Ep #515 – Growing wealth by going bigger – 0 to over 3000 doors in 3 years.
Darin Batchelder is an LP in close to 4000 doors as well as having positions as a GP and KP. All in just three years. Here is some of what we talked about:
- Following the success footprints
- Passive investing
- What to look for in a General Partner
- Leveraging your referral network
- How communication can mitigate fear
- Relationship building
- The power of social media
- Creating reach
- Adding value
To find out more about our guest:
https://darinbatchelder.com/
Full Transcript Below
Ep 514 – Growing wealth by going bigger – 0 to over 3000 doors in 3 years
Rod: Welcome to another edition of “How to Build Lifetime Cashflow through Real Estate Investing”. I’m Rod Khleif and I’m thrilled that you’re here. And I know you’re going to enjoy my friend who I’m interviewing today, his name is Darin Batchelder and Darin and I actually got to know each other a little bit at a mastermind event we went to in Jamaica recently but Darin is a GP in 300 doors a KP in over 150 doors but he’s an LP and almost 4,000 doors and so he brings a wealth of experience to the show. Welcome to the show buddy.
Darin: Hey Rod, I appreciate you having me on, it’s an honor.
Rod: Oh, thank you. Well this will be a lot of fun today and you know, it was a blast in Jamaica jumping into holes of water and going out on boats and all kinds of crazy stuff that we did but– so in fact I’m seeing posts come through right now on. It’s kind of funny on my right screen here but so maybe you could tell my listeners a little bit about your story. How you got started, how you got into real estate like we do, you know normally and then we’ll drill down on some topics.
Darin: Sure, so I’m a little older than a lot of the folks out there, I’m 50. I didn’t get involved with real estate until about three years ago. So, I own another business that I started back in 2007, trading loan portfolios residential multifamily and commercial real estate loans, bank-to-bank larger transactions and about three years ago, I decided I really wanted to get involved with actually purchasing real estate and when I did that, when I made that shift, it’s a big honor being here today because when I made that shift, your podcast was one of the podcasts that I spent a lot of time listening to people and trying to learn from other people that have already done it and so here we are three years later. And it’s an honor to be on the other side of it.
Rod: Well I really appreciate your kind words, buddy. So, three years, wow you’ve done a lot in three years. So, how did it happen so quickly?
Darin: A few things, one I finally decided to get in the game and I did with what a lot of people do, a lot of people getting involved in a single family. I decided to buy a duplex, it was a new construction duplex my wife and I entered into that contract in October of 2017 and you know, it was new construction so it was going to take a year to build. Once I entered into that contract I realized, look I’m going to make some money on this deal but it’s not going to be life-changing and it’s going to take forever to really build wealth going duplex, fourplex, aplex. So I wanted to find another way to go. Now, I wanted to go bigger, I wanted to go faster. So I reached out to different groups and met other people that were in the industry that had already done what I wanted to do and I started surrounding myself with other people that had done it and they gave me guidance on how to move forward.
Rod: Nice, yeah. That really makes all the difference in the world that’s why, you know, our students in our Warrior Program just kill it because they’re doing deals between each other, investing in each other’s deal,s co-sponsoring each other’s deals and you know, the strength in numbers, a rising tide lifts all ships. So I know that you know we talked before we started recording that you did a lot of unlimited passive investing and I mean you’re in almost 4,000 doors with other investors. Can you talk a little bit about that? And maybe some of the trepidation you had, some of the things you went through, some of the due diligence you went through, maybe make some suggestions to my listeners who might be thinking about getting into passive investing, maybe they’re scared, they haven’t done their first passive deal, and so maybe give you know give them some counsel as to what they might look for and think about and yeah let’s do that.
