Jack Thursday – What’s Possible What’s Fair (LA 1607)
Jack Thursday – What’s Possible What’s Fair (LA 1607)
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 the Valley of the Sun.
Steven Butala:
Today’s Jack Thursday, and today I’m going to talk about what’s possible and what’s fair.
Jill DeWit:
I’m excited.
Steven Butala:
I’m fascinated with what’s possible. And after doing this for years now, which I thoroughly enjoy, by the way, I like teaching. I had no idea. If somebody told me you would like teaching 10, 15 years ago, I would’ve said, “Why would I ever teach anything? Everything’s fine.”
Jill DeWit:
Because it involves people.
Steven Butala:
I’m sitting here doing these real estate deals. Jill and I are doing great. We don’t have any debt. kids are doing fine.
Jill DeWit:
She takes care of all the people now. I don’t have to talk to anybody.
Steven Butala:
And then we go ahead and do this.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
Complicate our lives.
Jill DeWit:
And now you love it. Oh, come on. You softy, you love people.
Steven Butala:
I actually, truth is I like teaching.
Jill DeWit:
You like smart people.
Steven Butala:
But there’s a lot of different sides to teaching, and some of them are good, some are bad, like everything. And there’s a lot of different types of people that you can attract who want to be taught or don’t want to be taught. So what’s possible is the portion of what I love to talk about. And we’ll talk about it in a minute. 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 don’t forget to subscribe to the Land Academy YouTube channel and comment on the shows you like.
Jill DeWit:
Steven wrote, “I was having a conversation about what I’m doing in this business with an old timer who made a lot of money flipping land early in his career. He asked what if it has toxic waste on it? I said we do a full title report and lots of due diligence and that if we can’t find it and don’t know about it, it isn’t our fiduciary to convey that info. He said it wouldn’t come up in the title report and that you would need a phase one environmental report to find out. Thoughts?” Sheesh. Go ahead.
Steven Butala:
The old timer’s exactly right. The title report does only this. Bring it back to the eighth grade level here for a minute, and then I’ll answer the question. The reason that you go to an escrow agent who requests a title report or title plan, depending on the state that you’re in, to request that to get it done and then you take a look at it, is to get an insurance policy against the following, whatever they find.
Jill DeWit:
This is my favorite.
Steven Butala:
So all kidding aside for a second, the title report allows property basically to be finance-able in the future. It’s kind of a insurance scam.
Jill DeWit:
It is.
Steven Butala:
So nothing’s going to come up in that title report, except this. And you won’t read it like this. I often think to myself, it would be great to have a graphic in a title report of a timeline. So 1830 happened and Joe Smith and Sally Smith, his wife, and their 18 children who never went to school because they were all farm hands, homesteaded the property in 1830. In 1840, the first child was old enough so we split off the property, some of it to him. In 1850, the second kid. And on and on. So you see that figuratively seeing this timeline up to when you buy it. That’s all the title report’s going to theoretically do. And it’s only going to go back 30 years anyway, right?
Jill DeWit:
Traditionally.
Steven Butala:
Is it 30 or 20?
Jill DeWit:
30. Traditionally, it’s around 30 years.
Steven Butala:
A titled agent, they’re just putting all the paperwork together. The escrow agent is putting the paperwork together, including the title report, and making sure the money gets to where it’s supposed to go. They’re not looking at the dirt.
Jill DeWit:
The taxes.
Steven Butala:
They have no opinion of its price. They’re not supposed to.
Jill DeWit:
No.
Steven Butala:
So they’re not doing any due diligence for you at all. Really what they’re doing is they’re making sure that who you’re buying it from is who they say they are.
Jill DeWit:
Correct.
Steven Butala:
That’s the real tragedy that can happen in a real estate deal. And you can find that out yourself, because you’re usually just talking to the person on the phone.
Jill DeWit:
True. And you can look it up.
Steven Butala:
If you’re talking to Jack Butala on the phone and you look the property up in NeighborScoop or anywhere else, and it’s Sally Smith the Third from Delaware, there’s a good chance there’s something wrong.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly.Exactly.
