Ep 139 - Work Ethic Equals Freedom with Dan Lewkowicz

This week on 3 Degrees of Freedom, we welcome Dan Lewkowicz, a real estate veteran with over 15 years of experience. Dan has worked in the industry from "house hacking" and flipping houses in the Detroit metro area to founding his own company and working as a W2 for Amazon in Detroit. He currently serves as Senior Director of Encore Real Estate Investment Services, specializing in commercial properties. Dan also has a passion for running, boxing, weightlifting, and playing the guitar.

In this episode, Dan will be discussing how work ethic can create freedom and will be answering questions on topics such as what NNN stands for, the difference between the W-2 world and sales, how his house hacking and flipping business complimented his current career, and how to find what you are passionate about in the current market.

Dan will be offering his advice on how to create freedom in the current market environment, so be sure to tune in to Work Ethic Equals Freedom to hear more of Dan's inspiring story and valuable insights!

Connect with Caleb using the links below and learn more about his business:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-lewkowicz-7118361/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLewkowiczGroup
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danlewk/
Website: https://www.encoreinvestmentrealestate.com/

Unlock 3+1 degrees of freedom (time, location, financial + health) with our 5-Point Blueprint! https://elevateequity.org/podcastgift

If you really enjoyed this content and are looking for more, you can continue to learn more about us in several different places for free!

• on our website for blogs & other podcast interviews! elevateequity.org
• our YouTube channel! youtube.com/channel/derekclifford
• our book/audiobook! amazon.com/dp/ebook

If you'd like to have a FREE copy of our 7 Ways Commercial Real Estate Syndications Protect and Build Wealth, simply click the link below. We are here and vested in your long-term success! elevateequity.org/7waysEbook

Unlock 3+1 degrees of freedom (time, location, financial + health) with our 5-Point Blueprint! https://elevateequity.org/podcastgift

If you really enjoyed this content and are looking for more, you can continue to learn more about us in several different places for free!

• on our website for blogs & other podcast interviews! elevateequity.org
• our YouTube channel! youtube.com/channel/derekclifford
• our book/audiobook! amazon.com/dp/ebook

If you'd like to have a FREE copy of our 7 Ways Commercial Real Estate Syndications Protect and Build Wealth, simply click the link below. We are here and vested in your long-term success! elevateequity.org/7waysEbook

Transcript

Derek Clifford: 0:14

And today we've got Dan on the show. Hey Dan, how are you today?

Dan Lewkowicz: 0:19

Doing great. Thank you so much for having me on.

Derek Clifford: 0:21

Awesome. Cool. For those who don't know, Dan is a seasoned real estate veteran with over 15 years experience in various areas of the industry of real estate. He started his career by house hacking and then went on to flip houses in the Detroit metro area. Eventually founding the Renaissance real estate ventures. Which FOC focuses on the acquisition, financing, renovation and resale of single family residential properties in Detroit. And Dan's also worked as a senior advisor at Fortis Net Lease, a former business development executive for Amazon Detroit, and currently serves as the director senior director, excuse me, of Encore Real Estate Investment Services, specialing in commercial properties such as shopping centers, medical offices, and restaurants. Dan's also an avid runner boxer. Weightlifter a yogi, which is interesting. We'll talk about that. And a guitarist who lives with his wife and five kids in Birmingham, Michigan. Like I said before the show started. We've seen a lot of each other's content on LinkedIn, and I've respected you ever since I stepped onto the stage, which was back in Covid, I believe that was when both you and I were really, active and trying to figure out what the heck is going on with real estate at that point in time. But before we jump there and start at the beginning, why don't you tell a little bit of the audience about what it is that you do currently, which is triple net for those who are unfamiliar with that space.

Dan Lewkowicz: 1:46

Yeah, sure. So I'm the senior director here at Encore Real Estate Investment Services, and we're a specialized net lease investment sales brokerage. We sell all over the country. Last year we did 985 million in transactions in 43 different states. So we specialize in net lease which there's a wider. Arena in terms of the different types of products that we deal with. But in general the, typical cookie cutter net lease property is what's called an absolute triple net property. And what that means is that the landlord has zero responsibilities. The landlord merely collects the rent. So think about your typical single tenant property like a C V S or a Walgreens, or maybe a McDonald's or a Wendy's or, a Dollar Store for example. So with those properties the lease actually dictates how much rent the tenant will pay throughout the entire duration of the lease, which could be anywhere from 10, 15, 20, even 25 years. And all expenses, for example, taxes, insurance, maintenance repair snow plowing, et cetera, et cetera, all of those expenses are actually paid for by the tenant. So the rent that's prescribed in the lease is actually net to the investor. There's absolutely no expenses whatsoever. We do deal with a lot of double net properties which are sim similar to what I just described, with the exception that the landlord is responsible for certain things like roof and the structure of the building. And in some cases a parking lot as well. And in addition, we do sell myself specifically a lot of shopping centers, so what I would call multi-tenant retail properties, in which case there's even more of a management component to the asset. But in general the, properties that we're selling are long-term leases, very stable, located, great tenants, a lot of secure security and stability and guarantee for the investor.

