We Now Price above 60 percent (LA 1649)
We Now Price above 60 percent (LA 1649)
Transcript:
Steven Jack Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Hi.
Steven Jack Butala:
Welcome to The Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit:
And I’m Jill Dewitt broadcasting from the valley of the sun.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today, Jill and I talk about how we now price a lot of our mailers above 60%.
Jill DeWit:
I was going to say, I noticed the other day you were showing me our podcast numbers and how well they’re doing and how many people were gaining. And I took a step back and I thought, I wonder why? And it made me think about all the children that are using this at night to fall asleep.
Steven Jack Butala:
I almost spit my coffee all over your face.
Jill DeWit:
All the parents of those children who are turning us on to lull their children to sleep. You’re welcome.
Steven Jack Butala:
There’s a conversation that Jill and I had right before we just threw the microphones on. We had a house full of people for Thanksgiving for several days. And so we watched them work and all the stuff we did.
Jill DeWit:
One of them worked.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Let’s be honest.
Steven Jack Butala:
And so he’s watching this regular biweekly webinar that this guy holds about investing in stocks. I wish I knew his name, and I was so impressed. I’m like, God, this guy really knows his stuff. He’s a former CPA for a big three accounting firm. He’s got gray hair, he’s got allergies, and he wasn’t really [crosstalk 00:01:24] no sidekick. And his allergies, he’s just, hold on. He’s like, hold on a second. Then he would go off the screen and come back. And it was clear he just blew his brains out.
Jill DeWit:
Totally serious?
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
He muted and then you had to wait there for a minute.
Steven Jack Butala:
Oh, yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, that’s hilarious.
Steven Jack Butala:
And I asked the guy that was staying with him, so I’m like, what’s that? He’s like, oh, yeah, he has allergies regularly. So whatever, and it was all business. It was all about the stock market. I think the stock market’s going to do this. I think this sector, and this is why with graphs and the screenshots. And I’m like, you know what? People that want to buy and sell land are not getting that from this show.
Jill DeWit:
I know. I’m like, we’ve mellowed so far this week. He’s like, well, then, maybe we should be. I’m like, oh.
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s why this show works, because if I did a show, it would be like that guy’s show and six people would watch it. If Jill did a show, it would be like the Bugs Bunny show.
Jill DeWit:
That’s true. It would be like that.
Steven Jack Butala:
So there’s something in between. And I don’t know if that’s good. I don’t know if … I don’t know [crosstalk 00:02:29] Yeah. Let us know. Based on the people that join Land Academy, I think we’re attracting the right people.
Jill DeWit:
Right. They are very smart. They suffer through me.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. They listen to a whole 20 in show and get three sentences of valuable information.
Jill DeWit:
There you go.
Steven Jack Butala:
Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on our landinvestors.com online community. It’s free. And don’t forget to subscribe on the Land Academy YouTube channel and comment on the shows you like.
Jill DeWit:
If you need to say excuse me and clear your throat or anything, go right ahead.
Steven Jack Butala:
I know.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
It really angers you, doesn’t it?
Jill DeWit:
No, no. Apparently, it’s okay because that guy does it. That’s what I think is so funny. All right. Tony wrote, “Looking to get estimated selling price per acre in Blank County, Texas. They do not have many properties for sale and have a few signed purchase agreements. Most of the properties are between six and 12 acres. Any support or experience for selling in this county is appreciated.
Steven Jack Butala:
Lack of information in this business can be beautiful, like in this case, or it can be really scary. I’ve, over the years, learned that when you don’t have information like this, you’re probably going to sell the heck out of these properties.
Jill DeWit:
That’s a good thing.
Steven Jack Butala:
And so you want to make sure that you don’t go nutty. You want to make sure you don’t go nuts about pricing on the buy side, but I love when this happens. This happened to us recently where there’s just no data. We sent out tons and tons of letters and on accident, we hit a pocket, an area where there’s just no data. So I’ll tell you what we did. In Texas, this is really hard because they just don’t give you the sale prices. So what Jill and I did is we took the property and it just sold, by the way. We just had an accepted offer because we did it right.
