\n<\/p>\n
Finding off-market real estate deals<\/strong><\/a> can be a great way to kick off your investing career<\/strong>, as it requires very little money to get started<\/strong>. The catch? You must <\/strong>be willing to get your hands dirty.<\/p>\n Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie<\/em> podcast<\/strong>! Today, we\u2019re chatting with real estate wholesaler<\/strong><\/a> Nate Robbins<\/strong>. After a long and successful career in banking, Nate was beginning to feel burnt out and frustrated with life. As fate would have it, he ran into Tarl Yarber<\/strong>\u2014one of the most successful real estate investors<\/strong> in the Pacific Northwest. Under Tarl\u2019s mentorship, Nate learned the ropes of real estate investing<\/strong><\/a>. With his strong people skills<\/strong>, natural ability to communicate<\/strong>, and infectious personality, he was able to carve out a niche in<\/strong> acquisitions<\/strong>\u2014where he has been able to close off-market deals<\/strong> at a massive profit<\/strong>.<\/p>\n If you need real estate<\/strong> to be your escape<\/strong> rope from the monotony of your nine-to-five<\/strong>, this episode is for you! Nate talks about shedding the W2 mentality<\/strong> and how to find the best investing strategy<\/strong><\/a> for you<\/strong>. He also shares his step-by-step process for finding highly profitable off-market deals<\/strong>. Whether you\u2019re a bubbly extrovert or a cautious introvert, Nate will equip you with practical tips on how to engage a seller<\/strong> and get your foot in the door!<\/p>\n Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Nate: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Tony: Ashley: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Tony: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Ashley: Nate: Tony: Ashley: \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Help us reach new listeners on iTunes by leaving us a rating and review! It takes just 30 seconds and instructions can be found here<\/a>. Thanks! We really appreciate it!<\/p>\n Interested in learning more about today\u2019s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email <\/em>[email\u00a0protected]<\/span><\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Note By BiggerPockets:<\/b> These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.<\/p>\n
This is Real Estate Rookie Episode 326.<\/p>\n
As soon as I say cold calling, most people just kind of shut down. \u201cI\u2019m never going to do that, I can\u2019t do that.\u201d I promise you, you can. With your skill level, with your own unique personality, you absolutely can do this. But I think it\u2019s a matter of managing your expectations, and I think that\u2019s where a lot of people get gummed up. So I\u2019ll tell you what I say and what I do, and then maybe we could dive a little bit deeper on this.<\/p>\n
My name is Ashley Kehr, and I\u2019m here with my co-host Tony J Robinson.<\/p>\n
And welcome to the Real Estate Rookie Podcast, where every week, twice a week, we bring you the inspiration, motivation, and stories you need to hear to kickstart your investing journey. And rookies, do we have an episode for you guys today? If you have ever thought to yourself, \u201cWhere can I find really good deals? How can I do that with the least amount of money possible?\u201d Nate Robbins, our guest for today, is going to answer that question for you. Now, Nate\u2019s a friend of both Ashley and I, he\u2019s one of the biggest characters I think I know in the world of real estate investing. He\u2019s always got a smile on his face, always making people laugh. But don\u2019t let his kind of boyish charm fool you, Nate is an absolute beast when it comes to finding good off market deals.<\/p>\n
You know what? That\u2019s so funny because that exactly describes [inaudible 00:01:14] his boyish charm. And yeah, so we bring Nate on today and we talk about how he actually got started in real estate, gives you a little background of that. And it was a very unique situation, and how he took advantage of this opportunity presented to him.
Then we\u2019re going to go into how to source a deal, how to find a deal. And Nate will walk you through the two different paths as to how he finds addresses or gets the houses that he wants to go after. And we break down exactly what you should say on the phone, exactly what you should do when you\u2019re at a seller appointment, step-by-step instructions. As you\u2019re listening to this, I want you to write down notes of what Nate is going to say. And kind of develop your own plan to follow this along, and just try it out.
Pick up the phone, make a phone call, go door knocking, but Nate does a really great job of describing in detail a step-by-step list for you to go and do exactly what he\u2019s doing.
Nate Robbins, welcome to the Real Estate Rookie Podcast.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the honor of my life, I love you guys. And your audience doesn\u2019t know how lucky they are to have you in their lives.<\/p>\n
Well, thank you, that was a very nice compliment. But today we are here to shower you with love and admiration on your real estate investing journey. So Nate, why don\u2019t you start off telling everyone a little bit about yourself, and then how you got started in real estate.<\/p>\n
Yeah, so back in 2016, I was working for a bank. I\u2019d been working at a bank for about five years, I was a private client banker. And I\u2019ll be honest, I really should not be where I am today. There\u2019s just no logical reason way that I am where I am today. And so I was working at the bank back in 2016, and I was actually hitting kind of a midlife crisis. I was very frustrated with my work, frustrated with life. And I got off a very frustrating phone call with a client and I hung up, and I just see this random guy standing in the lobby. And not wanting to make any more phone calls, I just get up out of my desk. I wasn\u2019t necessarily supposed to pull the clients from the lobby. Walked over to this guy and I said, \u201cHey man, how can I help you?\u201d And he goes, \u201cWell, I need to open a business account.\u201d And I was like, \u201cNo problem, I can help with that.\u201d
And so I brought him over to my desk, [inaudible 00:03:47] chatting with this guy and I\u2019m like, \u201cDude, you\u2019re a really cool guy. What do you do?\u201d And he goes, \u201cWell, I\u2019m in real estate.\u201d I was like, \u201cOh, that\u2019s cool, I\u2019ve always been interested in real estate.\u201d And I bought Carleton Sheets when I was 18, trying to\u2026 Your audience wouldn\u2019t even know who Carleton Sheets is.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know who that is.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t know Carleton Sheets, Ashley?<\/p>\n
No, no.<\/p>\n
So I don\u2019t know, I was a really weird kid, I would stay up late during the summer months. And late at night when you don\u2019t have really good cable packages, all you see is infomercials.<\/p>\n
Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
And every single night Carleton Sheets had an infomercial running for this at-home kind of package that taught you how to buy real estate with no money down.<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
Anyway, he was one of the big real estate info marketers back in the day.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s the original guru kind of thing, he sold the program and then he\u2019d get you in your loop and he\u2019d sell you more programs and stuff. And so yeah, it\u2019s kind of funny. Hey, actually Tony, if you want, I\u2019ll send you the tapes, you could listen to him again if you want.<\/p>\n
My dad actually had a copy, I was in his garage a decade ago and found [inaudible 00:04:51] and Sheets\u2019 tapes also.<\/p>\n
It actually has some pretty good stuff in it. It\u2019s pretty basic, but it\u2019s really good stuff. And I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, okay, cool.\u201d Yeah, it\u2019s nice, but-<\/p>\n
Okay Nate, you don\u2019t need to give us your affiliate link now, back to you.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ve actually signed up, but-<\/p>\n
Sign up under me.<\/p>\n
