Timeless Business and Building Strategies

Unlocking Real Estate Success: Jay Conner’s Guide to Private Money Mastery and Investment Strategies

• Tony Johnson

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Discover the power of private money in real estate investing with our latest episode featuring the brilliant Jay Conner. Jay's been a game-changer in the real estate world since 2009, never missing out on a deal due to funding. He introduces his revolutionary seven-day Private Money Challenge, a transformative program that shows investors how to secure private funds for single-family homes without directly asking for it. Learn why private lenders outperform hard money lenders and how you can lock in funding with terms as favorable as an 8% interest rate and zero extra fees.

Have you ever been told that finding a deal will magically attract funding? We debunk this myth and emphasize the critical importance of securing your financing upfront. Jay and I share proven strategies for finding lucrative real estate deals, such as leveraging Google and Facebook ads and building relationships with local officials. From identifying motivated sellers like out-of-state owners and tax-delinquent properties to the importance of consistency in direct mail marketing, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you succeed in real estate.

Explore innovative strategies for acquiring properties under foreclosure, including the concept of buying properties subject to existing notes. Jay highlights how offering financial incentives to distressed sellers creates win-win scenarios, and we discuss the significant benefits of automation in real estate operations. With insights on the evolution of real estate investing and the value of having a knowledgeable mentor, this episode is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to thrive in the real estate market.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to another episode of Carolina Commercial Real Estate Connection. Today we have Jay Conner with us. Jay, thank you so much for joining the show.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my lands, tony, are you kidding? It's my honor and pleasure. Thank you so much for having me come on. I mean, I'm so excited to be here because we get to talk about what I'm so passionate about and that's private money, because since 2009, I've never missed out on a real estate deal for not having the money.

Speaker 1:

That's fantastic, and that was a tough time to not be missing out on deals. So you know, that's that's fantastic that you did that. One thing that I wanted to bring up uh, get going here, jay. We were discussing a couple of things. You do a lot of different things. Right now You're focused on Private Money Challenge. You've created a site, wwwprivetmoneychallengecom. Could you tell us a bit briefly what that is about?

Speaker 2:

Oh yes, in fact, tony, this is like brand new. I just started doing the Private Money Challenge. It's a seven-day challenge, all about raising private money for real estate investors, how to raise private money, where to find it, how to get it without ever asking for money, and so here's the way it works. I go live about 15, 20 minutes a day, so it's very digestible and consumable. And it's for real estate investors that have never done a deal, never raised private money. It's also for real estate investors that's done a ton of deals and they're just sick and tired of paying hard money, lender rates and origination fees and all that kind of stuff. So, yes, come join me. It's a lot of fun, very interactive and I promise you whoever joins me in the Private Money Challenge is going to know exactly how to raise private money and how to get it very, very quickly at wwwprivatemoneychallengecom. Come on over and join me at the party.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic, jay. You are definitely passionate about what you are doing. So tell me, when we're talking about you're raising money is uh, is this raising for syndications? Is it just raising for partnerships? What? What specifically? Or is it just raising in general? It doesn't matter which which road someone's going down.

Speaker 2:

Great question. So everything I do, everything that I share and teach about how I do, it's all called one-offs. So this is specifically what I teach, specifically for single-family houses. So I'm not raising money for syndication, I'm not raising money for a fund. Typically, you're going to do that when you're in the commercial world, as you are, tony, and you're going to raise money for apartments or restaurants or self-storage buildings and stuff. But in this world of single family houses, there's what we have one of.

Speaker 2:

So there's a private lender, or maybe a couple of private lenders that are funding the deal for a single family house. They each have their own promissory note. They got their own here in North Carolina, their own deed of trust. Most states call it a mortgage here in north carolina, as you know, in wilmington's, a deed of trust, however. However, if someone's listening to this episode and you're interested primarily in commercial, guess what? It's the same money. It's the same money that you raise. It's just a matter of how you structure the deal and how you use the money and how your private lenders, you know, get compensated and how they get their return. Like in this world of single family, there's no back end, there's no joint venturing, there's no equity. All the private lenders get a straight interest rate which, by the way, is right now 8%. No points, no origination fees, no junk fees, no extension fees, straight 8%. And so, yeah, not raising money for syndications. It's individually private lender and for a single family house.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so you're saying these are private lenders for single family and 8% with no origination fees, and this is raising from private individuals, and what your course is going to do is train someone how to basically find and interact with these people where you don't even have to ask for the money, the money is just going to keep flowing right to you.

