Are you a real estate investor? Do you own rental property? 🏠

If so, you’re invited to participate in the Flock Homes-ResiClub Real Estate Investor Survey.

The survey results will be published later this month in the Zuber Letter and ResiClub—and in other mainstream media publications.

Go from poor to rich in 6 lessons

Building wealth isn’t an easy process, but it is a simple one. When you pay attention to the stories of people who went from having nothing to having significant wealth, some key habits come up again and again.

Last week Anna “REI Mom” Kelley and I talked about our humble beginnings and the learnings we collected on our journeys to financial freedom. We outlined six key lessons:

Lesson 1: Change your environment

If you are surrounded by people beholden to bad habits, the odds of you improving your situation are not very good. You need to connect with people who think differently about money and have achieved great things.

Run with a crowd that pulls you up, not one that holds you back.

Lesson 2: Develop a healthy relationship with money

When you come from a situation without a lot of money, it's common to have a “poverty mindset,” which can be a big problem.

If you feel the need to spend every bit of extra money you get because you are used to living paycheck to paycheck, it’s impossible to build your wealth.

Having a patient, healthy relationship with money is a common trait among people who have accomplished financial success—take advice from them. 

Lesson 3: Invest in a high-value skill 

While going to college was a part of both Anna and I’s journeys, earning a degree is oftentimes not enough to build significant wealth. Not to mention, college is expensive and often forces people to take on a lot of debt at a young age. 

However, obtaining education and skills is still important. If you are poor, learning a high-value and in-demand trade or skill (video editing, public speaking, repairs, renovations, etc.) and become better than 90% of people at it. That’s a great way to start earning a solid income.

Lesson 4:  Build a side hustle

It’s hard to build wealth inside the framework of a W2, but if you have a side hustle, that extra income can be put towards your investments right away.

Many people say they don’t have enough time for a side hustle, but it really comes down to time management and delayed gratification. 

No one said becoming wealthy was easy. You have to choose your hard: scraping by day-by-day at your job until you are elderly, or working extra now, putting aside money, and living below your means so you can retire sooner.

Lesson 5: Discretionary income matters

It’s not your salary or even your net worth that matters—it’s your discretionary income. You can’t expect to build wealth through pay raises alone, especially since we tend to spend more money as we make more money.

Investing and buying assets and holding them for a long time is the most straightforward way to financial freedom.

Little seeds become huge oak trees over time.

Lesson 6: Live below your means and expand them

Becoming wealthy takes discipline. It’s easy to want to keep up with the Joneses as you have more money, but you have to try and keep your spending to a minimum as long as possible.

Even if you feel like you “deserve” to spend more money, live below your means. Focusing on delayed gratification for your hard work will yield the best results.

ResiClub chart of the week:

Last week, ResiClub’s Lance Lambert analyzed September active inventory data just released from Realtor.com.

He found that nationally, active listings are on the rise (+34% between September 2023 and September 2024); but we are still below pre-pandemic levels (-23% below September 2019).

Additionally, Lance says seven states have surpassed pre-pandemic active inventory levels: Tennessee, Texas, Idaho, Florida, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. It’s eight states if you count Washington—which was just 35 homes below pre-pandemic levels.

Why does this matter? ResiClub believes if active listings start to rapidly increase as homes remain on the market for longer periods, it may indicate potential future pricing weakness. So, it’s important we keep an eye on what happens to prices in states where active inventory is on the rise. 

I also want to remind my readers I’ll be speaking at the first-ever ResiDay, hosted by Lance Lambert’s ResiClub, in New York City on Friday, November 8th.

There will be hundreds of influential housing single-family landlords, developers, lenders, and brokers who are shaping the future of residential real estate, homebuilding, mortgage lending, and build-to-rent. Several prominent real estate journalists will also be there.

The ResiDay discussion will center around where the U.S. housing market is now and where it will go from here.

Expect great conversation, networking opportunities, and just plain fun—I hope to see you there

Now let’s get into this week’s edition.

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