Interview with Brian Kingdeski

15 Nov Interview with Brian Kingdeski

Brian Kingdeski talks about how he went from a wholesaling to flipping 20 houses at a time and helping his investor partners flip another 10 at a time as well.

Video Replay of Interview with Brian Kingdeski

Podcast Replay of Interview with Brian Kingdeski

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Steve: 00:00 Hey everybody, thanks for joining us for today’s episode of Real Estate Disruptor is today we have Brian Kingdeski with some IAC home quick, and he’s here to show he’s flipping 20 to 30 houses at any given time. Crazy numbers to me. Uh, if this is your first time tuning in, I’m Steve Trang broker, owner Stunning Homes Realty, founder of the offer fast homes app, the only app you need for wholesaling. And I’m on a mission to create 100 millionaires. So please do message me if you ever need any help with your wholesaling business. If excited for today’s show, please give me a wave, give me a thumbs up. And as a friendly reminder, I do not charge a dime for this show. I don’t make any money doing this. So here’s all I ask. This is what it costs for you to listen to this show. If you get value today, please tell a friend by sharing this episode right now, tagging a friend below are telling your best takeaway from the show later on. That way we can all grow together. And don’t forget this is a live show. Please post your questions and Brian will be happy to answer them for you. You Ready? I’m ready. Let’s do it. All right. What got you into real estate
Brian: 00:57 back in the day? I used to own subway restaurants and uh, I was at a marketing conference for, you know, learning how to market your subway restaurant and the guy that was putting it on Rory Fatt, he was a marketing guy and he had this guy named Ron the grand come and speak at his event. And so he was a, he was an older guy, real estate trainer, wholesaler, all that stuff. And he came up there with selling a kit and I bought us kit, spent $1,500 and took kit home, devoured it, and then just bought a bunch of the other stuff. And from that point, you know, that was probably one of the first, uh, dabbles in real estate. And from there I just devoured everything I could and I still to this day and going to seminars and training and reading all the time about my craft. So.
Steve: 01:47 Wow. So you’re at a concert. He said this was 2012.
Brian: 01:50 Uh, no, it was 2002 or one or two.
Steve: 01:56 Oh, it doesn’t want to know. Okay. So you’ve been doing it for a long time. Wow. Okay. Yeah. Um, so talk about your journey. So you, you bought his course, you ended up and you started implementing, started taking action. Yup. How was, how was the beginning, I mean the, were you, you were wholesaling right away, flipping right away.
Brian: 02:14 Uh, it was, it was more doing lease options and the creative stuff like that and then we got into the, to the fix and flipping. Um, but, but basically, you know, it was, I didn’t have what’s out there today and you know, all the training and the mentors and all that stuff. So it was basically just going out there and learning as you go and then you’d meet people and you figure out a better way and. But it was the hard way like, yeah, you know, things didn’t get a lot easier until later on, you know, and I just went through all the failures and learn the hard way and, but you know, now you know what’s out there now. It would make everything a lot. Yeah.
Steve: 02:57 So, so knowing what you know now, if you were to start over from scratch, like what are the first two or three things you would do?
Brian: 03:04 The biggest thing is you got to get training in education and then the, the other big thing is if you can get a mentor to show you how to do it, you basically, if you got 10 steps until you’re successful. I started at zero and I worked my way up the mentor and when you’re doing cloning and modeling, you’re starting at five or six. So you’re, you’re skipping all that crap that I had to go through and then, you know, your path is, is so much easier. But I didn’t, I didn’t do that. So. But that’s what you gotta do. You gotta get educated in your craft. They say it takes 10,000 hours before you know what you’re doing and become a professional. Uh, so you got to put that time. And so that’s what, four or five years, you know. Um, and then finding somebody that, that knows what they’re doing, willing to share, like pay for it. You know, you should be paying for this stuff, you know, a new person if they’re out there, they’re paying. I have coaches still have coaches, I have coaches. Yeah. I’m always learning and coaching and it’s just, it helps. There’s just so much in our business to, to do whether you’re wholesaling or fix and flipping or buying, holding or whatever you’re doing. Even as a normal agent, you know, there’s just, you gotta get some, some modeling and coaching for sure.
Steve: 04:17 So if someone was listening to the show right now is like, man, I want to not do 20 eclipse at the time, but you know, I want to do my first two or three flips. Like is there a coaching program that you think is credible or is really more just kind of hit or miss?
Brian: 04:30 It’s what I would do if I was new is I would try to get dialed in with, even if whoever’s doing it, even if they’ve only done 10, but just trying to get on to see what they’re doing and then, um, you know, because you could either spend a lot of money in and do it, but people don’t have money so you have to start, you know, some, some way somehow. I mean, you, if you have all the money and you want to go pay someone to coach and yeah, I, I would, I would definitely do it. So. Right. So it’s worth it. I mean, finding a mentor is the first finding a mentor training and then, um, you know, we, I’ve learned a lot with our mastermind group. We’re in a mastermind group together and uh, it’s a great group of guys and you know, I talked to the different guys, you know, at different times, you know, I kind of know who I need to call when they need help here, here.
Brian: 05:19 And uh, it’s just, uh, it’s, you know, our whole community of investors. There’s hundreds and in Arizona because of some of the other guys that have trained all these new guys, most of them don’t know if they’re doing, um, the ones that do that are like yourself and Brent Daniels and there’s a whole list of guys that are evo as imaging. A lot of guys are just, they’re, they’re good and they respect our industry and I respect them and they, they kinda like, they, they look at the big picture and you know, they want to, they want to be in this for a long time and some of these new guys are in and out and, you know, fly by night. It’s, it’s tough.
Steve: 05:59 Well, some of the other things, you know, the guy that you mentioned, Brenton and evo is not just that they’re in the, in, in here and try to in here for the long haul, but they’re trying to level up their competition, right? Because we’re peers and their competitors. And it’s fascinating to me like how much they’re trying to level up. It’s crazy the fears. So it was pretty cool. It’s crazy. Uh, and it was funny. I was doing my research before you came in and I saw that you were, you formerly ran iron man, and it was just, I was thinking there was a period where I kept bumping into your guys’. Yeah, so it’s just so funny how small this world isn’t, had no idea who you were at that time. So it was really interest.
