Title: “From Crisis to Prosperity: How Chris Prefontaine Navigated the 2008 Crash”
Episode: 189
“What hinder success is mental blockage and mindset issues.”
In this episode, best-selling author Chris Prefontaine talks about Real Estate on Your Terms, a book he wrote in 2017. He also tells about his experiences with the crash in 2008 he went through.
Listen as he also talks about cash positions and how Profit First helped along his real estate investing journey. Enjoy the show!
Key Takeaways:
[01:01] Introducing Chris Prefontaine
[03:22] What is Creative Real Estate?
[06:54] Why do people struggle with money in real estate?
[08:17] Chris before his Profit First Journey
[11:41] Getting and meeting the right people
[15:35] Hardest lessons on his entrepreneurial journey
[19:17] Get an Executive Assistant
[21:18] Chris’ advice to people starting in real estate investing
[22:10] Connect with Chris Prefontaine
Quotes:
[07:16] “If you try a bunch of courses and it didn’t have the same success… you get a little bit less aggressive.”
[10:45] “Exposure means so much more than we think, more effective than we all realize… it means a lot.”
[15:54] “Don’t utilize your personal signature to sign on debt, especially for investment.”
Connect with Chris:
Website: https://smartrealestatecoach.com/
Tired of living deal to deal?
If you are a real estate investor or business owner who is tired of living deal to deal and want to double your profits, head over here to book your no-obligation discovery call with me. Either myself or someone from my team will hop on a short call with you to get clear on your business goals, remove any obstacles holding you back, and map out a game plan to help you finally start keeping more of the money you work so hard to make. – David
Transcript:
Speaker 1:
And the lesson was, if I, if I just pick one, it was to not well, they’re all combined kind of not utilize banks unless you absolutely 100% have to because it’s a family move and you’ve gotta be in an area and you gotta get a mortgage. You better not, don’t utilize your personal signature to sign on debt, especially for investment. Just don’t do it. Don’t mix the two and then be conscious through profits first. Coincidentally, right, not coincidentally on purpose here I’m saying it of the cash positions.
Speaker 2:
If you’re a real estate investor who’s sick and tired of living deal to deal, then welcome home. Hear from everyday real estate investors just like you, and discover how they’ve completely transformed their business by taking a profit First approach. This is the profit first for r e I podcast, where we believe revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. It’s time to start making profit a habit in your business. So here’s your host, David Richter.
Speaker 3:
This episode we have Chris Prefontaine super excited because he talks about real estate on your terms. He tells about the crash in 2008 and how he went through that and some of the things where he got out of the funky was in and the key components. I think that’s gonna be a huge benefit to you no matter where you are in the real estate game right now. If you have any mental blockages, any mindset issues, that’s a big one. Then he also talks about cash positions. The first hire you should make right now today if you are unsure of what that one is. And then another secret he said that has been huge for him that he hasn’t done since 2008. That almost took, that did take him down in 2008 as well. This is a great one. He’s a big fan of profit first. So he talks about his mindset there and how that helped him along his journey. Thank you so much for being a listener of this podcast. I appreciate you and enjoy the episode. Hey, so Chris Prefontaine is back. I’m excited about this because he is a avid proponent of Profit First uses it in his business, has helped other people see the light and now having him back on the show. So Chris, glad to have you back.
Speaker 1:
I’m glad to be back, Dave, especially you have to just chat with you recently, so we gotta hang out more.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah, we do. Yeah, for sure. So tell people, it’s been a couple years since you’ve been on, so just tell people in the last couple years, what have you been up to? Where have you, what are you doing these days?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah. So, well that brings us back to Covid, right? So at Post Covid we got back to live events which is awesome. As good as everybody thought Zoom was. Live events are nice. What’s cool in the real estate world is all these low interest rates that everybody saw, two, three, 4% we’re buying properties now with those as underlying interest rates. Meanwhile, the market’s at whatever it’s at, right? 5.86, whatever. So really cool times. Right now we’re back to some record months and properties under agreement and this is the time, in my opinion, the time to be in creative real estate. I, in my three, two years, I’m saying this is like one of the best segments I’ve seen to be in market right now. It’s pretty cool.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Is there’s any particular reason for that? Why would people jump into creative real estate?
