgeable and experienced investors to outline a typical path they could describe leading you from your current position [in life] to your first deal in this niche. Gain clarity on the skills needed and steps-of-the-path on each niche that interests you. Tip: If a mentor or local investor cannot tell you the steps needed to get to your next deal look for someone more experienced.

Step 4. Take action with one or two niches at a time. Eliminate the ones you don’t like or that are not producing results in your area. Understand why some methods work for you and why some niches do not work for you. Remember that if anyone else has had success in this field then there is no reason why you cannot either.

Step 5. Continually be looking for motivated sellers or all types of properties. When you find a seller and property you are unfamiliar with I encourage you to partner with someone local and experienced to help the seller and complete the deal.

Step 6. Be aware of the happiness and success you are having. If something is not working don’t take this as fact. Keep trying new things and asking for help until you are happy in a real estate investing niche (or two) you love and are successful with.

To gain an understanding of the steps needed as a mobile home investor seeking cash-flow click here.

Love what you do daily,

John Fedro

Road Trip Part 2: Grand Canyon, Mules, and Cliff Hanging

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

Road trips are one of my favorite activities! Spending time with people you care about, talking and listening for hours on end, getting back to nature, listening to self-help programs on Mp3, and seeing new places are just a few of the obvious benefits to taking some time off, packing up the car, and heading out on the open road.

After leaving our new coach surfing friend and the beautiful city of Albuquerque, NM we started our 7 hour drive west.

Stopping to grab some delicious lunch at an all-natural road side whole-foods restaurant was a great decision to fuel up prior to making the last leg of our journey from sea level to the 7,000 foot elevation of the Grand Canyon National Village.

After eating, working to close a real estate deal, and answering some detailed emails from Mobile Home Formula members we were off.

We made it to the Grand Canyon

Day 1: The air at 7,000 feet feels and smells so much cleaner than the desert air we had just driven through to get here. The temperature was also 20 degrees cooler which was a nice shock. Deer, eagles, and other wildlife roamed and lived right around us as we walked nature trails and enjoyed the natural beauty of the park. For the 3 nights here we would be camping in an over-sized tent fitted with power and running water nearby – my style of camping.

Day 2: We arose to the sunrise waking us up. Last night we sat around the campfire telling stories, having drinks, and falling asleep under the millions of tiny twinkling stars that lit up the night’s sky. Just before falling asleep I had the fleeting thought that in all my years alive I have never seen so many stars light up the sky as I did in that moment right before my eyes closed that night.

After a breakfast at the local restaurant we loaded up our mules for a ride around the park and just below the rim of the canyon. The ride was peaceful and almost on autopilot as I was told these mules walked this path for years. Our jobs were just to hold on to them and enjoy the ride.

That night we spent on the edge of the canyon. Dangling our feet over the edge of the canyon and watching the sun set on a beautiful day with a great friend.

Day 3: We spent day 3 seeing all the local shops and eateries that we had missed the 2 days prior. Each time we set our eyes on the canyon there were new things to see. I distinctly remember my mouth dropping in amazement over a dozen times since we arrived just 2 days prior. These 2 days went by so quickly. That night we made a fire and talked about the coming travel plans and reflected on what we had seen in the past 72 hours since arriving.

The next morning we left before the sun came up. Our next destination was the Sequoia nation forest in California to sleep under the giant sequoia trees. Before we left we drove to the edge of the Canyon and stood by the railing. At this moment I was oddly overcome with fear. Looking back it was fear of the unknown, I knew in front of me was a cliff and canyon nearly 5,000 feet down, I knew this but could see nothing but black. The moon gave no reflection and kept hidden the natural beauty of the canyon. This was a great memory to leave on, and so we were off.

Sequoia Nation Forrest here we come.

Love what you do daily,

John Fedro

Three Week SXSW Road Trip and National Speaking Event

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

This website is a side project that shines a light on some of the fun, food, friends, and traveling that a portfolio of real estate property can afford you. Whether you are currently self-employed or work a 9-5, a goal in this life is to be happy, healthy, and successful by any standards we hold for ourselves.

Come with me over the next few posts as we travel around the Southwestern states of the USA and see some amazing sites, meet new friends, and learn new things. Some cities we go big and lavish, and other cities we make friends by couch-surfing or camping. The memories are unforgettable and the experience is something that can only be lived personally.

With that said get excited and know these types of trips and vacations are waiting for you.

john fedro sxsw road trip

Outline of our trip:

Austin, TX (Start)
Albuquerque, NM
Grand Canyon, AZ
Sequoya National Forest, CA
San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Tombstone, AZ
Austin, TX (Finish)

This trip starts out with the idea that me and close friend are going to see some amazing sites along our journey to Las Vegas. Las Vegas was the only real destination we had to make on this trip. 16 days after starting our journey I was set to speak in front of a national stage of guests that all wished to learn about investing in real estate and in manufactured homes as a source of additional income.

I was honored to be asked to speak at this nationally recognized event.

