Brandyn Schwalm Shares How He Earned $1.4MM+ in 2018 While Traveling 20+ Weeks Out Of The Year

Steve Trang: Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disrupters. Today, we have Brandon Schwamm, and he flew in from Miami or wherever he flew in from because he's constantly traveling to talk about how you made 1,400,000.0 last year while traveling over twenty weeks out of the year. If this is your first time tuning in, I'm Steve Trang, broker and owner of Stunning Homes Realty, founder of the OfferFast Homes app, the only MLS for off market wholesale properties and we'll be launching in Texas next week. And I'm on a mission to create 100 millionaires.

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If you can write what you like about the show, that's even better. And this is a live show, so please ask your questions for Brandon to answer. You ready? I think so. Alright.

So first question, simple, is what got you into real estate?

Brandyn Schwalm: Well, I started the entrepreneur venture when I was 19. I did a network marketing company, for a couple of years. Long story short, that didn't really work out. I had a good friend of mine that was flipping houses at auction. So I started, basically being the person that went to every single house house and tried to get into all the houses for them, get pictures, and then make the bid at auction.

Steve: How long ago was this? Four years ago. Okay. So you're probably passed a statute of limitations or a statute of what is it where they can't try you again?

Brandyn: Yeah. I think it's statute of limitations. Statue of limitations. Yeah.

Steve: So there might have been some BNE back in the day. Yeah. Right? Maybe. So because I don't think a lot of people that are wholesaling now know know what we had to do back in a day or go into auction properties.

No.

Brandyn: I mean, I had guns pulled on me multiple times. I had the first day I actually ever went in, went to auction houses where we'd go knock on the door and try to save them, you know, try to buy them from at the auction. This guy chased me with a gun. And I remember going to my boss at a time being like, if this was every day, is it gonna be like, I can't do this.

Steve: This. Well, I'm surprised you came back.

Brandyn: Yeah. No. It was it was scary. But, I mean, it was it was always, like, a new experience every day. So when was this?

2015.

Steve: 2015? Yeah. And I'm sorry. Where was this? What city?

Brandyn: This is in Orlando. Orlando. Mhmm.

Steve: Yeah. So for you guys that don't know, right, like, the all people buying from from auctions Mhmm. In order they had a bid service, I'm guessing, who you worked for. Yep. And the bid service, they there was they would talk to all the investors that wanna buy properties the day before.

Mhmm. And they would send someone out to take photos. Mhmm. And that was you. Yeah.

Well, I

Brandyn: was working for a private company where they were trying to buy the house at all.

Steve: They were buying themselves.

Brandyn: Okay. And so then I would go we would look at the list, and then I would go to the house, either try to swindle deals at the door or, you know, if I had to get pictures inside, I would find a way to do that.

Steve: Yeah. Because, so one of the people I know, what stopped them from doing that wasn't a gun, but it was face to face with a dog. Right? And it was a race to over the fence. Yikes.

You ever dealt with a dog?

Brandyn: I did, but there was little ones. I wasn't kinda scared. You know? Just a little barking.

Steve: So that's what got you into real estate. Mhmm. What got you into wholesale?

Brandyn: Well, actually, I did it kind of backwards, but it seems like most people are doing today. I just started off flipping. So I initially, after I left that company, I met a gentleman at a networking event and kind of convinced him to give me a quarter million dollars to start flipping. And so then I started, you know, back in the day, we could send out, like, you know, 3,000 mailers and get a good deal. I was sending out mailers.

We would get deals, and then I would flip them. And, I mean, at one point I mean, we had, like my first year, we did almost probably 50 flips. Like, it was a it was a lot. Wow. And, I just wasn't really enjoying that.

And then at this point, I had moved to Miami Mhmm. And trying to manage flips while, you know, hundreds of miles away was not very easy. So that's when I kind of, changed my model.

Steve: In Orlando. Yep. I moved to Miami. Mhmm. While you're flipping in Orlando

Brandyn: Yep.

Steve: What was going through your brain? What was What was the thought process?

Brandyn: It was tough. I mean, I just, like, I was kind of done with Orlando. Orlando was, like, I didn't see, like, a lot of high level people that were in their in their mid twenties, early twenties, and I wanted to be around those kind of individuals. And That makes sense. I knew Miami was the spot for that.

So I was, like, I need to go where those people are. And so that's why I went to Miami. And then, yeah, the first, like, six months of living in Miami and then trying to do virtual flipping, it was much different than doing virtual wholesaling.

Steve: Gotcha. So you're doing well

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: In Orlando. You go to Miami. Yep. And what is your plan then? Like, what did you what was the process for getting your wholesaling up and running?

Because were you wholesaling yet in Orlando or you're still flipping entirely?

Brandyn: I was I was basically flipping what I would like that wasn't, like, crazy amount of work and, you know, that I could handle. And then I was wholesaling just like, you know, some of the deals, but I was primarily flipping. Mhmm. But, like, I knew when I was, like, doing the numbers, I was like, you know, if I was to wholesale this, I'd make $15.20 grand. If I flip it, I make, like, 40.

But the flip's gonna take me me three, four months. The wholesale takes me one month. So I was like, I'd rather just do a ton of those instead of constantly, like, waiting three, four months. And Right. You made more money, but it was just way more of a headache.

And at that point, I was like, I'd rather make less money and have less of a headache and, you know, be able to do do whatever I want kind of thing.

Steve: Right. Okay. So I want we kind of touched on real, like, you know, quickly was the network marketing.

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: Right? Because I think, there was, Robert Allen's multiple streams of income

Brandyn: that I

Steve: read many, many years ago. Have you read that one? No. So one of the things he talks about is if you want to become a successful entrepreneur is get into MLMs. Yeah.

