By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

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I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and I asked her for her opinion on the local Asper school of business.

Her answer surprised me "needed for some, not for others."

Formal education usually has mixed reviews in the business world. Some people love it and swear by it, others think that it is an outdated dinosaur of the industrial age.

Although I did attend the University of Manitoba, and did take classes at the Asper school of business, I am a business school drop-out. My ambitions for taking classes at the school were quickly quenched when I learned that they were grooming me to become an employee and not an entrepreneur. No matter how much education is received from an institution like Asper, the teachers are employees and they train people to think like employees.

Many of the world's greatest entrepreneurs were drop outs: Steve Jobs of Apple, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook, Henry Ford and others. These men build their businesses on passion, experience, and practical hands-on-study in their fields. 

"Formal education will make you a living, Self education will make you a fortune." - Jim Rohn

With enough hands on study and experience, these great entrepreneurs build the most valuable asset of all - sound business acumen. The greatest difference between most WANTrepreneurs who have day jobs and real entrepreneurs who derive their livelihood directly from their businesses is:

1) Entrepreneurs live off of their business acumen
2) WANTreprenerus trade time for money

Where entrepreneurs can turn their ideas and passions into assets that create strong enough income to reach their dreams, many WANTrepreneurs are stuck trading time for money building someone else's dream.

In Robert Kiyosaki's game CashFlow, there are two circuits:

1) The Rat Race, a wheel that the players circulate around in collecting pay checks. In the Rat Race, these players have jobs and trade time for money. It doesn't matter if the player has a low paying job like a Janitor or a high paying job like a Doctor. All of the players in the Rat Race trade time for money, have a limited earning potential, are susceptible to the pitfalls of relying on a fixed income i.e.: players may become downsized and lose 100% of their income for a short period.

2) The second circuit in Cash Flow is called the Fast Track and on the Fast Track players move much faster. The Fast Track is reserved for players who have strong enough business acumen to create enough passive income to exceed his expenses. In other words, these players have become smart enough to not need their jobs  and live off of their ability to invest and create income. Players on the fast track make disproportionately more money, have larger deals, cannot be downsized, and are unaffected by many other disadvantages of the rat race.

One circuit relies on trading time for money, the other relies on business acumen.

Many new investors and WANTrepreneurs want to make the transition from the Rat Race onto the Fast Track, but the sad thing is, many of these WANTrepreneurs refuse to invest in their financial education - the most important asset of all.

Your education and business acumen is the greatest asset, far more valuable than Gold, silver, cash, stocks, real estate, companies. All of these "real" assets mean nothing if there is not a strong base of skill and education backing these symbols of wealth.

But if formal business school teaches most people to be employees, then where can one get an entrepreneur's education.

There are many places to get an entrepreneur's education:

1) Books written by real entrepreneurs
2) Seminars for teaching business put on by real entrepreneurs
3) One on one coaching from real entrepreneurs
4) Mentorship or apprenticing under a real entrepreneur

The key word with all of the above is REAL entrepreneurs. When choosing to learn about entrepreneurship or business from someone, it is counterproductive to learn from a good employee. Employees are trained to think differently from entrepreneurs and they collect pay checks instead of build companies.

ACTION STEP:

In your life, ask yourself; "are you living off of your business acumen?" Or are you trading time for money?

What do you need to get to where you want to go?

Who do you need to help you get there?

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

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By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

Jim Rohn, an american entrepreneur, once said "If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much."

I always struggled with the idea of getting a job. Some people call their job a J-O-B which stands for Just, Over, Broke.

From age 17 to 24 I struggled every year with employment. When I was in university, every summer, I had to go out and "get a job" to pay for next year's tuition. Every year I would procrastinate, the idea of a job bored me, and I felt in my heart that I didn't want to work for someone else. Every summer was different, I worked at Tim Hortons, local restaurants, odd painting jobs, and even had a short taste of direct sales. Nothing felt good and every year as the summer would approach I felt myself feeling depressed.

In 2008 when I graduated from university with an Arts degree, the game was over. My parents and society both agreed that it was time to leave the fantasy world of school and join the "real world" and get a "real job".

I had made most of my money in university by teaching guitar lessons out of my mother's living room and had made a good little cash business out of it. I also played numerous music gigs throughout the city and had experienced the life of being self-employed. Now that I was done school it was time to "wake up", shut down my little business and join the real work force.

I followed the advice of my parents, society and the status quo and got a real job in telephone sales. I worked in the middle of the night, on straight commission and although I was one of the top performers in the office, I only made about $10 an hour selling on the phone. My life was completely upside down, I was making less money at my "real job" than I was making it my guitar teaching business, my quality of life was the lowest it had ever been, and I was isolated by working the graveyard shift.

After a few weeks of working my real job, I fell into a depression. Everything I had done was "right". I went to school, got a degree, and got a job, but I was living a miserable life and was making less money than I made in school doing things I enjoyed less.

What was wrong with me?

Looking back, I realize that I was living a life of convenience, not a life of choice. Everything that was in my life came to me by way of convenience. Nothing was consciously chosen by me and this was the source of my unhappiness.

They say there are only two sources of unhappiness in the world:

#1 is not getting what you want
#2 is getting it (not what you want)

When we get something we do not want, unhappiness ensues.

The downward spiral of unhappiness and dissatisfaction continued for years until I learned to take control of my own mind and use it towards endeavours of my choice.