Yeah. I can promote my Amway business also? So anyway, that one conversation with that business account ended up being a conversation with who you guys know, Tarl Yarber. I don\u2019t know if your audience would know who he is, but was one of the most successful real estate flippers up here in the Seattle Pacific Northwest market. And so he\u2019s like, \u201cWell, hey, let\u2019s grab coffee and a lunch.\u201d And so that turned into about a two or three month conversation. And then after about three months, he said, \u201cHey, I\u2019m willing to offer you a 90-day contract to come work with me.\u201d And so I had to make the choice of, do I stay at a safe job at the bank? Or do I take a chance on a 90-day contract to go and maybe succeed or fail at real estate? And so thankfully, the fear of not knowing what would happen was greater than the fear of being safe or the need for security. And so I took the chance and it\u2019s been an absolute wild, wild ride ever since.<\/p>\n
In that moment when you were looking at, okay, 90 days, what happens after 90 days? Are you the type of person that\u2019s like, \u201cWorst case scenario, this is what I can do.\u201d Did you think you could go back to your other job? Maybe if somebody listening is given that same opportunity, what\u2019s your advice on ways that they can take that chance and kind of shift their mindset to leaping into something that may only be 90 days and not continue on?<\/p>\n
Yeah. Well, I got to the point, and again, I was kind of in a existential crisis a little bit in my life. And so I got to a place\u2026 Because it was a big deal, I was on a fairly successful track with my job, I had a plan, a 10-year plan. And I got to the point of saying, or I had this image of saying, \u201cWell, I\u2019m on my deathbed.\u201d It was kind of future casting. I\u2019m on my deathbed, I\u2019m always going to wonder what if? And the fear of\u2026 I had to see, I had to know what if? What if it did succeed? What if I did make it? What if this was my chance? And I had to know even if I failed. And so I kind of hedged my bets where I left gracefully, I left kind of on an extended timeline to help my manager out. So I knew that I could always come back if I failed, but I had to know.
And so I think sometimes it\u2019s easy to play it safe, but on your deathbed when you\u2019re dying and you\u2019re about to take your last breath, are you going to be glad you took the chance? Or are you going to be glad you played it safe? And I think most people\u2026 And I\u2019m sure you guys see a lot of these same motivational things. Most people on their deathbed when they interview these people on their last moments, it\u2019s not taking the chance, it\u2019s not taking the risk and taking the opportunity. And so for me, I had to see what happened down this path. And yeah, I would encourage other people too, it\u2019s man, take the chance, see what happens.<\/p>\n
Nate, I just want to ask, you\u2019re talking about taking this chance, but you worked in a bank, but were you in the mortgage department? Did you have any type of real estate experience prior taking this big bet on yourself I guess?<\/p>\n
No, none.<\/p>\n
So why would Tarl want you? What were the things that you thought\u2026 What did he see? Besides how handsome you are, what are some other qualities that he looked for?<\/p>\n
Have you seen this hair?<\/p>\n
I was just about to say, man, and how perfectly quaffed that [inaudible 00:08:56].<\/p>\n
It\u2019s almost as good as yours, Tony. It\u2019s almost as good. Yeah, well, I think obviously, I have a real hard time talking to people. I don\u2019t have any kind of personality and I stutter a lot. So those were some of the hindrances I had, but I think I owe a lot to Tarl for where I am at today. And I think what he saw\u2026 And he\u2019s very good at this as well, when he sees potential in somebody, he\u2019s really open to taking a chance on that person. And so I think it was probably pretty obvious that I was miserable, and I think from our conversations together he saw somebody that was really miserable, had a lot more potential and was stuck in a place that wasn\u2019t that great for him.
And so Tarl saw that in me, and I think just doing what I do because my strong suit really is building relationships with people, it\u2019s communicating, it\u2019s getting to know somebody, it\u2019s building rapport. And so my job within the bank was as a private client banker, so I was dealing with high net worth clients. I had no real estate background, I really didn\u2019t have anything as far as real estate was concerned to bring to the table. But my personality, my ability to communicate and talk to people, that really I think is what kind of opened the door for me to work with Tarl.<\/p>\n
Nate, just I want to go back really quickly to something that you mentioned about the whole laying on your deathbed thing. And I think there\u2019s a lot of value and you used a phrase future casting in that way. And there\u2019s a book I\u2019m reading right now, it\u2019s called The Good Life, and it\u2019s by two doctors, Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz. But basically it was this longitudinal study where they followed hundreds of people over multiple decades. From the time they were 18 until they were in their 80s, and they passed away. And they even followed on with their kids and their grandchildren. So just crazy amount of data and it just goes into hey, what are the key factors of actually living a good life based on this really long comprehensive study? And a lot of it was kind of tied into what you said about taking some of those risks. And kind of surrounding yourself with people that you really get energy from. As opposed to being in an environment where you\u2019ve got a bunch of energy vampires that are kind of pulling life out of you.
So I just wanted to plug that book, I\u2019m 30% through it, I\u2019ve already really enjoyed it. But The Good Life by Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz, if you guys are looking for a good read on that.<\/p>\n
Yeah, I think you bring up a very interesting point that I\u2019m still learning. And I think at least in my life, there\u2019s a tipping point where I\u2019ll be in a situation or I\u2019ll be in a job, well, not a job anymore, but I\u2019ll be in a situation where it no longer feels life-giving, it\u2019s an energy drain on me. And I think it\u2019s very challenging to want to pursue safety and security over having the integrity to say, \u201cHey, this is no longer really helping me, it\u2019s killing me.\u201d And trying to make active changes. Because the reality is we\u2019re not trees, we can move, we can make changes, and we can make those things, right? So when you realize that those things are starting to happen to you, maybe it\u2019s a relationship, maybe it\u2019s a job, maybe it\u2019s something, you have the ability to make changes to improve that situation and find that vein of, \u201cHey, this is giving me life, this is now exciting, this is good for me, this is getting me to where I need to go.\u201d
So just being aware of that, and I\u2019m still learning that as well, but okay, now I need a change, let\u2019s start working that.<\/p>\n
One more plug, because I said the word book. And anytime we say the word book on this podcast, Ashley and I now have to plug the Real Estate Partnerships book with Ashley and I co-authored. If you head over to biggerpockets.com\/partnerships, you guys can pick up a copy of that book. But now anytime the word book or partnership is mentioned on this podcast, we have to plug the Real Estate Partnerships book.<\/p>\n
Okay, well, we\u2019re going to plug that a couple more times then.<\/p>\n
Pretty soon anytime the word real estate is said, I\u2019m plugging it. So tell me, Nate, what kind of investing do you like to do?<\/p>\n
Well, actually after that whole thing with Tarl, I don\u2019t actually do real estate anymore.<\/p>\n
Oh, real estate, so we have this [inaudible 00:13:14]. Let\u2019s talk about when you made that transition. You\u2019re leaving your bank job and you\u2019re going to work for Tarl, what were some of the things that you were doing for this job? What was the actual position?<\/p>\n
So this is a little bit funny, and I\u2019ll do the [inaudible 00:13:31]. Tarl, when he hired me he was looking to replicate himself. He wanted to kind of get a step away from the business, run the business and just replicate himself. And we could probably talk about this as well, but I left the bank with a very much of W2 mentality. And Tarl was looking for somebody with more of a independent, I\u2019m going to go figure this out and get it done. So the first two weeks I\u2019m just sitting in the car with him like, \u201cAll right man, tell me what to do. I have no idea anything about anything, just tell me what to do.\u201d And after about a month of that, he was starting to get pretty frustrated. And so if you talk to him ever, you\u2019ll find out I was on my way to getting fired actually. And then we went to a Jocko Conference down in San Diego and that reframed some of his thinking, and so anyway, I got a second chance.