Derek Clifford: 3:50

I love it. And one thing I have to clarify too is when you say tenants, that could be something as lofty as like a Panera or Chipotle or something like that. So I just want people to put in their mind that like tenants could be any type of operating company.

Dan Lewkowicz: 4:04

Oh yeah. Right now, just as we speak, I'm in escrow right now, scheduled to close in the imminent future. I've got an advanced auto parts, which most people are familiar with, CVS Pharmacy Burger King, which pretty much everybody is, familiar with. And then some shopping centers that have a barrage of different tenants. I know I'm forgetting one. But yeah the, tenant list is like you said, major national tenants that everyone's heard of. These are huge corporations. And it's, about as secure and stable as you can get.

Derek Clifford: 4:36

Yeah, I love it. I love it. I have to admit that I am a novice when it comes to these retail and triple net or double net type of leases. But I do know that in the future it's something I want to expand into. So I appreciate you filling that in for us. For those who are looking for financial freedom. Or maybe even some time in location freedom as well, that this is something for you to definitely explore later on down the road. But before we go into that a little bit more on the end let's start talking about you in general. So as you w as you went through your career, it looks like you were doing some house hacking and you flipped some houses back in Detroit. What ha, were you ever in the W2 world or have you always been in sales? And if so, what is the difference to you and why did you pick the path that you're going right now?

Dan Lewkowicz: 5:21

Yeah, so I've definitely been in the W2 field. I've been I ran a sales department for a title insurance agency. Actually no that was not W2. I take that back. That was an independent contractor position. But I did work for a large private day school doing fundraising as a W2 position. And I did work for Amazon as a business development executive. So I definitely know and understand what it's like to work in corporate America. I when I left Amazon, Amazon was my last W2 job. I left. Late 2017, early 2018. We're talking what, five years already? Wow.

Derek Clifford: 5:58

Yeah.

Dan Lewkowicz: 5:59

Time is blown, but that was my last position. That was like a guaranteed salary position. I've been a, commercial real estate broker ever since. When I was flipping houses full-time, I also had no double U2 income. Listen there's, pluses and minuses to everything. I'll, never go back to corporate America. I'll never go back to a W2. I'm just not that type of person. From the simple basics of, I don't like being told when to show up at work, when to go home. I don't like being limited to how much money to make. I don't like having to eat my lunch at a certain time. And I, also don't like, this is gonna be a double negative. What can you do? I don't like not being rewarded, commiserate to how hard I work, right? So as a commercial real estate broker, I do have time freedom and I have location freedom and I can work from anywhere, but I also have a certain level of financial freedom in so far as obviously there's other factors outside of our control, but really the amount of money that I make is a hundred percent up to me, right? It's up to me in terms of how hard I work. How effectively I work, how efficiently I work, what systems I have in place and what I do. In that regard, I love it. I love being independent and having this freedom having the responsibility. There's a, and there's a certain element of, a thrill to it, but I know that, hey, if I show up today and the next day and the next day and the next day and work a little bit harder, there's a very high likelihood that I'm going to. Get a little bit more, I'm gonna have more deals and more, more, closing. So that's awesome. I will say that there are certain things that make a W2 Attractive to pretty much everyone, myself included. And that's, paycheck stability, right? In commercial real estate brokerage, there are times when I can go many months without getting paid.

Derek Clifford: 7:46

Yeah.

Dan Lewkowicz: 7:46

And even as much as I love what I'm doing, sometimes that does weigh on me and I start thinking, oh man, what if I would just go back to what I was doing? I. Thankfully, I'm able to stop myself very quickly and remember all these things I'm telling you because the freedom that comes along with this and the opportunity that comes along with it greatly outweigh the bit of discomfort that is also associated with being your own boss.

Derek Clifford: 8:08

Yeah, we're very well said. And I actually experienced that myself when I was working at W2. The, stroke of inspiration I had was that just like you said, I was realizing that I was working so hard, right? To build someone else's machine or build someone else's you name it, X, Y, Z, that adds value in the marketplace. And regardless of how much upside I provide the company, the only way they compensate me is through my time. And that's the only way that they know how to do that, because that's, how it worked back then. And One of the things that really got me thinking about this is jumping into a sales-oriented job. And I never did. I went straight from W2 to becoming an investor, and I guess as an investor you can call yourself a salesman in, in one way or another. But I always resonated very well with that. And I can tell that you caught onto it very early in your career which is awesome. So let me let's move on here just a little bit. Okay. Before I do that, I do want to ask you a little bit about mindset, because there is a little bit of a subtle shift that goes between a W2 and then the sales mentality where you're like, shoot, it's hard, man. I, maybe I'll go back to being a W2. Where, did that? Change, like what did you do to change that mentality of saying, okay, I'm working at W2 now. I can really pick myself up by my own bootstraps and start doing my own sales. Like how did how, did where did that, mindset come in and how did that get inspired in you?

