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Show Summary
In this conversation, Tom shares his extensive journey from being an orthopedic surgeon to becoming a successful real estate investor. He discusses the lessons learned from his mistakes, the importance of community and relationships in achieving success, and the need to define personal wealth and purpose. Tom emphasizes the significance of mentorship and the value of resilience in navigating challenges. He also touches on his future aspirations in real estate and personal growth.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Tom Burns (00:00)
So, you know, kind of like we were telling you, there was a, know we started a project or two late in 2022. Well, if you look at the Fed graph and, and the date and you know, those probably, those, those don’t line up too well. You know, the Fed, the interest rates were going up at us at a steep angle at that point. You know, what were we thinking? ⁓ And so, you know, I used to tell people would give me more credit than I was due. They always did. And I would say, look, I’m not that cool.Q Edmonds (02:02)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. And you know what I’m gonna say, I’m excited to be here. I always have fantastic guests and today is no different. This one might be slightly a little bit more special, just a little bit. And I think most of us here, we’ve heard of the book, Dad Poor Dad. I think this gentleman has a unique kind of relationship to that book, but I’ll let him decide if he’s gonna tell you that, because I didn’t get permission.So I’ll him decide if he don’t tell you, hey, listen, I teased you, it is what it is, but this gentleman has been what he’s been doing. He’s been in the game for 30 years. So definitely know what he’s doing, cut his teeth in multifamily, but really has just exceeded in different asset classes. And I know you’re going to find a wealth of knowledge from this gentleman. So I want to introduce to some and present the others because some of you listening, you may already know them, but I want to introduce this on present the others, Mr. Tom Burns.
Mr. Tom, how you doing today,
Tom Burns (03:01)
You’re an awesome Quintin. How are you doing?Q Edmonds (03:04)
Oh man, I’m doing great. Like I said, I’m excited. I’m trying to be professional, but I really, I’m a little giddy if I’m being honest over here because I know you’re going to add so much value because you’ve already added value just for us talking. But I know our audiences will get a ton of value from you. And so Mr. Tom, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to dive right in. I want you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. You want to give us a little bit of an origin story of kind of how you got into real estate. We love the heroes journey.And then if you don’t mind, tell us what part of the world you’re in. And so Mr. Tom, sir, you have the floor.
Tom Burns (03:37)
All right. Well, here I am. I’m in Austin, Texas, and it’s going to be 80 degrees today. So it’s one of the things I love about Austin. One of things I don’t love is we built too many apartments. So rents are ⁓ crashing. But anyway, that’s another story. ⁓ I am I am primarily I’m actually kind of winding up a private equity company of about 15 years that did multifamily development. Prior to that, we did some acquisitions and then recently have done some acquisitions, but kind of in a windup phase for that right now.⁓ and how did I get there? You said an origin story. So, well, I, you know, I, started, I started as a doctor and so I was an orthopedic surgeon, sports doctor trained in Vail, Colorado. I take care of the U S ski team. So my kids are actually in, in Lavinia right now. They’re trying to jump, you know, they’re jumping today actually. So, but it’s been postponed. The trainer tells me anyway. ⁓
So that’s what I do. I travel with the ski team. I operated and did surgery on a bunch of people. ⁓ my journey in the real estate world started when I was getting trained. So we trained on an apprenticeship model. It’s about five years of, you know, people that are ahead of you that are training you. So there were these doctors that are 10, 20, 30 years older than me. They were teaching me how to be an orthopedic surgeon. Well, I learned that, but I also learned the fact that they weren’t very happy.
They were on their second and third marriages. They were in the hospital late. They were complaining about not having control. I finally figured that one day I figured one day that I didn’t necessarily want their money if I had to have their life. So I started looking for something. I ended up on real estate because it was slow. I could do it with partners. I could do it part-time. I didn’t have to be the smartest tack in the box.
So I didn’t have two nickels to rub together, but I learned a bit about real estate. And eventually once I got out and started playing doctor for real, I still didn’t have a ton of money, but I started buying some things.