Speaker 1:
Well, okay, I just said this on a show. I I it, it’s so tiring when people go, well I’m waiting for the, the bottom, I’m waiting for the top. And listen, it is one constant real estate. It changes constantly. So how about you get really good at understanding how to find motivation with a seller and then structuring the deal, that’s the key thing. And be able to pivot in any market up, down and sideways. That’s the whole nature of creative, the word creative real estate in what we call on your terms. So that’s why I love it. You do, you don’t have to worry about the market. Like you literally don’t stress with it.
Speaker 3:
I love that. ’cause A lot of the people that are listening probably just wanna get into real estate or start in real estate. And I feel like this is a good tool to have in your tool belt no matter what you’re doing in the real estate game. Would you agree?
Speaker 1:
Well, yeah, because to your point, once you have that tool, right, you have it for life. It’s like profits first. Okay, I learned it. I, I I want to talk to Dave on and on and on, I want to use, but if I don’t, I learned it. It’s the same with creative real estate. I try to tell people, you go to school, people go to school for what, four years, eight years, sometimes more. It boggles my mind that they don’t think twice about that. But when we talk about spending time and money and resource on yourself for a skillset that’s gonna, you know, return our investment’s crazy, then they balk at it or they could balk at it. It just, no, doesn’t even con I can’t contemplate that.
Speaker 3:
So why do you think it is if you can’t contemplate put yourself in their shoes? Do you think there’s specific reasons for that? ’cause I feel like it’s the same thing walking down the profit first road sometimes too.
Speaker 1:
I do. There’s probably a bunch, but here’s one that came to mind right when you said it. And that is the, it’s every industry. The, the marketers are really good at marketing. And so therefore I unfortunately can’t always get the person before they’ve been tainted or sold a product. Yeah. That didn’t in their eyes work. And I, I know it’s a fact, there’s a gap between a time when someone sees a, takes a course or sees a seminar in the time they do a deal. And unfortunately, sadly the gap is sometimes they, you know, forever, right? They just don’t get to a first deal. There was two students, this probably a whole bunch more I don’t know about, but there are two students in our community right now that have done, actually sadly one passed away, sorry, he was in our community and the other one still is.
They’ve done over a million dollars in accumulation of three paydays with our system. But they came to us and said, my wife or my spouse and my significant other, they don’t want me to do this. Why? Because I bought all these courses and those two had spent a hundred grand Dave, six figures Oh wow. A hundred grand before meeting us. So I said, okay, I get it. I know you’re bummed, but treat that as I stacked an education is what you did and then you now you’re gonna parlay it into what we got going on. You just went to school too long and you paid too much, but it’s okay.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, it sounds like they’re one of the ones that came back and were actually able to get on the right side of that. ’cause You hear a lot of people that not only their spouse is tainted, they’re pretty tainted after a lot of that as well too. So
Speaker 1:
I agree. Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 3:
No, that’s good. I, it sounds, it sounds like in what you’re doing that you’re helping people actually <laugh> turn their life around as well and get to where they really want to be, even if they’ve invested too much in their education or that stuff as well too.
Speaker 1:
Well, our written purpose, and it’s not behind me ’cause I have my banner up, but my written purpose is everywhere in my office, is to help individuals and families create the life of their dreams. That’s not a, that’s not create a, a real estate deal that’s not helping family do real. It’s so, it’s a big endeavor we’re on and, and it does take getting in the trenches and helping them do deals and really understanding what goes on and then build a life, not just a deal.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, yeah. And I hear nothing but good stuff on that side, so, which is, which is great. So then, okay, flip side, why do you think most people don’t understand or struggle with the money aspect on in real estate or just business in general? So if they’re struggling on like the deal side, and we talked about that a little bit, what about the money side?