As the great Napoleon Hill writes in his book "Think and Grow Rich":

Everyone comes to this world with the privilege of controlling the power of his mind and directing it to whatever ends he may choose.

At birth, everyone carries the equivalent of two sealed envelopes:

1. The RICHES You May Enjoy If You Take Possession Of Your Mind & Direct It To The Ends Of Your Own Choice.
2. The PENALTIES You Must Pay If You Neglect To Take Possession Of Your Mind & Direct It

In the contents of the first envelope named RICHES are the following blessings:

• Health
• Peace Of Mind
• A Labor Of Love Of Your Own Choice
• Freedom From Fear And Worry
• Positive Mental Attitude
• Material Riches Of Your Own Choice & Quantity

In the envelope labeled PENALTIES are the prices one must pay for neglecting to take control his/her own mind:

• Ill Health
• Fear & Worry
• Indecision & Doubt
• Frustration & Discouragement Throughout Life
• Poverty & Want
• The Evils of Envy, Greed, Jealousy, Anger, Hatred and Superstition

For many years I allowed others to take control of my mind and I drifted through life living a life of convenience with very few elements being of my own choosing. After I hit "the bottom" through depression, poor health, fear, doubt, worry and debt, I began to design the life that I wanted.

Today, I have made drastic changes and every aspect of my life has been chosen by me. Perhaps there are parts that are not 100% of my choosing, but every single aspect is improving steadily towards my vision and my ideals.

All of the improvements in my life came from having a concrete vision of what I desired. I began to write down my goals, my wants, and my vision. I began to reverse engineer and design the life that I wanted. I am very happy to enjoy the blessings that Napoleon Hill names above and be free of the penalties he warns against.

In your own life, ask yourself: Are you living a life of convenience or a life of choice? If you are living a life of convenience, begin to write a vision plan detailing every aspect of your ideal life. When your vision is put into words and written down, the subconscious brain will begin working towards the life of your dreams.

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

This last week I have been officially closing a previous chapter of my life. I have been selling off all of my music gear; guitars, basses, amps, speakers, cords, mixing boards, cases, microphones – everything! I used to be very heavily involved in writing music, performing music and teaching music. I used to derive 100% of my income from music and was a professional in the field. Today, I am selling off all of my music gear and I did receive some backlash from my girlfriend and my mother.

“Why?” they protested.

“Won't you be sad?” they wanted to know.

The answer, is “no, I will not be sad.” and the reasons are simple.

Years ago, when I quit basketball in high school, my coach, whom I will never forget said to me “there is nothing wrong with quitting, as long as you take all of the energy you put into basketball and put it into music.” Music was my passion at that point in my life, not basketball, and it was what I wished to do professionally.

Today, I am officially quitting the music chapter of my life and I'm using the energy to pursue my path as an entrepreneur. Selling all of my music gear is a way of clearing my mind, my space and my path.

But what happens to the years of my life, and all the money that I spent accumulating knowledge and equipment in the music business?

In physics, energy is never lost, the same holds true in real life. The skills, the experience and the wisdom I gained in the music industry carries over to my real estate career and the best part about skills and experience is that they can never be lost.

True value does not lie in the musical equipment. True value lies in the skills I learned from the equipment. I will always know how to sing, how to play instruments and perform. These skills can get rusty, but they never go away.

But how does this apply to real estate?

In real estate, so many investors cling to their buildings and are terrified of losing material wealth. Most of us think that our buildings are assets, when in fact, they are just lifeless bricks and mortar. Real value, even in real estate lies in the experience and the knowledge of building and operating the business.

Years ago, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford automobiles was asked by a reporter “Mr. Ford, you're a billionaire – so what? What would happen if you lost it all tomorrow?”

Mr. Ford smiled and replied “I would have it all back and more in 5 years!”

I truly understand what Mr. Ford meant by these words and I feel the same about the music business or even my real estate business. The knowledge I have gained by building the business from scratch will never leave my mind and the wisdom is the true asset – not the equipment or the buildings.

In the classic book “The Richest Man in Babylon”, the characters in the book are given a choice between a large sack of gold and a clay tablet with wisdom inscribed in it.

The book explains that the man who chooses the gold will quickly lose it, whereas the man with the knowledge will eventually get the gold.

Henry Ford and the Richest Man in Babylon both agree, true value is in the knowledge not the gold, the money, the buildings, or the companies.

Early in my real estate career, I made of point of investing in my education through seminars, coaching, training, mentoring, books, audio files etc. To build my education as fast as possible. Education, knowledge and experience form the backbone of business and entrepreneurship. Where most people rely on their job, their salaries and the government to survive, entrepreneurs rely on business acumen thrive.

It always startles me to see young investors and entrepreneurs forgo business and real estate education and jump into the field with both feet. I have made this mistake in the past and it is extremely costly to experiment with real world dollars.

If you are in business, real estate investing or entrepreneurship, please ensure that you allocate a portion of your earnings to ongoing education. For myself, my education has made all the difference and has allowed me to grow my real estate business from a one time investment of $1200 to a multi million dollar portfolio.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio

Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Get Stefan Aarnio's book "Money People Deal: The Fastest Way to Real Estate Wealth" at MoneyPeopleDeal.com!

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

This morning I was having breakfast with a colleague of mine and we were trying to find ways to compliment each other's respective real estate businesses. Sometimes it can be difficult to find ways to compliment another person's business due to personal similarities or differences and we spent a considerable amount of time talking about our business philosophies and dreams.