And just like everybody started with something really small, know, small little two bedroom, one bath thing. And I bought it and I got addicted to the cashflow. And I asked the guy said, do you have another one of these things? He goes, yeah, I got one down the street. And I was scared to death to buy the first one. I was still scared to buy the second one. But you know how that goes, you start learning. And so I got better and better and better.
I got to know that market like the back of my hand. I could buy stuff sight unseen. I was buying stuff for no money down, which I don’t recommend. I just knew more than the sellers at that point. That grew into buying, you know, multiple units at a time. And then partners came on and all of a sudden, so buying a bunch of different stuff. And, you know, we started buying apartments. We started building apartments. I’m taking you through my life here. So that’s about 30 years now. Here we are kind of winding down that story.
So I tried to really condense that, but it’s been quite a ride, made plenty of mistakes along the way. So I’m supposed to be wise now, but instead I’m still fighting fires, but that’s life.
Q Edmonds (07:21)
Hey, Mr. Tom, thank you, man. Thank you for taking us on a journey. Listen, I was writing down what I call your resume, know, private equity company, you know, you transition out of that, but you know, had that for the last 15 years. Started out as a doctor, sports doctor. Then you talked about the apprenticeship model that kind of got you started. But then people was in it and it was like, hey, you know, you see people in their second marriage, third marriage. So you knew there was something that could be better.You know more more advantageous rights a better tool and this real estate thing was a tool that would give you a time back Really give you control of your placement in your family and I love it. And so mr Tom I have a saying where I say destiny has no wasted moments, right? Meaning no matter what we go through in life There are things that we acquire skills that we acquire mind sets that we acquire that make us who we are today
And so Mr. Tom, would love to know throughout your journey, 30 years, what has destiny shown you about yourself? Like what is it about you that makes you who you are today? And the moments I’ve shown you that about yourself.
Tom Burns (08:29)
Yeah, I’d say so. I hope that it’s shown that I’m resilient because which is really key in anything to serve. mean, if you look at, you know, I use the Olympic thing again, look at those folks. They got to be resilient because they fall all the time. They lose eventually, you know, the one that wins is the one that keeps getting up. So I hope I’ve learned that because the journey’s not been perfect. Anybody that sits up on any stage or gets on a podcast and says that, you know, gives the Facebook post that shows everything was perfect.They’re not telling you the truth. I had all kinds of mistakes. So I also learned that I’m impetuous or I was impetuous and I sometimes didn’t do enough diligence and you know, all those things you learn and you get wiser and smarter as time goes on. So I guess to wrap it all up, I’ve enjoyed the journey. I enjoy life. There’s a ton to experience. And so, you my core values are adventure, connection and growth. And so I’ve enjoyed growing each day.
Q Edmonds (09:25)
Wow, that’s a great philosophy. That’s that’s something to really ponder on and so I love I love how you talked about people want to get on here They want to show the kind of like Instagram real part of success But I like for us to talk about the journey to success and I love how you’ve used the word mistakes mistakes isIs a word that you are not shying away from. And so I would love to know adversity. How has adversity shown itself within your journey and how have you overcame it?
Tom Burns (09:53)
So, you know, kind of like we were telling you, there was a, know we started a project or two late in 2022. Well, if you look at the Fed graph and, and the date and you know, those probably, those, those don’t line up too well. You know, the Fed, the interest rates were going up at us at a steep angle at that point. You know, what were we thinking? ⁓ And so, you know, I used to tell people would give me more credit than I was due. They always did. And I would say, look, I’m not that cool.Uh, but they always thought I was cooler than I thought I was. And then when things went bad, there’s like, they thought it was worse than I was, you know, so people that do this, it’s like, everybody’s going to make their mistakes and have their, uh, and have their, good points.
So I’ve, I’ve learned, I’ve learned a lot. You know, I’ve learned to really step back and try to see the whole picture. And if I can’t see the whole picture, I personally like to have somebody else in there, whether it be a mentor, advisor, coach, partner, somebody that can.
see you from the outside because we can’t see ourselves. I’m a tennis player. I always think I know how I’m stroking the ball, but I bring my camera out and video myself. Funny, I never look on camera like I think I look. So I need somebody being that camera for me, telling me, Tom, you’re not thinking about this. There’s this risk, there’s that risk, or here’s this opportunity. So that’s what I’ve really learned is.
to do things as a team and to listen to your advisors or mentors or whoever you choose to ask advice from.
