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How to Work Smarter Not Harder With Cameron Dunlap

Episode 86: How to Work Smarter Not Harder With Cameron Dunlap

THE PROFIT FIRST PODCAST

May 4, 2022

David Richter

Summary:

Keep your steam engines running for this exciting episode, and we’re bringing in a very special guest for you. We’re joined by no other than Cameron Dunlap, the founder, and CEO of Real Estate Worth Network. Today, he’ll be sharing with us his real estate journey and how he’s been able to achieve his success by using the exact REI tools to move his business forward.

Catch this genius-making action by listening to today’s jam-packed session!

Key Takeaways:

[2:09] How did he start to build up his rental portfolio?

[2:56] Cameron shares his teaching and real estate journey

[5:57] Was there ever a time in the business where he felt like he was doing a lot but wasn’t keeping as much?

[7:45] When did the financial freedom fill in and did all the work?

[11:00] Was the Profit First methodology a new concept to him?

[16:22] You can use the buyer’s money to fund a purchase for your seller

[18:41] With the cash buyer’s data fee, you don’t have to build a buyer’s list

Quotes:

[5:41] “I get a lot done, but I don’t work that hard.”

[15:50] “That was a big changer because it helped me focus my energy on the right people.”

Links:

Profit First by Mike Michalowicz – https://mikemichalowicz.com/profit-first/

Profit First REI by David Richter – https://simplecfo.wpengine.com/profit-first-david-richter/ 

Real Estate Worth Network- https://realestatewealthnetwork.com/ 

Tired of living deal to deal?

If you are a real estate investor or business owner who is tired of living deal to deal, and want to double your profits, head over here to book your no-obligation discovery call with me. Either myself or someone from my team will hop on a short call with you to get clear on your business goals, remove any obstacles holding you back, and map out a game plan to help you finally start keeping more of the money you work so hard to make. – David 

Transcript

Cameron Dunlap:

And I was so inspired. I got the book, read it. I thought, “Man, what a simple approach to a very complex subject for most folks, that anybody can deploy.”

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Profit First REI Podcast, where real estate investors master financial management, eradicate entrepreneurial poverty, and learn to be profitable from day one. Now, for your host David Richter.

David Richter:

Hey, everyone, another exciting episode of the Profit First REI Podcast. I have Cam Dunlap here today. I’m super excited to have him on, because he is well known in the real estate game, in the real estate world, and very excited to get to know him over the last year from some groups we’re a part of. But if you don’t know him, he’s the Founder and CEO at the Real Estate Wealth Network, and he’s also done a lot of things in real estate: been in real estate since 1993, involved in thousands of transactions, teaching since 1995. He is the real deal. He’s been around for a long time, and he cares about his students. He cares about their success. And he’s built a lot of different systems that I’ll let him talk about, too, that are really awesome, and that even we use with some of our clients that we have and promote to them. So I’m really excited to have him on today, and Cam, really excited to have you on.

Cameron Dunlap:

Thank you, David, my pleasure. I’m thrilled to be here.

David Richter:

Yeah. So let’s dive right into it. What got you started back in real estate in 1993?

Cameron Dunlap:

Basically, a corporate job that I hated and them messing with my money, if I could sum it up.

David Richter:

Okay.

Cameron Dunlap:

And those are pretty compelling reasons.

David Richter:

Yeah. Yeah. No kidding. So, you dove right into real estate. What did you start with, fixing, flipping, wholesaling?

Cameron Dunlap:

I started with rehabbing. I bought Carlton Sheets’ program on an infomercial, and that’s what inspired me to go in the business. Started that, quit my job, went into rehabbing, then started to cherry pick some rentals, built a large rental portfolio. And I didn’t discover wholesaling until a few years later, when a friendly competitor and I were playing racketball. And I was lamenting about a deal I had just found and that I didn’t have the capacity to jump on right away, and what that meant in terms of debt service and vandalism if it’s sitting vacant, and he said, “Well, I’ll give you $5K for the contract.” And I was like, “What?” And I didn’t know anything, so I didn’t know what he was… And that’s how I discovered wholesaling.

David Richter:

Awesome.

Cameron Dunlap:

Yeah.

David Richter:

So then you started teaching as well, too. So how was that transition, or were you still doing… I know you still do real estate as well, too, so tell about that journey, I guess the journey from then till now, because you’ve been teaching for a while now.

Cameron Dunlap:

I have. On the urging of a great friend who happened to be Carlton Sheets, we got to know each other very well. And we were great friends for more than 20 years until he passed away in early 2019, which was a heartbreaker for me. But I only met him because I wrote him a testimonial letter, and he turned out… My brand new wife and I had moved to Florida. It turned out, he lived in the same town. I didn’t know that until he invited me to be on his infomercial, and they were filming it at his house. So I drove 10 minutes to his house. And so, we decided, “Hey, let’s go out to dinner with our wives.”

 

And we became big friends, and he urged me to create a program designed around a financial calculator because I was very good at making it work. And he could see that, because we were evaluating and analyzing deals together all the time. And he said, “You ought to design a program to teach people how to do what you do with that thing, because most folks have a real tough time with it.” So I wrote a book and included the calculator with it, and started to make that available, and doing some teaching around that. And I saw the impact it had on people, and that was really the birth of that side of the business.

 

And then I started teaching with him, and he had me doing more and more, because he felt like I could articulate myself well and people were inspired. And so, he was like, “Hey, why don’t you do tomorrow? You do chapters seven and eight, and I’m going to take a nap.” And I was like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don’t have any experience.” And he said, “You’re fine. Just do it.” And that’s kind of how it all became. And then since then, since 1995, those two businesses, my asset business and my teaching and software and all the other things we do now, those two businesses have been like two cakes in an oven simultaneously, and although autonomous, have a great symbiosis because what I learn on the asset side, which I’m involved with every day.

 

I got a really interesting contract accepted literally just about an hour ago, which I’m very excited about.

