Chicago, Puppies, Outsourcing & A Humbling Experience

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

This last trip to Kansas was extremely fruitful at the mobile home park. After firing one handyman and two general contractors – I believe we have now found 2 very good crews of mobile home rehabber that are currently working on repairing a few dozen vacant mobile homes as I sit and type this article. Once repaired these mobile homes will be sold to local rent-to-own buyers with high prides-of-ownership and clean semi-backgrounds.

Side note: What a great business is this. We investors are able to hire out rehab work to concentrate on finding more deals and becoming better known in the local market.

Already in the community there is a buzz of excitement. All the updating of homes, painting of community buildings, and refreshing the playground has brought the community together volunteering some of their time to pitch in to make the park a home for everyone.

In August we held our 2nd quarterly meeting in the park community building. While there were a lot of good ideas discussed and new changes announced, there was not as many attendees as expected. 11 residents out of 56 attended the meeting. This is up a few people since the first meeting.

Now that there are homes for sale and homes currently being rehabs our marketing machine is turned ON. In the last week alone we have received over 34 calls from buyers or renters (we are not looking to rent) looking for homes to own. Currently 4 homes are spoken for and set to close next week. 🙂

Mindset: Due to the number of quality homes vacant in the park, our philosophy is not one of greed; instead while filling rehabbed homes we will offer extremely affordable move-in arrangements as long as all buyers are low-risk. Low -risk translates to no evictions, no violent crimes, good consistent income, plus a credit score over 600 is good to see too.

New banner advertising Move-In Specials in English and Spanish

East Down & Chicago Bound

I arrived on Thursday and had 2 more days to enjoy and explore before attending a client and friend’s wedding. My hotel was in the city so I was able to travel most places by subway or walking. With my cell phone, wallet, and laptop I took off each morning and explored the city with leisure.

The Bean. What a cool monument. Did you know the Bean is made from 168 stainless steel plates welded together.

Underneath the Bean. It was so nice to be in the shade.

In the 2 days I had free it was unbelievably relaxing exploring a new city. Everyone I met seemed friendly and willing to chat for a bit. While traveling I tend to grade my liking of that city by how the majority of people treat others. Chicago gets a passing grade in my opinion. While there I had fun:

Stopping into shops
Visiting art and natural history museums.
Catching a comedy improv show club.
Stopping by neighborhood pubs.
Seeing a major library. (A secret passion I like to do in bigger cities.)
Calling back sellers. Lined up 1 mobile home to purchase and move into my park.
Calling new sellers. Setting new appointments for when I returned to Kansas in a few days.
Organizing future campaigns and systems.
Making other real estate related calls.
Productivity meets fun and enjoyment!

Your time is now: I say all this to encourage and challenge you to build your business to a point where you naturally need to start outsourcing your repetitive and time-consuming tasks to others. Once you start, you’ll be instantly addicted. Do not worry about the money, by this time you will naturally be producing regular income and cash-flow in your investing business. You can absolutely achieve your goals with proper planning and daily action.

Pro Tip: Outsourcing your investing business is a natural progression of a scalable business. There are people and technologies to help relieve you of many of your routine and daily operations. More time to focus on working with more leads, increasing business, spending time with family, traveling, etc.

Super Humbled and Honored

An active real estate investor that reached out to me for help February 2014 invited me to his wedding. Vince joined our Mobile Home Formula training in February 2014 and has since closed multiple mobile home deals for cash-flow and helped many families own homes that never thought they could. Vince has appeared on a few case studies (See below) sharing his lessons, successes, and mistakes for everyone’s benefit.

Having never met Vince face-to-face before I quickly agreed to his invitation. 🙂 When I created my first blog online in 2005 I never thought it would lead to close personal business and friendship relationships with like-minded investors across the country communicating only through Skype and phone. Thank you to everyone for your readership and support. Every day that goes by I look for more way to serve you better with my past successes and failures. If you have any blog or video topic ideas never hesitate to reach out.

