Lauren Hardy Shares How She Did 55 Virtual Wholesale Deals in 2019

Steve Trang: Hey, everybody. Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Real Estate Disruptors. Today, we have Lauren Hardy. She flew in from Orange County to share how she wholesale 55 houses virtually last year. I want to start off by saying a very special thank you to everybody that's been so patient.

We took the show off the, off the air during the whole COVID coronavirus crisis, and so many of you have reached out to tell me how much you missed the show. And the truth is, I missed it too. So thank you guys for being so patient and and sharing the love. If this is your first time tuning in, I'm Steve Trang, founder of the OfferFast Homes app, the only MLS for off market wholesale properties. And I help entrepreneurs create businesses that support their family, lifestyle, and goals through mentorship.

And I'm on a mission to create 100 millionaires. I get asked all the time how to become one of those 100 millionaires, so please allow me to answer it here. The information on this podcast alone is enough to help you become a millionaire in the next five to seven years. You don't need to pay for anything. However, if you want to shortcut that process two or three years off that time, you can always join us, sales training mastermind at disruptors.com.

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If you get value today, please tell a friend. You can share this episode right now, tag a friend below, or tell your best takeaway from the show later on. That way, we can all grow together. And this is a live show, so please ask your questions for for Lauren to answer. You ready?

Lauren Hardy: I'm ready.

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

Lauren: Well, I started out in real estate right out of college, but I Really? I yes. I've got thirteen years of real estate experience, but I started in commercial real estate. I always assumed I would be in real estate. I think it was because my dad, he actually was a CPA and a college professor, and he always said if he could do it over again, he would have gotten into real estate.

Steve: Really?

Lauren: Yes.

Steve: Okay.

Lauren: So that was always ingrained in my head. So it was like this assumption growing up that, like, I would just be in real estate, and I went with it. So I started out in commercial real estate, very corporate corporate world. I worked, like, the eight to five grind. But what got me into investment real estate, I got started in house flipping.

And I got started because I wanted more freedom of my schedule. I had just had my

Steve: daughter. Oh.

Lauren: And, yeah, I became a mom and I realized that it was really hard to juggle corporate life and also your newborn baby.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: So I wanted to just be self employed and I really honestly would have done anything at that point. And it just happened to be that house flipping was an option. So

Steve: So I wanna take a step back here because you mentioned, you know, commercial. Like, I saw you worked at Sperry Van Ness

Lauren: Mhmm.

Steve: Which is a big outfit. You know? It's not a small, you know, it's not a it's not a mom, mom and pop, you know, commercial brokerage. So

Lauren: Right.

Steve: You started there. My understanding, in order to get started commercial, is you need to hammer the phones.

Lauren: Yes.

Steve: So is that what you had to do?

Lauren: Yes. So my, like, first day day for first month, it was like they give you this big book Mhmm. Of landlords, like and these are industrial retail or office landlord building owners. You would have the, like, building, like, a little small picture, the address, owner's name or LLC name, and the phone number. And it was like, go ahead, start dialing.

So I had to get really good on the phones. And in fact, I was really good. I learned some secrets and tricks just from that experience alone that I take with me today with my seller negotiations.

Steve: Yeah. So I think that was really relevant. Right? Because Right. Yeah.

I mean, it was just this commercial real estate thing, but you have to grind

Lauren: Mhmm.

Steve: To survive. And you were there for how long?

Lauren: I did commercial real estate. Now this was in the recession, so I started out in, leasing office industrial retail buildings, and then I got a really cool opportunity with Subway restaurants and franchise development. So I I did that for a little bit. And then I actually got a job with the Irvine company, which was a big it's a major landlord. If you guys are familiar with the city of Irvine, they basically own, like, every piece of land there.

Steve: Okay.

Lauren: So, I got into construction management and with that job as well. So I bounced around in commercial real estate probably, I would say, four or five years. It was right after right after call a little bit in college. I started out with an internship and then right after college until I started my house flipping business.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: And I started flipping houses while I was working at the Irvine company, so I was doing both at the same time for about a year.

Steve: Okay. So let's talk about your first flip. Like, how did you come across first flip?

Lauren: Okay. So this was awesome. This was, like, right after this was right after the recession. So we're let's take you back to 2012. Okay.

I I my brother was flipping houses. I told him, man, I love your schedule is awesome. I need to do what you're doing because I have this little baby at home, and she hardly even knows who I am because she spends more time with the babysitter than she does me her own mother.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: So my brother, he actually gave me some education. Back then, it used to come in CDs. Okay? This is, like, before Rezuku. It used to come in these c these CDs, and I popped them in my car, and I would listen to them on my morning commute.

I deep dove into education for, like, a week, and I learned the basics of direct mail.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: And that was my first seller marketing method. So I started sending sellers letters, and I was targeting just specific cities, like, in Orange County. I really didn't know a whole lot about what I was doing, but at this time, it was actually pretty easy to get a deal. There was still a lot of seller distress Mhmm. Because we were just coming out of a recession.

Steve: Well, not a lot of people were buying.

Lauren: Yeah. Right?

Steve: So this is, like, what, like, 02/1112. When was this?

Lauren: 2012.

Steve: 2012.

Lauren: Yeah.

Steve: Okay.

Lauren: Yeah. So, I mean, there was still a ton of seller distress. So I landed my first deal. It was a condo in Laguna Niguel, and it was literally could not have bought it the better a better time because right when I bought it, the market started going up. So as we held it, the property went up like 10%.

Steve: Right.

Lauren: Which is awesome.

Steve: You get the benefit.

Lauren: I got the benefit. The benefit. Literally. Yeah. It was it was the best it was the best.

So that it was a condo. We fixed it up, put it back on the market, flipped it. I did it I did it with my brother. So the first two deals I did, I partnered with my brother. Okay.

And then I went on my own from that point. And in that, those both of those deals were actually two con there were condos. Both happened to be in Laguna Niguel, and they both were $60,000 paydays, each of them.

Steve: Nice. Wow.

Lauren: Yeah. So I mean, you can imagine. I was like, oh my god. This business is so easy.

Steve: Of course.

Lauren: Yeah. I was like, oh my god.

Steve: Those HGTV numbers were actually real

Lauren: bad. They were back then. They were. And I was like, oh my god. This is, like, so easy.

Like, I just literally made more money. Because at the time in my corporate job, I was making, like, 55,000 a year. Really? Yeah.

Steve: Even with Subway as a client.

Lauren: Well, it wasn't it I worked for Subway, but then at this point, I was working for the Irvine company. It was just a salary job. This is still out of a recession. So, like, the the it was hard to get, like, a salary job.

Steve: So you made as much in one year on each of those

Lauren: deals. Correct. Now I split them with my brother. Sure. So at this point, I had I said, I will quit my corporate job when I have a full year salary in savings.

So it took me a year to flip those two deals. Mhmm. At this point, I had my second baby on the way. So I went on maternity leave. I had my second daughter, and then I didn't go back to work because I had the money in savings to be able to do so.

Steve: Very cool.

Lauren: So I was on my high horse at that time.

Steve: So you said it was easy. Were there any challenges?

Lauren: Yes. Right when I quit my job. Okay. So so I quit my job. I'm thinking, oh my gosh.

