Real Estate Wealth, Financial Freedom, and Living an Epic Life with Tim Rhode

Tim Rhode (00:00)
I see so many that are so anxious to get to the next thing they don’t keep doing what they’re doing. So going back to juggling balls, it’s about ⁓ having the ability to juggle the balls that are ⁓ in front of you, if you will. And when you want to put something new, when you want to go to that next level or that next incarnation, if you will, ⁓ what are you going to give up? I think that’s a really important thing.

Scott Bursey (02:06)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host Scott Bursey And today we are strapping in for some serious high octane inspiration. have a legend in the building, a guy who didn’t just chase success. He built a whole community around it. Our guest today is Tim Rhode the powerhouse behind Gobundance. Tim brings that ultimate fuel that we thrive for.

Tim Rhode (02:23)
Okay.

Scott Bursey (02:35)
The blueprint for living an epic life while building massive wealth. Get ready to shift your mindset because Tim is in the house. Tim, welcome to the show.

Tim Rhode (02:47)
Thank you for that introduction, Scott. Appreciate it.

Scott Bursey (02:50)
It is our pleasure to have you here. And Tim, for our listeners who may not be familiar with your journey, please tell us, how’d your career begin and where are you putting your fuel now?

Tim Rhode (03:03)
Well, so I’ve had a, 66 years old. I’ve been in real estate. I bought my first property at 23 years old. I sold real estate from 25 to 40. I tapped out. did what most didn’t do. I was really successful selling real estate. And then I was kind of like, you know what? I’m bored. I want something different. And I played a game.

And that I don’t recommend this but I said what if I never worked again? what if I just played every single day and Just just lived off my investments what I’d done to date I candidly I was barely a millionaire Which you know, I don’t know where you are in your career, but I barely graduated high school tapped out at 40 and

And then my life really began. So yeah, from an investment standpoint.

Scott Bursey (04:04)
Tim, what really caught my attention about you was the way that you’ve been able to scale your real estate success and then crucially turn that into a high impact mastermind like Gobundance, teaching others how to achieve financial freedom and live an epic life. It’s truly about turning assets into acceleration. That’s pure investor fuel.

Tim Rhode (04:25)
Yeah, thank you. Yeah, so to keep that story going, I spent a little time out in nature and was kind of like, well, you sold a lot of real estate, you were really successful. What’s next? And I came across these great partners, David Osborne, Pat Hybin, Mike McCarthy, and together we started Gobundance. And I look at everything that I’ve been able to do.

as being parts of amazing teams and knowing my role within that team. I’ve never wanted to be the general, the lead singer, lead guitarist. I like being the bass player. I like being quietly serving and just holding up more than holding up my end of the team and carrying things forward daily. There’s a great book called ⁓ Who Not How by Dr. Ben Hardy.

And this goes back to what I was talking about being a part of great teams. Gobundance is one of the teams. I also started my own nonprofit called One Life Fully Lived. I did that for 12 years. I’ve been a part of a group called DAT, David, Andrew, Pat, and Tim. Same group that started Gobundance, but with a gentleman named Andrew Cushman, who is a Picasso at finding great apartment complexes. So,

He’s kind of been the lead horse of that team. So I think that’s been my ⁓ finding where I best exist and moving forward daily.

Scott Bursey (05:58)
Tim, you are the master of high level assessment. So let’s jump straight into a quick fire SWOT analysis tailored for, you know, the high net worth real estate entrepreneur. What is the biggest strength in a financial free investors mindset?

Tim Rhode (07:02)
⁓ my biggest strength I’d say is my tenacity. I just get up every day and say, me out them. And I just don’t quit. I’ve had some, ⁓ health challenges, things like that. And what, what would have had most people just say, that’s it. I’m tapping out. I’m just sitting on the couch. ⁓ I said, no, I’m going to keep moving and get.

this and I just wake up every single day saying let me at him so

Scott Bursey (07:36)
That’s right. It has to be the ability to make massive calculated action when others are hesitating. That’s awesome. And let’s shift gears here just a little bit. Where do you see high achievers typically stumble after they achieve success?

Tim Rhode (07:46)
Yeah, thank you.

Well, certainly not just because you’ve made it one time does it’s not easy to keep it. And I think that’s one thing that I’ve always looked at is, is how can I play my game full out? And I want to not ever have to look up and say, ⁓ heck, I’ve I’ve out what my I’ve outlived my money. They in football, they call it out kicking the

So I think that may be the biggest challenge is just because you made it once things change on the field and you’ve got to keep your head in the game and you’ve got to have the ability to move forward and that goes back to the intuition to ⁓ know what’s coming next. Gretzky talked about skating to the puck and I want to say something really quick.

