REITD 11: Todd Waller - Real Estate Sales Professional and Technologist
07/23/14 • 54 min
In this episode I talk to Todd Waller.
Todd is a real estate agent, and in my opinion, he's the premiere agent in Metro Detroit. He has a tremendously successful business model with phenomenal processes, and he combines that with a laser focus on the needs of his clients. His market focus is the I-275 corridor from Commerce Township to Canton, and then west to Ann Arbor.
His reputation is borne out by his success: until recently his best year as an agent was 2008 - the very bottom of the market - when something like 30% of the agents in the state quit the business.
REI News
NO REI news this week in the podcast. My conversation with Todd went long so we skipped the news and went right into the interview.
A Word About Motivated Seller Leads
Just a short year ago the question that I got most often from real estate investors here was how to fund deals. Lately though, with the market tightening up and a ton of new investors entering the space, the question I get most often is how to find motivated seller leads.
I started in REI here in 2004. And the source that I started with was Probate leads.
And ten years later in 2014 - I'm still using them. In fact, I never stopped. The reason is that they are a tremendous source of leads. There's not a lot of competition, and there are plenty to choose from. Plus - they're easy to find, cheap to buy, and simple to process.
If you're someone who's having trouble finding motivated sellers, then I highly encourage you to start chasing probates.
And I also encourage you to use my educational program as your roadmap.
It's $97 and it includes my six letter sequence and my excel tracking and follow up spreadsheet. In short - it includes everything you need to start chasing probates today.
Check it out at Probate Real Estate 101.
How He Got Started in REI
Todd took a really interesting path to real estate. He majored in Political Science at the University of Michigan, and parlayed that into an internship with a state senator. He then jumped to a job with the state republican party working on campaigns. After the 2000 election cycle he realized that the job wasn't conducive to his new marriage or having a family, so he quit and went to work in a cube farm doing automotive research. That wasn't the best fit for his personality, because he has one, so when a friend suggested that he look into selling real estate, he jumped at the chance. And the rest is history as they say, as he closed 13 deals in his first year.
Market Overview
I asked Todd for his thoughts on the real estate market as it pertains to real estate investors.
For the market he's in, his outlook is positive. He sees listing volume staying steady for the next several months, and it sounds like there are still lots of folks planning to list their homes over the next few months.
On the demand side, he senses that there may be a slight softening, but he hasn't seen anything to prove or disprove that feeling yet. And he thinks that it may just be the cyclical nature of the late summer market.
Overall though his outlook is positive for flippers and wholesalers, in that prices should stay stable for the next few months, which bodes well for flips and wholesale deals being closed now.
Keep in mind that this is just his opinion based on what he sees in his area of focus. Treat it as another data point to put into your analysis as you decide how to proceed. It's by no means a prediction!
Answer to Listener Submitted QuestionThe question I asked Todd was "How to you establish credibility when you're an investor trying to get the attention of a busy real estate agent?"
His answer was - have a business plan before you ask an agent for anything. It's the old adage that you can't steer a parked car. If you know what you'd like to accomplish in REI, have it researched and written down so you can talk intelligently about it. You don't necessarily need to know the area that you want to focus on - because an agent can help with that - but you must know what you want to do.
I asked him if he'd respond to an invitation to lunch with an investor that wanted some of his time. He thought that was a great idea. I did that a lot when I got started, and it paid HUGE dividends. Just make sure that you show your appreciation for the value and the time that they give you by picking up the check!
Haves and WantsTodd has one of each.
On the "want" side, he's looking for listings - primarily in the Northville and Plymouth areas as it's his back yard, but he's always on the lookout for listings up and down the I-275 corridor from Commerce to Canton and over to Ann Arbor.
On the "have" side, he has a 2+ acre parcel in Hamburg Township that he's selling. It...
In this episode I talk to Todd Waller.
Todd is a real estate agent, and in my opinion, he's the premiere agent in Metro Detroit. He has a tremendously successful business model with phenomenal processes, and he combines that with a laser focus on the needs of his clients. His market focus is the I-275 corridor from Commerce Township to Canton, and then west to Ann Arbor.
His reputation is borne out by his success: until recently his best year as an agent was 2008 - the very bottom of the market - when something like 30% of the agents in the state quit the business.
REI News
NO REI news this week in the podcast. My conversation with Todd went long so we skipped the news and went right into the interview.
A Word About Motivated Seller Leads
Just a short year ago the question that I got most often from real estate investors here was how to fund deals. Lately though, with the market tightening up and a ton of new investors entering the space, the question I get most often is how to find motivated seller leads.
I started in REI here in 2004. And the source that I started with was Probate leads.
And ten years later in 2014 - I'm still using them. In fact, I never stopped. The reason is that they are a tremendous source of leads. There's not a lot of competition, and there are plenty to choose from. Plus - they're easy to find, cheap to buy, and simple to process.
