Why We Started Land Academy (CFFL 0081)
Why We Started Land Academy
Jack Butala: Why We Started Land Academy. Every Single month we give away a property for free. It’s super simple to qualify. Two simple steps. Leave us your feedback for this podcast on iTunes and number two, get the free ebook at landacademy.com, you don’t even have to read it. Thanks for listening.
Jack Butala: Jack Butala here from Land Academy. Welcome to our Cash Flow from Land show. In this episode Jill and I talk about how we came to the decision to start this company, Land Academy, and why it’s become so successful. Jill, I love this topic.
Jill DeWit: Me too.
Jack Butala: Before we get right into it, let’s take a question.
Jill DeWit: Okay. How this person got a question to us, by the way, …
Jack Butala: Oh, that’s right.
Jill DeWit: … is they called in. They called 888-735-5045, so if you have a question, or maybe you might even get to be on the air, call us, leave it there. It’s 888-735-5045. Okay, Lacy from Florida asks, “How do you know if you are buying the right property?”
Jack Butala: This is such a nebulous question, and I included it among a lot of questions we got. I included it because I think what she is asking is how do you know if you’re making the right decision. How do you know? I’m looking at fifteen properties to buy. There’s thousands and thousands of properties to buy in the MLS. I mean, how do I know which one to buy?
Jill DeWit: I don’t think it’s hard. Seriously.
Jack Butala: Yeah, because they’re calling you.
Jill DeWit: No, no, no. It’s the four As. I hope that’s where you were going because that’s what I go back to.
Jack Butala: I was going back to data.
Jill DeWit: Oh, okay.
Jack Butala: We both should answer it, so you go first.
Jill DeWit: Okay. My thing is however this property got to me, I’m going to take it from that point, I look at the four As. I know it’s in our E-book. We talk about our E-book, and then we go into great detail all the time about it, but they are access …
Jack Butala: Yeah, whether or not you can get to it.
Jill DeWit: … Mm hm (affirmative), acreage …
Jack Butala: How big is it? Bigger is always better. Almost always.
Jill DeWit: … affordability …
Jack Butala: Cheaper is better.
Jill DeWit: … and attribute.
Jack Butala: Right, so is it close to the Grand Canyon? Does it have ocean view? All that stuff, what’s good about that property specifically.
Jill DeWit: When I’m reviewing a property, that’s the things I look for. If I was new and I was starting out I would make sure I had all four As. I would make sure I checked all those boxes. Then, I know I’m in good shape. What were you going to ask?
Jack Butala: What I think she’s asking is, you know, there’s so much land out there, how do you sift through it all and decide which one you can make money on. I think that’s what she’s asking. How do I know I can make money on this, and so we answer that all the time. By the way, the short answer to that is if you don’t pay too much for it you’re going to make money. You’ve got to make sure you pay as little as possible. It seems simple, but it’s amazing how many times we have to explain it.
Yeah, so if you start with a data set, like we always say, start with the right data set. A credible data set from the right source, which we are a licensed provider of at landacademy.com, you can pick and choose right in that data set, properties that you fit, that fit your specific acquisition criteria. The ones that we talk about in our program, and with what our members are, things like a five acre property for $500. Now, it it’s on a Las Vegas strip is it worth five hundred? No, but if it’s a lot further out, yeah, you’d be shocked and amazed at how many times people call you back and say, “Yes, I really do want to sell that for $500 right now,” instead of paying the taxes.
That’s how, Lacy, that is how you know that you’re buying the right property, because you did a ton of research inside that data set, and you didn’t even set the … All the wrong ones, they never hear from you. Only the right ones get a written offer from you, based on the data, and the right data.
Jill DeWit: Mm hm (affirmative). You do your homework up front. You reach out to the people that you really want to buy from, and then let them call you back.
Jack Butala: Back to the topic, Jill, why do you think that we are getting an overwhelmingly positive on this company that we started? I have a lot, as always, I have a lot to say about this.
Jill DeWit: As always.
Jack Butala: Why do you think? I mean, it just grows and grows and grows? Really, I mean, we’re getting a real positive response from everybody. What makes us different? I really, I mean, I think about it once and a while. I don’t know.
Jill DeWit: You know what? This is what I hear all the time, and I couldn’t be more proud, is that you and I are really helping people and we’re here for the right reasons, and it comes across, and I’m really glad about that. We’re not making up stuff, and we’re not … you know what I mean.
Jack Butala: I just think we’re real people.
Jill DeWit: We are real people, and we really answer stuff.
Jack Butala: Mm hm (affirmative).
Jill DeWit: That’s what I think is really interesting. We had a member ambition call. This, I was so flattered, we had our, we do a weekly call every Thursday afternoon with our Land Academy members, and we had a couple that had just joined, a really neat couple. They hadn’t even got their program yet. They were on the call, and at the very end of it, they were just kind of, I think, all soaking it all in, and at the very end they typed in a little note to us that said, “Hey, you guys, we just got so much more out of one hour with you than … that was like a $50,000 investment in …
Jack Butala: $50,000?
Jill DeWit: It was a home flipping kind of thing that they we’re getting into.