Our trip starts out with leaving my home town of Austin, TX and traveling by car to Albuquerque, NM. Not knowing anyone and wanting to get a first class tour we made plans to couch surf with a local friend (Alex) in his spare bedroom. If you have never used the website couchsurfing.com it is a must have for all travelers out there. Some of the nicest and most genuine people I have met have been from couch surfing. Disclaimer: I have only couch surfed 6 times, however it is amazing every time.

john fedro mexican food

john fedro hot air balloon

While in Albuquerque we were able to have some of the most amazingly simple Mexican food of my life. The simplicity of the food and few ingredients really highlighted the flavor and smell in every bite. In the morning we were greeted by the largest hot air balloon festival in the south.

The roar of the balloon filling up, the coolness of the morning air, the friendly faces everywhere, and exciting prospect that tonight (day 2) we would be sleeping in the Grand Canyon made this morning a memory I won’t soon forget.

hot air ballooning john fedro investing

We said goodbye to our host Alex and we’re off to our next adventure “The Grand Canyon”.

In my next post we’ll be mule riding, cliff hanging, and having camping adventures. Thanks for coming along.

Love what you do daily,

John Fedro

John@JohnFedro.com

Don’t let your expectations lead to your suffering

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

As real estate investors our businesses often times revolve around the decisions of other people. While purchasing property we often times can find ourselves mentally crossing-our-fingers or saying our prayers in hopes a seller or buyer will make a decision which favors our wallets. These unnecessary and ill placed expectations can often times lead to misunderstood suffering and anxiety in your real estate business.

For the health and well-being of your business and sanity keep in mind that there are some activities and decisions you can control, and others you cannot control. Keep focus on the items within your control and eliminate the expectations of the others from your mind.

**A few tasks and decisions on which you may not want to place high expectation:**

A seller’s decision to accept your purchase offer
A buyer’s decision to buy your property
Your buyer becoming approved by his/her lender for financing
Any underwriting decision
Your handyman’s productivity
The speed of your closing company, bank, lender
Setting an appointment with any specific fsbo before you first call them

A few tasks and decisions on which you may want to place high expectations:

How many offers you make per day/week
How many new fsbos you call per day/week
How much effort you exert on advertising and marketing your business
How much you network with other investors
How much effort you put forth in your business
Which escrow companies or attorneys you work with
Which sellers and buyers you work with

As touched on in the bullets above the only tasks and items you may wish to place high expectations upon are the tasks and items which depend on your direct and complete activity. If you succeed or fail in performing these tasks then the success or failure is solely on your shoulders. When you start including other people, either buyers, sellers, assistants, closing attorneys, outsourcers, contractors, handymen, title agents, etc you have less and less control. This is not a negative or a positive, it simply is something to understand and compensate for.

In short, items and tasks which only involve your physical and mental energy to perform are within your control. Any items or tasks you outsource are outside of your control. Place high expectations on items that you solely control – these expectations with time deadlines are often times called goals.

When real estate is involved tasks often times have the outcome of taking longer and costing more than expected to complete. For this reason it can be sage advice to expect things will take twice as long to complete and three times the amount of capital as expected. Whether you are accounting for holding costs, repair costs, marketing, selling time, or repair time always err on the side of caution and factor in extra time and costs in to your deals.

Be the happiest real estate investor you can be. The less stressed and less you suffer the happier and more likely you will be to consistently put forth effort in your investing business and take daily action.

Love what you do daily,

John Fedro

Day 2 In Bangkok, Thailand – John Fedro

Posted on by John Fedro

Almost through with my 2nd day in Thailand and oh the sights I’ve seen. Some things our brains just can’t imagine if we didn’t see them ourselves. Strangers helping strangers up stairs with a piggy-back, food cart owners handing small bowls of food to beggars on the street (real beggar with few limbs, if any, lying face down on the sidewalks), and monks and prostitutes laughing together on the same street corner.

I started today aiming to see the famous golden reclining Buddha temple (approx 7km away) and then wanting to meetup with a friend I have been talking to on FB that lives here to learn to play rugby with a few of his friends. I showered, answered a few emails, packed my backpack and said goodbye to my hostel.

ride in truck john fedro

My 1st stop was to the closest shopping mall. On my way there I picked up a few delightful treats to eat (fruits and meat pastries) and of course a bottle of drinking water at the nearest 7/11. During my 2km walk to the mall I passed 7 small and peaceful outdoor golden shines that adorned local business with offerings of incense and fruit, 4 outdoor street markets, multiple animal shaped bushes, got caught in Thailand’s famous rain storms (lasting only minutes before the sun was back), and too many tuk-tuks (motorized pedi-cabs) to count.

Apparently I stick out like a ghost because everyone keeps asking me, “Where are you going? Where can I take you? Let me take you somewhere.” No, no I’ll keep walking this way. Kap Kum Krap! (thank you)

Before I arrived to the mall I couldn’t resist a sign that read “Snake Farm and Milking”. My brain immediately steered me into the building as if on auto-pilot. The $3 fee was well worth the 3 floors of live snakes, exhibitions, venom milking, snake handling fun that I saw. Even witnessed a man charm a Cobra, no flute needed.