David Richter:

Nice.

Cameron Dunlap:

What I learn over here, in terms of frictions and inefficiencies that I go to work fixing over here with software and other tools and things like that. And then here, these things I create make it easier for me to do more deals. And then when those tools pass mustard, we roll them out to our very small clientele, and it’s been a really, really fun ride. I’ve had a blast, and I have no interest in retiring. I’ve got guys I went to college with that are like, “Hey man, I’m retiring. Why aren’t you?” And I said, “From what? I do what I love.”

David Richter:

Right. Yes. Exactly.

Cameron Dunlap:

I just love what I do, and I’m going to keep doing it.

David Richter:

Awesome. I love that. You never work a day in your life, right, if you love what you do. And that’s really true.

Cameron Dunlap:

I don’t feel like it. And I’ll be honest with you, I get a lot done, but I don’t work that hard. I’ve built great teams around me. And so, I’m going to be out wake surfing here in a little while.

David Richter:

Nice.

Cameron Dunlap:

Yeah. Because I can.

David Richter:

Exactly. That’s awesome. I love that. And if you could, since this is the Profit First REI Podcast, can you tell me then, was there ever a time in your business where you felt like you were doing a lot, maybe doing a lot of volume, but you weren’t keeping as much? Or you felt like maybe you were doing spinning your wheels, but not going anywhere. Did you ever feel like that, or did you have a good ride the whole time?

Cameron Dunlap:

No. No. I felt like that.

David Richter:

Okay.

Cameron Dunlap:

Although long before the book, and in particular, your version of it ever came out, I recognized it relatively early on, in large part because of my wife pointing out that… She’d say, “Why are you killing yourself doing so much, and blah, blah, blah.” And having that sort of voice in my ear caused me to ask better questions. How can I get this done without working so hard? How can I make this deal more profitable? The kind of questions that led me to discovering better, more efficient, more profitable, more, “Hey, focus on me first” answers and solutions. So it was a discovery process that I think every investor goes through. But now with what you’ve created, you’ve just really made it so much easier, which is why I’m so excited about your book. I mean, I can’t wait until it’s in the hands of my clients, because it’ll save them so much time and energy and angst and maybe even a divorce, for crying out loud.

David Richter:

Right. Yeah, exactly. That’s what we want to do. And we want to make sure we’re helping people get to actually keep the money. So then, do you remember a time where it kind of switched over to where you were keeping it more, or where you had the mindset of, “Okay. Now we’ve got things in place, the system.” Because now it sounds like you get to do whatever you want, whenever you want. I guess when did the financial freedom of building that team, I know you’re still a part of it, but more of that transition in your mind of, “Hey, I don’t have to be here all the time, every day. And we have the money coming in, and we’re able to do all this fun stuff, too.” Kind of remember how that took place?

Cameron Dunlap:

Yeah. There were a couple of big sort of things that happened in my life. One was I went from managing my own rental properties, and at the time I had a bunch, to turning them over to a manager. And what I discovered was that I was effectively trading my sanity for frankly, less than 10% of the gross rent. And the realization that my sanity was worth much more than 10% of the gross rent-

David Richter:

Right.

Cameron Dunlap:

… was a big one. And then, the other was when my daughter was born. She came into the world very early. She was an extreme preemie. We were at the Arnold Palmer Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Orlando, and literally living at the Ronald McDonald House in Winter Haven, right there a few blocks from the hospital. That was a real wake up call for me, because I knew it was coming, but I didn’t have any idea how hard it was going to hit me, that in an instant, everything went from being about me and my wife to being about her.

David Richter:

Yeah.

Cameron Dunlap:

And that forced me to ask better questions. That forced me to prioritize my activities and my time much differently. And honestly, it’s amazing. Since she was born, the decisions that I’ve made in large part to accommodate her being the center of our universe, have been so good and so timely, that I give her most of the credit for my success. Because if it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have done that then, and that then, and that then. And because I did that then, and that then, and that then, I’m so much better off. It’s serendipitous, to say the least.

David Richter:

Awesome. No. I love that. And I love what you said, too, you started asking yourself better questions. And I think that’s what it comes down to, is really asking yourself those better questions, thinking about the future. And then you’ve got a little one there that you got to protect and that you got to nurture. And then, making sure that you’re asking yourself the questions that’ll help you long-term and short-term as well, too.

Cameron Dunlap:

By the way, that little one is 17 now.

David Richter:

Nice. There you go. So, it’s good to start asking the questions when she’s first born and getting that, rather than when she’s going off to college and doing all those different things. That’s awesome. I love that. And that’s usually some of the big mental shifts, where either a person starts a business or has a child or something, and it forces them to start asking those better questions. So I love that. It’s a big tenet that we have here at Simple CFO.

 

So, what about, as far as the actual Profit First methodology in that, I know that you like that. We’ve talked about before. But was that a new concept to you? Had you ever heard of something like that before, using bank accounts or managing the money from where the entrepreneur can manage it, basically?

Cameron Dunlap:

No, I hadn’t. And I remember I listened to, and forgive me for not remembering the name of the fellow who wrote the book, the original book.

David Richter:

Mike. Mike Michalowicz. Yeah.

Cameron Dunlap:

Yeah. I listened to him on a podcast, and I was so inspired. I got the book, read it. I thought, “Man, what a simple approach to a very complex subject, for most folks, that anybody can deploy.” And I just absolutely loved it. And it’s been a big part of my business and the people very close to me, their businesses, because I’ve recommended the book and I’ve seen the impact it’s had. But your version of it is just so exciting to me, because I have a clientele that I know can benefit so well from it. And they could benefit from the original book, certainly, but the way that you’ve put it, the context that you’ve presented it in is so perfect for them.