But what was apparent is that my strong suit and my skillset wasn\u2019t really around the detailed operations of managing a project. Now, I can do that, but I wasn\u2019t the skill match for Tarl. And so what it became apparent is that I\u2019m much more stronger suited or my skillset is really in building relationships and that type of thing. And so the role that I kind of fell into or I kind of got more focused on was acquisitions. So networking with wholesalers, going direct to seller and that kind of the wholesale aspect of the business. And so just again, kind of Tarl realizing, \u201cHey, you\u2019re better suited over here, not what I originally planned. So let\u2019s move you over here and get you kind of in a better role.\u201d And so that was kind of how I kind of fell into this whole acquisitions, door knocking, cold calling, deal finding, all that kind of good stuff.<\/p>\n
That is such a real thing, the W2 mentality. And it\u2019s also part of who you are too as far as your DiSC profile and things like that as to how you perceive the world. But being you just want to be told how to do something and you can master it instead of having to figure it out. And then there\u2019s other people that want to figure it out and can figure it out. But that was something I struggled with too with one of my business partners, he came from the W2 world. And everything was handed to him as to, \u201cHere\u2019s what you have to do.\u201d And he would just go and do it. And then it was on to the next thing of [inaudible 00:15:57] what you had to do. And there was never really a lot of decision making or even scheduling yourself or any kind of task management because everything was just given right to you.
And I think making that transition is really hard. Honestly, I think it took him a year. Now he oversees all of the maintenance for my property management company. And it is boom, boom, boom, everything is just done, he just takes action on it. But if he was doing that a year and a half ago, I literally would\u2019ve had to sit down with him, \u201cOkay, here\u2019s this work order, this is what you have to do. Now let\u2019s schedule it for this day and this time. Now go ahead and text her, tell her you\u2019re going to be here at this time this day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
But now he can just go and figure it out, but that is such a big thing. So what are some of the things that you did to kind of get out of that? Because I feel you obviously haven\u2019t stayed stuck in that W2 mentality. I can seriously doubt Tarl is still telling you exactly what to do every day.<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s actually funny because now I\u2019d say about 8, 12 months ago, we\u2019ve kind of stopped doing real estate up here in the Pacific Northwest. So we work together on other aspects of that, and so if I did have any W2 mentality a year ago, it\u2019s definitely gone now because it\u2019s now 100% dependent on me, right? And so I\u2019m looking, I\u2019m trying to think back to my mentality on this kind of stuff, and I think it\u2019s when you really, really want it bad enough, you will figure it out. People want the easy road, they want the easy five steps to make a million dollars. And that information exists except for\u2026 What did I see? Hold on, I have to read this quote today. And I posted this, right? It was like, \u201cBuilding a real estate business is simple, knowing what to do is simple. Executing on what to do is hard, being consistent is hard, delayed gratification is hard, being persistent is hard.\u201d
And so I think it\u2019s just one of these things that it\u2019s not wrong to have a W2 mentality, but it can be hard to succeed. And so you have to have this mentality of, \u201cI am going to succeed, I\u2019m not going to quit. I want this and I\u2019m not going to wait for somebody else to come kind of spoonfeed me. I have to go get it and I\u2019m going to go get it.\u201d And so I don\u2019t know if that was clear, but that\u2019s kind my thought process on that.<\/p>\n
You kind of said it yourself that no one\u2019s going to spoonfeed you, you have to go get it, Nate. So once you and Tarl had that realization of the detailed operational management isn\u2019t kind of speaking to your natural genius, it\u2019s more so the relationship side. What did that onboarding experience look like? How did you figure out what you should be doing every day? Or what was the effective way to go out? And just even I guess just taking them one step back, if you can first just define kind of what your new goal was after you guys have kind of decided, \u201cOkay, here\u2019s the role for Nate.\u201d What was the end result you were looking for? And then how did you go about teaching yourself how to do that?<\/p>\n
Yeah, so one of the advantage\u2026 Now, I have to be very clear, I had an extreme advantage working with someone like Tarl, because it gave me a lot of things. It gave me access to a lot of high level people that normally a lot of people starting out don\u2019t get, so that was an advantage. He put me in the room with a lot of very successful guys that I could pick their brain and kind of learn from their systems and stuff like that. And so that was a huge advantage. I think with social media and things like that, people today, even if you\u2019re starting out, you can still kind of get the help that you need, but it was really nice having that kind of thing.
Now, the thing that was a challenge was that there was no onboarding process. There was no \u201cHey, this is how you wholesale.\u201d It was more like, \u201cHey, go talk to this person and figure it out.\u201d And so even though I had these connections, I made a lot of stupid mistakes. Which we could talk about if you want, because I\u2019m sure your audience would love to hear about dumb things that happened, but I know I do.<\/p>\n
I would love to hear about what that process has turned into for you because that was part of a lot of value that you bring. And you\u2019ve helped me a ton with this, is how to actually talk to people to sell their property, and what those kind of processes are. So do you want to start from the very beginning of how you\u2019re even finding a house, how you\u2019re then finding the seller and kind of go from there?<\/p>\n
Well, first off, Tony, did I answer your question? Did I get to that?<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
Okay.<\/p>\n
I think the only other thing I\u2019d add is just the goal of what it is, right? Tarl brought you in because he had a business of flipping homes. And in order to profitably flip homes, you have to buy properties at a discount in comparison to what you\u2019ll be able to sell them for. So if I\u2019m hearing you correctly, Nate, the role that you were then slotted to fill was to help Tarl find those undervalued properties. Am I hearing that correctly?<\/p>\n
Correct. And that came through, it could be a number of different ways like networking with other wholesalers myself doing that, agents. It was just I just need to bring in, I think it was about two to three deals a month is what I needed to bring in to the business.<\/p>\n
Okay, let\u2019s start with that of how are you even finding the deals you\u2019re bringing them in? I want to create a step-by-step process so everyone listening can go ahead and write this down, make their own little checklist and kind of do exactly what you do, because you are so great at it. So first thing, how to find houses, go ahead.<\/p>\n
Yeah, well, thank you for that kind word. I will say there\u2019s two tracks, right? There\u2019s the people\u2026 And we could go deep on this if you want because this is where I\u2019m probably most passionate about. You have the people that don\u2019t have a lot of disposable income, and they\u2019re going to have to bootstrap it. And they\u2019re just going to have to get after it until they can make some additional income. And so on that vein, so we have the, \u201cI have to just get after it.\u201d Because they don\u2019t have a lot of capital invest. There\u2019s a couple of things that I would say. Number one, is I would download the Driving For Dollars App. And if people aren\u2019t familiar with Driving For Dollars, it\u2019s basically where you drive around neighborhoods and you\u2019re looking for dilapidated houses, tarps on the roof, boarded up windows, overgrown lawns, vacant houses, missing power meters, things like that.
