Hiring Your Land Staff Dream Team (LA 1387)
Hiring Your Land Staff Dream Team (LA 1387)
Transcript:
Steven Jack Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Howdy.
Steven Jack 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 Jack Butala:
Today Jill and I talk about hiring your land staff dream team. Again, this topic came from Jill’s debut ladies… What’s it called?
Jill DeWit:
Land Academy Ladies.
Steven Jack Butala:
Jill identified through a popular request to start a women’s closed investment group. So if you’re a Land Academy member and you’re a female, you are welcome to join.
Jill DeWit:
Yup.
Steven Jack Butala:
How would they do that?
Jill DeWit:
Send a note to support@landacademy.com and you will get the email invite. It’s a closed zoom meeting that we do every Tuesday afternoon.
Steven Jack Butala:
So I have to say on this women’s group thing, more than just being a woman’s group, I think it’s a celebration and a reward system and a motivational system for people who are like-minded. And I think that this day and age, that doesn’t get enough notoriety or enough credits. I think if you surround yourself by people who are like-minded, who share the same opinions and views and aspirations, or let’s say values that you do, I think it can be an incredibly powerful and incredibly empowering tool. So if it happens to be gender, great. If it happens to be education level, great. If it happens to be… Whatever it is, I think that surrounding yourself with people… And I’m not saying close your mind. I’m saying learn from people that are of like-mind. That’s it. And I don’t know what you guys talked about. I mean, well maybe you can summarize what you guys talked about.
Jill DeWit:
Nope. That’s the whole point. No. And I’ll tell you right now too. Right now we are not showing those recordings. They are not posted anywhere. It’s for that group. We’re there and we have our cameras on, and we’re smiling and laughing, and there’s kids in the background, and it’s fun. Because people are… We’re getting work done. We all have busy lives. And it’s just for us. So no, I’m not going to paraphrase it.
Steven Jack Butala:
Wow. 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:
Josh wrote. Hello. All I have a lot that I’m purchasing for $15,000. Title report came back with three issues, with issues, excuse me. A deed that appears to have been filed incorrectly. The grantor and the grantee were switched. Hilarious. And a quick claim deed later in the chain of title. The title company has said that needs to replaced with a general warranty deed. The title company’s working to fix these issues and appears we’ll be able to do so. Well that’s cool. I’m going to pause right there should just say it’s kind of-
Steven Jack Butala:
Congratulations.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. You found the one title company. Just kidding. An agent willing to do this. This is really good. People think that when you get a deed recorded that they double check it all. That it’s good to go. Just because I got a stamp on it and got it returned with the date on it, and a book and page number that I did it right. I’m good to go. No. You could hand them your laundry list and they will record it and send it back to you. They don’t check the stuff.
And this is a perfect example. It goes from… They just they’re literally just the recorder. That’s it. I got this certificate, I recorded it, and it went into the books. And until it makes its way to the right person, which is kind of the assessor, down the road to go wait a minute. And they may or may not catch it. Usually they will catch it. At some point, it gets to the assessor and they go, well this isn’t the right person to… I’m not going to change the tax rolls because this isn’t right. And then it will eventually make its way back. So this one is just hilarious that nobody caught it. Do you want to add to that? I’m going to go on.
Steven Jack Butala:
No. I think it’s great.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. However, in order for them to fix this stuff and to give me title insurance, they also need a survey because the legal description of the property isn’t descriptive enough. How many more problems do we need to have on this poor thing?
Steven Jack Butala:
So, when Jill just said they’ll record your laundry list, that’s only certain counties. If they’re reading the legal description and it’s not matching what they see, that’s pretty good. Like you’re actually getting what you pay for from a title company.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Jack Butala:
Hopefully they’re not just creating work. In this day and age, I really doubt that they would do that because there are so many transactions happening.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Jack Butala:
But I… Actually I’d like to know who this title company is, because I’ll use them.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. This is a corner lot.
Steven Jack Butala:
And he goes on to say…
Jill DeWit:
Oh, sorry. He goes on to say… It’s hilarious.
Steven Jack Butala:
This is why there’s a women’s group.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. Right here.
Steven Jack Butala:
This kind of stuff doesn’t go on in a woman’s group.
Jill DeWit:
Right now. I am writing this down. This is what we’re talking about next week. Interruptions. Just kidding. Or corrections.
Steven Jack Butala:
Male interruption.
Jill DeWit:
Male corrections on air, in public.
Steven Jack Butala:
Well, it never is the reverse.
Jill DeWit:
It’s hilarious.
