Drive up Access is More Important Than Ever Now (LA 1241)
Drive up Access is More Important Than Ever Now (LA 1241)
Transcript:
Steven Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Hi.
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 how drive up access is more important than ever right now. We said it yesterday just a little bit and Jill, in perfect form, I’ve put her on the spot, tried to trick her, and in perfect form, I said, “Why? Why is this drive up access situation more important now than ever?” She said-
Jill DeWit:
Because…
Steven Butala:
Okay, go ahead.
Jill DeWit:
… we have a different group of buyers now that are looking at land.
Steven Butala:
Yep. Yep. We can back it up with personal experience, tons of personal experience right now. People are flocking to rural areas and-
Jill DeWit:
That would have never considered it before.
Steven Butala:
That’s right.
Jill DeWit:
That’s what’s so cool.
Steven Butala:
Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It’s free.
Jill DeWit:
Rebecca wrote, “Hi, Land Academy, I have a lot with a storage shed on it. When I send a purchase agreement, does a contract have to include any info on the shed?”
Steven Butala:
No.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. You are-
Steven Butala:
Is it good to have stuff on the property when you buy it or a bad?
Jill DeWit:
Great.
Steven Butala:
It’s great.
Jill DeWit:
Anything on the property, aside from an old refrigerator, a stacked up thing like that, but for stuff like this, any kind of a structure we love. Even if it’s an old rundown mobile home, you get excited about those especially. Love it.
Steven Butala:
Jill and I are launching a mobile home empire this month actually, based on the recession times. We’re going to also launch, not really super soon but shortly, as part of the House Academy program, Mobile Academy. Having anything on your property that makes sense, first of all, sets it apart from everything else that’s on the Internet next to it is great. Second of all, if it’s tenantable in anyway, even a detached mobile home, it’s a really, really, really good thing.
Jill DeWit:
It shows you, well a couple of things are, the utilities are already there, shows you what’s possible, and it just stands out. We, at times, have done things to properties like that just to make them stand out.
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
So, none of that’s crazy. I think it’s the greatest thing. So that’s great, but her question is, “Do I need to put it in the purchase agreement?” No, you don’t. It naturally conveys with the land. It’s like you hear people buying houses and then they open up the garage and there was a bunch of junk in it, and they went through and said, “Oh my gosh, there was a cool classic car in an outer shed under a tarp. Yay, I won,” kind of thing.
Steven Butala:
Yeah. I mean, that’s a perfect example. So, the car’s in the garage, probably everybody’s deceased, “Do I write it in the contract?” No, you’re going to have to go through a whole thing with the DMV. It’s a whole separate thing. If you want to get real technical about this storage shed, you should have a bill of sale, but it’s not even worth the time to do the paperwork. I would just have a conversation. Well, I wouldn’t, Jill would.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
Have a conversation with the seller that says, “You know, there’s a shed on the property. You’re not going to remove it, are you?” “Oh no, I don’t even know what’s in there. There could be anything in there. I have no idea, I just want to get rid of it,” that’s what they’re going to say.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. Okay, perfect.
Steven Butala:
Then, make sure you take great pictures and tell some story about it.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
It’ll sell fast.
Jill DeWit:
Hang some cute curtains. It’s probably a dusty mess inside, but put some cute red checkered curtains in it and shoot some great pictures and that’s all you need.
Steven Butala:
I’ll tell you what, along these lines-
Jill DeWit:
And a new doormat, a floor mat.
Steven Butala:
If you have property, especially out West that’s got a clearing or it’s clear, it’s not crazy at all to go buy the worst, cheapest RV you can find.
Jill DeWit:
Oh.
Steven Butala:
Just make sure the zoning provides for this and make sure it’s not in a ghetto type area where it’s going to get vandalized and put it on the lot, take pictures of it, and sell it.
Jill DeWit:
Right. Yeah.
Steven Butala:
This is your answer to the virus. You’re going to sell it that week.
Jill DeWit:
It’s true.
Steven Butala:
We have never done the RV thing. We’ve done a mobile home thing. Detached mobile with no utilities or anything, just drop it on there, and it just sells that day. So, we just got to make sure the numbers make sense.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
You also have to explain very clearly. Not me, Jill has to explain it.
Jill DeWit:
Do you love how he does this? Sounds like I’m your assistant.
Steven Butala:
No, no, Jill. Hey, by the way, Jill has way more money than I do.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, okay. It’s so funny.
Steven Butala:
I just have a little more-
Jill DeWit:
Because I earned it.
Steven Butala:
I have a little bit more free time, that’s it.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
You really need to explain it. We’re all a big huge fan of telling the truth here. Just if you’re going to drop a mobile home from the sixties on a piece of property, say that. Say, “This property-”
Jill DeWit:
Say, “I’m not sure anything works, but here you go.”
Steven Butala:
Yeah. I mean, it’s detached. It’s not attached, there’s no utilities, it probably needs a septic system. I don’t really know, I don’t care.
