Transcript:

Steven Jack Butala:
I am Steven Jack Butala.

Jill K. DeWit:
And I’m Jill DeWit, and this is the Land Academy Show.

Steven Jack Butala:
This is episode 1,986, and today we are talking about a couple of things. Number one, scheduling 2024 so you can hit your accomplishment and succeed. And then, a little later on the show, we’ll talk about the laws that actually govern your land transaction. It’s an interesting, funny, anecdotal story about some people that we sat next to at dinner last night, and I’m not sure that they understand-

Jill K. DeWit:
What they were saying?

Steven Jack Butala:
What’s governing their real estate agent driven failure.

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s funny. Exactly. I want to stop and say happy New Year.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.

Jill K. DeWit:
So it’s now 2024. As you can see, if you are watching us, we are coming to you from the Rig. We are traveling again. I don’t know how many weeks we’ll be gone this time, but probably this will be a little bit of a shorter trip than we did last summer, for those of you who are in our world and follow over that, but what’s funny is, I got to tell you, we go from our home to this and it’s like we couldn’t be happier.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.

Jill K. DeWit:
Most people would be like, “Are you kidding me?” I’m sure even our friends are like, “You guys are weirdos.” You have this big beautiful home and it’s warm and sunny here, and you want to get into that and drive somewhere cold and be in a little mountain town, in a little rig, in a sweet little RV park and I’m like, “Yeah, that’s really what we were going to do.”

Steven Jack Butala:
We’re in Durango right now, by the time this airs.

Jill K. DeWit:
Who knows where … we’ll probably still be here.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. Maybe we will.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
Durango is a blast, by the way. I can’t say enough good stuff.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
Everybody we meet. It’s just the nicest people in the world.

Jill K. DeWit:
We are learning the lay of the land here. We’re going to go check out Pagosa Springs and Creede and all kinds of good stuff coming up. So I’m excited.

Steven Jack Butala:
Each week on the show we answer questions from our Land Academy member Discord forum, and we review land acquisitions from our weekly member webinars, and we take a deep dive into the two land related topics that are requested. If you want to sneak peek of our Discord forum, go to landacademy.com, it’s free.

Jill K. DeWit:
Actually. It’s hidden.

Steven Jack Butala:
It’s what?

Jill K. DeWit:
It’s hidden, by the way.

Steven Jack Butala:
Why?

Jill K. DeWit:
Because because of our … you know what? There’s some sensitive stuff going on in there.

Steven Jack Butala:
Like what?

Jill K. DeWit:
Everything?

Steven Jack Butala:
No. Come on. Seriously, I want to know.

Jill K. DeWit:
No, there’s some really good conversations in there and I want our members to speak freely, so it’s kind of blurred out right now. FYI, just so you know, I let him-

Steven Jack Butala:
Can you please let me in on it?

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, I just did.

Steven Jack Butala:
No, can you let me in on what are people doing deals with each other?

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah. Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
Is that what-

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah, there’s APNs flying around and some really personal information flying around there, so I’m like, yeah, we close it back up. So just so you know, it exists. If you go there, you’ll find a nice little banner on it saying “Not for you.” Sorry.

Steven Jack Butala:
My goodness.

Jill K. DeWit:
I don’t mean it like that, but I had to kind of close it down because you know what? I’ll just say it. This is who we are. It’s 2024. I’m going to stop for just a moment and share some information. We’ve moved Land Academy to, “Hey, we won, come one, come all,” which I-

Steven Jack Butala:
I’m glad you’re bringing this up.

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay. Which I want that to some extent, but look, there are other people in our space now, and they are goofing things up a little bit, let’s just say, because they don’t really know what they’re doing. They’re new to this and then they think they can teach and whatever. So we’ve decided that. We know who we are and we are the people that are here. If you’ve owned a business, you want to take it to that next level … and our group has grown tremendously. We are now nine years of Land Academy. Nobody can say that. The number of deals we completed, nobody can say that. Stuff since the 90s and stuff you invented and drummed up yourself, nobody can say that.
And we’re continuing to do that, and this ties into why I’m kind of locking things down a little bit. I’m locking down our community, I’m locking down who gets in, because I’m here to maintain, preserve, grow, and screen for heavy hitters like us, the right people that are really here to make this big, if you will.

Steven Jack Butala:
What’s the profile of the right person?

Jill K. DeWit:
You owned a business, you’re retired, you have something to contribute to the group, to the table. Maybe that’s a big thing that I’m looking for. I’ve got a lot of people like, “Hey, I used to work for the county. I retired from the county. I know a lot about zoning. I’m a forester in my part-time. I’m an architect. I ran this company, I ran that company. I know how to do this.” Whatever it is. So there’s a lot of people that are … that’s really what I’m looking for.

Steven Jack Butala:
What’s the profile of somebody who-

Jill K. DeWit:
Who’s not good for this group?

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.

Jill K. DeWit:
“Hey, does flipping land work? What’s a deed? Can you help me with this deed thing? Is it like a pink slip?” I’m just going to say it. It’s like, I’m trying to think of a good example. There’s plenty companies out there that you know apply. You may or may not get accepted. You may not be a good fit, and that’s okay. So this is just who we are.

Steven Jack Butala:
Finally. I’m not the one on the podcast.

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, I’ll tell you why. An email went out last week to a select small group that explained it to them. We are doing some amazing larger dollar amount deals, and I want people in the group that are comfortable with that. I want you to come in here to be comfortable going like, all right, buy it for 30, buy it for 100,000. That does not scare you at all, because you’re going to double and triple that. That is our community, and that’s where we are.

Steven Jack Butala:
Nature and Darwin at work.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s all I’ll say because I’ve been saying this for years and I’m really glad that you guys are doing this.

Jill K. DeWit:
And for that group, now we’re making it even better, like I’m … you are like, “Okay, Jill, I have $300,000 to throw at this and I don’t want to do any work.” Got you. All right, we’ll hook you up with this. We’ll hook you up with that. You don’t even have to pull your own data. You may not even even have to price it. I can help you with that. That’s coming. So there’s all kinds of other things, and I alluded to this in my email to the small group, which was you, Jack, are going to share … we’ve got some other product types and some other things that we’re rolling in, not the planet, I don’t want the planet doing it.
I don’t want the planet knowing about it. It’s just for our group. Thank you. So that’s it. Back to you. Do you want to say one more thing or should I get to the question?