New Puppy

While we are on the subject of unexpected events – I adapted my mobile home park puppy. Meet Oso, Spanish for bear. He was the biggest puppy of the litter. Our park manager’s dogs had a litter of puppies, and Oso was born. Never would I have thought my family would get bigger as a direct result of mobile home investing. So far Oso is adapting to his new life marvelously. He’ll be back to see his family (Mom, Dad, and 2 brothers) in a few weeks when we head back to the park to visit.

Love what you do daily,
John Fedro

Related videos:

New York City & Mobile Home Park Video Preview

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

Whenever I am traveling and moving around I seem to work harder and achieve more in my combined businesses. I have come to learn that I set better goals and rewards for myself when I travel and have trips to look forward to, even if their mini-vacations or work-vacations. 🙂

These past 2 weeks have seemed to fly by when I was actually IN the moments, however looking back over these days they were so very productive. My time was limited so I packed 100% effort into a little normal amount of time, and got so much done. Do you ever feel like that?… When you are so exhausted and feel so accomplished and happy with your work?

In this article I’m going to focus on my recent trip to New York and Kansas. NYC was for pleasure and Kansas was for work, however is ending up being very pleasurable. There are so many stories I want to share with you. Okay, here goes…

New York City: The snow was falling and the sun was shining, for a total of one day. The rest of our time there was freezing cold (Winter storm Thor), windy, wet, and grey. With that said, my freezing feet and numb face were no match for my excitement over being in this giant city again, and my lust for finding so many hidden things to do in NYC.

This trip to NYC has allowed me to check off more things from my NYC done list:

Road a subway car from the start to the stop of the line.
Worked from my laptop at the famous NYC library.
Freestyle rapped with the help of a street drummer.
Visited Grand Central Station.
Danced to Quest Love music.
Pickled Beet Juice
Walked through a secret phone booth passage to get to a private speakeasy bar.
Snowball fight in Central Park

While in Brooklyn late one evening my friend and I ended up at a small concert venue listening to a band we had both never heard of. After a short while the music stopped, the band closed down and it looked like it was closing. When all of a sudden Quest Love from the Roots popped out of nowhere as guest DJ and stayed playing music all night.

Celebrity Sighting: Quest Love

quest love surprise dj set in nyc

It’s so great to watch the snow falling while you’re inside a nice toasty warm shopping mall. While there I picked up some new warm snow boot and mittens. If you live in this city it is hard not to walk or bike most places. I love this city.

snow falling nyc

Secret pleasure when in NYC: Ride the subway, get off at a random stop, and find an adventure or something new to do.

Kansas: First Community Acquired! 🙂 Now it’s time to improve this park and triple the revenue and community pride.

There is no magic pill for this. Trust takes time! The town is growing and the area is beautiful. Over the next 12 months many changes and additions will be added to the community. I am really hoping the park residents are ready for this change and growth, it has been a long time coming.

welcome to kansas

This community if filled with hard-working folks that want a nice and safe place to live. This community has been denied some basic improvements, rules, penalties, and structure. It’s a bit like the wild west out here. Not for long!

Over the next few months while this community is being improved, expanded and rehabbed I want to document what I am doing. I hope you can join me for this fun journey? I am hoping that this information will be helpful and entertaining to you. In future videos and articles we’ll be discussing the current state of affairs, future plans, entrance strategies, and exit strategies.

Here is a video preview of the coming Mobile Home Park series in the works now.

Thanks for stopping by this page. As you know, if you have any mobile home investing questions or real estate investing questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Love what you do daily,
John Fedro

7 Ways Mobile Home Investing Has Prepared Me For Traveling Abroad

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

While growing up, the notion of traveling and seeing the world was never talked about or even considered as an option in my family. Not until taking the time to build my real estate portfolio and making the time to take trips was it possible to comfortably and extensively travel.

Over the past few years traveling, I have been pleasantly surprised that my chosen career of real estate investing seems to be aiding me while seeing new cultures and meeting strangers on a daily basis. Below are some of these reciprocal skills between real estate investing and traveling.