Dan Lewkowicz: 9:33

Yeah, so just to clarify, I think that the same techniques and the same mindset that I put myself in today. It's very similar to what I was doing when I was at Amazon because at Amazon it was important for me to be the number one sales guy in the company. I, wanted to be at the top of the leaderboard. And what's funny is I remember back then the sales managers exploited that, right, 'cause there were always contests and the leaderboard was always coming up and of course I'm number one this week, what do I get? Maybe a round of applause. That's it. And, the manager is oh, this is awesome. This guy has got an ego problem.

Derek Clifford: 10:10

That's right.

Dan Lewkowicz: 10:11

Lemme exploit that. Lemme find somebody else with an ego problem.

Derek Clifford: 10:13

Yeah. So anyway, let's give him free coffee, right? Let's do that.

Dan Lewkowicz: 10:16

Exactly. Exactly. So that, same hustle and determination I use in my current situation. It's just that now I know that Hey, I'm gonna hustle, I'm gonna work hard. I'm gonna, I'm gonna compete against myself. And and, there are gonna be results so that you know that the, same mindset is there and the same strategies are there. I will tell you that, when I first got into brokerage I, had the mindset and I I, guess it. The, mindset that I had made sense and it worked and, basically my mindset was I have to be successful. There's no other way. Like I've got a family to provide for, and there's no paycheck coming. There's no weekly paycheck or biweekly or monthly. It's, I gotta hustle and I gotta find deals and close deals, and that's how I'm gonna get paid. So for me, I became successful on this industry by necessity. Like I had no other choice. And quite frankly, there are certain times, like when, I see a market shift or when my business is slowing down, I go back to that same mentality, like by default. I say, Dan, what are you gonna do? You're gonna stop and you're gonna, you're gonna sit back and you're gonna just take it easy, right? Or what's that gonna turn into? Where will that take you? And I tap into that same energy and I say, you know what? No I, have, I've got a family, I've got kids, I've got a wife, I've got, I have to be successful. I really tap into that as there is no other option. That's, just been my mindset. I don't know if it's the, best option. It's, it works for me. But it's, not something that, part of it is not something I ever tapped into with the W2 because the W2.

Derek Clifford: 12:02

Yeah.

Dan Lewkowicz: 12:02

Show up. Excel. Don't excel, you get your paycheck. Here, if I am able to successfully implement that, that plan I can be rewarded in a huge way.

Derek Clifford: 12:13

Yeah. You and your family as well. And, I think, I love that. Last thing I'm gonna say about this, because this is awesome to me because I went through the exact same experience, is that I asked that question because for me I actually had to overcome a mindset change because the mindset of being someone where you have, you collect a paycheck and you're secure to now intentionally leaning into the fact that you are living off your own metal. And the reason that I made the reason I was able to do that and go directly full-time into multi-family real estate is because my mentors told me that every time I got myself in a situation where I was falling, I always found a way no matter what, because of resource for this to, land on my two feet. It never was anywhere. There was no evidence that it was else that was gonna be something like that. And so I used that fire to be like, oh my gosh I'm not collecting a, paycheck out of security. Now I have to get something done. Hustle and grind. I. That was something that I did, that I had to do in order to to make it work in this space. I just utilized that part of my personality to make it happen. So I love that you said that too, and it seems like for you, you've had that all along. It just was a little bit of a tweak and you're like, yeah, I'll just make some more upside. By, by working hard for myself. That's what I love that.

Dan Lewkowicz: 13:26

Exactly.

Derek Clifford: 13:28

Let's talk a little bit more, one more thing about your early past that will help us get to where we are currently. Your house hacking and your flipping business. Can you talk a little bit about how, when you were doing that, most likely on the side, I would imagine as you're, either working W2 or sales in another venture, how did that help compliment your career? And then vice versa. How did your career in the house hacking and flipping business help you to. Scale your degree.

