From Near Bankruptcy to Empowering Others: How Chris Prefontaine Rebuilt after the 2008 Real Estate Crash
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"From Near Bankruptcy to Empowering Others: How Chris Prefontaine Rebuilt after the 2008 Real Estate Crash"
In this episode of From Adversity to Abundance, host Jamie Bateman dives into Chris Prefontaine's remarkable journey from the brink of bankruptcy during the 2008 financial crash to building a thriving, sustainable real estate business. Chris candidly shares how facing financial turmoil forced him to reevaluate his strategies and mindset, ultimately learning the crucial lesson of stepping back and empowering others to help grow his business.
Through creative financing methods and an innovative mentorship model, Chris transformed his challenges into opportunities for abundance. This episode highlights the importance of mental fitness, partnerships, and learning to "get out of your own way" as keys to personal and professional success.
Guest Introduction:Chris Prefontaine
Chris Prefontaine is a real estate mentor, best-selling author, and founder of Smart Real Estate Coach. After the 2008 financial crisis left him nearly bankrupt, Chris rebuilt his career by mastering creative financing strategies like owner financing and lease purchases. Today, his family-owned business thrives by partnering with mentees to close deals on terms, creating a win-win for all involved.
Episode Highlights:- Near Bankruptcy: How the 2008 financial crash pushed Chris to develop creative strategies and a resilient mindset.
- Getting Out of Your Own Way: The pivotal lesson of delegating, trusting others, and focusing on leadership to scale his business.
- Creative Financing Mastery: Avoiding bank loans with methods like owner financing, rent-to-own, and lease purchases.
- Mentorship and Partnerships: Aligning goals with mentees to foster mutual growth and long-term success.
- Jessica’s Journey: A real estate success story from Tennessee, showcasing persistence through tough times.
- Website:https://smartrealestatecoach.com/
- Email: support@smartrealestatecoach.com
- Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/smartrealestatecoach/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smartrealestatecoach/
- Youtube: https:/smartrealestatecoach/www.youtube.com/
- LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisprefontaine/
- Free Real Estate Web Class: Learn how to close deals on terms with Chris’s free training. Visit www.smartrealestatecoach.com/free-class.
- Books by Chris:
- Real Estate on Your Terms
- The New Rules of Real Estate Investing
- Free best selling books: Simply click and fill out the form and chris will mail you a package containing there best-selling books Real Estate On Your Terms and Deal Structure Overtime at absolutely no charge.
- https://wickedsmartbooks.com/jbateman
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labradorlending.com/investors/active-investors/
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Speaker 0
Wow. If you're looking for an action packed, advice packed, inspiration packed episode, this one's for you. You it's a shorter episode than a lot of ours are, but you may end up having to listen to it twice. Chris Prefontaine, he's a fast talker. Cover we cover a lot of ground, and, man, he's got a ton of experience, a ton of lessons he's learned from the o eight crash in particular. We focused a lot on the two thousand eight real estate crash and how that, for four years, affected him massively, specifically with regard to personal debt and, you know, not filing bank for bankruptcy. He dug his way out of that, got his got out of his own way in twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, and then again in twenty seventeen, had to get out of his own way. And in in the episode, we dive into really what that means. And they've scaled their business. They now have two sides to it where one side is they work with students and they do deals with students, so their interests are aligned. And secondly, they also hope they have their own side of the business where they they do their own deals and, with their own money and, kinda keep growing both sides of of the business. Like I said, Chris is a high energy kinda guy, from the northeast and just so many I mean, we were just rattling off questions and answers, questions and and answers. I I this one this one is one you definitely need to pay attention to, and maybe even listen to twice. You're gonna enjoy it. Thanks. Speaker 1
Welcome to From Adversity to Abundance, the go to podcast for real estate entrepreneurs seeking not just to thrive, but to conquer with resilience and mental sharpness. Each week, join us as we dive into the compelling world of real estate through the lens of mental fitness, where challenges transform into opportunities. Get ready to transform your mindset and expand your understanding of what it takes to succeed in real estate. Let's explore these stories of triumph and resilience together. Speaker 0
