The Real Estate Power Hour Podcast: Real Estate Investing  Lifestyle Design  Cash Flow Creator

Here's what you can do if you are willing to work! Mark’s coming to you from Cleveland, OH today. He’s there to be near family as his wife prepares to give birth to their first child. It’s an exciting time personally and in his business. He’s just wrapped up an almost $500,000 deal involving multiple properties and multiple investors. It resulted in an almost $70K annual residual income for Mark. He doesn’t reveal these things to impress you, but to impress upon you that with hard work and consistency, you can create a business that will fuel your life and lifestyle long term. In this episode of the Real Estate Power Hour Mark’s going to walk you through some of the details of that deal and how it came about. Coming up June 20th, 2015, Mark will be hosting his house giveaway - this time in Columbus, Ohio. Every year Mark tries to give away a house that he’s purchased, renovated, and fully stocked - right down to the toothbrushes. These homes go to a family in need, a veteran, or someone else who comes across his radar and he’s happy to do it. This year he’s partnering with The Comeback Project Foundation and Hazel’s House to make this event bigger and better than ever. He’ll also be hosting his own birthday party at the event with food and drinks for everyone who attends. Find out more in this episode. Mark’s sharing his latest mega-deal in this episode to impress upon you the importance of seriously getting started in your real estate investing business. People who talk, usually don’t do. Mark wants you to stop talking and start doing. Make the calls. Get your business rolling. You’re the only one stopping your forward progress. If you get going now, who knows what might be possible… even a deal like Mark just signed. You can do it but only if you get started, work hard, and put your desires into action. Find out more on this episode of the Real Estate Power Hour with Mark Evans.= In this episode of the Real Estate Power Hour Mark’s also going to share some private details of the last deal he put together that involved a conflict between himself and one of the investors. Most people would avoid the situation, avoid the conversation that needs to happen, but Mark’s advice is the exact opposite: jump right into it. You can’t be afraid of the difficult issues that come from wrong assumptions or misunderstanding in a real estate deal. You can only come to a solution if you are willing to get into it, find out the details, and get things rolling. about to change! All of that and more motivation and inspiration on this episode of the Real Estate Power Hour. OUTLINE OF THIS POWERFUL EPISODE How Mark’s life is about to change forever. June 20th, 2015 - Mark’s annual house giveaway! Mark’s partnership with The Comeback Project Foundation and Hazel’s House Why you need to be asking the right questions of yourself and of others. The private deal Mark’s been working on that includes multiple properties. Why you should jump right into the problems and issues you discover in the process of closing deals. Saturday, June 20th - the house giveaway event in Columbus, OH. Join us live on Periscope. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS GREAT EPISODE The Comeback Project Foundation - https://www.facebook.com/ComebackProject  Hazel’s House - http://www.hazelshouse.com/ www.HouseGiveaway.org TWEETS YOU CAN SHARE ABOUT THIS POWERFUL WORD

Marks’ chatting with you today from Palm Beach, Florida, preparing for his annual trip to various parts of the world. Today’s episode is really about how you can better value your time by implementing things (or removing things) that can free you up to do more business in better ways. This is a practical episode. Mark’s going to walk you through some very basic things that he DOES NOT DO because they take up precious time that he’d rather use for other things. He’s working to get away from the time-suckers, the things that turn into drama instead of data and cause you to focus on things that you can easily hand off to others. For example: No matter how many deals you are doing every month, why in the world do you need to go to a closing? Everything is electronic today, everything can be automated. Why would you take the time to go to a closing when everything you need from that event can be taken care of without you. Mark would be on the road 20 hours every week if he went to all the closings his business does. Don’t go to closings. You want to build your business around the goals you have set for yourself and your life. If you don’t, you’ll be doing what other people want you to do instead of what you should be doing to move your life and business forward. Don’t get bogged down in a thousand trivial things that keep you from doing that. Make sure you do everything possible to attend Mark’s Certified Deal Maker event to learn how to ramp up your real estate investing business. The cost is only $97 and includes a ton of resources for you to take home and put in place in your real estate investing business. Part of the event is Mark’s birthday party - where he’s picking up the tab on everything! There are not packages for sale, no courses, no books - just a lot of great stuff included in your cost, just for you. OUTLINE OF THIS POWERFUL EPISODE Mark’s personal example of what is important and what is not House cleaning Mark does not collect his mail. Mark does not wash his car. Mark does not show up to closings. Mark does not make offers on properties. Why Mark spends tons of time nurturing a buyer’s list. Mark doesn’t do anything stimulating after 7PM. Mark doesn’t organize anything but his systems and his teams. Mark’s example of a Craigslist ad that can free up your time. June 18-20 is Mark’s big Deal Maker event - you’re invited (only $97) Here's the Craigslist ad Mark mentioned on this episode:   LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS GREAT EPISODE www.CertifiedDealMaker.com - Mark’s event coming June 18-20 TWEETS YOU CAN SHARE ABOUT THIS POWERFUL WORD

