Today’s guest is Nick Prefontaine.
Nick Prefontaine was named a top motivational speaker of 2022 in Yahoo Finance. He’s a Speaker, Founder and CEO of Common Goal. Using the S.T.E.P. system he is able to lead clients through their trauma. Once they make it through, that is where their limitless potential lies. Nick’s been featured in Brainz Media, Swaay and Authority Magazine.
Show summary:
In this podcast episode, Sam interviews Nick Prefontaine, a real estate investor and motivational speaker. Nick shares his personal journey of overcoming a traumatic brain injury and his success in the real estate industry. They discuss Nick’s step system, which he applies to both his recovery and his coaching program. Nick talks about his high success rate in helping buyers qualify for loans and move forward with their homes, attributing it to their unique process. They also touch on Nick’s experiences as a motivational speaker and his strategies in the commercial real estate space.
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Intro [00:00:00]
The Step System [00:04:28]
Nick’s Journey [00:01:17]
Realization and Doubt [00:06:46]
The Step System [00:10:32]
Motivational Speaking and the Step System [00:11:19]
Real Estate Journey [00:15:12]
The commercial real estate strategy [00:21:09]
Buying commercial properties creatively [00:21:48]
Closing [00:23:30]
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Connect with Nick:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickprefontaine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nick.prefontaine.7
Website: http://www.smartrealestatecoach.com
https://nickprefontaine.com/step/
Podcast: https://www.smartrealestatecoach.com/podcast
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/smartrealestatecoach
Google +: https://plus.google.com/+Smartrealestatecoachchannel
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/smartrealestatecoach
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smartrealestatecoach
Twitter: https://twitter.com/smartrecoach
Connect with Sam:
I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HowtoscaleCRE/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samwilsonhowtoscalecre/
Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com
SUBSCRIBE and LEAVE A RATING. Listen to How To Scale Commercial Real Estate Investing with Sam Wilson
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Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below:
Nick Prefontaine ([00:00:00]) – Our success rate of our buyers. We’re we’re seeing it. GS Up to 90% of them that are once they’re in the home, they’re able to qualify and get their own loan and move on with the home, um, move on with their lives where as the other investors out there, the, the, the so-called competition um is seeing the inverse right. 90% of the people fail and only 10% of the people and that’s because there’s a very particular process that we’d like to put all of our buyers through so they’re successful when they get to the end of their agreement.
Sam Wilson ([00:00:38]) – Welcome to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate show. Whether you are an active or passive investor, we’ll teach you how to scale your real estate investing business into something big. Nick Prefontaine was named a top motivational speaker in 2022. He is also a real estate investor. Nick, welcome to the show.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:01:01]) – Sam I’m excited to be here and with your audience today.
Sam Wilson ([00:01:05]) – Absolutely. The pleasure is mine. Nick In 90s or less. Can you answer these three questions for me? The same three questions I ask every guest who comes on the show.
Sam Wilson ([00:01:13]) – Where to? Just start? Where are you now and how did you get there?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:01:17]) – Uh, where where did I start? Gosh, I would say back to that fateful day in February of 2003, I was just club with my friends. Uh, got to the mountain, headed right for the top and charged towards one of the biggest jumps in the terrain park and going off it, I caught the edge of my snowboard, threw me off balance and landed on my head. Uh, the doctors told my parents that I probably wouldn’t walk, talk or eat again. And, um, let me see. Less than 90 days later, I ran out of the rehab hospital in Boston.
Sam Wilson ([00:01:55]) – Wow. Won’t walk, talk or eat again. 90 days later, you’re running out of the hospital. What has happened between I guess that would have been middle of April 2003 and now.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:02:09]) – That’s right. Middle of April. Yeah, you got it right. Um, a lot has happened. I was. I was.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:02:14]) – I was trying to give you the CliffsNotes version, but a lot has happened. I, um. I actually, when I was in high school, and it was really reflecting on it. Sam back, it’s. It was reflected back to me from a mentor of mine. She said, Wait a minute. So only 18 months after finishing rehab, outpatient rehab, I was knocking on the doors of, um, notice the default doors of homeowners that had missed a few payments all the way up to several payments on their home, and the bank still foreclosed on them. So that was how I got my start in real estate. That was when I was 16, right when I got my license. And then, um, after I after I got out of high school, started starting to get my real estate license. Uh, got it. And when I was 19 years old and that led me to doing what I’m doing today, which is helping buyers and sellers. Um, we buy and sell property on terms creatively, so not conventionally.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:03:18]) – And you can do that with that. We can, you can do that with anything, as I’m sure you’re aware.
