Real Estate Investing Mastery Podcast Volume 3

Nearly everything I learned in real estate came from the marketing brain of Richard Roop. I used to drive a lot to work, and I hauled around his CDs in the back of my car to listen to on the drive to the office. After a hiatus, Richard is back to give some evergreen real estate advice, and to share his wild story of how he lost his real estate portfolio. “I can get you that price, but I can’t give you those terms” is one of the phrases that Richard coined. As an early adopter of creative financing like subject twos or lease options, Richard taught his students how to engineer a variety of deals that would appeal to a seller. The Baby Boomers drove the price appreciation over the last few decades, but they’re starting to downsize. Richard predicts a long-term trend of flat or down for the next 10-12 years, and right now is a great time to control without ownership. Becoming familiar with lease options is a convenient way to own without actually possessing the property. Additionally, buying with long-term owner financing or getting in and out with quick flipping could be great options in the next decade. The Ultimate Strategy is when you target homes in your area that are owned free and clear. By structuring phenomenal financing, you can get into nearly any of these homes. And as long as there’s positive cash flow and you’re paying down the mortgage, this will only be a winning strategy for you. But is it still a great strategy? As a general warning from Richard: Get very good legal advice if you’re soliciting private money. While he’s still under a gag order from many of the events surrounding his years-long legal battle with the local division of securities office, he can give us enough details to offer a cautionary tale. What’s Inside: —As a transaction engineer, Richard loves figuring out the different ways a deal could be structured. —There’s no way you can buy bad if you have the right numbers. —Richard’s ultimate strategy is simple: Look for houses with equity. —Is the Ultimate Strategy applicable for today’s market? —Why you should over-disclose for transparency’s sake.

Who doesn’t love money? We’re talking about raising private money with Josh Cantwell, who has raised over $60 million dollars in private money without having someone check his credit in over ten years. In seven steps, Josh lays out how you can raise capital for your real estate investments. Raising private money is not about pitching people. It’s about teaching people about what you do in a cool way. Josh likes to tell people, “I raise private capital for real estate, and I buy distressed properties and pay my investors double digit fixed returns”. For him, this is far more effective than trying to sell potential investors on the idea of real estate investing. The relationship that you build with investors is incredibly important. For Josh, one investor took about 3 years before he finally invested with him. His number one rule for working with investors is: Follow up, follow up, follow up. A “no” today doesn’t necessarily mean a “no” tomorrow. Josh uses the 2R-3M approach. That’s “Regular Recurring Multi-Media Marketing”. For him, all of his marketing starts with a podcast interview, and then he sends it out across various marketing platforms. By putting himself out there and positioning himself as the authority, he doesn’t have to keep answering the same question one hundred times. You don’t need a big audience to raise capital. You need an irresistible offer, and you need to be authentic. Ask your investors, would you rather have 12% interest on the loan or 15% of the profit? Let them choose into your deals. But you are never going to be successful in raising capital from strangers if you can’t convince someone you know to buy from you. Josh shares in his book, Get Flip System, some of the many ways you can have better conversations with potential investors. What’s Inside: —Raising private money means you’re doing deals on your terms, and not the bank’s. —The question you need to ask so that investors will choose themselves to work with you. —All of your marketing doesn’t matter if you don’t have a way to let people opt-in to more information. —Leading with value means you’re giving information out that is worth it to your audience. —Josh’s strategy for winning the supply and demand game.

A lot has changed since Brandon Schwab introduced us to his senior boutique living portfolio. The pandemic has swept through large senior living facilities, and Brandon predicts that that will make retirees turn to these more intimate, clean, and personal homes instead. Brandon’s most recent purchase is a 15 bed home on 43 acres in Illinois. He talks about the numbers in this deal, and he gives us a tour of the remodeled home at the end of the interview. The homes that Brandon is looking for have very specific criteria because they’re serving a very small segment of the population. Ranch style homes, with most of the bedrooms on the main floor, are one of the minimum requirements. Just like any real estate deal, there is still room for creative financing. Many of these homes sit on the MLS for years, so the owners are more than happy to provide some kind of owner financing, or take an all cash offer. The current property Brandon is showing cost $750,000; with the remodeling budget, Brandon is all-in for $1.85 million. One of the special considerations for these properties is the operating costs. A key point of pride for Brandon is that every one of his caretakers works with only 5 residents, which increases the quality of care available. While the property is grossing $104,000 each month, he has expenses of about $50,000 a month. But his expenses include debt coverage, taxes, food, and all of the staff costs. Brandon likes to purchase a group of these houses in an area because it helps him reduce the operating costs. If you know of any homes in your area, he is paying a finder’s fee for anyone who can bring him similar deals. What’s Inside: —As a purpose-driven business, Brandon makes the bedrooms smaller for a reason. —Carry back financing or owner financing means Brandon can give the owner exactly what they want. —Brandon’s guidelines for homes are very specific, but if you find a home like this, he’ll pay a bird dog fee. —On the video, Brandon walks us through the current remodel of his newest home.

