From Scaling To Resetting: Willny Guifarro Shares his Lessons In Growing

Steve Trang: Everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disruptors. Today, we have Wilney Giffaro with Equity of Texas, and he flew in from Houston. Talk about the lessons he learned from scaling to resetting to only a 175,000 last month. If this is your first time tuning in, I'm Steve Trang, founder of the OfferFastHomes app, the only MLS for off market wholesale properties, and I'm on a mission to create 100 millionaires.

I've had many of you guys reach out to me about our sales training. But for a lot of you, our sales training is, too pricey, which I understand. So, for those of you that are tight on your budget, I created something just for you. If you're interested in checking that out, please text closer to 33777, l o s e r to 33777 to find out more. If you get value today, please tag your friend below or share this episode right now.

That way, we can all grow together. And this is a live show, so please ask your questions for we'll need to answer. You ready? Yes, sir. Alright.

Cool. So first question is always simple is what got you into real estate?

Willny Guifarro: What got me into real estate? I think just the just the ambition of wanting to make more money, honestly. Everybody wants to make more money. Right? Yeah.

So, like, when I was, when, when I was younger, I think I was, like, around 17, 18 when I started really, you know, looking into real estate. And, I was like, man, I'm done. I'm done with this. You know, everybody's throwing college at me. Everybody's because, you you know, at 17, 18, you're in a very, sensitive place where, you know, you gotta choose career path.

So I wasn't really liking it, man. Everybody was throwing me the college route, but I said forget it. I started doing wholesaling. You know, I did my first wholesale deal when I was 18. Soon as I dropped out of soon as I got out of high school.

Steve: So you were in high school?

Willny: Yeah. What year was this? 2015. 2015. Yeah.

Steve: Man, you're young. Okay. Yeah. So you're 2015, you're getting ready to graduate high school. Everyone's asking where to go.

What do you wanna do? And you're like, this isn't for me. Did you even go to college?

Willny: No. No college.

Steve: No college at all. So much you're out of high school?

Willny: Straight out of high school, started just looking into the wholesaling stuff. But, you know, I I got my first wholesale deal, like, in the a month like, a couple days after I graduated, but I didn't get any deals for, like, a whole another year. Really? No. Like, a whole another nine months.

So Yeah.

Steve: What was it that real estate caught, like, you know, jumped at you? Because a lot of guys, you know, even in high school, if you're dreaming about, you know, being an entrepreneur Right. It's not necessarily real estate that jumps out at you. So what was it about real estate that really caught your eye?

Willny: I guess the freedom, you know, the freedom of, of really moving around how you wanna move, you know. Everybody wants the freedom, you know. That's pretty much and the money. I mean, that's honestly, man. It's just the freedom and the money.

I mean, I I didn't wanna go go in and clock in and clock out regular nine to five every you know, who nobody wants to do that. And that's pretty much it and really really creating this empire. It's pretty much.

Steve: Was there an inspiration, someone that you saw, an infomercial? It's like YouTube guy.

Willny: I saw Sean Terry. Sean Terry. I did. Yeah. Sean Terry was the first guy that that I really that really caught my eye.

I just saw this, you know, this guy on YouTube ads. He's, like, coming up every time. And I'm and he's showing these big $1,020,000 dollar checks.

Steve: And I'm like, goddamn. That's real? Is that real? So,

Willny: I guess it is real. Right? So yeah. I mean, he was, he was the main,

Steve: you know saw that YouTube ad and then, like, what? You're like, I gotta go chase this. What did what were you what what did you do after that? After that,

Willny: I mean, at that at that moment, I was, I was I was working a I was working as a busser. I was working as a busser at a restaurant and, you know, I was, I I would on my on my breaks, I would just read that book because he had a I think it's called how to how to close a deal in nineteen weeks or less Mhmm. Or how to quit your job in nineteen weeks or less or something like that. Yeah. And, I yeah.

I would, I would literally on my break, literally just make calls on Zillow, read

Steve: the book And, and for that reason, I mean, I got fired from every single job that I've ever I've ever had, you know,

Willny: because I would always use my break, my breaks to do that exact to

Steve: do that. That's a terrible thing to be trying to educate yourself. Right?

Willny: That that's that's what I said. I mean, and these people, you know but but it is what it is, you know. These yeah. I mean, it just wasn't meant to be, I guess, you know, the whole

Steve: What did your friends end up end up doing? What was that? What did your friends

Willny: in high school end up doing? A lot of them are in college for different stuff, you know.

Steve: Oh, yeah. Because they're still in college. It was only five years ago.

Willny: Exactly. It wasn't that long ago. And, you know, they're doing a lot of you know, I got a lot of friends that, you know, they're in college doing regular, you know, you know, not regular stuff but, you know, they're normal stuff.

Steve: Normal. Yeah. Normal stuff that a

Willny: 25 or 23 year old would be doing, you know. Yeah. I got a lot of friends in the in the medicine field. I got a lot of friends that that that are still in the streets. Mhmm.

You know? And, and, you know, we got we got a small portion of us that are that are interested in the whole forex and the whole real estate and entrepreneurship side. So, but it wasn't that many. I'll tell you that it wasn't.

Steve: So what was that conversation like, you know, with your friends? It's like because, again, like, there's not a lot of people right there. I mean, there's Jaylen. There's Alex. There's a handful of guys.

There's Willie. Right? Willie Coleman. But, like, there's not a lot of people that that take that leap from high school. So what was that conversation like with your friends?

Like, I'm gonna go do this thing.

Willny: So that conversation was kind of it was it it was tough. I mean, it was, you know, because we we actually I had a I had a small group of friends that we actually started doing this, you know, this business with and, and they just fell off. I I started doing this like January 2015. I graduated June and they were on it but afterwards, you know, and these are my only friends at that at that time. After it, they just fell off.

They just didn't wanna do it. It's too tough. You know, we're we're getting rejected left and right. And after that, I mean, I mean, there was once you fall once you fall off, man, it's it's it's it's done. Well, that's in my world.

I mean, we're I'm just not gonna we're just not gonna hang. I mean, we got two different we're on two different, you know, two different Paths. Yeah. Two different paths. And, but now, I mean, you know, we talk and everything, everybody.

But at that I think one has to be ruthless at that, when you're really trying at that moment, you know, at the beginning phase.

Steve: I mean, unfortunately, that's that's the truth. So what about your parents? How was that conversation with your parents? Like, I'm not going to college. I'm gonna chase this real estate thing.

Willny: I'll tell you, my parents were probably the biggest critics. Yeah. My probably my biggest critics in, in at the beginning. But and, you know, that's it's it's it's and and I guess it's tough for them to, you know, understand how are you gonna make money without going to work. You know, because we come from I I don't you know, we come from a a my my parents are Honduran, so we come from a third world country.

They're not used to this whole entrepreneurship side

Steve: of the,

Willny: you know, they're used to going clocking in, get a get a good paying job, not even go to college. I'm, nobody has went to college. Well, except my, you know, my cousins. My cousins were the first ones to go to college but, yeah, they didn't, you know, that's it wasn't on their college and everything wasn't, how do I say it? It wasn't a path that they forced me in but it was a path that they told me, yeah, do it.

But after that, I mean, it was like, nah, I can't, you know, I'm just not gonna do it. I'm not gonna and that's when I just moved out. I mean

Steve: So they were so so you're really living with them and then they base you you basically moved out because of the tension?

