How To Protect Your Assets While Savings On Taxes And State Fees

This week’s guest leaves both Mark & Scott scrambling for the sign-up button after he talks about his unique asset protection strategy—the Series LLC.

Scott Smith, founder of Royal Legal Solutions, joins the guys to talk about this strategy that will not only protect your property to the greatest extent possible but also save you money in taxes and state fees. 

Scott was an aggressive litigator who brought suits against major insurance companies. He knows first-hand the tactics that plaintiff’s attorneys use to win lawsuits. He is now combining this knowledge when setting up business structures to protect your assets. 

Mark describes Scott Smith as a combination of F. Lee Bailey,  if he was only interested in protecting assets, and Sam Zell—an amazing real estate investor.

Scott fell in love with real estate investing after buying his first property in college to pay off debt. After litigation burn out, Scott went back into real estate investing and learned everything from the ground up.

Then, after he had acquired his first 10 properties and had gotten into commercial and multifamily, Scott discovered that a lot of investors were good at finding the deals but knew nothing about how to do taxes, accounting, LLCs or bookkeeping.

So, he combined his knowledge and experience as a litigator with his knowledge and experience as a real estate investor and started Royal Legal Solutions. 

Scott’s clients range from first time investors to seasoned real estate investors with a broad portfolio of properties. 

Both Mark & Scott Todd, a little skeptical that this strategy is a good fit for land investors, try to poke holes in it. But, Scott Smith pokes back with a wealth of information that leave both the guys with their minds blown! 

Today, Scott Smith delves deep into this strategy and why no investor should go without this asset protection! 

A question that gets asked often in this business is, should I be in an LLC, S Corp, C-Corp? 

Listen in as Scott Smith answers that question along with:

• The worst advice he’s seen or heard given in setting up business structures and asset protection
• Why the Series LLC is so unheard of
• Does it have the same tax benefits of an LLC structure

And, so much more! 

Scott Smith does not hold back as he shares all the details of this unheard of and unique asset protection strategy and even shares a “hot secret.” Also, find out how Scott Todd takes this podcast to a creepy level.

*We are not responsible for anyone’s head that may explode while listening in to today’s episode of The Art of Passive Income.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Join us in our irrational exuberance about Scott Smith and how he’s going to protect us. Because literally, he’s the only one that we’ve talked to that has a practical, viable, affordable solution for our needs and that is at RoyalLegalSolutions.com.

Scott Todd: Check out Reply.Ninja—a Chrome plugin for inline replies in Gmail. 

Scott Smith: If you text Royal, R-O-Y-A-L, to 474747, you will get a link to the top 10 things you need to know to protect your assets with Scott’s top 10 strategies. If anybody has trouble with text, just email [email protected] and he will send the top 10 along with other resources on how to save money on taxes using 401K.

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Knowing what they know now, the team dives deep into what they wish they would have done differently when they were first starting out in this business, if only they knew then.

Joining Mark are:

• Scott Bossman
• Mike Zaino
• Erik Peterson
• Tate Litchfield
• Scott Todd 

It’s A Good Time To Be A Land Investor! 

With an abundance of resources and knowledge available to land investors today, find out how the team would approach this business differently in order to grow their businesses more quickly and efficiently. Some of the things mentioned are:

• Utilizing VA’s  
• Marketing
• Organization
• Different ways to make your money work for you
• Starting with less capital 

If you have a full-time job and you’re not relying on income from this business take advantage of selling notes early and you can grow this business a lot faster.

Erik Peterson

Mark simply wishes that he had the team and their mentorship when he first started.

This can’t miss episode is sure to smart cut the journey for new land investors!

The Bonus Material—Are you a dog or cat person? Or maybe you prefer a pet that’s a little less demanding, like a tortoise or hamster? 

Find out the team’s perfect pet preference and why they end this episode in the toilet… all on this week’s episode of The Land Geek Round Table!

TIP OF THE WEEK

Scott B: Check out LightPollutionMap.info for mapping light pollution.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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In today’s episode of The Art of Passive Income, we talk with Kyle Stanley about how he became the Fearless Flipper!

Kyle, who has had a lot of different careers in his 32 years… including sports anchor, found that he did not like taking orders for a living, so he started his own business. In 2016, when his dad became ill he let his business go and moved back to his hometown and went full-time into the health and wellness industry.