My philosophy in business has predominately been: it is better to sell one $1,000 hot dog than sell one thousand $1 hot dogs. 

Selling one hot dog for $1,000 makes much more money, requires less effort and has a completely different clientele and resources required to sell one thousand $1 hot dogs. 

However, we don't often see any hot dog carts selling $1,000 hot dogs… Why?

Years ago on the Celebrity Apprentice, one of my business heros Gene Simmons sold a $5,000 hot dog to one of his friends for charity. The context of the sale was a battle between two teams of Celebrities to see who could raise the most money selling hot dogs for charity. The business models of the two teams varied greatly with one cart selling $5 hot dogs and the other cart selling $5,000 hot dogs. The results for the two teams was vastly different with the $5 hot dog making approximately $17,000 while the $5,000 hot dog made closer to $52,000.

All of the money was raised for charity and both teams were loaded with celebrities. Both teams did very well, but the huge difference in money raised was that one team was thinking bigger by asking for more dollars per hot dog.

Years ago when I was in the music industry, I wanted to find a way to do business in a bigger way. Naturally I got into real estate because in music I was selling hundreds of $1 "hot dogs" whereas in real estate I could sell a few $1,000 "hot dogs" and make a much better living. Real Estate in general when compared to a music business has much better margins, takes less time, less work and is much more sustainable because there is usually only one customer instead of 1000 for a similar profit.

After I had mentioned that I would rather sell one $1,000 hot dog, my friend replied that his philosophy has been to sell one thousand $1,000 hot dogs. He elaborated by saying that he was working on a multi-million dollar land subdivision deal where he would sell nearly 100 lots of land and metaphorically speaking sell one thousand $1,000 hot dogs. His thinking was clearly bigger than mine.

When we had met that morning, we were looking at a house that I was going to buy to flip. I had clearly illustrated my $1,000 hot dog thinking with my current business model of flipping houses one at a time. My colleague had a much greater plan to take the profits of my plan and multiply it by 100 with the same effort.

But what do the hot dogs mean?

There are two ways to build a business model. One is vertical and the other is horizontal. 

HORIZONTAL BUSINESS - $1 hot dogs x 1000

A horizontal business will have lots of customers with low transaction volumes. The business relies on having a high amount of customers and transactions to make a profit. This is the hot dog cart with $1 hot dogs.

VERTICAL BUSINESS - $1000 hot dog x 1

The other model is the vertical model. This model has less customers, but makes more money per customer. It relies on having a few great repeat customers who account for 80% or more of the business. This is the model I am building in my business today. This is the hot dog cart with the $1,000 hot dogs.

DIAGONAL BUSINESS - $1000 hot dog x 1000

There is a third model, and this model is the diagonal model that uses both vertical and horizontal strategies where we sell $1,000 hot dogs to 1000 customers. This model is much more advanced and requires the customer care of the vertical model with the systems and velocity of the horizontal model. If you can build a diagonal model, you will be rich - guaranteed. However, this model is the most difficult to create and few people know how to actually build a horizontal business model that works.

After examining the $1 hot dog cart and the $1,000 hot dog cart, which hot dog cart would you like to own? Which cart are you running in your current business? Is this where you want to be today? What is holding you back from building a diagonal business?

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

Robert Kiyosaki defines intelligence as “the ability to make distinctions”. For example, an interior designer will be able to make distinctions between 15 shades of blue giving them specific names like “azure”, “indigo”, “sky blue”, “royal blue”, “navy blue” etc.

A cigar connoisseur will know the difference between a fine Cuban cigar and a fake.

An investor should know the difference between money and wealth. Unfortunately, most investors do not know the difference.

Everyday we wake up and chase the pursuit of happiness. For most people, money is part of the equation. Everyone would like to be rich and rich means an abundance of money. However, there is a huge distinction between money and wealth.

A person can be wealthy and not have any money. Logically, the opposite is true as well; you can have lots of money and zero wealth.

Sports stars that make millions of dollars per year and lottery winners are examples of people who can make lots of money but have zero wealth.

On the other hand, a retiree with a solid income from their investment portfolio may have wealth but very little money to throw around.


What is wealth? What is money?

Wealth is measured and defined in time. The question we must ask is “if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?” If the answer is “forever”, then you have wealth. Many people who live paycheque to paycheque could only survive for a few months if they stopped working. These people have very little time to survive and very little wealth.

I recently heard a statistic that over 50% of American households are 1 paycheque away from bankruptcy. This may or may not be true, but it paints a grim picture of the lowest level of wealth. One paycheque is only 2 weeks worth of wealth and a very low level of survival.

Money on the other hand is much easier to define. Money is measured in dollars and all we have to do to measure dollars is count. The key with money is to learn to exchange dollars for wealth.

Traditionally speaking the rich are very good at trading dollars for wealth (assets that produce passive income), the middle class are good at trading dollars for liabilities (houses, cars, cottages) and the poor are good at trading dollars for expenses (flat screen televisions, booze, rent).

This year in my Real Estate portfolio I focused mostly on wealth rather than money. I built wealth this year through multiple income streams of both business and real estate. To myself, I consider it important to build income streams early in my life. I wanted to create wealth and the ability to survive “forever” without a paycheque so that I could become creative in my free time.