Steven Jack Butala:
I would love for you to say one more thing.

Jill K. DeWit:
No, you. I thought you have-

Steven Jack Butala:
No, I’ve been saying this for years and years and years and-

Jill K. DeWit:
I didn’t mean to go off on this tangent.

Steven Jack Butala:
No, I think it’s great. It’s the first of the year. It’s the beginning of the year. Jill and I have been talking about this for all of 2023. Next year, we’re not going to do this. Next year, we’re not going to do this, and so it is next year now, and so we are not going to babysit our members.

Jill K. DeWit:
No. If you’re a master’s level, PhD level and doing land deals, we’re your people.

Steven Jack Butala:
This should make complete sense to you. I’ve spent my entire life talking with people about … in a social situation and in a professional situation and somewhat defending what we do, and it’s not explanation, it’s not sharing. If two guys sit down next to each other, one owns a metal stamping plant, one owns a hardboard plant and they say, “Oh yeah, I get it, I get it.” Somebody else is in the real estate business sits down next to Jill and I and they don’t understand it.

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, some do though. Remember that guy?

Steven Jack Butala:
If this is very natural to you, then you’re in the right place.

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, this is really good for especially real estate professionals. You might even be a land broker. Let me share this with you. If you’re a land broker that’s sick and tired of doing other people’s deals, you’re perfect for us too.

Steven Jack Butala:
That was me. That was me in the early 90s.

Jill K. DeWit:
Cool. All right. Back to the question.

Steven Jack Butala:
Let’s take a question.

Jill K. DeWit:
All right, Colton and Leanne, hello, wrote time to share a seven-month update from when my Land Academy mail really started to go out. I love this.

Steven Jack Butala:
This Colton and Leanne, by the way, are in the group that we’re talking about.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yep.

Steven Jack Butala:
They naturally understand this and are smashing it, as you’ll find out here in a second.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yep. Okay. I was part of Career Path Six and loved seeing real numbers of success or failure, AKA learning curves when I first joined, so I promised myself to do just that, by the end of 2023. Over seven months, I sent out 23,772 units of mail and came away with five deals and I’ve already sold all five. Days held from close to close, so purchase and sold were 41 days, 50, 101, 103, and 140.

Steven Jack Butala:
Amazing.

Jill K. DeWit:
Total purchase price.

Steven Jack Butala:
This is priceless data for whoever is listening, watching.

Jill K. DeWit:
Total purchase price for these five, including closing costs, $71,053.98. Total sales price for these five, including all the costs removed … total sales price for these five, including all the closing costs or broker fees removed, were $173,748.17. Starting in November, my mail has ramped up dramatically because I have zero inventory. Good problem to have, just need more mail to send. Concierge data saved my second guessing and I still have a ton of work to do to get pricing more accurate. After 30 minutes of testing for reason, I get overwhelmed.

Steven Jack Butala:
I get it.

Jill K. DeWit:
And send it off looking to talk to someone again, lots of removed from mailing lists with this method, but some fun conversations as well. I hope this encourages someone in my position seven to eight months ago, open to funding deals as I wait to build up inventory again as well. I’m now understanding Jack and Jill frequently saying it takes two years to build this business. Now that my money is expanding, I can see much more clearly what the next steps will be, send more mail. Signed Colton.

Steven Jack Butala:
Let me give my take on this.

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay.

Steven Jack Butala:
They made a $100,000 in their almost first year.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yep.

Steven Jack Butala:
I mean that’s clean that-

Jill K. DeWit:
In five deals.

Steven Jack Butala:
They’ve built up, they probably have because of the acquisition price and all that, built up about a $200,000 bank balance for this. They started with 70, their bank balance is now about 200, not profit, but they’re building equity. I’ve seen this happen my entire career, so is Jill. Next year they’re going to make about $250,000, so that bank balance now will be about four to $500,000. I know this because this is what happened to me in the 90s. From there, they are going to stare at each other and have some type of connection where they say, this is it. I don’t know what … congratulations, you’re an accountant, but not anymore. Congratulations, you’re an engineer … I don’t even know what they do actually.

Jill K. DeWit:
I don’t remember.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s over. So they’re going to put a system in place where one of them is probably going to quit their job, if they haven’t already, run the whole thing and then plan on the second person quitting their job and well into year two or maybe after year three. So that 250 to now four or $500,000 of equity will become by the end of year, two and a half, about a million bucks. Then, they will join Career Path again and they will say, this is the reason that we’re here. It’ll be a Career Path 19 by then or whatever it ends up being if we continue to do this. Jill decides all that stuff, not me.
And they will be among the ranks of hundreds, probably 150 or so, people that are in Land Academy or have left Land Academy and that this is what they do for a living. That’s why we’re here. So along the lines of what Jill was saying earlier, and I’m really glad she didn’t know that this question was here, because I do all this stuff. This is why we’re here. This is why we fight to help people just like this who get it, become multi-millionaires in a couple of years. We’re not here to help some young person buy a Ferrari. That’s not what this is and that’s what everybody else in this space who, they’re former Land Academy members who have chosen to go off and try to duplicate or replicate what Land Academy does, if … are failing to see and never will see.

Jill K. DeWit:
And that’s okay.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yep.

Jill K. DeWit:
I was going to say, what’s interesting is most people like Colton and Leanne are with us for years. We have people with us the whole nine years, and here’s why. You turn a corner and you’re like, I’m paying $300 a month to have access to these deals and fund these people. That’s a no-brainer. I’m paying $300 a month to have access to these two-

Steven Jack Butala:
$300?

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s it. That’s our membership dues. You still have all the data. You can’t get the data. I am getting the data and actually, it’s really $200, because I give you $100 of records free every month. So anyway-

Steven Jack Butala:
For utility bills, bigger than that.