Jack Butala: Oh, gosh.
Jill DeWit: They were, I don’t want to say forced, but to get more answers they had to invest more money [crosstalk 00:05:17], so, yeah, but my point it, we’re answering everybody’s questions that are on this call, and we’re not holding back. I’m not going to … I kind of laugh at this. I wonder how does it go. Do you ask a question, and then does the person say, “Well, that’s a good question. I’ll be happy to answer that for $10,000 over here.” What do they say? I have no idea. I can’t even imagine.
Jack Butala: I know. Oh, we cover that in the next phase.
Jill DeWit: Yeah, what other questions do you have?
Jack Butala: That’s a $50,000 question.
Jill DeWit: Oh, and that one is over here. That will cost you $500. No, no, no. I crack up because I love how many times I get direct … Well, we had a gentleman last weekend who was actually reaching out to us because it was pretty clear he wasn’t getting any answers … This is funny. He’s in this business. He’s been trying to do it, got another program from somebody else, and he was missing some pieces to it. I felt bad for the guy. He’s obviously not getting answers from the person he bought the program from, so he’s reaching out to us. I just thought it was really … and how cool are we? You and I were both on the phone and we were both helping the guy, answering his questions. That’s who we are.
Jack Butala: We don’t do up-selling here, by the way, we don’t … Once you buy, once you’re into our group, we don’t sell you other products.
Jill DeWit: Right, can you imagine?
Jack Butala: The only products that we sell after the initial membership are the tools to use, that you really have to use …
Jill DeWit: You need.
Jack Butala: We don’t sell them now that I’m thinking about it. It’s cost.
Jill DeWit: No, we don’t. We find a way to make it cheaper for everybody too.
Jack Butala: Everything we sell is at our cost, and it’s with the membership fee, to date anyway. The monthly membership fee covers all stuff at cost.
Jill DeWit: Right, exactly.
Jack Butala: Yeah, I mean, I really think that the big difference, now that I’m thinking about it, is that we show, this has been received very well because we show people how to do it, we don’t just say that it’s possible. The very few programs that I’ve see out there that help people get educated in how to do anything, they don’t take their hand and say, “This is how you do it.”
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: Watch me in this video because this is how we’ve been doing it since 1999, and then we do.
Jill DeWit: Right. Right. Click here. Do that, do this. That’s exactly what we do.
Jack Butala: Right, that’s right.
Jill DeWit: That’s, I think, what makes us different. Now, why did you want to start Land Academy?
Jack Butala: I didn’t; it called me. I didn’t call it up. You know? I had, so we were just moving along in life selling a lot of properties since the 90s. Every month or so somebody would call me and say, “What the hell? How are you doing this? How are you buying this property so cheap day in and day out? Can show me how to do it? Please teach me, so, and I did. I did. Our number one competitor, who’s not, I don’t even see him as a competitor, but he was our first student, so in an informal way, Land Academy started in 1999.
Jill DeWit: That’s true.
Jack Butala: We really started, we launched it in 2014 or 15 or something?
Jill DeWit: Fifteen, officially in fifteen, but it was going on long before that, right?
Jack Butala: Why did we launch it with a branded name and everything? Because people kept asking, kept asking for it.
Jill DeWit: It could help more people. We could reach more people and help more people. That’s true. I got to the point where I can’t answer everybody’s questions successfully and help as many people. This way we can help so many more people. Even with our weekly conference call. We can get all in on the call and I can answer this question for everybody. Then, Success Plan, that’s why Success Plan came to be, so we could help everybody.
Jack Butala: Then, too, I mean, this was an un-intended result, but now we’re doing all kinds of deals with members and stuff.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: Because they’re bringing us deals. In the back of my head I thought maybe that would happen. In the back of my head, what I thought maybe was going to happen when we launched Land Academy the way that it is now, I thought, “I don’t know. Maybe a few people will get into this, and they’ll be interested in it, and we can do a few deals together.”
Jill DeWit: Mm hm (affirmative). I remember that.
Jack Butala: Kind of like the way, you know, I’ve been in office situations before at [KP&G 00:09:31] and other places where it’s like there is three or four guys there and one guy brings in a deal or something, he goes to the other guys and says, “You know, this is an awesome deal for all of us, but myself, I’m not going to do it. It’s just too much,” for whatever reason, and so if you have a few colleagues you can do a bunch of deals as partners. That’s what I thought this was going to be.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: I didn’t think that …
Jill DeWit: I did too, because you’re right. We have our Land Aca-, or not Land, Land Stay still alive and going, and we’re really low on inventory now, but it was just the way that we could have more inventory and do more deals and better deals, and people could bring us deals that they’re finding, and we could help accomplish them, and everybody will split the profits. I didn’t realize how big this would get.
Jack Butala: Yeah, I mean Land Stay now, and this is an un-intended result also, I mean, we have … I don’t know if it’s because of the publicity that we’re getting, or this show, or what, but I mean, I’ve never had so little inventory ever. Ever.
Jill DeWit: I know.
