The DealMachine Real Estate Investing Podcast

Wholesaling real estate in Chicago takes more moving pieces than most markets, and AJ Fattori and Charlie Pyles have built a business on it in their early 20s. They break down the escrow holdback that keeps a deal alive when a seller can't move out, and why they keep three to five buyers on speed dial instead of a list of a thousand. They also get honest about blowing through the money early on and worrying about rent while deals were closing.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro

1:30 - How AJ & Charlie Started

4:53 - Their First Flip

5:56 - Funding the Deal

8:52 - Escrow Holdback Explained

14:11 - Finding the Deal & Motivation

18:21 - Building Trust With Sellers

21:24 - Building a Buyers List

25:07 - Speed & Title Work

27:16 - Scariest Moments & Money Lessons

32:42 - Advice for New Wholesalers

37:13 - Wrap-Up & Where to Find Them

37:55 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: AJ Fattori

https://www.instagram.com/ajfattori/

Instagram: Charlie Pyles

https://www.instagram.com/charliee.pyles/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Philip Louden calls it becoming the bank: you buy a cheap livable house in a small market, then resell it on seller financing to a family that wants to own instead of rent. He explains why this arbitrage works, how he finds and structures these deals, and where the financing comes from when you do not have cash. If you have been chasing assignment fees and want something that pays you every month, this is the model to study.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - What Are Starter Wraps

1:46 - How Starter Wraps Work

3:37 - The Power of Financial Arbitrage

5:46 - A Deal In Marion, Indiana

8:26 - Financing These Deals

11:33 - The BRRRR Jacket Strategy

13:28 - Best Markets & Serving Buyers

14:33 - Final Goal & Wrap-Up

15:13 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Philip Louden

https://www.instagram.com/phil_louden

Website: Seller Finance Freedom Academy

https://www.skool.com/sellerfinancefree/about

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Mobile homes are still an untapped niche in real estate investing, and Aaron Bihl does 8 to 10 deals a month with them as his focus. He explains why the stigma around them gets him better deals than a stick built house, and why he's moving toward buying lots and putting new homes on them. He also walks through the soil test that cost him 1,600 dollars and killed a two lot deal he was ready to close.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro

0:48 - Ryan's Rent Collection Update

2:25 - The Business Aaron Bihl Built

3:48 - How Aaron Got Started

6:10 - First Deals & Working Under a Broker

9:15 - Finding Those First Deals

10:46 - DealMachine Data & Land Filters

13:58 - Why He Focused on Mobile Homes

18:03 - Worst Condition He'll Buy

20:44 - Single-Wides & Deal Discipline

22:31 - The Georgia Deal Lesson

25:19 - Marketing & Selling the Lots

27:22 - Business Partnership Split

29:00 - Excited About Land-Home Scaling

33:43 - Advice for the Cubicle Dreamer

39:00 - Where to Find Aaron

39:18 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Aaron Bihl

https://www.instagram.com/aaron.bihl

Website: Flip Trailers

https://www.fliptrailers.com/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/
 

Wholesale deal flow gets easier when other wholesalers bring you the deals, and that's how Phil Cacciatore does 30 to 50 a month in Tampa Bay. He walks through how his sales team finds cash buyers by reverse searching who already bought nearby. He also covers how 21 Property Group went from six sales reps to 45 in about a year and a half.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro & Hosts

1:15 - Ryan's Slow Market Year

2:04 - Phil Cacciatore's Business Overview

3:27 - The Investor Marketplace Model

4:26 - Joining & Scaling the Company

6:44 - Building the Dispo Process

9:16 - Finding Buyers with DealMachine

11:57 - Hardest Part of Scaling

14:00 - Marketing & Lead Sources

16:21 - Structuring 10K Partnerships

17:31 - Helping New Wholesalers Analyze Deals

18:53 - Motivating the Sales Team

21:05 - Inventory Ups and Downs

22:03 - Advice for Solo Wholesalers

23:05 - Favorite Podcasts & Learning

23:54 - The Implementation Process

27:48 - Where to Find Phil

28:04 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Phil Cacciatore

https://www.instagram.com/phil_cacciatore/

Website: 21 Property Group

https://www.21propertygroup.com/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Cody Morris, CEO of LeadZolo, has built and scaled around 300 remote sales teams, and he says most wholesale deals die in the first two minutes of the call. He walks through the opening line that keeps a seller on the phone and the frame that keeps you leading the call instead of defending it. If your leads look good on paper but your close rate does not, start here.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro & Cody Morris's Background

1:17 - Cost of Leads: Time vs Money

2:55 - Ad Strategy & Distress Signals

5:46 - Speed to Lead & Opening Script

7:42 - Set an Authoritative Frame

10:52 - Use the Lead Information

13:55 - Wrap-up & LeadZolo Offerings

14:23 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: LeadZolo

https://www.instagram.com/leadzolo/

Website: LeadZolo

https://www.leadzolo.com/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Carly Stagge left corporate finance at JP Morgan and did $1 million in assignment fees her first full year in Denver. She explains why her company double closes every deal now, and how transactional funding moved their average fee from $17,500 to $25,500 in a single month. She also covers what a double close does that an assignment cannot, including the ability to renegotiate price with the seller, and why assignment fee laws in states like Pennsylvania and Ohio are pushing wholesalers toward it.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro

