I recently read the book “Steve Jobs” by Walter Isaacson. As brilliant as Steve Jobs was, I came away from the book not with a sense of awe about the man who Steve Jobs was, but how despite his incredible success, how idiosyncratic and deeply flawed a human being he really was.

Yes, he was a certifiable genius, although in some ways “certifiable” as well.

Yes, we’ll never see anyone else exactly like him, although Apple’s stock price has done quite well since his death

Yes, in American business, he will live in the pantheon of Edison, Einstein, and Ford, and he really thought he belonged there.

Yes, he did leave an indelible mark on our society – in fact, totally revolutionizing five separate industries nearly simultaneously…but he deeply hurt many people on the way in his rise to near mythic status.

Despite his greatness, he made tons of mistakes, cruelly alienated lots of people including his own daughter, and did some curiously unethical things in his relatively brief time on this earth. No doubt, the further you probe into the true personal lives of your “heroes” oftentimes the more you find, the less you like.

I came away from reading the book in a word – exhausted, but exhilarated at the same time. In fact, it was refreshing in a way to know that although Jobs was “Steve Jobs the icon”, he’s just a guy like you and me. I realized that you don’t have to be perfect to be great. And although there are many traits of Jobs I would never emulate in my own life, I felt like there were so many brilliant lessons that can be learned from him not only as a businessman and real estate investor, but as many lessons in what not to do as a father, a husband and a human being.

The bottom line is this: you, I and anyone can be great. There are multiple paths to ultimate success in life and in real estate investing, and there are multiple lessons Steve Jobs can teach the real estate investor and which can be learned by you.

The Top Seven Real Estate Investing Lessons Steve Jobs Taught Us

1. Fear Not

Jobs was plagued by strange idiosyncrasies. His diet, his odd personal habits, his driving without a license plate, his parking in handicapped zones just to name a few. But one thing he was blessed with was a total and utter lack of fear. Lack of fear comes from many things; self-confidence, optimism, even delusions of grandeur (checkmarks on all three for Jobs here). One thing’s for sure, he had enormous amounts of self-confidence. He felt he was special and that he was put on this earth to do great things by creating the technical marvels which ultimately influenced and bettered the lives of millions of people. Those innovations still affect us all each and every day.

Even in the face of terminal pancreatic cancer, he seemed to have an almost irrational sense of self-confidence and lack of fear. His self-confidence was so great; he actually thought that he could cure himself with oddball diets and rituals, while shunning traditional medicine – medicine that just may have saved his life. Incredibly, he seemed to have a complete absence of fear of the one thing that most of us are deathly afraid of…death itself.

It’s terrifying to buy your first house flip, for sure. But is it as fearful as death? Keep things in perspective in order to control fear. Think of the worst case scenario if you do what you’re fearful of. If you can handle the worst case pain and aggravation, then do it. If Steve Jobs could fearlessly stare down death, you can do the same.

If you’re just starting, then make your first real estate purchase. If you’ve been around the block a few times, try a new investment strategy you’ve never done before. When you face your fears and do what you fear most, you end up controlling your fears.

2. Pick Yourself Up Even After Your Failures

Can you imagine the humiliation of being fired by the guy you picked to run your company? In one of the most public firings in corporate history, Steve Jobs was fired. This was big news when it happened, sending shockwaves throughout Silicon Valley and the rest of the corporate world. Jobs did wallow for a short period of time, sure. But he picked himself up and created a new company that was ultimate bought by the company and the successor he was fired by.

If you are new to real estate investing and you lose a few thousand on your first deal because you overestimate your ARV, didn’t stick by the 70% Rule or failed to tightly manage your general contractors, then provided the few thousand didn’t bankrupt you, pick yourself up and try again.

It’s not how many times we fail; it’s how many times we get back up after failure that counts most.

3. Marry Art and Functionality

Many of us have iPhones. If you have one nearby while reading this or on the desktop beside you, pick it up. Feel the weight, notice the elegant stainless steel wrapping, the Gorilla glass screen, the smooth back. Swipe a few apps from side to side, browse the Internet, touch an app and see how they all gently jiggle to be deleted or modified. If you think all these enhancements and subtle artistic nuances of the device (since copied by the Google platform) are random, think again.

Jobs dissected each of these features and weighed them for weeks and months prior to being introduced by Apple. And each feature indelibly bears his thumbprint – his signature. He married art and functionality to create everlasting products and innovation that will affect generations to come.

There are lots of posts on this website that discuss the “steps” to real estate investing, house flipping, wholesaling, you name it. Follow these steps here and learn as much as you can. But then, put your own thumbprint on each of them – just like Steve Jobs did with each of his creations.

Is there only one way to rehab a house for maximum resale? No way.

Is there only one way to round up funding for your next apartment building? Not a chance.

Virtually anyone can become a real estate investor as long as they have the desire and the ambition, but to become a massive success, it’s going to take more than just what you learn from others. Its going to require you to put your own indelible stamp on every deal you do. Think like Steve jobs in how you can make your flip or rental a little bit different, enhanced or beautiful…marry art with functionality.