Willny: Or Because of the tension. Because of the tension that I gotta go I gotta go do this. I gotta go do that. And I'm sorry. I'm not happy.

I can't do it. I just can't do it. And, you know, and it was one of those things. That's when I'm, you know, moved down to Houston. I just like, after I didn't get my deal Oh, I

Steve: that I assumed you were in Houston. Where were you?

Willny: I was in Florida.

Steve: Oh, that's right. South Florida.

Willny: Yeah. I was in South Florida. So I graduated in South Florida in 2015. Got the first deal in June. I moved out by '2 like, January 2016 because I didn't see anything.

Steve: So you were in

Willny: what part of Florida? Pompano Beach.

Steve: Okay. Yeah. And what's the biggest city in that area?

Willny: Fort Lauderdale.

Steve: Okay. So you're over there. Wasn't wasn't happening the way you want it to happen? No. And you went to Houston.

Why Houston?

Willny: Man, Houston is probably the the biggest one of the biggest cities, in the nation. You know? I think he's, like, number five or something like that. And, you know, it was always something that, you know, I'm not sure how I looked in, how how I got into Houston but, you know, I ended up, I ended up doing some type of research and, you know, we got there. So I just drove my drove my stuff, you know, put everything I own, like all my clothes in my backpack, put it in, stuff it in the car, let's drive out, let's head out.

And, but they didn't know where I was going. Didn't know where I was gonna sleep. I didn't have no family there but, you know, it's one of those things. You gotta, I think you gotta put yourself into some serious, into some serious, you know, crazy tough positions in order to really grow. And, you know, if you're a young guy at that point like me, you know, you're not gonna you don't really care if something happens, you know, if something if it doesn't go as planned, you're still young, you still got time, you know, you still got time to figure things out.

Steve: So So let's talk about that first deal. Yeah. You said you needed your first deal right after you graduated high school?

Willny: Right after I graduated high school. What was that deal? That was a deal that came through, through through Craigslist. I just posted a few ads on Craigslist and, and one guy ended up calling me. He ended up calling me saying, hey, I have a property for sale.

And that was, like, probably the easiest deal I've ever done. Yeah. That was, like, crazy. I think it was like a three week process and, it was just off Craigslist, you know. It it was like a $3,500 deal.

Steve: Not bad when you're 18.

Willny: Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, I racked up like $5,000 in debt prior to that because I didn't wanna work. You know, that ego the, you know, the ego is the worst enemy.

Steve: From trying to get this business off the ground or just in your own personal expenses?

Willny: No. Just trying to get trying to get the biz try well, trying to get a wholesale deal. Everybody I kept getting fired. Yeah. Once you get when you kept getting fired, you you gotta borrow some type of money from somebody.

And I didn't you know, I was too busy. I was too in my I was too in my zone. Like, no, man. This wholesale stuff, man, I gotta do this. I can't I don't have time to work this and that.

So, you know, it didn't really cover that. It didn't. You know?

Steve: Well, I I the reason why I'm asking this question, I think this is an important point, that a lot of people miss is because you see the commercials. Right? Like, buy a house, no money down. Right. No money out of pocket.

Right. They don't tell you it costs a lot of money to find those houses that you can buy Exactly. With the money out of pocket. So you're in it for 5 k out of your own dime before you even did your own first deal.

Willny: Right. Right.

Steve: And you and then if after all that, you bought it from Craigslist, which is free. Yeah.

Willny: After that, from Craigslist, man. And and and to be honest the 5,000 it was just to to be honest it was just to survive without a job. Yeah. I was not I was not making any type of income. I was like, I gotta make this wholesale stuff happen.

I've racked up, you know, I'm borrowing, I'm maxing out my cards, I'm borrowing money left and right. I gotta make this thing happen. And, that's when Yeah. I mean, it it didn't really make a difference. $3,500 but it, you know, it was a it was a good confidence booster.

And after that, I mean, eight months after, that's when I got my, you know, another deal.

Steve: So So let's talk about that. So what was your next deal?

Willny: The next deal, it was it was actually in a part in a what was it? I believe it was like like a small apartment complex. It was like a little seven unit, deal. Mhmm.

Steve: Like

Willny: a seven unit deal in, in Houston.

Steve: Okay. So how did you find that deal? Driving around. I was just driving around driving

Willny: for dollars. I ended up, I ended up, you know, look getting a mentor over there, you know, really helping him buy properties and whatnot and, you know, implementing his marketing strategies and that's when, you know, he was my he was my buyer. So I, you know, I was driving around, boom, gave finally found him some properties and, you know, made a quick $5,000 but it doesn't, you know, it was, and then after that, that's when he became a lot more consistent, you know.

Steve: So he was your mentor and buyer. So he was teaching you?

Willny: He He was teaching me how how to do this, how to, deal with multifamily and whatnot. Okay. Yeah.

Steve: But you didn't really quit or go all in full time until when?

Willny: I didn't really I didn't go full time full time. Well, I've been I've been full time for, like, three years. But, like, the last year was, like, the the the time that I really the year that I really got things, like, operational wise, you know, really get things going as far as hiring a staff, hiring cold callers, putting systems in place, processes in place. I would I would say, like, maybe 02/2016, February no. 2017, I was, like, still in and out of, you know, in and out of jobs and whatnot.

Just trying to get my trying to get money in my

Steve: pocket. Side hustle.

Willny: But still doing but still doing wholesaling. Yeah. I was still, you know, closing at least, you know, one deal every other month, maybe one two deals here two two deals this month, two deals last month, one deal here. Stuff like that. Very, very scattered.

But I would I would still have my, you know, other I would still try to, you know, find work. You know? But, yeah.

Steve: K. So when you went all in, you say you start you know, hire cold callers. Last year is when you went started really scaling. Right. So let's talk about that.

What what was that process like in trying to scale your business? Because this message on this one, right, it's talking about scaling Right. And the resetting is like, oh, wait. You know? You kinda pull the the parachute.

Like, well, hang on. That's not the way I wanna go necessarily.

Willny: Right. Right.

Steve: So let's talk about the scaling part.

Willny: Right. So the scaling part, I mean, it all started with a, with an with an event

Steve: Mhmm.

Willny: Here in, Arizona. I, you know, earlier I think I think, like, around February or January, I closed a massive deal. I think it was, like, $40,000. A $40,000 deal and I was, like, alright. So now I gotta really make this happen.

So I ended up investing in in a, in a, I think it was like a three day boot camp or something like that. Mhmm. And, that's when, you know, we started actually putting the people in place and the systems in place to, you know, actually produce a bunch of leads. Well,

Steve: let's talk about that event. What was that event?

Willny: That was, all in. All in momentum with, Carlos and Alex and Sal. Shout out to those guys. Those are Yeah.

Steve: They're good dudes. Right? I mean, they Carlos and Sal have been on the show twice. Alex been on the show once before. Great dudes.

So For sure. You went to Momentum. Helped you kinda so you you had a big deal. You went there. Is it '18?

2019.

Willny: '19. Yeah. And '19 was your first, like, huge year. Right? And then just real quick for everyone that's listening, for putting in context, what what did you bring in last year?

We brought in around we started really scaling stuff, you know, hiring cold callers, hiring acquisition agents, I'd say, like, around around June.

Steve: But as far as, like, what did you bring home?

Willny: And and that's when we, you know, that's when we really started doing all that. And then I think we brought in maybe around $400,000. Yeah. $400,000 a year.

Steve: Okay. So let's talk about step one. Sure. What was your step one when you were scaling last year?

