No Time Like the Present (LA 891)
No Time Like the Present (LA 891)
Transcript:
Steven Butala: Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit: Hello.
Steven Butala: Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit: And I’m Jill DeWit broadcasting from sunny Southern California.
Steven Butala: Today, Jill and I talk about there’s no time like the present.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: Before you go “Oh my god, Steve, really? Are we going to talk about why Land Academy …
Jill DeWit: Spiritual.
Steven Butala: … Is successful again? Are you guys going to seriously sit there and spend 20 minutes talking about that again?” No. No, we’re not. Actually, we’re probably not going to talk about Land Academy at all.
Jill DeWit: Okay.
Steven Butala: I think it’s more just like … This is more of like an extension of the show that you did. I guess it was last week. Yeah.
Jill DeWit: Last week. Yeah. Exactly.
Steven Butala: I have a lot of questions for Jill. This is kind of her topic.
Jill DeWit: Okay.
Steven Butala: Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the Land Investors Online Community. It’s free.
Jill DeWit: Ricky asks “Does offering a higher price per property in a more urban area with the intention to sell the property faster work?”
Steven Butala: Well, this is brilliant.
Jill DeWit: I like this.
Steven Butala: Heck yeah, that works. That’s the definition of the velocity of money within kind of a real estate environment. It’s the real estate day trading model, like I like to refer to. I think what you’re really asking is I found a good consistent market and I don’t want to offer $200 an acre. I’d really rather offer $800 an acre on property that’s probably worth 1,200 to $1,500 an acre. Kind of up the anty a little, add a zero as Jill says and make sure that property is trading really quickly within that environment. It’s really funny that you bring this up too because that’s model of House Academy. Only buy properties that are in really high velocity turning markets. There’s a scientific way to do it. I explain it on House Academy. You will make money.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. Because the model is you’re going to offer more than other people, so they’re going to accept your offer. You’re going to obtain more property and then you’re going to sell it faster. Maybe you’re not going to double your money, but that’s okay. You’re going to do much more property a lot faster and easier and you’re going to do just fine.
Steven Butala: Right.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. Don’t we have money [inaudible] and we use it a lot.
Steven Butala: This is what we do.
Jill DeWit: It’s not necessarily, especially for house, that’s not what … You can’t do that. It’s not what we do. You can, but I don’t want to do that.
Steven Butala: We talk about this in the live show. There’s huge opportunities to hit home runs with rural vacant land because it’s unwanted. The nature of it is unwanted. It’s never going to get used and the decision that people make to sell unwanted land is different than why they sell infill lots or houses. With infill lots in an urban area and houses specifically, they know they have something.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Steven Butala: They’re doing it because it’s so convenient. That’s the reason they’re selling it to you versus listing it on the MLS and having to clean everything out.
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Steven Butala: They’re willing to pay for convenience. With rural vacant land, it’s just like man, I really just want this out of my life.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Steven Butala: I don’t know how much it’s really worth and I actually don’t care. For 1,000 bucks, you can have it. Knock yourself out.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Steven Butala: It’s a garage sale.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: Today’s topic, there’s no time like the present to send me to this show. Can you start off by telling us what you talked about last week on your live show?
Jill DeWit: Yeah. The live show last week was called Now is a Time to Make Massive Change. I really talked about it doesn’t have to be January 1, but this is naturally a time that we do make massive change. I gave a couple steps and I wrote them down here what do you do to plan for and be ready for and to do it right. I talked about my version of hitting the reset button and I think some people like that. They made some comments on that and that was really good. I talk about that with even just our kids. I tell our kids when you’re like … Just recently number three finished up middle school, he’s high school now. I was like how cool are you that you kind of get to hit the reset button.
If you weren’t the person you wanted to be in middle school, you’re coming into high school, you want to be a surfer kid, you want to be this kid or that kid, you kind of get to reset, be the student you want to be, make the friends you want to have, that kind of a thing. Then as adults, we get to do that if you move to a new city, that’s a good reset button. Changing jobs is a good reset button. Relationships, that’s a reset button. There’s lots of things … What?