And so if you don\u2019t have a lot of money to invest, and there\u2019s other apps that can do this, I just prefer\u2026 because I\u2019m friends with Tucker Merrihew. I don\u2019t get any kickbacks from this, although, Tucker you should sponsor me. But I would download the Driving For Dollars App, and then over a weekend I would drive around median priced houses in a neighborhood that you\u2019re relatively familiar with or a town or a city you\u2019re familiar with. And I would drive up and down every single street and I would create a list of at least a thousand houses over a weekend. And so if you live in a place like Portland, you could do that in a couple of hours.<\/p>\n
So what are you looking for when you\u2019re looking at these properties? What was some of your kind of criteria?<\/p>\n
So I kind of mentioned before, if the house is vacant, if you\u2019ve got boards on the windows, if you\u2019ve got tarps on the roof, if it\u2019s overgrown and with a bunch of vacant nasty cars in the thing, any signs of distress really. With this one, sometimes you can be a little bit liberal on it, you just have no idea who\u2019s willing to have a conversation, but any signs of distress. Pro-tip, actually drive down the alleys. I don\u2019t know in most cities, but ours, we have kind of back alleys that drive between two streets of houses. Sometimes that gives you a different perspective where the house looks good on the front, and you go down the alley and all of a sudden there\u2019s a, \u201cOh, this is absolutely really bad.\u201d So you can mark the house down, but any signs of distress, just mark it down.
And so what the Driving For Dollars App will allow you to do is you can just drive with the map open or the app open. You can drop a pin on the house and you can just kind of track your progress on what streets you\u2019re going up and down. And I would just continue to build that list. Ideally, you want to build that list of 5, 7, 10,000, depending on your market and depending on how hard you want to go.<\/p>\n
Just one clarifying question.<\/p>\n
Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
So Nate, I want to give some context to the rookies that are listening because you just said you want to get this list to not 500, but 5 or 10,000. First, how much time do you think it would take for someone to get to a list of that size, Driving For Dollars? And just like cumulatively, how much time do they have to spend driving? And then why does the list need to be so big? Because I think some people have this misconception around the volume that you need to be able to source markets off deals. So how much time? And why that volume?<\/p>\n
So I would say a couple of things on that. Number one, you don\u2019t have to have 5 to 10,000 to start. If you were a brand new person, if one of your listeners is a brand new person, sat in front of me. And they\u2019re like, \u201cI want to get my very first deal.\u201d I would say, \u201cDownload this app, and then go create a list of 200. Start with 200, and tell me your top 20 worst houses that you found, that are vacant. For sure there\u2019s nobody in there and they\u2019re really, really bad.\u201d And so I would start, you don\u2019t have to have that number, but if you\u2019re going to build a business and actually grow this to continually source off market stuff, basically you want a larger list. And the reason you want that is\u2026 And I\u2019ve seen this a lot with a lot of newer people, is that they\u2019ll find 100 houses, and they\u2019ll market to that, but they won\u2019t get any calls.
Well, your section of people, it\u2019s too small. And you just need a larger group to actually try and generate consistent leads. And so if you have 5, 6, 10,000 houses that you\u2019re marketing to, well, then the deals will start\u2026 you\u2019re going to get more deals that way, essentially.<\/p>\n
And I think just one thing to call out is that sellers\u2019 timelines don\u2019t always match with when you\u2019re marketing to them. And this is, I kid you guys not, when I first started investing in real estate back in, I think it was summer of 2019. I sent out a bunch of mailers to Shreveport, Louisiana, where I was investing at the time. I got a call last week from someone on one of those mailers and he said, \u201cHey, I wasn\u2019t ready to sell when I got your mailer, but I\u2019m ready to sell today.\u201d That was almost four and a half, five years ago that I sent those mailers out and someone\u2019s calling me today. So I think it just goes to show that you\u2019ve got to start planting those seeds, and then over time they all start to kind of sprout up.<\/p>\n
Tony, are we going to have another story about another house in Louisiana?<\/p>\n
No, I didn\u2019t even call them back. I didn\u2019t even call them back, I\u2019m not going back there.<\/p>\n
Give me the lead, I\u2019ll deal with it. I got you.<\/p>\n
Yeah, yeah, give it to [inaudible 00:26:53]. So as far as, okay, you have your list, you have the property address, right?<\/p>\n
Yep.<\/p>\n
Are you finding other information? What\u2019s happening once you\u2019ve started to build this list of addresses?<\/p>\n
Yeah, so what I would say, again, if you have no money and you\u2019re bootstrapping it and you\u2019re just starting out. What I\u2019d say is once you get to 200, I\u2019d start taking action. Now, the Driving For Dollars App, and I know there\u2019s other apps that will\u2026 DealMachine I think is one other one, they\u2019ll give you a little bit of the seller\u2019s information. Seller data is probably one of the most challenging aspects of off-market stuff, because you\u2019re not always getting the right stuff. Most skip tracing services are probably 70% accurate. And so I probably spend a little bit too much on this, but I have three other programs that I pay every month to have access to.