David Richter:

Well, good. I’m glad. So, if you’re listening to this now before the book comes out, Cam got an early release copy, so he was able to read it then. And if you’re reading this after it, you can go buy the book on Amazon. It’s Profit First for Real Estate Investing, is what he is talking about. So I really appreciate that Cam, because that was a lot of heart, soul. I’ve never written a book that long before. So I’ve written books in the past before, but that was just like, I had so much to say, it was hard to stop writing. But yeah. I really appreciate that, and really want to affect the real estate investing community near and dear to my heart. So I really appreciate that.

 

So let’s talk about more of what you do, and what you provide right now, too. Because you’ve got real estate, the Trifecta, you’ve got the Skip Tracing, the iFlip. Let’s talk about some of those things that you do and that you offer to real estate investors, because I believe in them very much, so much so, that it’s one of the tools that we have in our arsenal to be able to help with our clients. So do you want to talk a little bit, especially probably about Trifecta or any one of those, because I feel like those are very applicable for any real estate investor, and are truly a big help. And I’m not getting anything for this. Cam is not paying me a commission, an affiliate for this podcast or anything.

Cameron Dunlap:

No.

David Richter:

But I believe in this, so Cam, can you kind of explain some of those things that you have?

Cameron Dunlap:

I can. And I really appreciate your confidence and your clear endorsement. So, I discovered a long time ago that I have this deep love for technology. I just absolutely love technology. And I’m a pilot. So I watched, over the years, I’ve been in pilot for a long time. I watched, forgive me, the evolution of avionics in an airplane go from thirties, forties, vintage steam gauges, that’s a term they use to describe them, to digital tools that do a lot of the work, and make it easier for the pilot to focus on flying the airplane.

 

And so, I saw that evolution and I thought, “Why couldn’t that happen in real estate?” So I began early on to develop tools to make my business easier, more efficient, more organized. And over the years, created additional tools, and some of them have evolved, and we’ve phased some out because they didn’t make sense anymore. And so, I embarked on this whole technology crusade, if you will, to bring it to real estate a long time ago.

 

And so, today, the program that David mentioned we have, it’s effectively a bundle of several of our tools. One is called the Motivated Seller Data Feed, and what it does is it provides you… It’s a leading indicator that says, “Hey, here’s a house that’s owned by this person, where they have these potential motivations that are going on that are from a list of 20 motivations.” And then we use a proprietary thing that we created called Motivation Stacking. And if you hear that again, whoever it is stole it from me, where the more of these motivations there are in this stack, the greater the likelihood the seller is going to want to sell. And so, that was a big game changer for me, because it helped me to focus my energy, my marketing dollars, and all of that on the right people.

 

And then, we developed a very simple, effectively funding product for our clients as a result of all the stuff that happened in around 2008, 2009. It used to be when you’re wholesaling, if you were doing a back-to-back closing or a simultaneous closing, you could use your buyer’s money to fund the purchase from your seller. And what happened was, title companies all decided, kind of all at once, they moved the darn cheese. Basically, they said, “No, no. If you want to buy a title insurance policy on the first transaction, the A to B, you can’t be using your C buyer, that B to C transaction, you can’t be using your C buyer’s money.”

 

So we got into the business of transactional funding, where we provide that the money required for the A to B transaction, where the client doesn’t happen to have that sitting in their bank account. And then that evolved, in a large part, because of Dodd-Frank, to where we literally do that for our clients with no fees. There are no funding fees whatsoever. There’s no application fee, there’s no points, interest, nothing. It’s literally free. Now, you do need to be a member of our community.

 

And then, we also provide proof of funds, which is verifiable. So if the seller or the seller’s agent wants to see a bank statement, we’ll send that on your behalf. And it’s almost like having my six-figure bank account be yours, even though it isn’t, because it’s backing you up and giving you the credibility that a six-figure bank account would. And so, we’re very proud of that. And we fund a ton of deals, and our clients love us, because you go elsewhere, you pay two points, a point and a half, sometimes more, whatever. Here, no funding fees at all.

 

And then the third part, and why we call it, the Trifecta, is because there’s really three things that any real estate investor needs to really get their arms around in order to be successful. One is, you’ve got to have motivated sellers. Right? You’ve got to have sellers to be making offers to, in a steady stream. You’ve got to have funding. You’ve got to have the money, and proof of funds in most cases. And then you need buyers.

 

So, the third part of the Trifecta is a software tool called the Cash Buyer Data Feed, which is where we pull massive data, and that’s how we do this. We basically bring in billions of records that we then run through our proprietary algorithms to make these assumptions and reach these conclusions about people’s propensities and their activities. And so, with the Cash Buyer Data Feed, you have a buyer’s list. It’s right there. You don’t have to go build it, it’s handed to you. And so, now you have motivated sellers, you have the money, and you have the buyers. And you needn’t look anywhere else for those three most critical tools for any investor to be successful.

 

And what we do is we charge a one-time, nominal fee to come on board. And then, that gives you unlimited access to all of that for a year. So we’ll fund an unlimited number of deals for you for one full year with no funding fees whatsoever. And then, to renew is even less expensive than to get on board. And you can stay with us for as long as you want. And if we fund one deal for you, it probably pays for the darn thing for 10 years.

David Richter:

Yeah. It’s incredible, the value that it brings. And because of the incredible value here, I know you were explaining what you have, but in there were gold nuggets, too, the three main things you need inside of a real estate business. And then, what so many people get hung up on is that analysis paralysis and not pulling the trigger on some of this stuff. And this gives you the tools to be able to do that. And it is, it’s a very nominal fee whatsoever to get into that.

 

So, wrapping this up here, is there any way that our listeners can provide that value back to you because you gave it so much? How do they get a hold of those things? Where do they find you, if they want more information on you or what you are offering here? Because I definitely believe in it.

Cameron Dunlap:

Sure. Real simple. Like you mentioned at the beginning, I’m the Founder and the CEO of the Real Estate Wealth Network. So you can find me at realestatewealthnetwork.com, or even better, and I’m so glad we acquired this domain, rewn.com.

David Richter:

Oh wow.