Closing the gap is nothing more than follow-through and discipline. Mark’s got some great content for you today, tips to help you accomplish more in your real estate and wealth-building business, while doing less. You’re going to learn a powerful, important thing in this episode to help you get more out of life. The certified deal maker event Before we get to the main content of the show, Mark wants you to know you are personally invited to his “Certified Deal Maker Event” coming up in Columbus, OH. This event is $199 per person, and is a buy-one-get-one-free type event. That means if you purchase one ticket you’ll be able to bring your spouse, your business partner, your assistant, totally free. And you won’t be pitched while you’re there. This is really a “customer appreciation” event where Mark’s saying “thanks” by hosting a powerful, perk-laden event for you. You won’t be asked to buy any books, courses, or tools. You’ll be asked to come, learn, and enjoy. That’s it. And on top of all that you’ll get tons of gifts including software, tools and other resources to get your business going at tremendously larger levels. Get your ticket now. June 18-20, 2015. Closing the gap The real questions you should be asking yourself are these: What can I do to have less things on my “to do” list? How can I get them off of that list while still getting them done at a high level? Focus on one thing and become great at it. Don’t allow hundreds of open-ended things to consume your time and energy and attention. That’s leaving hundreds of “gaps” in your business that aren’t getting closed or finished. You can’t do that and expect to be successful or profitable. You can’t be everything to everybody. You can’t do everything. You need to focus on one thing and become an expert at it, following it through to completion in every way and in every detail. Closing the gap means actions equal results, and distractions are what keep you from taking those actions. You get your eyes off the prize when you have too many things that you’re trying to do. Closing the gap means getting things done. You find a way to get it done, which doesn’t mean you have to do it yourself. You spend 3 minutes, figure it out, and activate a plan to get it done. Here's what's in this powerful audio episode Learning what it means to “close the gap.” The importance of focusing on one thing and becoming great at it. Why closing the gap means focusing on what your highest priority is right now. The reasons you must remove all distractions. Focus equals success. The art is in growing the business - seeing the big picture and handing off the little pieces. The most important thing in your business - selling How leading with value can help you close the gap Your invitation to Mark’s “Certified Deal Maker Experience” A story from Mark’s life that illustrates the need for closing the gap. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS GREAT EPISODE Mark’s Certified Deal Maker Experience in Columbus, Ohio - buy-one-get-one-free Show number 2 - How to get buyers TWEETS YOU CAN SHARE ABOUT THIS POWERFUL WORD  

You've got to learn to harness the power of Momentum! Mark's coming to you from Naples, FL and is confident he's got one powerful word to share with you that will enable you to get maximum results! What's the word that can make you unstoppable? Here's a hint: It's a word that can also get in way and slow you down. What's the word? MOMENTUM. When momentum is in place, things roll forward, things actually happen, stuff gets done, and results are produced. Momentum creates opportunity, and opportunity creates revenue. That's how it works… and momentum is the key. This podcast show is a great example that Mark uses to illustrate how momentum works. He started out doing the show when he felt like it, when he got around to it, etc. But when he decided to make it a priority and put a system in place for himself and his team to get the show going, momentum began to build. He now has hundreds of people downloading every episode the first day it publishes. Momentum matters. Momentum makes all the difference. Taking that thought into your business is a powerful thing. Momentum in your business is vital and you can create it by taking action. Don't let down after you have a success because that's when momentum is going. You want to keep that ball of power rolling so that you can accomplish even more Momentum is your friend. Momentum is what produces the very results you want, what will make you unstoppable. You can create momentum in very practical ways: by making 5 more calls today than you usually do. By stepping into a few more opportunities than you feel comfortable with. By doing more marketing than you traditionally do. You want to figure out how to get more eyeballs on your deals than you usually get. You want to figure out how to get more people listening to the opportunities you have than is normal. That is what creates momentum and momentum is what creates massive opportunity that will move your business forward. It's not rocket science. It's the way the world works. If you know that, you know all you need to know to get things rolling in your business. Even the big businesses like McDonalds and Apple know this truth. That's why they continue to market. They know they've got to keep the momentum going or else their business will begin to decline. They know they've got to keep moving in order to keep thriving, growing, and making the profits that they desire. It's not a matter of if this will work… it's a matter of how well it will work. That's where you have to learn some things; how to create a powerful direct mail piece, how to talk to buyers and sellers, how to structure a deal - but before you get to any of that you've got to understand where it all begins. It all begins with the routine steps you take that start the momentum rolling. Listen to this show to get the full scoop. Pay attention. Take notes. Decide what the basic steps are that you need to take in order to get the momentum rolling. Then get started. OUTLINE OF THIS POWER-PACKED EPISODE The one word that can rock your business and make you unstoppable: MOMENTUM. The Real Estate Power Hour podcast as an illustration of how momentum works. The momentum formula. Why momentum is so powerful. How you can apply this principle of momentum to your business. Your first steps toward unstoppable momentum. How momentum can drive you toward being the very best. What are you doing daily to create momentum in life and business? The benefit of reading and listening to podcasts and audio books. Mark's power tip about learning as it relates to momentum. June 18-20th - Mark's customer appreciation event and charity project. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS GREAT EPISODE Contact Mark about his June 18th event - www.CertifiedDealMaker.com - let him know you're coming because of the podcast and he'll send you a special gift. There is a limited amount of tickets. TWEETS YOU CAN SHARE ABOUT THIS POWERFUL WORD

