Acquisition Decisions on the Fly with ParcelFact (CFFL 505)
Acquisition Decisions on the Fly with ParcelFact (CFFL 505)
Transcript:
Jack Butala: Jack Butala with Jill DeWit.
Jill DeWit: Hi.
Jack Butala: Welcome to our show today. In this episode, Jill and I talk about acquisition decisions on the fly, with parcelfact.com, our new website. Before we get into it though, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It’s free, and it’s official. Success plan is going.
Jill DeWit: I know. It’s nice. It really is landinvestors.com by the way. Okay. Dansing Grace asks, and this person’s not a member, so I pulled this specifically here.
Jack Butala: Good.
Jill DeWit: She says, “I happened to by an infield lot, with houses on both sides, in a suburb of Pueblo, Colorado with utilities to the street, selling at $10,950 at market. I have posted on Zillow, and no one called after two weeks. But one person from my mailer to the neighbors called after one week, but not returning calls now. I’m thinking my buyers may be builders, not consumers. I thought to specialize in infield, but I worry that if I deviate from the proven path, and wander off, I’d have to figure out the ins and outs of my town. Could someone give some advice on one, how to market infield lots-
Jack Butala: I bet Jill’s going to give advice on that.
Jill DeWit: That’s good. Two, should I stay in the infield lot business? And three, some encouragement if this is feasible. I’m a little scared and lonely out there.”
Jack Butala: Scaredandlonely.com.
Jill DeWit: And you have a great property there. I shouldn’t be scared, and you shouldn’t be lonely.
Jack Butala: So, just for clarity’s sake-
Jill DeWit: You should be excited.
Jack Butala: … Grace, it says, infield lot here, with a correct, it’s called an infill lot.
Jill DeWit: That’s true. I was reading it verbatim.
Jack Butala: No, that’s good.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. So, that’s how you know this is real. I really read it verbatim.
Jack Butala: Hey, Jill, how you doing at 6:30 in the morning today.
Jill DeWit: Oh, my goodness. I’m doing great, I’m peachy. Exactly.
Jack Butala: So, Jill’s going to tell us how to market property.
Jill DeWit: Everywhere.
Jack Butala: Marketing land 101. Go for it, Jill.
Jill DeWit: Well, this type of lot, which we have had and sold, and these are great, by the way, love having these, because talk about, you know, no work. I mean, people really can drive right up to it. If it’s got utilities, like this one, you know, right at the curb, it’s paved. It’s done, and there’s houses on two sides. So, this is a great thing.
Jack Butala: For the vast majority of people, land buyers, this is what they want. Property you can drive … It’s got an address.
Jill DeWit: Oh, yeah, that’s true.
Jack Butala: We talk a lot on this show about properties that are way out, you know rural properties, that, which, by the way, a ton of people want, but this sings to everybody.
Jill DeWit: The big thing is, you’re limiting yourself by putting it only on one place. The whole concept, and this is Jack’s big thing, and he’s right, reach. How is the right buyer going to find your properties? Who’s looking for this by the way. You only have it posted in one place. That’s where I see people dropping the ball.
Jack Butala: Right now, there’s a ton of people on this planet that are dying to buy this property, and they don’t know it’s for sale.
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Jack Butala: Our job is to buy it super cheap. Then make sure the people that really want to buy it bad, and have the cash burning a whole in their pocket, that they know about it.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. It should be on Zillow, and Trulia, and your website, and, I’m like going down the laundry list here. Landpin.
Jack Butala: I would argue that this type of property, I’m talking out of both sides of my mouth maybe, but this type of property should be listed with a real estate agent in the beginning of your career. Because I think the people that are buying houses, need to know that if they driving around with a real estate agent, they need to know that this property is available to build a house on.
Jill DeWit: Mm-hmm (affirmative). That’s not crazy too.
Jack Butala: I’m not saying that you should do it for every single property, and for the rest of your career, but I do think that it’s logical. And then, increase the price to make sure the commission gets covered.
Jill DeWit: And they want to work with it.
Jack Butala: Right.
