What are Boots on the Ground or BOG (021)
What are Boots on the Ground or BOG (021)
Transcript:
Steven: Steven and Jill here.
Jill: Hi.
Steven: Welcome to the House Academy show. Entertaining real estate investment talk. I’m Steven Jack Butala.
Jill: And I’m Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny Southern California.
Steven: Today Jill and I talk about what the heck are boots in the ground anyway? As luck would have it, we have our number one team Arizona area boots on the ground with us.
Jill: Yeah. Yay. Well, let me introduce them real quick here.
Steven: Yeah, sure.
Jill: Then we’ll get into the regular show. So this is Ken and Christine Bond. They have been, how long have you guys been working with us on transactions? It’s been probably over a year.
Kristine: Yes, yes, yep.
Ken: Oh, yeah.
Jill: So we are real excited to have you guys here.
Kristine: Yes, awesome.
Jill: Thank you. And I’m sure it sucked draggin’ you out of Arizona.
Ken: Not quite hot enough.
Steven: We’re actually breaking in our new video studio. These guys are here, and we’ve developed a pretty solid friendship with them beyond just a professional relationship. They’re here all week, so we decided to do five house academy episodes this week with the B.O.G. to really dig into this topic and find out why it’s successful for us and what it actually really is.
Steven: But before we get into the actual topic, let’s take a question, posted by one of our Houseacademy.com members, on our online community, it’s free.
Jill: All right, Jack asks: “What are the big picture numbers in this industry? For example, how many S.F.R.’s are there in the U.S. and how many get sold per year?
Jill: You have this like, surprise.
Steven: Excellent question, There’s 150 million properties, or parcels in the country. You know, and if you follow us, you know that we have roots in land, not just houses. About 43 million of those, are S.F.R.’s. You know, Single Family Residences, that doesn’t include condos and stuff, and about 18-20% of those gets bought and sold every single year. There’s massive massive opportunity out there to buy and sell S.F.R.’s and wholesale’em at all different shapes and sizes. Whatever you’re into.
Steven: We happen to be all into the data part of it. All of us actually, I think that’s one of the reasons that we get along so well. We all understand this data driven thing, we all come from professional environments.
Steven: There’s the interior decorator way, there’s a lot of different ways to slice this, but the big picture numbers in the industry is that there’s Wall street companies now, and Palo Alto tech companies like Zillow getting into the game. And I have a lot to say about that, and we’ll talk about that probably next week, when we don’t have the boots in the ground here to talk about, but there’s a lot of people that’re trying to get into this industry that don’t have data and/or real estate background like we do, and they’re failing, and it makes me really happy.
Jill: I was gonna say, based on your numbers that we all talk about how many people that move, you know, on average each year, it’s so great, because, you know, one property is gonna be resold and resold and resold when you really think about it, and I’d like to say we, all four of us, are doing our part in moving often, and upping our game, and redoing our homes, and-
Kristine: Right, yeah.
Jill: On a personal level.
Steven: So, to finish the answer to that question, so we all used to look at real estate as this vast endless abyss, and it’s not, it’s a finite data set. It’s 43 million properties, and 20% of them get sold every year. Every time a property gets sold, it’s just more and more accumulated data, so the people in Palo Alto look at that data set like they would any type of big data. Analyze it, manipulate it, and utilize it, and it’s there for our taking.
Steven: If you see it that way, you can look at that date set too and make really really, good, solid technical decisions. Ken and I did a 21,000 unit mailer yesterday for a suburb in Arizona and you know, we’ll talk about that, I guess maybe in this episode or the next, but, was it what you thought?
Ken: I was pleasantly surprised at the detail. [inaudible 00:04:05] make a sound decision. Awesome.
Steven: Today’s topic: What are the boots on the ground?
Steven: This is why you’re listening. How would you define boots on the ground? You guys are welcome to jump in.
Jill: Yeah, please, yeah. I want to start with a little bit of the back story about what is boots on the ground, like from you, how we got here, which was your brain child. And why we’re doing it this way.
Steven: So my philosophy in real estate investment is that you should never leave your desk. Leaving your desk, whether it’s driving for dollars, or looking at property, or baby sitting sellers or buyers, is extremely inefficient.
Steven: You as a data person are up here. You have a transaction coordinator down here. And if you are a member, you know, I preach this in our academic programs, and then there’s all kinds of transactions going on at that asset level. But you want to keep yourself here, because you can do more deals, and utilize that transaction coordinator, idealistically, they’re sitting right next to you, physically.
Steven: And then there’s all kinds of transactions, so that’s easy to do in the land business, we’ve been doing it. Jill and I’ve been doing it for years and years, decades. With houses, it’s a lot different, because there’s babysitting that’s required, and you have to meet with the seller, and there’s a lot of things that they need, so I came up with this boots on the ground.
Steven: Boots on the ground essentially behaved the way a real estate agent should, but never does.
Jill: Ding ding.
Steven: And so to keep them motivated and happy, and wealthy, they’re a partner in every single deal. There’s enough money in these deals to go around.
Steven: So that was the real, that was how I came about.
Jill: Exactly. That’s great. So what does this mean to you? Big picture, what do you feel like your whole is?
Kristine: Yeah, so I look at it as: We are, literally, the boots on ground. So, we have a vested interest in the success of the acquisition, as well as the resale of that particular property.
Kristine: We also have to ensure that at a big picture level that the transaction goes as smooth as possible. So just recognizing when additional need is required or not. So yeah, so I think it’s just at the end of the day, it’s ensuring that both seller and buyer are happy that the transaction was smooth. There’s constant collaboration and communication you know, with the investors, I would say is one of the big responsibilities we have.
