Property Investors say Money Equals Freedom (CFFL 0185)
Property Investors say Money Equals Freedom
Jack Butala: Property Investors say Money Equals Freedom. 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:
As Jack Butala from Land Academy. Welcome to our Cash Flow from Land Show. We show you how to buy property for half of what it’s worth and resell it the very next day, great information, and instruction from Jack. That’s me.
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration from Jill. That’s me.
Jack Butala:
Here’s some funny stuff that happened to us recently.
Jill DeWit:
Jack just learned that we actually do have kind of an office dress code policy.
Jack Butala:
What happens is I show and everybody announces that it’s a Periscope day. It’s a good thing that I put clothes on at all.
Jill DeWit:
That’s true. I know. I know. We recently hired a new person on our staff so we were talking about it and Jack’s like, “What do you mean there’s a dress code?” I’m like, “Yeah. You can’t walk in shorts and flip flops,” and here comes Jack in shorts and tennis shoes, but you’re allowed to do that.
Jack Butala:
What is the dress code?
Jill DeWit:
You’re allowed to do that because you’re you. It’s kind of funny.
Jack Butala:
Oh.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. It’s you.
Jack Butala:
It’s a owner benefit.
Jill DeWit:
It’s an owner benefit.
Jack Butala:
What is the dress code?
Jill DeWit:
You can wear shorts.
Jack Butala:
I still don’t know.
Jill DeWit:
Because we’re not on the east coast, our dress code is casual all the time because we’re here and there. If you don’t know, we’re in California. There you go.
Jack Butala:
I was thinking about strapping on a camera to my helmet on the way to [crosstalk 00:01:14].
Jill DeWit:
You should do that.
Jack Butala:
Wouldn’t that be cool? Do an audio thing.
Jill DeWit:
Do it at the beach.
Jack Butala:
Exactly. It takes like … I have no place to rework it. We don’t have an office there.
Jill DeWit:
That’s true. There’s no commute. You know what you should do? That’s what we’re going to do.
Jack Butala:
Let’s stick the thing on the helmet.
Jill DeWit:
Wow, and you’re going to commute. I’m commuting to the balcony. I’m drinking coffee and I’m going to commute back into the office.
Jack Butala:
It’d be a good 5 to 8, probably 8 minutes … just 8 minutes of talking about the crap that goes on, good stuff and bad stuff, like what we’re buying, what we’re selling, all that day or whatever.
Jill DeWit:
That’s a great idea. On your head. That’d be hilarious.
Jack Butala:
Anyway, what is our dress code?
Jill DeWit:
It’s just casual. It’s beach. Not beach casual. Beach is a whole different … Beach is barefoot when it’s you and I. That’s an owner benefit.
Jack Butala:
She’s just not answering the question.
Jill DeWit:
No, it’s business casual is what it is. No flip flops. No shorts and tank tops. Just casual is good. Why are you asking? It doesn’t apply to you.
Jack Butala:
Just wondering.
Jill DeWit:
I just thought it was funny that you didn’t know that.
Jack Butala:
In this episode, Jill and I talk about money = freedom. Great show today. Before we start, let’s take question posted from one of our members on successplant.com. It’s our online free community.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. Tory W. Wrote, “We’re looking to mail offers to owners of single family residences.” Nice.
Jack Butala:
Hmm. You can use our data for that.
Jill DeWit:
A few questions. Number 1, who has been using this strategy? Number 2, what have been your experiences/results? Number 3, have you modified the cover letter and purchase agreement for single family residences?
Jack Butala:
Tory, Tory, Tory. Awesome question, and the answer is: Yes, you can use it, that data. In fact, I would argue, it is the best data. It’s the least scaled down so you have a tremendous amount of detail just like you use it for land, which I think is better. I know it’s better. on the learning curve’s a little bit harder up front but it’s worth it in the end. We’re all here to make money.