Not because you're gonna make money in the MLMs. Yeah. But you're gonna learn all the valuable skills for sure you'll need from an MLM. So what was an MLM

Brandyn: that you were in? I was in I was actually in a couple, but the one that I, like, resonate the most with was VEMA Mhmm. Which is obviously really big here in Phoenix. And, I mean, yeah, I mean, I started at 18. So I was really young, and I, you know, I kind of thought, like, the whole go to college, get a degree, and then, you know, get a nine to five and retire when I'm 70.

Like, that never really interests me. I always wanted to have a lot of money when I was young. So, like, I realized, like, entrepreneurship was that route.

Steve: Right. So Vima and that's how you connected with Cody Barton. Mhmm. Nick Octavius in L. A.

Mhmm. And some of the other wholesalers as well. Mhmm.

Brandyn: Yeah. My whole like, there's probably like my six core group of best friends and all of them are wholesalers and actually are probably, like, some of my biggest competition in my own market.

Steve: Oh, really? Yeah.

Brandyn: Oh. So I taught them all, and then they, you know, decided to do it in my market as well.

Steve: Gotcha. Mhmm. We got some, questions here about how you used to change refrigerators.

Brandyn: Who's that?

Steve: Got Tommy Myers over here. Yeah.

Brandyn: Anything from him, I would just ignore.

Steve: Just ignore those questions. Gotcha. Okay. So so you're wholesaling, from Miami.

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: But you're not just in Miami. No. So talk about, like, what what markets are you in right now

Brandyn: for wholesaling? For wholesaling, of my own individual business, I'm in basically anywhere from, like, Sarasota up to Tampa, then Tampa all the way over to the East Coast Of Florida. Okay. So I think we're in, like, 11 counties total. But all in Florida?

All Central Florida. Yeah. Okay. I don't do any deals in Miami or Fort Lauderdale or anything.

Steve: What's wrong with Miami?

Brandyn: I don't know. I've I've, like, tried there, and, like, a lot of times, there's always, like, major title issues. Miami is known for, like, scams. So, like, my title company that is in Orlando, they won't even, like, insure anything in Miami because there's so much fraudulent stuff down there. So I was like,

Steve: That's crazy.

Brandyn: Shouldn't it then.

Steve: Okay. Now you mentioned that you're doing in Florida. What does that mean? Is there are there people that you have partners with? Or

Brandyn: Yeah. I've partnered up with other people in, like Austin and Dallas and stuff like that. But primarily, like, my ones that I run day to day is all Central Florida.

Steve: Okay. And so what I wanted to hit on or emphasize because, when you and I were communicating before the show Mhmm. Is that something that you're passionate about is traveling. Mhmm. And, you know, the a lot of people in the industry are aware of Jaylen White.

And

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: He's living a great life. Right?

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: He's always traveling somewhere with his wife. Mhmm. And just having a good time.

Brandyn: Sure.

Steve: Sounds like you're doing something similar as well. Yeah. So talk about first, why do you travel so much? Mhmm.

Brandyn: It might

Steve: be an obvious answer, but let's start with that.

Brandyn: I mean, for me, I always was I always wanted a life of freedom, you know, financial freedom, time freedom. And, like, I I wanted nothing to be able to hold me back. Mhmm. And so I just for me, why I really enjoy traveling is because it it, like, makes you so much more in the present moment because you're in, like, a different environment and you're, you know, seeing new things, different stimulation. So I I just like traveling and, like, doing new things.

Mhmm. I think that's a real big part of it. And it's like I don't, you know, I don't really I could die, you know, tomorrow. Yeah. And I I wanna have those experiences and you just never know it could happen.

And and that's a real thing that motivates me.

Steve: Okay. Now for someone right now, because there's a lot of people that are in this business and they're working, like, sixty, seventy hours a week.

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: Right? And I'm not saying that you're not. But for them, like, the idea of even traveling

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: While wholesaling sounds preposterous.

Brandyn: Yeah. You

Steve: know? And there's a a guy that was on the show, Jaime Aman Mhmm. Someone I look up to a lot. Yeah. And he's all about doing it, remotely, traveling, spending time with the family because Yeah.

Your time is your most valuable resource, something you can't get back. So Definitely. Can you talk about for someone, I guess there's two steps here. A, how do you get to a point where you're wholesaling virtually?

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: And then, b, how are you able to travel without your business falling apart? Yeah. I mean,

Brandyn: the wholesale virtually, I mean, it's not really any different, I feel, than wholesaling, you know, going to each appointment. It's just breaking through that mental barrier that you need to go to those appointments and you need to be there to see the property because in actuality, you really don't need to be there for anything. Mhmm. And the other thing is, like, well, how I'm able to do that is I just have a rock star team. You know, like, all almost all my people that are with me, I've never had anyone quit out of the three years that I've owned the company.

Steve: Wow. That's impressive. And

Brandyn: I've only fired people. Yeah. So I've always believed in, like, if you pay them I mean, I overpay all my people. And while I do that is they stay. They don't leave and, you know, they're making good money and they're happy.

Steve: You know? So when you say overpay, are you talking about as a percentage

Brandyn: of the fee?

Steve: Yeah. Okay. So what is your So,

Brandyn: so my acquisition managers, they get 15% of the profit. Yeah. And my and my disposition manager gets 7%.

Steve: Gotcha.

Brandyn: And, yeah. So they I mean, they're considered the standard in the industry is probably like eight to 10 for for acquisitions and like three to five for disbow. Yeah. So that's why I'm like I pay overpay them. And I kind of run, like, a new age business where, like, they don't ever have to ask me for time off.

