An Interview with Chris Bedgood

Chris Bedgood is a real estate investor entrepreneur who is a house rehabber and who holds the title of president of the San Diego REIA. Chris was a star of the the A&E show Flipping San Diego in 2013 and he currently works for Sotheby's International. Chris will be presenting at FIBI Pasadena in October and I invited him on my radio show to discuss all things real estate.

"Why Real Estate?"

Chris says that he joined the Navy at age 17 and was working on airplanes and 7 years into that he decided to get his FAA license and work in the civilian world. He ended up in the corporate aviation world for a company called Gulf Stream as a private mechanic and when clients would show up he wondered how those clients earned so much money. The majority of the airplane owners, he found out, had real estate and investor background and during his downtime at work he started looking into real estate mentoring. He got into flipping houses, experienced the ups and downs that venture can bring, and in 2010 when the market cycled, he figured out how to flip without using his own money. His momentum built and now he wholesales as well.

Chris says to focus on your goals and what success means to you, not to focus on what other people are doing. Learn, get a mentor, attend FIBI meetings, and don't be afraid to fail and continue to persist. Chris says he didn't always have the right training and he felt like he was winging it at times, but he kept going and now, with the market in a transition, he is focusing on wholesaling. He currently has a vacant lot project he's going to develop and put 7 townhomes on. He's built a network and he continues to watch the market.

For me, Christina, I'm an investor and have been for years but what I love about what Chris says is that he remains active in the field but inactive enough that he can manage and control his timelines. I enjoy the ability to do work I enjoy, invest and still be able to spend time with my daughter; I enjoy the freedom real estate brings. But I also know that there are people who get into flipping and they get stuck in that and it consumes their life and time. 

Chris has been putting things into place throughout his career and he's involved in multi-million dollar remodels in parts of California. There's a lot of opportunity to adjust he says when you know what your risk tolerance is. But if you're just getting into the business, he recommends wholesaling to keep your risk down. 

Bedgoodisms

Chris' last name is Bedgood, and someone who was a fan of the Flipping San Diego show he was on enjoyed the things he said on that show so much that they began tweeting them as bedgoodism149 and thus, the term was born. When Chris wrote his book his editor decided to use that and they are the positive and negatives of the real estate business. Right now he has 16 of them and he shared the following negative one and positive one with and will be sharing all 16 at my FIBI meeting.

Failing Forward: You aren't a failure or you haven't failed unless you never come back from a failure. If a wholesale fails and you go back to your day job and give up, that's failing. Instead, if you learn from the failed wholesale and succeed next time, the first time was an educational experience for you, not a failure. Sometimes the learning experiences are what help you move forward; don't be afraid to fail, be afraid of not learning from your failures.

Pessimistic Optimists: Real estate investors can't go into a deal with rose color glasses on, optimistic that everything will go right, but must instead enter into deals with pessimism, which is really just business. Assume the worst and make the best out of it (money). When you're getting into the business, you can't assume that everyone is telling you the truth, or the full truth. You must do your due diligence and enter into deals as an informed party.

I, Christina personally use the phrase discernment meaning you don't have to be negative, positive, or confused, but discern whether you are being told the full truth. 

Chris shared his 3 top tips for investors:

1. Find a mentor- get under the guidance of someone who can answer questions, give you advice, and guide you.

2. Be careful of forming partnerships when you first start out. Avoid forming corporations, instead partner on deal per deal because not everyone will be as motivated as you on every deal. 

3. You can always start out flipping houses, but Chris recommends becoming a bird dog or becoming a wholesaler who plays the role of middleman. 

Chris is teaching a Find It and Fund It system and he coaches people on the real estate systems. For just under $20 you can get the starter system and read the pdf and if you're interested, Chris' team will get in touch with you. 

You can send Chris a private message on Facebook and send him a friend request.