Cameron Dunlap:

Real Estate Wealth Network. So Real Estate Wealth Network, rewn.com. And you can learn about me and you can meet our team, fire up a live chat. You can learn about Trifecta, all our other tools. And love to have you come and visit, and hope we can do business together. Because I know I can help you do more deals because of what we’re doing for so many folks.

David Richter:

Awesome. Yep. And Cam is the real deal. I’m in a lot of these masterminds behind the scenes, where you don’t get to see maybe some of the people like Cam. And everyone respects Cam, everyone does. So he is the real deal. He’s been in this business a long time. And he’s-

Cameron Dunlap:

I’m an OG.

David Richter:

Right.

Cameron Dunlap:

I’m an OG.

David Richter:

He is an OG.

Cameron Dunlap:

I hate that. I am.

David Richter:

He is an OG. So he is someone that you need to… I would at least follow his content, too. He is giving back a lot, and this is another way that he’s created these things for you to be a more successful real estate investor. So, Cam, thanks for sharing your story, the things that have helped you get to where you are, those asking yourself those key questions at the key points in your life. And then, I hope people go from here and go to rewn.com, and look you up, and look up what you have going on. So, Cam-

Cameron Dunlap:

You’ll love my blog there, by the way.

David Richter:

Okay.

Cameron Dunlap:

We have a great blog with a lot of really, really cool, timely content.

David Richter:

Cam is super professional, too. So just look at his stuff. You’ll see exactly what I’m talking about if you go to his site, go to anything. So, Cam, great having you on today. Thank you so much for sharing with our listeners.

Cameron Dunlap:

My pleasure, David. Thank you for having me on as a guest. And get the book if you don’t have it. Get the book. It will be a game changer for you. I can say that from reading it myself. You’ll love it.

David Richter:

Awesome. Thanks, Cam.

 

Thank you so much for listening to today’s show. If you found this episode valuable, could you do me quick favor? Can you give us an honest rating within iTunes. And be honest, you could say whether you liked it or not. And obviously, with iTunes, the more reviews and ratings we have, the better it is for other people that are searching for Profit First and our podcast. So we’d love to be ranked on there, and that’s thanks to your help. So we would really appreciate that if you would like to go give us a rating.

 

Also, if you’re looking to connect with us further, I would highly recommend checking out our Facebook group, Profit First for Real Estate Investors. And that’s literally what it’s called, so you can type in Profit First for Real Estate Investors, and you’ll be able to find our Facebook group right there. So come join active real estate investors who are supporting each other and growing their businesses and profits together. That’s what that group is all about. The links should be in the description below.

 

And if you’re interested in working with us and implementing Profit First in your real estate business, we offer coaching and guidance. So if you want to work with someone who’s actually Profit First certified, and who works right now currently with real estate businesses, you can actually go start your application process by going to simplecfo.wpengine.com/apply, or just go right to simplecfo.wpengine.com, and there’s an apply button right on there. If you want to actually start your Profit First journey with someone who can actually walk you through those step by step, and help you know and grow your cash flow. Thanks again for joining us for another episode of the Profit First REI Podcast. See you next episode.

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Title: “Profit First Strategies with Jay Conner: The Power of Private Money”

 

Episode: 242


There are 15 reasons to love about borrowing private money over traditional money. One of them is making your own rules for your private money.

 

In this episode of Profit First for REI podcast, Jay Conner, a nationally renowned real estate investor and the king of private money. He talks about how private money works.

 

Jay helps you get your money from private lenders and will share with you the mindset that will get you money in the door without you ever having to worry about it. 

 

Listen and enjoy the show! 

 

Key Takeaways:

 

[01:01] Introducing Jay Conner

[05:00] Introduction to private money

[08:30] The Great News Phone Call

[11:23] Why don’t you use your own money?

[13:18] Maintaining relationships with private lenders

[15:40] Private money vs traditional money

[22:05] Things that make them want to recommend you

[25:18] Advice for real estate investors

[29:01] Connect with Jay Conner

 

Quotes:

 

[07:34] “If you are talking about private money and raising private money with an individual and you got a deal for them to fund, you already sounded desperate.”

 

[12:07] “If you want to scale your business, private money is the way to go.” 

 

[16:05] “In this world of private money, we make the rules. We set the interest rate, we sent the length and all of that.”



Connect with Jay:

 

Website: https://www.jayconner.com/book-details/ 

 

Tired of living deal to deal? 

If you are a real estate investor or business owner who is tired of living deal to deal and want to double your profits, head over here to book your no-obligation discovery call with me. Either myself or someone from my team will hop on a short call with you to get clear on your business goals, remove any obstacles holding you back, and map out a game plan to help you finally start keeping more of the money you work so hard to make. – David

 


Transcript:

Speaker 1 (00:00):

I got 15 reasons I love private money over traditional money. I won’t share all 15, but the biggest one is it puts you in the driver’s seat. The traditional way to borrow money is you go to the bank and get on your hands and knees and you’re begging and chasing. Well, they are making the rules right? Like the lender is making the rules. But in this world of private money, we make the rules, we set the interest rate, we set the length of the note and all that.

Speaker 2 (00:34):

If you’re a real estate investor who’s sick and tired of living deal to deal, then welcome home. Hear from everyday real estate investors just like you, and discover how they’ve completely transformed their business by taking a profit First approach. This is the profit first for REI podcast, where we believe revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. It’s time to start making profit a habit in your business. So here’s your host, David Richter.

Speaker 3 (01:01):

We have Jay Connor back on the podcast. I love Jay Connor. He helps you get your money, the money from private lenders and that whole framework and process, but he does it from a passion and a place of heart. And servant Teachership. I feel like he goes out there and is a servant teacher of how private money works. Listen to this episode. He gives the magic question he tells about desperation and private lending, and I thought his perspective was so good, and then ultimately the mindset that will get you money in the door without you ever having to worry about it. So listen to this episode. Can’t wait for you to get value from it. Thank you for being a listener of the Profit First. RII podcast. Have a great episode. Hey, here’s the profit first RI podcast. Really excited to have Jay Connor back because he’s the came of private money. And this is where I love to go into this topic because I don’t care what kind of business you’re in, you probably need help with this, but especially if you’re in the real estate world, this comes up all the time at every event I’m at with every conversation I have. So we’re having the cane here talk about private money today. So Jay, thanks for being on the show.