7 Ways Real Estate Investing Has Prepared Me for Traveling the World

1. Being Open-Minded

When I started my career as a mobile home investor, I was not a “people person” and to put it mildly, I wasn’t very friendly. Over the next decade, I noticed my shortcomings and started really caring for sellers, buyers, and all people in general. This fondness for people and my current career of helping people (mobile home buyers and sellers) has fueled my passion for seeing other countries and lifestyles all over the globe.

How we see others is how we may view the world. Do you like meeting new people? Do you get annoyed easily? If you are the type of person who enjoys meeting new people, trying new foods, and experiencing new cultures that are different than your own, traveling may already be a good fit for you.

2. Ability to Change Plans at a Moment’s Notice

While in the country of Laos in the Winter of 2013, the electricity went out in a very small village I was trekking through at the time. The translator I was with relayed the message that the power would be out until new supplies could be delivered from town, a one day boat ride away and back.

The next day’s plans were supposed to be caring for elephants and visiting a nearby waterfall; however, instead of hanging around the town with the pre-programmed tour I took the opportunity to travel with three tribes-people to find and buy the broken generator parts. That boat trip ended up being a once in a lifetime adventure through a jungle river that I would have missed if I was busy being upset, short-tempered, or mad that the power was out and plans were changing.

3. Creative Problem Solving Skills

While in Pai, a city in northern Thailand, I was invited over a local’s house to celebrate his son’s 9th birthday with a few dozen family friends, a full-sized roasted pig, and too much food and liquor.

At the party everyone more or less got to know each other, and I was one of the only new faces in the group. While making conversation and having drinks, I began listening to a real estate investment negotiation between two of the local guests. Uri, the host of the party, told some of the locals that I invest in real estate back in the States, so they wanted to see if I had any suggestions on the situation.

In short: Ben Buyer wanted to buy Roy Seller’s land and take over his farm. Ben Buyer and Roy Seller had already decided that Ben would make Roy monthly payments for the property and agreed to the amount per month. The only stopping block seemed to be the down payment amount Roy was demanding from Ben. Ben of course wanted to pay as little as possible, as there was more work, and expenses would need to go into the farm after closing. On the other side, Roy wanted as much as possible down, but would not take any lower than 150,000 baht (roughly $4,500) down as security.

After considering the situation, I proposed something that had worked for me many times in my own real estate history. My suggestion was for Ben Buyer to pay the 150,000 baht at closing, and for Roy Seller to consider this money as prepaid monthly payments for the next few months. This way, Ben would not have to make a scheduled monthly payment to Roy for almost 7 months. This would allow Ben to generate income and make repairs instead of paying the note monthly for the first 7 months.

To my surprise, the compromise was agreed to. The rest of the night we danced, laughed, ate and drank. Win-win-win.

Related article: John Fedro In Bangkok-Day 2

4. Budgeting Savvy

As real estate investors, we budget for repairs, holding cost, time, financing costs, transfer fees, Realtor fees, and much more. A large expense (10%-20%) many investors budget for are miscellaneous fees in case of incidentals and unforeseen expenses that appear without notice. You need money in the budget or you’ll run out of capital to complete your rehab and/or resale.

Depending on the countries you decide to venture to, the art of budgeting will be a smaller or larger item to consider. It is all too common to underestimate the amount of money you’ll need to when traveling abroad. Much like traveling, when rehabbing and reselling an investment property, there are unforeseen expenses and costs of doing business.

Disclaimer: Especially while starting out as a newbie investor or traveler, it is impulsive to believe you can account for every expense along the way. A travel tour guide (when traveling) or a seasoned mentor/investor on your side can oftentimes help greatly.

5. Ability to Embrace Delayed Gratification

In my personal real estate investing business, the art of the follow-up with previous sellers is a healthy portion of my business. This group consists of sellers who have previously said “no” to my purchase offer(s) and over time have changed their minds to a “yes” answer for me purchasing their properties. This natural follow-up waiting game can take weeks or months with proper effort.

