How do you buy real estate with no money and no credit?

This is one of the most asked and abused questions in the real estate investing education business.

The good news is that it can be done.  To find out how, we dial up a good friend who’s not only figured out how to do it consistently, he also loves to share his secrets for success!

This episode of The Real Estate Guys™ radio show features:

• A true resource of broadcasting brilliance, your host Robert Helms
• His next-to-nothing co-host, Russell Gray
• A truly resourceful real estate investor, J Massey

Talking to J is always a fun time.  He’s full of enthusiasm, wisdom and catchy phrases that quickly communicate complex ideas.

We first met J Massey in our Southern California real estate investor mentoring program just after The Crash of 2008.  We soon discovered that J had experienced a series of personal disasters which left him with useless credit, no money, no equity and no income.  Yikes!

But having a wife and four children to support, failure was not an option, J developed an uncanny resourcefulness which allowed him to build a successful real estate investing business and portfolio.

Back in 2012, we invited J to tell his story to our radio audience.  You can find that interview here.

Since then, J’s joined the faculty of our Summit at Sea™.  We’ve been proud to introduce him to our friends and fellow broadcasters, Robert Kiyosaki and Simon Black, and J has been a guest on both of their programs.

So what makes J so interesting and what can we learn from him?

What stands out to us is J’s mindset.  So many people think achievement starts with knowledge.  Of course, knowledge is important, but it isn’t first.  Mindset is.

“Look for problems, not for properties.”

J says the first important mindset is to focus on looking for problems, NOT properties.  When you look for properties, all you see are things you can’t afford with your current resources.  That’s discouraging.

Better to look for problems and then challenge yourself to find solutions.

Why?  Because resources are solutions.  But outside the context of solving a problem, resources are all but invisible.  However, once you have a problem to solve, you begin to see the potential for the people, things and circumstances around you to solve the problem.  NOW you can see all the resources available!

“No one has a money problem.  They have an idea problem.”

This is true not just for you, but for most of the people out in the world.  Our friend, Blair Singer, says “When emotions are high, intelligence is low.”  That is to say that when people get freaked out about their finances, they can’t think straight.

If you can learn to keep calm in a crisis, you will see solutions that others won’t.  And when this happens, you have something VERY valuable to bring to the party.

“Fail fast. Fail forward.  Fail frequently. That’s how you learn quickly.”

How fast do you want to find a solution?  The sooner you start trying, the sooner you find the answer.  We all want the smooth, painless, non-stop ride to the top.  But the real world is full of sometimes painful setbacks and disappointments.

But inside every failure is useful feedback.  If you learn to find it, you’re a better, smarter investor.

With each experience, you find out what works, what doesn’t and ultimately what works best.  Next time, you see more potential solutions faster and your odds and effectiveness improve.

It’s all about others. 

It sounds so simple.  But when you’re starving and scared, it’s easy to make it all about you.

However, when other people understand the problem, how they fit into the solution, and why being involved benefits them, they will almost always provide the resources necessary to achieve the goal.

Been there. Done that.

Here’s the great news:  No matter what problems you find yourself or others facing, someone has probably already figured out how to solve all or part of it.  So you don’t have to be the smartest guy or gal in the room.  You simply have to be the one willing to invest the time and effort in finding those people more experienced than yourself.

And while this all sounds good on the chalkboard, J is out on the field running the plays and making it happen.  He would be the first to say that if HE can do it, so can YOU.

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The Real Estate Guys™ radio show and podcast provides real estate investing news, education, training and resources that help real estate investors succeed.