Speaker 2:

Am I right? Isn't that amazing?

Speaker 1:

Yes, that's fantastic. So tell us a little bit more. This is too interesting. So you're saying that you're going to be able to train someone in seven days to be able to go out there who has never done this and be able to get somebody to give them money? I was just on the phone yesterday with a person who I'm quasi-coaching, just kind of helping him go through his first deal. Is this something for his case that someone would loan for a construction loan for building a new home, single-family home?

Speaker 2:

This is not for a construction loan, and here's why Not for a construction loan. And here's why. And here's why we're giving our private lenders the collateral so we're not borrowing unsecured money. Now, you can you can borrow unsecured money legally, but I don't do it right Because I want to give my private lenders collateral. So this works best the way that I do it and everybody that I've taught. It works best for existing houses that are already there, that you're buying at a discount, because most of them that we buy do need some type of renovation or rehab. Or if you're doing a buy and hold, it might just need rent ovation. There's a difference between rent ovation and renovation. If you're doing it, Right.

Speaker 1:

I thought you'd like that. Know if you're doing it right. I thought you'd like that one. Tony, that's pretty good.

Speaker 2:

So, uh, yeah, so this is, this is how we're structuring these deals Properties are already there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's great. So the properties are already there and what you're saying? It could be a property in good shape or something that needs a value add or a little uplift.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I mean, you know, sometimes people will say to me say, jay, I don't need any private money because I'm buying pretty houses on terms. I'm buying pretty houses that don't need much renovation, and I'm well. Here's the answer to that. In my experience, tony and I, and my wife and I, we've been full-time here in eastern North Carolina since 2003. We've rehabbed over 500 houses. But I buy on terms, I buy subject to the existing note and seller financing and all that creative stuff. But here's the deal. I'm a pretty good negotiator myself. I've had the same acquisitionist for 18 years, for goodness sakes. And here's what I've discovered in reviewing thousands of property lead sheets from potential sellers Only 13% of those FSBOs for sale by owners will sell to me creatively, you know, subject to seller financing.

Speaker 2:

What do the other 87% of those off-market sellers require? All the cash, right? So private money. You're going to use private money when the seller requires all the cash, and of course that's in the majority of cases. And you know there's nothing in the multiple listing service these days anyway, there hasn't been anything for sale in the multiple listing service. That's a deal. I mean there for sale in the multiple listing service. That's a deal. I mean there's something in the multiple listing service that's like super crazy.

Speaker 2:

Tony, did you know here in little old, teeny, tiny Morehead City, north Carolina, the medium price now is 550 000 here in Morehead City. Now, of course that includes those houses that are on Bogue Sound and on the intercoaster Waterway and all that stuff. But anyway, I have no idea how I got on that rant and that rave. Oh, yes, I know what you said. So, yes, I guarantee by the end of seven days in the private money challenge dot com that when somebody comes in with me there they're going to know exactly how I do it and how to get this money without ever asking for the money.

Speaker 1:

That's fantastic. So let's walk through just for someone who is, let's say, a little bit inexperienced in deal searching and deal finding. So if someone can find somebody and give them some money, that's one aspect of the deal. But what we're talking about is finding off-market deals.

Speaker 1:

So, what type of help do you offer or support do you offer for these clients that then need help finding a deal? They've got all the information. They've got people throwing them money around the corner. It's stacks of money behind them but they don't know how to find a property. How are you going to help them with that?

