How to Achieve Your Time Freedom Point in a Challenging Economy

Using a structured approach makes not the best time to invest

If you are like many Americans or Europeans, you may be feeling anxious about the state of the economy, the again rising inflation, and the shrinking opportunities to achieve homeownership. You may be wondering how you can secure your financial future and enjoy more Time Freedom in your life.

I understand your concerns because I have been there myself.

As a former Air Force officer and executive, I faced a major setback during the Great Recession in 2009. That’s when I discovered the power of real estate investing as a way to create passive income and grow my wealth.

But real estate investing is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It requires a clear goal, a solid strategy, and a proven system. That’s why I developed the GROWER Method, a six-step cycle that helps you achieve your Time Freedom Point, which is the point where your passive income exceeds your living expenses.

In this post, I will explain what the GROWER Method is and how you can apply it to your own situation. I will also share some insights from the latest market trends and how they affect your real estate investing journey.

I am here to help you and mentor you on that journey, so you can benefit from the experience I gained in almost 20 years on my own journey to the Time Freedom Point and a portfolio of 10 properties, some commodities, and some art and stocks for diversification.

What is the GROWER Method?

The GROWER Method is an acronym that stands for:

• Goal: Define what you want to achieve and why.
• Reality: Assess where you are now and what challenges you face.
• Obstacles & Opportunities: Explore different ways to reach your goal and choose the best one.
• Way Forward: Create an action plan and execute it with accountability and support.
• Evaluate: Monitor your progress and adjust your plan as needed.
• Review & Reward: Review how your actions and results impact your original goal to potentially adjust and celebrate your achievements and enjoy the benefits of your success.

The GROWER Method is based on decades of research and experience in coaching, mentoring, and consulting with leaders at organizations like Boeing, Bayer AG, Genentech, Accenture, Roche, Medtronic, Ball Corp, Pacira Biopharmaceuticals, Myovant Sciences, Eaton Corp., Erasca, and many more.

It is also inspired by my own personal journey as a real estate investor and the founder of The Ideal Wealth Grower, a company that helps people create passive income through turnkey rental property investments in cash-flowing markets across the US.

How to Apply the GROWER Method to Real Estate Investing

Let’s see how you can use the GROWER Method to achieve your Time Freedom Point through real estate investing.

Goal

The first step is to define your goal. What do you want to achieve with real estate investing? How much passive income do you need to cover your living expenses? How long do you want or can it take to reach your Time Freedom Point? What is the WHY behind your goal? We also sometimes use Brendon Burchard’s term of BHAG, the Big Hairy Audacious Goal to allow ourselves to dream big.

For example, your goal could be to generate $10,000 per month in passive income within 10 years so that you can quit your job, travel the world, and spend more time with your family.

Reality

The next step is to assess your current reality. Where are you now in relation to your goal? How much passive income do you have currently? How much money do you have available to invest? What are your strengths and weaknesses as an investor? What are the opportunities and threats in the market?

For example, your reality could be that you have $2,000 per month in passive income from two rental properties that you own in your local market. You have $100,000 in savings that you can use to invest. You have some experience in managing properties, but you lack the time and knowledge to find and analyze deals in other markets. You see that there is a high demand for rental properties in some areas of the country, but there is also a lot of competition and regulation.

Your situation could also be at an earlier stage of development into an investor. You might have a few hundred dollars each month you could invest, currently own mainly stocks and maybe some crypto, and have realized that you are sensitive to marketing.

Options, Opportunities, and Obstacles

The third step is to explore your options. What are the different ways that you can reach your goal? What are the pros and cons of each option? How do they align with your risk tolerance, time availability, and personal preferences?

For example, some of the options that you could consider are:

· Buying more properties in your local market

· Buying properties in other markets by yourself

· Buying properties in other markets with a partner or a team

· Buying turnkey properties from a reputable provider

· Investing in real estate syndications or funds

If you have not previously invested in real estate and realize that your awareness about every Dollar you earn and spend is low, we might start there and help you identify how much of your current income you want to spend on consumption and how much you can and want to use to invest.

There are also options to convert some money you may have put into accounts like IRA, 401K, etc. back into your control. That has some obstacles due to the rules but possibly also some hurdles in your mindset that might need to be explored.

Way Forward

The fourth step is to choose your way forward. Based on your analysis of your options, what is the best strategy for you to reach your goal? How will you implement it? What resources do you need? Who will help you along the way? (My team and I do if you decide to join us — hint hint)

For example, based on your situation, you may decide that buying turnkey properties from a reputable provider is the best option for you. You will need to find a provider that has a proven track record, a transparent process, and a strong network of professionals in the target markets. You will also need to work with a lender, an accountant, a lawyer, and an insurance agent to finance, structure, and protect your investments.

Recognizing that you need all these services and professionals is an important step but finding them, especially the good ones, and getting them to work for you is an additional challenge. That’s why I believe that doing these things together and benefiting from my decades of experience is making the journey safer, avoiding mistakes, and allowing you to build your portfolio while potentially also aligning your mindset as your wealth grows.

