March 14, 2025 • 32 mins
This week, The Norris Group Real Estate Podcast is introducing a new segment featuring owners and leaders from investor clubs, REIAs, and Meetups. They will share insights on current real estate trends, effective strategies in their markets, and updates on upcoming speakers and events.
Our goal is to foster collaboration, exchange best practices, and provide valuable insights into the real estate investment world.
This week’s guests include Christina Suter from Pasadena FIBI, Mitch Craighead from NorCal REIA, and Rich Rice from the FIRE Center.
For more information on this month’s featured clubs and speakers, please see below:
In this episode:
- Introduction to the Investor's Club Podcast: Highlighting local real estate clubs, industry strategies, and insights from experienced investors.
- Joey Romero welcomes Christina Suter (Pasadena FIBI), Mitch Craighead (NorCal REIA), and Rich Rice (FIRE Center).
- Investor Demographics: Understanding the backgrounds and profiles of investors attending club meetings.
- Educational Focus: Insights into the topics and strategies clubs prioritize to educate their members.
- Exploring upcoming events and notable guest speakers.
- Dream Speakers: Guests share their ideal speakers and why they would add value to the clubs.
The Norris Group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE License 01219911, Florida Mortgage Lender License 1577, and NMLS License 1623669. For more information on hard money lending, go www.thenorrisgroup.com and click the Hard Money tab.
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Narrator (00:01):
Welcome to The Norris Group real estate podcast, a
show committed to bringing youinsights from thought leaders
shaping the real estateindustry. In each episode, we'll
dive into conversations withindustry experts and local
insiders, all aimed at helpingyou thrive in an ever-changing
real estate market. continuingthe legacy that Bruce Norris
(00:24):
created, sharing valuableknowledge, and empowering you on
your real estate journey.
Whether you're a seasoned pro ora newcomer, this is your go-to
source for insider tips, markettrends and success strategies.
Here's your host, Craig Evans.
Joey Romero (00:45):
All right, welcome everybody to The Norris Group
Real Estate Podcast. This week,well, I'm Joey Romero, and this
week we are doing something alittle new. We're going to be
doing once a month, a InvestorClub, REIA, Association, kind of
round table. I don't even knowwhat I'm going to call it yet,
(01:05):
so maybe you guys can help usout as an audience what we
should call this show. So, we'lltake comments for a couple
weeks, but the goal is tohighlight the clubs that are in
your area, pick their brainsabout what is going on in the
industry, what strategies areworking, what, you know, what
(01:25):
pivots they're making, and kindof what they're hearing on boots
on the ground from realinvestors, and maybe we could
all learn from. So, I'm going tointroduce them one at a time,
and then, and then we'll justjump right in. So, ladies, first
today we have with us. ChristinaSuter, long time Pasadena FIBI
leader and club owner, uh,Christina, good to have you
Christina Suter (01:49):
Joey, thanks so much for inviting me. I really,
today.
really appreciate it. Love TheNorris Group. Love the work that
you guys do. I've invited youguys many, many times to my
meeting because I think it'sjust so powerful. And one of the
primary things as a club run Ireally want to do is be able to
support my community, developcommunity. One of the things I
say every time I start my clubis it's not the money that
you're making that actuallymakes you successful in real
(02:11):
estate. It's the community thatyou have that brings you deals
and the win-win that you cancreate, because this isn't a
marathon. This is not a sprint.
So, my name Christina Suter,I've been investing in real
estate for 35 years. I startedwhen I was 17. Okay, it looks
like I started when I was twomonths old, but actually I
started when I was 17, and thatmakes me in my 50s, and I've
owned things primarilyresidential, single family,
multi family. I've invested ineight different states. I have
(02:33):
flipped in two different states.
Joey Romero (02:35):
Not to cut you off, but we're going to get into that
a little bit.
Christina Suter (02:38):
Okay.
...Pasadena, we've been...
around 2011 and we have aboutalmost 6000 members now in the
greater LA area. We meet inPasadena over Third Thursday.
Joey Romero (02:51):
Alright. So, our next guest is Mitch Craighead,
and he is the new leader ofNorCal REIA. He took over from
long time club owner, DavidGranzella, and that happened
last year. We did have a littlepodcast about the transition,
but Mitch, welcome.
Mitch Craighead (03:08):
Awesome. It's amazing to be here. Thank you.
Joey, yeah, I absolutely lovethe partnership that's been
created between North Group andNorCal REIA over the years, and
stepping into that and takingtorch from the great man, David
Granzela, absolutely an honor.
And yeah, we're NorCal REIAestablished in 2004 and I took
(03:29):
over the club after celebrating20 years of growth and giving
back to real estate investorsthrough David Granzella. So,
again, it's an honor to havetaken that torch and then to be
able to give back to thecommunity here.
Joey Romero (03:45):
And last, our great, initial show is Rich Rice
with the FIRE Center, Rich.
Richard Rice (03:54):
Yeah, it's great to be here. Joey, thanks for
having us on. You know, the FIRECenter really just became about
from, kind of like an evolutionof the REIA concept. We decided
that we were tired of going tohotels and restaurants and
lugging all the equipment andeverything, so we just decided
to get our own place. And thenit kind of evolved from there of
(04:15):
we wanted to focus on, you know,different, different meetings,
and kind of grow thoseindividually. So we're actually,
like, five clubs and one now,all hosted under the FIRE Center
brand here in Riverside. We haveour own 4,000 square foot
facility that we do 15 meetingsa month out of now. And it's
really focused on, like, youknow, Christina said, and Mitch
(04:37):
said, on building thatcommunity, building, we call it
tribe building, that tribe offinancial allies to hopefully,
you know, grow well together,and, you know, accomplish goals,
and outside of just real estateand friends and all that, so
excited to be here. It's beenfun doing, you know, collabs
with The Norris Group over theyears. And we're excited for
what's coming.
Joey Romero (04:57):
Awesome. So, I'm going to, I'm going to start a
little different. And this wholeidea came because one of my
favorite parts of being part ofThe Norris Group was going with
Bruce to when he when he spokeat your clubs, and and going
there and seeing everybody andhanging out and having dinner,
and, you know, just meeting allthe investors boots on the
(05:17):
ground. And I really miss that.
So, maybe we'll get back to thata little bit, you know, when
Craig figures out, what he'sgoing to be teaching on here,
coming up in the near future.
But I'm going to, I'm going tostart out with an icebreaker.
So, I'm going to go the otherway this time. So, Rich, you'll
be the first to answer. So, whatis an item in your wallet that
(05:40):
is, either that means a lot toyou or is just simply
interesting, and I'll go last.
So, why don't you go first?
Richard Rice (05:47):
I guess probably the item in my wallet that's
interesting is, I don't actuallycarry wallet. I have it all
built in. I have like, fourcredit cards and my cell phone
holder here. And I always getpeople like, asking, dude, don't
you? Aren't you, like, paranoidthat, you're going to lose it?
And I'm like, no, because it'sreally my wallet and by phone.
And so I feel like I'm extra,extra careful about it. So I got
(06:09):
my ID and, like, three cards.
Makes it really easy. I always Idon't have to have, you know,
like, a wallet separate for me,but as I have more companies and
more credit cards that I have tocarry, it's becoming
increasingly difficult to fitthem on this little slot. So,
ask me that question a littlebit later in a year from now,
and I might have a wallet.
Joey Romero (06:28):
Alright. Mitch, same question.
Mitch Craighead (06:29):
You know, I'm a Rich guy, Rich, you and I are
one in the same, I got the cardsin the phone, high risk. But I
don't have two things that Iwould be devastated that if I
lost one or the other. I justhave one thing to take really,
(06:49):
really good care of. But I willtell you, people are like, well,
don't you want to carry cash,you know, but you have a secret
compartment in here, and I popit off a little bit, and you got
to keep a couple 100 bucks rightin the back of the phone case.