With a response rate of 0.5%, seller leads require a lot of energy to chase down. Rather than expending energy on finding seller leads, Justin Van Riper is laser-focused on finding buyers. This approach means he can keep his team lean, and hone in on an approach that consistently works for him. Not only is the response rate nearly ten times that of seller leads, but buyer leads will purchase more than one property from him. Instead of letting the buyer set the criteria, Justin flips that on its head and tells the buyer what he can provide. He looks for buyers who are purchasing in a like-market. And he prefers buyers who are already buying out of state because then he doesn’t have to sell them on the concept. The more value you provide for your buyers, the more repeat business you’ll do with them. Whether you choose to provide them with a list of local lenders, local contractors, or property management companies, the relationship you build with them will, in turn, bring you more businesses as they continue to invest in your area. How much information should you give your buyers about where your fee is coming from? I’ve had a buyer upset with me because the house was listed for less on Zillow than what I was selling it for. Justin stresses that honesty and transparency will serve you well in this. When the deal goes bad, and the rehab costs more than expected, Justin tries to give them good referrals to avoid that in the first place. Above all though, investors need to remember that there is a risk, just like any investment. If you’re interested in buyer-first wholesaling, Justin’s offering a free five-day course on his website that teaches these same principles he talked about today. What’s Inside: —How Justin finds buyers and sellers, and why he prefers direct mail. —Sticking to smaller rehabs is a less risky strategy Justin recommends. —The benefits of double closing and then double closing on top of that. —As long as you have some sort of MLS access, you don’t need a Realtor’s license. —Transparency is key in the kind of deals Justin prefers.

Here’s a little teaser of one of the things we’ll be covering in our FREE, LIVE 5-day workshop: the 5 simple steps we go through to do deals virtually. Gavin and I talk about the basics of getting and closing deals without even physically seeing the property. —Market research – pick a market, look into your own backyard and don’t ignore the small towns —Get a team – hire a virtual assistant, a local wholesaler and a realtor —Marketing – cold calling, finding tired landlords on Zillow, direct mailing —Evaluate deals and make offers – do not over-analyze the numbers then take too long to make an offer —Follow up – it’s rare to close a deal on the first call; be prepared to make lots of follow up calls —Sell the contract (BONUS!) We go into the nitty-gritty details of these steps, explain them in-depth, and teach you how to utilize these basics in our FREE, LIVE 5-day “Virtual Profits Workshop” which starts June 1st. No payment information required. This is ABSOLUTELY FREE so SIGN UP NOW! Go to: https://www.virtualprofitsworkshop.com

Gavin and I have been making deals virtually successfully for years now and we both believe that if you don’t need to physically walk into a property to close a deal, you can definitely be virtual. To date, Gavin and I are at about 60k in wholesaling profits. But before we were able to get to where we’re making this much profit, we both had to go through major shifts in our businesses. We were both working long hours just to keep our businesses going until we went through 4 major shifts that changed the way our business ran. So, we asked ourselves these 4 major questions: —Why can’t I wholesale lease option? —How can I control the volume of leads? —How can I do none of this? —If I can do this here, why can’t I do it anywhere else? These 4 questions shifted the entire way we run our business and we’re no longer working 12-15 hours a day. In fact, we make more deals by just working 2-3 hours a day while we’re traveling. Want to know more about how we’re doing and closing deals virtually? Join us on our FREE, LIVE 5-day “Virtual Profits Workshop” starting on June 1 st . Go to: https://www.virtualprofitsworkshop.com

Rumors are everywhere about how Covid-19 is affecting tenants and landlords. Laurence Jankelow sent out a survey to the tenants and landlords on his platform to get some hard data and numbers. Laurence runs Avail, a soup to nuts website that helps landlords and tenants pay rent, run background checks, report maintenance problems, and advertise vacancies. With over 10,000 responses to his survey, Laurence was able to get a good look at how tenants were dealing with the pandemic. One of the biggest surprises from Laurence’s survey was the disconnect between what tenants were saying and what landlords believed was happening. His results were surprising, so Laurence encourages landlords to open a dialogue with tenants now before they get surprised in June and July. Half of all rentals in the U.S. are owned by mom and pop landlords, who are making a small amount of profit on their properties. Rent forbearance, rent forgiveness, and canceling rent would all have hugely negative consequences for these smaller landlords. Laurence and I talk about whether the government can actually stop the rents, and what that might mean for property owners. Is this a better time to sell properties or pick up more properties? Maintenance, showings, and iffy financials may force you to consider leaving the rental market. Laurence says that if you’re in a situation where your investment property isn’t putting money in your pocket anymore, then it’s time to get out. Getting through Covid-19, we’re all going to have to compromise. We’re all going to come away with less than before, but tenants and landlords are in this together. What’s Inside: —Lenders and tenants are not communicating with each other, Laurence’s survey found. —Laurence’s advice for landlords who are in this situation. —Rent collections for April and May versus the national average. —If you want to get out as a landlord, it may be a great time to do so. —No matter what happens, real estate will definitely recover.