Steven Butala: That’s a nice way to say that.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. Please don’t go home and tell your [inaudible] I’m hitting the reset button. You’re out.
Steven Butala: I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.
Jill DeWit: Okay.
Steven Butala: I wouldn’t phrase it like that.
Jill DeWit: Okay. Yeah.
Steven Butala: And I wouldn’t do it flippantly, but sometimes that needs to happen.
Jill DeWit: But, no, you’re right. It’s true. Come on, that’s true. Even with friends, if you have not had this, there’s probably … If you’ve never let got of friends that are not good in your life, then you’re carrying about some friends that are probably not good in your life. We’ve all …
Steven Butala: This is good advice.
Jill DeWit: We’ve all done that and you need to do that. I know and specially this is … We didn’t talk about this on my show, but I remember this coming up in the beginning there talking to when I used to do a lot of talk, calls at the beginning when people are thinking about joining Land Academy. It was only me usually answering the phone and talking about it. I remember a lot of people saying how do I convince my wife and I don’t want you to … Trying to think where I was going with this. But, you want to make sure everybody’s in your world. Shoot, save me, Steven. I kind of lost my whole train of thought where I was going here.
Steven Butala: I was actually thinking about something else.
Jill DeWit: What were you thinking about? I lost you too.
Steven Butala: Save me, Steven. Yeah. You did.
Jill DeWit: All right. Let’s get back to this. Here’s my no time like the present notes. Number one. It doesn’t have to be January 1. It could happen anytime.
Steven Butala: I think that’s great. I see more people exercising right now than ever. I think it’s just funny. If I want to improve myself, I can do it in March.
Jill DeWit: Yeah. We did.
Steven Butala: Or July.
Jill DeWit: We made some changes. It was right around tax time last year that we changed the way we eat. We changed. We got I think in … It was February. I think we got the elliptical in February. We changed our whole dieting. Not like dieting, but what we …
Steven Butala: We just changed what we ate.
Jill DeWit: In April during tax time.
Steven Butala: Changed what we think.
Jill DeWit: Then, there’s other things. It doesn’t have to be January 1. But just naturally when it happens, you want to make sure that you’re ready but not too ready.
Steven Butala: You want to think it through.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. But, don’t think it through and go spend a month on it. Or if you do spend a month on it, maybe it is that big. Maybe, it’s relationship thing. I want you to spend a month on it.
Steven Butala: Yeah. I think spending a lot of upfront time on things is better.
Jill DeWit: Right. Don’t spend two years on it.
Steven Butala: Yeah. That’s right.
Jill DeWit: That’s really my point.
Steven Butala: But, don’t spend a weekend on it either.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. You shouldn’t. You really can spend too much time some time on this and thinking I’m just not ready yet. At some point, you got to cut yourself off and just do it.
Steven Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: Or make a decision to not do it. Just pick one. Don’t let it weigh. That’s a hard thing too, by the way. You don’t want this cloud weighing on you for a long, long, long time, so make sure you’re ready.
Steven Butala: My takeaway from your show and I really think this should be the point to this is that if you want to do something, if you really want to do it, you’re going to do it.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: If you don’t want to do it, you’re probably not going to do it. I know that sounds so cliché-ish, but I use the guitar example all the time. I’ve probably owned six guitars in my whole life and I do not play the guitar and I don’t own one now. It’s all because it’s not because I’m not capable of it or it’s not because I honestly don’t have the time because I do have the time, but I just have not …
Jill DeWit: Chose not to.
Steven Butala: … Made a concentrated effort to do all the things, steps in place to learn that first song or whether it’s a nursery rhyme song. I’m not going to do it now. I’ve accepted that.
Jill DeWit: I have a question. For me, it’s freeing. Was it freeing for you to unload all these guitars and not have them staring at you?
