How to Half Your Offer Price on the Phone by Jill (HA 1220)

Transcript:

Steven Butala:

Steve and Jill here.

Jill DeWit:

Hello.

Steven Butala:

Welcome to the House Academy Show, entertaining real estate investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.

Jill DeWit:

And I’m Jill Dewitt, broadcasting from breezy, sunny Southern California.

Steven Butala:

Today Jill and I talk about, is now the time to diversify? You’re into land or into houses, whatever you’re doing in this virus time that we’re in, in this downtime where you have a lot of time to spend and learn and … The answer’s yes. That’s the show. Thanks.

Jill DeWit:

Bye.

Steven Butala:

Now we’re going to talk about relationships.

Jill DeWit:

No, no. That’s funny.

Steven Butala:

Before we get into it, let’s take a question posted by one of our members on the houseacademy.com online community. It’s free.

Jill DeWit:

That was your best radio voice too, by the way. You just had a whole-

Steven Butala:

This is what Jill said to me right before we started the show. “You know, it’s nice that you’re just being a normal person this week.”

Jill DeWit:

You’re not all jacked up, you know?

Steven Butala:

Yeah. It’s not actor Steve.

Jill DeWit:

Yes.

Steven Butala:

It’s a regular Steve.

Jill DeWit:

Yes.

Steven Butala:

You like regular Steve?

Jill DeWit:

I do like regular Steve.

Steven Butala:

I like actor Jill.

Jill DeWit:

Oh. I’m always … Am I an actor in my regular life? I feel like I’m always. I try to always be regular.

Steven Butala:

You’re pretty much the same, actually.

Jill DeWit:

Thank you. That’s what I try to … I’m not good at trying to … Look, remember when I tried to do, I was in the play. Remember that, little skits and things? Remember? You went saw me.

Steven Butala:

I have two settings, happy and angry.

Jill DeWit:

It’s good to say, yeah. That’s right. That’s exactly it. It’s either it’s this or it’s “stay out of the way.”

Steven Butala:

85% of the time I’m happy, and 15%, not so much.

Jill DeWit:

Look out. That’s good. How many do I have? I think I have like five.

Steven Butala:

No, you’re pretty happy, man.

Jill DeWit:

Okay. Well, I’m happy and then I have like, “Oh, this is hard. Let’s get serious.” And then-

Steven Butala:

When we lived in Phoenix, Jill had this workout, regular morning workout groups. You’d do it every day, and it was mostly guys, guys that are older than me. And this one time this guy, one of these guys pulled me aside. This is after a year of working out with Jill in the morning. He’s like, “Hey.” It was all quiet, there was no one around. He said, “Is she like this all the time?” Like, “Does she wake up happy and … because I don’t buy it. There’s no way.” I’m like, “Yeah, she’s, this is how, this is really Jill. She wakes up happy. When she sleeps, she’s smiling a little bit. This is true.”

Jill DeWit:

That’s true. Thank you.

Steven Butala:

And he’s like, “How’s that possible?” I said, “I don’t know. She’s just a happy person, man. I’d love to take credit for it, but I found her that way.”

Jill DeWit:

Right out of the machine.

Steven Butala:

He’s looking at me just all … This is after a year and a half of knowing Jill and working out with her. He’s like, “I don’t get it, man. Can you clone her? Can you have her talk to my wife?” I said, “I don’t get it either, man. I’m just, I’m here for the show. Just like you.”

Jill DeWit:

I just feel like a girl vending machine. Do you want happy? You could choose your flavor. Wouldn’t it be good? You know what the girls would want?

Steven Butala:

What? Yeah, go ahead.

Jill DeWit:

The girls would want, they would want a success-level machine for a guy. Is he really ambitious, kind of ambitious?

Steven Butala:

No.

Jill DeWit:

Lump?

Steven Butala:

You know Jill, that’s your thing. I don’t think all women are like that, are they?

Jill DeWit:

That want ambitious guys?

Steven Butala:

Yeah.

Jill DeWit:

No. Some people, that’s what I’m saying. Some women want, do you want a guy that can-

Steven Butala:

Compliant.

Jill DeWit:

That’s right. And some people like that. I’m going to come in. I’m going to, I want a guy that I can tell him where we’re going to live, I’m going to tell him what kind of job he’s going to have, I’m going to tell him how to raise the kids, I’m going to be in charge of it all. Someone, not me, man.