Brian: 06:35 I think everybody in our mastermind has that mentality of abundance, right? There’s a lot out there. And there was a lot of people that have that mentality that they can’t share their secrets and they can’t do this and there’s not enough deals out there. There’s so many deals in Arizona, you know, and then the guys that could get good at it, they opened other markets and they opened up a whole nother. So there’s deals out there, there’s always gonna be people that are distressed and need to sell and uh, we are their best solution.
Steve: 07:02 Right. Uh, so what do you attribute your success to?
Brian: 07:07 Um, you know, um, um, you know, people don’t like to hear this four letter word, but it’s, it’s work. Like it’s an awful word. Uh, it’s an awful word, um, but, you know, I, I tell people at my brokerage it’s the same thing, um, and they don’t like to hear it, but you gotta you gotta work and it’s the other three things that I mentioned too, but, um, you know, I’m, I’m at my office in the morning and I leave, you know, in the afternoon and there’s a lot of times where I’m the only one in there with my team, like my guys were there. So, um, and we’re, you know, we’re working in, um, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s a, it’s a big, it’s a big picture. It’s actually enjoy it. So it’s not like it’s, Oh, I gotta go to work. So I, I love what I do and um, you know, it just takes a lot of effort for sure.
Steve: 07:56 Yeah. That’s something that, uh, I think Steve Jobs says is that having that passion right is what helps you get through it because there’s a lot of times that’s sucking our business does. And having that passion allows you to overlook that pain, to come back and get more.
Brian: 08:09 I’ve eaten Ramen, I’ve eaten steak,
Steve: 08:11 so I like steak. Better stakes, definitely a lot better. Yep. Uh, so we, we talked earlier about our friends slash competitors. There are so many of us and there’s so many different flavors of, you know, we all have different styles. What separates you from, from the rest of us?
Brian: 08:28 Well, a lot of time, um, you know, I’m really hands involved in, in, in everything. So, uh, I have a team, we’re much bigger now, but I’m still involved a lot. And then, um, you know, I kind of take the approach of my dad. My Dad worked for carrier air conditioning for 37 years. He was an account rep, right? And so, uh, he had accounts, he had clients that he took care of and I kind of look at my business and this whole estate wholesaling industry and fixing, flipping as accounts and relationships. So, um, if I’m going to do a deal with you in ice, screw you, you’re not going to come back to me. So I look at the long run. I may not make as much money on each individual transaction, but I want to make money because we’re going to be partners for life, you know, so I kind of look at this. I kind of look at the whole picture a little bit different than maybe some other investors do
Steve: 09:22 and I think there was something that we talked about over lunch a month and half ago was that you got your, your, your investor partners that you work with and you had one commit to a deal but then backed out. But because your relationship, you still find it, that deal saver down, even though it wasn’t your deal. You can commit to it. And I think that’s something that be said for that.
Brian: 09:45 It does. I mean, and we do things, um, you know, a lot of the investors and I know your license, like we do things the right way. So you know, if, if I’m, if I, if there’s a house and there’s a seller that wants to sell it and I’m one of the people in there, I feel like I’m going to get it because I’m licensed. It’s Arizona Department of real estate contracts goes through title, everything’s done correctly in normal, and you think about the clientele that we sell to, they’re all the same. They, they care as much about money that it’s done correctly and legally. Right. So, um, I just, you know, and I, I’m not, I’m not a big cheesy negotiator, right? So, you know, our perfect scenario in this happens a lot of the times when we’re, when we’re buying houses and it may seem hard to believe, but somebody like they want to sell their house for $100,000 and I’d do my research.
Brian: 10:34 I go out there and I’m like, you know what, we’re pretty close. Let’s, let’s do this deal. You know, I’m not coming in with cheesy, you know, sales tactics and you know, trying to do all this and the takeaway sale, I just don’t work that way and no nonsense. You don’t have time. Like, you know, either one of them you don’t. And then you know, I’ll, I’ll, if I, if I can’t meet their price, I’ll say, hey, I can’t meet, here’s what I can do. And then it’s their decision, but I’m not going to do all that cheesy stuff. I just don’t, I don’t work that way because I want them to think about it. Everybody that we’re buying their homes, they’re all the same. Like our Avatar, they’re 55 plus they’re moving onto the next stage or somebody died or something. So why do I want to, you know, treat him like that and have a bad taste and then it’s going to come back to me later on. I just don’t want to do that.
Steve: 11:22 Yeah, that makes sense. I’m sourcing deals. So how are you finding your properties right now?
Brian: 11:29 Uh, well Mr Brent Daniels has helped a lot with the, with the cold calling and talking to people. So we do a lot of that. We do a lot of postcards and then we do a lot of just relationships with other wholesalers. We just bought one from, you know, a couple of weeks ago by from Jamil and just everybody that we kind of are networked with. So we’re buying from them. Um, I have agents, you know, bring me deals all the time. I went to an appointment this morning and the same with you, so you know, you know, a lot of people and then people are like, Hey, what can you pay for this? And so it takes that and then you know, you’ve got to have a team and then they’re finding deals and it just, you know, it’s a numbers game.
Steve: 12:05 Yeah. You know, so how are you coaching agents to bring your deals or how are you, how are you, you know, getting people, because there’s many people are like, I mean, you take a listing and you put in there either seller motivated, whatever. You’re getting like six automated cash offers, right? So how do you stand above that? Stay above the noise where they’re contacting you. Hey Brian, I’m looking at this house. What would you be willing to pay for it?