They just have to let me know when they're going. And as long as they're getting work done and they're doing what they need to do, then I don't they don't bug I don't bug them. Mhmm. You know? So because I kinda treat them like they're entrepreneurs in their own sense.

Right. You know? Because they are. Because they only get paid on commission.

Steve: Yeah. It's a entrepreneur is something that I like, Mhmm. You know, some of the people call it.

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: Okay. So your guys that are in your office

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: They're calling Cause they're only in your office in Miami.

Brandyn: I don't even have an office. Everyone works virtually.

Steve: So everyone works virtually.

Brandyn: Yeah. So they're either they're either at a working from home or have a co working space.

Steve: Okay.

Brandyn: So they're working like a WeWork or, you know, something like that or at home.

Steve: Are they all in the same city? Nope. Okay. So scattered throughout Florida?

Brandyn: Yeah. So one lives in Tampa, two live in Orlando, and one lives in Fort Lauderdale. Yeah. And so they're just kinda all over the place.

Steve: The ones in Orlando didn't get your note about Orlando and that being the place to be.

Brandyn: Yeah. Well, you know, it's not easy to go live in Miami. You know, it gets real expensive. So it's and it's not like I don't know. It's everyone's got their own different thing of what they're interested in and what they like.

You know?

Steve: Right. Yeah. Okay. So that's wholesaling virtually. Yep.

The part about traveling. So someone that wants to start traveling

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: With their business running Mhmm. Without them having to be hands on.

Brandyn: Mhmm. What

Steve: were the steps that you had to take take to make that

Brandyn: happen? I mean, it's a lot of it's just outsourcing everything. I mean, that's if you're a one man show, then obviously I mean, I used to ironically enough, I used to travel a lot when I was still, like, a one man show. Mhmm. And I would be, like, in on the, like, maybe, like, lunch, and I'd be on a ski resort, and I'd be answering seller calls and doing that kind of stuff.

But I realized, like, alright. When I'm traveling, I kinda wanna not do that as much. Mhmm. So a lot of it is just having a rock solid team and, like, building that, you know, where they're able to handle majority of it without me. I mean, don't get me wrong.

When I'm traveling, I'm still working. Like, it's not like like, I would I'm almost jealous of, like, employees that they can go on vacation and just have, like, a complete reset and not think about anything. But, like, for me, that's not the case at all. Like, I I'm constantly still working when I'm there and, you know, maybe not as much when I'm home, but I'm still, like, you know, constantly available for them and putting out off fires. I need to put off fires and stuff like that.

Steve: Gotcha. So what's the advice you would give somebody? Right? So you gotta get the people in place.

Brandyn: Mhmm. It's a

Steve: lot easier said than done. Right? Because, like, if you look at, a lot of businesses, when you first start, you're you're you're, you know, you're selling part, you're selling widgets. Mhmm. Right?

And that's all you're doing. Yeah. But eventually, it becomes a system marketing and a people business. Right? You have to have the systems in place.

You have to have the people that manage the systems. Mhmm. So a a lot of people that are having great success now is because they have good people, but it takes a while to really get that people place people piece in place, and it's still an ongoing challenge. So talk about how you're able to do that.

Brandyn: Yeah. I mean, it's really finding the right people. You know? I always almost everyone that I've hired is either someone that I knew prior or, like, was a referral to me, like, hey, this person would be good. You know?

And, like, I because a lot of our business is about trust too. Like, you trust them that they're doing what they're saying they're doing. And especially with, like, me, like, none of us are in the office. Like, I'm not seeing if they're making calls all day. I mean, I track it and I see if they are.

But, like, I'm I'm trusting that they're doing it. So yeah. I mean, a lot of it's just finding the right people and putting them in their their right spots for, you know, what their job is. And I think if you do that and then pay them well so that you're not constantly dealing with turn turnover because, like, the people that I know that pay 7%, 8% for their acquisitions, they're constantly hiring new people every couple of months. And it's like so now instead of, like, building the business, now you're focusing on retraining again and getting them right in the place.

You know? Like, I my main acquisition manager is the the one that's been there the least longest was been with me since March. Yeah. So, I mean, he's been still been with me for a decent amount of time.

Steve: So you what you're saying here is you rather have with three years of good experience

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: Paying them 15%

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: Versus someone that's always brand new and paying them 8%.

Brandyn: Yeah. Because you're just gonna be constantly dealing with turn turnover, and it's just then you then they're not gonna be as good as someone that's been doing it and, you know, understands the whole process as well. Yeah. So I think that's, I think that's one of the lucky things that I have is that I'm not constantly hiring. Like, if I had to keep constantly hiring new people and, like, teaching them how to be on the phone and deal talk with sellers and do all that kind of stuff, it would just be a huge headache.

Steve: Yeah. So you mentioned that people haven't quit.

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: But you've had to fire. Yeah. So what are the some instances that caused them to have to get fired?

Brandyn: Well, the the I had a gentleman, and one of my best friends actually, started when I first started wholesaling. I was I was, like, a one man show for, like, nine months. And one of my best friends, super sharp guy, you know, really good at sales, I brought him on because he was doing, like, sales training, only making, like, $40.50 grand a year. And so I brought him on, and he was, like, a killer for me for, like, two years. And, you know, he made over a $100 each of his year each of his two years with me.

And then, I don't know, he just, like, lost all motivation. Just I don't think his heart and head was really in it. So I think he just, you know, he just didn't wanna do anymore. And I felt like, you know, I had to fire him to be like, listen. Like, you need to go figure out what you really wanna do because, obviously, you're not in this.

Yeah. So that was a tough one. But, yeah, I mean, that's basically that was, like, the only major fire I've had in my organization.