Welcome everybody to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. I am your host, Jamie Bateman, and I'm pumped today to have with us Chris Prefontaine. Chris is the founder of Smart Real Estate Coach. Chris, how are you doing today? Speaker 2
I'm awesome. Thanks for having me, Jamie. I appreciate it. Speaker 0
Yeah. I'm excited. Thanks for spending your time with us. Speaker 2
This is Speaker 0
gonna be great. I know you've got a lot to a lot of valuable lessons and a great story to share with our our listener. For the listener who may be unfamiliar with you, Chris, who are you and what are you up to today? Speaker 2
Sure. So founder and chairman of Smart Real Estate Coach, you and I will probably peel back how that came about. But since two thousand fourteen, we've been coaching people around North America to do real estate deals without using banks and their own cash, and that, again, was born out of some some events that we'll talk about. And I've been in the business thirty three years, real estate in general. So we'll peel that back layer by layer, I'm I'm sure, and get some nuggets out there for everybody. Speaker 0
Yeah. Absolutely. So just very briefly before we jump back, what does the what does your business look like in a little bit more detail today? Speaker 2
Yeah. So we do two things. So while we're out in the trenches coaching and mentoring and do and partnering on deals with students because we don't just sell them something, Jamie. We actually do a deal with them and we rev share. It's a big difference because we're in the deal with them and that kind of fills the whole of, in my opinion, of what exists in the real estate education because, you know, people sell stuff and then they don't combine it with support. So we're actually doing deals. Mhmm. We do somewhere between five and twenty deals a month with students across North America. And then to keep us fresh and poised and plus I love it, it's been my life, we do the same deals on our own, our family company. My son and I and my son-in-law, my wife, because we keeps us sharp and fresh and keeps the deals coming in so that when we get new roadblocks, new, you know, new hurdles, new twists, new problems, we get to update the community. And so it's always live. Speaker 0
Makes perfect sense. It's a you have aligned interests, and each side kind of works synergistically to feed the other side and support the other side. Speaker 2
Yeah. Speaker 0
We do we do mentorship with mortgage note investing and same kind of deal. I run a mortgage note fund, and it's like, I learn new things every day with running the note fund, but I also learn things mentoring people, and they kind of work together. So Yeah. Let's jump back. I know the o eight crash was a big, big moment in your life. Is that where you'd like to start with your your story? Speaker 2
Yeah. I can give a couple second review up to that just so there's some text. But, I mean, I've been at this since nineteen ninety one, so I'm dating myself a bit. But I've had brokerages, I've built homes, you know, coach people in the realtor end before I did investment in. But, yeah, the crash, really it was painful, but it taught me a bunch of stuff. And that's what, it's why and what I'm doing today. So let me explain o eight. Yeah. Going into o eight, I had around twenty three or so different properties or projects. Speaker 0
Okay. Speaker 2
The difference was between now and then, one of the major lessons we learned is I was signed personally on every single one of them. You know the deal. You're in the note business. Yeah. So I personally guarantee every one of them. Well, when the market went down, one of my projects went down from a hundred and seventy grand sale price to I couldn't give away for fifty grand. It was a condominium conversion building. Okay. Yep. You know, what happens then? They come knocking. They come looking for me. Yeah. So from from February of o eight, I remember, like, it was yesterday, talking about adversity. From February of o eight till February of twelve, literally, I was in workout mode with not I didn't file. I just worked through it. I dug through the weeds. Yeah. Worked with creditors, worked with short sales, worked with foreclosures. Yeah. Because you just couldn't sell the stuff at the same values. But And and just just to Speaker 0
briefly to clarify for listener, you you didn't file for for bankruptcy, right, is what you're saying? But you were close. Payable. Yeah. You considered it, it sounds like, and it it was an option maybe, but maybe but you fought your way through the the foreclosures and and the defaults that you Speaker 2
Everybody said to. I mean, literally. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
Trusted people, attorney said, what? What are you doing? Right? And I just said I can't do it. Well, only after I can't do it. Speaker 0
