Binge Listening to Podcasts (CFFL 546)
Binge Listening to Podcasts (CFFL 546)
Transcript:
Jack Butala: Jack Butala with Jill DeWitt.
Jill DeWitt: Hi.
Jack Butala: Welcome to the show today. In this episode Jill and I talk about binge listening to podcasts. Is that they way you learn how to do this or not? For some people, yes, for some people, no. Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on a landinvestors.com online community. It’s free.
Jill DeWitt: Okay. Pete asks, “Hi everybody. I’m looking at purchasing some properties in a subdivision that is fairly hilly. My question is, How much slope on a property should be considered too much? Let’s say the property had a 15% slope. Would that make it difficult to sell? Thanks for any help that can be offered?”
Jack Butala: Pete, this is a great question. We all want to buy property next to E.T.’s house. Where it’s all gently rolling and beautiful, and you have views and stuff. But that’s not how, in reality, when you subdivide property, a developer subdivides a subdivision, that’s not … What happens is they have to grade it all out and make sure it’s okay. What happens with that is just like when you bake a cake, there’s some stuff left over. There might be a couple of eggs left over and some stuff on the counter before the end product’s done. Same thing happens when you subdivide real estate. There’s usable property and unusable property for the reasons that you’re talking. Maybe the slope’s different. There’s all kinds of things. Easements that need to go in.
The trick is when you look at a plat map to find out what is usable and what’s not. While unusable property is certainly not valueless, there is some value to it, it’s a lot less than usable property. One of the things that can kill it is slopes. I’ve seen, I literally purchased a property, this was long before Google Earth was an option, that was on the inside of the Grand Canyon. It was subdivided and it eroded away. Man, it took me two years to sell that property. This is among 25 properties a day that we were selling back then. Finally, I sold it to a rock climber. He just wanted to tell his friends that he’s rock climbing on his own property in the Grand Canyon. Which, when you think about it, if you’re part of that kind of social network, that’s pretty freakin’ cool. He’s got pictures of himself and the whole thing, climbing on his own property.
As far as a slope goes, 15% is really pushing it. What you want to do is make sure … Go to Google Earth Pro, which is now free. It’s been free for a few years. Make sure your terrain is turned on, and then make sure the property’s usable. If it’s subdivided property versus 40 acres somewhere, make sure that it’s usable property and that you can, I don’t know, get to it, and the regular 4A scenario. If you’re not familiar with the 4As, listen to some other podcasts. Which brings us to our topic: Binge listening to podcasts.
Jill DeWitt: I have two things to add to this, if I may. One is we’ve … Remember that 40-acre property? There’s one that we had that was half-flat, to rolling, to a slope. I remember you describing it as a protective ridge and the people loved it who sold it. That was cool. So properly describe the property, and even though it has a slope, there may still be a pad or something there you could work with, depending on the size of the property, number one.
Number two, even more importantly, what’s around there? Because there’s so many people that have properties and acreage, and homes, and things. You know what? That slope might be their view, believe it or not, and they might love to have that property just to know … We have a family member who just did this recently. Bought the lot next door so no one would build on it. That’s it. It wasn’t the best property to build on anyway, but the whole point was I just don’t want anybody there. It’s going to mess up my view and, you know what, I want the privacy and I would like to have this size of a lot instead of a … I’d rather have a two-acre lot than a one-acre lot, you know, kind of thing.
Jack Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWitt: And know that. No one even considered the slope. It was what was around there and where it was. Period.
Jack Butala: It’s hard to … You’re seeing a lot of new people in our group coming in and saying, “All right, what’s the rule? Is 15% slope too much, or is 14%? Or is it 16%? You can’t tell. Go onto Google Earth and really take a look and see if it’s usable. Usability is the question. There’s got to be some slopey property that somebody wants for sure. Like, “I don’t want any stinking flat property. I want some slopey property?” Like a protective ridge, like Jill’s saying.
Jill DeWitt: Yeah, and people sometimes when there’s a slope, that’s great, because maybe that puts them up a little higher. I can build something right up here and have this much of a little bit of view of the valley.
Jack Butala: Here’s some other unsolicited advice, which is really what this whole show is, unsolicited advice.
Jill DeWitt: True.
Jack Butala: It’s your fault for listening.
Jill DeWitt: Like my dad. “You know we’re going to sit you down and you’re going to get some unsolicited advice.” Thanks dad.
Jack Butala: Oh dad. Geez, really dad?
Jill DeWitt: Dad.
