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This week on The Millionaire Choice Podcast, Tony talks with Zack Boothe, successful real estate investor and Founder/Owner of Driving for Dollars Mastery. Tony and Zack discuss being broke, building wealth, and how Zack made $40,000 in 40 days starting with only $1,000.
Zack grew up in a humble family with meager financial means. His grandfather died with two teeth and a gun to his name. Zack’s dad grew up asking for food from his neighbors to feed his younger siblings. Zack is changing his family tree.
About Zack Boothe
Man, I remember what it was like when I first got started in real estate. I’d wake up every morning full of confidence and courage, ready to attack the day. I had a focused plan and I knew exactly how to find smoking hot real estate deals, and quickly turn those deals for huge profits.
Quite the opposite. In fact my reality was fear, doubt, overwhelm, and frustration. I worked my butt off but I was drowning in bad advice from gurus, and strategies that either didn’t work or just weren’t congruent with who I am.
Five years later and I’ve done over 300 real estate deals and have generated millions. Over the years I’ve made a lot of mistakes and have learned a lot of lessons (sometimes the hard way), and I’ve built a dream real estate business…and I’d love to show you how you can too.
Learn more about Zack Boothe, https://dfdmastery.com
Take advantage of Complimentary Life and Money Mentor Session with Tony or Downloand FREE eBooks.
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Show Transcript
Tony (00:00):
Hey, welcome back to the millionaire choice show today. We're gonna have a really fun time with Zachary Booth. He's a 32 year old millionaire real estate investor and success mentor. And the host of the driving for dollars podcast. Now this guy, when you hear his story, you're gonna love it. How he went from broke to making over a million dollars a year in the real estate investing. He's gonna talk to you a little bit about how he did that. And, he's got some real treats for you at the end of the show today on how you can, get some of the information he's got available for you. So stay tuned. Zachary, thanks for coming on the show today.
Zack Boothe (00:33):
Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Tony (00:34):
Yeah, man, I love your story and people hear me say this all the time on the show. I love the story of people who grew up broke, just like I did. We were not born with a silver spoon. A lot of people believe millionaires are born with a silver spoon in their mouth and it's just not true.
Zack Boothe (00:51):
Some of them are right.
Tony (00:52):
Yeah. Some are some are, but, according to the millionaire next door book, one of the biggest research books on millionaires, 80% the millionaires out there, like first generation millionaires. And I think Dave Ramsey also just did a research book too as well. It was everyday millionaires before I think he's repackaged that book, but the same statistics are out there, like first generation millionaires, people that grew up in, not wealthy families, but decided they wanted to build wealth. And, yeah, I just love hearing the different stories. And so share your story a little bit with the future millionaires listening to the show.
Zack Boothe (01:27):
Yeah. Well I kinda go back to what made me wanna make money, started when I was young. So I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. I grew up in the, Western valley there in salt lake city. The lower income area. My grandfather was an alcoholic and gambler, died with, two teeth and a gun to his name, pretty rough history in my family. my dad's side, my dad grew up asking for food from his neighbors to feed his younger siblings. met my mom in high school, high school sweethearts and were married. And my mom came from a little bit more of a stable family, hardworking blue collar family. And, anyways, they did a great job. I have four siblings, but we were raised to work. We were raised to be independent. I have one sister and, and three brothers. My sister's pretty spoiled. Rightly so with only, only, only daughter,
Tony (02:33):
Hey, I know how it is. I've got three daughters of my own and I had two boys and then I got three girls and that first girl I'm like how in the world were girls born knowing how to act that? That way to get wrapped around their fingers so quickly.
Zack Boothe (02:48):
Yeah, it's crazy. I have a little girl that's gonna be three here or no, she is three soon be four pretty soon. It's crazy the difference between my little boy and little girl, but, anyways, my dad raised us to work. he worked his butt off always, very frugal, and, he was hard on us. It was his way or the highway, and I will always be grateful for that. I will always be grateful to being raised to learn, to respect and others and to respect your authority and, my father figure and he was fair but tough. And, we worked after school. At 16, he cut me off financially. He said, you're a man now you'll take care of yourself. And he covered food housing, and that was it.
Zack Boothe (03:36):
So, from the time I was 11, until I was 15, I worked for the family lawn mowing business. After school, after work weekends, we were mowing lawns and picking weeds and fixing sprinklers and all that stuff. So did a lot of that when I was 15, I wanted to do, I wanted to go do other things plus what they moved. And it kind of became inefficient for me to go back to salt lake when they move 45 minutes north, where all of our clients were. And so I took up a job doing finished carpentry and framing. By the time I was 17 and I started my first business, I had done handcrafted cheese. I did tax DMI. I had worked in a wood mill. I went to Nova Scotia, Canada for my last job. My junior year, summer worked 80 hour work weeks.
Zack Boothe (04:19):
And I did that because of my dad. Wouldn't co-sign a loan for me to get my first truck. He said, if you want a truck, you'll get the cash if you want it bad enough. And so I got the cash, and, I did it. And at that point I was sick of working for other people right at 17 years old. And I remember when I was 14, I was mowing lawns late at night with my dad and mowing lawns. And these John giant, giant mansions in these neighborhoods up above the capital in salt lake. And where all the jazz and the Larry H. Miller, the owner of the jazz lived. And I used to wave at Larry H Millers he'd drive by this, billionaire. And I'm like, man, like, why am I? And I remember asking my dad, I was like, dad, why are we mowing their lawn?
