The Mentor Podcast

Episode 195:

Adel Kayati continues his conversation with Ron LeGrand by going back to the moment Ron decided he was done just getting by.

In 1982, Ron could not afford a washing machine. Instead of accepting that situation, he borrowed $450 to attend a two-day real estate seminar. Three weeks later, he completed his first wholesale deal, and within his first six months, he had bought 23 houses.

Ron and Adel break down what beginning investors need to avoid, why this business works in virtually any city, how little money and overhead it can take to get started, and why quitting your job too early can create unnecessary pressure and bad decisions.

They also share a recent student success story that shows how the "pretty house" and "ugly house" businesses can work together: one property creating monthly cash flow and another generating a sizeable assignment fee.

If you want a business that can be built part-time, without guaranteeing debt or taking on massive overhead, this episode lays out the mindset, systems, and daily actions that matter most.

• Ron's major turning point came in 1982, when he could not afford a new washing machine. He borrowed $450 for a two-day seminar, completed his first wholesale deal three weeks later, and bought 23 houses during his first six months.
• Never personally guarantee debt on single-family houses. Ron calls it the number-one mistake investors should avoid because there is no need to take on that kind of personal liability.
• Be selective about who you learn from. Ron warns that much of the information taught online is incomplete, unrealistic, or potentially illegal—and learning only pieces of the business can leave new investors confused.
• Real estate investing can work in any city because every market has homeowners who want to sell and buyers who want to purchase houses.
• Terms deals can involve relatively low risk. Until a tenant buyer moves in, the primary out-of-pocket exposure is generally closing costs—often around $3,000. Once the tenant buyer is in place, the upfront money collected can be many times greater than those costs.
• You do not need hundreds of houses to build wealth. Ron explains that owning 10 quality homes above the median price in your market can create substantial long-term wealth.
• When tenant buyers cash out, investors can use tax-deferred exchanges to move equity into more owner-financed houses and continue multiplying their asset base.
• Do not quit your job too soon. Wait until your real estate income has replaced your paycheck; otherwise, financial pressure can cause you to make poor decisions or accept weak deals.
• This can be a part-time business. Adel spends roughly one to two hours per day focused largely on 10 to 20 phone calls, while a virtual assistant handles much of the routine work.
• The overhead can remain low: a live-answering service, a virtual assistant, and DREAMS can support a real estate operation for far less than a traditional business with major fixed expenses.
• Wholesaling is typically the fastest path to a first check. Ron suggests allowing approximately 60 to 90 days while you build your lead flow and follow the system.
• Successful investors delegate administrative busywork, focus on lead generation and the closing call, and take consistent action rather than getting stuck overthinking.
• Student Lucky demonstrated both sides of the business: he found a tenant buyer at his first open house for a property bought for $185,000 and sold for $199,900 with roughly $300 per month in cash flow. He also had an ugly-house deal headed toward closing with an estimated $20,000 assignment fee.

Resources:

Training, tools, and information to help you get started and keep moving forward — RonLeGrand.com

Learn Ron's proven system for buying houses without using your cash or credit at the Quick Start Real Estate School

Get Ron's free book and learn the foundational strategies every real estate investor needs — Claim Your Free Book

Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more – Ron LeGrand's Closers Club

Episode 194:

Adel Kayati is back in the interviewer's seat for another round of your top questions.

This time, Ron and Adel break down exactly where motivated-seller leads come from, how to spot the deals worth chasing, and why your first real estate check could come sooner than you think.

They cover how to pull and stack motivated-seller lists inside DREAMS, including foreclosures, tax delinquencies, vacant properties, absentee owners, expired listings, probates, and more. Ron explains why stacking multiple motivations can turn a list of thousands of names into a small group of highly qualified sellers ready to talk.

You'll also hear practical, low-cost ways to find leads outside of DREAMS from bandit signs, Every Door Direct Mail, FSBO calls, Facebook Marketplace, and a simple one-minute YouTube video.

Ron and Adel also explain what makes a seller a "golden goose," when to put a lead into follow-up instead of wasting time chasing it, how probate deals can work, and why competing on MLS listings is usually not the best way to get started.

Most importantly, they remind you that this business comes down to two core skills: generating leads and handling the closing call. Everything else is just semantics.