Speaker 1:
Well it probably goes deeper than you and I can do, but it’s this, we all have money habits, right? Yeah. We all have a money blueprint and people call it different things, but, and, and it’s not always conscious. For four years after the crash, I was stuck in my head about what was going on and was it my fault? You know, so, so sometimes you don’t know consciously, number one. Number two, when you’ve, if you were someone that tried a bunch of courses and I, and I’d like to see if you, you agree with this, I don’t care what industry, you tried a bunch of courses and if it didn’t have the same success, you get a little bit less aggressive with saying, oh I, this works no matter what. I’m gonna trust the blind faith and I’m gonna find the resources. I’ll find a partner or whatever I gotta do. I, it’s harder to do as you get painted. So unfortunately we have, to me, you everyone has to kind of like wipe the whiteboard, clean the slate clean and go, I trust it. And I, and, and if you do that and you do it for three years with blinders on, I know you all have a great experience, meaning you, you follow someone, you, you get that tutelage and you do that for three years without deviating any shiny objects. I think you’ll have a great experience and you’ll get rid of that. But it’s tough.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, no, I, I understand that for sure. I think a lot of people struggle with the financial side. So what about you? Let’s talk about just about some of your profit First journey and like, ’cause I know you’ve been a big, a big fan of this for a while. So what did life look like before Profit First? Did you have that type of system before the crash or did it come after the crash when you
Speaker 1:
Started? We started profits first at a offsite meeting in 2000 and let me think. We brought the table in 19, at the end of the year was in place. Okay. So it was, it was just before coincidentally. And it’s all spreadsheeted out and Google Sheets is super sweet and predictable. So again, it’s almost like that. So you don’t have to stress thing about the real estate market. Same with profits first. Once you have it, you’re not stressing, it doesn’t matter what the market’s doing, doesn’t you, you got it.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, no, I And so then before that, ’cause you said after like the first four years after the crash that things weren’t fun. So you know, you’re stuck in your head. So what were you thinking back then? Was it just like fear of doing a deal or was it more like fear of going out there and having it all crumble again? Like what was the big thing that was in your head for those four years after the crash?
Speaker 1:
Well a, can I even do it right? Okay. Even though I’d been in the business for whatever, 18 years before that, it was, can I even do it? ’cause You get tainted mentally was nothing to do with skillset. It’s all mental. Okay. be before, you know, coming outta that crash. So for four years it was working out of the junk right. And getting set up. And then when I ran into, just to tie these things together, when I ran into proves first to me, it was like another stackable thing that I can go, okay, it’s another solid foundation. Right, okay. Because this is all things, it’s the mental work and there’s, you know, there’s the right people, but this is another solid foundation to go, okay, tack it on. It’s another good thing to solidify a position.
Speaker 3:
Okay. So that helped you just create more of the foundation for what you needed in your business, but what would you say when, how did you get over the, can I do it? You know, like a lot of people go through that and then they stay stuck. They, they don’t have what you have now where you’re very successful and you’re making a big impact with other people and helping them be successful, but you got through that mental garbage of the, can I do it? What was one of the big things coming out of that to help you?
Speaker 1:
I’m gonna use the word exposure here, David. Because I thought all that stuff was bad that I went through until I got with, there was actually two people, but a couple individuals that when I laid it all out, one of ’em literally chuckled, like laughed at me in a, in a loving way and going, okay, lemme tell you why I just did that and laid out all their headaches problems, pivots, changes. And I went, okay, I guess mine’s not that bad, so how do I get out? So it was exposure to people and exposure to the right people because if you just stay in your head like I did for that long, I could have got outta there. I could’ve got out of it in hindsight in one or two years instead took four. Hmm. So exposure, exposure is it, it means so much more than we think. It’s so much more effective than we all realize. It means everything, like who you hang out with, who you listen to, who you read, everything, it means a lot.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So would you say during those four years, you had people in your life that were keeping you in that cycle as well too? Or was it a mainly a internal struggle?
Speaker 1:
That’s a good question. I I’m gonna say not consciously. Right. Okay. It wasn’t like they, they would do anything wrong. It’s just that I I we get to choose who we hang out with, right? Yeah. And so if you choose to hang out with people that are walling about that or talking about that or going backwards that you’re gonna have more of that. It’s just no way around it. So yeah, c not consciously, but yeah, I, I put myself in that position, I’m sure.
