What Jack Learned with Arrogant Know-it-all Teenager (CFFL 0224)
What Jack Learned with Arrogant Know-it-all Teenager
Jack Butala: What Jack Learned with Arrogant Know-it-all Teenager. 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 with Jill DeWit.
Jill DeWit:
Hi.
Jack Butala:
Welcome to our show. In this episode Jill and I talk about what I learned, what Jack learned with an arrogant, know-it-all teenager. I actually learned some stuff, try to keep an open mind. Jill, good show today. Let’s take a question posted by one of our members on successplan.com, our free online community. Even though I think some of these questions come from Facebook.
Jill DeWit:
They do sometimes, and that’s where this one came from. Jim … It was great the other day, I put out a message, “Hey, what do you guys want to talk about?” Jim had piped in with a couple things, so we’re answering some of his questions. This one is, “What about flipping land east of the Mississippi?” Jack.
Jack Butala:
I’m going to answer this question like this. Yes. Yes, it works. It works for every property type. It works for assisted living facilities, it works for buying your next house, buying a vacation piece of property for vacation, for your family, whether you want to throw a tent on an RV, or build a second house. It works for skyscrapers. You have to manage the product a little bit differently, but heck yes. We have many, many members using it in all different ways. What ends up happening is you use the data differently. If you want to flip land, east of the Mississippi, I don’t, and we do it all the time, we don’t send offers out for a hundred dollars an acre like we do usually west of the Mississippi or even less sometimes. Jill negotiates it up or down from there, depending on what happens.
In our program we talk about purchasing vacation lots, is what we refer to them around the office, in Northern Michigan, because they just sell overnight. We have it all plotted out, but if you take a look at the mapping function, in data to doorstep, and choose where you want to buy properties, it’s more of a rifle approach than a shotgun approach. Yes, heck yes, it works.
Jill DeWit:
I think I was just saying I think that Jim’s listened to us for a while and he knows that we target west of the Mississippi. I think he’s wondering, “Is there a reason behind that, Jack, or is that just personal preference for you?”
Jack Butala:
Well, we live here.
Jill DeWit:
I guess the answer is, it’s kind of a personal preference, Jim. There’s not like there’s a hard and fast reason why we did that, that’s just us.
Jack Butala:
For land that comes back to those four A’s, we got to talk about it. We hadn’t talked about it recently, but we decide on whether or not we’re going to buy property on the four A’s. They are acreage, more is better. Access, it really needs to have some type of access, whether it’s physical, legal, and hopefully both. Affordability, so cheaper is better in all cases, and attribute, which is, “Can I see the Grand Canyon? Does it have a mountain view? Great for tiny houses, tall pine trees. Any type of attribute that you can put in the headline of the description when you go to sell it. It’s got water views. Michigan’s great for that, and Minnesota, states like that, because there’s water involved everywhere. It comes down to those four A’s.
Jill DeWit:
Got it. Yeah, good question, Jim. Thank you.
Jack Butala:
Hey, if you have a question and you want to be on the show, call 800-725-8816. Today’s topic, What Jack learned from an arrogant, know-it-all teenager. I had to move some boxes around. If you listen to the show, pretty consistently, we had to move our offices because we outgrew it. That’s one of the reasons, anyway, and it ended up being a great thing, but at this point in my life, for a lot of reasons, I’m not real interested in lifting boxes, and desks, and stuff. I hired a family friend’s son who Jill and I have watched grow up since he was a tiny little kid. I learned, through moving these boxes and helping this guy, that he thinks he knows it all about Adobe Photoshop.
Jill DeWit:
He’s sixteen, by the way.
Jack Butala:
Yeah, and he’s a real good kid. He’s a hard worker and I overpaid him cash. He’s a real good kid, but he’s walking around with this sense of arrogance. Jill and I were talking about it, and I said, “You know, we should do a show on this.” I personally think a healthy amount of arrogance at that age, I mean, it’s a healthy thing. Jill, don’t you?
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). It is, especially for a boy. Well, any child, they need to feel really good about themselves, I like that.
Jack Butala:
It didn’t stop me from cutting him down to size, and chewing him up, and spitting him out at all.
Jill DeWit:
Because it’s a boy?