Steven Butala:

That’s awful, man. I don’t want any part of that, on both sides.

Jill DeWit:

But there could be a vending machine.

Steven Butala:

I don’t want to be the person who calls the shots on that or the recipient.

Jill DeWit:

Exactly.

Steven Butala:

That’s a disaster. Who the hell wants that?

Jill DeWit:

I don’t know. Well, we do know. It’s just not us. All right, anyway, where were we? First, let’s take-

Steven Butala:

It’s free.

Jill DeWit:

All right, we’re going to take a question [inaudible 00:04:11] on the HouseAcademy.com online community, and like you said, it’s free.

Steven Butala:

It’s free.

Jill DeWit:

Daniel wrote: “Hello, Land Academy and House Academy Family. I sold a property two days ago. Thankfully, I called the recorder’s office to ask a question, and was informed my sold property and new deed will not be recorded until at least April 13th, if that.”

Steven Butala:

It is April first. Two weeks.

Jill DeWit:

“This is in the country of Socorro, New Mexico. So be advised and talk to the country just to be aware of the timing and the delay.” Daniel, that’s a nice little tip. I appreciate that.

Steven Butala:

So this begs the question, the bigger-picture question of, how do you get stuff recorded in real time or get anybody who’s involved in these transactions, if you let them in, like a relationship.

Jill DeWit:

If you let them in.

Steven Butala:

If you let a real estate agent into the deal that you’re already doing, that’s your fault.

Jill DeWit:

Yeah.

Steven Butala:

If you look at angry female into your life-

Jill DeWit:

Here we go.

Steven Butala:

-that’s your fault. You have control over that. If you let a bad title agent into your deal, you have to look in the mirror for that.

Jill DeWit:

Exactly.

Steven Butala:

You’re responsible, you can’t walk around and say “this title agent’s screwing up my deal.” No, no. You’re doing it.

Jill DeWit:

Let them in. “This man is wrecking my life! I let him in.”

Steven Butala:

Yeah, that’s true. You got to turn that off. You got to run. Cut and run.

Jill DeWit:

Right.

Steven Butala:

Here’s what you-

Jill DeWit:

Should’ve listened to my mom.

Steven Butala:

The problem … what did your mom say about me?

Jill DeWit:

Nothing.

Steven Butala:

I didn’t know this.

Jill DeWit:

I’m just kidding.

Steven Butala:

Did she ever say anything?

Jill DeWit:

Yes, but I’ll tell you later.

Steven Butala:

You know what my dad said about you?

Jill DeWit:

Uh-oh.

Steven Butala:

All positive stuff. He’s like, “do not let that girl get away.”

Jill DeWit:

My mom thought that you weren’t serious about me because you weren’t dying to marry me right away.

Steven Butala:

I’m not going to say anything.

Jill DeWit:

Okay.

Steven Butala:

Your mom was absolutely wrong.

Jill DeWit:

Thank you. “If he loved you, he’d marry you.”

Steven Butala:

Yeah, that’s just not the case at all.

Jill DeWit:

I know that.

Steven Butala:

The reason that I don’t-

Jill DeWit:

That’s why I didn’t listen, I know that.

Steven Butala:

The reason I don’t want to get married … it’s not that I don’t want to get married-

Jill DeWit:

Thank you for letting us vent and have our counseling session. Go ahead.

Steven Butala:

Here, watch this, everybody.

Jill DeWit:

Okay.

Steven Butala:

Jill, do you want to get married?

Jill DeWit:

No! It’s perfect the way it is.

Steven Butala:

See, that’s how it goes.

Jill DeWit:

We don’t need to change anything.

Steven Butala:

That’s what I think, too.

Jill DeWit:

Okay. Back to the show. Back to the recording and the county and what’s going on, did you cover that?

Steven Butala:

No, I think that there’s a lot of things you can control about a real estate deal and a relationship; there’s a few things you can’t control. Getting your stuff recorded at county, you cannot control that, no matter how hard you pound on the door or call them 50 times. We’re in the middle of this virus thing right now, so yeah, stuff’s going to be delayed.

Jill DeWit:

And that’s okay.