In late 2014 while trekking in northern Vietnam, the jungle often gets so thick and dense that you can’t see more than 5 feet in front of you. After hiking for several hours, every tree, rock, and small river starts to look the same. After hiking in what seemed liked circles all day, my trekking party made it to our campsite on the edge of an incredibly large rice-terrace cliff. The trip and struggle was well worth the wait and effort.

Some of the best people, places, deals, and sights take the most patience and time to develop.

6. The Practice of Patience

While real estate investing, your patience will naturally be tested and stretched. This stretching is a very good thing for other aspects of your life. Whether it is a seller who hasn’t called you back after two days or a tenant who is late on their monthly payment again, this patience practicing will help grow your patience not only in your business life but also your personal life, too.

While traveling in Costa Rica, Key West, or Puerto Rico, I can almost always expect to run into “island time” when dealing with locals. On many islands and in coastal towns, a slower-paced lifestyle is typical. Whether I’m ordering food, waiting for locals, waiting in line, waiting for whatever else, or just being helped at some sort of business, I know that the quick-service I am used to in America may not be what I get while traveling. Growing your patience may help your ability to accept and adapt to changes in your perceived delays and expectations.

7. Knowing How to Set Expectations

One of my favorite things about real estate investing is that each day typically brings something new and different. Whether I receive a new property for sale or speak with an eager buyer with cash, I am almost always eager to get my day started. My happiness level was not always this high and consistent. Over the years real estate investing, I began understanding that our expectations can oftentimes lead us to unhappiness rather than success.

It wasn’t until I understood which expectations I should consider realistic as a real estate investor that my stress level went way down and my happiness soared.

In conclusion: Whether you realize it or not, life is happening all around you. The daily habits, traits and qualities you are using, practicing, and conditioning throughout your day will grow and develop within you naturally. Start being aware of which particular traits you are conditioning within yourself throughout your daily routine.

As always, love what you do daily,
John Fedro

Ko Phi Phi, Thailand 2014 – John Fedro

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

It’s towards the end of the 2014 year and I’ve decided to take my yearly trip. Before we get into the fun stuff I’d like to just say how thankful and filled with gratitude I am at the last 13 years investing in real estate. Without these experiences, both great and bad, I would not be where I am today… which is currently writing this article in the Phi Phi Islands (pronounced Pee Pee) sipping a fruity drink and in awe of the huge limestone cliffs I’m staring at.

Last year I came to Thailand to get away from the United States culture, a recently ended S/O relationship which I took hard, and to explore this huge rock we all live on together. It was during that short 2 month trip that I discovered I knew nothing about the world outside of my safe bubble of America. Now, I’m back and going to seek out the places I really loved and the cities/countries I missed last year.

My trip this year started in Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok is the south Thai huge metropolitan hub that rivals most American cities in technology, public transportation, skyscrapers, temples, amenities, and some normal-ness that I was not expecting from a supposedly 3rd world country. In fact Bangkok is very modern and home to Thailand’s cultural hub.

After only a few nights in Bangkok I scheduled an overnight train cabin to head North to my favorite Thai city yet, Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai (meaning Old City) sits next to a mountain range, home to hill tribes of now friendly villages which can be visited and cater to tourists passing through.

In the city itself you’ll find a few sky scrapers, business centers, temples, museums, and even a moat with partial castle wall. One of Thailand’s oldest cities has a rich history with a mainly Buddhist population and some of the nicest folks in Thailand.

Chiang Mai is definitely on the typical backpacker route so you are never in search of someone English speaking to meet and exchange stories with over a local beer or cocktail.

Did you know Thailand is Kingdom. Thais love their king, and after being here for only a short period of time the affection is real and apply deserved. The King, now in his 80’s, has ruled fairly and justly compared to past Kings – as told to me by a few local Thais. On December 5th was the Kings’s birthday, and subsequently the nation’s Father’s day celebration. In Chiang Mai, the counties 2nd biggest city, the celebration was a large one. Lights, camera, performers, fireworks, food, and dancing we all on the day’s agenda.