Darin: Absolutely. So in my loan training days, I just saw the performance on multifamily loans and you know, how banks that could get comfortable with buying multifamily loans just loved them because they performed very well. So I became very familiar with the asset class and so when I moved over and decided to get involved in the limited partner side, I pulled a bunch of capital out of the stock market and I decided I wanted to become a limited partner for a few different reasons. One, is I really liked the asset class and I felt like it was a better place to put my money as compared to the stock market. I felt like it was from a capital preservation standpoint and also from a wealth growing standpoint, it was a much better place for me to park my capital. Secondly, my end-goal was that I wanted to become a general partner. I wanted to become a lead sponsor and so I wanted to understand what it felt like as a limited partner. I wanted to understand the documents I had to sign. I wanted to understand the communication that I get on a monthly basis so that’s why I made the decision to pull money out and start doing a bunch of limited partner deals.
Rod: So, talk about some of the things that you look for in a general partner. Some of the– I mean, I’ve got a resource that I’m going to share with you guys as well. I’ve got a list of 50 questions that, you know, to ask a general partner in a syndication before investing and if you guys want that, just text “GP Questions” to 41411. That’s “GP Questions” to 41411 if you’re interested in potentially pursuing this but I’d love to get your feed on this as well, just some of the things that you look for when you’re evaluating someone that you’re gonna give your hard earned money to.
Darin: Absolutely. So look, when I started doing it I didn’t have a document like you just offered up to your listeners so I would say take advantage of that if you guys are interested in your first deal. Look, I would have loved to have read a document like that so I did not have that resource but here’s kind of the way I looked at it was, I wanted to– I kind of followed the recipe that a lot of people talk about, you know, “Know, Like and Trust”. So I wanted to get to know the person I wanted to understand that they had a track record and I want, you know, some people you just click with and some people you don’t, even if they have a great track record, you know, maybe the personalities are just off and so I wanted to pick people that I know, like and trust. And I talked to a lot of other people that were limited partners in other deals and asked them their feedback as to, you know, “Who do you like working with and why?” And so from that, I that kind of narrowed down the gap for me and then I focused on people that I actually had, you know, the opportunity to interact with either at conferences or meetup groups or you know, individual one-on-ones over the phone or coffee meetings and I focused on that set of group. I also–
Rod: So you went with your gut quite a bit and really your referral network, I mean you went with testimonial really referrals from other people and where they shared their experiences.
Darin: Absolutely. Referrals, my gut and also, you know, I was looking because I was looking to be a GP. I wanted to spread it out and partner with, you know, in a number of different deals so I did seven in 2018. I did seven limited partner deals and I did it with all different sponsors because I wanted to see the communication styles from each partner and I wanted to mold my own style from that. So, I would take what I liked from one and what I didn’t like, I would leave that alone and then pick up a piece from somebody else.
Rod: Nice, yeah. And of course you’re learning along the way. I know, you know, in our deals with our investors, we try to educate them as much as we can and do webinars and have them show up for due diligence, you know, inspections and things of that nature. I mean, we had like 20 at the last last dollars deal, we just got another nice dollar deal under contract but, yeah. So guys, get this list of questions it will really help to be you know, I mean you need to trust your gut, no question. You need to do your homework and ask for referrals but, you know, these questions get into more specifics, you know, regarding,you know, they have an operating reserve, you know, what kind of financing are they getting, what’s your whole term for the property, you know, what’s the capex budget, who’s going to manage the renovation, who’s going to manage, what happens if something happens to one of the KP’s, you’re going to be doing cost SAG I mean, on and on and on. So there’s a bunch of questions here, again just text “GP Questions” to 41411. So now, let’s talk about– well let me ask you this, did you have to push through any fear? Was there anything holding you back? Because I know some people are like, you know, “I want to do this but I’m kind of scared to do it.” Was there any of that? Can you speak to that just a little bit? I mean, it’s a little more ethereal but I mean, give me your feedback on that.
Darin: Absolutely. I think that there’s fear, for me there was fear all along the way and so I just had to push past that fear and you know, I had seen so many other people grow their wealth and met so many other people that grew their wealth through multifamily investing that I had to force myself to go forward. So I remember my first passive deal, you know, it’s different than just buying an investment in the stock market where you go on buy shares and click, you know, done and boom you’re done and your brokerage account just takes care of it. Here, you know, there’s a LLC agreement you have to sign, a private placement memorandum you have to sign, a subscription document, an investor questionnaire. So one, I wanted to get, you know accustomed, to those documents because when I’m a GP, I wanted to be able to be familiar with that so I’ve read all the documents,
Rod: Wow, stayed awake through it, huh?
