Internet Trolling has Become Acceptable Here is What We Do (LA 1549)
Internet Trolling has Become Acceptable Here is What We Do (LA 1549)
Transcript:
Steven J Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Hi.
Steven J 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 pretty Phoenix, Arizona.
Steven J Butala:
Today Jill and I talk about how internet trolling has become acceptable and this is what we do about it. Before we get into it, though, let’s take a question.
Jill DeWit:
I was thinking [crosstalk 00:00:28].
Steven J Butala:
Oh sorry.
Jill DeWit:
It’s okay.
Steven J Butala:
Go ahead.
Jill DeWit:
No, it’s just it makes me a little bit mad and it’s very interesting. And what does this have to do with us? We’ll tell you in a minute. It does.
Steven J Butala:
We created Land Academy.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven J Butala:
To really improve people’s lives and to create business partners for ourselves. And things like … you can’t ever anticipate something like this, but-
Jill DeWit:
It still happens.
Steven J Butala:
Ut won’t be prevalent in our group, let’s put it that way.
Jill DeWit:
[crosstalk 00:00:54] funny.
Steven J 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 and if you’re already with us and you’re not a troll, join us on Discord.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. So Vic wrote … this is long. So I’m going to do first part, you do the second part [crosstalk 00:01:12]-
Steven J Butala:
Long but incredibly important. This is a great question, a great series of questions and comments about access.
Jill DeWit:
Okay. So Vic wrote this initial question. I am in escrow on a property in Florida. And I’m running into a bit of a confusing situation for me as far as the access goes. I can clearly see a road running through the property and it has a street name as well. However, the township said they do not maintain it and is likely a private road or easement. When I look at the vesting deed, I see nothing in there about an easement. But what I do see on the deed after legal description is something that says less road right of way. So what does that mean? And what does this mean about the access?
Steven J Butala:
Excellent question. Access, access, access is one of our [crosstalk 00:02:03]-
Jill DeWit:
One of our five As.
Steven J Butala:
One of the five As and it’s incredibly important.
Jill DeWit:
It’s important. That’s why one of the As.
Steven J Butala:
[crosstalk 00:02:08] you or the person you sell it to, to get to your property, within reason, without a helicopter. Kevin responds, Vic, the road is most likely a private road, i.e. not maintained by the county. Exactly. This is something that will affect your ability to sell the property quickly. When you get the preliminary title report, they should have the easements called out on the property. The road right of way thing sounds like the county has an easement for a possible future road in that area. You need to know about that and how much it takes out of this parcel. Meaning it’s going to make it smaller. There’s already an easement in the deed of this property to another property or a set of properties. If you get the information from the title report and you don’t like the deal, you can renegotiate or decline to purchase. Jill and I just did this. You may have some fees to pay the title company if you need to do that. But that’s very unusual.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. Laurie went on to add, hey, I’ve had this situation play out in different ways. Some of them based on county records and others based on state law. But a title company should be the ones provide you the information. Here’s what I’ve seen. Number one, the private road and ownership marked on a survey for one of the bordering properties. Sorry.
Steven J Butala:
That’s awesome. [inaudible 00:03:31]. If you’re listening to this, we have-
Jill DeWit:
Our landscaper’s here.
Steven J Butala:
Landscapers.
Jill DeWit:
Yay.
Steven J Butala:
Drama in the back, which is pretty good.
Jill DeWit:
He looks like a gangster with his bread band bag.
Steven J Butala:
Looks like a gangster cowboy.
Jill DeWit:
Like someone’s going to jump us and he just is trying … he’s doing a sucky job sneaking up behind us.
Steven J Butala:
I hope this goes on the whole time.
Jill DeWit:
This is great. Okay, number two, the non [inaudible 00:03:54] road belongs to another owner or utility located further down the road and it was a state or county specific. I’m not sure which in need each case, whether the owner of the property was automatically granted use of the same road and that went through the property. So that was number two. Laurie has five different things to say?
Steven J Butala:
Yeah, five.
Jill DeWit:
Another situation. Number three, Laurie had. Based on state law, if the private road ever belonged to a large parcel that was split up, every subsequent split off has an easement to that road in perpetuity.
Steven J Butala:
That’s a good thing.
Jill DeWit:
So then that tenant company had to get a survey of the original undivided property. They’ll do that. Number four, these are another example she had, one was a single landlord property that had six recorded easements running through it for surrounded owners going back to the 1800s. But none of the roads existed anymore and the property had no access. So you’re correct. That one didn’t make any sense at all. And the number five example of what she had, there was continued long-term use of a road, which allowed the user to make a claim of adverse possession and which could be the person you’re buying from. That’s another legal issue with varying rules. So what’s important is to get the answer before you buy it.