Steve: Gotcha. So you mentioned that also you're not in the office. Right. Everyone's really in their houses or in a co working space. Yeah.

How are you monitoring the KPIs, making sure they're taking the actions they're supposed to be taking?

Brandyn: Well, I mean, everything they do is tracked. Mhmm. All of how many calls they make, all the calls are recorded, everything I know everything that they do. I know when their first call is that they make. I know when the last call is they make.

So, like, they are their own business, and 95% of the time, I don't say anything to them because, like, they're doing what they need. You know? As long as they're like, my goal for each of them is to be around, like, six to eight deals each a month into the company. So if they can do that yeah. If they can do that, then, you know, you're not you're not gonna hear from me.

I'm not gonna come complain. So but I track all of them. I mean, for me, I track every single thing that I do. Like, every money all the money I spend, what produces, cost per leads, all that kind of stuff because I you know, that's super important because I was blowing money on one thing, and then it's you know, then I wasn't even producing.

Steve: So So is that a natural skill set for you?

Brandyn: I wouldn't say it's, like, supernatural, but, you know, I knew how important it is. I was like, I have to I don't have a choice.

Steve: And then are you counting those metrics, having a VA do it? Is that there, like

Brandyn: No. I'm I'm doing it's like what I do every Sunday. Yeah. Every Sunday, like, they look at the week before. And then every month, I do, like, the whole monthly.

And then every quarter, I do the whole quarter and just kinda see. Then, like, I see, like, how many leads I gave one acquisition manager, how many deals did they get, how many leads I gave another, and, like, try to make it more even. Or if, like, someone's producing just way more deals off of, you know, less leads and, you know, what like, for example, the the gentleman I fired, beginning of this year, I was giving him 80% of the leads, my other acquisition manager, 20. And I only had them two at the time. He was out producing the other one two to three times what the other one was doing Wow.

With a fourth of the leads.

Steve: Gotcha.

Brandyn: So I was like, this is not right. Something's going on here. Yeah. And that was what kinda led down the path of, like, okay. He shouldn't be here.

Like, I need to find other people to bring on.

Steve: So you're talking about so you you've hired a couple more, and those are all from referrals or people in this sphere.

Brandyn: Exactly.

Steve: So one of the other challenges that a lot of businesses have is is maintaining a culture.

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: Right? And so, like, even me personally, I've had people say, like, you should open more locations.

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: And every time, I'm I'm fearful Mhmm. Because it's hard to keep the culture in multiple locations. Yeah. How do you maintain your company culture and make sure that everyone is, you know, rowing vote in the same direction?

Brandyn: Yeah. I mean, I'm con like, we're always all, you know, all talking and communicating. And, like, if there's, you know, anyone needs help with anything, we're always helping one another. I think that's a big thing. And once a year, I take all my, people on a trip.

Mhmm. Like last year, we went to Tulum, Mexico. The year before that, I went to Aruba. So, like, I'm taking them and, like, kind of

Steve: Nice to

Brandyn: meet you. Bring us all. Yeah. It's not they're not cheap trips.

Steve: We're not going Sedona up here.

Brandyn: No. You know, it's not like, I think this year, we're gonna go to either Medellin or Costa Rica. So, like, I'm I'm taking them on nice trips where, like, we're all, like, with each other for five days and just, like, hanging out.

Steve: Five days.

Brandyn: Yeah. Man, that's nice. Yeah. So Figure out how to work for you.

Steve: Yeah. So Daniel Esteban Martinez wants to know, what's the first thing you

Brandyn: look for when you are hiring? For me, it's about drive because skills can always be taught. Mhmm. You know, like, one of my top producing guys right now, he was a, ex grocery store bagger. And he was when I brought him on, he was 21.

And, you know, he'd never done any sales. He's never had any sales training and you know? But now he's made over $100 in a year since becoming an acquisition manager all because he was driven to make money and, you know, grow and get better.

Steve: So I think that's absolutely right. So the next question is, how do you measure drive? Because that doesn't show up on a profile test typically. Yeah.

Brandyn: Again, that's kind of like why I hire people I know or through referrals because I'm like, you know, Cody, like, what's this person I really like? Is this someone that I really want to bring on my organization? You know, like getting to know, you know, like two of my three acquisition managers are people that I personally knew before they worked for me. So I knew what kind of people they were Gotcha. Prior.

Steve: Okay. So you know them Mhmm. And they don't have drive.

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: They're not joining the organization.

Brandyn: Yeah. So I mean, that's if they're not, you know, trying to grow and get better, I mean, that's another big thing that, you know, I'm more I'm about is, like, you have to constantly be learning and growing and getting better. And I'm always focusing on helping my team do the best too. Like, my, my acquisition manager went to the John Martinez, training in Denver. So Yeah.

We sent him out to that to, you know, work on sales and get better. And, you know, I think if you can create a culture where everyone's trying to grow and improve and, you know, not just financially, but physically, spiritually, emotionally, like overall, they, you know, if they're better in that those categories, that's just gonna everything else is gonna rise.

Steve: That makes sense. Are you guys do you guys have regular weekly meetings? Like Zoom calls or because we have, like, we have what we call, like, level 10 meetings. We have those every week. Right?

Brandyn: You

Steve: guys do anything like that?

Brandyn: Not really. I mean, I kind of, with my decision manager mainly because he's the one constantly trying to sell deals and I talk with him basically almost all day, every day. I'm like, okay, what's going on with this deal? You know, do you need help with whatever? So, like, I'm constantly talking to him every day.

But my acquisitions, I probably talk to them. I probably talk to them, like, every other day. And, you know, we'll have long talks here and there, and sometimes you we don't. It just depends. Like, I don't have any meaning.