Kyle was raised to believe that you traded time for money, he had no knowledge of passive income and believed that you’re either an employee or employer.

Then in late 2018 when his dad went into hospice, Kyle put business aside and did a lot of self reflecting. He started listening to podcasts, like Grant Cardone, which soon sent him on his way to Fearless Flipping!

At the time of this recording in August 2019 and just eight months into it, Kyle had deal 3 under his belt and was getting ready to buy his third Airbnb. 

Listen in as Kyle talks about those early days and his first deal, “oh s**t” moment. Plus, find out:

• Kyle’s three biggest aha moments
• Kyle’s three biggest fears
• What pushed him through the fear

The guys also talk about the value of education and menotorship and why it’s important to have that sherpa to get you up the mountain no matter which mountain you decide to climb.

“I believe that if you want to get to where you want to go, it’s dumb to think that you can figure that out on your own. You’ve got to ask people that have been there, that have done that. You want their help because you want to make sure you avoid the mistakes that they’ve made. You hear about the things that they’ve done and has been successful, so you want to mimic that.”

Kyle Stanley

The key to Kyle’s success is simply the fact that he took massive action. He did not have a plan B, no safety net to fall back on, so he was unstoppable to make things happen.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: My tip of the week is a quote, “You can’t penny pinch your way to wealth.” You need to invest in yourself, invest in tools, keep reinvesting education, and all these things can compound and will get you to where you truly want to be. 

Also, check out Kyle Stanley at FearlessFlipping.com and take advantage of a very generous offer there. 

Scott: Grab your hobby, whatever it is, and don’t lose sight of it. Become the proficient student of your hobby and you’ll find, a lot of times, is that the knowledge that you have from your hobby translates over to your business or life. Take at least one of your hobbies, or any interests that you have and apply it back to your business, it will transform. 

Kyle: Go to FearlessFlipping.com and on the homepage you can download the free ultimate guide to becoming a real estate investor. If you are a land-geek listener, schedule a free 15-minute consultation by going to the contact page and for the subject put “Land geek listener” or “hey, I listened to you on Mark’s podcast.” 

The biggest tip is to “Stay in Your Lane.” 

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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Mistakes are an inevitable part of any business and while they may not be fatal in the land investing business, they can cause some uncomfortable turbulence.

In today’s best of edition, we take a look back at a couple episodes where the team talks about some of the mistakes they have made in this business and gives advice that will help you avoid making the same.

Scott Todd starts us off with a situation where a buyer wanted more acreage than what he had. In a situation like this, do you go out of your way to find what the buyer is looking for? What if it’s outside your area?

There are many conditions and variables to take into consideration, listen in as the team talks about those variables and what they would do in this situation to avoid ending up with land that they didn’t want.

Sit back, buckle up and listen in to find out how Scott’s situation turned out along with the other mistakes mentioned in this Best Of Round Table series!

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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A Land Geek Student Success Story—In this week’s show, we are putting the student spotlight on Jim L., who we are going to keep anonymous because of his day job.

Jim’s entrepreneurial spirit awakened in 2017 when he started his first business in Bitcoin, but knew it wasn’t sustainable so he set out to find something that was, one that would be a good fit for him.

He started listening to the Side Hustle Nation podcast with Nick Loper when he ran across an episode that featured another Land Geek Alum, Roberto Chavez, and it piqued his interest.

Because of its simplicity and not having to deal with termites, tenants, or toilets, he thought that land investing could be the perfect fit for him but he first wanted to make sure it was legit. That research led him to Scott Bossman and soon after, in March 2018, he signed up for Flight School.

Listen in now as Jim gives us an inside look into Flight School and what it was like working side by side with Scott and the mini bat. Plus, he talks about his coaching experience with Tate and how valuable it was to have that one-on-one interaction to get all of his questions answered. 

Also, find out the details behind:

• How many VA’s he has and his most important one
• Favorite deals
• His not so favorite part of the business

My favorite deals are not the most glamorous ones, they’re the ones that quietly keep the bank account stocked.

Then, Mark digs in to get to the bottom of Jim’s raving video testimonials and why customers love him so much!