Darin: Yeah, and it took me a little time but then, here’s when the fear really came in is when, you know, I thankfully, I’m a little older I had capital and so it wasn’t looking at the first deal wasn’t going to change my life either way but when I wired the money, you know, in my other business when loan portfolios trade, the wire happens and I get confirmation from the receiving bank that same day, “Yup, we got the wire”. So I thought it was going to work the same way so I wired the money I went and emailed the sponsor and said, “Hey, I just wired the money. Can you confirm receipt?”, I got no response. I’m like, “Holy cow, what’s going on?” So then I sent a text message, no response.
Rod: Oh, boy.
Darin: So about a half hour later, I actually called the sponsor. Sponsor picks up he’s like, “Hey, Darin man. I got your email, got your text.” I can see a number of different deposits coming in but I can’t see who it’s from until the next morning, the bank gives me the details, and I actually used this on my first indication deal the same bank as that sponsor did and true enough, it was that’s exactly the process. So what I did, because I remember that fear as a limited partner, I told every one of my limited partners in my first syndication, “Hey look, this is the process, you’re going to wire the money but I can’t confirm until tomorrow morning”.
Rod: Oh, that’s smart, pre-frame them that’s–
Darin: Yeah, and so then, they were like, “Okay, thank you for telling me that”. You know, and once they knew the process they were okay and so— but there was fear there, and then the next day, you know, the sponsor emailed me saying, “Hey, confirmed receipt.” And I was good to go. And then you know, the next six I wasn’t worried, you know, I had already done it. But that first one, there was fear.
Rod: Yeah, okay and so, you know, let’s talk about that first deal you did as an operator, you know, because there’s fear around that too I’m sure and–
Darin: Absolutely.
Rod: So why don’t you talk about the deal, I think you handled all that, is that the 76 one you were telling me?
Darin: Yeah.
Rod: So you found it, you did the whole nine on it. So take us through that, take us through that deal.
Darin: So, here I would say, you know, one critical component for your listeners if you’re looking to be active and be a lead sponsor is definitely, you know, develop relationships with the brokerage community in your market so the way I got this deal was, I actually was bidding on another deal in South Dallas the month prior and I was, I basically ended up runner-up on that deal but I thought I was going to win the deal. It was the first time I was working with this particular broker and we developed a really good relationship and I just felt like I was going to win the deal. And when he told me that somebody else outbid me, you know, I was disappointed but, you know, you pick yourself up and you go off to the next one. Well he called me and he said, “Hey Darin, I got this other deal in South Fort Worth and in town called Crowley, you know, it’s the same amount of units. They were both 76 units, why don’t you go check it out?”. Well I did, I did a drive by, I went by and I actually called him and I said, “Hey man, I appreciate the opportunity but I’m going to pass on the deal, you know, I just didn’t know that sub market that well and, you know, the property wasn’t as well maintained as I would have liked”. Well he called me back like three days later and he said, “Darin, you have to meet me at the property”. And I was like, “Why?”.
Rod: The one you didn’t like?
Darin: the one I didn’t like.
Rod: Right, okay.
Darin: I said, “Look, you gotta sell me on why I should go back out there” And he did, you know, and he just gave me a couple high-level points, one was, “Do you know what the median household income is of this area in Crowley?” And I said, “I didn’t” and he said, “It’s like 60,000”. I said, “Wow!”, you know like, I’ve been bidding on a lot of properties that have been kind of mid 30s median household income so it sounds like there’s an opportunity there. And then, secondly, he’s like, “Look, you need to step inside the units because they’re townhomes, they have larger ceilings and maybe from the outside they don’t look as nice but once you get inside, I think you’re going to have a different feel.” So, he told me enough to get me to go out there, I went out there and when I was in the units, sure enough I was like, “I would much rather live in a townhouse like this with these higher ceilings than live in an apartment with somebody living right above me”.
Rod: Yeah.
