Last few days, you might be thinking Ray has been doing some crazy talk about abstract ideas like scaling, goals and objectives. You night be thinking that is great but now what, how do I take my business to that next level.

Step 1 recognize that the business of buying houses is totally separate to managing or renting them out. You need a couple of different systems in place. Recognize that these systems will cost you money, but you will be making money back from these processes. It is merely a numbers game. I will not tell you the exact way I do these steps but I will tell you the automation systems I use to but roughly a house a month. I am telling you my purchase pipeline steps as Jeffery didn't go over any specific buying systems at the convention. He did go over strategies that act as multipliers but you need to know with the automation to make these work so you can do that scaling.

My Automation Steps

1) create an absentee owner list. I use a software suit that uses AI to chop down the MEGA data into chunks. I want these owners to have owned these places for at least 10 or so years, so there is some equity built up.

I want to talk to folks who are equity rich and cash flow poorer

You can use your own method, many folks online have trashed talked using software with AI embedded in it. If you are opposed to it, so sorry - find your own way. This system cost you $99/month. You have to use it to make it make money for you.

2) Load that list up to skip trace system that gets me info that includes phone number, emails and addresses. Sometime texting is the best way to reach out, sometimes it is direct mail and still others it is calling or door knocking. You need to get to the people who can call a spade a spade....self-managing is a tough job, and it can wear you down.

3) Reach Out - Now do I do direct mailing, group texting or cold calling myself? Absolutely not. Honestly I don't have the time or energy to do that. That would lots of rejection to face daily so you will want to come up with your own way to make your initial contact. Again AI can assist you with these task. One of Jeffery's speakers showed some exact prompts to give you the marketing message for renters. You can reverse engineer that prompt (after you buy that audio recording), and learn why sellers are selling. As for me, I target tired older landlords. One of my post cards are as simple as they get - instead of putting out a bunch of fluff, just ask " What is your tired Landlord Sales Price?" Please, please please - don't be that idiot who doesn't answer your phone. A bargain is calling you, if you are too busy to answer your phone doing your DIY project, make time to smack yourself. I can't tell you what will be hot and what isn't going to be hot in your location this month. This changes every six or eight months so you need to learn to outsource multiple methods. Knowing five or six ways to reach out isn't asking too much.

4, Different targets? Sometimes I try and target a pre-foreclosure property, but the strategy is a little bit different as these are good sub to techniques. The level of success is high but it harder to reach out to these folks as many are in denial. The profit center is there, but it is a tough niche to work. You will hear a significant amount of sob stories and your job is to refocus them to act. Ken probably does this better than most on this site. Denial isn't just a river in Africa.

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Now I haven't been able to purge list from one funnel into the next one. OREIA had a vendor who an excellent source for data bases. You can buy some list, but you really need to hire some outside assistance to streamline these processes. Fiverr can help you find the next Yellow letter lady (if that is one of your five ways to reach out).

I am not here to tell you that here is a silver bullet that will cure cancer. The same tools targeting different market segments will yield widely different results. This year's convention outlined multiple real estate growth strategies that you can implement for less than the cost of the course. If you missed the convention, you have some catching up to do that is going to take you longer than the convention.

I was honored that weekend, and as such, if you got my phone number feel free to ask me for the specific tools I use to filter down this meta data down into interviews.

Ray - thanks for sharing some strategies.

Here is a question - when is enough?

Does one continue to acquire and scale up or does one enjoy the fruits of ones labor over the past ?

I went to the same ice cream shop yesterday that I did as a kid, it was awesome. As a child I had a whopping quarter and could spend any way I wanted to. My choices were: dilly bar, ice cream sandwich, ice cream cone or a soda pop. Sundaes were thirty or thirty-five cents so we couldn't have them. Ice cream was and still is a special event for us.

Today's prices I noticed were over six-fold what they were just a few generations when gas was also a quarter. It is now over 14 times that amount.

So that excellent gold salary of $25,000 isn't excellent at all today. Is $100,000 enough? I don't believe so. I believe seven figure salaries might be the new gold standard within the next 20 years.

If you trade hours for dollars, you are on losing side of the math as you have only so many hours each day. More than one person on this site is proud that they have created their own job in their own small company. I hope they have the courage to look in the mirror and tell "their boss" that you want the down time you deserve.

Real estate markets change. Now will there be a decline in the real estate market over the next 20 to 40 years - absolutely, I feel safe there will lots of corrections. I think the real question we all should be asking ourselves is our we diversified enough to go through multiple real estate cycles. There is good reason I have Singles, multiples, commercial, NNN, and OGM. I love the stability while being more hands off.

So when should you stop automating? I went to a family friendly board walk four weeks ago more or less. Went to Indy for work last week and I am out of state again this week with a graduation. If you are absolutely happy dealing strictly with tenants and toilets, you probably don't need to change. If your goal (something I asked a few days ago), is to supplement your income with an extra $500/month and you already have that first house under your belt, you are good if you are content.

I did a round table on land trust on best practices where I discussed successor beneficiaries and successor trustees. The legacy is built into the system when my day comes. Until then, I am along for the ride and here to help others on their journey. The only requirement is desire to improve yourself instead of being a victim. Bad things are going to happen - some even on their own. I come from the school of thought that believes in abundance.

Ray, you speak with a wisdom that most do not have.

We have a new list of things that must be done asap.

At the top of that list is setting up the Trusts for our places. Using info gleaned from this site, from Mr. Land Trusts and mostly from you.

Does a person have to use land trust to succeed?

I don't know what I will be doing even all of next week. I do know that I think I have 35 more years left on a contract (between a lease and options or them to renew with several increases along the way) with a one of the 500 largest companies in the United States.

I feel very secure saying I will probably not be around in 35 years. So it does make sense for there to be a plan in place to pass on forward the gifts that you have worked for. Magic numbers are up to the individual. Tools like a batch dialer will only act a force multiplier.

If creating a land trust is too much work for anyone, there are multiple companies out there that you can pay for them to create the land trust or be the beneficiary for you. If you are learning DIY, it would be good if you knew what is actually inside the agreement you want representing you.

Ditto Zero - you have experience & wisdom for beyond some of us. And I thank you for continuing to share it and motivate others. You are generous with your knowledge & offer to help.

For those who want to really scale up the business, with less stress, they should glean all they can from Ray. The steps listed above are excellent & proven to work.

FWIW: All my needs and wants would be provided very comfortably from a $100K annual income. I'm content with that.

I now have just one property with 2 mid-term rentals and studio attached to my personal residence that is also a MTR. I'm content with that. It is nearly free & clear - I'm thrilled with that! That's been my (modest) goal all along - 3 free & clear properties by the time I retire, to supplement my retirement.

I do already have the freedom to travel when I want - I'm in MN right now with grandkids. If "something happens", I have some trusted folks I can call to take care of it.

Now, with that said: I do still have room for improvement & goals to make my MTR's run smoother & without my presence, as well as putting things into a trust. Things I've been meaning to do for a while, and need to ACTUALLY DO. Lazy, distracted, disorganized, unmotivated - whatever it is I need to move beyond what I've been doing to achieve these goals that I want to achieve. Then I can travel even more, to more places.

Most certainly Ray is very knowledgeable and is good to learn from. Also much appreciated for sharing his wealth of knowledge. In fact, I have ended up ordering the book by Joel Miller because of Rays reviews of it. I want to see what it says.

DJ, thanks for the kind words!

More importantly congratulations on achieving your goal!

Being able to travel as you want and still get everything done. Now that's a goal worth moving toward.