Got it. So walk yeah. From o eight to to twenty twelve, in a little more detail, what was that really, what was that adversity like? You I guess come coming to o eight, what were your what were your goals? What did you think was gonna happen? And then kind of where how did things change for you? Speaker 2
Well, I wish I knew then, but Speaker 0
in fact, my Speaker 2
goals were to keep the ATM going. Right? You thought it was going to that market. Sure. I was buying stuff with the bank loans, and then also some of them were being supplemented with investor money. So that was even more of a headache. Well, I mean, o eight to twelve was what? It was my day was probably three quarters to full based on talking to personal creditors. Like, I'm talking about IRS credit cards, cars, and then and then working with the properties. So it wasn't fun. Sure. The mental piece of that was tough because it it it was around twelve where someone said to me, one of my trusted sort of friends slash mentor said, hey, Chris. You need to get your head out of the sand. You didn't take the national market down. You need to get to work. So and he said you he said you tell everyone you're working through on a cable, it takes you ten years. So I did so I did that. I got out of my own way in twelve and started in thirteen. Speaker 0
Okay. So what what does that mean exactly in in your situation, getting out of your own way? Speaker 2
I was in my head. I it must have been me. You know, it was all mental game. Hundred percent mental. Speaker 0
Okay. Speaker 2
Must have been me. I can't do this. I you know, I've been in real estate eighteen years at that point, you figure. So this you know, that was a lot going on in the brain. Speaker 0
Alright. So no. I'm glad you you that's important for the listener because the the point is for those maybe younger entrepreneurs, younger investors out there that didn't experience o eight at all, then maybe they don't even know what conditions you're talking about. But the point is, you know, they can they can Google that and figure that out. But Yeah. There were a ton of market conditions that were one hundred percent outside of your control. And so so what you're saying is for several years, you blamed yourself. Yeah. It sounds like. Right? Speaker 2
Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 0
And at some point, it's almost like, okay. Stop asking why and just move forward. Why did this happen? Why me? Speaker 2
Or Speaker 0
Yeah. What did I do to cause this? And maybe you did make some mistakes along the way. Who knows? But it it doesn't really matter at that point. So so twenty twelve, twenty thirteen, how did your mindset shift? Speaker 2
I started okay. So twice in my entire career, I didn't have a mentor, and twice in my and one of them was o eight. Right? Because I thought back, I'm like, man, what is stupid that was. So I started reaching out to trusted business people and people in my area as well as finding them through books and online and just picking their brains. And, frankly, some of them chuckled and said, are you kidding me? Like, they went through so much worse in a way. It made me seem like it was nothing. Speaker 0
Oh, yeah. Speaker 2
So that's all I had to do four years earlier, though, and I didn't. Speaker 0
Right. Well, that's but that's that's important too. It's just to you know, the perspective of realizing somebody else has it worse than you. You know? Always. Okay. So twenty thirteen, what were the actionable steps? You you talked about the mindset shift, but, really, what did that look like as far as, you know, your day to day? Yeah. Speaker 2
Okay. So there was just sort of some on I'll call them rules. I didn't call them rules then, but sort of some protocol and some rules to operate in. One was never ever ever until this day sign on bank loans, and that's why I teach it. Right? Never. Uh-huh. Speaker 0
If you Speaker 2
have eight hundred and twenty five credit, do not do it. Secondly, no longer would I operate where it was transactional. One, you know, do a deal, get paid. Do a deal, get paid. Yeah. Yeah. That that was the impetus to our trademark of three paydays. So there's all kinds of cool things. You couldn't have convinced me then that they were gonna be good things. But there are all kind of cool things that came out of that Yeah. From that experience, and then no longer using gobs of our own cap. So those are the exact same criteria we teach today. Speaker 0
Got it. Okay. So then walk us through just you know, I know this is a huge jump in time, but in the last ten years, what really what was the growth focus on the growth of your business over the last ten years. What did that look like? Speaker 2