Brian: 12:30 It’s just, you know, that takes time. That’s like relationships and um, and trust. It’s like a friendship and then you get to know the people. Like I had this lady in my office, um, she just knows what I do. They all kind of know what I do. And um, and, and they know that, you know, once you do at one time and it works in the real estate agent gets, gets paid in a week versus two or three months and it was the easiest thing in the world and they all talk, you know, and so the next one, you know, they get a deal where they have a listing and it’s in bad condition. They’re like, what do I do with this? And so let me call Brian so I’ll give him, I just tell them what I can pay and it’s either what the seller wants or not, you know. Right. And if it’s in the range, I’ll give them a range and if it’s close to I’ll go out and look at it. I want to one this morning and so we ended up buying it. So.
Steve: 13:19 Awesome. Yeah. And I’m just gonna make a quick shameless plug right here that we did together. How did you find it?
Brian: 13:26 Ah, your APP, your APP. I was sitting, reading, doing my morning reading. You got to do your morning reading and um, it popped up on my phone and I’m like, Oh wow, this is a great deal. And uh, so I just, I looked at it, I know Mesa so well. So it was like called Max right away and boom. And then I called Jamil and bought two houses before 10:00 in the morning.
Steve: 13:46 That’s awesome. Yeah, that’s a good morning ritual that I have three houses. I know, I know. So what does your organization look like today? Because you said that you’re growing to manage all the flips you got going on and you’ve been hiring. So what is your organization to look like right now? Yep. Yeah,
Brian: 14:01 so that’s been the biggest thing in word it’s been from when I started into where it is now. Um, the whole mindset was I wanted to build a business that would take me out of the picture, like we all know the weakest link and it can be ourselves sometimes when we’re busy and we got families. You’ve got kids, your kids are beautiful by the way. Um, and you know, you’re just, you know, I got your wife and then you’ve got, you know, your coaching and all this stuff. It’s like I always wanted to take me out of the picture and so it, it, it’s just a process and um, it, it’s helped a lot like coaching and masterminding with other guys and kind of figuring out what they do. Um, but it, it went from me to now I have a, an inside sales rep, I have an acquisitions guy. Um, I have a va, I have a transaction coordinator, I got a guy that drives for ugly houses and probate. I’ve got $5 and then I’ve got another kind of office, Gail. So, um, I don’t even know how many that was. 10, 12 people, but that’s all just happened recently. Like in it’s growing and, and all that also. So,
Steve: 15:16 so that sounds, um, I hear the acquisition part, finding deals. Yeah. Uh, but 20 to 30 flips at a time, you know, I think a lot people find unimaginable. I of have a property manager now and if every man
Brian: 15:31 yes, uh, is, he’s probably listening. So he’s awesome.
Steve: 15:34 So the property manager is different than project manager. Project manager. Project manager,
Brian: 15:38 yes, sorry. Yes. Project manager. So he basically goes around and checks on the jobs and you know, dealing with all this stuff that, that, you know, bids and quotes and um, Benzos and just all that stuff driving by the houses for myself and for our students also. So He’s, he’s very busy. He’s gone and I make them come to the Monday morning meeting and then it’s hard to see him for the rest of the week.
Steve: 16:00 Yeah. Yeah. So do you have a. So last week we had Jerry Nora and he says everything is GC. Okay. Right. And then he has a narc, whether that was an interesting concept where you just have a photographer just spy on the properties. Okay. So with you, do you use a GC or are you or is it done as dealing with the subs?
Brian: 16:21 No, we have. So we’ll use a GC if it’s a bigger project, but a lot of our reserve, you know, 30, $40,000 or in and out and so they’re Kinda like handymen that I’ve used over the years and it’s just a training process. So, you know, you go the first two or three houses are kind of like a training and then after that they kind of know what you’re doing. So. And they, they, they know, they know what we both want. Yeah. So we just want the house to get done quickly as possible. It’s got to be safe, everything’s got to be done right for the inspections and all that stuff. Um, but it’s, it’s hard. That’s a hard part of this business is finding good people. Yeah, it, it, it really is. So, and then you know, because they have life to, you know, the last couple of houses took way longer than we expected and you know, they had family issues and daughter was sick and it’s like okay, I’m paying hard money interest on this yet, but it’s the big picture. What are you going to do?
Steve: 17:16 So I just came from a different mastermind just now and they were saying that, you know, a labor, there’s a labor shortage in the construction side for sure. And with the fires going on in California or it’s going to get worse pretty quick. Yeah. Um, so how are you compensating and keeping these guys loyal to you? Because this is such a shortage right now.
Brian: 17:37 Uh, they, um, each guy as we, as I kind of get to know them, I know what they can and cannot do. And so, and then then when I stretched them, you know, hey, you want to do it in their house? And they say yes, and then they fall on their face and they go back to doing their one house at a time or whatever. So, um, it’s just kind of knowing those guys, but they’re, they’re here, their families here, they’re not gonna go anywhere. So whether there’s work other else, as long as they’re happy with me and we get along and they’re getting paid on time and you know, they’re, they have roots here. They do. So you’re not just picking up. No, no, you’re not going to. Oh No, no, no, no, no, no. Back in the day I did back in the day, it was me doing that and I was subbing everything out. So that was the process that I went through. But
Steve: 18:20 you got guys that you’re paying on time now. Are these w two or these are contracts? Ten 99 and then you know that. Okay, interesting. Yeah. Um,
Brian: 18:30 then each guy, each guy is different and you know, you’re always bringing in new ones and then the other ones, you know, sometimes they go away, but I’ve got guys that have been with me for 10, 12 years, so now. Incredible. That’s awesome. When that happens because it’s, it’s just we speak the same language and Mike, how much do you think? And I already know what he’s thinking. So it’s easy to. It’s just confirming what you already knew. Yes, he asked me sometimes he’s like, I’m like, well, so what do you think? How much you know, he’s like, you know, you know, you, you telling me I’m like, we got to play this game. Yeah.
Steve: 19:00 Again, so I might just tell me, so, um, so you mentioned students talk to me about what the students, what that means.