Steven Jack Butala:
We took a look at a neighbor scoop clicked through or in data tree, if you can bullet data, both, both places have it, the last known sale. Or if you look at, and I love the way Jill does this, on Zillow or anywhere, you’ll see what properties were listed for. And then they were sold, even if it was a long time ago. So at least you can get a gauge. They may not have the sale price in there where it smacks you in the face, the completed sale price, but they do have what it was listed for. It was listed for $30,000 for two weeks and then it sold.
Jill DeWit:
Right. If it was listed and then went under contract pretty darn quickly after that, you got a pretty good idea.
Steven Jack Butala:
You got to be below that, right?
Jill DeWit:
Uh-huh (affirmative) It was around there.
Steven Jack Butala:
So my point is the data’s there, you just got to dig for it. In all cases, the data is there. And it might be old and it might not be what we’re used to, where it’s just perfectly lined up data, like the stock market actually.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Jack Butala:
It’s just not there. I’ll tell you, this keeps a lot of people out of this business. You have to be a creative person and believe in yourself to say, yeah, this is actually a good price. That’s not for everybody.
Jill DeWit:
I like it.
Steven Jack Butala:
It really helps us.
Jill DeWit:
It’s funny. I have a property right now. I’m working with a broker that she’s nuts. She can’t prove me wrong kind of thing. She’s nervous with this price. And I said, we’re listing it at this. And she’s like, oh. But I’m like, prove me wrong, because I’ve got this, this and this to go on. And she can’t. It’s like she’s holding herself back because I want to shake her and say, Hey, lady, by the way, if you stick with me, you’re going to get a better commission.
Steven Jack Butala:
Three times amount.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. She’s [crosstalk 00:06:03].
Steven Jack Butala:
I know which property you’re talking about.
Jill DeWit:
And she did it though. I said, I think we did it wrong, because we rolled it out there at one price and it was too low. We got an offer too fast and it was close to that. And we both said, something’s not right here. And I went back and dug a little bit more and we talked about it. And we were like, nope. So we countered it double. That’s really what I did. I counted it double …
Steven Jack Butala:
You want to tell the story?
Jill DeWit:
Yeah, well …
Steven Jack Butala:
Give me numbers.
Jill DeWit:
Okay, so [crosstalk 00:06:34] we bought it for 205, I want to say. Yeah, about 25, all in. And we listed it at, I think it was 69, something like that or 75. I think it was 75. I can’t remember. Anyway, and we got an offer for 65 and we looked at it. I’m like, something’s not right there because I’m looking around again. It’s four acres. Should I [crosstalk 00:06:57] Yeah. It’s got [crosstalk 00:06:59] home and a shed. So it’s got stuff in there’s, it’s in Idaho. And there’s nothing around that area. There really little comps, it’s exact problem. So, but the comps I can find are good. Again, this has a falling down mobile on it, so I know that it has electric power. A lot of things have already been figured out. They need to be turned back on and maybe flushed and whatever, but they exist.
Steven Jack Butala:
Bugs Bunny needs some flushing.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. So anyway, I said [crosstalk 00:07:33] I said, no, I don’t like that 60. I came back and I said, look, and she was trying to sell me on it. And then she came back with proof of funds. I’m like, what are you doing? I said, all right, counter at one 120. That’s what I did. I countered it. I said, I think we did this wrong. I want you to counter at 120 because I don’t like it. I don’t like what this person’s doing. I don’t think you’re right. Anyway, and she came back and said, yeah, of course that agent did say the guy doesn’t want it. I said, good. I hoped I wasn’t going to do any … I’m glad.
Steven Jack Butala:
Let’s relist it.
Jill DeWit:
I said, now we’re going to relist it at 165.
Steven Jack Butala:
Jill, you’re just so the right girl for that.
Jill DeWit:
And she did it, so that was good. I wrote her a note and I just said, look, we’re clearly not on the same page. And I don’t know how long she’s been in business, but I referenced you. I said, [crosstalk 00:08:18] I got a 25 year plus pro here with me and we feel very strongly about this. Please relist it at this. And so she actually did. She didn’t drag her feet. She came back within a couple hours and said, all right, we’re listing it at your dumb 165. I’m like, good. Let’s do that. Pricing’s too cheap, by the way. Sometimes you make people worry. Sometimes people go, what’s wrong with it? So you do need to price it well to really showcase how great this property is. It’s worth it. It could command that.
Steven Jack Butala:
She was a good real estate agent behaving like a dog.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
Tell the dog what to do, it does it, and it wags its tail for more. That’s what a real estate agent should do.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah, she did that. It was good.