• Start with DREAMS and pull from 17 different motivated-seller lead types, including foreclosures, tax delinquencies, vacant properties, absentee owners, expired listings, and probates.
• Stack your lists to identify sellers with multiple motivations. For example, combining vacant properties, absentee owners, and tax delinquencies can shrink a list of 3,000 names down to just a few dozen highly motivated prospects.
• Low-equity expired listings can be a strong source of "pretty house" deals—sellers with nice homes who simply need a way out.
• Probate leads can be profitable. Once a property is under contract, Ron may front the cost to file probate, take a quitclaim deed upfront, and receive a warranty deed once probate closes.
• You do not need a huge budget to start generating leads. Bandit signs, Every Door Direct Mail, FSBO calls, Facebook Marketplace, and YouTube can all produce motivated-seller conversations.
• Let your script do the filtering. If a seller will not provide workable answers—especially around the down payment—move them to follow-up instead of chasing an unworkable deal.
• A great seller usually has a reasonable payment you can take over, little or no money required out of pocket, a price close to what they owe, a nice house in a nice neighborhood, and an easygoing attitude.
• Skip competing for MLS listings. The best opportunities often come from direct conversations with sellers.
• Your first check can happen faster than you may expect. Ron got his first check three weeks after attending a two-day class—but speed depends on taking action and following the system.
• The two skills that matter most are generating leads and handling the closing call.

Training, tools, and information to help you get started and keep moving forward — RonLeGrand.com

Learn Ron's proven system for buying houses without using your cash or credit at the Quick Start Real Estate School

Get Ron's free book and learn the foundational strategies every real estate investor needs — Claim Your Free Book

Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more – Ron LeGrand's Closers Club

In this episode of The Mentor Podcast, the roles are reversed. Adel Kayati, Ron's acquisitionist, group-coaching lead, and mentor interviews Ron LeGrand using the questions students ask most.

Ron explains why you don't need money or credit to invest, how he'd start over knowing what he knows now, and the difference between the "pretty house" and "ugly house" businesses. The two also role-play a live seller call, showing the three screening questions Ron uses before he agrees to go see a house.

• You don't need money or credit. Ron started at 35 with no money and no credit and collected his first $3,000 wholesale check just three weeks after attending a two-day seminar in 1982.
• Stay out of the bank. Ron has bought more than 3,000 houses without ever applying for a loan or guaranteeing debt. "We don't go in banks" on Planet Ron.
• Wholesaling pays cash; terms build wealth. Wholesaling is the easiest way to start, but terms deals can bring an upfront deposit, monthly cash flow, loan paydown, appreciation, and a big check on the back end.
• Pretty houses vs. ugly houses. Pretty houses outnumber junkers 25 to 1. Ron buys them "subject to" the existing loan and places a lease-option tenant buyer who pays a non-refundable option deposit (NROD) of at least 5% and handles the repairs.
• Ugly houses are wholesaled or rehabbed. Ron shares examples of $52,000 and $37,000 checks earned simply by assigning the contract. He finds those deals from FSBOs—not the MLS.
• Three questions before any appointment: What's the least you'd take? How close to nothing down can you get? Are you okay with me making the payments until you're cashed out?
• The money is in the follow-up. Most deals come from follow-up, and the DREAMS system automates the process.
• Prospects vs. suspects. A prospect gives you the answers you need. Suspects are the other 95%. Master two skills—finding leads and making the closing call—and the rest gets easier.
• Get trained before you start. Skipping training, Ron says, "is like trying to get to college and skip high school."

• Training, tools, and information to help you get started and keep moving forward — RonLeGrand.com
• Learn Ron's proven system for buying houses without using your cash or credit at the Quick Start Real Estate School
• Get Ron's free book and learn the foundational strategies every real estate investor needs — Claim Your Free Book
• Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more – Ron LeGrand's Closers Club

In this week's episode of The Mentor Podcast, Ron sits down with special guest Danny Phee, a real estate investor turned stock trader, to explore how the principles of real estate investing translate to the stock market. They cover the difference between long-term buy-and-hold investing and short-term trading, how AI-driven algorithms spot high-probability entries, and the role options play as a leveraged way to multiply gains. Danny also breaks down common mistakes new traders make and shares why having a self-directed IRA trading account ready to go is key heading into their upcoming July 2nd training.

Topics Discussed:

• Comparing real estate investing to stock trading strategies
• Buy-and-hold vs. day trading vs. swing trading approaches
• Using AI algorithms to time stock entries and exits
• Avoiding common mistakes like over-position sizing
• Setting and using protective stop losses
• Understanding proper entry points using data tools
• How options contracts work as leveraged positions
• Risks and rewards of options expiring worthless
• Paper trading to practice before risking real money
• Setting up a self-directed IRA for stock trading
• Tax advantages of trading within a Roth IRA
• Overnight and weekend trading via futures markets
• Preview of the July 2nd "Daily Income Trader" training

Resources:

• RonLeGrand.com/Stocks — Get registered for the free event on July 2nd
• Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more - Ron LeGrand's Closers Club

In this episode of The Mentor Podcast, host Ron LeGrand sits down with Jason Palliser, a 30 year real estate veteran, former real estate investment funding expert, and one of the country's leading specialists in off-market lead generation. Jason digs deep into what is consistently the number one or number two lead flow in every city he tracks: tax delinquent homeowner properties.

