HOLD author Steve Chader has been involved in the Millionaire Real Estate Series since the very first book – The Millionaire Real Estate Agent – when Gary invited him to Austin to discuss real estate. He and his partner, Jennice Doty (another HOLD author) co-own a property management company, worked with investors, and invested themselves. So the conversation eventually steered toward investing. Later, they helped mastermind The Millionaire Real Estate Investor. Steve says: “HOLD was just a natural part of the process.”
In the book, Steve acknowledges his real estate investing mentor, Bob Laird, who was the very first broker Steve worked with when he first joined the real estate world. Steve credits Bob with teaching him how to analyze properties and determine what’s a good investment and what’s not. Now Steve is able to pass on his expertise, and says he lives by the statement: The more we share, the more we grow.
KellerINK Team: Is there one, most important thing you’d like readers to get from reading this book?
Steve: Investing is easy once you get started. The purpose of the book is to make it easier to get started.
KellerINK Team: What’s the biggest reason for recommending real estate as a method for building wealth?
Steve: Leverage. You can purchase six-figure assets with a relatively small amount of cash. Leverage makes it accessible. And your growth is compounded on the asset’s value, not the cash invested. Leverage accelerates your growth. Real estate is the most powerful tool for an average person to build wealth.
KellerINK Team: In the book you tell the story of how your grandfather helped you buy your first investment property. Do you have another really powerful example about successful, long-term investment?
Steve: When I first started helping people learn how to invest in real estate, we lived just outside of the busiest Air Force base in Arizona. People moved here, studied on the base, became pilots and left. When they moved, most who had purchased a house were selling. Once they learned how to keep their home as a rental, many of them built a large amount of wealth. They even came back to continue buying, and some held their properties for 15-20 years.
KellerINK Team: Is there anything you do different now, compared to when you started, that’s made a big difference in your investment strategy?
Steve: I would have moved faster. Actually, I would have done more AND moved faster. I made many mistakes by not following the HOLD model. I thought I was smarter than the model. Those mistakes came back to cost me a lot of money.
KellerINK Team: What’s the best thing about real estate investing?
Steve: There’s a whole network of people you can bring around you to help you make the right decisions.
KellerINK Team: Now let’s have some fun… Tell us about the last time you laughed out loud?
Steve: (Laughing) You just made me laugh out loud. But I was watching videos from this website the other day that featured kids and their outrageous answers to test questions. Some were so creative. That made me laugh!
KellerINK Team: What song is up next in your iTunes playlist?
Steve: Van Morrison, Wild Nights