Speaker 2:

I'm going to help them with that. And here's the thing I tell you, Tony, you know what drives me crazy. Now I'm getting ready to say something. Taking a little risk here, taking a little risk, I'm getting ready to say something that I hope you agree with me on. If you don't agree with me, then I'll ask for forgiveness right now, up front. But let me just tell you what drives me stupid, crazy. I just want to go slam myself into a wall. Every time I hear it, these gurus going around on the platform telling new real estate investors quote, unquote oh, just get the deal under contract, the money will show up. You ever heard that, Tony?

Speaker 1:

That's right, I hear it all the time. But if you don't already have the money before you find the deal, it's too late.

Speaker 2:

hey, listen thank you, thank you, thank you. It's like they say. You know, I was a guest on a podcast the other day and the host and I were having this conversation. I said I said why in the world do they say that lie? Why do they lie to the audience that the money will show you, get a good deal. The money's going to show up. What's it going to do, like rain out of clouds or something? I said why do they lie to their audience? And they said Jay, I can tell you why they lie to their audience. I said why? He says because they're selling a course on how to get a deal under contract and how to find a deal, and they don't teach you how to get the money. I said well, that makes sense, right there. So how do we find these deals? So, yes, everybody comes into private moneychallengecom with me. I'm going to tell you exactly how I do it. But let me tell you right now how I do it and then I'll give you even more details. But here, here's the deal.

Speaker 2:

You see, I like being a big fish in a small pond. Moorhead City, north Carolina, has only got 8,000 people. My total target market's only got 40,000 people. I'm here in Carteret County and I invest over in Havelock and Newbern in Craven County, and so I like to dominate the market. In fact, you know what drives what makes me laugh, tony. I like to dominate the market. In fact, you know what drives what makes me laugh, tony, is some. Some seminar guru will go to Greenville, north Carolina, and do a half a day seminar and teach all these new wannabe real estate investors how to find deals. All they teach them what to do is go put out bandit signs by the road that says I buy houses. Well, every once in a while somebody new will show up in my sandbox here in my area playing in my sandbox and I call them up and I say hey, this is Jay Connor. Of course I'm getting a voicemail. Nobody answers the phone.

Speaker 2:

I get a voice, I say, hey, this is Jay Connor. I just want to introduce myself. I've been buying and selling houses here in the area ever since 2003,. And I got a problem. I got hundreds of thousands of dollars burning a hole in my pocket with all this private money and I need to buy some houses. So when you get a deal under contract, call me and I'll pay you an insane wholesale assignment fee. Well, I'm lucky if they even call me back to start with. But when they do call me back, then I do deals with the wholesalers. But how do you find these houses? Well, you can do bandit signs. I don't do bandit signs, I just like being friends with the local government officials, since I'm in a small area, right? So how do I find these deals? Well, I hope if you're listening, you're taking notes, but if you're driving, don't take notes. Come back and listen to the replay. But. But here's how I find my deals.

Speaker 2:

First of all, I got four different companies that I pay to do my Google ads. So what I love about Google and I don't do pay per click. Pay per click is when you're doing your own bidding. I do pay per lead, so I'm paying an X amount of dollars for a lead, for a name, a physical address and a phone number of an off-market property owner, and they're saying I want to sell my house. So I love them. I love them because they're looking for me, they're looking for you. They're going to Google and they're saying, hey, buy my house fast, sell my house fast, fast. There's 75 different keyword phrases that they use, but I love those leads because they are looking for us. In addition to google paid leads, I do facebook ads, so I've got my favorite, best performing facebook ad. Now, this is not a facebook post, this is a facebook ad that just shows up in people's newsfeed. And my best performing Facebook ad, tony, is me standing here on a street in Moorhead City holding a yellow bandit sign in front of my chest and it says I buy houses and it's got a phone number and that's it. So Facebook paid ads.

Speaker 2:

In addition to that, I got a full-time, 40 hour a week outbound caller, and so she's outbound calling. We use calltoolscom, calltoolscom. We used to use Mojo, but calltoolscom is a lot better. She'll call thousands of numbers a day and talk to them. So you know we're calling out-of-state owners, absentee owners, tax delinquents, inherited properties. You know, everybody listened to this episode. You know all the lists to call Um and and I just recently bought a house off of highway 24.