Jill DeWit: That’s the thing, too. Some agents, you’ll run into the problem where it’s not worth that much. My commission is $600 versus $6,000, I’m going to put in a different, you know, they have different work ethic, and I get that.
Jack Butala: Most people pick a real estate agent based on who they know. “Oh, my sister-in-law’s friend, she just became a real estate agent, we should list our house with her.”
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: Never do that.
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Jack Butala: I mean, find a person who’s got a ton of listings that are just like the one that you have, this one here. They’re probably the most likely candidate. Maybe not, but that’s a good place to start.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. And like I said, post it everywhere. You know, don’t be … Sorry, coffee machine. This is funny. Don’t be shy about blasting it out there. Don’t just put it one place, and expect them to dig and find it. Including social media, I mean, this is interesting, I’m seeing a lot of interesting properties pop up on social media, like Facebook, specifically. And I love it. And people will put in … I’ve seen everything from wholesalers having a property that needs to be renovated, and they’re put pictures up there, and they’re like, “Hey, here’s what I got. Here’s the comps, here’s what I’m going to sell it for.”
And I’ve seen all the way done, you know, fully renovated homes on social media. This is a perfect thing for that too. So, don’t … None of these ideas are crazy.
Jack Butala: Here’s the take-away: if you want to sell a piece of property, post it everywhere, number one. I mean everywhere. And then, and Jill’s totally correct here, go out in social media, specifically Facebook, and don’t just target groups that are real estate related, target groups that are anything related that’s local to that property. So, if’s in Pueblo, Colorado, or a suburb, there’s going to be like some Facebook group about knitting, or construction equipment, or everything in between, and just get in there, and post it, and say, “Hey, you might … This property might make sense for you.”
We have one member in our group, who swears by this Carrie [inaudible 00:06:17].
Jill DeWit: Exactly. Exactly.
Jack Butala: She says she sells vast majority of her properties this way. And, so, don’t be afraid. You know, there’s a little tradition of, “Well, let’s list the property, and see what happens.” Or, “Let’s post the property and see what happens.” It’s the 21st century. You know, go out there and find a buyer.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: Pound on their figurative door.
Jill DeWit: You know, I was going to cover her second question too. “Should I stay in this infill lot business?” You can. Nothing, nothing’s crazy.
Jack Butala: I love it. I love infill lots.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: At some point, you’re going to find 500 infill lots, and you know, I think it’s great. I think the market is much larger for infill lots, and houses than it is for rural, vacant land. They’re both great. They’re both huge money makers for us.
Jill DeWit: I do love.
Jack Butala: But they each have, you know, good things and bad things.
Jill DeWit: I love what you said Jack, too, about, it’s not, they have an address. That’s a different market. The people buying those, versus buying 40 acres out somewhere, are different customers.
Jack Butala: Marketing methodology is exactly the same by the way. You’re just doing it to maybe different people. But it’s the same methodology. So, I hope that, number three, that was encouraging.
Jill DeWit: I hope that was encouraging. Yes, it is feasible.
Jack Butala: And scary and lonely.
Jill DeWit: No. You’re in the right place.
Jack Butala: Yeah. You can’t be scared and lonely in this group.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. And I’m sure you-
Jack Butala: We’re all in the same situation.
Jill DeWit: … paid cash for that. I hope you cash for that, so there’s nothing to be scared about.
Jack Butala: After a couple weeks, maybe you might want to consider reducing it, or put it on … You know, we have a website called landpin.com. Reach out to … Type in support@landpin.com, and ask if we … It’s open to the public now, so if you want to post a property, it’s available.
Jill DeWit: Cool.
Jack Butala: To do that. A lot of people are doing it.
Jill DeWit: Cool.
Jack Butala: Multiple people a day. If you have a question, or you want to be on the show, reach out to either one of us on landinvestors.com. Today’s topic, acquisition decision on the fly with parcelfact.com. This is the meat of the show. So, I wrote this title this morning, because I’m getting tons of emails, thank you emails from people, because of, again, unintended consequence. Jill and I started up, started a website, or solved a solution for our members, because they’re having trouble finding property.
