I’m reading this book on cults and it’s inspired me to start my own cult (maybe I got the wrong message from the book?). Anyways, my cult is going to be creatively titled “Jason’s Cult”. And here’s why joining my cult is going to make you rich.

Any good cult member is going to blindly follow their leader and take whatever action he prescribes. And if you’d simply do that, you’d be rich! Check it out: How many of you own courses that are still in their plastic? Well, if you followed those courses and just did what they say you’d start making money. Over the last few weeks I have gone over lease options and if you just did what I said, you’d make money.

There’s nothing that annoys me more than when I’m at a REIA meeting and some newbie starts arguing with me when he has come to pick my brain for advice (how many deals have you closed and how many have I closed buddy?).

The fastest track to success is to find someone who is where you want to be and then just do what they did (which is why at every REIA meeting, you should be picking the brains of the seasoned investors).

So here are the rules for joining Jason’s Cult (bare with me, this is my first cult, so I may have to work out some kinks).

1. Every month you will put out 200 bandit signs and send out 1,000 pieces of highly targeted direct mail.
2. You will network like crazy and attend every meeting in your local area.
3. No whining.
4. You will refer to me as Jason The Great.
5. Every night before you go to bed you’ll make your TO DO list for the next day.
6. You’ll give me your daughters and wives (actually forget that, they would be a pain in my butt, you can keep them).
7. You will ONLY do wholesaling, lease options and subject-to. If I found out you’re using any of your own credit, bad things will happen.
8. You’ll start out wholesaling if you’re brand new, and learn how to make a steady $5,000 a month (at minimum).
9. You’ll go to RealtyTimes.com to research any market before you start investing there.
10. You’ll have consistent follow up with your marketing, hitting the same list for a total of seven times.
11. You’ll become ruthless with your time management and only check your email three times a day (8:00, 12:00, 6:00) and make phone calls only twice a day (12:00, 6:00).
12. You’ll go to BiggerPockets.com every day to network, continue learning, make deals, and market yourself.
13. You’ll repeat the following chant three times a day “Jason’s the greatest and I want to have his babies.”

So, you’re probably wondering what’s going to happen if you violate these rules? Well, obviously you’ll burn in hell….Welcome to my cult! Alright, one more important thing…..I need to know your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid? Tropical punch or grape?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or sign up for our real estate social network. Thanks for visiting!

Tags: marketing, real estate, real estate investing, REI

Recently, during a relatively calm and drama-free conversation, daughter #3 (the cheeky one running around the kitchen at this very moment with a doily on her head) asked, “Mom? Now that you’ve plastered your name all over the internet, I guess its okay to tell people we’re landlords, right?

Ignoring for a moment the habit of certain individuals to exaggerate during annoyance maneuvers, this does bring up an interesting point. It is a fact that for years, certain parties of the first part did threaten certain child-units into silence. “Don’t tell anyone we’re thinking about buying real estate, hear me? Don’t tell anyone we bought that house in town, Hear me? Don’t tell anyone we’re landlords, Hear me?”

J. Edgar was an amateur.

Perhaps the kiddies resented it just a touch, but my paranoia was firmly rooted somewhere in the general vicinity of reasonableness. Investing in rent houses was so far outside our comfort zone and our newly blossoming ideas on money management so fragile, I was afraid someone might squish them. And to be honest, I just didn’t want to deal.

You’re planning to invest in What??!!

How About I Run Those Numbers For You? (And other helpful phrases you’ll never hear from friends and family)

Family and friends generally mean well-they want to help, really they do. Sometimes, they are afraid and they help by making sure you share their trepidation. They help by warning, scolding, waving giant red flags and employing any necessary means to throw the proverbial cold water all over the tiny embers of change which flicker in the bosom in bondage (said the drama queen as she threw herself upon her bed of suffering).

Having arrived in this world during the turbulent ‘60’s with a bunch of hippie-older brothers leading the charge, I’d learned to do my own thing, man. The mister and I’d been swimming upstream since we married at 19 (against everyone else’s better judgment) so I wasn’t exactly desperate for approval. I was only afraid of myself… afraid my inner-child would pitch a fit and toss my inner-investor in a corner-where she’d stay for several more years before getting up the gumption to try again. Afraid I’d be unable to move forward under the onslaught of faulty reasoning that once-upon-a-time I’d believed more fiercely than anyone.

It was time to change or else. And there were plenty of negative voices in my head already without adding to the chorus.

Change Takes Time (and Other Witty Sayings to Soothe the Battered Ego When Landing Upon the Backside)

Our financial transformation took about 7 years. In that time, we moved steadily forward without any visible results for 5 of those years. I started a home business performing background checks for small businesses owners and nonprofit groups which failed to make a profit. From our standpoint (and with a healthy application of hindsight), it was imminently successful. I learned to organize a business, understand and apply Texas business practices, and run a pretty mean background check. Before, concepts like marketing, ecommerce, and website development were foreign to this nursing major. And probably most important, by the time we became landlords, our office was in place, our books in order and everything we learned magically applied to real estate. But try explaining that to someone sitting across the table at the mall telling you that your failed business venture perfectly illustrates the reason they would never do anything so foolish.

Eventually, our success in real estate began to show. We went from living in a 1300 sq. ft. doublewide trailer to a larger custom home. Our clothes were purchased from upscale places like Penneys and Target instead of Goodwill. I was able to give gifts that didn’t come from the dollar store.

And, when people started to notice, I was strong enough mentally to share if anyone really wanted to hear.

Silence equals Self-preservation

A word of advice: If you simply must talk, find someone, somewhere who actually invests. Go to real estate meetings, visit forums, check out blogs and post comments.

And at the risk of winning the official title for Most Cliché’s Ever in a Single Blog Entry-don’t allow anyone to yank up your new baby plans before they develop deep enough roots to take the tugging. Silence is Golden. Don’t let anyone steal your dreams, dude.

Etcetera

Honestly! Who in their right mind would try to save you from a project like this?

Tags: getting started, investor, landlord, real estate investing, REI, rent houses