The Role of Research in Land Investing (LA 1845)
The Role of Research in Land Investing (LA 1845)
Transcript:
Steven Jack Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill K DeWit:
Hi.
Steven Jack Butala:
Welcome to the Land Academy Show Entertaining Real Estate Investment Talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill K DeWit:
And I’m Jill DeWit, broadcasting from the valley of the sun.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today, Jill and I talk about the role of research in land investing and it’s not a minor role. Like I said yesterday, we just are in the information age, literally. And there’s not a topic I’ve ever couldn’t find any content or reviews on on the internet about anything to make a really well informed decision.
Jill K DeWit:
Let me give you some truth here about Jack.
Steven Jack Butala:
Let’s do the show first.
Jill K DeWit:
No, no, no. This ties into this. Give me just a second here. One of the lovely things about our relationship, the ying and the yang.
Steven Jack Butala:
One of the lovely things.
Jill K DeWit:
Lovely. No, it is actually. This is a good thing.
Steven Jack Butala:
Not one of the horrific things.
Jill K DeWit:
No, I’ll talk about that later. So the lovely things is you are research nut. You dig in and research like no one I’ve ever known. And want to know what’s great about that is I hate research. Can’t stand it.
Steven Jack Butala:
Really?
Jill K DeWit:
Oh, yeah. Oh, no. No, I
Steven Jack Butala:
How could you hate research?
Jill K DeWit:
Well, because I’m not because I’d rather be off doing something fun. I don’t want to sit and make sure I’m doing the, pick the right one. I’m like, yeah, pick it. Let’s just go. Let’s have some fun. No, but you’re like, no, we need to look at this. I need to think about that. I need to check this and weigh against that. I need to pull these reports and I need to make sure. So this is all ending in a positive. It may not still like it, but what’s great is no matter what it is when you finally come to me with something and say, “I think we should pull the trigger. I think this is a good idea.” I don’t have to worry about it. Because I know you put in 10 to 20 times more research than I would’ve.
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s necessary. Probably 10 to 20 times more. But then I know.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah. And welcome to land academy. That’s like buying property. So I, trust me. I adopt it there and there I do it. I do it quicker. Well, not necessarily. We’re both really fast about it, but I know what to look for to pick a property and if I’m not sure about it, if needs more research or something, we’re going to find out. I’m not going to make a knee jerk decision. So thank you.
Steven Jack Butala:
I’m in a lifelong professional and interpersonal relationship with a salesperson. Think about that.
Jill K DeWit:
What was that all for?
Steven Jack Butala:
Send me a note. Send me an empathetic or sympathetic note.
Jill K DeWit:
What? What was that for?
Steven Jack Butala:
She wants to have fun. She doesn’t really care if there’s any math or money involved.
Jill K DeWit:
Nope.
Steven Jack Butala:
Her answer to all money questions is if it costs more, then I’ll just sell-
Jill K DeWit:
Must be better.
Steven Jack Butala:
Then I’ll just sell more.
Jill K DeWit:
Oh, that too. That’s right. No problem.
Steven Jack Butala:
I would much rather have this much larger diamond and next month I’ll just sell three times as much and it’ll be fine. And the problem with that is she has a long history of accomplishing that.
Jill K DeWit:
It works. [inaudible 00:03:06].
Steven Jack Butala:
So now I’m in this impossible position where I just pretty much can’t ever say no because every time I’ve ever done it, she just proves me wrong. This is a show.
Jill K DeWit:
You’re welcome.
Steven Jack Butala:
Before we get into it, just a question posted by one of our members on the land investors.com online community it’s free. Last year, a ton of land academy members came to Jill and I needing extra help getting their blind offer campaigns off to a good start and in the mail. So we took a look at that and we took a look at how we personally send out mailers and we used our current staff to get them in the mail. Well, we decided to make that a product called concierge mailer or concierge data as it’s called now. Go to offers to owners and send, contact them and ask them about concierge data. Hundreds of our members are outsourcing their entire mail effort to make it consistent. Like we talked about yesterday, consistent.
Jill K DeWit:
Easy.
Steven Jack Butala:
And quality and easy.
Jill K DeWit:
And easy and save you some time.
Steven Jack Butala:
Exactly.
