Daniel Goodman is a Los Angeles-born successful real estate investor, stock market trader, soon-to-be life coach, and husband to celebrity real estate agent, Julia Jolie.
Daniel Goodman’s story is not that of rags to riches; rather, it borders on self-discovery, consistency, and battling addiction. Daniel is a progeny of an award-winning investigative reporter and a mum who is into television production. His maternal grandfather was a successful, and revolutionary merchant in furniture while his paternal grandmother is endowed with incredible wisdom. All figures had a meaningful impact on his life while growing up.
Having done many odd jobs in his twenties, Daniel’s sojourn as a real estate investor when in his very early thirties has opened his eyes to a lot of invaluable lessons. “The main lesson that I’ve learned in real estate, is to take your time before investing in a property. If it’s for long-term hold and income property as well, then hold onto it as long as you can,” he remarked.
Daniel, a successful day trader, started that venture in the summer of 2016. “Daytrading is a job. You get up in the morning and trade whatever stocks have the most volatility. Of course, it’s not only stocks; you could trade options, commodities, futures, cryptocurrency, ETF’s, etc. There are many ways to trade. Anyone with an Internet connection can daytrade. Anyone can trade,” he explained.
However, for all his success in real estate and stock trading, Daniel considers his greatest accomplishments as quitting drugs and alcohol. Daniel was addicted to alcohol for a good 17 years of his life. It was a daily struggle which he finally overcame 6 years ago. Having a lovely family means everything to Daniel. He has already achieved quite a lot and he sees himself in the next 5 years teaching and mentoring more and more people about real estate, the stock market, and life lessons.
Global Millionaire magazine recently caught up with Daniel to discuss his journey as a real estate investor and stock market trader and here’s what went down:
Could you please tell our readers a brief background about yourself and how you started in property?
When I was an early teenager, I eventually found out how much the house was worth that I was living in, and I found out how much my parents bought it for. That’s when I realized real estate goes up over time, no matter what. So right away I knew that if you’re going to invest in real estate, it’s not so much the price you get it at, it’s where you buy it and can you hold onto it for a long time.
For example, my house was in Venice Beach where I grew up, and I quickly found out that beach property holds its value and goes up much faster than a property somewhere in the Midwest. So that’s what basically intrigued me and lit my fire and got me started in real estate investment.
I found it fascinating that you can invest in something that pays off in three different ways: it provides shelter for someone, they pay you to rent which of course pays for your mortgage, monthly expenses, and a profit, and at the same time it increases in value. It’s a beautiful thing!
I also started quickly learning about leveraging by using equity in real estate. Meaning, if your house has plenty of equity in it, you can borrow off of that and buy more real estate. However, I learned that that’s only for a long term investment. That can be a dangerous plan for the short term. I found all of this very interesting!
What was the process for you to finding what you wanted to do?
Not until I was about 30 years old did I know that investing in real estate and being in the real estate business, was something that I wanted to do. It may not be the most exciting career or way of making money, but it’s extremely stable and if done properly, it makes you guaranteed money over time. Throughout my 20s I worked odd jobs, and all different fields, but mostly in sales. I worked at Best Buy, worked in the family business selling furniture, worked with my father selling semi-precious stones, worked in over the phone sales, worked in the legal field as a process server, and eventually went back to school in my late 20s. Basically, My 20s is when I figured out what I wanted to do. In my opinion, in your 20s is when you should try different things and by the time you’re around 30, you should have a good idea of what field you would like to be in. And also, there’s nothing wrong with changing your field again.
What has been the most memorable experience of being a real estate investor so far?
I bought a property in 2014 when everybody thought prices were not gonna go any higher. I sold it years later for a 100% return on my investment. Not only was that exciting, but once again it showed me the power of real estate! The fun part was not only watching the price go up and up every year but having people tell me you need to sell immediately if the prices are going to drop. I didn’t listen to them, and I’m glad I didn’t. However, would that property be worth more today than what I sold it at, yes a little bit? There’s nothing wrong with making a profit and reinvesting it.