Jill DeWit:
I found it.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, I’m just telling you.
Jill DeWit:
I found it and pulled it over.
Steven Butala:
Or an RV, same thing. We got it there, but the tanks could be full. I don’t know. That’s how bad it could be. Expect the worst when you go out there.
Jill DeWit:
That’s so funny. That is not how to get a girl.
Steven Butala:
I know.
Jill DeWit:
Expect the worst.
Steven Butala:
Yep. I say these things knowing full well that I already got the girl.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
So, there’s a little bit of leeway, there but not a lot. If it’s three quick comments in a row from me, then she’s out. She’ll walk off the stage.
Jill DeWit:
Yep, that’s true.
Steven Butala:
Drive up access, we’re all set. Oh, no-
Jill DeWit:
Today’s topic.
Steven Butala:
Oh, today’s topic: drive up access is more important now than ever. This is the meat of the show. Why? Well, we kind of answered it in this question. If you have drive up access particularly with a state road or county road drive up access, which is all maintained and you’ve dropped something on-
Jill DeWit:
Meaning paved.
Steven Butala:
Paved, it could be a lot of places rural-
Jill DeWit:
Be real specific, if you would.
Steven Butala:
Paved is better in a lot of cases.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
In some cases, even now, especially now, people don’t want to have that good of an access. They want to get to their property, but not everybody else. They want everybody else to not get to the property. So especially out West, there’s a lot of state and county road properties that are, I call them 55 mile an hour dirt roads, not paved.
Jill DeWit:
But, there’s not a lot of gravel.
Steven Butala:
No, you can go 55 on a dirt road, really, year-round.
Jill DeWit:
Right, and not destroy your car. In a real car.
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Because, I want to be specific with this. Okay, everybody has a different version of drive up access. Some people think drive up access is curves in a driveway.
Steven Butala:
Oh. Geez, not that.
Jill DeWit:
So, that’s what I want to clarify. So, the point of the show is there’s a lot of people right now that are considering rural vacant land because they want to get the heck out, right? We have virus stuff going on, and they don’t need to be in that city anymore. Now, they can, they’ve all tested it and figured it out that, “I can work for my company. They sent me home. We’re now talking long-term. Then, why am I going to pay for this mortgage? Why am I going to pay to be in the city? My kids are being homeschool right now too, by the way. We don’t have to be here. We have all these more options.”
Jill DeWit:
So, we land people are all talking to these people now and they’re going, “What’s out there?” So, what I want you to think about is they don’t have four wheel drive and you need to kind of properly paint the picture and let them know really what’s possible. I want to ask you, I want to talk with you, so drive up access to them when you say, “Sure, has drive up access,” we land people think, I even think of it sometimes it’s a dirt road. Me, drive up access is I don’t need an ATV, or I don’t necessarily need four-wheel drive. Because if I do need four-wheel drive, I let them know, “Do you have four-wheel drive and a GPS when you,” we all have GPS on our phone, but do you have four wheel drive to get out there?”
Jill DeWit:
There’s two buyers. Some will go, “Uh-oh, I don’t,” or the hunters and the people that really want to be out there are going to go, “Yes, good. That’s going to keep my mother-in-law out, it’s going to keep my friends out,” whatever. I-
Steven Butala:
Yeah. The virus, it’ll keep the virus out.
Jill DeWit:
The virus people out. I don’t want those people coming up. Heck, the mailman can’t even get to me. This is great. I’m going to get a P.O. Box because the mailman can’t find me. I love this. So, you’ve got to properly convey what it is, and jump in here.
Steven Butala:
Drive Up access means you can drive right up to it. It doesn’t mean you can drive right up to it in a Pinto.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Butala:
It’s so-
Jill DeWit:
Pinto?
Steven Butala:
In a car that famously doesn’t work in a two-wheel drive, or really in Pinto’s case, one-wheel drive.
Jill DeWit:
How about Prius? Let’s use Prius.
Steven Butala:
Okay, Prius.
Jill DeWit:
Prius. We should probably do Prius access or non-Prius access. So, that would be good.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, there’s Prius access, there’s Ford F-150 access, that’s a little bit more rough. There’s-
Jill DeWit:
Right. Polaris access.
Steven Butala:
There’s Ford F-450 access.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, okay.
Steven Butala:
That’s really rough. Then, there’s monster truck assets, which is…
Jill DeWit:
Jeep.
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Jeep Polaris, I’m thinking, what else?
Steven Butala:
You want it Prius access right now.
Jill DeWit:
Right, but he doesn’t have to be. I mean, I think with us, with land people, we have to just properly convey it. I would actually even put in the posting, really put it in there what you need now to get to this property because you don’t want to waste anybody’s time and you don’t want to waste your time have someone in their Prius going out there.
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Prius from San Francisco, going to look at this property and they can’t get to it. You want to make sure they can.
Steven Butala:
If that’s your customer for rural vacant land, you have to ask yourself some questions.
