Today’s track: Surf — Eleni Drake (Mac Miller cover)
Here’s a thought experiment for your Monday.
The world as you know it has changed forever. A face appears in the sky and announces that nearly everyone around you is an NPC — a non-playable character. Video game term. The townspeople who are preset to say what they say, and once you talk to them long enough, they run out of novel thoughts and just start repeating themselves.
The face in the sky gives you one job: name ten people in the world you believe are real. Actual players. Not NPCs.
Who makes your list?
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman
I want to be one of the first people that pops into your head. I want to live in a way where people unquestionably go, “Rob’s real. Rob’s got new ideas, novel thoughts. He’s authentic. Genuine.”
Turning over stones that haven’t been turned before.
Now flip it. If someone else got asked the same question, would people say that about you? “Oh yeah, Gary’s authentic. He’s got unique ideas. He’s definitely not one of the NPCs.”
I’ll be honest — there have been stretches of my life when I felt like an NPC. When you’re in the wrong crowd, at the wrong event, standing there thinking, what am I doing here? This doesn’t go with my flow. It’s good to stretch ourselves, obviously. But that’s different than feigning interest in something that — even after you’ve looked into it further — just doesn’t strike a chord with you.
And the sneakier version: you feel like an NPC when you don’t participate, and you only digest. I imagine that’s what most of the world is doing — digesting, digesting, never participating. It reminds me of that scene in The Odyssey — everybody eating and eating….
I’m not above any of this. I’m struggling to read the denser books on my list lately — I just haven’t felt called to pick them up, and I need something that reels me back in. Sometimes I fall out of the flow. Out of the flow with walking. Out of the flow with reading. Out of the flow with the guitar. Sometimes it’s good to step away and chase other rabbits for a while. But there’s a difference between chasing a new rabbit and just digesting.
When I think about my close circle, they’d be high on my list. Not because they’re loud — because of how they live. What they ascribe value to. What they don’t. Their priorities. All my friends have diverse values and unique interests, and watching one of them light up about something — whatever it is — is enlightening every time.
I’ve learned this through the newsletter, and from just walking around being the genuine Rob Bergeron (I’ve told you about the health gear I refuse to hide). When you drop your guard first, other people drop theirs. They feel like they can be vulnerable with you, present ideas without judgment, be their authentic self right back. And I think people like talking to me and working with me because I get enthusiastic about whatever they’re into — my brain starts working on their thing. That’s a lot different than indifference.
Case in point: I have this incredibly intelligent friend who is totally willing to entertain the idea that telepathic whales built the pyramids. It’s a joke — mostly. He doesn’t actually believe it. But I love that he went down the rabbit hole, thought it through, found some rationale for it. It’s a running bit now with a few of us. It comes up a lot. Because why not — what if there was a great flood, and the whales were there? I don’t know. I just think it’s funny.
People tell me they feel safe being weird around me — safe presenting ideas, safe asking for help — because I’ve been open about the times I needed help, or said the weird thing out loud that they were already thinking but wouldn’t have felt comfortable saying. I like being a safe person for people. I like making people feel comfortable and empowered. Some of the most exciting work I do in life is just helping people blossom.
I mentioned my Uncle Bob in Eighty-One — all those master’s students he trained, who went on to run their own labs and train their own master’s students. I love the idea that the people I’m helping find empowerment start looking around and helping the people near them find it too. It makes waves. And it feels good — you feel good all the time.
Here’s what that looks like in my day-to-day right now. My newer investor clients are getting dangerous — and I mean that as the highest compliment. I’ve been helping them navigate AI: running their own numbers, pulling Section 8 fair market rents, working out ARV, dropping their inspection report into Claude and asking for general repair estimates. Now they’re analyzing deals fast, covering all their variables — and when they miss a variable, they fold it in and the whole system gets more refined. Refined and refined and refined.