Dan Lewkowicz: 13:53

Yeah so, house hacking was how I got into single family residential flipping, right? I had to buy a house for my home, my family and I had a couple options. One option was a house that was ready to go for X price and the other option was a bank owned home. Keep in mind, this was in the last recession bank owned home for half the price that I could renovate live in for a while and flip. And I chose the latter because it just I had actually been living overseas with my family and the memes were modest at the time and that made, the most sense and I learned a lot from doing that. And it really lit some fire in me and I just couldn't, I couldn't stop this. Oh, let me find a house undervalue and renovate it and sell it. And I just kept doing that and doing that over the years, over and over and over again. And eventually when I left the corporate world, I actually first went into House flipping full-time before I went into commercial brokerage and house flipping full-time. It's actually worse than what I'm doing now because you have to invest a ton of capital in, right? It's not just like you're not getting paid. It's your investing money in and putting more and more, and then flipping and making little profit and going onto the next one. Rinse and repeat. So I did that for a long time and eventually I, decided that it would be in the long run, more fruitful to be a commercial real estate broker. I still continue to flip houses on the side, but never as a full-time full-time gig. So I guess your question was how did that experience, like kind of compliment going into and doing what I'm doing right now? Yeah I, think that the answer to that question is that that same thing that you touched on a few minutes ago, which is that when I was flipping, like I had to be successful, right? It's all, it was all on me. And, then it wasn't just on me to provide for my family. I had people that were working for me full-time and their, livelihood. I had to pay them I had to make sure that they got there. So there was that, same feeling of necessity, that same feeling of urgency. And I can say to you today I was having a conversation this weekend. I've got a deal right now that's under contract. I typically like to wherever possible represent the seller and the buyer. I'm a listing guy. I chase after listings. I like having that control. Most of my listings, I end up represented buyer as well. There's a lot of reasons why. But for me, I like having control and I like knowing that I can move the transaction forward. When there's a broker on the buy side, you never know how that broker's gonna be. They might be great to work with, they might not. So I'm working on a deal right now and I was talking to someone this weekend about it and I was just explaining how, like with me, there's always a sense of urgency, right? We have a letter of intent that's signed. Okay, let's get the signature from the other party right now. Okay. The purchase agreement draft is in my inbox. Let's get into the lawyer right now. Oh, it came back. Let's get to the other side right now because you know what? These deals that I'm working on, From the moment I get involved in the deal to moment, it closes, could be three months, minimum, could be nine months or 12 months, right? Every time that I'm able to shave off a couple of days or a day or even a few hours, I'm able to speed that along and that helps me and it helps my clients, right? I'm in the middle of the deal right now where the, agents on the other side, there's zero sense of urgency. And, that's not the way that I run my business. And it's quite, it is actually quite frustrating for me. But the reason that I'm bringing this up is that I think that this whole experience of, being independent and being responsible for my livelihood has created a sense of urgency that actually makes me better at my job.

Derek Clifford: 17:32

Yeah. Very well said. And it, again, it sounds like I'm listening to myself as well. That sense of urgency is such an important thing to move forward. And, obviously that is what you need when you have a team of people that are working for you and you've got a market where you've got hard money on a house or something, right? So every day that goes by is a day you're paying interest and no one is seems to be motivated except for you,'cause you're carrying that note. One thing I do want to mention too, that maybe you skipped over there in your house. In your house flipping business, you said that you had a team. I know that in a W2 world as a business development, maybe you were a leader in a team as well. And you're managing people, but when it's your own, When it's your own business, you have to learn how to work with other people whether you're paying them directly or whether they're coworkers, or whether they're people above you. That's something that I think you may have also picked up inherently as an extra skill that's really, valuable in what you do day-to-day, is learning how to work with other people on all sides, right? Whether they're your client, whether they're your colleague, or whether they're your employee.

Dan Lewkowicz: 18:39

Absolutely. And it's, something that I, I deal with to this day. I have, for example I have a junior broker that works for me and we're doing a deal together right now, and he gave me a call this morning and he said, Dan, like I've seen that you're just like, jumped into the transaction. You're handling everything. Is that okay? Am I doing enough? And I said to him, I said, listen, You're so right. And I had this dilemma this morning when I got here and that was, do I just do it myself? Cause I'll be efficient and I know how to do it. Or do I stop and have you do it with me to train you and show you every aspect? And we came up with a little bit of a middle ground for this deal. But it's definitely it, doesn't come natural for me. I am not a manager. I'm not, it's not my strength. It's not my my, my, biggest core proficiency. But it's something that to the extent that I need to do it I've, worked on cultivating and I'm eager to continue to refine those skills.

Derek Clifford: 19:31

Yeah. Very good. I actually struggle with the same thing. I like to jump on things really quickly and some of my partners on some of the deals that we have, like I. I start to get overwhelmed because I'm jumping on top of things and trying to provide solutions quickly so that I cannot be the bottleneck, Dan, like as a project manager, I was trained to not be the bottleneck ever. And just convey communication and make decisions wherever needed to step in for someone. And it definitely is a muscle, it sounds odd to a lot of people out there, but when you do this for such a long time, you're so proactive and you're looking to get things done quickly and efficiently. It's just something you have to unlearn and trust your team right to that they'll take care of it and maybe all they need is controls and leadership to help move them in the same direction that you are. No one's ever gonna be you, but just because you get it done one way doesn't mean they can't get done another. I just think that's a really well, said thing. And I, applaud your self-awareness and your, transparency for telling us that. Sure. One thing I was gonna say is as you start working up the degrees of freedom, which is location freedom, time freedom, and financial, which I would argue you probably have access to all, three of those with some exceptions because you got five kids at home. So that's that kind of brings a little bit of interesting dynamics into the picture. I want to ask you, would you say that your work life and your home life are more integrated? Than it has been ever because you're walking this balance of having some freedom? Or do you still think that they're polarized right now? That's a good question. I think that the, truthful answer to that is that when I was working a W2 job, I think that my home life was. More separate than my work life. And I think that was a good thing because it allowed me I didn't even have work email on my phone.