Steven Butala:
So what he says, the old guy, what happens if there’s a environmental-
Jill DeWit:
Something wrong.
Steven Butala:
… problem, what do you do? So what he’s doing is baiting you and tricking you, and I’ll spell it out.
Jill DeWit:
That was actually not nice when you think about it.
Steven Butala:
I agree.
Jill DeWit:
I would never say that to somebody. I wouldn’t come along and go, “Oh, you’re miss” … If anything, he doesn’t want you messing in his area or something. He’s trying to keep you out of doing deals because he wants them.
Steven Butala:
That’s what’s going on here. Jill has a really close girlfriend. She’s relatively new, but she’s a good girlfriend for you, Lori.
Jill DeWit:
Oh, yeah.
Steven Butala:
And her husband has spent a career …
Jill DeWit:
Solving these things.
Steven Butala:
Solving, being a consultant for people who want to solve environmental issues. And the federal government is very interested in having private parties who are motivated to solve environmental issues. So there’s huge, massive money as a government contractor or a private government contractor to clean up waste sites that you own. In fact, they’ll sign a full blown liability release entirely releasing you from any type of liability as an owner if you go clean this stuff up and prove to them that it’s cleaned up. This is a business model.
Jill DeWit:
There’s a niche. There’s a niche in the land business, by the way, we talked about.
Steven Butala:
Yeah, like a couple days. That’s what this guy’s asking you because he’s probably made hoards of money-
Jill DeWit:
Maybe.
Steven Butala:
… in the area that you’re sending mail. He wants to know that you’re not a competitor. And it would’ve been nice for him to say that. You know what would’ve been nicer for him? To have a Land Academy attitude like, you know what?
Jill DeWit:
Good for you.
Steven Butala:
This is a great way to make money. What do you say we do it together?
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
But no.
Jill DeWit:
Again, because he … What did he just say about him? He’s old, retired, made a lot of money.
Steven Butala:
So am I.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah. I know
Steven Butala:
I’m sitting here right in front of you-
Jill DeWit:
Old and tired and made a lot of money.
Steven Butala:
… telling you how to do this. I don’t know why more people don’t just have a good spirit about them, especially at an older age like me. It’s just share it, man. Do it.
Jill DeWit:
But this is part of why we’re … I remember you having this conversation with an old friend of ours about, we were starting Land Academy. This is part of passing on the tribal knowledge. This is what we should be doing, everyone. Don’t keep it as a secret. You should be helping other people.
Steven Butala:
Exactly.
Jill DeWit:
Thanks. Or scaring them. That’s dumb.
Steven Butala:
Today’s topic is Jack Thursday, and I’m going to talk about what’s possible and what’s fair. This is why you’re listening.
Jill DeWit:
I’m going to get some popcorn.
Steven Butala:
When you go to college, or really even high school, we’ve had different types of teachers. So some teachers are stand up in front of the class and they’re actually entertaining. They tell you stories about math or whatever, because the subject material’s all the same. Buying and selling land is pretty much mechanical. And there’s some stuff that comes up, but that’s what Discord’s for. So why do you listen to this show?
Jill DeWit:
Why do you listen to this show?
Steven Butala:
And our numbers are pretty good honestly. All kidding aside. They keep getting better.
Jill DeWit:
Do you know what? Honestly, I looked up a chart by the way. We’re in top, I want to say … It says if you get this many downloads within X amount of days of shows dropping, you’re in the top … We’re in the second tier. There’s a top 1%, and then we’re the top it’s either 5 or 10%.
Steven Butala:
Five.
Jill DeWit:
We’re in there. I’m like, “Oh, didn’t know that.”
Steven Butala:
I looked that up too. We haven’t talked about it, but we’re in the-
Jill DeWit:
So those three of you-
Steven Butala:
… It’s a lot higher than you would think.
Jill DeWit:
… that are downloading it 18 times on everybody’s phone in your house, thank you.
Steven Butala:
Thanks. In the Philippines.
Jill DeWit:
Exactly. I’m so glad you have 100 different IP addresses. That’s awesome. And you’re about to get me on the New York best seller’s list. So I’m going to say thank you in advance for that too. You and the 800 PO Boxes that are about to get books. That’s good.