So Rich, I don't know if you'redoing that. It works great for
me when I need it.
Richard Rice (07:04):
I might have done it a long time ago and forgot.
Let's see. Nope, it's not there.
Mitch Craighead (07:12):
Time to replenish it. That's the
emergency fund.
Richard Rice (07:14):
Well, there you go.
Joey Romero (07:16):
Alright. Now not to be, you know, I don't know what
the word is nowadays, butalright, what is in your wallet
or your purse?
Christina Suter (07:25):
Yes, I understand the word you're not
saying. So, I used to carryexactly what the other two
gentlemen had. I used to carry aphone that had a wallet in the
back of it that popped open so Icould carry my driver's license
and my credit cards. And I usedto hide $100 bill inside my
case. So, I had cash, becauseyou always got to have mad
money. I give good mad money tomy daughter every time, like she
(07:46):
traveled doing, like a few 100under bucks. Keep that in your
Mad Money place, and then shebrings it back, which is great,
because rather than she needed,I now carry a , I now carry a
little clutch purse, if you wantto call it that, which has a
little makeup in it and a littlebit of a comb. What's most
important in that little clutchprice is this little white cube.
(08:06):
She's literally a little whitestone cube that my daughter gave
me. So, I carry that because itreminds me of my value in my
life and my focus.
Joey Romero (08:18):
Awesome. All right.
So, my my item is, I carry apick, a guitar pick in my
wallet, and not a lot of peopleget to see it, and when they do,
they're like, why do you carry aguitar pick? And my answer is
just almost like a joke, butit's just like, because you
never know we need a rock.
Mitch Craighead (08:36):
I love it.
Joey Romero (08:38):
That why I carry mine. Alright, so let's get into
the heavy hitting question. So,now we all know where you guys
are from, but I want to get intothe demographics of, who's the
investor that's showing up atyour meeting. So, Mitch, tell us
about the mix of people. Is itinexperience? Is it really
experienced? Like tell us aboutthose demographics.
Mitch Craighead (09:00):
Yeah, Joey, we have a really broad mix of
different investors and ofdifferent, you know, different
experience levels. A lot of theinvestors that will come to us
are newer, and they want togrow. They want to find their
first deal. They want to findtheir second deal. They've had
some success in one area. Theywant to, so if they've done a
(09:23):
wholesale deal or two, but theywant to, they want to flip, and
they want to learn how to dothat and and create and join a
bigger community. They, youknow, a lot of people are led to
us from that, either throughreferrals or from finding us
online. So, and then we have awide range of real estate
(09:44):
strategies, from Wholesale, fixand flip, buy and hold, short
term rental, midterm rentalproperty for business like solo
living, senior care facilitiesand things like that. So, it
really is that's the one thingI. Absolutely love about this
community is that there's somuch to learn, and so much that
(10:05):
we can bring people, whetherwe're the experts or not, we can
go out and we can source andeven through our direct
community, or further away fromus, outside of our region, where
we can bring really talentedpeople to come in and give
guidance on those things. So,really, we have a, we have a
(10:26):
very broad audience andmembership group.
Joey Romero (10:29):
Christina, what kind of a demographics do you
guys have?
Christina Suter (10:33):
So, I'm with Mitch, where I would say for
longest time, well, it'sshifted, originally, recently a
little bit. So let me just talkabout what it has been and then
how it shifted recently. So, wekind of have two pieces. We have
a lot of people who are new orwho want to get into real
estate, and that's going to beover 50% of our audience. Is
that, wow, if I cultivate it,right, I'll get a quarter to a
(10:56):
third of my audience that Iconsider to be people who are
either long time investors orprofessionals in the field.
People are wholesalers, peoplewho are flippers, they're real
estate agents, they're lawyers.
They do, you know, chattel,whatever it is. And so I want to
have that section ofprofessionals in the field to
serve my newer investors. Andthose professionals come because
I have newer investors that theycan serve. So, it's a way of
(11:19):
them developing businesstogether. I will call out people
in the room intentionally, like,hey, you know, 'who's really
who? Who's really good at debt?
Oh, you're really good atmanaging debt. Or you, you know,
you currently buy and sell nonperforming notes.' That's
somebody in the room, right? Sobe able to encourage them to
come for marketing reasons. Andthen now both my meetings, I run
(11:41):
both FIBI Pasadena and I run ITIGlendale, and we have a couple
other ITI meetings we've helpedfound.
Joey Romero (11:47):
What does it I mean?
Christina Suter (11:48):
Investor to investor. It's a sister club. I
took my FIBI PasadenaMultifamily, and I rebranded it
to ITI, investor to investor.
And then we opened two otherchapters with students. And so
we have about 10 to 15 peoplewho are volunteers in the room,
and they're involved in ourleadership program. And so that
actually helps, because part ofbeing speakers to our audience
(12:08):
is also bringing them to ourteam. These are people that
really want to be investors, andthey're willing to donate their
time to get deeper into theeducation about investing.
Joey Romero (12:19):
So, Rich. Now you just talked about, you run all
kinds of different meetings. Iseverybody showing up to the same
thing? Or, like, do certainmeetings, like, you get a whole
different segment of investorsbecause it is a different topic
or how does that work?
Richard Rice (12:31):
That's good question we have, you know, we
definitely have the die hardsthat come to pretty much every
meeting. You know, while, likeMitch and Christina's and other
REIAs out there, you know, wetend to attract newbies, but we
also have a really good mix of,you know, veterans and, you
know, people that have beendoing it for a long time and
then everywhere in between. So,like to answer your question
(12:53):
about, you know, with thedifferent meetings, each one
kind of has its own focus. So,on that newer person or more
experienced, we have, you know,this one, SoCal Exchangors is
our Wednesday two to four. Thatone was built around people
doing deals. So, we really didset out to attract people that
were at least, you know,actively doing deals. Come,
(13:17):
bring your deals. Come, bringyour money. You know, we'll put
the money to work kind of deal,you know, people kind of, like,
a haves and wants meeting mixedwith, you know, a deal making
whiteboard kind of meeting. Andit's doing really well. We get,
like, like, probably 60, 70,people a week coming to that
meeting, on Zoom and on live.
And we do about, like, 10, 15,deals a meeting. So, it just,
(13:37):
you know, connecting the dotsfor people. And then people that
are brand new, they get to comein and get kind of a crash
course on all this stuff, livein front of them, instead of
just like theory, you know. Andthen for the more advanced
people, you know, we do, we haveour own facility, we do classes.
So, once a month, I try and do aweekend class, either me or some
(13:57):
of our other, you know, peoplethat are experienced or I try
and bring in outside speakers.
You know, last thing we had JohnSchaub and Peter Fortunato over
the summer. And, you know, I'malways trying to find some other
people to do more classes. Andthen I fill in like, kind of
what my own too. I'm doing,like, a REIA thing coming up.
(14:19):
So, that's generally more theadvanced people that are coming
to us.
Joey Romero (14:24):
That you know.
That's leads me to my nextquestion, which was going to be,
you know, what is youreducational focus? So, thank you
for answering that question.
Mitch, what are you guys doingas far as education? Is it just
mainly the speakers? Or do youguys actually hold specific
education, you know, seminars orclasses?