This is so easy. Well, it what happened was direct mail became, like, a thing. Mhmm. You know? There's, like, this podcast called Bigger Pockets, and people are talking about direct mail.

And all of a sudden, everybody's doing direct mail in my area. Yeah. And the deals were drying up. I was having sellers say, oh, yeah. I get, like, three, four of these postcards a week.

And I'm going, what? Like, I'm not the only one sending these now. Like, what is going on? So the deal started drying up, and I it started to get scary. It started to get where a couple months would go by, and I wouldn't be able to get a flip deal.

And then it was, like, four months would go by, and I wouldn't have a deal in the pipe. And at that point, I was getting really worried that maybe this isn't a sustainable business. Yeah. Yeah. So that's that was my a sustainable

Steve: business. Yeah.

Lauren: Yeah. So that's that was my start, and it it was it started high. I was on my high horse at first, and then, you know, I got a a reality check.

Steve: Well, that I think that happens to some people. Right? I think this industry, you know, there's a little bit of luck involved.

Lauren: Right?

Steve: So, you can have 20 people take the same amount of action. 18 of them won't have any action.

Lauren: Right.

Steve: Right? And then two of them will hit home runs, and then they have this mindset. Okay. I've got it. I figured it out.

And then probably one of those two will actually make it.

Lauren: I I couldn't agree with you more, and I would add to that that it's luck in location. Yeah. Because where I was was the problem. I I there was no short of hard work over here. Yeah.

It was just I was in a very competitive market. And I came to that realization actually a couple years later, and we could talk more about that later. But Yeah. That's kind of where the start came from.

Steve: Well, let's so you're talking about the deal started drying up.

Lauren: Mhmm. Right?

Steve: So two months ago by, four months ago by before I before I had a deal. How long did you you said a couple years that you're just writing this out with direct mail

Lauren: Mhmm.

Steve: Only to, like, only a surround area, only in Orange County?

Lauren: I so then I started expanding. So then I thought, okay. Well, Orange County, this is this is getting too hard. So I started widening the net. I started I started from LA.

Even, like, North LA, my my furthest deal was a place called Rosemont, and it was two and a half hours away from my home. So that was, like, my first experience with, like, virtual. Yeah. And clear out to, the Inland Empire. So that would be, like, Riverside and San Bernardino County.

So my net was huge. I mean, to get to, like, to get to a seller meeting, it would take me, like, three hours out of my day to do one seller meeting. It was crazy.

Steve: Well, that's fascinating because I I have a theory. Right? One of the one of the reasons why all the iBuyers and everyone else starts in Phoenix and why there's so many freaking gurus here is that it takes literally forty minutes to get to any part of town.

Lauren: Yeah.

Steve: Right? Like, doesn't matter where you are. It takes you forty minutes just to get to other part of town. Whereas in LA or Orange County, depending on the time, depending on the day Mhmm. It could take you twenty five minutes.

It could take you three hours.

Lauren: Yeah. And so That's crazy.

Steve: So that was my suspicion as to why, you know, it you don't have as many big operations in Southern California. Mhmm. So you did this, and then eventually you transitioned then into is is this when you transition into virtual, or what what happened? What how did you get to virtual from here?

Lauren: So my my decision to go full virtual, I had hemmed and hawed about this decision for quite a while. I it really started with a lot of frustration. So I was, you know, doing everything that these gurus and my educators were saying. I was a part of high level masterminds. I was going to seminars.

I was, you know, riding the education train that a lot of people do. Right? And but I was so frustrated. I would go and I would see these other people closing, you know, five deals a month. No big deal.

I would see people that had way less experience than me at this point. At this point, maybe I have three years into this game, and they're newbies, like, you know, in their sixth month of the business already at, like, a pipeline of five deals a month. And I'm going, what the what am I doing wrong? So it wasn't until I went to a seminar in Nashville, and I remember it was like, this just pushed me over the edge. I was sitting and not like, I had more experience than everybody there.

It was about maybe 20 people in the room, and there were so many people that had under a year's experience that were already, you know, closing, like, five deals a month regularly. Mhmm. And I look around, and at first, I was, like, I had this inferiority complex. Like, gosh. Is it because I don't know.

Maybe because I'm a tired mom, and I just can't put as much in it. Am I not working hard enough? I started like, I was attacking myself personally. And when I sat in that room with those people and I asked I started getting really deep with them. How many hours do you work a day?

How many seller leads do you get? How many offers do you make a week? When I I realized that there's really only a few things that you need to measure. It's how many leads, how many offers do you make, how many contracts are you getting, how many deals are you closing? Mhmm.

Those four things when I asked all those people in that room, I realized that my numbers were way higher. I needed way more leads to get to that end result of the closed deal. So that's why I was exhausted. That's why I wasn't closing that many deals. It was that was, like, that moment where I realized, oh, it's not me.

It's where I live. Yeah. Okay. Got it.

Steve: And that makes sense for sure Right. In Southern California. And, you know, know, I was I can't remember who was telling me this story, but it was a Sean Terry. He was doing webinar.

Lauren: Mhmm. And he

Steve: was going over his metrics. He was talking about the KPIs just like we talked about. You know, how many leads do you need to have an appointment? How many appointment to a contract? How many contracts to close?

Right. And he was sharing his metrics, and, like, there was laughter on the phone, on the webinar. And he was like, what are you guys laughing at? It's like, how does it take, like, 80 people to have one contract?

Lauren: Right.

Steve: Right? Because for us, that's what we need to do. Southern California may be more competitive.

Lauren: Right.

Steve: But in the Midwest, people are friendly. We got another buddy, Eric Sage, and he was saying in, we were in a mastermind. And he said, like, the reason why he loves in in Birmingham like, here, we call somebody and they're like, get the f off. Why are you calling me? I'm tired of this crap.

Lauren: You're right. And

Steve: he's calling Birmingham. They're like, this isn't it, but we hope you find them.

Lauren: It's so true. It is so true. I mean, when you talk to I'll tell you, if you really wanna get laid out, talk to a California seller. Yeah. They will they will chew you up and spit

Steve: you out.

Lauren: Right. And so I was used to that. So going to, you know, these Midwest markets that I'm in was, I mean, a delight speaking to those sellers compared to

Steve: what I was used to. So you go this is, Nashville. Right?

Lauren: Right. That was my first virtual market.

Steve: Also you you started wholesaling in Nashville?

Lauren: I actually started building houses in Nashville. That was my first virtual endeavor.

Steve: Wow. Tell tell me about that.

Lauren: So okay. So I was in the Nashville story is started with a seminar that I went to that got me so frustrated that I said, okay. I need to figure out. Maybe I need to diversify so not all my eggs are in one basket, so so to speak, that one basket being Southern California. So while I was at in Nashville, I pulled up a bunch of cash sales in the area, and I just drove around for a day.

When I was driving around, I noticed that all the cash sales that were, like, six months earlier were, like, these brand new homes. I was really confused. I was like, why? What? This is like a brand new home.

This could not have been a flip. And then I realized there's how like, these old homes getting knocked down and new homes being built in their place, and there was, like if there was maybe one house, they'd knock them down to build two. Mhmm. So I'd never seen anything like this. This this does not really happen in California, maybe in the beach cities.

