In this live bootcamp session, Chris Prefontaine and co‑host (Speaker A) guide a group of professionals transitioning from traditional W‑2 employment to real‑estate investing and coaching. The discussion emphasizes aligning expectations with effort, creating realistic, accountable plans, and treating one’s job as the primary risk rather than the market. Participants are encouraged to leverage any existing rental properties for creative deal structures and to seek mentorship from successful peers. The hosts stress the importance of acting as if you have already lost your job to motivate proactive planning. A detailed testimonial from Rick, a former systems engineer and corporate manager, illustrates the program’s tiered pathway (90‑day Jumpstart, Starter, ISEX, Chairman’s level) and the mindset challenges he overcame to close his first deals and become a coach. The session blends instructional advice, motivational prompts, and promotional elements for the Smart Real Estate Coach program.
Chapters
A lot of us are sitting in the room. We got a hand raised that we're in a position in which we took us 10, 20, 30, 40 years to get to. Some of us are going to be the same ones that come up to us during this event and say, I want to make $1 million in the next 12 months. And I'm going to be like, oh, how are we going to make that drastic of a change and add that much more value to the marketplace? That's going to be up to you on how fast you can make that happen.
Right.
Unrealistic expectations or expectations need to match the level of effort in which you're willing to put in. That's why we say we walk around with you, do effort for effort, because some of you guys want to do that and we'd love to see that happen. Some of you are going to have some unrealistic expectations. We're going to have to break that down in order to make a clear, realistic plan in order to create that success.
While we're on the room, how many people own property right now? You own property? Awesome. Okay. Because we can do some deal structures. If you own some rentals, we can do some deal structures for you tomorrow. We do that almost every boot camp. Usually an eye-opener. And we hope we can help convert those with you. How many people are doing deals right now? Raise your hand if you're doing deals right now.
Okay, great.
Okay.
Creative deals. Alberto. It's important to get to know Avi and Annette while you guys are here. They're finding success. Success leaves clues, right? Always look for the most successful people in the room and pick their brain, right? I think they would love a free dinner tonight. I'm sure that they would have it. To tell you some of their secrets. There's lots of great places like Bowen's Wharf or something like that. You know, that'd be a great place, Annette, for them to take you to dinner and buy you a steak, something like that.
By the way, I say this every boot camp, and the last 2 boot camps, people lost their jobs. I, I'm going to urge you guys that raised your hand with a W-2 to hone in on a plan with us before you leave here Wednesday. And then allow yourself to be accountable to that plan. So you— and I would also say act as if you did lose your job yesterday. You know, it sounds weird, but I always say your job is your risk, not the market. It's not real estate, it's your job. And sure enough, I get a call from Jeff about 2 months ago now. Jeff Cody. Yeah, I heard you say that in the podcast, Chris. I just got a call. They laid off 3,000 of us. And then the last boot camp, Steve from New Hampshire, like it goes almost every time. So act as if—
$1,000 maybe?
Yeah, something like that. So we're here to help you guys. And that's what Rick exited. Talk about picking people's brains. Rick exited his job with a very specific defined plan.
Let Rick say his story. Rick, go ahead. Tell everybody.
So I joined the community in May of 2021.
Hey, can you come over here? They can't see you on Zoom.
Oh, I can fix that.
Okay, that was quick, Rick. You're good.
Even zoomed in.
Beautiful smile.
Go ahead, Rick.
So again, I joined in May of 2021. I joined at what was called 90-day jumpstart level. And just for some of you who don't know my background, engineer by trade, systems engineer. And went up through program management to the higher levels in corporate. And I had about 180 people at one point reporting to me. And so I had a W-2 that my hours were very unpredictable, a lot of putting out fires and stuff like that. But anyway, I joined, I had been doing wholesaling or trying to do wholesaling since 2016.
Anybody do wholesaling? I think all sales are there.
It's another job, obviously. And so when I joined in May of 2021, I joined at what was called the 90-day jumpstart level. It was kind of the equivalent of what Apprentice is. And within 45 days, I realized, okay, there's something here, because I'd invested in other programs before. And so I was kind of testing out the waters. So I upgraded to starter level. Um, I'm one of the few who's gone through every level in about 6-month increments. And then Chris called me. Um, I'm trying to think of when it was. It was probably 2022.
I think so.
Late 2022. Um, I was on vacation. Phone rings. It says Chris Prefontaine on it. I'm thinking, oh, Chris has called me. Why is Chris calling me? And he said, I'm going to work with 5 people personally. Do you want to be one of them? And I'm thinking, well, that's a no-brainer. So I upgraded to ISEX and that's when things really started clicking. And that's when I actually got my first deals. It took me 15 months to get my first deal, but I had a lot of stuff mindset-wise that I had to get over, including being overanalytical, which I still am somewhat.
And 180 workers clawing at you. Yeah, every day. Not sure where to get started? Go to smartrealestatecoach.com/getgoing for free books, strategy calls, and a whole bunch more. We're going to help you get going the wicked smart way. We've been after this for over a decade doing exactly that.
I set a plan. I upgraded to what's called chairman's level. We have president's level now, but we had chairman's club. And, um, so worked with Chris and the team, and I— Chris said, uh, Rick, would you want to be a coach? I said, Chris, I can't coach and, um, have a W-2 at the same time. And he said, exactly.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Um, so anyway, we put a plan in place, uh, to leave my W-2, and it— we actually did it 2 months less than what was planned. So, I left my W-2 and became a full-time coach and have been enjoying it ever since.
