How Much Monthly Income is Right for You (LA 1373)
How Much Monthly Income is Right for You (LA 1373)
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 Dewitt, broadcasting from sunny Southern California.
Steven Butala:
Today Jill and I talk about how much monthly income is right for you. A lot of times, Jill and I have real technical shows like why Black Knights new products are so awesome. And a lot of times we don’t have technical shows. This is a non-technical one. These are fun for me.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. I’m glad.
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:
I hate to tell you this. I’m not sure we’re recording. Oh, it is. Sorry. You know what’s so funny, I can’t see from our, we moved our screens around a little bit and I usually see this little ticker going along and I didn’t see the ticker going along. I’m like, uh-oh, but we are in good shape. Thank you very much. Hey, it’s Friday. Thank you for embracing the casual here.
Okay. Joseph wrote, “Hi all. I have sent out a mailer recently and have received several responses. A lot of the interests I received has been for parcels that are completely wooded. The lots have been located inside smaller cities, like less than 5,000 people, just by happenstance, so hunting on them would be out. My question, is this, does anyone have an idea on how to spin a tale that could sell completely forested property or is it even worth pursuing? I have not yet purchased any of them so far, but they’re definitely in ideal locations. I would appreciate any advice anyone has on this subject.”
You know what, this sings to me.
Steven Butala:
It sings to me too.
Jill DeWit:
Because it took me a while, Joseph, to get this, not, it didn’t take me awhile, but I had to embrace this concept. And I think this is what’s going on. Just because it’s not your cup of tea doesn’t mean it’s somebody else’s. I, early on, was shocked and amazed by the number of people that want really remote properties. And then I was shocked and amazed by people who want this kind of access. And then I was amazed by people who want this size and this, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.
Steven Butala:
Doesn’t matter at all.
Jill DeWit:
You are perceiving what you think might be a negative thing about a property is a positive thing to the right person. And all you have to do is properly convey whatever it is. Celebrate this whatever attribute and I mean, every property has an attribute. There are properties out there that are so heavily wooded that someone’s like, “I love it. I can have a little path and a hidden driveway and nobody knows I’m back there.”
Steven Butala:
That’s me. I fall into that group.
Jill DeWit:
See, there you go. And there’s other people like no, I’m spending a million dollars on this house. I want everybody who drives right by to see my million dollar plantation, whatever it is. I have properties that are in every possible part of they’ve been cleared, they’ve not been cleared. They have a cliff, they don’t have a cliff. Whatever it is. There’s a few things that you want to always check the boxes and just make sure you’re addressing. Those are the five A’s that you know about Joseph, which are also I’ll state them just real quickly here. Access, attribute, acreage, affordability, and the new one we’ve added, which is alive. When you buy a property, make sure they can-
Steven Butala:
They can sign the deed over.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. It’s not going to be a nightmare getting it out of their name into your name. Or the person who died 50 years ago into your name. So you want to address those things, but you can’t assume, and you can’t think that someone’s going to want it. There’s somebody, there’s probably a lot of people who would love this. I think this would actually kind of sing to me. You mean I could be right in the heart of it all, but not feel like I’m in the heart of it all because my property is so wooded. Yippie ki yay.
Steven Butala:
I put this in here because the first time I read it, I chuckled to myself because you found rough diamonds, they just are uncut diamonds. This is what I look for. When I send a mailer out, I want to be in cities that are smaller than 5,000. That’s what zoom cities are right now. And with lots of woods and great access. I mean, you nailed it. So I don’t think you have to spin anything. I think all you got to do is buy it and smack a sign in front of it. And you’re going to laugh at how fast this stuff sells.
We’ve been out here, I grew up in Michigan so I love what forested property, I’ve been out here out to the west, in the desert, some version of the desert since the early nineties and I’m tired of it. I don’t want, I want wooded property. I want what Jill said. I want a clear path back there and nobody knows it’s there. And so does everybody else. In a town of 5,000, less than 5,000 people, that’s a dream. You just told a story.
Jill DeWit:
That’s true.
Steven Butala:
One of the things that we teach about how to sell real estate is tell a story. Paint this little, kind of a Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls story about how great life can be in on a paid for piece of property and with a small little cabin.
Jill DeWit:
Throw a stream in there and now you’re, that’s really his dream.
Steven Butala:
You inadvertently painted that picture and then said, but maybe I have to spin it. No, you don’t have to spin it. Believe me you’re going to do great with this type of property. Start signing deeds. That’s what I say.
Today’s topic, how much monthly income is right for you? This is the meat of the show.
Jill, how much money is enough?
Jill DeWit:
You know what’s funny, I’ve been thinking about this, because we’ve been talking about where are we going to go next? Because as much as this is just living the dream right now in Southern California, with the expenses, that’s a really good question. I’m trying to think if I can put a dollar amount on it and I bet I could. It’s really about the lifestyle for me so.
Steven Butala:
Well, okay. This is so much fun for me. This is like a family meeting.
Jill DeWit:
It’s like family counseling.