Once they did find it, it was tough to make a decision about whether or not to buy it, because there just wasn’t enough information with a single GPS coordinate. So, parcelfact, if you don’t know what it is, just go check it out. F-A-C-T, parcel-F-A-C-T. And you type it … It’s free. For a while it’s free. You type in, you know, the assessor’s parcel number, or the address of the property, and it gives you the outline of the property.
So, if it’s 40 acres, and it’s square, there’s four GPS coordinates and a map outline. It’s pretty cool.
Jill DeWit: Also, has ownership data, and zoning.
Jack Butala: Every single thing that the assessor knows.
Jill DeWit: There’s some purchase price, sales price. And there’s a lot of stuff in there. It’s really good.
Jack Butala: Right.
Jill DeWit: Legal description.
Jack Butala: What we’re hearing is that people who regularly buy real estate, any type of real estate, just didn’t know what they did without it.
Jill DeWit: Oh my gosh.
Jack Butala: And that’s why Jill-
Jill DeWit: Makes me weepy wishing that I had this. Oh my gosh.
Jack Butala: That’s why we’re here by the way.
Jill DeWit: Eight years ago, can you, I can’t even imagine.
Jack Butala: I can’t either.
Jill DeWit: Oh, I mean, I would have paid anything to have this. But the stuff that we struggled with, and there were some paid products that I use, that were clunky, and you know, at the end of the day, I’m pretty much sitting there figuring it out myself. You know, I have multiple screens going trying to find a property. It was hilarious.
Jack Butala: Exactly. And then you-
Jill DeWit: I certainly couldn’t real quick.
Jack Butala: … you didn’t know.
Jill DeWit: Oh yeah.
Jack Butala: That’s the whole thing. Is you weren’t sure. It’s like, “Yeah, that is kind of good, but-”
Jill DeWit: And, “I think that’s the road-
Jack Butala: “… I don’t know.”
Jill DeWit: … that looks like it.”
Jack Butala: Yeah, that.
Jill DeWit: “Jack can you look at this too.”
Jack Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: “Is it the same curve here? I see here.” Because I’m staring at the plot map, because I spent a week getting that from the county, or two. You know, sometimes longer.
Jack Butala: Right.
Jill DeWit: So, I’ve got the plat map, and I’m looking at an areal map now. I think I got it, I’m not sure. Oh my gosh. That was hilarious.
Jack Butala: This solves that problem. In a big, huge way. Like permanently.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: It’s a collection of, it’s nationwide, it’s a collection of 143 or 144 million properties in the country, and it’s constantly updated as the obsessor. Obsessor.
Jill DeWit: Obsessor.
Jack Butala: That’s a freudian slip. As the assessor.
Jill DeWit: Who’s the obsessor in our relationship, Jack?
Jack Butala: Probably me.
Jill DeWit: Yep.
Jack Butala: Do you obsess about anything?
Jill DeWit: What do I …
Jack Butala: What are you obsessed with?
Jill DeWit: This is … I like this question. What am I obsessed with? Making sure everybody around me is having a good time-
Jack Butala: That’s a good obsession.
Jill DeWit: … if anything. I’m like, “Hey, what do you want to do?”
Jack Butala: I think that’s true, actually.
Jill DeWit: You know what, I actually, I obsess about everybody being happy, sometimes too much. I worry about people not being happy. And it’s not up to me, it’s up to them. We’ll leave that alone. This is not Psychology 101 today.
Jack Butala: Well, the topic’s kind of done, so, I really want to hear what else you’re obsessed with.
Jill DeWit: No. I was going to talk about the unintended consequence, too. Because I think that was a funny.
Jack Butala: Oh, go ahead.
Jill DeWit: So, we used … Unintended consequence sounds bad, but it’s unintended good, like everything we do is unintended consequence. Who knew this would all work? It’s like we were talking to some guys. We had dinner with a couple newer members last night. They were here in town. And we met up with them, in South Bay, and had a … Just south of LA, and had dinner. And it was funny some of the questions I was thinking back, you know we’re talking about how this all started.
