Let Some Other Guy be Last (CFFL 0135)
Let Some Other Guy be Last
Jack Butala: Let Some Other Guy be Last. 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 for Land Academy. Welcome to our Cash Flow From Land show. In this episode, Jill and I talk about letting some other guy finish last. Get to the deal first and you’ll always make money or you just simply walk away. It’s that simple. Jill, great topic today. Before we start, let’s take a question from a caller.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. Martin from Cleveland called in and asked, “This is a question for those investors who no longer go to a regular job every day and instead invest for a living. Did you find It frustrating that the job held you back in a sense because of the time it took away from networking and marketing, et cetera?” Good question. Very good question. What are your-
Jack Butala:
I’m not sure … I think his question is, “Did you find it frustrating that while you had your job, you feel like you’re kind of behind?” No, I never felt like that. I don’t know. I always feel like we could be doing more from a social media standpoint. I’m never satisfied, I mean never. I don’t think there’s a circumstance out there where I would say, “You know what? We’re reaching the right amount of people. We’re sending the right message and our costs are in line with what … I don’t ever see that happening.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
It’s not because … I just think it’s set up that way.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
You’re always going to try to find a [crosstalk 00:01:27] better way to reach more people and deliver our message so it’s funny because I don’t feel that way about everything.
Jill DeWit:
You know, I kind of did. I’ve got to say there were times that I think I was frustrated. I knew where this was going. You know what it was? I knew where this was going and at that time, I wasn’t ready to make that transition yet and I see it in our people. Does that make sense?
Jack Butala:
Yes, totally.
Jill DeWit:
I get it. I’m sure that we have people, members right now, who are working with us in our group and they are dying to leave their day job but it’s not the right timing yet. They probably are frustrated because, “Shucks, three calls came in but, gosh, I was at my office because I’ve got to do this and now I have to find the time” … “I have to come on my lunch or when I get home” whatever, or marketing stuff. You know what I think though too>? It might be frustrating but it’s a good frustration. It’s a good thing that’s pushing you in that right direction. You see it coming. [crosstalk 00:02:33]
Jack Butala:
That’s good.
Jill DeWit:
This is fuel to go, “All right, I’m really going to focus on this because it works and I’m going to leave this at some point.”
Jack Butala:
This is actually a really multi-layered question. I’ll try to be brief but if you’re not reaching the right people from a sales … Reaching the right people to buy property, I mean we cover that. You can do that very, very, very quickly. It’s easy. You send mailers out. We’ve talked about it a million times. It takes the same amount of energy to send 50 offers as it does 50,000 offers, literally. It literally takes about the same amount of energy. There’s no real issue, I don’t think, with on a buy side. On a sell side, it’s frustrating because all right, great, so I have 15 properties I just purchased. I think what he’s saying is my whole group is 500 strong and that’s it.
One of the reasons you get involved in Land Academy is because you get all of us as potential buyers and then you get all the people that we know as potential buyers. If I was in a situation where I was frustrated about social media and how many people were getting my message, I would go to a lot of the wholesale places like Land Watch. It’s really easy. You just find people that have property listed or own property that’s like yours. You’ll reach them, quickly too. They’ll seek you out actually.
Jill DeWit:
Another thing about this. If you’re frustrated because of the time and everything, maybe you don’t have a good system.
Jack Butala:
Yes Jill, exactly.
Jill DeWit:
That’s something you can do. Just spend a weekend figuring out your system and getting some stuff in place so you have a system.
Jack Butala:
We have a system, it’s actually pretty good. Half of it I put together and I guess the other half Jill put together. I make it mandatory, and we have to be able to track it, that we reach a lot more people than we did yesterday and over and over and over again. Even if it’s several hundred people, in our case it’s a little bit more than that, but if it’s a few hundred people more than over yesterday, seven days a week and we’re tracking it, on all different social media areas plus land … People that are expressing interest all over the Internet that they want to buy land, then it happens a lot faster than you think. You’ve got to get time on your side instead of fighting time. That’s what I hear [crosstalk 00:05:05] that’s what I meant by multi-layered.
Jill DeWit:
Yes, thank you.
Jack Butala:
This question is more complicated. It’s a multi-layered question. Get time on your side the way that you do with the mailers so you have your own time to spend on the smart stuff. Get all these tools working for you so your social media numbers are going up.
Jill DeWit:
Perfect. Thank you Steven. All right, so let some other guy be last.
Jack Butala:
I came up with this.
Jill DeWit:
That’s really good. Get there first, let somebody else be last. I love it.
Jack Butala:
{laughs)
Jill DeWit:
Okay, so share with us please, what’s your-
Jack Butala:
We call her this, nice guys finish last.
