An Inspiring Journey In Real Estate
Do you wish you could unlock the limitless potential within to lead a life by design?
Welcome back to “Inspired To Invest”. This week Steve Arneson is here for episode 82.
Steve Arneson is the the visionary CEO of the Reinvestors and co-founder of Synergy Mastermind.
In this episode, Steve shares his remarkable journey from his family’s rich history in real estate to managing ambitious development projects in British Columbia.
This episode will leave you captivated as Steve unfolds the story of his evolution from house hacking to steering large-scale ventures.
Discover how he mastered the art of delegation and built a robust business infrastructure that supports sustainable growth, while also maintaining his vision and legacy.
Listeners will gain invaluable insights into the strategic world of hiring specialists and the importance of strong business strategies.
Steve emphasizes the significance of education and mentorship in navigating the unpredictable real estate landscape, sharing lessons on leadership and communication.
With a keen eye on the future, Steve discusses his interest in international investments amid shifting regulations, offering a treasure trove of strategies for aspiring investors.
Tune in to gather actionable strategies and avoid common pitfalls, as Steve’s candid reflections provide a blueprint for achieving lasting success in real estate.
To connect with Steve, go to @stevearnesonofficial on social and https://synergymastermind.ca.
Thank you to the Wealth Club for bringing us this month’s episodes! To get the support you need to start or scale a business, sign up!
“Inspired to Invest” is proud to support the Beyond Success Program, a not-for-profit financial literacy program for students, launched by More To Give & MAK Investments. Find out more at @more2give.ca.
Join us again on Feb. 26 for our next episode!
Thank you for tuning into “Inspired To Invest”, hosted by Serena Holmes & remember, “when you invest in yourself, the sky’s the limit!”
Real Estate Investing Podcast Transcript
Speaker Names
Serena HolmesHost
00:02
Hey everybody, welcome to Inspire to Invest. I’ve got Steve Arneson here with me from Victoria BC today and he is the CEO of the Reinvestors and the co-founder of Synergy Mastermind. He is a prominent figure in real estate with a passion for the outdoors and planning his future with his fiance.
00:17
His mission is to redefine real estate perceptions, encouraging people to achieve passive income, long-term wealth and financial independence to lead a more fulfilling life. Through engaging speeches and personal guidance, Steve aims to inspire genuine happiness and personal growth, while dedicating his spare time to outdoor pursuits and seeking innovative breakthroughs in real estate to transform lives and unlock limitless potential. Thank you for taking time out of your day to be here today. How are you?
Steve ArnesonGuest
00:44
Serena, I’m awesome. It’s so nice to see you. Thanks for having me today.
Serena HolmesHost
00:48
So obviously I gave you this glowing introduction, but maybe you can take us back to the very beginning.
Steve ArnesonGuest
00:52
Sounds like an awesome person.
Serena HolmesHost
00:54
He was like I like him. Maybe you can walk me back to the very beginning and how real estate came into your life and then really became this pivotal component you know, came into your life and then really became this pivotal component.
Steve ArnesonGuest
01:07
Yeah, I kind of joke that, um, I started real estate in the womb because, uh, come from a bit of a real estate family, although I had to earn my own stripes, um, through the processes. But, you know, growing up, um, mom would drag me to like open houses on weekends and like, literally, I thought that like there’d be times where I’d have, like my girlfriend at the time in the back seat and we’d be going to like the movies or something, but no, she would take me to an open house instead. Um, you know, growing up, we just uh, we bought old kind of uh rundown places and we just put in a lot of sweat equity. So I saw it happening around me all the time. Yeah, you know, my great grandfather bought an apartment building just a couple blocks away from where I live now. Grandfather was in it, aunts and uncles were in it. Other side, like my grandparents flipped home. So it was just sort of like it’s in my blood and I bought my first live-in flip in 2012.
02:00
And then got into doing like joint venture partnerships on income properties and small BRRRS in 2015. Scaled up a nice little rental portfolio here in Victoria, british Columbia, and then that sort of graduated into some smaller multifamilies, some more medium-sized multifamilies and as I grew, as the business grew, as the market evolved, we jumped into doing development projects as well here in Victoria and a couple throughout British Columbia. And now a lot of my focus goes into the Synergy Mastermind side of things and helping everybody else go through that process of things that I’ve learned in the past and bring in expert speakers to come and inspire us, motivate us and educate us on how to become better leaders in our communities and you know for our team and how to run better businesses.
Serena HolmesHost
02:49
So now can you talk a little bit about your growing pains? So, going from that first situation where you’re kind of essentially house hacking and then you started taking on larger projects and stuff like that, how did you grow and scale, and is there anyone that kind of helped you through that process?