And you know, your first property, Jack, the flip that you did, buying it off Ebay, that was an unintended consequence. I’m sure you didn’t realize, “Wow, that really does work.” And then you, when you really went at it from a different angle, which you dreamed up yourself, you were doing faxes back then. “Wow, this does work. You know, to buy property.”
It’s so funny, so that’s why I was thinking of unintended consequence. Everything that we do …
Jack Butala: Yeah, the first property I bought, these guys apparently, they took this seriously-
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: … and read all the stuff, but I bought a property in the ’90s on Ebay. Cleaned it all up. Not the property itself. I never went and saw the property. From a different state, I bought a property in Arizona, acreage. And then cleaned it up online. Did better maps, and a better description, put some good pictures in there. And resold it for twice as much. And that was it for me.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: I was hooked. I was hook line and sinker in the whole business. And here we are, what, 16,000 deals later.
Jill DeWit: Do you know what? I going to add on this, one of the reasons that I think that we are so successful, too, is you and I, we don’t sit down with a road map, and have it written down, like for the next 10 years, here’s what’s going to happen. You know, by this year, this year, this year, or this year, and then never vary. You know what I mean? I mean, I’m sure people do this. They probably sit down, and they have a game plan, and come hell or high water, they’re going to stick to the plan.
You and I don’t.
Jack Butala: That’s [cooks 00:13:21].
Jill DeWit: I know. But for some people, I think that makes sense. But for you and I, what we do is, we have an idea, like, you know, where we want to live, the kind of lifestyle that we want. The yacht that you want. You know, and things like that. But we still will tweak them along the way. Because things happen, and I think this is part of why we’re so successful. Things pop up. Opportunities come our way. And we take them. We don’t say, “It’s not in the plan.” We take them.
And man, because these things just come to us, like, all of the products that we’re doing, like parcelfact, two years ago, did you think we’d have parcelfact?
Jack Butala: No. And I was just going to bring it into that, too. That’s how we roll.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: Like, people are asking for it. So we just do it.
Jill DeWit: We’re like, “You know you’re right.”
Jack Butala: We develop it, and put it out there.
Jill DeWit: That’s a good idea. It wasn’t on the page, but we’re adding it now. And we should do that. And we’re constantly doing that. And I think that’s why we’re so, part of why we’re so successful.
Jack Butala: Yeah, like if 500 people in your life tell you that you should stop smoking-
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Jack Butala: … you should probably stop smoking.
Jill DeWit: Thank you.
Jack Butala: Like 500 people in your life are saying, “We’re having difficult time finding property.”
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Jack Butala: They probably really are having a difficult time-
Jill DeWit: I’m sure they are.
Jack Butala: … finding the property they want to buy. Especially on the fly when they’re talking to the seller.
Jill DeWit: Right. That’s the beautiful thing about parcelfact. And that’s what I use it for, too. And I’m sitting on the phone, the guys calling me back, and I’m like, “I don’t remember who this is. I don’t remember where this is.” But, they might, they’ll probably have a tax bill in their hand, or around there. I can say, “Hey, give me that … You said what county? Okay, give me that parcel number there. See that? Yeah, that’s the one I want.”
That’s all I need. And now I’m having a conversation with the guy. I have all the details, and I’m staring at the property.
Jack Butala: I call it like charting a course. So, you’ve charted a course, but you don’t know what’s going to happen day to day, until, you know … You know where you’re going.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Jack Butala: But every day the weather’s different, stuff goes on. And you overcome it.
Jill DeWit: Perfect.
Jack Butala: And it’s the same way with all these companies, and sometimes your marriage. But that’s for a different show. If you have a question-
Jill DeWit: You’re on-
Jack Butala: Oh, no.
Jill DeWit: You’re allowed to … Jack you’re allowed to obsess on that, by the way.
Jack Butala: Now’s the time to say: 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 it’s worth, and sell it immediately.
Jack Butala: You are not alone in your real estate ambition. Wow, got out of that okay.
Jill DeWit: That was really funny.
Jack Butala: That was a blast last night with those guys.
Jill DeWit: That was. Was really, really good.
Jack Butala: Information and inspiration to buy undervalued property.
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