Speaker 1 (02:07):

Hey David, thank you so much for having me come on here to talk about my most favorite topic. Of course, that being private money. And why is that? Because private money’s had a bigger impact on our real estate investing business than any other strategy that we’ve implemented in our business.

Speaker 3 (02:24):

Why did you go down that road though? I mean, you teach this all the time. You’re helping a ton of people, like anyone I’ve ever talked to that works with you is like he taught me how to do and I got money and it actually works. So I mean, how did you even go down that road where it made a difference on you and then you wanted to get it to others?

Speaker 1 (02:43):

Well, I actually backed into it. I didn’t do it on purpose. So here’s what happened. So my wife, Carol, joy and I, we’ve been investing in real estate, single family houses, other real estate full time here in eastern North Carolina since 2003. And here’s what happened. From 2003 until 2009, David, all I knew to do in my real estate investing business was rely on the local banks to fund my deals. I mean, all I knew to do was go to the bank, get on my hands and knees, put my hand underneath my chin, raise my skirt up so they could look at all my personal financial statements and stuff and actually beg to get my deals funded. That’s all I knew to do. And so I had a big wake up call in January of 2009 after being in this business here in Eastern North Carolina. I called up my banker.

(03:38):

I told him about these two deals I had under contract in Newport, these two single family houses. And David, I learned like that over the telephone that my line of credit had been shut down with no notice. My banker, his name was Steve, and the bank was bb and t at the time. I said, Steve, what in the world are you telling me? My line of credit is shut down. I got two deals under contract. You gave me no notice. Why is the bank closing my line of credit? He said, Jay, don’t. There’s a global financial crisis going on right now. I said, no, but now you just gave me a global financial crisis. Financial crisis, yeah, I ain’t got no way to fund my deals. And I got ’em under contract. So I hung up the phone and here’s what happened, David. I sat here and I asked myself a very important question.

(04:27):

And so I’m going to share this question with your audience right now. This question I’m going to share with you will help you solve any problem you’ve got. I don’t care if it’s business, financial, career, health, relationships. I don’t care what your problem is. By the way, David, these people going around and saying, any problem, you got some opportunity I want to throw up. I didn’t have no opportunity. I had a problem of not funding my deal. So here’s the question I asked myself. The question I asked myself was, Jay, who do you know that can help you with your problem? And when I asked myself that question, I immediately thought of my good friend Jeff, who lived in Greensboro, North Carolina at the time, and he was investing in real estate. And so I called him up and I told him what happened. And he said, well, Jay, welcome to the club.

(05:18):

I said, what club? He said, the club of the bank shutting you down and losing amount of credit. They shut me down last week. I said, well, how are you funding your deals, Jeff? He says, well, have you ever heard of private money? And I hadn’t. So Jeff told me about private money. He told me about self-directed IRAs and how people can use their retirement accounts and funds that they currently have and move them over to a self-directed IRA company and then loan that money out to us real estate investors, either tax deferred or tax free depending on the type of account they’ve got. Well, that just opened up my whole world. I’d never heard of that. And so what did I do? How did raise $2,150,000 in less than 90 days after being cut off from the bank? Well, here’s what I did, and here’s the secret sauce I put on my teacher hat.

(06:10):

So I put on my teacher cap, which is my private money teacher cap, and I just started teaching people in my own network what private money is, how they can earn high rates of returns safely and securely. And what’s interesting, Carol, joy and I, we got 47 private lenders right now. Not one of them had ever heard of private money and private lending. Not one of them had ever heard of self-directed IRA companies and what a third party custodian is. That’s important by the way, to establish a relationship with a self-directed IRA company because over half of my private lenders are using their retirement funds. And if I didn’t have that relationship to introduce them to move their retirement funds over, I’d be missing out on over half of my private money. So how did I go about raising all this money when I was cut off from the banks?

(07:02):

I led with a servant’s heart. I led with education. And here’s a really, really important point. I separated the activity. I separated the conversations of telling people what private money is and how they can earn high rates of return safely and securely and having a deal for them to fund. You see, desperation has got a smell to it. And when you talk about is that not true, David? Yeah, very true. So if you’re talking about private money and raising private money with an individual and you got a deal for them to fund, you’re already sounding desperate and you’re not even trying to sound desperate. So we don’t talk about deals and when we’re first exposing somebody to how they can earn high rates of return, we talk about private money. So how do we separate those conversations? Well, when someone has told me that they’ve got, let’s say they’ve got $150,000 they want to invest and get high rates of return conservatively, I’ll say, great, I’ll put your money to work for you just as soon as possible.

(08:11):

I don’t talk about a deal upfront. If they’ve got retirement funds that they want to get higher rates of return on, I’ll introduce ’em to the self-directed IRA company that I recommend. They’ll get their funds moved over. And so here’s what happens and here’s the magic sauce, David, I give ’em and I call ’em up with what I call the great news phone call. What in the world is the great news phone call? Well, the great news phone call is not a pitch. I’ve never pitched a deal in my life ever since I started raising private money in 2009. I pick up my handset with my cord attached to it here in North Carolina and I call some of your, don’t even know what that is. And let’s say, David, let’s say you’re one of my private lenders. So I’ll put my phone right up here and you’ll answer the phone and we’ll have a little chitchat and I’ll say, Dave, I got great news for you.