My license is GTGITW, get the goods in the woods. I spend a lot of time out in nature. And I think that is, ⁓ that’s a ⁓ cheat code that I’ve had since 40. Well, I’ve always had it. The kid inside of me just loves to be out in nature. So I literally play every day. So.

Scott Bursey (09:12)
So your

outlet is being at one with nature. What are some other core principles of Gobundance?

Tim Rhode (09:19)
Well, we have six pillars, ⁓ horizontal income, ⁓ bucket list adventures, extreme accountability, ⁓ quality relationships, and ⁓ genuine contribution. And I noticed you had that in your title of ⁓ we’re a giving community. And I think you and I share that as the gift of giving back.

I talked about having my own nonprofit for 12 years. There’s a lot in my world that is centered on making the world a better place. We have to be a master of ourselves, our family, our community, and eventually the world. And if you have that mindset, if you’re thinking outside of yourself and you want to do better for the world, my goodness, then so much is given to you.

because you’re just connected to what’s real and what really matters.

Scott Bursey (10:21)
Agreed. It’s really about serving others and then everything else takes shape.

Tim Rhode (10:26)
Right. So to come back to your original question, those six pillars are the basics of Gobundance and that everything’s centered around those six pillars. So we wrote a great book called Tribe of Millionaires that talks about those six pillars. So yeah.

Scott Bursey (10:45)
Could

you elaborate and tell us a little bit more about the publication?

Tim Rhode (10:49)
⁓ Well, the book itself is ⁓ centered around an individual who was kind of into himself and somebody gave him the book and it’s a parable for life and it’s centered around those six pillars I just talked about and the books about his journey and ⁓ spending a weekend with the tribe.

and then just seeing how empty his life is. And he wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than himself. And that’s what GoBundance. is. We’ve been a mastermind community since 2013. It grew slowly, organically, and now we have over a ⁓ thousand members. We have an emerge ⁓ department for people who’d love to be in GoBundance, but don’t qualify. You have to be at

worth at least a million or accredited investor. We have an elite division. We have a champion division for those that have net worth over 10 million. And we have a women’s division. those are our four divisions of Gobundance.

Scott Bursey (12:02)
Tim,

in your view, what is the most overlooked opportunity for a real estate pro, let’s say in like the next 18 months?

Tim Rhode (12:44)
Well, my first advice is don’t quit your day job. Do what you do. And during there’s times when different cycles and I’m finding a lot of people are kind of their butts kicked right now. And so the best advice I have if you find yourself in that position is going back to the basics.

I sold a lot of real estate back in the 90s. I invested in the early 2000s. And whenever things got tough, I just knuckled down and went back to basics. So number one is I see so many people ⁓ trying to juggle five balls when they perhaps they should only juggle three.

Scott Bursey (13:29)
having too much on their plate. ⁓ Let’s talk macro here a little bit. What macro economic threat should every real estate investor be preparing for currently?

Tim Rhode (13:40)
think it’s really wise to look at your area or your area of expertise and just look at what cycle are you in. This will be the third time I said the word cycle. I went 83 to 90, 90 to 97, 97 to 2005. That’s when I just crushed it and I tapped out right at the top of that cycle.

and then kind of just took some time off to figure out what’s next. Then there was the cycle from like probably let’s say 2011, it was a long cycle till about 2022. Maybe we’re not out of that cycle yet, but there will be another day. So my best advice is follow the cycles and as every cycle, every area is different. I’m in Reno, Nevada, it’s booming.

It’s not like in Florida right now, ⁓ Phoenix, Austin, they’re kind of on a downstream swing because of California and its calamity. ⁓ Many have done what I did. I moved from Cali to Reno. Wise move. ⁓ But but so did everybody else. So our area is booming right now in real estate. So I think it’s really wise to know

uh, your model of what works for you. I talked about, um, from 1983 to 2005, when I moved back up to the mountains. Um, I was in the central Valley of California. And if you watch the movie, the big short, I literally, um, I lived that movie. And during that timeframe, when everything was crazy and then there was a top, I just, I just kind of rode that.

wave and then tapped out right at the top of that wave and because I followed, fourth time I’ll say it, cycles.