Dan Lewkowicz: 21:19

So when I left the office, like I was at home and I was doing whatever I wanted and I was able to be very present. I think that for me, this is a very big struggle for me, is that cause I'm in a position where a, during the times when things are down I, want to keep hustling to make something happen. And b, when things are going are, moving really fast and we got a lot of deal flow, I want to keep those deals moving. For me, the hardest thing is stepping away. I think that the, true assessment of the situation is that my, in my current situation I have less of a, division between my work life and my personal life. And maybe to a certain extent I, would benefit from being able to, better separate those.

Derek Clifford: 22:06

Yeah, absolutely. I personally think that having an integrated home and work life is okay if you have the systems to help you right with this, because the more that you're, that you have your time and location freedom and even your financial freedom lined up, you should in time be able to set yourself up so that you've got systems and people doing things for you, right? So that, that way you're working all the time. So to speak, but on your own terms, right? On the things that truly line up with what your passion is. And I can feel that right now. Like you, you're moving in that direction and I, applaud you for doing that because you're, pursuing something and you're building something on your own. Let me talk about maybe some advice that you can give people. Can you advise people to find out like how they can find what they're passionate about if they don't have any of these degrees of freedom? If they don't have any Time freedom, location freedom, or financial freedom, or they're struggling really, hard. What advice would you be able to give those folks who are pursuing them?

Dan Lewkowicz: 23:05

Yes. So in terms of figuring out what someone wants to do in order to get there, is that what you're asking?

Derek Clifford: 23:10

Correct.

Dan Lewkowicz: 23:11

So I, think that, first it would be important for that person to ask themself, like if nothing else mattered, right? If, money was no object, you've got a trillion dollars. If, possessions were no object, you have everything that you want. If you can live wherever you want, what would you be doing? What is important to you? And then working backwards from there. So that, that would get a person to a point of what do I need to do in order to get to that place? And then I would also tr tell, someone like I'm, an a, I'm a, firm believer that like, you've got this moment. I could plan for my future and do all these great things and God forbid I could get hit, by a bus tomorrow. I'm, a big believer that you have to be, it's important to be doing what you want to be doing now. What I just said is, figure out what you need to do to get to the place that you want to get but then also whatever it is that you came up with, which is the thing that you would be doing if you didn't need to be doing anything at all. Try to find a job or, a position or an entrepreneurial opportunity that incorporates as much as that as much of that as possible. Like for me, I love real estate, so I'm in a job where I get to talk about real estate all day long, right? And I love like putting deals together. I'm in a job that I get to put deals together all day long. Yeah, it's still a job. I'm still doing it because I, want to build something and I want to support my family, but it, even on my worst days, I still have those elements that give me purpose and meaning. And, even more importantly, maybe they allow me to shine, right? They allow me to do what I firmly believe that I'm good at there's nothing worse than being at in a situation habitually where you're not being challenged and you're not able to express who you really are. So I would say it's very important to find a situation and a scenario that allows you to, shine and to, be who you are and then just work towards that goal, whatever it is. And keep in mind that this is a it is a journey not just a, short sprint and maybe you're not gonna have. Those three freedoms today or tomorrow, or even in a year or a few years, but maybe you're gonna as long as you're getting closer. Because if you just say, you know what, it's so far away, I'm never gonna try. You're never gonna get any closer. And then one day you're gonna wake up and say, man, if I only would've taken a few steps every day, I would've gotten there by now. I think that's really important to keep in mind.

Derek Clifford: 25:39

Yeah, great. I love that, that long-term view on this, and also finding out, like taking the time to really do some soul searching and figure out what gives you, power, what gives you energy, because I can tell that real estate fills you up. Like you it's something that really gives you, yeah. Purpose, right? For to serve the world. And so I think that's really important. And then great advice in finding a job in a related field that has some sort of those components there that gets you closer to where you actually want to be. And you can just pivot from there. So I love that. Last question I have as a normal question then we're gonna head into our Rapid Round to wrap this up a little bit, is. Obviously right now we're in quarter two of 2023. We're heading into quarter two of 2023, and things are pretty nuts right now. We have some Silicon Bank failures or Silicon Valley Bank failed. There's a couple of banks in New York that just went down and or needed some government assistance to get rescued. What would you say to those who are looking to create financial freedom in the current market right now? What advice would you give them during this very volatile and interesting time?