Steven Butala: Yeah. I never had them all at one time. I had just probably whimsically said I should learn how to play the guitar usually on a Sunday, which is when I make all bad decisions in my life because I have too much time on my hands.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Steven Butala: Yeah. You know it’s freeing for me to sit here and say this right now. I’m never going to play the guitar.
Jill DeWit: That’s nice.
Steven Butala: I’m letting myself off the hook.
Jill DeWit: That’s nice. That’s good.
Steven Butala: That’s super simple.
Jill DeWit: It is.
Steven Butala: You can say that. You can have that attitude and say that cents about some serious stuff in your life.
Jill DeWit: You know what, no one’s going to think any differently of you. They’re not going to look down at you, like “You don’t want to play the guitar?” “No, I really don’t. I’m choosing not to and I’m good with that.”
Steven Butala: I’ll never be a medical doctor. This is fun. This is like therapy for me. How about you? Go you go.
Jill DeWit: My skiing days are over. I will never ever even get close to breaking a leg on skis because I’m done getting on skis.
Steven Butala: That makes me happy too.
Jill DeWit: Good.
Steven Butala: I mean about you.
Jill DeWit: Not that I’ve broken anything. I haven’t broken anything yet and I want to keep it that way. I’m at the point now that I’m like yeah if I get on skis, I will break something. I’m afraid of that. But you know what I will do, I’ll get a snow mobile all day long. That’s fun for me.
Steven Butala: That’s right, girl. Me too. My snow mobile …
Jill DeWit: I’m just going to go out in the snow and have fun.
Steven Butala: Snow mobile days are not over by any stretch.
Jill DeWit: My ATV days are not over.
Steven Butala: Me either.
Jill DeWit: Let’s see what days are over. I have to think about this.
Steven Butala: If I never get another sailboat for the rest of my life, that’s totally fine with me.
Jill DeWit: My rollercoaster days are not over.
Steven Butala: My rollercoaster days are over entirely. It doesn’t work with stuff that’s …
Jill DeWit: It’s okay.
Steven Butala: … Like a ride. It works with things like man, I got to ice out some time to do this. I have to accomplish some stuff. I got put a plan together. I don’t mean going to an amusement park.
Jill DeWit: I meant amusement park.
Steven Butala: I know.
Jill DeWit: I’m trying to think of the things that I’m like …
Steven Butala: I have multiple books half done that I will finish and I will finish them all.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: Or at least most of them and I want to.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: My golfing days are over. They never started.
Jill DeWit: My golfing days never started and I’m good with that. My tennis days never started. I’m good with that.
Steven Butala: I like tennis.
Jill DeWit: Racketball. No, there is none of those that I really like. Pickle ball is kind of fun only because it’s half drinking game we do with my friends. I’ll play that.
Steven Butala: Everything is half drinking with you.
Jill DeWit: Thank you. My shooting pool days are not over.
Steven Butala: Me too.
Jill DeWit: I like that. But being a competitive pool player, that will never happen and I’m okay with that. We talked about that at one time like you should take lesson and I thought I should. There’s a reason why I didn’t because I don’t like it that much.
Steven Butala: Office building ownership days are over forever …
Jill DeWit: That’s a good one.
Steven Butala: … For the rest of my life.
Jill DeWit: That’s really good. My minivan days are over.
Steven Butala: Again.
Jill DeWit: Not that they were really …
Steven Butala: Keep it to something that require some thought.
Jill DeWit: … Having kids days. Let’s see.
Steven Butala: I don’t think the kid thing is ever over. I used to think that.
Jill DeWit: No. Having more kids.
Steven Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: That’s what I mean. Now, I like other people’s kids. Let’s see. It’s fun to hold a baby and then hand it back. Here you go. What else? I’m trying to think of anything good. There’s more things that I still … You know what, my door’s not closed. I’m open to a lot of things, but I’m not running towards them.