So there's something that I I wanna work on for sure.

Steve: Yeah. And then Brooks Jenkins wants to know how often are you meditating? I guess you know him.

Brandyn: Yeah. I know him. They're all making fun of me because I we all went to Columbia and I told them about how I was on the longest streak I ever had where I meditated a minimum of twenty minutes for, like, over a hundred twenty something days.

Steve: That's awesome. Yeah.

Brandyn: So they're they're all just making fun of me for it.

Steve: That's impressive. I wish I could do that. Mhmm.

Brandyn: We should

Steve: have a competition with Jamil. Yeah. Jamil in town. He's a big meditator.

Brandyn: I'll totally I'll meditate him.

Steve: Blake Colbert wants to know how much money is going out in marketing. What would you say per month?

Brandyn: Right around 40,000 a month.

Steve: 40,000 a month? Yeah. And David Barney wants to know what's been your best lead gen source that you've invested in?

Brandyn: I mean, I mean, everything's pretty even for the most part. Texting, cold call. I do a little bit of mail. Mailing is some bread and butter, but that's not doing as well. But, yeah, I'd say texting, cold call, call RBMs.

Steve: Gotcha. And Blake also wants to know how many calls is each person making a day?

Brandyn: I like a minimum of 50 a day. It's kinda like what I'm looking at. And, you know, I think if you're hitting at least 50 a day, then you're gonna get some meaningful conversations in there.

Steve: Gotcha. And and Tommy wants everyone to

Brandyn: know that you meditate only for your ego. Thanks, Tommy. Appreciate that.

Steve: So let's see what else there is. So no weekly meetings. Okay. So, so we talked about you you moved to Miami to work on your your business remotely. Yep.

What were some of the struggles you had trying to get your wholesaling business up and running? Not up and running, but maintaining and growing from a distance.

Brandyn: Yeah. I mean, it's just kind of, you know, not being because, like, when I first started, when I was doing flipping and when I first started wholesaling, I was going out to the houses and, like, meeting with sellers and doing that. I mean, because you could I mean, Pace knows you can get so many more deals when you go and, like, meet with the seller. Not maybe so many more, but you can get, like, way bigger spreads when you're there. Yeah.

Yep. But, yeah, I think that was the the hardest thing was, like, transitioning from getting, like, you know, talking to people in person than going and doing all over the phone, you know, because that was definitely a a mental barrier at the breakthrough.

Steve: Okay. And there's a lot of players in Florida. We've had several actually on the show already. Yeah. So how is your operation different than some of your peers in Florida?

Brandyn: I mean, virtual is part of it. No. I mean, I don't know if there's anything that's, like, particularly different. Everyone knows what to do. It's just, like, whether or not you do it.

It's like everyone knows that you gotta eat healthy and work out and you'll be in shape, but not everyone does it. Right? So it's like

Steve: Does that work? Yeah.

Brandyn: I don't know. Not really. Hasn't worked for me yet.

Steve: It hasn't worked for me. For not sure. Well, I haven't tried it long enough before consistently with it. So going back, you mentioned something something earlier about your employees having complete freedom. Yep.

Brandyn: So, you know, I think you said it was like a new age? Yeah. Like, it's like a new it's like kind of like if you ever heard of, like, Google and I don't know if it's Facebook too, but they they don't, like, there's, like, unlimited vacation days and stuff like that. So that was something that I kind of like, I almost went as crazy as making everything a four day work week and trying to get everything done in four days, but I still haven't, been able to break that barrier.

Steve: Haven't been able to pull the trigger on

Brandyn: it Or No. I just I just haven't been able to pull the trigger on it because I'm like, I don't know.

Steve: Alright. So if I if I was working

Brandyn: for you and I needed

Steve: to take, like, a six week vacation

Brandyn: Go for it. Go for it. Yeah. Alright. Hopefully, you're, better when you come back.

And, hopefully, you'll be really relaxed and ready to talk to some sellers.

Steve: Yeah. So right now, you're wholesaling. Is there any flipping left, or is it just almost all or is it all wholesale?

Brandyn: I'll do some flipping if it's just, like, nothing super, like, difficult. Like Like,

Steve: any extremely cosmetic. Like, really light.

Brandyn: Yeah. Like, I've I think I've done, like, four or five flips this year. Mhmm. But they're all just, like, houses that were built in the February, and, like, I need to just, like, add paint and carpet and, like because, like, I had a deal. Like, I bought two houses off the same seller where they're both for $1.50, both in the same neighborhood, and they're worth, like, $2.10, like, ARV.

And but they only need, like, paint and carpet, and all the wholesale offers that I got on it were, like, $1.60 each. And I'm like, I could put, like, 5 into it and, like, sell them retail for, like, $1.91 95. So I just did that. That's kind of, like, the only time I'll really do anything, like, flipping. Because I I did I did one big flip my whole life, and it was, like, a $75,000 flip.

Never again. That was and I lost money on it. I lost money, but I broke even. So basically lost money.

Steve: So with the ones that you're you're doing, you're able to take down these this guy's two houses. Mhmm. Are do you have access to cheap funds?

Brandyn: Do you have the cash?

Steve: Like, how are you able to acquire properties? Because there are a lot of guys also, you know, it's you you read somebody's comments, you know, I don't have 1,500 earnest to put down. Alright? So, like, let's talk about when you're able to when you're acquiring these properties, what do you

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: What is your strategy?

Brandyn: Well, I mean, I like, for me right now, I think we have 32 houses under contract. If I put a thousand dollars down on every one, I'd have $30 title. So, typically, I won't like, I'll put thousand dollar down earnest, but unless they're calling title and asking if it's there, I typically won't. I'll I'll forget.