Jill and I, as a matter of fact, are in a process of releasing a new product for house flippers, house wholesalers, specifically. I show you in the whole program how to use the data for this very specific thing. Yeah. We use it. Jill and I do this all the time. You need a different purchase agreement and cover letter because what you’re going after is very, very different.
You’re not going to find people who just really, clearly want to get rid of their house. That’s just not how it works, but you will find people that would much rather cash out of a quickly for cash the next week over listing it and cleaning it and making it show ready, as Jill says. What do you call it? You call it “open house ready”. It’s different story.
Jill DeWit:
I want to address Tory’s question number 2 because I think this is really great for everyone to know. What have been your recent experiences and results because you, Jack, have a really good handle on the numbers.
Jack Butala:
Yes. Done properly and you really have to have the best data and you have to scrub the data properly and send out the right mail or send it to the right people. Here’s a hint: you can’t send letters to people with mortgages. That’s a key. Anyway, if you do all that, you should buy a house at about 60% of what the ARV is after it’s all cleaned up. 60% of that for every 2,000 letters that you send, ball park.
Jill DeWit:
2,000 letters for 1 house. Thank you. That’s what I want to get out of you because I to assure that. No, it’s good for people to know how many letters do I need to send out to do this? All right? I want to buy 2 houses this month. You need to send 4,000 letters. You want to buy 3, you need to send out 6,000 letters.
Jack Butala:
I’m really excited about this product.
Jill DeWit:
I am, too.
Jack Butala:
Our land customers are having so much success with purchasing selling land. I just think it’s such an easy leap to mix that into what you are already doing with land.
Jill DeWit:
Can I pause here?
Jack Butala:
Yeah. Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
I have to talk about that for just a minute. We have 1 person, Josh, who recently reached back out to us to say, “Not only am I alive and well, I’m over here killing it and helping other people, and I wanted to say, ‘Thank you very, very much.'” Josh, we got your messages. Bless his heart. We mentioned him on the show. I don’t think we said his name, but we’re kind of commenting like, “He’s obviously doing great because he’s fallen off. Where did he go?”
Jack Butala:
That’s what happens.
Jill DeWit:
He’s like, “No, I’m still here. I’m still with you guys,” and actually it’s great we’re looking at doing some stuff together. We got your stuff, and yeah, we want to talk. I, personally, am so darn proud of us, Jack, because we are clearly good teachers.
Jack Butala:
She’s going to get misty.
Jill DeWit:
I’m going to get misty.
Jack Butala:
There’s a little misty.
Jill DeWit:
I am.
Jack Butala:
It’s going. It’s too early in the morning.
Jill DeWit:
We are clearly, once again, we’re clearly showing people really how do to this because they are …
Jack Butala:
You are misty.
Jill DeWit:
I am. Our people are killing it. The numbers that are coming back within their cash flow that they’re bringing in I’m like, “Holy moley.”
Jack Butala:
We had a guy in the show early on. His name’s Mike Dougan. I’m going to use his last name because he’s that kind of guy. He’s a former day trader, made a ton of money, joined us pretty early on when we started this thing. He’s regularly turning $20, $30, $40 thousand [MOTs 00:06:49]. Mike, we’re going to have you back on the show. I sent you an email a couple of days ago.
Jill DeWit:
I hope the IRS is not listening, Mike. Sorry about that.
Jack Butala:
He’s already done very well in day trading and he wanted to stay home with his kids, which he’s doing, but he’s just bored out of his mind. He’s a born deal maker. Hey, if you have a question or you want to be on the show, call (800) 725-8816. Today’s topic: money = freedom.
I’ve been wanting to do this show for a long time.
Jill DeWit:
I bet you have.
Jack Butala:
When you’re young, it’s like why do you want to make money? When you’re young it’s a “I want to have a Ferrari”. It has nothing to do with it now. You know what prompted this is the interview that we did yesterday.
Jill DeWit:
That made me think of that.
