Land Investment Only Works with Motivation (CFFL 388)
Land Investment Only Works with Motivation
Jack Butala: Land Investment Only Works with Motivation. Leave us your feedback for this podcast on iTunes and 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: Hello.
Jack Butala: Welcome to our show today. As always, in this episode, Jill and I talk about land investment only works with motivation. Wait, we wrapped up yesterday’s show with that sentence, I think.
Jill DeWit: Kind of.
Jack Butala: That’s weird.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: Land investment only works with motivation. Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the LandAcademy.com online community. It’s free.
Jill DeWit: Okay. They asked, “When optioning a property, should I list the full information on the listing? What do I do if buyers look up the property and see that I’m not the owner?”
Jack Butala: Go ahead, Jill.
Jill DeWit: You go ahead.
Jack Butala: Or I can answer if you want.
Jill DeWit: Go ahead, Jack.
Jack Butala: No, you go ahead.
Jill DeWit: No, you go ahead.
Jack Butala: This is a great opportunity to big picture say this. This question and tons of questions you’re going to see throughout your career start to get really repeated. What I do is I just practice canned answers. Here’s my canned response when I get this question: no, it’s not the … Hey buyer, the property is not in my name. It takes such a … sometimes up to a year for the recorder and the assessor to get on the same page about who owns it. First, it gets recorded, it goes to a database and if it’s in rural urban county, they have the same database and it gets recorded quickly. If the assessor gets updated, in some of the rural counties, it takes a year. I’ve seen it take two years. That should always be your answer about why isn’t this property in your name, not just about optioning. However, you never want to lie, so if somebody’s smart enough to say, “I did all my due diligence. I want to buy the property. The property is priced right. How do I know you own this thing?”
If it’s above $4,000, here’s what we do. We do it through escrow and you need to be real upfront about with the escrow agent. There’s all these tiny little boutique escrow companies popping up everywhere and the more boutique they are and the more new they are, the more willing they are to do creative stuff for you. You’re not going to find that regular first American title agent who’s going to do a lot of independent servicing and it’s not their fault. They just have regulations that come down from corporate and that’s how they have to do it. You want to explain to the escrow agent that this is a dual closing and it’d be great if we don’t discuss the economics of the thing with every single party.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: But I don’t think that it should necessarily close the deal. If the person, the buyer is interested in the property, they like it, they like the price, they like the terms, I think it’s okay to disclose the whole thing.
Jill DeWit: You know it’s funny?
Jack Butala: It’s not.
Jill DeWit: You use the term that I have. I have equitable title. That’s an easy thing of you just say that too, “I have equitable title in the property,” and lay it at that. I was going to add which is kind of funny, I’ve never had a person who questioned my ownership and how do I say this? I’ve had people that have questioned my ownership and they’ve even asked me to send me a copy of the recorded deeds to prove it. Those guys are never, they never follow through.
Jack Butala: They don’t buy anything.
Jill DeWit: Don’t even bother. They don’t buy it. They’re not real. They’re liars.
Jack Butala: They’re looking for a problem …
Jill DeWit: It’s just …
Jack Butala: … instead of looking for a way to get the deal done.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. Yeah. If anyone says to you, “Well, I need to see proof of that. Can you send me a copy of the recorded deed?” We’re out. We’re passing because you’re not going to really buy it anyway. I can tell you from experience, they never follow through.
Jack Butala: If you want to go buy a car in Sunday because you need to drive to work on Monday and it’s … You go look at the car and the person clearly purchased the car or they are aware of the fact that the car is for sale, they mark it up a thousand bucks but you like the car. You think it’s a fair price. It test passes all your tests. Are you really going to say? Well, you don’t get into it, right? It’s the same thing with real estate. There’s two types of people that ask this question, tire kickers like Jill just said and people that are really looking … They’re just doing a rational and reasonable amount of due diligence to make sure they don’t get screwed and it’s kind of your job to develop a sense for that. For the first one, you can just say no. The second one, you really need to work with them and say, “Yeah. I respect that. We’ll do … This is why it’s going to work.”