Jill K DeWit:
Yep.
Steven Jack Butala:
Go to offers to owners.com.
Jill K DeWit:
Okay. Aaron wrote, “Hi, y’all. So I have a property listed my first and it’s been on Zillow for 28 days has about 1100 views and 70 saves, which I think is pretty good, but I’m a little tempted to lower the price to get a sale. Should I just leave the price as is because the marketing seems to be working and people are showing interest or should I lower the price and get the show on the road?” Five.
Oh, that’s not. That’s [inaudible 00:04:42].
Steven Jack Butala:
Something else.
Jill K DeWit:
Okay. Got it.
Steven Jack Butala:
That’s the, whoever produced this…
Jill K DeWit:
Just can’t get it right.
Steven Jack Butala:
I’ll talk to the guy.
Jill K DeWit:
Oh, would you please? Thank you. That’d be great. So what’s funny about this. Sometimes, raising the price, before you lower a price, make sure you’re doing it right because sometimes raising the price is even more effective because you might be priced a little too low. You have to really make sure, I don’t think 28 days is necessarily bad. I think you need to check the competition though and see what’s the average. I’m assuming, because think about it before you mailed this area and the zip code, I’m assuming you did the red, yellow, green test. So you already have a good idea of what the average days of market are. So if you’re still in there, I wouldn’t be so quick to lower the price.
I have a property right now with a broker and we had a six months listing because that’s what I don’t let him do a year. We have a six months listing and we’re month 5.1 or something like that, right? So we’re approaching our six month mark and he’s like, “Oh shoot, I have to get this sold now or I’m not going to get my commission.” So his first answer is, “Hey, Jill, we should lower the price.” I’m like, “Hold on a moment.”
So at first I entertained it. I went, all right, let go look at this stuff and I looked around, I’m like, “Oh no. No, we’re priced right. He’s not doing his part.” So there’s something else missing. So I want you to first, before you lower the price, if you’re getting the views, is there something missing? Is there some attribute that’s not really being showcased?
Steven Jack Butala:
Is it being presented correctly?
Jill K DeWit:
Is it reaching?
Steven Jack Butala:
Are the right, if there’s a broker. Yeah. If there’s a broker, is it that the right person? Is it posted everywhere, not just Zillow?
Jill K DeWit:
It’s social to media, not just Zillow. Is it out there? Is it in, I just had a woman the other day. It’s like, “Oh my gosh, I’ve had so much luck. Most of my property sells when I get into these Facebook groups that are local to the area and or whatever the property is.” Like it’s a hunting property. Well, then I’m putting my Tennessee hunting property in Tennessee hunting groups. Gee, you think that might work? Yeah it does. So I think there’s something going on that I want you to really look at first.
Steven Jack Butala:
Here’s one of the things that I learned about since I met Jill, one of the many, many things and I’m a lifelong hardcore seasoned land investor, enough that we have a show like this with the 18 or a 1900 episodes. Real estate is cyclical every year. Right now, I mean, when I met Jill, it’s a typical guy thing. It’s like what? January’s the same as March. March is the same as November. And when the hell is Labor Day, what is Labor Day? I don’t even care. I don’t plan anything around that.
Jill K DeWit:
That’s right.
Steven Jack Butala:
Well, I was wrong over the years. Jill said, “Look, the kids are going back to school. We should sell more real estate right after that happens, not before.” What the hell are you talking about kids are going back to school? And when does that happen anyway? The kids just went back to school and you had a lull here, Aaron and I bet it’s because of that. Because nobody cares about buying land or buying real estate at all.
Jill K DeWit:
Or summer vacation. Yeah. They’re all out having fun.
Steven Jack Butala:
Next month, whole different story. Everybody’s going to get back to their lives. People who buy and sell real estate are going to get back to it. And so I have really laughed out loud and in Jill’s face at things like this over the years. And here I am, it’s 2022 and I’m absolutely telling you, there’s huge cycles that go on annually in real estate. If you go back and listen to our podcast years ago, we would always, every holiday time during Christmas and the whole thing Jill’s like, “Are you kidding me? We sell real estate on Christmas day all the time because everybody’s bored.” And I said, I have historically said, I worried about going out of business because it was so dead between the end of December and then beginning of January and then January everybody’s back. They sober up and start buying and selling real estate again. Thank you.