Yeah. So from the summer of thirteen and we our our property's bopping weed, right, with how many? But we went into COVID, for example, right, with that, craziness with about seventy two properties. We exit them all with rent to own. So the standard landlord during that time would be like, woah. This is a headache, and they went through headaches. We had maybe three or four headaches out of seventy two because we were dealing with buyers, not renters. Big difference in our in our model. So that's key. But just to put some numbers to this, because you said, you know what? What I think we off off here, we were talking about the success. Yeah. You know, our deals now, the way I structure them, the three paydays, the way we trademark it, it, they're worth, like, forty five grand to three hundred fifty grand per deal. So I remember in August of thirteen to December of thirteen, my first run, I'm like, wow. This is cool. We got to a million two, all three paydays. Now that takes time to come to fruition, but we had we had, accumulated about one point two worth just doing thirteen deals. And that's when my light bulb went off, and then I started getting demand organically. I didn't market it to teach others, and then now we Now you yeah. Fastest growing company in US, Inc five thousand three years in a row. Speaker 0
Yeah. That's that's amazing. So walk us through a typical deal just for the listener, maybe who is an investor, real estate, you know, entrepreneur, but they're not exactly sure what you just said. What what does a typical deal look like? Speaker 2
Yeah. So just to give that context, we buy only three ways, typically, just for the show's sake here today. We buy owner financing, subject to existing financing and lease purchase. Let's talk about financing just because that's a word that a lot of people know. Sure. We niche that down even further to free and clear properties, Jamie. So about a third of the properties in United States roughly are free and clear, no mortgage. We look for those, and then we structure on a financing payments monthly to the sellers that are principal only. Now think about that with where the rates are right now. So principal only. It's a massive, massive pay down of principal throughout the deal, and that's where a lot of, a lot of wealth is created. So what are the three pay days to to to cap this up? Let's just pretend you're a buyer of one of our properties. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
Came from corporate America, perhaps you wanna start your own business. You're not financeable for two years. Right? You need some seasoning. Sure. So you'll come in on a rent to own vehicle with us. You'll be qualified to make sure you can get to the finish line. You'll put a down payment down. Pay day one. Nonrefundable comes to us. Pay day two, I'm paying the seller something. You're paying me that plus. So I'm gonna keep that delta. Okay. And then pay day three is really cool and lucrative because it's all the principal paid out throughout the term of the deal, three or four years, plus any mock up we did. So when I set our deals that were at forty five to three fifty, that's where they come from, those three paydays. Speaker 0
Okay. Gotcha. Now take this from a slightly different angle as far as the business itself and your team. And if you could try to weave in, you know, mindset. So, you know, how do you decide when to hire somebody when it's time to scale versus when to hold back and and just stick with, you know, quality over quantity as far as team members and that kind of thing? Because I I know you've scaled quite a bit with your team. How did what did that look like in the last ten years? Speaker 2
Yeah. That's a good question because, I'll I'll hit hiring second. Let me hit the skill with you first. Sure. In two thousand seventeen, we always look at, okay, what's the next year look like, and what do we need for skill sets or people or mentors? Every year we do it. Mhmm. So at seventeen, we're going, oh, wait a minute. I've been a solopreneur my whole life literally in the business, and I always bang my head on a million bucks. Right? Around that frame. And you know you know in the business, you almost anyone, I'm not watering it down, but almost anyone can get to a million by more hours, more follow-up, more call. You can get there. Speaker 0
Yeah. Speaker 2
The million to three and then the three to ten that it's in totally different animal. So in seventeen, we said, who can help us get there? Because I never did it. And so we found an organization, Elite Entrepreneurs, was still with them. They help people go from seven to eight figures in eight to nine. That's what they specialize in, someone from a million and on up. But we found them in December of seventeen and have not looked back and they they really brought us through that. Now you talk about mindset. I remember sitting in the room with them December seventeen and them going through their process of, let's design the org chat, and let's design all these things to get you to a five million dollar business. And in my brain, mind, so I'm going, alright. That's good, but I this doesn't compute. Like, charts and organization Right. Right. But I I call this guy probably he's still my coach indirectly, but I call him a lot and go, look. We owe it all to you, Brett, because my mindset wasn't there. He brought us there. Now it's a now it's the norm. Speaker 0
