ATitan Talks Real Estate If you’ve met Glenn Stromberg, you know he’s a fast talker. And if you’ve talked with him, you know he exudes joy and a willingness to help others. Not only a master in his niche of REI, Stromberg is at the top when it comes to character. In a fast-paced conversation with the titan of mobile home invest- ing, Stromberg shared the importance of not only strategic investing, but of the things beyond business that bring true success. Keep up with Stromberg in this fun Q&A:
good. When the banks quit lending, I had 18 properties on the field, and I couldn’t give them away. I had to rethink my model. I didn’t want to rent and deal with tenants and toilets, but I learned what others were doing right and came up with a property management system and discovered passive income. It became a blessing in disguise and the beauty of it is our current model is recession proof. The fix-and-flip method is good, but you have to keep repeating it. If you want to make money while you’re sleeping, this is the way to go. Our current model is recession proof because people need affordable housing. TR Who have been titans — in real estate or otherwise — that you have admired, and why? GS Obviously, Jesus and the lessons he taught. The golden rule and so forth. My dad taught me about being an entrepreneur and encouraged me to do anything I wanted to do. Also, President Reagan. I admired his character, positive attitude, and the way he conducted himself. He was a hero of mine. I also have two spiritual mentors as well — pastors Ron Lyles and Don Gentry — who helped me when I first started going to church. These titans have all made a difference in my life. TR What growing pains has your company endured? GS We’ve gone from just me to 15 employees and a lot of 1099 contractors. Learning and growing through masterminds gave me guidance to turn around cashflow issues and grow smart. I read Jim Collins’ book Good to Great, which says no more than 20 percent growth per year. I believe that. Companies get in trouble when they grow too fast. But I love growing a business. It’s fun for me. I heard when I was young, that most millionaires own their own business or get into real estate, so I wanted to do
TR Success means many different things to different people. What does success mean to you? GS Simple. It’s being in God’s will. Ten years ago, I heard the phrase, is GOD the CEO of your life? That was a game changer. I get up every morning with a set of God goals: love life, love people. When I asked God to guide me each day, everything did change. Also, having time to do what you want when you want. That’s a great luxury. To me that’s success. I tell our team, if we take care of our investors and tenants, the rest will come and the company will be profitable. TR If you could give your younger self advice, what would it be? GS I would have gotten in mastermind groups a lot earlier. I’ve learned your network truly becomes your net worth. The connections you make puts you on the fast track to success. I would have read The Purpose Driven Life earlier in my life. Outside of the Bible, that’s the book that helped me understand my calling. Also, Traction and E-Myth were the best business books I’ve ever read. They taught me business skills and how to delegate properly. I would have read
them sooner. TR What is your greatest virtue? Your weakest? GS I have a desire to help and mentor people. I care about others and want to create win-wins in everything we do. I enjoy mentoring young people and helping them. My weakness is patience. I’m not the most patient man in the world. I want things done and want them done now, but I’m better now than when I was younger! I had a temper, I don’t have that anymore, but I could still be more patient. But I work on that every day. I am concentrating these days on becoming a better listener and thinking before I talk. I am trying to improve on both those areas. I want to be remembered as an honest man who loved God and loved people and made a difference in peoples’ lives. TR They say success comes after failure. Can you describe a time you failed and how you persevered or what you learned? GS In 2008, before the crash, I was buying, fixing and flipping the same type of properties as I do now: doublewides on land. No overhead. I was selling three properties at a time, bringing in $30,000 each. Life was
18 | think realty magazine :: june 2020
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