Jill Friday – How to Turn a Dead Deal into a Successfully Completed One (LA 1563)
Jill Friday – How to Turn a Dead Deal into a Successfully Completed One (LA 1563)
Transcript:
Steven J Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Howdy.
Steven J Butala:
Welcome to the Land Academy Show entertaining land investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit:
I’m Jill DeWit, broadcasting from amazing Phoenix, Arizona.
Steven J Butala:
Today, Jill and I talk about how it’s Jill Friday. Well, she’s going to talk and she’s going to let us know how to turn a deal, a dead deal, into a successfully completed one.
Jill DeWit:
That’d be funny. We should each … Share how you would do it and how I would do it.
Steven J Butala:
Perfect. 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 join us on Discord if you’re already a Land Academy member,
Jill DeWit:
Sandy wrote, “I’ve listened to the podcast this morning about how Jill talks to sellers in order to find common ground. I loved her examples. Does anyone know where I can get more info like this? I would love to have a number of things to practice that would help me connect with the seller.” Oh. I have a few things right now. Number one, out of the gate ask how they are? People don’t do that. How are you today? Every time I’m calling somewhere whether it’s a title company, a bank, internet provider, I’m totally serious on this, I try to get them right on my team by being nice to them, by offering up a little something like, “How are you? How’s your day going? Wow, that was a long hold time.” And I’m not being sarcastic.
Jill DeWit:
I’m saying, “You guys are slammed, how are you hanging in there?” And I’ll even say, “Take a second, catch a breath. Do you have coffee there? Take a drink.” They’ll be like, “Thank you.” No one cares enough to even say that. So automatically I’m being nice and helpful, and I have them on my team, and now we can … And then they’re ready to go, “Well, how can I help you?” And then I say, “My cable doesn’t work,” or whatever it is. There you go.
Steven J Butala:
Some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten ever was from a bartender many years ago, 20 plus years ago. And he said, “Meet people from where they’re coming.” That’s it. And he said, “Specifically, children. You’re not going to meet a two-year-old … You’re not going to treat a two-year-old the way that you’re going to treat a six-year-old or a 16-year-old. They’re completely different people. And you need to meet everybody from where they’re coming and it’s going to go a lot better.”
Jill DeWit:
You have to take a step back and think about where they … Exactly where they’re coming from. People in New York just live differently, talk differently, communicate differently, different speeds, different volumes than somebody from the Deep South. And you have to do your best to mirror them without not belittling and not condescending. But if you’re talking to a sweet little lady from somewhere in a dreamy part of Georgia, I don’t know. You need to … You’re going to take a step back, and calm down, and think she’s sitting right now drinking her tea, opening her mail, and calling me. I need to be that person she wants to talk to, and answer all her questions, and get this deal done, and make it easy and understandable for her.
Steven J Butala:
You’re trying to get a deal done here. This is the topic. Let’s get into the topic.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven J Butala:
Today is Jill Friday. How to turn a deal, a dead deal, into a successfully completed one. This is the meat of the show.
Jill DeWit:
So by dead deal, we don’t necessarily mean that you kicked it to the curb or they told you whatever and you’re calling them back talking them into anything, which you could do some … I mean, it does happens but-
Steven J Butala:
A lot of scenarios here.
Jill DeWit:
You’re not talking anybody into anything.
Steven J Butala:
Back to what the question was today. People … There are people that track the prices of everything. I’m one of those people. I know what all my stuff’s worth I just do. It’s my background. But very, very many people don’t care, they just inherited property so it’s our job to deconstruct that really quickly on the phone with somebody and see if they’re one of these people that they know their properties retail, $100,000, and you just sent them an offer for 15,000, and they’re going to let you have it. They’re insulted. So you have to meet that person from where they’re coming.
Steven J Butala:
And Jill’s got a lot of really natural ways that are just really simple and organic for her to deal with this. It’s a joy to listen to quite honestly. That’s why I wrote this topic today. And so there is … You might have to disarm somebody. You might have to explain to somebody or get together with them on the fact that they know their property doesn’t have any access, and now I know it doesn’t have any access, and to what extent do they care to even own it any longer any more at all? And so it all comes down to meeting these people from where they come … Where they’re coming. And let’s just … You have one goal here is to get a deal done.
Jill DeWit:
So you’re … Are you tapping … This is part of my career path curriculum, is that what you’re tapping into?
Steven J Butala:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jill DeWit:
Okay. I have a little thing I call it. It’s disarm, accept, or get to the bottom of it. Seriously.
Steven J Butala:
Go ahead.