Yeah. Well, it sounds like those are two distinct twenty twelve and twenty seventeen, two distinct points where you had to get out of your own way in a sense. Is that is that fair to say? Speaker 2
Yeah. It's very fair to say. And now I'll tell you where we at now. So now that we've hit that five mark, the the the challenges people will learn is three to ten is another whole animal. Right? Mhmm. Now it becomes we're banging ahead two years in a row in that rock. Why? Leadership. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
Right? It's not really as much the mindset anymore. I think I'm past that. I'll look in two years and let you know. Speaker 0
Right. I think it's leadership. I'll bring it back on in two years. Speaker 2
Yeah. Because they I'd love to. Because they because leaders will the team will drag revenue. It's not expensive. You do it right, they'll drag revenue. So that's where that's our next big step is to build that leadership team to drag us to the ten. Speaker 0
Yeah. So then when you say leadership, that's not just you. That's leadership, including you and under you. Right? Speaker 2
It's gotta be more. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 0
Yeah. Got it. So what is your what is the business just quickly, what does the business look what does your team look like today? Speaker 2
We've got about now since COVID, they're all over the place. Right? No longer here in Rhode Island. We've got about eighteen or so people in different capacities, from CEO to marketing to sales, and we'll be somewhere around the five million rock again this year. Speaker 0
That's awesome. But hopefully in two years, you you that's nothing. Right? Correct. Speaker 2
Yeah. Yep. We're running. Speaker 0
Awesome. Alright. So got some got some questions for you, rapid fire questions. Sure. What's one thing that people misunderstand about you, Chris? Speaker 2
Well, I mean, I said to you before the show, kidding. I I said, hey. We're limited time, but I I I talk fast and familiar. But I'm also extremely blunt, and so they sometimes don't see the other side of that. My wife will say, they don't even know you. I've been married thirty eight years. So she'll say, they don't even know. But in business, I I you know, we've got a we've got a path and a and a goal, and my goal is to help you if you're a student get to you. There's there's, you know, there's a way to coach that. So I could be a little blunt. Speaker 0
Yeah. Well, you're you're a man on a mission. Right? Your time is valuable. So I I get that. Looking back, what what's one of your biggest failures, and what did you learn from that experience? Speaker 2
It would definitely be the o eight. Yeah. And and and I'll tell you what I learned aside from what we talked about, but we said it indirectly, the mental game, especially in real estate, but as an entrepreneur, entrepreneurship is hard. You know it. It's, it's easy. Absolutely. People think it's easy. No. It's hard, and the mental game is more than we think is the biggest lesson that I think. It like, ninety percent of it. Speaker 0
No. That's that's huge. And and I do think entrepreneurship is, in general, much harder than the way it's presented on social media for sure. If you could have coffee with any historical figure, whom would you choose? Speaker 2
Now this would change every two months if you ask me. Right? Speaker 0
But I Speaker 2
I and this is not political, so please No. Shoot arrows. Okay. If I could sit with, Trump and figure out how the heck he dealt with what he dealt with. I don't care if you if you like him or not. I'm not even addressing. I'm saying how is it how's it person mentally did you deal with? That's what I like. Speaker 0
It's it's amazing. I I get I'll yes. I'll probably get, you know, emails for this too. But, I mean, it's incred I was actually talking to someone last night about two nights ago about this. Regardless of whether you voted for him or not, like, he's and whether you agree that it's self imposed, you know, hardship or not, it's it's unbelievable what he's been able to just get through and still remain standing. So yeah. Speaker 2
Well, you and I could say this fairly, I think. How about any president? Yeah. Because and how do you sleep? Speaker 0
Oh, yeah. It doesn't have to be him. Speaker 2
Any president, I can generalize that. Speaker 0
Right. Oh, now you left me hanging, you know, with the pro Trump sign. No. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. But, if let's see. What's one challenge that you're facing in your business right now, Chris? Speaker 2
It's it's most certainly well, it's two things. I said leadership. Right? So that's our next mission to train more leaders. And the second is I tend to be a because of how I used to be a solopreneur, I tend to be a micromanager. Speaker 0
So I Speaker 2
need to get out of the way a little bit more and and trust that process a little bit more. Speaker 0