Some of my favorite coaching clients that I’ve ever had talked to Gavin and me about how their business is going through the pandemic. Steve, a self-described technophobe, talks about the learning curve for using REI Simple, and how he and Coco work together as a team. Guys, this business isn’t rocket science. You just get on the phone and talk to people. Steve’s version for breaking the ice is a little unusual. He calls someone up and when they ask about his offer he says, “I’ve got a free coupon for a Subway sandwich, twelve inches. Whatever you want. Are you interested?” Then when they laugh, he can slide right in and have a great conversation with them. Coco and Steve make a great team because they each focus on the area they’re good at. Steve talks to people and Coco makes sure everything is running smoothly on the back end. They work with a VA from the Philippines who keeps them on task. One of their favorite parts about our coaching programs is that we train their VA for them, so he’s really able to support them with what they do best: make deals and follow up. Not even remotely interested in computer tasks, Steve is proof that with a little coaching and support, anyone at any age can learn some new skills. The possibilities of expansion into new markets and virtual deals keep him excited about their real estate business. Steve’s enthusiasm for the work is contagious and fun, and we love working with them. If you’d be interested in some support during your real estate journey, contact Gavin and myself today to see if we’d be a good fit. What’s Inside: —99% of Steve and Coco’s deals come from follow up. —Steve likes to talk, but having easy phone conversations took some coaching from us. —How Coco uses REI Simple to keep the team on task. —Coco and Steve send their VA from the Philippines to our trainings.

Ester Telles makes our coaching job very, very easy. She does exactly what Gavin tells her to do, and her business is blowing up. This month she grossed $32,000, even during the shutdown. The dedication and grit she puts into this business is reaping dividends daily. Before coaching, Ester had been in this business for three years, but she wasn’t even paying herself a profit. She talks about her pivotal conversation with Gavin, and some of the changes she’s made to her business model to make herself more profitable. Because Ester already had a system in place, we wanted her to work with what she had, and focus on what she’s good at. Ester’s marketing is all cold calling absentee owners, and although she has two VAs making calls for her, she also makes a lot of calls herself. She says that you just need to have a conversation with them. She never focuses on the hard sell, and she wins over a lot of tired landlords that way. I love talking to tired landlords because they’re easier than a homeowner. They understand that you’re an investor and they get that this is a business transaction. When Ester met with Gavin, she was doing a little bit of this in El Paso, and a little bit of that in Alabama. It was splitting her focus. Gavin told her that if she wanted to dominate the market, then it didn’t matter what everyone else was doing. She just needed to be the best at it. That’s why cold calling and El Paso became her focus. Ester’s network is huge. She’s even got wholesalers bringing her deals because she’s made herself THE person to talk to in El Paso if you want to buy or sell a house. If you want to do deals with Ester, you can contact her at (915) 320-6774. What’s Inside: —This is a follow-up business. “No” means “Not now”. —Ester’s in a niche market because she can speak Spanish and English. —Wholesalers are bringing their deals to Ester because of her network. —How paying herself first completely changed Ester’s business. —Why you have to run a business to make money.

Over at Carrot, Trevor Mauch and his crew help high-level real estate investors control the conversation online and get more leads. He stops by today to talk about all of the different ways you can use content marketing to build your lead pipeline and increase your online authority. How relevant is SEO to your marketing? All of the marketing that you do right now creates online demand. The first thing people do when they get your marketing is fire up the search engines and check you out. Trevor says that it’s your job to use your website to build your credibility, and he gives tons and tons of examples of how his clients are doing this. Every time someone visits your website, you need to answer these questions for them: —Do they have a solution that can solve my problem? —How does this thing work? —Who are they and are they credible? —How do we take action? Your website traffic may have seen a dip in conversions or traffic since March. Trevor shares the analytics from his client’s websites to talk about the trends he’s seeing, and how COVID-19 is impacting that. He suggests you address the pandemic head-on, and the steps you’re using to help people through it. People need some assurance that you’re still in business and taking steps to protect them. The absolutely last thing you want to do right now is turn off your marketing, says Trevor. The analytics support that demand is up and people are still searching for houses and real estate. If you cut off your marketing, you’re drying up your leads pipeline, and in 30, 60, 90 days, you’ll run out of leads entirely. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you create content. Trevor shares the ways you can create, share, and repurpose your content that increases the eyeballs on your web presence. No matter what marketing you choose, adjust your marketing to address COVID-19. Trevor throws out some different messaging ideas around this situation, and what that might look like. What’s Inside: —Trevor’s advice for how to set yourself apart from your competition. —Buyers and sellers are still looking online for solutions. —Organic search conversions are 3 to 4 times higher than paid search conversions. —Trevor demonstrates the customizability of Carrot websites. —Trevor’s three simple videos for retargeting ads.