A Great Start in Real Estate: An Interview with J. B. Olson

Michael Sexton: What were you doing before you started investing in real estate?

J. B. Olson: I taught elementary physical education for eight years! And that was a few years longer than I should have, because way back in 2000, I read Robert Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad, Poor Dad and I got it. I understood it, I believed in everything in there. But it still took me another five years to get the courage to break out of my comfort zone and get going.

Within myself, I always knew I could do it. But even with confidence, I needed somebody to help me, to point me in the right direction. I was searching, doing a lot of research online in those years, but I was not taking action.

I was attracted to various mentorship programs. When I learned that Donald Trump had launched his Real Estate Investor Training Program, I was very interested. It took me another five to six months before I expressed interest in the program. Trump University contacted me, I went through the interview process, and here I am today.

MS: Are you still teaching?

JBO: No, no. I haven’t been teaching for two years now.

MS: Can you pinpoint some of the skills you needed to get your start?

JBO: I definitely needed to learn how to analyze deals, how to pick them apart and look at both sides.

MS: What about motivation - getting out of that “comfort zone” you described?

JBO: It was great that every week, I was given action steps that I had to complete. I couldn’t hide. Each week, I had to report back. Did I indeed do my homework?

In the beginning, some of the work was theoretical, as in, “Read Secton I.” But then the assignments quickly became, “I want you to go look at 10 properties this week,” or even, “Look at 15 properties and make 10 offers.” So the homework turned out to be action steps.

As I said, I needed someone to point me in the right direction. And after the completion of the coaching part, I felt very confident. That gave me the ability to acquire a lot more property since.

MS: Did you have substantial financial resources available before you started in real estate?

JBO: I had a small nest egg. I had some stocks and a little bit of equity in my primary residence to help me acquire my first properties. But overall, not a whole lot.

MS: What kinds of properties are you working with?

JBO: I am strictly in residential properties right now. And right now, I have 11 properties. At one point, I had 12, but I have sold one of them. My current holdings are four condos, three town homes and four single-family residences. My immediate focus is to continue to build up my residential portfolio. My long-range plan is to move into commercial properties.

MS: Did the properties require renovation?

JBO: Two of them did. I did buy one rehab property while I was still in the program. But with the market going flat, I have come to adopt a buy and hold strategy. I mean, this is the best time to buy. I did buy one property on a construction loan. Then I renovated and refinanced it. That was a nice way of buying a property with no money down that I learned.

MS: That’s spectacular.

JBO: Yeah!

MS: Do you use a management company to maintain your properties, find tenants and handle the other details?

JBO: No. I manage it all myself.

MS: Do you have employees? Do you work out of your home?

JBO: I work out of my home. Eventually, I may look at adding an assistant. As I acquire more properties, some of the workload of managing them will begin to take me away from making deals and acquiring more property. So I am going to look at hiring an assistant for that reason.

MS: What do you see next? As you mentioned, commercial real estate?

JBO: I will continue to acquire more residential properties. Because of the number of properties I own and the way the lending market has tightened up considerably, I will do more creative deals so I can continue to keep my pace going. I will be looking at doing deals with lease options, contract for deed (or subject to). I will continue to build up a residential portfolio for 2007 and 2008, and I will then be looking more at commercial properties.

MS: So that is a terrific amount of progress in just a few short years. Congratulations.

JBO: I am 34. I have many years of real estate investing ahead. I tell everybody, the investment I made in the Trump University has paid more than dividends. It was instrumental in getting my company going.

I also know that you have to be a lifelong learner. I’ve had a number of people ask me, “What are you doing? I want to sit down and have a cup of coffee and talk with you.”

Because I have a background in teaching, I also want to become more of a mentor and a coach when it comes to real estate investing. I’m starting the groundwork for that right now.

Your average person who is out there walking down the street right now probably thinks they can’t do this. But they can! They just don’t have the knowledge or the tools.