Jack Butala:
This guy, he’s incredibly brilliant and completely retired and now he’s spreading the word and helping everybody for his little thing, which is investing in the stock market or investing in markets, I should say. He says right on the front page of his site, “My newest car’s 11 years old. I just don’t care about any of that stuff anymore. I’m really here to help everybody,” and I feel exactly the same way, Jill.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). I agree.
Jack Butala:
It’s all about freedom and having choices. It’s not about material stuff. You got to get that out of your system, I guess. Jill buys a hell of a lot of shoes. I will have to say this. I don’t think you pay full price for them.
Jill DeWit:
It depends on the shoes. You’re right. Traditionally, I don’t.
Jack Butala:
I was editing a podcast recently, and you were talking about that California state necklace thing.
Jill DeWit:
Oh. Yes.
Jack Butala:
I really didn’t hear you when you said it on the show, but you found a necklace that you like. It’s the state of California.
Jill DeWit:
I did.
Jack Butala:
You didn’t buy it.
Jill DeWit:
No.
Jack Butala:
Go ahead and tell a story.
Jill DeWit:
No. This is how I roll.
Jack Butala:
I had to hear it the second time to appreciate it.
Jill DeWit:
Waling around Manhattan beach, found this cute little necklace, and it’s the state of California in a chain. I’m like, “Oh. I’ve got to have that.” I’m looking at it going, “I’m not going to pay that.”
Jack Butala:
That’s my girl.
Jill DeWit:
By the way, it’s not Sterling silver. I’m like, “I have a better way,” so I’m walking out of the store. I’m getting on my phone and getting into my Amazon account, and I’m searching, and I found it, and I found for a little bit less than that one and it was Sterling silver. I’m like, “Done,” so I checked out and that’s the way I roll. I went and got exactly what I wanted, and I love my necklace.
Jack Butala:
Every person who has a retail business, we just lost them as listeners.
Jill DeWit:
Sorry.
Jack Butala:
You know what my son asked me a couple days ago?
Jill DeWit:
What?
Jack Butala:
“Dad, when I’m older, do you think there’ll be any stores or will there just be Amazon?” because he sees us. I said, “You know what?” That prompted to tell the Henry Ford story, which was during the hay day. Henry Ford, they were making so many Model T’s that they could anticipate sales. They were manufacturing so many cars. They would ship them all over the country, and put them in vacant lots so they could deliver them faster. If they got an order from … They’re making them in Michigan, they got an order in California, they would go to the southern California lot and pull a car. That’s the beginning of dealerships/show rooms. Then, they became a car ordering thing.
It’s the same thing with Amazon. Their logic is correct. I think why take all the overhead and all that stuff and jam into the price of a product. That necklace is a perfect example.
Jill DeWit:
You know what? I don’t do that all the time. That’s just a few things that I do. We all know that I do plenty of local retail shopping.
Jack Butala:
That’s not the point of this. The point is that it’s just so much more efficient to have come out of a warehouse like that than a retail area.
Jill DeWit:
This is nothing about the topic, by the way?
Jack Butala:
What is … ? Oh, yeah. Money = freedom. I don’t really have much to say about that. Wouldn’t you really rather have control of your time than a new car every year?
Jill DeWit:
What’s interesting is for some people, they understand the concept but they think more money to pay for more toys is freedom.
Jack Butala:
We have some friends like that.
Jill DeWit:
We do have some friends like that.
Jack Butala:
I’m not going to name names.
Jill DeWit:
I know. I don’t understand that thinking because still at the end, you owe somebody something. Our point is let’s pay it all off. That really is freedom. When you’re sitting with no car payments and no student loans and no house payments …
Jack Butala:
You don’t really have to go to work.
Jill DeWit:
Even you’re just going to work to eat and pay your bill … Just imagine that. What if everything you had is paid for, cash. No bills. The only thing you’re paying for is your living expenses, whatever you want to do today. Imagine what a different life that is, and imagine how you would look at things differently. That’s how we are, and I got to tell you. It’s awesome. It really is. What’s interesting I have found is … because I wasn’t always this way.