At the time of writing I have multiple income streams and can survive “forever” which means that my passive income is greater than my expenses. However, wealth alone is not enough to win the game of money. We need both cash and wealth to get the most out of life because dreams aren’t cheap.

In the words of the American billionaire Bill Bartmann “Cashflow buys you time, profits buy you praise”. Both cashflow and profits are required to win the game, the question is which one do you focus on today.

For most people with a paycheque, they should focus on learning to create wealth and multiple streams of passive income through real estate, dividend bearing stocks, internet businesses, traditional businesses, or joint ventures.

For people with wealth, they may be interested in creating more cash and liquidity through business, real estate and joint ventures.


The game of money is a game of balance and this year for myself, I will be starting the year off with a “cash” strategy; I have achieved a level wealth, which has freed up my time and will be pursuing my strategy to take my brand to the next level.

What are you doing this year to take your game to the next level? Will you be pursuing cash, wealth or both? Please discuss your strategy in the comments below.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio

Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
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P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!



In Stocks, Insider Trading is illegal. In Real Estate, Insider Trading is essential.

In any market, there are insiders and there are outsiders. When corporate executives on Wall Street buy or sell stocks in their own companies with “insider knowledge”, they go to jail. When a real estate investor gets first chance to purchase a property privately without public knowledge, he gets rich.

Markets like Wall Street are set up like Casinos and TV stations like BNN are funded by Stockbrokers to create excitement and encourage trading. The brokers get paid when trades happen, so they want their audience on BNN to get emotional and make trades. BNN will run stories that pump the emotions of the audience just to make money, the information is not provided to make actual sound decisions.

When emotions go up, intelligence goes down and the house always wins… and you are not the house.

In my opinion, the Stock market is not designed for you to win. It’s a game played by insiders and institutional investors who control their own information. For the average retail investor, there is very little control in stocks, unless you are an insider.

I prefer to control my investments, control the management and control the outcome of my returns. I also prefer to make purchases as an insider with access to the necessary information to make profitable decisions.

Information is king in the market and he who controls the information, controls the market.

In Real Estate you can become an insider by:

1)   Having a large network of other investors

2)   Having a large network of lawyers

3)   Posting private advertisements for deals

4)   Offering referral programs

5)   Having a large network of Realtors

6)   Public speaking in front of groups of investors

7)   Creating content, blogs and videos for consumption

8)   Having a network of property managers

9)   Having a network of private lenders

10)                   Becoming the biggest, most visible person in the market

The truth is, becoming an insider is quite simple in Real Estate. The best deals always come to those who are 1) The most visible 2) Most connected and 3) The ones who control the information in the market.

When a real estate deal hits the local market with a Realtor, the deal has already been cherry picked by at least 8 sets of eyes. The fewer sets of eyeballs that see the deal before hitting the market, the higher the chances are to profit.

In high school it’s easier to date the girl who is the bookworm than it is to date the prom queen.  The prom queen has so many more sets of eyeballs on her so her value is way over-inflated and there is a line up of guys dying to get a chance with her. Avoid the prom queen at all costs and go for the bookworm. With some lipstick and high-heels she can easily be the prom queen, but with a much lower cost.

This analogy applies directly to Real Estate. By the time a house hits the retail market, multiple Realtors have looked at it, at least one broker, a few secretaries, assistants, everyone in the immediate circle from the seller, all of the realtor’s best clients, all of the broker’s best clients, contractors and then other buyers who get to it first.

By the time the property gets to you, everyone has explored any easy chances for profit and you and you are usually too late to the party. Plus, you now have to pay the price that the seller wanted plus the commissions of 2 realtors and 2 brokers. Negotiating becomes muddled because the realtors always have their own interests above their clients and sometimes the brokers can complicate negotiations as well.

When all of these “professionals” get involved, prices begin to rise and favorable terms disappear. All options for good terms or no money down deals go out the window because the Realtors will kill any chances of a “creative deal”. They want to get paid their commissions immediately and do not care about the price or terms of the deal: They just want the transaction to happen regardless of outcome.

However, when you become an insider, or partner with an insider, you get first access to deals before anyone else gets a chance to look.

The best deals I have done have come from:

1)   Other investors who could not close on private deals

2)   Private ads I have placed

3)   My networks and relationships

Being active in the market, participating in local investor groups, having an online presence, private advertising and public speaking have created an insider position for myself in my market. Being visible and sending a clear message that I am “always looking for deals” has attracted excellent opportunities that are well under market value, under appraised value, 100% vendor financed, or no money down. The average person believes that these deals do not exist or are not possible in their local market. The truth is, these deals are available everywhere, but you need to become an insider or partner with an insider to take advantage of them.

The best deals are made and are not advertised on the market because they never ever make it to market. This rule applies to any market: the best girls to date are not advertised on e-harmony, match.com or at the local bar. To find real value in life and in the market, we must become the insider, become well connected, become visible and control the information around us.

The best deals are reserved for insiders, everyone else can pay full price.

Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

P.S: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
facebook.com/stefanaarnio
https://twitter.com/stefanaarnio
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stefanaarnio

Remember: Please share this article if you found it enjoyable!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is value.

Everyday, we, the human race, wakes up and chases value until we drop dead from exhaustion at night.

It doesn't matter if you are Donald Trump sitting on a multi billion dollar real estate portfolio or monk in a temple. We are all chasing value.