Dan Lewkowicz: 26:44

I would say look around at everything you just mentioned, that should be evidence and impetus for the, fact that you need to create your own financial freedom yourself. There's no it's very, difficult to rely on anyone or anything to provide that for you. It's just not realistic that, it's gonna be there. So I would say right now we're, in a time of great opportunity. There is a there, there are a lot of headwinds and a lot of movement in different sectors of the market. We've seen interest rates, including today's hike. The federal funds rate has gone up from zero the, target fund rate zero to a, to 25 basis points or a quarter percent all the way up to 4.7, five to 5%. So that's that's insane. That's a huge, change. Banks are failing. There's huge mergers of banks to prevent failures. Right now there's gonna be a lot of opportunity there. There's as here's another example. If you look at the changes in the debt market, everything I just described has happened over the last 12 months. February 16th, 2020, sorry, March 16th, 2022, which is just barely over a year from today. Was when these rate hikes started. And a lot of the, property owners across the country have property, and I think, I'm sure a lot anybody who's involved in commercial real estate understands this, that a good portion of commercial real estate loans have five year balloons. So five year terms. So every five years or, more frequently they get refinanced. So all of that debt that was rack, that was put on properties at very low rates for years, it's starting to come due now. So those owners are not gonna be able to refinance at current rates and still keep, their same cash flow. So what that's gonna do is that's gonna cause. Like a cascade of property owners that are gonna have to sell. That's opportunity. That's just one example of how volatility creates opportunity. So because of all the volatility that's gone on in the world and the markets, that's gonna create a lot of opportunity. I would tell anybody that's, out there, that's listening. Another important thing, this is piggybacking off of what I said a few minutes ago, is that don't sit back and wait. Don't say, oh, the market is not, it's not a good market. I see so many people doing this. Investors, I. Brokers syn indicators, they say, I it's, not a good market. I'm gonna sit back and wait until things even out. I can tell you something, there are deals in every single market. It doesn't matter. In fact, in markets like this that are largely fear driven markets, fear is a, driver of market and efficiency. So when you have an inefficient market, you have a lot of opportunity and that's what's going on right now today in front of us. So if you're out there and you're watching and you're trying to establish time freedom or financial freedom, For location freedom now is your opportunity. Don't wait till tomorrow. You can probably get further today than you will be able to in the future. And, all of those advances are going to help you exponentially because the experience that you get by, doing those deals or taking those steps right now gets, makes you a s a better asset and a more refined person to be able to take those, moves tomorrow and the next day and the next day. And that those skills and that experience and, that wisdom, it keeps. Adding on top of each other. So if you wait. You're not just like losing that time period, but you're losing all the compounded experience and all the compounded wisdom and, capital and everything that you could get if you just start today. So that's the message is, start today, grab the bull by the horns and keep going.

Derek Clifford: 30:20

Yeah. Very, well said. Thank you, Dan for commenting on that because I couldn't agree with you more. People that. Are taking a break right now. It takes time to get the machine rolling again, right? Yeah. And by the time you get that machine rolling again, you have other people that are already still on it, and you have brokers that are contacting them and lenders that know them. I completely agree with you. I think that there's a big thing that comes with momentum, and if you don't get started, you may end up missing the actual buy point, right? The optimal buy point, which, who knows, it may be now. You never know. Yeah. And timing the market is never a good thing. And as long as you're buying real estate in general as well as the stock market has a general trend upwards. And so you just gotta hold on. And I agree with you. I think that there's a lot of these five year products that are becoming due and exit strategies are slowly disappearing for some of these operators who. Bought incorrectly. Maybe they overpaid or maybe they put the wrong debt structure in place or maybe they had the wrong business strategy. And what I would say too, that's also out there, Dan, is there are people out there that have a three year bridge loan. And we're coming to the end of it and they don't have an extension, that means that they're gonna have to probably get a more expensive loan that's gonna put'em in negative cash flow territory or forced to sell and either one of those options is gonna put them in a position where they're gonna have to lose. More or less, right? Just because that's the way the market is. An investor can't go in and pay to lose money. So the market's gonna, because the debt service the debt service cost will be so high for the purchase price compared to how it was before. Completely agree with you. You gotta keep moving. And this market is more it's more about momentum and continuously moving so that you can ride the waves and be successful in the long run. That's my thought.

Dan Lewkowicz: 32:02

Yeah. And when, things shift, like I, I liken this, the beginning of Covid, at the beginning of Covid, I was talking to brokers who were telling me they were gonna take they were gonna write the year off, six months or a year. They were just gonna sit back and do whatever they wanted. And I was like, dude, this is not the time for that. So when I watched other people put their foot on the, brakes, I put both my feet on the gas and I saw in my business a a, market difference in elevation about six months later. And when I started seeing what was going on in the market this time around, I said the same thing. I said, you know what? And you know me, I like to listen to the Fed meetings and pay attention to all that stuff. Yeah. But I, but after I listen to it, I put it in a box and I put it over here. And I put my blinders on because that's just noise, I can't control any of that stuff. But what I can control is my actions and my inputs and my systems and how hard I work. And I know, just like you said, that if I'm here every day, in, day out, grinding and getting it done, I'm gonna do just fine during whatever market it is. But once things start to swing the other way, or once there's that cascade of debt that comes due and now all those properties are hitting the market, who's gonna be there to catch it? It's the guy or the girl that's been working all along.