Steven Jack Butala:
Jill never corrects me. It’s only one way.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you. Jack, what would I do without you? Who knows where we would be. Living out of what van? If I did not have you as a shining example.
Steven Jack Butala:
Don’t worry your pretty little head.
Jill DeWit:
[crosstalk 00:05:54].
Steven Jack Butala:
I got it.
Jill DeWit:
That’s exactly right. We women can’t do anything. He goes on to say, this is a corner lot. And the lot adjacent to it I’ve already purchased. And had to get the survey there as well. Great. Call that guy back by the way and have him come out and do this one because he’s half way there.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. It’s too bad they couldn’t do it at the same time.
Jill DeWit:
Same time. And have a break on it. Okay. And so he continues. My concern here is that the seller won’t wait for the survey. At least four weeks in this area. And will back out. It seems like a low likelihood that there will be any issues with the survey, especially since we just surveyed the adjacent lot. And they are practically the same size and shape. But I’m worried purchasing a $15,000 property without title insurance. I don’t know whether clearing up these issues in the chain of title will make me feel more or less comfortable about it. Lastly, this is a slam dunk deal. Should easily double my money based on the results from the adjacent lot. Any thoughts? Appreciate it. Thanks.
Steven Jack Butala:
Well based on your gender, you’re a much more qualified.
Jill DeWit:
Obviously a man. Let’s see. Yep. Josh.
Steven Jack Butala:
No. Seriously. Jill, what would you do here?
Jill DeWit:
You know what? I would think that if I’m already buying one property from the person, then they’re even more vested to sell me many other property. I wouldn’t worry about that. And the only thing I would do differently is just constantly check in and make sure the seller… Do temperature checks every week on the seller. Like, “Hi. I just want to let you know where we stand. This one’s almost done. This one we’re waiting on this. How are you doing? I bet you’re excited. This check is going to come in probably around this day because we’re going to close here. And then the other payment’s going to come in on this day.” Just keep him engaged and involved.
Steven Jack Butala:
Here’s the other thing about a survey, and you want to make sure that the surveyor old-school stakes the property. Because it’s a huge sales tool on the south side. If you can hand them a complete print out or a PDF of the actual survey findings, and show pictures of everything staked with the little orange tags on it, that separates you from anybody else that’s selling property in the area for sure.
Jill DeWit:
That’s awesome.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today’s topic, hiring you’re… I’m sorry if that was the man point of view.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. Well it’s a little brief, that’s okay.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today’s topic, hiring your land staff dream team. This is why you’re listening.
Jill DeWit:
Because we like to feel our way through everything. So I would like to talk about that a little bit more. Just kidding.
Steven Jack Butala:
Feel and talk.
Jill DeWit:
Yes we do. That’s how we roll.
Steven Jack Butala:
You know this whole concept of yin and yang it’s such a compromised pain in the butt for everybody. How many bands kicked out fantastic music when there’s two or three people writing up music and the lyrics and all that. And then they break up because they hate each other. And then the stuff that they put out individually is so awful. You just can’t listen to it. It’s the same way in a business or partnership in a relationship partnership. The yin and the yang is supposed to be by nature, argumentative and debateful, and all of that. So you have to find a way to do that. This is a prelude to the topic, by the way. And a exit from the gender thing.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Jack Butala:
You have to find a way to realize and appreciate the other person’s point of view and use it so it makes everybody successful. And the whole thing rises up together.
Jill DeWit:
I love that. That’s a really good analogy. I like the band analogy. You’re right, the solo things never seem to work out as well as the whole band does.
Steven Jack Butala:
Right.
Jill DeWit:
I can’t think of one right now that jumps out at-
Steven Jack Butala:
Phil Collins.
Jill DeWit:
Oh. Well, I mean-
Steven Jack Butala:
He was better by himself than Genesis.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. Well, you got one. We’re going to beat this man thing into the ground here. This is bad. Okay. Anyway, well give me a woman example.
Steven Jack Butala:
Stevie Nicks. No. She was a better in the band.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. I don’t know. Anyway. Okay.
Steven Jack Butala:
As we go I’ll just keep reeling them off.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. That’s good. As you think of them? This is really good.
Steven Jack Butala:
I have one thing to say on this topic and then… Or do you want to go first?
Jill DeWit:
Go ahead. No.