Willny: I think it would probably be buying a lot of data and hiring a bunch of cold callers. Callers. Yeah. That's that's literally that's literally the route that we took. And you're focused primarily in Houston or you're in multiple markets?

We're in multiple markets right now.

Steve: We're in, But at that time last year?

Willny: At that time last year, no. We're we were just we were just in Houston, only in Houston. And I and I think I was my own I was my own acquisition agent from, like, February all the way up to, like, June. And June is when I really started, you know, hiring people out and getting more cold callers and everything. So

Steve: Alright. So you're doing everything on your own. You're a solopreneur, which is great. I think a lot of people kinda overstep overlook that. Right?

Like, gotta be solopreneur so you have an idea Of course. How to do what you're doing and what you're telling other people to do. Yep. And you can also, you

Willny: know, tell when they're BS ing you. Right. So you hire a bunch of acquisition guys. What was that journey like? Well, the journey from hiring acquisition guys, I mean, it was, it was it was something else.

It was something new for sure. I mean, I would first I I mean, we started hiring the acquisition guys I'd say like around June, July and I think we started off with maybe two acquisition guys and then we ran it through the whole year.

Steve: Mhmm.

Willny: And I was I was probably the third the third acquisition guy because I would still be doing deals, I mean. Yeah. And, and and we had one dispo agent and well, the acquisition side it was, you know, the it was it was fairly it was fairly quick to as far as like training people because I guess, I mean, I because I've I've messed up so much. It's like, I mean, I'm gonna teach you good, you know, and it was very fast, you know. Yeah.

Honestly, it was very it didn't take that long. I think, I take a lot of pride in that. My all the mess ups that I've done in in in in throughout this whole wholesale, you know, journey. So that allowed me to really get train my guys up very, very quick. So, you know, we were I think with a team of three, we're from from the moment that we got the office, we're pushing out maybe like 15 to like 12 contracts, just contracts.

Mhmm. Closing's a little bit, you know, less. Our contract rate wasn't wasn't the best but, you know, it was, yeah, it wasn't bad at all, you know. We put them through a lot of, we put them through a lot of training the first week so we go hard like the whole the whole first week. We have them go through John Martinez, the a whole bunch of I'm not gonna start promoting people but a whole bunch of training courses and next week is, you know, start making offers.

Yeah. Start making offers, and, it wasn't bad.

Steve: So you're saying that you wanted to teach us some of the mistakes that you were making. What were those mistakes? And you don't have to go through all of them.

Willny: Yeah. I

Steve: mean, it's only an hour long episode. Right. Right. But what were some of the major ones that you wanna make sure your acquisition guys, they're going through training?

Willny: I think emotional intelligence. Having knowing how to read people and how to actually talk to people. I think that's some that plays a major factor in actually buying properties pennies on the dollar. Yeah. You know?

Steve: So what are the takeaways or, you know, key things you're teaching about emotional intelligence? Because you can go and tell someone, like, you need to be more emotionally intelligent. Right?

Willny: Yeah. But,

Steve: like, what were some of the things that you were doing or or or or lessons you were imparting

Willny: on them to to learn that? So I guess one is, you know, really, really picking up on little little, the little the smallest details of when anybody says anything. How do I how can I explain it? It's, have you read, you read, Never Split the Difference?

Steve: Of course.

Willny: Yeah. So it's a lot of that. A lot of a lot of you know, a lot of labeling, a lot of mirroring and that falls into place with emotional intelligence. Actually knowing how somebody's reacting to to what you say or you know, not reacting to what you say. I mean, all of this plays a big factor in, when, you know, you're you're dealing with people, you know.

You gotta know how to you gotta know how to read people, like that so

Steve: Yeah. Okay. So your, emotional intelligence was the first thing. Is this another thing? Another big thing that you were teaching these guys?

Willny: Consistency, man. I I'm a freaking, you know, I'm a I'm a bull. And you know, I that's literally the biggest thing right there. Just consistency. You actually making putting out the 10 offers, ten, fifteen offers a day.

So Yeah. I'm I'm a I'm a big numbers guy so I just we we know that it's a numbers game. So I we we have a certain expectation where we're supposed to hit at least ten, fifteen offers a day. Mhmm. And, that's probably the biggest, you know, the biggest well, not the biggest thing but it's just one of many.

I don't it's it's kind of tough now that I'm on the spot like that but, but, but, you know, it's, it's one of it's one of I think it's an important factor for sure in training, acquisition agents, you know, being consistent and being, you know, knowing that this is a numbers game. You're not always gonna want you you can make 10 offers, fifteen fifteen offers. Nobody might accept any. Mhmm. And then there's other people where you make five, ten offers and then and, you know, one of them

Steve: Or two or three of them you stay.

Willny: Exactly.

Steve: And you never know.

Willny: Exactly. So I think, I think having that drive and the consistency is probably I think it's helped it's helped

Steve: a lot of, a lot

Willny: of the people that have worked with me, and and still do work with me right now. So I think that's probably the biggest thing I could, you know, I I shed light on them is, doing that right there.

Steve: Gotcha. So you mentioned that you went on a a bit of a hiring spree. So you got some acquisition guys, you got some cold callers. Yeah. So JJ wants to know how many cold callers did you

Willny: hire? When?

Steve: When you were on that spree in back in the middle of last year.

Willny: Middle of last year?

Steve: Right. Because you started hiring in June, you said?

Willny: I hired no. I started yeah. We started hiring in June.

Steve: Yeah.

Willny: Yeah. So we started off with, like, 10 cold callers.

Steve: Okay. So 10 cold callers in June.

Willny: 10 cold callers in June. Okay. How was that? It was crazy, man. I was I was drowning in leads.

I was drowning in leads. I would have at least like 70 leads come into my come into my pipeline every I think like every two days or something like that.

Steve: It's a lot.

Willny: It's a lot. And, and you know, I I was still part of I was still part of the acquisition side. So I wouldn't mind going in there and making it happen and whatnot. And, and encouraging the people right next to me to make it happen too, you know. Go out there, touch base with them, make the offer.

But after, you know, after that, it was like, that's when, you know, because I was still on the acquisition side. But after that, I started hiring other other, you know, a transaction coordinator, a disposition manager so I couldn't focus too much on the acquisition side. And that's when things kinda went like, you know, you you start really, how do I say it? It's not about the how many leads you get, it's how many, you know, you gotta actually close these deals. Right.

You know, so then I started really focusing on actual the training side of it more. The training, the acquisition ages and getting that offer to contract ratio way down. Because I mean, if you're gonna ask me, I'm a I'm a damn good salesman.

Steve: I mean, you know? So so, yeah,

Willny: I mean, it was pretty low at that time that I was involved. But, but, yeah, I mean, it was it was pretty hectic, man. At the end of the year, we that's when we had, like, a little bit of trouble, you know, with the current people that we have. So, and, you know, I we let go of a few and then we started hiring back in January. Mhmm.

And, we ended up hiring, like, maybe ten, twelve people. Wow. Yeah. And we put them on, like, a two month, you know, a two month training or something like that at $2,000 a month. Wow.

Yeah. And, that's when things, you know, I started really trying to, you know, figure this out, the balance between having a a good amount of leads and having a good, solid team that can support those leads because there's no there's no leads just sitting there is not gonna do nothing. You know, I at one point, I had like 300 leads just sitting in my system and I don't have no freaking offers going out, you know. And, and and I think that's one of the reasons that I started like thinking like, man, if I hire more people, I'm a get more deals. Right.