Speaker 2:

That, uh, that came from one of my outbound callers, or one from my outbound calling list, and it had a double motivation it was an inherited property and it was back due on taxes for two years. So we had quite a bit of motivation going on there. I just got another property that I bought last Thursday, a week ago, and it was a ocean front at Atlantic no Indian beach, tony over there on the island and Oceanfront at Colony by the Sea. And this one was inherited as well and it was going to the foreclosure sale on the courthouse steps on June the 6th. So we were able to buy that one and that came directly from our off market. But talk about this property, tony, for goodness sakes. I bought it for $425,000. All I had to do is $11,000 worth of interior paint and some sheetrock repairs. It's beautifully, totally furnished with luxury furniture. Oceanfront bought it for $425,000, $11,000 in paint. I'm putting it on the market week after next for $625,000. Hallelujah on that one, anyway.

Speaker 2:

So outbound calling. We've direct mailed all foreclosures in our county. We've been tracking every open foreclosure file ever since 2004. And about 50% of our business now is the foreclosures. And so those are the, and I do postcards. I use investormachinecom for my postcard direct mail. Now, if you're listening to this episode, you don't need to be doing all these different channels and all these different funnels. Start out with one. And, by the way, I'm going to give you two words that you don't want to miss out on consistency and measurable. Consistency and measurable you know, if I don't have, if you don't have consistent seller leads coming in your pipeline every day, every week, you have a hobby, you do not have a business, so we want consistent seller leads coming in all the time. And yeah, that covers it, tony. Those are the two main questions we hear all the time how do you find the deals and how do you fund the deals?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. So you went through some great ways to market for them. You also went through some great ways and great things. You're doing.

Speaker 1:

So when we're talking, for instance, you specified direct mail for foreclosure properties and then, jay, you brought up consistency and measurable. So what we're talking about and what Jay's saying here is you know, you could go start doing mailing and a lot of times people will go they'll do mails. Let's say, they do a couple mailings, then they start getting the calls, then they're negotiating. You have to consistently mail. So by the time you get through all those leads and then you let's say, oh man, I'm out of leads, I'm going to mail again. Well then you're going to already have a gap. You have to mail, somebody has to get the mail, then they have to open the mail, then you have to wait for leads to come back.

Speaker 1:

If you didn't consistently keep mailing, then your leads dry up and you're starting all over again and then, like he's saying, it becomes a hobby because you're going to have getting inbound calls from your lead generation of sending out mailers. So you have to commit to weekly progress on something. So that's fantastic, jay, and that's some very good tidbits that you're giving people with producing Google ads, facebook, so he's giving you, on a high level, what you would get much more in depth on a course. Sounds like you know your stuff and someone that's done 500 homes. That's rather impressive, so obviously you have some experience. That's great. Um, so could you? Is your wife in business with you?

Speaker 2:

yes, so carol joy, she's got her office right down the hall. Brenda smith, our office manager, uh, sits next to her. And then I have my executive assistant, ashley, who manages my calendar. And I'll tell you something else that makes this business fun and scalable, and that is automation. You know, when I started getting out of my own way, that's when the business really started to take off, years ago.

Speaker 2:

I remember we'd been in this business. Carol Joy and I had been in this business for maybe a year, and it was on a Saturday night at quarter to nine, for goodness sakes. We were at Lowe's Home Improvement picking out stuff for a house and getting knickknacks for staging. And I looked at Carol Joy and I said what in the world are we doing at Lowe's Home Improvement at quarter to nine on a Saturday night working? Why did we get into this business? Well, we got into the business because we wanted some freedom, right, wealth. You could be making all the money in the world. And if you're not enjoying the journey, then why in the world are you? You know, are you in there? So you know, automation, getting out of my own way. And you know, I started out thinking well, nobody else can do anything better than I can. Well, that was sort of stupid right. I actually found out when I start delegating and becoming a 3D person, which is dictate, delegate and disappear and get out of the way and let them do their job, and, of course, you got to have accountability in there as well. You can get so much more done and you know most of what gets done in this business. Everybody else is better at it than I am, in fact.