Steven Butala:
All you have to do be on a New York Times bestseller list if you write a book is to write a $12,000 check to this agency that will … You have to get the book published, which you can do yourself, get it printed and have it sent to multiple box … They’ll do it all for you.
Jill DeWit:
Like in Vegas.
Steven Butala:
You just write a check. All over.
Jill DeWit:
It’s like in Nevada.
Steven Butala:
And immediately because the distribution is what they look at, not the quality. New York Times best seller list is just distribution, so you can buy your way into that. That’s what she’s referring to. There’s a podcast thing like that, where somebody had multiple IP addresses and all over the country.
Jill DeWit:
There’s got to be people that do that. I don’t know.
Steven Butala:
I don’t know.
Jill DeWit:
I don’t know. Anyway. Back to what’s possible and what’s fair.
Steven Butala:
What I love about this show, and there’s only one thing, believe me. No. Is talking about what’s possible. So what’s possible, it is possible and likely, as if you have the right attitude. And I’m noticing more and more, attitude really matters, and you answer your phone and you’re basically the Jill in the equation, not the Jack. It is possible to make incredible amounts of money. We have members that, and every single one of them have Jill’s personality or Jill’s responsibility in the partnership, not mine. They answer the phone. They’re a happy person. They get deals done. They get mad only when it’s appropriate. I’m the opposite of all that. I have not a good attitude. I don’t want to show up. And no.
Jill DeWit:
That’s not true.
Steven Butala:
I’m noticing that these are the people that are pretty loud about the fact that they’re making hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those are the people that joined Career Path. We’re getting reports now, because the second Career Path has been over for a while. We’re getting reports back and thank you notes like, wow, this really works, and I quit my job. So what’s possible is that it’s very, very possible and likely if you put the Jill type of time into this and hire out the Jack piece, or if you’re the Jack person, find yourself a Jill, very possible and likely to make a ton of money. So I love talking about what’s possible. Some of these episodes get bogged down with tiny little things that happen that aren’t good. That’s generally why people ask questions and seek advice, because something’s going sideways.
Steven Butala:
There’s a string in Discord or a channel in Discord that is celebrate your success, tell us what happened on this deal. That’s my favorite place to go. I’m a huge lurker on Discord. So that’s the first place I go, success stories. But I love the part of, hey, this is what’s possible, but I also like to think, and to end the topic on this and Jill will hopefully have some stuff to say.
Jill DeWit:
I do some things.
Steven Butala:
There’s a flip side to what’s possible. I like to tell the truth about this. I don’t want to blow smoke or sell anything. I never have. And here’s the deal. If you don’t have a personality like Jill’s and you don’t have the self-awareness to realize you don’t have that personality and that you’re going to have to find yourself somebody like that, you’re probably not going to succeed at this. This is the flip side of what’s possible, because there’s huge things possible. If you don’t have, for whatever reason, you’re just not going to get a mailer out, then it’s all gone. Then there is no a possibility.
Jill DeWit:
What’s the what’s fair part? Is it about making too much money?
Steven Butala:
What’s fair to yourself and your family, and when you look in front of the mirror is to be honest about what I’m saying. There’s probably, I don’t know how many people are in this group. It doesn’t matter. There’s about 40 people that are real active on Discord, and all the people in both Career Paths are active and successful to my knowledge. So what’s fair? Be fair to yourself. If you’re going to put the time in, then you can expect amazing results. But if you’re not going to answer your phone … I just read a whole thing in Discord this morning. More and more and more, I’m seeing this in discord. Just got off the phone with the seller. We’re doing a deal. The guy says he got four letters. I’m the only one who would answer the phone. So the seller got four or five letters recently and made four or five phone calls. Probably the fifth phone call was the person who answered the phone and they’re doing the deal. So please, you have to be honest with yourself and be fair to yourself.
Jill DeWit:
That’s good.
Steven Butala:
You can’t expect something out of yourself that you’re not going to do.