Steve ArnesonGuest
03:04
Yeah, like the biggest thing that I think so many people don’t talk about is usually like that that first big bottleneck where you get into. You know, for me I was doing house hacking, like you said, like doing like small duplex to fourplex or fiveplex, like multifamily BRRRS, and so we picked up a few of them and as the portfolio grows and as sort of your ambitions grow, your problems grow too, and at one point, when you get about I don’t know, is it like 15 doors, is it 25? I’m not sure but a few different properties, you start to start pulling your hair out because you have tenants calling you all the time, you have contractors going in for like little tiny repairs. You’ve got inspections going on, you’re looking at a whole bunch of different properties. You have investors that you’re talking with and all of a sudden you wake up one day and you’re like Holy crackers, like I’ve got 18 different hats on and I only have the capacity for 12 of them. And he started holding up that SOS sign.
Serena HolmesHost
04:01
Yeah.
Steve ArnesonGuest
04:03
And so that’s like where Financial freedom, you start holding up that sos sign, yeah and um. So that’s like where financial freedom, freedom handcuffed though, yeah, um and so like that was one of the biggest like things I felt was was a little bit misled about kind of getting into, like the income, property space was just all of the jobs that you take on, yeah and um. And so we had to. We had to figure out, like, what do we do? Like I had to quit my nine to five job to manage what we wanted to grow and scale into and we started having to learn how to delegate and how to become not just doers but leaders in our businesses where we can become really great recruiters, really great communicators. And we had to start kind of chipping away at building a business behind the real estate that runs the real estate.
Serena HolmesHost
04:50
Yeah, yeah, I mean I can appreciate those growing pains.
Steve ArnesonGuest
04:52
I feel like when you start to get to that point where you have to trust your business in the hands of other people, like it’s actually really overwhelming, you know, and just trying to figure out how to like let them do their thing, and stuff like that, when it is your name and your reputation and your legacy essentially that you’re putting and trusting in someone else’s hands it can be really overwhelming, um, especially when you’re so used to being the hands-on doer and you have to transition out of that space into just like being able to visualize and architect the result that you want and then being able to communicate and architect the result that you want and then being able to communicate that result in a way that the other person or people are going to be able to see it and understand it and execute it too.
Serena HolmesHost
05:33
Yeah, yeah, no for sure. Now can you talk about some of the lessons that you learned going through that process, maybe what some of your biggest takeaways would be for someone that’s just starting out or they’re kind of at that bottleneck now and they’re looking to get over it.
Steve ArnesonGuest
05:48
Yeah, the two things that I would share one is recognizing where, like doing a time audit, and recognizing where your gifts are and where your pain points are.
06:03
And so, if you can look at your calendar or the tasks that you have to do on a week to week or month to month or quarter by quarter basis and figure out like what’s really sucking either time away from you or energy or both and try to, like you know, try to push that off and delegate that first so that you can really put a lot of time and attention and energy into the things that you actually like doing and that move the needle the most.
06:28
Um, because there was times where I think, the like we would hire somebody for the skills that I had, because I knew how to like articulate those skills, and then I would go and do like the junk jobs which I hated doing, and then two months later I would be like this is even worse, right. So that’s one, and the second biggest lesson I think like I would chip away at hiring better people, which usually comes with a higher price tag but for less work than trying to compromise and pay somebody a smaller fee because you know I’m budgeted but who might just be like more of a generalist, yeah, and so I try to hire specifically, like try to work it out so you can get either creative with your properties or your business or your relationships, so that you can bring in the experts, like take on the one thing yeah um, instead of trying to, like you know, find somebody who can do it all and then they can’t quite juggle it the same way that you do, because you’ve had so many more years and have experienced more reps.
07:32
So those would be like two of the biggest lessons that I learned, probably the hard way.
Serena HolmesHost
07:35
Yeah, I can appreciate that. I mean, I think that when you are in business, you know obviously Dan, and Marcel is one of your mentors. He talks about buying back your time and hiring these people and and I guess, depending on the nature of your business, sometimes you could be in these really lucrative software businesses where there’s a lot of money coming in. Well, if you’re a small business, you may not necessarily have like an extra 200 grand lying around just to like pay somebody, right?
07:58
So it’s like you have to kind of have this balancing act between what you have now, what you have kind of coming in and anticipate coming in, so that you can afford everybody for a certain amount of time. And it takes time to onboard people and things like that. So I think that’s always a challenge for any new business. So I think you just have to look at that and be objective and onboard them appropriately and find the right systems in place so that they can excel at the role that you expect them to achieve.