Jill DeWit:
When people are calling you back it’s usually three things. They’re mad at you, they’re ready to go, or they’re on the fence kind of thing. And even those ones that are mad at you, you can work with. So mad at you, they got your offer, they’re insulted. What’s my number one goal? Disarm them, calm them down, and find out if there’s a deal there. And that’s really what the … I think what you’re trying to get at today is it?
Steven J Butala:
I honestly didn’t even … I know your career path scenario and that’s not what I was getting at.
Jill DeWit:
Oh.
Steven J Butala:
But it’s okay. No, this is Jill Friday.
Jill DeWit:
Well, what should … What? Ask me some questions. What are you trying to extract from me today, Steven?
Steven J Butala:
Somebody calls you back on a mailer that we sent out.
Jill DeWit:
Okay.
Steven J Butala:
And you’re on the phone with them, you’re on NeighborScoop and you find out the property is slopy with questionable access and they’re ready to close the deal with you. They’re ready to start down the path of completing the deal but you realize you can’t pay that much. The vast majority of people that I’ve ever seen in the real estate business just say no. Okay, that’s it, thanks. I don’t want that property, which-
Jill DeWit:
Not for $18,167.42.
Steven J Butala:
So what would you do?
Jill DeWit:
Well, can I really use it? First, I’m going to find out can I really use it? Is it really something that I want? Because there are times that there are properties that I don’t want at any price, and usually it’s a fatal flaw. And it might be zero access and everybody’s dead. Here’s a good example. There’s things I can’t fix kind of thing. And I’m not going to spend five years helping someone with probate, and then I’m going to spend another whatever trying to get access or something. Those you just walk away. But then maybe there’s … Maybe there … It’s fixable. Maybe it really is … We’ve got the access, everybody’s alive, slope stinks, it’s not that great, it’s far away. For what we price it … What we price it at would have been great if it was on the water, this one’s not. And this one doesn’t have this, this, this, and this that these other properties do you have. Does it make it a bad property? Not necessarily, but not for 18,000 and whatever I wrote it off.
Steven J Butala:
Exactly. Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
Now my offer is three and that happens. So we lovingly call that trying to kill your own deal. So here’s how. If you have this mindset, you’ll be great. Now, I hear where you’re going with that. For some person, this is a dead deal. Nope, not going to work because that price has worked for me, they want to sell it for me, I don’t know what to do with it so I’m just going to walk away. You could turn this around and still get a deal out of it by, like I said, spending that time, figuring out is there really a use for this property? But the use of this property is now not $18,000. If I buy it for three because I think I can sell it for nine, there’s no way I can sell it for three but I can sell something like this for 9,000 all day long so I’ve got to buy it for 3,000. That’s the number that makes sense.
Jill DeWit:
And then in my head, the $3,000 number to me is they’re either going to say yes or they’re going to say no. I have to be ready with either way and ready to walk away. I’m trying to kill the deal. Because if they … $3,000 from me is now so low that I know I can’t fail. If they say yes to three, well I have to buy it. There’s just … I know I can bill. I might be able to get more for it but I’m really not sure. So I come at it like that. I say, “Here’s the deal. I realize you love that offer and I understand that. I thought the property had this, this, this, and this, and as we all know it doesn’t have those things. So I don’t mean to offend you. I’m not trying to insult you in any way, but the best I can do is $3,000. If that works for you, great, I will get this ball rolling today and I’ll get you your money. We could do it next week. Whatever makes sense.” However, you’re doing the deal.
Steven J Butala:
What percentage of the time does that work?
Jill DeWit:
More than 50.
Steven J Butala:
That’s what I think too. It’s shocking how often it works. You just got to make sure you want the property at that price.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly.
Steven J Butala:
Because you can’t go back after that.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. You got to follow through. You don’t want to be that guy. So I make sure that it’s a number that I really am … If they say yes, I’m doing it, and I might be wrong but for $3,000 I’ll take the gamble. I think I know what’s going to happen. And then I tell them and then I throw that out. This is exactly … Sandy wanted to know some tips, and scripts, and things. I throw it out there, and then sit for a second and see what they say. Give them a minute. If too much time passes … Usually … Somebody’s going to have to break the silence and you want it to be them to break the silence. And it’s often a “Is that the best you can do? Or, I need to talk to my wife. Or, I need to sleep on it or no.” There’s all of these or yes. Those are probably the five common responses you’re going to get and I’m happy with all of them.
Jill DeWit:
And even if they say no, then I say, “All right, I totally get that. Would you just at least hang on to my letter in case anything changes? Let me know. I will honor that for 30 days. Whatever makes sense to you. I’ve got money I can set aside for that in case you change your mind, just let me know. And otherwise, I wish you all the best.” So I always want to leave that door open, and you would even then be surprised how many people will come back and go, “All right, I slept on it.”