Jill DeWit:
You know what else is possible? Getting a fun girl, because you’re doing so well.
Steven Butala:
Oh Jill, this is great.
Jill DeWit:
Yeah.
Steven Butala:
I love this.
Jill DeWit:
What else is possible? Your friends throwing money at you because they think that you’re just going to be the bank and cash it out for them. Like turn it into gold. Hold on everybody. Another thing that’s possible, you can afford to do all the renovations you want.
Steven Butala:
Oh my gosh.
Jill DeWit:
I know.
Steven Butala:
That’s the R word our house right now.
Jill DeWit:
I know. Do you know what’s so funny? I was talking to somebody. This is so good. You know who you are. You were telling me you’re a couple years in. I think you’re two years in now, and she met the three million mark. And I’m like, “Good for you, man.” What were we talking about? Okay, wait, wait. What’s possible?
Steven Butala:
What’s fair?
Jill DeWit:
The what’s fair. Shoot.
Steven Butala:
Well, she’s a great … I know who you’re talking about.
Jill DeWit:
I know what it was. What was so funny was we were talking about, we’re just having a casual conversation and I said, “Don’t bring up” … She’s like, “How’s the house going?” I’m like, “Oh, don’t bring that up, especially in front of this one. Because you might as well say California.” And I said, “And I think that California’s now taken a backseat to home renovations. That’s actually the more of a hot topic now.”
Steven Butala:
Yeah, because we’re almost done.
Jill DeWit:
I know. It’s hard. It’s good. But I like this is. This is a really good topic and I’m glad that you brought this up in the way you said that. There’s so much possible. And you know what’s fair? You’ve got to go into it with your eyes wide open and know it’s going to take a lot of work, like everything. There’s no easy button. We’re doing our best to help you and automate and solve problems for you and with you, but there’s a lot you’ve got to do. But if you do put your head down, you could have a great life here.
Steven Butala:
Yep. You know what bugs me about California and renovations? It’s a distraction from spending time on what matters. And you know what matters to me? Teaching in Land Academy and doing land deals and some other stuff or maybe going out to dinner with you. And these things with renovations and all the politics and the crap that goes on in California that’s so unnecessary, distracts me personally and us in our relationship from having fun and making money and teaching, I guess now. I guess we are teachers now formally probably.
Jill DeWit:
Well, that’s a good thing. Oh, keeps us from teaching.
Steven Butala:
Yeah.
Jill DeWit:
No that’s not a distraction. That’s a good thing.
Steven Butala:
Do I really care about the floor in my house?
Jill DeWit:
No.
Steven Butala:
Really?
Jill DeWit:
No. I agree.
Steven Butala:
Do I really care what everyone thinks at the beach in California and put all the signs that they put up and the dancing around?
Jill DeWit:
No.
Steven Butala:
No.
Jill DeWit:
I agree. Happy you could join us today. Five days a week, you can find us here on the Land Academy Show.
Steven Butala:
Tomorrow is Jill Friday, and she’s doing a show called I’m going to have a good day, dammit. Her title, not mine. You are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill DeWit:
Let me back up. This is because when we sat down and where he’s like, okay, let’s talk about some topics for this week’s shows. He’s like, “What’s going on with you today?” And I said, “You know what? I woke up with a whole different attitude today and this is it. It’s going to be a good day.” He’s like, “Oh.” So, that’s where this came from.
Steven Butala:
If you’re in a relationship and your partner says that, that’s a signal for you to zip it. This is going to be a good day, dammit.
Jill DeWit:
That’s right.
Steven Butala:
Just zip it and sit there.
Jill DeWit:
That’s right. You’re going to enjoy this. You’re going to smile. You’re going to put a tie on and you’re going to say thank you.
Steven Butala:
Oh my God, you just brought me right back to when the kids were little.
Jill DeWit:
Thank you for tuning in. We hope you find our content valuable, and we appreciate your support. If you haven’t already, please check out our YouTube channel and hit the subscribe button. We are Steve and Jill.
Steven Butala:
We or Steve and Jill. Information.
Jill DeWit:
And inspiration.
Steven Butala:
To buy undervalued property.
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