Jill K. DeWit:
I’m spending this to have access to deals and the people in the community and the group.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.

Jill K. DeWit:
No brainer.

Steven Jack Butala:
Right.

Jill K. DeWit:
So yeah. Anyway.

Steven Jack Butala:
So you get see that or you don’t.

Jill K. DeWit:
It’s okay.

Steven Jack Butala:
Today’s first topic, scheduling 2024 for accomplishment and success. I love December. December has passed now. I spent all of December scheduling for 2024 and doing our taxes and doing several other things, helping Jill out with the operations, from operations standpoint and Land Academy and some other things. What I started the year off with, and I really hope that this is the case for you. If it’s not, please consider doing it, is a calendar, of all the things and what I’m supposed to do starting this week so that I can get to December, 2024, look back on it, pat myself on the back and at the same time say, “Wow, that didn’t work out how I thought it should. I’m not going to call it a failure, but I’m going to call it …” we didn’t do it what I thought we were supposed to do.
So that’s what this topic is about. It’s January, it’s very beginning of January. We get a restart. One of the things, and I’m going to share my personal experience and maybe Jill will too. Our land business does ridiculously well. In fact, we don’t work on it that much anymore. We have people in place for that. John, Jill’s transaction coordinator just does a smash up job. I use concierge data. It takes me probably a half hour to do a mailer. Now, it used to take three or four days, maybe a week. So we’ve got all that stuff in place. What I would like to do is finish a book that I started writing, probably 10 years ago. I’m going to finish it and I need to record and launch Land Academy 4.0.

Jill K. DeWit:
I’m excited for that.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s a first quarter thing. The book thing is going to take a little bit longer, and then, we need to retain some version of a professional marketing firm that can help us get the members for Land Academy that we want to get, not just people and Jill is doing … already, I can see a huge difference and for the best. So what did I do? I’m using myself as an example here. I looked at 2023 at the stuff that we did, and I replicated it. I put it in the calendar for the things that … this podcast is a great example. We now record two shows at once instead of one. It’s easier for our guys to produce it. It’s easier on Jill and I, from a recording standpoint, we have basically one meeting every week or every other week instead of one meeting every single week.
It’s a meeting, but we record the podcast, check. Worked for 23, going to work for 24, just like that. It’s really easy to alter it if some other stuff changes. What I haven’t been doing is writing enough, and I haven’t been … and I think that our content, our actual programs need to be updated. There’s some things that change, technology changes and we use a little slightly different technology. So it’s in the schedule and it will get completed. Everybody can see my schedule. The guys that post produce it can see it. They adjust their schedules and it works out very well. If you don’t have tasks for yourself to do in June and July and August and September that you’ve entered now or hopefully even last month, I urge you to get out … I am anti-paper.
It’s a joke around the office. We don’t have any paper and it’s a joke with Jill. This is one thing where I print out 12 months of calendars and I take a mechanical pencil with a big huge eraser and I just fill all this stuff in so I can see it all. I can see all 12 months to make sure that I get this stuff done. So I would encourage you to … Urge you to do some version of this so that when December 1st comes, you can sit and say, “We did it. We closed 15 deals so far,” or whatever it is that your goals are. What about you?

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, that’s a great thing. I don’t do it that way at all.

Steven Jack Butala:
No, that’s what I do.

Jill K. DeWit:
No, but I do have big-picture goals and I do think about that quarterly. So I have a meeting coming up on a couple of weeks with Samantha. Samantha Lathus, who’s our … one of our ambassadors because working on some lady stuff and we’re going to really schedule that out. I’m more of a brain dump and then schedule it. I’m with you too, I’m not a paper person, unless I have a few things like that, I need to see, like I hold it. For some reason, I’ll print out a calendar once in a while, once maybe a year, I might have one, because I’m doing a bunch of stuff that’s really … I need to kind of look at it and feel it and erase it, as silly as that sounds and move things around. Otherwise, nope.
And then, I go and put it on our real calendar kind of thing. Anyway, I brain dump a lot of stuff all the time into 365. I use the, not new, but I use a to-do area, as silly as it is and I just assign it to people and sign it to me and check things off as I go, and it makes things easier. When you can … instead of looking at your whole year, this is probably what you’re doing. I hope this is what you’re doing. Okay, Jack and Jill, I need to make $500,000 this year.

Steven Jack Butala:
Excellent. I love this.

Jill K. DeWit:
This is what I hope you’re doing and you’re going to go, “All right, so that means every month I need 60 grand. All right, let me think about this. I’ll do two to three deals a month. So then they each need to make 30 grand.” See where I’m going with this? This is not nuts-

Steven Jack Butala:
Working it backwards.

Jill K. DeWit:
At all, everyone. Look at Colton and Leanne. They did five deals and made 100 grand.

Steven Jack Butala:
In seven months.

Jill K. DeWit:
So what, so they could do twice that many deals and there’s your money.

Steven Jack Butala:
And double the amount of money on each deal that they’re making, margin wise.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah, so that was averaging a deal a month, five deals in seven months. They double that. That’s too easy. I remember my old saying once, if you could do one, you could do 10. This is for people just starting out and if you could do 10, you can do 100. It’s true. What’s even better now is when you look at it like you don’t even have to do a hundred, just do 10 that make double what you did before. So what if Colton and Leanne changed nothing but made sure that their deals make an average of $40,000 a deal? Done. So that’s how you do it. I hope that’s what you’re thinking about.
For me, if it was not knowing us and I sat down and I’m into this and I get it, I’m smart, I’m going to set some lofty goals and if you really want to … say your bottom is 500, I want to make at least $500,000 next year, well then make your goal a million. I like that.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s what I would do too.

Jill K. DeWit:
Make it a million, so if you goof it all up, you make 500.

Steven Jack Butala:
And then you’re staring at the mirror in December saying, “Yeah, I’m supposed to a million, I made 500. I better find out where …” later on in the show we’re going to talk about this or maybe the next show, find out why that didn’t happen. Shoot, I’m not that good at answering the phone. It’s problem solved.