Speaker 3:
Okay. So then where did you find the right people? Did you go to an event or was it like through your network and referrals or was it just like, I’m tired of that, like I gotta find someone else that’s been through this or what, how did you get to that to even get around the right people?
Speaker 1:
Yeah. One was a past relationship in, in the past business and I knew he had a bunch of businesses and so I just looked for people. The short answer is I looked for people that built businesses, but that I knew went through some economic challenges. Okay, so it’s like you, you, you have clients in different industries. I, you know, in real estate it’s, it’s real simple. Make sure you follow someone ’cause of what I just said, that has been through at least one, preferably two cycles. Why? Because you’re gonna go through a cycle no matter how you, you gotta come up with one. And frankly Dave, I, I like people that have been through other stuff too. Meaning that both these guys had families and had challenges other than real estate and business. Right. Because Oh, so how did you get through that if you went through all that? So I like, I went through my son’s head injuries and a coma went through nine 11, you know, so there’s all kinds of things that I lived through. So I just sought out people that lived through what I was going through. That’s all.
Speaker 3:
That makes sense. No, that’s really good because did you ever at that point get into a community? Like did those people have a community of other people or were these just one-on-one mentors?
Speaker 1:
Let’s see. One was a one-on-one, definitely I sat in his office. The other one had a community that I from afar tapped into. Yeah. but to your point, that is huge now too because especially since Covid, but the community thing is enormous. So that when you have challenges you just go to them and put it out there and you’d be amazed at what happens. We do this in not just in real estate in our community, we do it in the mindset space like you’re asking me we had mind, we have a mindset mastermind one out of the four every month now. It’s pretty important. Okay. You’d be surprised. People are very vulnerable and open and we all help each other. So. Good point.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, I was gonna say the community aspect sounds amazing as well too because then you then you can find a lot of people that are going through the same thing and a lot of people that think like you as well too. ’cause These are people that all want to grow and become better and become better business owners. But it also sounds like you’ve got life of dreams. So these are actually people that like their life and want to create a better life as well too. Is that a lot of what the community, community is centered around?
Speaker 1:
Yeah. If you look at our, sort of our avatar, right? You say who, who likes what we’re doing? Okay, well people that are really into self-improvement. Like you don’t listen to a podcast with me and you talking for half hour if you don’t love self-improvement. Right? You so that’s a big one. People coming from corporate that are saying to heck with that, I’m tired of it, I just don’t wanna do that anymore. It’s not the future. So, you know, they, so they got a big why with that. Or someone that like me went through some you know, nasty stuff and wants to fix it. Like there’s gotta be something, there’s gotta be an impetus to to, to push. Make sense?
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. How long have you had this community going?
Speaker 1:
Unofficially like 13 ish if 14 probably it started, but now it’s grown to, ’cause I say unofficially it was, you know, 12 people I was coaching on a maximum call and now it’s, you know, 150 people on Slack and weekly calls and you know, it’s a lot more involved now. So it’s been since 14 unofficially.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. So it’s what, almost 10 years now that you’ve got this community going? Yeah. And it sounds like just helping people get to where they need to be then I, I think that goes well with your story ’cause you came out of this funk of, can I even do it, got around the right people who have been, had the battle scars and now you with your battle scars are helping other people get to where they want to be. So kind of set yourself up there for like, okay, I can help you get through those as well too, it sounds like.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it’s important I think when, when people are stumbling it’s super important to be able to reach out and, and you know, get an arm, get a, get an ear, get an arm, and, and be able to do that in the inside the community. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3:
No, that’s awesome. So then what would you say, because you’ve got a lot of experience from crashes to, you saw Covid, you saw everything. What was one of the hardest lessons you’ve learned on your entrepreneurial journey up to this point?