Sam Wilson ([00:03:23]) – I am. I am. That’s a really fascinating, fascinating story. So 18 months after rehab, walk, talk, eat again, 90 days later, you defied really all expectations. What would you attribute that to?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:03:40]) – Uh, well, all right. So this is something that we recently developed within the last year, which is the step system. And it’s something, it’s step is an acronym. It’s something that I unknowingly use to recover from my snowboarding action and what we’ve created, um, and the acronym stands for Support, You get to make sure you have the support of the family and friends around you. Um, this has you pulling back on relationships that you built prior to your setback, and then t is trust. You have to trust that the next step is always going to be available to you, so long as you take your first step is energy without maintaining your energy.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:04:28]) – Um, you’re not you’re not a good use to anyone. You’ve got to maintain your energy, um, to get to get to that next level. And finally, persistence. And this is just a Cliff Notes version, but, uh, p this is a 10,000 foot view, but P is persistence. Once you’ve taken your first step, keep getting up every day and taking your next step, no matter how small. So that’s something, that’s something that, um, that I did unknowingly when I was in the hospital and what we’ve recently uncovered. Um, so yeah, pretty exciting, man.
Sam Wilson ([00:05:04]) – That’s cool. I love that. What? Let’s go back to the I know the you probably have more lessons to share with us maybe than the time in the hospital, but I think that’s probably a fairly, um, memorable time for you. Like at what point in time? Or did you ever go through that period where it’s like, Oh wait, there’s a realization that things may never be the same and then how did you deal with it?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:05:33]) – Yeah, that’s a great question, Sam.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:05:35]) – So I would say when I was going through it and anyone that knows from going through a traumatic experience, time slows down. So although it was I was in a coma for three weeks, I really don’t remember a month because it was partially induced because they had to induce me because they worried if they didn’t, I wake up and freak out and the swelling in my brain would increase and I would die. So it was really less than 60 days. But those less than 60 days felt like six years. Just time time slows down when you’re going through an experience like that. I don’t know. I see you nodding your head. Um, so I don’t know if you can relate to that or not.
Sam Wilson ([00:06:22]) – Well, I’ve never had a traumatic brain injury per se, but certainly I think everyone’s encountered something at some period of time where you wish there was a fast forward button and you’re like, Oh my gosh, can we not? This is painfully slow. Yeah, And you just went out. That’s it.
Sam Wilson ([00:06:43]) – I think there’s that period where you just want out. So yeah.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:06:46]) – And to answer your question head on though, it’s just bubbling up to me. Uh, there was so from the moment that I, that I remember the first moment that I remember, um, was the third floor when I was transferred to the rehab hospital in Boston. I was initially put on the third floor, which was reserved for the most critical of cases, and I hardly have any memory of being on the third floor because they were in the process of taking me off the drugs and medication. Um, when I first like kind of got my bearings and my surroundings, I just got up and kept doing the best I can and kept getting better every day. And a big thing, the reason I was able to do that is because when I was in the coma, my parents, the doctors would come in to share like news, worse and worse and worse in the beginning. And they came into my room to share it in front of me.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:07:45]) – Even though I was in a coma, my parents knew that I was still taking information. So they said, No, no, not in front of him. And they made the doctor’s walk outside to share the information. So I didn’t know any better. I just as soon as I was aware of my surroundings, I got up, um, took my next step and I kept getting better every day. Um, there was one moment, though, which was in between my therapy, so I would get up in the morning. I would need help from a physical therapist helping me to shower and learn because I lost everything. So I didn’t know how to do anything. Sure. So I would do that and then I would have physical, occupational and speech therapy. And after which you broke for lunch. And there was a there was a time on one of those days early on in my recovery, I was in my hospital room. I was in a wheelchair. I still couldn’t really talk, wasn’t really audible.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:08:41]) – It was, if anything, a whisper was coming out and I was looking over my situation. Sam and I just. I turned my mom who was who me every day. That was part of my support system. And I said, Am I? I just couldn’t figure it out. For whatever reason, I was having a moment of doubt, I guess you could say. I was like, Am I ever going to be able to walk again? And she looked. She looked at me and right away didn’t even hesitate. Of course you are. That’s what we’re doing here. So you can get everything back and we can go home. And that was the only moment of doubt that I can say that that happened when I was in the hospital. Everything was just I got every day was, all right, what do I do next? What do I do next? What do I do next? And um, when I got home, it was really no different. I, I had to be tutored even though it was at school, because I got, I got out of the hospital at the end of April.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:09:38]) – I had to be tutored because I had lost so much time and wasn’t able to be in regular classes with my classmates. So I got tutored for the rest of the school year and then all summer long. Um, in order to move on to high school with the rest of my classmates. Wow. So let me take a breath there. No, that’s throwing a lot of information at you.