Jill K. DeWit:
Easy.

Steven Jack Butala:
Get somebody to answer the phone like PATLive or whomever.

Jill K. DeWit:
I would adjust earlier too. As you go through this process, figure out … and you know what? I think most of the time we know what our problems are, we just don’t want to admit it or we don’t want to ask for help, which is silly.

Steven Jack Butala:
What’s your problem, Jill?

Jill K. DeWit:
I don’t want to ask for help.

Steven Jack Butala:
Do you need help with something? I’m not throwing all the fuss on this.

Jill K. DeWit:
Often. Are you kidding? I’m trying to get help. You know what? I’ll tell you, isn’t that funny? I can motivate 500 people, but I can’t motivate one marketer.

Steven Jack Butala:
If you are a professional marketing person and you don’t have more than one personality disorder.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yes.

Steven Jack Butala:
Will you please email support@landacademy.com?

Jill K. DeWit:
Wait. You don’t have any personality disorders?

Steven Jack Butala:
No, no. It’s asking too much. If you have one personality disorder, I can deal with that.

Jill K. DeWit:
No. No. Anyway, I hope that’s how you’re thinking about this and looking at 2024.

Steven Jack Butala:
Look, if you send 10,000 units … you write this down on your calendar, I’m going to send 10,000 units of mail out a month. By the fifth of the month, I will have chosen where to send the mail, the places that have passed a red, green, yellow test by the 10th of the month, I will have it submitted. The request submitted to let’s say, a concierge data, it offers to owners, or let’s say you do it yourself, that you’ll have at least talk to somebody at O2O about what your options are. So that gets you to the 10th of the month. By the 15th, it’s in the mail. By the 30th you’re getting phone calls. And then, I want you to do the same thing, start it all over. Don’t wait. Don’t wait until you do that first deal or the second deal or any of that.
Keep the pipeline full. 10,000, 10,000, 10,000. Do the same thing by the same dates every single month and it will rain real estate deals on you. Think about that from a convenience store perspective. If you’re the owner of a convenience store and you don’t have any employees, so you get up in the morning, you open the doors, you turn the lights on, everything is cleaned up and the shelves are stocked, and then you sit there and wait for people to walk through the door. That’s not our business. We don’t wait. We control … if 10,000 works, then send out 20,000. You’re probably going to do twice as many deals.
We have complete control, and then, if you want to go on vacation, stop it for a month or assign it to somebody else.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah, don’t stop it.

Steven Jack Butala:
Whatever. You have control is my point.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
So this should go without saying, but all it is, is just putting it down on paper, in squares, in a calendar and just following through on it.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yep.

Steven Jack Butala:
Let’s take a look at one of our favorite land acquisitions from our weekly Thursday member webinar.

Jill K. DeWit:
So as I mentioned, Land Academy maybe technically appear to be closed for enrollment. That’s because you need to schedule a call. So go to landcademy.com-

Steven Jack Butala:
So everybody has to talk with our people before they get in.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s outstanding Jill.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah. I want to make sure. I want to make sure … come on, you want that too. When you get in this group and you see what’s going on behind closed doors, you’re going to be like, “Thank you, and please don’t let anyone in.” That’s what everybody says.

Steven Jack Butala:
Everyone says that.

Jill K. DeWit:
Everybody says that.

Steven Jack Butala:
Can you please stop now?

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay, good. Can I be the last one?

Steven Jack Butala:
You’re right. Everybody does say that.

Jill K. DeWit:
Everybody says that. So trust me.

Steven Jack Butala:
They either say that because they’re doing deals and they love it and it’s in their new career, or they say something like-

Jill K. DeWit:
Trust me.

Steven Jack Butala:
I’m not rich yet. You guys aren’t doing this right. I’m not as wealthy as you told me I was going to be. Those are people that are no longer probably going to be around.

Jill K. DeWit:
Trust me, when you get in and you see what’s going on behind closed doors and you really see the power of what we got going on and what we can provide and what we’re doing for people here, you’ll be like, “Oh, I won’t tell anybody and please don’t let anyone else in.” Got it, but there’s enough to go around, I promise. Within our group, and again, I remember I’m keeping it at 500. That’s it. We want to be able to connect with you and do deals with you and all that’s happening, every single flipping year. Somebody is doing … they just 2Xed it and 3Xed it, and 4Xed.

Steven Jack Butala:
Not just somebody. It’s a lot of people.

Jill K. DeWit:
And us, even us, I’ve watched our stuff improve too. I am letting people in that, like I said, really contribute. You’re right, you’re a good fit and you contribute. So if you want to talk to my team, I would love you … please talk to the team, if you’re thinking about this and just schedule a call, it’s free. Go to landacademy.com.

Steven Jack Butala:
Schedule a call.

Jill K. DeWit:
Read the E-book, because there’s so much information there and then, schedule a call and we’ll let you know. All right, so let’s take a question now posted again by one of our members on this secret closed online Discord community. So Devin wrote, “Happy Holidays all. I have a question for the experienced. How do you handle the responses from direct mail, right then on the spot …” It’s funny, I just answered this.

Steven Jack Butala:
I know it did. That’s why I put it in here, because it was a great answer, Jill.

Jill K. DeWit:
Thank you.

Steven Jack Butala:
And I want everyone to hear it.