Steve ArnesonGuest
08:23
Yeah, I think one of the best things that you can do if you’re in that earlier stage is find somebody who’s doing what you want to do or already trying to do, and like pay them whatever it is that they’re looking for just for a consulting session so they can understand your business and help you with business strategy. Yeah, so that you can have a plan of attack on. Here’s what I’m going to delegate first, or here’s what I’m going to jump into. Where I need to go create more revenue how am I going to do that? Into where I need to go create more revenue. How am I going to do that?
Serena HolmesHost
08:50
Yeah, and that’ll be huge ROI as long as you can continue to commit to it. Yeah, yeah, no for sure. Now, when you look back at you know the last 10 to 12 years. What would you say is something that you’re most proud of?
Steve ArnesonGuest
09:00
Oh, it’s funny how we don’t actually talk a lot about like that side of things. A lot of times it’s more like the lessons of the hardships. But, um, you know what, all along the way, um, I’ve tried to share the knowledge that I gained and it started off with, you know, a meetup here in victoria when we first started. That’s evolved into like social media, of course, but also like the synergy mastermind piece, and I’m really proud of just how, um, how that’s helped other people and that’s always been mine like thank you dad, thank you mom, for just like raising a good human out on my own back or shoulders or whatever, but like I just want to see other people live happier, more successful lives and whatever that might be for like their own definition, and I think I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to go through some of these experiences and be able to share like hey, don’t do that ever as well as here’s what’s working.
Serena HolmesHost
10:04
Yeah, yeah, I love that. So, on that note, we’re just going to take a really brief break from our sponsor and we’ll be right back. Everybody, welcome back to Inspired to Invest. I’ve got Steve Arneson here with me from Victoria BC and he’s one of the co-founders of the Reinvestors and Synergy Mastermind, and we’ve been talking about some of the challenges, lessons and also successes with growing a real estate business. One of the things I always like to ask my guests is what’s the craziest thing you ever experienced as a real estate investor so far?
Steve ArnesonGuest
10:34
I mean the last two years, like this is insane.
Serena HolmesHost
10:38
How much time do we have?
Steve ArnesonGuest
10:41
Yeah, oh man, like there’s been some funny things that we’ve found on site and you know there’s silly personalities that you bump into in this industry. You know whether it be people with you know larger eyes and stomachs sort of thing, or just big egos, or you know funny mentors. But this last couple years, like Serena, it’s just been wild. Like whoever thought the rate at which rates were going to increase happened. It just feels like total cluster f from. You know there was a storm in texas in 21 or 22 that prevented a whole bunch of supplies getting to sites.
11:22
Um, you know, geopolitics have been interesting. It’s just been. You know, I I like to geek out over the economic side of things, like back like from a macro perspective and then like slowly drill in because I think that data is like the recipe for success a lot of times in real estate, because it’s just like investment should be like more of a numbers game than an emotional play. Um, so I mean, yeah, long story short, the last two years have just been wild to see and witness and like be a part of the you know the thick of the storm, so that we can come out stronger the other side for sure.
Serena HolmesHost
12:00
Now, obviously you’re a big believer in education and you know that’s a big platform behind Synergy Mastermind. Can you talk a little bit about some of the best advice that you’ve received, or something that you would want to pass along to somebody else?
Steve ArnesonGuest
12:12
Yeah, I mean we can do a whole series of shows just on best advice over the last decade. I think one of the greatest things that that real estate and business really show you is that both and especially if you’re doing you know real estate as as a business, it is a guaranteed personal development plan plan and, um, I think one of the best pieces of advice that I could give or that I’ve ever received is just like continue to work on yourself, understand you know where your strengths are, where your quote unquote weaknesses might be. And I’m understanding, like the, the roles of running a business, and just like leaning more into that and constantly pushing yourself to kind of grow and and be compassionate with people. And um, not quite like real estate related, but it is, and real estate is very much a relationship, industry relationship game or whatnot. And um, you need to be able to be at your best so that you can give your best to your team, your investors, uh, your community, and make sure that your portfolio grows the best as well.
Serena HolmesHost
13:22
Yeah, and I think you highlighted something really important there was. Just, you know, the element of business when it comes to real estate is that I think a lot of times people go into this and they don’t necessarily have the right foundation or education to treat it like a business appropriately and being a good ambassador of other investors’ money, and I think that’s something that’s really been highlighted in the last year or two, while these challenges have happened right. So I think, for anyone who is looking to grow scale or even just get started to invest in some of that knowledge and education and make sure that you are growing appropriately so that you can grow for the future and build that legacy instead of having setbacks and they’re to be expected, but I think there’s also a lot that you can do to mitigate them along the way.