Speaker 1:
It was definitely the oh eight headache and the, and the, and the lesson was if I, if I just pick one, it was to not well they’re all combined kind of not utilize banks. Unless you absolutely 100% have to because it’s a family move and you’ve gotta be in an area and you’ve gotta get a mortgage. You’re probably not, don’t utilize your personal signature to sign on debt, especially for investment. Just don’t do it. Don’t mix the two. And then be conscious through profits first, coincidentally, right. Not coincidentally on purpose. Yeah. I’m saying it of the cash positions because you’re, you’re, I noticed when I downsized from a two and a half acre lott overlooking in the water with an enormous mortgage and I went to a 900 square foot apartment, I noticed what that did for my cash after the crash. I noticed what that did for my mental ability to make decisions and operate and grow a business versus the opposite. So if you do those two things and you put, and you plug in what you do, you, you not gonna stress as much plain and simple. You just not ’cause your buckets are gonna be set up.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense. And that’s where those are some good lessons. So I’m guessing then you had utilized banks before and that was one of the things that hurt during the crash was
Speaker 1:
<Crosstalk>. Yeah. Signed personally. Yep. And then so in the market dipped by, you know, anywhere from 20 to 60%, some of my projects, well what happens, banker does what a banker does. They gotta come looking for the guarantor.
Speaker 3:
Yep, yep, exactly. And then the cash positions too. So you feel like after the crash, that was said a better focus and sounds like you put yourself in a better position too in your personal life and some of the changes there that affected also how you were able to make business decisions. Is that correct?
Speaker 1:
A hundred percent. My, my father’s the one who used to say the expression he used is, you gotta make a move to stop the steamroller behind you during the crash. Yeah. You know, it’s like you’re always running right. So, yeah, absolutely. It, it, it, it made a world of difference. So big house two or three outbuildings gorgeous going into a 900 square foot, one bedroom apartment. My wife and I, that’s what we did to make the sacrifice and it, and it did the trick. ’cause We, we built what we built and, and now most if not all the things we do are cash. And it’s a different night when you lay your head on the pillow with that situation versus having a bunch of mortgage out there.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Yeah. That’s, that’s a wildly different situation, which is great. A great position to be in. Okay, just a couple, few last questions here. If you were to start from scratch, what would you do differently? Like I, I think I know the answers ’cause you’ve kind of alluded to them pretty on this episode. But what would you do if you were to say, okay, I’m gonna start all over again
Speaker 1:
In addition to what we just said? To your point, I would in any market I would do this, I would just go in with my ability to get on the phone but hire an executive assistant right away. Okay. That would be the big difference. I didn’t do that right away. I just muscled that out. So it probably took a little longer and people go, I can’t afford. No, you can’t afford not to. So that would be a big change. I would, I would make and I’d find every resource to do it.
Speaker 3:
Awesome. So that would take a lot of the ticky tack admin type stuff off your plate and what you’re able to do. The revenue producing activities. That’s Yeah.
Speaker 1:
That goes back to the other point where you asked, you say, well why don’t they people do it. So if you knew you a shadow of a doubt that what we said earlier was you can put the blindness on for three years and have a great result. If you know that okay, then you hire an executive assistant, you don’t do any of that crap. It’s when you go, ah, I gotta try it, I gotta try, I gotta dip my to you try it in any business, especially real estate, you will not have success if you try you you telling the want no such thing.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, no that’s, and when you say an ea, an executive assistant right up front, would you suggest virtual assistant, an in-office person, someone that’s there in your area? Like what would you say is the best way? Like when someone’s getting first started?
Speaker 1:
I prefer, I’m gonna give you two answers. I prefer a person in with me, however. Okay. Since Covid, my building that I’m standing in right now went from us occupying everywhere to 21 people on our team being all around the country except for my son and I in a bookie, you know, so, okay. It’s changed. So we have some great, great great executive assistants that because of the ability to travel and be loose and do zoom, they’re, they’re phenomenal and that’s why they, they came to our team. So I don’t mind that anymore. I used to mind it. Now virtual is fine but there’s a difference between, let me just say this. Between a, a VA service, a virtual assistant service. Yeah. That’s runs like between five and 15 an hour and an executive assistant service that gets you sort of that corporate person that’s got some serious talents that then ’cause of covid pivoted and just wanna be an EA somewhere. Yeah. You know, flexible. That’s a big difference. We have one EA now she’s phenomenal. She’s in Spain most of the time and then comes to the states the other time and she’s an assistant from myself and my son-in-law. She’s super efficient. That’s super, super cool. But not just a virtual assistant for a few bucks an hour. I’m talking about someone quality.