Darin: So I said, “I’m sold on the property now I just have to make the numbers work, go visit other properties in the area and see what we can do from a business plan but my point to all of that is that, had I not gone on the other property in South Dallas, met the broker, developed a relationship, went after the deal, that broker would never have even known to call me back.
Rod: Yeah, right.
Darin: And if he had not called me back and convinced me to go out there, I never would have had that deal.
Rod: Yeah, so talk a little bit about–I mean, I know you told me you brought in someone I know quite well, Raj in to help you sponsor that deal, and guys, that’s how you do this, is you bring someone that’s done it before to be a sponsor for you, maybe lend their resume, their balance sheet, their liquidity, maybe just experience, maybe net worth, whatever it is and guide you and help you and that’s how this game is won, is as you do it’s a team sport, you do it together and at some point if you want to do it yourself, you can but most people stay with a team approach to this. And so, you know, talk a little bit, though let’s go back to that broker relationship because this business is a team sport, it’s all about relationships. Maybe you could talk a little bit about relationship building in general and then maybe some of the things you do to stand out with these different relationships that you need to build be it brokers, being investors be it whatever it, you know, whatever else, property manager, whoever else you’re building relationships with. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Darin: Yeah, absolutely. So as I mentioned, I have another business and when I got involved with this business, you know, it was all new and I was doing it really to grow, you know, my wealth but one of the things that really charged me up after doing the first syndication deal was that I realized that this business is different than my other business. My other business, all the profit flows down to me and my family, and with the syndication deals, you know, on that 76 unit deal I partnered with Raj Gupta and you’re absolutely right, he was the experienced guy and he’s still kind of like my board of directors to date.
Rod: Right.
Darin: But we also had 44 limited partners in that deal and so what I realized was as we grow the value of the property and we end up having an exit strategy at some point whether it be a cash out refi or sale, it’s not only Darin Batchelder and my family that you know, is benefits from that but it’s my business partner Raj Gupta and his family and the 44 limited partners. So, I love the idea of getting involved with something that impacts so many different people. And so, that’s part of the business that I really fell in love with is helping other people grow their wealth through multifamily.
Rod: So talk about how that translates into relationship building because I want you to go somewhere with this and if you don’t, I’m gonna– I’ll kick you there but.
Darin: Alright, you know, point me in the right direction.
Rod: Well, because when you come at it from that place and you sincerely mean it, people will feel it okay and and and that’s kind of where I was going with this. If you’re building a relationship and they know you truly care about them as much as you care about yourself, people feel that and they feel that authenticity and that genuineness and and so you know, that’s kind of where I was going with that but so, let’s circle back to relationship building because I know it’s something you’re good at, you did a great job with me in Jamaica. So talk about, you know, and don’t feel like it’s rudimentary anything that you’re gonna bring up but if you’re approaching potential investors, you’re approaching brokers, what might you do to start and build and nurture that relationship?
Darin: So you know there’s a number of different facets, you know, let’s talk about, just getting something that I’m passionate about is trying to impact more people and reach more people and look, I was not on any social media until I got involved in real estate three years ago. So I was not on Facebook, I was not on Instagram I was on Linkedin from from my business perspective but when I got involved, I started seeing the power of connecting with people all across the country that had interest in doing this and so I attend a lot of multifamily conferences but also a lot of entrepreneurial conferences and I had a lot of people that were telling me, you know, “You really need to be on Instagram”, and I was like, “Instagram that’s like a toy app for my kids”, and so I started looking at it and I was like, “Really? Do people actually do business off this”,
And so then I went to a conference I told my wife, “Look, I’m gonna go there and I’m looking to meet somebody that actually knows what they’re doing on Instagram and that can help me” and so I did, I found a guy who had like 300,000 followers and I hired him as a consultant and I had– I wasn’t on instagram so I had zero followers, and I told my kids, “I’m gonna get on”, they were laughing at me and what I found through doing it, okay. And there was fear here too, it’s funny because like with people that are not involved with putting out media on social media, there’s a fear in the beginning of posting. You know like, “What are people gonna think of me”, and you know, “What are they gonna say?”, and all of that, you know, and just have to push past that fear and post.