Scott Bursey (15:41)
And along those cycles, how big is your team and what are some of the real the main focus right now when it comes to your members? What are you focusing on the message that you’re conveying to the highest degree?

Tim Rhode (15:56)
⁓ I’m in three different teams. So I’ll talk about go bun. I have my family team, by the way My son is our family COO and he kind of monitors all of our personal real estate ⁓ But but from go bun is this standpoint? We probably have like 30 employees a lot of virtual assistance We have chapters all over the country but ⁓

I would say the biggest thing that everybody is trying to look at, it’s within our six different pieces, pillars of Gobundance, we’re looking at ⁓ not just real estate cycles, but our own personal cycles, and just trying to ⁓ be as vibrant as we can.

And we have one of our things is age-defying health. And we’re looking at how can we ⁓ be ⁓ as wise in our, ⁓ just our whole existence, if we can, if you will, of being the best we can in every year.

Scott Bursey (17:13)
Tim if you had to distill your financial life philosophy into the best piece of advice for a pro listening right now who wants to double their net worth and drastically improve their life enjoyment this year, what specific action plan would you hand them?

Tim Rhode (18:11)
Yeah, I would say ⁓ and and I mentioned it before I see so many and and actually I wrote a book called the quitters manifesto my my co-author Pat Hyman was about how to quit your day job and and do what what you were meant to do but I see so many that are so anxious to get to the next thing they don’t keep

doing what they’re doing. So going back to juggling balls, it’s about ⁓ having the ability to juggle the balls that are ⁓ in front of you, if you will. And when you want to put something new, when you want to go to that next level or that next incarnation, if you will, ⁓ what are you going to give up? I think that’s a really important thing.

Is is just not trying to do too much at one time, especially when you have a young family And and you’re just trying to do it all if you will you got to kind of sometimes and that goes back to getting out in nature Getting your heart rate elevator Elevated and just simply ask being connected to source to ⁓ sometimes we get those you it takes ⁓

multiple times from the big guy trying to get it through our thick skull of what is our next incarnation. So I think it’s really wise to whatever it is for you. For me, it’s climbing mountains and skiing down them. But whatever it is that brings you joy, that’s your happy place to where you can just get quiet and simply ask.

What am I supposed to be doing? And by the way, one other thing is just because it’s the tried and true what everybody else is doing, perhaps you’re an un-cola. I’m an un-cola. Most ingobunnets are colas. I’m a freaking seven up. I just, don’t want more. I want get the goods in the woods. And that’s how I find my joy. So.

Scott Bursey (20:28)
So the key is finding your outlet and having a good balance.

Tim Rhode (20:33)
Yeah, I love that word, finding your outlet. Get the goods in the woods, mine is nature. ⁓ My sister-in-law loves to knit and crochet and she goes to crochet and knitting conferences. That’s her goods in the woods. It’s her, I love your words. What’s your outlet to, I think there’s so much to that. And I find so many people, I work,

70 hours a week. Really? That just doesn’t, you know, that don’t work for me.

Scott Bursey (21:09)
Tim, you’ve given us so much great advice. What additional words of wisdom can you leave with our listeners here today?

Tim Rhode (21:16)
⁓ I think the best thing that I hope you caught is you don’t have to do it yourself. Be a part of great teams and find your role within that team. Maybe you’re the lead guitarist and lead singer and you need your backup band to be with you and maybe you’re not. Maybe all you need is the

peanut butter for your jelly or vice versa and to find that other piece that will complete you and help you do what you do better and then hold up your end daily. Find ways to make the team stronger. That’s my best advice.

Scott Bursey (22:04)
That’s some rock solid advice. That’s some pure high octane fuel right there. Tim, thank you for sharing your wisdom today. It’s been incredible. And for our listeners who would like to follow your journey or collaborate with you, what’s the best way for them to reach you?

Tim Rhode (22:19)
⁓ You can reach out to me at [email protected] Rhode is spelled R-H-O-D-E like Rhode Island. please check out Gobundance. ⁓ Go in abundance. Gobundance.com. yeah, it’s a great organization that very proud of what we’ve created. So thanks for having me, Scott, and all the best to the listeners.

Scott Bursey (22:45)
Tim,

this has been a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for being on the Real Estate Pros podcast today.

Tim Rhode (22:51)
It’s my sincere pleasure. Thanks for having me, Scott.

Scott Bursey (22:54)
And

to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you got value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll keep on bringing the fuel with exceptional guests just like Tim, who are making huge moves in the market and are being at one in the woods. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.