Jack Butala: Oh my God Dad. On every single piece of property over like five acres, let’s say five to anything, I’m telling you there’s an extremely good chance, if there’s two or three thousand square foot flat pad to build something on. When you look at a 40-acre property, it’s all slopey and weird, there’s someplace on that property that’s build-able.
Jill DeWitt: That’s what I think.
Jack Butala: Think about Malibu or there’s a lot of places in Arizona like this. They blow the side out of a mountain. If you look at the piece of property raw, it’s un-engineered. It’s like there’s no way. Then three months later there’s a house up there with a flat pad and a Corian countertop.
Jill DeWitt: Right, and it’s worth a fortune because look where they are. Look how cool that is.
Jack Butala: Created your own lot.
Jill DeWitt: They did.
Jack Butala: You’ve got to be positive about it.
Jill DeWitt: Yep.
Jack Butala: 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: Binge listening to podcasts. Is that the way you learn how to do this or not? You decide. This is the meat of the show. People learn stuff all different ways. I’m a doer. I’m a YouTubeaholic. I have to watch somebody else do it, and then do it myself, and fail at it six times, and then I learn how to do it. Jill’s a reader. She’ll read some things in a textbook and learn that way.
Jill DeWitt: Jack, I was literally writing “reader” as you said reader. Yes, I’m a reader.
Jack Butala: Get to know the person you live with, by the way.
Jill DeWitt: Cross that off [crosstalk 00:06:42].
Jack Butala: Some people, like Seth Williams, a guy in our-
Jill DeWitt: He’s in our group.
Jack Butala: In our world. Yeah, in our group. Is famous for saying, “You can learn how to do this for free. You do not have to pay anyone a dollar. It’s going to take you about nine years to listen to all the podcasts, and read all the blogs, and do all that stuff. Or you can speed through it, through the education products that we all have.
Jill DeWitt: Save eight-and-a-half years.
Jack Butala: If binge listening to podcasts is how you do this, then that’s more power to you. I think it’s great. I mean, I binge watch Netflix things when they come out. I lose whole weekends on Netflix.
Jill DeWitt: Yes you do. Where’s Jack? I don’t know. I really don’t know. But he can tell you all about the Mexican cartels.
Jack Butala: Yeah, there’s some good stuff on Netflix right now that really explain the whole drug trafficking business in the 70s and 80s.
Jill DeWitt: What is dad talking about? I don’t know. Don’t pay any attention.
Jack Butala: I’m learning how to speak Spanish. That’s what it is.
Jill DeWitt: Yeah, they’re Spanish lessons.
Jack Butala: I don’t know Jill. Do you think binge listening to podcasts is that how you … What do you do? How do you learn? How do you learn how to write? You’re killing it right now as a writer.
Jill DeWitt: You know what’s funny. I buy … I’m a reader. If I want to learn something, I buy four different books, four different viewpoints on the same topic. That’s really what I do.
Jack Butala: That’s good.
Jill DeWitt: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-because I want to get different perspectives. I really do. As far as podcasts, you know it’s funny. I don’t know why I’m just … Maybe it’s just the quiet. For me, I like quiet. I get in the car even, and I often don’t even turn on the radio. I quiet and I think. I love going to talks and things like that. I’m trying to think, it’s kind of interesting. I’m not a binge podcast listener. I hope that’s not bad to say as we’re doing a podcast.
Jack Butala: It’s everybody’s own thing.
Jill DeWitt: Yeah, and even binge … But you know what the difference is though? I can turn things on and off and [inaudible 00:08:48] and some people can’t. I can retain it but, having said that, there’s a lot to be said for repetition. One of the good things about binge listening, especially on a topic that you are really interested in, the more that you listen and the more that you hear, the more you’re going to absorb and you won’t even know it. That’s actually really good. I’ve done that. I’ll blurt out statistics and facts. Like how the heck did I know that, but it’s stuff that you said-
Jack Butala: Oh geez. Don’t do that.
Jill DeWitt: Or something we were listening to. I know. Yeah, that could be scary. Just kidding. You know what, you retain more than you realize that you do. I probably should change my game here because-
Jack Butala: I don’t think you should change anything.
Jill DeWitt: Aah. Thank you Jack.
Jack Butala: I mean it. Don’t change a darn thing.
Jill DeWitt: Thank you. But I do know a lot of people that they walk around with headphones on. I know that they’re listening to this, and they’re absorbing stuff, and every time they get something out of it. That’s fantastic.