If you're someone who's having trouble finding motivated sellers, then I highly encourage you to start chasing probates.
And I also encourage you to use my educational program as your roadmap.
It's $97 and it includes my six letter sequence and my excel tracking and follow up spreadsheet. In short - it includes everything you need to start chasing probates today.
Check it out at Probate Real Estate 101.
How He Got Started in REI
Todd took a really interesting path to real estate. He majored in Political Science at the University of Michigan, and parlayed that into an internship with a state senator. He then jumped to a job with the state republican party working on campaigns. After the 2000 election cycle he realized that the job wasn't conducive to his new marriage or having a family, so he quit and went to work in a cube farm doing automotive research. That wasn't the best fit for his personality, because he has one, so when a friend suggested that he look into selling real estate, he jumped at the chance. And the rest is history as they say, as he closed 13 deals in his first year.
Market Overview
I asked Todd for his thoughts on the real estate market as it pertains to real estate investors.
For the market he's in, his outlook is positive. He sees listing volume staying steady for the next several months, and it sounds like there are still lots of folks planning to list their homes over the next few months.
On the demand side, he senses that there may be a slight softening, but he hasn't seen anything to prove or disprove that feeling yet. And he thinks that it may just be the cyclical nature of the late summer market.
Overall though his outlook is positive for flippers and wholesalers, in that prices should stay stable for the next few months, which bodes well for flips and wholesale deals being closed now.
Keep in mind that this is just his opinion based on what he sees in his area of focus. Treat it as another data point to put into your analysis as you decide how to proceed. It's by no means a prediction!
Answer to Listener Submitted QuestionThe question I asked Todd was "How to you establish credibility when you're an investor trying to get the attention of a busy real estate agent?"
His answer was - have a business plan before you ask an agent for anything. It's the old adage that you can't steer a parked car. If you know what you'd like to accomplish in REI, have it researched and written down so you can talk intelligently about it. You don't necessarily need to know the area that you want to focus on - because an agent can help with that - but you must know what you want to do.
I asked him if he'd respond to an invitation to lunch with an investor that wanted some of his time. He thought that was a great idea. I did that a lot when I got started, and it paid HUGE dividends. Just make sure that you show your appreciation for the value and the time that they give you by picking up the check!
Haves and WantsTodd has one of each.
On the "want" side, he's looking for listings - primarily in the Northville and Plymouth areas as it's his back yard, but he's always on the lookout for listings up and down the I-275 corridor from Commerce to Canton and over to Ann Arbor.
On the "have" side, he has a 2+ acre parcel in Hamburg Township that he's selling. It...
Previous Episode
REITD 010: Brent Maxwell – Broker and Investor in the City of Detroit
In this episode I talk to Brent Maxwell.
Brent is a real estate broker who works exclusively with real estate investors. He also primarily focuses on properties in the City of Detroit. His clients include both local and foreign investors who have risk capital available to put to work in the city.
He started in real estate investing eight years ago, after having his interest piqued in high school by a late night infomercial.
REI News
NO REI news this week in the podcast. My conversation with Brent went long so we skipped the news and went right into the interview.
A Cash Flow Mercenary Rant
I'll put my CFM hat on and tell you that I'm really tired of the calls and emails I'm getting about how hard it is to find motivated sellers here in Metro Detroit.
I'm tired of it because I've been using the same source of leads for ten years. All of my wholesale deals came from this source. Half of my flips came from this source. And half of the houses in my rental portfolio came from this source.
And this source is just as profitable and just as easy to use as it was when I started using it back in 2004.
What's the source? Probates.
If you're someone who's having trouble finding motivated sellers, then I highly encourage you to start chasing probates.
And I also encourage you to use my educational program as your roadmap.
It's $97 and it includes my six letter sequence and my excel tracking and follow up spreadsheet. In short - it includes everything you need to start chasing probates today.
Check it out at Probate Real Estate 101.
Current Business
Brent is primarily wholesaling properties in Detroit to investors and individuals who are looking to buy and hold properties in the City.
How He Got Started in REI
Brent started out trying to be a rock star. Literally! He moved to LA and pursued that dream. When it didn't work out, he moved back and contemplated grad school. But he found success in a series of sales jobs, and decided to skip grad school and dive into real estate.
Biggest Mistake
His biggest mistake was not anticipating the crash in 2008 - and it cost him a cool million dollar loss that he's still paying off. He did a gut check and realized that the experience would end up defining him, so he decided to take the high road and not declare bankruptcy. That decision has paid off so far, as his business is booming and he's attracted a whole new slate of investors to work with.
Biggest Success
Brent told me that his biggest success in real estate was his daughter.
This was a great answer. It turns out that real estate has giving him the freedom to have full custody of his daughter, and be extremely active in her life as a single parent. Things would have turned out significantly different had he pursued grad school and gotten a job.