Sam Wilson ([00:09:59]) – No, it’s a great story. I mean, that’s. It’s. It’s inspiring. And it certainly one of those the one of those stories of perseverance, I think. I love the idea of the step that you put in there first is having that support. And I think you and you sound like you guys have rolled this out through your coaching program as well, if I’m not mistaken, using this same kind of process for. Can you hear me?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:10:26]) – Yeah, No, I got you.
Sam Wilson ([00:10:28]) – Okay, cool. I’m sorry.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:10:29]) – The glasses. Yeah.
Sam Wilson ([00:10:30]) – Gotcha. I thought you were giving me, like, the.
Sam Wilson ([00:10:32]) – Hey, I can’t hear you. Fine. You’re good. Which is fine. Here, we’ll hit time out there. Matthew, if you want to delete that. He is. Matthew’s the the editor. We can just wind that back a few seconds. Let me jump right back in here. In a couple of seconds, we’ll give him a pause so we can find the find the break. It seems like you guys have rolled out this step program or the acronym you use for step, not just for you and what you do on the coaching side of things or on the motivational speakers side of things. But you’ve also rolled it out inside of your business because I think these things kind of all they parallel, do they not, between the support, trust, energy, persistence, like those are those are four things that everybody needs to be successful really in anything they’re doing.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:11:19]) – Yeah. You know what? When I had a mentor year and a half ago reflecting this back to me, the step system, what I actually did and everything, she was it was the whole reason was saying because she said to me, Well, okay, you ran out of the hospital, but how’d you do it? I said, I don’t know.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:11:36]) – I just I got up and did it, like, did it. And there’s just that’s the mentality that the step system is how I’ve tackled, um, and been able to overcome and succeed with anything in my life. And it’s really so it’s really something that has been instilled in me. Um, and it’s the way I was raised and like that, my upbringing. So that’s how I’ve always dealt with things. Um, and now, now I’m, I actually started a company a year over year and a half ago now calm and goal, which we lead people that are going through a trauma or life challenge through the other side and then they can thrive with the rest of their lives. But this step system is something that we all naturally do. When I when I go like this and say we all mean like at smart real estate coach, it’s just like the way the way the only way I know. Um, so it’s just like continue to take your next step, but specifically the step system.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:12:45]) – Yeah, that’s a common goal. Um, but it’s, it’s something that I’ve done my whole life.
Sam Wilson ([00:12:50]) – You’re called on to speak as a motivational speaker. You, we were talking about this off air is that there are brain injury, traumatic brain injury associations that will say, hey Nick, can you come talk to us or come, you know, share? What are some of the things that you find are consistent themes that you talk about that resonate the most with the people that you are sharing with?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:13:18]) – So depending, depending on the amount of time I have because, um, like tonight I’m going to be doing for speaking for the Brain Injury Association of Ohio, and that would be a 45 minute version of my keynote. Um, and then when I spoke at the Brain Injury Association of Maryland in March at their annual conference, that was a 60 minute version. And the, the only difference is in what’s so exciting to me about the keynote is I get to share that step system and go into detail, um, like really drill down and go into detail about how they can apply it to their lives.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:13:59]) – So, um, the common theme that I’m seeing is people come up to me after I’ve, I probably have, um, on average, like 10 to 15 people come up to me after and say how much, um, my story and the subsystem, um, help them see through what they’re going through and they’re going to go back and um, really try to drill down and download because it’s free. It’s a free e-book step is a free e-book that I give away on my website, which I can give it to you after to throw on the show notes. But um, yeah. So just excited as you can say.