Steve: Yeah. Well, Florida's interesting. Actually, I had a call actually with Jamil about

Brandyn: this,

Steve: is that both buyers and sellers have to sign the release the earnest money. Yep. And that can really tie up your funds for a very long time.

Brandyn: Yeah. That's, I've had that happen. I I think I have, like, probably 15,000 at title companies that I can't companies that I can't even touch because the sellers won't sign off

Steve: on it. So what's the recourse for that? Like, is there, like, a certain time limit? Like, after a year, you'll get the money back?

Brandyn: No. Just forever. Until they sign.

Steve: So So what what do you do about it? You just wait?

Brandyn: Yeah. I don't know. Just, you know, wait long enough to hopefully, the seller's pain body isn't still there, and you can ask them to, you know, finally sign it. You know? I don't know.

It's crazy. Yeah.

Steve: Okay. So not a whole lot of flipping. So going back to the funds Mhmm.

Brandyn: How are

Steve: you able to take these properties down? Do you go private money? Do you have a partner?

Brandyn: I have private money. Yeah. Yes. I I just it's not anything crazy. It's, like, 10%, three points, and they a 100% of the purchase price That is great.

100% of the rehab.

Steve: That is crazy.

Brandyn: Is it?

Steve: Oh my god. Three points? Wow.

Brandyn: That's a lot.

Steve: No? That's a lot of money. Yeah. So, RVM in Florida is a question Isaiah has got. I've read some places that people say that it's not it's it's hard or highly frowned upon.

I think more frowned upon in Florida than it is here. Have, any opinions on that? That?

Brandyn: I mean, I think RVMs are probably frowned upon everywhere. Yeah. But I

Steve: think there's, like, specific legislation in Florida.

Brandyn: Yeah. I've heard that, and I don't know. At this point, it's just the price of doing business. If you get dinged, you get dinged. You know, I've had friends get dinged, but it's, like, 8 to $10.

And it's like, why like because, like, for me, what I've noticed with RVMs, either you don't get a ton of deals from them, but when you do, they're fatties. Because it's it's think about it. It's someone calling back a voice mail from someone that's sending out Right. Thousands of

Steve: It's kinda like postcards. Yeah. They're call they're picking a phone

Brandyn: and calling you. Yeah. You know? And it's like there there's definitely some motivation there if they're calling back a random voice mail, basically.

Steve: Makes sense. David Barney wants to know how how have you built such a large end buyer network to sell off your deals?

Brandyn: So I basically I go to ListSource and I pull cash buyers from ListSource, and then I skip trace them, and then I text them and RVM them, all the deals. Mhmm. And then I pull all the cash buyers from the MLS, and I pull all the cash realtors in the MLS. And then we're just constantly hitting them with emails, texts, RVMs, the same thing.

Steve: Gotcha. And then, Jay Burrow wants to know, if you both are acquisition guys, how would you approach local wholesalers help them see

Brandyn: the value of paying up

Steve: to 50% opposed to the typical seven to 15% of your beast? I don't really understand the question. Jay, can you ask that question again a different way? I'm kinda having a hard time understanding it. Alright.

So we're gonna talk about your organization. We're gonna talk about your marketing techniques.

Brandyn: Mhmm.

Steve: So deal flow right now. You know, we talked about 1.4 last year, and you're on pace to surpass that Yeah. If you haven't surpassed it yet already. Mhmm. So, like, what kind of volume are you doing in your operation?

Brandyn: We're averaging around getting, like, 20 like, 18 to 20 houses under contract. Mhmm. This month was I don't know what happened at the beginning of the month, but we had, like, two weeks. We got, like, 20 deals in two weeks, so that was Wow. Really crazy.

And I was in California the whole time in Big Sur Sur where there's no cell signal. So I'm just like, this is a lot to deal with. You know, because normally, we're dealing with 20 in a month and then get 20 in two weeks. It was it was a lot. Yeah.

So that's kind of where we're averaging is, like, 18 to 20. And then, you know, because we're making all of our offers set and seen all over the phone. So and so we probably end up closing on, like, 70% of them. Mhmm. Like, we're able to find a buyer or, like, they'd lied about the condition of the property, basically.

What? Yeah. They never do that.

Steve: That's so weird. Yeah. They just remodeled it. Yeah. Okay.

So what is your target assignment fee? Our

Brandyn: I like to make make at least 20, but we average around 17 is our average for the year.

Steve: Gotcha. And then one thing I've heard about Florida as well is that it's hard to get, financing because the foreclosure process is so darn long. Mhmm. In Florida, are you finding that to be an advantage for you?

Brandyn: Financing in regards to, like, sellers

Steve: Hard money loans.

Brandyn: Oh, I mean There's not

Steve: as many hard money lenders. Well, tell me. Is that is that am am I understanding this incorrect?

Brandyn: I feel like there's still a ton of hard money lenders there for sure. Yeah. Yeah. No. I I haven't noticed that at all, really.

Steve: Gotcha. Okay. Blake Hawkins wants to know, do you have your team sign non competes?

Brandyn: No. I think, like, if you make your team sign non competes, you don't live in abundance. And when you don't live in abundance, you're living in scarcity. And if you're living in scarcity, eventually, life's not gonna go the way you want it to go. You know, I tell my people if they wanna go out and do it on their own, they're more welcome to.

I'm just like, daddy's not gonna be home for you if it doesn't work out. You know? You can't come back to me.

Steve: We have people on our team that have said that, you know, my intent is to go out and do this. Like Mhmm. Great. Yeah. You know, come in here, bust your butt, learn everything we do.