Derek Clifford: 33:13

That's right. I love it. Thank you, Dan. And for those of you out there that are listening right now that are not in the real estate industry, please know that this is also happening in your industry too. If there's something happening with, if you're in the tech space please continue to work on your skills and continue working hard. Don't just write it off and just wait, right? Like these are the time. Of, and these are the times that no one is will willing or wanting to work, that's when you end up becoming way more successful than your peers, right? So last thing we're gonna do here is I've got the Rapid Round. It's five or six questions that I ask every single one of my guests, and it's meant to be answered in about 30 seconds or less. So if you're ready, we're just gonna go ahead and rapidly ask them of you. If you're ready, let's do it. Number one name any resource that was or is essential in your journey to pursue your freedom?

Dan Lewkowicz: 34:06

I would say information, knowledge, reading web articles, social media, all that.

Derek Clifford: 34:12

Just being all consuming. Of the content.

Dan Lewkowicz: 34:14

Yeah.

Derek Clifford: 34:15

Got it. Number two, if you woke up and your business was gone, you had $500, a laptop, a place to live and some food, what do you think you would do first?

Dan Lewkowicz: 34:26

Yeah. I would start cold calling property owners and just rebuild my broker. Just do the same thing again.

Derek Clifford: 34:33

I love it. Number three, what does your self-reflection and goal setting practice look like?

Dan Lewkowicz: 34:41

It's not original. It's stolen from Napoleon Hill. And I, firmly believe that, by the way. It's if, you can't figure it out yourself, steal from somebody else.

Derek Clifford: 34:52

Yeah.

Dan Lewkowicz: 34:52

So, for me it's like I have my, certain metrics that I want to hit each year. And I have them in my mind, and I think about them and I internally act like I have them and I envision them, I meditate on, them. I, spend time like at night before I go to bed, thinking about what it's gonna be like to have them, whatever they are. It's not just like a monetary goal. It can be a number of deals. It can be things for my family, it can be lifestyle, et cetera, et cetera. And believe it or not That's like the most powerful, that's like even more empower powerful than, these behavioral things that I've been talking about, the the inputs. But it's really as simple as if the mind can conceive it and believe it, then you know, it can be achieved.

Derek Clifford: 35:38

Yeah. Yeah. Great. Napoleon Hill is awesome and I love that you're pulling that wisdom from him. That's, awesome. Number four, what are the core work habits that you mostly attribute to your success? I think I already know this one, but go ahead.

Dan Lewkowicz: 35:55

Consistency, like with social media, I when I'm in it, like I I do it every day. So definitely consistency. I think, I don't know how I would, what I would call this, but that. The, idea that I just I stick to my principles regardless of what's going on. So I put the blinders on and I say okay, I know that today I have to send out this many emails. I have to do this many cold calls, I have to get this many listings, and I have to have this many closings. And it's I'm I'm gonna make that happen. And then I just I like vehemently Stay away from negativity. If I'm in an, environment, like I can pick them out right away, like the, within 10 seconds of speaking to somebody is this somebody that's gonna drain my energy or is this somebody that's gonna enhance it? And if they're gonna drain my energy, I'm nice to them, I'm polite to them. I say hello, I say goodbye, and I go about my business. But I'm very careful because I, am like anyone if I'm around people that are positive and that, that are Have, a good mi mindset. It's good for me if I'm around people that aren't, it's not good for me. So I've learned over the years to put myself first in that regard and make sure that I have that invisible fence between me and, things that are, not good for me or in terms of negativity specifically.

Derek Clifford: 37:17

Yeah. Thank you so much for mentioning that. I, this was one of my goals in Q1 and ever since I made this shift to, to bring the negative external chatter outside away. I've also been able to get a, get it outside of my own. Like I'm not perfect still I, still have some, moments, right?

Dan Lewkowicz: 37:36

Yeah.

Derek Clifford: 37:36

Just because everyone does. But it's been one of my goals and it's been an absolute game changer for me, my relationship with my wife and my family. And so it's just been a really great thing. So thank you for mentioning that. I love it. Okay. Last question. What tool or process has become one of your most important time, money, or energy saving ninja magic tricks that you use every day?

Dan Lewkowicz: 38:00

Ooh, that's a good question. What tool or process? I'm sure there's one that's, but it's not jumping out at me. It's funny. This is what's coming to mind is I have this new ritual where every day when I drive to my office, I fill up a nice big cup of kombucha. I don't drink I don't drink coffee, but I love kombucha and my, ride into my office is about 22 minutes, and I just drive into into the office. I try not to do anything I try not to be on any calls or anything, and I just like slowly drink my kombucha. And I I know how to time it, where right when I'm pulling in, that's that last sip, and then boom, I get to the office and I go, and for some reason it's just, it's it's relaxing, but it's also energizing for me.