Kill the fear. You have to do it if you're going to be successful In this episode, Mark Evans, DM, DN is going to give you step by step info that can help you get massive results in your financial success… and it has to do with killing fear - the boogeyman that holds you back from the level of amazing success you can have. Mark had a huge month in March and is expecting even more in April. It’s enabled him to do some reflection and thinking about how he’s gotten to the place he’s at. There are a lot of rich people out there who you’d never expect of being rich. It’s difficult to judge a book by its cover. That should be very empowering because of the day we live in. You can make money from anywhere in the world, just like Mark does, using your knowledge, experience, and a laptop computer. Rich people don’t make their money the way they used to and they don’t live and look the way they used to. That should make you excited. But more importantly, this episode is going to help you examine and overcome the boogeyman called “fear.” Fear can immobilize you, keep you from moving forward, bar you from stepping into great opportunities that can radically move you forward. If you don’t learn how to overcome fear, you’ll be stuck in a place where nothing will ever happen. Here’s one tip from the episode: When you feel fearful about doing something, do it as soon as possible. That’s the only way you’re going to overcome it. You’ve got to build a pattern of stepping into fear instead of away from it or else the fear is going to control you for your entire life. It’s that pattern of stepping into fear that will set you free from the fear. Action will always decrease the feeling of fear. It’s like your first date. Once you’ve done it, you discover it wasn’t as scary, or bad, or nerve-wracking as you thought it would be. So, strap on your seatbelt and listen to this episode if you’re ready to overcome the fear that is holding you back. Fear is like the boogeyman under your bed. You have to realize it’s not as tough as it wants you to think. You have to step into it and overcome it. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE Mark’s thoughts about making money in the modern age Why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (people) The way to be productive in any environment, from any place The questions you ask can tell you if a person is experienced or not What boogeyman is under your bed or in your closet? Why the boogeyman you have to overcome, is “fear” It’s OK to be afraid, you just can’t let it keep you from taking action How to use fear to your advantage, to move your business forward. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The 4-hour workweek by Tim Farris Episode #2 and its free resources and worksheets - http://therealestatepowerhour.com/?p=90 Leave a review on iTunes Let Mark know you left a review and he'll send you a gift TWEETS YOU CAN USE TO LET OTHERS KNOW ABOUT THIS EPISODE  

