Derrick Acuff Shares How He Went from Waiting Tables to Six Figures in Competitive Houston

Steve Trang: Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disruptors. Today, we have Derek Acuff with frequent home buyers, and he's here to share how he went from waiting tables to earning 6 figures in ultra competitive Houston. If this is your first time tuning in, I am Steve Trang, broker and owner of of Stunning Homes Realty, founder of the OfferFast Homes app, the only app you'll need for wholesaling. And I'm on a mission to create 100 millionaires.

So if that's something you're interested in, let's definitely connect on Instagram. If you're excited for today's show, please give me a wave, give me a thumbs up. And as a friendly reminder, I don't charge dime for this show. I don't make any money doing this. So here's all I ask.

This is what it costs for you to listen to this show. If you get value today, please tell a friend. You can either share this episode right now, tag a friend below, or tell them your best takeaway from the show later on. That way, we can all grow together. And don't forget, this is a live show, so please post your questions for Derek to answer.

Are you ready?

Derrick Acuff: Yes, sir. Let's do it.

Steve: Alright. So first question is, what got you into real estate?

Derrick: Gotcha. So I would say initially, I started when I was a kid, being an entrepreneur. Growing up, my grandpa always had me doing, little things like picking up cans, turning them in at the end of the month, chopping wood, selling it in the in the winter. And then, when I was around 18, I had the opportunity to, move to Houston, with my dad. So I packed up my car with a thousand dollars, moved to Houston, and I was gonna do the traditional route.

I had always been intrigued with real estate, but I really didn't think that it would happen until, you know, in my later thirties. I'd go to school, get a job, and then, you know, get into real estate later. And then I went to a real estate seminar, went to a Rich Dad seminar, you know, went through the whole sales funnel.

Steve: Mhmm.

Derrick: You know, they hit you with the free and then you gotta pay the 500. And it's funny because I didn't even have $500 at the time to to go to the seminar my friend paid. He actually didn't even end up going, who went. Me and my, fiance now, went to the seminar, was sold by day two, you know, with their whole sales process, how you talked with, Chad and Em about. And, I was ready to commit.

So we tried signing up, you know, doing the mentorship. It was, you know, a whopping 50,000. I had good credit at the time, but not enough credit history. But that was was the biggest blessing, I can say that ever happened. Yeah.

But we still ended up, you know, luckily, my girl is a supporter. So, you know, we ended up spending her tax return of, like, $2,500 on a product we didn't even need. But it was enough to get me hooked, because I knew worst case, I had to get her her money back Yeah. Or I would never hear the end of it. So, yeah, we went to that seminar, came home.

Steve: And what when was this?

Derrick: This was on, early two thousand fifteen, around February. Came home, studied, for about eight months. I had just finished my associate's degree. And I was about to go to college, to get my, bachelor's. And I was like, I'm gonna try this out for two years.

You know, if I can, you know, make a decent, you know, living, I'll figure out the rest. Because I just schooling, it's not for everybody, and it wasn't for me. So, studied for eight months. And, luckily for my girl again, she gave me a swift kick in the butt one day and was like, you know, you've been talking about this for eight months. That's awesome.

But you haven't took any action.

Steve: Yeah. I was gonna say, what the hell did you study for eight months?

Derrick: Yeah. You know, podcast. I mean, when you're new, there's so many things in real estate that you it just you don't know where to focus. And so after about seven months, I had gotten focused. But like I said, month eighth was when she was like I mean, she was just very blunt with me one day and was like, you know, you either need to take action or just, you know, shut the f up about real estate, like, straight up.

So I sent out letters. I sent out 30 letters. About a month later, this was at the 2015, I got a lady, probably the most motivated seller I've ever had. Went to her house, was freaking out. I had no idea.

I was just winging it. I had no idea what I was doing. So we went over there, took the fam. We went to, the lady's house. She loved us.

I made a completely bogus offer. It was way too low. But for me, that's all I needed was that proof that, you know, this could it it could work. You know, I had done other things in the past. I made a little bit of money, network marketing, and things like that that never really showed proof.

But with real estate, it was the one thing that gave me it solidified that it did work. I just needed to put more into it. Like I said, I just sent out 30 letters. I mean, you couldn't do that today and, you know, get get a deal or Yeah.

Steve: Getting a deal somewhere.

Derrick: Lead from that. Yeah.

Steve: Yeah. Okay. So you made that bogus offer, and then you you didn't buy that house then?

Derrick: No. Not at all. She kindly, you know, said she loved us, but she would have to decline our offer. I think she got an offer for, like, 30,000 higher, which knowing what I know now, I know I could have, you know, paid more. But, you know, we gotta start somewhere.

Steve: Alright. So tell me about your first wholesale deal. Wholesale deal.

Derrick: First wholesale. So after that, I was going on appointments still, you know, just ramping up mail. I made a commitment at the start of 2016 that I was going to go all in. Whatever that looked like, consistent daily action. I was waiting tables at the time, you know, working about forty hours a week.

And then I would have, like, two or three days off, and then I would just work doubles in the other one. So on my days off, I was just calling realtors for expired listings, sending out mail, calling old leads from bigger companies in town. And then around that time, I met, my mentor, and he had came into my wife's shop. She was a hairstylist at the time and, you know, told him what we wanted to do. He was not interested in helping us at all.

I mean, you know how it is. Everybody wants to do real estate. So, he came back in a couple months later, and, he realized that we had been going on appointments. So he's seen that, like, you know, we were actually serious. So we went to lunch.

And, you know, those six months from January to June, he didn't go on every appointment, but he was there when I needed him. And it took honestly a good that that six months. I got my first deal on my 20 birthday. We locked up the contract, and, it was, like, the best feeling. And that deal went pretty easily, but I'm not gonna lie.

The the week before that happened, like, I mentally, like, broke down. Like, I just, you know, we had been doing when you do something every day for six months and you have, you know I mean, I'm going on appointments, but it's like, I've looked at, you know, twenty, thirty houses. Why isn't this working?

Steve: Yeah.

Derrick: You know, and it's just kinda like that three feet from gold, because literally two days later, I got a call, then we went on the appointment. And then like I said, it was a week's time. And then I got the call. My mentor locked it up and sold it that day. We we made 8,000.

He split that with me, and then, I was off to the races from there.

Steve: Cool. So you get that first deal going. Now you're a wholesaler. Yeah. So what were your struggles like when you got going?