So I was like, what is this? So I saw a construction site on the side of the road. I saw a guy out there. I pulled over, and I was like, hey. Are you the project manager here on this job?

He was like, yeah. I own a development company. I was like, oh, so, like, what's going on in this neighborhood? Like, what is all this? And he we just started talking, and a cool conversation turned into us looking at homes that he's building in the neighborhood.

I looked at, like I went on a seller meeting with him. I went on, like, three tours looking at these new homes he built, and at the end of it, I was like, I wanna work with you.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: So I told him, find me a deal. I'll find the money. You'll be my contractor. He was the builder at the time, and, you know, let's do this. So he actually got me together with a wholesaler.

Mhmm. And I bought my first piece of land from that wholesaler. I believe this was 2015, and, we built two homes in its place. And then I did it again on the same street.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: So that was my first, like, virtual endeavor was actually just ground up construction.

Steve: And how did that go?

Lauren: It went really well, actually. I would argue that ground up construction is much easier than flipping because with a new home with ground up, I mean, there's nothing they can really lie about. It's and the your first bid is is what you see is what you get. I mean, unless you change your materials midway, for the most part, like, the contractor should have budgeted for everything, and you shouldn't have any change orders.

Steve: No surprises.

Lauren: No surprises. But with a flip, you're gonna have change orders and especially a virtual flip with a contractor that knows you're not there, you're gonna see lots of change orders.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: So Gotcha. Right.

Steve: So are you still doing that? Or what's what's the story now?

Lauren: So after a while, I I started I tried flipping homes in Nashville, didn't like flipping, liked building much better. Then I I started just wholesaling in Nashville. Nashville was just hot at this time. Okay? Nashville was popping.

So I stayed there for a bit, but Nashville started getting so competitive. What happened was I was having a very difficult time being virtual in Nashville because I couldn't see what was going on on that street. So, like, I would do direct seller marketing. A seller would call me, and I would make an offer based off of just what I could see on Google Earth and what comps I could pull. But what I don't realize is that maybe, like, like, next door, there's a house being knocked down and the seller can take my offer and then walk to that builder and go, hey.

I wanna sell mine too. What would you offer me? And, of course, that guy's gonna beat me. He's in front of the seller. He's he can kind of probably be a little bit more flexible with his pricing because he's already got a job on the same street.

Mhmm. So I kept getting outbid. Yeah. And after a while, I was like, this is just there's gotta be easier markets to do virtually. So I decided to try a different type of market, and this is really important.

When you're virtual, there are different types of markets. A lot of people don't realize this. A lot of, like, my students, they, they don't realize that there's different end plays in every market, and some are better than others if you are virtual. I would argue that landlord markets are better for virtual investors. So I I wanted to get into a more sort of balanced market, and so that took me to the Midwest.

Yeah. And now I run a volume wholesaling business in the Midwest, and primarily, we're selling rental properties to multiunit landlord investors.

Steve: So why is rental a better exit strategy for virtual wholesaling?

Lauren: I would say one is the repairs situation that typically with a rental, the end buyer is not going to really repair the house too much. They're gonna make it rent ready. So the repair number is fairly low, and it's very easy to estimate estimate. Also, a lot of these rental markets like the the houses, you basically are paying based off the rent that they support, so it's easier to comp. It's just easier, I would say, in in in those ways.

Also, the price points being lower, I would argue that a easy way to tell if a market is going to be, like, easier or harder, you know, that's such a relative term

Steve: or Yeah.

Lauren: Competitive. Everybody says my market's so competitive. Like, go to California. I'll tell you what competitive is. Yeah.

The easiest way to see is just go look, like, at the average house price. I type in Insert City or Insert County, average house price Zillow, and that Zillow has, like, every city in there. It does. And it's like, if you see that it's above, like, $275,000, you're probably gonna see that it's more competitive Mhmm. Because it's a more desirable area.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: So I like the more Midwestern, like, rental market type markets because they're the price point is lower. So it's a little bit less competitive.

Steve: Yeah. So how do you determine? Like you said, you you wanna go after, the rental, markets. There's plenty of rental markets.

Lauren: Right.

Steve: How do you figure out which one's the right one?

Lauren: Honestly, there's there's amazing places in The United States to invest. Everybody goes to, like, the major metros. A lot of, like, the students that I speak with and people that are interested, they it's like they all wanna be in the same places. Yeah. And I try to steer them away because there are so many great rental markets.

I would pick an area with strong values. You you don't really want I mean, I personally don't want to play around in a $50,000 or lower territory. Mhmm. I wanna see that the average house prices are at least a 120, 130,000, and then to maybe 275,000. Thousand.

Yeah. So if you pick a market that you're in that sweet spot and the rents look in the same area and figure out what the rents are, a lot of people like the 1% rule. If it if it matches if you can make a 1% rent to price work in that area, I would say that could be a really great rental market. But as far as what is a good virtual market, so what does that even mean? That means asking around and seeing, you know, are other people successful in doing what you are trying to do in this market?

It's that simple. Go online. Go to BiggerPockets. Go to your group. Say, insert city here.

Anybody wholesaling houses? I have a question. Yeah. See how many people raise their hand. I am.

I am. How many deals are you doing? Right. See if there's successful people. If if they are six if there are a good amount of people that you can network with that are successful, the idea is, well, if they can do it, so can I?

Steve: Absolutely. Absolutely. So, one question I have then is that we're talking about these other markets is do you have in in lower price market? Mhmm. Right?

Because we say, you know, California's competitive because of the high prices, and one of the reasons why is because you have larger margins. Mhmm. So, you know, for us, we target 15 k in Phoenix. And I think a lot of part of the country, they're targeting, you know, 10 to 15 k. Is there a fee that you're targeting in these areas or is it the same?

Lauren: You know, what I've noticed is it's not so much a dollar, it's a percentage. Mhmm. So what I've typically noticed is the wholesale fees are are typically 10% of the end the end price or the final sale price. So if you sell it to your landlord buyer for a $100,000, I would hope your minimum is that you're getting is 10,000.

Steve: Right.

Lauren: So I've personally noticed it's more of a a percentage versus, like, an amount.

Steve: Okay. So you don't have to worry if you're going in these markets that your your fee is gonna get compressed.

Lauren: No. And I think it's a misnomer with California. I mean, a lot of people say, oh, but you get these big fees. Well, not necessarily because what if you have a bunch of other investors that bid up the price and there's no wholesale fee Yeah. Which is quite frankly most of the time in these seller like, direct to seller leads that you're gonna get in a LA market, LA OC, you're gonna have that these sellers got 15 other cash offers that they can weigh yours against.

And now the wholesale fee is zero.

Steve: Yeah. So I'm, I was in, the the conversation chain for Closers Olympics, and I was seeing, you know, what they were were talking about. And they were saying, like, in California, the the amount the offers you need to make in California, there is just no room for mistakes.

Lauren: Nothing.

Steve: There's no room for, like Mhmm. You know, a COVID happens. Mhmm. You're just screwed. Right?

Like, here is, like, okay. Well, you know, our fee went from 15 to 3. Mhmm. We're still gonna survive.

Lauren: Right.

Steve: But, man, like, they're just so freaking tight. I don't know know how anyone, you know, is able to survive with that kind of stress.