And so yeah, these would be the ones I use. And you don\u2019t have to spend all this money on these, but if you\u2019re going to do this longterm it might be worth it. I have Whitepages, and I think that\u2019s 60 bucks a quarter, so 20 bucks a month, I think. REISkip, you pay per skip on that one, so you put in 50 bucks and then it\u2019ll last you until you\u2019re done.<\/p>\n
Nate, what\u2019s a skip?<\/p>\n
Oh.<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
You pay per skip, what\u2019s a skip?<\/p>\n
Oh, good question. So basically Whitepages\u2026 let me give you this and I\u2019ll explain all that. So I\u2019ve used Whitepages, REISkip and People Finder PRO, and then Driving For Dollars. And so what this does is this allows you to look up the homeowner\u2019s information, and get a bunch of emails, phone numbers and potentially mailing addresses. And so between the Driving For Dollars App, Whitepages, REISkip and People Finder PRO, I generally can find a phone number for the seller. And so if you were again, sitting in front of me, I\u2019d say, \u201cOnce you have a list of 200, you have your top 20 worst ones. I would not think about it too much, look up, even get a piece of paper out, write it down, your seller leads, write down all their phone numbers, and then just pick up the phone and you call.\u201d<\/p>\n
So you mentioned a few pieces of software, but you didn\u2019t mention PropStream. Which I feel is a super popular one for a lot of wholesalers that I know. Is there a reason why you\u2019re not using that software?<\/p>\n
I use PropStream when I\u2019m pulling lists and stuff like that.<\/p>\n
Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
So I do use PropStream, there\u2019s nothing against it, it\u2019s just for the initial find on things\u2026 I have nothing against PropStream, I use them. This is just kind of how I kind of started, and I\u2019ve just kind of got stuck in my ways. And so this is not the only way. This is not the only way.<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
Okay, so now you\u2019ve got your list. So you gave us the example of Driving For Dollars, and actually looking at the properties. But then you mentioned sometimes you do use PropStream to actually pull lists without doing the Driving For Dollars. So when you go into PropStream, they have the filters. So what are some of the filters that you are using to kind of find the properties for you?<\/p>\n
Okay, so I think if I were to break this down in my mind, and maybe for your listeners, I would say that if you have a little bit of money to invest in pulling a list and hiring a professional company, then I might use PropStream. And then there\u2019s two thoughts within this. One, you can do just try and get the cream of the crop off the top of a market. And then you can really dive in deep and then try and stack your lists. And so what that means is if you find multiple pain points on a property, that\u2019s going to give you a better chance of maybe having a conversation, maybe having them want to sell. So what do I mean by that? I mean that if you have a house that\u2019s vacant, that\u2019s out of state owned, they have a code violation and they\u2019re tax delinquent, right? Let\u2019s imagine those are all the problems. And you can filter for that on PropStream.
Basically that seems like a great motivation for somebody that doesn\u2019t live there, it\u2019s vacant, it\u2019s got problems, it\u2019s got taxes backing up. That seems like it\u2019d be a great motivation, so you can spend the money to then pull these lists, stack them together, and then you can call them. But that\u2019s going to cost you a little bit of money. Or if you want to do, I\u2019m doing some general marketing, trying to see if I can pull some easy stuff off the top of a market. So I\u2019m actually just starting this down in Arizona, is I just pulled a tired landlord list, right? So right now just with everything, I just pulled a list and that\u2019s an actual subtitle on PropStream. And so you can just go down from the suggested list.
Yeah, it\u2019s just tired landlords, and so I pulled the area that I wanted to be in. And I just pulled that list, it was about 5,000. And so then I sent it over to my skip tracing company, which I just got a new one. And then I sent it over to my marketing people and we\u2019re now marketing to that, so we\u2019ll see what happens. Did that make sense, kind of the two thoughts there? You can go just general kind of broad spectrum over a market, or you can go real deep on a market and by stacking lists and stacking pain points.<\/p>\n
And I also just want to shout out, right? So as an alternative to PropStream with some of the data that Nate\u2019s called out here. BiggerPockets also has a partnership with Invelo, that\u2019s I-N-V-E-L-O. And Invelo also allows you to pull a lot of that kind of owner data that you\u2019ll get from some of these other sources.<\/p>\n
As a pro member, you get a $50 credit. So if you are already a pro member, go and spend that $50. And if you\u2019re not a pro member, you can sign up at biggerpockets.com\/pro<\/p>\n
Sweet.<\/p>\n
So Nate, okay, you have your list created, you went and you either were Driving For Dollars and got some addresses, or you were going on your software and looking up properties. So now that you have your list together of addresses and now you\u2019ve used your tools like Whitepages, things like that to find the phone numbers of the people who may own this property. When you make the call, what do you say?<\/p>\n
Ooh. Now, again, I\u2019m going to preface this with saying, I\u2019m very comfortable doing this. When I was a kid, just to give you a backstory, it\u2019s funny how things kind of come full circle. I mowed lawns to make a living, and to make money my junior high and high school days. And so I would literally door knock people and go do this. I\u2019m like, \u201cHere, I\u2019m door knocking again, it\u2019s like I can\u2019t get away from it.\u201d
So this is something that I\u2019m very comfortable doing. And something that I think everybody can do, but I think it\u2019s a matter of managing your expectations, and I think that\u2019s where a lot of people get gummed up. So I\u2019ll tell you what I say and what I do, and then maybe we could dive a little bit deeper on this because as soon as I say cold calling, most people just shut down, or door knocking, shut down. \u201cOh, I\u2019m never going to do that, I can\u2019t do that.\u201d I promise you, you can. And with your skillset, with your skill level, with your own unique personality, you absolutely can do this.<\/p>\n
Real quick, part of the reason we are doing this episode today is because Nate flew out to Buffalo to visit me. And we\u2019re driving from getting chai tea, and he sees the house with papers in the window like it might be vacant, whatever.<\/p>\n
Signs.<\/p>\n