4. Listen to Your Inner Voice

When you are new to real estate investing, you have no voice in your head. If you do have one, that voice is usually screaming to you “don’t do it!”

However, the more deals you do, a different inner voice starts to appear. This is the voice of experience.

Maybe you are thinking about becoming a real estate investor and there’s something that has stopped you from doing it. You went to school, you got a good job in finance or sales or maybe you’re a doctor or a dentist – but there’s something missing. When we don’t listen to our inner voice, we mail it in, we do what we do on autopilot.

You’re reading this blog most likely because you want something more. You want to create the life you’ve always wanted. THAT is the inner voice calling you.

Ignore it at your own peril.

Jobs’ inner voice screamed “change the world” – a pretty dramatic vision and a pretty big voice. He built computers to do it. That was his plan.

What’s yours?

One thing that’s abundantly clear with Jobs is that despite his many imperfections, he lived his life with very few regrets. He followed his inner voice. Whatever that voice is telling you, it would be smart to listen to it.  Even if it tells you to quit your job, become a full-time real estate investor, move to Tibet or become a gourmet sushi chef, listen to it.

Live life with no regrets.

5. Expect More from Yourself and From Others

Jobs was a real prick sometimes. He would berate people. He would yell at people. He would throw little temper tantrums. He was a totally obsessive control freak.

And of course, he was an absolute perfectionist.

He demanded this from himself and he demanded the same from everyone who worked for him. I am not saying that the WAY Jobs did it was right, far from it. He seemed like a real jerk to work for.

But one thing’s for sure, he pushed people to places where they never thought they were capable of going. He expected this of himself and he expected it from everyone who worked for him.

Do it in your own way and do the same thing in your real estate investment career. If you need to get upset, do it. Don’t overdo it or you will find nobody will want to work with you, so be careful. But shoot for perfection and settle for excellence at the very least.

Jobs built products that revolutionized the world using this philosophy and he did it in his own way…so you do it in your own way. But don’t try to be him. Be yourself and expect a lot from everyone and most importantly expect the absolute most from yourself.

6. Surround Yourself with the Most Talented People You Can Find

Steve Jobs gets all the credit when you think of the legacy of greatness at Apple. Sounds good, but it’s simply not true.

Yes, Jobs made the ultimate decisions in all matters Apple from the type of sandstone used in Apple stores to the kind of glass used on iPhone screens. But what’s less known is that he surrounded himself with some brilliant minds that simply made him and Apple better.

Jobs surrounded himself with serious talent: the true mastermind behind the iPhone and iPad design Jony Ive, now CEO Steve Cook, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Toy Story creator John Lesseter, just to name a few. These super-talented people (not the faceless minions kowtowing to Jobs every whim as we may want to believe) don’t get the credit they rightfully deserve.

In real estate investing, surrounding yourself with an incredibly talented and knowledgeable team, including lawyers, real estate agents, general contractors, etc. – people in many cases who know far more than you – is just as important in real estate investing as it was in building one of the great companies of our generation. Steve Jobs realized that he couldn’t do anything without great talent around him.

How about you?

7. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

Success in anything in life is consistently looking to improve, to grow, to build and also to have fun. If you’re going to do it for the majority of the time you have in any given day, shouldn’t it be fun too? Jobs summed up this philosophy of innovation, creativity and fun in his memorable 2005 Stanford commencement address (check it out on YouTube if you haven’t):

    “When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960′s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

    Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

    Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

We can be just as special as he was and although we may not all build the next Apple; we can build excellence in what we do every day as real estate investors. As was previously reported on this blog, we as real estate investors not only enrich the lives of thousands of people every year with quality housing, but we create jobs and opportunities to the tune of $9.2 billion per year as well.

What we do as real estate investors matters. Jobs would agree that is a worthy dream to pursue. And we all can learn much from him – both the good and the bad. But best of all, you don’t have to be perfect in to be wildly successful like Steve Jobs.

In fact, anything’s possible in life if you continue to follow the simple lessons laid out above.

Author: Mike LaCava

Mike’s Website: http://www.houseflippingschool.com

Your wedding is sure to be the happiest day of your life, but marriage stretches well beyond those 24 hours. Merging your lives as husband and wife starts even before you say your “I do’s” and will require some effort and patience – which will be good practice for your future life together.

The technical side of getting married can be a little confusing, so seeking advice from friends and family is a good idea. However, there will be some questions that might need professional advice, so don’t be afraid to consult the pros when necessary. As you start your journey through life together, keep these key tasks in mind to make sure you’re well prepared.

 

Courtesy of BPT

If you know you need life insurance, but still don’t have individual coverage, you’re not alone. According to the Life Insurance and Market Research Association, most Americans say life insurance is important, yet only one-third of them are covered by an individual policy. That’s the lowest level in 50 years.

 

Courtesy of BPT

As summer heats up, air conditioning bills can rapidly rise. As homeowners feel the heat, many are looking for ways to save and stay cool.

