The Art & Science of Real Estate Negotiation

Tom welcomes to the show a long time Traction member, David Hayes, who shares his journey to real estate investing, rehabbing vs wholesaling properties, and why real estate investment truly was something which he couldn’t afford to fail. Today, David joins the show to talk about overcoming the ‘fear of success’, face-to-face negotiation tactics, and the importance of sticking to your exit strategy.

Key Takeaways

• 01:02 – Tom introduces today’s guest, David Hayes, who joins the show to discuss how he had no choice but to succeed in real estate investment and the concept of ‘buying correctly’
• 06:11 – The fear of winning
• 09:12 – Rehabbing properties and wholesaling
• 17:45 – To buy, or not to buy?
• 21:06 – Face-to-face negotiation tactics
• 23:45 – David’s mindset and why he’s been a Traction member for years
• 27:46 – Being comfortable with the uncomfortable
• 31:22 – Dealing with taxes and investing in deductions
• 33:16 – The most impactful thing Tom has taught David and the art of conversing with others
• 38:45 – Advice David would give to the negotiation skeptics
• 42:31 – Advice David would give to anyone hesitating to get involved in real estate investment
• 53:21 – Overcoming the excuses and dealing with being a ‘perfectionist’
• 1:00:47 – Tom thanks David for joining the show and sharing his story

Tweetable Quotes

“Back then it wasn’t so much that I was investing, but I was fine-tuning my craft. I took a lot of courses. I learned a lot of information. I learned a lot, but I didn’t know how to put it into action.” (01:36) (David)

“People buy courses and they invest their money in education. But, education is only part of the equation; you have to put action behind it. And if you don’t put action behind it, nothing’s gonna happen. And a lot of time that inaction is because of fear.” (05:38) (David)

“I don’t deal with motivated sellers because they don’t fit my criteria. I need HIGHLY motivated sellers. I need a person that I can ask the question, ‘If you don’t buy from me and I don’t buy from you, what’s your next move?’” (10:57) (David)

“With this particular wholesale deal, I gave three different offers. The chances of getting a house when you make three offers and they make sense is very high. It’s a lot higher than just making one offer.” (22:09) (David)

“One of the things that I learned about real estate is that sometimes you have to just go out on blind faith. People don’t feel comfortable with that. And, if you’re not gonna do it the way people who are successful are doing it, then that means that you’re gonna try to learn it your way, which is going to take more time.” (27:46) (David)

“You need to know how to talk to people. And if you can talk to people and make people relax around you, then they can believe in you. And if they believe in you, then they’ll listen to what you have to say. If they’re not sure about you - if you go in and they don’t get a good vibe from them - it takes a lot of work before you can turn around and get them to believe in you later on. So, the best thing to do is, from the minute you meet them, be very humble.” (36:16) (David)

“You have to know what your goal is. And based off your goal, you’ll know what you need to do. So, if you need immediate cash, then you want to wholesale. If you want to develop legacy money, then you want to buy cheap. Sometimes it requires a combination of the two.” (44:50) (David)

“When you buy something, know what your exit strategy is before you buy and stick to it.” (50:04) (David)

Guest Resources

Tom welcomes to the show a successful student of his, Sam Glavin, who shares what inspired him to venture out into entrepreneurial real estate, what drew him to Tom’s program, and how he’s dealt with massive rejection. Today, Sam joins the show to talk through his marketing strategies, recent rehab deals he’s completed, what ‘wholetailing’ entails, and his future investment goals.

Key Takeaways

• 00:59 – Tom introduces today’s guest, Sam Glavin, who joins the show to discuss what inspired him to pursue entrepreneurial real estate
• 07:21 – Why Sam chose Tom’s program and Sam’s biggest deal to date
• 13:23 – A numbers game
• 16:54 – Dealing with rejection (42 times to be exact)
• 20:38 – The tedium of marketing and making things conversational
• 27:32 – Sam’s big rehab deal
• 30:54 – ‘Wholetailing’ explained
• 35:32 – Hiring employees & building a business
• 39:24 – Advice Sam would give to anyone hesitating to get involved in real estate investment
• 43:29 – Tom thanks Sam for joining the show and sharing his story

Tweetable Quotes

“I say the first deal is around the corner, because it is. I worked four months to get my first deal and then it happened. And then literally two days before I sold that one, I got my next one under contract.” (10:46) (Sam)

“It feels almost too good to be true to even keep it up. It’s one thing to get a deal every couple of months, but to actually keep it up and start turning it into a business, I do see that mental shift you’re talking about. It’s hard to see.” (12:46) (Sam)

“It is a low response rate for most types of marketing. I think the biggest thing is testing stuff and testing everything.” (21:29) (Sam)

“I used to be very, very shy. You would have never, ever had me doing any networking events. It would be unheard of for me to do anything like that. Once I realized that you’re just talking to people who have a house issue, it’s just made it more streamlined. I’m not asking question after question. I’m just having a conversation with them, understanding what they need and what they want with their house.” (23:15) (Sam)

“You are paid in proportion to the problems that you solve. Solving a housing issue that is some people’s biggest purchase is incredible. We get paid very well for solving that issue.” (24:58) (Sam)

“I will never stop having leads come in. That’s the death of your business really.” (30:04) (Sam)

“I want to turn this into an actual business and get into long term, tax benefit type real estate.” (38:05) (Sam)

Guest Resources

Tom welcomes to the show a successful student of his, Bob Erwin, who has a background in real estate as an investor in distressed properties. Today, Bob joins the show to detail his deal flow and process, how he approaches the beginning phases of a negotiation, and marketing strategies that he has successfully implemented.