Jack Butala:
Well, yeah, yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Because you know …
Jack Butala:
Well, I would never do that … I really … We’re going to get in so much trouble with this gender stuff. The answer is yeah, I would not ever do that, actually, to a sixteen year old girl. I would just build her up, and that’s it.
Jill DeWit:
Well, this kid’s kind of like a son.
Jack Butala:
Here’s the root of it … Yeah, exactly. Here’s my theory, Jill. We’ve been handing our phones to these kids …
Jill DeWit:
It’s true.
Jack Butala:
… My parents did it, too. Handing our phones to these kids to help us install apps and just figure it all out. The kids, since they were tiny, sixteen is an age where he doesn’t know what it was like before a cell phone. We’ve all been handing our phones to these kids and they’re doing stuff to them. “Can you install this app, can you get this out of …?” I catch myself doing it once in a while. I decided, based on this conversation with this kid, to look it up. It turns out it’s given them this huge false sense of, “I got this, don’t worry. Old people don’t know about computers.” It cracks me up.
Jill DeWit:
Because it’s wrong.
Jack Butala:
That’s what I learned from this kid. Well I also would never hand my phone again, ever.
Jill DeWit:
I know, since you and I had this talk, we both changed some things, you’re right. We hand things to them assuming that they know, and they think, “Oh, well. I’m just the pro,” and you know what? They don’t necessarily know. It’s kind of funny. You and I both backed off doing that. I do things on my own. I am very smart and capable of doing it. I think part of it is, too, for me, a little bit of laziness creeps in, like, “Yeah, I’ll just let them do it. I don’t really need to spend the time on it.”
Jack Butala:
I think that’s what it is, lazy.
Jill DeWit:
But they don’t see it that way. They think, “Oh, I’m the expert.”
Jack Butala:
It got me thinking about land and our members. They call, and they ask us questions like, “I don’t know how to find this land. How do I look up a GPS coordinate, what is a GPS coordinate?” There’s endless tech questions that go on and there’s tech problems that we all have to solve. It’s just so much easier for me to pull up a YouTube video and somebody shows you how to do it, and then just do it that way. This kid’s not wrong. The headline looks like I’m going to bash him, the show’s about bashing these teenagers and it’s not at all.
Jill DeWit:
No.
Jack Butala:
It didn’t stop me from listening. I sat and listened to him, but he just had this smirk on his face like, “Yeah, you’re fifty and I don’t think you know how to use anything on a computer.” Here’s the truth of it, I know a hell of a lot about IT. I’m not tooting my own horn, but I really do, way the hell more than this kid does. I don’t think he’s ever opened a computer, first of all.
Jill DeWit:
Do you know what I think part of it is, too? I had a chat with a guy about this the other day because he has a daughter who’s, I think, twelve. I said, “Oh, you’re still in the you’re the really smart phase,” because we remember, if you’re a parent you might get this, it’s like we start off really … Or even, I mean, we did this to our parents, too, how’s that? When you’re little you start off thinking your parents are so smart, they know it all, you look up to them, and they’re just awe, impressive. Then, these teen years settle in where you think, “Oh, yeah. I know more than they do. I’m better, I got this,” kind of thing. Then, later on, you get a little bit older and you realize, “Oh, maybe they are smarter than …” You know what I mean?
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
It comes back around. I think that’s where it is, too.
Jack Butala:
Yeah, he’s figuring it out.
Jill DeWit:
He’s in that middle phase where, “Nobody knows anything, I know better.” We all did it.
Jack Butala:
Oh, yeah.
Jill DeWit:
We all walked around, sixteen years old, thinking, “Our parents are ding-dongs and they know nothing.”
Jack Butala:
Right.
Jill DeWit:
“They certainly don’t know music, and they don’t know all the cool stuff.” Like, “Oh, they’re done. They have no idea what this is all about.” Then, you get in your twenties, and whatever, and you go, and you’re paying your own bills, and you have your own life, and you have a job like they do, you go, “Huh, that’s interesting. I see you were kind of smart.” “Yeah, you think?”
Jack Butala:
Exactly. You know Jill brought up an interesting point, too, when I told her about this. She said, “Can you imagine if it was the opposite?” If he’s like, “Yeah,” and just walking around hanging his head, and doesn’t have any self-confidence at all?” I would have called his father.
Jill DeWit:
Yes.