Jack Butala: So little that, actually, I went and I reached out to two of the people that I respect in this industry, who have very large inventories of this type of product. I said, “For our members, will you please give me a discount?” They both immediately said, “Absolutely. Here’s a list. I’ll give you anything on the website, we’ll get you 15% off straight up.” Both of them said that almost immediately.
Jill DeWit: Mm hm (affirmative). That’s going to be announced in … don’t say anymore.
Jack Butala: Yeah, I shouldn’t. Okay. It’s just, you know what I love? I love piling on more benefits for the same price.
Jill DeWit: True. True.
Jack Butala: Jill and I debate this often.
Jill DeWit: What was I going to say?
Jack Butala: I love to give stuff away way too much. I’ve always been like that. Did you have a childhood story about giving somebody your lunch money one time.
Jill DeWit: Oh, I used to always get in trouble for that.
Jack Butala: We give way too much stuff away. You and I.
Jill DeWit: It is funny you brought that up. My mom would constantly get mad at me because I would give things away all the time.
Jack Butala: That’s hilarious.
Jill DeWit: Oh, my gosh, even when I was a little kid. I had a nice dolls and somebody really liked my dolls, and I’d give it away. My mom was like, “That was an expensive doll.” I’m like, “Well, I don’t know. She wanted it. I was kind of done with it.” I was okay with that. Yeah, I would give away my lunch. I mean, I would cons- … that’s really funny. I had forgot about that, but I used to always get in trouble for just giving everything away.
You know what’s funny? My kids have accused me of that too. They’re like, “Why did you give that away? You could have …” I’m like, “Yeah, well, you know what? Someone … it’s going to find a better home. It’s okay; I needed the space,” or, ” I was just kind of felt done with it.” Then, late on, because what’s happens, there’s things I kind of go, “Whatever happened to da, da, da, da?” They are like, “You gave it away.” I’m like, “Oh, shoot. I could have really used that right now.” Okay, that’s what really happens, and they are like, “We tried to tell you that.” I’m like, “Ah, I don’t care.” You know what’s funny? I look it like I’ve been paying it forward for years, and sometimes good things come back for that. It really happens.
Jack Butala: Yeah, I mean, and so I thought of this topic because people in, professionals in real estate that I know, and I haven’t spoken with in a while see that we’re doing this now and they call me and say, I’ve got like people I know, “What the hell are you doing? Are you giving all these secrets away? Why are you doing this?”
Jill DeWit: It’s true. It’s true.
Jack Butala: Remember we had a former employee on the show and that was her big question.
Jill DeWit: Mm hm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: Because everything was going along fine. Jill and I were killing it financially and we’re still, well, we’re out of inventory.
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Jack Butala: It’s all great. We’re collecting a ton of payments; the whole thing, but I didn’t realize too, Jill, that how good this would feel. I know that sounds kind of like all crystally weirdo and new edge, but it feels good to help people and see them succeed.
Jill DeWit: [Total 00:13:10]. I get, you know, it’s kind of like being a parent. I get the same feeling when my kid scores a goal or something really cool.
Jack Butala: Yeah, like pride. Yeah, [crosstalk 00:13:23], Jill, we’ve never talked about this.
Jill DeWit: It’s like just that parent pride, or they worked really hard for something and they achieved it. I get the same pride feeling when I hear about our members successes. I really do. I love it, and I get emails all the time. Most of it I see in Success Plan because they are sharing it with everybody.
Jack Butala: Yeah, me too. That’s what I was going to say. I see it in successplan.com.
Jill DeWit: Mm hm (affirmative), and I can see, “I’m out of inventory,” or, “Oh, my gosh, this just worked.” I had a great email from a gal the other day that’s she just got our program and she was waiting, it hasn’t arrived yet, so she was going through the E-book and she sent me an email. It was on Friday and I haven’t got back to her yet. I need to do that. It’s Sunday now as we’re recording this, but she said, “Oh oh, I don’t know what to do?” It was a classic, “I did what you said. I did the Craig’s List posting. In two hours I got a bunch of phone calls.” It literally says, “Oh oh, now what?” I don’t know what to tell her.
Jack Butala: That’s in the free E-book. That’s not even in the program.
Jill DeWit: I know. It’s so cute. It’s like I’ll tell her, “Hang on. There is stuff coming to help you with this.”
Jack Butala: Have you heard from her since?
Jill DeWit: No, this was just two days ago.
Jack Butala: Oh, okay. [crosstalk 00:14:35].
Jill DeWit: I need to get back to her. I haven’t got back to her yet. It was Friday afternoon. I was goofing off, so I was not … I saw the email. I need to get back to her.
Jack Butala: Jill had what she calls a celebrity Friday.
Jill DeWit: How was my celebrity Friday?
Jack Butala: You didn’t come to work at all. I think you went shopping and stuff.
Jill DeWit: Oh, I did. I did. I had, I did, kind of had a, took a Jill day. A just Jill day. It was really nice.
Jack Butala: So that’s why we started Land Academy. Hey if you have a question, or you want to be on the show, give us a call 888-735-5045, and join us in another episode where we talk about your all important success in real estate investment, and in life.
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