Steven Butala:
You have control. I mean, I don’t believe that spending more money is a better life.
Jill DeWit:
I concur.
Steven Butala:
I don’t believe that.
Jill DeWit:
I concur. Saving money is a better life.
Steven Butala:
It’s fun for me to save money too. I think that $20,000 a month, if you can’t live, if your house has paid, you don’t have any real estate, personal real estate costs, if you can’t live on 20,000 a month, something’s really wrong. And if you can’t live on 10 as a family, 20, maybe just two people on 10, something’s really wrong.
Jill DeWit:
So 20 as a family, 10 for two people?
Steven Butala:
Yeah. Especially because with little kids and education and there’s some other stuff that goes on. College, you got to save for all of that. But no, $10,000 a month with paid for real estate, what are you going to spend that on? Food’s probably a thousand.
Jill DeWit:
Not traveling a lot right now.
Steven Butala:
Insurance, total insurance costs with a couple of cars and health insurance?
Jill DeWit:
A couple thousand.
Steven Butala:
Couple thousand a month. So after tax, 10,000 a month with real estate paid for it, now we haven’t spent fixed costs, you haven’t spent three or 4,000 a month. And then if you’re saving 5,000 for rainy day, every single month, 10 grand should do it. 10 grand’s always been the number in my head. We spend way, way more than that in this stupid Los Angeles area that we live in. And that’s our own fault.
Jill DeWit:
It’s true.
Steven Butala:
And I don’t think that that translates into any much better lifestyle. I think that it was fun for a while, but.
Jill DeWit:
Uh-oh. He’s using this to drop a bomb on me right now.
Steven Butala:
No I’m not, not at all. I’m not at all. I’ve had a blast here, past tense. And I’m having fun too. It’s just I think it’s really easy to get wrapped up in your own little world and then not see any reality. And that’s one of the reasons that you have … that I’m in a relationship. So, your partner can tell you, you really don’t need to make $50,000 a month. And there’s two people in a relationship.
Jill DeWit:
Or if you’re trying, if you’re killing yourself to do it, kind of thing.
Steven Butala:
Right, right. That’s really bad.
Jill DeWit:
That’s the point that I’d like to make. When you figure out what’s right for you and your family, you don’t need to kill yourself, proving something else. Because then it’s not going to be, no one’s going to have any fun and you need to be enjoying this. So I know there’s people right now listening, they’re like laughing at us going, “I can live on 3000 a month. You guys are nuts.”
Steven Butala:
Oh yeah sure. Absolutely.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. I’m sure of it too. And you know what, you’re right. You are correct. So whatever the number is, it doesn’t matter. Are you getting what you want out of it? There’s a lot of people in our group, a ton of people here at LA County, which always amazes me, that want no part of being on the forefront of anything, being known for anything. They are happily, quietly doing a small amount of deals at the prices that make sense to them. They just don’t want to work that hard. And they love it. I noticed people doing a deal a week average, making a good living and their house is paid for.
Steven Butala:
A deal a week?
Jill DeWit:
Seriously. Yeah. And house is paid for. They don’t have to work that hard and everybody’s doing great. And I think that’s awesome.
Steven Butala:
I mean, go ahead. A deal at week, you should be making $50,000 a month, minimum.
Jill DeWit:
But again, what if you don’t want to? You may not want to, that’s okay.
Steven Butala:
Jill, I’m not … where is this coming from? I’m the one who’s plugging 10 grand.
Jill DeWit:
I feel like you keep pushing the number higher and I know think it needs to be higher.
Steven Butala:
No, I’m not. I’m pushing it lower. I think a deal a month, if you do one deal a month and you make it count, you should be all set.
Jill DeWit:
I think if it were me and I was by myself, okay, let’s just not, say I was the breadwinner. And it was me and I’m want to do a deal a week because I want to have, I’m helping my kids with school. I’m enjoying my life. I get to go take my motorcycle out, do whatever I want to do. Take my horse out. Then I think a deal week’s great. And let’s just say, I make, 5,000 a week. I think that that ties into your thing. That’s easy.
Steven Butala:
We’re saying the exact same thing. I’m not pushing it higher.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
I think it depends on where you are in your life. But that’s what the title of this is, how much is right for you?
Jill DeWit:
Right.
Steven Butala:
I would think, the people that I know in our group, especially the ones in the advanced group, they’re not even looking at how much money they’re making any more at all. They’re focusing on the machine and what comes in that month, once you get to a point where you realize this works and it works for you and you’ve worked the kinks out for you and it’s in an LLC and you’re not taking a salary.
Jill DeWit:
You have a system. Right.
Steven Butala:
Jill and I live on our salaries. And then we just keep piling money on top of it. And what doesn’t pay our salaries and our staff and all that stuff goes into the bank. It’s like now I don’t look at that anymore at all. I look at the number of deals we’re doing. I look for any like kinks. Like did something go wrong last month? That’s all it becomes. After about two years of this, it’s not even about how much money. When you in the beginning though, it really matters.