Lauren: They become realtors. That's that honestly, like, a lot of the people that we're doing, like

Steve: Wholesalers and

Lauren: wholesalers and the flippers, they become realtors during this time. And then if we, you know, if we see an adjustment, they'll go back into flipping.

Steve: Okay. Gotcha. So someone that's, you know, listening right now and they say, okay. Well, I wanna give virtual a shot. Realistically, you know, why I let me take a step back.

What would someone need to do? Like, they're they're listening to the show. They're getting beat up in their markets. Let's say they're in Phoenix, LA, Seattle. Right?

Where it's just more competitive, Denver. They're alright. I'm I'm gonna give virtual a shot. What are the first few steps they need to take?

Lauren: Well, I would say the first step is that they need to put in their mind and make that decision 100% that that is what they are gonna do.

Steve: They've gotta go all in.

Lauren: They've gotta go all in. You can't have you can't have Zee's decision. Okay? Like, you have to go all in. You have to make the decision that in in that you fully believe that the amount of effort that it is going to take for you to wholesale houses virtually is going to be actually less effort easier than wholesaling in your backyard.

Mhmm. For me, I was able to do that. It took a lot of, like, it supporting evidence. I was asking phoning friends, asking people, you know, that were in other markets and seeing how much effort they were making. And by effort, I mean, how many seller leads do you have to talk to to get a deal?

After a while, I had the evidence that, okay. It's gonna be easier if I go to a Midwestern market versus Southern California. So the first thing is make that decision. And then from there, you wanna pick a market. And I I think I you know, I said it earlier, look for the proven concept.

There's a lot of people, like, they they wanna, like, analyze this. Like, they wanna pull the cash sales to the ratio of the population because if there's if if it's if it's, like, higher, then that means that it would be less competitive. Like, I mean there there's all these matrix and

Steve: They're just going too far into it.

Lauren: They're going you're going way too deep guys because that actually does not work. That does not necessarily mean it's less competitive or more. Yeah. A lot of like for example, they'll say, oh, wow. Well, there's only like 200 absentee owned purchases in the last six months and the population is a million.

To me, that's crap. Like, that's not good. That means that there's for some reason and buyers aren't buying there. Yeah. So there you wanna be careful with those kind of numbers instead, look for the proven concept.

That's when you wanna go network, go to your, you know, your page, go to, you know, BiggerPockets Wholesaling Inc, all of the big, you know, groups and network and find these different areas that people are doing well in and search for the proven concept.

Steve: Right.

Lauren: Once you pick your territory, you know, then it's gangbusters, you know, you can do your direct to seller marketing. I mean, marketing. I mean, everything works virtually. Mhmm. You know, people say, what's the best marketing technique virtually?

Well That's

Steve: great because that was my next question.

Lauren: Yeah. I mean, what's the next marketing technique? Okay. What's the best one? Well, they all work.

Mhmm. There's no difference. You just have to get really good at the phone. And I I would say that maybe that was back in my old Sperry Venet days of being handed a book of phone numbers that I got really good at, you know, talking to sellers on the phone. I I think I'm pretty good at talking in general.

Steve: It's a life life commitment towards being good at talking.

Lauren: Yeah. It is.

Steve: Alright. So let's go through some questions here. Looks like we don't have as many questions as normal. So, mister Holt wants to know, was raising capital difficult? I don't I guess probably for the flipping intend or developing in Tennessee.

How was that process of convincing everyone you were gonna start developing?

Lauren: You know what? I already had the capital invested. I'd already done enough flips with them locally, so they knew I was good for it. They knew that, like, I I pay my investors back before I pay myself, and I I never not pay an investor back. You know, my investors know that.

So it wasn't that hard. But I think in general, the broader question is, like, is raising capital difficult? I would say, you know, it's a mindset thing. It it is if you think it is, but honestly, there's a lot of high net worth individuals that are dying to make the type of interest rates that real estate investors can offer on an asset that is a tangible asset that they can tie a trust deed to.

Steve: That's secured.

Lauren: That's secured.

Steve: Absolutely. Touch it.

Lauren: That yeah. Exactly. I mean, this is it's crazy. I mean, people go nuts for this kinda deal.

Steve: Let's see what else is there. Yeah. So, actually, a couple of these guys are in Nashville, so they know exactly what you're talking about. Mhmm. So Daniel Moore wants to know what how much do you spend on marketing?

So monthly marketing spend.

Lauren: You know what? Okay. I so I now lump in like all of my expenses because we are so it's not direct mail as the game anymore for me. It's more of your cold calling. It's more of your mass texting which include its people.

Mhmm. Like, I need people to cold call, and I need people Right. To text message. I and I also have, like, acquisition managers, disposition managers. So it's hard to quantify.

I mean, I would say maybe at least at least twelve to fifteen thousand in marketing. Mhmm. And I also I do online. I do some web SEO Facebook. Mhmm.

So I would say at least 15.

Steve: Yeah. Right. For you. Right? So what if someone wants to get started?

What what kind of budget should they be looking at?

Lauren: Honestly, I think it depends on what kind of budget you have. There's, you know, the beating the bushes down and dirty, dirty, don't have a marketing budget to you do have some money in the bank and you can do it. Obviously, it's great to be on that right side, but not everybody is as fortunate. Mhmm. I didn't have that kind of money.

In fact, I started I had no money when I got started. I started with a credit card. I literally, like, had to call Visa and, like, increase my limit, and that was, like, my that was my marketing budget. That was my investment. So I know what it's like to start from nothing.

And you could what's amazing is, like, with cold calling, you don't have to have a lot of money. You just have to have the money to buy a list, and pay for an auto dialer. That's helpful. It is. So, really, I mean, it depends on that's depends on how big your list is.

I mean Right. You know, for a thousand dollars, $1,500, you could get a pretty big list that'll keep you busy for a couple months.

Steve: Right. And one thing I I I put this here, I forgot to mention this, but, you know, I was doing my research on you, and I met you last year. Right? We we met at the batch office. You came in to do Brent's Brent Daniels TTP podcast.

Right? And so I remember, you know, it seemed like it came out of nowhere. You know? But then as I was doing my research, and I was finding out, actually, Lauren's been working really hard for a very long time. In fact, you were on BiggerPockets, not too long, like like, four years ago, something like that.

Lauren: So maybe five years ago?

Steve: Yeah. Yeah. But I think the point here is, you know, for some of the people that are frustrated that it takes how long it takes to get successful, how how long it takes to get attraction. So I just wanna emphasize, you know, it seemed to me like it came out of nowhere, but you've been at this for a very long time.

Lauren: Yes. I have. I always say in this business I mean, it used to I used to get so frustrated at, like, the people that I would hear on these podcasts, and they'd be like, oh, how did you get started? And they're like, well, like, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad, and then, like, I decided I I decided I was gonna send some direct mail. And then six months later, I've closed 15 deals.

And now I'm, like, making a $100,000 a month. Like Yeah. That was not me. I was, like, the total turtle. Like, it's I I was a slow mover.

I did the best I could. I I did work at this every single day, and I improved every single day, but it was not easy for me. I've been at this eight years. A lot of people don't realize that, but I have been doing this for eight years. And I always say, you know, there are it there is this, like, purse perception that I came out of nowhere, but that's that isn't true.