Derek Clifford: 38:44

That's really, cool. I love that. Just my wife is a naturopathic doctor and so she has me Oh yeah. She has me drinking that often and as well as some other things, she likes to experiment on me, so that's cool.

Dan Lewkowicz: 38:55

So she's a believer in kombucha cause some people don't believe in it and I just dunno

Derek Clifford: 38:59

Yeah, because just FYI, for everyone out there and for you, it's got it's fermented, so it's helpful for your gut. And then it also in some cases has caffeine. So it also gets you going if you're a caffeine star drinker. So that combination between helping your gut and then also Boosting your metabolism, especially when you're in the contemplative moments of driving to the office. Yeah. I think that those things stack on top of each other, but a cool thing for you to mention that's like really simple that people can do.

Dan Lewkowicz: 39:27

It's also cool too because I, so I actually, I intermittent fast, so I only eat for whatever it is, like five, about five hours a day.

Derek Clifford: 39:37

Yeah. Great.

Dan Lewkowicz: 39:39

Six hours a day, something like that. So if it's under 50 calories, allegedly it doesn't count. So my glass kombucha is like 30 calories or something like that. So I have that first in the morning and even though I don't really eat till usually about two o'clock, but it's it's nice 'cause it's it's still does its purpose and it doesn't, break my fast.

Derek Clifford: 39:59

Love it. Is it just outta curiosity, is it carbonated or is not carbonated kombucha.

Dan Lewkowicz: 40:04

Oh yeah. It's carbonated.

Derek Clifford: 40:05

Okay. I believe I've, I haven't tried this before with carbonated ones, but they, there is a kombucha that I've had before that had chia seeds in it. That was amazing.

Dan Lewkowicz: 40:14

I love that one. It's from GTS.

Derek Clifford: 40:16

Okay. Yeah. So you know it then. That's right.

Dan Lewkowicz: 40:18

Yeah. I like that one a lot.

Derek Clifford: 40:20

Very cool.

Dan Lewkowicz: 40:20

I like that one a lot. I, but I get the, they don't have it in the huge bottles, and I get the huge bottles since I'm having like a probably a 10 ounce glass every day. I go through it pretty quickly. I can imagine that, that, that is one of the best. That's probably the best one actually.

Derek Clifford: 40:32

Yeah. I, love it. I love it. Anyway. Dan we could talk about this for ages, but man, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Dan Lewkowicz: 40:38

Yeah.

Derek Clifford: 40:39

Before you head off and, continue with the rest of your day here why don't you tell the audience a little bit more about how they can find you, what you've got going on in the world, and just generally how they can reach out.

Dan Lewkowicz: 40:49

Sure. So first of all, I'm on LinkedIn a lot, so you can find me there if that's a platform that you frequent. My first name is Dan, last name is Lewkowicz, L E W K O W I C Z. You can definitely reach out to me on LinkedIn. In terms of what I'm involved in, the world, I've got a lot of net lease deals that I'm working on. There's always something interesting please reach out. The stuff that we have on market is, available. We also if you call me and I have something I just got that day, you might be the first one to see it. So yeah, please definitely reach out. I'm gonna give out my cell phone number, it's 248-943-2838. If anybody wants to first of all anything real estate related, I'm always happy to talk. If you have commercial property and you want to know what it's worth, I'm happy to put a set of eyes on it and give you a property evaluation. And if there's anything I can do to add value, You need some advice in the industry or you're new or whatever I'm happy to help. So between LinkedIn, my cell phone, you can reach out. I also have a course, it's called the C R E PRO course. Actually I'm drinking from one of our cuffs right now. Our website is CREprocourse.com. It's a commercial real estate training course, primarily aimed at those who are interested in getting into the the brokerage world. But we have had a lot of feedback from people who are. Investors who have really enjoyed the course as well. So that's a great resource. But yeah, anything I can do to add value, please reach out. I'd be happy to help.

Derek Clifford: 42:19

Yeah. Sounds good. Thank you so much, Dan. And just so you know too, and the audience we'll be linking all of the social media account information, including that. That'll be going out along with the show notes. You can get it at elevate equity.org/podcast. And then Dan's name should come up there as one of the blog articles. You can go ahead, click his name, and then have access to all of those cool tips, including the kombucha drinking heading into the office each morning. So Dan, thanks again for coming on the show. Really appreciate it.

Dan Lewkowicz: 42:49

My pleasure.

Derek Clifford: 42:51

Yeah, absolutely. And for you listeners who have made it all the way to the end here, we wanted to thank you as well for listening. And please, wherever you're watching this or listening to this, please interact with us. Give us a thumbs up subscribe, just comment wherever you're seeing it because when you do that, it helps appease the algorithm gods so that we can get more exposure for Dan to other people. And then also get more people exposed so we can find more guests just like Dan to come on the show. So thank you very much for coming on, Dan. And you all have an awesome day and we'll, talk to you next time. See you later.