Brian: 19:11 I don’t know if their students are, are partners, but um, it kind of happened. I’ve got, I had a few kind of friends and people that I ran into him, you know, throughout the years that, um, they basically we help them find houses and then we kind of stayed in touch and then, so every time they need a house they would come to me. So we kind of took that whole concept and um, we kind of just made it to where it helped us out as they were, like I said, the account rep is the way I look at it, so I’m looking at continual business and then it helped them out. They could stay in their jobs and then we gave them the, basically the whole package. So we’ll help them find the house. We introduced them to the hard money lender and then they can use one of our handymen or contractor would have been needed.
Brian: 19:55 And then we will also help them as much as they want, um, from start to finish with the project. So I’ll go there and I’ll say, would their contractor and with them I say, okay, let’s do this, this, this, this, use these same colors that we already using in writing. Drew, they go by once a week and give the contractor a check and that’s all their involvement is. So it’s an easy system and they’d be just basically plugged them in and it’s someone else that I could wholesale houses too. And it helps with our overflow and um, but that’s kinda how it kind of developed and now we have, you know, so you kinda fell into it, kind of kind of fell into it. But it was all based on the whole, um, you know, the account thing, like I said, the, the account rep and taken in building those relationships, that’s Kinda, you know, Kinda got developed I guess.
Brian: 20:43 And it just started happening. And I’m like, well, this is great. Why don’t we do this? And [inaudible] they’re all happy. You know, I’ve got one guy that’s been doing it with me, um, I don’t even know, eight, nine years, so now he’s doing four at a time and he’s, you know, doing great. So He’s, you know, making 15, $20,000 each house and he’s a firefighter and um, you know, he’s a great guy. So, but I’m a little better than its pension. Yeah. Yeah. And I keep telling him like, why are you firefighting me? You have to stay up for 24 hours, like making way more money doing this then. So, but um, it’s just always funny because he’s even to this day and he’s done so many with me. Um, I’m involved a lot, you know, like I’ll walk the property with them and all this stuff and then I have new students that I tell them, I’m like, I will be here as much as you want. If I can’t help feel well or you know, Adam or Adonis and like, we’ll, we’ll, we’re here to help. And they, they buy it. They’re like, okay, great, great. They buy the house. I don’t hear from him again unless they call me. And like, Oh I, you know, I’m having a hard time here. I’m like, why don’t you call me before like I would have walked you through and helped you. So, uh, it’s, people are, people are funny, everyone’s different, you know,
Steve: 21:57 they are so being licensed, right. I think this is something that a lot of the people that are licensed that are wholesaling or flipping this something that take notes. Just one more strategy to increase your cashflow. Yeah. So you assign it to your buyer partner, help him use your connections, your resources, leverage that because you already got it. Yup. Um, and then they flip it and they’re happy to do that over and over again. Yeah. So you’re just servicing your client in a different way. That’s not really happening so much right now.
Brian: 22:31 But the involvement literally is they drive by the house is in Phoenix. I got to drive a little bit farther. So, but if it’s close to the house are literally writing a check and bringing in once a week and then if they want to look at the house or whatever they wanna do they own it? Yeah. So I don’t want the house so, but um, it’s a really, it’s an easy system to do that. So yeah. But, um, you know, it’s one of those things where it’s, you know, it’s a burden to me a little bit because I want them to do well and just like I would do well. So that’s why I get frustrated, you know, I’m like, I’m here to help. Let me help you then a few of these, you know, I want them to be successful. So
Steve: 23:08 it probably just afraid of taking your time.
Brian: 23:10 No, it’s, they think they got it. People think they got it. Yeah. So, but,
Steve: 23:15 so, um, are there any kpis that you track in doing this?
Brian: 23:19 Uh, that, that has helped a lot? Um, you know, just this recently, um, I’ve been doing that a lot more and that’s why we’ve had some more success buying houses and tracking and I fired some, you know, cold callers that were in Costa Rica that we’re producing and got new ones and just, but talking to other people, that’s the, that’s the thing. So it’s Kinda hard, like when we were, it was just, you know, myself in this, one of my guys, Phil, he’s been with me for every 25 years old and he’s, he’s awesome. So, um, but if I was lucky to have you as a mentor, yeah, he had been with me for five years. He went to one of my restaurants are too, so I’ve known him since he was 18 years old, so it was kind of crazy. Um, but it’s, it’s when it’s just something small, you’re like, you know, what am I tracking?
Brian: 24:05 I’m not a big company, but as things grow and you want to get better, like you have to track, you know, you have to track stuff and you have to know your numbers. And so I’ve been trying to get better at that. It’s just not my personality, uh, that, that whole part of it. So I’m trying to learn and get better and, and just, you got to do it whether it’s just not fun to do tracking all this stuff, but there’s times, you know, now I have a va that does it for me. So she sends me a weekly report and what are the, what are the key indicators that are most important to you? Well, we’re tracking, we’re tracking leads and you know, how many calls, how many hours it takes to get that lead, how many leads turn into deals and then basically what you’re making per deal and then cost of the callers to get that one deal.
Brian: 24:58 And then you know, you just tracking costs. So in when you have those kinds of numbers and if you see, you know, your colors aren’t producing and then you know, who’s, who’s not producing and you’re getting more and same with postcards or whatever, you know, you’re, you’re just, you know, how many you’re sending out and you know, you know, how many leads are you getting and how many deals you’re getting. It’s just good to know that stuff. So, but, um, you know, our business, it’s like, um, you kinda got to be involved with everything because, you know, if you’re just doing one little thing, um, it’s just not going to be, you’re not going to get enough deals and it’s going to cost way much more. So if I can buy, you know, if I’m spending all this money in marketing and I’m buying a house, but then I spend no marketing, I’m buying a house from you, it kind of balances out. If I’m just doing all marketing and it’s not producing, then you just have to offset it. You have to get deals other places in order to help your numbers.