Key Takeaways

• 00:53 – Tom introduces today’s guest, Bob Erwin, who joins the show to discuss his background in distress properties, how Craigslist helped him secure a deal, and his latest project
• 07:00 – Why Bob decided to pursue Tom’s program
• 10:36 – Bob details his deal flow
• 13:19 – From small talk to business talk
• 17:50 – Dealing with rejection
• 19:36 – The number one best negotiation lesson Bob has learned from Tom
• 21:55 – Marketing strategies that have worked for Bob
• 25:44 – Advice Bob would give to anyone hesitating to get involved in real estate investment
• 28:07 – What Bob got out of Tom’s Total Traction program and final words of advice from Bob
• 32:14 – Tom thanks Bob for joining the show and sharing his story

Tweetable Quotes

“I enjoy it - vacant property, niches, tall grass, broken windows, abandoned cars, code violations, things like that. As long as somebody is living nearby that property, you can find a way to find that owner and take over that property.” (03:56) (Bob)

“You find that there’s a lot of people out here who just hold on to these properties. They’re sometimes boarded up, they’re paying fees to the city to cut the grass and things like that, but they won’t sell them. Only in America does stuff like this happen.” (04:31) (Bob)

“I don’t pray for patience, I use it.” (07:51) (Bob)

“When you find that one piece of property and you keep hitting them, and hitting them, and hitting them, and staying consistent and persistent and having a little bit of patience, that often wins you that opportunity.” (10:21) (Bob)

“I was in Walmart a couple of weeks ago, and I had on my t-shirt that said, ‘We Buy Houses,’ and somebody in line said, ‘You’re the person that’s sending me those cards all the time.’ And it was somebody that I never sent a letter to, but the idea here is that they recognized who I was. I didn’t make a deal with them, but I gave them my business card and I made sure they knew who I was.” (24:17) (Bob)

Guest Resources

Matt Kamp is the Vice President of Partnerships at DealMachine, the highest-rated and most- reviewed mobile app to find off-market real estate deals. Today, Matt joins the show to discuss the many features of DealMachine, and how they are achieving their goal of helping real estate investors find deals. Matt and Tom talk about the numbers game that is Marketing, the importance of consistency, and overcoming the paralysis by analysis mindset.

Key Takeaways

• 01:02 – Tom introduces today’s guest, Matt Kamp, who joins the show to discuss DealMachine, the highest-rated mobile app to find off-market real estate deals
• 05:31 – Driving for Deals
• 09:31 – How DealMachine works
• 15:02 – The postcard feature
• 17:38 – The unglamorous secret to Marketing
• 21:07 – Matt’s route tracking process
• 24:43 – The overall goal and focus of DealMachine
• 27:55 – Advice Matt would give to those considering DealMachine
• 33:22 – Matt announces some great giveaways to listeners
• 36:32 – Tom thanks Matt for joining the show and lets listeners know where to connect with him

Tweetable Quotes

“Deal Machine, in general and from a high level, you can really think of us as a tool to help you find off-market deals. That’s really what it comes down to.” (02:29) (Matt)

“Our view on technology is that it should be enabling you to better do your job. And, the right actions to take that are gonna get you to deals is finding people who are motivated to sell, getting in contact with them, and actually having a conversation.” (04:33) (Matt)

“In the end it’s a numbers game, and it comes down to taking the right actions consistently and building out a system to do that.” (09:05) (Matt)

“If you’re actively doing this, you can re-drive areas every six months or so and find fresh opportunities. So, that data is super helpful.” (24:08) (Matt)

“It truly is about mindset. You have the playbook in front of you and you know it’s worked a ton of times. It’s easy to feel like you need to know everything before you get out the door and take that first step...but, unless you get out there and take action, it’s not gonna translate.” (32:34) (Matt)

Guest Resources

Stan Friedman & Ange Lorenz are a husband-wife duo who have discovered the adventure of real estate investment and are reinventing themselves accordingly. Stan has a background in the financial industry and Ange is a former small business owner who loves real estate. Today, they join the show to discuss how they cope with unanticipated problems that arise from real estate investing, what it's like to work together as a couple, how they transitioned their lives and business from the DC area to Florida, and advice they would give to those hesitant to take the plunge into this exciting world.

Key Takeaways

• 00:56 – Tom introduces today’s guests, Stan Friedman & Ange Lorenz, who join the show to discuss what it’s like as a married couple working together in real estate
• 08:21 – Unanticipated problems
• 18:26 – Transitioning their business from Maryland to Florida
• 22:59 – Age is just a number
• 28:14 – The number one takeaway from working with Tom
• 33:13 – The value of being a contrarian
• 34:57 – What Stan and Ange would do differently if given the chance and advice they would give to anyone hesitating to get involved in real estate investment
• 44:56 – Tom thanks Stan and Ange for joining the show and sharing their story

Tweetable Quotes

“I’m the creative person. He’s the finance guy. So, we have our own skill sets and where we come into conflict is when I have my designs and he says, ‘No, this is the budget.’ So, it’s a challenge sometimes, but it’s fun working together to complete a project together.” (05:16) (Ange)

“We’re looking at [real estate investing] as reinventing ourselves. So, it’s very exciting for us.” (23:21) (Ange)

“If something goes one way, you go the other way. This is the only business I’ve been in where you can make money whether the market goes up, down, or sideways. You just have to know that if this isn’t working, you try something else.” (26:52) (Stan)

“You have to push forward and make those dreams a reality. Carve out the time that you need to do what you want to do and move forward with it, rather than letting all of the other noise get in the way and rob you of your time.” (37:38) (Ange)

“Ok, so you’re gonna have some crabby people on the other end. You have crabby people in the grocery store, for crying out loud. You just deal with it and move on. So, just look at it as an adventure, as an exciting opportunity to meet people and help people out of their situation, because that’s what you’re doing.” (40:34) (Ange)

Guest Resources