It's not that. It's not that's not the point at all.

Steve: So let's talk about that because one of the things that I think kind of a buzzword in the industry has been for the last twelve, twenty four months is scale, scale, scale, scale, scale. Right. Everyone's talking about scaling. Yeah. Right.

You did it. You scaled.

Willny: Right. You don't seem to be

Steve: in love with when what what came out of scaling.

Willny: Yeah. Oh, well, you're right. I mean, you know, it's it's something that I guess, you know, I I did I did get some mentorship, but it's that wasn't something that covered it, you know. I think I had to go through that. You literally when scaling, you literally have to have a balance of leads with acquisition in house agents.

Steve: Mhmm.

Willny: Because if you just have leads just sitting there, they're not gonna do nothing in that band and they're gonna they're gonna go look elsewhere, you know. They're gonna go look elsewhere and, and there goes your money. You can't calculate, cost of how what's the term? You can't calculate loss of opportunity, I think. Yeah.

Steve: Yeah. There's a missed opportunity.

Willny: Yeah. Miss opportunities. You can't calculate that, man. So having a bunch of leads just sitting there is not gonna do nothing. And that's when I that's when I started figure you know, realizing like damn, what the hell am I doing?

Yeah. So that's in and that's when I hired the 12 cold call. I mean, the 12 the ten, twelve agents in house. Because I'm thinking like, man, I'm gonna plug these people in. I'm a just sit them in a seat and, it's gonna take care of itself.

We're gonna make deals happen. But, no, that's not the case.

Steve: Isn't it funny how that works, though? Because we just think, hey. We could just throw more money at it. We can get more people. Because that's what they say.

Right? I mean, that's something I even said before. Every every business sells and marketing, and it becomes systems and people. Exactly. You just have to have the right people.

Willny: Right. You just hired

Steve: a bunch of people. It didn't quite go the way you wanted it to go. No.

Willny: At all.

Steve: So let's talk about, what lessons did you learn in that growth. Right? You hired a bunch of cold callers, and you hired a bunch of acquisitions. Between hiring a bunch of cold callers and acquisitions, which one was more challenging?

Willny: Well, the aqua I would say the acquisition side because, I mean, if they're gonna be in house, it's, it's gonna be a lot much stuff because you gotta deal, you know, you gotta deal with them every day. And what's it called? You gotta I think the main lesson that I learned is that, you gotta find some quality, quality people and you can't rush things. You can't rush to scale a business. I I personally think I was in a rush.

And that's not good. Anytime you do if you do anything in a rush, it's not gonna turn out good at all. So, so that and, actually having processes in place. You know, nowadays, at at that point, when I did hire those people, I would have them sit on, you know, sit on the payroll and sit in, you know, be there for two months and just say, you know, keep going. Let's do it.

This and that and not have a good process in place.

Steve: Sales people on payroll? You had sales people on payroll?

Willny: Well, I mean, there were two the 2,002 thousand a month salary. It wasn't it wasn't it wasn't good idea at all

Steve: at all

Willny: at all. It wasn't a good idea at all. But we still we're still offering the commissions and whatnot. Yeah. But, I think I think what I'm doing different now is that now I actually have steps in place in order to get on my get on the phones because these leads are expensive.

Yeah. They are. Yeah. So, and at that point, I didn't I didn't have that in place. You know, if you're gonna do wholesale mentorship, if somebody's gonna, you know, mentor you in wholesaling, they're probably gonna teach you, you know, the wholesale side how to put up the system but sales managing it manage management is like a whole different world.

Steve: It's a completely different world.

Willny: It's a completely different world.

Steve: Yeah. Yeah. So what was the hiring process on bringing the acquisition guys? A way that you wouldn't do it again, that you wouldn't recommend anybody? What was that process?

Willny: The process was literally just here's a bunch of videos on a Google Drive, take a look at it, let's get on the phones and you're just gonna bring me anybody that's interested in making an offer and you're just gonna sit right here next to me Mhmm. And hear me make that offer. But, you know, a lot and it works for a lot of people,

Steve: you know. Was there a filtering process though to even sit next to Will? No.

Willny: There wasn't. And that's and that's the part where I think that's the part where things, you know, went left. Yeah. Because there's no filtering process. I'm just literally plugging anybody in a seat.

Steve: How are you finding these guys? Like, you weren't finding them at the bars.

Willny: No. I was I was, we were doing Indeed, Craigslist. And, you know, I'm hiring these people because, you know, they have sales salesperson there on their resume and whatnot. And I'm like, okay. Cool, man.

You're a sales guy. Cool. I'm a you know, let's do it. I'm a I could teach you. But, no, man.

It's not, it's not as easy as it

Steve: as that looks. I think part of it too, though. Right? I mean, you said you're a salesperson.

Willny: Right. So you probably liked everyone that you hire. I did. I really did. And you can't hire people that you like.

Yeah, man.

Steve: That's the tough part right there.

Willny: So For sure.

Steve: So you bring them in, and you have the training for two months at 2 k a month. I mean, that what

Willny: what was that? They would do they would do two months, $2,000 a month, and afterwards, it would be a 10% commission.

Steve: So four k times 10 people? Yeah. So 40 k you put out there to train these guys. Yeah. How many of them stuck around?

Willny: I'd say two of them stuck around.

Steve: Two of them stuck around? Two. Okay. So that's not terrible. So you got two good people out of it.

Willny: Oh, yeah. Okay. So moving forward, what is the hiring process to work with Will? So now the hiring process is more, we we put them on some training, some we I I have, like, three training courses from a few different real estate, you know, investors, that would then navigate through the whole wholesale world. And, we would have them complete three of them the whole week.

Mhmm. Complete the three courses the whole week. The second the second week, I'd say the second week would start actually, no. The first week, we do the training and comps. So I would literally give them a

Speaker 2: packet of 50 comps, 50 properties that I

Willny: need to see how, 50 comps, 50 properties that I need to see how, you know, I need I need you to analyze it.

Steve: Mhmm.

Speaker: I

Willny: gotta know I gotta know what are we buying it for? How much what is ARV? What is the rehab? What can I sell it for?

Steve: Yeah.

Willny: So it's literally just a checklist. Fit and 50 comps. I and I'm and I'm giving you the comps on Monday. I gotta have them back on Friday. Mhmm.

So so that's that's the first part. That's the first week. Second week is when we start making offers. Yeah. Yeah.

Alright. So but what about

Steve: the filtering process? Is there a filtering process?

Willny: What do you mean?

Steve: Like, for them to sit down, like because you you got I'm I'm presuming you still have it on Indeed, Craigslist, wherever. Right? So let's say I'm just a

Willny: candidate and I go and apply on your ad. Oh, what's the filter and process with hiring? Yeah. The filter and process with hiring, to be honest, I just gotta I just gotta see I I gotta feel a good vibe from you and the, you know, I can't, it can't, I can't, how do I say it? I don't need people that, that have, that are jumping from job to job to job to job every, you know, every year.

That's automatically like a red flag to me. Yeah. But, as far as filtering and really just I gotta hear, you know, I gotta I gotta see what you've been doing as far as real estate goes, man. I mean, majority of, I mean, majority of the people that I work with right now, they've I found them not through Indeed and whatnot but mainly through, like, through they they just know me. They just know me and, you know Word-of-mouth.

Word-of-mouth. Gotcha. So I gotta, you know, we have to I have to see that you at least been trying have been trying to, you know, navigate through real estate and whatnot. And if I could help you, that's that's that's beautiful.