Jill DeWit:
(laughs)
Jack Butala:
I don’t entirely agree with her 100%. It depends on … In a marriage, nice guys finish first but in business, maybe not so much.
Jill DeWit:
Love to know what you mean by that.
Jack Butala:
Well not marriage, but in relationships.
Jill DeWit:
Keep going. {chuckles} Come on, you threw me-
Jack Butala:
There’s a time-
Jill DeWit:
Go ahead, I want to know.
Jack Butala:
There’s a time to be a nice guy. This isn’t gender specific by the way.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Jack Butala:
There’s a time to be a nice guy in your inter-personal relationship, whoever that’s with, that’s the time to do that.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
That’s the time to bite the inside of your cheek more often than not about whatever is going on and being a nice guy, being a bigger person, you know?
Jill DeWit:
(chuckles) Taking one for the team? {chuckles)
Jack Butala:
When it comes to finding under-valued real estate, you better not be last. You better be first.
Jill DeWit:
Oh yeah.
Jack Butala:
You better crawl over some of the dead [crosstalk 00:06:40] to get there and I’m not joking about that.
Jill DeWit:
Right. It’s like don’t be that person- [crosstalk 00:06:43]
Jack Butala:
Not literally dead.
Jill DeWit:
…That lets everyone who wants to make a left turn in front of you because you think it’s going to come back. Don’t do that. {chuckles) This is not a time to think karma, is that what you’re saying?
Jack Butala:
{chuckles} Yes, it’s another good point. You know when it pays to be a nice guy? When you’re driving in traffic.
Jill DeWit:
That does pay.
Jack Butala:
I’m a big fan of, hey, get in the right lane and laugh and wave. Everyone’s all intense and crazy.
Jill DeWit:
Don’t hold up traffic too much while you’re letting everyone cut in front. Thank you, okay.
Jack Butala:
Don’t drive like an old lady but don’t embrace anybody’s rage. That’s all I’m saying. That’s what I say.
Jill DeWit:
Oh yeah. Thank you.
Jack Butala:
As far as it goes, let some other guy be last in this whole real estate investment thing. These deals are all going to get done. They might get done 20 years from now, 10 years from now or 10 minutes from now. Get there first. If you listen to this podcast you know I’m right in this book called “Get There First” and it’s about getting to the seller first and most effectively and finding what they want and executing it for them. If they don’t want to sell their property at a price you think is undervalued for the market, then move on to the next deal.
Jill DeWit:
I agree.
Jack Butala:
There’s no emotion about it.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly, and you just said, don’t get hung up on one area or something like that too. I love when people get creative and they start looking … You know how many counties there are in this country by the way? There’s a lot.
Jack Butala:
There’s 3,400.
Jill DeWit:
Right? Some people are really [crosstalk 00:08:08] they’re afraid to get out of their comfort zone a little bit and why? You know how to do this. You know what to look for. You know all the signs for a great county to reach out to and a great list of sellers. Research some new counties, get out there and you might find some great deals. You and I have talked about this before. We’ve had members that have brought up counties and are killing it and I never even heard of that county. I mean fantastic because there are hundreds.
Jack Butala:
We have several customers … We haven’t done this lately. Several wholesale land buyers that we’ve been selling property to for years that have literally said, “I would like x y z acreage in whatever county for this price. And I’ll buy as much as you can” because that person we know, whoever they are, they have buyers for that and user buyers. We’ve tailored a mailer for them, not with their name on it, with our name on it. We go and secure the property. We never outlay a dollar, we just put the deal together, send it to that guy and he closes it and he’s happy as heck. Why this guy doesn’t send out a mailer, I’ll never know.
Jill DeWit:
Good point.
Jack Butala:
There’s a few questions in this business. I sit here, I sound like I have all the answers. There’s a few things that I will never, ever understand about this. Why don’t people with all these resources learn to send these mailers out? If they don’t want to answer the phone, which I understand, get a couple of people to help you with it or to do it for you.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
For whatever reason, They would rather us double our money or triple our money. We have a bunch of wholesale housing people like this too. Same thing. They’re deathly afraid and not interested in sourcing property themselves. They just want to call us on their schedule and say, “Okay, these two projects are done. I’m ready for another one. What have you got?” What the heck?
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. {laughs)
Jack Butala:
I’ve never understood that.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. That’s so funny, that ties into this. They want us to get there first. I’m like okay, all right. {chuckles)
Jack Butala:
Here’s another thing I don’t understand, I’ll never understand this Jill. This is becoming a, what the hell, “he doesn’t understand [crosstalk 00:10:27] dot com.”