Mitch Craighead (14:42):
Yeah, we are holding specific seminars,
educational classes. Thedevelopment of that is a little
bit in its infancy. One of thefirst things that I did when I
took over NorCal REIA was createa private community where people
can exchange information, have acommunity calendar and increase
(15:05):
the number of events that we'reable to hold for people. A lot
of them are kind of like thosewhiteboard sessions where we're
able to hold a zoom and somepeople can bring on whatever
challenges they're having, andwe try to facilitate the rest of
the group to to help solve thoseproblems and keep someone still
(15:25):
moving forward or, of course,we'll jump in and and try to
provide best next steps. So,some examples of that.
Yesterday, from noon to one, wehad a REI acquisitions, Think
Tank, is what we call it, sosomeone trying to essentially go
direct to seller best practices,and in direct to seller
negotiations, if you're hung upat a certain part of negotiating
(15:49):
a deal, or essentially gettingsomething under contract, or if
something is under contract andfalling apart, and how we can
get it back on track for them.
We also have a women of NorCarREIA. So, we have a ladies group
that meets once a month as well.
And we also have a Direct toAgent Acquisitions Think Tank,
similar to the Direct to SellerThink Tank, where you can come
(16:11):
on and learn best practices onhow to find deals through
growing a network of real estateagents who can, who can help
bring you deals and andnegotiations therein, because
they're all, they're both very,very different. So, a couple of
examples of what we're doingthere, on top of our monthly
speakers.
Joey Romero (16:31):
Nice, Christina, I know you've been a personal
coach, and you've personallymentored a lot of individuals,
but what? What is the club doingto focus on education?
Christina Suter (16:41):
And not a problem. So, FIBI, the FIBI
brand For investors, byinvestors, is really focused
more on sort of a non profitphilosophy. So, we actually
don't sell a lot of courses oranything through that FIBI
brand. So, as part of thecreation of itI was we both have
our ITI meeting. We have ITIGlendale, ITI Cindy of industry,
new ITI on Monte. Those othertwo are run by students of mine,
(17:05):
and they're students in thepersonal growth workshop mindset
stuff the Leadership Program,Advanced Leadership Program, and
shape your future. And we alsoteach real estate classes
through ITI. So, cash flowinvesting, out of state
investing, residentialinvesting. And this year, we do
multifamily investing. Last yearwe had a guest speaker Carmine
Sabatella, and he talked abouthow to flip high end homes in
(17:27):
Southern California. So, we hadthat educational program as
well.
Joey Romero (17:32):
That's really great to hear, because I think a lot
of times people make, you know,create monsters in their own
head, like, well, I'd like to goto that, but they're all going
to be, you know, they all knoweach other. It's all going to be
a click, and they're not goingto be very inclusive. There's,
what am I going to, you know,I'm just starting out. So, this
is really great to hear that youguys all have, you know, space
(17:52):
for any type of investor thatyou're whether you're just
starting out, or, you know, themost seasoned investor, what is?
Rich, I'll start with you. Whatis the biggest concern that
you're hearing from, you know,investors, boots on the ground?
Richard Rice (18:06):
I think the number one concern is always that four
letter word FEAR, you know, ofjust like you just said, you
know, fear that they're going toget there and people are going
to laugh at them or or that, youknow, they're not going to find
a deal, they're going to spendall this time, a lot of people
have gone to, you know,unfortunately, have gone to some
kind of Guru seminar, and spenta ton of money. So, they're
(18:29):
that, you know, they got alittle bit of fear of that
somebody else is going to takeadvantage of them, you know,
that's what we see that as thebiggest roadblock for people,
or, you know, just the fear ofnot knowing enough, and they,
you know, of not getting outthere making offers, or getting
out there and driving fordollars or door knocking. They
(18:51):
want to have, like, all theirducks in a row and understand
the whole process from A to Zbefore they'll even have a
conversation with somebody. Andthat's the number one thing on
our on it, some of our bootcamps and some of the classes,
like, just get people having theconversations, and don't worry
about the rest. We'll help youonce you get there, you know?
So...
Christina Suter (19:11):
Yeah, just get people learning. I mean it
really. I mean part of thelearning, Rich, you said so
well, part of the learning isbeing able to specifically take
a class, but part of thelearning is being able to just
get people into action. Like,how do we get people into
action? And if you're afraid todo it by yourself, you have
people right here in the clubwho either are experts who are
already doing it, or you haveother people who are interested
in doing what you're doing as anewbie. And that's part of what
(19:33):
clubs can create inside thecommunity, is the sense of
empowering them to get moredone, be able to invest, be able
to take a smaller pool of money,make it bigger, take their
particular skill set and matchit with somebody else's. You
know, real estate is not anindependent sport. It's very
much a team sport, and youalmost require.
Richard Rice (19:53):
Exactly.
Joey Romero (19:54):
Mitch, what's the biggest concern of investors in
the Northern California region?
...or doing such agreat job of showing you "look
Mitch Craighead (19:58):
Yeah. I know. I would absolutely agree, like the
convincing yourself of thecertainty that this industry
works, it's huge. I'd also saypeople are a little scared of
at how awesome I am." You'llnever be able to do what they
the, just the real estatelandscape as it is today.
They're scared of inventoryissues. If you're a flipper,
(20:21):
they're concerned that theirlast flip they suck. They
executed it to a T and theydidn't make any money on it.
They're, you know, they'reconcerned about the future.
do, right?
And there'sthat as well. There's that as
There's still that uncertaintyfactor. You've got a lot of
things in the politicallandscape that are kind of
(20:43):
fueling those thoughts too.
Social media does an incrediblejob of scaring people to death,
into non action and...it reallydoes...
(21:05):
well. Yeah, there's always that,you know, someone that's super
successful, or shows they looklike they're super successful,
right? And they don't, andthey're only showing what went
great with every deal that theyhave done, and not all of the
challenges. But yeah, I wouldsay just general uncertainty is
kind of an underlying theme.
Like, you know, I'm scared thatfear is partially driven through
(21:28):
uncertainty in the real estatespace right now.
Joey Romero (21:36):
So, who has been the most dynamic speaker that
you've had in the last 12months, Christina?
Christina Suter (21:44):
Well, I of course, was going to say Bruce,
but I haven't had him in thelast 12 months. So, one of the
speakers I enjoy again, is NeilBawa, because Neil is the mad
scientist of real estate, and sohe always does economics, and he
does a lot of it, and it's verydensely packed in his
presentation. He's coming inApril. I had him last year in
(22:04):
April, well, happened to be, andI like having him because I'm
just, you know, we I didn't getthe Bruce Norris memo in 2006,
'07, and '08, I didn't get thememo. So, therefore, I am now
all over economics. And I, youknow, I lost more than two
thirds of my net worth and thatdownturn?
Joey Romero (22:22):
No, no. Well, we talk about the successes...
Christina Suter (22:29):
...reality.
Let's talk about reality in realestate. The reality of real
estate is that deals go wrong.
Reality of real estate is beingable to, think on your feet well
enough to be able to solveproblems. That's actually how
you get the most success in mostdays, being willing to be a
problem solver and being, youknow, and working in community,
right? Those are the things thatyou need so the most...
Joey Romero (22:49):
And not quitting, right?
Christina Suter (22:50):
And that's Oh my God, and not quitting, right?
We've all been up against it. Ifyou've been investing for a
while, you know that notquitting and that having that
grit is one of the things thatcarries you forward. So, the
most interesting presenter, Iwould say, is Neil Bawa. I've
had lots of other good and solidpresenters, like I had Spartan
investments down here. ScottLewis, I enjoyed having him as
(23:11):
well, because he's very groundedand very meticulous in his
presentation. So, you're alwayslooking for something that's
both good at talking and good attheir content.
Joey Romero (23:21):
There you go. Rich, who's been the most dynamic
speaker? And I know you alreadyname dropped a couple of of
Legends. So, who's been yourmost dynamic speaker last 12
Richard Rice (23:31):
In the last 12 months, I mean, I have to say
months?