Steve: Okay. So so big thing now is more rigorous training upfront. So they gotta go to sales training, they gotta do comps Right. And then they're making offers.

Willny: Right. And then those two weeks, I have the option to I have the option to what's it called? I mean, if if if it's not a good fit, I'll put it in the contract. Like Yeah. We have the options to let you go.

But usually, people get people that work with me, they'll get they'll get a deal within the second week.

Steve: Is Texas a right to work state? Texas, you can fire anybody for any reason?

Willny: Yeah. Okay.

Steve: So, so we talked about acquisition guys. Sure. Well, real quick before we transition, how much are

Willny: you paying these guys? Is it 10% plus ten? Percent commission.

Steve: Are they still getting a base salary? No. So no base salary is 10%? Yep. Okay.

I'm I'm sure a question that a lot of guys are asking or wondering, because you say you get too many leads and not enough acquisition, guys. Right. What do you guys do when you said cold callers? Where are you hiring your cold callers from?

Willny: We're hiring our cold callers from

Steve: Colombia. Colombia.

Willny: Colombia. We have a few in Colombia. We have a few in Nicaragua. Okay. So they, so they're are full time on the phones from 09:00 in the morning all the way to, like, 08:00 at night.

Okay. And what do you pay those guys? We pay them $5 an hour.

Steve: $5 an hour. And how many of those do

Willny: you have now? Right now, we have we have eight. Eight. Okay. And you mentioned

Steve: that you're outside of Houston or you're not limited to Houston anymore. Right. So what markets are you in?

Willny: We are we're in we're in we're very we're scattered throughout, like, Texas. I literally just pulled a list in Texas and we've been doing deals all over. Yeah. We did a deal in Temple last week. Another one in like, what is it?

Amarillo. So we're like really not not blanketing but anything multifamily, we're like looking at all over Texas. Because I have buyers that are looking literally all over Texas and I would probably and I would personally buy it. If even if it's, you know, if it's in Texas, I mean, you know, low taxes, who doesn't want that?

Steve: That? So Right.

Willny: So so but as far as, like, markets, I mean, we're in Temple, Texas, Amarillo, and, we just recently moved into Ohio.

Steve: What part of Ohio? Toledo.

Willny: Toledo. Toledo, Ohio and Cleveland.

Steve: Gotcha.

Willny: So so now we're venturing, you know, a little bit out outside. So one thing I

Steve: hear all the time is how competitive Houston is. Yeah. So but you're you're seem to be happy over there. Yeah. So tell me about that.

Why do you do you think it's competitive?

Willny: Not really. I really don't. I've heard I've heard it's competitive, but, I mean, the leads are still flowing in. So, obviously, somebody's interested in selling. I think the only difference with, with us is that our follow-up, our, you know, our follow-up is is is like relentless.

And, you know, since the majority of people in Houston talk Spanish, we go ahead and and nurture them through different avenues whether it be mail, whether it be SMS, whether it be RBM, and RBM in Spanish. So we're literally putting them on follow-up campaigns in their native language. Right. So that that that in that that, that puts us in a position where, hey, they know they they know us. You know, we're we're blood.

We're Raza.

Steve: You know? So and I think that's really

Willny: I think that's probably the biggest difference.

Steve: Gotcha.

Willny: You know, the I think there's, like, 38% Hispanics in in Houston. 38% of the population.

Steve: Gotcha.

Willny: And, so we tailor our marketing around a Spanish, how do I say it, a Spanish little group of people. So that's and it's been working for us. So Gotcha.

Steve: So what was the so you you you scaled up, had a bunch of cold calls, had a bunch of leads, had a bunch of acquisition guys. Right. But in January, you made a big decision or early part of this year, you made a big decision.

Willny: Yeah. Like February. So let's talk about that. Yeah. So we I ended up, you know, everybody, they they did not work out after two months.

I mean, people were coming in late. People weren't doing this and that. They weren't hitting, you know, their sales quota. We're looking for at least a 100 phone calls a day. You know, I would get maybe twenty, thirty.

And after consistently telling, so I had to let a lot I had to let a lot of people go.

Steve: What were they now doing? What was that? Like how what what were they responsible for? What were they actually doing?

Willny: They were responsible for, you know, at least coming to the morning meeting. That's one. Make at least a 100 phone calls. That's two. These people, they would make, like, twenty, thirty phone calls.

Call it a day. Hey. And and it's just and it and it was, everybody too.

Speaker: That that

Willny: was the crazy part. I'm like, what the hell is going on? I'm wasting so much money.

Steve: So what was that conversation like? Like, what do you say? Like, let's say, you know, you're Will, and I'm working for you. Right? And, like, this is, like, the fifth day in a row I put in twenty, thirty dials.

What's that conversation like when Will comes in

Willny: to have the talk? Hey, Steve. Please take a seat. You know, I see you've been trying, man. But, honestly, I've been, you know, we've been I told you from the beginning, it's a 100 we're we're looking for at least a 100 phone calls a day.

I'd be doing you'd be doing a disservice to yourself by just coming in here and making twenty, thirty phone calls a day because you know that that's not gonna make any money. Yeah. And I and and it's not gonna how do I say it? It's not we're not gonna be I want you to make money. Because I really do.

I really do want these people to make money. Mhmm. And, twenty, thirty calls a day is not really gonna do anything. It's not it's it's literally a drop a drop inside of, you know, it's not it's it's not a lot. So

Steve: So how do that conversation work at all?

Willny: I let them know, hey. Look, man. I can't we can't we can't work together anymore. I'm sorry.

Steve: So would you have this conversation, like, once, twice, five times? How many, like, how many times did you have this conversation with somebody?

Willny: I've had this conversation a lot of times.

Steve: But with each person, how many times are you having this conversation?

Willny: At least twice.

Steve: Okay.

Willny: Like, if they, you know, I could understand a couple days, maybe a day or so, two days, you know, things, you know, you're not making as many calls but when it goes on for weeks, that's when, you know, you gotta you gotta step in a little bit and, yeah. So, like, maybe two times.

Steve: Yeah. Well and the reason why I bring this up. Right? I mean, it's kinda it it's your personal pain. I apologize for laughing.

But everyone needs to understand, like, when you're scaling, it's just it seems easy. Like, oh, I just had to get a couple acquisition guys Yeah. This position guy, get this texting platform, this Podio, and boom, I have, like, this great business. For sure. Right?

Like, that's the idea. That's the mindset going in. But, really, it's pretty painful, and you're gonna have big ups. You're gonna have some big downs. Big downs.

Willny: A 100%.

Steve: But then you get back up again. Exactly. Right? Okay. So you were you you were doing good last year.

You had a great year last year. Got your first lease your first office.

Willny: Yeah.

Steve: Right? So you got your office. You're scaling. January is like, okay. Pump the brakes.

This is not going the way I wanted to go. Yeah.

Willny: Yeah. So it was January, February, that's when things kind of took a left. Mhmm. We, you know, before the year ended, we bought two properties, ourselves, you know, from our wholesale funds and, you know, one of them, one of those properties I had this tenant in there that she was not leaving and then that's when this whole coronavirus thing happened and I'm stuck inside this property and I got a whole freaking team of people at the office. They're not doing nothing.

I'm like, what the hell? I'm like, right, I'm going through it but, but no, we, you know, it's, it's part of the business. You go through ups and downs. You know, you just I think I think what separates one is the ability to get back up and keep doing it again. Yeah.