Find out what Jim’s secret is and what sets him apart that has Mark saying that, “he’s a purple cow in a field of brown cows“. 

Plus, Jim gives advice to those just starting out in the business. All of this and more on this episode of The Art of Passive Income!

TIP OF THE WEEK 

Mark: Go buy some land from Jim at LandsForYou.com. Also, check out the book, American Dirt.

Scott: Check out the app, DoubleTake, for the new iPhone 11. It’s a video recording app that allows you to record on all of your cameras at the same time and create an incredible video with different lenses or views.

Jim: If you’re interested in land investing, there are a lot of programs out there but Land Geek is just fantastic. I’ve talked to every single coach and they’ve given me wonderful advice, time, attention, and respect. They’re very open about sharing what works for them and this is not about trade secrets, it’s about execution.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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Setting the record straight on a mischaracterization that leaves some people afraid to attend a Land Geek Bootcamp. 

In this Round Table discussion, join Mark and the team:

• Erik Peterson
• Mimi Schmidt
• Tate Litchfield
• Scott Todd

… as they clear up the misconception that Bootcamp is going to be one big pitch fest. In fact, just the opposite is true and the reviews alone should speak for themselves. Here are just a few taken from the last event in January…

“Land Geek Boot Camp In San Antonio Texas! This is like drinking out of a firehose, more knowledge/implementation techniques laid out in a step-by-step process to follow. This has been a great weekend. I’ll come back again and again.” 

“Phenomenal experience at Boot Camp. I didn’t know what to expect going into it but the journey exceeded my expectations. I’d love to be a repeat attendee and be a good resource for this excellent community.” 

“I just got home from attending The Land Geek Boot Camp in San Antonio. The experience of attending live and seeing firsthand how so many are making this land business work with the help of Mark and his team pushed me over the top. I already thought flipping land was a good idea, but now I know it’s a GREAT IDEA. Kudos to The Land Geek for hosting such a great event with Live inter-actives that made the training fun and realistic at the same time. Totally making the Boot Camp a regular event that I attend.”

Listen in now as the team talks about their own first Bootcamp experience—their expectations going in and what the reality was. Find out why they kept coming back and why they see many other repeat attendees… it can be summed up in two words: community & value. 

Also, find out the details behind Mimi’s deal that took place at a Florida Bootcamp where someone may or may not have been dragged into the backroom and shook down. The team is neither confirming nor denying it. 

Bootcamp is about you getting the knowledge, the confidence, the skills that you might be missing. The focus is not to sell, it’s about education and community.

And finally, Scott reveals the magic cure to sync “let freedom ring”… don’t look at Mark’s face! 

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mimi: For new county research, check out Zillow’s Database. 

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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Our guest today has a deferment strategy when it comes to capital gains tax. He quips hundreds of business professionals with the Deferred Sales Trust tool to help his high net worth clients solve capital gains tax deferral limitations.

Brett Swarts—CEO of Capital Gains Tax Solutions, is here to tell us how the Deferred Sales Trust works. His experience includes numerous deferred sales trusts, Delaware’s statutory trusts, 1031 exchanges and $85 million in closed commercial real estate brokerage transactions.

“We insert this trust right before the close of escrow, which gives so many more benefits than traditional installment sale and solves so many more challenges that people are faced with when they’re looking at 1031 exchange.”

Join us as we discuss in detail: 

• The benefits of a Deferred Sales Trust 
• Buying real estate through the trust versus a 1031 exchange
• Who this is for and who it is not for

And, how do we know if it’s legal?

Listen in now as Brett dives deep into the legalities and so much more in this week’s episode of The Art Of Passive Income! 

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Learn more about Brett at CapitalGainsTaxSolutions.com and start looking at this very creative, very sophisticated strategy to defer your capital gains and really transfer wealth.

Scott: Check out Deprocrastination.co— a Chrome plugin to block distracting websites.

Brett: Check out the book, Crucial Conversations:Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. It talks about how to make a conversation safe and use contrasting to slowly state your story in a way that is going to open up dialogue versus closing people down.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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Join us for a special edition of Round Table as the team grills Flight School student, Joey Chiarello!

