February 23, 2021
Episode #109 – Jeff Gunther – Curiosity, Humility & Perseverance
- Connect with Jeff Gunther:
- Blog
- YouTube
- Selected Links and people mentioned from this episode:
- SecretHomes.ca
- Mark O. Haroldsen
- Raymond Aaron
- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
- Your Unfair Advantage
- REIN Success Formula for Raising Capital
- Your God is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan
- Insurgence by Frank Viola
- Connect with REIN Canada
- REIN Canada
- [email protected]
- SHOW NOTES
- [02:08] Patrick introduces his next TEDM guest: Jeff Gunther.
- [02:53] Jeff and Patrick kick off their conversation with Jeff’s elevator pitch, and an intro to a couple of projects he’s working on.
- [03:55] His primary gig is managing his real estate portfolio in Alberta, so Jeff starts his story there. He recounts a story of his father doing “homework” at the kitchen table (income taxes as it turns out) and talking to Jeff about the rental property they owned. That was the first real estate bug for Jeff at 10 years old. Years later he went down his own investing path in Lake Louise, then found himself in a crisis point about 10 years ago that ramped up his purchasing efforts.
- [07:47] Intrigued by Patrick’s observation, Jeff digs into why he feels he was a bit different than most 10-year-olds, by taking interest in what his Dad shared about real estate and following his brother Dan’s entrepreneurial lead.
- [09:24] Entrepreneurship: nature or nurture? Jeff talks about his experience as a kid observing his Dad’s daily routine and his natural curiousity to know if he could earn a living without having to show up to work every day. Once he learned other people could pay for a house that he could later sell, well, doing more of that seemed to fit the bill.
- [11:58] Moving around a lot as an army kid, he used that opportunity as an advantage to constantly reinvent himself. At 15 Jeff figured out he wanted to work and set out to make some money as a server regardless of his age. Throughout his endeavours, Jeff’s entrepreneurial spirit always shone through and drove his decisions.
- [17:32] Jeff’s self-awareness and confidence were supported by some influential adults in his life – family, friends, teachers – who took an interest in his success. Curiousity has been the common fundamental factor in navigating his path.<
- [23:24] Next, by working as a realtor in Edmonton Jeff was able to learn about real estate without investing a bunch of his own money. Although he would have mortgage-free properties if he invested more of his own money vs. facilitating deals for others, he knew his heart was lit by teaching and that was to be his next adventure.
- [26:00] After years being a real estate trainer and speaker on a national stage, Jeff was brought back to his roots. He invested in his Dad’s dentistry business, and by applying his hospitality and sales background quadrupled their bottom line. All of this distracted him from his real estate investment business but contributed to his life experience.
- [27:44] With a myriad of distractions, living life and playing in different arenas, Jeff didn’t dive into the real estate investing he knew would serve him well. It took a critical turning point to force his hand and have him commit.
- [33:45] With a few rental properties in Alberta and at least 10,000 hours invested in the industry already, Jeff decided to move forward with the support of REIN, to ramp up his investments in Edmonton and surrounding areas. He talks about the products he has chosen, the business climate in Edmonton plus the value of treating tenant clients like the gold they are.
- [39:24] Particularly in these times, people are experiencing real challenges and it’s important to be mindful that those challenges show up differently for us all depending on the lens we’re viewing it through.
- [40:55] With no shortage of people in his life and a desire to connect with them after his business ventures had collapsed, Jeff set about meeting with people for coffee, first and foremost to learn where they were at and secondly, only if asked, to let them know what he was up to in real estate. He found many of those people were eager to work with him.
- [46:51] Jeff speaks to the book he is currently writing called Your Unfair Advantage. The anchor of the book is recognizing and deploying our inherent assets, collected relationships and resources plus our resourcefulness and resiliency to go about finding the missing links.
- [49:47] When we come to the point where a life experience ends, it’s important to recognize we are not “starting over.” We have come to a place where that experience is complete and now, we have all of those added resources and competencies in our toolkit to move into the next experience.
- [53:11] Partnerships are Jeff’s default now with business and investing. Finding not just any partner but the right partners who are aligned with his values and goals is absolutely critical. Jeff shares his process for finding a great fit and a win-win partnership.
- [57:52] Jeff highlights the top 3 common mistakes in real estate he has either experienced or seen in his time of training and educating. They have been great opportunities for growth.