Zack Boothe (04:59):
Like, why are they rich? Why are we not rich? And I remember my little brain at the age of 14, I was already trying to comprehend why, what is it that makes them different? And, I asked my dad and I would bug him. And he is like, Zach, I don't know, ask my rich friend. So he told me to talk to his friend, Clint. I was like, dad, Clint's poor. What are you talking about? Right. And he's like, no. he's like, he's just cheap. But he had a lot of money. He's not poor. He's just cheap. Yeah. I was like, he has a beat up truck, and I was like, he doesn't even have a nice truck dad. And he is like, I know he's just cheap. And so anyways, I called up Clint. I was serious about it. I called him. Clint, what do I do?
Zack Boothe (05:39):
And he gave me rich dad, poor dad, the book at 14. So I read that book at 14. And, my little brain started working. So at 17 I was hungry to go and do my own thing. And part of it was financially, I was trying to play high school basketball. I was trying to take girls on dates. I'm a, I'm a big time outdoorsman. My mom was pregnant with me when she shot her first deer with a bow and arrow. Right. So like we're always in the mountains together as well. And that's an expensive hobby, a very expensive hobby. And, now I get to hunt in six, seven different states. I'm going to hunt Hawaii with some investor for friends of mine next month. Like, you're gonna have a lot of fun and like a ton of adventure now, but I was like, how do I have all of it?
Zack Boothe (06:22):
How do I have my cake and eat it too? And so I wanted to have my own business. So at 17, I went to Novas Scotia, Canada, worked those 80 hour work weeks with, I had the cash to buy my truck, my first cell phone. And, I had to go with cricket, cuz didn't have credit. Cricket was the only carrier that would take me. Bought this little candy bar phone, you know? And, uh, this, the iPhone came out the next year, that'll age me. And then I bought a bunch of cleaning equipment. I couldn't afford everything. I went down the street to the construction site and got a paint bucket, cleaned it out and used that. I did whatever I could, but I was pretty much outta money. And so I went door to door from my parents' house. I'd walk to the the rich neighborhoods and go door to door. And, until I could get some jobs, I'd walk back and drive my truck. Cause I don't wanna use the gas. It was that tight. And I grew that business for almost a decade. And that was the beginning of my entrepreneur story. That's kinda why I, I was where I was at. Great parents. Yeah.
Tony (07:28):
There's a lot of good details in there that I wanna touch on for just a minute. Like that sounds pretty, wild about your dad as young guy, just trying to have to beg for food to feed his siblings and himself. How many siblings did he have?
Zack Boothe (07:41):
Two and then a half sibling, a half sister. So his parents got divorced, I think when he was about 10 or 11 and it was very bad divorce. My, my grandfather alcoholic gambler. Kids were going hungry. My grandma was having to work. There was a lot of resentment there. So when, when there was that separation and then my, my grandma ended up getting remarried. So my dad's stepdad, was a Korean war vet saw action. I'm sure. PTSD and everything else that comes with it. Very abusive, very angry, very high hard on my father. Father felt like he was betraying his real father.
Tony (08:26):
There was a lot of psychological stuff that goes on in families. It sounds like it was a recipe for it. Right?
Zack Boothe (08:31):
Yeah. So when my step-grandfather stepped in, he was able to provide financially at least, and feed the family. But for those few years, between probably 12, 13 to about 15, my father stepped in and would borrow food and work and help his mom feed the rest of his younger siblings. And, yeah, I mean, it's, I look at my father and I look at what he went through and there's more that happened, but it's very personal. And I look at who he is , and who he's become from how he was raised. And I have nothing but love, respect and admiration. He knew no other way. And it's funny now he didn't even, he's not even like the same person. He's just a grandpa, you know? And, and our kids are and our spouses are like, what are you talking about?
Zack Boothe (09:20):
All these stories of Steve, he's a gentle giant, he's super built big dude. And he's like, yeah, you didn't know Steve, when we were kids, he was definitely ruled with an iron fist, but it was so good. It was so good because it, there was a lot of tough love. There was a requirement to take ownership and responsibilities for ourselves. he drove me nuts, but he'd always yell at me. He says, Zach, I don't want excuses. I want results. And it drove me nuts. Right. Like, cause I totally felt like I had a fair excuse, but it, it, it made me resourceful because I knew if I went to my dad, it was the end of the world, you know? Yeah,
Tony (10:01):
Yeah. I figured out. I picked that up. I probably didn't pick that up young. My parents had great work ethic, but I think, when I, the word excuse, kind of got scratched off of my vocabulary was when I got my first job outta college. I was working at a manufacturing plant, Bennett Tool and Die and great family owned business. And there was something I didn't get done. As I was talking to the president of the company I started making excuses about something. He's like, why isn't this done? And I started telling him all this stuff. He goes, I don't want excuses. And I'm like, oh, and the light bulb went off in me at that moment. It's like, oh, like, he's right, right. Like, I can talk about all these reasons why I didn't get something done, but it just still, the bottom line is I still didn't get it done.