And there's a lot of people that do come out of nowhere, and I always say the term bright stars burn out the fastest. Yeah. And some tie in our business, it's it's easy to, like, kinda feel inferior when you're you know, you compare yourself.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: I know because I did that a lot, and I know that probably a lot of the audience, like, they compare themselves. Why am I not as good as Jack Smith in Indianapolis? Mhmm. And it's like, well, because your situation is probably completely different than that guy. And that Jack Smith might just be a bright star Mhmm.

Who is gonna burn out. Half of what he's saying might might not even be true. Right. So you really have to just, you know, pay attention to what you're doing every day, and that's that's what I tried to do. Every time I got those negative thoughts of feeling inferior, I had to remind myself that I'm on my own journey.

And so yeah. I mean, it's it's been a wild ride. It's Yeah. But I

Steve: think it's an important point. Like, you know, I'm glad you're able to, you know, extrapolate on it and, you know, control what you control. Right? Control the controllables. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing.

Just control what you can control. And I think that's a a a big part here. So you're acquiring virtually. So you said cold calling, direct mail, texting. How are you moving the properties?

Lauren: Well, right now, how we're we're pretty dialed in where we're at. Yeah. So I have the boots on ground that are my boots on ground. I don't JV partner anymore.

Steve: Oh, really?

Lauren: And when I say JV joint venture, I mean, or work with, like, co wholesalers. I now we are the co wholesaler, actually. Like, now people go to us. Even though we're virtual, we have the better buyers list now because we've got you know, we're we're, like, really dialed into the two territories that we're in. But to start, I would say, everybody should start by co working with a co wholesaler or a joint venture partner.

I call them JV partners, so you might hear me throw that slang around. I recommend starting that way. Don't try to do it all all yourself. Don't try to do what I'm doing now when you get started in a virtual market. That is, like, the biggest mistake that people make and they fail and then they say virtual doesn't work, and it's because you didn't know how to move that property.

Steve: Right. Gotcha. So you built your own buyers list.

Lauren: We did. But at first, we started with JV partners. So we did that for a while. I would say our we worked with JVs for, I don't know, I mean, at least our first 10 deals, and then we tapered it off because the buyer started you know, we worked on our buyers list on the side, and there's there's some technicalities there that, you know, I can get into, but it's super micro. But we built our buyers list on the side, and then we started marketing our deals, you know, with the JV partner.

And it was just this organic process of then it turned into now we have our boots on ground. We don't really need to share our fees anymore.

Steve: Right. And I think that's just a natural evolution Mhmm. For every wholesaler regardless of whether you're virtual or not.

Lauren: Yeah. Definitely.

Steve: Jason Toledo wants to know, what's the best strategy for closing at a title company or attorney when you're wholesaling remotely? So are there any different challenges when you're wholesaling virtually versus locally?

Lauren: You know, you wanna find the the wholesaler friendly title company, and the best way to do that is working with your JV partner. Your JV partner should have the title company that they use and then you start piggybacking off of it. And then that's your title company that you use.

Steve: Makes total sense. Mhmm. Leo Aguirre wants to know what is your why in this business besides the money?

Lauren: You know, honestly, it's funny. I think having a monetary why is, like, the most useless why that you can have. I mean, I've tried putting, like, monetary goals up on my vision board, and it's, like, those are just numbers. Like, they don't mean anything. I don't feel like they impact me as much, or maybe they just don't, like, resonate in my brain because they're just irrelevant numbers.

Instead for me, it's like this fear of having to get a job. Like, I have, like, my I got in this business because I was, you know, a new mom, and my daughter, she from she literally from six weeks old was at a daycare from 07:00 in the morning to 06:00 at night, And I still remember, like, she's, like, five months old, and I'm picking her up, and she's clinging to the daycare provider

Steve: Oh.

Lauren: Sobbing because she is actually more used to the daycare provider than me. And that was a bad day.

Steve: I say that's probably more the why

Lauren: That was the why. Than the job. So right. So the why is my kids. Now my kids are now six and nine, so they recognize me when I they know who I am now.

But my own baby, like, did not know who I was. That's how hard it was to juggle corporate life. And I have that in me. Like, if you don't make this business work, if you don't work get up and work today and make money, you're gonna have to get a job. And then your kids are gonna have to sit at daycare, and I just imagine them like little orphan Annie's, like, just at daycare, like, like, eating crackers and, like, all alone.

I don't know. I have, like, this, like, this, like, big, like, fear of getting a job. And that's my why. It's my kids. It really is just it's my kids and having that work life balance as a mother, and I'm a single mother.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: So that's that adds a whole other thing of, like, being in control of my schedule has really helped with managing, you know, my custody schedule and being a single mom. Yeah. So that's my why.

Steve: Well, I think you can see it as well. Right? In the just the fact that your your handle is this mount flips.

Lauren: Yes. Yes. Right? Yeah.

Steve: So but that's good. I mean, you're very clear on it, which is something, you know, I think most people would would kill for, honestly, to have clarity on their why.

Lauren: Right.

Steve: So Tag Thompson wants to know how long will it take to get get his first deal virtually. So let's just assume he's at zero. How long will someone at zero take to get the first deal virtually?

Lauren: You know, I think it depends on the person because it depends on how much you let analysis paralysis get to you. What I noticed there's this like evolution of, you know, the students that I coach where they're all gung ho and they go through my modules and then they freak out Like, they just get in this analysis paralysis. And that that I it depends on how long you wanna sit there and overanalyze, your business plan. Yeah. I recommend analyzing your business for about a week.

But I could I've seen people, they get really stuck in this. So anytime I see people stuck for about a couple weeks and I'm like, okay. Why haven't you done any seller marketing? Then I'm I start, you know, putting their feet to the fire a little bit and I call them out like, hey. You're you're over analyzing this thing.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: You gotta go. So if you can if if I could cut that analysis paralysis to, like, a one week Mhmm. I I've seen students get where they get their first contract in sixty days and they're closing in ninety. Yeah. That's about the average for, student that does not spend four months over analyzing.

Steve: And that makes total sense.

Lauren: Totally. I

Steve: mean, this there's procrastination or or perfection. It really kills a lot of businesses. Even I even outside of wholesale, just a lot of businesses.

Lauren: It does. I mean, I always say perfectionism is actually another word for procrastination, or paralysis is really procrastination. Yeah. It's really just their excuse to not doing the thing they're afraid of because they're perfecting their business plan or they're making sure they really you know, their CRM is really dialed in and, you know, they have the perfect lists. I know.

It it it it dialed in and, you know, they have the perfect lists.

Steve: I know. It it it pains me every time I see it

Lauren: too. Mhmm. And you see it

Steve: a lot, unfortunately.

Lauren: You do.

Steve: Ricky Miller wants to know, would you say in a virtual market making offers on properties, is there something you recommend on, I guess, the process of making offers over the phone?

Lauren: Honestly, yeah. I have I am, like, really I'm, like, religious about seller conversations. I have my own script and my own negotiation techniques, and I've honed them in from years and years of in thousands of sellers that I've spoken with. I am a very, like, I'm a people pleaser. I'm nonconfrontational.

I was that newer investor.

Steve: You're nonconfrontational?

Lauren: I am nonconfrontational.