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay. That’s funny. Just this morning I wrote Devin a reply, because I’m in there too. All right. He’s like, so how do you handle the responses when they come in? By the way, I would like to say Devin is a good example. Devin and his wife come to us having Airbnb and other property experience for eight or 10 years. That’s what I’m trying to say. This is who we’re getting in our group. All right, so do you handle them right then on the spot with every call that comes in or do you schedule like nine to 11 A.M. daily or something different? I’m struggling with feeling tied to my desk/computer. How important do you find it to be sitting at your desk with access to the internet? Do you have someone else to do it? I tend to overthink, so I’m just looking for some practical advice. Many thanks.
So I wrote Devin back this morning. I said, I’m so glad you’re asking this. This is a very good question and yes, you can’t be running around every time the phone rings, run to your desk, look at it. What a waste of time and you’re just chasing things. So I said, nope, your first instinct is correct. Schedule a time daily. I usually do it a couple days a week. I don’t necessarily do it daily, but depending how many offers you have coming in, it might be daily. So if you took 20 calls and you have 20 to review, then I would do it daily, but if you’ve got five to 10, I would batch them up kind of thing. So for me personally, it’s kind of like a Tuesday, Thursday or Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
And I let it be known to my staff who’s taking the inbound calls when I’m doing the deal review, because here’s why. The calls come in. The seller says, “I love it, what do I do next?” Your response is, “Please send me a copy of the assigned purchase agreement. Jill looks at them Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the mornings between nine and noon, whatever it is. Then, we usually get back to people that afternoon. Where are you going to be at that time and what’s the best contact for you? Because here’s a reason too, A, Devin is going to save you having set time and B, when you’re sitting and looking at a bunch at a time, you have a batch of them at a time, it’s so much more efficient and you’re going to pick out the very best ones.
You might go, “Oh, you approve one today,” right? You’re like, “I’m going to buy that one,” and then tomorrow you’re like, “Oh, I should have waited and looked at these other three at the same time, because these two are better than those two,” kind of thing. So you want to batch them up? It’s a really good question. Did you want to-

Steven Jack Butala:
No, I mean, how can I top that?

Jill K. DeWit:
Thank you.

Steven Jack Butala:
I mean, Jill is the expert. Today’s second topic, the laws that govern your land transaction. Last night, Jill and I were sitting at the bar at a pretty high end, I call it … we either go to restaurant center for foodies or go to restaurants that are for me. And this was a foodie restaurant and we were sitting next to-

Jill K. DeWit:
Wait, wait, wait, wait. Can we please explain that? What’s a foodie restaurant and what’s a restaurant for you, AKA dye bar, dye bar that has chips on a rack behind the counter?

Steven Jack Butala:
Chips on a rack is a great start.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yep.

Steven Jack Butala:
Or just where food is just not the highlight. Are you hungry? Yeah, I’m hungry. Then here’s a hamburger.

Jill K. DeWit:
I’ll just throw some nachos in front of you.

Steven Jack Butala:
You want fries with that? Sure. Maybe they have a chicken sandwich as an alternative.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yep.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s about it. Food is just not a priority. That’s not why you’re there.

Jill K. DeWit:
Got it.

Steven Jack Butala:
You’re there to watch some type of sporting event. You’re there to talk to the people who are at the bar who are failing at life just like you are. That’s the restaurants that I … my favorite.

Jill K. DeWit:
We use the term restaurant loosely.

Steven Jack Butala:
If you look it up on Google, click on Google Maps and you click that little button that says restaurants and all the restaurants populate in the area that you’re in, like we’re in Durango right now, so there’s 500 restaurants. If it’s not on there, that’s where I want to go.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah. Orbit has one and a half stars.

Steven Jack Butala:
They don’t really care. Yeah. They don’t want to manage all the negative feedback. They know they’re going to get from people like Jill, the foodies. So they just say, you know what-

Jill K. DeWit:
I don’t give any negative feedback.

Steven Jack Butala:
Let’s just not even be on the internet-

Jill K. DeWit:
Hold on.

Steven Jack Butala:
Whoever walks in, walks in.

Jill K. DeWit:
Seriously, do I give a negative-

Steven Jack Butala:
She’s not a negative-

Jill K. DeWit:
I don’t do negative feedback.

Steven Jack Butala:
She does have an opinion about food, which is fine. I’m not saying … one way or the other is not right.

Jill K. DeWit:
I go into it with the proper … I know what I’m going to get when I’m going in and what I’m not going to get when I’m going in and I’m happy

Steven Jack Butala:
This restaurant is … I’m not going to say the name, but it ended up working out great. They have just an amazing beer list, which is important. So anyway, Jill is enjoying her little foodie experience and I’m eavesdropping on the two people next to me and those conversations started out with one sentence that caught my ear. That’s not legal to do in a real estate transaction.

Jill K. DeWit:
I missed this whole thing, by the way.

Steven Jack Butala:
She was talking to somebody else.

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
So what played out is these two people are real estate agents and a property was put under contract and somebody didn’t want to do the deal, wanted to be either the buyer or the seller. So rather than …. as they should have said, “Okay, let’s get everybody together or let’s just see if there’s anything left here that we can put together if the deal is savable or not. Let’s give it one or two phone calls and that’s it.” No, that’s not what’s happening. Everybody is getting lawyers and all kinds of stuff, because here’s what happens in real estate deals. Sometimes people … this is what due diligence is for, this is what the five As are for.
You put the property under contract if you had a real estate agent, which we don’t, that’s not how we do this and that didn’t happen by accident.

Jill K. DeWit:
Not on the buy side.

Steven Jack Butala:
The chronology of a regular Land Academy real estate deal, all those steps didn’t happen on accident. They happen because I used to be one of the people saying, “This is not right.” Deals fall apart for a reason. Somebody changes their mind and that’s okay.

Jill K. DeWit:
Exactly.

Steven Jack Butala:
So here’s the topic today, because these two women were livid. These young women were shocked out of their minds and really upset about the fact that they’re not going to make a fee as they anticipated or when they anticipated because somebody … a buyer or the seller said, you know what? Now, I’m looking into this deal, I don’t want to do it. Which happens.

Jill K. DeWit:
I know.

Steven Jack Butala:
So here’s the deal.

Jill K. DeWit:
I had this situation recently, by the way too, I got to say that, where a jerk title company was not doing the right thing. Let’s just call it that.

Steven Jack Butala:
Is it over now?

Jill K. DeWit:
No. I followed through. It was stupid. I’m like, fine. Screw you guys. I know what I’m going to make.

Steven Jack Butala:
No. Is the deal done?

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah, the deal is done.

Steven Jack Butala:
Okay.

Jill K. DeWit:
Doubled our money, but I’m pissed about it because I did change … You know what? Because there were problems … There were things that were uncovered on the 99 yard line and everybody is like, “Too bad, so sad.” I’m like, “No, no, no, this is not right.” Everybody is like, “Oh yeah, no, you signed.” Kind of like these ladies.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yep.