Jill DeWit: I was going to add, in my situation, I really did own that property. I really did have the title of recorded done, ready to go and it’s … The whole point was it was just, they weren’t the right people. I have tested it. I sent them. “Here’s the recorded deed. See that? That’s my name on there. Now, let’s talk about it.” They’re like, “Now, I need to do this. Now, I need to know that.” Yup because you weren’t real. You weren’t really serious, so got it.
Jack Butala: There’s no funny business going on in this business. Once in a while, I talk to a real seasoned real estate guy. Sometimes, they’re land people. By the way, the more seasoned they are, the least amount of talent they have to close their own deals because they’ve been using a title agent their whole life. A lot of times, I’ll speak to these seasoned guys and I’m like, “What are you talking about you do it that way? What about this? What about this? What about this?” I said, “Look. Hey listen, take the gray hair out of your ears and listen for a second. This is how that it’s done in the 21st century.”
Jill DeWit: Dude, you can’t say that.
Jack Butala: Why?
Jill DeWit: Okay.
Jack Butala: It’s true. They have one way to close their …
Jill DeWit: They all have gray hair on their ears?
Jack Butala: They’re older. They’re usually older people that think they had it all figured out.
Jill DeWit: What if it’s silver? What if it’s …
Jack Butala: Okay. Blue. I don’t know. You know what I mean.
Jill DeWit: Okay. Wow.
Jack Butala: People get set on their ways and …
Jill DeWit: You just end … There they went. That’s what I heard of. The radio went off. Just kidding. Radio.
Jack Butala: Yeah. They’re the same people who don’t know what a podcast is.
Jill DeWit: Okay, so they’re not listening. Okay. Oh. Now, I know where you’re going with that.
Jack Butala: If you have a question or you want to be on the show, reach out to either one of us …
Jill DeWit: Yeah. Let’s move on.
Jack Butala: … on LandAcademy.com. That’s how I get out of these things with you.
Jill DeWit: Oh my gosh.
Jack Butala: I just say the transition, over top.
Jill DeWit: I’m going to say something borderline offensive and watch Jill. Oh my gosh, that’s …
Jack Butala: Today’s topic: land investment only works with motivation. Man, is that true. This is the meat of the show.
Jill DeWit: Where do I start?
Jack Butala: This is Jill’s gig.
Jill DeWit: I was waiting. I’m like, “He wrote this for me.”
Jack Butala: I did.
Jill DeWit: All right. Here are my points. This is such a good topic. Finding distractions are very, very easy. Ignoring them is hard. That’s my first point I want to make is, get yourself on a path and set goals and don’t waiver. I’m just going to read through all my notes here, Jack, and I’ll think about all …
Jack Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: Okay. That’s my one point. My second point is, time and patient are key. No one’s going to be a pro instantly, so you got to … To help you stay motivated, you got to expect that. You have to expect you’re going to screw things up, you’re going to send mailers wrong, you’re going to price things wrong, you’re going to talk to people wrong. There’s a lot of things you’re going to do, deeds wrong. You got to be ready for it. It’s okay. We all did that. Shocks. I’ve had things recorded, return from their courier saying, “You forgot to enclose the check.” “Oh yeah, because I did.” Little things like that and it’s okay.
The best thing is, it’s kind of like I tell the kids, be upfront and honest and say, “Yeah. I screwed up. How can we fix this together?” Then, it’s all good. Then, my last thing is about staying motivated, goals really help and for me, I set small attainable weekly goals. Others, I think, like Jack, I think you have daily goals because I’ve seen your calendar and it’s pretty detailed …
Jack Butala: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jill DeWit: … what you’re doing, all day, everyday. Mine’s not so specific but I have goals for the week. Where do you want to jump in?
Jack Butala: I had a consultant call last week. A guy called me and he said … I would do these on Wednesday, so members can … It’s a members only thing. I review their data before they’re ready to send a data, a mailer out to make … Especially if they’re brand new, so just say, “You know what? I would change this or this.” I also do deal review. I ask people before to give me as much information via email that they can so I can prepare because I can’t … If I just get blindsided, it’s hard to prepare at the same time while I’m on the call. A guy called … I just had a call last time and he said, “This is the whole thing. I just want to tell you my story and thank you.”