Steve: I'm surprised.

Lauren: I am a people pleaser. You'll see. I'm very likable.

Steve: You're gonna beat that into me.

Lauren: Yeah. You're gonna trust me. You'll like me by the end of this. No. I definitely, I didn't I was that newer investor that was scared to offend the seller with a lowball offer.

I hated it. So I found ways to deliver offers in the most, like, non confrontational, just ease them into it. And the first thing that I would say that I do, and this is not just virtual. I mean, this is just giving good phone. Okay?

You guys should all do this, and it doesn't matter if this is virtual or not. The first thing that I do is I just make sure, you know, that the seller likes me. Like, that's number one is just be friendly. Mhmm. And don't talk about price upfront.

There is this book, and I never can remember the name. I think the author should have came up with a better name because it's not very memorable, but it talks about like the croc brain and like how somebody remembers this book or read it. It's like red and white. I think it's called pitch anything. I think it's called pitch anything.

And it talks about like how okay. You're like surprising a seller out of the blue cold calling them or texting them. Mhmm. And they are like on the defense. Okay.

That's their croc brain. It's very primal. Think of like a crocodile, and they're, like, gonna bite your head off. Okay? They're they're very, like, unsure of who you are.

So that is not a time in that first conversation to discuss something as personal as price on their home. That is I don't know. Like, a lot of people make that mistake.

Steve: Well, I think they make that mistake because the sellers ask for their price.

Lauren: Yes. Right. And, I mean, if they if they flat out ask, I say, you know, I need to know more about the home, and then I start going into the conversation. Right. In the first conversations, I just want the seller to like me.

Mhmm. That's it. And I tell my acquisitions people, they just need to like you. They need to know your name. You need to know their name, what their plans for the home was, why they're selling, why what their dog's name is that's barking in the background and what breed.

Like, I want you to develop some kind of, like, rapport that you can put in the database and our CRM that you can then go back to. So if it's like, oh, I you know, how was that trip you went on you know, that you said, how was that I don't know. How was your cruise or whatever? You know, like, something that you can draw back on in the next conversation because the next conversation is when their guard's gonna be down a little bit because they already like you from the first one.

Steve: Built report.

Lauren: Built report. Now you're gonna talk about price. So that's how I recommend it is get them to like you first. You wanna go back, come up with an offer price, and I like to develop, I like to offer more of it in a price range versus I'm gonna offer you $75,000 for your home. Instead, I like to say, it looks like investors are buying homes in this area for between, I don't know, maybe 65 to 78,000.

Does that sound about right? And then if it does, if the seller bulks at that, I kinda I test their reaction to that. If the seller sounds offended, then I say, well, look at you know? Okay. Well, let me let me just show you a couple comps because maybe I did something wrong.

Maybe I messed up.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: Did you see that house on 123 Main Street? It sold for $60.68, and then there's and that's where you start pulling out your comps Alright. To support your narrative. Now it's, well, don't shoot the messenger. It's not my fault that your neighbor sold their house for 68,000.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: And then at this point, now they're mad at the neighbor. They're not mad at you. Right. And you're on their team. Right?

So that's how I like to get to the price. Well, I like

Steve: the part where you said, maybe I missed something. Something.

Lauren: Right. Maybe I messed up.

Steve: Let me look let's look at these properties together.

Lauren: Mhmm.

Steve: Right. We're we're as a team here.

Lauren: Yep.

Steve: Let's look at these properties together. Absolutely. What what did I miss?

Lauren: I always say that maybe I messed up.

Steve: Yeah. I love it. It's great. Daniel Mark, has another question. What metrics are you using to target sellers?

I don't really understand that question. Maybe you do.

Lauren: I'm not sure either. Are you talking about, like, seller marketing? Probably seller marketing is my guess.

Steve: Yeah. Daniel, clarify that question.

Lauren: Okay.

Steve: Marcus Mac, what list are you pulling from?

Lauren: Okay. So let's talk maybe what are my favorite lists. Mhmm. You know, I so I am the laziest when it comes to these niche lists. I don't like pulling niche lists.

They're a pain. I don't wanna go to a courthouse. I'm not you are not gonna see me, like, going to a courthouse. Okay? Or a city to pull a list.

I like your basic vacant list. I like a tax lien, a tax delinquent or tax lien list stacked with absentee as well. So they have to be an absentee owner that has a tax lien. And then I just love the absentee owner list. That's like my all day.

That's

Steve: I think that's a very big wholesaling ink thing. Like, just

Lauren: Just keep it simple, you guys. Like, I mean, honestly, I, like, I got Don't

Steve: overthink it.

Lauren: Don't overthink it. I I've gotten a code enforcement list. It was junk. Like, I've got no deals from that list. I was like, this is and I was doing probates forever.

Probates junk never did never did one probate, got screamed at all the time. Why would you do something so negative? Yeah. Because you don't don't you don't need that negativity in your life.

Steve: Joey Ward asks, if you is there one virtual market that you think is especially right to jump into right now? Is there one that you maybe have your eye for, like, a third market?

Lauren: No. There's so many great markets, you guys. And you guys if I tell you, like, one market, do you know how many people how big is your audience? How many people are gonna listen to this?

Steve: We typically get about 7,000 people.

Lauren: Okay. So 7,000 people. At least 10% are gonna go to, like, that market. So I'm gonna go get go to Eurexville, Ohio. Alright.

Great market.

Steve: Perfectly valid point. Tracy Jennings wants to know, is there a population that you say it has to have at least this many people?

Lauren: Yeah. You definitely don't want to, I say this word funny, rule. Yeah. Everybody laughs at how I say that word. You don't want markets that are too small.

You don't want, like, farm towns. You don't want, like, the Appalachian Mountains or anything like that. You, I would say at least 250,000 population. I've heard some people say one fifty is okay. I I don't, well, I take that back.

I do there's one area, a 150,000 population, and then the county next to it has a 150 as well. So you can kinda do something like that where it's like in the county, there's maybe a 150 and then there's a neighboring county that's really good that you can draw from if you kind of max out that county.

Steve: Right.

Lauren: Yeah. So you just don't want anything too small.

Steve: And, I think Clifford appreciates the story because he feels like, his first year, it was a lot of focus, not as much activities. Let's see. Adrian Nez, give you some love. Definitely the real deal.

Lauren: Thanks, Adrian.

Steve: Jason Toledo, when JV ing remotely, how did you protect yourself other than using any JV or assignment contracts? That's and that's an interesting point because I recommend everyone But I've never used a contract for a JV.

Lauren: I don't either. I know. I'm the same way. It's like, you should do this, but then in reality, I'm like, I don't do it. Yeah.

Steve: Well, if I have a problem, I'm gonna call Jamil.

Lauren: Oh, yeah.

Steve: I'm gonna call Pace and, like, what the hell happened here?

Lauren: Yeah. Exactly. Like, I mean, for me, it's like the JVs that I've used have a reputation.

Steve: A relationship.

Lauren: A relation and they like, where I could easily call like, they you know, other people recommended them to me. They know people. So if they did, you know, if there was any funny business, you know, you could kinda out them. You could black get them blacklisted a little bit, you know. So So,

Steve: Pace is here, so he commented.

Lauren: Hi, Pace.