Mark's here to kick you in the seat and get you moving! Mark's coming to you from Palm Beach, Florida today - ready to take you on the fast-track to success. And before you get into the show, Mark asks you to head over to iTunes to leave a rating and review for the podcast... and if you do so, contact Mark and let him know and he'll send you a special gift. No joke. The mantra for today's show is simple, but powerful... You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going. This could be your year. This could be the time for you to make your ideal life a reality. It requires one simple thing. One step. Then you repeat it. When Mark first started in the Real Estate Investing world he didn't start out sitting on the beach in Palm Beach, Florida. He didn't live anywhere in the world he wanted. And he didn't do everything perfectly. In fact, he did tons of things wrong. Bestselling books with typos and grammar mistakes. Botched deals and misspoken phrases to important potential investors. He made lots of mistakes - no, he made TONS of mistakes. But he didn't care. WHY? Because he knew this simple truth: You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going. What does that mean? It means that you have got to get started making your dreams come true. You've got to quit obsessing over the potential of making mistakes. News flash: You WILL make mistakes. Get over it. It's not that big of a deal. Everybody makes mistakes. It's part of how you learn and grow and move toward success. In fact, every failure plants seeds for the next success. It's part of the process of moving toward your dreams to live a different kind of life, to help people, to change the direction of your family tree and leave a legacy for those you love. But none of that will happen if you don't get moving, if you don't take the risks necessary to make things happen. Because... You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going. You don't have any time to waste. It would be stupid for you to wait. Why? Because you don't know how long you're going to be on this planet. You don't know how much time you have left. The only difference you can make in the world and in the lives of the people you love is the difference you can make today. But you've got to take action. It's those small, habitual actions that build one on top of the other and lead to success. It's those daily steps of diligent, consistent work that put you in a place to reap the dividends down the line. Get yourself moving. Make things happen today. It's yours to do. It's yours to achieve. You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE How Mark got to the place he's at by failing a lot and why you have to do the same thing. How little things could be holding you back. The biggest thing holding you back. How do you get more buyers, investors, title companies that will work for you? Here's the secret. Why you shouldn't care what people think of you. Why you have 100% power to control your future. How you can use a piece of paper to map out your ideal life. How you can make that ideal life happen. Waiting to get it all right will keep you from doing anything. Mark's charity giveaway event in Columbus, Ohio June 18-19-20 for the Educate to Recreate facility LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Leave a review on iTunes Let Mark know you left a review and he'll send you a gift TWEETS YOU CAN USE TO LET OTHERS KNOW ABOUT THIS EPISODE  

If you want to get more buyers, more sellers, and more private lenders… This is the episode for you. Mark is hanging out in Florida, waiting for his parents to arrive from Columbus, Ohio for a visit. But before he heads to the beach to hang out and sm...

Quit looking for excuses. Only hard work will get you closer to success. If Real Estate is so easy, why don’t more people do it... Today we’re going to talk about the things that are stopping you from accomplishing your dreams. I’ve been asked a lot about why more people aren’t doing real estate, if it’s so easy. The truth is that a lot of things in life are really easy. If you want to lose weight, just eat better and exercise. It’s not hard. It just that most people don’t want to do it. Real estate is the same way. You find a buyer and find a seller. Put them together and bam!, you make money. The majority of the people who are trying to do business should just stop being soft. Quit looking for excuses. There’s nothing that’s going to get you closer to success than hard work. Stop lying to yourself. Take stock of your weaknesses and get someone else to do those things Take stock of who you are and what you’re good at. If you’re not a great public speaker, quit complaining about not being able to do it. If you’re not good at negotiations, get your leads and then hand the negotiations to someone else. Maximize what you are good at. Don’t waste your time trying to get better at what you suck at. The reason I’m so good at real estate is that I took stock of what I’m good at and I do that. I can hire people to do the things I’m bad at. I can’t do paperwork. I’m no good at the day to day parts of business. Don’t waste your time doing the things you’re terrible at. Don’t be afraid of hard work What’s great about how I grew up is that I’m not afraid of hard work. Waking up at 4 am and working until 11 pm is the way it is. If you think you can work part time or take tons of time off and get the results I get by working really hard for a lot of hours, you’re soft. You can’t. A lot of people say, “If this worked, why don’t more people do it." It’s not hard, but you have to put in the work. No one cares how well you did in school, how fat or skinny you are. No one cares. You have to go through the process of daily action to get where you’re going. Look at your results. If you’re not willing to try whatever you can, if you’re not willing to push harder, you’re soft. It doesn’t matter if you make 100k or several million. You have to be willing to make changes and try new things. Most of the people I hang around are willing to admit what they don’t know. That’s really a strength because to do so means that you can hire people to do what you can’t. Get comfortable with the chaos of business I’m comfortable with the chaos of business. You have to get used to it. Sometimes you’ll have a lot of inventory. Sometimes you’ll have too many buyers. Sometimes you’ll have too many sellers. Sometimes you’ll have lots of opportunity and sometimes you won’t. To be a leader, you just have to find people to fill in the gaps of what you’re not good at. To tell you the truth, because I’m so bad at a lot of the day to day things, if I was an employee at my own company, I’d fire me. I know what I’m bad at so I have people who fill in those gaps. I’m not good at managing people day to day, so I have someone who does that. It’s that simple. Deals and ideas don’t matter Deals and ideas are useless. It’s execution and implementation that makes money. People sometimes want you to sign non-competes so that you don’t take their ideas. The problem is that their ideas are useless without execution. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Right now, the money is like water. It’s easy to come by. It wasn’t always like that. No matter the situation, people are making excuses that they can’t do it. Work hard daily. Wake up and make it happen. Don’t do things that you’re bad at. Do what you’re great at. Just keep working hard. Have dreams so big that you’ll do what it takes Your dreams have to be bigger than your problems. We all have problems. Deal with them. Quit being soft and making excuses. This is the common thread of “wannabe” real estate investors.