Jack Butala:
I know his father.
Jill DeWit:
You know, you’re right. I’d much rather be with somebody who walks around maybe a little bit on the cocky side.
Jack Butala:
Cocky is good. I was waiting for that word to come up.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, thank you.
Jack Butala:
Cocky is good.
Jill DeWit:
I’d rather be hanging out with somebody who’s a little bit cocky, but they’re very confident with themselves, than someone who’s too shy, and timid, and skittish, or whatever.
Jack Butala:
Right.
Jill DeWit:
Especially in business. Sometimes you got to walk around a little bit … You know, you got to be confident.
Jack Butala:
Especially when you’re talking to sellers.
Jill DeWit:
It’s true.
Jack Butala:
I hear our people all the time and they have an attitude, I think, even right from the beginning, when a seller calls you and says, you know, you just need to say, “Look, I really, really want to do this deal with you but I have nineteen other deals behind me, so let’s do it together and with a smile on our face. If we want to make it tough, then you can just move on to the next, I don’t know if you have nineteen buyers behind me, but …” A little bit of cockiness is not bad.
Jill DeWit:
Not bad. There’s a podcast right there. It’s okay to be … A little bit of cockiness is not bad.
Jack Butala:
There’s no shortage of cockiness …
Jill DeWit:
Oh, my gosh.
Jack Butala:
… In the Jack and Jill show.
Jill DeWit:
Gee Jack, I wonder where most of it comes from.
Jack Butala:
I think it’s 50/50 actually.
Jill DeWit:
You think?
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Oh. Oh, okay.
Jack Butala:
You’re not …
Jill DeWit:
Maybe, maybe. I hear you.
Jack Butala:
I don’t know how to politically correctly say this but we both …
Jill DeWit:
Then don’t, just kidding.
Jack Butala:
We both stick our chests out the right amount.
Jill DeWit:
Maybe that’s why we get in trouble sometimes.
Jack Butala:
it’s tough to say about a girl. What’s a girl version of sticking your chest out?
Jill DeWit:
That’s a good one. I don’t know.
Jack Butala:
Boy, there’s a visual for you.
Jill DeWit:
Wow.
Jack Butala:
Think of Jill sticking her chest out.
Jill DeWit:
Thanks a lot. I don’t know what that would be. Very good.
Jack Butala:
Now’s the time to segment.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you.
Jack Butala:
This is the Technical Two. Two minutes of property investment advice from our fifteen year, fifteen thousand plus transaction experience. I have been famous for saying this since the first week of opening our doors in 1999, when it was just me sitting in my back bedroom, trying to do real estate deals. Here’s the quote … This is a tech company or an IT company that happens to sell real estate, and I still live by it, “Please understand IT. Don’t hate it, love it. Learn to love it. Learn to solve your own problems.” There’s tons and tons … I have yet to be stumped on YouTube about how to solve something, including changing the headlight bulb on a Lexus LS.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, my gosh.
Jack Butala:
Somebody was bored one day and showed us … Put a video together.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, my gosh.
Jack Butala:
I’ll never do that again.
Jill DeWit:
No, no.
Jack Butala:
It’s complicated.
Jill DeWit:
That was an all day event. That was hilarious. I wasn’t involved, but I just know …
Jack Butala:
Never.
Jill DeWit:
… It was an all day event.
Jack Butala:
Don’t change your own bulbs.
Jill DeWit:
That’s a really good thing.
Jack Butala:
It’s like …
Jill DeWit:
Just because it’s on YouTube.
Jack Butala:
Some of it’s … You got to change a light … You know, there’s a million jokes about how many land guys does it take to screw in a light bulb? Well, it it’s not a Lexus, it’s not this land guy.
Jill DeWit:
Right. Love it.
Jack Butala:
Hey, if you have a question or you want to be on the show, call 800-725-8816. Jill, inspire us.
Jill DeWit:
You know, we talk a lot about how we got here and we look at it like it shows us. We talk to people that when you get into real estate, something’s going to sing to you, but I wanted to take just a moment and say, you know … Because we talked about Jack’s truth, and my truth, and our story, and stuff, but you can choose your own fate, and you can choose your own truth. Don’t think that in life you’re going to sit around waiting for something to happen, because if you sit around sometimes waiting for something to happen and a big sign, you may not get it. Or, it may be there and you don’t see it. You can choose whatever you want to be, whatever you want to do, because a lot of people, I think, listen to our show that are not in property and this is not their thing. They just like our show. I know that, actually.