Derrick: For me, I was so ready to get out of my job. So that was my main focus. So I did, like, two more deals. I was, like, three total. One was pending.

And I was like, I'm done. I I quit my job, which was a terrible decision at the time. Right? And so I quit my job. I went full full force, did not allocate money correctly and went broke in about two months, just being completely honest.

So after that, my mentor had a bunch of leads and he told me, you know, if you wanna work these and, you know, I'm a hustler, so I was cold calling every day just I didn't have any money, but I did not wanna go back to a job.

Steve: Yeah.

Derrick: So, you know, we got a couple deals that way and, you know, I made some more money, put that back into marketing, you know, built some momentum and then got lazy and went broke again. You know? And this is kinda like, you know, that those first two years was just working with him. I just was cutting my teeth really, you know, learning. There's so much you have to learn when you come from, you know, the sales and building relationships with people.

I waited tables for five years. I I feel like that transferred easily, but learning how to build a business, manage cash flow, then also you have to pay your expenses. And, you know, I I gotta give all credit to my to my wife, to be because, you know, luckily with her having a good job and her supporting me, you know, it's starting to pay off now. But at the time, you know, it's this is there's a lot to manage with the money, the family life, and everything. And, you know, the first two years, it was just a roller coaster just being completely honest.

Steve: Yeah. Well, I think there's something to be said. Right? Like, a lot of people think, like, once the money comes in, it's gonna be easy.

Derrick: Oh, yeah.

Steve: Right? Once you get the deals flowing, it's just like it's all easy. But, no, now you become a business. Yeah. And now you become a business, man.

And so it's that's that's the next level.

Derrick: The The next level. Yeah. And I I tell people that a lot. You know? I I try to do content, and I I try to let people know.

I think getting your first deal is I won't say it's super easy. To me, that's the easier part. I think finding that momentum after that is what really takes is where the work comes in. There's just so much to it. Like you said, you you are a business, managing money, marketing costs, leads.

You you mean, you're

Steve: doing it all. You know? You're in charge of sales. You're in charge of marketing. You're in charge of payroll.

Derrick: Yeah. Disposition if there is payroll. You know? If there's any leftover for payroll. You know?

Steve: So then how is your operation different? I mean, Houston is stupid competitive. I I don't know if it's as bad as here. I think it's kind of like a pissing contest between our two cities. Gotcha.

Yeah. So I don't know which one's worse, but the fact of the matter is it's terrible.

Derrick: Gotcha. Yeah.

Steve: So how's your different business how's your business different in Houston than than than your peers?

Derrick: Gotcha. I would say one thing that differs in our market is you guys probably have more gurus here than than we do in Houston. I didn't know. Yeah. Well but see then, but how it differs is from us, we just like, for instance, the last few deals that we've closed have been situations from people of other, I will say, half ass wholesalers.

Right? That they make a lot of promises to people. They don't follow through. I mean, we had a deal that we started in August, and we didn't close till December. We had four people back out.

I went through four different buyers, learned so much, and we didn't give up on the deal. I made a promise to the guy, and I knew if it came down to it, I would close on the property. How I was taught in real estate and just me being from East Tennessee, I am a man of my word. So if I tell you I'm going to do something, I want to do it. And especially if I'm in person.

And a lot of times, I think people forget we're you're dealing and, like, messing with people's lives here. And especially when it comes, like, pre foreclosures and I see it more and more prevalent that, you know, people lock up stuff and then they just fall like, you don't have the audacity to at least let the seller know I can't close like, you know, I I can't do what I said. You know, I've now I've done over 40 plus deals in the last three years and, you know, I've only had to back out of two contracts. One, when I first got started, because I just locked it up too high. And then one recently because the home came in, we actually paid for an appraisal.

The home was, like, 300 square feet smaller. Obviously, that affects our numbers. But the homeowner had no idea, so she even overpaid. So, I mean, we still did what we needed to and took care of her. We lost, you know, $5,600 on the appraisal.

But I will say what separates us is we actually, you know, focus on the person. I know I hear it a lot with PACE and you guys, like, we don't make it about the house. I honestly don't care about the house at all. I want to focus on the person and and help them solve those problems because the big problems lead to big checks as well. But with wholesaling, you can make it a win win for the seller, yourself, and the buyer.

And that's the joy of this business, really.

Steve: Absolutely. So I found you, I believe, through Instagram flipping a house.

Derrick: Yes, sir.

Steve: So how much flipping are you doing, and how much wholesaling are you doing?

Derrick: Gotcha. So the name was just generic. I needed something that worked. So I won't say that I'm actually flipping a lot of houses. It would be more flipping paper.

So right now, we currently, flip about, paper wise, about three to five properties a month. Mhmm. But we are starting to get into more things as, like, hotels. I just bought my first rental actually last week, and I'm gonna, you know, burr out of that. Mhmm.

You know, that's the joy of wholesaling is it gives us the ticket to all the good deals and what we decide to do with it. As we've gotten more experience and have money partners and, have more options, you know, we're able to do more and, you know, maybe take over house terms or whatever that may be. You just need to be learning and and evolving, really. Wholesaling is great, but it needs to be more. I know you guys you know, you do more of the traditional stuff, and that's intriguing to me because I know there's a lot of leads that we let go, but it's, like, that's intriguing to me because I know there's a lot of leads that we let go, but it's like, we need to find a realtor or a couple or, you know, how can we add value to them and vice versa.

I just wanna be able to provide all those solutions to them.

Steve: Yeah. Put them on payroll.

Derrick: Yeah. I I guess so.

Steve: That's what I would do. Yes. Yeah. If I was if I was I mean, the way I got my business is a little bit different. But if I was a wholesaler and I was just dealing with leads, I just put them on salary.

So then are you doing more wholesaling or doing more flipping? I

Derrick: would say more wholesaling. Yeah. We've never done an actual, like, full like, the most cosmetic work I've done on a house is to my rental. And I kinda overdid it, but I want it to last. But, you know, but flip like, I never wanna be a flipper.

If I flip a house, it would be, like, something I do with my wife. We do two or three a year. It's ready to just retire her. I never I I have friends and they flip, you know, eight to ten, twenty properties a month. No.

It's not it's not for me.

Steve: Yeah. So, I mean, like, I I could say for our organization, like, you know, we flip reluctantly. So I'm like the reluctant flipper. Like, we flipped it because we couldn't move it. Yeah.