Jack Butala:
No, you weren’t.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you.
Jack Butala:
I remember that.
Jill DeWit:
No. Now, I look at things so differently, and I do spend money differently. If anything, I’m even more frugal. It’s so funny because now that I have … I could go buy anything I want. I really don’t necessarily want it. It’s not that important. Now, I have a whole different thing. Now, my thing is about … Give you a lot of credit for this, Jack … is experiences. Those are my favorites gifts now. Never mind you got me a gorgeous diamond necklace for Mother’s Day, but …
Jack Butala:
I was saving that for another show. It’s all right. I advertise that on the Internet. Did you see that?
Jill DeWit:
I did. That was really cool.
Jack Butala:
I think Mother’s Day is a full blown celebration day.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you.
Jack Butala:
You’ve earned that.
Jill DeWit:
I did get that, and I got an experience. I got an awesome day.
Jack Butala:
Everybody has a birthday. Everybody goes Christmas shopping, all that stuff. Mother’s Day is special.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you.
Jack Butala:
You know what else my kid said?
Jill DeWit:
What?
Jack Butala:
“Why isn’t there a Kids Day?” Every kid asks that.
Jill DeWit:
Hold on a moment. Hold on, Jack. I got to say something because he asked me that same thing. We were in the store picking up something for my mom, and he said, “Why isn’t there a Kids Day?” and I said 3 times in a row, “There is. It’s Christmas.”
Jack Butala:
Every day is Kids Day.
Jill DeWit:
He really said that. I said, “I’m telling you. It’s Christmas. Trust me.” It is Kids Day. Stinker, I can’t believe he asked you that, too, like he’s going to get … Yeah. You got a Kids Day. It’s all good.
Jack Butala:
This is the Technical 10 portion of our show. If you’re a regular listener, this is replacing the if/then statement because it didn’t get very good reviews.
Jill DeWit:
Could I just say I was one of the people on that list? If you don’t know that anonymous survey, that was me.
Jack Butala:
It was a nice way for me to say that. Jill said, “Knock that part out of the show because I don’t like it.” Now, we’re getting a lot of requests form people to bring some more technical stuff. “We’re sitting around, and give us some advice.”
This is the Technical 10, 10 minutes of property investment advice from Jill and I, from our 15 year 15,000 deal experience.
I’m going to tell you a simple story, and I’m going to be brief about it, but it’s going to end in you and I describing a transaction from start to finish.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Jack Butala:
This happens all the time in our office. A woman sent a deed to our office with a hand written note that said, “You contacted me a while ago to buy my property, and I decided I’m just to give it to you.” The note came in, and our senior manager of all of everything here at Land Academy [aren 00:14:32]. We decided to give this property to her. She’s going to from start to finish to complete this transaction on her own, and we’re going to film it and see … It’s not really free is it? We’re getting something out of it.
Jill DeWit:
Can I just add?
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
It’s 10 acres.
Jack Butala:
20, isn’t it? It’s 20. I thought it was.
Jill DeWit:
9.6 something.
Jack Butala:
If she takes her time and does it right, she’ll clear probably 8 grand on it. Between 5 and 8, depending on how fast she wants it to go.
All right. You start, Jill. Everybody agrees on a price, let’s say. What happens next? You agree to buy it. They agree to sell it because you sent a mailer out.
Jill DeWit:
Then, what i do is I … We agreed on a price then I make sure I have a copy of the deed from the seller and I can go look it up so I know how to do the right wording and get the right name and everything on there.