Sadly my time in Chiang Mai has come to an end just 2 weeks after I got there, seems like only a few days. My network of worldwide friends and future people I will be revisiting in their home countries has exploded. This is just one of the perks of world travel, most of the people I meet are not Americans, so visiting them in their homes abroad gives me a firsthand translator and tour guide when I’m in London, Belfast, Perth, Sydney, Lisbon, and too many other places to remember at this time.

Ko Phi Phi and Maya Bay here I come! If you have ever seen the movie The Beach with Leonardo DeCaprio you’re well aware of the beauty of this place.

The pictures I have below cannot do justice to the 1.) clarity of the water 2.) stunning-ness of the limestone cliffs and 3.) smell of the sweet sea air. While charting a private boat out with some friends we got a chance to snorkel and scuba dive. There is much more variety, size, and shear number of sea life here than in any other spot I have dove before (I need to buy an underwater camera).

At night there are fire-shows, open bars, and socializing with locals and travelers alike. Everyone here has the island lifestyle down.

I really read to relax a bit from the go-go-go of the past 2 cities. Kicking back and putting my feet up has given me time to accomplish many things on my to-do list…

Lining up 2 potential park deals to look at promptly when I return.
Working with members of the Mobile Home Formula to close over 6+ properties in November 2014 alone.
Still be available for current tenant-buyers, new sellers, and members.
Record some awesome “view mail” videos – coming soon mobile home investing youtube channel.
Practice my Thai language. Sa-wat-dee-krap

Conclusion: This is not the end, not in the slightest. My next stops are Vietnam (about 5 stops throughout the entire country north to south) and Manila in the Philippines. I’ll be back updating my journey and the fun along the way. While in Vietnam I really want to learn much more about the Vietnam War and how Vietnam has recovered.

If you are reading this post and thinking you’d love to join me or be able to travel more yourself, it is 100% possible for you to be able to do so unless deathly-ill or behind prison bar (in both cases thanks extra for reading). I am not special, if I can become successful investing in mobile homes and real estate you absolutely can too. Real estate investing is not a lonely wolf activity, if you want or need help starting to sprint forward towards building your own cash-flow producing mobile home portfolio I am only an email away and very happy to help any way I can.

Love what you do daily,
John Fedro
support@mobilehomeinvesting.net

Colorado Road Trip 2014

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

I have a problem. Lately I’ve been addicted to traveling.

Seeing new sights. Eating with different cultures. Meeting new friends. Making unforgettable memories. Being unsure of what you’ll see and learn is all so thrilling. I can’t say I always felt this way about traveling, but since a year ago I have been bit hard by the travel-bug. These days I would rather spend my time and income investing in passive cash-flow investments and traveling the world.

Whether foreign or domestic there is something so liberating about being on the road. With that said this would not be possible without the passive cash-flow from my mobile home portfolio.

Colorado Or Bust:

With short notice my friend Jaime and I decided to drive overnight and wake-up in Colorado. I had slept-in-late the morning prior so I was able to easily drive through the night and let Jaime sleep for most of the ride from Austin, TX to Colorado. How many energy drink is too many?

Over the past few months I have taken 3 trips to brand new states I have never stayed in before. I made these trips in order to inspect 3 large mobile home parks I was negotiating to purchase at the time. These states are Illinois, Alabama, and Tennessee. All beautiful states that deserve time and attention when driving through. I was blown away at the amounts of recorded history and local-pride both large and small cities have for their home in these areas, likely all areas. These trips will be discussed in a future article. Now back to the CO mini-vacation.

Colorado Springs:

The drive always goes by fast and we arrive by 8am in Colorado Springs. The weather is cool and sunny in mid-August compared to the ridiculous Texas heat. We roll into Colorado Springs first and right before I exit the highway I snap a picture of the Welcome to Colorado Spring sign.

We check into our hotel and we’re off to enjoy some micro-breweries, local food, and of course the nature. After asking the locals what to do we set our sights on a place called the Garden of the Gods. While I was there I couldn’t stop thinking of the hundreds of generations of people that have used this location as a home. Here we are in the present century walking around these ancient people’s home.