Because I'm still trying to hire. I'm still trying to stuff this office, you know, you know, with a bunch, you know I'm still I'm still trying to work with a lot of people right now.

Steve: So let's talk about the resetting. So you made a decision to reset. So you let a bunch of people go. Yeah. And then now you're you're you're you're trying a different path.

You're trying to do it again in a different way.

Willny: Right.

Steve: So what are those conversations been like? I mean, obviously, we talked about different onboarding strategies. Right. Is there anything else you're trying to tweak and restarting your your your Yeah.

Willny: So I set I set the expect I set more expectations, you know. I set targets. Now now the targets are a lot more clear.

Steve: Mhmm.

Willny: Unlike back then, now the targets we're looking at, you know, we need at least two contracts of, a week per per acquisition agent. Yeah. That's something I didn't have back then. I was literally just trying to train people and hoping that they will come around but it doesn't work that way. No.

It doesn't work that way at all. Yeah. So now it's we're setting expectations of what we're expecting and how this how how this would go if if if you do work out and you, you know, you do you're a good fit for the team and how it would go if you're not a good fit for the team. Yeah. You know?

And what else what else different? I mean, I think more tracking too, man. More tracking. I mean, we made a good amount of money last year and we were just blowing. We were running through it, dude.

I'm telling you, we were running through it. And I think that's that right there didn't, that didn't help at all. Yeah. You gotta look at your numbers. You gotta look at at your KPIs and, literally how much money you're spending and and, how much how much you're getting in.

I mean, because think about it. In January, like, dude, I didn't have I think, I think we probably spent we were probably in the negative like $30,000. Yeah. 30, $35,000 in the negative in January, you know. And I and I don't mind sharing that at all.

I mean, it's one of those things that I think, I think that could help your views a lot. You can't just rush into this, you know. You gotta you gotta find good people. You gotta find good people to work with and, keep track of your numbers. And yeah, man.

Steve: And so talking about, you know, the finances, that's something that I've mentioned multiple times on the show. I don't know if it ever really sticks, is the the finances is the most important thing, but it's the most overlooked thing. Yeah. So last year, you made a lot of money. I'm guessing you had this frustration because I've had this frustration for over ten years.

Correct. It's like I'm making a lot of money. Where the hell is it?

Willny: Right.

Steve: Did you have that problem?

Willny: Yeah. A 100%, man. So what did you do to fix that problem? Well, first, we soon as soon after we let go let go of these people, like, around February, we cut down to maybe two cold callers. Mhmm.

Two cold callers. Let's see let's start yeah, just really keeping track of how many how much does it cost to actually get a lead. How much does it cost? How many leads is it gonna take for me to get a contract? So now we started paying more attention to that part, you know, the KPI part, which we weren't doing.

We were literally just because I was I was still part of my acquisition team. I was still out there. I was still like last year, I was still making deals. Yeah. I was still going out there signing a contract.

So and I was selling it too. So they would move, like, fast. So it's one of those things you don't you don't really pay attention to. But that's not good. So So we started tracking KPIs?

Started tracking KPIs.

Steve: What are you using to track your KPIs?

Willny: Just a spreadsheet. Just a spreadsheet, and our CRM our CRM, Podio. We use use Podio. Gotcha. We have a built in, we have a built in, app in there that tracks how much, you know, how much how much is is it costing for us to get this lead?

How many leads have we gotten off this marketing campaign? Mhmm. And then that's when I have a VA. She just transfer all transfers all of that into a spreadsheet and just hands it to me. Awesome.

Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. And

Steve: for anyone that's interested in that that podio, what would that be? If someone want to check out that podium built out or did you just had that personalized?

Willny: Oh, no. That was personalized.

Steve: I had

Willny: it I had it custom made.

Steve: Alright. Okay. So, owner Gilbert Real Estate wants to know, what are your plans if the market bottoms out?

Willny: What is my plans if the market bottoms out? Probably just stay liquid. You know, stay liquid. Buy keep buying. Buy buy low assets.

Buy very cheap multifamily assets. That's what we're focusing on right now, big bigly. Yeah. We're we're really just trying to because, you know, we I mean, you you saw what happened in March. That could happen.

That that could happen again. We never know. It could definitely happen again. Exactly. So now that thing that really just got us paranoid.

Mhmm. When it comes to that right there, we never want that to happen again. Well, to be put in a position, you know, in a tough position because I think we lost like six we've lost like six deals that month. Did you? March, man.

It was it was a nutcase. We lost like $80,000 worth of profits. So that's it wasn't good. But, but, yeah, I mean, staying liquid and, building a a a stronger rental portfolio. That way, even if deals do fall through, we're still good.

So let's

Steve: talk about your portfolio because there's a couple of times you mentioned that. What does your rental portfolio look like?

Willny: We only have a few houses. We're and we're closing on, like, five units here in, like, next week. Awesome. Not not too much but, you know, it's we're we're looking to just really turn this wholesale side into a multifamily only

Steve: Mhmm.

Willny: Only side. So, you know, we're doing a lot of multifamily deals right now and, you know, that's that's what it's looking like for the next, you know, for the next, you know, few the next year or so. You know, we're just probably just gonna keep wholesaling and, buying these taking down these assets.

Steve: Awesome. Very cool. And then Justice So to wants to know, are you prescreening your leads before they get to acquisition manager?

Willny: Are we prescreening our leads before

Steve: Before they get to your acquisition manager.

Willny: The cold caller doesn't.

Steve: Okay. So how are they qualifying them? How how are your cold callers qualifying them before they get to the acquisition

Willny: guys? We literally just give them a script. You know, we give we give them a script. We we try to pull out some motivation. If they do have some motivation and, they are in a they are in a tough position then then it then it translates into a lead.

But if now if there's just somebody that's, you know, looking to hear an offer, this is gonna translate into a prospect within our CRM. Yeah. Yeah. So it's, we just yeah. We just ask them a bunch of questions.

We have the cold call. We just ask them a bunch questions.

Steve: What are

Willny: those questions? You know, how how long have you been trying to sell? How long have you owned this property? And all of this falls down and we how do I say it? All of these questions that I'm gonna mention which is, how long have you been trying to sell?

How long have you owned it? Why aren't you fixing it up or renting it out? You know, all of that translates into why are you interested in selling? That all falls into why are you interested in selling all and if they could get through all of that, they're gonna give us, you know, they're gonna give us, they're gonna give us a reason why they're interested in selling. And if not, then this is gonna translate into a prospect.

But we're still gonna make an offer on it, you know. We're still gonna make an offer on it.

Steve: What kind of offers are you

Willny: guys making? We're we're making cash offers, seller finance offers, and, listing offers. So we're offering to list it. We're offering to buy it outright cash and, we're, you know, to sell to sell it to us with owner financing. Got it.

Yeah.

Steve: And as far as the cash offers, what what are

Willny: you guys offering? We're offering, like, 40%, 30% of market value.

Steve: How's that going?

Willny: It's it's actually working. I mean, it's not it's not

Steve: Not in Houston. Uh-huh.

Willny: Not in Houston? Yeah. In Houston. In Houston. Yeah.

Yeah. And we're selling them, like, 70% of air v, and they're, you know, they're moving. Awesome. And I think, you know, now and now and now we're in a now we're in a place like, damn, we we gotta take these down ourselves. Yeah.

So I mean, because because shit, we're gonna we're getting them $30.40 cents on a dollar. Like, we literally just picked up a house not too long ago for $10,000 in Houston. A house. A freaking house. House.

