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How is Your Money Attitude?

Mark Ferguson
8 min read
How is Your Money Attitude?

I was in Dallas earlier this week attending an REO conference.  I like to attend a couple of REO conferences a year to help to get new business and to keep in touch with all my REO contacts.  It was a little hectic this week, because I decided to attend the conference on September 3rd and the conference started September 8th!  I bought my plane ticket, my conference registration and booked my hotel.  I left Sunday morning and got back Tuesday evening and it was an amazing trip.

Lesson’s Learned…

At the conference I was able to learn many things about the current Real Estate market.  I heard Barney Frank speak, as well as many other very prominent and successful people.  One reason I love to go to these conferences is I get to meet with many very successful REO agents.  Not only do I learn what they are doing, but being around successful people is great for becoming successful yourself.  I was also able to meet with my HUD asset managers in person, which is always nice.   I belong to a group called US REO Partners, they are a nationwide organization for REO brokers.  USREOP had a charity dinner and a silent auction the first night to benefit the Jimmy V foundation.  I had the chance to bid on lunch with the owner of a very well known asset management company. (I will call him John, because I don’t want to intrude on his privacy.)  For $300 I was able to have lunch with this very successful business man and very influential person in the industry.

Successful People

Most REO agents would have had lunch with John in order to get business from his company.  I know how important it is to associate with successful people and I wanted to know all about him and why he has been so successful.  If you have read my other articles (such as my recent article on life coaching or my article on having a positive attitude) then you know I am a huge fan of self improvement and life coaching.  Associating with successful people is a key component in my coaching and everything  I read.  I am sure John is a multi millionaire, so when I had the opportunity to meet with him, I could not pass it up.

“John”

The first think I realized when I started talking with John was his attitude.  He was extremely positive, which is another key component of my coaching.  John mentioned  he always wanted to be successful, he always was looking for ways to make money and make a lot of it.  He was a professional football player for the Houston Oilers (middle linebacker), then went into Real Estate as a broker.  He entered the Real Estate field after football because he knew he could make a lot of money in Real Estate.  After being a broker, he started working with large companies like Fannie Mae on the REO side and was a top level executive before opening several of his own companies.

John was very candid about his life and success, and I think he was happy not to talk about REO.  John never had any reservations about wanting money and a lot of it, unlike many of us who have a negative towards the rich.  Many people see someone with a fancy car and mutter “lucky bastard” or “must be nice”. This negative attitude tells yourself that it is bad to be rich or rich people don’t deserve the money they have.  If you are telling yourself it’s bad to be rich, then you’re not giving yourself much of a chance to be rich.  You would be going against your own values if you became rich. I used do this to some extent, before I learned the huge mistake I was committing.  I thought he doesn’t deserve that house or he shouldn’t have all those listings, he is a bad agent.  Then I realized I was sabotaging myself with my own attitude, by harboring these negative thoughts and emotions towards the wealthy.  I now see someone with a nice house or car and think nice car, I’ll have one like that some day.

Surround Yourself With Success

My coach says I need to be around as many rich and wealthy people as I can.  Almost every book on being wealthy has said the same thing.   The more your are around the wealthy, the better chance you will become wealthy yourself.  You see how the wealthy think, how they treat people and how they go after what they really want.  You are also around people with money, who like to invest and like to make more money.  If you can help them make more money, then they may just go into business with you.

This year I have taken many steps to be around wealth.  I recently joined our local country club and although I haven’t used it much, we have been there a few times an love it.  My wife was very hesitant, because she was worried what her friends would think of her.  She thought they would think she was snooty and too rich for them, because of the club.  A couple of friends actually did think this, but others thought it was great.  The thing that really surprised her was how nice everyone was at the club.  No one was stuck up or snooty, they were all welcoming and very kind.  Harv Eker mentions this in his book, Secrets of a Millionaire Mind.  He moved into a very nice neighborhood and could not believe how nice everyone was.  He attributed it to the wealthy knowing a positive attitude and respect for everyone equals success.

Successful Habits of the Rich

At the end of lunch, John told me I should start a mastermind group – which was another key component of what I have been learning through my coaching. I said I had already been participating in a mastermind group and he smiled and said “I think you will do very well in life.  I can see you being a multi millionaire”.  I’m glad we both have the same vision!  I sent John an email thanking him for lunch and he replied back with:

“Hi Mark,

Great having lunch with you and I think you are on the right track for success. Stay focus and try to find the positive in every situation. Thanks”

It contently amazes how successful people have the same type of attitude towards life.  They are always positive, always focused and willing to help others out.  That email summed up my attitude perfectly over the last year and it blew me away that he did as well.