Steven Jack Butala:
This falls right into our topic.
Jill DeWit:
Okay, good.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today’s topic, we now price above 60%. This is why you’re listening.
Jill DeWit:
Are you talking about on the buy side or the sell side?
Steven Jack Butala:
You know how people say don’t judge a book by its cover? So this title is the cover. This is not the Land Academy model. This is this new offshoot of massive success Jill and I are having personally, and I want to share it with everybody. I read a title of a book one time and I never read the book because I didn’t need any more information. This is not that [crosstalk 00:09:41].
Jill DeWit:
You read the title and that was it and said, I got this?
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah, it was, Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, you’re like, oh I got it. I don’t need to read the book?
Steven Jack Butala:
Got it.
Jill DeWit:
All right, that’s fair.
Steven Jack Butala:
I don’t need to know why. I already know that’s true. Thank you. That’s not the case here.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, I’m reading a book right now that I’m about to send back because it’s dumb.
Steven Jack Butala:
What is it?
Jill DeWit:
It’s all medical. It’s all medical studies. That’s not what I … It’s called Compassionomics, and I though it was going to be a little more about in the real world compassion.
Steven Jack Butala:
Is it it Friedman?
Jill DeWit:
No, I don’t know who it is.
Steven Jack Butala:
Maybe Friedman?
Jill DeWit:
No. I mean, I don’t know. Anyway, the point is it’s all medical studies. And I’m like, I did not want to read published case studies.
Steven Jack Butala:
So Milton Friedman did a book, a massively successful book called Freakonomics and I bet [crosstalk 00:10:31].
Jill DeWit:
It’s not that. Nope.
Steven Jack Butala:
It’s not the same author?
Jill DeWit:
Nope. Nope. It’s not. It’s all medical stuff.
Steven Jack Butala:
What point are they trying to prove?
Jill DeWit:
You really want to know? I mean, it’s really about the medical industry and how compassion and understanding and being on the same page with your doctor results in shorter health stays, patients being more compliant, seriously, taking the medication. [crosstalk 00:10:57] and it could save the planet. It could save lives and save money. That’s really the gist of it.
Steven Jack Butala:
It sounds like your nightmare read.
Jill DeWit:
Right? I’m like, oh. I thought it was going to be … I appreciate a chapter on the health industry and how they have that …
Steven Jack Butala:
Well, what did you want the book to be?
Jill DeWit:
That’s what I’m trying to say, a chapter on the health industry. But then I wanted to talk about … because the reason I got this book was I was thinking about my customers. I was thinking about my staff and things like that. And I know that compassion, listening to them, understanding what’s important to them all makes a difference. I went into this looking for tips and tricks to make my team and everyone around me even more loyal and more happy [crosstalk 00:11:42] and rewarded and want to be lifers. That’s my whole point.
Steven Jack Butala:
So they didn’t title it right?
Jill DeWit:
Nope. Nope. It should be how the health industry could make more money, period [crosstalk 00:12:01] via compassion.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Right. That’s what it should have been. And then I went and bought the book, so I’m sending it back.
Steven Jack Butala:
So the topic is we price above 60%. Does that mean the old school Land Academy model, buy for 30, sell for 60, buy for 20, sell for 40, or buy for 60 and sell for one 120 is obsolete? Absolutely not. That’s still our core business model. That’s what we teach. And this is just a new, little offshoot niche that Jill and I discovered in our testing and it’s and it’s passing with flying colors. And a bunch of other people in our group, in their career path groups are doing the same thing with great success.
Steven Jack Butala:
We’re finding these little niche markets where we know everybody. We know the market and it’s usually you can view the properties, or I go out and take a look at the property. It’s a lot easier because there’s two of us, and Jill will do the phone work, but I’ll actually do a site visit and take a look and find out what’s happening there. It allows me to pay more because I know for a fact that these 15 properties within a quarter mile have sold for X. So I know I can pay more for this new acquisition target where I have a signed contract that I’m worried about. I’m paying too much.
Jill DeWit:
And you can see what’s coming. You can see, oh, look what they’re building over here. Look what’s happening over there, that kind of thing. So is it any particular type of property?
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah, land.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. How much profit then do you now want to make?