Steve: Yeah.

Willny: And it was cleared out. It was brand it was it was free and clear. Nothing they're gonna have a little title issues but I think that's one of the main reasons that we're getting them probably low as hell. A lot of them have title issues. Mhmm.

But we're able to navigate them so easily because we've went we we've been through a lot. You know, we've we've, we know about the affidavits of airships. We know what what has to go, you know, when we know what has to be on that death certificate or on this birth certificate and how that relates to this other thing and this other thing. So, you know, I think, I think that's where we provide a lot of a lot more value to our, you know, to our sellers. You know, we're able to figure out that problem, like, very quickly.

Gotcha. We work with some good lawyers that could help us out. So

Steve: Cool. Let's see. So I get let's see what else there. Danny says you've helped so much on Twitter. So a shout out from h town.

Appreciate that. Edwin wants to know multifamily, you're

Willny: buying multifamily in what markets? We're buying multifamily in Ohio and Texas.

Steve: Gotcha. Yeah. And then Justice has another question. If you're to go back when you close your first deal, and let's pretend you got a 10 k assignment fee, what would you spend your money on? Education, marketing, or hiring?

Willny: Education for sure. That that should have been, like, my first thing. That should that that's that should have been like the first thing I I did when I touched good money, man. Yeah. You know, imagine if I would have spent that money that that I, you know, that I gave Carlos and Sal last year.

If I'm imagine what I've if I would have spent in the 2017, 2018, I'd be a freaking billionaire right now, man.

Steve: Yeah. So that's pretty good.

Willny: Yeah. I mean, so I think, and, you know, it's not a it's you know, they're with the education part, they're gonna teach you a lot of stuff, but I think it's just spending that type type of money. Spending that type of money triggers something in your brain where like well, in my in my case, where I gotta produce now. I just spent I just spent a lot of money and, and yeah, I mean, that's, I would definitely do that first. Awesome.

For sure.

Steve: Very cool. And, I say the same thing. Definitely get education.

Willny: For sure.

Steve: So Kendall wants to know how many leads per week are you bringing in per acquisition manager?

Willny: How many leads a week am I bringing in per acquisition?

Steve: So I

Willny: would just let me see. I think, I think right now, we're at, like, a 180, maybe 180 leads or something

Steve: like that. Per per acquisition manager?

Willny: No. So per acquisition managers, maybe, like, like, fifty, forty new ones. Okay. But, yeah, like, forty, fifty new new new leads per agent a a week or something like that. Because we're now now we're like we're we're filtering down the the cold the calls, the the the cold callers, you know.

We're we're asking more questions and we're getting more, you know, we're not just getting people that are raising their hands. Well, Well, we still are getting people that just raise their hands but for the leads leads, like, maybe like forty, fifty a week. But we have a whole bunch of others that are just prospects. Yeah. So in total, I'm thinking like 300 a week.

300 people that are interested in selling a week. But leads leads, yeah, very is it's, like, a 150 or something like that.

Steve: Gotcha. Another thing we were talking about is, you know, you went through this resetting phase. You had a great year last year. It went through a resetting phase. And then last month, you did a 175,000.

Right. So that doesn't sound like resetting.

Willny: Well, it it to be honest, it it's not resetting. I would say it's just literally just punching at the bag Yeah. Punching at it and doing the same exact stuff. But but we we just literally switched over our our our onboarding process. And I think that really that really,

Steve: But you just kept moving forward. You you had to switch a few things. Yeah. But you're Well,

Willny: we just gave we just pedal to the metal man,

Steve: you

Willny: know, and really switch up how we're how we're onboarding people. That way we're not, you know, that way we're not freaking down $30,000 for the month and whatnot. Yeah. And we're actually making some type of money. So, yeah.

I mean, yeah, that's pretty much,

Steve: so So talking about losing 30 k in a month, what is your monthly overhead?

Willny: Right now, our monthly overhead is, like, is not much at all. I'm thinking it's, like, with my with my transaction coordinator salary, I'm thinking, like, around 15,000, $16,000 a month. Okay.

Steve: Yeah. So the reason why you had that big overhead is because everybody was on payroll. Yeah. All your salespeople were on payroll.

Willny: Yeah. The salespeople were were on was on payroll and, I just let the cold callers just go loose. I mean, I didn't have no quality assurance there. I didn't I wasn't tracking, the calls. They would just be sent, you know, they were just everywhere.

And that that drove our price per lead up, like, way high.

Steve: Yeah.

Willny: I think we were at, like, $40 a lead for the cold callers. And now, I mean, now it's not too much. And I was, like, fifteen, sixteen.

Steve: So Gregory Ballard wants to know who does he contact if he wants to JV with you?

Willny: You could contact me. How? Will, my email is wilny, willny,@equityoftexas.com.

Steve: And Moises Gonzalez wants to know what is your favorite book?

Willny: My favorite book is probably in over like, my favorite book ever? I mean Yeah. The Science of Being Great. The Science of Being Great by Wallace d. Waddle.

Let's talk about it. What's so great about that book? Well, he he really puts it in, how do I say it? It's a tough one to actually. He there's a science to being great, to be in, you know, to doing to doing great things.

And, and he literally explains the science. I I I honestly can't really go over the whole thing. He has, like, a lot of chapters, man. But, but I I do suggest it though, the science of being great. Yeah.

It's just something I can't really

Steve: Got it. Yeah. And Damon Nunez wants to know what program are you are you using to get leads and prospects?

Willny: What program are you using to get leads

Steve: Yeah. And prospects? What what's

Willny: your lead gen looking like today? Lead gen. Okay. We're looking we're buying lists we're buying lists from Adam Data, ListSource, Real Acquisitions, ReboGateway, CitroCado. And, we are spending, you know, we're doing the cold callers, eight cold callers full time.

So that's bringing in those leads. Then we have then we do a little bit of SMS Mhmm. In our VMs and we use Roar for

Steve: that. Gotcha. Yeah. And how many calls a day are your callers making? So Alex wants to know.

Willny: 300 calls a day.

Steve: 300. That's the co callers or those?

Willny: Call callers. Yeah. Okay.

Steve: What about the in house guys?

Willny: 100. 100.

Steve: Cool. Hundred phone calls. So right now, what would you say is your biggest struggle?

Willny: My biggest struggle is probably probably growing a sales team. Mhmm. You know, I I still think I still even though, you know, I still I still feel like, you know, I could progress. I still feel like we could do better. And as far as when it comes to finding people, so that's pretty much yeah.

That's pretty much it right there, man. Just actually finding more great people. That's, that's that's a that's a big struggle right there,

Steve: you know. And what are you doing to fix it?

Willny: Now we are literally just targeting a bunch of we're we're we're not doing too much of Indeed and Craigslist and CareerBuilder, none of that. No. No? No. We're not probably not doing that.

A lot of that. We're really just relying based off word-of-mouth. Gotcha. And, Twitter, you know, I gotta yeah. I mean, I I've hired a lot of people off Twitter.

So

Steve: It's like about Twitter. You got a big following on Twitter. Yeah. How'd you how'd you come about getting a big following on Twitter?

Willny: Man, I've been I've been talking about real estate on Twitter for, like, six years. Yeah. And I've had my Twitter for, like, ten. So I've been talking about it for, like, six years and peep and, you know, just sharing my journey and, you know, people just people like it. I, and and now we're I think we have like 18, you know, I think I have like seventeen, eighteen thousand followers and, I share a lot of threads on there too.