And what happened was all of a sudden, somebody from Las Vegas or Chicago or Spain would reach out to me on Instagram and say, “Hey, can we get together on a call?” and I’d be like, “Yeah”, and all of a sudden I realized, “Look, that’s who I’m doing it for”, I’m doing it for the people that I don’t know yet, that this is a way for them to be introduced to the concept and that gets me excited.
Rod: Interesting. Let me give you some feedback and some of it, honestly maybe a little constructive and a little raw here as it were and I’m on instagram as well. And I thought it was really important and I mean, I’ve done– I have to look at my thing I was just looking you up as you were talking on Instagram but I’ve done, for me personally let me see how much posting I’ve done it’s been prolific. So 1,756 posts, okay. Adding value and so on and so forth but you know, I started thinking about this Darin and you’ve got I think about 8,000 people on yours, I’ve got like 24,000 because I haven’t worked it properly, you know, on Instagram.
The best thing you can do is from what I understand is do stories and they, “Hey I’m having breakfast”, or “I’m doing this”, you know, and just let people see behind the scenes see your life but I started thinking about the demographic on Instagram and by the way, guys, I’m a huge proponent for building reach using– I mean, Darin has a podcast, using Podcasts, using Facebook, using you know all these social media, Linkedin and even Instagram but I started thinking about who my avatar is from an investment standpoint, Darin. And looking at the age demographics between Instagram Facebook and Linkedin to me it was no question that I needed to hammer on Facebook and Linkedin because of the age demographic so I’m just giving you a little feedback take it or leave it but even for my coaching business, my avatar in the coaching business is someone in the I.T field or an Engineer background or someone Analytical and this is not everybody.
But this is like, you know, 70 percent maybe in 30 years to 50 years old and I just don’t know that they’re as prevalent on Instagram as some of these other social media platforms. So just two cents for take it for what it’s worth but guys, those are you listening, to build this business requires you to create reach in some fashion and so like, with my warriors, my coaching students, I’ve got a couple dozen that have started podcasts, meetup groups, you know. In fact, people like Raj started with a meetup group. I’m pretty sure most of the people that have been around a while that have thousands of doors like he does and the people in my multi-family boardroom mastermind did it through meetups because it was pre-social media really and now, you know, it’s so easy to create reach and you don’t need tens of thousands of people you just need, you know, a few hundred that have some money that are ready to invest as it were if you’re looking for investors.
So anyway, just I’ll stop babbling but you know, I do suggest that, you think about who you’re trying to reach and hone in on that medium, that vehicle, that site as it were and and I, you know, and I just came to this realization on Instagram so I’m just sharing you what I just went through and I’m like, you know, what I don’t want to put as much effort there as I’m doing in the places where I think it’s more target reach as it relates to investors with money, as it relates to people that want to do this business as an operator. So anyway, you know, please take that for what it’s worth but, so as it relates to relationship nurturing, what do you do– I mean you go out you meet these people on Instagram or wherever you know with your Podcast, I know I was looking on Instagram you’ve got your podcast episodes there as well, do you put them on youtube also?
Darin: So today, I did not put it on YouTube because the platform that I use is audio only. On going forward, I will start to.
Rod: Yeah. I did that when I started too. I’m you know, for those of you thinking about starting a podcast and I do a lot of coaching on this just to my students but let me give you some some feedback right now, so if you’re going to go out there and you’re going to create reach, there’s two things you have to remember. Number one, you have to add value, period. You got to add value if you put crap out there you’re, you know, I had somebody tell me, if you put out crap, you are crap. So add value, number one. But see you can add value by interviewing experts, right. So that’s one number. Two, is you have to be consistent. Those are the two key things if you’re going to start one of these things just commit that you’re going to do it for a couple of years, period.
Okay now, Darin I’m going to give you some more feedback, okay. And that is, so if you’re going to create some content, if you’re going to do a video like we do on zoom, it needs to go everywhere so you should have the video, you should have the content transcribed, because people take in information differently, some people are auditory, those are the iTunes folks. Some people are visual, those are the Youtube folks. and then there’s some people that are visual but they like to read their content and so, you know, I was blown away because we transcribed my podcast and we put it on Youtube. I was blown away when I found out last year, my youtube videos got watched for 30,000 hours–
Darin: That’s crazy.