Q Edmonds (11:59)
Mr. Tom such good advice man. And so I have to ask got a good picture of where you are. Please have a good picture of where you’re going. So what’s next for you? What’s the next real goal? What are you looking to solve a scale next Mr. Tom?Tom Burns (12:14)
One of them is a little personal. I’m trying to get a really high ranking on the tennis court in my age group. But that’s fun. We got to have something, right? So that’s like a growth thing. That’s actually just fun, totally fun. But I think what I am trying to do currently, as I of may have told you, I’m sort of still playing defense. I’m trying to get everything squared away, projects that we started, because my job is to protect my investors. And so far, you know, we’ve not done capital calls.My partner and I have put the money in if there’s needed money for these projects. So we’re protecting investors. We’re winding up projects. That’s still probably going to take a year or two. As that happens, probably we’ll start another project, probably, well, certainly in the real estate world and potentially in the multifamily world. So it’s kind of in between, kind of intermission here, Quentin, intermission, halftime, whatever you want to call it.
Q Edmonds (13:07)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. I love that you have a way of saying these phrases. It’s just kind of put things in perspective. I love the intermission, right? Like this, this is not the end. ain’t the stop. This is just intermission. This is just a pause to figure out what’s next. And it’s in a doorway clarity and vision. I absolutely love it. And so this in 30 years, I believe you probably built in, I guess I know.Body built a lot of relationships over the years. So Mr. Tom, I want to talk about relationships just for a little bit. What is your perspective on relationships? Is it important? How has it benefited you? Talk to me a little bit about relationships, Mr. Tom.
Tom Burns (13:50)
man, well, you know, that’s part of that connection thing, right? So I get, I get my jollies off of connecting with people. I remember once I had surgery and I had to like stay home for three months. I just found a conference. don’t even know if I was interested in the subject. I just found a conference cause I knew there’d be a bunch of people there. I know that’s goofy, but, ⁓ so, you know, but, relate that relationships are so are important. And then there’s, you know, there’s multiple levels. There’s of course there’s your, there’s yourQ Edmonds (14:08)
That’s beautiful. I love it.Tom Burns (14:17)
your spouse, there’s your family. mean, that’s number one. And that’s always been number one for me. So I have frequently canceled work or canceled projects so I could do things with the family. So that was priority number one, particularly when the kids were young. They’re now adults and they’re both smarter than I am now. But the relationships with your friends and your family, I did family. The relationship with your friends and partners is also important. Friends are…We know people live longer. Look at those blue zones right over in Europe. Everybody, they’ve all got community. So community important for our longevity, for our mental health, et cetera, et cetera. And then as we want to grow, I personally believe that nobody wins alone. Nobody’s in highlands. So even the people that look like they’re even the Elon Musk’s of the world that have made all this, there’s a lot of teams behind those folks. So I believe, I believe community is really important for, for your financial world.
for your health world and for your family. So I’m a big fan.
Q Edmonds (16:00)
So I want to thank you. I probably do over 100 of these podcasts a month and probably almost every podcast. I probably say healing happens in community. And I try to really stress that point because when you have community, common unity, people who link up with a common goal, it creates this ecosystem where you thrive. It creates an ecosystem where you heal mentally, financially.physically even. And so I love how you said that, that when you’re in a healthy environment, you can’t help but heal. So when you’re in a healthy environment, you take on a kind of holistic approach to almost everything that you do. And so I love that you talked about that healing component within community. Ms. Tom, is there any topic that I have not brought up that you would like to talk about? And or is there any other words of inspiration, motivation, education that you want to give to the people?