Jason reveals why leading as a tax advocacy company, not a real estate investor, is the key to getting homeowners to open up, trust you, and choose to work with you. This episode is packed with practical strategy, scripting philosophy, deal structure examples, and a clear framework for how investors at any level can tap into this largely overlooked opportunity.

Topics Covered:

• Tax delinquent leads consistently rank as the number one or number two lead source nationwide
• Reaching homeowners before tax sale, not bidding at auction
• How tax sales work, states sell properties after years of unpaid taxes
• Leading with tax advocacy instead of an investor pitch
• Educating homeowners on the process builds trust competitors dont get
• Three options offered, straight purchase, sale leaseback, or buyback agreement
• Real example, 100K unlocked now, 40K more for the homeowner later
• Getting paid by structuring deals and reselling them to landlords or buyers
• Why front end lead generation beats competing at the auction
• The importance of scripting and talking tracks when engaging homeowners
• Why homeowners three plus years behind likely have other financial problems
• Dont ask why, ask what and when, Rons negotiation philosophy
• Applying the same advocacy approach to foreclosure leads
• Multi step closing process, written offer, review call, title verification
• Lending homeowners money for taxes at high interest, only with an attorney
• Warning against learning real estate from unreliable online sources

Resources:

• RonLeGrand.com - Additional training, tools, and information.
• Our NEW Closers Club membership with Closers Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more - Real Estate Closers Club

In this episode, Ron LeGrand sits down with Tommy Thornburgh of Prime Corporate Services to tackle one of the most overlooked, and most important, sides of building wealth: protecting it. Tommy walks through how his firm helps entrepreneurs and real estate investors set up the right entities, reduce their tax burden, build business credit, and put proper estate plans in place. Ron shares personal experience navigating the 2008 crash and why having the right structure already in place made all the difference.

Key Takeaways

• Prime Corporate Services handles entity formation, business credit development, tax planning, and estate planning; all under one roof
• The three things to consider when setting up entities: privacy & protection, tax benefits, and credibility
• For meaningful business credit on an LLC, aim for two years or more in operation, but you can start building immediately with store and gas accounts that report to Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business
• Never commingle personal and business finances, it's both a liability risk and a missed tax deduction; separating them saved clients an average of $9,200 more per year in Prime's data
• Don't own anything jointly in your own name or as husband and wife on public record
• Land trusts provide privacy, not protection, LLCs own the trusts, and how those LLCs are owned determines whether your assets are safe
• Ron recommends at least two LLCs (one to hold, one to flip) and a third owned by your self-directed IRA for tax-free growth
• AI-powered tax analysis can identify 5–20 strategies you're not currently using

Resources

• Free 45-minute consultation available at PrimePartner.info/TheMentorPodcast — discounts on all services apply when you use that link

In this episode, Ron LeGrand sits down with attorney Lee Phillips for a practical, no-nonsense conversation about the legal and financial structures every real estate investor and business owner needs to have in place — before disaster strikes.

Rather than focusing on deal-making tactics, Ron and Lee dig into the unglamorous but critical side of building wealth: protecting what you've earned. Lee draws on decades of legal experience to explain why most people are dangerously exposed without even knowing it, and what it actually takes to build a structure that holds up in court.

This conversation is less about getting rich and more about staying rich — an honest look at the legal tools the wealthy rely on, the costly mistakes ordinary people make every day, and why waiting until there's a problem is already too late.

Topics covered in this episode

• Why most people misuse or ignore their LLC after forming it
• The LLC's "double protection" — corporate shield plus charging order protection
• How charging order protection shields company assets from personal lawsuits
• The danger of piercing the corporate veil and losing all LLC protection
• Commingling personal and business funds as a common and costly mistake
• Why proper LLC formalities and record-keeping are critical in court
• Starting fresh vs. trying to fix a poorly managed LLC
• The devastating long-term impact of taxes on wealth accumulation
• Using your LLC and real estate as above-the-line tax shelters
• Why your accountant and attorney won't proactively teach you this
• The biggest mistake — having the paperwork but never learning to use it
• Why asset protection must be done before a problem arises, not after
• Staying below the radar and keeping your name off public records
• The cost of dying without proper estate planning — probate and family conflict
• Why you need specialized attorneys and a good CPA, not just one generalist

Resources

• TheMentorPodcast.com/Lee to register for the upcoming Using the Law to Make Money and Protect Yourself event with Lee
• RonLeGrand.com — Additional training, tools, and information.
• Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more - Ron LeGrand's Closers Club

In this episode, Ron LeGrand sits down with attorney Lee Phillips for a practical, no-nonsense conversation about the legal and financial structures every real estate investor and business owner needs to have in place — before disaster strikes.