Steve: So, you know, it's funny. Pace and I, we had a a deal that we were doing together.

Lauren: Yeah.

Steve: And, something went kinda crazy. Not his fault. Right? Like, the end buyer. And we had to have he said, you know, we had to have a principal, come to the principal's office conversation.

Oh. Yeah.

Lauren: Someone's in trouble.

Steve: Kissa wants to know what so what what are the two markets that you're in?

Lauren: I'm in, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Don't go there. Do you know how many people I tell that out loud and then you guys are all like, Oklahoma is the the virtual market. There's a lot of virtual markets.

Steve: You know, actually, I've I've talked to some people. I was back at, at in in Dallas at WeLive. So March '19, I was talking to some people, and they're like, Oklahoma is amazing, that there's no competition there. I think that's probably changed in the last year and a half.

Lauren: Major. There's a ton of competition. It's my fault because I go on these podcasts and tell people I'm in Oklahoma, and then everybody's in Oklahoma. It it's actually pretty competitive, especially with the, cold calling and the texting.

Steve: Right. For sure. It's and I I I know a couple other people down there as well. It's it's not as easy as it as I had heard a couple years ago.

Lauren: Yeah. And there's actually I mean, there's I tested out, like, smaller markets. Like I said, there was one I was, like, testing out, hunt because I just mainly for my students. Mhmm. A 150,000 population.

Amazing. Amazing. Like, I was like, okay. So I gotta make it's it's a market that I'm just dipping into, and I need to hire before I get distracted on it. I need need to hire more people because you can't you don't want in your operation, oh, I'm gonna go to a new territory.

Now everybody's spread thin. You have to hire someone to handle the new territory.

Steve: Right.

Lauren: That's another thing. People make a mistake is they go they haven't even mastered their one one wholesale their one virtual market, and they already wanna go to three.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: And I'm like, no. No. No. Like, then you need three people. Like, you need someone managing that market.

Yep. They're they're like little babies.

Steve: Well, another thing too with with too small of a market, you know, what we found in our program is if you buy you could buy the entire area very quickly.

Lauren: Yeah.

Steve: All the data.

Lauren: Mhmm. Yeah. You run out.

Steve: And it's just like, okay. What's next? So

Lauren: Mhmm.

Steve: I think that's something to be careful of. I think this is a a softball question. I think you and I have the same answer here, but what are your thoughts on paying for mentorship?

Lauren: I think that paying for mentor mentorship, if you can afford it, is absolutely the way to go. So I personally paid for mentorship all eight years. Every I constantly still to this day, I have a coach. I think every business owner, any business, you know, any entrepreneur should have a coach. Mhmm.

When you go with a coaching program, you you are shortening your learning curve. So, like, you could go to YouTube University. And what I see with YouTube University is it gives you vision, but it doesn't give you direction. Mhmm. So what happens is the people start getting excited, and they get all these ideas in their head.

And it's like, okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna drive for dollars and cold call and text and, like, if they're going, like, all over the place. Whereas with a program like, for me, I can only speak for myself. I give you a road map road map. I'm like, here.

Step one, step two, step three, step four. And, like, anytime I see my students, like, squirrel, I'm like, stop doing that. Like, and I'll I'll be honest with them. Like, you are you're doing that shiny object thing again. Like, get back on the path.

So with mentorship, you are shortening your learning curve. You're getting direction and vision as well. Yeah. So it's very powerful. And I don't know very many people that are successful wholesalers that did not pay into their education.

Steve: Right. Oh, you have to. You have to. I think that one of the other things too, you kinda hit it on the vision is the clarity. The amount of confidence you get being able to say, hey, Lauren.

Here's what I'm thinking. And he's like, that's a great idea. It's like, no. That's stupid.

Lauren: Exactly. And I mean, I obviously, like, I don't hold back, and I can be a little like, no. That that's really dumb. Like, don't do that. You know?

And I I will, I will be honest with my students. One thing, you know, I I noticed that, with my students, it's not even following the direction. That's the problem. It's more of there's usually a fear based or an emotional kind of component that is stopping them from progressing. So I like to say that the part that really my coaching really pays for itself is me getting you past that emotional or fear based mindset.

So a lot of my students, I can perfect example is I had this guy who was terrified of talking to sellers. I mean, he was so scared. Like, I could feel, like, hidden, like, shaking, like, through the phone when he was was telling me this fear. He was terrified of just doing a basic seller qualifying call. He wouldn't do it.

And we sat on the phone on a Saturday and I just told him like, what's the worst that can happen? I mean, I was a therapist. Like, what's the worst that can happen? You're not doing anything illegal. What can they do?

They hang up on you. Well, what if, like, I don't know what to say? Hang up on them and say that you lost reception. It's like prank calling. Yeah.

I mean, maybe, like, it was the best thing ever to be stuck in a cubicle when I was, like, 21 years old at Sperry Viness with a phone book. It's because that was awkward. Like, that was very awkward, like, being 21, picking up the phone, calling these old landlords that lived.

Steve: It's amazing experience. It's amazing relevant experience for what we

Lauren: do. It is. It is. And it was very awkward. People could hear me talk.

Like, I was in an office. Like, they could hear what I'm saying. I sound so like, I didn't know what I was talking about. You know? And so I think, like, just having that, like, level of embarrassment was so good for me.

And I I think that that was what that student was going through. He was just so, like, shy to talk to the sellers. Yeah. He got over it and had his first contract in, like, ten days after that Saturday session with me. And it was, like, the best, like, ever.

I was so proud of him. Yeah. And so, yeah, it's all about, like, breaking through. And that's the coaching. I think the coaching helps you break through those fears.

Steve: Absolutely. That's what you're getting out of it. Mhmm. Francisco asked a really great question. So, you know, you started slowing your career.

You had a great jump start, but then you kinda slowed down, had some challenges. What made you stick around?

Lauren: Honestly, I'm not a quitter. I don't give up on anything. Like, I'm really, really stubborn, and I think that, that is sometimes it's a great thing. Sometimes I don't quit things fast enough. So I do have that issue.

It's it's like a a double edged sword. Like, I I am persistent, and I will persevere, but I also sometimes am guilty of not quitting on people fast enough, quitting on employees fast enough Mhmm. Quitting on ideas that aren't working fast enough. I mean, that happens to me as well. So it really was I put it in my head.

I refused to give up. And I still I refuse to give up.

Steve: Yeah. And I think that people ask me, like, what is the most common trait or characteristics we see from everyone that's on the show? And that's the one. It's that grit. It's that persistence.

Like, I will not die. Right? Yeah. This is gonna happen.

Lauren: It's not an option.

Steve: Yeah. So I love it. And then Action REI asks, how do you vet a mentor?

Lauren: That's a really good question. So I think the word that comes to me is perspective. You wanna have a mentor that has the same perspective as you. So this brings me back to my when I was getting started and the mentors that I had, many of them gave me really bad advice because they did not have the perspective because they did not live in Southern California, and they had no idea what I was going through. They they were telling me, we'll just send more direct mail.

And I'm like, yeah. But I spent $10,000 this month in direct mail and never got paid back. Like, that is really bad advice. And that's because they were taking their

Steve: Their world.

Lauren: Midwest perspective to California. They had no business giving me advice. No offense. But that you know? So you wanna search for a mentor that has the same perspective.