I’m like, “Oh.” My first reaction is I’m like, “God. What’s this going to go like?” They get on the call and the guy says, “I’ve been with you … You have never even seen my name, I’m sure of it. I’ve been with you guys for at least 6 months, maybe 8 months and I want to thank you because I have no time, I have 4 children, no full-time job and my wife works full-time. I’ve allocated 2 hours on Sunday night after everybody’s in bed to do this and I’ve closed 14 deals.”
Jill DeWit: That’s awesome.
Jack Butala: I just … You get all misty and stuff because that’s why Jill and I are doing this. We don’t need to do this.
Jill DeWit: I know. It’s so good.
Jack Butala: That’s why we do this. Whatever motivation that … Look, my point is this, that guy was motivated.
Jill DeWit: That motivated you?
Jack Butala: Well, it motivated me, sure.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: That’s why we do this.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: That’s why we fight.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: I don’t know what kept this guy motivated but I think I’m going to tell you another story because we have time.
Jill DeWit: Okay.
Jack Butala: You’re going to love this, Jill. Jill and I are in Costco recently. Two people walked up and said, “Are you guys the Land people? Aren’t you guys the Land people?” The husband did.
Jill DeWit: Yes.
Jack Butala: We said, “Yeah. We’re the land people.” “We’ve been listening to you and watching you.” He pulled his wife over and she was all nervous which just cracks me up because …
Jill DeWit: That was so cool.
Jack Butala: … we’re the most regular people that ever are.
Jill DeWit: Thank god we were presentable that day.
Jack Butala: I said, “I got to ask you what …” Because I’m always wondering how people find us and why, why they stick around and listen. These aren’t members by the way, they’re just people that … I’m not sure exactly how far they’re in. I got the feeling they’re new. I said, “What’s the deal? Why?” He said, “I got to do something.” That just stuck with me.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: I said, “What do you mean you got to?” He’s like, “We can’t just … We have regular jobs and stuff but it’s just not. We got to do something.”
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: I love that.
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Jack Butala: He’s motivated. Whatever motivated him to do this and listen to this stuff and whatever version that he’s … However he is pulling it off, something clicked in his head, “I got to do something.”
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: Maybe it was kids, maybe it was too much responsibility at work, maybe it’s an idiot boss, who knows?
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jack Butala: All kinds of stuff motivates you. Whoever you are listening to this, there’s motivation right in front of you.
Jill DeWit: That’s true.
Jack Butala: You just have to look at it right. I think that’s how you look at it, Jill. That’s how you find inspiration and motivation like … I think it’s person specific, don’t you?
Jill DeWit: It is because everybody’s motivated by different things, I think. You’re right. It could be security, it could be taking care of kids, it could be just an underlying theme for there’s I got to be doing something more. I think that’s … You know what’s interesting? I think … I don’t know if you feel that way, Jack, but that’s how I feel. I really feel … Now, I’m going to get all philosophical here but I really feel an underlying purpose for why we’re doing this. The more people that we help and the more stories you come to me with like that guy that did the 14 deals, the more Luke Smiths out there and the Daves and all of our … I could go on and on and on about … I have a laundry list of all of our people that are killing it and it’s all working great for them. That’s my purpose and that’s …
Jack Butala: For Land Academy. Yeah.
Jill DeWit: Right. Motivating me.
Jack Butala: For me, it’s for Land Academy.
Jill DeWit: Now, it’s what’s pushing forward all this other stuff because I can help all these people do this. Hey, now I know I can help those people do that and now I know I can help these people over here. Oh, and I can write a book that’s going to help these people over here and we’re starting some meet ups. Hey, we’re going to help some other people with some little things around here in the South Bay and in Scottsdale and all kinds of good stuff. Yeah. You heard it here, by the way. If you want to come meet Jack and I, I’m hoping to wrap it up here very soon. By the time this airs in a few hours, it maybe ready, so go to meetups. If you look for land investors, you will find us.
Jack Butala: You know what motivates me to buy and sell property, though, which is really what’s all this is all about? Land Academy was just unintended consequence. I am literally and I mean literally, addicted to buying real estate.
Jill DeWit: Oh.
Jack Butala: Some people are addicted to all kinds of stuff you can get addicted to.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: I have to do it. I’ve start to feel strange if we don’t buy …
Jill DeWit: You land junkie, you.
Jack Butala: … real estate. I had a partner one time who said, Take the needle out of your arm, man.”