The real question is, what is value and what is valuable?

Of course, value is highly subjective and can be very hard to determine.

I always find it interesting to see how excited people are to buy new clothes. Shopping malls are filled with rabid people who are frantically purchasing new garments to wear and 6 months later the clothes that they purchased will be donated to charity or thrown away.

The value of the clothes goes from "I will sacrifice my financial health to wear this" to absolutely "I will never wear this piece of garbage again".

The same thing happens with electronics. The day that apple releases a new iPhone or iPod, people are camping out overnight to get their hands on the new gadget and will pay a mortgage payment to own it. 6 months later, the same people are giving the old iPhone to their dog or are using it as a coaster on a coffee table because the newer, thinner model came out.

But what about investments? Real estate? Houses?

What is the true intrinsic value of a house?

Most middle class people will say "our house is our biggest asset"!

Most middle class people will have nearly all of their net-worth tied up in their home.

But what is the house actually worth? What is any house actually worth?

The truth is, all real estate is actually worth $0. Land and buildings are completely worthless.

If you would like to see the true value of land and buildings, drive to Detroit where you can buy a city block for $1 and nobody wants to buy it. People who live in detroit would rather have a $1 Taco at Taco Bell than own the liability of a city block.

Land, real estate, houses, and buildings only get value when there is a USE for it and an END USER. The end user places his or her subjective value on the Real Estate and that is where values come from.

There are more people who want to live in Manhattan than Detroit. That's why Manhattan real estate is worth so much more than Detroit.

At the end of the day, Real Estate is only worth what the end user is willing to pay. However, one metric I have been using more and more of lately is dollars per square foot.

When comparing two similar properties, dollars per square foot is one of the best ways to measure the current and future value of the property.

For example, in Winnipeg right now, many houses trade in the $200-$250 per square foot range. If you can make a purchase at $100 per square foot in an area that is trading at $200-$250, you have an opportunity for profit.

Construction in Winnipeg for a new build is approximately $200 per square foot, so if you can purchase for less than $200, you are getting the house cheaper than it would be to build. Likewise, if you pay $270 per square foot, you are paying more than it costs to build.

When analyzing retail single family homes, dollars per square foot is an excellent metric for intrinsic value of the property.

BUY ON INTRINSIC VALUE, SELL ON EMOTIONAL VALUE

One of the easiest ways to profit in any market is to:
1) Buy on intrinsic value and
2) Sell on emotional value

There is always profit in markets that have irrational buyers. Irrational buyers means that irrational amounts of money are floating around looking for irrational products.

For example, the neighborhood River Heights in Winnipeg is a desirable neighborhood where people will pay irrational amounts of money to get their kids into the local schools. In River heights properties trade for $200-$250 per square foot, prices that are well above cost to build.

However, in up and coming parts of town, there are "rational" buyers who will only pay prices that less than construction prices. These areas will trade at $150-200 dollars per square foot.

The key for profit is to buy with on an intrinsic value, pump the value and sell to an emotional, irrational buyer. The irrational buyer is unconcerned with what they are actually paying. They WANT the product and perceive that they NEED it. If you have a business, you want irrational buyers. Irrational buyers are consumers who allow you to create massive spreads in your products and grow your business.

Do what you can to attract irrational buyers. When you capture these buyers, take great care of them, and they will take great care of you.

Thanks for reading,
By: Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca
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By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: 
Please share this article if you found it insightful.

"The grass is always greener on the other side, until we get to the other side and realize that the other side requires watering and maintenance too" - Dr. Nido Qubein

Focus brings clarity to the mind.

Focus brings success.

Focus brings happiness.

Happiness in life is determined by what we focus on and choose to think about. If we are focused on our passions, obsess over them and think about them all day long, we live very happy and productive lives.

However, the enemy of focus is options.

Have you ever noticed that some of the least happy people are the ones with the most options?

The media is littered with rich and famous celebrities who have all of the options in the world: They can live where they want, spend their time how they want, eat what they want, drive what they want, have the house that they want, and have the means to completely design a perfect life and yet, many people who "have it all" are miserable and pursue hard drugs to escape reality at all costs.

These people have too many options and when the mind has too many options, focus erodes along with sanity and happiness.

In my own life, I have had periods where I had "too many options" and was on top of the world. Surprisingly, too many options also bred discontent, unhappiness and even mild depression and anxiety.

When we think we have too many options, we always ask "what if I had gone the other direction?", "what if had chosen differently", "what if I had dated that other girl"...

Eventually the mind tears itself apart, focus decays and we are left in a sea of "what if's" with no commitment or focus to any one thing.

On the flip side, there are people in the world who have the "luxury of no options".

We see people in marriages who have "no option" to get divorced and they work on their problems until they find happiness in the relationship.

We see people in businesses who have "no option" to quit  and these people always reach success because failure is not an option.

We see people in life who have "no option" of an alternate path and they become the most wildly successful people in their fields because they have the "luxury of no options".

All of these people have the highest levels of focus and absolutely zero chance of defeat.

When Julius Caesar landed on the shores of Britain to wage war with the British Tribes, he ordered his men to "burn the boats". His troops would either be victorious in battle, or they would all die in battle - no one goes home through failure. Caesar gave his men "the luxury of no options" and he was victorious in his campaign.