So is this mentor does this mentor have experience in a landlord's market? If your market is more of a landlord's market, like, does he or she have that experience in it? Yeah. Cool. You know, does she live in if you're a virtual if you're like me, you know, you live in a high price area like Seattle, California, New York.

Like, you want somebody that has that experience of, like, yeah, I live in a high price area, and I have to do it virtually. But I think also the most important is the market that they're in. Like, I can speak for myself. I have developer market, flipper market, and landlord. It's all three.

I've done them all. If you are talking to a mentor and they only have, like, a landlord market experience, it it's they're not gonna have the same perspective Yeah. And they might give you bad advice.

Steve: Right. I think that's a great point. Pace wants to know what book you're reading right now.

Lauren: The Road Less Stupid.

Steve: It's an amazing book.

Lauren: So good. I love it. I,

Steve: I picked that up a few months ago, and I haven't been that excited about a book since Never Split the Difference.

Lauren: Oh, same. It will I I've not read Never Split the Difference, but same. Like, I'm really I love that one. That one and the, atomic habits was pretty good, but, no, this one is money.

Steve: I'm gonna have to read this multiple times.

Lauren: Me too. No. I'm I'm not done yet, but I love it, and I love the term dumb tax. I mean, I can't describe, like, what what I've done many times in my life, like, paid dumb taxes.

Steve: And those dumb taxes are expensive.

Lauren: They are.

Steve: They're not, like, a small percentage.

Lauren: Oh, yeah. I mean, no. They aren't. I'm I I tell people with in virtual, like, a lot of people that try to go virtual, they pay a lot of dumb taxes. Mhmm.

I mean, these are, like, 5 figure mistakes that people make because they, don't get a JV partner, and they wanna do it all themselves in in their first deal in a market that they don't have they have five buyers on their buyers list. Like, but I'm gonna do it all myself and to keep all my profits, like, all of what, zero? Because you didn't know how

Steve: to move the house. Like And just for everyone who's listening to clarify, dump tax is the unforced, unnecessary mistakes that we make because because we just didn't think more clearly. And

Lauren: they cost a lot of money.

Steve: They cost a lot

Lauren: of money. And so they call it a dumb tax.

Steve: Yeah.

Lauren: Absolutely. I haven't made so many. I've made them.

Steve: Alright. So we already talked answered these questions. Annie says hi.

Lauren: Hey, Annie. I'll see you tomorrow.

Steve: I guess the last question, I don't know if you can answer here, is people wanna know how much is your program.

Lauren: I can't answer that, but I can give you the link. Or, Steve, did you wanna include your you have the link. That's right.

Steve: I'll post the link on audio.

Lauren: Post the link.

Steve: Right. Cool. So, we answered a lot of these questions. So right now, what is your biggest struggle?

Lauren: I mean, COVID was pretty, pretty much a legit struggle for me. I would say that's, like, everybody's legit struggle and it's not with business. It was more of, of, having my kids home. If you guys I don't know if anybody knows this. I was supposed to be on this, like, three months ago Yeah.

In COVID because my kids got kicked out of school. I had to postpone this. But I would say now I'm in a coaching role, and I'm running my business, and I have my two girls that are my number one priority. And I think that I am struggling a little bit with the work life balance. I don't want my kids to go to the wayside of my career.

And as a female, as a mom, like, this is and not just this is not a female male issue, but as a, you know, a mom, a father, a mother, father, when you get a new job, a new career, although it's an amazing opportunity and I I love what I'm doing, I am in that period of, like, I wanna still make sure that I'm giving my kids everything that I was able to give them. So time blocking it has been a challenge for me.

Steve: And I totally understand that because for a long time, I was really good.

Lauren: Mhmm. You know,

Steve: I was working thirty, thirty five hours a week. Right. Right? All these businesses are going, but, you know, kids are first. But, man, with there's even as an entrepreneur, we keep adding more things to our plate.

And now there's that struggle for me too. So, you know, I appreciate you sharing that.

Lauren: Mhmm.

Steve: What is your superpower?

Lauren: I would say my superpower. I've done so much direct to seller marketing in eight years. It's all I've ever done. And speaking, negotiating deals directly with sellers, so sales and seller negotiation, everything direct to sellers. That's all I know.

Steve: Sounds like you enjoy it.

Lauren: Well, it's just all I know. So yeah. But, I mean, to be honest, I don't talk to sellers. I train people now too. Yeah.

I don't I haven't talked to a seller in years. I mean, my I've always had I've had employees doing this for at least five years. So I've

Steve: been doing this for very long time.

Lauren: But I train them how to do it. So yeah.

Steve: Awesome. So, I want you to think about last thoughts you wanna leave the listeners with. I'll make a couple quick announcements. Guys, so we had our workshop well, last time we talked about on a show was three months ago. So we had a workshop in April, got canceled.

So we're gonna be doing it. Right now, we're looking in July, 10/1112 in the Phoenician. So if you guys are interested in that, go to disruptors.com. And next week, we've got Cody Barton who basically made PACE. Like, PACE was nobody until he started working with Cody.

So we're gonna have Cody Barton here next week talking about scaling. So last thoughts.

Lauren: Well, gosh. I think I would wanna leave you, I don't wanna leave you guys with the impression that this was always easy for me and that I was this overnight success. I am the definition of a turtle. I I did not have this quick luck with this business, and not everybody does. So I don't want anyone to be discouraged if you don't have that, like, quick, you know, overnight success thing with real estate wholesaling investing and whatnot.

I I truly believe that part of where I'm at today was a compilation and the compound effect of my habits throughout these eight years. Every day, I worked. Every day, I listened to something that I would read, maybe a chapter. Sometimes I I don't have time for a chapter. I'd read a paragraph, or you're listening to a podcast real quick.

And I always made good choices, and I have good habits. And I think that that compilation over eight years is where, you know, why I'm here Mhmm. You know, today. So, yeah, maybe I wasn't an overnight success, and that doesn't I I truly though enjoyed the journey. And I think that anybody who's not in you know, you're frustrated.

Oh, why why didn't I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and then all of a sudden I'm closing all of

Steve: a sudden. Just fell on me.

Lauren: Money yeah. Right? You know, how come I'm not that successful guy or a girl? You know? And it's not everybody is.

I certainly wasn't. And, but make good choices, have good habits, work on your habits, and try to improve those habits every, you know, every day, and you will eventually get there if you don't give up.

Steve: Yeah. I think that's a great message. So if somebody wanted to get ahold of you, how would they get ahold of you?

Lauren: Well, I would say following me on Instagram, my handle is this mom flips. I'm sure we can put that in the show notes. Yep.

Steve: If

Lauren: you guys are interested in the virtual, investing mastery program, you have a link that you'll be sharing. Mhmm. I think those are the best ways to get a hold of me. Also, we can share my email. Yep.

If you wanna do, it's lauren@thismomflips.com.

Steve: There you go. That's her why. That's it.

Lauren: This mom flips.

Steve: Alright. So guys, thank you for watching. Thank you for Thank

Lauren: you for having me.

Steve: Accommodating with the craziness and finally making it onto the show.

Lauren: I'm excited. Thank you for

Steve: having me. Thanks a lot, guys.