Kevin Bupp lost his real estate empire in 2008 and rebuilt by getting comfortable with discomfort and using his "Rule of Realization": ask what's the worst that can happen, then plan for it. He advises investors to identify their type—active or passive, cash-flow or wealth-preservation—and become an expert in that asset class.
Chapters
Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Kevin Bupp with us. He is a Florida-based real estate investor, top iTunes podcast host, serial entrepreneur, and philanthropist who educates investors on how to create higher than average returns via real estate investing. So welcome to the show, man.
Thanks, Tyler. Thanks for having me.
Of course. Pumped to have you here. Kevin, we'll dive into the first question. The first one I have for you is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, that's a great question, Tyler. Best story of my life. I don't know if it's the best one, but it surely has an underlying, very impactful message. 2008, the recession of 2008 was a big one for me in a bad way. I had built up quite a big real estate empire and lost it all in a matter of a year. And I think the underlying lesson, it took a couple of years for me to realize what that lesson was. I played victim mentality for a little bit of time after that happened, because everything I'd worked for my entire life was basically vanished in a matter of, again, about a year period of time. And the lesson that I took away from that situation was to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. And just know that you have to work your ass off no matter what to make big things happen. And so, I was already uncomfortable with the situation. I had to get even more uncomfortable knowing that I would have to be uncomfortable as I worked myself out of this hole that was created during the recession in order to get back on top and actually make things happen again. And in addition to that, the other lesson I learned was that things can always be worse, Tyler. I call it Kevin's Rule of Realization. I don't know, I just kind of made this up, but I always— I kind of trained myself, and I do it today, even in any kind of situation, challenging situation I find myself in. Ask yourself this question whenever something bad's happening or a challenge is happening that you don't really have much control over. And I didn't have control over, you know, the market taking a big crash. And I always ask myself this question: what's the worst that can happen? And you want to answer, right? Internally answer that question. But then once you come up with whatever you think that answer is, ask yourself that question again. Okay, what's worse than that? What's worse than that? And keep drilling down till you get to what you think is the worst-case scenario, and then build a plan around that to move forward. And, um, what I've— what I found is that that worst-case scenario that I've ever been able to come up with really isn't that bad, that there's tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of other people that have it way worse than I do, right? And so That was a huge lesson I took away from that experience in my life.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so being that I'm a real estate investor, I think it's very important to understand what type of investor that you are and what you're looking to achieve. Like, for example, are you a passive investor? Are you an active investor? For me, I'm an active investor. I get my hands dirty. I'm not just looking to invest money. I'm looking to actually get in there and get my hands dirty. Are you investing for cash flow or wealth preservation? Those are two different types of investors. Are you looking just to preserve cash you already have, or are you looking to create streams of cash flow from your investments? And then once you've determined those two things, you need to become an expert in whatever real estate investment asset class or subclass that can help you achieve those desired goals. So that's— I'd say that's probably the most important.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice?
It's pretty simple, man. It's actually part of our company's core values. One of our core values is be a sponge. And what that means to us is never stop learning. And you should always be on this continual journey to better yourself, which I believe in turn benefits not just you, but everyone that you come in contact with on a daily basis.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Sharpen your sales skills as soon as possible. And I feel like I'm a pretty darn good salesman today. I probably would have done much better in my early years if I would have gone to formalized sales training, read a lot more books on sales processes. So if I could go back in time, that's what I would tell myself.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
You know, I think to the core of that question, I think you really have to understand why you do what you do, And what are really the reasons that you wake up every day, right? What's your individual reason of why you get up every day and either go to work or go to the gym, whatever it might be? And for me, it's to provide for my family and also enrich the lives of everyone else that I come in contact with. And so, the key to happiness is really understanding that why. Why do you do what you do? Why do you wake up in the morning? What's that driving fire that's fueling your everyday activities?
And what is the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I had to think about this one a little bit. The Little Engine That Could, right? Childhood, childhood book.
Yeah, I love that book.
But it's so basic in its principle. And it's really about your mindset and the power that your mind has, right? Your mind can either keep you from reaching your goals or your mind has the power to help you reach your goals, right? So it really all comes down to mindset though, right? He made it up the hill, but it's really because he changed his attitude and told himself that he could and he got up there. So it's so basic, right?
And that actually is one of my favorite books.
I wish I had it.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
I don't know who this quote's by, but it's actually, it's been on my desk for many years on a little placard and it just says unknown. So I'm not sure who to give credit to on this one, but it is one What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? I love that. It's been on, literally, I've had it on my desk for over 15 years and it's awesome and so true in nature.
Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?
Two areas. My main website, which is kevinbupp.com, and my last name is spelled B-U and then two Ps. So kevinbupp.com. And my company website is sunrisecapitalinvestors.com.
Perfect, man. Thanks again for hopping on.
Tyler Wagner, it's been a pleasure. Thanks, my friend.
The podcast you just heard was made using Anchor. Ever thought about making your own podcast? Anchor makes it really easy for anyone to get started. It's a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, and distributing podcasts. Best of all, it's 100% free. Sign up now at anchor.fm/new. That's anchor.fm/new to get started.