John Schaub. You know, on havinghim come out and doing our his
Buying a House One House At ATime, that he doesn't do all
that often. So, it was really,I've seen him talk in Vegas and
Masters. I've seen him talk withPete that he does every year, in
four months, seeing John onstage, you know, for two, four
(23:52):
days, was a real treat. I wishhe would have let me record it
but...
Joey Romero (23:56):
Oh, he didn't, huh?
Christina Suter (23:58):
Oh, guys, don't want to record
Richard Rice (23:59):
No. And then, aside from that, you know, we
had a really good wealth on wecall it Wealth On Wheels in
December, we had Thera Lyn AndyTeasley and Adrian Smude out as
as a trio, is our first, likethree day trio class. And you
know, you had Andy there, who'sbeen doing it a long, long time,
and then Adrian, who's beendoing it probably about half the
(24:19):
time, and Thera, who's beendoing about half the time with
that. So, it's, it was reallygood to see all three of those
perspectives and teach peoplehow to, you know, go after
mobile homes, you know, andreally ramp that up quickly. And
you know, on that fear part,it's, it's one of those things,
of those you know, you tellsomebody you can pick up a flip
(24:39):
for $10,000 or less, you know,and turn around and make 50, and
it's happening right in yourbackyard. That really gets
people's minds going. Becausethe biggest thing that we run
into for new people is like, howam I going to go buy a house for
$500,000?
Joey Romero (24:52):
The barriers entry is a little steep in California.
Richard Rice (24:55):
So, they hear that about the mobile homes, and it's
like, 'Oh, wow'. Okay, you know.
So, I mean.
Joey Romero (25:00):
Mitch, who's been your most dynamic speaker?
Mitch Craighead (25:03):
Gosh, it's, yeah, you really got my wheels
turning, and I'm glad I'm goinglast, because I had some time to
really think about it. You know,a couple of different speakers
come to mind and and they justin the reason it's a couple of
them is because they present indifferent ways. But Michael
Zuber joined us in November oflast year, and he just gave
(25:27):
absolute, so much content,actionable items, that absolute,
incredible speaker. I don't knowif you're familiar with Michael,
but One Rental At a Time, he isfrom the Bay Area, but invested
in Fresno, and has since movedto Vegas, investing out there
and still in Fresno, awesomespeaker. And then actually, last
(25:50):
month, we had Brent Daniels,who's a the wholesale coach, and
who just brings incredibleenergy, absolutely incredible
energy. And he was able to get,he was able to get really
vulnerable with us, and talkabout the hard times in real
estate, not just the greattimes. Really pump, my members
(26:12):
up for what the potential is,but talk about the doubt, the
hard times and where he camefrom. So, that was really great
and I'm most excited probablyfor actually, this evening,
we're hosting our monthlymeeting is on zoom with Jerry
Norton, and we're really excitedto have him join us this
evening, so.
Joey Romero (26:32):
Yeah, that's one of the thing, my favorite parts of
doing, I Survived Real Estate,or any of those, even the
podcasts, you know, when theyget so real that our guests, our
speakers, are just moved totears and it just takes them
back. I mean, you guys were allthere when Bill Allen's talking
(26:54):
about his wife wanted to divorcehim.
Christina Suter (26:57):
Yeah.
Joey Romero (26:57):
It was like, Whoa.
That was like, So Real. Anyways,alright, so let's have a little
fun with this. If you could haveanybody throughout history, dead
or alive as a speaker for yourmeeting, next meeting, who would
that be? Rich, we'll, we'llstart with you.
Richard Rice (27:17):
You know, the all of history?
Joey Romero (27:20):
All of history.
Richard Rice (27:21):
I'm a big fan of Marcus Aurelius and meditations.
I think a lot of, a lot of this,aside from real estate, is a lot
about mindset. And I would loveto just have him, you know,
present on, just being onstoicism and, yeah, just keep it
real, you know.
Joey Romero (27:40):
And I think you'd like, you think you'd really
like Jordan Peterson, if you'renot familiar with him already.
Richard Rice (27:44):
Yeah, yep, yep, that's him too, you know, as a
more modern approach, yeah,probably the top of the list.
But yeah, that the mindset pieceis a big deal, and even more so
than the real estate, in a lotof ways.
Joey Romero (27:57):
That's really cool, all right. Mitch, who would you
have throughout history, itwould be your...
Mitch Craighead (28:02):
Well, this person's alive. I've had the
pleasure of seeing them speakmultiple times. But if I could
give the gift to my club of thisperson spreading their their
knowledge and their theirmotivational language, it'd
probably be Ed Mylett. Ed,Mylett is, is just an
incredible, incredible humanbeing.
Joey Romero (28:26):
Make it happen, Ed, come on!
Mitch Craighead (28:28):
Let's go. Ed, I know you're watching, I know
you're watching, but he's, hehas done a lot of mindset shifts
for me. His book, Power Of OneMore. That's one of those books
that has changed my life in somany great ways. And, yeah, it
was, it definitely be Ed Mylettat least, at least living, yeah,
(28:51):
absolutely, right.
Joey Romero (28:52):
Alright, Christina, come on, bring it.
Christina Suter (28:54):
Well, I was going to say Brendon Burchard,
who works with Ed Mylett, right?
He does GrowthDay. I love himbecause Ed is, Ed is an
amazingly powerful, inspiringspeaker, specifically, he knows
what he's doing when he'screating with his audience. I
love watching him and his styleof speaking. Brendon is just
somebody who's sort of justjoyful, and he's joyful because
(29:15):
of the work he's done. So,that's one of my speakers would
be. Would be him BrendonBurchard, and the other for me
would be either Ken McElroy orRad Cliff, because neither one
of them aren't necessarilyinterested in creating drama.
Ken McElroy particularly, waslike, 'No, this is the way it's
going to work. This is theeconomy. This is what it's
doing. This is what I'm doing.'He's very grounded. He's very
(29:36):
simple about what he's bringingforward. And yet, he manages, I
don't know how big his fund is.
Whether it's 500 million or abillion dollars, is the size of
his current fund, and I reallyappreciate that. It's he's not
into looking good or making itbigger than it needs to be. This
is just how it functions. And Ilike that simplicity. I admire
(29:57):
it.
Joey Romero (29:57):
All right, I'll jump in on this one. For me if,
if I could have like, one guestright now, I think it would be
Kevin D Brown. I don't know ifyou guys have ever read the book
Unleashing Your Hero. I got tosee him when I went to Florida
as part of the CollectiveGenius' quarterly meeting, and
he was the keynote speaker rightafter Bruce and I had read his
(30:22):
book leading up to it. And youknow, a lot of you guys know I
walk every day now, and I listento books, and his book was the
only book that like, 'Thankgoodness I was wearing
sunglasses.' I was literallycrying when I was, he has this
thing where he talks about, whenyou doubt yourself, you
(30:45):
shouldn't see yourself in themirror. You should see all the
people that have poured anythinginto making you become the
person that you are, andremembering what they did for
you, and just being grateful andgetting yourself out of that
doubt and the overall goal is tobecome one of those people that,
when they look for that personthat pours into, are you, whose
(31:07):
mirror are you going to show upin? And to me, it just, it just
reminded me of Aaron.
Christina Suter (31:12):
Yeah.
Joey Romero (31:13):
When that happens, like, you know, I'm like a baby,
I guess. But it just, that thatwas really impactful. So, Kevin
D Brown, Kevin, I know we'reconnected on LinkedIn. Let's get
you on the podcast. Well, that'sgoing to do it for this week's
episode of The Norris Group'sReal Estate podcast. Be sure to
tune in next week and also makesure to leave us some comments
about what we should name thisReal Estate REIA Roundup Meetup
(31:38):
Podcast.