Sam Wilson ([00:14:43]) – Absolutely. No, that’s really, really cool. I love that. I love that. Yeah, that’s. That’s absolutely awesome. When did you so you’ve been in real estate? You know, I think you said 18 months after rehab, you’re out knocking on delinquent homes with delinquent mortgages, whatever, delinquent payments of some sort, seeing if you can acquire those houses. What’s your real estate journey been like inside of this? Because it sounds like, you know, real estate has kind of been part of what you’ve done really from the outset.
Sam Wilson ([00:15:12]) – I mean, gosh, 18 I don’t know if you were still in high school when you started doing that or just out of. Yeah, but yeah, that’s that’s pretty compelling. Tell us a little bit a little bit about your real estate journey.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:15:23]) – Sure. So that was it was actually the. So not the first summer after I ran out of the hospital, but the second summer I was my family was involved in real estate. So I, I had always been around in my whole life. However, I started to get the itch and I started going to my dad’s library that second summer after I came home. And that would have been summer of 2005. And I started looking through his books and everything. And and I asked him, What is a book that you recommend If I wanted to like get started. And he said, Cashflow quadrant. So as I was reading through that, I came back to him and said, I want to I want to get involved. What do I do? And or how can I get started? And right around that time I was getting my license, my real not real estate license excuse me, my driver’s license.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:16:17]) – So he thought it’d be a perfect fit because right on, right along that time around that time, they were starting to play with the idea of having bird dogs, lots of properties and knock on doors and set meetings for the investor to meet with these folks about potentially buying their homes. So I was like, Oh, awesome, that’s what I’ll do. So I had to go to school during the week, but on weekends and holidays I would usually pick 1 or 2 days out of a weekend and I would do like 50 to 70 doors. I go to cities where they were high concentration and I do these doors. Um, if you fast forward a little bit, I got out of high school, started starting to get my real estate license, and I got my real estate license and, uh, drumroll, please. Um, march of. 2008. Great timing. Great timing. Great time to get your real estate license. So, um, I got my real estate license and started selling real estate, helping buyers and sellers.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:17:25]) – As a realtor, I had all the people around me. Lamenting and complaining. Oh my God. The market used to be so good. Used to be so easy. You could do this and do that. I didn’t know what they meant, so I. I just. That was the market that I. That I was dealt with, that I that I had to deal with. So I learned how to, how to help buyers and sellers in that environment and around we’re not around. In 2014, my dad started buying properties 2013, 2014 started buying properties as an investor, and he asked me if I could help him with the marketing of all these properties that he was getting. I was reluctant, Sam. I was like, No, no, no. I got my own thing going on. I’m not looking for any any extras or anything. And luckily he asked me more than once. And so I started helping them with the marketing. Then the calls started coming in. He couldn’t keep up with them, so he asked me if I could help out with the buyers.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:18:26]) – So that morphed in New and then over the years, I developed a process, a buyer process that we have to bring our rental buyers through so that they’re able to qualify for their own loan once they get to the end of their agreement. And I think you can probably relate to this, but um, our success rate of our buyers, we’re, we’re seeing it, jeez, up to 90% of them that are once they’re in the home, they’re able to qualify and get their own loan and move on with the home, um, move on with their lives where as the other investors out there, the, the, the so-called competition um is seeing the inverse right 90% of the people fail and only 10% of the people and that’s because there’s a very particular process that we’d like to put all of our buyers through so they’re successful when they get to the end of their agreement.
Sam Wilson ([00:19:29]) – Got it. No, that’s really cool. And I love and it sounds like that’s all you’ve done basically is some form of real estate really since high school.
Sam Wilson ([00:19:38]) – Is that a fair analysis?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:19:41]) – Fair statement?