Pulls it up, finds a relative of the person that died in that house, and they\u2019re five minutes from my house. And he is like, \u201cI\u2019m going to drive over there and knock on their door, see if they want to sell it.\u201d I was like, \u201cOkay, you and Daryl go, I going to just stay here. I don\u2019t want to go do that, that makes me scared and nervous.\u201d So part of this episode that we\u2019re having is for me to become better at cold calling, cold knocking-<\/p>\n
Yeah, cool.<\/p>\n
\u2026 door knocking.<\/p>\n
Next time I come out you\u2019ll come with, you\u2019ll be fine.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll have to do it, yeah. He\u2019ll wait in the car and make me go.<\/p>\n
And she was the nicest lady. So I think honestly, and we could talk about some resources and books that\u2019ll help people with this, but I keep it very, very simple. So when I\u2019m cold calling and we could role play. Who wants to role play?<\/p>\n
Go ahead, Tony.<\/p>\n
Yeah, I\u2019ll be the landlord here.<\/p>\n
Okay, cool. So let me just preface this and say that the only objective that I have for this very first call is going to be, \u201cAre you open to an offer?\u201d That\u2019s the only thing I need to figure out. One of the pitfalls that I see with people is that sometimes they\u2019ll see a vacant house and they\u2019ll begin to fantasize about how amazing this house is, all the money that I\u2019m going to make when they\u2026 And then they find out that they\u2019re not even wanting to sell, that you can\u2019t find a good working number. And so you begin to get way down the road. All you need to do for this very first conversation is just figure out, \u201cAre you open to an offer?\u201d All right. So this is how the conversation would go, and then we can kind of break it down. So ring, ring.<\/p>\n
Hello.<\/p>\n
Hi, is Tony there?<\/p>\n
Yeah, who is this?<\/p>\n
Tony, hey, yeah, my name is Nate Robbins, I\u2019m really sorry to call you out of the blue like this. The reason for the call is I\u2019m in the process of trying to buy a house here in Tacoma, and I noticed your house over on Main Street. It is probably a long shot, but-<\/p>\n
Look, I get calls like this all day. How did you get my phone number?<\/p>\n
You know what, Tony? I totally get that. I\u2019m sorry, it is kind of a random call like this. So basically I drove by your house over on Main Street, homeowner information is public record. I use a program called Whitepages, it was actually a book when I was a kid. And I just looked up your own information and thought I\u2019d give you a call. [inaudible 00:36:15] old school like that, I\u2019d rather talk to you face-to-face, versus just sending you a letter. And so I don\u2019t know, I\u2019m just curious if there\u2019s any chance you might be open to considering an offer on the house.<\/p>\n
Well, I get calls like this all day, Nate, so what\u2019s your number?<\/p>\n
You know what? That\u2019s a great question. Well, Tony, I\u2019ve only ever driven past the house one time and I\u2019m assuming you\u2019re probably like me. I\u2019ve been on the receiving end of low ball offers, and low ball offers are very offensive to me, and I don\u2019t want to do that to you. And so I don\u2019t actually have enough information to really make you a fair offer. So it sounds like you might be open to actually looking at an offer if it was a fair price.<\/p>\n
Yeah, I think I\u2019d be open to that.<\/p>\n
Okay. Yeah, great. Well, how I make sure\u2026 I\u2019d like to ask you a couple of quick questions right now if I can have 30 seconds. And then what I\u2019d really like to do is then find a time to actually walk the property. I\u2019d love to actually meet you in person, so you know I\u2019m a real person. But would it be possible to walk it maybe this Friday? Are you going to be around?<\/p>\n
Yeah. All right, that\u2019s pretty good, Nate. I feel like I threw some curveballs at you, man, and you handled those pretty well.<\/p>\n
Yeah, [inaudible 00:37:24] I\u2019ve done this before.<\/p>\n
Because I\u2019ve done a very, very few cold calls before trying to source my own deals. And it\u2019s always like, \u201cWho are you? How\u2019d you get my number? I don\u2019t want a low ball offer, the property\u2019s perfect.\u201d But you\u2019ve kind of got a way to handle all of those objections it sounds like.<\/p>\n
So I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a best way to do this, I have a couple of things I could give your audience. Number one, I can give you my script, which is I\u2019m happy to do. And then I also have a worksheet that has\u2026 really, there\u2019s six objections you are going to encounter if you cold call or door knock. And one of those is, how\u2019d you get my number? What\u2019s your offer? There\u2019s some basic ones you\u2019re going to come in contact quite a bit.<\/p>\n
Okay. Yeah, Nate, we can put those into the show notes, it\u2019ll be at biggerpockets.com\/blog\/rookie-326. Or you can also send Nate a DM on Instagram, and I\u2019m sure you give him your phone number and your address, so he can cold call you, he would definitely give you a script.<\/p>\n
Yeah. Well, before we go too far on this, I would say you might get a seller that\u2019s like Tony. They\u2019ll just immediately, \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Or you are going to get people that are getting a lot of calls or getting a lot of mail, you will do that. Most people, however, if you are normal on the phone, are very normal. And so there\u2019s a couple key things. Number one, again, managing your expectations like, \u201cI\u2019m only there to see if you\u2019re open to an offer, if not, no big deal.\u201d And this goes back to our original point of saying, why do you have 5,000 houses on your list? Or even if you have 500, right? It doesn\u2019t matter if you tell me, no. It doesn\u2019t matter because I have 499 other people I got to call. So you have that kind of thing, but when you call though, you have seven seconds to get to this line. And Ashley\u2019s heard me talk about this before and she\u2019s posted about it, is the reason for the call, right? You have to get to that, because you\u2019re calling these people out of the blue.
And once you get to that line, it kind of allows you to get past their wall, right? It gets you kind of behind their immediate rejection. \u201cHi Mr. Seller, my name\u2019s Nate, sorry to call you out of the blue. The reason for the call is I\u2019m trying to buy a house, I\u2019m trying to buy a rental.\u201d Whatever your motivation or your goal is for your investing. And then, \u201cI\u2019m just curious if you\u2019re open to an offer.\u201d Again, yes or no. And then you might have to handle a couple of objections, which is totally fine. And I play off the, \u201cWell, how\u2019d you get my information?\u201d I play it off like it\u2019s no big deal. It\u2019s no big deal, this is not a big deal.