Like how to actually get a deal with like $506,100 bucks, you know, because you could definitely get a deal for $506,100 bucks if, you know, if you're doing what, you know, if you're if you're implementing the proper marketing strategies. And, it's cool. I've, I started this wholesale course on there. Yeah. And, you know, we've we felt a lot I felt a lot of people get deals, through that, through Twitter.

You know, I had one guy that called me, you know, he booked a consultation with me, bought the course and whatnot and, within a 150 phone calls, he got a deal with us. A $108,000 wholesale deal. Yeah. Within a 150 phone calls. Yeah.

Not even a 150 offers, just a 150 calls. And, you know, that type of stuff, man. It's it's it's a good feeling. It's a good feeling to be able to

Steve: It's a great feeling.

Willny: Yeah, man.

Steve: Yeah. You're I I think you're the only person I know that's actually having any kind of success on Twitter.

Willny: Yeah. There's a few others out there. But yeah.

Steve: And then, let's see. Barakat, ecubi, wants to know what's the best way to

Willny: get into probate. What's the best way to get into probate? Mhmm. I would skip trace them. I'd probably skip trace them, and literally send them a mail.

And you I think you wanna also how do I say it? There's a grantor and, there's a per the the probate applicant.

Steve: You wanna skip trace

Willny: their their name as well. Mhmm. So you wanna skip trace the person that died and the person that's the applicant and I use real acquisition so that's, I that's that's what I do to find those people. We just skip trace them and we send them a massive text blast or we just call them. Gotcha.

Steve: Olivia Pearson has two questions. I'm gonna try to boil this down to one. What do you you what do you wish you knew when you when you were brand new when you first started?

Willny: That it's a numbers game. Just because you lock up 20 contract doesn't mean you're gonna close 20 deals. You can lock up a 100. You're not gonna close a 100 though. And that's one of the things that, man, because I would get like so dis I I get so stressed out when I when I first started.

Steve: Mhmm.

Willny: Because I would get these I think I fell on I fell off, I fell out of like maybe 10 contracts before closing on my first deal.

Steve: Mhmm.

Willny: And that like had me like, you know, very depressed and very lonely and I didn't wanna talk to nobody and whatnot because of it's not happening right, man. And I got this frustration like damn it, I need to I need to I need to make it happen. And, so yeah. But if I would have known that it's a numbers game that you gotta push out, you gotta go out there and push out maybe a 100 offers to get a deal or not even not not a 100 but, you know, a lot. A lot.

You gotta put out a large amount of, you gotta take a lot of action and, that's probably something that I wish I would have known from the beginning. That it's really a numbers game and, and that if you're not marketing, I don't really think you're not really you're not really running a business. It's more like a hobby. Yeah. You know?

So

Steve: I've never talked about this before, but I remember, like, when I was, you know, brand brand new and I wrote a contract, for these other, wholesalers. I don't even know they're wholesalers. Right? I was some someone I met at ARIA. Right.

I wrote an offer for them and got their offer accepted. You know, like, fifty, sixty percent of market value. I was stoked. Right? And then I go turn in the paperwork to my broker.

He's like, it's short sales. Like, yeah. So? He's like, that means this offer doesn't mean anything till the banker froze it. So, like, you know, because I was writing I I think I was writing at

Willny: that point, like, 50 offers a day. Wow. You know? Holy shit.

Steve: And so, you know you know, cutting your teeth. Right? Getting started.

Willny: Right. Right.

Steve: And I was like, oh, man. Finally got one of these accepted. And it's like, yeah. That's a waste of time. It wasn't even worth the paper that he printed out.

Willny: Oh my god. Yeah, man. I mean, it's I I can relate a lot, man. I I fell out of contract a lot of times just to Yeah. Get one.

And I think it'll you know, for any anybody that's brand new, man, you should really focus on putting talking to more people, putting more offers out and literally tracking it. Tracking it and to see what is what is your closing ratio? How many offers is it gonna take you to get a deal? Yeah. That's when you start that's when you could start, you know, actually, moving into scaling.

Yeah. That part right there. So that's a

Steve: good question. Ratios?

Willny: Exactly. Do

Steve: you have separate junior acquisitions or is it just straight acquisition guys?

Willny: I tried that. I tried and and I tried that January, dude. No. It's not no. It's it it didn't work out.

No. Everybody that we that we're looking to hire is strict we're going straight to acquisitions. Yeah. Yeah.

Steve: Tee Sanders wants to know when you first got started, how did you market yourself?

Willny: Craigslist. I would do Zillow. I would do band designs. That's and Facebook. That's pretty much it.

Steve: Yeah. But yeah. Very cool. So that's all the questions. What what is your why?

I mean, you're a young guy. What why keep pushing? I mean, you're you're you're making good money. Right?

Willny: Like Yeah.

Steve: Being in your young twenties, you don't really need that much money. Right. Right. Right. What is your why?

Willny: My why is probably to have enough freedom to enjoy my family. You know? I freedom has always been a big thing for me, like, you know, because I've been working I've been working, you know, a job since I was like 14. I got my first job at 14 and, and I've never, I I would have money but I wouldn't have any time. So that's so literally buying back my time, buying back my freedom and, and really, you know, to enjoy my family.

You know, that's it's, it's big for me. Family is huge.

Steve: Gotcha. Gotcha. Alright. So I want you to think about a message you want to leave the listeners with. A couple quick announcement.

Guys, if you like this today, please, you know, comment, subscribe, share, comment, like, so on. It really helps us a lot. It helps us with the algorithms so we can get this message out to further people. Again, text closer to 33777 if you wanna check out our sales training program that we, created. And then next week, there's no, podcast.

Next week, I'm gonna be a collective genius, hanging out with some of the top wholesalers in the country. And then the week after that, we got Tucker Merihue coming in from Portland in two weeks. Hopefully, the he he can fly out safely. I think that city's on fire right now. Right.

So what are your last thoughts?

Willny: My last thoughts, I really think that everybody should, you know, if you're gonna do if if you're gonna dive into this wholesaling side, I would I would double down on it and literally not let up until until you get it. You know, I see a lot of people they first they're thinking about wholesale deals then they're thinking about, you know, doing this owner finance deal over here and then with the subject to over there. If you're a new newer person, I would suggest strictly focus on wholesaling your first deal so, you know, you know exactly what a deal is. That way when it's your turn turn to to buy a deal for yourself, you know that it's a wholesale deal. You know that it's a good one.

Mhmm. And you know, the the man that chases two rabbits catches none. Yeah. So, so and that goes that that goes that goes for real estate too and and dipping and dabbing into different, you know, niche niches as a newbie. So, yeah, I would stick I would stick to one thing.

So Awesome. Love it. Yes, sir.

Steve: And if someone wanted to get a hold of you again, how would they get a hold of you?

Willny: You could, you could hit you could follow me on Twitter. I'm very active on Twitter. Wilny Giffaro, w I l l n y, Giffaro. It should be on here.

Steve: It is.

Willny: And, and yeah. You could just hit me up through there and, I'm active on Facebook too.

Steve: So Awesome. Very cool. Alright. Thank you guys for watching. Thank you.

Willny: Appreciate it, man. Thank you.

Speaker: Can't nobody touch us. And, yeah, we about to give you game. Shout out to Steve Tran. Real estate disruptors. They cannot touch us.

And yet we about to give you game. Shout out to Steve Trane. Jump on the Steve Trane. We about to give you game. All