Jill DeWit:
Right. It does. But yeah, you reach a point where you’re like, now it’s not about that. I remember learning somebody a long time ago, when they first started in Land Academy, there was a tough time in their family and their career. And all they could think about was now we have we’re ahead one months of our bills. And now we’re ahead six months of our bills.
Steven Butala:
That’s a very valid concern.
Jill DeWit:
And now we’re ahead 12 months on our bills, which is really kind of cool. That’s how they gaged their career and their bank balance and everything like that. Not that that was good. They didn’t change what they made every month or what they were going to spend every month. They looked at like, wow, we have two years worth of living expenses in the bank.
Steven Butala:
That’s super healthy.
Jill DeWit:
It is. And so you get to a point, if that sings to you and you think like that, that’s such a great thing. And you know that after three years you’re like, well, I got this.
Steven Butala:
You know what, let’s talk about that for a second.
Jill DeWit:
Now you don’t think about it.
Steven Butala:
Everybody runs their house different or their companies or their relationship or whatever. You can look at real estate statistics like that too.I don’t look at available inventory. There’s a statistic out there that some people just love, like what’s a monthly supply of houses in relation to demand, it’s always 1.2 or 1.7 months of available inventory. And I’ve never understood that and don’t care.
Jill DeWit:
Me too.
Steven Butala:
Do you care about that stuff?
Jill DeWit:
No, I don’t. I don’t get that statistic either.
Steven Butala:
Some people just hang their hat on that.
Jill DeWit:
I’m like, I don’t care. Because I’m going to make a deal. I’ll make a deal where there is none. Watch me.
Steven Butala:
Right. Me too. I’ll create my own market.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah, I don’t care.
Steven Butala:
The person that Jill’s talking about, I have total respect for them and it’s great that they see it that way. I don’t see months of on hand cash.
Jill DeWit:
No, I don’t either. Right.
Steven Butala:
What I look for, and my whole point in explaining all this, and we’re just talking about is as long as whoever you are listener, that you have some version of this, you’re going to do great. Whatever that makes sense to you. So for that person, that’s months on hand of expenses. What I look for is can I get out of some financial situation if I need to and how many fallbacks do I have? Do I have a paid for, two paid for houses somewhere? Maybe I’m renting them out and I kick the tenant out and I live there. If something really goes sideways. So I’ve kind of built safety nets or fallbacks for us. And so, after the fifth or sixth safety net of things that could go wrong, you’re going to be okay.
You have enough money to live on for the rest of your life. And that’s kind of where we are now. We have paid for real estate everywhere. We have easily enough money to live on for the rest of our lives, easily. And so it’s like, all right, it’s not a monthly income, but everybody starts in the same place. And I started long before I met Jill, I’m like, how much does it cost to live? And I’m going to do two things, raise my monthly income to get there and reduce my expenses to get there. And once you’ve configured that out or whatever that means to you, that’s the definition by the way of being a responsible person.
Jill DeWit:
I hate being a responsible person.
Steven Butala:
That’s why you have me.
Jill DeWit:
I guess.
Steven Butala:
And you know what, that’s what I love about you, among the many things I love about you. I love that you’re like, you’re just-
Jill DeWit:
I want to be the goof off.
Steven Butala:
You’re nuts, man. I have a blast with you Jill.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you. Same here.
Steven Butala:
I’m serious.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you very much. Happy you could join us today. Five days a week, Monday through Friday, you can find us right here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven Butala:
Join us next week for another interesting episode, because you are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill DeWit:
You know how to let your hair down too.
Steven Butala:
Oh yeah. But I’ll tell you, it’s hard to do that.
Jill DeWit:
Don’t be fooled listener, he’s can go crazy too.
Steven Butala:
It’s hard to do that. It’s always been hard for me to do that when the work’s not done. Everybody needs to blow steam off, but the more safety nets that are in place, or however you define that for yourself, the easier it is to just say, “Yeah, I might not work today.” Or it’s three o’clock, usually I’d work till seven. I’m done at three.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. I’ve witnessed that a bit lately. Just a bit.
Steven Butala:
You know why? Because we’re killing it. That’s the reason.
Jill DeWit:
I know.
Steven Butala:
I had never seen a real estate like this.
Jill DeWit:
Do you know what’s funny, I have, it’s funny when I let my hair down, I can go nuts. But for a lot of the time, I can’t. If I’m home, I’m focused. I feel like I should be working. I should be working. I should be working and really getting ahead. Again, so then when I really do go nuts, I don’t have to think about it. I earned it. I know I earned it. That’s for sure.
Steven Butala:
Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
Thanks for tuning in. We hope you find our content valuable and we do appreciate your support. If you have not, please get on over to our YouTube channel and hit the subscribe button.
Steven Butala:
And your comments and suggestions help us to create the type of content you’re here for. Hitting the like button on your favorite episodes helps us support our channels algorithm. Engage your interests for future shows. We are Steve and Jill.
Jill DeWit:
We are Steve and Jill.
Steven Butala:
Information.
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration.
Steven Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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