Tony (10:43):
And, in our minds, I think even in our children's minds, that's what happens. We wanna have all these reasons why it's not our fault and it is. And I kinda, I go through that with my kids all the time. Cause I I'll tell them, why didn't you have this done? Oh, I didn't have time. I didn't have time. I said, well, did you have time to do watch youtube? Play games? Sit in your room? The reality is we have, we always make time, myself included. We always make time to do the things we want to do. But unfortunately the things we want to do are not the things that we should be doing that are the best for us. And definitely not for somebody who's trying to build wealth or become successful cuz there's so many things that just kind of steal our time from us. And we don't realize how precious and important that asset is. That's one of your most important assets. Your time and what you can do with it. Well you, I mean you turned the corner there somewhere. What, how old were you when you started turning the corner from being broke to, making some money and getting ahead. It sounds like 17 was a big turning point for you. You said you read Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It's kinda like the Bible on building wealth for a lot of people.
Zack Boothe (11:43):
Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was a very influential book to me in my life. And at 17 I started washing windows, and I did well. I had my first employees at 17 on my 18th birthday. I went and got my first business license and got insurance and workman's comp and everything that I could get when I was 18, my dad wouldn't even sign those, papers and be a partner with me cuz he didn't want the liability of it. Like he wouldn't even sign those papers. So that's what I did for my 18th birthday. So I get the larger contracts, banks and credit union and so forth. So I was very much invested into it. My senior year of high school, I actually quit playing basketball because I was so excited about entrepreneurship. I was so excited about the success I was having with my business.
Zack Boothe (12:25):
I actually wrote off a lot of work release hours with my own signatures, for my own work hours and got credit for in school for it. and I, I fell in love with entrepreneurship and when I didn't have housing and children and wife I was doing well, I, I did that for a couple years and put away like 10 grand. I actually put away like almost $20,000. I had two vehicles, completely paid off, had a couple employees. And then I decided to serve a Christian mission. So I actually ended up going to San Paul Brazil for two years. I learned Portuguese and dedicated two years paid 10 grand to go do that. So wiped out most of my savings, put my business on hold and came back from that experience fell in love with Brazilian people.
Zack Boothe (13:11):
I actually have a bunch of Brazilian immigrants that work for me. I sponsored him and like I love him to death. I ended up marrying a Brazilian girl. but yeah, Brazil has a special place in my heart because of that. But I came home from there immediately went to work and, and really pushed to build that business. And throughout the process I was dealing with, immigration for my wife. I was dealing with trying to go to college. I was dealing with, trying to grow a business and trying to scale that making mistakes along the way. Ultimately from the outside, looking in, I was super successful. I had a business generating about a half a million dollars a year in sales, but my profit bar in was maybe 10, 15%, very, very minimal. But then I brought on a partner to make the profits even less.
Zack Boothe (13:56):
And I remember the day my son was born, seven years ago and I remember seven and a half years ago. I remember how am I gonna pay these bills? at this point I had dabbled in real estate. I had bought a duplex and was house hacking my second investment property. And I was trying to get into that space of financial freedom. I'm trying to invest, but I was just struggling to really make it. I was, I just felt stuck and it was so extremely frustrating to me the day my son was born, it was supposed to be the most beautiful day of my life. And it was, but all I could think about is how am I gonna pay the medical bills?
Zack Boothe (14:36):
And I was mad at right. Oh dude. And I was mad at myself that's what I was worried about. So I was mad at myself cuz I was worried, you know what I mean? Like it was, it was hard. And I was like, man, like I was so frustrated too because it's like, I wanna be more, I've been pushing my whole life to be more and I'm not like, this is the moment I'm supposed to be. Who I'm not like my family depends on me. My wife believes in me and I'm failing them. I just felt like a complete failure. I really felt sorry for myself. And I wanted to change something. Yeah. That was really the big turning point. I was very much paycheck to paycheck. I had really no net worth seven years ago, but that moment, that pain was a major driver.
Tony (15:25):
Yeah. And you were how old then you said 25. About 20.
Zack Boothe (15:29):
Yeah. Yeah. I was.
Tony (15:31):
Yeah. Well that's interesting because that's about that's right when I made my millionaire decision was at 25 and I'm finding, there's kinda like there's different moments in time. Different reasons people have done it. I've had people on the show like JV, Crum III or Jerremy Newsom, who's one of my favorite guys. These guys were like getting into investing or thinking about becoming wealthy at like age five or six, there's some catalyst that happened to them where they're like, what is this? I can't get a candy bar. I'm broke. My family's broke. What, what's wrong? Why can't I get a candy bar? And they're like, they determined to be different. For me that happened at 25. Sounds like for you were kinda like from 17, it sounds like you were kinda dabbling with the concept at 25. It seems like that was a real big catalyst for you.
Zack Boothe (16:16):
The big thing that happened to me. So I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, and that put me on this path that got me to become an entrepreneur, but it was the only education that I got. It was the only financial education that I ever invested into. And looking back, hindsight's 2020. I learned from Tony Robbins that I had a major limiting belief. I would tell myself secretly all the time you are stupid. So the only chance you have is the hustle, which, which helped me because I worked really hard. I put in a lot of hours in, and that thought served me for a time.
Tony (16:54):
Driver.
