Ask any really successful real estate entrepreneur what resource has made them the most money, and if they’re answering truthfully, they’re going to say, “The people I’ve met.”

In fact, if you’re not making it a priority to spend time creating, growing, and nurturing your network of colleagues and financial friends, you’re making a big mistake.

I’m not a natural networker—I would, on any given evening, rather be curled up in front of a fire with a good book than at the hottest party in town.

In fact, if you’re ever AT a party with me, and you’re looking for me, I’m probably the one behind the potted plant playing with the host’s cat.

But, at the same time, I am very aware of how many millions of dollars my network has earned me in the past 2+ decades, and I’ve seen the nearly tragic consequences that NOT having a network when you need one can have.

Early on in my career, it was more experienced real estate association members who served as my backstop, confirming (or, in some cases, totall
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Lordy, people, there are SO many ways to put together real estate deals. SURELY there’s one out there that you’ll like/understand/benefit from.

If you don’t like full-on wholesaling—maybe because ugly houses repel you, or some of the areas that work well aren’t neighborhoods in which you want to spend time, or you don’t like making super-low offers—then learn how to do creative deals, and flip those.

Creative financing techniques—buying properties using seller-held mortgages, contracts for deed, lease/options, and subject to the existing loan—are usually thought of as ways for you, the buyer, to control real estate for some period of time so that you can exercise some exit strategy that requires control.

For instance, you might buy a property subject to the existing loan so that you can renovate it and rent it for the long term. Or you might get a “split funds” seller mortgage for a year because you intend to renovate and resell the property within that year. Or you might control the property with a lease with the option to buy so that you can sell it with a lease with the option to buy (with, of cours
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On our July 9^th episode of Real Life Real Estate Investing, we opened the lines for one of our favorite formats—Q&A Day. Vena tackled your real-world questions about buying, selling, renting, financing, managing, and more. If you missed it live, don’t worry—the answers are just a click away. Listen to the recording here 

And don’t forget to tune in every Wednesday at 5 PM Eastern—https://streamdb3web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WMKVFM.

A real estate investor—we’ll call her Maria—spent 20 years building a $3 million portfolio. She did everything right on paper: maximized depreciation, tracked every expense, and executed 1031 exchanges like a pro. But when sudden health issues forced her to sell everything, she got slammed with a tax bill that wiped out nearly 40% of her gains. The kicker? Most of it could have been avoided with long-term planning.

We’re not tax pros or attorneys—this isn’t personal advice. But it is your warning shot. These are the conversations you need to start now, not when you’re already holding a purchase contract.

Most investors expect capital gains tax when they sell. But you’re actually dealing with four different taxes—and the total can be shocking:

1. Depreciation recapture at up to 25% on every dollar you’ve depreciated. Took bonus depreciation to save money short-term? It’s coming back.
2. Capital gains tax of 0%, 15%, or 20%, depending on your income. Still better than ordinary income—but often avoidable.
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You got into this business for freedom, right?

Money freedom , yes. But also time freedom, and life-on-your-terms freedom.

But here’s a truth a lot of us don’t realize early enough—and it handicaps us:

Independence isn’t…Independent

At every stage of this country’s history, it’s been groups of people, acting together, that have secured the blessings of liberty for themselves and others.

From overthrowing British rule to ending the practice of slavery to suffrage to the civil rights movement and on through today, new freedoms have only come when enough people got together for a common cause, organized to achieve what they wanted.

Guess what? Personal financial freedom is ALSO a team sport.

No one builds wealth in a vacuum. No one protects their property rights to it by themselves. And no one makes it to the top without a whole bunch of people who have  their back.

Wanna do
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“What in the world? Where is all of my money?! I just had over $100,000 in my bank account yesterday, and now I’m down to $1.50.”

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a real estate investor say something to that effect, I’d have several dollars and could buy (maybe) one scoop of Cold Stone ice cream.

At some point or another, you have probably read “Rich Dad Poor Dad” (This book is pretty much a prerequisite to being a real estate investor, so I highly recommend reading it.) And if you’ve read and really enjoyed it, you have probably played the board game Cashflow 101, also by Rich Dad author Robert Kiyosaki.

In his penultimate book and board game, Kiyosaki talks about the rat race. The whole point of the board game is to get out of the rat race. The rat race he references at a high level is getting up, going to work, trading your time for money, and then doing it all over again the next day—forever and ever and ever.

I’m guessing that you probably got into real estate, too, because at some level, you wanted to get out of the proverbial rat race. So, you started a real esta
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Several times in the past few months, I’ve found myself explaining to students that the reason they couldn’t sell their wholesale deal was that they’d overpriced it, and the reason they’d overpriced was that they’d made a common logical error in figuring out the value.

See if you can tell what it is:

The subject property has an after-repaired value of $100,000, and the house has an outdated kitchen, bath, furnace, and flooring.

However, the house also has a section 8 tenant living there who’s been there for 5 years and doesn’t want to move. The house is rented for $1,000/month, and the annual section 8 inspection just came back requiring that the basement walls be painted and that one room of carpet be replaced--$1,500 in work, total.

You are offering this property to landlords for $68,500 because $100,000 x .7 - $1,500 in repairs = $68,500.

Why is it not selling?

The answer is that it’s not a good deal, and you’ve conflated two different ways of analyzing a property.<
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Begin by teaching them about the lifestyle choice that they’ll get to make each day of their lives… the lifestyle choice of being either rich, poor or middle class. Once they make that decision, show them how they can use real estate as a vehicle for reaching their chosen destiny.

Let’s face it… for almost everyone first starting out, investing in real estate is just another job… part-time, but a job that takes additional time away from family and friends. Rare is the first-time real estate investor who has the available funds to jump into rehabbing or buying rental units without another “job” to support them. Most of us get started as real estate entrepreneurs by doing real estate “on-the-side” in the evenings and on weekends while keeping our day jobs to meet our families’ financial needs. Thus, the goal for most newbie investors is to earn additional money for the family while not losing that valuable family time.

My wife and I got into the real estate business quite accidently. Out of necessity we would buy junker houses to live in because that was all we could afford. Then we would fix them up while we lived in them. As the family grew, we would buy another house with more bedrooms and bat
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Financial freedom isn’t just about stacking cash—it’s about designing a life where your time, choices, and income are truly your own. Pete Fortunato, a legend in creative real estate, teaches that wealth is built not just with properties, but with people. His approach focuses on crafting win-win deals, using creativity over capital, and building lasting relationships—what he calls “financial friends.” Want to hear it straight from the source? Check out this insightful podcast episode with Pete: HERE

As you can probably imagine, there’s a LOT that goes on in the background in running this big and growing community.

One of those things is an annual meeting where our team looks at big picture things like vision, mission, big projects for the year...all the things you probably do for your real estate business.

Years ago, we outlined a “Proven Process for Creating Successful Real Estate Entrepreneur” based on my decades of experience watching members join and then either meet their goals or not, and the first step of that process is, “We Meet You Where You Are”.

Over the years, that idea has guided a lot of the programs and decisions you’ve seen here, and it’s a philosophy we go back to over and over as the real estate market, and the economy, and world events, have evolved.

It’s a guiding principle here at COREE, and here’s why it’s so important to you:

1. You are at a unique level in your real estate knowledge and experience, and so we provide education, resources, and support for new, active, and experienced investors to meet your needs NOW, and as you progr
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