Rod: I was like, “Holy shit”, I couldn’t believe how much it was and it’s more this year and so and it was just, it’s just the simple act of taking those recorded content on those podcasts and putting it on Youtube. Occasionally, I did a video there specific to Youtube but very few, honestly. And then, so taking the content, putting it there. Then taking the content, putting it on Facebook. Taking the content, putting it on Linkedin. So whatever you’re doing, you want to cross-pollinate, okay. And you want to put it everywhere you possibly can because you’ve already gone, you’ve done the hard work which is recording it and so, you know, you can get it transcribed very inexpensively there are even apps that do it now, Otter is one and then, you throw it on a blog on your website. Again, you do the video, you do the audio ,you do all these different pieces and you let people take it in the way they like to take it. That is really the point but cross-pollinate for sure.
Darin: And another way to say that is, go where the people are.
Rod: Right, well that too. That you want to go where the low-hanging fruit is.
Darin: Some people are on Linkedin, some people are on Youtube and so go where the people are.
Rod: That’s true, everyone has a favorite platform and so, you know, or most people do and so if you’re hitting them all, I mean you’re golden and it’s just a matter of, you know, little extra work to post there so there’s my two cents for those of you listening as well. If you’re gonna, you know, start one of these things, if you think you’re gonna do a podcast, well first of all, reach out to me I’ll help you. I do that anyway, I’ll give you some information that’ll help you. And secondly, you know cross-pollinate but remember, those two things, consistency and adding value and it doesn’t have to be your own value, it can be interviews it can be people you bring in and that’s a beautiful thing,
you know, you can act as if “You can fake it,’ till you make it” as it were in, as it relates to creating reach because what you can do is just interview other people that are experts and by very virtue of the fact that you’re hosting whatever it is, the meetup, the Podcast, you know, the group in Facebook, the group in LinkedIn or whatever, you know, you you can do it through interviews and you’re perceived as an expert even though, you know, you may just be the one guiding a conversation.
So anyway I’m stealing your entire interview here, buddy. I apologize.
Darin: No, no worries. Look, hey again, I’m honored to be on here and I learned from you in the beginning and I’m continuing to learn from you, look thank you. I was on a call earlier today and I asked you know the person I was talking with the exact same thing he has podcast also and we were talking about how we can help each other and you know, he’s on LinkedIn and Instagram and I was talking to him about which one do you think, you know, adds more value and you gain more business from. And so because I have heard from a number of people that you know LinkedIn has been a really good medium, so you know, you just added–
Rod: Yeah, we’ve been– we just really started ramping up our LinkedIn presence. We failed miserably up ‘til literally a few months ago and Instagram, yes we’re still posting there just because it’s easy to throw content there but it’s really not our avatar, you know, and that by the way guys, an avatar is you create this persona that you’re going after. So if it’s investors in the multi-family space, you try to figure out, you know, what age group do you think they are, what do they do for a living, you can even name them. Ours is named Bob, you know, so you can name that avatar and then you focus your marketing efforts on Bob or on that avatar, whatever that description of that person is and like I said in my thought leadership business and coaching, it’s a 30 to 50 year old person primarily male, although we have lots of females but the majority are male and and a lot of couples as well. But that’s the age group and just a lot of people in Analytical type positions, Engineering, I.T, so on and so forth.
So again, I’m sorry I got off track again, so nurturing these relationships that you build with brokers, how often do you call them? What– you know, talk about that a little bit.
Darin: Well, the brokers, you know, this year has been a little different because of Covid, right?
Rod: Yes.
Darin: So I was, you know, hot and heavy last year and into the beginning of this year and then February, I was very close on a deal and then when I lost that deal, I ended up shifting strategy to the Podcast and so you know, through Covid this year, I have not been as active, you know, reaching out to brokers–
Rod: Okay.