\u201cOh, I looked it up, homeowner information\u2019s public record.\u201d \u201cCool, cool.\u201d And then I always make a joke about Whitepages used to be a book. I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, back when I was a kid, it was a book. Now it\u2019s online, I just looked you up.\u201d And then I just give that reason, then I don\u2019t know if you noticed what I did is I immediately went on to say, \u201cDo you think you might be open to considering an offer?\u201d It\u2019s almost like you just went past it, I didn\u2019t even care. You do care, but you\u2019re just kind of scooting past it, right? If that makes sense.<\/p>\n
Mm-hmm.<\/p>\n
And then he might bring up another objection. \u201cWell, let\u2019s just talk about it.\u201d And then, \u201cOkay, so it sounds like you might be open to an offer.\u201d So you\u2019re just kind of pushing the conversation forward. And then basically if they say, \u201cYes, yeah, I\u2019d be open to an offer.\u201d \u201cHey Mr. Seller, my process is because I don\u2019t want to offend you with a low ball offer. I don\u2019t want to offend you.\u201d Most people don\u2019t want to be offended. \u201cLet me walk the house so I can make sure I make a fair offer.\u201d And then that allows you to then kind of go to the next step of actually creating a good offer. And then if you\u2019re going to wholesale it, if you\u2019re going to buy it yourself, it allows you to put accurate numbers together to make the deal happen. So if they say yes, then I\u2019m shooting for the appointment, I want to see the house.<\/p>\n
So are you trying to set the appointment right then and there on that phone call too?<\/p>\n
Absolutely, no and yes.<\/p>\n
Okay.<\/p>\n
Yeah, if they said no, I might toy with them a little bit, but if they say yes, I\u2019m going to say, \u201cHey, cool, great.\u201d I\u2019m going to ask them a couple of questions about the house to sound like I\u2019m intelligent, like I know what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n
Well, can you give us a couple of those questions?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll give [inaudible 00:41:41]. Yeah, no, no, no, no. I\u2019m gatekeeping that one. No, but it\u2019s, \u201cHey, have you made any repairs on the property in the last five years?\u201d \u201cGreat, okay.\u201d \u201cHow much do you owe on the property?\u201d \u201cCool.\u201d If they say free and clear, that allows me to think of some, \u201cOh, maybe there\u2019s a creative option.\u201d \u201cIf the right offer came across the table, what would be your ideal timeline? Do you want to sell it?\u201d Because some people are like, \u201cI need to [inaudible 00:42:08] this in two weeks.\u201d Some people are like, \u201cOh, I have six months.\u201d \u201cOkay, cool.\u201d That allows you to kind of gauge what\u2019s important to them. And I always throw this one in. Now, some people are not going to be very comfortable doing this, but I always try and do it. I\u2019m going to say, \u201cHey, do you have an ideal price range? It sounds like you\u2019ve had\u2026\u201d
So if Tony, we got past all the objections, and we\u2019re having a conversation, I would say, \u201cSo Tony, it sounds like you\u2019ve been approached quite a bit. Do you have an ideal price in mind for what you\u2019d like to get for the property?\u201d And I kind of throw it out super casual, just to see if I can get a number from them. Or if they\u2019re like, \u201cOh no, I haven\u2019t really thought about it.\u201d And I was like, \u201cokay, cool, but have you thought of maybe a range of where you need to be?\u201d And I try and get a range, because if they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, well, I need $500 million.\u201d Well, I\u2019m like, \u201cIs that for real?\u201d Because I can always make a joke about it, like, \u201cHey, listen, I totally would give that to you, but my money people, they don\u2019t let me make that decision, I have to back up my offer.\u201d
But if they\u2019re adamant, like, \u201cGive me $5 million or I\u2019m never selling.\u201d And the most that these houses are selling for are half a million dollars. Okay, \u201cHey, Mr. Seller, we\u2019re probably not on the same page. I\u2019d love to put a real offer together if you\u2019re serious, but if you\u2019re really stuck at $5 million, I\u2019m not going to be the guy for you.\u201d And sometimes you can break past that by just saying that, but sometimes it\u2019s that\u2019s their number, they\u2019re so sick of people reaching out. \u201cOkay, thank you for your time, have a good day.\u201d And I move on.<\/p>\n
Nate, so once you kind of go through the conversation and say you find\u2026 I guess first let me just ask one clarifying question. How many conversations do you typically need to have to book one appointment? Do you have a ballpark that people-<\/p>\n
Yes, great question. And this is again, kind of even setting expectations in your mind. I\u2019m not going to speak for anybody else, I\u2019ll speak for myself. There\u2019s been times where I\u2019ve found a house, and I fall in love with this house. It\u2019s so nasty, it\u2019s so vacant, it\u2019s so\u2026 hell, my heart-<\/p>\n
Smelly.<\/p>\n
Smelly, you can smell it from the street. And you start thinking about how amazing this deal\u2019s going to be. And then nothing comes of it, right? You can\u2019t find the seller, or they\u2019re not going to sell, whatever reason. In your mind, this is the statistic, based on your skill level, it could be better or worse. But what you need to have in your mind is for every 100 contacts you make, actual conversations, it could be a [inaudible 00:44:36], it could be via email, whatever. For every 100 contacts, you should get one deal. So it kind of translates a hundred contacts, maybe you get 10 appointments, one deal, something like that. That\u2019s not an exact science, but that will help you kind of break down the daily activity that you should have to do to try and get a deal.
So again, if you were sitting in front of me and we were having a conversation, I would say, \u201cYou have a list of 200, okay? You\u2019re going to call these people, you\u2019re going to make 100 contacts, 10 appointments, one deal.\u201d That means to break it down super simple, you have to make five contacts every single day, Monday through Friday. You don\u2019t even have to work the weekends, right? Five contacts, Monday through Friday, that should equate to one deal. Now that\u2019s going to depend some on your skill level and different things like that. But I would expect that you would have one deal in the pipeline, one deal under contract, one deal ready to go. Now, if you want two deals a month, well, maybe you need to make 200 contacts in a month. So on and so forth, right?<\/p>\n
Nate, how are you keeping track of this communication with these sellers? Are you using a CRM? Or are you just kind of keeping track of it in a Google spreadsheet? Or just are you [inaudible 00:45:51] and just it\u2019s all in your mind? How are you keeping track of it there?<\/p>\n
No, if you know me at all, it\u2019s not safe in here, I\u2019ll forget. Let\u2019s just say there\u2019s been a number of times where I\u2019ve written down something on a paper, and then I found that paper months later and I was like, \u201cOh, I forgot to put that in Podio, and then I missed that deal.\u201d So for me to manage my deal flow, I\u2019m using Podio for my CRM, so\u2026<\/p>\n
What are some other ones that people can use too?<\/p>\n
Okay, look, if you\u2019re super cheap, just use Google Sheets, something, write it down. What do they say? A short pencil is better than a long memory. So the idea is to write it down and track it. And then the other thing that I have to do for me is because I am a visual person. And so what I\u2019ll do is as soon as I\u2019m done with a seller call, if I have an appointment or a follow-up, I put it in my calendar in my phone so that it comes up like, hey, make sure to follow up with Mr. Smith. Follow up with Tony, he can meet on Friday at 3 o\u2019clock. And so I immediately put that in my calendar, then I\u2019ll put my notes in Podio. And then also track it through there, but yeah, I know there\u2019s a bunch of different ones out there, but Podio is just the one I kind of fell into early on and I\u2019m stuck with it, so\u2026<\/p>\n
Okay, cool. And kind of to wrap all of this up, when you do go to the showing, what are some of the most important pieces of information you want at the showing?<\/p>\n
Yeah, so whether you\u2019re going to wholesale the property or whether you\u2019re going to do it for yourself. And this is something that Tarl\u2026 one of the major lessons that I learned. And so even if you\u2019re flipping houses and you\u2019re listening to this, when I show up to the property, my several objectives, one of them being is that I will take 80 to 120 photos of the property. So I will do wide angle photos, I\u2019ll start from the street, and I\u2019ll walk all the way around the property. Then I\u2019ll start at the front door, walk left to right throughout the house. And I\u2019m getting detailed photos of the entire thing. And then I\u2019m taking pictures of the quality of the roof, the water heater, the electrical panel. If I can sneak in the foundation, I\u2019ll take pictures under there. I\u2019m not crawling under there, but I\u2019ll at least take pictures underneath.
