Our Biggest Land Flipping Bottlenecks in 2021 (LA 1541)
Our Biggest Land Flipping Bottlenecks in 2021 (LA 1541)
Transcript:
Steven Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Hello.
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 scorching Scottsdale, Arizona.
Steven Butala:
Today, Jill and I talk about our biggest land flipping bottlenecks this year in 2021.
Jill DeWit:
I got two.
Steven Butala:
Yes, we’re not perfect.
Jill DeWit:
I got two. I’m sure there’s 20.
Steven Butala:
I have two also.
Jill DeWit:
Like, you know, you ask an unrelated third party, they’re like, “Oh, all right. Oh honey, sit down.”
Steven Butala:
I’ll tell you, we just started Career Path, the second Career Path. So everybody’s baring all. Like, this is what I want, this is what I do right and this is what I do wrong. And while we’re doing that, I’m looking at myself going, wow, we don’t have any of these issues, but these are our issues. So it’s really helpful in a group like that to hear what other people’s issues are.
Jill DeWit:
Like an AA meeting?
Steven Butala:
Yeah, just like that. Or Weight Watchers, yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. It’s really helpful in a closed environment where we can all share personal things.
Steven Butala:
Before we get into it though, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It’s free. And if you’re already a member, join us on Discord.
Jill DeWit:
That’s how I’m going to lead the next Career Path meeting. I’m going to say, “Everyone, this is a safe space.”
Steven Butala:
Taylor has a story here. It’s a little bit lengthy, but trust me, worth it.
Jill DeWit:
Okay, cool. All right. Taylor wrote, “I wanted to share my latest deal that was in a flood zone.” So if I can shed some light on buying flood zone properties.
Steven Butala:
Thank you, so I don’t have to do this.
Jill DeWit:
“I had a seller reach out to me after receiving one of my offers on a seven acre property. The seller informed me that he would sell at $35,000 and not a penny less. I began my due diligence and found the entire property is in a flood sound. However, there are mobile/RV parks and houses throughout the surrounding area all within the same flood zone. I researched and found the flood elevation is just above the surface of the property. I decided to purchase at the seller’s asking price, knowing it was higher than I would have liked, but knew there was a market for this property. After closing, the seller contacted me, thanking us for the purchase at his asking price because of medical bills stacking up from a health issue he was dealing with. The seller went on to tell me that several investors had inquired about this property, but all of them passed or tried to lower the price due to the flood zone. I listed the property a week later and sold it within five days for $72,500. The buyer had been looking for property for over a year just like this one.”
Jill DeWit:
Two lessons to take note of here. Number one, not all flood zones are bad.
Steven Butala:
Totally.
Jill DeWit:
Just look at Phoenix, your famous one. Just because a property is in a flood zone does not mean the property won’t sell.
Steven Butala:
Absolutely.
Jill DeWit:
Make sure to cover your due diligence, know what’s developed around the area, know the restrictions on what you can and cannot do with the property and make sure to know where the flood elevation is. Number two, sellers and buyers both have problems that they’re looking to resolve. Take the time to look into these deals and see what you can do to help. You never know. It may be profitable and beneficial for you as well.
Steven Butala:
Well said. Great story.
Jill DeWit:
That was great.
Steven Butala:
The entire city of Phoenix is in a flood zone. If you look it up on NeighborScoop and click the flood button at the end, complete entire-
Jill DeWit:
You’re like, what? Oh no, move.
Steven Butala:
We can move on after this sentence. The entire point in due diligence test for flood zones is relativity. It’s one word. If there’s a ton of property in a flood zone, yours is going to be okay. If the flood zone is running straight through some metropolitan area and nothing is built on it and there’s trees everywhere, and everybody has built on property around this flood area, then you don’t want to buy property in that type of flood zone.
Jill DeWit:
Then you know. That’s the easiest indication, and that’s just level one due diligence in your first five minutes when you’re looking at a property and you click through and just see. Right there, Taylor could click through and go, “Okay. It looks like it’s going to be fine based on what I’m seeing here.” Now, dig a little deeper. And good thing. Congrats, Taylor.
Steven Butala:
Today’s topic, our biggest land flipping bottlenecks in 2001, this year. This is the meat of the show.
Jill DeWit:
We should have serious ones, like serious work ones. I have two work ones.
