BIO: Harry Spaight is a Keynote Speaker, Coach, and Author of Selling with Dignity-Your Formula for Life-Changing Sales Results.
STORY: Harry invested in mobile homes in Georgia without researching. He trusted a young man he knew through the father. In just three months, the houses were run down, and the tenants refused to pay rent. Harry lost over $100,000 that he’d made from selling his home.
LEARNING: Get a financial advisor that you trust and consult before making an investment decision. Collaborate with the right people. Do your research.
“Stick with what you’re doing and get better at it.”
Harry Spaight
Guest profile
Harry Spaight is a Keynote Speaker, Coach, and Author of Selling with Dignity-Your Formula for Life-Changing Sales Results.
After spending several years in mission work, Harry has been succeeding in Sales as an Award-Winning Multi-million Dollar Sales Producer and Sales Leader for over two decades.
Selling successfully can be achieved with timeless principles. Putting others over self, being a good listener, and doing the right thing all go a long way towards growing a successful business.
Worst investment ever
In the early 2000s, Harry met this young guy who was a real go-getter. He played golf with his dad, and the three built a great relationship. The young guy moved to South Carolina and got into real estate.
The young man called Harry and told him about this opportunity he had investing in mobile homes. He said to him that all he had to do was make a low investment, allow him to use his credit, and the young man would take care of everything. Harry would then receive rent at the end of the month.
Harry had just sold a house and made some money from it. He used this money to invest in six properties in a small town in Georgia. Soon enough, he started making passive income from the properties. He was making about $1,000 a month. Everything was working out great.
About three months in, everything started going wrong. People stopped paying rent, and the property management left. Now Harry had to fly from Virginia to Georgia to collect his rent. He was shocked by what he saw. The properties were a slum. When he spoke to the tenants, they all refused to pay rent because the houses had so many issues.
Now the $1,000 rent he was receiving turned into Harry paying somewhere around $4,000 a month in mortgages. The money he had made from the house sale started to dwindle. Harry went back to the young man and asked for his money back. The young man suggested that he give him three better houses, which would make him more money. Foolishly, Harry accepted the offer. His bills went up to $6,000 a month. The $100,000 he had made from the house sale was gone within a few months.
Lessons learned
- Get a financial advisor you trust, and bounce your ideas off of them before putting your money down.
Andrew’s takeaways
- You cannot build a sustainable business without relying on others. So spend time thinking about who you’re committing to do something with because chances are, you’re going to be with them a lot longer than you think.
- Take time to think through every investment and do thorough research before signing off on it.
Actionable advice
Have a team of smart people around you.
No. 1 goal for the next 12 months
For the next 12 months, Harry’s goal is to get his book Selling with Dignity-Your Formula for Life-Changing Sales Results into the hands of 1000s of people. He believes that he can help people have life-changing results in the way they position and sell themselves.
Parting words
“Be patient even when you’re going through tough times. You’ll get through it.”
Harry Spaight
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