I know that. So maybe twenty twenty five is another Yeah. Out of your own way. Yeah. Yeah. It is. What is one piece of advice you'd give to a brand new solopreneur, real estate, you know, active investor really just starting out? Speaker 2
I guess this could go for any business, but but I like that you asked for real estate. Three things. I I say this a lot. One, because of what you said earlier, you alluded to something about experience. So number one because they didn't maybe go through o eight. Number one, find someone that find a niche. Let's go this way. Find a niche that you can get behind. Like, morally, ethically, in business, when you go, that's me. I can get behind that. Two, then find someone that you alluded to earlier that's been around for at least two real estate cycles. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
And I'm I'm adamant about this because if not, you're gonna get yourself in hot water potentially. Mhmm. And three, put the blinders on then and follow that, and don't get caught up with all the real estate shiny offers. There's a hundred Speaker 0
of them. Speaker 2
Right? Yes. Because they're all great initiatives. Absolutely. Don't get caught up. Put blinders on for about thirty six months bare minimum, and you'll have a good experience. Speaker 0
No. That that's really good advice. I mean, I've I've mentored people who they they wanna get mortgage note advice from me, and then two weeks later, you know, should I get in should should I be doing short term rentals? You know? And then it's it's like, I I don't know. Maybe. Yeah. But, like like, focus. Speaker 2
You know, I call that. They, like I said this to a student. Did they go I said, look. I knew he was looking out of the stuff. I said, you're drilling for wells nonstop, and you're never gonna hit water. Never. Gotta drill for three years. Speaker 0
Yeah. And then later on, you can add more Speaker 2
buffers. Yeah. Speaker 0
Diversify a little bit. I think you alluded to a little bit of this before, but what's something controversial that you see, whether it's in the education real estate education space or just in real estate in general? Speaker 2
I'm gonna say real estate education space because this is this is nothing I'm adamant about. I there's just too many people that are good marketers, good for them, but they they're they're hitting you on social. Some stuff real, some stuff fake, but you're but you're buying off of it. Yeah. A bunch of nonsense. I'll tell you that we're not great marketers, but we know how to do deals. So Yeah. Just be careful. And if you parlay that with the three step formula I gave with someone with experience, you'll have a great experience. Just be careful about it. Speaker 0
Sure. No. And I think that's really good. I mean, you and I don't know each other that well, but I've seen your name around, and I know you do have a a good reputation. I think just Thank you. Being in the space this long speaks to something. You know? So your your integrity and quality of the work you do. Speaker 2
I appreciate it. Speaker 0
In your opinion, what's the role of luck versus skill in real estate success? Speaker 2
Ah, that's a good one. I think, luck comes in when you stay at it long enough. And let me give you a quick example because I love real stories. So I I can think of a few, but Jessica comes to mind. She's in Tennessee. People see her, and they see what she's doing today. She got, like, four or five deals going on. They're all lucrative. She just had a baby. And they go, oh, they might consider her lucky. Right? No. She went fifteen months without getting her deal and was calling me. She's daily accountability with me. She's at one of the higher levels. Uh-huh. But literally ready to turn it in. So I I just don't know if this is me. And then it was like the funnel opened probably three weeks later, coincidentally. So you could say it's locked. No. It's locked because she stuck with it. Speaker 0
Right. Right. For sure. So overnight success, she was basically Right. Yeah. Yeah. No. That's that's really good. And that's that's also speaks to the fact that, you know, success is not a a straight line up into the right. Right? It it's it can up it you go up and down. You could take two steps back. I mean, Speaker 2
five steps forward. I agree with how you said it because, I always say this, success is a real shitty teacher. It's it's not so it's the it's the downs that that Speaker 0
yeah. Yeah. So okay. And and kinda to close the loop on the o eight thing, just looking back, what were the you've already mentioned a lot of several lessons, but what are the biggest one or two lessons you learned looking back at o eight? Speaker 2