Narrator (31:40):
For more information on hard money loans, trust deed
investing, and upcoming eventswith The Norris group. Check out
thenorrisgroup.com. For moreinformation on passive investing
through the DBL Capital RealEstate
Joey Romero (31:59):
The Norris Group originates and services loans in
California and Florida underCalifornia DRE license 01219911.
Florida mortgage lender license1577 and NMLS license 1623669.
For more information on hardmoney lending go to
thenorrisgroup.com and click thehard money tab.
Welcome to The Norris Group real estate podcast, a
show committed to bringing youinsights from thought leaders
shaping the real estateindustry. In each episode, we'll
dive into conversations withindustry experts and local
insiders, all aimed at helpingyou thrive in an ever-changing
real estate market. continuingthe legacy that Bruce Norris
(00:24):
created, sharing valuableknowledge, and empowering you on
your real estate journey.
Whether you're a seasoned pro ora newcomer, this is your go-to
source for insider tips, markettrends and success strategies.
Here's your host, Craig Evans.
Joey Romero (00:45):
All right, welcome everybody to The Norris Group
Real Estate Podcast. This week,well, I'm Joey Romero, and this
week we are doing something alittle new. We're going to be
doing once a month, a InvestorClub, REIA, Association, kind of
round table. I don't even knowwhat I'm going to call it yet,
(01:05):
so maybe you guys can help usout as an audience what we
should call this show. So, we'lltake comments for a couple
weeks, but the goal is tohighlight the clubs that are in
your area, pick their brainsabout what is going on in the
industry, what strategies areworking, what, you know, what
(01:25):
pivots they're making, and kindof what they're hearing on boots
on the ground from realinvestors, and maybe we could
all learn from. So, I'm going tointroduce them one at a time,
and then, and then we'll justjump right in. So, ladies, first
today we have with us. ChristinaSuter, long time Pasadena FIBI
leader and club owner, uh,Christina, good to have you
Christina Suter (01:49):
Joey, thanks so much for inviting me. I really,
today.
really appreciate it. Love TheNorris Group. Love the work that
you guys do. I've invited youguys many, many times to my
meeting because I think it'sjust so powerful. And one of the
primary things as a club run Ireally want to do is be able to
support my community, developcommunity. One of the things I
say every time I start my clubis it's not the money that
you're making that actuallymakes you successful in real
(02:11):
estate. It's the community thatyou have that brings you deals
and the win-win that you cancreate, because this isn't a
marathon. This is not a sprint.
So, my name Christina Suter,I've been investing in real
estate for 35 years. I startedwhen I was 17. Okay, it looks
like I started when I was twomonths old, but actually I
started when I was 17, and thatmakes me in my 50s, and I've
owned things primarilyresidential, single family,
multi family. I've invested ineight different states. I have
(02:33):
flipped in two different states.
Joey Romero (02:35):
Not to cut you off, but we're going to get into that
a little bit.
Christina Suter (02:38):
Okay.
...Pasadena, we've been...
around 2011 and we have aboutalmost 6000 members now in the
greater LA area. We meet inPasadena over Third Thursday.
Joey Romero (02:51):
Alright. So, our next guest is Mitch Craighead,
and he is the new leader ofNorCal REIA. He took over from
long time club owner, DavidGranzella, and that happened
last year. We did have a littlepodcast about the transition,
but Mitch, welcome.
Mitch Craighead (03:08):
Awesome. It's amazing to be here. Thank you.
Joey, yeah, I absolutely lovethe partnership that's been
created between North Group andNorCal REIA over the years, and
stepping into that and takingtorch from the great man, David
Granzela, absolutely an honor.
And yeah, we're NorCal REIAestablished in 2004 and I took
(03:29):
over the club after celebrating20 years of growth and giving
back to real estate investorsthrough David Granzella. So,
again, it's an honor to havetaken that torch and then to be
able to give back to thecommunity here.
Joey Romero (03:45):
And last, our great, initial show is Rich Rice
with the FIRE Center, Rich.
Richard Rice (03:54):
Yeah, it's great to be here. Joey, thanks for
having us on. You know, the FIRECenter really just became about
from, kind of like an evolutionof the REIA concept. We decided
that we were tired of going tohotels and restaurants and
lugging all the equipment andeverything, so we just decided
to get our own place. And thenit kind of evolved from there of
(04:15):
we wanted to focus on, you know,different, different meetings,
and kind of grow thoseindividually. So we're actually,
like, five clubs and one now,all hosted under the FIRE Center
brand here in Riverside. We haveour own 4,000 square foot
facility that we do 15 meetingsa month out of now. And it's
really focused on, like, youknow, Christina said, and Mitch
(04:37):
said, on building thatcommunity, building, we call it
tribe building, that tribe offinancial allies to hopefully,
you know, grow well together,and, you know, accomplish goals,
and outside of just real estateand friends and all that, so
excited to be here. It's beenfun doing, you know, collabs
with The Norris Group over theyears. And we're excited for
what's coming.
Joey Romero (04:57):
Awesome. So, I'm going to, I'm going to start a
little different. And this wholeidea came because one of my
favorite parts of being part ofThe Norris Group was going with
Bruce to when he when he spokeat your clubs, and and going
there and seeing everybody andhanging out and having dinner,
and, you know, just meeting allthe investors boots on the
(05:17):
ground. And I really miss that.
So, maybe we'll get back to thata little bit, you know, when
Craig figures out, what he'sgoing to be teaching on here,
coming up in the near future.
But I'm going to, I'm going tostart out with an icebreaker.
So, I'm going to go the otherway this time. So, Rich, you'll
be the first to answer. So, whatis an item in your wallet that
(05:40):
is, either that means a lot toyou or is just simply
interesting, and I'll go last.
So, why don't you go first?
Richard Rice (05:47):
I guess probably the item in my wallet that's
interesting is, I don't actuallycarry wallet. I have it all
built in. I have like, fourcredit cards and my cell phone
holder here. And I always getpeople like, asking, dude, don't
you? Aren't you, like, paranoidthat, you're going to lose it?
And I'm like, no, because it'sreally my wallet and by phone.
And so I feel like I'm extra,extra careful about it. So I got
(06:09):
my ID and, like, three cards.
Makes it really easy. I always Idon't have to have, you know,
like, a wallet separate for me,but as I have more companies and
more credit cards that I have tocarry, it's becoming
increasingly difficult to fitthem on this little slot. So,
ask me that question a littlebit later in a year from now,
and I might have a wallet.
Joey Romero (06:28):
Alright. Mitch, same question.
Mitch Craighead (06:29):
You know, I'm a Rich guy, Rich, you and I are
one in the same, I got the cardsin the phone, high risk. But I
don't have two things that Iwould be devastated that if I
lost one or the other. I justhave one thing to take really,
(06:49):
really good care of. But I willtell you, people are like, well,
don't you want to carry cash,you know, but you have a secret
compartment in here, and I popit off a little bit, and you got
to keep a couple 100 bucks rightin the back of the phone case.
So Rich, I don't know if you'redoing that. It works great for
me when I need it.
Richard Rice (07:04):
I might have done it a long time ago and forgot.
Let's see. Nope, it's not there.
Mitch Craighead (07:12):
Time to replenish it. That's the
emergency fund.
Richard Rice (07:14):
Well, there you go.
Joey Romero (07:16):
Alright. Now not to be, you know, I don't know what
the word is nowadays, butalright, what is in your wallet
or your purse?