Zack Boothe (16:54):
It was a driver. You're dumb, dude. Sorry. God, didn't give you a brain. And so it also became, it became a roadblock because, because I struggled to retain information because I wasn't the best student. Like I know that I am not the highest IQ person in the room at all times. I know for a fact I'm not right. Like, I don't necessarily feel like I have learning disabilities, but I struggle. Right. I learned Portuguese. I'm fluent. I can learn, but I know that it's hard. It's hard for me. And it's probably hard for everyone. I just feel sorry for myself. Right. But I finally got to the point where I was sick and tired of just hustling and not really seeing results and making all the mistakes myself. So when that moment happened, I was like, okay, something's gotta change.
Zack Boothe (17:47):
And it took me two years to find the path and get on the path that I'm on now. But for two years I started washing windows. And instead of just washing windows and working as fast as I can with no, no headphones or anything to get my way, I had headphones in my ears at all time. And I was listening to books and I was listening to podcasts and I was studying and I started investing into coaching tens, thousands of dollars. And I started pouring into my success and my understanding of what I needed to do and who I needed to become, to find the success that I was looking for. Cause work ethic I knew was not an issue, but the work ethic alone wasn't enough. And I was like, it has been 10 years of grinding and it's like the bigger I got, the less money I made.
Tony (18:29):
That's great.
Zack Boothe (18:30):
And I had to change something.
Tony (18:32):
Yeah. Well you got so many principles in there. I mean like, work ethics, a big one, right. So I picked that up from my parents and that's a such a good foundational item. I talk about that as millionaire key, number one, is you gotta develop strong character, but the whole concept when I was on my first job that some of the guys would always tell me as a young guy, right? You gotta work smarter young man, not harder. And I'm like, well, I think you gotta do both. You gotta work smarter and harder. So you gotta invest in yourself, the educational side of it. And it sounds like you put those two things together. So you had this good foundation from your parents and then you added this, secondary item, which is this intelligence, you know? And what I love about what you see right, was, I'm not that smart. And I think a lot of times people think that you have, the millionaires or people that are wealthier, are geniuses. Personally I've not met a genius millionaire yet. Not one.
Zack Boothe (19:25):
They're too smart for their own good.
Tony (19:26):
Yeah. It's like, they're just, they're just average people who just follow the process, right? And that's what I love about your story. You're like, Hey, I ain't that smart. My IQ is not 130 or 140. I'm just an average Joe who learned a few things, invested in myself, worked really hard. And here I am making a million bucks a year and, that's pretty good. Right.
Zack Boothe (19:48):
I'll let you in on a little secret.
Tony (19:50):
Yep.
Zack Boothe (19:51):
I never tested my IQ cuz I'm afraid of how low it's gonna be. I'm terrified. I don't wanna know.
Tony (20:01):
It's probably a little higher than you think it is, but not a genius, yeah.
Zack Boothe (20:04):
That's what I tell myself. See, I can tell myself that and I don't, I don't have to test it.
Tony (20:09):
Great. It's always stay humble. Right. I always humble. So, well, let's talk about your real estate deal, right? So you, I think you told me in the pre-show when you got into real estate and started, obviously rolling, you ran down to Florida, was it Florida? Is that where you picked up and ran to?
Zack Boothe (20:27):
Yeah. So it's, I did this, this challenge in Florida to show people how possible it's right. So the strategy that I show on that 40 day challenge is what got me out of that rut. Right? And so my journey since really 2000 and and 16 till now has been insane. I've gotten from a broke window cleaner to making a million a year to helping other people become millionaires through the same process that I went through. Right. And I went and did a challenge to show people exactly what it looks like. And over the shoulder look because seeing is believing right. Being a part of it is, is so important because if you don't have a massive belief in something, if you don't really believe, if you're very skeptical of a process that it's, that you can make money with it, you're not gonna give 110%.
Zack Boothe (21:15):
You don't give 110%, you're not gonna have results. And you're gonna be like, see, I knew it wasn't, it was too good to be true. I knew I wasn't gonna be successful and you spiral downwards. And so I was like, how do I inspire my students? How do I inspire my followers? How do I inspire them to have a massive belief in themselves that they can go, oh, Zach's no one special Zach Zach has work ethic. But like, what he's doing is not that hard, not that complicated. I can follow these action steps and have results. And so I took a thousand bucks, flew across the country to somewhere I'd never been when I picked Florida cause it's nice and warm in January. And the goal is to turn that into the average American income in 40 days. So my goal is 40 grand in 40 days with just a thousand bucks to start.
Zack Boothe (21:56):
And, in that, in that timeframe, I made $93,000 in my pocket. Basically what I was doing was finding deeply discounted real estate and passing the opportunity onto another invest for a finder's fee, no debt, no risk. I didn't have to buy these houses. So I made 93 grand cash. Like it was crazy. Right. But I'm doing this all the time, but I was very happy with the results I got. I was very excited. I was very humbled. I got very emotional. I prayed that God would give me opportunities to show people. And he came through for me and I also was able to pick up, two rentals. So two of the properties, I just, they were such good deals. And I had, I had blown my goal outta water. I was like, shoot, I'll just keep 'em as rentals.
Zack Boothe (22:39):
And so I've got two rentals that I picked up from that challenge with, about $110,000. and equity, meaning if I sold them, I would pocket $110,000 after paying off the of debts or the cash that I put into 'em. Yeah. And that was, seven years ago, roughly that I did this challenge. I did this challenge, about 11 months ago. Yeah. So I did this challenge recently just to show people how possible it is. But my story of learning how to do this strategy, it's called real estate wholesaling. I did my first state wholesale deal, April of 2017. So about five years ago, six years ago. Yeah. So it's not very long ago, that I learned about it, but like I said, seven years ago, I heard about this. I was listening to these podcasts.