Speaker 2:

What do I do? I mean, what do I do? Well, my responsibility that I've chosen by choice is make sure the marketing machine is turned on, and we got seller leads of single-family houses coming into our funnel every day. What else do I do? I make decisions. Well, what kind of decisions do I make? Well, I make decisions on what I want to offer on properties. I don't go out and estimate repairs. My project manager does that. I got the same project manager for 16 years that's been estimating repairs, and then the general contractor gives their budget sheet and everything. So what decisions do I make? The only decision I make is what do I want to offer on properties? And, truth be told, I could delegate that out to my acquisitionist, because all I do is punch my calculator on my iPhone for about 30 seconds and run my calculation as to my maximum offer. I could give that to her. But I sort of like the fun of making offers and, by the way, I don't make the offers, the acquisitionist makes the offers. And you know I don't even talk to my acquisitionist, except maybe once every three months.

Speaker 2:

All of our communication is through the software. That's a big way that I got out of the way and automated. So we use reisoftwarecom. That's a small boutique company. Marla Harmon owns it and what's beautiful about it is that all the communication, all of our leads, all of our pipelines is in the software and the entire team communicates.

Speaker 2:

I got a full-time lead manager for the past five years. The job of the lead manager is to make sure no leads fall through the crack. I tell you, tony, when I started out I was the most disorganized mess on the planet. I was trying to run this company off Post-it notes. I had so many Post-it notes I had them on my forehead trying to remember everything to do. But with this software the tasks are in there. In fact every lead that we have come into the business automatically goes into the REI software to where nobody manually has to put the leads in All those Google leads, all those Facebook leads. Everybody manually has to put the leads in All those Google leads, all those Facebook leads, all those postcard leads. All that stuff automatically goes into the software. By the way, if somebody's listening to this episode and you want to check out reisoftwarecom, you go there, you talk to Marla and you tell Marla to give you the Jay Conner discount because she's a really, really nice girl and she'll take good care of you.

Speaker 1:

But anyway, that's how we automate and get out of the way and get more done. That's fantastic. And yet in this market you know if you're not able to work through these methods to finding a property, you're not going to find a deal. That's the reality. The market is still too competitive. There's not enough inventory on the market, so when something is listed right now, it's listed at a deal. That's the reality. The market is still too competitive. There's not enough inventory on the market, so when something is listed right now, it's listed at a premium.

Speaker 1:

Things aren't on the market long enough for sellers to struggle and even if they do struggle, they're so overpriced while listed on the MLS that when they do a price reduction it still doesn't pencil. Nothing would pencil when you find it on here. So the only way to be a real estate investor of single family property is to do exactly what Jay's going through and you have to have multiple different pieces coming together in a stacking software. I'm assuming this REI is a stacking software. Is that correct? Or is it stacking your different lead trackers and putting and then showing which is the hottest lead you should pursue? Or what is REI of full stacking, where you're bringing other softwares in?

Speaker 2:

Well, let me share my ignorance. I don't even know what stacking software is.

Speaker 1:

Oh, okay. Well, that's where you're taking. Let's say, delinquencies are showing up for a property on a couple different sites, or where you have delinquency late on taxes, you have mortgage default and it's been inherited and those are all coming in together and it's stacking that you have these multiple, as you stated, on your other property where you had inherited and it had tax liens. So that's where a stacking software would come in and be like okay, this is a good lead because you have multiple avenues of a problem for this individual.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So you know what? I didn't know I had stacking software until right now. Yeah, I do have stacking, I just don't know what you called it. So every lead is like a white box with black print in it, when in the software and in the lower left hand corner it shows all the motivations that they have responded to Right. The reason I know that Colony by the Sea oceanfront condo was inherited and going to foreclosure on June 6th is because in the lower left-hand corner of the lead it told me that it told me what their motivations were. In fact, I got some leads. They got like five motivations, you know, and I'm going we better talk to them pretty fast.