Money Talks
Brent uses investor funds to fund his deals.
Answer to Listener Question
The question I put to Brent was "What do investors need to know before they invest in the city of Detroit"
His answer was - it's not "what" it's "who", which makes a lot of sense. He made the analogy that he wouldn't dream of investing in a place such as Calcutta India from Michigan without having someone local in his back pocket as a guide of advisor. The same goes for Detroit. If you're going to invest here you need to have someone here who will actively look after your interests and not just give lip service to it.
Links and Resources and Information
1. You can contact Brent via his cell phone at (313) 461-6747
2. Or you can reach him via his website at Live In the D
3. Brent is actively managing over 200 properties in the city of Detroit. If you're not happy with your property manager, I encourage you to give him a a call and see if his approach would be a fit for you.
4. Also - if you're an investor with risk capital to deploy, you should call Brent to see if what he's doing in the city is a fit for your risk tolerance and your portfolio. You never know - a simple phone call could end up making you a 30% ROI next year.
If you have feedback on the show, a question you’d like answered, a news item, or perhaps a recommendation of someone you’d like me to interview, or if you’d like to be a guest on the show, go to http://www.REITalkDetoit.com/contact and let me know about it.
Next Episode
REITD 012: Brian Borawski - CPA for Real Estate Investors in Metro Detroit
In this episode I talk to Brian Borawski.
Brian is a CPA who happens to have several real estate investors as clients in this area - including me. I've used Brian for several years now, and it's been great to have a knowledgable person like him available when issues come up like the sale of one of my apartment buildings back in January of 2013.
The great thing about Brian is that he's versatile. I found him during my search for a CPA who knew real estate investing in depth, but he's also been very helpful in creating and managing a corporation that I set up for an Information Technology consulting business I started two years ago.
A Word About Motivated Seller Leads
Just a short year ago the question that I got most often from real estate investors here was how to fund deals. Lately though, with the market tightening up and a ton of new investors entering the space, the question I get most often is how to find motivated seller leads.
I started in REI here in 2004. And the source that I started with was Probate leads.
And ten years later in 2014 - I'm still using them. In fact, I never stopped. The reason is that they are a tremendous source of leads. There's not a lot of competition, and there are plenty to choose from. Plus - they're easy to find, cheap to buy, and simple to process.
If you're someone who's having trouble finding motivated sellers, then I highly encourage you to start chasing probates.
And I also encourage you to use my educational program as your roadmap.
It's $97 and it includes my six letter sequence and my excel tracking and follow up spreadsheet. In short - it includes everything you need to start chasing probates today.
Check it out at Probate Real Estate 101.
How He Got Started Working with Real Estate Investors
Brian has an interesting story.
He started with a day job at the Taubman Company, which develops and owns upscale shopping malls around the country. There he was exposed to complex real estate accounting transactions. While working for Taubman he started a blog website for the Detroit Tigers because he's a huge baseball fan.
He started accepting advertising on his site - and he realized that it could be a very lucrative side business. So he started additional blogs, and at his peak had over three dozen active baseball-related blogs with 30 college students writing for him. When it got to the point where the advertising revenue provided enough income, he quit his job and went full-time into blogging.
That lasted two years until Google changed their search algorithms and 70% of his revenue disappeared.
He flirted with getting another day job, but decided to open his own CPA practice instead.
Having had an interest in real estate investing, and also realizing that it might be good for business development, he started attending REIA meetings and he also attended several real estate seminars. He picked up numerous real estate investor clients along the way, which was good for his bottom line, but it pushed his desire to get into real estate investing to the back burner.
Taxes and REI
You don't need a crystal ball to know that taxes are only going one way - and that's up.
I asked Brian if there's anything that we as real estate investors can do to prepare for it. His main piece of advice is to keep excellent records and documentation, because he thinks that the IRS will be going after "low hanging fruit" - and that means real estate investors.
He also offered to sit down with you to take a look at your business and prior year taxes. That would be a great way to understand what your options are in an environment where taxes are expected to rise sharply.
Answer to Listener Submitted Question
The listener question I asked Brian was "Why shouldn't I do my taxes myself and save a couple of hundred bucks a year?"
He had a couple of reasons why that's not the greatest idea.
The first is time. It may take him a couple of hours to complete a tax return for a real estate investor. But it could take the investor 10 to 20 hours to complete it. Even if the investor could do the work as well as a CPA, wouldn't the investor be better off putting those hours into his REI business rather than doing taxes?
The second is expertise. Using a retail tax prep software package will not give an investor the same comprehensive view that a human CPA, who know REI can. It's just not possible. So it's likely that by saving a couple of hundred dollars by doing taxes yourself you're costing yourself thousands of dollars in missed deductions.
Haves and WantsBrian has one item to offer.
A complementary one hour consultation.
That's how I met him, and I encourage you to take advantage of his offe...
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