Zack Boothe (23:23):
I was listening to, people talk about getting into real estate investing with no money. I was like, ah, that's too good to be true. BS, it's not possible. And people are waving 20, 30, $50,000 checks as a finder's fee. I was like, there's no way. And then I was, I went to a, a gentleman's house and for like the main reason I was so skeptical was like, okay, is it possible? Probably could you con people out of their equity? Could you convince people to sell their houses at way too, low and take advantage of people. Sure. You could do that, but I'm not gonna do that ethically doesn't sound right. Like, I don't want any part of this. So I heard about it, but like completely backed away for the longest time skeptic. Everybody's a skeptic, right? Oh, I was, I was a major skeptic.
Zack Boothe (24:06):
Yeah. I was, I was terrified of being dishonest more than anything. Right. Being, taking advantage of other people for the dollar. And then I had something happen. Right. And everyone talks about find a motivated seller, find someone you can help. And then you can help 'em by giving, giving 'em 50 cents on the dollar. It's like, well, that's a lot of help. Right. And I'm washing windows for this extremely wealthy gentleman, his name's Sam and cleaning his giant mansion, got talking to him, found out he's a real estate developer. Right. And this was the end of 2016. And I'm like, holy crap. Like I wanna talk to this guy. So an hour and a half conversation here in his story, how he became financially free, what are you doing? What did you do? How can I do it? And, and he was just the sweetest guy shared so much with me.
Zack Boothe (24:48):
He had two multimillion development projects going on worth tens of millions. I don't even know worth a lot. And at the end of the conversation, I was like, man, if I could just get two rentals this year, I'd be so excited. And he said, oh, that's convenient. I got these two properties. I don't wanna deal with. I haven't collected rent on them for months. They got deferred maintenance and I don't wanna deal with them. I have an agent that wants to list them, for me, but she wants me to deal with the tenants. I just don't wanna deal with it. If you'll buy 'em for me, from me, I'll give you a really, really good deal. I said, okay. And yeah, I'm like skeptical. I'm like, yeah, really good deal. We'll see. And he pulls out a piece of blank, white paper and he's like, okay, let's write the purchase price.
Zack Boothe (25:29):
I was like, don't we need like a contract. I'm like trying to get him out, talk him out, signing an agreement right there. And he's educating me on the process and how there's an inspection period. Like, like he's teaching me how to do the deal. Right. And he's like, okay, so you're gonna take this to the title company, this piece of paper, and you're gonna make sure there's no or liens or anything else. And then you're gonna talk to a real estate agent and make sure you're getting a good deal. You're gonna comp them. And he's like going through the process. He's like, and then when I get back from vacation, we'll close on 'em okay. And then I was like, okay, well I don't have money. I don't have the ability to get a half a million dollars in debt for these two properties.
Zack Boothe (26:03):
And he said, oh, then no, I'm gonna, I'm gonna finance. 'em I'll be the bank. How much can you put 10%? So he wants, what, $50,000 down. I'm like, I can give you a couple thousand bucks, you know? And he's like, OK, that works. I'm like, holy crap. So he basically just teaches me and educates me and hands me, these properties, I found out that I have well over a hundred thousand dollars in equity. I ended up turning around and selling those properties a year and a half later. I never, I wish I would not have done that. Yeah. Right. Knowing what I know now, wealth is in holding. But anyways, I turned around and sold 'em a year and a half later for 130,000 profit. Yeah. And a light bulb came on. Right? Like it's real. Like you can like, there's people that will trade convenience for price. It's not people down on their luck. And that's what I did the 40 day challenge for, to help Zach seven years ago to go, no, it's real, it's legitimate. You're serving, you're helping, you're helping people that want speed in convenience, over price. And you get paid a lot of money to do it. And it's a fulfilling and wholesome business that can completely turn your finances around
Tony (27:08):
Now. Yeah, man, that's good stuff. Well, there's so many principles in that, that you just conveyed. Opportunity comes to the prepared. Opportunity. If you're looking for it, you were open to it. It took you a little while to get there. Obviously there's some God's blessing on that. I think for you, amen. Your heart and your mind's in that, that place. So I think when your heart and your mind is in the right place, God can really step in and get active. I think that's, that's more on who you are as a person. I'm a big believer that God's not gonna give you something that's gonna destroy you. And y'all the, the amount of wealth you can build is kind of limited by your integrity and what you can handle.
Tony (27:49):
And, so, if you're in good shape spiritually, you're gonna have, more, more runway than if not, but your heart, the big thing is positive. Mindsets is where it starts, you went from being in a broke mindset going, this is how things are, to this is how I live to like. Thinking about something else. And then after the mindset shift comes, then comes the knowledge. And then following the knowledge comes the action and you really start getting moving in a direction. And it sounds like, you and I follow the same blueprints. Hey, at 25, they don't wanna be broke. I think I can be rich. Let me figure out how to do it. I don't know that much. I'm kind of stupid, but I still at least took the first step. And then once you take that first step, you may or may not get success, but you are willing to take the second step. And then the third step. And then the next thing, you're 32 years old, you're a millionaire and you're making a million bucks a year. That's pretty good. Like you're actually far ahead of my schedule. I didn't hit numbers for quite some time. So you're an overachiever, I would say,
Zack Boothe (28:51):
Well, thank you. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and question my sanity, and it's never easy. Right. But I think that so much of our fulfillment as human beings is challenging ourself in growing. We don't grow unless we're challenged. So it's kinda like this, this weird paradigm, this weird, like, experience that life gives us of, okay, I'm unhappy, cuz I'm not progressing. And it's like, okay, now I'm progressing. So I'm happy, but it's hard cuz you have to struggle and have pain to progress, right? If you wanna have a fit body, you have to be miserable first to then have health, right? If you want to have money, will you have to invest your time, your effort, your energy, your brain power, right? Blood, sweat, and tears. And then you can have wealth, right? It's it's I believe how God wanted it to be.