Travel tip: Always do a little bit of research on a place that you’re going for history info, tourist reviews, and tour guide reasons. It is nice to be surprised when you get to your destination however without some preparation you may find yourself confused and/or not maximizing your fun. Example: When I knew we were going to the Garden of the Gods I immediately searched the nature park on Tripadvisor.com to read reviews. What I discovered was to arrive early in the morning to avoid the heave traffic of the afternoon.

Denver:

After a 2 days in Colorado Springs enjoying nature we decided to head north to Denver and then on to Fort Collins.

Driving up to Denver was short and beautiful to see, the Rocky Mountains to my left, flat lands to my right, and the big city right in front of me. Three years ago I spoke on stage in front of a packed-room filled with real estate investors listening to me discuss mobile home investments.

After hiking and biking in Colorado Springs I was looking for some much wanted relaxation and chill-out time. With that said everyday was a minor workday; I of course needed to make sure all emails to people are answered, I respond to sellers and buyers that have called, set appointments for next week when I arrive back in Austin, and continue building my mobile home investing machine. After the morning hours of dedicated work and setting appointments for the coming week I wanted to enjoy nature again. However this time we decided to play some disc-golf in Denver.

This is a shot of me right before losing my driver-disc on the second to last hole. I didn’t bring a spare driver so we packed our things and headed back to the condo we were renting. After losing my favorite disc I decided we should get some Voodoo donuts. I remembers seeing this donut company featured on the show No reservations with Anthony Bourdain and since then always wanted to go. The dounuts and service were amazing! I highly recommend this spot. My favorite was the maple and bacon donut.

Travel tip: In addition to staying in motels and hotels I highly recommend airbnb.com and homeaway.com for reasonable condos and houses to rent for a short-time while traveling.

Jaime booked us for a haunted ghost tour-pub-crawl in downtown Denver. Here’s Jamie playing around in a “haunted” furnace. By this time we had visited 3-4 pubs already. Glad we were in walking distance of our condo.

Travel tip: Doing things doesn’t have to be expensive. Check out Groupon.com in your “destination city” to look for discounted events and random activities to try in your local town or during a vacation. Without Groupon we would have never known about the very fun and educational ghost/pub-crawl tour. 🙂

Fort Collins:

Did you know Fort Collins does not have an active military base there? Well, I certainly didn’t.

Perhaps one of the few areas in Colorado where I saw a great deal of new home construction was Fort Collins. A few things that struck me as wonderful and unorthodox were the public pianos scattered around downtown, the love-of-bicycles the city seems to have, and the friendliness of the community. Additionally, the real estate investor inside of me noticed that there were almost no “We Buy Houses” bandit-signs hanging on power-poles or in the ground. This typically translates to this city being a very clean and strict-code-enforcement type of city. Does this make sense?

fort collins piano rocky mountain oysters john fedro

Have you ever had a Rocky Mountain Oysters? They may be called different names around the world however if you’ve had them you would likely remember. These slightly-gamey and chewy fried strips (next to the onion rings) are actually the sliced testicles of bull. I think of myself as an adventurous eater so after some internal pep-talking I dived right in and had some. 🙂

In total the trip took 6 days and less than $2,000 total. If you are able to make these trips I would encourage you and your significant other or a friend to travel somewhere you have always wanted to go. If taking spontaneous trips like this is something that you would like to start doing but do not have the financial means to right now, I encourage you to stay dedicated to your side business and continued daily effort to make a better life for your family’s future. The difference between the doers and non-doers is clarity and action.

If there is anything I can do to help provide you with clarity please don’t hesitate to ask.

Love what you do daily,
John Fedro
John@johnfedro.com

Do you ever take mini-vacations? I highly recommend them for hard working and productive investors. I say hard working and productive as mini-vacations are a great way to reward yourself. Tim Ferris writes about these small getaways and other life-changing concepts in his past book The 4 Hour Work Week. Enjoy the free digital copy.