Steven Butala:
You have social bottlenecks, Jill?
Jill DeWit:
And then I have some others I might want to …
Steven Butala:
Do you have a relationship bottleneck?
Jill DeWit:
I have that too.
Steven Butala:
I can’t wait to hear about this.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, this is going to be good.
Steven Butala:
This is one of those I’m in for it episodes.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah, we’ve got to talk. So here’s the thing. If I have a partner meeting or a personal meeting here, it’s a safe space.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, we can’t get too into them on the show.
Jill DeWit:
Because there’s a camera. Nobody can say, “I didn’t say that.” Oh, why don’t you go first?
Steven Butala:
Before we start this, I will tell you, we will make probably $2 million buying and selling land this year.
Jill DeWit:
Just land.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, just land, with no other companies. So do we really have bottlenecks really?
Jill DeWit:
Sure.
Steven Butala:
You always can improve. We’re both going to agree, Jill and I, that our single biggest bottleneck is an incredibly effective full-time sales person.
Jill DeWit:
More. I have things taped together. So yeah. So, this is my side of the sheet. Is that on your side of the sheet? You’re calling it yours or mine? I was going to do my bottlenecks.
Steven Butala:
This whole thing is just a full truth time.
Jill DeWit:
I thought you said our bottlenecks.
Steven Butala:
This is a full-blown truth time. I’ll tell you what. I could forever send out mail and forever probably generate $100 million if we had the sell side machine in place, and we just don’t. And we will. Jill’s working on it.
Jill DeWit:
We have, it goes away. I lose focus. Things change. What happens is I move people into different parts of our business. That’s part of our thing. People that we’ve had like, oh, you’re so good at this, that get moved into other positions. I’m like, “Well, that’s great. Now I have a hole over here.” So that’s a bottleneck for us right there too, moving staff around a little bit.
Steven Butala:
Staffing has been our and always will be a bottleneck for us.
Jill DeWit:
I’m always hiring.
Steven Butala:
And I think everybody, everyone.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. So that’s one of mine. So we covered that then on the sales side. But one of my other bottlenecks is for me personally, and it’s business related too, is I need to do a better job of cutting myself free time and really cutting loose. You may not know that, but I work a lot. Do you know that?
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven Butala:
Jill, I’ve forever said, “Close the computer top and let’s go have fun.”
Jill DeWit:
I know, that’s the thing.
Steven Butala:
I’m forever saying that to you.
Jill DeWit:
I know that. That’s why I’m admitting to it. It’s still a bottleneck. I take ownership. My name is Jill and I’m a workaholic and I’m a deal junkie.
Steven Butala:
You are both of those things.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you for letting me share in this meeting. Do I get a chip for day one? If I get through day one successfully?
Steven Butala:
I don’t think we should be making fun of this.
Jill DeWit:
No, I’m not. I’m not really … That’s a serious thing. No, I’m not making fun of that.
Steven Butala:
All right, good.
Jill DeWit:
I’m making fun of me with that. So, go ahead.
Steven Butala:
Types of projects. This is another hangup that we have, that I have, not Jill. Jill and I do separate deals.
Jill DeWit:
True.
Steven Butala:
She does all the deal funding deals. I just look at it. She’ll ask me to look at it once in a while.
Jill DeWit:
Sometimes he looks at it.
Steven Butala:
I mean, when she asks me, I’ll say yes or no.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah, that’s it. If I need your eyes.
Steven Butala:
Most of the time it’s like, oh my God, yes, we’re going to do this, or, oh my God, no. And it never gets to me. So consequently, I do these project type deals where I buy property in two or three different states. And we do what’s called a minor split. So, we split them up and get them ready for mobile homes.
Jill DeWit:
True.
Steven Butala:
And that’s all with me.
Jill DeWit:
All on you.
Steven Butala:
If I had a project manager who would manage all of that full-time, who also had a dynamic personality and could manage the sales piece, because we already know who’s going to buy these properties long before we even start down this path because they’re working on their own projects. They’re putting mobile homes up in those areas. So it doesn’t take three or four people to notify them of the fact that we bought these properties, we’re minor splitting them in, and they’re all ready for mobile homes and here’s the utilities. Here’s a scenario and here’s a budget for you. Here’s how you’re going to make 100 grand on each unit.