An hour later I walked next door to the mall and was surprised to see stores similar to what we have in the US. However this mall was 5 stories tall, round as a beer can, and of course rocked a large golden shine in the middle. Never once during this trip have I felt unsafe, I believe it is due to the majority of peaceful Buddhists here.

Not finding a cell phone that I liked in the mall I decided to make my way to the Golden Buddha temple I had started my day in search of. My written directions in hand of how to get there I proceed down Silom Street heading NW. I made my first turn correctly then got super-lost in China Town.

China town is hugeeee here, comprising of what seems like 5-6 square km of repeating knick-knack shops, herbal remedy stores (drank goat-lip tea for health), tire shops, pictures of the king and queen, and stands selling fresh fruits, juices, meats, and nuts.

Traversing China town my memorable moments were seeing almost no white-people, seeing many women that reminded me of another Asian I knew, the relaxed nature of Asian-culture with beds in their shops – just laying around seemingly doing nothing (likely due to the summer heat) and the smiles on almost everyone’s faces. However my search for the golden Buddha was becoming a real challenge with the 30lb bag on my back now beginning to feel like 80lbs, my light blue shirt turning a deep-sea-blue from excess sweat, and my smile slowing turning into a look of pain from my slightly sore feet.

After a good walk-workout that I was happy with I hailed a taxi and ask him to “please take me to the Grand Palace”. With a look of complete confusion he said he didn’t know and we looked at each other in odd silence. I then did my best charades-game to mime “Grand Palace” to no avail. I figured I would look up the translation later (Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang) and instead would head to my friend Ivo’s home as it was already getting close to 2pm and rugby started at 4pm. I gave him the address I wrote down on a piece of paper of Ivo’s home in the city. He looked at the paper, looked at me, looked at the paper, looked at me, and said he did not know this place either. Feeling a little worn down I thought quickly and produced my ticket from the Snake farm and ask him to take me back there.

We arrived at the farm minutes later. It is amazing with all the people here, with all the moped, all the cars, and all the taxis in the mix there are little if any accidents. More surprising still almost no horns blowing, when I did here a horn it was a friendly “toot toot” and not an overbearing long-lasting honk.

From the snake farm I headed SE back to the hostel I just checked out hours before in hopes they still had vacancies. On the way I passed 2 English friends I met earlier in the day. We stopped to have a drink and of course get a foot/thai massage after this long sight-seeing day. The Thais know how to treat a fella, and ladies too.

After arriving back at the hostel I purchased a bed for the night, showered, started a load of clothes and popped out to grab a bite to eat. I decided to play it safe and ordered the Pad Thai with a Shingha beer. Perhaps this was the best part of my day so far – a beer in one hand and a good book in the other (The Paradox of Choice) watching the oranges and magentas of the setting sun beaming off the downtown Bangkok buildings as I watched watching cars, moped, and bicycles weave their way perfectly in front of me while eating outside with my just-massaged feet propped up. Best Pad Thai ever btw!

Lastly, before writing this post back in my hostel I walked passed a beautifully ornamented castle of a temple. This temple is located caddy-corner to my hostel and has been pleasantly waking me up every morning around 8am with music I can only describe as slow-Indian-type music, likely a mixture of bells, angelic voices, soft drums, and crystal-wine-glass music combined.

Noticing the mass of people, shoes lined up outside, and louder music than normal I stopped to observe the rituals happening inside. Before I saw him approach a Monk ushered me inside and I sat for 20 minutes until the prayer was over. Even now I can here the music from my hostel’s great room.

Looking forward to tomorrow and what surprises are in store. It’s Friday night here and my 2 English chaps are asking me to join them out for the night. Should I go… I think I will.

Miss everyone back home. Thanks for reading.

John Fedro

Arriving in Bangkok, Thailand – John Fedro

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back

I’ve had a permanent smile on my face since arriving in Thailand last night. Everything is just so….so…. different. There are statues of half man half goat people along the highways, the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, tractors are pink instead of green, people pee on the side of the roads, cars don’t stop for pedestrians, mopeds speed down the sidewalks, cats and dogs run wild, the architecture is a beautiful mixture of many different cultures, and the people are all so friendly.

bangkok airport john fedro

bkk john fedro
Spent the day walking around the general area of where I’m staying last night and tonight. I am stuffed from all the food I bought from the local street vendors. My food total for the day came to $4.30. Not sure what all I ate, but most of it was excellent. Most people speak some basic English which is nice too.

street food john fedro bkk
“Would you like a large bag of fresh fruit? That’ll be .05 cents.
Would you like a few sticks of freshly grilled meats?? That’ll be another .10 cents please!” Amazing how inexpensive everything is here.

baht john fedro

Also stopped at 2 temples, dipped my feet in the river, met a number of foreigners (oddly none from America), got my feet massaged for an hour for $6, and am hoping to catch a Muay Thai fight later tonight if I can find the place.

Miss everyone back home! See you in 6 weeks.

Love what you do daily,

John Fedro