3:11 - Carly's Million-Dollar First Year

5:23 - Why Wholesaling Became Addictive

6:59 - Finding Deals in Colorado

8:45 - Marketing & Direct-to-Seller Methods

9:53 - Double Closing as Free Marketing

11:50 - Bigger Spreads Through Double Closing

15:34 - Building Your Own Capital

17:01 - Keys to First-Year Success

19:19 - Overcoming Fear of Spending Money

20:35 - Networking & Learning From Mentors

23:34 - Starting the Transactional Funding Fund

26:16 - Career Path: Finance to New Western

28:03 - Goals for the Funding Company

30:47 - Most Rewarding Deal Story

32:49 - Where to Find Carly & Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Flip Fund Capital

https://www.instagram.com/flipfund_capital/

Website: Flip Fund Capital

https://www.flipfundcapital.com/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Nathaniel Brimlow runs a nationwide land wholesaling business from Hawaii with a fully remote team of seven people. He walks through the buy box he uses to cut the entire country down to a workable list: two acres and up, $50,000 and up in value, owners over 65, and ten years of ownership or an inherited property. He also breaks down sell through rate, the metric he uses to throw out markets before he spends a dollar marketing to them, plus how his team disposes of land through realtors, neighbors, and local investor lists.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro & Welcome

0:45 - An Overview Of Nathaniel Brimlow's Business

6:05 - Why Land Over Houses

6:51 - Underwriting & Deal Criteria

8:37 - Buying Remotely From Hawaii

9:24 - Pulling & Scrubbing Data

10:18 - Finding Buyers For Land

11:46 - Creative Title & Deal Stories

15:25 - Choosing Markets & Sell-Through

19:39 - Ideal Seller Profile

21:00 - VA Staffing & Where To Find Him

23:04 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Nathaniel Brimlow

https://www.instagram.com/nathaiel/

Website: Vita Talent Staffing

https://www.vitatalentstaffing.com/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Transaction volume across the country is down roughly 35% from a few years ago, and wholesalers and fix and flip investors are feeling it in every part of the business. Brian Snider walks through the top ten issues hitting real estate investors right now, from tighter underwriting and softening buyer demand to inconsistent marketing and thin exit strategies. He also covers where AI belongs in your workflow, why offers made is the one KPI worth tracking above closings or profit, and the budget rule he applies to every marketing channel he tests.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Top 10 Issues Intro

2:40 - Tighter Underwriting

3:39 - Managing Your Data

5:16 - Using AI the Right Way

6:31 - Softening Buyer Demand

7:39 - Consistent Marketing

9:18 - Sales Conversion Skills

11:22 - Multiple Exit Strategies

12:19 - KPIs and Tracking Offers

13:52 - Finding Support & Community

15:03 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Brian Snider

https://www.instagram.com/theindysnider/

Website: Collective Genius

https://thecollectivegenius.com/team-members/brian-snider/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Michelle Murray has been doing wholesale real estate in South Florida for fourteen years and now runs it with a team of seven. She breaks down the systems that made her real estate deals repeatable, and what roughly 100 hires taught her about putting the right person in the right seat. If you can close a deal but cannot make it happen again, this one is for you.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro

1:10 - How Michelle Murray Got Started In Wholesaling

7:58 - Lessons From 14 Years

11:44 - Team Structure & Roles

14:48 - Hiring The Right People

17:28 - Marketing To Find Deals

19:03 - Managing The Buyers List

21:16 - Joining Collective Genius

26:05 - Using AI In The Business

32:07 - Where To Find Michelle

33:12 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Michelle Murray

https://www.instagram.com/michelle.d.murray/

Website: My Quick Home Buyers

https://www.myquickhomebuyers.com/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/

Louise Fabale runs a land wholesaling business in North Carolina from the Philippines, closing five to ten deals a month and did $30,000 in a single month. Her strategy is backwards from what most wholesalers do, because she finds the buyer and their buy box before she ever markets to a seller. In this episode she walks through the cold call that turns a stranger into a repeat buyer and the list filters she uses to skip the lots builders won't touch.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

0:00 - Intro & Business Overview

1:12 - Why North Carolina

3:07 - From Corporate to Land

6:27 - First Solo Deal

7:45 - Building a Buyers List

10:49 - Lessons & Doubts Cleared Up

12:35 - Biggest Success Story

13:33 - Filtering Land Deals

16:06 - Why Land Over Houses

17:28 - Calling & Skip Tracing Relatives

19:24 - Deal That Taught a Lesson

21:11 - 2026 Goals & Where to Find Luis

23:00 - Outro

LINKS:

Instagram: Louise Fabale

https://www.instagram.com/louwecsh/

Website: Smartify Academy

https://www.smartifyacademy.com/

Instagram: David Lecko

https://www.instagram.com/dlecko

Website: DealMachine

https://www.dealmachine.com/pod

Instagram: Ryan Haywood

https://www.instagram.com/heritage_home_investments

Website: Heritage Home Investments

https://www.heritagehomeinvestments.com/