Jill DeWit:
Show. (chuckles)
Jack Butala:
Real estate agents, a lot of them are good at getting there first. Every time I’m on vacation or my sister is here. She’s a very, very, very successful real estate agent in northern Michigan. She obviously never stops working. Her phone rings even when she’s out in Arizona or even when our families are on vacation. Her phone rings and I can hear the messages. They’re, “Hi {Anne 00:10:52] I got your name from x y z. You sold their house about two years ago and I’d like to list my house. We decided we’re going to move to Utah.”
My sister will … She got there first but what does she do? This is what she does. My sister is listening to this. She sits down at the table and says, “I really think I can get x y z for your house. It’s going to take about three months. Do you have enough time?” They plan it all out that way and they put together a little plan and she does. She sells their house for … Why wouldn’t she just go say, “You know what? How about I just buy your house.”
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
I’m telling you, real estate agents are pretty good, the good ones, at getting there first. This is in my book.
Jill DeWit:
Why wouldn’t they do that?
Jack Butala:
I’ll tell you why. Well this is what I-
Jill DeWit:
I feel like a light bulb just went off over my head. Like I’m a cartoon character and a light bulb just went off. That was-
Jack Butala:
We have a lot of real estate agents who-
Jill DeWit:
I think we even talked about it and I forgot.
Jack Butala:
We have a lot of agents who use our program. Actually, Jill and I are in the process of almost releasing it. We’re just about done. We’re ready to release a program for agents that … How to get listings, like what I’m describing right now. In the end, what I’ve learned over a lot of years is that real estate agents, successful ones, it’s a whole different mindset. The fact that we all work on the same type of property or the same type of asset is really insignificant.
They’re interested in representing someone. They’re not interested as investors, it’s just a whole different deal. I’ve had some version of this conversation with my sister and other successful agents and they look at me cross eyed. They say, “Why would I ever want to buy this property?” I think it’s a risk aversion thing. You get used to-
Jill DeWit:
You know it’s not a risk. You know what it’s worth and what you can sell it for.
Jack Butala:
You’re just used to getting a paycheck and they get paychecks. They look at it like, “I work for this big company and I get a paycheck and I make great money. Why would I mess with that?” You and I have had a conversation with some people like that recently at dinner about three weeks ago. “Why would anybody ever want to leave their job?” That was exactly what they said, like in stereo, they said it.
Jill DeWit:
(chuckles) Like what?
Jack Butala:
All I do is talk to people about … They want to leave their job every day.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
(chuckles)
Jill DeWit:
Exactly.
Jack Butala:
I don’t think they’re particularly bad jobs.
Jill DeWit:
No, right.
Jack Butala:
I really think it’s, “I want to be my own boss. I want to be in control of my life.”
Jill DeWit:
Right. I agree.
Jack Butala:
They’re probably great jobs or some of them are anyway. Don’t be the last guy, be the first guy and do the right thing when you get there. Don’t list the property when you get there, buy it.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. Don’t let the deal get away if it’s a really good one.
Jack Butala:
Let’s say that over the course of a week, you’re an agent and you meet with 10 potential sellers. How many, if you’re an agent let’s say this, I would love for you to email us back the answer. Over the course of a week you meet with 10 sellers and you got there first. For whatever reason, first in referrals or it’s your system that works. You’re there and you sit down at their table after they’re done with work and you give them two choices.
“Mr. and Mrs. Jones, you’re clearly motivated to sell your house and I see how much the mortgage is for. What do you say I just buy the house outright. My group right now just pays cash. We can close on Wednesday and we could be done with the whole thing. That’s option A. Either one is fine with me by the way. Option B is, I’m going to list your house and you’ll probably make about x y z out of it but it’s going to take about six months.”
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
What percentage are they going to choose the first or the last? What do you think Jill?
Jill DeWit:
Isn’t that interesting? We should do that. I think it’s going to be … More than 50% would take it. I’m trying to think how-
Jack Butala:
Take A?
Jill DeWit:
Uh huh. Take A.
Jack Butala:
Me too. In fact, if I had to bet, bet, bet, and everything was equal, like there wasn’t a bad economy or anything, it’s all normal, control group stuff, I bet it’s closer to 75%. I know which one I’d pick.
Jill DeWit:
Uh huh, me too. Why mess around?
Jack Butala:
I would take A.
Jill DeWit:
Why mess around with a “what if”?
Jack Butala:
A bird in the hand.
Jill DeWit:
“What if.”
Jack Butala:
Yes.
Jill DeWit:
I’m just going to do this right now.
Jack Butala:
It’s a cash deal so they don’t have the financing and all kinds of stuff that goes on with lenders.
Jill DeWit:
Wow. I don’t have to stage my house.
Jack Butala:
All that.
Jill DeWit:
I don’t have to make it look great. I don’t have to walk around like open house could happen any time. You take a lot of stuff out of it.