Christina Suter (07:25):
Yes, I understand the word you're not
saying. So, I used to carryexactly what the other two
gentlemen had. I used to carry aphone that had a wallet in the
back of it that popped open so Icould carry my driver's license
and my credit cards. And I usedto hide $100 bill inside my
case. So, I had cash, becauseyou always got to have mad
money. I give good mad money tomy daughter every time, like she
(07:46):
traveled doing, like a few 100under bucks. Keep that in your
Mad Money place, and then shebrings it back, which is great,
because rather than she needed,I now carry a , I now carry a
little clutch purse, if you wantto call it that, which has a
little makeup in it and a littlebit of a comb. What's most
important in that little clutchprice is this little white cube.
(08:06):
She's literally a little whitestone cube that my daughter gave
me. So, I carry that because itreminds me of my value in my
life and my focus.
Joey Romero (08:18):
Awesome. All right.
So, my my item is, I carry apick, a guitar pick in my
wallet, and not a lot of peopleget to see it, and when they do,
they're like, why do you carry aguitar pick? And my answer is
just almost like a joke, butit's just like, because you
never know we need a rock.
Mitch Craighead (08:36):
I love it.
Joey Romero (08:38):
That why I carry mine. Alright, so let's get into
the heavy hitting question. So,now we all know where you guys
are from, but I want to get intothe demographics of, who's the
investor that's showing up atyour meeting. So, Mitch, tell us
about the mix of people. Is itinexperience? Is it really
experienced? Like tell us aboutthose demographics.
Mitch Craighead (09:00):
Yeah, Joey, we have a really broad mix of
different investors and ofdifferent, you know, different
experience levels. A lot of theinvestors that will come to us
are newer, and they want togrow. They want to find their
first deal. They want to findtheir second deal. They've had
some success in one area. Theywant to, so if they've done a
(09:23):
wholesale deal or two, but theywant to, they want to flip, and
they want to learn how to dothat and and create and join a
bigger community. They, youknow, a lot of people are led to
us from that, either throughreferrals or from finding us
online. So, and then we have awide range of real estate
(09:44):
strategies, from Wholesale, fixand flip, buy and hold, short
term rental, midterm rentalproperty for business like solo
living, senior care facilitiesand things like that. So, it
really is that's the one thingI. Absolutely love about this
community is that there's somuch to learn, and so much that
(10:05):
we can bring people, whetherwe're the experts or not, we can
go out and we can source andeven through our direct
community, or further away fromus, outside of our region, where
we can bring really talentedpeople to come in and give
guidance on those things. So,really, we have a, we have a
(10:26):
very broad audience andmembership group.
Joey Romero (10:29):
Christina, what kind of a demographics do you
guys have?
Christina Suter (10:33):
So, I'm with Mitch, where I would say for
longest time, well, it'sshifted, originally, recently a
little bit. So let me just talkabout what it has been and then
how it shifted recently. So, wekind of have two pieces. We have
a lot of people who are new orwho want to get into real
estate, and that's going to beover 50% of our audience. Is
that, wow, if I cultivate it,right, I'll get a quarter to a
(10:56):
third of my audience that Iconsider to be people who are
either long time investors orprofessionals in the field.
People are wholesalers, peoplewho are flippers, they're real
estate agents, they're lawyers.
They do, you know, chattel,whatever it is. And so I want to
have that section ofprofessionals in the field to
serve my newer investors. Andthose professionals come because
I have newer investors that theycan serve. So, it's a way of
(11:19):
them developing businesstogether. I will call out people
in the room intentionally, like,hey, you know, 'who's really
who? Who's really good at debt?
Oh, you're really good atmanaging debt. Or you, you know,
you currently buy and sell nonperforming notes.' That's
somebody in the room, right? Sobe able to encourage them to
come for marketing reasons. Andthen now both my meetings, I run
(11:41):
both FIBI Pasadena and I run ITIGlendale, and we have a couple
other ITI meetings we've helpedfound.
Joey Romero (11:47):
What does it I mean?
Christina Suter (11:48):
Investor to investor. It's a sister club. I
took my FIBI PasadenaMultifamily, and I rebranded it
to ITI, investor to investor.
And then we opened two otherchapters with students. And so
we have about 10 to 15 peoplewho are volunteers in the room,
and they're involved in ourleadership program. And so that
actually helps, because part ofbeing speakers to our audience
(12:08):
is also bringing them to ourteam. These are people that
really want to be investors, andthey're willing to donate their
time to get deeper into theeducation about investing.
Joey Romero (12:19):
So, Rich. Now you just talked about, you run all
kinds of different meetings. Iseverybody showing up to the same
thing? Or, like, do certainmeetings, like, you get a whole
different segment of investorsbecause it is a different topic
or how does that work?
Richard Rice (12:31):
That's good question we have, you know, we
definitely have the die hardsthat come to pretty much every
meeting. You know, while, likeMitch and Christina's and other
REIAs out there, you know, wetend to attract newbies, but we
also have a really good mix of,you know, veterans and, you
know, people that have beendoing it for a long time and
then everywhere in between. So,like to answer your question
(12:53):
about, you know, with thedifferent meetings, each one
kind of has its own focus. So,on that newer person or more
experienced, we have, you know,this one, SoCal Exchangors is
our Wednesday two to four. Thatone was built around people
doing deals. So, we really didset out to attract people that
were at least, you know,actively doing deals. Come,
(13:17):
bring your deals. Come, bringyour money. You know, we'll put
the money to work kind of deal,you know, people kind of, like,
a haves and wants meeting mixedwith, you know, a deal making
whiteboard kind of meeting. Andit's doing really well. We get,
like, like, probably 60, 70,people a week coming to that
meeting, on Zoom and on live.
And we do about, like, 10, 15,deals a meeting. So, it just,
(13:37):
you know, connecting the dotsfor people. And then people that
are brand new, they get to comein and get kind of a crash
course on all this stuff, livein front of them, instead of
just like theory, you know. Andthen for the more advanced
people, you know, we do, we haveour own facility, we do classes.
So, once a month, I try and do aweekend class, either me or some
(13:57):
of our other, you know, peoplethat are experienced or I try
and bring in outside speakers.
You know, last thing we had JohnSchaub and Peter Fortunato over
the summer. And, you know, I'malways trying to find some other
people to do more classes. Andthen I fill in like, kind of
what my own too. I'm doing,like, a REIA thing coming up.
(14:19):
So, that's generally more theadvanced people that are coming
to us.
Joey Romero (14:24):
That you know.
That's leads me to my nextquestion, which was going to be,
you know, what is youreducational focus? So, thank you
for answering that question.
Mitch, what are you guys doingas far as education? Is it just
mainly the speakers? Or do youguys actually hold specific
education, you know, seminars orclasses?
Mitch Craighead (14:42):
Yeah, we are holding specific seminars,
educational classes. Thedevelopment of that is a little
bit in its infancy. One of thefirst things that I did when I
took over NorCal REIA was createa private community where people
can exchange information, have acommunity calendar and increase
(15:05):
the number of events that we'reable to hold for people. A lot
of them are kind of like thosewhiteboard sessions where we're
able to hold a zoom and somepeople can bring on whatever
challenges they're having, andwe try to facilitate the rest of
the group to to help solve thoseproblems and keep someone still
(15:25):
moving forward or, of course,we'll jump in and and try to
provide best next steps. So,some examples of that.
Yesterday, from noon to one, wehad a REI acquisitions, Think
Tank, is what we call it, sosomeone trying to essentially go
direct to seller best practices,and in direct to seller
negotiations, if you're hung upat a certain part of negotiating
(15:49):
a deal, or essentially gettingsomething under contract, or if
something is under contract andfalling apart, and how we can
get it back on track for them.
