You know it’s a great interview when I start taking notes! And I was definitely taking notes as Alex and I interviewed Matt Reed.

As most of you know, I’m nuts over lease options. So when I have the opportunity to talk with another seasoned investor doing lease options – someone I can learn from – well, that adds up to a perfect podcast episode.

Matt’s been doing lease options for over 15 years, and although several of his strategies differ from mine, still and yet, the service he provides to buyers and sellers is much the same as mine.

With lease options, we are connecting with sellers who can’t sell their home, and buyers who are unable, at the time, to get a conventional loan. We then, help sellers to sell, and buyers to buy.

It’s a win-win-win all around.

Matt talks about the best way to get started in this arena, explains how he operates his business and what team members he has. He calls lease options a great, solid, steady business, and a good way to make a living in real estate.

All things take time. But we live in a hurry-up society. If you want ripe bananas and they’re green when you buy them, you’ll have to wait. Green bananas aren’t very tasty.

Building a solid real estate business takes time. It doesn’t explode overnight. That first mailing might not bring a single response. (What a depressing thought. This is where many throw in the towel.)

So, I’m using this episode to point out that this is a momentum business…

It starts slow, then builds, and builds, and builds. I also explain not only the importance of follow-up, but I give several ideas of types of follow-up that work well.

So, don’t get in a hurry. Let those sellers ripen.

Listen and Enjoy:

I’m sounding a little weary in this episode…

Weary and excited all at the same time. It’s about 2 a.m. and I’m driving home from the airport after having attended Sean Terry’s Extreme Freedom Live event in Arizona.

I have so many emotions and thoughts after being around all that excitement and energy. I enjoyed meeting new people and hearing their stories.

And especially meeting my buddy, fellow investor and REIM podcast co-host, Alex Joungblood, in person for the first time. I know, right?!

Events like these are both humbling and fulfilling.

The most important point here is that these events can be totally life-changing. Just one idea, one concept, one new system can change your business and take you up to the next level. Plus, you have the possibility of meeting your potential future partners.

It’s worth all the time, effort and expense it takes to get there.

I love talking with my coaching students and keeping up with how they’re doing. One of my students, Gavin, reminded me of what he did when he first got started — when he had time but no money. At least, no money for bigtime marketing. His strategy triggered my thoughts for this episode.

I’ve mentioned in previous episodes about how lease option deals are prime for using other investor’s throw-away leads. Well, Gavin approached other investors at his local REIA meeting about giving him their old leads. Because he had time to call them but no money for marketing, and these investors had money for marketing but no time to call the leads. He offered to call the leads and split the profits of deals that came through.

What a great plan for a newbie just starting out! Especially a newbie with a low budget.

Which brings up yet another subject and that is about competition. Time to stop looking at other investors as competition. They can be your partners! And I’m explaining the process.

I also share a little about the fact that we are testing a brand-new auto-dialer system. But more on that later.

Dig the well before you’re thirsty. What’s that supposed to mean?

If you’re scratching your head at the title of this episode, it’s yet another concept that I took away from the recent Mastermind group I attended. (The group is called Collective Genius.)

The reason this admonition resonated with me is because I was guilty of this early on in my investing business. I was guilty of starting out right… but was not finishing well.

I did well in ramping up my marketing, then I got a few deals, got busy with those deals, felt comfortable with the incoming cash, got lazy – and slacked off on my marketing.

All of a sudden I woke up and my well was dry. And I needed money. Get the picture?

I was thirsty, but now I was forced to re-dig the wells. Not a good situation. Learn to dig the right way in today’s episode.

I’m always pumped when I come back from a Mastermind group meeting. The one I just attended was in Florida called Collective Genius. Innovative ideas are always plentiful at Masterminds, and I come home energized and excited.

The title of this episode was something that was said at this Mastermind meeting. The point being that while learning is important, it’s in the doing that things get done. Oftentimes, investors get stuck in education mode, where they think that one more course, or one more webinar, is going to enable them to get more deals.

Not so…

Think about the 80/20 rule.

Assess what your most effective 20% is producing. Whether it’s in your marketing, making offers, negotiating or closing deals… this is what can be and should be implemented.

Alex and I have a great time in this episode, interviewing a young, 24-year-old Raphael Vargas. It’s a little tricky for Alex and me to get our heads around how young this entrepreneur is, especially in light of what a strong wholesaling business he’s built up in the Washington, DC area. (Which, in itself, is a tough market.)

Early on, Raphael made a wise decision to work with a coach. However, he made a very unwise decision in choosing who to trust. This so-called coach made off with Raphael’s money ($3k) – which was all the young college student had to his name at that time – and was never heard from again.

This alone would have stalled out any other person…

Raphael isn’t just any other person. His solution was to go online and ferret out all the free information and instruction he could find, which ultimately led him to my Real Estate Investing Mastery Podcasts.

Eventually, Raphael started closing deals – the first one netted him a cool $30k. Today, Raphael’s business consists of several strong team members, doing deals that average around $67k net profit.

The business model Raphael and his team use is to go into zoned areas to purchase single-family units, where multi-family units can now be built. Or they purchase multi-family units, clear them out, then flip to developers.

Really interesting and inspiring info on this episode. Get to it.

You may remember that a while back I announced the beginning of what I called Deal Coaching. I set up this program to accept 12 investors, and it was designed solely for the purpose of providing encouragement and accountability.

Good news…

We’re a week in and amazing reports are already coming in from the participants.

Most are amazed at the success that happens when they apply the simple principles I outline. This is not for the sake of more teaching, but rather for holding their feet to the fire and making each one accountable for their actions.

In this episode, I review the simple principles and reveal the feedback. I especially hammer home exactly how momentum works, and how it affects your business. You’re the one responsible for getting the momentum going – and for keeping it going.

Ever get caught up in a really bad deal?

It can be a hassle. And once you’re in the middle of the mess, do you look back and wish you’d stepped away and passed it over?

I have – for sure. And I find that, occasionally, I’m still doing that as I enter into this new area of land acquisitions. So I know whereof I speak. Been there – done that.

In spite of my flubs, or maybe because of them, I am using this episode to warn you away from bad deals. What is it that might cause an investor to wrangle around and try to make a deal out of a bad deal?

It’s usually due to a lack of leads. There’s a scarcity mindset, so you’re pressured into grabbing at whatever comes along…

What’s the remedy?

Leads, leads and more leads. The flood of leads comes from ramped-up marketing. When you have plenty of leads, you can take your pick. It’s so much easier to then pass over the bad deals and keep moving forward.

Hey everyone – yet another real estate continuing education class is now under my belt. And this one really got me excited. If I weren’t so busy with so many other aspects of my business, I would definitely do this…

It has to do with all those people who have money sitting around in their IRA accounts. Most are totally unaware that they could move their account to a self-directed IRA and use it to invest in real estate.

There are RE investors out there, who are conducting free workshops that explain this process. Through this strategy, they connect with potential buyers who have money to invest. It can be very lucrative.

So in this episode, I explain several powerful benefits of using this as part of your business model.