Jill DeWit:
But, it’s happening. So, what I want to say, too, is it’s not only we have these new customers, right? They don’t have four-wheel drive, but they have a bit to learn. So, I want to add too that it’s a little bit difficult for some of us right now as land people because we have to up our patience level. This is another reason why-
Steven Butala:
Well, I don’t. I don’t, you do.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. This is another reason why we don’t allow Steven to answer the phone.
Steven Butala:
Thank you for answering the phone, by the way. Can’t thank you enough.
Jill DeWit:
You’re welcome. Steven is not allowed near the phone-
Steven Butala:
For a hundred years. For a hundred years if I said it every day, we could-
Jill DeWit:
We could have 10 phones ringing and people answering it left and right and Steven is still not allowed to touch any phones.
Steven Butala:
I couldn’t thank you enough if I said it every day for a hundred years.
Jill DeWit:
You’re welcome. Because we do have people. I’m just now thinking of this too, you might want to change your listings a little bit. Just make sure you’re in the mindset of, “Who’s my buyer right now? It used to be the majority of our buyers were wholesale people, land people, investors in our business,” right? That’s, for us, has been our customer forever. Because the other buyers, they were very few and far between. Those that did get to us, they’ve done their homework, they know their kind of seasons. Now, we’re seeing a lot of people, their minds are now open to this whole thing like I described earlier, but they don’t know what they’re getting into.
Jill DeWit:
So, it’s your job to take your postings to maybe to a little bit to the next level, because it’ll save you a lot of time. The more you put in your postings that spells out what the property’s really there, what they need to be thinking about. Instead of just saying, “No utilities,” maybe have a few suggestions in there, maybe have a few links in there, even if it’s just to the county website because it’ll save you some time from them calling you and going, “What does that mean, and how do I solve it?”
Steven Butala:
Usability is what I’m getting at here.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Butala:
For years and years and years, 25 years, we were selling property other people that are probably going to resell it, or non-use people, people who aren’t going to really use the property. Now more than ever, they’re looking at this real estate saying, “You know what? I’m going to use this. I might build on it, I might put a mobile home on it, but I am going to get out of this city,” because of what Joe said earlier, “there’s no reason for me to be here anymore. That cost of living silly.”
Jill DeWit:
Yep. Yep.
Steven Butala:
“I can go live out there for next to nothing and have a happy life and not have all this stress and make the exact same amount of money as long as I have an Internet connection.”
Jill DeWit:
You know what I just think is funny? All the people, they’re not in the cities, that have been out in the woods are now going, “Yep, told you so. Now, you wish you were with me. Right? Not had a bunch of neighbors.” For all you people who lived in downtown whatever, that thought I was nuts to be on my 20 acre branch, you’re now going, “Uh-huh, don’t you wish you had this?”
Steven Butala:
So, I grew up in Michigan, and so I obviously talked to people and we talked to people all over the country constantly, Jill and I because of Land Academy and everything else.”
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
I’ve never not once, ever heard the sentence out of someone’s mouth, “Oh, you live in Los Angeles? Congratulations, man. I bet you love it there. I always wanted to live in L.A.”
Jill DeWit:
That’s true.
Steven Butala:
It’s exact opposite, and they’re not wrong.
Jill DeWit:
True, yep.
Steven Butala:
I can talk about these shows with confidence because I’m one of these people.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
I’m not sure this is worth it anymore either. All my companies are all online. What are we doing?
Jill DeWit:
That’s another show that we need to talk about as a family first.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, it’s called Couples Therapy.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. Oh boy, I don’t want to hear, “I told you so,” again. Happy you could join us today. I won’t say I told you so to you. The Land Academy, or excuse me, you can find us right here on the Land Academy Show every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we are next door on the House Academy Show.
Steven Butala:
Tomorrow, the episode on the House Academy Show is called, A Step-By-Step Instruction on how to Double Your House Money in This Environment. You are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill DeWit:
That’s going to be good.
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
I like it. That’s funny. Thank you, baby, for not rubbing it in too much.
Steven Butala:
No, it’s okay.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
You know what? No, you’ve earned it, Jill. I know you want to live here and it’s fine, and that’s the truth of it.
Jill DeWit:
You know.
Steven Butala:
But as far as forever goes, probably not.
Jill DeWit:
Things change.
Steven Butala:
This is just another kitchen conversation for you and I.
Jill DeWit:
It is, things change.
Steven Butala:
It just happened to happen in front of the camera.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. We all know that things change, especially it’s interesting now for a lot of us, it’s not voluntary. These are forced changes, and so you have to adapt and make the best of it as we all are.
Steven Butala:
Yep.
Jill DeWit:
The Land Academy Show remains commercial-free for you, our loyal listeners. So wherever you’re watching and wherever you’re listening, please subscribe and rate us there. We are Steve and Jill.
Steven Butala:
We are Steve and Jill. Information…
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration…
Steven Butala:
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