Steven J Butala:
Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
Once I visited a property after I bought it, and the adjacent owner drove by three times while I was there, challenging me more aggressively each time about his exclusive ownership and use of the road. I gave him the name and number of the title officer and I don’t visit properties anymore. That’s funny. He tried to say it to Myra, and she was like, “I know you’re kind of on my property.”
Steven J Butala:
Here’s the point, and I didn’t put this in here to scare you, especially if you’re new. Access matters and it can get kind of dicey. The truth is, 95 … 98% of the time, when you do your initial 30 seconds of due diligence on NeighborScoop or Google Earth, it’s going to be very obvious whether or not the property has access. But for the smaller percentage time, two to 5% of the time, where the property and the price is quite simply just amazing and you can’t find the answer to access, you got to make a decision. And it all comes down to price. And what Jill usually does in those situations … and we buy these types of properties, questionable access properties, all the time. We just buy them really cheap. So access is something you need to know about. By no stretch do you need to be an expert. But please know that it’s important and try to get to the bottom of it like they both said.
Steven J Butala:
Today’s topic, internet trolling has become acceptable. Here’s what we do. This is the meat of the show. More and more, hopefully, you know what an internet troll is.
Jill DeWit:
Will you help us with the definition that you found?
Steven J Butala:
Sure. Okay.
Jill DeWit:
Because I was actually confused. I thought trolling was just like, I’m following along, like stalking.
Steven J Butala:
Like a follower?
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. Like a stalker. And you’re like, no, no, no internet trolling … because trolling does … trolling is [inaudible 00:06:56]. you’re not doing anything, you’re just following along, right? [crosstalk 00:06:59]. So that’s what I thought. And you’re like, nope. When you put the word internet in front of it, now it means something different. So I read the definition as per Steven’s request. So I thought it might be … seriously. I don’t think it’s bad to share that because there might be other people too that are just a little bit confused. I mean, I thought I knew but now I really know.
Steven J Butala:
The internet for better or for worse, this is my opinion, creates the perception that we are all equal, that we all are educated equally, we’re all experts or not experts in the same thing. We’re all the same. And this is just my opinion, that’s ridiculous. Some people are great at relationships, some people aren’t. Some people can buy land, some people can’t. Some people have no interest in buying land whatsoever, but love accounting. And there’s endless examples like this.
Steven J Butala:
So what’s becoming really common is trolling, which is just this outlandish response. I mean, the stuff that Jill and I get, I just … I laugh. There’s only … you have to laugh. But where I draw the line … trolling is just gang banging out-
Jill DeWit:
Give us the example. [crosstalk 00:08:12]-
Steven J Butala:
Like for instance, this is going to air, what I just said about equality and the internet. It’s going to air all over the place, like in probably 50 places, because that’s how this podcast works, including YouTube. And the trolls are going to have a lot to say about it.
Jill DeWit:
Well, internet trolling is … the whole point here is it’s not supportive, it’s not nice. Internet trolling, it’s people with malicious intent, setting out to do harm and say bad things and put people down for no real reason other than just [crosstalk 00:08:45]-
Steven J Butala:
They’re amusing themselves.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. There’s no money in this. [crosstalk 00:08:48] anything out of it.
Steven J Butala:
Well, because they don’t have control over anything in their life at all.
Jill DeWit:
Maybe.
Steven J Butala:
And this is their only way to just scream at the world.
Jill DeWit:
I got to say something. I just thought of an example. As you’re setting this up, you’re like, people think that we’re all equal, right? Can you imagine, what if I’m in a room and I pay big bucks to hear like Bill Gates speak and I raise my hand. It’d be … internet trolling is like this. No, Bill, that is not how it goes. By the way, this Microsoft thing was a joke.
Steven J Butala:
And you’re a joke.
Jill DeWit:
You really thought … you’re a joke.
Steven J Butala:
And personally, I don’t like you.
Jill DeWit:
I don’t know how you have this much money because I should have that much money because I came up with it. Oh, and by the way, it was my idea before you. [inaudible 00:09:33] in a stadium. That’s what I think internet trolling on the internet is. Like they think they’re doing it. Like you can’t … that’s not right. There’s a reason why he’s there and you’re in the audience and I’m in the audience when it comes to stuff like that. Like, come on.