Steven Butala:
If I had a project manager that could do that full-time from start to finish and answer the phone on these and just handle it all the way through, basically somebody that would be a junior, has Jill’s sales ability and my technical ability. I would do the mailers. I’d do the mailers. We would do 100 of these things.
Jill DeWit:
I know.
Steven Butala:
We just don’t because if that person, generally, especially in our group, has that level of talent, they’re doing it for themselves.
Jill DeWit:
Correct.
Steven Butala:
It doesn’t take long to see if you’re sitting in Jill’s desk, in Jill’s office or next to me, it doesn’t take a couple of months to really say, “Well, why don’t I just do this myself?”
Jill DeWit:
Correct. Oh, for us, or you mean somebody else?
Steven Butala:
No, if we hire somebody and then they’re like, all that’s missing is-
Jill DeWit:
Oh, I know. Thanks for teaching me. See ya.
Steven Butala:
And that’s what Land Academy is.
Jill DeWit:
That’s true.
Steven Butala:
We have graduated from eating ramen noodles.
Jill DeWit:
I know.
Steven Butala:
Let’s put it that way. We’re not starving here. But it could be institutional.
Jill DeWit:
If you’re a Land Academy member that’s burned out on your own deals and you want to do mine, please come forward.
Steven Butala:
And you’re an interesting person.
Jill DeWit:
Yes, please come forward. You just want a hefty salary and not have to … I’ll happily. But nobody wants to do that. I get it. I understand.
Steven Butala:
Alice Cooper is famous for saying, “There’s a lot of people that can play an amazing guitar. There’s very, very few people I can stand to be on a tour bus for more than two hours with.”
Jill DeWit:
Yes, I get that.
Steven Butala:
That’s the same problem here.
Jill DeWit:
Yep. So whatever your bottlenecks are … Hey, we’re halfway through the year. That’s the point here. We’re right now, halfway through the year, and I hope you’re taking a step back, looking at your business, looking at your goals, reassessing where you are, because we’re doing a lot of that right now with Career Path number two, and going for your big push through the end of the year to hit it because you can. Boy, by the way, this summer right now with people out of school and property exchanging hands so fast, it’s amazing. I have properties right now that I kind of forgot about, and then here comes a buyer. I’m like, “Oh, yay,” because there’s little out there. It’s getting to be, I think it’s shifting back to a sellers market. I’m selling out of stuff. I’ve got to go get some more. And nobody knows how to get it like us.
Steven Butala:
Total sellers market for sure, and it’s here to stay for a while. We went around the room in Career Path yesterday and said this very topic, what’s your bottleneck or what’s the problem that you have to solve? And more than half of the people said deal flow. And now that just made me smile the entire time, because I can solve that. Deal flow, if you’re effective at answering the phone and you’re effective at sending mailers out-
Jill DeWit:
And posting property.
Steven Butala:
… then you can post it and sell it. That’s the hugest part of this. I can teach you about real estate. It’s really easy. And I can show you almost overnight how you can quadruple your deal flow, and that’s for anything. That’s for apartment buildings, skyscrapers, mobile home parks, houses, or land. We just happen to specialize in land because it’s so easy. The deals are so easy.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. Happy you could join us today. Five days a week, you can find us right here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven Butala:
Tomorrow, the episode on the Land Academy Show is, well, it’s Jack Thursday. What mailer size should I send? You are not alone in your real estate ambition. How much money do you want to make, and I’ll tell you exactly how much mail to send out.
Jill DeWit:
Awesome. If you need access to any sort of ownership or property details, including owner phone numbers and FEMA flood map overlays, check out neighborscoop.com, created by investors, that’s us, for investors like you. But hold on a moment. I almost forgot to include, because we’re going to be changing the name from NeighborScoop to ParcelFact, so that’s why I’m talking about both. So check out neighborscoop.com. It’s a little bit of a meeting here. And check out parcelfact.com. So I just made a mistake and I’m fixing it. Okay. Now we’re back. We are Steve and Jill.
Steven Butala:
We are Steve and Jill. Information.
Jill DeWit:
And irritation-
Steven Butala:
To buy-
Jill DeWit:
… with myself.
Steven Butala:
It’s not me at least.
Jill DeWit:
No, it’s not you.
Steven Butala:
That’s unusual. Undervalued property.
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