Building Bellingham Episode 8: Ben Kinney

As David and Andy were getting the tech set up for Ben’s interview recording, Leo and Ben chatted a bit and Ben mentioned - hey, let’s downplay all the numbers. He didn’t want us to go into how many sales his teams have closed from his brokerages across the United States and in London, and the real estate empire he’s built over the years (Brivity, BKCO Mortgage, his newest announcement PLACE Inc, and several more).

But it didn’t start easily. Like the game Monopoly, it starts with one deed and then one green house. Ben was working as a cable guy for Comcast, and chatting with a customer one day. 

“I grew up super poor… .Home ownership was nothing I had never considered for myself.

She said “I own a duplex”, and I said “why didn’t you just buy a house?”

She said, I own both sides… the neighbors next door? Their rent pays my mortgage.”” 

I looked at her and I said, “You live for free?!”  

Talked with a lender and then saved up $11,500 for a down payment. His agent showed him condos and houses, so Ben took the initiative to find a duplex on his own. He drove around Bellingham and wrote down addresses of properties he liked. He reached out to out-of-town owners and 

“And I almost accomplished my goal because the renters next door were paying $1200 a month, and my mortgage was $1210. So I didn’t get to live for free, but I did get to live for ten bucks.”

Ben’s agent gave him a copy of the real estate classic Millionaire Real Estate Agent. The book changed his perspective; it wasn’t about becoming a millionaire, it was that 

“...a knucklehead dumb shit kid like me could actually own my own business, and the book was a blueprint on how I could own my own business.”

Ben went into two other books, Kiyosaki’s classics Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Cashflow Quadrant, and walks through the differences between being an employee, self-employed, a business owner and an investor. 

….And that’s all in the first 15 minutes of the podcast. 

So check it on iTunes or Spotify, and listen to the story of this regular guy and phenomenal business owner who lives right here in Whatcom County. Ben also talks about the importance of giving, of focusing on what you can control, and the impromptu cross-country road trip that changed both his business and his relationship to work.

Links

The Episode: Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  | Stitcher 

Our Guest: Ben Kinney  | Ben Kinney Companies  |   BKCO Mortgage  | PLACE Inc

Credits

Hosted by Leo Cohen, Cohen Group NW  |  Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram
Produced and Edited by David Pender Lofgren 

Recorded and Mixed by Andy Rick

Videographer & Social Media Jedi: Cooper Hansley

Recorded at Binary Studios  |  Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram

Building Bellingham is a member of The BellPod Network  |  Website  |  Facebook  | Instagram

Blog copy by Tiffany Holden