Who have been the most interesting people you’ve met so far?
I’m lucky to have grown up with a very close family. And even luckier that the people in my family have been not only interesting but role models. My father was and is, an extremely interesting powerful person in my life. He was in the army, an avid hunter and fisherman, one of the countries best investigative reporters of all time, and my hero as well. My grandfather on my mother’s side started a furniture business called Levitz furniture, which revolutionized and changed the furniture industry forever. My mother working in television production always kept my interest in that field as well. She was another strong person in my life. She cared about other people, and always wanted to help people that were less fortunate than her. She shows me about caring for others. My grandmother on my father’s side, who is not only interesting but had wisdom that could stop you in your tracks. The way she lived life, was like no other person I’ve ever met. Happy every day, and could handle any curveballs that life is thrown at her.
And last but not least, my wife who is not only my soulmate and life companion is extremely interesting. She grew up in Russia and made her way over to Los Angeles where we met. Her story keeps me challenging myself and of course, she constantly challenges me! (laughs)
What has been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned while in the real estate industry?
The main lesson that I’ve learned in real estate, is to take your time before investing in a property. If it’s for long-term hold and income property as well, then hold onto it as long as you can. Keep generating the income from it. If it’s a short term investment or a flip, be as cold as ice when it comes to the negotiation process. For short term investments, the initial price that you buy the property is extremely important! That will determine your profit margin, and give you as enough cushion as possible. Because when flipping a house, lots of things can go wrong and the clock is ticking! And of course, it’s all about timing! We all know timing is everything, but it’s very crucial in the real estate market. If you buy a house to flip in a hot market, and it takes you too long, and the market gets Lukewarm or cold, you might be stuck holding that house for a while. And last, the more love and care you put into a home, the better it will sell or hold its value! Remember, this will be somebody’s home for possibly the next 10 to 20 years.
We also note you’re a day trader, what is day trading, and who can do it?
I started day trading in the summer of 2016. I’ve been doing it for over four years now, and it’s my everyday job. Daytrading is a job. You get up in the morning and trade whatever stocks have the most volatility. Of course, it’s not only stocks; you could trade options, commodities, futures, cryptocurrency, ETF‘s, etc. There are many ways to trade. Anyone with an Internet connection can daytrade. Anyone can trade.
How much expertise do you need?
I started daytrading with zero knowledge and zero experience of the stock market. I only knew the simple rule, “Buy low, sell high.“ I knew nothing about daytrading. So anyone can start trading with zero experience.
What are the advantages of day trading over other means of investing?
The advantage of daytrading over other types of investing, is that daytrading will give you an everyday income. We all know investing in the stock market for the long term, gives you fantastic returns over a 5 to 10 year period. Sometimes it can be much faster, like the last three or four years we’ve had in the stock market. The returns have been insane! But you need to have a career or regular job to bring you a paycheck every week or two. So you can pay your rent, put food on the table, etc.
Can you give us a little Day Trading 101?
If you are a day trader, the most important rule is to cut your losses immediately. It’s not about making big profits, or lots of profits consistently in the beginning, it’s about cutting your losses immediately and staying above water. And most importantly, you should trade on a simulation platform so you can get a feel for what it’s like to day trade before you use real money. I didn’t do this, and I got crushed! I highly suggest any beginning day traders to start with “fake money“ before using the real thing. However, don’t stick with fake money for too long, because your emotions are not the same trading with simulated money, compared to real money. You have to dive in eventually
What are some best practices for newbies?
For newbie traders, the best thing that they can possibly do, is take profit off the table no matter what. Consistently taking profits and build your account or consistently put money into your checking account from trading, it’s extremely important! I can’t stress this enough, take profits!
There’s an old saying, “you can never go broke taking a profit.“ every newbie gets FOMO, and they think that there’s never going to be another amazing trade to take after they have just exited the one that they are in. Do not have FOMO! There are thousands of stocks to trade every single day.