Jill DeWit: You know what? I’m a land junkie. That’s good.
Jack Butala: Oh, yeah.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. I get it. That’s really funny. You’re right.
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 everyday 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. Motivation is so important.
Jill DeWit: It is. You could have all the resources, all the money, all the time in the world but if you’re not motivated to get up and do this, that doesn’t matter.
Jack Butala: I wonder how you teach discipline. We should take the marine course or something, use it as an example. There’s some former military guys that we have in our group that just won’t stop for anything and we’re impressed by that.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. That’s very true.
Jack Butala: What motivates you, seriously? The feedback?
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: Because what I heard you say on the show is the feedback.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: What motivates you to show up for this show in time, let’s say. Is it the feedback?
Jill DeWit: No, I’m afraid of you.
Jack Butala: Oh, my gosh. What if there’s a … There’s no child social services for wives.
Jill DeWit: Spousal social services. No.
Jack Butala: Jeez, Jill.
Jill DeWit: He’s mad at me again.
Jack Butala: Oh, my gosh.
Jill DeWit: Just kidding. No. Okay. You want to know what motivates me?
Jack Butala: Yeah. I’m afraid now.
Jill DeWit: No, it’s … Sorry, it’s not you. It’s bigger than you. All right. I’ll tell you mine and you tell me yours, please?
Jack Butala: Okay.
Jill DeWit: Okay.
Jack Butala: Show me yours.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. I’ll show you mine. You show me yours. Oh, no. No. Okay. Two things motivate me. Number one, you touched on and it really, it’s … When I hang up the phone …
Jack Butala: Don’t touch it, just show it.
Jill DeWit: Shush.
Jack Butala: Don’t touch on it.
Jill DeWit: Stop that. No. When people get … I’ve had people tear up with me in situations. I’ve had these handwritten notes and beautiful emails and I sit there and I tear up. That’s motivating to me. It’s like, “Holy cow.” Obviously doing the right thing. Don’t stop. That’s number one. Number two, I simply love our lifestyle.
Jack Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: I love doing this. I love my crazy schedule as crazy as it is. I love where we live even though it’s split between two places, it’s great because we have people in both worlds that we help. We might add a third one at some point where my people …
Jack Butala: Right.
Jill DeWit: One of those we plopped, “I’m going to New York next week and meeting with some people.” I love … All these things motivate me so. I know our kids are proud of us. I know that. They don’t say it. I know, they don’t say it but they’re proud of us and that motivates me. You?
Jack Butala: Now that I’m thinking about it.
Jill DeWit: Show me yours.
Jack Butala: When I was a partner at KPMG, all I can think about was how to get out of there. I really succeeded at that job. It was getting new customers and clients. That really motivated me to get into this business and really do well at it because I …
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: This is a sentence I said to myself in my head, “I would rather flip burgers for the rest of my life than be a partner here for one more year.” This is a very well-paying job with some incredible people at that level and I just … I’m very, very motivated by not having to go into a job everyday. I’m not saying that that’s everybody’s motivation.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: I’m just saying, for some reason, that I don’t know why.
Jill DeWit: That was yours.
Jack Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: That’s okay.
Jack Butala: Our time is our … We have choices.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: Our time is our own.
Jill DeWit: That’s very true.
Jack Butala: It’s never been making a pile of money although that’s what ended up happening and happens now. That was part of it but my real motivation …
Jill DeWit: That’s how you knew you were doing the right thing.
Jack Butala: My real motivation is not to have a boss and to to go into some place in work and have it sucked for 8 or 10 hours every single day.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. You know what I think we should do after the show?
Jack Butala: What?
Jill DeWit: Go to a movie. Go goof off.
Jack Butala: Exactly.
Jill DeWit: Okay.
Jack Butala: That’s what I’m saying is that we do it. How many time do we do it? Probably once a week at least.
Jill DeWit: We do that. We’re good at that.
Jack Butala: We just look at each other and say, “You know what? Done.”
Jill DeWit: Our staff’s like, “There they go again.”
Jack Butala: No, our staffs like, “Thank god, they’re leaving.”
Jill DeWit: Well, there is that. Perfect.
Jack Butala: Information and inspiration to buy undervalued property.
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