We couldn't wholesale it. So what does your organization look like today then?

Derrick: Gotcha. Currently, we stay pretty small. It's me and my business partner, Ben, And then we have two full time cold callers. We're bringing on another one this week. We have, like, a lead manager.

And then, we have a couple other, like, VAs that'll do, like, smaller, like, one off tasks that we do frequently, like clean up Excel, like, things that I hate doing. You know, we'll hire somebody on Upwork to do really quick. But for the most part, you know, it's mainly me and my my business partner, Ben.

Steve: Okay. So you got you said two cold callers? Mhmm. Are they in house?

Derrick: No. They are virtual. Yeah.

Steve: Virtual in The States or overseas?

Derrick: So both. And cold calling, that's that's a whole another topic for another day. You know, they they make it seem so easy. But, we we've learned a lot. We've been doing it for about a good, you know, almost a year now.

And, we've tried pretty much all avenues. We've we've found a lady that's actually lives in Ben's neighborhood. Just found her on Nextdoor. She's been amazing. And then, we have an American person who lives in Costa Rica right now, and then we're bringing on, some more people currently.

Like I said, we're bringing on one next week from The Philippines. And if that goes well, then we're gonna bring on two or three more. But, yeah, definitely looking to to bring more cold callers. We finally, I can say, almost figured it out. Not quite.

But, hopefully, we can learn something from you guys while we're here.

Steve: Be careful. Every time I say I figured it out, I end up screwing something else up. Is that right? So I think I wanna say it looks like eight or nine times. I was like, oh my goodness.

I finally got it. Yeah. And then you get a

Derrick: curve ball. Yeah. And that that's how it was for us. I mean, we had two good cold callers. Like I said, the lady that lives in Ben's neighborhood, and she performs amazing.

And then, you know, she had some family issues. And, you know, as much as we love her, I'm still human. Like, we're I'm not gonna press you to work. So yeah. Like you said, every time you think you I think that's business and life in general.

Right?

Steve: Yeah. I posted something the the other day. One of our cold callers, ours, and he was killing on the phones. And and our buddy Jared reached out to me. He's like, is that guy still available?

He's like, get the hell out of

Derrick: here. Right?

Steve: Okay. So your leads manager, how how did you find them?

Derrick: We found them through just ads running through people on Upwork. You know, that's another task, you know, hiring VAs. You're probably gonna go, you know, hire five to my last one will actually, stay with you guys long term. We found them just posting an ad through Upwork. And then, they just do a lot of follow ups, touching base with some of our buyers.

Mhmm. And then, you know, as we get into more things such as texting and stuff like that, they'll be managing some of that. We'll probably bring on some people to handle those leads as well. Okay.

Steve: And then do you have any dispositions?

Derrick: You're looking at it right here. Yeah. So, it with our structure, Ben, is pretty much first contact on the phone. We still go on appointments together. If if if he can't make it, you know, one of us will go.

Because I still that that's my favorite part. That's where I shine. I hate doing cold calling and Excel spreadsheets. I I just wanna be back in the belly. You don't like that?

No. Right? So, you know, I wanna be in front of the person. I wanna solve their problems with waiting tables. Like I said, I can deal with any personality and, you know, studying and getting better at my closing skills and being a better problem solver, really.

You know, we've done deals where you gotta move people or, you know, elderly people, whatever it takes to get the deal done. So but for me, mainly, I'm dispositions, though. Like, when it comes to selling deals, like, that's mainly my department. I blast out the deals, take care of the buyers when they perform, when they don't. That's that's pretty much all me.

Interesting.

Steve: And, you know, what's funny is, I was talking with Max last week on the show, is that we'll post things on Instagram. So, like, you know, locked up another one. And we just take a just a picture of the house or a video of the house from the outside, locked up another one, and he'll get calls. So that's our disposition these days is is like Instagram stories.

Derrick: Instagram. I mean, I use Instagram for so many things. And then that that is starting to happen a lot more with us. Like, recently, a hotel we did just just by walking it and making the video, I had, like, four people before I even left the house hit me up. Nuts.

Steve: And then,

Derrick: and then then the the joy of people bringing you free lead sources too. We've started to do some free events and stuff like that. Just really leverage that and be able to help, you know, create those win win solutions for people that may be newer, you know, to to be able to help them succeed, really.

Steve: What has been what has been your best marketing technique?

Derrick: Right now, what's working best for us, it would be cold calling. But we do it all, like, direct mail. We do SEO a little bit, RVM. And like I said, we're about to start doing some text and stuff like that. But cold calling has has probably been the best one.

It's for the last year, even when Ben had a job, I mean, he locked up a a $27,000 assignment on his lunch break, literally. And I went out there and locked it up on-site. But I would say cold calling for sure.

Steve: Awesome. And then, German wants to know, are you licensed?

Derrick: No, sir. I have no I never wanna I just it's not for me. And we work with realtors, though. We do have MLS access and all that. But,

Steve: I don't think he's supposed to say on air. Okay. What is your specialty?

Derrick: My specialty? I would say my gift of gab and, connecting with people. I'm a really good listener. I I love meeting new people, having new experiences. I can pretty much connect with anybody.

If if I can't connect with you, it's probably not me. Just being honest. But I I would say that's my superpower, being understanding and and making things happen out of nothing, really.

Steve: Okay. Yeah. So how are you pulling data right now?

Derrick: Right now, we do a lot from the county and list source. But we try to get those lists from from the county. But as we're starting to pull pull more data, ListSource. And then I think, Jesse and, Evo and them are are coming out with something as well that might be able to assist us. So but right now, mainly ListSource and from the county and then just cleaning those up.

I mean, that's the best data.

Steve: Okay. And then what are you using the skip trace?

Derrick: Batch. Yeah. All day. We've been we we've used several other services, but based on price and results, Batch all day. And then those guys are pretty awesome too.

So

Steve: Yep. They're okay. They're cool. Who's in charge of the KPIs?

Derrick: That is Ben's department, and I do not want anything to do with it. There's certain things that I, like, I look at just to make sure everything is flowing. Like, I was telling Jesse, you know, number of calls per day and then, you know, how many leads we're bringing in. But, you know, that that area is not our strongest suit as we're trying to scale, and that's something that we're trying to, you know, really dial in on. So but that's what we do know and keep track of that's that's been all day.

Steve: Awesome.