We also have a women of NorCarREIA. So, we have a ladies group
that meets once a month as well.
And we also have a Direct toAgent Acquisitions Think Tank,
similar to the Direct to SellerThink Tank, where you can come
(16:11):
on and learn best practices onhow to find deals through
growing a network of real estateagents who can, who can help
bring you deals and andnegotiations therein, because
they're all, they're both very,very different. So, a couple of
examples of what we're doingthere, on top of our monthly
speakers.
Joey Romero (16:31):
Nice, Christina, I know you've been a personal
coach, and you've personallymentored a lot of individuals,
but what? What is the club doingto focus on education?
Christina Suter (16:41):
And not a problem. So, FIBI, the FIBI
brand For investors, byinvestors, is really focused
more on sort of a non profitphilosophy. So, we actually
don't sell a lot of courses oranything through that FIBI
brand. So, as part of thecreation of itI was we both have
our ITI meeting. We have ITIGlendale, ITI Cindy of industry,
new ITI on Monte. Those othertwo are run by students of mine,
(17:05):
and they're students in thepersonal growth workshop mindset
stuff the Leadership Program,Advanced Leadership Program, and
shape your future. And we alsoteach real estate classes
through ITI. So, cash flowinvesting, out of state
investing, residentialinvesting. And this year, we do
multifamily investing. Last yearwe had a guest speaker Carmine
Sabatella, and he talked abouthow to flip high end homes in
(17:27):
Southern California. So, we hadthat educational program as
well.
Joey Romero (17:32):
That's really great to hear, because I think a lot
of times people make, you know,create monsters in their own
head, like, well, I'd like to goto that, but they're all going
to be, you know, they all knoweach other. It's all going to be
a click, and they're not goingto be very inclusive. There's,
what am I going to, you know,I'm just starting out. So, this
is really great to hear that youguys all have, you know, space
(17:52):
for any type of investor thatyou're whether you're just
starting out, or, you know, themost seasoned investor, what is?
Rich, I'll start with you. Whatis the biggest concern that
you're hearing from, you know,investors, boots on the ground?
Richard Rice (18:06):
I think the number one concern is always that four
letter word FEAR, you know, ofjust like you just said, you
know, fear that they're going toget there and people are going
to laugh at them or or that, youknow, they're not going to find
a deal, they're going to spendall this time, a lot of people
have gone to, you know,unfortunately, have gone to some
kind of Guru seminar, and spenta ton of money. So, they're
(18:29):
that, you know, they got alittle bit of fear of that
somebody else is going to takeadvantage of them, you know,
that's what we see that as thebiggest roadblock for people,
or, you know, just the fear ofnot knowing enough, and they,
you know, of not getting outthere making offers, or getting
out there and driving fordollars or door knocking. They
(18:51):
want to have, like, all theirducks in a row and understand
the whole process from A to Zbefore they'll even have a
conversation with somebody. Andthat's the number one thing on
our on it, some of our bootcamps and some of the classes,
like, just get people having theconversations, and don't worry
about the rest. We'll help youonce you get there, you know?
So...
Christina Suter (19:11):
Yeah, just get people learning. I mean it
really. I mean part of thelearning, Rich, you said so
well, part of the learning isbeing able to specifically take
a class, but part of thelearning is being able to just
get people into action. Like,how do we get people into
action? And if you're afraid todo it by yourself, you have
people right here in the clubwho either are experts who are
already doing it, or you haveother people who are interested
in doing what you're doing as anewbie. And that's part of what
(19:33):
clubs can create inside thecommunity, is the sense of
empowering them to get moredone, be able to invest, be able
to take a smaller pool of money,make it bigger, take their
particular skill set and matchit with somebody else's. You
know, real estate is not anindependent sport. It's very
much a team sport, and youalmost require.
Richard Rice (19:53):
Exactly.
Joey Romero (19:54):
Mitch, what's the biggest concern of investors in
the Northern California region?
...or doing such agreat job of showing you "look
Mitch Craighead (19:58):
Yeah. I know. I would absolutely agree, like the
convincing yourself of thecertainty that this industry
works, it's huge. I'd also saypeople are a little scared of
at how awesome I am." You'llnever be able to do what they
the, just the real estatelandscape as it is today.
They're scared of inventoryissues. If you're a flipper,
(20:21):
they're concerned that theirlast flip they suck. They
executed it to a T and theydidn't make any money on it.
They're, you know, they'reconcerned about the future.
do, right?
And there'sthat as well. There's that as
There's still that uncertaintyfactor. You've got a lot of
things in the politicallandscape that are kind of
(20:43):
fueling those thoughts too.
Social media does an incrediblejob of scaring people to death,
into non action and...it reallydoes...
(21:05):
well. Yeah, there's always that,you know, someone that's super
successful, or shows they looklike they're super successful,
right? And they don't, andthey're only showing what went
great with every deal that theyhave done, and not all of the
challenges. But yeah, I wouldsay just general uncertainty is
kind of an underlying theme.
Like, you know, I'm scared thatfear is partially driven through
(21:28):
uncertainty in the real estatespace right now.
Joey Romero (21:36):
So, who has been the most dynamic speaker that
you've had in the last 12months, Christina?
Christina Suter (21:44):
Well, I of course, was going to say Bruce,
but I haven't had him in thelast 12 months. So, one of the
speakers I enjoy again, is NeilBawa, because Neil is the mad
scientist of real estate, and sohe always does economics, and he
does a lot of it, and it's verydensely packed in his
presentation. He's coming inApril. I had him last year in
(22:04):
April, well, happened to be, andI like having him because I'm
just, you know, we I didn't getthe Bruce Norris memo in 2006,
'07, and '08, I didn't get thememo. So, therefore, I am now
all over economics. And I, youknow, I lost more than two
thirds of my net worth and thatdownturn?
Joey Romero (22:22):
No, no. Well, we talk about the successes...
Christina Suter (22:29):
...reality.
Let's talk about reality in realestate. The reality of real
estate is that deals go wrong.
Reality of real estate is beingable to, think on your feet well
enough to be able to solveproblems. That's actually how
you get the most success in mostdays, being willing to be a
problem solver and being, youknow, and working in community,
right? Those are the things thatyou need so the most...
Joey Romero (22:49):
And not quitting, right?
Christina Suter (22:50):
And that's Oh my God, and not quitting, right?
We've all been up against it. Ifyou've been investing for a
while, you know that notquitting and that having that
grit is one of the things thatcarries you forward. So, the
most interesting presenter, Iwould say, is Neil Bawa. I've
had lots of other good and solidpresenters, like I had Spartan
investments down here. ScottLewis, I enjoyed having him as
(23:11):
well, because he's very groundedand very meticulous in his
presentation. So, you're alwayslooking for something that's
both good at talking and good attheir content.
Joey Romero (23:21):
There you go. Rich, who's been the most dynamic
speaker? And I know you alreadyname dropped a couple of of
Legends. So, who's been yourmost dynamic speaker last 12
Richard Rice (23:31):
In the last 12 months, I mean, I have to say
months?
John Schaub. You know, on havinghim come out and doing our his
Buying a House One House At ATime, that he doesn't do all
that often. So, it was really,I've seen him talk in Vegas and
Masters. I've seen him talk withPete that he does every year, in
four months, seeing John onstage, you know, for two, four
(23:52):
days, was a real treat. I wishhe would have let me record it
but...
Joey Romero (23:56):
Oh, he didn't, huh?