Zack Boothe (29:45):
I guess I'm gonna ask him why I don't have all the answers, but it just, it is just seems that is how life is supposed to be. After that experience of, of meeting that gentleman and then my mind was open. I have these properties that I'm gonna make over a hundred grand. When I sell them, I put tenants in place to rent the properties with an option to buy 'em from me. So I know that I'm gonna make all this money.and I'm like, I had an exit. Actually capitalize, but I knew what a good deal. And I was like, man, if I could just get more good deals, that's what I need. Like if I could get property at 40 50 cents on the dollar, I'm gonna be very, very successful. Right. I can, I can pass the opportunity off for a finder's fee and get tons of cash or I can cherry pick my favorite ones and build a rental portfolio. I can flip 'em it doesn't matter when you, when you get stuff at 50 cents on the dollar, it's really hard not to be wealthy. Yeah.
Tony (30:40):
You can. You got opportunity. Yeah. And you're learning through that whole process. I think it's really interesting. And I talk about this for a minute because you go from you shift when you're building wealth, you shift from a small mindset to a, to a more lucrative abundance mindset and you go through phases of that. Right? So, as a kid, I was cleaning curbs, picking weeds and washing concrete for $3 and 35 cents an hour. And I always thought, man, if I could just make four bucks an hour, man, my whole world's gonna change. And I made $4. It didn't change. And I made six, it didn't change. I made 10, made 15, nothing changed. And when I, when I had my engineering job, I was making about 45,000. 47,500. Which we were living on it, had our first kid, and had a little house with $500 month house payment.
Tony (31:31):
And I was looking at changing jobs and my wife started praying for 70 grand a year. And she's like, I think you're gonna make 70 grand a year. That's what I'm praying for. And I'm like, ah, that's not gonna happen. I'm gonna change jobs, make, 50, 60 max. And I did change jobs and I did not make 70 grand that year, but within two years I was over 80,000. And then I think the year after that was over a hundred thousand dollars and, and continued to see that grow. So the family I came from, my mom probably maxed out around 35 grand a year. My dad, I think maxed out around 47 and when my income Crested a hundred, I never imagined I could make a hundred thousand dollars in a year. And then you don't realize your full potential until you get there. And is that similar to what you went through. It sounds like you went through a similar process, and now you realize like, oh my God, like there, there really is no limit to the amount of income you can make in a year. You just have to find the right system and then work that system. Is that kind of how you think now?
Zack Boothe (32:37):
A hundred percent. I was talking to my wife about this and I, I did my first traditional wholesale deal where I strategically did some marketing and found a discounted opportunity and sold the contract, the purchase contract for $10,000 in April, 2017. Last year, we did 1.3 million doing that same strategy, right? That's amazing five, five years. And it's, it's been a mind blowing experience to see that, last year, that's how much we brought in, in my wholesaling business, but I have multiple streams of income and I have multiple rentals and I bought cryptocurrency. I've bought precious metals and I've bought, rentals. I'm doing things and studying about things that I never imagined that I would be where I am in five years. And, last year, my net worth alone, just my net worth the value of the money I have in my investments.
Zack Boothe (33:39):
The value of my investments went up by 1.3 million in one year. That's amazing. It's crazy from being to a flat zero or negative in net worth six years ago, to making a million a year in net worth. That's not even counting all the money that I'm dumping into vacations and playing. And we're talking about buying a million dollar house, like, it kind of makes me sick to think that I'm spending, but I, but I've been able to create wealth. I've been able to create opportunity, but something that's been even more fulfilling than that. Right. Because it's not even the money. Remember when I said the pain of not feeling like I was worthy, feeling like I wasn't a good dad, wasn't a good provider. Wasn't who I wanted to be for my family. I feel like I am that now.
Zack Boothe (34:31):
And then some right. But it, but I've also stumbled upon something else. That's been even more fulfilling that I've been able to do with my success and my wealth. And that's the coaching. So, I'm starting to have all the success. I'm gonna make a half a million that year. And I'm like pinching myself. Like, how is this even possible? I never imagined just, couple years of doing this business, that I'd be where I'm at. And I read a self-help journal, a friend invited me to do us called living your best year ever by Darren Hardy. And in there you create three big goals for that year. And one of my big goals was a financial goal. And I wanted to generate a million in a year.
Zack Boothe (35:15):
I'm like, I like that's mind blowing. I never imagined. and in there it talked about the importance of giving away whatever you wanted to receive, right? Let's say abundance mindset. If you help others help will come back to you. And I was like, okay, well, how do I give away a million dollars? But I don't really have it. Right? Like, how do I do that? I'm trying to take this thing serious and talk to my wife. And it's like, well, why don't I teach? 'em this strategy that I'm using to finding massively discounted properties. I teach 'em that strategy I teach. 'em how to turn those deals into cash. And, I'll put, I'll bring on 10 people. I'll teach them easily put a million dollars in their businesses between the 10 of them. Right? So I started with 10 people, very end of 2018.