I Heart California… And Tombstone, And Roadtripping

Posted on by John Fedro

Welcome back,

We’re back home!

Over 2,000 miles over the past 3+ weeks, so many delicious foods tried, many new fiends met, and hundreds of memories created. This trip has reminded me that “things” are just things, what matters in life are the memories we create and the people who we create them with.

Joshua tree

After leaving the Grand Canyon and almost not finding an open gas station in time we were on our way. 🙂

On the way to California and the Sequoia National Park we passed through the Mojave Desert. I pulled over and took a close up picture of this Joshua Tree. These spiky plants are some of the oldest living organisms on Earth. Many Joshua trees living to be hundreds of years old and some living for thousands of years.

sequoia park 1 sequoia park 2

After 8 hours of driving past beautiful landscapes, huge wind-generators, wineries, and desert we made it to the “Land of Giants”. The first day we arrived at the Sequoia National Park we only saw average sized trees, this was due to our lower elevation. We spent the first night exploring within the first 20 miles of the entrance to the park. We later learned the great sequoia trees did not appear until some miles up the road.

When we finally reached the actual sequoia trees they did not appear here and there, they stood in a line like an army. It looked as if someone planted a giant brown living wall of trees. From this “wall of tree” line forward we were surrounded by immediate shade, quietness, and calm giant tree trunks. It was incredible and undescribable to feel that tiny.

Lombard Street 7-29-2014 1-06-27 PM

After spending a night at the Sequoia Forrest we headed for San Francisco. The drive went by faster than expected as me and my partner-in-crime took random pit stops trying local foods and snacks we found along the way. After arriving in town I was immediately greeted with the famous SF Bay traffic. After an hour and twenty minutes in traffic I was greatly surprised to see we had made it atop of Lombard street. This street is known for its twists and turns in just one small section.

Pier 39 1 Pier 39 2

Some standard sightseeing at the famous Pier 39. These seals would not stop barking and showing off for people. I couldn’t help but be amused and laughing right along side everyone else.

This is what working for yourself can mean. There is likely no good reason you can not be doing the same in 2 years or less; unless you’re dead or in jail you have the ability to make your business a reality. Ok, now off my soapbox and back to the sightseeing.

Tea Garden 1 Tea Garden 2

San Francisco is amazing. Such rich and sorted history packed in such a small city. All the locals we met were amazing and super helpful to tourists. A couple whom we asked directions from walked us 2 miles down the street to lead us to the Japanese Tea Garden and Rose garden. We ended up all going in together and having a Japanese snack.

Coy Pond Rose garden

Did you know each rose has a unique smell? I never even thought of that question before today. Literally stopping to smell the roses was one of my favorite memories of this day.

Challenge: Take some time this week to stop and smell local flowers. If your area in currently cold or flowerless then do the next best thing, head to a grocery store and start smelling the fresh produce. It may sound odd or silly but if you can’t remember how a fresh plum or walnut smells like you should wake up your smell receptors and start exercising them today.

LA view La hills view

Can you believe this view we got when we arrived in Los Angels? Thanks to Airbnb.com and local owners Nate and Ben we were able to reserve and stay at a beautiful bungalow looking over the LA hills. We spent 2 nights at this amazing house enjoying the private pool and hot tub as much as possible. Classic sightseeing and nightly celebrating ensued. 🙂

Tombstone 1 Tombstone 2

On the way back home we made a pit stop in Tombstone, AZ. The weather was hot, the streets were dusty, and it was everything I loved from the movie. Not much of its rough past, this tourist town now seems to cater to families and kids of all ages. After having lunch and seeing a gun fight at the O.K. Coral we were off. Our final destination on this road trip was home, Austin Texas.

Conclusion: An amazing time well spent with amazing friends. Everyday I was able to work a bit online helping folks nationwide invest in mobile homesand build wealth for themselves. With regards to my personal portfolio of properties everyone was still paying and happy when I returned. What a great business real estate investing can be that we may leave for 3 weeks and come back to a smoothly operating cash-flow business.

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

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