The Spartan warriors of ancient Greece had a similar mentality. Death before dishonour was a mantra that accurately describes the Spartan war machine and they are known throughout history as the most battle hardened, persistent, fearsome, victorious, disciplined warriors of all time. The Spartans created a culture based around "the luxury of no options" and this culture created a brand of warrior that is still studied in modern military schools and will continue to be famous for ages to come.

When we look at the most successful business people, a common element for Entrepreneurs is that they find themselves in a "no options" situation early in life. Usually successful Entrepreneurs have parents who are either dead or incompetent and they have to take over the family business at a very young age. This was true for Fred Trump (Donald Trump's father), Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich Dad" and a modern examples would be Curtis Jackson (50 Cent).

Other entrepreneurs who find "the luxury of no options" choose a path in life at a young age and give themselves no way to retreat.

I was reviewing the "30 richest drummers in the world" list and two names that stuck out at me were Tre Cool of Greenday with a net worth of $45 million dollars and Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters with a net worth of $225 million.

Both Dave Grohl and Tre Cool dropped out of school at age 16 to play punk music. They had "the luxury of no options", burned the boats and had no way of reversing their choice.

The "luxury of no options" brings clarity and focus to the mind which is an extremely powerful tool because the mind will always find a way to achieve any vision that it is focused upon. 

Where most high school drop-outs are perceived as derelict losers who wander through life, three of the greatest entrepreneurs of the information age were all drop outs: Steve Jobs (Co-Founder of Apple), Bill Gates (Founder of Microsoft) and Mark Zuckerburg (Facebook Founder).

These men all made a choice in university to burn the boats and choose the "luxury of no options".

In my own life, the happiest, most exciting, most relevant moments of my life have all been moments where I had put myself into a "no options" situation.

I was forced to leave the corporate world (something that many people struggle with) because if I didn't quit my job, then I would be bankrupt in 3 months. Even while earning a nice comfortable salary at my job, I would still be bankrupt if I stayed. With "the luxury of no options", I quit my job, woke up every day with the intentions of finishing my failing real estate development. I was 110% focused on finishing the development at all costs and did not leave the job site daily until it was too dark to work. 

Life becomes very simple and fulfilling when there are no options. Every morning, the only thing I thought about was finishing the development. Every afternoon, the only thing I thought about was the development and every evening, the only thing i thought about was the development.

I had become immersed in my work, my focus became crystal clear, failure was not an option and I was happier than ever before. What is more interesting is that my chance of failure dramatically dropped to zero. There was literally no chance for the project to fail once I had found "the luxury of no options".

My contractor's truck was broken, so we couldn't haul materials. I loaded up my small 4 door sedan with doors, toilets and vanities (none of which fit in a small car) and drove around town to 6 different suppliers to get the necessary supplies to the job site. My general contractor, who had mentally given up on finishing the project, was amazed that I was hauling large building supplies in a small sedan and not a truck. I drove my small car with doors, lumber and vanities sticking out the passenger windows and the trunk. I had to take back roads so that the police wouldn't pull me over. My general contractor had given up, but I had "the luxury of no options."

We had no labour to paint the building, so I put on my painter clothes and painted every day myself while also hiring  anyone I could find on Kijiji to paint. I also attracted friends and family help with the labour because I had found "the luxury of no options" and everyone could see the high stakes and the importance of my success.

Somehow, the project was completed and successful within 45 days of quitting my job (I had 90 days to complete it). With the experience, I had learned some of the most valuable lessons of my life so far: 

• When a person has their back to the wall and has no options, the failure rate for that person dramatically drops (almost to zero) and the success rate dramatically increases (almost to 100%).
  
• When a person has no options their focus level sky-rockets. They become obsessed with succeeding. All distractions and procrastination are silenced.
• Every obstacle becomes a non-issue because the motivation level of a person with no options is inhumanly strong.
• A person with no options can achieve super-human feats that the average person with "options" will marvel at.

As a real estate investor, I frequently see part time corporate people who want to make a "smooth" transition into full-time real estate investing. For many people, quitting the corporate world and taking full control of one's time is major desire. However, this desire is often not strong enough to actually put together a concrete plan and stick to it.

For myself, my passion and desire was so strong that I put myself in a situation where I found "the luxury of no options" by accident and became successful by default. Failure was not an option for me because I literally had no options - it was live or die.

I feel the pain of the people who badly desire full control of their time and want to leave the corporate world in a "smooth" way. But after studying success, I'm not sure if there really is a possibility of a fast and smooth transition.

I'm fully convinced that there is a slow and smooth way, but I'm not sure if that method will satisfy the soul's hunger for freedom.

To paraphrase the words of Robert Kiyosaki; We can only choose one of two things in life; security or freedom. Those who choose security, end up with maximum security which is maximum security prison. Those of us who choose freedom, end up with maximum freedom, which is zero security.

For the men and women who find themselves with "the luxury of no options", they only have one choice and that is freedom at all costs. Any security they once had has been obliterated and there is only one chance for survival. 

Freedom is the only choice for these people and they pursue it with a life or death vigour that is absolutely unstoppable.

What would you give up to have "the luxury of no options"?

Have you ever found yourself in a "No options" situation? What was the outcome?

Do you value security or freedom? Which are you currently pursuing?

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it insightful.

By Stefan Aarnio
Fredomway.ca

Remember: Please share if you found this article helpful!

A wise man once said "put your money where others can see it."

As humans we are tribal creatures and we are constantly judging and placing value on each other on a social scale.