Jill K. DeWit:
What the heck? I really try to run around doing the right thing and I really try to respect other people’s … if they change their mind too. So it bums me out when people don’t do it back, but what can you do?

Steven Jack Butala:
If you are a normal Joe, like Jill and I, you’re unlicensed. You buy property and you resell it. So when you go to buy a piece of property, the laws that govern that transaction for you and the seller are statutory. They’re statutes in the state where you’re doing the deal and they’re very, very non-robust, let’s call it. Every once in a while there’s some strange laws that you have to pay attention to. One that comes to mind is what we call the six-pack rule in Arizona where you have to do a public report. I don’t want to confuse this issue, but there’s rules, your subject to rules. In general, they’re very easy to follow. I want to do the deal. Yep. Do you want to do the deal? Sure.
Okay, if it comes right down to the statutes, great. You’re going to sit across the table from me. We’re going to write a purchase agreement on a cocktail napkin. I’m going to sign it. You’re going to sign it. It says, “I agree to buy APN, fill in the blank. I agree to buy it for $30,000, and I agree to close the deal tomorrow.” So I go back, I do a deed on the computer. I look it up. I find a deed template for that state. I create the signature block. We call it notary. The notary notarizes, the seller’s name, and we buy it and I hand over a cashier’s check and the deal is done. That’s what we are obligated … those are the set of laws.
I’m making this really simple, simplifying it. There are other laws that you’re subject to, especially when it comes to land, but that’s it. So that’s one, the best way to do the deal. That’s the way we do a vast majority of deals, add a title agent. Title agents are subject to legally the exact same stuff that you and I are subject to. They’re not licensed and they’re somewhat in some states governed by finance, the oversight of the finance. There’s a department of real estate and a department of finance, and they’re somewhat in some states, not all states, governed by that, but their rules are very … it’s more of an escrow thing, not a title thing. You don’t have to get title insurance on a deal. That’s up to you. Everybody thinks you do, but you don’t.

Jill K. DeWit:
You know what it is? It’s just bringing in a third party to handle the money.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s it.

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s it, that you both agree on. Your third party could be your uncle, by the way.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.

Jill K. DeWit:
It doesn’t matter who it is. It could not have a third party-

Steven Jack Butala:
The problem start, and if you’re cooking in the kitchen, now is the time to listen because all that other stuff that Jill and I talk about is probably not relevant. Now is the time to listen. Problems start in real estate deals when number one, you decide to involve a real estate agent as a buyer or a seller. When your wife says, “We’re going to list this house tomorrow,” and wait a minute, we don’t need a real estate agent. No, that’s what … my friend Sally did it, and they got through $330,000 dollars. We can do the same thing. That’s when the problems start. You’re bringing in-

Jill K. DeWit:
I think the problem is way before that.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. Yeah. If you have that conversation-

Jill K. DeWit:
That is not the minute you should be thinking, I’m not sure we should be together.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s why she wants to sell the house anyway, pal.

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s true. Yeah. This was not the first time. Not the first time.

Steven Jack Butala:
Last week, this was my forever house. This week, nope, this might-

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah, we’re listing it.

Steven Jack Butala:
Real estate agents are governed by ridiculous different set of laws and they are an outrage. There’s codes of conduct and all kinds of stuff. Then you have the National Association of Realtors rules.

Jill K. DeWit:
Breathing down their necks.

Steven Jack Butala:
Then, the state MLS … you know there’s multiple MLS’s in any given state, listing services. So you got all these rules now and you’re signing these agreements. You’re not reading it. You’re a seller, and you start signing and signing and signing and signing, and now you’re subject to all this BS-

Jill K. DeWit:
The crap.

Steven Jack Butala:
And that contract, somebody didn’t wake up one day and create that 48 page contract. It was years and years and years of-

Jill K. DeWit:
Additions.

Steven Jack Butala:
Real estate agents not getting their fees because people change their mind. Now, there’s a 48-page agreement that you’re signing that says, “You will sell this house. I will get paid. You have no more options and no more choices. We are in bed together.” So you are subject to different rules and different laws, and it’s really sad that that it’s gotten to this point.

Jill K. DeWit:
Are you okay?

Steven Jack Butala:
Please read these contracts.

Jill K. DeWit:
I do.

Steven Jack Butala:
And please decide whether or not you’re going to get a real estate agent. I have a permanent red sharpie for these contracts. Worse now because of DocuSign. Sign here, sign here, sign here, sign here. Yeah, but I like the first part of this paragraph, but I don’t like this sentence. Well, it’s DocuSign, so you can’t really edit it.

Jill K. DeWit:
But you can.

Steven Jack Butala:
You can.

Jill K. DeWit:
You can. You can print them out. Hand-do them. Scan them and send them back. I’ve totally done that.

Steven Jack Butala:
So the point is, the title of this is The Laws That Govern Your Real Estate Transaction. They’re an amazingly tiny, small set of rules, until you involve a real estate agent and then, it ends up with two girls at the end of the bar crying about their fee, which they’re going to get, which is really unfortunate for whoever didn’t want to do the deal.

Jill K. DeWit:
I’m so glad you got that off your chest. Let’s move on. Let’s take a look at another one of our favorite land acquisitions from our Thursday weekly member Webinar. By the way, if you want to be a guest and have a sneak peek on that call, there’s one … today’s the third. There’s one happening tomorrow on January 4th. You can. We’ll get you a one-time invite. Send a note to support@landacademy.com. They’ll get your information and they’ll shoot you over a Zoom invite that’ll get you on the call. It’s pretty darn cool.

Steven Jack Butala:
Jill, you have something inspirational to share.

Jill K. DeWit:
So I hope this is inspirational, after the conversations we’ve had today. I don’t want to want to poo-poo on working with your spouse, but-

Steven Jack Butala:
Is that what this is about? This is going to be inspirational.