Brian: 25:55 Are any interests in expanding what markets you’re in? I’ve dabbled in that. I’ve done a few others. Um, it, it does work. Um, but, um, I think it’s gonna. It’s gonna happen here in the next two or three years as now that we have the infrastructure to handle it before, you know, when it’s myself and, and Phil and, you know, we’re doing deals here. It’s, it’s, it’s hard to do, to do everything. But now I think we have the core we could do. I’ve done it before. I’ve tested it. I’ve sold homes in Seattle and in Michigan and it gets easy. It’s like, but you gotta have you gotTa have the time to do it. So, but right now I just want to be really good. And you know, here doing what I’m doing and then as you do that then you can, you can grow. So, but there’s no, no reason to, for me to do that right now even though I could. And I’ve done it and it does work. Yeah. Okay. And we know a lot of guys that are doing it. That’s all they’re doing.
Steve: 26:49 We do. A lot of guys are wholesaling well in other markets. I don’t know anyone. It’s flipping one of them or
Brian: 26:54 no, I wouldn’t do that with just wholesale. Okay. Yeah, for sure.
Steve: 26:57 All right. So, um, you know, we’re talking about direct mail and, and you know, you’ve got the staff operation going now, like what is your monthly overhead doing all that?
Brian: 27:08 Well, you know, we’re, we’re doing postcards and cold calling and all this stuff. I mean our overhead is not huge. I don’t, um, you know, most of our team, they’re there on um, you know, they’re 10, 99. So you know, if, if they bring in deals then we pay him. So it helps with your overhead cost of sale. Yeah. And I’m not gonna ever, you know, I don’t have a little different. I’ve, I’ve, you know, we’re older, we’ve been through everything. Um, my, my motivation to build a big, powerful organization and be the man I could care less at this point in my life. So I love my wife, love my kids, you know, on, to make a good living and move on. I don’t need to be the man, I don’t need a big organization and I don’t want it. So I rent an office in my brokerage, have a little box, like this is great, I’m happy.
Brian: 27:55 So, but that helps you be lean and move, you know, because like I said, you know, and you’ve been around for awhile, things go like this sometimes. So why do you want to have all this? And then you’re going to go through it again and you just can’t, you can’t move quick enough when you’re, when you’re light that. So yeah, I don’t have that, that need to have the big, powerful organization. So, but so our costs are down. It’s basically marketing. When deals come in, then I can spend more in marketing. But it’s all kind of relative. It’s not, I don’t have a big overhead at all.
Steve: 28:25 Okay. Um, and then as far as wholesaling versus flipping, do you have a target for our whole, for an assignment, for in a target, for a profit on a flip?
Brian: 28:32 Uh, I mean, it’s probably, I’d say the average is around $10,000 for a wholesale. Um, it just depends on your source. If you’re getting it direct from a salary, you can make a little bit more when you’re buying from another wholesaler you make less. So. Yeah. But, um, I think I said that even though I cost, I spent more money getting it there, you know, I’m, it balances out with your cost of what you’re spending on to get that lead versus buying it from a wholesaler. So.
Steve: 28:59 Okay. Yeah. Uh, and then on a, on a flip, what’s your targeted profit?
Brian: 29:04 I want to make at least 20, 25 on those. So it doesn’t matter on price range or. No, uh, I, you know, one of my, one of my things, again, I’ve just had been through it so much, I’ve done the big Arcadia flips and still flips and you think you’re going to make, you know, retirement money and it just doesn’t work that way. So it does sometimes. So we’ve done well, there’s been house I’ve made over $100,000 on a flip and I’ve done it. But um, I rather stay in where, you know, I always say the same example, if there’s a thousand people that want to buy a house, I want to make my house where the most amount of those people want to buy it. So, you know, average price range, three bedroom, two bath, the one of the major cities in where everybody wants to live and you want to make everything normal.
Brian: 29:51 Three bedroom, two bath and the thousand plus square foot, you know, just where the most people want to buy. So we want to stick into that, that area thinking we’re going to have the best results. So it usually ends up where you’re buying from 1:50 to 200 and your selling for, you know, 2:20 to two 70. That’s kind of where we kind of stay nowadays. So it’s just, you know, your target market, it’s just, you know, I’ve been kicked a lot. So when you get kicked eventually you learn, you get smart even though it takes you a long time. Yeah. You get some less, but eventually you know, you learn. So. Okay. So, uh, you mentioned something earlier that you liked to go to the house, right? So talk about the importance of that. Uh, I mean I’ve, I’ve the house I bought from you guys, I think I bought it.
Brian: 30:42 Um, I, I committed sight unseen just because I know the area. But um, I don’t like to do that often. So, I mean, I wanna, I just wanna I’m a field guy so, you know, I kind of want to see it and there’s times where I can in there, there’s times where I’m not, but if I’m going to commit to it, to where I’m going to fix it and flip it or one of my, one of my students, I want to see it. If I’m just wholesaling it, then I may look at it differently. But, um, I just, I just want to, I mean, in the context of meeting the homeowner. Oh, when you’re going on an appointment. So. Well, yes, if I can, I have it. I have a new acquisitions guy right now. That’s awesome. So I have backed off on that but um, my whole philosophy with that is, you know, you’ve got guys like me that hired young people, right?
Brian: 31:30 And I know if I’m going up against them I’m going to get the deal, right. I want to buy houses so, and I know that they’re using the wrong contracts and I know, you know, it’s just easy. It’s just easy. So when, when I go in there and it’s, I’m, I’m older and you know, I’m not 20 and I’m going to go in there and we’ll get the deal. So of course do I want to go on those appointments? So if you think about it, if you’re doing eight to 10 deals a month, how many appointments is that? Right? It’s not that much. Is that, what are you gonna do for the rest of the day? So if I’m sitting in the office and it feels like we got a hot one, I’m going to go. If I, if I don’t have anything going on, I’m going to go.