Steven Jack Butala:
For me hiring staff, and I learned this the hard way, you have to hire people that are so much more intelligent than you are at what you specifically want them to do that there’s just no training involved at all. We just hired a producer, a television producer, who if you look at his resume, it’s shocking. And the same thing with a marketing person, it’s just shocking. And are they expensive? Hell yes. Are they worth it? Yeah. They need to come in… They both separately, came in and assessed our situations and put together a one or two page audit. I’ll call it an audit.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Steven Jack Butala:
Because I have an accounting background. It’s not necessarily that. It’s really just an opinion of what we’re doing wrong. And we asked them to do that. And it’s just the immediate and dramatic improvement in those areas is amazing. So hiring a staff for me is making sure you get the right people. And it’s going to take several people. You got hire them and let them go, and hire him and let him go. Hopefully you can do it. This day and age you can, everybody’s working from home, it’s 10-99. You give them a trial period, and they’re out.
Jill DeWit:
Sometimes they voluntarily say they’re out. I’ve had that.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
I had one employee over there, I knew it was not working. And I let her make the decision. I said, “Look, it is not going to hurt my feelings if you go home and wake up tomorrow morning and say this isn’t for me. Because I know this is hard for you.” And I really liked her. I wanted to help her and teach her but I could see it in her that she was struggling. And it was just too much and it was going over her head. So she did the next day send me a very nice email saying, it was so sweet. “I appreciate everything that you guys are doing. I love the whole concept. I love your business above how you help these people.” She said, “I just can’t keep up.” And I said that’s okay.
Steven Jack Butala:
My job in all of this as a manager, and probably your job in your land company or real estate company, is to hire the right people. Give them the right and correct motivation and direction. And provide the tools for them to succeed. Whether it’s money, direction, computers, or whatever. But what does not work for me, and it works for some people, what doesn’t work for me is training. If I have to sit and train somebody, I probably hired the wrong person. They need to come in and just be completely independent and say, “Oh yeah. No, this is how we’re going to… We should do that this way.” And not to the point where they’re they’re insubordinate. Because we’ve had people like that too. They just need to say the last two places I worked, we had the same problem. We did this, this, this, and this. And I’m happy to do it next week for you.
Jill DeWit:
I think you’re right. My way of saying that is, and I agree with you, they need to come in and immediately make it better. If they’ve been here, after a couple of weeks you go, “Oh. I’m so glad I got that off my plate. They’re doing a fantastic job. They are answering the phone and getting these things documented faster than I am. I was doing…” Wonderful. Whatever it is.
Steven Jack Butala:
Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
That’s what should be happening.
Steven Jack Butala:
Exactly. So if you picture… If you’re super young, you probably… Well you know. Let’s use Starbucks as an example. I was going to use some of the large companies in Detroit. Car companies, there’s a training period, or the airlines. There’s a training period of a month. Maybe six weeks where you go off somewhere, stay in a hotel-
Jill DeWit:
That’s true. Learn the equipment.
Steven Jack Butala:
Learn it, go through the whole thing. And now it’s online. But it’s still a long training period. And then you go through… You work next to somebody for quite some time. See how the job’s actually done. It’s basically holding your hand, and then you fly solo and see what happens. That’s so dead. So far not what I believe personally in how people should operate in life. Independence is what… People who are incredibly independent, they thrive in our environment.
Jill DeWit:
And I love, I honestly love when I get… You know you have the right person when they have a new perspective on things. And like you just said, they are like, “Hey. There’s a better way to do this. Can I show you?” Or, “I know you guys are set on this program, but would you consider X?” I’m like, heck yeah. I love that. One of our employees brought up something to me yesterday. I’m trying to find my notes to see what it is. It’s a new way of communicating. It’s not WhatsApp. It’s something else and I can’t remember. I’m like, “I’ve never heard of it. I love it. Bring it.” And they’re like, “I just heard people using this, and they’re loving it. It’s a new thing.” And I’m like, “I’m in.” I used to be, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And now I’m like, Nope.
Steven Jack Butala:
No. Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Bring it.
Steven Jack Butala:
I used to be like that too.
Jill DeWit:
Uh-huh (affirmative).
Steven Jack Butala:
And I think that’s our age, and our generation.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
But no. That’s long past.
Jill DeWit:
Not anymore.
Steven Jack Butala:
That was gone in 2005.
Jill DeWit:
So how do you find your land staff dream team? It’s not easy. It depends on the role that you’re looking for. If it’s a repetitive, easy task I would absolu… Like, I need someone to fill in this column on 10,000 lines of data. That’s a VA job all day long. That’s really easy. And that’s part of your dream team. Doing those easy, simple tasks. Look, here’s the County. You put it in. You copy in what the taxes are. That’s all I need.
Now, we want a more involved person, like a photographer. That you’re going to maybe use your peers. I know our online community is great for stuff like that. That’s still part of your dream team. You need to have a good photographer for the areas that you’re buying photos. You could also reach out on all the online things.