Jill K. DeWit:
I know, right? You know what? This is meant to be important that you think about it, okay? So here’s a scoop going into 2024 … you know what? My little notes that were before this are not here. Excuse me. Shoot. I don’t have it. Do you have Teams? Hold please.

Steven Jack Butala:
I copied and pasted the whole thing.

Jill K. DeWit:
It is in there.

Steven Jack Butala:
I’m going to turn the video back.

Jill K. DeWit:
Can we stop for just a second. I need to fix the thing though. We do not do it yet and then, go back. That was my part and that was this part. Okay. Okay. Okay. Let’s start over again with the, “Jill, do you have something inspirational-“

Steven Jack Butala:
Don’t restart, because Alex knows exactly-

Jill K. DeWit:
Jill, do you have something inspirational to share?

Steven Jack Butala:
I’m not going to say that we already said that.

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay. Jill, do you have something inspirational to share?

Steven Jack Butala:
You know this is off.

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, that’s okay. Alex is fine. Okay, so here’s what I want to share, something, it’s going into 2024 and it may or may not be inspirational, but it’s meant to be and it’s meant to be informative, so you really think about this, so let me back up. We have noticed over the years, which is amazing, we have a lot of partners. We have a lot of siblings working together. We have sibling in-laws working together. It’s amazing. We have brothers working together. We have sisters working together. We have all over the place doing deals together, especially like, us husband and wives working together. And I want you to be aware going into 2024 that you’ve got to really be in tune to this and really be on the same page.
Because I’ll tell you, working together is not always that easy. Every year, we look at each other and talk about changes for the next year and including personal. We have made some recent changes too. We joked about, for a while, we were on different floors, right? One level for him, one level for me. Now, it might be different zip codes as it is different zip codes. I work in a different zip code, he works in different zip code. Even though in our home we have full-blown offices with two … well actually, three doors to close between our separate offices. It still can be a little too close. You’re a little too accessible and it’s really hard with your spouse.

Steven Jack Butala:
This is a way to start off the year, Jill.

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, no, to run off it … That’s what I’m trying to say. I want you to be aware of this. I want to be real and then, I want you just to be thinking about it, because you know why? I want you to succeed. I want to be real about this. We’re really good at telling everybody, “Oh, this is so easy.” You’re making it look easy, and I think we’re really good at making, “Oh, working with your spouse and living in 300 square feet. You guys make it look so easy. Everybody could do it.” Well, I’m here to tell you it’s not and it really can take a toll on your marriage unless you’re ready for it. And I want you to be thinking about it.
So I want to read some snippets of this sweet person. I was in a Facebook group this morning. It’s a female group of real estate professionals of all kind, and this person wrote the sweet note and I’m like, “Oh, bless her heart.” It’s getting bad for them. So, I was just going to say … so what they do, her notes are like, “Gosh, this lifestyle can really take a toll on your marriage, right?” She’s like, “My husband and I are coming to the realization that if we don’t split up our assets, we might not be happy in other areas of our lives and it could lead to something bigger.” So they’ve got multi-families. They’ve got all kinds of other things that they own and rent out.
So she’s asking, is this an idea to do, what if we split up our assets and set up money so we could each make different decisions about the properties that we manage? She goes on to say … and it’s really kind of a bummer, because if it doesn’t go well, then we’ve already split our assets so we’ll be ready for that kind of thing. And she’s like, “Basically, I don’t want to strangle my partner and become more resentful,” kind of thing. So I thought, “Oh, this poor thing …” I read this note, I just kind of pulled little snippets out of it, because it broke my heart and I’m bringing it up right now because I want you to know it’s real.
So I want you to have a successful … like, gosh, we’ve been working together now for 15 years and done Land Academy for nine. That’s a lot, when you really think about it, that’s a lot of time together, a lot of deals and we now have learned what to separate, who does what?

Steven Jack Butala:
You said it.

Jill K. DeWit:
Stay out of each other’s lane. I don’t need to separate assets, but I do need to separate what we do and we separate them in two ways. We separate it with what the other person’s … who’s better at what and who likes the other thing too. I want you to know that it’s real. You’re not nuts, you’re not wrong. You guys are all smiling and happy. I want to strangle my partner. Trust me, it’s not all sunshine and roses with us. I’m not just pointing at you, but with us.

Steven Jack Butala:
At first, I thought this is like Jill’s way of breaking up with me, right on the podcast.

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s funny. Speaking of dividing up assets. No, but anyway, I want it to be inspirational and I want you to know that I’m here for that too. That’s one of the thing about our landlady’s group, soon to be landgals.com is within Land Academy I have a separate little subgroup and we talk about stuff that’s important to us, including this. So please don’t be afraid to pull myself aside or bring it up in our ladies group, if you’re like, “All right, we’re at a stalemate. How do I handle this one with my partner, my husband, my wife.” We’ll help you.

Steven Jack Butala:
Do I get to talk here or not?

Jill K. DeWit:
No.

Steven Jack Butala:
Okay.

Jill K. DeWit:
Just kidding. That’s part of it. Just kidding.

Steven Jack Butala:
I’m going to be a male about them. I’m going to take a male perspective on this. There is nothing, nothing bad about splitting your assets right now. Nothing.

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay.

Steven Jack Butala:
So here’s where it starts, and if you don’t start here first, like building a foundation of a house, if you don’t start here first, it’s going to crumble. Number one, have a very candid conversation with yourself about the person that … whoever your partner is. I don’t care if you are the wife or the husband or you’re the sister or whatever, you need to look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself this question, is this partner that I have making me better at this or worse? The vast majority of the time, in my opinion, after doing this for a long time is the latter. I think the chances are it’s the latter.

Jill K. DeWit:
Worse?

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. There’s somebody standing in your way now and this is not gender-specific. It’s not-

Jill K. DeWit:
Your partner makes you worse?

Steven Jack Butala:
Just hold on a second, Jill.

Jill K. DeWit:
I have a lot of questions.

Steven Jack Butala:
See what I mean? I’m not done yet and it’s going to take a few minutes for me to explain it.

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay.