Yeah. If you wanna go do it on your own, like, totally fine.

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: Arnold wants to know, are VA's part of your business?

Brandyn: Yeah. I have around 10 VAs. So they they are a significant portion of my business, for sure.

Steve: And what are they responsible for?

Brandyn: Cold I have five cold callers, couple texters, and, like, four VAs that, like, deal with all my data and, like, pulling data from the courthouses and all that kind of stuff.

Steve: Gotcha. So talk about that. What data are you pulling from the courthouses?

Brandyn: Everything. Like, code violation, preforeclosures, tax delinquent, tax, deed, foreclosures, preforeclosures, divorce, probate, everything.

Steve: Okay. And they're, like, they're just easily available for, like, just, like, downloading? Or

Brandyn: No. I mean, that's why VAs do it. So they go

Steve: in there, like, they're reading it, and they're Yeah.

Brandyn: They're pulling they're scrubbing everything from it. It's not trust me, I used to go to the court houses myself when I was younger and, like, pull it all myself

Steve: fun at all.

Brandyn: Yeah. But that's typically the most motivated leads for sure.

Steve: Gotcha. And Tim Silk wants to know what type of personal development, things he do.

Brandyn: I'm part of a couple of masterminds, so I think that's big. I mean, I read a ton. I've always I just always been really into, you know, spirituality and personal growth. So, I mean, probably no different than most people that come on the show. Yeah.

Think and Grow Rich and all that kind of stuff.

Steve: What are the top two or three you found to be most impactful?

Brandyn: The Untethered Soul is probably, like, one of my favorite books of all time. Outwitting the Devil and Power Now. Power Now? Power of Now.

Steve: Yeah. What is that about?

Brandyn: It's just like spirituality and, like, like, there is no past. There is no future. There's only the present moment and, like, trying to be in the moment as much as you can because all of the problems you create are either in the past or in the future. There's never any issues right at this moment.

Steve: Very interesting.

Brandyn: Yeah.

Steve: Sounds Sounds very spiritual.

Brandyn: Something like that.

Steve: Okay. So let's talk about the, any tool systems, any resources you feel that you could not live without.

Brandyn: I mean, Podio, for sure, it's a CRM. I mean, a dialer, text platforms. Yeah. I mean, those are What dialer

Steve: and text platform are you using now?

Brandyn: I use Zendall or Zendial for cold calling and then Milkit for text.

Steve: Milkit? Yeah. That's a new one. Yeah. Okay.

So, Jay, let's try this question again. If you were an acquisition guy, how would you help local wholesalers hiring acquisitions people see the value of paying up to 50% per deal versus only paying them seven to 15%?

Brandyn: I would just see have them see the value. And, like, do you wanna constantly be, like, hiring and rehiring and, you know, training over and over again the same thing? Mhmm. Or would you rather bring someone on that's a player and keep them as a player? Yeah.

You know? Because a lot of sales guys, they tend to a lot of them tend to have, like, bad habits of spending a lot of money too. So if they're making $10 a month, they're probably spending $12 a month, you know? So then they have to keep coming back.

Steve: Yeah. There's an interesting, way to describing, you know, some of the callers that we've worked with in the past. And it's it's so horrible, but, you know, the what we found, not all of them, but, like, a small percentage of them, is, like, they'll walk in with, like, a bottle of Mountain Dew and Doritos and just kinda chill and get their Taco Bell. It's they're not spending $12, but they definitely make different lifestyle choices.

Brandyn: Yeah, I want to let them work for me if that was the case.

Steve: You wouldn't let them work for you?

Brandyn: Hell no. You drink diet, you drink Mountain Dew and eat chips. You're not allowed.

Steve: Oh my goodness. That's that's that's a deal killer. Don't show up to Brandon's office.

Brandyn: Yeah. I mean, if you don't care about yourself, why should I care about you?

Steve: Well, you're being honest. Yeah. I mean so I know you talked earlier about time freedom and financial freedom. What is your why?

Brandyn: I mean, you probably hit it right on the dot, freedom. You know, just being able to do whatever I want when I want. And, you know, if I wanna leave tomorrow and go on a trip to Europe for a couple weeks, I can. And I don't have anyone that I have to ask. And, you know, I think that was the big thing for me, just doing whatever I wanted to do and have no restrictions.

Steve: Gotcha. And what is your biggest struggle right now?

Brandyn: My biggest struggle, I would say, is probably selling all of our deals, you know. Because, like, right now, we have, I think, we have 32 houses under contract. Mhmm. And so far, we only have, buyers for 16 of them. So I still have 16 more that we can make money on, but we just haven't found the buyers yet.

So for me, it's constantly developing, the buyers list. Because, like, when I first started, all I gave a shit about was acquiring. Like, getting marketing, marketing, marketing, and and I was always, like, putting this position in the second fiddle. And I started realizing how important it was. And I think that we're finally getting to that point where we're, like, getting really good at building a good buyers list.

Steve: Gotcha. You know,

Brandyn: because I was selling a lot of deals to wholesalers. And so then, you know, they're adding their five, ten on top of it, which means, you know, we could have got five or 10,000 more.

Steve: Right. If you put your attention to it. Yeah.

Brandyn: If you're

Steve: doing one or two deals a

Brandyn: deals a month, not a big deal. You're doing 30 deals. Yeah. That's a

Steve: big deal.

Brandyn: Last year, I looked at how much I paid to other wholesalers, and it was over 200. Yeah. And I was like, damn.

Steve: Definitely adds up when you do in volume. Yeah. So Kish, it's Ronnie wants to know. So he's, she's not sure. Apologize.

Closed three deals so far. What's who's the first person they should hire?