Steve ArnesonGuest
14:01
I think like one of the one of the hard parts about like getting into the right, like sort of like educational space, whether it be the coaches or masterminds or like educational programs or whatever is. It’s all sort of like fluff on the outside right. So you really have to find the characters who are either teaching or running it, and get to know their personality and their levels of integrity, because that character is going to be building the culture of that business, which is going to be the results that you are going to witness.
Serena HolmesHost
14:32
Yeah, and I think also just the structure right. Like I think one of my most successful mentorships was someone that literally spent eight hours with me, analyzed my whole business and came up with an action plan for 10 months and I was like do this, this?
14:44
by this day do this and it was like you know, I knew where I wanted to go but I didn’t know how to get there and you needed someone to literally draw you the map with all the places where you have to stop and do things right, where other times, if you’re just talking about high level concepts, it can be really hard to put them into practice and you know, everybody learns differently and things like that. But for me that was like the best $750 I ever spent on this mentorship exchange through a marketing association and you know, a mentor I’m still in touch with today, being 10 years later. So again, I think you just have to think about the strategy and how you’re going to put it into action. Now, when you look at your portfolio, obviously you have grown. You’ve done a lot of different things. What would you say is next for you.
Steve ArnesonGuest
15:22
So I recently traveled through four or five different countries in Europe and I’m really interested in some of that international investing. It was like one of my sort of like bucket list goals, you know North Stars when I first got into it and then really niched down into my backyard.
Serena HolmesHost
15:39
Yeah.
Steve ArnesonGuest
15:39
And, as you know, politics have changed and regulation has changed in British Columbia and in Canada as a whole. You know you start looking elsewhere and for me, like the US isn’t necessarily exciting. It seems really saturated as well. So went and did some homework overseas. It seems really saturated as well, so we did some homework overseas. A mentor of mine does really high end like VVIP type of short term rentals and so sort of looking at some of the areas where you might be able to grow into that space. Yeah, as the market settles, I’m always going to be looking. In my backyard too, there was a 11 unit that I just looked at. That could be like a senior’s home facility, which I think is a brilliant idea here on the West Coast. But I think things are in a blender right now For me. I’m just being patient for probably the next year, year and a half, to really pick and choose the deals that I get into.
Serena HolmesHost
16:37
Yeah, now, when you think about how real estate investing has changed your life, how do you think it looks to you now, compared to what it could have looked like had you not gone down this?
Steve ArnesonGuest
16:46
path I hated my life along like 10 years ago, so I’m so glad that it came down this way, like despite all the challenges and headwinds and personalities over the last couple of years. You know I was real estate was a bit of a savior for me.
Serena HolmesHost
17:06
Now, obviously, the name of this podcast. It’s Inspired to.
Steve ArnesonGuest
17:16
Invest. So I like a whole list of different quotes, and whenever I’m reading a book or listening to a podcast, I have a notepad on my phone that I pull up different quotes of, so one of the most recent ones was stop looking for answers and become the answer.
Serena HolmesHost
17:38
Is there anything you would want to leave anyone that is watching or listening?
Steve ArnesonGuest
17:42
Yeah, absolutely. I think, like, if you’re in Canada, like, find the groups that are near you, find the people who are doing what you want to do and there is enough time and space and energy and amazing people that you can like learn and grow for free and get some like hands-on experience. And if you’re just starting off, like, that’s the best way to do this. If you’re already, like, if you already have a couple different properties and you want to continue to grow and scale, it’s the same deal, just a different conversation. So find people who are having those different conversations and go into it with, like the expectation of how can I provide value and just authentically grow and if you’re trying to authentically grow, you will then implement and then grow and people who are like quote unquote mentor and you love to see other people succeed. So if you continue to put in the action steps, they’ll continue to want to help you.
Serena HolmesHost
18:35
Yeah, no, I hear that. Now how can anyone reach you if they’d like to connect?
Steve ArnesonGuest
18:40
Best space for me is Instagram, so it’s just at. Steve Arneson official.
Serena HolmesHost
18:44
Great, so we’ll include that in the show notes below. Thank you, of course, for taking time out of your busy day to chat with everybody today. And for anyone that we appreciate your time as well. If you have enjoyed this episode, make sure that you like, comment and subscribe below and you followed along on social at Inspire to Invest podcast. And remember, when you invest in yourself, the sky’s the limit. Thanks again.
Steve ArnesonGuest