Evaluate

The fifth step is to evaluate your progress and possibly adjust your original goal.

How are you doing in relation to your goal?

What are the results that you are getting from your investments and your new behaviors?

What are the feedback and data that you are collecting?

What are the lessons that you are learning?

What are any additional changes that you need to make both with money and for yourself?

For example, you may evaluate your progress by tracking your cash flow, net worth, return on investment, occupancy rate, tenant satisfaction, property condition, market trends, tax benefits, and legal compliance.

You may also seek feedback from your provider, your team, your mentors, and your peers.

You may learn new skills, strategies, techniques, and tools to improve your investing performance.

You may adjust your plan based on new information, opportunities, or challenges.

You will become part of a new community of like-minded people. I can say that the residential real estate investing community is full of extremely friendly, helpful, supportive people who all want to lift each other towards a better life and more freedom.

I know that sounds almost too good to be true, especially as we are constantly told that only the most selfish and competitive operator wins. In the last two decades as a member of the REI community, I can attest that it is different. I would even go as far as claiming that the community achieves more with more joy than most other business communities. That in and of itself is a good reason to join. Being part of something allows you to let some of the goodness rub off on you and have fun.

Reward and Review

The final step is to review your progress and reward yourself. The GROWER process is a cycle and keeps going. It is part of a bigger cycle that I call the “Journey to the Time Freedom Point” or “The IDEAL Investor Journey”.

This journey takes many individual GROWER cycles to travel from initially analyzing your financial situation and your goals so we can identify a path to your Time Freedom Point.

As soon as you start you will experience the first changes and use the Review & Reward step to make adjustments to your goals. As you move forward you will keep adding investment properties and grow your portfolio. With that physical growth comes growth in your views and behaviors that will lead to further changes overall. You will review ad answer questions like:

What are the benefits that you are enjoying from your success?

How are you celebrating your achievements?

How are you sharing your wealth and wisdom with others?

How are you expressing your gratitude and appreciation?

How do you help expand the community and invite others in your inner circle or social network to join and participate?

For example, you may reward yourself by taking a vacation, buying a gift, donating to a cause, or hosting a party.

You may celebrate your milestones, such as buying your first property, reaching a certain income level, or moving closer to your Time Freedom Point.

You may share your wealth and wisdom by mentoring others, creating content, or speaking at events. You may express your gratitude and appreciation by thanking your provider, your team, your mentors, and your peers.

Markets 2024 and beyond

How to Navigate the Current Market Trends

Now that you know how we help you to apply the GROWER Method to real estate investing, let’s take a look at some of the current market trends and how they affect your strategy.

According to a recent report by Zillow, US home prices are expected to rise by 11.7% in 2023 and 5.5% in 2024. The main reason for this increase is the lack of supply of homes for sale compared to the high demand from buyers. The report also predicts that rent growth will accelerate by 9.5% in 2023 and 5.9% in 2024.

It is often forgotten that we are not living in a static market where there is a given number of people who live with parents, in apartments, in condos, in rented houses or in their own houses.

In many developed countries the population is declining and the number of people actually participating in the real estate market is declining with the population.

The United States is different and unique in this aspect. The population is increasing based on official numbers by a little more than 1 Million people each year.

This group or more than 1 million people is looking for housing of all kinds, often driven by income, age, and family status.

For 2023 the expected number of new multi-family housing is about 400000 units. There will also be some new single-family units, but it is less than the growth in population.

It has been less than the continued growth of the population for the last 10 years. Some experts estimate that there could be more than 5 million units missing. That creates huge demand, especially when interest rates come back down to more normal levels in the next 3–5 years.

These trends indicate that there are still opportunities for real estate investors to capitalize on the appreciation and cash flow potential of rental properties. However, they also imply that finding deals will become more challenging and competitive, especially as long as interest rates are as high as today. Therefore, investors need to be more selective, diligent, and creative in their approach.

One way to overcome these challenges is to work with a community like ours and benefit from established relationships with turnkey providers that have access to off-market properties in cash-flowing markets across the US. By doing so, you can save time, money, and hassle in finding and managing properties that meet your criteria and goals.

Another way to mitigate these challenges is to diversify your portfolio across different markets, asset classes, and strategies. By doing so, you can reduce your risk exposure and increase your return potential.

Conclusion

In conclusion, real estate investing is a powerful way to achieve your Time Freedom Point and enjoy more time freedom in your life. However, it requires a clear goal, a solid strategy, and a proven system.

The GROWER Method is a six-step cycle that helps you.

• define what you want to achieve and why,
• assess where you are now and what challenges you face,
• explore different ways to reach your goal and choose the best one,
• create an action plan and execute it with accountability and support,
• monitor your progress and adjust your plan as needed,
• and celebrate your achievements and enjoy the benefits of your success.

By seeking my help, joining our community applying the GROWER Method to real estate investing, and following the latest market trends, you can secure your financial future and live the life of your dreams.

If you want to learn more about how I can help you achieve your Time Freedom Point through turnkey rental properties in cash-flowing markets across the US, please visit my website at https://idealwealthgrower.com.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!