Derrick: And what markets are you guys in? Houston. I only wanna be in Houston. I do not wanna you know, when once we have things secured secured there, then maybe we could look at San Antonio or Dallas, maybe Austin. But Houston is so big.

And I look at what you guys are doing here, and we're even bigger. And it's just like, there's so much left on the table that we're not even we're not even even scraping the surface.

Steve: How much are you guys spending a month on marketing?

Derrick: Marketing? I would say all, like, all our costs and everything is around, like, 3 3,500 to $5 depending. But that is, like I said, about to double. We need to make ourselves uncomfortable to be able to we've been sitting at the three to five leads, you know, for the last, like, six months or or deals per month. And, you know, that's why we came out here, right, to to learn and to be able to to go to that next level.

And I know a lot of that has to do with our own. You know, a lot of times as as entrepreneurs and people in general, we get in our own way and we get comfortable, and we've gotten comfortable and I we need to get uncomfortable again. But we we try to run pretty lean. Like I said, it's usually around $5. And then, you know, whatever we make, we'll just cut ourselves out of the deal.

But we're about to start taking a salary and have a full fledged business, I would say.

Steve: I've heard people say that once you start paying yourself a salary, that's when you have a real business.

Derrick: Business. Yeah. Yep. It's gonna push us to go. I mean, there's no excuses because we both have families to feed.

So

Steve: Yeah. Guys, don't forget this is a live show. So, please, if you got questions, fire away. What is your monthly overhead?

Derrick: Monthly well, that's what I'm saying. With marketing and everything, it's it's around $5. And then, like I said, if we get a deal, we'll we'll base the split on how big the deal is. And Yeah. A majority of it really goes I mean, we don't really pay ourselves much much now Mhmm.

Which is why we're, you know, looking to get a salary and and all that. But, I mean, the majority of the money goes back into the business, and we try to run lean. You know, we don't have a office. We work from home. I mean, you know, we just try to stay as lean as possible.

Okay.

Steve: Are there any CRM tools or systems that you cannot live without?

Derrick: Yeah. I would say, Podio, obviously, keeping track of everything. I know before, we just had Excel spreadsheets, yellow letters everywhere. You know, we use, like if I'm out quickly, you know, obviously, I use Redfinzilla just to get an idea of a lead. I would say MLS.

I'm trying to think I think those are probably the major ones. Now with rentals, I mean, I use other little apps like Quicken Loans, like, just calculating what the mortgage would be and, you know, certain things like that. Yeah. I'd say that would be the major ones.

Steve: Alright. Pedro wants to know, are you text blasting right now?

Derrick: We are not. We are not. But we will be starting next week. So Okay. Yeah.

Steve: What do you plan to do if the market takes a dip?

Derrick: I would say solve more problems. And, hopefully, by then, have a lot more cash to buy a lot more rentals, really, at a a discount. And, but, I mean, that's the joy of wholesaling. It doesn't really depend on, you know, what where the market's at. I mean, we can still solve problems.

There's still there's gonna be more people in need. I mean, there's still I mean, even in Houston, there's still people you know, Harvey was, you know, two and a half, two plus years ago, and there's still people that have no idea what they're gonna do. They're living in an RV in their driveway. I mean, we looked at a flooded home a week and a half ago, and they're it's just been sitting. So I would just say, like, when those I mean, that was something new that we had to learn.

Like, I knew nothing about floods or flood insurance or elevation certificates and, like, all these things. I mean, I I think you just adapt really with whatever the market throws at you. But, I mean, with wholesaling, it it gives you, you know, that access to the deals for you really to decide what you wanna do. But I say just buy more houses. That's the plan.

Steve: So you were saying there are RVs parked in the driveway because the house is not livable.

Derrick: Yeah. Absolutely. That sounds like

Steve: an excellent opportunity for driving for dollars.

Derrick: Dollars. Yeah. Yeah. It it is for sure. I think a lot of these people until up until this point were in belief that they were gonna get money, but a lot of them, you know, insurance I mean, we've bought deals.

The first deal that Ben and I did, the people brought, 30,000 to the table. They were just they wanted to be out. But for them, that was that was a win. But, yeah, like, there's people living in RVs, some living in, like, tree like, it it's pretty bad, but I I it's coming to the point where they realize you're gonna have to make a move because, you know, no one's gonna help you, you know, FEMA and all these other places. Some homes have flooded, you know, three, four times.

I mean Were

Steve: you gonna say tree house?

Derrick: Yeah. You

Steve: were living in a tree house.

Derrick: I've seen I've seen some interesting things, you know. I mean, I I think these people, they just weren't prepared and, you know, a lot of people didn't have flood insurance. So, like, the effects are are still being, you know, felt. There's I mean, the the last hotel deal that we did was a hoarder home that flooded in Harvey and had just been sitting since then. So the smell alone like that, that's where we could start.

But, you know, like, the fact that they just let this house sit, you know, for two and a half years and then, you know, with the humidity and mold and

Steve: Are you walking in like

Derrick: a hazmat suit? I only walk the house, like, twice with, yeah, the mask and everything. And, you know, unfortunately, that's solving these problems and learning these personalities. You're gonna deal with people that you never thought that you were going to deal with. And, you know, when it comes to people like hoarders that, you know, like, that is a mental disability.

And, like, that lady was there 70 years old on top of the trash cans every day digging, still trying to take things that she wanted. That was really the only reason we closed on the home was because the seller was such a hassle. We had to get her out of the picture. That deal, though, with what we thought we were gonna make and what we were actually gonna make, you know, that's the reality of it. We're we're not gonna make nearly enough, but we still solved a problem.

We learned a lot of lessons.

Steve: What were you anticipating making?

Derrick: So originally, I mean, we were looking at making about 25 on

Steve: the deal. And you ended up making

Derrick: The real the realistic of it is, we made $5 on the deal, you know. Yeah. But that that that's the reality of real estate. But, you know, we don't beat each other up. We hey.

Look. These are the lessons that we learned from that. But at the end of the day, you know, I'll make that up on another deal. I mean, that deal we made $5 and it sold. And then the next week, we locked up a house we didn't think we were gonna make anything on.

And we did a $25,000 summit. Right? So it's like, it it always takes care of itself. I think that if you buy right as long as I break even, I'm good. Right?

Right. So if I buy right, we're good. But the main thing is, you know, what did we learn from this? Right? Because we're still I mean, being just three years in, I'm still learning a lot about real estate, business life, and myself.