Christina Suter (23:58):
Oh, guys, don't want to record
Richard Rice (23:59):
No. And then, aside from that, you know, we
had a really good wealth on wecall it Wealth On Wheels in
December, we had Thera Lyn AndyTeasley and Adrian Smude out as
as a trio, is our first, likethree day trio class. And you
know, you had Andy there, who'sbeen doing it a long, long time,
and then Adrian, who's beendoing it probably about half the
(24:19):
time, and Thera, who's beendoing about half the time with
that. So, it's, it was reallygood to see all three of those
perspectives and teach peoplehow to, you know, go after
mobile homes, you know, andreally ramp that up quickly. And
you know, on that fear part,it's, it's one of those things,
of those you know, you tellsomebody you can pick up a flip
(24:39):
for $10,000 or less, you know,and turn around and make 50, and
it's happening right in yourbackyard. That really gets
people's minds going. Becausethe biggest thing that we run
into for new people is like, howam I going to go buy a house for
$500,000?
Joey Romero (24:52):
The barriers entry is a little steep in California.
Richard Rice (24:55):
So, they hear that about the mobile homes, and it's
like, 'Oh, wow'. Okay, you know.
So, I mean.
Joey Romero (25:00):
Mitch, who's been your most dynamic speaker?
Mitch Craighead (25:03):
Gosh, it's, yeah, you really got my wheels
turning, and I'm glad I'm goinglast, because I had some time to
really think about it. You know,a couple of different speakers
come to mind and and they justin the reason it's a couple of
them is because they present indifferent ways. But Michael
Zuber joined us in November oflast year, and he just gave
(25:27):
absolute, so much content,actionable items, that absolute,
incredible speaker. I don't knowif you're familiar with Michael,
but One Rental At a Time, he isfrom the Bay Area, but invested
in Fresno, and has since movedto Vegas, investing out there
and still in Fresno, awesomespeaker. And then actually, last
(25:50):
month, we had Brent Daniels,who's a the wholesale coach, and
who just brings incredibleenergy, absolutely incredible
energy. And he was able to get,he was able to get really
vulnerable with us, and talkabout the hard times in real
estate, not just the greattimes. Really pump, my members
(26:12):
up for what the potential is,but talk about the doubt, the
hard times and where he camefrom. So, that was really great
and I'm most excited probablyfor actually, this evening,
we're hosting our monthlymeeting is on zoom with Jerry
Norton, and we're really excitedto have him join us this
evening, so.
Joey Romero (26:32):
Yeah, that's one of the thing, my favorite parts of
doing, I Survived Real Estate,or any of those, even the
podcasts, you know, when theyget so real that our guests, our
speakers, are just moved totears and it just takes them
back. I mean, you guys were allthere when Bill Allen's talking
(26:54):
about his wife wanted to divorcehim.
Christina Suter (26:57):
Yeah.
Joey Romero (26:57):
It was like, Whoa.
That was like, So Real. Anyways,alright, so let's have a little
fun with this. If you could haveanybody throughout history, dead
or alive as a speaker for yourmeeting, next meeting, who would
that be? Rich, we'll, we'llstart with you.
Richard Rice (27:17):
You know, the all of history?
Joey Romero (27:20):
All of history.
Richard Rice (27:21):
I'm a big fan of Marcus Aurelius and meditations.
I think a lot of, a lot of this,aside from real estate, is a lot
about mindset. And I would loveto just have him, you know,
present on, just being onstoicism and, yeah, just keep it
real, you know.
Joey Romero (27:40):
And I think you'd like, you think you'd really
like Jordan Peterson, if you'renot familiar with him already.
Richard Rice (27:44):
Yeah, yep, yep, that's him too, you know, as a
more modern approach, yeah,probably the top of the list.
But yeah, that the mindset pieceis a big deal, and even more so
than the real estate, in a lotof ways.
Joey Romero (27:57):
That's really cool, all right. Mitch, who would you
have throughout history, itwould be your...
Mitch Craighead (28:02):
Well, this person's alive. I've had the
pleasure of seeing them speakmultiple times. But if I could
give the gift to my club of thisperson spreading their their
knowledge and their theirmotivational language, it'd
probably be Ed Mylett. Ed,Mylett is, is just an
incredible, incredible humanbeing.
Joey Romero (28:26):
Make it happen, Ed, come on!
Mitch Craighead (28:28):
Let's go. Ed, I know you're watching, I know
you're watching, but he's, hehas done a lot of mindset shifts
for me. His book, Power Of OneMore. That's one of those books
that has changed my life in somany great ways. And, yeah, it
was, it definitely be Ed Mylettat least, at least living, yeah,
(28:51):
absolutely, right.
Joey Romero (28:52):
Alright, Christina, come on, bring it.
Christina Suter (28:54):
Well, I was going to say Brendon Burchard,
who works with Ed Mylett, right?
He does GrowthDay. I love himbecause Ed is, Ed is an
amazingly powerful, inspiringspeaker, specifically, he knows
what he's doing when he'screating with his audience. I
love watching him and his styleof speaking. Brendon is just
somebody who's sort of justjoyful, and he's joyful because
(29:15):
of the work he's done. So,that's one of my speakers would
be. Would be him BrendonBurchard, and the other for me
would be either Ken McElroy orRad Cliff, because neither one
of them aren't necessarilyinterested in creating drama.
Ken McElroy particularly, waslike, 'No, this is the way it's
going to work. This is theeconomy. This is what it's
doing. This is what I'm doing.'He's very grounded. He's very
(29:36):
simple about what he's bringingforward. And yet, he manages, I
don't know how big his fund is.
Whether it's 500 million or abillion dollars, is the size of
his current fund, and I reallyappreciate that. It's he's not
into looking good or making itbigger than it needs to be. This
is just how it functions. And Ilike that simplicity. I admire
(29:57):
it.
Joey Romero (29:57):
All right, I'll jump in on this one. For me if,
if I could have like, one guestright now, I think it would be
Kevin D Brown. I don't know ifyou guys have ever read the book
Unleashing Your Hero. I got tosee him when I went to Florida
as part of the CollectiveGenius' quarterly meeting, and
he was the keynote speaker rightafter Bruce and I had read his
(30:22):
book leading up to it. And youknow, a lot of you guys know I
walk every day now, and I listento books, and his book was the
only book that like, 'Thankgoodness I was wearing
sunglasses.' I was literallycrying when I was, he has this
thing where he talks about, whenyou doubt yourself, you
(30:45):
shouldn't see yourself in themirror. You should see all the
people that have poured anythinginto making you become the
person that you are, andremembering what they did for
you, and just being grateful andgetting yourself out of that
doubt and the overall goal is tobecome one of those people that,
when they look for that personthat pours into, are you, whose
(31:07):
mirror are you going to show upin? And to me, it just, it just
reminded me of Aaron.
Christina Suter (31:12):
Yeah.
Joey Romero (31:13):
When that happens, like, you know, I'm like a baby,
I guess. But it just, that thatwas really impactful. So, Kevin
D Brown, Kevin, I know we'reconnected on LinkedIn. Let's get
you on the podcast. Well, that'sgoing to do it for this week's
episode of The Norris Group'sReal Estate podcast. Be sure to
tune in next week and also makesure to leave us some comments
about what we should name thisReal Estate REIA Roundup Meetup
(31:38):
Podcast.
Narrator (31:40):
For more information on hard money loans, trust deed
investing, and upcoming eventswith The Norris group. Check out
thenorrisgroup.com. For moreinformation on passive investing
through the DBL Capital RealEstate
Joey Romero (31:59):
The Norris Group originates and services loans in
California and Florida underCalifornia DRE license 01219911.
Florida mortgage lender license1577 and NMLS license 1623669.
For more information on hardmoney lending go to
thenorrisgroup.com and click thehard money tab.
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