Transcript:
4/27/20
Things I Would’ve Done Differently
Welcome to the Tax Sale Podcast, where tax sale investing is made easy. My name is Casey Denman, I’m a tax sale veteran, the leading tax sale expert, author of The Tax Sale Playbook, founder of The Tax Sale Academy and I’m your host right here on The Tax Sale Podcast.
Thank you so much for joining me on today’s podcast episode. This is a completely free podcast and is brought to you through and because of The Tax Sale Academy. If you’re looking to learn more about investing in tax defaulted real estate, just head to TaxSaleAcademy.com. Again that’s TaxSaleAcademy.com.
Today, I’m going to pretend I’m going to go back in time. I’m going to return to the start of my tax sale career and go over the three primary things that I would have done differently, knowing what I do now.
To put everything into context, I’m going to recap my history in this business VERY briefly. I started back in 2002 when I was a naïve kid. My first few years in this business I did very well as I capitalized on and took advantage of the economy. Then the economy that I relied so heavily on, the one that built my business just fell apart. Then I rebuilt my business from the ground up in a foolproof, recession proof manner. I went through extreme highs, extreme lows and everything in between. I also dabbled in a variety of other disciplines including brokering real estate, developing real estate, speculative building, property management and lots more. Tax Sale Investing, however, has been and will always be my primary business because it’s such an incredible business.
Ok, so there’s the brief story in a nutshell. Let’s look back at that 18 year old kid starting real estate as a tax sale investor and go over three things I would’ve done differently. The fourth thing on the list would’ve probably been to enjoy my hair more, but nonetheless, let’s go over the other three:
Find help. Goodness gracious Casey. Find someone to help you, please. That’s what I would’ve told myself when I was starting out. I remember walking into that first auction as green as they come, hands literally shaking with fear, and no idea what I was doing. I was far from confident and couldn’t gather the nerves to talk to a single person there.
At the time there were no books, podcasts, programs or any online training help. I asked the folks at my real estate brokerage about tax sale investing and I was looked at like an alien. Noone that I knew personally could help.
My education came from trial and error. This is an expensive, lengthy and stressful way to learn. I wish I would’ve had the nerve to ask one person to help at the auction. To ask one person if I could buy them breakfast. That room had 9 or 10 veterans in it. Names I had heard even before I got into real estate, but I didn’t have the confidence to simply ask them for advice, help or suggestions.
It’s funny, people ask me for help all the time at an auction with many NOT having any idea that I’ve dedicated such a huge portion of my life to educating others about this business. I don’t think I’ve ever turned down a conversation of offering a piece of advice to someone who asked for it/ If I could go back, I’d learn much faster not to be so timid. To ask for help, to ask for advice.
If you’re new, please understand that most investors don’t mind helping you if you’re friendly and eager to learn. Ask for help! Of course, understand they are very valuable resources and their time is precious to them, so be sure to get help with the most difficult stuff your struggling with and don’t expect a complete walkthrough. But use other investors. Ask questions.
The same can be said for the auction companies, the county offices, local Realtors and anyone else you deal with. If you can use their advice or help, then by all means, embrace it. And likewise, if YOU have a skill you can help someone with, be sure to help them when asked. I can’t guarantee it’ll mean you’ll make more money as a tax sale investor, but it’s just good Karma.
Obviously, I’ve devoted a good portion of my life to educating others. I have hundreds of videos and podcasts. And I’ve got a complete training program setup for you when you register. TaxSaleAcademy.com is the site. Signup if you want our help. But, by all means, get help. Shorten that very lengthy learning curve!
The second thing that I wish I would’ve done sooner is expand. My business strategy for buying is simple: I cherrypick the most profitable properties possible, based on my objectives in the areas I invest. Simple, right?
Well, the problem is no one wants to expand. I’ve told the story where I’ve driven thousands of miles in a month attending in person auctions which were the only thing offered in this area, not to mention all of the drivebys, rental cars, lousy hotel stays and shady areas I had to go through. But that was AFTER I spent too many years being complacent.
Now, if you’re local market is great and you’re killing it, then good for you. Stay there as long as you want. But maybe you add on MORE of the same or you get involved with other property types as well.
Now, when it came to my business it started to fade quickly. So, I worked the next county over, then the next state and then eventually I’m all up and down the east coast, then the entire country. Before I knew it, I was in 5 states, then 10 and now more. I would research properties like crazy, choose the best ones for me, then I’d attend countless auctions every week snagging the best ones. I’d sell them and do it all over again. Expansion was the catalyst to my business growing.
You simply can’t expect to do the same thing over and over and grow. It doesn’t work like that. Expand, whatever that means to you specifically expand and allow your business to grow!
The last thing that I would’ve done is actually been more creative. And this is a little bit of an odd one, but what I’ve found over the years is that buying and selling real estate is great and you can earn a great living at it. But if you find your own little angle with it, you can earn a fortune.
I started off just like everyone else: I’d be real estate for one price, sell it for more and make some money. The problem with this approach is that in some areas, it just doesn’t work. You can’t buy it cheap enough to make it worthwhile. After a few years I began to notice some of the more successful guys had their own way of doing things. It could’ve been someone focusing on one specific subdivision, someone who had just one property type another who had one unique selling strategy. So I began to ask myself how I could do it differently.
That’s not only when I began to expand market areas, but that’s really when I began my quest to leverage the internet. Granted, the internet in the early to mid 2000s isn’t anything like it is now. But I remember thinking that I need to leverage the internet in order to invest out of area. That eventually led me to creating online buyer’s lists, digital marketing, using other site’s traffic and that kind of stuff. At this point in my career, it’s extremely rare for me to do anything the so called conventional way, which . . . is in fact changing rapidly.
Now, whether that’s your approach or not that’s completely ok. Just understand that you can only grow so much until you begin to look at things differently.
So there are the three major things I would’ve done differently looking back: I would’ve got help, expanded faster and been more creative.
As I sit back and think about my career I’ve been extremely fortunate to see the success I have in this business. Even more so, I’m extremely grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to impact so many others and watch my academy members have so many successes of their own. Tax Sale Investing is a phenomenal business when you approach it correctly. I urge you to apply these three concepts to your business and, most important, to learn what you’re doing prior to starting.
I truly hope that today’s episode has helped you when it comes to starting or growing your tax sale business
We’re so thankful you listen to our podcast and hope you enjoy it. If so, please consider leaving us some positive feedback on whatever podcasting platform you listen to us on.
If we can help in anyway, there are a number of different links in today’s show notes. We’d love to be able to help you with learning about this business and we’d love to share you tax sale success story in the future. To get started just head to taxsaleacademy.com. Again, that’s taxsaleacademy.com.
Take care and make it a successful day.
See ya!