Dan Finally Admits He's a Basic Investor

Speaker 1: [0:02] Welcome to the Collecting Keys Real Estate Investing Podcast with your host, Mike DeHaan and Dan Austin. From wins, losses, horror stories, and tactics for optimizing your business, Mike and Dan take a real uncensored deep dive into the ins and outs of running a full time real estate investment and wholesaling business.

Dan Austin: [0:25] Hey there. Welcome back to another collecting keys Friday focus where Mike or I talk about something relevant to the industry or just something top of mind for us in our business throughout the week. Today, I will be your host, Dan Austin, aka Investor Man Dan. And for today's topic, I've got a a great one because it's something Mike and I were riffing on, getting all fired up like we typically do. And honestly, I should have just pushed record because it would have been it would have been great entertainment as we talked about this. But I'll just dive into it with an example. So we've all listened to probably a 100 podcast episodes where the interviewee tells like this seemingly crazy story that just blows your mind. It goes something like this. You know, I'm just an average everyday kind of guy, and there I was standing in the grocery store with the last $5 to my name when some guy walked up to me and said, hey, I like your haircut. I'm gonna sell you my 200 unit apartment building for 75¢ on a dollar so you can have no money in the deal and cash flow $20,000 a month. And now twelve months later, I own 50,000 units across The US. It's bullshit. Right? I mean, these kind of stories, they're the exceptions and not the rules. And there's a reason why they're, you know, kind of being broadcasted because they they sell tickets.

Dan Austin: [1:37] So today, in the spirit of these crazy success stories, I just wanted to provide some maybe words of encouragement, or maybe I'll just vent a little bit for those of you that are out there in the grind putting one foot in front of the other, you know, because sometimes it's just difficult to avoid comparing yourself to what other people are doing and what we're seeing in the media and on socials and all that sort of stuff. But first, I would like to address the obvious, which is you can't always believe what other people are saying, especially if they want you to think they're successful so they can sell you something. But for real, sometimes the numbers, honestly, they just don't work. And once you've been in the game long enough, you just know that certain things don't add up. So, you know, we all knew it. But, hey, sometimes we just have to say it out loud to remind ourselves that not everything is what it seems. My second and probably more important topic that I'd like to cover is like, in many cases, these folks that you're listening to on a podcast or you're seeing in social, they're glossing over and not necessarily on purpose, but they're glossing over small details that when you combine it with their surroundings, were the main springboard for success. And I bring this up not to discount anyone's success, because regardless of circumstances, it's still not that easy to be mega successful or to reach, you know, a status within the industry that we see for most people that are, you know, out there broadcasting this stuff. But I do bring it up, so you don't beat yourself up when you're trying to do the exact same thing, and it doesn't produce that same level of success that these other people are doing. You know, Mike and I, we're right alongside you.

Dan Austin: [3:05] We're just pulling out small win after small win, base hit after base hit. Every once in while, we'll get a double. We haven't hit any grand slams yet. We're hoping, but just nothing's happened yet. But sometimes, you know, it's just about perfect timing. Sometimes these people know a person that can remove a few roadblocks for them, or sometimes they have a background that includes money or skill. And when combined with timing and effort, it just turns into a rocket ship. Right? So just sometimes it's just circumstances that aren't in your immediate surroundings, and that's okay. Because you might just be average just like me. And and I'll come out and say it right now in front of everyone, I am a basic ass investor. I don't do anything fancy. I haven't had some crazy awesome win that made me an overnight success. I'm probably never going to be interviewed on a podcast for my exciting wealth building stories. It's just probably not gonna happen. My story is going to be boring for everybody. And most of the time, I really do, I feel like I'm building my business brick by brick, like painful. I don't even know how to do, you know, brick laying, but I'm a brick layer right now. And the frustrating part is I'm still working on the foundation. You know, I've been in the game since 2015, 2016, I started educating myself before that.

Dan Austin: [4:13] It's not a lifetime, but you know, seven, eight years now that I've been investing, I haven't even started working on the walls yet. I have a few more courses of bricks I have to lay around the foundation, but I do know if I can stay steady Eddie, do the right things over and over again, be consistent, I'm going to be able to build a big house with a strong foundation. And I'm okay with not having some crazy success story with all the glitz and glam that comes with it. I've had to come to terms with my overnight successes, not quite so overnight. And as I look back, honestly though, where I started and where I've come, it's actually pretty dang amazing. It's more than I could imagine doing, you know, in that same time period. And they say, we severely overestimate what we can do in one year, but severely underestimate what we can do in five years. So to just sum this up, you know, stick with it. Don't get discouraged by what you're seeing out there in the social media land and what you're hearing on podcasts because, again, those are the exceptions and not the rules. It's okay to be a basic ass investor. Just kind of steady addy, be consistent, and over time your business and your wealth will scale. You know, I'm kind of proof of that, like I've said today, I am truly a basic ass investor with no overnight success story, it's just been kind of chipping away, little win after little win, and they are additive, if you choose to, you can continue to scale your business and scale your real estate portfolio, because it is additive, as I said, and it becomes more and more exponential the longer you're in the game, and the more pressure you apply. Okay, so as always, if you want to reach out, hit me up on Instagram, that's the best way to do it, you can DM me directly at investor man Dan. I'm very responsive, always on it. So if you have questions or you just wanna chat more, have some ideas for things you want me to cover in an episode, just just let me or Mike know.

Dan Austin: [6:00] And as always, if you wanna learn more about what Mike and I do and and you think you wanna get some education, go to the instantinvestorprogram.com. Other than that, I will see you all next week.

Speaker 1: [6:11] Thanks for listening. Please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. And check us out at collectingkeyspodcast.com for tips and guides on starting your own real estate investment and wholesaling business.