And here’s the beautiful part: they’re bringing me ways of analyzing deals that I hadn’t even thought of. I’m the seasoned expert, and my clients are teaching me. That’s what happens when curious people keep talking to each other — the ambiguity, the risk, the grayness gets squeezed out of the deal. If you know the ARV and you know the bottom-line fair market rent, all you’ve got left to figure out is the repairs.
So when I sit down with a client, we price it both ways: a flip, and a full BRRRR — tenant-proofing it, insulating it, making it easy to manage. A lot of my clients end up in the space between, because they want options: rent it today, but keep it nice enough to sell if the neighborhood pops — or 1031 it down the road into oil and gas, industrial, a quadplex. That’s why they’ll put remnant granite in a rental. Granite stays nice through tenants, but it reads like a flip if they ever resell. Traditional colors. Timeless finishes. Shaker white cabinets.
Alex Conway and I were talking over the weekend about how somebody should teach a class on getting more out of your flips with little moves that cost nothing extra. I told him about Reynolds Jones, who helped me design my house and dropped so many little wisdoms you just don’t hear other places. Hang your cabinets two inches higher — the room feels taller, more grandiose. Use different handles for the different sizes of cabinets. Skip the ceiling fans and keep a clean eyeline. Light and bright — but don’t go too dark on the flooring, and not too bright either, because it’ll show every speck of dirt. Especially with dogs.
And sage green. I found sage green calms me down mentally AND does a good job hiding the dog dirt. My house is full of it. I get compliments all the time — and most of it comes down to little things that cost me nothing. Take those for free.
None of that comes from an NPC script. It comes from curious people talking to each other.
So maybe take some time today and figure out who your five non-NPC friends are. The ones who are curious, trying new things, using their time on this planet in a way you think is of value.
Then ask yourself: where could I let things loosen up a little, so people can see I’ve got genuine thoughts of my own? What’s the conduit for that? Who do I talk to?
Be vulnerable with someone this week. Tell them your telepathic-whale idea. Let it just be a point of discussion.
When the face shows up, make the ten.
📊 Friday’s poll: “Are you named after somebody?” — “No — my name’s my own” edged it out at 36%, with “Yes, and I know the whole story” right behind at 33%, “never really knew them” at 18%, and “it’s complicated” at 12%. Add up the namesakes and they actually win — a third of you are carrying somebody’s name AND the whole story that comes with it. After the Uncle Bob issue, that makes me happy.
Would you make someone else's ten?
Also,I was on The Note Investing Podcast with Scott. If you need something to listen to today, be sure to check it out!
Round 4 of 12 of chemo starts today. I keep telling people how I’m having nearly the best experience possible with it all. Still lifting, still energetic, still happy. 🙂
Kindly,
Rob Bergeron
Owner–Realtor at Award-Winning Winner Realty
Winner Realty | OffMarket.deals | Property Partner Data Company
Schedule time to discuss your goals, bottlenecks, or whatever’s on your mind — book me here.
PS: The 30-year fixed is down to 6.51%, which is a relief — we need less volatility in the world. Inventory is up to 4,038. I think we’ve hit the point where 4,000 stays the norm for a bit, but if rates keep dropping, perhaps not. Seeing a major uptick in buyers AND sellers lately — people must be catching an itch. Current Winner Realty offerings are right here. And lots of new listings on offmarket.deals — Colleen has a bunch coming up, and 25 deals offering seller financing! Flips, BRRRRs, turnkey.
PSS: Don’t be a stranger! Have something you own you want comps on to know the value? Reply or email [email protected] with the address and bed/bath counts and I’ll get numbers back to you. Knowledge is power and it feels good knowing!
PSSS: If there’s one thing I know, it’s that everything changes when you’re in the room with like-minded Winners. The curious folks! Andrew Schlag is curious AF — he’s moved way past the surface-level understanding of real estate, and there’s a whole other world under the surface. Whether you’re a wholesaler, realtor, flipper, private money lender, or just exploring real estate, go to request.truka.com and explore the possibility of spending three days with us other curious folks. August 14–16!