I could tie it all together with this comment. You there you and I said earlier, well, there's always someone who had it worse. By the same token, there's always someone that has done what you wanna do in some shape, form, or fashion, and you can now luckily find them on the Internet. So the the lesson would be simply look for that. You seek it out. I had a gentleman on my podcast, David Nurse. He's a high performance coach for NBA players. I'm talking about these guys that come out of college and making ridiculous, like, ten, twenty million. Right? Mhmm. Said to me, Chris, here's what I do. He was on the show saying this publicly. I find out the skill set I have to teach him, whether it's mindset or skill set, whatever it is. He said, I go seek someone out, literally on YouTube, and we mirror that to match that. Okay. Brain science? Nope. But it works incredibly well. Speaker 0
Sure. No. I love that. And that's something I love about real estate in general. It's like, yes. Creativity is great, and then it's important. You guys have you structure your deals in many creative ways, but there's someone who's done this before Yep. For the most part. Right? And you can learn from them. Maybe not your exact business model, but, yeah, success leaves clues, and and it you're not stealing or anything, but you're copying what their traits are, what they, you know, they're being Yeah. Speaker 2
This creative financing is is been around for hundreds of years. What's the difference? We just wrapped a bow around it and some support, but you can go find stuff. Right? Speaker 0
Sure. Alright. So talk in a little more detail about, you know, if I'm a student and I sign up with you, what are the levels you refer to? What does that look like? Speaker 2
Yeah. We try to hit everyone, Jamie. So for so for example, we'll give you a try. We were talking about this off here. A a free book. Why? I want I want free so that you don't feel pressured. I want you to pick your niche for free. Right? Mhmm. So so that level, so to speak, is free, and there's a free master's class, all kinds of free stuff. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
I want you to decide, okay. This looks like it's for me. We have what's called apprentice. Apprentice is extremely affordable, and it lets them get into sort of a group coaching format that, again, allows them to kinda dance with us, get their feet wet, but not go crazy yet. Speaker 0
Sure. Speaker 2
And then and then after that, if they like that or if they're more aggressive right away, they can do it. They can get what we call an associate program. It's different levels, but the associate program actually revenue shares with us, has us on their back, or I coach the high level, but we have four or five coaches as well. Mhmm. And they'll be calling sellers, calling buyers, working these deals with them. Just today, I did three pretty, like, important, I'll call, calls from my higher level people. I record it. I put it on the Slack channel so everybody can have it. That's, like, interactive stuff. That's how we operate in all our levels. Speaker 0
Yeah. Got it. Well, and I imagine too, like, I know with our our mentorship program, I think it's a little bit little bit dialed down, but but it's not only just the time spent, you know, in the one on one. It's also likely you have referrals. And, I mean, just getting plugged into your network, I think, would be hugely valuable. Is that is that true? Speaker 2
That's a big point. Yeah. So people say to me, well, I saw saw your different levels and I see what the splits are. And I always say, look. That's great. That's that's math. Mhmm. Yes. It's better. But to your point, how about the dream team? Like, I bring to some of the what we call the high level calls. I bring one of our equity partners who built the largest fitness brand, one of the largest in the world, and exited twice for forty million each time. They can't get to a person like that. Speaker 0
But they Speaker 2
come on the group call because they're in my group. They get to pick his brain for half hour. I mean, it's incredible. Speaker 0
That's invaluable. For sure. Alright. So for how about for you personally, Chris? You know, take a step back, and then what what does your life look like? What does your kind of day to day look like? What is your week how you know, how many vacations do you go on per year? What's your what's your life look like? Speaker 2
This has changed. Okay? So for context of the listeners, I'm fifty eight. If you if you just listen and not watching this, and didn't catch the beginning of the dates. So my deal now is more about creating experiences. That's kind of my why. So earning enough cash, creating enough wealth, sure, to do the things that money wealth can't buy. Right? The experience of family, kids, grandkids. So as of this filming, for example, we'll head out to Vermont. They'll all be there, grandparents, kids, grandkids, and we'll create experiences. That's what it's all about now for us. As far as my business day, I'm always on, Jamie. I mean, I'm off, but I'm always on. So I, technically, am in the office Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Now it's a new thing I did this year. It worked well. My one of my mentors helped me with it. Nice. But am I always on because they own the company? Yeah. I'm on for a couple hours in the morning, and I'm I'm I got my finger on the pulse because I love it. I Speaker 0
