The first foreclosure Bruce ever doorknocked was an elderly woman who had $ 13,000 of debt on a $ 64,000 house . Because he didn ' t want to make the woman homeless , Bruce was able to get the lender to arrange a loan for her — largely thanks to the equity she had in the house . Therefore , she was able to keep her house .
Bruce said he wants both sides of that when he ' s a buyer . He wants to be able to look across the table and if he can help the seller make the decision he ' d make if he were in their situation , he also wants to be kind enough to let them know when they ' re making a mistake .
I asked Bruce how he switched from real estate as a job to having freedom and creating financial stability .
" It really wasn ' t a priority to me , so I kept very little inventory for rentals for the first 15 year plus years ; I just flipped ," he said .
He added that Jack Fullerton was influential in saying , " That ' s great , but what happens if you get hurt or sick ? How are you going to have income coming in ?"
Bruce said he took that question to heart . While on vacation in Maui , he listened to Robert Kiyosaki ' s Rich Dad , Poor Dad . Thus , he learned Kiyosaki ’ s four ways to make income quadrant .
Bruce said he was always working for someone else or selfemployed ( the left side of the quadrant ) — but on the right side of the quadrant , he was attracted to the two that involved running a business that didn ' t need him and collecting checks from investments .
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From that vacation on , Bruce changed the way he made income . He said he ' s not selfemployed because when he goes on vacation , his business can run without him . Thus , he runs a company . Bruce ' s loan business , education business , and rentals all started to run without him , and he said he ' s probably the least needed person at The Norris Group .
According to Bruce , it took him until late 2005 for his rental income to allow him to feel financially free . He had to think long term and at age 33 , a $ 30,000 profit from a flip was more appealing to him than a cash flow of $ 200 . Bruce said it took him a while to want to be methodical with the rental income and to actually fulfill that vision .
Bruce and The Norris Group can be reached at www . thenorrisgroup . com
CHRISTINA SUTER
As the founder and lead consultant of Ground Level Consulting , Christina L . Suter brings two decades of realworld experience as a serial small business owner and real estate investor . She developed her extensive financial and operational skills firsthand as she faced and overcame each difficulty that appeared along the way . As a result , she started up , managed and sold several businesses successfully , while developing an extensive real estate portfolio .
In 2002 , Christina made the decision to leverage her experience into helping other small business owners and property owners through a consulting practice that works the way an entrepreneur works , dealing with the pressing problems of a business on the ground level and in real time . Since then , she has supported numerous companies throughout southern California and the western United States move beyond surviving to thriving .
Christina ' s solid background and educationincluding a Bachelors in Business , an Associates in Teaching and a Masters in Psychologystrongly influence her work with your company as a Ground Level client . Not only does she have a keen insight into what will make or break the success of your business , but she can teach you the skills you need going forward . And she does this in a warm , supportive , nonjudgmental way that is always highly respectful of your personal values .
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