Zack Boothe (35:58):
one of my first students, Scott, Dollinger his first deal in Portland, Oregon hundred and 13 grand quit his corporate job. He's now making like $700,000 last year. He made like seven, $800,000 in the year. That's amazing, amazing. His net worth, I think went up almost a million dollars that year or, or this, this last year as well. Right? Michael MC leash a, he texted me in September. So two and a half years after he became a student and he knew that was my goal. I told him, all right, this is my goal. Y'all are gonna make a million dollars from this. And he texted me. He's like, I alone have now made a million dollars from what you taught me. Right. Like rewarding isn't oh dude, like I'm getting chills. Like I'm just goosebumps. Right? Like that is so fulfilling it. I tell people this all the time, your first deal, where you make 10, 20, 30 grand, like it's like, whoa, like it's, it's euphoric.
Zack Boothe (36:47):
It's life changing. You see the light at the end of the tunnel. Your second deal. It's like, okay, I can keep doing this. Like, it wasn't a fluke, right. Third deal's a lot of work. You don't remember your fourth deal. It's just work. Right. But, but when you, when you help other people, and they do their first deal and they're excited, like you were, it's like doing your first deal over and over and over because you know what it means to them. Right. And I built such amazing relationships with my students and I'm so close to so many. Of'em like I, one of them asked me to marry him. So this spring I'm gonna go to California and marry one of my students, a couple that I helped. Right. He was a fireman. And, anyways, it's been, it's been an incredible experience, you know?
Zack Boothe (37:32):
And so since the end of 2018 till now, right beginning of 20, 22 or three, when is it? 2022. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. I'm losing my mind here. I've become obsessed with coaching. So I've had to automate my wholesaling business. I've had to automate my investing business. So I've had to put people in place. And, and now I have an acquisition manager. Who's been with me for two and a half years. And he, he, he generates over a million dollars a year himself from his own negotiation. Right. And I have this incredible team and, for both businesses, my coaching business and my investing business and I, and now my main role is to inspire my team and to inspire my students. And I'm constantly focusing on educating myself and growing as a person growing as a leader. the book I'm reading right now, Martin Luther king Jr's autobiography, because I know that I have to become a leader and I have to inspire. And I couldn't think of anyone better to read about. And so, I feel like, I feel like the journey was super long. I feel like the journey was super hard to get where I'm at, but the journey now, and the experience I'm having now is so fulfilling. It is so amazing because I pass that threshold of making money for survival, feeling like there's scarcity, feeling like I'm gonna go outta business next year to, I don't have to work anymore, but I work because I'm changing lives and it fills me up.
Tony (38:59):
Right? Yeah. You find your calling. We call, I call that the purpose of wealth, right? The reason you're building the wealth. I think when you're on your way to that first million, you're kinda like, it's a new concept. It's like, oh, I'm going from being broke to being wealthy. And you really are more focused on your knowledge and your wisdom and your ability to build money. You don't quite have it figured out yet. You, you're kinda, it's, it's a journey, and we do good things. Like, I'm sure you did good things along the way on your money. Like you, you probably supported some orphans probably supported your church, probably supported some different things, but you're doing that more out of a sense of responsibility or it's the right thing to do. Now you've transcended that because you've got that wealth and you're like, oh, now I have this money. What else do I do?
Tony (39:40):
What else do I do with my life? What else do I do with the money? And you're transcending that going to this purpose of wealth zone where I think you're probably at the place you haven't hit it yet, where you go, what? I have a responsibility to build wealth now because I can help people improve their lives, their families, I can make the planet a better place. I can have, I have money for a purpose. And, you may still be developing that. You may have already found it, but it's the people I've interviewed on the show. We've done like 75 interviews now, I'd probably say 90% that I've interviewed have not quite found that purpose. There's a 10% ratio. So far, maybe about 10% of those that I think have really defined what their purpose of wealth is.
Tony (40:24):
And so you're one of those, I think if you haven't fully defined it, you're just right there on the cusp. Yeah. And it's a wonderful place to be just a behind it. I get calls now doing the show. I got one the other day from a gentleman, a great guy, great heart, making 50 grand a year in his fifties and make he's at the place you and I were when we were like 25 years old. Right. And I think people that are older, if you're listening to this future millionaires on the show, I want you to hear this. It doesn't matter what your age is. It doesn't matter because here we have Zachary and he went over seven year period from being like virtually like walking a tight line with his finances to making a million dollars last year, 1.3 net worth growth net worth growth.
Tony (41:10):
So you gotta imagine his net worth had to be a certain number to actually grow by 1.1 million. So you're talking about a multimillionaire here who was able to increase that and that that happened over a seven year period of time. So if you're in your fifties, you got time. You got time, believe in yourself, believe in your abilities. And, put the effort in the process. What I love about it, Zachary is the process is repeatable. It's not like there's a secret formula. It, there is a formula, but it's, it's like the same formula and everybody kind of uses it. Right. And it usually goes through mindset shift. Let's apply a lot of hard work. Let's apply some knowledge, let's get going, make some moves. Let's take a little bit of risk, learn something new, maybe skin your up knees, just like you do on the playground a little bit as a kid, but you get back up and you keep playing.
