Rob Drum at EXP Realty

First Sunday in a new place 🙏🏻 So grateful for all the people who helped make this dream come true. Also, Don’t let this pic fool you, we’re living on camping chairs right now. 😂

Birmingham Market Update - October 2023
Listings Up Over 26% in October

Birmingham Market Update - October 2023 Get the Birmingham Market Update in your email each week!http://robdrum.us/subscribe/Schedule a call with me!https://calendly.com/birminghaminvestmentgroupRo...

Birmingham Market Update – September 2023
Are We in a New Market?

Birmingham Market Update – September 2023 Get the Birmingham Market Update in your email each week! Http://robdrum.us/subscribe/ Schedule a call with me!https://calendly.com/birminghaminvestmentgroup...

If you've ever played sports, you know the value that a truly great coach can bring. It's not just technique or strategy, it's motivation, It's resilience, It's wisdom and perspective.

I've found that applies to business as well. .pinneo has been my coach for a few years now and I'm honored to host him at the Birmingham Investor Social on the 24th of this month.

Greg is hard to explain. He's a sommelier of real estate. He knows finance, negotiation, and entrepreneurship inside out and upside down. He's like the fishing guide who knows just where to cast (complete with amazing stories). If you want to see what I mean, come be “wonderfully disturbed” at at 5:30pm on 10/24!

Birmingham Market Update – August 2023
Housing Inventory on the Decline?

Birmingham Market Update – August 2023 Get the Birmingham Market Update in your email each week!Http://robdrum.us/subscribe/ Schedule a call with me! https://calendly.com/birminghaminvestmentgroup...

Birmingham Market Update – July 2023
Birmingham appreciation on the decline?

Birmingham Market Update – July 2023 Get the Birmingham Market Update in your email each week! Http://robdrum.us/subscribe/ Schedule a call with me! https://calendly.com/birminghaminvestmentgrou...

Birmingham Market Update – June 2023
Is the Birmingham market slowing down?

Birmingham Market Update – June 2023 Get the Birmingham Market Update in your email each week! Http://robdrum.us/subscribe/ Schedule a call with me! https://calendly.com/robdrum Rob Drum, Associ...

I feel stuck sometimes, then I remember that I'm not. It's just in my head.

So many of our important endeavors in life come down to long-term compounding over the years. Our retirement, the success of our kids, our health. All these normally grow (or shrink) imperceptibly day by day. And yet, it's a concept that's really hard to wrap our minds around. I probably think about it to much. Here's some of what I've noticed....

Deeper Compounding - Rob Drum So many of our important endeavors in life come down to long-term compounding over the years. Our retirement, the success of our kids, our...

I'm incredibly thankful to God and lots of amazing people for the first 35 years of my life. I don't see how they could have been much better. It's helped me build a strong foundation. Hopefully I can have a similar impact on people the next 35 years of my life. 35 feels like a big one. It snuck up on me....

Reflections On Turning 35 - Rob Drum I wonder if that's how the end of your life feels? Do you say, "Wow what a great ride, but I'm sad its over?"

Don't let low inventory get you down! We're releasing 7 new listings this week. Take a look and see if there's a fit for you or your clients! 🏠

“If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” Seneca the Younger Our goal is to build a portfolio of properties and financing with ever increasing quality. It makes buy and hold investing really fun, more profitable, and safer. To make clear progress towards this goal, we look at both sides of the balance sheet....

Portfolio Goals - Rob Drum “If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable.” Seneca the Younger Our goal is to build a portfolio of properties and financing with ever increasing quality. It makes buy …

Historically being a jerk may have worked better than it does now. Today, we all have hundreds of options for who we want to work with in almost every situation. On the whole, jerks have to take a discount to remain appealing.

I’ve been a real estate agent and investor for the last 6 years. This puts me in a unique position to see the struggles of both roles. They’re more similar than you would think. In the end, both are under the umbrella of entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster. Your life can get hard fast. Here are 3 tips to make things easier.

1. Quit trying to sell people

They don’t want to be sold.

If I could summarize my sales philosophy, it would be with this metaphor:

“I'll hop in your canoe and paddle with you. Let's see if we can reach a destination we both like.”

Trying to sell people things or ideas takes a lot of work. I’m not very good at it. I like to just put myself and my business out there and let people make their own decisions. If what I have to offer is a good fit for them, I’ll jump in the canoe.

I know this is very counter-cultural for the real estate world. I’m supposed to be cold-calling and closing.

My version works for me. It also prevents the constant rejection that wears down many salespeople.

I’ve found creating content can do a lot of the heavy lifting for sales relationship building. Those relationships help on the brokerage side and the investing side.

2. Look for low volatility first and foremost in your business

Analyze investments on the basis of how many headaches and surprises you’re likely to encounter. You want less of both.

I used to trade millions of dollars of stocks with 10x-20x leverage. The only way to survive using that much leverage is to shrink volatility as much as possible.

If you can minimize volatility, then you can then leverage significantly and safely.

If you combine low volatility and significant leverage over time. You’ll create incredible risk-adjusted returns and investors will beat down the door to be involved with you.

How do you create low volatility?

Buy the best quality assets you can. Work with the most reliable tenants you can.

Diversify a little bit, but not so much that you don’t intimately know what’s going on with your properties.

Master a strategy.

Who you chose to work with matters. It can massively lower volatility.

3. Work with the best vendors possible

There’s a delicate balance in real estate. You have to work with people you can absolutely trust.
The problem is that trustworthy people don’t work cheaply.

So, If you’re always looking for rock-bottom pricing from vendors, you may find yourself exposed to a lot of volatility (violating tip #2 above).

If vendors have been in business for a while, they have their pick of when, where, and with whom they want to work.

I’ve found it to be a good strategy to pay more for vendors who will perform as promised, with minimal oversight.

If you get the right person for a job, the price won’t matter that much. They perform well and you will perform well. You minimize headaches and provide a product that sells itself.

This is all just a matter of personality of course. I know successful real estate entrepreneurs who would disagree with every point I made. But maybe your personality matches up with mine. Maybe we should go canoeing?

Original Post

If you're in the business world, everyone is telling you leverage is like magic pixie dust that solves all your problems. I believe there's incredible value in all forms of leverage, But I've found that there are huge benefits to unwinding every now and then. Every time I do, I magically solve a lot of my problems.

Birmingham Market Update – May 2023
Market Stability

Birmingham Market Update – May 2023 Get the Birmingham Market Update in your email each week! Http://robdrum.us/subscribe/ Schedule a call with me! https://calendly.com/robdrum Rob Drum, Associ...

Let us know you're coming out here: https://fb.me/e/M1frsWcQ

I've been lucky to own with good HOA's, but I've seen the pitfalls of owning with bad HOA's. Great location, terms, and expandability can all get steamrolled by mismanagement at the association level.

The bar is really low. From what I can tell, this applies to all types of real estate business. Brokerage, investment, construction, etc. If you're getting into this world, just focus on answering your phone, and doing what you say you'll do, You'll be running things in no time

Birmingham Market Update – April 2023
Housing Inventory on the Decline

Birmingham Market Update – April 2023 Get the Birmingham Market Update in your email each week! Http://robdrum.us/subscribe/ Schedule a call with me! https://calendly.com/robdrum Rob Drum, Associ...