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
I wanted to say something to them. This isn’t just about what we do and everything, it’s just about going through life. You can pick and do whatever you want. We talk about movies a lot, because, Jack, you’re really into movies and things. There’s a lot of people in the industry that, they got there because of tenacity, and determination, against all odds, you know?
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
We all know people that have written books that … Thirty rejections, and then they finally got a publisher to say, “Yes.”
Jack Butala:
Right. That’s a great example.
Jill DeWit:
They chose that and they would not stop. Whatever it is for you, just you can choose it. Don’t stop.
Jack Butala:
Yeah, rejection’s not part of our program here. It’s not. I don’t take rejection.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
I just laugh.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
I don’t know why. Maybe this teenager, too.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Jack Butala:
I bet that was a case, too, right? I rapidly informed him that he knows a lot less about Photoshop than I do, and he just looked at me, because I don’t think anybody has ever said that to him.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Jack Butala:
And it’s true. Yeah, Jill, I totally agree. You just got to keep moving, keep moving forward.
Jill DeWit:
I like what you said, too. That’s a good point, Jack, is the people in our world, they chose this, I don’t think it chose them. I don’t know, maybe it was a little bit of both, but there’s a lot of people that chose this, that they’re here saying, “I want to learn, I want to learn, I’m not stopping. Can you help me?” Heck yeah, we do.
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
We do.
Jack Butala:
That’s why Jill and I are here.
Jill DeWit:
Right. There’s nothing better than that, too.
Jack Butala:
Nothing, nothing better.
Jill DeWit:
Than someone who’s really … You know, and that’s what I tell people all the time, “You can’t teach motivation, but I can sure teach you everything else.”
Jack Butala:
I literally get high off of a good real estate deal. I’m not joking. We’ve talked about it before. We’ve done shows about it, but I’ll tell you, I get more high off of seeing somebody new do an incredibly awesome real estate deal. We’ve got a couple members right now that are turning deals. Two members, specifically, that I spoke with directly that are going to make more than a hundred thousand dollars on one deal.
Jill DeWit:
I know.
Jack Butala:
Man, it makes me happier than if I make a hundred grand on a deal. I think you’re exactly right, Jill, it’s a great point.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you very much.
Jack Butala:
Hey, join us on another episode, where Jack and Jill discuss how we 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 it’s worth and sell it immediately.
Jack Butala:
You are not alone in your real estate ambition. Yeah, the truth is I almost kicked that kid’s ass.
Jill DeWit:
I was waiting for that. I, I am … Yeah.
Jack Butala:
Drake, I know you’ll never listen to this show, but respect your elders.
Jill DeWit:
Especially the ones that are giving you money.
Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
You should have said, “You know I was going to give X, but now I’m only giving you Y.” That would have been really funny.
Jack Butala:
Every once in a while, Jill and I have this theory that we walk around … It turns out a lot of people listen to this. I had no idea. Well, I did have an idea.
Jill DeWit:
You have an idea.
Jack Butala:
We walk around with all our regular friends that we’ve know forever, since long before the show, and we just treat it like they don’t listen to the show. It turns out, every once in a while, somebody will say some stuff. There’s one guy, specifically, I know now he listens to the show, because he’ll work it into the conversation.
Jill DeWit:
That’s hilarious.
Jack Butala:
There’s a possibility that his parents or one of his parents have a mental issue and they actually listen to this show.
Jill DeWit:
I don’t think they do.
Jack Butala:
I hope they hear that. Because they’re the kind of parents who might take the kid over their knee.
Jill DeWit:
True.
Jack Butala:
The mom is anyway, not the dad.
Jill DeWit:
They’re good parents. They’re on it, man.
Jack Butala:
That’s why their kids are … That’s why they have self-confidence.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah, you know, that’s it. I mean, it’s much harder to parent, it’s harder to be a parent, than to not parent and just let them run wild.
Jack Butala:
Right.
Jill DeWit:
Yes, it’s hard work and they are really good parents.
Jack Butala:
Information and inspiration to buy undervalued property.
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