Jack Butala: Here’s the way I don’t learn anything. By sitting in a classroom and listening to somebody stand up there and writing on a chalkboard. I will never … I don’t know … Hopefully that stopped with the internet. I mean entirely. Kids still go, pay a ton of money to sit and listen to somebody who’s probably unqualified, teach a class about some stuff that doesn’t matter. Hopefully education will catch up with reality at some point. Probably won’t happen while we’re alive Jill.
Jill DeWitt: You know what’s great about podcasts is you can really pick and choose exactly what you want. You know? It’s not you’re binge listening to English 101.
Jack Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWitt: You’re binge listening to business.
Jack Butala: Yeah, you want to be entertained. That was my second point.
Jill DeWitt: Oh.
Jack Butala: No, it’s okay. The stuff that I listen to personally is not … It’s all entertainment for me. I don’t listen to learn. Everybody’s different.
Jill DeWitt: Isn’t that funny? When I do listen, I am going for a reason.
Jack Butala: But I do not go on the YouTube to be entertained at all. I go on to YouTube to find out how to produce a podcast, or how to pilot a yacht, or whatever. Then I watch somebody else do it and, hopefully, they fail at it a few times so I can avoid making those mistakes. That’s why, if you want to be a real estate investor, that’s what you should be using. Whatever you’re listening to, watching, or however source you get to it, asking questions, filling out a mailer, that’s the whole name of the game. Get some stuff out in the mail, make a bunch of mistakes. Make an idiot out of yourself. Get comfortable with making a complete idiot out of yourself in front of the people you love. Now you’re making progress.
Jill DeWitt: You know what I don’t like? I don’t like fluff-listening. I mean, except for Car Talk because I do like Car Talk. That’s really kind of funny. But you know what? I kind of feel like-
Jack Butala: That’s entertainment.
Jill DeWitt: Well yeah, it’s still entertainment. When I used to listen to radio stations more, now it’s really more directed listening. I don’t know what the right term is, but focused listening or something. Like I said, I’m going for a topic if I’m doing it. Totally lost my train of thought.
Jack Butala: Like morning talk radio and how over-produced and fake it is. Or like FOX News. I can’t stand it. It has nothing to do with the right or left-wing content. It has to do with the animated monkey jumping up and down on a desk, crazy.
Jill DeWitt: Right.
Jack Butala: Again, nothing to do with right or left or any of that. It’s just the production of the way that it is. I can’t stand it. Or two ding-dongs, 22-year old ding-dongs on morning talk show on FM radio, talking about some social thing that happened to a celebrity. I can’t stand that.
Jill DeWitt: Yeah, maybe that’s it.
Jack Butala: That’s a massive waste of time, everybody’s time. It’s just pop culture garbage.
Jill DeWitt: I’m just so off the way the radio is now. You’re right. It’s annoying to me. I don’t want to hear about, like you just said, some of the segments that they come up with about silly things from a newspaper in Texas. I’m sorry I’m not interested.
Jack Butala: I’ll watch a cooking show before I listen or watch that and I don’t like cooking shows.
Jill DeWitt: It’s interesting now how, now the broadcasting industry radio is paying attention to podcasting and it’s becoming more … They’re getting it. They see the audience. There’s a huge shift. Well you’re listening, so you obviously know, but there is such a huge shift, and broadcasting is a little bit behind. They’re going, “What just happened?”
Jack Butala: Ninety-five percent of the listening audience in this country listens to podcasts. They don’t listen to the radio. All the radio people … Jill and I just got back from a conference in case you couldn’t tell. Most of the radio people still have this attitude that-
Jill DeWitt: They’re number one.
Jack Butala: We don’t know what we’re doing. Our whole attitude is yeah, I know we don’t know what we’re doing. But we have six listeners.
Jill DeWitt: Soon to be nine.
Jack Butala: Or four.
Jill DeWitt: Right.
Jack Butala: You never know.
Jill DeWitt: Exactly.
Jack Butala: If binge listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos, or any of that stuff works for you, that’s the whole takeaway from this. Figure out what works for you, and jump on it, and do something about it.
Jill DeWitt: Love it. Love it, love it, love it.
Jack Butala: Join us in another episode where we discuss working 90 hours a week to avoid a 40-hour a week job.
Jill DeWitt: This is going to be funny. Ha-ha, I love it. And we answer Peter’s question about pricing [inaudible 00:14:12] lots.
Jack Butala: Good. Pricing. Good to go.
Jill DeWitt: That’ll be awesome.
Jack Butala: You are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill DeWitt: Hey, like our show? Please subscribe and rate us on iTunes or wherever you are listening.
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