Brian: 32:05 Yeah, I think it’s smart. I think that, you know, we, we, we get in this habit or routine of trying to outsource and offload this. Isn’t that, but I’ll do a combination. I need to get better, but I have a guy now that uh, his name is Adam and he’s, he’s, he’s the real deal. He’s awesome and he’s, you know, you gotta know your personalities and you got to know your strengths and weaknesses and he offsets some of my weaknesses. So, um, he’s awesome and I’m excited, he’s new, he’s been here for a month or so and he’s, you know, bringing in deals but just a great guy. He’s like in infectious and comes in and the cyclists by some houses today and he’s got energy and you know, he’s just a, he’s a really good guy. So we have a good team. I’ve, I’m, I’m blessed with everybody that I have so it takes a while to get there
Steve: 32:54 for sure. It does. So did I read this right? You’re a poker player. I am. How’d you know that fall on your, your, your, your history of winnings? Twenty 300 bucks on there somewhere. It’s out there somewhere.
Brian: 33:07 I played in the State Championship and uh, yeah, I actually cash so I love, I love playing poker. So often you play a, I mean it goes in stages but now maybe you know, a couple times a month we’re at a, there’s home games all over the place. I haven’t went. I used to go, you know, once in a while to the casino. I haven’t done that in awhile. So. Well next time you go to an email, let me know. Yeah, that’s my, that’s my favorite place. It’s been a while. I, I was supposed to play in the tournament when it flooded and, or whatever happened. And um, I ended up, I had played like two or three times before and I had the worst luck and I’m like, why am I going to go spend $1,100 and then just get my butt kicked. So I’m like, I’m a, I’m going to skip it. And then ends up flooding and not happening. Anyway. So when you lose on kings like three times in a row and you’re like,
Steve: 33:55 this is the second biggest side, pocket aces the first. I know I have not won on kings in a while. So when I get to my choking, what. Are there any lessons that you learned from poker that you’ve applied to your business?
Brian: 34:10 Um, it, you know, poker is a lot about reading people. I mean, I’m not one of those guys at the table that just sits there and doesn’t talk. I like to have fun and interact. And so, I mean, it’s, it’s, you know, everything in our life is about people. So, um, you know, it’s, you know, when, when you’re younger, you’re kind of in your own little world and you know, you just, you just kind of can’t get outside of yourself. And then, um, I’ve learned that the more people you help, the more money that you can make, not just about money but just about it betters your life, right? So I turned in from maybe more introverted to more, you know, people, I’ll go up to people and you know, it’s like, it’s like, you know, it’s crazy. I go to the gym every day.
Brian: 34:57 Right, okay. And you see the same people, right? Right. Nobody says hi to each other. Right? So I’m at, if I see a guy, you know, I’ve been seeing you for two years, like I’m gonna go, Hey, what’s going on man? You know, how you doing? Just say hi. Just meet people, like see what happens to see what happens. But that turns into relationships and you know, you don’t know what it turns into. You’re not doing it because of that. But it’s just like, just talk to people like Brent says, but it’s just, you know, I’m, I’ve kind of changed to where am I, you know, I’ve looked differently, I guess like that. So I’ll go up and talk to people at the gym and uh, and just just say hi. It’s like you see these same people every day know, like, this one dude is at the gym. He’s like, he was just a big dude and he lost all this weight and I’m like, hey man, you look great. And I’ve been seeing the here for two years and what’d you do? And just, he was happy to, you know, glowing to tell and to talk. And it’s absolutely someone noticed, somebody noticed. Sounds awesome. The last like 30, 40 pounds. So he looked great. Yeah.
Steve: 35:57 Uh, so one of the things I learned and I try to convey to my guys is on the poker lesson, is that you just do what you can. You do the right things, right? The results take care of themselves. You’re not going to win every hand. Yes. But you said the right things, right? Everything else will take care of itself. So, you know, hit the phones, have the conversations, talk to people
Brian: 36:16 right there. That’s the difference between your mind in my mind. That’s exactly true. Yeah. But that’s what I’m talking about. Your, the number. You’re the numbers guy and I got to get better at that, but yeah, that’s, it’s all percentages. So you, you, you got the sand, you should play it. He shouldn’t, you know. Right. Click on your button then.
Steve: 36:32 Yeah. Uh, so are there any crm tools or systems you could not live without?
Brian: 36:37 Um, we use podio. So, um, that, you know, you’ve got to have something to track stuff and just so you know what’s going on, you know, you’ve got to have. Because the biggest thing is when you get out, you do all this magical stuff and you have all these leads coming in and then they’re not getting handled properly that that’s like the death of your business. So I’m, podio is huge.
Steve: 37:02 Anything else? Any other tools or systems?
Brian: 37:05 Um, that’s the biggest one. The, you know, the other one, I just, it’s not necessarily a crm, but I just love my va’s so I’ve got a great one and just having that source, we’re, you know, they’re, they’re, they’re making everything happen. It’s just huge to outsource as much as you can.
Steve: 37:25 So a lot of these guys are listening right now. You know, Va’s is a hot topic. How did you find your va? Um, through my mastermind mastermind. Yeah.
Brian: 37:36 Cool. Somebody else in the mastermind, uh, again, you know, the land of abundance, he’s like, sure, here, try this girl. She’s awesome. Sure enough, she is awesome.
Steve: 37:46 Very cool. Yep. So, and a referral. So relationship for real. Yeah. Yep. And then one thing that’s a, so in doing, you know, the wholesale and the disruptors, you know, I’ve had more opportunities to flip, right? And I had a discussion, passionate discussion with my wife about what the right number of flips to go on at any given time as to go on, like to be doing it one time at one time. Okay. All right. And for my number was eight. Her number is four. Okay. So we compromised and it’s for. Okay. Right. Okay. Okay. That works. All right. Uh, so. And her greatest fear was, you know, if something goes south, we’re on the hook, right? For all those deals. So I hear, you know, you got 20 slash 30 going on, what, what, what measures are protections? We have that or that’s just the
Brian: 38:36 way it goes. Those are, that’s what I was talking about, like buying where the majority of the people want to buy. So when you’re doing that and your projects, like I stay away from big, big projects, these are no luxury, four to six week turnarounds, right? So if the market turns, you know you’re going to be able to move a lot faster than doing permits and add ons and Arcadia big new home builds. I just don’t, I just don’t do it. So um, the market can turn quickly but it’s not going to turn that quick and that’s, you know, something big happened. So I’m, I’m already out and onto the next and I’ve bought, you know, the new one based on the corrected market, whereas you’re into one for, you know, eight, nine, 10 months or a year. You can’t, you’re already screwed. I can’t do it.