How much of an investment do you need to make to get started?
Well, you need $25,000 in your account to make unlimited intra day trades. That means, there is no limit to how many times you can buy and sell in the same day with stocks, options, and ETFS. If you have less than $25,000, you need to hold your trade overnight for at least one day.
However, the amount of money one needs to start with is irrelevant. If you are a retired multimillionaire, and you want to start day trading, obviously putting in $25,000 or more is no big deal. If you are a broke college student, $500 might be a lot of money to you. You can start with enough money to buy one share of a dollar stock. So don’t get scared if you only have $200 to start trading. Because You can grow that $200 into $25,000 very quickly if you are NOT greedy and have the patience.
What do you think are the most common mistakes novice traders make?
Again, I think FOMO and not taking profit are the most common mistakes beginning traders make. They buy a stock, it skyrockets, and sell it. And then they jump back in because they have the fear that they’re not going to get another trade like that again anytime soon. And that’s definitely incorrect! There are many many many stocks every day that can be traded to give you a nice profit. And also they become greedy very quickly. They make $100 in their trade, and they quickly want to start shooting for $300 or $500 for the next trade. Baby steps, one day at a time, an empire is not built overnight.
What kind of money management skills should you have before getting into day trading?
You should know exactly what your financial goals are before starting to day trade. How much money do you need to make and how much can you afford to lose. Before daytrading, you should have discipline with money. If you don’t have any discipline with saving your profits, then you should learn that discipline first. However, you can definitely learn it on the way. That’s what I did. I was not smart with my day trading profits, or the amount of money I lost. I really had to learn everything the hard and painful way. But the most important money management skill that you need to have, is not to be greedy! It’s The hardest thing to conquer in daytrading. Because the whole game is about money. That’s what took me the longest to conquer, but once I did, everything became easier and grew faster. If you can’t buckle down and be extremely disciplined about being greedy, your first couple of years of day trading are going to be hell! So work every day to conquer greed.
Tell us about something you are proud of – about your greatest challenge.
Ever since I was 14 years old I was heavy into drugs and alcohol. For the next 17 years that was my life. I struggled with it day in and day out. I just turned 37 years old, and I’m almost 6 years sober. This has been one of my greatest accomplishments! My other most important accomplishment, that will be ongoing for the rest of my life, is being a loving husband and father. I have learned over the last 5 years, to be a better father every day. To be more patient with my children, my wife, and my family. I continue to learn more about my children and myself every day, and every day that I am patient with my children and happy around them is a priceless accomplishment! Because naturally they learn to be patient, and they are happy!
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
The best advice that I constantly return to, is taking life one day at a time. I’ve heard that from all of my role models and heroes In my life. All we have is day. So keep your focus on today’s issues, challenges, goals, and happiness.
Not taking life too seriously, has also been advice given to me over my entire life. Mainly from my dad‘s mother, Lillian, or “Lakey” as her husband called her. My grandmother always told me not to take life so seriously, and make a joke about your problems. She would always tell me to accept what life gives you, and keep moving forward. Don’t live in the past.
What takes up too much of your time?
I think what takes up most of my time, is actually overthinking situations. One might not realize it, but overthinking is not a good thing. Take enough time to make a decision, and once you’ve made it, stick with it. Do not go back unless you have to. If I overthink the situation it could take hours, days, weeks of space in my head. And that turns into wasted time, and of course, wasted energy! Staying organized is extremely important to me. If I become unorganized, or my office gets messy, that takes up a lot of time to re-organize it. So staying on top of my organization is a key factor for keeping myself stable.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?
I see myself teaching and mentoring more and more people about real estate, the stock market, and life lessons. Life coaching is something that I would love to get into and help others as much as possible. And of course, not knowing where I’m going to be in five years is also very very exciting! It’s good to plan ahead, but DON’T forget to live in the present! As long as my family is healthy and happy, everything else will follow.
