investments, but we did it anyway.” Since AREI decided to concentrate on Class A properties, its motto has been, “Transparency, Honesty, Integ- rity and Quality, in all assets, for all investors.” Dean says AREI does not enjoy “gambling,” and its expertise in single-family allows the company to take less risk than its competitors and still achieve the best returns in the shortest amount of time, Dean says. “We are true investors who like to minimize all risk,” he says. ADVICE FOR OTHER INVESTORS: WORK HARD, BE HUMBLE Dean doesn’t have a secret sauce for achieving success in real estate investing.
While it undoubtedly helped to have parents in the industry, one gets the feeling that Dean would have succeeded without that advantage. Here are some of his tips for succeeding in investing: > “Study harder than those around you, be willing to take a risk for the belief in yourself to perform, and find a great and ethical mentor,” Dean says. “Getting in with the wrong people who don’t do ethical business or cut corners will burn your bridge to success quickly.” > Shortcuts are not the quickest route to success, so Dean suggests learning the business, even if it means working for peanuts. He
BY ROBERT SPRINGER Robert Springer is a regular freelance contrib- utor to Think Realty Magazine. Contact him at rtspringer@gmail.com. “To be surprised, you have to not see something coming, and I have a very clear vision in regard to the opportu- nities in front of me for this year and the next,” he says. “I believe if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and as strange as it seems, my career so far is what I thought it would be and really only a beginning in my mind.” • DEAN’S CAREER SO FAR: ‘ONLY ABEGINNING’ Asked if he was surprised at his suc- cess in real estate investing, Dean said he wasn’t because he had planned for it. “If you asked me three years ago if I thought I would be traveling the world educating investors and managing one of the largest investment property suppliers in the world, I would have said, ‘I sure hope so’ or ‘That’s the plan,’ but with my fingers crossed and being hopeful,” he says. A “positive attitude and persistent execution” prevent sur- prises, Dean says. once quit a high-powered job and worked for $350 per week plus commission at a hedge fund, believing that once he learned the business he would be successful. > “If I started all over I would simply find the biggest real estate investor person in my area and do whatever I could to shadow them or work for anything I could just to learn the business. It’s that mentality of doing whatever it takes that really made me successful,” Dean says. > Dean also believes in seeking ad- vice from self-help gurus like Tony Robbins and Rhonda Byrne, author of “The Secret.” He listens to them “religiously” and feels they have helped further his career.
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