(09:06):

I can now put your money to work. I got a house in Newport with an after repaired value of $200,000. The funding requires 150. Closing is next Tuesday. You’ll need to have your funds wired to my real estate attorney next Monday. I’m going to have my real estate attorney email you the wiring instructions end of conversation. Notice I didn’t ask If you want to fund the deal, of course you want to fund the deal. You’ve been waiting for the phone call. I’ve told you the program. I’ve taught you the program, you know what kind of rate you get, what the maximum loan to value is, the program that I’ve taught you. And so now you’re waiting for the good news phone call, which I just gave you. And in addition to that, if you as my private lender, if you’ve moved your retirement funds over to a self-directed IRA company, you ain’t earning any money until I put your money to work.

(10:04):

You moved it at my recommendation. Now I’m ethically bound to put your money to work. You ain’t earning any money until you actually put her to work. So again, we separate conversations, we leave with a servant’s heart, we educate, and by the way, David, these people going around saying don’t just get the deal under contract. The money is show up. I want to throw up where is the money going to show up? Is it just going to rain out of clouds or something? No, get the money lined up and you can get it lined up fast. Just like me. There’s always going to be deals.

Speaker 3 (10:38):

Yeah. Oh man, that’s really good stuff. I love how you went down that road and it helped you personally. Now you’re just teaching a lot of people. I love that magic question. Who do you know that can help me with my problem? It’s that who, it’s not always the how. It’s the who did I know, and in that point it really helped you. I also run into a lot of times, I don’t know if you see this, where there’s someone who’s like, I could save a couple interest points if I just use my own money versus a private lender’s funds. What are your thoughts on that of always taking down your own deals versus going out there and putting the work into getting a private lender?

Speaker 1 (11:17):

Sure, I get that question all the time. They say, Jay, you making all that money? Why don’t you use your own money to invest in real estate? Why are you still borrowing private money? Well, here’s the answer. If you’re just going to do one deal, that’s a great use of your money. That’s a fantastic use of your money. But do you want to scale your business? I mean, right now we’ve got seven different projects going on, single family houses simultaneously. Well, I don’t want my money buried in seven houses or projects simultaneously, which here in our local market can easily be over 3 million with the prices of our homes. So if you want to scale and really, I mean most people have got a bottom of the bucket in their checkbook. So if you want to scale your business, then private money is the way to go. Another answer to that question is, do I want to pay myself 8% or do I want to use my money for something else,

Speaker 3 (12:22):

Right? Yep.

Speaker 1 (12:24):

So that’s a couple of answers to why I use private lending and why I’m still using 47 private lenders,

Speaker 3 (12:33):

Which is great. I love what you said. If you want to scale, it can run out of cash real quick. If you just keep using your own money where a lot of people have to choose between, okay, paying some percentage points or sleeping at night, and it’s like, I think I like your option a whole lot better, especially if you’re looking to grow. But I like how you said that one deal. That’s okay, but if you are looking to be a real estate investor, this is something you’re going to have to go down that road. Now, last time I asked you some questions about the private lending process. I don’t think I asked this one though, is how do you maintain a relationship with that many private lenders? You’ve got 47 people in your network that you call up with the good news call. So is it like how do you maintain a relationship with all those people?

Speaker 1 (13:22):

I mail ’em checks.

Speaker 3 (13:25):

I love that. That’s a great answer. Oh man. No better way to keep a relationship there.

Speaker 1 (13:33):

I mean, they love getting money in the mail, right? Yeah. They love mailbox money, so I mail ’em checks.

Speaker 3 (13:41):

So you mail ’em checks. So you’ve built a good enough business where you can keep 47 lenders busy and their money active.

Speaker 1 (13:50):

Well, to be totally transparent, I mean, it is a juggling act to tell you the truth. I mean, there’s more money than there is deals.

Speaker 3 (14:00):

Yep.

Speaker 1 (14:01):

There’s more money than there is deals. And so we got 47 private lenders. Some of them have got $30,000 with us, some of ’em have got a million dollars with us. I can’t buy a house for 30,000, but I can use 30,000 for rehab money. You can use private money, borrow private money in a junior position, you’ve got to disclose that. But I can put private money in a junior lien. But what comes into play there is what we call total loan to value. So I’m not going to be borrowing more than 75% of the after repaired value. I didn’t say the purchase price 75% of the after repaired value. But let’s say back to that example that we just talked about, David, where if I’ve got a after repaired value on a home of 200,000 for easy figuring, I can borrow up to 150,000. That’s 75% of the after repaired value. But if I buy it for a hundred thousand, which I do all the time, 50% of the after repaired value, I can have a private lender in first position at a hundred grand. I could have another private lender in second position at 50 grand. So add a hundred to the 50, now one 50 divided by 200,000 after repaired value, I got a total loan to value of still 75%.

Speaker 3 (15:27):

Yeah, I love that. And it seems like private money gives you flexibility and

Speaker 1 (15:32):

Options. Does that make sense?

Speaker 3 (15:34):

Yeah, that makes sense. A hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (15:37):

Oh, absolutely. Flexibility is where it’s all at. I got 15 reasons. I love private money over traditional money. I won’t share all 15, but the biggest one is it puts you in the driver’s seat. The traditional way to borrow money is you go to the bank and get on your hands and knees and you’re begging and chasing, well, they are making the rules, right? The lender is making the rules. But in this world of private money, we make the rules, we set the interest rate, we set the length of the node and all that.

Speaker 3 (16:14):

I love that. Flexibility is the ultimate play in real estate. You want to have flexibility and you want to be able to have that. So I love what you teach. Who is the person that you’re trying to teach out there? Is it the person that’s done one deal a thousand deals? Who are you trying to help the most with your business?

Speaker 1 (16:33):

Yeah, that’s interesting. At my live events, which is called the private money conference, and my live events, we have about 60% or so have already done deals. They’ve already done deals. They want to scale their business. They are real estate investors wanting to scale their business, and about 40% are looking to get their very first deal. So I’m helping everybody. I mean Stu and Harriet Baldwin from New York State, they enrolled and joined my mastermind membership community and they already had a portfolio of a hundred houses. They’d already raised over $2 million in private money, but they wanted to see how I went about it. Well, just one webinar that I recorded with them brought in 1.2 million in additional private private money. So I’ve worked with real estate investors that are brand new and those that are also seasoned to help them get more private money ready to go for their business.