don't think you're you're not gonna retire is not in your vocabulary, is it? Speaker 2
That's an old word. It doesn't show you being the ball camp. Speaker 0
Yeah. I love it. I did miss one question. What's a book or two? I know you have you've written several books. What is one book or two that you could recommend for our listener? Speaker 2
You know, that changes every few weeks too, Greg, because whatever my mental mode is. But I can tell you if you're if you're in real estate and you haven't read, the McDonald's story, the same one that the movie was out. I think it's under the golden notches. There's a few out, but it's the one that mirrors the the movie and vice versa. Speaker 0
Mhmm. Speaker 2
It's incredible because it talks about all the hardships they went through. And the next one that I would tell any entrepreneur, I called my son-in-law who's our CEO, and I said, you gotta read this. It's that very thick brand new book Musk has out. Speaker 0
Okay. Speaker 2
Uh-huh. It is when you go through his story again, whether you like him or not, it's not important to to hear what he went through. I was, like, reciting it to my wife going, this is, like, crazy. You think you went through some stuff. Go read his book. Again, it's, like, four inches, five, six inches thick. Yeah. But it's a good read. It's the same guy that wrote the one about, Steve Jobs. It was incredible. Speaker 0
Okay. I'll have to pick that one up. Awesome. What have we what's what's the question I haven't asked you that you wish I had? Speaker 2
Actually, some of my ending comments you hit at the beginning because you you're a great host. Look. I I'll just say this. The I don't care if it's real estate or not. The thing you and I talked about about go finding someone that are out there on the Internet Yeah. Please understand that they someone can bring you to where you wanna go if you just mentally believe it. Because the only thing stopping you as a listener to go, you know, check out your initial notes or my initial with creative financing, a later noon, or both. The only thing because if you know you succeed, you do it. So the only thing is you. You're the only thing in your way, and you're the only thing stopping how high you go as well. So just understand that going into your new year or your new quarter, doesn't matter when you hear this, and let the let the reins loose because you are it. You're the only thing in your way. Speaker 0
I love it. That's fantastic. Chris Prefontaine, where can our listeners find you online? Speaker 2
Anywhere social media wise, if you type in smart real estate coach, you're gonna get us. As far as, something I'd love to put in your hands that you said at the beginning or I told you and you said good is, another thing you asked me about the education space that irks me is when I go, yeah. I want this free book. It says free. And then I click on it and it says, put in your eleven dollars for shipping. This is annoying. It's not free. We have a yeah. We have a free book. You're actually probably hint we'll get two, but they're two out of our four bestsellers. All you gotta do is go to wicked smart books dot com forward slash j bateman. That way we know it came from this show. We'll honor it. You'll get hard copies, not electronic, and they'll be shipped out from our office here. Speaker 0
No charge. Fantastic. We're definitely gonna put that link in the show notes for sure. Speaker 2
Thank you. Speaker 0
Chris, any any parting thoughts? Anything, anything you have never shared on a podcast that you'd like to? Speaker 2
I would have thought about that beforehand. I don't I don't think so because I'm an open book. Good question, Jimmy. I'm I'm an open book. I love your question, Floz. I appreciate what you do in your show and what you do as a biz. So, yeah, I'd love to reconvene. Awesome. Yep. I'll say public. I'd love to have you on my show. So let's Speaker 0
Fantastic. Let's get that scheduled. Sounds great. Well, Chris, thank you so much. This has been really good. I know your time is valuable, and we appreciate you spending your time with us. Speaker 2
Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Speaker 0
And the listeners, same to you. We know your time is valuable. We appreciate your time and attention as well. Definitely head over to our our podcast website, adversity to abundance dot com. It's the number two, adversity to abundance dot com, and share the show with a friend. Thanks all. Take care. Speaker 1
Thank you for joining us on From Adversity to Abundance. We hope today's episode has equipped you with valuable insights and practical advice to elevate your real estate journey. For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at w w w dot adversity to abundance dot com. If this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could also benefit from our conversation. Together, let's turn adversity into abundance. Until next time, keep building your mental fitness and your real estate empire. 