Rather than focusing on deal-making tactics, Ron and Lee dig into the unglamorous but critical side of building wealth: protecting what you've earned. Lee draws on decades of legal experience to explain why most people are dangerously exposed without even knowing it, and what it actually takes to build a structure that holds up in court.

This conversation is less about getting rich and more about staying rich — an honest look at the legal tools the wealthy rely on, the costly mistakes ordinary people make every day, and why waiting until there's a problem is already too late.

Topics covered in this episode

• Why most people misuse or ignore their LLC after forming it
• The LLC's "double protection" — corporate shield plus charging order protection
• How charging order protection shields company assets from personal lawsuits
• The danger of piercing the corporate veil and losing all LLC protection
• Commingling personal and business funds as a common and costly mistake
• Why proper LLC formalities and record-keeping are critical in court
• Starting fresh vs. trying to fix a poorly managed LLC
• The devastating long-term impact of taxes on wealth accumulation
• Using your LLC and real estate as above-the-line tax shelters
• Why your accountant and attorney won't proactively teach you this
• The biggest mistake — having the paperwork but never learning to use it
• Why asset protection must be done before a problem arises, not after
• Staying below the radar and keeping your name off public records
• The cost of dying without proper estate planning — probate and family conflict
• Why you need specialized attorneys and a good CPA, not just one generalist

Resources

• TheMentorPodcast.com/Lee to register for the upcoming Using the Law to Make Money and Protect Yourself event with Lee
• RonLeGrand.com — Additional training, tools, and information.
• Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more - Ron LeGrand's Closers Club

In this episode, Ron sits down with Matt Leitz — an AI expert and former real estate investor known as "The Bot Man" — to break down how artificial intelligence is transforming the way real estate investors find deals, market to sellers, and run their businesses. Matt cuts through the hype and delivers a practical, no-nonsense framework for using AI at every level of your investing operation — without getting overwhelmed or chasing every shiny new tool.

Topics covered in this episode

• The three levels of AI every real estate investor needs to understand — assisted, automated, and autonomous
• Why trying to keep up with every AI tool will waste more time than it saves
• Using AI video tools to generate leads and build credibility with sellers
• How automated email sequences have been closing deals for over 20 years — and how AI makes them easier than ever
• AI agents explained — what they are, why they're not scary, and how they work for you around the clock
• Chatbots and voicebots as 24/7 lead capture machines that never miss a call
• Setting up your AI tool's custom instructions to stop getting yes-man answers and start getting real pushback
• Why "prompt engineering" is mostly hogwash — and what actually matters when talking to AI
• Using AI to challenge your own ideas and keep you focused on what drives deals Why AI will never replace a trained investor — and the danger of trying to get your real estate education from the internet
• How AI lowers the barrier for introverted investors who struggle to make outbound contact
• Building credibility with sellers through an AI-powered website presence before you ever pick up the phone
• Why ignoring AI now means your competition will eat your lunch — and how to get ahead of the curve before everyone catches on

Resources RonLeGrand.com — Additional training, tools, and information.

Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more - Ron LeGrand's Closers Club

In this episode, Ron sits down with Matt Leitz — an AI expert and former real estate investor known as "The Bot Man" — to break down how artificial intelligence is transforming the way real estate investors find deals, market to sellers, and run their businesses. Matt cuts through the hype and delivers a practical, no-nonsense framework for using AI at every level of your investing operation — without getting overwhelmed or chasing every shiny new tool.

Topics covered in this episode

• The three levels of AI every real estate investor needs to understand — assisted, automated, and autonomous
• Why trying to keep up with every AI tool will waste more time than it saves
• Using AI video tools to generate leads and build credibility with sellers
• How automated email sequences have been closing deals for over 20 years — and how AI makes them easier than ever
• AI agents explained — what they are, why they're not scary, and how they work for you around the clock
• Chatbots and voicebots as 24/7 lead capture machines that never miss a call
• Setting up your AI tool's custom instructions to stop getting yes-man answers and start getting real pushback
• Why "prompt engineering" is mostly hogwash — and what actually matters when talking to AI
• Using AI to challenge your own ideas and keep you focused on what drives deals
• Why AI will never replace a trained investor — and the danger of trying to get your real estate education from the internet
• How AI lowers the barrier for introverted investors who struggle to make outbound contact
• Building credibility with sellers through an AI-powered website presence before you ever pick up the phone
• Why ignoring AI now means your competition will eat your lunch — and how to get ahead of the curve before everyone catches on

Resources

• RonLeGrand.com — Additional training, tools, and information.
• Our NEW Closers Club membership with Gold Club, DREAMS (CRM), Group Coaching, and more - Ron LeGrand's Closers Club