Don’t discount LinkedIn. Don’t discount Craigslist even. There’s all kinds of unique sites now for finding photographers and things. Try a few. If you’re buying… If you’re like us and you find yourself doing a lot of property in the same area, you can use the same guy over and over again. Make it a nice system, where, “Hey. I email you all my properties on Tuesday. You have all the pictures back to me by Friday. I PayPal you the money. You just send me an invoice.” Whatever it is, make it easy. And then the third thing is, it’s going to be harder on your dream team, is that assistant. That transaction coordinator. Things of those nature. Not a [inaudible 00:17:09] person, something like that. That’s going to take the time. And those are the ones that I was saying that you really have to… It might take a couple employees until you find the one that you really mesh with.
Steven Jack Butala:
It’s never been easier or cheaper to fire people for very specific tasks than it is right now. So picture a hub with spokes going down, and you’re the hub. And then right below that hub is another person. That’s your assistant. And then now all the spokes go down almost like a flow chart, or a family tree. It wasn’t that long ago that the only way you could hire somebody was through the newspaper and the classified ads. It was truly not that long ago. Things like Fiverr and LinkedIn and indeed allow you to really look at a lot of resumes very effectively. And decide, and then see what the work that they’ve done, where they’ve worked, if they’re working for somebody else right now. Those are personally my favorite types of employees to hire. They’re already doing a good job for somebody else, or they did a job last month for somebody and it ended. Those are the types of independent people that already have sort of a consulting/business going already. So they know how to manage two or three clients at a time.
And if you can get somebody, give them a task, they do great at it. Give them another one. They do great at it, and hire them. It’s probably going to work. Not all the time. But it’s a lot better than hiring somebody out of the newspaper. It takes months to do it that way. And so the other thing too, with this outsourcing, is you can get people that… When you hire a photographer to go out and shoot your property, they’re a photographer. Hopefully.
Jill DeWit:
They better be.
Steven Jack Butala:
Hopefully they’re not somebody who just got a drone and is going to figure it out when they get there.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. And on their cell phone.
Steven Jack Butala:
But that’s what the Internet’s for. To look at reviews and deal with… Yeah. Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
So this is good news. It’s all good news. It’s never been easier to hire staff and buy and sell real estate than it is right now. And next year it’s going to be even easier than now.
Jill DeWit:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). I agree. Anything else you want to add?
Steven Jack Butala:
No. That’s it.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. Happy you could join us today. Five days a week you can find us right here on The Land Academy Show.
Steven Jack Butala:
Tomorrow the episode on The Land Academy Show is called achieving balance in work, in life. You are not alone in your real estate ambition. These are all kind of like girl topics.
Jill DeWit:
I wonder where you got them. Were you looking at my desk?
Steven Jack Butala:
No. As I recall it, you kind of requested that we talk about this stuff.
Jill DeWit:
I said if he needs some ideas I can tell you what’s hot on our minds.
Steven Jack Butala:
I always need ideas.
Jill DeWit:
I know.
Steven Jack Butala:
Always.
Jill DeWit:
Happy to help. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you find our content valuable and we really appreciate your support. If you haven’t already please zip on over to our YouTube channel, The Land Academy Show, and please hit the subscribe button.
Steven Jack Butala:
And your comments and suggestions help us to create the type of content you’re here for. Hitting the like button helps us to create the type of content you’re here for.
Jill DeWit:
Wow.
Steven Jack Butala:
Hitting the like… How many times can I say this and memorize it? How many times does it take?
Jill DeWit:
That was really funny.
Steven Jack Butala:
Hitting like button helps us support our channels algorithm. And gauge your interest for future shows.
Jill DeWit:
We are Steve and Jill.
Steven Jack Butala:
We are Steve and Jill.
Jill DeWit:
We are Steve and Jill. We are Steve and Jill.
Steven Jack Butala:
You know how there’s some stuff you’re great at? Memorizing lines for me, it’s not my thing.
Jill DeWit:
That’s okay.
Steven Jack Butala:
You are good at it. You can say it three times and just forever.
Jill DeWit:
I can do that. I’m pretty good.
Steven Jack Butala:
We…
Jill DeWit:
Oh. Redo that part again?
Steven Jack Butala:
We got to finish this.
Jill DeWit:
I think let’s do information.
Steven Jack Butala:
We are Steve and Jill.
Jill DeWit:
We are Steve and Jill.
Steven Jack Butala:
Information-
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration-
Steven Jack Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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