Building on the Positive

I was feeling so good about lunch, I decided to take a field trip while I was in Dallas. For those of you who read my blog, you know I love cars.  Not new cars, but old rare cars, preferably with a v12.  I have driven a Lamborghini Gallardo and Ferrari f430 this summer.  One of my dreams is to have a stable of exotic cars, right now I own a 1986 Porsche 928 and 91 supercharged Mustang convertible.

Screen Shot 2013-09-14 at 10.10.50 PMMy dream car has always been a Lamborghini Countach, which could be because I grew up in the 80’s.  The Countach was so crazy looking and incredibly fast in a time when cars were extremely boring and slow.  With my new found attitude about money and goals, I made buying a Countach one of my goals.  I really, really want to drive one or at least sit in one, but there are only four Countach’s currently for sale in the country.

Dallas just happens to have a Lamborghini dealership and they just happen to have a ……. Diablo.  No Countach, but a Diablo is the closest thing to a Countach.  The Lamborghini Diablo replaced the Countach and you may remember it from the movie Dumb and Dumber.  I like them a lot.  What I really wanted to know about a Countach is whether I will fit.  I have heard they are incredibly small and uncomfortable.  I am 6’1 and where a size 14 shoe so I called Lamborghini dealership and told them my situation.  They said I could come over and sit in the Diablo all I want they could help me decide about the Countach.

I found a cab and the driver had no idea where the dealership was.  I used my iPhone to get us directions and off we went….sort of.  The first address was not a Lamborghini address and we went about 7 miles the wrong direction.  This time I typed in the address I found from the Lamborghini website instead of trusting my iPhone to know where the dealership was. 15 miles later I could see the dealership approaching!

Eye Candy

Screen Shot 2013-09-14 at 10.10.39 PMTalk about being blown away!  They had a Bentley and two Lambos in the front parking lot.  Inside they had at least 25 Lambos (almost all new) three Ferrari’s and a couple of other makes.  They Also had two Adventadors, the $480k, 700 horsepower space ship Lamborghini now produces.  And there was the Diablo in the middle of the showroom, it was gorgeous.

The car dealer was awesome, we talked cars for an hour and I was able to sit in the Diablo and I fit!  Almost.  I had to take off my shoe to avoid hitting the gas and brake pedal at the same time.  The dealer informed me the Countach was much smaller than the Diablo and he didn’t fit in the car.   He was smaller than me and said he had to drive it with his head tilted the entire time.  He mentioned the Countach was also his favorite car as a kid, until he drove one.

Positive attitude

Bad news, the Countach is not a good option unless I never want to drive it.  Good news I love the Diablo, it’s newer, has more driver friendly features and they are actually cheaper.  I was very honest with the dealer, telling him I wasn’t planning to buy for a year or two – if that.  He was cool and said he had worked with people for four years, before they bought a car. Then he stopped my entire world with one sentence.  He told me that many people lease exotic cars, they don’t pay cash.  Basically you can lease to own the car for 10 years with 20 to 25% down and a 6% interest rate.  I always thought I would have to pay cash for a car like this and then have plenty of money left over for insurance and maintenance.  He just made owning a Lamborghini a lot more realistic and I learned a lot about my money attitude.

I thought I was good with being rich and having really nice things.  I had been taught by my coaches and books not to limit what I wanted in life.  If I really wanted something that was really expensive, don’t let myself believe it is impossible.  Don’t limit the amount money I think I can make, because my subconscious will listen and limit how much money I will make as well.  My subconscious was not so sure after I realized the Lamborghini was a closer possibility than I thought.   As soon as I imagined having the car and driving it where people could see me, my brain said what will all your friends and neighbors think?  They will think you are a rich bastard! I guess I have not quite graduated to fully released money attitude!

Conclusion

What do you think about when you see wealthy people and their luxury items?  Are you appreciative or jealous?  Remember, how you think about them and how you think about wealth in general can have a big impact on how wealthy you become.  If you are worried being rich will bring you bad things in life, think about all the good you can do.  The more money you have, the more you can give away to help others.  The more successful you are, the more other people will listen to you and you in turn can help them be successful.

I still want a Diablo, but I still have that though in the back of my head telling everyone will think I am a rich bastard.  I’m going to have to work on getting my money attitude to the next stage.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.