Baltimore native and real estate investor Mark Whitten is changing the way people view real estate and empowering the community to obtain wealth and financial freedom.
Whitten graduated from HBCU Morgan State University and transitioned from working in a group home to real estate investment. His ability to coach people through his Real Estate Money Club and garner results has gained him major notoriety.
Whitten attributes his success to his unwavering focus and God’s direction.
Rolling out was able to catch up with Whitten and gain a wealth of information.
What are the key things you need to be a successful real estate investor?
Mindset is key. I tell my students [that] real estate is 95 percent mindset and 5 percent real estate. I can teach people how to flip houses, make money and be a landlord, but do you have a burning desire to be successful? Are you going to take action, meet sellers, get deals done, and meet contractors? Once you develop that burning desire to be successful you truly can do anything in life. That’s the secret.
What is the biggest challenge that people face in the beginning stages of real estate investing?
Getting that first deal is the biggest challenge. A lot of people see the glitz and glam and the money that can be made and they are excited about it. If the first deal doesn’t come in the first 30-60 days though, which it may not, then they get discouraged. What I see in my students is after you get your first deal then you get that fire under you.
How does your Four Hour Flip Formula differ from other investor programs?
It differs because I’m giving you a step-by-step system that you can act on. People are using this action plan and they’re making money. It’s not about upselling or charging 30K or 100K for coaching. If you follow me on Instagram, @MarkFlipsHouses, you’ll see the results. Real people making real money off this system.
How do you define wealth, and why is it important that you empower other people to attain it?
Having hard assets is wealth. When you have a certain number of houses and you’re making a certain amount of money every month off these houses passively, then that’s wealth. It’s important to empower other people because you must leave your mark and do God’s work.
God has continuously been using me for the last 10 years to be a blessing to others. I get blessed so much from blessing others. Also, many of us don’t come from wealth. We’re not educated on it, and they don’t teach us in school.
How important is it to maintain generational wealth through real estate in the community?
It’s so important. In my case, nobody gave me anything. … I had to get out there, figure it out and acquire my own rental properties. … The importance of it all is that when my son gets old enough to come into something, he won’t have to figure it out. It’ll already be there, as residuals. These are things that come in every month. It’s important to teach every child to keep it going so that in 100 years we have 2,000 houses, commercial properties and all types of things.
Given the real estate surge in Detroit, which method of investment would be most conducive, flipping or wholesaling?
Either way you go into real estate there are opportunities. It’s all about where you are in your life and what you need. If you don’t have any money and you want to learn the business and make money, then I think you should wholesale. If you’ve got the money or if even you don’t have the money, you can use the loan method and profit off your flip. It really depends on what you want to do.