Speaker 3 (17:33):

I love that. It sounds like a lot of people out there need private money, and even if you’re just getting started, if you don’t have the funds to do that first deal, like you mentioned, you do that first deal, that one deal at a time, it might be okay, but this sounds like a great spot where if you’re getting into it or if you’ve got lots of stuff going on, this could be another way to make sure your company can keep running without what you ran into with the banks back in 2007, eight or oh nine. Would you say that’s true as well?

Speaker 1 (18:04):

Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I’ve met very, very few people. In fact, I can’t even think of one. I haven’t met any real estate investor that says, I got enough money.

Speaker 3 (18:20):

Yeah, me either.

Speaker 1 (18:22):

I can’t use any more private money. However, David, you are looking at one right now. I got about almost $2 million right now, what I call sitting on the shelf waiting to be deployed. And I tell you what, I’ve had new private lenders come into my world that want to invest and just to prove to them that I can perform. I’ll take the new private lender’s money and pay off a current private lender, refinance the deal so I can get their money to work for ’em, right?

Speaker 3 (18:53):

Ah, yep, that makes sense. I like that. As you grow and scale, you might run into that issue and you make one lender a little bit happy. I mean, at least they’re getting paid off, but then they probably come back to you and say, I want you to put my money to work again. Do you have that come up a lot?

Speaker 1 (19:12):

Quite frankly, when I pay ’em off, they’re not happy.

Speaker 3 (19:17):

That’s why I said just a little happy, maybe a little bit.

Speaker 1 (19:20):

But when I pay ’em off, they’re not making any money on that money. In fact, with a new private lender, I’ll get ready to pay ’em off cashing out on a deal and I’ll call ’em up and say, Hey, just want you to know that you’re going to have a check coming in the mail from a real estate attorney’s trust account. We’re paying off this house. And they’ll say, Jay, can’t you just keep the money? And I’ll go, no, I can’t keep the money unless I’ve got your money secured by a property because we do not borrow unsecured funds. Now, here’s maybe a little advanced strategy for some folks, but I do substitutions of collateral or loan modifications all the time. If it’s a small amount of money that a private lender’s invested 30, 40, $50,000, and we use it for rehabbing a property. So when I’ve got another property I’m getting ready to start on, I’ll substitute the collateral and keep that 30 or $50,000 note in play. So they keep earning money on that money, but we will substitute the collateral just to a different project that we’re moving to.

Speaker 3 (20:25):

That’s awesome. So then sounds like you have a good problem. It’s like, I want that. Well, I think a lot of real estate investors would rather the problem, I have too much money versus I’ve got these deals and I can’t fund them. So I really like how you teach people that and where it could snowball into this, where it’s like, I’ve got 47 private lenders, I’ve got to go out there and get the deals for ’em. Absolutely. And I really like that. And

Speaker 1 (20:50):

For goodness sakes, you don’t start out with 47 private lenders. I started out with one, right? I started out with one and then that quickly became two and three and four and five because private lenders tell other people what’s going on. So I haven’t actively attracted private money for years because our current private lenders just keep sending us people. In fact, day before yesterday, day before yesterday, I got a phone call from the mother of a good friend of mine, his name’s Craig, lives in Newburg, North Carolina. Craig had told his mother about this investment thing that I got going on and she had never heard of it, which is really funny. I’ve been doing it now private money since 2009. So she calls me up and she says, Hey, my son’s been telling me about this investment thing you got going on. Tell me about it. So word of mouth gets around very, very quickly when you start doing business with private lenders the way I do.

Speaker 3 (21:53):

Yeah, I like that a lot. So in order to get people to talk like that, what are the biggest things that you do for your current private lenders that makes them want to recommend you?

Speaker 1 (22:07):

Well pay ’em on time.

Speaker 3 (22:08):

There you go. That’s a big one. Sounds like that would be a really great place to start.

Speaker 1 (22:12):

Pay ’em on time. But I also have three times a year I put on a party for our private lenders at the Dunes Club. So we have three times a year a VIP reception over at the Dunes Club on the beach, and it’s just an evening of private lenders getting together and we have a good old time and I feed them and give them all the soft shell crabs they want, and I tell ’em to bring their friends with them.

Speaker 3 (22:42):

Yeah, that’s awesome. So number one though, that anyone can do at any stage is pay people on time. So actually pay, would you say, what about communication? I hear that come up sometimes too. How do you do a good job on the communication with your private lenders as well?

Speaker 1 (23:03):

Well, it must be good enough. They never go away,

Speaker 3 (23:06):

Right? Yeah, that’s the big things I hear.

Speaker 1 (23:10):

Here’s one thing I have not delegated as far as communication. I personally, I mean my relationships with my private lenders are very, very important. So I personally pick up the phone, pick up the phone, and call my private lenders when I have got a deal for them to fund. I do not delegate that out. I could

(23:37):

Delegate that out, but I don’t, when I got a deal for them to fund, I’m the person on the phone keeping that relationship When I’m getting ready to pay them off. I don’t have a check just show up in the mail. Of course they got to sign a payoff instruction letter if a different closing agent is closing it for a buyer. But before any of that happens, I personally call ’em up and I tell ’em that we’ve got that property sold. We’re getting ready to pay you off. Or I’ll call ’em up and I’ll say, Hey, we’re getting ready to pay this property off, but I will keep your note open so you can keep earning money. I’m just going to substitute the collateral. We got some documents we’re going to email to you for you to sign and send back the communication. I’m personally involved in putting their money to work and letting them know when we’re cashing out and where they are on the deal.