Welcome to the Real Estate Power Hour. You know I’m not techy, but some of my people are telling me that I really need to get some feedback from you on iTunes for this show. So, if you could just click here and give me a review on iTunes, that would really help me out. Please make it honest. That’s what really matters to me. As a thank you, if you’d let me know you’ve done it, I’ll send you a special video. Just head over to my contact page and tell me about your feedback (after you’ve left it) and I’ll send it your way in appreciation for you taking a minute of your life to help me out. I’m also getting a ton of emails and feedback on the last two episodes. If you haven’t heard shows 43 and 44, with Edwin Kelly, about self-directed IRAs, please go listen to them. Learn what we’re sharing in those shows. This is powerful, life-changing information. Learn what people want One thing I’ve learned is that if I want to be successful, you have to learn what your prospects really want. If it’s a motivated seller, if it’s a buyer, if it’s a contractor, you have to know what they really want. Once you do this, it’s very helpful to them and ultimately to you. One of my sales guys had a call the other day and didn’t make the sale. We record all our calls for training purposes, so I listened to it. He’s an older gentleman and he really knows what he’s doing, so we wanted to know what went wrong. I listened to the call and found that he was so focussed on what he had to offer that he didn’t take the opportunity to learn about the prospect and how he could benefit her. You’ve got to listen to what others want. Listen a lot more than you talk Listen 80% of the time. Educate, talk, and guide 20%. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. When you listen to someone and take comfort in what they’re saying, they’ll take the next step. Ask questions and learn about them. You can use that information to help them. Think about how you acted when you first met your special someone. If you start talking and never let them talk, how would it have gone? Not well. In this call, she said, “I have over 100k to invest, but have a couple of questions." He was so concerned about making the sale that he didn’t answer her questions. As a result, neither one won. He didn’t make the sale. She didn’t get her questions answered. Why do you think I want you to listen to shows 43 and 44 with Edwin Kelly? Only 1% of people know this stuff exists. You don’t need to go to a seminar to learn how to get private money. Spend time getting to know people and asking questions and listening. Once you do that and educate them about the possibility of making 7, 8, 9, 10, 12% with that in a piece of real estate, that gives you an opportunity as an investor to take that money and use it together. Build up a relationship with this prospect and learn what they need and want. I was at a program and Angela came up to me. She said, “You’re going to kill me. I’ve got over $100,000 in an old IRA." I asked her why. She told me that she was afraid of to take action. I asked her how long it had been like this. She told me that it had been 4 years. I didn’t care whether I ever sold her a deal. I just wanted to help. Try and help; don’t try and sell What I was doing was trying to help. I started by talking to her about what she was doing. If people are talking about IRAs, they have money to invest. Stop looking for people and start listening. Go where the people are that are asking the questions. The easiest money in the world is made when you listen and share and educate. My goal isn’t to sell them, but if I help them, a lot of times, they will come back to get my help. Take some time to learn about self-directed IRAs so that you can help others. I didn’t always understand money. I learned that I should just bring people on my team who know more than me. So, I’ve developed relationships with people like Edwin who can take me farther than I can go alone.