Sam Wilson ([00:19:42]) – Wow, that’s cool, man. Good for you. I’m not. People are not. Maybe they disagree or agree. I really don’t care. But the I think college is overrated, to be honest with you. Like, you know, if you can figure out a path to go out and make a meaningful difference, improve people’s lives, there’s ample opportunity to get paid for doing so. And you definitely don’t need to go to school for for that to happen. In fact, it probably gets in the way more often than not. So I’m always, always happy to meet another bootstrap for that. Maybe I think that way because that that was my story. Um, yeah. Anyway, love it. That’s very, very cool. So you’ve been in real estate ever since then. You guys have worked out the buyer process, a 90% conversion rate. So for those of you who are listening, it sounds like you guys are doing lease options basically as one of your strategies on the homes that you’re buying.
Sam Wilson ([00:20:37]) – So you’re selling them on a lease with an option to buy and you’re getting 90% of those to then convert to exercising that option to buy, is that right?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:20:46]) – Yeah. So we’re we’re buying we’re buying properties creatively, so we’re not going and signing personally and qualifying for loans or putting big down payments down or anything like that. Um, however we acquire them, uh, we’re always selling them on a rent own agreement to our buyer. Right. Um. Very simple. Yeah.
Sam Wilson ([00:21:09]) – Right. No, that’s cool. I love that strategy. Do you guys employ that strategy at all in the commercial real estate space?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:21:18]) – We have? Yeah, we have. We’ve done several deals over the years with with commercial. The building that we’re in is, was bought, um, with owner financing. I think my dad may have mentioned that. Yeah. Um, also there have been several buildings over the years in the state that we are right now, which is Rhode Island. And you can do this anywhere where we did mailers to, I forget the exact niche list.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:21:48]) – I think it might have been out of state landlords or something, but 4 to 6 unit buildings. We ended up buying two of those out of the mailings to to on two different occasions, buying them, um, improving the property, getting the rents up and improving the whole property and then selling them, buying them creatively and then selling them for a profit. So yeah, we’ve done a few commercial deals as well.
Sam Wilson ([00:22:16]) – Got it. I love it. Nick, I love your story. Thank you for taking the time to come on the day on the show today and share with us you’ve overcome incredible adversity. I have a very close friend of mine who something similar on a hiking accident fell in, kind of was told the same thing, but his journey was much, much, much, much, much, much longer maybe than yours was in getting out of the hospital and even surviving what’s kind of a miracle, let alone being able to walk and talk again. So I think it’s really cool that you have overcome that.
Sam Wilson ([00:22:51]) – You have found a process really that can be applied both to life, to real estate, to really anything you undertake. And I think it’s really cool the way that you give back to the brain injury. Others that have, you know, endured brain injuries and giving back to brain injury associations, being a keynote speaker, you got a great story. And I also love what you’re doing in real estate. And it’s really cool the way that you guys are helping other homeowners, not just find and keep their homes when they are rent to buy buyers, but also just the way you guys are coaching and helping other people in the real estate space. So very, very cool. I love this. If our listeners want to get in touch with you and learn more about you, what is the best way to do that?
Nick Prefontaine ([00:23:30]) – So if anything, if anything rang true with any of your listeners as far as on the business, on the business end, how we buy, how we buy and sell homes, um, creatively and our trademark prepaid system.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:23:45]) – Um, they can go to smart real estate coach.com and if they scroll down they can get registered for the free masterclass. And as I said, that’s going to teach them about how we buy and sell on terms and our trademark three day system. Um, and then if they’re interested in the step system and like following me with anything I’m doing with my motivational speaking or anything and that and that regard, they can go to Nick prefontaine.com/step. Um, and they can download the step system for free today and that will help them take their first step.
Sam Wilson ([00:24:25]) – Awesome. We’ll make sure we include that there in the show notes. Nick prefontaine.com/stapp Nick thank you again for coming on today. It was an absolute pleasure.
Nick Prefontaine ([00:24:35]) – Always a blast. Thanks for having me.
Sam Wilson ([00:24:37]) – Hey, thanks for listening to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate podcast. If you can do me a favor and subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, whatever platform it is you use to listen. If you can do that for us, that would be a fantastic help to the show.
Sam Wilson ([00:24:54]) – It helps us both attract new listeners as well as rank higher on those directories. So appreciate you listening. Thanks so much and hope to catch you on the next episode.