Ken: You said it, I agree.
Jill: Love it.
Steven: There’s a lot of contact that’s required, in a house sale, versus a land sale. It’s very emotional for people. Some of these people have raised their children in these houses.
Jill: Right.
Steven: Or sometimes, we just did a deal with these guys where they didn’t, the person, the seller was from a different state, so they were now babysitting the house instead of the seller.
Jill: Right, yeah. I have too, that what’s really important with boots on the ground is to have a, there’s a level of communication that we have to all connect, and trust too, because that’s so important, and so that when you … if you go down this path and you have your own boots on the ground team, like we do, and soon to be more, we have to be able to totally, 100 %, entrust them, and we do.
Jill: And we have an open door policy, you know, both ways. Another thing, which is so key, it’s just, it frees us up, and we’ll talk more about this as we go, throughout the week, to, gosh, looking at new markets, and new deals, knowing that you got this.
Steven: Yeah.
Jill: You’re gonna see it through to the end, and the relationships that you are there, right there in the city, with the sellers, and with the buyers, that they can communicate with you, and see you and know you and touch you, and shake your hand.
Kristine: Right.
Jill: It’s huge for these people. That’s what’s key, and I think what’s interesting too is that why we are so successful also is, it’s different meeting Ken and Kristine Bond, than picking up and calling, you know, we buy the houses.
Steven: Yeah.
Jill: You know? And that’s our goal too, and it’s worked out fantastic. They get our offers, they weren’t even thinking about selling, you know, and here we come, and we make it easy, you’re real people, we really do deliver what we say we’re gonna do. You know, we follow through, and at the end of the day, you know, I’m sure they hug you guys, and say thank you.
Ken: Sometimes.
Kristine: Yeah, sometimes.
Steven: Is there a [inaudible 00:08:40]?
Ken: There’s been a few.
Kristine: Yes, there has been a few. And I would agree to both mentioning the personal touch with the seller and the buyer, and there’s times where again you have to gauge. It’s not a one size fits all as far as that personal touch, there’s some that they want arms length away, and some they do literally hug you.
Ken: Right.
Kristine: So it’s just being able to gauge, you know, again, how much is required for that particular transaction, I think is an area of responsibility on boots on the ground.
Steven: I mean, some of us get our hair cut at Super Cuts, and some of us have our personal hairstylist, and it just depends on the type of seller that you are, and how much you want, how involved you want somebody to be in the transaction.
Jill: I love it.
Kristine: That’s really good.
Steven: Where do you get your hair cut?
Ken: I knew you’d say that [crosstalk 00:09:30].
Jill: I go to the closest place to our office. The closest, nicest place to our office is where I go, what do you do?
Kristine: Yeah. Usually the same, but it’s typically, okay we schedule it out, we have to reschedule it, ’cause of conflicts, but that’s typically who is the closest, and nicest place?
Jill: What do you do Jack?
Steven: I get my hair cut from Jill’s hand me down stylist.
Jill: I moved on. I moved on, but they still have a special bond.
Steven: I’m a $35 cut, and Jill’s like a $450 cut, so every time I go in there, he’s like: “Where’s Jill?”
Jill: I know, sorry.
Steven: I said man, she’s just got this personal friend, I make up all these stories.
Jill: Yeah.
Steven: But you still have me man. You still have my $35 cut.
Jill: You got it. I will never leave you. Me and my $35’s, and don’t ever change your rate, ’cause I’m gone. I’m back at Super Cuts.
Steven: No, my point in saying that is there’s a lot of customer service and personal handholding that goes on to be successful in this business, and that’s what the B.O.G. was really designed to do. To deliver a customer service element that these larger companies can’t do.
Jill: Yeah.
Steven: They’re just, they’re too higher décor scaled, and in too many markets to actually do it. It’s just all numbers for them, sitting behind a desk, so that’s the difference. You know, that’s the answer to the question: “You know, there’s a lot of people that are in this market that are buying and selling houses, why do you guys get it done? And why do you think that you can like break into a new market?”
Steven: And that’s why, because of the B.O.G. That’s how important it is.
Jill: Thank you.
Steven: Join us next time for the episode called: What do the boots on the ground do specifically for the sellers?
Jill: And we’ll answer your questions posted on our online community found at Houseacademy.com. It is Free.
Steven: You are not alone in your real estate ambition.
Jill: How are you guys feeling?
Kristine: Yeah, it’s good.
Jill: Good? It’s our after show a little bit here.
Steven: This isn’t, we’re not done here.
Jill: That’s right, I have an announcement to make too by the way. So, just so you know.
Steven: That’s awesome. Hey, Daniel, come on over.
Jill: Yeah, it’s the after show.
Steven: The producer [crosstalk 00:11:46].
Jill: So, join us tomorrow afternoon for a free informational business related. It’s gonna be a little bit House Academy, a little bit Land Academy, maybe a little bit rock and roll. You like that? On Facebook Live. So go to, go check out at Land Academy Facebook page and you’ll find all the details on information, I think it’s like five o’clock Pacific time, tomorrow.
Jill: And, tune in, catch us on Facebook, we’ll be right there live.
Steven: Yeah.
Jill: To answer any questions that you have about Land Academy, House Academy, or even more detail about where Stephen gets his hair cut.
Steven: Yeah, ’cause you care about that.
Jill: And wherever you’re watching, or wherever you’re listening, please subscribe and rate us there. We are Steve and Jill.
Steven: Information.
Jill: And inspiration.
Steven: To buy undervalued property.
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