So as long as we take those lessons and apply it, you know, to the future deals, you know, I'll chalk it up. Have you tried climbing

Steve: up into your tree house to knock on the door?

Derrick: To knock on the I have not. I have not. But I mean Is that really Ben's? Yeah. Yeah.

He's a little bit taller than me, and he's a little bit lighter too. So the tree house would probably hold him before it would me. So Yeah.

Steve: JJ Simmons says that he needs to reach out to Jay Bashkip. So Jesse, reach out to JJ Simmons. Make sure you use the code r e d, JJ. Lee, do you prefer a hotel or wholesale?

Derrick: To me, I guess it just depends on the situation, to be completely honest. I'll wholesale all day, but, I mean, you are gonna have those situations where if you can make an extra you know, the the we've done that was our second hotel. The first hotel that we did was a similar situation flooded home. We put a thousand dollars into it. We sold it within two weeks.

Like, we were in the deal from contract to relisting in five weeks, and we made $30. Right? Yeah. For me, that was worth it. Now we could have wholesale that deal and made $10 and been in and out.

But, you know, we had the money to use and we saw the potential. So we just we've gotten tighter on our parameters of the hotels, especially since this last, scenario. Mhmm. But, you know, I'll wholesale all day and but if it makes sense, I I will hotel. So I guess whichever makes me the most money and the least amount of time.

Steve: It's kinda like cherry picking the the deals. The deals. Yeah. Absolutely. Leslie wants to know, do you have virtual assistants?

Derrick: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Like I said, our our callers are virtual. Our, lead, manager, she's virtual.

And then all the other VAs there in The Philippines as well.

Steve: And Rosoro wants to know, do you worry about wholesaling dying down?

Derrick: No. Not at all. This is a funny question for me because, like I said, we just did a free event. Like, we made, like, one post, did a shadow event, and I had all these people come out. And it was amazing experience.

But it was funny because after that, like, that day, I had all these people DM me and message me, like, aren't you scared about, like, creating competition and, like, about wholesaling dine? Or, like, I we went on an appointment before I came here, and they had Open Door and, like, you know, we have all these things happening. I don't I'm not worried about it because I think abundance mentality. If I worry about that today, then, you know, I'm gonna drive myself crazy. Like, I have a million other moving pieces.

Will certain things change? Possibly with people doing, you know, sketchier things with us. You know, you gotta learn to adjust with the market. And, you know, now we're at a point where if they do, we'll just hotel more things. You know?

We'll we'll just adjust with the market, buy more rentals, and be lazier.

Steve: I don't know. Yeah. Jesse and I have talked about this, where, like, even if it did die, we're surrounded by the smartest people

Derrick: Exactly. In

Steve: the valley. So we'll figure it out.

Derrick: Yeah. I I think me and my one of my good friends who's, like, slowly becoming an entrepreneur, we talk about this. There's a loophole in everything that in life in general and everything that we do. And there will always be people that are kinda like a middleman that can solve those problems. I have a good friend who does the same thing but does it with used books and just resell, like, you know, like and there's there's always gonna be a way to make money Right.

In real estate for sure. Because there's always gonna be people with problems, life problems.

Steve: Sam Velasquez wants to know, do you maintain a big buyers list, or do you deal with just a handful of good buyers?

Derrick: Got you. So for us, we have, I would say, five to 10. You know, they buy consistently. They're gonna close. It's no issue.

So I usually shoot it to them first. Honestly, I have one guy who buys about 80% of our deals. And if not, sometimes he'll just add a couple thousand, and he has, like, students he helps. And, you know, he'll he'll get the deal done. So he usually gets first dibs.

Absolutely. Yeah. Closing 80% of them. Yeah. Exactly.

And then if not, then, yeah, the next I always just let them know, hey. You have twenty four hours. And then, yeah, we do have a buyers list of around 7,000. But, you know, out of those numbers, maybe, you know, the it it's all a numbers game. So, you know, out of those people well, we do get new buyers or realtors that, we met a lady who's actually a contractor, and she saved us on a couple of deals.

Like, she just she connected us with the lady who's gonna do the $25,000 assignment, and she saved us on that deal where I said, you know, four people backed out. She randomly brought in a guy, like, the day before, paid cash, closed. So, like you said, I just try to surround myself with people that are better than me because I'm not the smartest guy, like I said. Like,

Steve: Keisha wants to know when did you hire a VA? Or I guess probably more along the lines of when did you know it's time to hire a VA?

Derrick: Whenever. I I didn't hire a VA until I was two and a half years into the business. Mhmm. I probably should've hired one way before. I have control issues.

Now I love giving things off, but at the time, I think it's when it becomes a nuisance to you where it's like, hey. Like, for me, it was like, I'm spending three hours going through probate records. I'm going through, like, 300 records to get 40 names for three hours when I could be cold calling or I could be doing something that's you know, I could pay I could afford to pay somebody $15 a week. I think when it becomes a nuisance, but until you give it off, you need to be doing it yourself. I mean, even, for instance, now with the content creation and what we're you know, my partner and myself are doing, getting into YouTube and things like that.

For the next six months to a year, I'm gonna be editing all the videos and stuff because I you can't give something off to someone else if you don't know what you like or what you expect to them. I was talking to Jesse earlier, and they were going over KPIs. And, you know, that's literally what we talked about is, like, you know, you need to have these numbers because if they don't know what they're supposed to hit, you know, they're not they're definitely not gonna hit it. I know our first cold caller, right, for as an example, she worked for us for six months. We never looked at any numbers.

Right? Like, nothing. Wow. We got one deal from her. We made, like, $25, so she paid for herself.

But when we actually sat down, looked at the numbers, she was only supposed to be calling, like, fifteen hours a week. She for the six months, she never even called for fifteen hours. But we never knew. We never looked. So, I would say when it's when it's, like, overwhelming for you, you know, that's when it's when you're getting in your own way.

Steve: Sam Velasquez wants to know, is building a rental portfolio something you're building simultaneously?

Derrick: Yeah. Absolutely. Over the last, like, eight months, we've just met some people that have really changed our outlook on creating that residual wealth. And and in the back of my mind, I always think things are gonna go wrong. So how you said about wholesaling going away, If it does, I don't wanna have to worry about it.