Jill K DeWit:
So which I prove you wrong is what you’re saying.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah, you proved me wrong like 19 ways on cycles.
Jill K DeWit:
It’s true.
Steven Jack Butala:
Because I want everything to be consistent. I’m a regular weirdo male. I want it to all be the same every month. I want it to be consistent every month or go up a little bit and then I want to have a couple beers and go to sleep.
Jill K DeWit:
And I will eat the same thing every day. I understand. I know.
Steven Jack Butala:
What the helpful was that?
Jill K DeWit:
Welcome to my world.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today’s topic, we’ll get to you in a minute. The role of research in land investing, this is the meat of the show. As I said-
Jill K DeWit:
Thank goodness. We finally got to this, geez.
Steven Jack Butala:
As I said earlier, we just live in this information age and I couldn’t be happier with the amount of data and information that’s available. I don’t change a light bulb without going on a YouTube to see how other people are doing it, to see if I’m doing it right. And the same thing, times 10, with something as important as buying and selling land. And so this day and age, you can tell very quickly whether or not you’re interested in buying and selling land as a career. You can tell all, you have all the answers to all of this. You just have to put the time and the research in to figure out and whatever your question is. Should I be buying this piece of land? Well, geez, there’s so much accumulated data about what’s happening in that little market and it’s all free.
So the role of research is happily and amazingly infinite when it comes to buying real estate and the good news is that next week it’s going to be better than it was last week. And five years from now, can you imagine-
Jill K DeWit:
Only imagine.
Steven Jack Butala:
The amount of data that we’re going to have when we reel in a great piece of real estate and see whether or not how we should price it? Should we buy it? What’s going on with this seller? Are the sellers alive on and on and on. We already have a ton of access to data with Land Academy members about chain of title and all kinds of amazing things.
Jill K DeWit:
Bet you’re right. What if there’s a way in the future, I’m just thinking ahead. I bet there’s going to be a way that we can, sadly, tie obituaries to properties.
Steven Jack Butala:
Sure. You can tie all that stuff.
Jill K DeWit:
And see what’s going to be passed down to the kids. I bet that’s going to happen.
Steven Jack Butala:
There’s a huge variance right now in computer users. My dad’s 83 or something like that and is in his eighties and he uses a computer, believe it or not. And the internet and the texting in the whole thing, he uses it. But let me tell you he doesn’t use it the way I use it and I’m in my fifties. I do not use a computer and a phone the way that our kids do, who are in their twenties. And when they have children, I’m sure it’s going to be very, very different. I can’t, I’m sure that if you talk to somebody who’s 22 years old, they can’t even imagine walking into a store or using or ever making any decision without finding out what 500 other people think about it.
Jill K DeWit:
Right? Or a better price.
Steven Jack Butala:
So we’re in this strange-
Jill K DeWit:
Or being delivered.
Steven Jack Butala:
How does that apply to land? When people get our offers, very often, they have never used computer entirely. They’ll mail the offer, but sign it and mail it back.
Jill K DeWit:
True.
Steven Jack Butala:
And so this is the heyday we’re in this gap between not the whole world’s not on the internet, but in about 10 years, they will be, 10 or 15 years. Through attrition, the people that don’t use the internet will be removed from the market. They’ll pass away, which will make room for, at some point, everyone will be using the internet that’s similarly to the way that we do.
Jill K DeWit:
Know what that tells me? You need to have your online presence established. Even though you said a lot of our members, which is true. A lot of our sellers are not tech savvy. And if you’ve ever talked to these people, you know what I’m talking about? They don’t even know that there’s a camera on their phone, that they could sign the offer and take a picture of it. That blows their mind.
Steven Jack Butala:
If they have a phone.
Jill K DeWit:
Right? So-
Steven Jack Butala:
Or I guess they’re talking on the [inaudible 00:12:49] phone.
Jill K DeWit:
No, they’re on the landline, but maybe, they probably have a cell phone and has its big numbers and they don’t know there’s a camera there. But there’s a lot of people that do and you should have your online presence established. People are going to research you. So I think of this show as two things, not just the research we can do and we complete ourselves picking an area, picking a property, all the great stuff and you’re right. Gosh, it’s changed so much even since I got together with you, which feels like just yesterday. I’m all sarcastic today. I’m a little punchy because we’re leaving town, but…
Steven Jack Butala:
Maybe you’re going to leave town or [inaudible 00:13:36].