Jill DeWit:
Because even if they say no right now because they really had some number in their head, it was probably 20 maybe it was 15, they were loving your 18 offer and they thought they would take 10 and now you’re telling them three. But they have to go back and think about it, sleep on it, talk to people as I would, and say, “Hey, I’m stuck with this property. This person’s offering me three and everybody else is saying, “I don’t want it. I don’t want it.” They’re going to probably come back to you and go, “All right, I’ll take your three. What’s the next step?”
Steven J Butala:
Excellent advice. I’ll tell you a story. I went out to look at five pieces of property on one of the most recent mailers that was … We were fortunate enough that some of them that came back were reasonably close to us, within a day’s drive. And I went out to look at the properties and I … As they were happening I called Jill and said, “This one’s great. The purchase price is great, let’s buy it.” She said, “Okay.” A couple hours later I call her and say, “This property has the physical and legal access point for how we’re going to use it, I don’t want in on it at all.” She said, “Okay, I’ll get back to you.” And she said, “They called me back and said, “Will you take 5,000 bucks?”
Steven J Butala:
Will you … She brokered me. I was a broker now. And she was talking to the seller, hang up the phone called me. And so we ended up buying a property that I had priced at about 50 to $60,000 way wholesale for five grand. And then we … You know what? We’re splitting it and we’re going to make a ton of money on it now. She kept that, even with me, turned a dead deal … A property that I did not want with all the experience that I have to complete and she wouldn’t let it die.
Jill DeWit:
I call … Well, I did. I called the seller because they were standing by waiting and I said, “Look,” and I really was trying to kill the deal. I mean, I didn’t even want it. I said, “Look, here’s the deal.”
Steven J Butala:
I didn’t want it either after seeing it.
Jill DeWit:
“I’m very sorry. My partner is out there looking at it right now. Unfortunately, it’s not going to work for us. So I just want to let you know we’re going to pass, and I thank you and I wish you all the best.” And he was like, “Hold on, hold on, hold on.” I’m like “Okay.” I mean, I wasn’t even trying to do this so don’t be that guy too, by the way. Don’t use this as a game. I really was-
Steven J Butala:
This shouldn’t be your business model.
Jill DeWit:
I want to make sure that you’re in good faith acting like this. And I’m like yeah. They’re like, “What would you give me for it?” I’m like, “Oh, let me find out,” kind of thing. And then I called you and you’re like “Five.” And I called them and I said, “Five,” and they said, “Done.”
Steven J Butala:
I think they came back at seven actually now that I’m thinking about it. It was a tiny-
Jill DeWit:
I don’t know.
Steven J Butala:
It was an insignificant amount just to … It was a feel-good amount just to have them feel like they got something.
Jill DeWit:
I’m like … I did. I had to call him and say, “Okay, Jack, is there any number … The guy wants to get rid of it. He gets it. I mean, are you sure you want me to let this go because he’s now saying, “What will we give them?” And you give me, “I love it at five. I could do it at nine, and that’s about it.” I’m like, “Okay.” So I call him back. And my job now is to get it as close to five as I can. And we were … I think it was right around … But we had an escrow cost and things.
Steven J Butala:
So here’s the big takeaway from this whole episode. These deals are not ever really dead until you kill them not other people. Don’t let other … Don’t let the sellers kill a deal. You decide once there’s there’s a final, final, final number, whether or not you’re going to do the deal, and it will be shock you the percentage of-
Jill DeWit:
Absolutely.
Steven J Butala:
The amount of times as a percentage of the deals that are coming back, that isn’t their final number at all. It’s just how you handle it.
Jill DeWit:
Jack is so right. When those calls come in, your number one job is to get to the bottom of the number whatever the number is. Does your number work? Great. Now I’m going to move forward and see if that still works for me. If my number doesn’t work, what’s your number? Great. I’m going to get to the bottom and see if it works for me. You don’t have a number because you’re really going to die there. Okay, great. We got to the bottom of that and I wish you all the best. That’s it. That’s awesome. Happy you could join us today. Five days a week you can find us right here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven J Butala:
Join us next week for another interesting episode, because you are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill DeWit:
That was good. Good topic.
Steven J Butala:
We’re trying to talk a little bit less about data and pricing and a little bit more about the massive success that Jill and I have because of what Jill does. Not because of the data-
Jill DeWit:
Thank you.
Steven J Butala:
Part of this.
Jill DeWit:
Well, that’s very-
Steven J Butala:
And it’s Jill Friday.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you. Very nice of you and true. Thank you for tuning in. We hope you find our content valuable and we do appreciate your support. If you haven’t already please zip on over to our YouTube channel, hit the subscribe button and comment on the shows that you love.
Steven J Butala:
We are Steve.
Jill DeWit:
And Jill.
Steven J Butala:
Information.
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration.
Steven J Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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