Hello there! My name is Cody Sperber, and this here is my fancy new real estate investing blog. 🙂
Right off the bat let me thank you warmly for stopping by. If you’re in any way into real estate investing, then you’re in the right place. And please know that my very sincere desire is to give you something of real, tangible value while you’re here. And I really mean that.
The fact is this blogging thing has really intrigued me for the last few years – mainly I guess because I’ve discovered how fulfilling and even kind of therapeutic it is to open up my own life and share something worthwhile with others who can benefit from it.
So if the ups and downs of my adventures in real estate can be of help to you in your own endeavors, then I’m more than happy to openly share with you my triumphs, my mistakes and the valuable lessons I’ve learned here on this blog.
Win for me, win for you.
Who Am I Really?
You may be wondering, “Who’s this Cody Sperber guy, and why the heck should I even be listening to him?” Hey, fair question!
So here’s the Reader’s Digest version:
I’m a full-time real estate investor from Phoenix, Arizona. I’ve been actively doing real estate deals since 2004, and I can’t seem to stop. The truth is, I’m hopelessly addicted to doing deals. Don’t bother with an intervention, cause I don’t even want to stop. I’m a deal junkie and I love it.
I’m also a Navy Vet, which of course has been huge in shaping who I am today, and taught me more than anything else the core values of commitment, honor, and integrity. Which also by the way has a colossal impact on how I run my business and who I choose to do business with.
“The Clever Investor”?
I know it may sound a little self-indulgent, but a few years ago someone hung the nickname on me and I guess it just stuck. At some point I decided to roll with it.
I guess it stems from when I first started investing, and had next to no money or credit to actually go out and do any real damage with. I don’t know, but maybe you can relate. When you’re in this situation, you’ve got little choice really – either get creative or go home.
So I got creative.
And I learned very quickly if I was going to make any money in this real estate game, I’d have to bring something else to the table besides the cash or credit I didn’t have. And that “something else” was the specialized knowledge I worked hard to learn, mixed with heavy doses of massive, purposeful action.
So long story short, I got very creative early on, I’ve stayed that way ever since.
My First Real Turning Point
I tried to figure out all the different no-money-down investing techniques I could, but my first real Eureka moment came one day when I stumbled on this crazy thing called “wholesaling”. Which is by the way far and away the quickest, easiest way for most folks to break in and really make some decent cash in real estate investing right from the get-go. There are a thousands ways to skin the real estate cat, but I almost always recommend people start with wholesaling first.
If you don’t already know, basically wholesaling is:
- Controlling real estate at a notable discount,
- Then quickly “flipping it” (selling it) for a higher (but still wholesale) price to another buyer,
- And typically doing so for cash, in as-is condition – No repairs, no mortgages, no Realtors, no fuss.
- Your profit is the spread between your wholesale “buy price” and your higher wholesale “sell price”.
My mind was officially blown.
It turned out that up to that point I’d been held hostage by the limiting belief that I needed decent credit and at least some cash to make this real estate thing work. But suddenly the mysterious world of “make money in real estate investing” began to unfold for me in a new and very powerful way, and I’ve never looked back since.
Then Things Started Moving Quickly
Once I kind of mastered the wholesaling process, I ramped it way up and did a ton of wholesale deals my first year. Then I pretty much doubled my business in year two, which was also about the time I transitioned from being primarily focused on wholesaling, into the offbeat world of creative real estate investing – an exciting new challenge for me.
I started my real estate investment firm called, “Klever Investor, LLC” (Ha, clever, no?). Which at first was basically just me sitting in my girlfriend’s (now Wifey’s) kitchen on a computer selling wholesale properties to a small email list I managed to finagle together.
The Art of Market Whispering
This is when started learning how to be a “market whisperer” – which is basically the art of understanding what the market is asking for at any given time, and then positioning myself in front of it to take advantage of it.
Think about it: If all you ever have is a hammer, you can sure learn how to take down some serious nails. But what if you look around one day and all you see are screws? That’s why I’m known as the clever investor 😉
So I began to learn how “read” the market and focus on whatever it was telling me – and this is how I really kicked things to the next level. I started learning how to do lease options, sandwich lease options, wrap-around mortgages, a whole bunch of subject-to deals – and I even started building a small rental portfolio.
Then I learned how to play and win the courthouse auction game, how to make an absolute killing in short sales – and I even stumbled into a basically untapped niche market hidden right in plain sight – a little something I like to call “reverse short sales”. I won’t go into that just yet, but it’s still an incredible opportunity and I’ve really enjoyed sharing it with people lately.
FF >> Fast Forward >>
Today I’m happy to report that even in the shadow of a real estate market that makes most people want to throw in the towel or run away, I see richer opportunity than ever and wealth ripe for the taking.
My business has continued growing exponentially – over the last few years I have personally purchased and sold over 250 properties worth over 45 million dollars which include fix-n-flips, foreclosures / REO’s, multi-family (1-8 units), short sales and reverse short sales.
Each day my team of fellow real estate addicts and I aggressively market, research, and uncover the best discounted real estate we can find and wholesale our deals to other investors within our network. We buy at auction, we do REOs, short sales, reverse short sales (of course) and we have an absolute blast doing it.
Truth be told, I’ve been blessed with many, many wins and feel extremely grateful for the “real estate dream” of a life I’m able to enjoy. But I didn’t get here without some battle wounds along the way.
And I guess that’s why I’m doing this blog. To share some of these stories with you – old and new – so that you can become a Clever Investor too, and maybe even enjoy a nice shortcut or two in your own journey to win big in the real estate investing game. How’s that sound? 🙂
So What’s Next?
Great question! In the next few posts I’d like to share a few things with you that have really had a powerful impact on my own success as an investor. I really think they could be helpful for you too. Things like:
- The 2 Roads of Real Estate Investing
- The 6 Crucial “Way-Points” of Any Real Estate Deal
- The “Fast Track Money Matrix” that I run every deal through, which helps create both chunks of cash today and positive cash flow over time.
This is real important stuff that could seriously change the shape of your real estate investing endeavors for the better if you can learn it now rather than later. Let’s call it the ideal starting point of your own walk down the yellow brick road.
So thanks for reading my first post. I’m so glad you’re here! And I’ll look forward to digging into the good stuff starting in the next post.
Until then, take care.
Sperber out!