Jack Butala:
Look it up at our Data2DoorStep products.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. I go right into it if they send it or I go and I’ll have it, but I’m still going to check it anyway with our data. I’m going to go into Data2DoorStep and I can often pull a copy of the deed right there because it’s directly linked to the county. It’s awesome. I can see it right there. I can confirm I have the right legal description and the [PN 00:15:49], everything. I’m going to recreate a deed. I’m going to literally retype a deed. If it’s a grant deed, it’s a new grant deed. If it’s special warranty deed, it’s a special warrant deed. However it is. When I make the deed, they were the buyer back then so I move them up to grant and I make me the grantee or my company, however, and I recreate this deed. What I’m going to do is I’m going to get deed, I’m going to get a cashier’s check for whatever we agreed upon, and I’m going to arrange a signing for my seller wherever they like. I’m going to say, “Hey, Mrs. Smith, we agreed on $3,000 … ”
Jack Butala:
Could be across the country.
Jill DeWit:
Whatever it is.
Jack Butala:
It usually is.
Jill DeWit:
“I have the deed ready to go. Where would you like me to have the notary come to you? They will have the deed right there for you to sign, and they will hand you a check at that time. Do you want them to come to your house? Do you want them to go to the coffee shop near you?” Whatever it is. I’m in Arizona and they might be in Ohio. They’ll say, “Great. Can they come Tuesday? I’ll be home all afternoon.” “Yup. Done. No problem.”
Then, I hang up. I go to use the 1, 2, 3, Notary or Notary 1, 2, 3, one of those. It’s my favorite right now. I put in the zip code. I found a notary right in there area. I make sure they’re really ranked really high. I do my little homework on them.
Jack Butala:
It costs like $50 to $80.
Jill DeWit:
50 bucks. Yeah.
Jack Butala:
Unless it’s in Los Angeles. Then, it costs $400.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. It’s about 50 bucks is what I negotiate, and I say, “All right. I want to you to this lady’s address. I’m sending you a deed and a check in envelope and you’re going to do it there.” Then, I overnight to them the deed, the payment, and I have a return envelope in there for them to get it back to me. 2 days later, this notary’s going to go to their house and sign the deed with the seller, and they’re going to hand them the check and my seller is thrilled. Then, my notary’s going to take the …
Jack Butala:
Cashier’s check, usually.
Jill DeWit:
The cashier’s check. Then, my notary’s going to put the completed deed back in my return envelope and they’re going to overnight because I already have it ready to go, overnight it back to me. Now, I’m going to get it and I’m going to send it into the county for recording.
Jack Butala:
And you own it.
Jill DeWit:
Then, I own it.
Jack Butala:
Every single last detail, no stone un-turned, what Jill described and much more is in our Cash Flow from Land program. It’s getting fantastic reviews.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala:
If you don’t believe me, go out in SuccessPlant and say, “Are these guys idiots or not?” A lot of people do that.
Jill DeWit:
Do you know what’s funny? That’s exactly it. Some people say, “It can’t be that easy.”
Jack Butala:
It is that easy.
Jill DeWit:
Yup. It is.
Jack Butala:
If you have a question or you want to be on this show (800) 725-8816, and please don’t be boring. Jill, do you have some inspiration for us?
Jill DeWit:
Yes. I have a question. Are you letting loose enough? Are you? No. Seriously.
Jack Butala:
I’ve never had a problem with that.
Jill DeWit:
You know what? Jack, I beg to differ.
Jack Butala:
Really?
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. You know what Jack, and no, it’s a good thing. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just saying that sometimes you get so caught up in work, in what’s going on, and projects and programs and recording, and you’re not even coming up for air. It’s a really good thing because I know you love it, and you’re really focused, but I’m making sure you’re coming up for air and I want to make sure everybody’s coming up for air.
Jack Butala:
This is the way she says, “Knock it off, Steve.”
Jill DeWit:
“I need some time.”
Jack Butala:
“Chill out.”
Jill DeWit:
No. There’s 2 parts to this. 1, I can tell Jack to, “Hey. Make sure you’re having some fun time in here, too, and coming up for air because by the way, it makes you a better person and more fun to be around. B, this is why when I disappear … ” and I might be doing some retail therapy or who knows what. Why? We all need to cut loose a little bit, have some fun. You’re a better person. You’re a better parent. You’re a better employee or a better everything or boss.