If you haven’t heard part one of this show, go listen to episode 43 over on TheRealEstatePowerHour.com   Can you make money tax-free? Now, we’re moving on to protecting your wealth. There are two choices. We can pay ourselves or we can pay taxes. What does it take to pay yourself? First, open a self-directed IRA and put money into it. You can do this by either contributing from earned income, transferring from another IRA, or by doing a rollover. If you have a 401k or similar plan, you can roll it over into your self-directed IRA. Then you need to use that money to make investments. There are three ways you make money. The first is in a taxable environment. This is how you normally make money. With an IRA, you have two other options. You can take $5,000 and subtract that from your taxable income. You get a deduction. When you make investments, you don’t pay taxes on the income within the IRA. As long as the money stays in the IRA, you don’t pay taxes on that. When you start to withdraw money, that’s when you pay taxes on it. Here’s the way to make tax-free money The other way is to use a Roth IRA. Instead of making a contribution and taking a tax deduction, put money in after taxes. If you do that, you don’t pay taxes on the growth OR when you withdraw it. You paid your taxes on the original $5,000, so you don’t pay taxes on the back side. This can save you huge amounts when you go to withdraw it, which you can do as long as you’re 59 ½ and the account has been open for 5 years or more. If your IRA grows to $1,083,000 and you make 10% a year, you can withdraw $108,300 a year without affecting the principle. If you did this with a traditional IRA, that means you’d pay taxes on the money which lowers the spendable amount to about $81,000. If you do the same thing with a Roth IRA, you get to spend all $108,300 and not pay taxes. You don’t pay federal, state, local, Social Security, or even capital gains taxes. Don’t believe me? Let’s check with the IRS. Take a look at Publication 590 and what it says about distributions from a Roth IRA. When you take title to real estate in the name of your IRA, you’re protecting future earnings from taxes. How to access money early You can borrow money from the IRA by the way. You can borrow up to $50,000 a year from your IRA. You have to pay interest on it. The great thing is that you’re paying interest to your IRA, so you’re paying yourself. How to create wealth for your children using this strategy All a person needs to open an IRA is earned income. So, take some of their income from working at McDonalds, mowing lawns, etc. and put it into a Roth IRA. Some people say, “My kids are useless. I can’t get them to do anything to earn money.”  Here’s a strategy. I pay my kids for their likenesses that I use in my presentations. That money can then go into a Roth. Now, imagine this. If you have a baby and open up a Roth IRA for them at age 1 with $5,000 and no one touches it again (including no more contributions) until they’re 65, they’ll have over $2 million. In a traditional IRA, a large chunk of that in taxes when they withdraw it. With a Roth, it’s all tax free. What’s really exciting about this When you die, the assets of the Roth IRA roll over to your spouse. That means that once the husband dies, the wife will have the same income and won’t need to depend on anyone. What happens when she dies, on average, ten years later? The money goes to your heirs. Since they inherited it, the money remains tax-free, but the minimum age for distribution goes away. On average, they’ll live another 55 years. All this money is growing for a total of over 100 years. You’re able to give the life you’ve only dreamed of to your descendents. Everyone should have this type of account. Now for some questions What are the fees? You have a set up fee for as little as $50. Annual fees are about $400 on a $100,000 IRA. If you pay fees outside the IRA, you can deduct them. So,

We’re here with Edwin Kelly covering some great ways to leave a legacy for yourself and your family We’re going to go over a plan to pay ourselves and not the government -- never pay taxes. We’re going to learn how to double your monthly retirement income. The problems with retirement savings today There’s a social security study on IRAs. So after 40 years, only 5 out of 100 people were economically secure in retirement. A lot of people are using outdated vehicles. What are the challenges that led to this problem? Part of the problem is taxes. If you make $100,000 this year, you could pay over $42,000 in taxes. The other problem is investments. Some people choose safety where the principle is safe, but it doesn’t grow quickly. This is the other thing that people do. They put their money in the stock market in what’s called a mutual fund. Sometimes it goes up and sometimes it goes down, but it’s never steady. There’s no predictability. The last problem is that people don’t know how much they’re paying. There’s an organization called the Investment Company Institute. The average fee is 5.3%. Think about how much the stock market has to go up just for you to get back to $0. For most people, “Welcome to Walmart” is their new retirement plan. There is an alternative. Not just an IRA, a self-directed IRA We’re going to be talking about self-directed retirement accounts. Think of it like a Ferrari. What is the fuel you put into it? Investments. We’re going to choose investments that are consistent and reliable. This self-directed IRA is an IRS approved vehicle that allows us to run our own investments and spend it tax free. If you could save $5,000 a year for 30 years and get 10% interest, what will that grow to? Over $991,000. What is important is that it’s predictable, secure income. “You can’t buy real estate with your IRA! Can you?!” A lot of people think that you just can’t do real estate inside an IRA. You’ll hear that from people like attorneys, CPAs, tax advisers, family members, or financial planners, but who makes the rules about IRAs? The IRS, well at least they enforce them. If you go to the IRS website, it tells you that plan trustees can prohibit real estate. It’s not a government prohibition. Buy outright, leverage, or partner with IRA investments You can do an outright purchase, leverage, or by partnering. Imagine that someone has less than $100,000. If you use money from your retirement account, all the costs must return to the IRA and all profits must be returned to the IRA. It’s taxed protected. Imagine a couple. They could partner together and buy a property they couldn’t otherwise afford. All expenses are split in the percentage of ownership as are all profits. There’s about $20 trillion in retirement accounts that people aren’t sure about what they should do with it. There’s a lot of ways to go about this. Each is different for the individual goals of the people involved. A lot of people think they have self-directed IRAs. The problem is that your financial institution will say it’s “self-directed” in that you can buy any of their investments with it. If you want to buy property, rent it out and have the profits go back to the IRA, they won’t let you. A true self-directed IRA will. Believe it or not, you can borrow money from within your IRA and pay it back from profits from within your IRA. If you have time, you can do that to buy properties that will be owned free and clear by the time you retire. Double your the amount that you’d have with social security alone Here’s a simple strategy to double your monthly retirement income. The average social security benefit in 2014 is around $1,300. With the traditional investments, you might get $300-400 more. Instead, if you buy two properties that pull in $700 a month each, that’s double what social security pays. The question isn’t how much you have in the bank, but how much will come into your hands every month.