Some people we meet score high on the ladder, others score low on the ladder.

All of this value is calculated and determined within seconds of meeting; aka: a first impression.

We are able to calculate social value extremely quickly and can determine if we want to further associate with a new prospect within 30 seconds of meeting them.

There is an unwritten rule in dating, networking, relationships and business that states:

• 3 seconds will buy you 30 seconds
  
• 30 seconds will buy you 5 minutes
• 5 minutes will buy you 30 minutes
• 30 minutes will buy you 2 hours
• 2 hours will buy you a day

There are many variations of this rule, but the concept is always the same.

When we meet people, we run a series of subconscious tests to see if we find enough value to bring our new prospect into our social circles.

If we find a person's appearance to be inoffensive, we will give them 30 seconds. If we find them to sound somewhat intelligent in an introduction, then we will spend 5 minutes with them. If we find them interesting, we will spend 30 minutes with them. If we feel good after 30 minutes, we will spend two hours with them. If we still like them after 2 hours, we will spend a day with them.

Every single person works the same way, we are constantly screening who we will and will not accept into our social circles.

The question is, if you had to invest money into yourself, would you invest in the first 3 seconds of yourself or would you hold back and invest later in your social process?

Although some may argue that "getting to know a person on the inside" is true value, we all behave the same way when we go on a first date. Even idealists who believe in "truly" knowing people on a deeper level invest heavily at the beginning of the relationship.

A wise man once said "If everyone kept the promises they made on a first date, there would be no such thing as divorce."

Lets consider a first date...

The man puts on his cleanest, best clothes, shaves his face, washes his hair, puts on cologne, shines his shoes, tucks his shirt in, brushes his teeth, cleans his car, shows up on time, holds the door, pays for dinner and drives his date home as a gentleman.

The woman puts on her best dress, shaves her legs, washes her hair, puts on perfume, picks out the most sexy shoes, tucks her stomach in, brushes her teeth, shows up on time, acts like a lady, says please and thank you and gives her man a modest good night kiss.

These two people have invested heavily at the front end of the relationship because they want to give a good first impression.

They want to impress their date in the first 3 seconds to earn 30 seconds. They want to hold their date's attention for 30 seconds to get 5 minutes, they want to say the right things in five minutes to earn 30 minutes, they want to be interesting enough to last two hours and eventually spend a day together.

Out of the whole process, however, the most important part is the first 3 seconds.

If you don't look appealing, confident, happy and successful, the rest of the social process is difficult and potentially impossible.

If I am going to invest money into myself, I will stack all of my dollars in the first 3 seconds to create a great first impression.

10 WAYS TO CREATE A GREAT 3 SECOND FIRST IMPRESSION:

1. Smile
2. Be well groomed (hair is trimmed, styled, no facial hair)
3. Shoes are shined, appropriate for the setting (Lace-up oxfords are very versatile and so are dress loafers... wingtips are good too). Your shoes must communicate social value. Shoes indicate how you spend your time, what your profession you are in and are a primary indicator of social status. Spend some money on really good shoes - it's worth it.
4. Pants are pressed, tailored and "break" only once.
5. Shirt is clean and pressed, white collar is stiff, shirt is appropriately buttoned for the occasion.
6. Tie is tied, selected and worn appropriately for the occasion. Tie bars may or may not be fashionable, depending on the setting/demographics of the room.
7. Blazers have appropriate color and lapels for the current fashion and setting. There are over 9 types of common lapels. Spend some time to learn about lapels, they are extremely important for social status. Men's magazines like "GQ" can give you an idea of what messages different lapels give and which ones are relevant today.
8. Your wrist watch must fit well and be appropriate for the setting. No cheap watches. If you don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a watch, pick a fashion brand that at least lets people know that you know a fashionable name for a few hundred dollars.
9. Jewellery is kept to a minimum and is kept tasteful. No costume jewellery.
10. If you are wearing a suit, it MUST be tailored, no exceptions. Nothing looks worse than an un-tailored boxy suit from Moores.

If you can follow the 10 rules above, depending on your geography, you will automatically be in the top 80-95% of people for giving off a clean, professional appearance which is invaluable in today's social market.

Social opportunities are always offered to those that look clean, professional and successful. Maintain your appearance and invest in your first 3 seconds because it only takes 1 person or opportunity to change your life. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Please share this article if you found it helpful!

By Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

Remember: Share this article if you found it useful!

Today I had lunch with Troy MacDonald, the leader of the local Winnipeg Property Investor's Network and we were talking about mindset.

Mindset is perhaps, one of the most important assets in business or entrepreneurship.

Most people think that money is holding them back from reaching their dreams, but in fact, money does not exist. The only thing holding them back from reaching their dreams is in fact mindset.

When I was 22 years old I made the choice to go into real estate investing. I had literally no money and no experience... all I had was passion, a gut feeling that real estate was where I wanted to go and a very strong reason why I wanted to pursue real estate.

All I had was guts and passion. The little money I did earn as a guitar teacher was invested primarily in real estate education, seminars, and books. Since many of these educational seminars are extremely expensive ($1500-$30,000) and all of my cash from my job went into funding my education, I learned how to operate my real estate business and my other businesses with no cash.

I was on the NO CASH DIET.