Steven Butala:

This whole business model is centered around removing this stuff, controlling the stuff that you can control and chilling out about the stuff you can’t. Do you need a real estate agent to do a real estate deal? Absolutely not. In fact, you should avoid it 90% of the time. Do you need a title agent? No. You don’t. Do you need a notary do close your real estate deal? Yeah. So become a notary or have the person you’re not married to become a notary.

Jill DeWit:

Thanks. Cool.

Steven Butala:

That’s the whole point of this.

Jill DeWit:

Thank you. Today’s topic-

Steven Butala:

Or marry a recorder. That’s a good idea.

Jill DeWit:

Wouldn’t that be awesome? That’s good. Today’s topic-

Steven Butala:

Or send them a cake, like Jill does.

Jill DeWit:

Is now the time to diversify into land and/or houses?

Steven Butala:

This is why you’re listening.

Steven Butala:

We’re getting a lot of calls and a lot of-

Jill DeWit:

Messages.

Steven Butala:

-inbound inquiries about “hey, I’m already buying and selling houses because I’m a part of the House Academy, should I do it with land?” The answer’s yes, hell yes. There’s never a bad time to buy land, never, ever, ever a bad time to buy land. This is now, the economic downturn that we’re in or about to get in, is my third time in my professional adult life. And I can tell you with enthusiasm, I’m not selling anything, there’s never a bad time to buy and sell land.

Steven Butala:

With houses, that’s not so much the case. Houses, there’s timing, so right now, this is April 3rd 2020, this housing market’s going like this. We just hit the end of the greatest economic SF, single-family residential uptick the country’s ever seen, and it’s going to adjust itself. So now is not the best time. Now’s a great time to buy houses for probably 30% off. So if you think you should be buying a house for … if $200,000 for the house you’re looking at is a great deal to you, then you should be buying it for probably 110, 120, 130.

Steven Butala:

And there’s no way to know this. That’s probably why you’re listening to this, you’re watching an old person tell you stuff. Or listening to it. I’m telling you, buy it cheaper. Now’s the time to learn, now’s the time to join, learn and talk to every-

Jill DeWit:

Be ready.

Steven Butala:

Yeah.

Jill DeWit:

Be ready. I mean, this is the thing: do we have people in each group doing really well? Absolutely. Even houses, yeah. There’s one person in particular I was just talking about, “I just closed on this one, I’m just buying this one,” and another person said “hey, I love being a landlord and I want to amass a little, a great portfolio of houses. I see the writing on the wall here and I’m gearing up for it and getting everything ready.” We’re watching the house prices go a little bit cheaper, a little bit cheaper, little bit cheaper, and by the summer, who knows where we’re going to be?

Jill DeWit:

It’s a good time to do this. I think whatever the thing is, no matter what, I am always a fan of more knowledge, more information, and having options. So whether or not you diversify and start changing up what you’re doing right now, it may or may not be the right time for you if you’re still learning this over here, but I want you to be aware of what’s over here and keep an eye on it. That’s, for me, what the whole point of this show is.

Steven Butala:

Graduate yourself to the next level when you’re ready.

Jill DeWit:

Yeah.

Steven Butala:

But learning’s always better.

Jill DeWit:

You have options.

Steven Butala:

Yep.

Jill DeWit:

So if you’re doing land-land-land-land-land-land and you’re doing great, great, maybe even for you, diversifying is not even going into houses, it’s just like, I’m going to start looking at this commercial stuff. I’m going to start looking at, you know, I see the writing on the wall and the delivery services and I see that Amazon is going to be extending and building more and more and more warehouses, or whoever. I’m going to start looking into that. Or how about all the people that are going to be moving in the upcoming months? They’re going to need to store their stuff while they’re doing things; maybe I’m going to look at storage facilities. I don’t know.

Steven Butala:

I clearly didn’t have to show up for this episode at all.

Jill DeWit:

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Steven Butala:

It was perfect, what you said.

Jill DeWit:

Thank you. Be more aware and alert now. I do it too, one of the products that we never, ever really touch is multi-tenant, but do you know what I do every morning? I get an email from L.A. county, a group here, and they put out all what’s going on in the multi-tenant world around me. And I read it.

Steven Butala:

What does it say? Because I don’t get that email, and I don’t want to get it, but I’m interested in what it says.