Speaker 3 (24:31):

That’s awesome. Then since it’s the profit first I podcast here, I love this concept of the private money because you need your cash in your accounts. So to be able to run your business, do those things, and then setting up a separate account just for your private money lenders, so it makes it easier to do what Jay just told you to pay them back, to pay them back on time to be in good communication with them. So now this has been really good. Do you have any other advice before I ask you? How could they work with you? How can they get in touch with, because I know this is something that is needed desperately, that I send people your way all the time. I know I trust you to help people, but any other last minute advice here that you would give to the real estate investors listening to the podcast?

Speaker 1 (25:18):

Sure. I appreciate you asking that question. It’s going to be very hard to own a lot of real estate

(25:26):

Until you own the real estate between your ears. So what do I mean by that? People ask me, how do I start? How do I start raising money? I can tell you how you start raising private money. You get your heart right, you get your mindset right. So what do I mean by that? Well, what do you do? You lead with a servant’s heart, you lead with education, you put your private lender money hat on, you private lender, teacher hat on, and you leave with education, don’t pitch deals, and you really, really are concerned about the other person and realize, part of this mindset is realize you’ve got an opportunity to change people’s lives, right?

Speaker 3 (26:11):

That’s so good.

Speaker 1 (26:13):

We’ve got countless people that are particularly in their retirement years, that have thanked me and Carol Joy for making a difference in their retirement years to where they can, I mean, they don’t want to touch their principal. They want to live off of their principal investment. So they’ve been able to travel, go see grandkids, do all this stuff that they couldn’t do otherwise until they got involved in our program. So just know that you’ve got a way to really make an impact on other people’s lives. And lemme tell you another part of mindset. It ain’t about reaping. It’s not about reaping. It’s all about sowing. It’s all about sowing. I can’t be reaping all that private money and deals until I have sown and given and led with value first. So how you sow is how you’re going to reap.

Speaker 3 (27:08):

Yeah. Oh man, this is so good. I’m glad I asked that question because I hear the passion in your voice and I hear that you really care about the people you work with, the people that have private money lenders out there, you care about that relationship. I love what you said. Get your heart right, get your head right. I also think, like you said too, that if they don’t have that desperation has a smell. So if you’re out there, you’re desperate and you’re just going out there, then you won’t have people like you have that want to keep coming back, that want to continuously invest in you. So that was, I think, the best advice that you could give right there. Get it between your ears and get your heart right. I absolutely love that. And just to recap too, I love your magic question.

(27:55):

Who do you know that can help me with my problem? Then one day you’re going to wake up and you’re going to be like Jay, and you’re going to be helping other people with their problem. I’ve got money. I want to put it somewhere, and you’re the able to get them to where they can be. Desperation has a smell. I love that. And then honestly, I love that pivot. You are like, it’s not about the reaping, it’s not about the interest that I’m making or the profit I’m making for the deal. It’s more about sowing those seeds and ultimately you’re changing lives. That’s why you get private money, and it’s like that interest that you’re paying them is twofold. It’s like you get to sleep at night, you’re not using all your money and you’re getting to help someone else get a return that they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere else or in someone that they trust as well too, and that’s a little bit more tangible than the stock markets or all this other Bitcoin, some of that stuff that’s floating around out there. So this has been awesome. So how do people then, Jay, take that next step with you? Do you have a book? You talked about an event. What can people do?

Speaker 1 (29:01):

Absolutely. Well for your audience, David, I’ve got two gifts. First of all, I finished writing my book Where to Get the Money. Now, this is not a ebook. This is a book book that we actually send in the mail Autographic where to get the money. Now the subtitle is How and Where to Get Money for Your Real Estate Deals Without Relying on Hard Money Lenders or Traditional Lenders. It’ll walk you through step by step how to get all the private money you would want. Very, very easy to read. It’s $20 on Amazon, but you can get it for free. Being David’s audience, just cover shipping. You can go to www dot j Connor, J-A-Y-C-O-N-N-E r.com/book. So I’m an er, not an or. So that’s j Connor, J-A-Y-C-O-N-N-E r.com/book, and we’ll three day priority mail it out to you. Now, in addition to that, I’ve got an upcoming $3,000 per ticket live event right around the corner. But for your audience, Dave, I’m going to let everybody come for free with a measly $97 registration fee. This private money event. You can check it out at www.theprivatemoneyconference.com. The private money conference.com. That’s coming up right around the corner in June. Get on over there. Registrations are open, and I’d love to meet you in person at the private money conference.com.

Speaker 3 (30:31):

Awesome. I’m excited about that too. I love what you’re doing and you’re solving a big need that we hear all the time. Just like all people always needing to sharpen their acts when it comes to private money, you graciously have also invited me there to speak about Profit First. So I’m excited to get to tell people about that so they can get more private money and be more confident and not be desperate when they go and ask for people. So I’m really excited about that as well. So make sure we’re going to put those links there, but make sure either get his book or go to that event. I cannot endorse Jay Moore because I know how many people he helps, but then he also has the heart. You heard it right here. That’s how he wants to help you too. It’s very much a heart and a mission and a passion for him.

(31:13):

So Jay, thank you for coming on, for sharing your wisdom, your knowledge today. If you are listening to this episode and you feel stuck like, what the heck is going on? Where is my money? I don’t know what to do. I’m a little bit nervous to go out there and get private money. I can’t keep my own house in order. That’s where you could go to simple cfo.com where we can help you walk you through that process. We’ll link you up to Jay too. If you need private money or need to learn about private money, this is who we recommend. I recommend Jay to many people, so make sure that if you need that help you go to simple cfo.com. But Jay, again, thank you for being on the show and sharing your wisdom here today.

Speaker 1 (31:51):

David, thank you so much for having me. God bless you.

Speaker 2 (31:54):

This episode of the Profit First for REI podcast is over, but there are plenty more where that came from. Are you ready to learn how David and his team can help implement the Profit First system in your business? Schedule a discovery call@simplecfo.com right now. We’ll see you next time on The Profit First for REI podcast with David Richter.