CFD 176 - Matt Owens Talks about Time, Financial Freedom and Flipping over Real Estate Investing

Published: June 4, 2015, 3 p.m.

Mega property flipper, syndicator, multi-family property investor, CPA and leader Matt Owens says he’s had to learn to delegate now that he has a family. That takes the right team members and systems. On this Cash Flow Diary podcast episode, Matt shares his path in real estate investing with us so he can help us avoid a few pitfalls. What qualifies Matt to teach us anything? He’s flipped hundreds of properties! He is also the founder of OCG Properties. As a CPA, he really knows numbers, too. After college Matt worked for a couple of CPA firms working with really big real estate clients. He helped them with their internal controls and to decrease their tax liabilities. These companies were so large, in fact, that they were buying multi-million-dollar properties without blinking. That’s when a light went off in Matt’s head. He realized he was sitting on the wrong side of the table… so he learned how to do real estate investing. His parents and loved ones thought maybe he was crazy, but obviously he was not. He was bored in his job and wasn’t earning great money. He had little satisfaction in what he was doing. He could have worked his way up, but he saw how many hours the higher-level executives in the company were working. He didn’t want that for himself. So he took a chance. Matt had to transition from being a corporate worker to being an entrepreneurial real estate investor. He says it took self-confidence, and with the right education and continued support he could take his first steps. He adds that it comes down to breaking your mold… or the mold other people in your life have made you believe you should stay in. Matt says he feels more alive now than he ever did in his 9-to-5 job. He says he loses himself in what he does. That’s one way to know you’re doing what you love in life. What’s not to love as an investor? When you reach the point where your passive income surpasses your expenses each and every month, you want to continue having that experience. It is a driver! When asked why he quit his job to pursue his dreams, he says that he felt if he weren’t in fear of being thrown to the wolves he might not have done so well. He says that we need to risk dumping the comfort level to push ourselves to do our best. In this deeply introspective interview, Matt openly shares about his fears, failures, challenges, how he kept going even in the tough times and how he kept expanding to create the life he truly wants. You’ll learn some cool strategies and a lot about the mindset required to do well as a real estate investor and entrepreneur. You’ll also learn how Matt got back in the saddle after the 2008 crash. Here’s a hint: He learned to raise private capital and not rely on banks.