Jill K DeWit:
Maybe I’m leaving town.
Steven Jack Butala:
I’m not.
Jill K DeWit:
Yeah, one of us is leaving town.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. One or both of us will be leaving town, yep, tomorrow morning.
Jill K DeWit:
Exactly. Steve RVs rolling out. It’s your guess who’s in it.
Steven Jack Butala:
Maybe both of us might be leaving town in separate directions.
Jill K DeWit:
Exactly. Tune in next week to-
Steven Jack Butala:
Tune in next week, where it’s the Jill show.
Jill K DeWit:
Exactly. There’s Jack in the RV. Where’s Jill? Uh-oh. She’s at a spa in the Caribbean.
Steven Jack Butala:
Jill’s spa day. And then what? Then how much real estate are you going to buy? None.
Jill K DeWit:
Exactly. So, oh my gosh. That’s good. So anyway, I lost my total train of thought, but that was worth it. So it’s just, the research that we do before we do everything that we do. Oh, I was, that’s what I was going to say. How much things have changed since I even started man mapping and parcel fact and what a dream that has been. I love it. To what it’s going to be in the future is going to be amazing. I did not know, by the way. I was using NeighborScoop before the merge and that was not on my phone. And I didn’t know ParcelFact was on our phone the whole time. So I’m like, duh. So now I’m using ParcelFact on my phone. It’s so much easier. Back to the topic.
Steven Jack Butala:
So what’s going to happen with this shift. So right now we’re in this beautiful variance of people, real estate owners that aren’t really aware of what potentially could be an incredibly efficient market. Like at some point, just theoretically, the way that stocks were traded a lot of years ago without computers was you’d get on the phone, call your broker and place an order. And the order would get filled sometime that day, if you’re lucky by somebody who’s literally in the New York exchange standing out there flashing what they were willing to pay and there’s a receiver that says, “Yeah, I’ll sell you that stock for that value.”
But it’s way more efficient now. Computers have made that incredibly efficient. So we’re still in those old stock exchange floor days where there’s this 90 year old seller and a 22 year old buyer and we’re putting a deal together. Soon, it’ll be become so efficient that you’re trading it on, and there won’t be the opportunities that there are now. That’s my point.
Jill K DeWit:
I have one last little nugget that before I’d like to end for me. When I first read the topic here, I was thinking of one awesome thing for anyone who’s really new in this in our space. For me, research equals knowledge, equals confidence.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah, that’s good. Leads to confidence.
Jill K DeWit:
So, yeah. So the more you research your areas and you get to know them before you’re mailing them as you’re mailing them while you’re talking to people, think about all the knowledge that you’re gaining from the research like, oh, I didn’t know that’s moving in over there. I didn’t know that. Not only am I learning where to send mail, but I’m really learning this area and all of that is going to make you more confident and a better investor. Thank you.
Happy you could join us today. Five days a week, you can find us here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven Jack Butala:
Tomorrow’s a Jacked Thursday and I’m going to talk about why killed several land deals that my partners already approved. Surprise, surprise. You are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill K DeWit:
Definitely. I know it’s not me. I’m willing to bet it’s not me because sometimes I kill. I think I’m the worst lately. What do you think?
Steven Jack Butala:
About killing deals? Yeah, you kill-
Jill K DeWit:
I think I’m the pickiest now.
Steven Jack Butala:
You are now deal killer lately.
Jill K DeWit:
I really am a deal killer. I’m a buzzkill and a deal killer. Just kidding. Not a buzz kill.
Hey, thanks for tuning in. And we would love to connect with you on Clubhouse. Join Jack and I every other Thursday. So not this Thursday, not tomorrow, but next Thursday, we’ll be there. We’re on the first and third Thursday of the month at noon Pacific time in the Land Investing Club. It’s pretty darn fun. Check it out.
Steven Jack Butala:
We are Jack and Jill.
Jill K DeWit:
We are Jack and Jill.
Steven Jack Butala:
Information.
Jill K DeWit:
And inspiration.
Steven Jack Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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