Brian: 39:24 So I would stick to that where they’re a little easier. I mean we’re still doing complete guts are like 30, $40,000 remodels, but we’re not like doing ad dons and stuff like that. So no add ons, no additions, no moving walls or moving walls, but no major. It’s always seems that one between the living room and kitchen. So I don’t know why they did that, but nothing where you have to go talk to the city. No, we try to stay away from that. Not because it’s cost much, but it’s just a pain. The permits and you know, the plans and just the timeframes they have. No, they don’t. They’re not, they’re not in a hurry. So used to get in and out of four to six weeks or we’re talking about four to six weeks of construction or 46 weeks for Australia. You close to.
Brian: 40:06 They’re close construction. Okay. So, uh, what’s the close, the close time. I mean, I always tell people three to five months, so if it takes six weeks, say um, to, to fix it and you’ve got a couple of weeks on the market, best case scenario, and then the buyer comes in is 30 days, so you at three months right there. Yeah. That’s best case. So August three months. Two and a half to five months is probably more realistic, but in those price range it’s usually you’re in and out in three to four months. Um, this is something that came up in our mastermind this morning and they were saying that there’s a lot of nervousness and even, you know, Jamila good. Friendship Male. Yes. I’m sending him luxury deals. It’s like nobody’s buying luxury right now because there’s like, we don’t know what’s going on. Yeah.
Brian: 40:51 So what would you do if the market dips? Um, you know, I’ve been through it than doing it, you know, I did it before the crash. Yeah. Did it when it was hot during the crash and now back when it’s hot. Yeah. So, um, you’re just, you’re going to stay, you know, you just got to stay nimble. That’s why I don’t want the big business. Like I tell Jamil and Mike got big, got big business buddy, you know, so, but I love it. We talked, we actually talked all the time above his business about this topic. Yeah, he’s a smart guy. He’s a smart guy, so I love him. So, but we, we do we call, call each other and like, Hey, what do you think about this? So yeah, but um, you know, staying, staying thin, like um, you know, I think your guys that work for you, they gotta they gotTa have blood in the game.
Brian: 41:38 So I’m not paying salaries. Like if they’re out there producing then we’re producing it. It’s a win win for everybody. Yeah. So, um, and then when you’re buying the houses, you know, you’re staying, you’re just going to stay in those, those, that safe zone. So, um, but, but it’s happened. I mean, you buy, you know, the market kind of crashes, you’re just going to buy a little bit cheaper and it, it just kind of balances out. But things will correct, like right now, um, we’ve had, we’ve had this talk with my guys, it’s like, okay, we’ve got November and December coming up, what happens every year in November, December. Like I tell myself every year and then I don’t prepare for it, but things kind of slowed down. Right? Um, let’s talk about why, uh, it’s, you know, human nature, people go on vacations or holidays, people don’t really want to do it.
Brian: 42:24 So you’re buying less real actors don’t want to work. Lenders don’t want to work. Title companies don’t want to work. There’s busy, it’s family. They’ve been grinding all year and now they’re like, okay, I get some time off. So everything kind of slows down and people may say that it doesn’t, but I feel it. Oh definitely. And I prepare for it. And um, so right now like we’re trying to buy a bunch of houses so we can have them ready for next year, you know, the best time if you can have a house ready, you know, end of January, have it ready to be put on the market that like things to change. I don’t know what it is, but February hits and all of a sudden like, boom, everybody’s just frantic buying houses and it’s just, it’s crazy. I’ve never had, couldn’t sell, couldn’t get a house under contract.
Brian: 43:16 I think I have like 11 of them. They all went within 10 days, all went under contract, like February hit. And I was like, what the heck is going on here? Tax Returns. Yeah. Yeah. I’m sure there was a lot of reasons and um, but, so anyways, we’re buying right now. We’re going to buy for the next six weeks as much as we can get it all fixed and be ready for the spring. And, and um, you know, make some money. Absolutely. What’s your biggest struggle right now? Um, well now that we have this team, it’s um, it’s Kinda just, you know, spending time with everybody to make sure, you know, you’re just looking over operations and you’re making sure everyone’s doing their thing and just the training and um, you know, when there’s, when it’s just you and somebody else, you know, you don’t have to.
Brian: 44:03 He’s going to do your thing and you plug along and, but now I need to take the time and you know, how you doing and let’s look at your numbers and what questions you have and just, you know, just, it’s a whole nother set of, of, of stuff is like, you know, when it’s just, you, you got nothing to worry about when you’ve got all these people then you’re like, you got to spend time and um, and just training and learning and all that stuff. So it’s just a different, different thing. I guess that’s Kinda what we’re, what I’m going through now. Yeah. So how are you training them? Well, like Adam for example, he’s, he’s a new guy that just came along, he’s been doing it. And how we met is through relationships. I’ve bought so many houses from him and how he conduct conducted himself and handle themselves and we ended up, um, we would, we, even if we were buying a house, it seems like we were calling or texting almost every day and uh, so I just saw how he was in real life. And so now when he comes over, you know, there’s not much training, it’s more of how do we do things and just getting used to that. So, um, it’s, it’s, it’s going great though. He’s, he’s an awesome guy. Awesome. What would you consider to be your superpower? My superpower?