Many U.S. consumers strive to conserve energy at home. Forty-seven percent of Americans say they try to conserve energy all or most of the time, according to researchers at Iconoculture.

One way to help lower utility bills in the summer and year-round is to replace drafty or leaky old windows with new, energy-efficient products.

According to ENERGY STAR, replacing single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR qualified windows can save up to $126 to $501 a year on utility bills depending on your location.

The product wasn’t the only thing Iturbe was delighted in. Because of the Pella Promise, he found the right product for his home and budget, had a no-mess, no-guess installation day experience and his investment is backed by the total care guarantee – Pella’s exclusive warranties on the product and installation. 

 

Courtesy of BPT

While green is increasingly a factor in today’s roofing choices, having the ability to choose from a wide variety of colors in sustainable roofing is also a point of great satisfaction for discerning homeowners.

One roofing manufacturer, InSpire Roofing, of The Tapco Group, takes the combination of style and sustainability to new heights, offering the widest range of slate colors in the industry, including Standard, Premium, Blended (in-tile blends), Mixes (multi-color palettes) and Cool Roofing colors that can help homeowners save hundreds of dollars in energy costs every year. Its newest sustainable solution is the Wintergreen InSpire Cool Roofing Mix; a factory-collated blend of the traditional Evergreen, Ash Grey and Granite slate colors. This roofing can help reduce peak cooling demand by up to 15 percent to create energy savings for homeowners.

InSpire Slate’s traditional and cool color choices both feature enhanced sustainability with virtually zero maintenance, extreme durability, recyclability and a limited lifetime warranty. The tiles’ UV-protected blend of virgin resins and natural limestone delivers Class A fire resistance, Class 4 impact resistance and a 110 MPH wind uplift rating – all with the artistic, detailed texture of tiles cast from real slate.

‘InSpire gives you a handsome slate appearance without the cost and substantial weight, but adds consistencies with color, texture and toughness that you can’t find in real slate,’ says Jonathan Wierengo, vice president of marketing for The Tapco Group, maker of InSpire Roofing. ‘The range of Traditional and Architectural color choices with InSpire allows it to fit a variety of styles, including log cabin or Mediterranean style, where most people wouldn’t even think of installing a slate roof.’

Texas custom builder Sheldon Robinson likes to use multiple InSpire colors for his homes – he’s used up to eight colors on one roof. ‘When people pull up to see a home, it just presents a whole different look. When people see that roof, they’re just – pardon the pun – inspired. It delivers more of an authentic slate look. We can lay out a pattern for a client and say ‘here’s the concept, here’s what’s interesting,’ as opposed to a typical all-black or grey roof,’ Robinson says.

Color and durability are also the hallmarks of InSpire Shake, which uses a proprietary color process producing subtle color variations for each of its three authentic shake tile choices – New Cedar, Cedar Brown and Weathered Grey. Locator tabs that prevent moisture intrusion combine with Class A fire resistance and a limited lifetime warranty to provide protection and peace of mind for homeowners who want beautiful shake roof style without the need for constant upkeep.

Courtesy of BPT

Across the world, both building professionals and consumers are embracing the idea of sustainable building practices. This practice follows a process that is environmentally responsible and resource efficient throughout a building’s life cycle: from design to construction, operation to maintenance and renovation, to eventually, demolition. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability and comfort.

Green building brings together a vast array of practices and techniques to reduce and ultimately eliminate the impacts of buildings on the environment and human health. It often emphasizes taking advantage of renewable resources, such as using sunlight to generate solar power and using plants to reduce rainwater run-off.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the demand for green homes is expected to rise 900 percent in the next five years.

In the home, using energy efficient appliances can dramatically reduce energy waste and cut costs. Companies like Miele offer a wide range of Energy Star rated appliances for every room in the house from the kitchen to the laundry room.

For example, Miele offers induction cook-tops, which use a non-contact method of heating using magnetic fields to transfer energy directly to cookware. The induction element stays cool, while the target object heats up rapidly for extremely efficient cooking. Like gas, induction is exceptionally easy and quick to control. The ability to precisely control the power makes induction perfect for all types of cooking. It is highly reactive and exceedingly safe. The cooking surface is cool in operation and only generates heat where the pan sits on it. As soon as the pan is removed, the flow of heat stops immediately.

For more information on the various types of energy efficient appliances available, visit http://www.mieleusa.com.

Young, savvy, environmentally-conscious consumers are at the forefront of the green movement. Programs like the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon allow this demographic to create and design an energy efficient home.

The Solar Decathlon is a program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. This year’s winner was the University of Maryland Team WaterShed.

“We are extremely pleased to be partnering with Miele on our entry into last year’s Solar Decathlon competition,” says Brian Grieb, University of Maryland Team WaterShed’s faculty project manager. “Miele has a reputation for providing elegantly designed, environmentally conscious, cost-efficient products that are constructed with longevity in mind. These attributes are exactly the qualities we were seeking to include in the WaterShed home.”

Courtesy of BPT