Speaker 3:
Well there you go. No, I like that qualification ’cause I feel like once people hear that they’re just like oh I’ll just get a va. Yeah. And that only, like when I first started this business I had a virtual assistant but I had been working with him for like six years and he knew me inside and out. Like that’s a different situation than, okay just let’s get someone that’s just off the street for five bucks an hour and it’s like, okay wait a second. Like did you want them to actually take stuff off your plate and for you to be actually selling what you’re doing? So no that’s, I like that answer a lot.
Speaker 1:
You know what though David, on on that point, let me just add this. Once you do what we said earlier and you get the EA and you go to work, you are gonna need VAs <laugh> because you can business <laugh>.
Speaker 3:
Exactly. So we’re not, he’s definitely not knocking them. It’s more like you gotta set yourself up to be able to have someone that can do the five to $10 per hour task. So Yeah, no that’s great. This is good stuff. So then if one last question here. What advice would you give to an investor looking to implement profit first?
Speaker 1:
So I can’t go against what I just said with everything, which was get the right help. Getting your hemis, your circle your community and stay with it for goodness sakes. It’s just like I said about real estate, stay with it far along three years. I just used three years for everything. ’cause It takes more than you think. Always takes longer than you think. It’s always higher than you think but if you have someone with you for three years, it’s not so bad.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. Well there you go. Get the right help around you. Which has been a pretty much the theme of this episode from the can I do it and getting outta that funk and getting in the right, you know, the mentorships and then the right communities to okay, who do I need on the team? It’s the who not how. Right? So it’s finding those right people. But Chris, this has been awesome. If someone wants to join the community ’cause you provide a lot of value here, obviously you’re gonna be providing even probably 10 to a hundred x more like in the community with people that you’re on all the time. Like how do they get a part of that or how do they even research that?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, thank you. I appreciate it David. I’ll give a couple links and, and you know, if they’ve heard me out there and shows and they just wanna apply, they can go go on the website and apply to be an associate. But if you’re brand new and you’re kinda looking, I’m big on free, you can go to YouTube channel, type in smart real estate coach for example, and get 200 deals. You just see what we do. But I wanna give a free book. It’s not one of those put your, put your credit card in for shipping. I mean free. We’ll ship it out of this office hard copy book, not electronic. Go to wicked smartbook.com, wicked smartbooks.com/profit first. That’s for the book. If they don’t mind listening to me with my New England accent for another hour, then I got a free class. It’s worth it. ’cause You’re not gonna be bothered by anybody. You’re on your own watching it. It just go to smart realestate coach.com/masters class.
Speaker 3:
Awesome. Well then there you go. There’s the two links. Make sure to check those out. Chris and his team are legit. They do a lot of great work. Help a lot of people you will benefit from be in his circles and in his community. Then if you are listening to this and you’re like, man, I feel Chris like I understand where he was coming from, from either cash positions or not being in the right head space, go to simple cfo.com. We can help you with the cash position side. Like if you need that profit first, help simple cfo.com. You could book a call there. We’ll help you get outta that rat race, teach you the money game and how to win and make sure that you’re on the right track so that way you can hire the EAs and the executive, you know, the virtual assistants and all the people down the line too. You don’t have to worry about the cash, but remember to make profit a habit in your business. Thank you for listening and Chris, thank you for being a great guest on the show.
Speaker 1:
Thanks buddy, appreciate you. Good to see you.
Speaker 3:
This episode
Speaker 2:
Of the first for R e I podcast is over, but there are plenty more where that came from. Are you ready to learn how David and his team can help implement the Profit First system in your business? Schedule a discovery call@simplecfo.com right now. We’ll see you next time on the Profit First for r e I podcast with David Richter.