Mark is heading off to a cruise soon - time to hang out with the family and enjoy the life he's built. Mark used to be so strapped to his business operation from day to day that he couldn't get away. Hew as trapped, stuck in a job he built for himself instead of having a business that served him and created the kind of life he wanted. So, h ow can a guy with a thriving, deal-making real estate business take off as much time as Mark does? The trick is that he's put systems and personnel in place that allow him to get away from the administrative stuff that runs the business and enjoy the fruit that's coming from the business. Today on the Real Estate Power Hour Mark is going to share with you how you can 10X your business. Not double. Not triple. But 10 times the volume and income so that you can do exactly what Mark does - live the life you want to live. Here's a clue: It's impossible for you to 10X your business when you're working by yourself. To double your business as an individual you simply have to work harder. That's OK, if you have unlimited energy and time and health. But those things are not true of anyone, are they? If that's the way it is to only double your business, what's this talk about doing 10 times the volume and income? How is that possible? It's possible when you learn the power of systems, processes, and personnel. That's the key… and that's what Mark will be sharing with you on episode 42 of the Real Estate Power Hour. You need people (and quality people) to scale up your business. It's the only way you can 10 times your business - and when you get the right people in place you can do 10X in business faster than you can double your business. That means that YOU have to become a better leader. It's leadership that makes the difference between making decent money and building wealth. Wealth is only built through building leadership - in yourself and in the competent people you put into place who run the vital systems and processes that make your business go. Mark has a COO, a sales manager, and office staff who handle everything that goes on in his business so that he can be out living his life. Mark is still involved in many ways, but the minutia of the daily operations are not his to deal with. Leadership made the difference. And leadership means that you have to take responsibility for yourself by discovering what you stand for, what you're all about in this world. When you find your center you will be able to clarify exactly how you are going to design and build your business. That's how you'll know the people you need and the systems that they need to manage.  That's how you'll be able to deal with the resistance that comes up against your goals. That's the only way you can build the business and lifestyle you want. That's what leadership is all about. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE Mark's upcoming cruise. The reason Mark is able to live the live he wants How to make your business do 10X what it is doing now The power of the right people and the right systems The role leadership plays in 10X-ing your business Finding your core purpose is the clarifying piece. What do you stand for? Resistance will come and you must deal with it Thinking at a 10X level will change the way you do everything LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Are you ready for the Deal-A-Thon? TWEETS YOU CAN USE

Do you want to know what's wrong with your life and business? These 4 questions will help you discover it. Mark has returned from a couple of mastermind groups in Las Vegas and he's pumped to equip you to take the world by storm. It takes the right answer to the 4 questions Mark is going to cover in this episode. These are not questions you should answer immediately. Take some time. Stew over them. Then start writing down your answers. The answers you come up with will reveal the areas where you need to make changes so that your life and business can move to the next level. What are your blind spots? You won't know if they're true blind spots. That's why you need to be involved in a mastermind group or a hot seat-type event. You've got to be around other people who are doing the business just like you, who can see your blind spots and point them out to you. This alone could transform your life and business. What is your end game? Do you know? Do you have a clear picture of what it is you're after and how you're going to get to it? Too many people slave and work without know why. This question will reveal your why. It's the "why" that keeps you motivated and moving forward. Find out what your end game is. What is your legacy going to be when you leave this world? What are you going to leave behind when you die? Are you going to leave behind a solid reputation? A legacy of generosity toward your family? A business that can continue to serve others when you're gone? What legacy are you living right now? What do people know you for? Mark's known as the "deal maker" (the DM after his name). What are you known for? This question will reveal to you what you are doing and what changes you should make to do even more. You want to know the answers to these so that you can move yourself ahead. Don't miss listening to the episode as Mark expands on each of these powerful questions and tells you what it's going to take for you to change your answers for the better. OUTLINE The importance of only focusing on people who are ready to help themselves. Look at yourself if you are dealing with too many tire-kickers. You're allowing it. Exactly what Mark does to get motivate sellers. The importance of data in your business and how it impacts increasing your closing rate. What are your blind spots? What is your end game? What is your legacy going to be when you pass on? What legacy are you living right now? LINKS MENTIONED Hot Seat Invitation TWEETS YOU CAN USE TO SPREAD THE WORD