Yep. You know, we have some family friends and and people like that. You know, they $30.40, $50,000 a month in residual income. Just having that to have yourself set up is definitely where it's at. And you can I mean, I don't know if you wanna get into it, my rental deal, but it's, like, the most amazing bird deal, and I will literally have no money out of pocket?

I'll make, like, $30, and I'll cash flow, like, $600 a month. Like, who wouldn't do that deal? Right? You know, four or five more of those, and I'm pretty good. Like, we live below our means, but, you know, not in debt.

So, you know, just thinking of having that money coming in. I mean and as wholesaling, you're you're the avenue of where the deals come from. And that and in that scenario with that deal, I was still able to pay Ben a $10,000 assignment. So it's like, you know, creating those win wins and setting yourself up for that long term generational wealth. Because at the end of the day, wholesaling is a job.

Steve: Jovan wants to know what are the tasks for the lead manager?

Derrick: It's to follow-up. Like, she has her task daily that gets sent automatically with Podio based on, you know, follow ups. And then, when she's through with that, she will go into call. She has a certain amount of buyers that she will call just to build that relationship with them, see if they're buying. Like, we just pulled a list of, you know, people that bought cash properties in the last year.

And, you know, so we're just trying to build that bigger buyers list, because I'm also, like, really intrigued by, like, Kegley and, like, selling other people's deals. Like, I used to do that, but the way I did it was a headache. If I can set that up to do it where it you bring me the deal, and I'll just sell it. And, you know, maybe we make four or five grand. But if we do that 20 times a month and didn't spend any money on marketing, that's the idea.

But I will always, like I said, have those true cash buyers that Yeah. I have a relationship with.

Steve: Well, I think, you know, what Keeley does makes a lot of sense in Phoenix. Or it does make sense in Phoenix. And I would say you could probably do the same exact thing in Houston because it's a very comparable market. Kenny Cash wants to know, what's the biggest assignment fee you've earned? If you don't wanna answer that, you don't have to.

Derrick: Yeah. No. I mean, compared to some of the people that I've met being here, it's probably not that big. But I would say 40,000 was our biggest assignment. Yeah.

And that, you know, that was another one of those solving problems. The the guy was, literally, he's he's dying. He has cancer. Ben spent about three months not even talking about the property. He literally like, almost every time he was just life consulting with his wife, them crying on the phone.

They had they lived in San Antonio. They had this property and had been rented out to what they thought was three people. When Ben went to walk the property, I think I was out of town, there was 11 people actually living there. Sketchy meth head type characters. But we went in, was like, hey.

You know, we solved the problem. We're gonna buy the house. We actually didn't have to pay anything for moving. They were actually happy to get out. And, the guy I sold the deal to was that guy.

He brought in one of his students, and I just talked to him. And it's pending, and he's gonna make $70. Right? Like, that's Wow. That's the joy of what we do creating those win wins.

They were able to get some money, you know, to finish out his life and live, you know, fruitfully with his wife and enjoy it. We were able to get a new start for the sketchy people. We made a, you know, a handsome assignment, and, you know, we were able to you know, he's gonna make even more than us, which is I love to see. I love seeing people win.

Steve: So Yep. Jesse Bundock wants to know what type of data are you pulling from the county?

Derrick: We just the main, like, tax default code violation, evictions, and then we just got the water shut off list, which I thought was something hard to get because we have a bunch of mud districts in Houston.

Steve: Mhmm.

Derrick: But I met, like, one of my followers because of Instagram, and he was just like, hey. Thank you for the content. Here's this list of, like, 9,000 names. Mud. Mud.

Yeah. I don't wanna murder it. It's like municipal something district. Uh-huh. But in in how Houston is set up, basically, each neighborhood has their own mud district.

So you can imagine when you have 7,000,000 people living in and around Houston, how many different mud districts. But, he found a way to get the list, and now he he sent me the contact. And, I mean, it's usually the same thing. You you pay 15 to $100, whatever their fee is. You do an open request form, and just go talk to them.

And a lot of times people are like, you can't find it. I'm like, you just you didn't you probably gave up. One person told you no. Like, if you're giving up now, you're probably not gonna last in wholesaling because you you're gonna, you know, call four or five people. But if I could give a tip to that is when you do find the right person, because you're gonna they usually update them every six months to a year.

Take them a $10, $15 Starbucks gift card. They'll remember you. It'll be a lot easier next time. And they get free coffee. So that's a because, you know, it's solving problems.

Steve: Keisha wants to know what's your favorite lead source?

Derrick: Cold calling. Yeah. Cold calling. I don't know if she's referring to a list, but it would probably be tax default, but cold calling.

Steve: You guys and taxes are really, really in love with those tax defaults. I wish you had. I don't I think that's, like, the best list Yeah. From what I hear. And Leron Mitchell wants to know how often are you pulling data?

Derrick: It depends on the list. Like I said, so for tax default, we're doing that, about every eight months. The code violation and water, when I think they update it every six months, so that every six months. And then with ListSource, depending on the list, I mean, we're just pulling more and more data. So that's actually happening, like, every month.

And it's probably gonna you know, it's it's only gonna increase as we're doing other, you know, lead sources.

Steve: So what is your why?

Derrick: My why I would say, you know, obviously, I I have the the fam to support, but I just wanna live an amazing adventurous life. I like I said, I come from a small town in Tennessee. It's very, you know, Monday through Friday. You usually work at a factory or Walmart, which is there's nothing wrong with that. Like, sometimes I really wish I could live like that.

However, you know, most people never leave this, like, five mile radius, so they don't know what's possible. So for me, getting to travel more, the fact that, you know, I can do this midweek and, like, my business partner is about to join me and, you know, just live an exciting life and just not settle for, like, average. I just don't wanna get to the end of my life and have regret. That's, like, scares the shit out of me. Like, it's so bad.

And what is

Steve: your biggest struggle right now?

Derrick: Getting that next level, breaking the the three to five. Like I said, not spending enough money. I mean, if I look at it, it's probably just not spending enough money and and building the infrastructure. So hopefully, you know, over the next couple days, we can learn how to do that Yeah. And, take it to the next level.

Steve: Walter wants to know, how are you paying the lead manager?

Derrick: The she's just hourly. Yeah.

Steve: Are you using Noel Noel wants to know, are you using the Texas real estate contract to lock up?

Derrick: TReck? Yeah. Absolutely. That's it's the only thing that I learned on. And, one time I was with a gentleman, the guy who actually buys a lot of deals.