Jill DeWit:

It’s funny, there’s two. I don’t know how I got on their list, but I’m in there. It’s Biz Now, and I get L.A. county commercial and I get L.A. county multi-tenant. A lot of it is, a lot of it right now is landlords, it’s about being a good landlord and protecting your, you got to pay your mortgage and you’re dealing with tenants, and the tenants are all excited about not paying their rent, and finding that balance and working [crosstalk 00:12:43]-

Steven Butala:

Finding the balance?

Jill DeWit:

Well, working-

Steven Butala:

Here’s the balance: pay your rent and pay your mortgage.

Jill DeWit:

I understand that. Slash however-

Steven Butala:

Finding the balance.

Jill DeWit:

We’re all saying, you guys know where I’m going with this. Anyway-

Steven Butala:

I will never get used to living in California.

Jill DeWit:

This is not the point of this show.

Steven Butala:

Let’s find the balance where you feel comfortable paying your rent and paying your mortgage. If you don’t feel good about paying your rent or your mortgage, don’t do it, it’s okay. I understand you’re having a feeling, have your feeling. Maybe pay it next month.

Jill DeWit:

Are you done yet?

Steven Butala:

When you feel good.

Jill DeWit:

I’m finding the balance of living with my partner here. My point is-

Steven Butala:

What world did this just become?

Jill DeWit:

That’s not what this is about. My point is, Steven, I’m aware of it, I’m in tuned to it, I’m watching it, I’m seeing it, I’m looking for opportunities. That’s what you should be doing, too. That’s it.

Steven Butala:

Yeah. All kidding aside, there’s a massive-

Jill DeWit:

Yeah, watch for opportunities, they’re coming.

Steven Butala:

Fluctuation in markets is opportunity.

Jill DeWit:

There’s going to be something. There’s going to be something somewhere where you least expect it, where you’re going to go “oh boy, I’m going to buy a bunch of that right now, watch what’s going to happen, because I see it. I’ve been paying attention.”

Steven Butala:

We have several what I think are home-run land deals we’re working on right now, ocean-front property that we were talking about purchasing less than a month ago for three or $400,000, and the prices are now in the $50,000 range. The sellers are listening, so when you talk about diversification and modifying what you’re, that’s really why you’re watching or listening to this, it’s like, there’s these crazy times right now, economic times, what do we do?

Steven Butala:

My advice to you is, all the deals that you have looked at that you couldn’t get together on for price, for whatever reason in the last few years, call those people back and say “are you listening now? Because my price, it’s not so crazy anymore, is it.” And it actually went down. A very predictable percentage, about 10% of those people, are going to say “yeah, I do want to do the deal now at your adjusted price.” If they were interested a year ago and you couldn’t get together on a price, they’re going to be real interested now.

Jill DeWit:

Thank you. Happy you could join us today. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday you can find us on the Land Academy Show. Tuesdays and Thursdays, we are right here on the House Academy Show.

Steven Butala:

Tomorrow, the episode on the Land Academy Show is called “Deal Funding Transactions in These Virus Times.” You are not alone in your real estate ambition.

Steven Butala:

Hey, I wasn’t, like-

Jill DeWit:

Why’d you put the virus in all these titles? You just had a virus fun day?

Steven Butala:

I wasn’t busting your chops here.

Jill DeWit:

Oh, okay.

Steven Butala:

Do you know that?

Jill DeWit:

No, I do know that. Yeah, I know that.

Steven Butala:

I was just making some point. Jill, I’m serious.

Jill DeWit:

I know that.

Steven Butala:

You never go to a dinner party or a party with your spouse, and you get back in the car, you get in the car and you’re on the way home, and she says “What the hell were you thinking, saying this and this … why do you drink so much at these things?” And it just goes on.

Jill DeWit:

“You brought up my mother … “

Steven Butala:

Sometimes, after we do these shows and we turn the camera off, I get a shellacking like that.

Jill DeWit:

No, you don’t. A shellacking. What the heck is that? Welcome to my world. Thank you. If anybody’s getting a shellacking, they earned it. We’ll leave it at that. Oh, man. House Academy Show remains commercial-free for you, our loyal listener. So wherever you’re watching or wherever you’re listening, please subscribe and rate us there. We’re Steve and Jill.

Steven Butala:

We’re Steve and Jill. Information-

Jill DeWit:

-and inspiration.

Steven Butala:

To buy undervalued property.