Steven J Butala:
So my point there, so what does this have to do with land? Oh my gosh, Jack.
Jill DeWit:
We get your point.
Steven J Butala:
We sell land on the internet. And that part of this remains, in my opinion, relatively trouble free.
Jill DeWit:
Surprisingly.
Steven J Butala:
But I will tell you this. We have lots of internal groups on Discord and landinvestors.com. And there’s a lot of communication even now … Career Path. There’s an increasing amount, in a good way, of communication between all of us members at Land Academy and House Academy and everything else. And I’m watching this trolling thing creep in tiny bits at a time. And I really truly believe it’s because this has become acceptable and so people-
Jill DeWit:
Trolling?
Steven J Butala:
Yeah, especially with the-
Jill DeWit:
It’s like it’s not us and it’s not our community or our people. It’s just like … it’s the planet thinking it’s okay now?
Steven J Butala:
Yeah. And it’s sneaking its way into our, our system because … and here’s why. There’s a whole generation of people now, and I’m not criticizing anyone, I’m just stating the fact, that were born with the internet. Jill and I obviously were not born with the internet. We were born with a corded phone.
Jill DeWit:
What do you mean, obviously?
Steven J Butala:
We were born with a corded phone in the kitchen. That’s how we communicated.
Jill DeWit:
And an answering machine.
Steven J Butala:
I got an answering machine when I was probably … I mean, our family did when I was probably 15. So it’s not second hand nature for us to comment on stuff in various places on the internet without any decorum at all, with no responsibility and no accountability. That’s not Land Academy. Land Academy, we require decorum and responsibility and accountability. Why? Because we’re entrepreneurs and we hold ourselves accountable and responsible for our own success.
Jill DeWit:
What do you-
Steven J Butala:
So-
Jill DeWit:
Go ahead.
Steven J Butala:
Go ahead.
Jill DeWit:
I said, what do you suggest we do? Like, okay, so here’s the deal.
Steven J Butala:
Well, I can tell you what we just did.
Jill DeWit:
Other than you and I shutting down all our sites. Just kidding.
Steven J Butala:
We had this problem. This is … I’m talking about one person out of thousands. We had this problem in the beginning, in the very beginning of Land Academy because, and rightfully so, people questioned whether or not it worked. Well, we’re way past that. We’re what is it seven years now?
Jill DeWit:
We’re on year seven I think. Yeah.
Steven J Butala:
We just had our seventh anniversary.
Jill DeWit:
Sixth anniversary.
Steven J Butala:
This month, I think. Six or seven?
Jill DeWit:
Sixth.
Steven J Butala:
Okay, sixth.
Jill DeWit:
2015, 2021. Six. Yeah.
Steven J Butala:
In the beginning and there were a lot of trolling, even people within the group and some people that came to the first live event or really critical about this. And again, rightfully so because it was new and we dealt with it. We dealt with it in our own way. But it’s a privilege to be-
Jill DeWit:
It sounds like you took somebody out back. Oh, we dealt with it. Like, you, me, alley.
Steven J Butala:
We had to kick somebody out of Career Path because of this. And that’s really, really sad because Career Path is not inexpensive and it’s not free. And it’s … Career Path is for people who are really serious-
Jill DeWit:
High level stuff.
Steven J Butala:
… really serious about buying and selling land as a career. And we’re here to help cause it’s our career too. So I’m holding us to a different standard than the rest … than Facebook, let’s just say.
Jill DeWit:
And I appreciate that.
Steven J Butala:
And I’m happy you could join us today.
Jill DeWit:
Five days a week, you can find us right here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven J Butala:
Tomorrow the episode on the Land Academy Show is called Getting Ahead of Yourself in the Land Academy Education Process. You are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill DeWit:
Tomorrow should be, please don’t get ahead of yourself. That’s really the … and I’ll explain this tomorrow in the education process, because that’s what happens sometimes.
Steven J Butala:
We’ve all … I have some chomping [crosstalk 00:13:33]-
Jill DeWit:
Chomping at the bit like, I know the answer, I know the answer! Hold on everybody
Steven J Butala:
I have many funny lifelong examples of getting ahead of myself.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, okay. Good. If you need access to any sort of ownership or property details, including owner phone numbers and FEMA flood map overlays, check out neighborcoop.com or parcelfact.com created by investors, that’s us, for investors like you.
Jill DeWit:
We are Steve and Jill.
Steven J Butala:
We are Steve and Jill. Information-
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration-
Steven J Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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