After college, Mace Ishida always wanted to experience Australia on his terms. He had quit his job in a spur-of-the-moment decision to follow his passion for traveling. But a chance meeting at a hostel in Sydney and the subsequent return of a forgotten swimsuit connected him with his would-be wife and led to the start of their now happy family of five.
Now residing in Columbus, Ohio, the Ishidas’ life looks much different than it did in the days of working overseas in Australia. Beyond his job as a director of procurement for a quick-service restaurant, Mace and his wife spend much of their free time after work with their children juggling ballet, soccer, gymnastics, and other various activities.
Before working in procurement, Mace spent three years working as a retirement investment consultant. His interest in real estate investing peaked when he realized most of the clients he spoke with daily were often uncertain if their investments were going to last.
“I asked myself, ‘How can I take control over this?’ I didn’t want to be one of the people I spoke with daily. That led me to real estate.”
The most valuable possession that Mace has is his time. With three kids and a demanding full-time job, the time he has to spend on real estate investments is minimal. Looking for ways to maximize his investments while conserving his available time, Mace switched from single-family and fourplex investments and began to look into syndications to leverage other people’s time and expertise.
“Syndications already have teams in place so that you don’t have to go figure that stuff out. You can move a lot faster once you find the right partners,” Mace reflected. “I think at the end of the day, each investor has to make their own mind up in terms of their risk profile versus return. But I would say you really can’t skip trying to understand the team better. And the way I do that is, I take a look at some of the folks that have a lot of time and expertise.”
Mentorship is another critical component for all investors across the spectrum. However, for Mace, it is less about the individual and more about looking at what you can leverage from someone’s experience or the breadth of their investment portfolio.
Looking back on his investing journey, Mace believes the essential fundamentals of investing are rooted in mindset and defining your personal goals.
“I would say that your personal mindset can help you move forward faster. It’s easy to listen to hours of podcasts, and they all give great information. Then your brain starts thinking, ‘What if I can’t do this?’ or, ‘Maybe this isn’t the right one,’” Mace said. “And while you’re contemplating, you’re just wasting your time.”
“What helped me was getting clear on why I’m investing, what my personal goals are, and what my relationship with money is,” Mace said. “Comparing yourself to other people isn’t the right way to approach investing. You have to take some of the things that made them successful and see if that fits your plan and risk profile.”
Understanding his “why” has been at the core of Mace’s success and what continues to drive him to learn and understand new investment strategies and deals. Respecting the journey that he has been on — from the beginning days of working with retirement investors to building his investment portfolio to where it is now — allows him to focus his energy and efforts where they matter most.
“I think it’s important to enjoy the journey. If you’re making money, you should be able to enjoy it; I say this to my kids all the time — I tell them, ‘Hey, by saying no to some things that you don’t care about, that’ll give you time and money to say yes to the things that you really do care about,’” Mace shared. “You could take that back to budget or a lot of different things, including investment opportunities. Being able to say no to all the other ones will make certain that you have the time and the money for the right opportunities that come along.”
About the Author:
Leslie Chunta is a marketing consultant with nearly 15 years of experience in creating dynamic marketing programs and building brands for startups to enterprise organizations. She has worked agency- and client-side with high-growth companies that include Silicon Valley Bank, JPMorgan Chase, SailPoint, EMC, Spanning Cloud Apps, Ashcroft Capital, Netspend, and Universal Studios. www.thelabcollective.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog post are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as an offer to buy or sell any securities or to make or consider any investment or course of action.