Steven Butala: Yeah. The time, the things that I … When you get to be a certain age, you understand what you’re really capable of and what comes easy to you and they tend to just … The things that are really valuable are not easy.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: You want to focus on that stuff especially if when you get out from the other side of it, it worked or it’s generating. In my case, I have to budget everything, so it’s got to generate some money or I’m not going to spend any time on it.
Jill DeWit: It’s funny those things though. All sorts of things that happen. I was just thinking. Not that I ever really wanted to be a singer, but man, I really wanted to have a band. It’s sure hard to have a band when you really can’t sing. That never materialized, and I’m okay with that.
Steven Butala: We have some friends who play in a band like three times a week. This is Los Angeles.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Steven Butala: They’re not going to achieve Led Zeppelin status and they all know that. They’re just doing it to get up on the stage and have fun. I think that’s great.
Jill DeWit: That’s true.
Steven Butala: Actually, I think they probably sat around and said at some point in their musician career, sat around and said I’m not going to probably do this for a full-time living, but I’m not going to be fill the blank, Michael Jackson, whomever.
Jill DeWit: Exactly.
Steven Butala: I just want to be a musician playing the base on stage to have some fun and drink some beer.
Jill DeWit: Even in our business …
Steven Butala: That’s got to be a happy time for them is my point.
Jill DeWit: Yeah.
Steven Butala: When they realize that and they just want to have some fun.
Jill DeWit: Think about everything that we do right now. I’m not out there right now to be the number one in our industry, in anything that we do. That’s not my goal anyway, so I kind of feel like that and it’s very freeing. I’m out here to help as many people as I can. I’m not out here to personally make this number one. Does that make sense to you?
Steven Butala: Yeah.
Jill DeWit: For me personally. You might have a … I don’t know if you have a different thing. You can have a different goal.
Steven Butala: We are number one. Land Academy for sure is number one. Do we buy and sell the most land of anyone I know or anyone in our group? No, and that’s not my goal either.
Jill DeWit: Right.
Steven Butala: Or is it my goal to competitively make sure that I make the most money? Absolutely not.
Jill DeWit: Thanks.
Steven Butala: But as it turned out, there’s no other place to buy and sell land that even comes close to Land Academy and the reason for that is that every single day I wake up making sure that we’re staying out in front of that.
Jill DeWit: That’s true.
Steven Butala: No. I’m not the best teacher or instructor or any of that stuff and don’t want to be, but I do want the people that chose to become part of this to have access to all the tools and all the stuff that I have access to, including education and have a fair chance at succeeding.
Jill DeWit: Perfect.
Steven Butala: Better than a fair chance.
Jill DeWit: I couldn’t have said it better.
Steven Butala: I don’t think that … I’m very confident we’re the best at this.
Jill DeWit: Thank you.
Steven Butala: I would rather do at this point in my career less deals and make more money.
Jill DeWit: I agree.
Steven Butala: Join us next time where we talk about how land investing is not sexy, but making money is.
Jill DeWit: And we answer your question posted on our online community, landinvestors.com. It’s free.
Steven Butala: You are not alone in real estate ambition.
Jill DeWit: What?
Steven Butala: I don’t know. You’re just quiet.
Jill DeWit: I was kind of like sorry to go down the … We use to play those games like name a profession that you’ll never do kind of thing.
Steven Butala: I like that. I like doing this.
Jill DeWit: I know. Those are good games.
Steven Butala: I don’t know. I’m not sure from a listener’s perspective how much like it.
Jill DeWit: I know, but it’s funny for us.
Steven Butala: Hopefully, my whole goal in that is wherever you’re listening to this, you’re like yeah, I really don’t want to be an accountant anymore or whatever.
Jill DeWit: Exactly. Hey, wherever you are watching or listening, please rate us there. We are Steve and Jill …
Steven Butala: Steve and Jill. Information …
Jill DeWit: … And inspiration …
Steven Butala: … To but undervalued property.
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