Steven Jack Butala:
Look in the mirror. Is this relationship that I’m in making me a better person, a better investor? Am I going to get more wealthy two or three or four years down the road with this person in my life or not? The vast majority of the time, the answer is no. This person is standing in my way because you’re the one who’s probably started out all this stuff in the first place. Again, not gender-specific. That’s just how it is. In our case, and this is the truth. This is not with cameras and lights on. Jill makes my … I brought Jill into this business and the year that I did that, I doubled revenue and doubled net income and she’s not even a numbers person.
She just brought something that was missing into my financial life. Then, so we started down the path together and of course, there were differences and yes, we need separate offices and sometimes we need to work in separate zip codes, but is it all worth it? Yep. So ask yourself that one question. Jill and I are not married. That really, really, really helps. She has some LLCs, I have some LLCs. She has an estate. I have an estate. We have two estates, not one with different beneficiaries for a bunch of reasons. All of these things work in our favor times 10, in my opinion. If you jumble all your stuff up into one big ball of assets, one single balance sheet where everybody owns half, it’s probably going to end in tragedy.
There are these two people … and I feel for them, I really do, are probably trying to both co-manage these apartment buildings.

Jill K. DeWit:
True. That’s a problem.

Steven Jack Butala:
And maybe the guy’s got a big huge open heart. Yeah, you can pay your rent next week, it’s fine. And maybe the wife is like, “Are you kidding me? I always wanted to get this person out of this apartment building anyway.” So you can’t effectively manage anything. You’re sending two … remember, we tried to do real estate deal together?

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah. That back part.

Steven Jack Butala:
So Jill and I can’t … can you imagine if two people like us are talking to a seller and I agree that I’m going to buy the property for $32,000 and last week she agreed we were going to buy it for 28.

Jill K. DeWit:
That happened.

Steven Jack Butala:
That’s a disaster. That’s probably what’s happening here. One person is managing it. It has a management style and the other person has a management style. Great. Split the assets up now. One person takes half of them, manage your style away. The other person takes the other half, manage your style away and maybe on the back end you just kind of split the equity, but you stay out of each other’s way, when it comes to the operations standpoint. Jill and I have drawn … years and years ago, drawn a line on the center of the paper. You’re the operations person, I’m the acquisitions and data person and I don’t even know … honestly, I find out more about what’s going on in the companies that we own while we’re recording these shows than I do in regular life, and I think that’s great. It works out great for me.

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s true.

Steven Jack Butala:
Does it work well for you?

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah.

Steven Jack Butala:
So no, we could … there’s no such thing as co-CEOs.

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s true.

Steven Jack Butala:
There’s not two CEOs for Coca-Cola or Ford or Toyota. There’s one person.

Jill K. DeWit:
Well, you explained that way better than I did, so thank you for saving that.

Steven Jack Butala:
You’re cutting me off?

Jill K. DeWit:
Yeah, that was perfect. That was perfect. Do you have more to say?

Steven Jack Butala:
I could talk about … well, we’ll do another show.

Jill K. DeWit:
Let’s have another show on it.

Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.

Jill K. DeWit:
Let’s talk about it more. Okay.

Steven Jack Butala:
Working with your spouse, not next week, the week after.

Jill K. DeWit:
Okay. All right. Well Jack, then what do you have? Do you have something you want to share with us today?

Steven Jack Butala:
Strangely enough, this ties right into my inspirational moment here, and it’s called, how often do you do something that you don’t want to do? This is another look at your self in the mirror and ask yourself, there’s 24 hours in a day. What percentage of that time are you doing something you don’t want to do? If you have a terrible job and a terrible boss, great. That’s eight to 10 hours a day. You’re doing something you don’t want to do. Yikes. You got to sleep six to eight hours. So let’s forget about that. That leaves, whatever, eight hours. Are you then going home to somebody that does like these two apartment owners, where you’re not doing something … are you spending your whole life doing stuff you don’t want to do? That’s not good. It’s January. You can do something about that pretty fast.

Jill K. DeWit:
Do you have a list? Do you make a list of these sometimes and then, try to move them around? What do you do?

Steven Jack Butala:
Well, I tell you, because there was a time in my life long before I met you where my life was packed full of 24 hours of stuff I don’t want to do, and I didn’t realize it then, but I think I subconsciously started getting rid of all that and I did. So I don’t-

Jill K. DeWit:
You’re good at that.

Steven Jack Butala:
About 23 hours a day, I do stuff I want to do, and I would even argue it’s probably 24.

Jill K. DeWit:
That’s what I think.

Steven Jack Butala:
Because … and it doesn’t happen overnight. You got to get rid of the people in your life that are dragging you down, first of all, number one, and you got to get rid of-

Jill K. DeWit:
Children included.

Steven Jack Butala:
You got to be … we’ll talk about it next week, but you need to be in control of what you want to do with your life. Jill and I jokingly, and I’ll end on this, my whole entire life, all I’d ever wanted was to not be responsible for doing anything and not really having anything. So if you can picture a piece of property that you own with a nice single or double wide on it somewhere and all the firewood and water that you can use, that’s kind of really where it is. If you got a few thousand dollars a month coming in and enough to pay for the property taxes that year, that should be about it, but that’s not where it ends. We complicate everything. Why? Because we let people into our lives that have a different idea.
And maybe they’re not bright enough to explain it to you. It’s not like they have malicious intent. They’re just not bright enough to say, that’s not what I want. Once they experience it, then they know how they feel about it.

Jill K. DeWit:
Interesting observation.

Steven Jack Butala:
It’s January. You can be a multi-millionaire by the end of the year if you’re … with the right people. If there’s somebody standing in your way personally or socially or professionally, not good.

Jill K. DeWit:
Love it. Hey, if you want to learn more, easy, send a note to my team via support@landacademy.com.

Steven Jack Butala:
Join us next Wednesday for another interesting episode. Buy cheap land and sell it for more on the internet, usually a lot more. We are Jack and Jill.

Jill K. DeWit:
We are Jack and Jill.

Steven Jack Butala:
Information.

Jill K. DeWit:
And inspiration

Steven Jack Butala:
To buy undervalued property. Out.