I was showing him a house, and he was about to go lock up another property. And he met the seller, and he got a one page contract out. Excuse me. And, the guy was like, no. I need a track.

So I never used one, but that just confirmed everything that I thought. But I think it just looks more professional. I know what I don't know what your all state contract, but ours is 10 pages long. A majority of it has to do with realtors. But I mean, if you guys need help with it, you can DM me, message me.

I'll be happy to send some links and, you know, you just gotta dumb it down to a cash. So

Steve: What is the greatest lesson you've learned?

Derrick: Not not to give up on myself, my business. And, some of my greatest moments have come right after, pretty much like, the second time after I went broke, I was literally about to get another summer job just to pay for marketing cost. And, I was betting it all on one deal that we had was was actually from one of my old managers. And, you know, we're probably still a month out from closing. And, you know, I just told my mentor, like, hey.

I'm probably gonna have to get a job till we can close this deal. And, he wrote me a check for $5 and was just like, real estate investors don't have summer jobs. And, like, I keep that in my office because, like, I I've don't do it as much anymore, but a lot of times, I used to just give up. Like I said, I was always, like, three feet from gold, like, three feet from there. And I guess sometimes people see more in me than I see in myself.

So we need to have more self belief. I don't think that's just for me. I think that's for everybody because you don't have to be the smartest person in the room. But if you just surround yourself with with people that are better than you, then they wanna see you succeed, for sure.

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

Derrick: I would say favorite would be probably that first contract that I had to back out of, to be honest. That was so humbling of an experience. I'd built such good rapport with that gentleman and then having to tell him that I wasn't gonna be able to keep my word. Like, I I still have nightmares about that call, but it makes me not wanna do it. And now, like I said, most of the deals that we deal with, like, the last three or four have been people that weren't able to perform, and they have this terrible taste.

And then you're able to step in and, you know, they're just so happy that you were able to help them with their problem. And you can usually make good money doing it. So I would say just learning from those those tough, you know, situations that you have to lean into that you don't wanna do those phone calls. Like, just lean in.

Steve: Just do it. And, Noel wants to know, how many hours are you working a week right now?

Derrick: I'm always working, to be honest. I I love real estate. I love business. I love creating things. If I had to put a time, I I don't know, forty, fifty hour.

But to me, I don't view it as work. I love what I do. I love creating content. Meeting sellers. I love solving problems.

I love cashing big checks. You know? I love learning lessons even when it's hard, and it sucks. I just I I love the game, to be honest. So Yeah.

Steve: So talk about creating content. I mean, obviously, that's like I said, that's how I found you. Right? So talk about creating content.

Derrick: Yeah. I think I think with the Internet, we're at a time where, like, you can you can become it's a good and a bad thing. Right? So let's start there. You can be any person you want, whether that's fake or real.

For me, I'm you know, what you see is what you get. I think how we met originally, and I was telling Jesse this earlier, is is, like, I messaged you, like, seven months ago because I tagged you and was like, hey. I'm gonna be on your show one day. Right? And then we were able to meet in Dallas and, like, just stayed in contact.

Like, to me, that is the power of the Internet, but, I also know I have value to add. I know my story will resonate with someone.

Steve: And I

Derrick: think a lot of times for people to believe in things, they just need someone that looks like them or similar. And that's what I always tell people is, like, I'm just a regular guy. Like, there's nothing like, it took me four years to get a two year degree, and I know I had to pay out of pocket and it sucked. But, you know, like, I'm not the braddest guy, but I hustle, and I truly like taking care of people. So with content, it just, you know, opens that door.

You know, I love meeting people, you know, going to WeLive, meeting you guys, meeting, you know, some of our followers. Like, the messages that I get from people, you know, that's something money can't buy. And it's something that, like, when I first got started, all I had was, like, Sean Terry. And, you know, I have podcasts, but he wasn't really creating content even like he is now. So So I just wanna be relatable.

I wanna you know, I I just I see so much power in it as well, to the doors and the avenues that it's open. Even with me, like, consistently doing it for eight months and it's only gonna get bigger. Where it's gonna take me, I have no idea. But if as long as I can impact others and truly, like, help change people's lives, that's all that matters to me. So, but it's powerful.

Steve: How much time do you put on it? Like, is it is there, like, an intentional, like, I gotta block off this time for this for for creating content?

Derrick: It's starting to get like that now with as I'm getting into YouTube and, like, you know, I love shooting, but I hate editing. Right? Mhmm. But once again, it's one of those things, like, I gotta do until I can't no more. So right now, I'm starting, like, on Sundays, I'll I'll make a bunch posts.

And then sometimes it changes, but and then, you know, throughout the day, I'm probably on my phone more than I need to be because I'm looking at analytics and, like, you know, did this work? And, like, I study it way more than I should.

Steve: But I mean, I did notice on your on your profile, I mean, there's a pattern.

Derrick: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's I've You're intentional with it. Yeah.

I've I've and I've met some people too that, you know, they were like, hey. I see what you're doing. Let me give you some advice. Right? And, I think that's another thing, being humble enough to listen to people.

I know, like I said, being in my small town, everybody acts like they know everything when really nobody really knows anything. And, you know, for me, I try to be a humble person. I try to listen. Like, if I'm in the room and people that are where I wanna be, I'm not talking. Like, you probably wouldn't even notice I'm in there.

I mean, I'm a big guy, so you're gonna see me, but, you know, I just, I like learning and I, you know, I'm I'm very intentional with what I do and what I put out. But, I just want people to know that, like, you know, I'm what you see see is what you get. Like, I'm not out here fronting. Like I said, I I live way below my means. I drive a $1,500 cash car.

Like, no. I do want nicer things, but I'm sacrificing, you know, now for, you know, my mid thirties or, you know, whatever that looks like or wherever I'll be in five years. Who knows?

Steve: That's awesome. Waldner wants to know, how do you keep your cold callers accountable? That's all.

Derrick: I would say, it's tracking numbers. Like, start there. Make sure they're doing it. It's a lot of training up front. We just try to make sure that they know, you know, what we what our standards are, what we expect of them.

And even when, you know, they're not performing, you don't have to, like, get down their throat. Like, hey. You're you're really screwing up. Just, hey. You know, like, talk to them.

Why why isn't this? And you learn, like you know, one of our callers the other day, we're probably gonna have to replace him just because he's going to college now. So the other day, he only called for an hour. I'm like, hey, man. Like, you only called for an hour.