I\u2019m paying attention to noting if there\u2019s slants on certain parts of the house. I\u2019ll get under the sinks and take pictures of the plumbing, any of these big ticket items. And so this allows you to do two things. One of the biggest frustrations, because I worked with a lot of wholesalers. One of the biggest frustrations I had as someone trying to buy properties from wholesalers is they would send me three pictures of the house and an address. I\u2019m like, \u201cHey, do you want this house?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know, maybe.\u201d But if you were to, I\u2019ll tell you this right now, you\u2019ll be the rockstar wholesaler in your market if you send a hundred photos.<\/p>\n
Not even for wholesaling though, Nate, even just for your own information to put together an accurate offer, to put together your scope of work. And estimate what your rehab is going to be.<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
[inaudible 00:49:11] you can go back and you look at the pictures, you can look at the video instead of having to remember like, \u201cWait, how many windows were on the house now? I think there was two in the front, two in the back.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cOkay, well, I\u2019m going to need 10 windows. Here\u2019s what my cost will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly, exactly. So two points, so I\u2019ll say, so a typical wholesale package for me is a hundred photos. I\u2019ll sketch a very basic floor plan, I\u2019ll put in some comps and I\u2019ll put in the stats of the property and I\u2019ll send it out. I\u2019m like, \u201cHey, here\u2019s what I\u2019m thinking. Here\u2019s the major list of things you\u2019re going to have to do.\u201d I don\u2019t necessarily price that out, I have an idea of how much that\u2019ll cost, but everybody\u2019s prices are different. And so I send a package together. And so if you do that for wholesaling a property, man, you\u2019re going to be light years ahead, you\u2019ll get you faster answers as well.
And then to your point, Ashley, is a lot of times I\u2019d be walking these properties for us to buy them. And so it allowed us to do a better scope of work. Or if you\u2019re new and you\u2019re like, \u201cHey, I don\u2019t even know what this is going to cost.\u201d If you have 150 or 80 to 120 really good photos, you could go to a contractor and say, \u201cHey, I\u2019ll give you a hundred bucks. Can you sit down with me and tell me how much this is going to cost to do all this stuff?\u201d And it\u2019s going to allow you then to kind of put your scope of work together. It\u2019s very easy, especially if you\u2019re doing a lot of appointments and you\u2019re getting houses mixed up. \u201cWas the electrical panel good on that one?\u201d Or, \u201cWhere is\u2026\u201d Oh, man, it\u2019s really easy to get mixed up. So taking that and that allows you then to be more effective if you\u2019re going to buy it as well.
Because the last thing you want to do is, \u201cOh, hey Mr. Seller, can I meet you at the property again?\u201d And sometimes they\u2019re cool with it, sometimes not, but that allows you to do that a little bit more effectively.<\/p>\n
Well, Nate, such a wealth of information brother, and I always love when we can deep dive a topic like this because not only is it instructional for the rookie audience, but I feel like Ashley and I always learn a lot when we kind of go through these deep dives as well, man. So I appreciate you pouring into the rookie audience. Before we let you go, got to pick your brain just a tad bit more, and I want to take us to the rookie request line. So for all of our rookies that are listening, if you want to get your question featured on the podcast, head over to biggerpockets.com\/reply and we just might use your question for the episode. So Nate, are you ready for today\u2019s rookie reply?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so ready.<\/p>\n
All right, so today\u2019s question comes from Steven Cobb. Steven says, \u201cHey, I\u2019m in the Dallas, Texas area. I\u2019ve been out Driving For Dollars, and I have a list of about 30 or 40 houses. I\u2019ve already looked up owners and numbers on the county website. Question, when I call the owners, how will I know how much I should offer them? I don\u2019t even know the bedroom square footage of the property or what needs to be repaired. How can I run comps to come up with an ARV so that I know what number to offer even though I don\u2019t have all of this info?\u201d So Nate, what would your advice be to Steven?<\/p>\n
Steven, great question. Two things. One, Drive For Dollars more, get a bigger list. Two, to answer your question, this is why I always set the appointment. So there\u2019s some things you can do, you can look up the basic square footage, bed, bath count, garage, lot size of a property. And then you can run comps generally on that, you can get a general idea of a range of maybe what that property\u2019s worth. But you\u2019re not going to be effective, I would say, as effective without going and walking the property. So it sounds like you have the hesitation of like, \u201cWell, what do I offer?\u201d Well, do you have enough information? And so that\u2019s why when I call, if they\u2019re open to an offer, I want to then set the appointment. So then I can go and walk the property, take my a 100 photos or so, and then go back and run a proper analysis.
You can do a rough range based on the stats, but I would say set the appointment, walk the property, dial back your expectations. Be like, \u201cHey, Mr. Seller, I don\u2019t have enough information to make you a fair offer, right? So how I avoid making a low ball offer and offending you is I want to walk the property. Let me walk it, let\u2019s do that, meet you, say hi, and then give me 24 to 48 hours and I\u2019ll get you an offer then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nate, thank you so much for all of your information today and taking the time to come on the episode. I know you\u2019re sick of me and Tony all the time, so I greatly appreciate you taking the time to do this.<\/p>\n
No, I\u2019m coming to the BiggerPockets Conference just to hang out with you guys.<\/p>\n
Well, Tony won\u2019t be there, but-<\/p>\n
Tony.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s having his baby.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m MIA this year.<\/p>\n
Yeah, he\u2019s having his baby.<\/p>\n
Yeah, the baby\u2019s due I think the week before BP Con, so we will be phoning it in this year, and then we\u2019ll have Baby Robinson at a BP Con 2024.<\/p>\n
Yes, let\u2019s go. Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n
So Nate, you\u2019ll just have to fill in as Tony for the conference.<\/p>\n
Done, I will wear my-<\/p>\n
Practice his signature, so you can sign some books.<\/p>\n
Yeah.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to wear my-<\/p>\n
Black shirts.<\/p>\n
\u2026 my black shirts and my black shorts, we\u2019ll be good.<\/p>\n
Well, Nate, where can everyone find out some more information about you and reach out to you?<\/p>\n
Yeah, probably Instagram is probably the thing that I\u2019m trying to do the most. So it\u2019s N, the number 8, Robbins, R-O-B-B-I-N-S. And then, like I said, I\u2019ll send you the scripting and stuff. But if people want the script or if they want the objections, I need to see if I can scan that and upload that. If they want to send me a DM, I\u2019m be happy to send that over to them as well.<\/p>\n
Okay, awesome. Well, thank you so much Nate, and we will put those documents in the show notes, go on to biggerpockets.com\/blog\/rookie-326. Or you could just DM Nate on Instagram @n8robbins.<\/p>\n
Could you say that one more time please?<\/p>\n
Where do we need to go Ashley? [inaudible 00:55:04].<\/p>\n
Everyone knows the dash is I meant horizontal [inaudible 00:55:06] dash, hyphen. Well, Nate, thank you so much for joining us today, I\u2019m Ashley @wealthfromrentals, and he\u2019s Tony at @tonyjrobinson. And we\u2019ll be back on Wednesday with another guest.<\/p>\n