Tony (41:57):
You don't stay off the playground. You get back on the playground once you get hurt. And, learning about money, I think is a lot like that. I know I didn't make, all the right decisions. You talked about, that first property you had from that guy, you wish you would've kept it. Right. And I would tell you that I did too, man. I'm like, why did I sell that first house? We paid $62,500 for our first house, a $500 month house payment. And by the time we moved outta that house, five years later, I think we might have owed 55 grand on it. And that house now is worth, I think probably in the $300,000 range, probably renting out for about $1,500 to $2,000 a month, at least. And I'm like, I should have kept that thing, man.
Tony (42:38):
500 bucks a month is nothing for house payment. And, I sold my second house. I wish I'd kept that one. I, that one's, probably around three or $400,000 now, so that's $700,000 in real estate that I should have kept. I could have afforded the house notes on both of, of those paid 'em off early, actually the second house we had paid off and I, I just sold it and, and took that capital and, and paid on the new house that we moved into. But, but we don't always get it. Right. we just kinda have to get moving in the right direction.
Zack Boothe (43:09):
I'd love to quickly give an outline that I feel like I follow. Cause they might hear the story and be like, man, that's a lot like where do I start? Where do, where does my story fit into that? So I'm gonna give you an outline. The first thing is identify exactly what you want to accomplish. So I believe one of the fastest ways to wealth is real estate. It's the best place to hold wealth tax benefits and everything else that comes with it. I learned that I could find deeply discounted and I could pass the opportunity off for a finder's fee. My average finder's fee doing this is $30,000 a little over 30,000. OK. And you don't need a ton of money to get started. I show you how to do it with just a thousand bucks on that challenge. We'll give you a link to watch that, but identify exactly what you're trying to do.
Zack Boothe (43:55):
If you don't don't wanna do anything in real estate, maybe I'm not your guy, but find someone that goes, okay, this is the outline. This is what you do and how you do it to accomplish X, Y, Z, right. And make sure what they can help you accomplish is your goal, the XYZ that they can solve, make sure that that is your goal, what you're trying to accomplish. Right. And then hire that guide. Find that guide, find that person will, that will give you the outline and roll up your sleeves and do the work. I did the exact same thing after I met Stan and had those properties as gonna make a hundred grand. I started looking, I started looking for a mentor. I was a believer at that point. There's a lot of people talking about this. I met a, met a guy named Tom Crow and Cody Hoffey.
Zack Boothe (44:38):
They were business partners and they were coaches and they changed my life. They gave me my outline. I paid $9,000 for the coaching, put most of it on credit cards. And I went to work, right. And then a month and a half later, I made 10 grand by the end of that year, which was like seven, eight months. I made like 115 grand. Right. And I was off to the races. They gave me the outline, the blueprint. I applied that to my work ethic and the combination equaled accomplishing the goal and my goals continue to change and evolve. And I continue to find the guide and the mentor that's done it, accomplished it and consistently gets the results that I'm, I'm looking for for other people. And that's who I work with and who I have help for or help with. I have multiple, mentors.
Zack Boothe (45:22):
I have mentors for my YouTube channel. I have mentors who actually mentors my YouTube guy. Right. I have students or not students, but I have employees that I hire coaches for them. And I don't have to do it all myself anymore, but I still have a mentor that I pay $50,000 every six months and 10% of my profits, because he's helping me Excel to the next level that I'm working towards. Right. I didn't start off that way, but I found a guide that could help me accomplish my goals. And that would be my suggestion.
Tony (45:50):
Yeah. I think that's a lot of people are do it yourself first. I'm a do-it-yourselfer, but you get there a lot faster with the guide or a mentor. You get a lot of wisdom there. So, and yeah, I think that's great advice, Zachary, you, Zachary's 30 year multi-millionaire broke seven years ago, and definitely headed in the right direction, man. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what you're gonna do by the time you're 40. I was just crossing a million dollar barrier at 40.
Zack Boothe (46:23):
Fat and bald. I'm just kidding. Now. Hopefully I'm further along.
Tony (46:28):
Maybe you'll with all that spare free time you got with your family. Maybe you can fit some workout time in there too.
Zack Boothe (46:34):
So I started getting fit. I can can't even extend my bicep right now. It's like brutal.
Tony (46:38):
Yeah. Just, just advice. Like stay healthy, man. Like watch what you eat and yeah. I'm at 51, I'm working with some high blood pressure issues and I'm just like, I gotta get back out and start getting busy, but get just to be disciplined. But Hey, how can people find out more about what you're doing, Zach, I know you've got a special for something you wanted to give out to our listeners. Where's that at?
Zack Boothe (46:59):
Yeah. So if you guys wanna watch the 40 day challenge and see what it's like step by step to do what got me to financial success, go to DFDmastery.com stands for driving for dollar. So dfdmastery.com/40in40.
Tony (47:16):
Yeah. And we'll put that link in the show notes when the, when the episode comes out. Zach man, thanks for being on the show and I'm sure we'll be in touch. I love your story. And, yeah, I would love to talk to you about doing some referral stuff, getting some people in your zone. I think you've got some great resources. I love some of my listeners, my audience, to be with you over the long haul.