If I found a property I wanted to buy, I was unable to buy it because I had no cash and often no credit, so I had to raise the money. I had to learn how to "bootstrap" and keep my operating budgets razor thin. I also had to learn how to motivate and keep team members on the team and working for me with no cash. None of this is particularly easy to do, but I was forced to learn the skills because my passion told me to go into real estate and I "jumped in" feet first.

Cash is never a problem for me today in my business because I started with none, have operated with none, acquired all of my property with no cash, renovated buildings with no cash, motivated teams with no cash, travelled with no cash and have learned how to live with no cash.

My mindset has transformed from a "cash required" mindset to a "no cash required" mindset.

Many people who get into real estate or business think that they need cash for all of the above:

Their mindset is lazy.

Most people think that business is like walking into a McDonald's and buying a Big-Mac. If they want the Big-Mac, they have to buy it cash. If they don't have cash, they can't buy the Big-Mac. Nothing could be further from the truth.

There are many ways to get a no money down Big-Mac, but you need to be creative.

Unfortunately, having cash makes you lazy in your mindset and although I am excellent at operating with no cash, I am not immune to the laziness that comes with having cash.

Whenever I have a windfall profit and suddenly "have cash", I quickly find out how stupid I can be as I spend my windfall profits on stupid, meaningless purchases. I don't go out of control, but I definitely notice that my intelligence goes "down" when my personal cash goes "up".

Understand that money is a drug, the more you have, the more you want. If you have none, money cannot control you. It's very liberating.

In the movie Wall Street 2, there is quote I will never forget. One character asks the other "how much money do you want?" the answer is "more".

We are all programmed to be the same. We always want more money. 

We have some... then we want more, If we have more... we STILL want more. There is no end to the madness and the only cure for the "more" disease is a "No cash diet".

In ancient times, fasting or taking all food out of a person's diet for a few days was a way to purify the body of addictions. It was a way to keep the mind in control of the body and not have the body control the mind with it's cravings and addictions.

Today we have lost the idea of fasting for the most part and let our addictions rule our decision making.

Money is no different. To stop a money addiction, you must fast from money - go on a "no cash diet".

Of course, choosing to be on the "no cash diet" is extremely painful, scary, socially disturbing and many people would rather be dead than live on the "no cash diet".

The truth is, I am no different, I hate being on a no cash diet because it's very painful. However, as Dr. Nido Cubein says: "Pain is mandatory, suffering is optional."

Throughout my life, my passion has forced me into a situations where I had no options but to go on a "no cash diet" to chase my dreams because I literally had no other way.

I wanted to participate in real estate as an investor as a young man, not an old man and refused to become a realtor. I bought the home study course to become a realtor 3 times and have never had the stomach to open it. My only option for pursuing my passion was to operate as a real estate investor with NO CASH.

Since starting in real estate, I find myself in situations over and over again where I am operating a business that is hopelessly undercapitalized but I know how to work the business and grow it to be successful because I have lived on the "no cash diet".

The best way to get on the "No cash diet" is to literally quit your job, have no plans on getting another one and start up a business on nothing but guts and passion. HOWEVER, I do not recommend this for anyone, there is extreme risk with doing something like this... Plus your girlfriend/wife will hate you and potentially divorce you.

I have quit my job with no plans of ever becoming an employee again 3 times and twice I have been forced back into employee-land because I could not assemble a proper business.

The decision to go on a "no cash diet" is a big one, and a decision that 99% of people never choose to pursue because they favour comfort and security over freedom.

Truthfully, I think that many entrepreneurs get themselves into stupid and risky situations that force them into a no cash mindset. I don't think anyone is really born with the mindset because it is too abstract to comprehend. Usually the mindset is created through a combination of the following:

1. Failure
2. Bankruptcy
3. Job Loss/Job Quitting
4. Starting a business blindly on passion
5. Over leveraging to pursue a dream

All of these situations have a pain threshold and have their own risks. However, if you find yourself going through some of those experiences listed above, you will find out that once you get over the initial shock of getting out of your comfort zone and exploring your deepest fears, you will find (if you are mentally tough enough to survive) that you do not need Cash for any aspect of your life.

If you can survive through one of the more traumatic experiences above, you will see money for what it truly is. Money is absolutely worthless and it does not even exist in the first place. 

Money is an enslavement tool that governments print it out of thin air when they need it. Why should governments be the only ones allowed to print? Why don't you print some too?

Once you have removed yourself from being a slave to money and realize that you no longer need it, you will learn to become "the master of money" and see it as a tool build and chase your dreams.

Although no one is born with a "no cash diet", Children who become entrepreneurs often come from parents who are either:

1. Dead, or
2. Incompetent

Dead or incompetent parents forces children into a "no cash diet" early in life and the children never become addicts of the money-drug. These types of children become shrewd, creative and are often wildly successful.

While I type this article at 99 words per minute, off the top of my head, 3 multi millionaire entrepreneurs who had dead or incompetent parents are:

1. Fred Trump, Donald Trump's Father
2. "Rich Dad", Robert Kiyosaki's alternate father
3. 50 Cent

Those of us who learn the "no cash" diet early in life are the ones who have the most time to build and reach for their dreams. I had the luxury of being forced onto the diet at age 22 while many of the men above were forced onto it at age 11 or 12. No matter what your age, consider what a "no cash" diet is and how you can emulate one to free yourself from the money-drug that rules 99% of the population.

Thanks for reading,
Stefan Aarnio
Freedomway.ca

P.S. Share this article if you found it useful!