Joining Mark for this in depth Q & A session are:

• Erik Peterson
• Mike Zaino
• Tate Litchfield
• Scott Todd

Joey stumbled across Mark & Scott on another podcast back in 2017 and was intrigued by the model, so he jumped straight into Flight School a month later.

Fast forward three years, Joey is still working a full-time job by choice, but also crushing it in his land business!

Listen in as Joey sits down with the guys and answers these questions:

• What are his biggest challenges and the turning point for him
• What is his passive now and how long it took to achieve it
• His average acquisition cost and monthly notes
• How he picked the first county and how many he works in
• His experience in Flight School
• Working with his spouse in the business and outsourcing
• How many hours per day in the land business
• Best deal to date
• What should a newbie’s best attribute be
• How much capital to start
• What aspects of the business he doesn’t like
• What he would have done different in Flight School and how long it took to pay for it
• Monthly expenses-mailings
• Biggest mistake to date

Also find out Joey’s overall sense of accomplishment and his answer to the pressing question, recline or no recline, in this week’s episode of The Land Geek Round Table! 

TIP OF THE WEEK

Scott Todd: Find the perfect city for your perfect climate at NomadList.com/Climate-Finder.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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Our guest today, Dave Dubeau—marketer and real estate entrepreneur, has a 5-step solution to attract investors and raise capital so you can get the deal done!

In 2010, Dave seller-financed rent-to-owns but hit a wall when he ran out of cash and credit with the perfect tenant/buyer ready to go. He found the adage, “find a good deal and the money will find you” was not true in the case for him.

After several failed attempts to raise the capital, he ultimately lost out on the deal and told himself he was not going to let that happen again. 

Join us today, as Dave hands us an umbrella and shows us how to prepare before you actually need the money by warming up your sphere of influence with these five steps:

• Build a target list of prospective investors from your contact list
• Reconnect with people on a personal level before talking business
• The transition message from personal to business
• Constant, consistent, communication
• Be seen as an authority

Dave dives deep into each process and how to prepare so you can go into every deal with the money already lined up. Then, find of which of those steps Scott challenged him on and so much more on this episode of The Art of Passive Income!  

*It’s important that you understand your local state security and federal security regulations.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Mark: Learn more about Dave at DaveDubeau.com.

Scott: Check out NetflixHangouts.com—a chrome extension that allows you to watch Netflix while looking like you’re on a conference call.

Dave: Go to InvestorAttractionBook.com to get the free e-book of Money Partner Formula.

Isn’t it time to create passive income so you can work where you want, when you want and with whomever you want?

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In today’s show, Team Land Geek is going to answer a question that gets asked often and that is, how much money do I need to get started in this business? 

The entire gang joins Mark today to give you a wide range of answers.

• Scott Bossman
• Mike Zaino
• Mimi Schmidt
• Erik Peterson
• Tate Litchfield
• Scott Todd

So, how much money do you need to get started and there’s a second part of the question, when should you start raising capital?

With answers ranging between 500-5,000, the team dives into their own beginnings and how much capital they started with and when it was time to raise more money.

All agree that you can start with too much capital but with all the options and creative ways available to purchase property today, you can start with little to no money to buy property and the only money you really need up front is for the mailings. 

Listen in to find out that hard number Mark pressed the team for in order to get started, along with:

• How many weeks for mailing you should have enough money for
• Different options for buying land at little to no cost
• How too much capital can hurt you in the long run
• Should you factor in education

Knowing what you’re doing will not only give you that confidence to keep buying land, but it will teach you what to look for and what makes a good county.

Tate Litchfield

Then, with all the talk about the many purchasing opportunities available for land investors today, thanks to the original land OG himself… who had to walk up the land investing hill… both ways, it had Mark feeling a little pained so he looked to the group for a little compassion. 

Did he find it? Probably not, but it was all in good fun!

And finally, did you think the debate over reclining airplane seats was over?

Think again!

The battle rages on this week and leads to another debate over shoes or no shoes, in your home and in others. When do you enforce it in your own home and should it be an act of courtesy in others, or do you insist even when the house rules are no outside shoes inside.

TIP OF THE WEEK

Scott Todd: Check out TOSDR.org—It addresses one of the biggest lies on the internet, “I have read and agree to the terms.” This website gives you a summary of those terms that you are agreeing to. 

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