Leukemia and bankruptcy are life-altering circumstances—Jeff Holst battled both of them simultaneously. For the average person, it is the ultimate test of strength and character, but Jeff is far from average. He has traveled all over the world, married the girl of his dreams, and he built a thriving law firm by the age of thirty. But when everything seems to be going as planned, adversity is often lurking around the corner. As Napoleon Hill says, adversity is often opportunity in disguise; it is no surprise that Jeff was able to find a silver lining. During his comeback, Jeff made sure he would never be in a vulnerable financial position again. He made sure that he had the freedom to live a fulfilling life and real estate was the answer.
Pick Your Niche and Find Your Stride
Jeff found his stride in the residential multi-family niche, though he has a couple commercial buildings as well. He focuses primarily on the B and C class, low-medium income housing. It is an investment approach focusing on positive cash flow from people who need a place to live and are looking to stay there for a decent chunk of time. Jeff recommends partnering with professional investing in these types of deals to anyone who is looking at real estate as an option for passive cash flow unless, of course, you are interested in owning and managing the buildings yourself which come with dealing with late night tenant calls from Tenants and other headaches. There are a lot of investors and property managers offering small interest in larger deals, which enables you to generate a passive income while delegating the headaches to professional property management companies.
Find the Right Deals
If you decide to invest in real estate, you need to pick a market you truly understand or it’s going to be a monumental struggle. The main challenge now is finding the right properties and the right deals, and figuring out what the current owners are doing wrong. You have to understand the weak points in the current management structure and identify inefficiencies in that market. Most of Jeff’s deals are self-financed, but a lot of the deal structure is based on each individual property. There is a lot of pressure when it comes to dealing with other people’s money; some handle it well and others don’t. But if this is something you are interested in pursuing, my podcast episode with Jeff Holst will provide you with a lot of valuable insights.
Listen to the Fueling Deals podcast episode featuring Jeff Holst’s interview about Financial Strength and Freedom Through Real Estate.
Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.
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