Brian: 45:19 Um, I don’t know if it’s a superpower, but I would just say God wired me and made me a certain way and it’s, you know, I like to work. I’m weird. I like to cook like the clean, I don’t mind doing laundry. I just really weird. I just like it. I like it and it’s actually kind of like, because I’m so just wired like, you know, just to, to, to do, to do, to do. And so when I’m off cooking it’s like, it’s actually just relaxing because I’m not just or, you know, going crazy. So, but no, it’s just, it’s my super power is just God made me a certain way and it just helps, you know, helps him in, in my business. So I just like to work. Yeah. I like to do. And if I’m not doing, like I’m, I’m, I’m access services like I, you know, just going around and doing stuff at the house and that’s kind of like, you know, my love language and just that’s how I show, you know, so you can’t just sleep on the couch. It’s tough. I can’t sleep. Like I, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve taken a nap I think once or twice and that’s when I’ve been sick or just out of the hospital really. I have never taken a nap in my life. Oh see I think the Sunday afternoon naps in the afternoon games. I love it. I want to like, I’m jealous. I just amazing. Like I’m jealous. I just, I don’t, I don’t know how to do it. Uh, what’s your favorite best or most interesting failure?
Brian: 46:39 I’m probably, I went one time, um, one of my partnerships, um, that was probably one of my hardest failures getting through. Um, but again, you know, God kind just worried me a certain way where, you know, I’m not down for long periods of time. Obviously we all fell, you know, some people fail and then they’ll just, while they’re in it for months and months and months, uh, but typically, you know, I’m, I may be down for a day or so, but then I’m like, okay, what am I gonna do? Let’s go back, let’s go figure it out and, you know, and, and just work. So. But uh, yeah, I mean that’s, that’s always tough, you know, when you’re going through partnerships and stuff like that. So just it was an odd abrupt ending. And so that was, it was hard. It was a partnership that them and well, and that’s every time someone says partnership, that always terrifies me.
Brian: 47:32 I people all the time, like I’ll, I’ll sit with them and, and um, new people and they’re like, yeah, I’m thinking about so and so and so my, uh, my why, well, why you don’t need it, you don’t need it. So, um, but you know, it, it was uh, you know, had partnerships, partnership with a big source of money. But, um, it just, at the end of the day, it’s just, you know, something you got to go through and you know, stuff that we, uh, we do when we’re younger. Um, you know, we just don’t do it when we’re older. We’ve kind of learned everyone, everyone goes through it. Um, you know, one out of 20, 30 partnerships may work, but most of them don’t in a lot of it has to do with, um, the amount of effort in it. It’s never, you know, the Bible says equally yoked is just not. So it’s rare to have two people rowing in the same direction in anything. So yeah, I, I mean, I’ve said before, like I’ll never do another partnership again. And then this year I partnered up with Max.
Brian: 48:33 I know like you are definitely going in the right direction if it’s too, if you can get to where you guys were kind of separate and you’re doing two different things, but you can’t have two operators. You can have two visionaries. You gotta have, you know, one or the other and it works. So, um, but again, at the end of the day, you know, I, I just feel like I don’t, I don’t need it well. And so my advice to most people in regards to partnership was just super clean exit strategy, right? Just make sure you have an attorney look at it, got a super clean exit strategy. So, you know, hopefully everything works out well. Yeah, it doesn’t, you guys know exactly how it looks like in, in your, um, like a prenup for a business in your business. Um, spaces basically our businesses, the whole selling parts of cash business.
Brian: 49:15 So it’s not like you’re going to have a lot to split at the end of the day. It’s like, okay, we’re going to close out these deals and we’re done. And I’m like, that’s an easy exit. So yeah. Well, whose relationship was this? Whose partnership was that? Yeah, there’s, it gets, it gets a little mess. Some stuff. Yeah, for sure. Is there a book you’ve gifted more than any other? Um, I, you know, the big ones thinking, grow rich, I’m the slight edge. That’s an awesome one. And then the millionaire mastermind, a mindset that one roaster becker. Yeah. Brighter mindset. Yep. So, um, those three, the think and grow rich is, is basically the source of almost every book, every. If you think about it, like I’m like, you guys copied this guy. Everyone’s copied that book right when I reread it or we listened to it last year. It was like, man, if I would just read this book every year.
Brian: 50:02 Yeah, you could. That could be your January goal like that and just get read because it’s just, it’s crazy. So, but that stuff, um, especially the whole think and grow rich, the, the, the mindset and just the whole subconscious mind it, like it works. I mean, and then, you know, just the whole thing with, with the goals and you know, I wrote down goals for myself and um, I think I’ve, I’ve accomplished every one. There’s one that that’s incredible. I may now want to at this point because I’ve changed, but just writing it down and then looking at it every day, it’s crazy. The power. That’s just crazy. And then I had another girl in my office, a new realtor, and she did the same thing and she just came to me the other day. She’s like, remember when we did those goals? I’m like, yeah, she’s like, I have accomplished every one of them.
Brian: 50:53 I’m like, that’s awesome. It’s just powerful and it works. So, um, but not everybody is wired that way in, wants to, to do that. They don’t like to read. Like I read every day, you know, Brent Daniels, you know, when he’s doing the book a week. And he challenged me. I, I started off doing a book a week, but I probably only have read maybe 30 this year. So I just got busy and off track and read every day. And you’re still on pace for three of them. Would they say you read 20 minutes a day or 20 minutes a day? It’s a 20 books a year is what they say. So that’s not long. No, it’s not hard. But that’s my routine. I wake up, grab my coffee, I read and then um, and then start the day. So it’s just, I just made it a habit so I don’t have to think about it again, I’m just just,
Steve: 51:45 that’s just doing it. So I think that’s the perfect spot to end. If someone has a deal and they want to send it to you, how would you want that? They can text me or email me the address and we’ll look at anything. What’s your number? What’s your email? I’m sorry, I just took some ice. It’s a selma easy home. Quick at Gmail Dot Com. Okay. Easy enough. And then guys, again, if you like the show, please share this episode right now and that we’re doing a special podcast on Friday at 1:00 with Gary Harper. He’s the traction coach for a lot of the top producers in the country. So he’s going to share some insight on how some of these guys are running their businesses, uh, using traction. So definitely be sure to check that out. And with that, thank you guys. Thank you Brian. There was a lot of useful information. Thank you. Thank you so much. I enjoyed it.