You know? You usually call, like, eight. What's going on? So, you know, training for sure. Make sure they're making like, I know ours you know, we have a certain amount of calls.

They're supposed to make around a 150 to 200 calls an hour. Mhmm. So we know that number, and and stay in contact with them. And, also, don't like, treat them like employees as well because that's what they are. Don't just numbers, numbers, numbers.

Like, hey. How is your family? Like I said, we have one lady who had family issues. Like, we still check on her and her mom. You know, just treating them actually like people, but also let them know their requirements and and, you know, every day or once a week at least looking at the numbers because the numbers don't allow.

Steve: Well, I I think that's there's a huge nugget there because I I had this problem for a little bit where I felt like, god, I hate micromanaging. I hate holding them accountable. I don't wanna scream at them. I'm not a screamer. Yeah.

But what I found was, hey. Remember how we said you're supposed to call this many hours a week? I'm looking at the notes here. It's not. What's going on?

And it only takes two of those conversations for them to just like, hey. I'm not a fit for this operation. Yeah. I They'll self eliminate. You don't have to fire them.

You have they don't wanna have that third conversation. It's like, hey. What's going on with this?

Derrick: Yeah. Absolutely. And then if you see them, like so I know for us, like I said, the guy, he's a little bit younger. And when we hired him, they told us he worked for another company and he quit and, basically, they they went their separate ways. And I think for us, what we found out was, like, he they they probably felt he wasn't performing, but they also probably didn't give him the tools.

So for us, at first, yeah, you know, like, he was our cold caller that calls for four hours was making more calls than him, and he was calling in eight hours.

Steve: Mhmm.

Derrick: So it was like that, hey. You know, maybe you could do a little bit more. And he did. And then it was like, hey. I'm just gonna give you the numbers.

Like, you know, you called for eight hours and she called for four. Why did she make, you know, say a thousand and you only made 600? Like, that's not even, like, trying. Like, especially when you're on, like, a triple line dollar or, you know, now they have call tool. Like, you can go up to 10, you know, lines.

So it's like, let the number speak. And then literally, like, two days later, his calls doubled. Right? But he probably never had that accountability. But, you know, I didn't necessarily get, you know, jumped down his throat.

But Yeah.

Steve: You don't have to. Well, that's Leron makes a good point here. Everyone encounters life events. Yeah. Right?

And that's what some of these people that they get all, like, you know, what's the word I'm looking for? Self pity.

Derrick: Yeah. Yeah.

Steve: It's like, look. Everyone's got problems.

Derrick: Problems. Yeah.

Steve: Don't bring that to work.

Derrick: And that's yeah. Knowing your personality types, knowing knowing that humans are emotional creatures even you know, I still get emotional about it. Like, we're all emotional. It's just some people are better at handling that. And, you know, whether that's how they were raised or whatever it is, you just even dealing with sellers or whatever it may be in this business, you have to learn to deal with those.

And if you do, you'll be, you know, a better leader and, be able to give constructive criticism and keep them held accountable without them like, I hate my life and this job. I don't wanna because it's hard, man. Like, I there's a reason I don't sit on the phone for eight hours and call people. I did that for

Steve: Right.

Derrick: A year straight. Like, it's not where it's at at all. So

Steve: so let me take a moment here real quick. I I mentioned last week with Max on the show, we're doing a workshop, on May 25 as an all day event. So if you guys are interested in that, please text disruptor workshop to 345345. We're gonna be going over the perfect seller appointment as well as all the systems that we're using, to to do deals in in competitive Phoenix. And then next week, we got Antoine Campbell flying in from the Maryland DC area, so that's gonna be a lot of fun.

Nice. He's a fun dude. Did you hang out with him in Dallas? I got

Derrick: no I felt like I missed out on some the Willie kid. Like, I didn't know about him. I was so inspired by his story. Like Yeah. That many deals so young.

Like, those are the like, because I'm still kinda young, but, like, when you hear that, it's like

Steve: When you're bringing your brother to sign contracts, you're young.

Derrick: That just shows that there's there's no excuse like, there's literally like, there's no reason you can't be successful Right.

Steve: In this business. So if someone wanna get a hold of you, how would they do that?

Derrick: I would say Instagram. It's, flipping a house. My business partner, Ben, Ben buys houses. Hopefully, we can get him on the show in the future. He has

Steve: our periods in there. Right? It's what is it?

Derrick: Yeah. It's like Ben .buys. Houses period. Whatever it is. Yeah.

Steve: I think I think Instagram, like, that makes a difference.

Derrick: Yeah. But I mean, like, any questions, anything I can do to help, like, I try to answer all my DMs. I try to do lives. I'm gonna try to do more instructional type things. But, you know, I just wanna help help preferably younger people, but, you know, anybody that wants to succeed.

You know, I have I have a guy that came to our free event. He messaged me six months ago and was giving me all these excuses. And just note if you message me, like, I'm gonna give it to you exactly how somebody may not like, they may have been scared to tell you.

Steve: I've got that same problem too.

Derrick: And, you know, he told me, hey. I'm I'm scared of you know, I wanna flip houses, but I'm scared of of taking on risk, basically, is what he was saying, which pretty much we're in a high risk business. High risk, high reward. And I was like, look. If you're if you're scared of risk, you're never you know, this business isn't for you.

And he went out the next week, found a deal, and got hard money. So just know I will give you a swift kick in the ass if you DM me some dumb stuff.

Steve: That was like Gary v. Right? When the guy's like, I hate cold calling, I was

Derrick: like, well, then leave. You just yeah. Just don't. Why are you here? Yeah.

Steve: Alright. So, last parting message for the listeners.

Derrick: I would say believe in yourself and know that if a regular guy from a small town in East Tennessee, like, literally started this business putting $200 a month in marketing costs, if I can make it happen, you know, you can too. And, like, with the Internet, there's no excuse. Like, there's there's kids making millions that are 16, like

Steve: Yeah.

Derrick: Doing reviews on YouTube. There's just no there's just have a no excuse mentality and just, like, go out and make it happen. And and, like, get outside of your comfort zone. Like, it's whatever you're scared of, lean in. Like, just lean in.

It's it's not as bad as you think. I promise. It's never gonna be that bad.

Steve: I think that's a great message. Thank you guys for watching. Thank you. This was awesome.

Derrick: Awesome. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me.