Fear will kill you and cripple your future. You've got to learn how to overcome it. Mark's hanging out in Palm Beach preparing for a trip to Las Vegas as he records this episode. He's also working on almost 40 deals right now but he's taking the time out to talk to you about the monster that holds back so many people - FEAR. If you don't conquer fear in the various ways it crops up in your life, you'll always be on the down-side of life. Fear is all about your mindset, which is something you can control. Your mind will talk you out of things instead of talking you into things. And you're in the real estate investing business to get "in" to things - you're IN-vesting, not OUT-vesting. You've got to have the strength to overcome fear and take steps into the deals that can really move you forward. It's your past problems and past experiences that hold you back. You think you've never done it before so you won't be able to do it this time. There's nothing true to that at all. The past has nothing to do with the present or the future except that it will hold you back from accomplishing more than you ever have. If you're not doing deals, you're not a real estate investor. You have to be putting deals together consistently, and you have to push past the fear in order to do that. The fear will do nothing but keep you from making great gains in your life and business. You've got to get your mind into a rapid growth stage, a place where you can see the potential instead of the problems and take action on that potential. Your mind is the only thing that is holding you back, and fear resides in your mind. When your mind expands, the minds of others around you expand. You begin to see changes in your world, not just in yourself. Ask yourself this question: "How can I accomplish 10 years worth of business in the next 6 months?" That question will push you outside your comfort zone and get you thinking beyond the fear. You'll have to break down that dream into practical action steps that you can implement to move forward in spite of the fear. OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE Many deals going on, one for $3 million. The importance of talking yourself INTO deals instead of OUT of deals. Fear is always there, pulling you back. But you can learn to harness the feeling and move forward. Everything you do is based on numbers, not feelings. Fear is a feeling you have to overcome. The only thing that's holding you back is your mind, your beliefs. Mark's invitation to the upcoming Deal-A-Thon A powerful question to help you get outside the fear-zone and into the action zone. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The Deal-A-Thon is coming up - Contact Mark to find out more  TWEETS YOU CAN USE - RIGHT NOW!

Getting motivated sellers with legitimate deals coming in every day is not an easy thing. But in this episode Mark is going to show you what should happen daily in order to get those kinds of deals flooding into your real estate business so that you can be successful every single day and live the life that you've always wanted. Much of it comes through systems and Mark's going to break down a lead generation and contact system today that will revolutionize your business. Mark talks about systems all the time and there's a reason; they are vital to rolling your business forward in a big way. In order to get motivated sellers with good properties into your funnel, the first question you need to ask is "How much money do you want to make?" Understanding that is where you begin to be able to understand what kind of deals you need to be doing and how many you need to be doing every week. It's reverse engineering. Starting with your financial goal, you simply divide by 12 and find the number of motivated seller deals you need to close every month. For sake of illustration, Mark's picking the number of a million dollars a year. Going big time with your real estate business requires you to crunch the number so that you know the exact steps you need to take to get to that goal. It's simple math and applied action. That's what fills your funnel with motivated sellers. You can map out the plan for how you're going to reach your financial goal when you know those numbers. The next step is to break down that monthly number into a weekly number. That tells you how many leads you need to get every week, which in turn tells you how many direct response mailers you need to send out every single week, without fail. Do you see how it's a system that fills up your real estate investment funnel? It's math and action. Math and action. A system that makes your goal achievable in a big way through diligent daily effort. OUTLINE OF THIS FANTASTIC EPISODE ABOUT MOTIVATED SELLERS Mark's update on his trip to Costa Rica. Mark launches in to the break-down of a system to fill your real estate funnel with motivated sellers who can fuel your business. Systems are powerful - learn how to do the math to break down your goals into daily actions. Mark shares various ways to manage your contacts through basic systems that help you track your leads and follow up. Mark's tips on how to find deals on Zillow (see the video below). It doesn't make sense to avoid spending $600 when it will make you $84,000. LINKS MENTIONED Episode 2 of The Real Estate Power Hour  Mark's deal-a-thon coming up in March 2015 - contact Mark to get more info. TWEETS YOU CAN SHARE TO HELP OTHERS FIND MOTIVATED SELLERS