If there is Mr. Tom, I would love to hear it,
Tom Burns (16:59)
Sure. You know, mean, this is so I’ve got this group I talked to, you know, a little mastermind and everybody always wants, you know, they always ask how, you know, or somebody will say, you what are your goals? I want to be worth X million dollars, you know, and my first question is why, you know, why do you really want to be worth that? You know, do you want to prove to your dad that you’re not worthless? Do you want to travel the world? You know, there are lots of reasons as you peel that onion, right? And so when I talk to the folks, they always want to know how do I do this? How do I do that? And that stuff’sIt is important. The how is important. ⁓ The money part is important. It’s one pillar of wealth. And I think there’s about seven pillars of wealth. So money is one of them. That’s if that’s the only one you’ve got, your wealth is going to come crumbling down. ⁓ But so it’s it’s wealth and a what I call a rich life is really mindset, part of its money, part of it’s your community, part of it’s what you know, your intelligence, your experiences.
your health, the amount of time that you have, the time you spend with family. you know, I, I encourage people to really truly it sounds so Tony Robbins and so woo woo people would say to just figure out why you’re doing stuff. And that’s why I told you this morning, I was sort of forced into doing a little bit of a vision board. I’ve done that before, but in deference to somebody I’m learning something from, they wanted to have what’s your vision statement. So I created a new vision statement and
You know, that’s not so easy. You got to really dig down and find out what you really want why you’re doing things because folks It’s not always going to be easy. There’s gonna be good times. You’re gonna feel you’re really smart ⁓ Sadly, you’ll probably be half wrong because we all we don’t we none of us know everything and then when things turn around that’s when you find out where your Where your weaknesses are it’s okay to have weaknesses. We just want to learn from them. So Make sure you know why because when you’re going through those tough times you want something that pulls you out of that so
Anyway, that’s my advice to folks.
Q Edmonds (18:57)
Mr. Tom, again, I thank you so much, because I often say this on this podcast as well. When you know who you are, you know what to do. That’s something I got from a mentor a while back that has stabilized me. No matter what I get into, when I know who I am, I know what to do. So knowing your why, ⁓ such good advice. Thank you so much, Mr. Tom. Hey, listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can I get in contact with you, Mr. Tom?Tom Burns (19:27)
Sure. I’ve got a website. It’s, it’s going to sound kind of kind of kind of boastful or hokey, whatever, but it’s rich doctor.com R I C H D O C T O R.com. I’ve got a lot of free resources on there and you can contact me there or you can contact me through hello at rich doctor.com. get all those and I answer all my emails. So it’s, you know, I’ve got a website that’s got, it’s got free resources. I have a book that I wrote that’s, you know, really about creating passive income.And it’s called why doctors don’t get rich. It’s on Amazon. So if you can’t remember that, send me an email, I’ll tell you how to get it.
Q Edmonds (20:06)
Absolutely.Tom Burns (20:07)
And I tell people, don’t make any, I hardly make any money selling a book. It’s not gonna change my life if you buy the book, but it might change yours. it’s a cheap investment.Q Edmonds (20:19)
Mr. Tom, I got to say three things to you, sir. So first, thank you for your time, right? Because we know time is our most precious commodity. You could be doing anything with your time, but you’re here with us today. So thank you for that. Two, thank you for your story. I believe stories have a way of planting seeds in people’s life that you don’t know when it’s going to really produce like a harvest, but the seed is there. And I believe our stories, plant seeds in people’s lives, they had the possibility to produce a harvest.that we may never see. But just like you said with your book, you may not make money off of a lot of money, but it may change somebody’s life. So thank you for your story. And lastly, thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your mindset and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you, Mr. Tom.
Tom Burns (21:04)
My pleasure. really appreciate you having me on.Q Edmonds (21:07)
Absolutely. So listen, y’all heard Mr. Tom, you got the value. You can’t tell me you didn’t. Check the show notes, get the book, check out his website, get in contact with him. But definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I keep promising you and I tell you, call me out when I don’t do it. When I make a promise and don’t do it, call me out. We’re going to continue to have amazing people, amazing minds, just like Mr. Thomas, want to continue to come up and add value to the show. And so Mr. Tom, I say thank you again and to everyone else.You all have a fantastic day.