Jack Butala:
Let’s say the change is $30,000. Here’s the thing. People choose to sell their property .., There’s triggers that choose people to sell their property, whether it’s vacant land or houses or whatever. Most of them are not pleasant. Unless you’re retiring or whatever, most of them are involved with a parent passing away and deeding property over to the kids and the kids have to deal with it and they just want to be done with it. Sometimes another trigger is they’re tired of paying the tax bills. Another trigger might be a job change, especially for houses.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
All those things are, “Hurry up. Let’s go. Let’s do this.” They’re not like, “Oh my gosh, this is great. I made a bunch of money.” People who make money in real estate are investors. Some agents do really well but I’ve never met an agent … Someone’s going to call me on this.
Jill DeWit:
(chuckles)
Jack Butala:
I’ve never met a really good agent, I’m not talking about a broker, I’m talking about an agent who has made more than 200 grand a year in residential not in commercial.
Jill DeWit:
Got it.
Jack Butala:
They’re out there I’m sure.
Jill DeWit:
Oh yeah.
Jack Butala:
As an investor, you can make 200 grand a month.
Jill DeWit:
Right. (chuckles) I know, let me think about it now.
Jack Butala:
In fact, I’m doing some numbers in my head and I don’t think we’re that far from that. In fact, I’m sure we’re on the north side of that but no where-
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. It’s interesting.
Jack Butala:
I don’t think I work half as hard as most good agents. They’re running around until midnight every night.
Jill DeWit:
Oh my gosh, on holidays.
Jack Butala:
Let some other guy be last, that’s what I say.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. I love it.
Jack Butala:
Join us in another episode where Jill and I discuss your all important success in property investment and in life. I don’t think it came out the right way but I have a lot of respect for real estate agents.
Jill DeWit:
Me too.
Jack Butala:
I think they work very hard.
Jill DeWit:
It’s a tough job.
Jack Butala:
I’ve never really seen one that does both. “I invest in stuff over here but my real job is a real estate agent.”
Jill DeWit:
Two different hats.
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
I think it’s sometimes hard for them to transition from one to the other. It may take a little time to get it because realtors, they have a whole different mindset. They walk into a home, a property, whatever it is, looking for things that we don’t care about, if that makes sense.
Jack Butala:
Like curtains and stuff?
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
Yeah, right. I think you’re right.
Jill DeWit:
When they walk into a home … You know what’s funny? This is a good little test we could do. If you and I and a realtor, all three, walked into a home together and we all talked about what we thought about it, we would all have different perspectives. They would be thinking about, “Here’s what we need to do to get it on the market. It needs this, this, this and this. I’m going to have to find these comps and da da da,” You and I are going to look around going, “It looks horrible and I’m glad. This is great because now I know we can offer this price and we’re going to get it for cash tomorrow.” I don’t care what’s behind the walls. We’ll figure that out kind of thing.
Jack Butala:
I was just sitting here thinking that when real estate agents … I use my sister as an example. When she gets done with a deal, she feels satisfied. It’s not even about the money for her. She feels satisfied that she got the person in or out of the property and got them on their way. She’s that kind of person. Then they’re on her Christmas card list and the whole thing. She’s very satisfied when a transaction is done. Forget about judging it or why or whatever, it just is what it is. I feel really satisfied when we buy like a 40 acre property for four grand and sell it for 22.
Jill DeWit:
I agree.
Jack Butala:
You and I both know, Jill, the person who’s buying it, maybe not at those numbers, but they’re going to go kill it. They know what’s going to happen. I feel satisfied that I won, they won and the end user, in this case the guy who’s going to be last, he’s the end user so he’s going to enjoy it that way. Maybe it’s just a satisfaction thing. Maybe we’re all trying to get satisfied. Maybe it’s why … I’m getting all philosophical here. Maybe that’s why some people in their jobs, they might be great jobs, they’re just not satisfied. They feel like a cog or something.
Jill DeWit:
Maybe.
Jack Butala:
I never was satisfied in accounting or anything like that. Never got that satisfaction.
Jill DeWit:
I agree.
Jack Butala:
I don’t know.
Jill DeWit:
Good. Thank you Steven, that was really good. I like you sharing all that. You got really deep with us today.
Jack Butala:
I know. Why? I don’t know. It doesn’t [crosstalk 00:19:41]
Jill DeWit:
I don’t know. Do you feel satisfied now?
Jack Butala:
I guess. (laughs)
Jill DeWit:
(laughs)
Jack Butala:
I guess. I have to go look at our numbers but yeah. It’s almost never disappointing now. It hasn’t been for quite some time. It’s been always a very good ending, always.
Jill DeWit:
Same, yes.
Jack Butala:
Let’s go buy some property.
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