In this episode, I interview Chandler Crouch. Chandler is nothing short of amazing. At a very young age, he has managed to do several different types of real estate transactions and make himself one of the most successful realtors in Texas! This is a long episode, but I didn't want to cut this great flow of information short. I know you're going to love this interview as much as I did!

Chandler has been full-time in real estate for 12 years. He has worked both as an investor and independent broker during that time. He currently spends most of his time working as a broker in Texas. Chandler started out with $2000 of maxed-out credit card debt and living in a $365-a-month apartment.

He has done many different transactions in the course of the last 12 years, including short sales, subject to's, owner finance, lease options, rentals, rehabs, HUD deals, wholesales, as well as hard money lending.

Currently Chandler manages three teams of agents and focuses primarily on brokering luxury properties in the Fort Worth/Keller area of North Texas.

Chandler's start in real estate investing came when he went to pay rent at the apartment complex where he was living at the time. The owner of the complex asked him if he would be interested in getting started in real estate investing; Chandler jokingly called it "divine intervention".  He was able to work with the owner of the complex by helping him rent out the vacant apartments. In order to really get started and get his feet under him, Chandler started attending local real estate investor meetings. It is there that he met and networked with other real estate investors and got his business going! He got his realtor's license and started representing some of the people that he met in the real estate investing meetings by holding open houses for the properties that they were trying to sell.

Chandler started out doing a lot of subject to investing. Even though this is how he got his start, and he did quite a few of them early on, he does not necessarily recommend this method to others. It can be a bit tricky, and there are challenges that could definitely arise that might make it not worth the effort. It is a legitimate form of investing, but maybe not one that Chandler would recommend at this point.

When I asked Chandler what some of the mistakes that new investors make are, his answer was very interesting and extremely educational for new investors. Essentially, he said that new investors who come to him so he'll help them find deals usually give him requests that are so broad and so vague that it is almost impossible to help them. Instead of asking for specific types of properties, they essentially just tell him: "send me anything that's a good deal." The problem with that is that when a deal comes across Chandler's desk, the investor who said "just send me anything" doesn't necessarily come to mind as much as investors who specifically asked for a deal like the one he is looking at. New investors need to learn how to make it easy for realtors to help them find deals. Ask for specific ZIP Codes, specific types of houses, specific price points, etc. That will make you more memorable, and also make it a lot easier for the realtor to help you.

I asked Chandler to clarify and give me an example of how a new real estate investor should approach him if they want to get maximum value and maximum results. The answer he gave was phenomenal! It is something I have never heard anyone say before and was definitely something all investors should hear. It was so incredible that I want you to hear it for yourself and I'm not going to transcribe it here in the show notes--go check it out!

Chandler also described a way to determine the after-repair value of houses without using a realtor. It is incredibly clever, and a great way for people to get a base value without having to use a realt...