Steven Jack Butala:
You can still usually double your money, but it’s not [crosstalk 00:13:33]
Jill DeWit:
You’re not going to buy for 60% and sell for 120%.
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s not possible.
Jill DeWit:
That’s what I’m saying.
Steven Jack Butala:
So no, you’re going to buy four 60% and sell for … yeah, you don’t double it, but maybe. I mean, because the market might be shooting up [crosstalk 00:13:45] like a rocket.
Jill DeWit:
We have had that happen.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
I know other members, you know who you are. You’ve had that happen. I was so mad I sat on this stupid property for a year and now I sold that for way more.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah, exactly. So I mean, because the market changed.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
We didn’t change. We didn’t change our marketing. It was just sitting there, and so no. Would you pay $60,000 for a property you knew you could sell for 85 within the first day that you listed with the real estate agent or a fixed price MLS? Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
It’s not nuts.
Steven Jack Butala:
Absolutely.
Jill DeWit:
[inaudible 00:14:16].
Steven Jack Butala:
Or if you just did some very simple improvements like grading.
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Jack Butala:
Or putting a shed on it where it stands out or you know who’s going to buy it, because they’re buying all the property around there and they’re putting mobile homes on it or are developing it in some way. So it has to do with these real core knowledge of these local environments and [crosstalk 00:14:34] Yeah, nichey.
Jill DeWit:
Niche driven.
Steven Jack Butala:
I got this idea because in the first career path, there were a couple of people doing this already, but they didn’t know how to do a mailer. They were doing this for years already in certain places in the Southern part of the country. And so I get a lot out of career path too. And I think everybody else that was in the career path got a lot out of what those two guys were saying. And they weren’t together. They were inadvertently doing this business model without actually calling it something.
Jill DeWit:
Right. So in a nutshell, you’re solving a problem for somebody that no one would touch. You might be picking up something special. It’s nichey. There’s something about it [crosstalk 00:15:19] that you see that other people aren’t seeing.
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s right.
Jill DeWit:
And by spending a little more money, they’re selling to you, period. They will choose you. And the benefit is boy is my team happy because it’s so much nicer getting those phone calls by the way, and those signed to purchase agreements, your yield’s going to be higher.
Steven Jack Butala:
Oh, yeah.
Jill DeWit:
So that’s another thing they really need to think about. Maybe they’re staring at … you’re accidentally sending it to an area where somebody else is. It might happen. Who cares? So you make you stand out. But before that even, your offers might stand out.
Steven Jack Butala:
So exactly. And the seller always tells you a story.
Jill DeWit:
Yep.
Steven Jack Butala:
It’s not that much. It’s not just a sign of purchase agreement and send it back. They’ll call back and they’ll say … and by the way, it’s a lot more than they paid, because these are areas that this isn’t going to last forever, this rocket ship type appreciation in real estate. It’s here to stay for probably two more years, maybe three. I’m going to talk about that on the Thursday call today.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, good. Okay.
Steven Jack Butala:
So it’s not going to last forever. So we’re taking advantage of it. Now what will last forever is the old school Land Academy model. You just double your money, but this is great right now and I’m learning a lot.
Jill DeWit:
I’m really glad. Happy you could join us today. Five days a week, you can find us here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven Jack Butala:
Tomorrow is house academy and the episode is we now use real estate agents or fixed price MLS on every deal. You are not alone in your real estate ambition. Boy, did we eat our words on that?
Jill DeWit:
I know. We used to hate them. Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
Even two years ago.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Jack Butala:
Never use a real estate agent.
Jill DeWit:
I know, it’s funny.
Steven Jack Butala:
Now we utilize real estate agents [crosstalk 00:17:09] every deal.
Jill DeWit:
Just about. That’s so good. Waiting for my script. Thanks for being honest. I should say, excuse me, and blow my nose. It’s my allergies. [crosstalk 00:17:27] Yeah. He’s claims it’s his allergies. It’s his script person who’s behind, anyway.
Steven Jack Butala:
I’m the script person and [crosstalk 00:17:36] in a real podcast, this would all be post produced out and you’d never know.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly, but that’s not how we roll. Thank you for tuning in. If you, by the way, are a Land Academy, don’t forget, join us on Discord.
Steve and Jill:
We’re Steve and Jill.
Steven Jack Butala:
Information …
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration …
Steven Jack Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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