Darin: Because I’ve been looking at the deals and in DFW, it’s been difficult, you know, making the numbers work and I’ve been focused on the Podcast.
Rod: I see, okay. Fair enough. Well, you know, I think that–so let me answer the question because I don’t want to leave that out there and that is, guys if you’re going to start these relationships and build them, you need to be consistent as much as possible so that they know you’re still there. You’re calling them, emailing them, texting them, you know I’d say, every two or three weeks saying, “Hey, you know, if you get anything I’m I’m here raising my hand” and not be obnoxious with it but, you know, I mean really, you’re just creating friendships would you agree with that? I mean that you’re just building friendships.
Darin: Absolutely, people like to do business with people that they like, right. And it goes, you know, that holds true on the limited partnership standpoint too and so how do you stay in front of limited partners because, you know, if after a while you don’t get your second deal or your third deal then the investors are like, “Alright, well hey, if I don’t hear from Darin, I’m gonna have to invest my money someplace else”, right?
Rod: Right.
Darin: So, you know, what’s a way to get in front of them while having a podcast or having a newsletter, having a blog some way of keeping in communication with your investors I think is key and it allows them to, you know, “Look, I just went to a holiday party this weekend and I had a number of people come up to me” and they’re like, “Man, I’ve been listening to your podcasts”, “I’ve been you know reading your blogs”, and they like, know a lot about what’s going on in my life without me even having that conversation over the phone.
Rod: Nice, yeah that’s another benefit for sure. Fantastic. So let me ask you some more general questions, knowing what you know now with, you know, your investing career to date, is there– if you were to go back to your younger self, is there anything you might do differently?
Darin: Yeah, absolutely. One is I would start investing in Real Estate earlier for sure, just the compound wealth building effect of real estate is just huge, right. And then secondly, I would say on the– I’ve had active investors that are looking to get their first deal that have asked me, “Hey, would you have done anything different now that you’ve got your first deal?”, and I said, “Yeah, I would”. My philosophy when I was going after my first deal was, I would only reach out to the broker and go on a property tour when I had underwritten the deal and the deal looked like it was something I was going to actually put a letter of intent on ,okay. And that slowed down the process of me meeting the brokerage community.
Rod: Yeah.
Darin: So, I would recommend, you know, looking at your first two months and say, “Okay look, week one, I want to go out on a property tour with somebody from Marcus and Millichap. Week two, I wanna go out on a property tour with somebody from– all right. Week three ,I want to go on–”. Wou don’t want to do it with all the same brokerage company everywhere because then you’re going to get a bad name for wasting everybody’s time but if you break it up and visit like eight properties over two months with eight different brokerage companies, now you’ve got eight brokers that are thinking about you and talking about you in their shop and you do that in a very short time frame. That’s what I would have changed.
Rod: Okay well, that’s great advice. And on all fronts and just want to hammer home one thing he just said that is, you don’t want to hit more than one person ideally in the same office because you’re going to piss them off it’s like, you know, they they all kind of work together but they are competing with each other and so that very sound advice to pick different brokerages and go and how are you going to really get to know someone unless you meet them? and by the way guys, if you’re going to invest in a market that you’re not living in, then you start these conversations over the phone but you must go there and meet them, you must go toward the properties, buy them breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever. Get to know them because that’s when the relationship really opens up and I’ve heard this from–you’ve pretty much stayed in your backyard but I’ve heard of some numerous people that buy outside of their backyard because you’ve got to go spend a few days there and you literally need to be booked morning, noon and dinner for meals and appointments and showings and on and on.
So, well listen brother, I really appreciate you coming on. It’s good to see you again and–
Darin: Absolutely.
Rod: And you know, I appreciate the kind words about the Podcast and good luck with your Podcast and just good to have you on, my friend.
Darin: Absolutely. Thank you very much, you know, it’s nice to have a leader in the space that helped me get in and also is helping me level up, you know and it’s a great industry of people helping each other, so thank you very much.
Rod: That’s what life’s about, brother. Alright, well it’s good to see you. Happy holidays.
If I don’t talk to you before then, my friend.
Darin: Absolutely, right back at you. Alright.