Jack Butala:
Seth Williams, our good friend and colleague and sort of competitor but not really, that was his whole blog.
Jill DeWit:
Really?
Jack Butala:
It was more phrased like this … Yeah. This week.
Jill DeWit:
Oh. I didn’t even read that.
Jack Butala:
He’s an excellent writer. His whole point was an extension of what you said. It’s all about looking back on the mistakes that he made, if he could go back, he would choose not working as hard on certain points and certain stuff, and he would spend more time with the people in his life.
Jill DeWit:
That’s interesting. Good timing. Hey. Nice job, Seth. Shout out to Seth. Great.
Jack Butala:
Join us in another episode where Jack and Jill discuss how to use information. That’s me.
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration. That’s me.
Jack Butala:
To get just about anything you want.
Jill DeWit:
We use it every day to buy property for half of what’s it’s worth and sell it immediately.
Jack Butala:
Get there first.
Jill DeWit:
I think that’s funny that Seth wrote something kind of along those lines this week. It was not a technical paper like he likes to do?
Jack Butala:
I honestly thought that’s where your inspiration came from.
Jill DeWit:
No.
Jack Butala:
Reading his blog.
Jill DeWit:
That’s hilarious. No. I didn’t even see that. That’s good. Thank you for sharing that with me because I’m going to go find it and I’m going to comment on it for him. Yeah, I’ll go find it.
Jack Butala:
We didn’t talk about this topic at all. We talked about it for 1 minute.
Jill DeWit:
We didn’t talk about this topic.
Jack Butala:
I think it’s pretty obvious. Everybody wants to be in control of their time.
Jill DeWit:
I hope so. I think so. I know so.
Jack Butala:
It’s not like 20 minutes worthy of talking, not that what we just did was 20 minutes worthy of talking either, but …
Jill DeWit:
What are you talking about?
Jack Butala:
The title of the show. Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Oh. I’m not sure really what …
Jack Butala:
Money = freedom.
Jill DeWit:
Oh. Oh. Oh. I wasn’t sure if you’re talking about that or my last little bit at the end. That’s funny.
Jack Butala:
Oh. You mean I wasn’t clear.
Jill DeWit:
Go figure. Good thing. Who listens to this after show, by the way? Does anybody listen to this?
Jack Butala:
No.
Jill DeWit:
Okay, good.
Jack Butala:
That’s why we can say stupid [crosstalk 00:21:53].
Jill DeWit:
No. It just cuts off. I love it.
Jack Butala:
They only listen to the technical stuff. That’s what they told me. No. Honestly, I asked several people and they said, “It was right split down the middle.”
Jill DeWit:
Really?
Jack Butala:
Yeah. “Gosh, I really wish you guys would talk about how to do this more and your success. Bring up your success more.” My success in buying and selling properties is maybe the most boring topic to me on the planet. We’re here to spread the word.
Jill DeWit:
We are.
Jack Butala:
The other half said, “Man, you guys are awesome and just funny. Keep doing that.”
Jill DeWit:
That’s good.
Jack Butala:
I don’t know. I think both people have probably better stuff to do that listen to this show, but turns out, it works out for both of us, I guess.
Jill DeWit:
Have you read any comments that said, “You guys are dorks. What are you … ?
Jack Butala:
No.
Jill DeWit:
“How are you on the air?”
Jack Butala:
Have you?
Jill DeWit:
No.
Jack Butala:
I haven’t even gotten one.
Jill DeWit:
No. Actually, I constantly flattered by the comments that come in and the people that we’re getting to compare to that have some pretty big shows that have run for a long time. I’m very proud.
Jack Butala:
We are at number 171. Show number 171 in the iTunes investors section and climbing every week. Actually, every day, but I’m just going to say ever week.
Jill DeWit:
Nice. Cool.
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