Brandyn: Acquisition manager. Well, it depends on what your strength is. You know? If your strength is sales, then maybe a disposition. I mean, it's it depends.

Like, my I I enjoyed being on the phone and talking to sellers, but, like, I realized, like, that wasn't gonna pay me a lot. So I think hiring an acquisition manager, but, like, starting them off as, like, a cold caller and then working it up to where they're going you know, calling your old leads and then bring them on as acquisition manager. That's always my process for acquisitions. I start them off at cold calling, they cold call for two weeks, and then they they call my old leads for two weeks, and then I start giving them new leads.

Steve: Yeah. Okay. And what's the greatest lesson that you have learned?

Brandyn: I'm gonna die. I think that's probably, you know. And so, like, you really have to live, like, you're going you're going to die. Yeah. You know.

So I think that's the greatest. And that's why I really like the Untitled Soul, because it's really about, like, being accepting of that and Mhmm. You know, being okay with that. But living your life, like, hey, this could happen at any moment. You know, that's why I never wanna do the nine to five because you could be rich in your fifties and sixties.

And I'm like, I wanna be rich in my twenties.

Steve: Alright.

Brandyn: You know? And so that wasn't gonna get me there.

Steve: What's your favorite, best, or most interesting failure?

Brandyn: So when I one time I was helping this newbie wholesaler in Jacksonville, and, he got a deal under contract. He got it for 90. He had a buyer at $1.20. And I don't know. I've done, like, maybe four or five deals total in Jacksonville up to this point.

And I don't know Jacksonville at all. I've never been I think I've been in Jacksonville, like, one time before. Mhmm. So I had no idea about the market. No idea about the condition.

So he had it for 90. He had to buy it at $1.20. Two days before, the buyer backed out. So that wholesaler got to keep the $5 that the buyer, lost without a deposit. So he comes to me and he goes, Brandon, if you wanna buy the deal for 95, then I'll make $10 total and you get it for 95 and then you could just throw it on the MLS and make money.

So I was like, alright. So I went and raised the money and bought it for 95. I had it under contract at $1.40. That fell through. I had it under contract to $1.30.

That fell through. Then had it under contract for 100. That fell through. I ended up having to sell it for 70 and I lost $35 total after everything on it.

Steve: What did you learn?

Brandyn: Don't get cocky. Don't think that you're invincible and you won't make mistakes because you will. Yeah. So that was a very tough pill to swallow.

Steve: Gotcha. You mentioned something earlier which I, we didn't really emphasize on. So you moved again from Orlando to Miami

Brandyn: Yep.

Steve: Because you wanted to be closer to a certain group of people. Yep. And I think, you know, your network is something that's super critical to the success that you achieved. For sure. So tell me about walk me through that.

Like, how did you know that was the right group to hang around with? Mhmm. Why why was it so important to make that move?

Brandyn: I just, like for me in Orlando, I was at, you know, the monomerangry I was making. I didn't know a lot of people my age that were making that there. And so I was like, I wasn't as motivated, you know, to where then I come to Miami, and I meet someone in my building who's younger than me. And he's like, oh, yeah. I made, like, 36,000,000 last year.

And I'm like, you know, like, what the hell am I doing? You know? So I think that was a big thing for me is, like, I wanted to be around high level individuals. And, obviously, if you're the dumbest person in the room, then you're gonna only get better if you're the smartest person in the room than in the wrong room.

Steve: Yeah.

Brandyn: You know? So I think that was I've always known that, and so I knew, like, I had to get to the, you know, the next the best high level city close to where I was, which was Miami for sure.

Steve: Is it still gonna stay Miami, or are you gonna look for somewhere else? I mean

Brandyn: Yeah. I mean, I don't see myself

Steve: guru capital of the world.

Brandyn: Yeah. Well, you know, when I decide to get a Maserati or a Lambo, then, I'll go to Phoenix.

Steve: Alright. So, I want you to think about some last thoughts that you wanna leave the listeners with.

Brandyn: Uh-huh.

Steve: And I'll go over a few quick announcements. So, guys, whole scaling live is next week. October, I'll be there. A lot of really heavy players, heavy hitting players are gonna be there. I look forward to seeing you guys all there.

If you haven't registered yet, go to wholescalinglive.com and put r e d for 25 off. Also, we'll be in Biloxi, Mississippi with real estate round up live, October. Check that out. Bitly, bit.ly/rerlive. And then we're finishing the year in New Orleans with Chris Rood, on December.

That's Skillathon. If you wanna check that out, it's Bitly, bit.ly, Slash2019 skill twenty nineteen skill. That's his Skillathon. And next week, we got Hamza Abraham coming in, talking about how he wholesales commercial properties nationwide. I think that would be a very topic.

So before we go over the last thoughts, how can someone get a hold of you?

Brandyn: You can find me on Instagram or Facebook, Brandon Schwallum, b r a n d y n s c h w a l m. And reach out to me there, and I'll be glad to help you.

Steve: Perfect. Alright. So last thoughts. I

Brandyn: don't know how much of your I'm assuming a lot of your people watching are new. So I think the thing that a lot of new people have to get over is don't be scared to take chances. Don't be scared to spend money. Like, the thing like, when I first started, when I raised that 250,000, I got into $25,000 with the credit card debt because I was like, whatever. If I get in 25 k of debt, like, what does that long seem at my life?

That's nothing. So, like, don't be scared to take money, you know, spend money, take risk, and, you know, just keep going. If you keep doing that, there's there's no way it's not gonna work out.

Steve: I think that's a great lesson. Thank you.

Brandyn: Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

Steve: Thank you guys

Brandyn: for watching. Thank you.