Speaker 1:

Right, yeah, and that's the thing. And then you know it's being able to talk to someone fast, right, yeah, and that's the thing. And then you know it's being able to talk to someone. You know, jay, you're very personable, obviously, just sitting here talking to you. You're easy to talk to. That's the thing. You have to be genuine and easy to talk to, where you're not trying to rip someone off or take advantage of someone. You're actually helping someone and if you approach it with the right manner, you're actually helping someone. And if you approach it with the right manner, that of what you're doing is not, you know, taking advantage of anyone. You're helping them out.

Speaker 1:

So, for instance, what you're just mentioning, if something goes to foreclosure, what kind of positions is that going to put them in? You could come in and save the day for them. Keep them from having to go through the full problem of a foreclosure. How they're going to deal with that on you know, their credit report, how they, what they have to do. Do they, you know, claim bankruptcy? Do they have to do all these problems? You're solving a problem and getting a deal, and it's going with some learning from someone like you, jay, who's been doing this, for it sounds like over 18 years. Right, doing this for this long of a time? That has the experience and understanding that when someone gets with you and they get some kind of a deal, they run into an issue they are not answering. They have someone reliable they can reach back out to and say hey, here's what I've come across. How the heck do you deal with this, right?

Speaker 2:

I'm assuming.

Speaker 1:

I'm sorry, go ahead. I'm saying I'm assuming and I'd love you to expand a little bit more. Is that something that you're helping your clients with, that join up with you?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I'm so glad you brought that up, for example. So what we're talking about is leading with a servant's heart. Leading with a servant's heart, and I tell you what in this business, as with any business, is gonna be successful. It ain't about reaping. It ain't about reaping. It's all about sowing first and giving value first. So, for example, how do we lead with a servant's heart in my organization? Well, I'll give you an example.

Speaker 2:

When Carol joy, my wife, and I started this foreclosure business all the way back in 2004, 2004. We started in 2003, but we started focusing on foreclosures and helping people facing foreclosure back in 2004. We committed to each other. We're going to do everything in the world that we can to serve these people facing foreclosure. I mean, for goodness sakes, they're stressed out, they're emotionally strained, they're financially strapped, or they wouldn't be in the predicament that they're in. And so what are we going to do? We're going to come along and help these people. So how do we help them?

Speaker 2:

Well, here's the first example when they respond to our letters. By the way, we've got eight letters that we mail sequentially here in North Carolina. We mail them three days apart. It takes 24 days to go through the cycle of all the letters and we start mailing to these people immediately after the substitute trustee opens a file at the clerk of court's office in the county where the property is located. So we start mailing these letters. We get a 57% response to the letters which, by the way, if anybody's done any direct mail, you know that's stupid, insane. Like 57%, if you get 2% or 3%, you're knocking it out of the park, you're not getting 57%.

Speaker 1:

That's unheard of. That's fantastic, it is.

Speaker 2:

Well, but the reason it's so high is number one sequential mailings back to back to back, and the message matches the market perfectly. But anyway, when they respond to one of these letters, one of the first questions we ask them is do you want to keep your property, do you want to keep your house house? And if they do, and if we can give them an idea on how to keep their property, is there anything in that for me or my wife or my team directly? No, there's nothing in it for us directly. But you know what? That's another characteristic of a successful real estate investor and entrepreneur, and that is you must have an abundant mindset and not a mindset of scarcity. There's plenty to go around. And you know, tony I don't know if you're old enough to remember him or not, but Zig Ziegler, he was one of my heroes. And Zig Ziegler said you know, if you help enough other people get what they want, you going to have all you want. You don't have to worry about yourself. So if they want to keep their property, I'll say uh, or my acquisition will say, well, have you talked to your lender? Unfortunately, most of the time they haven't talked to their lender because they're in denial and they're like the ostrich with the head in the ground, with their butt up in the in the air, where you're going to get kicked right.

Speaker 2:

I will say well, here's what I recommend you do. Call your lender and it is exactly what you tell your lender. Now, this is, if they believe they can make payments on a timely basis, now if they can't make payments on a timely basis, no need in having this conversation. But if they had a bump in the road, call your lender, tell them your situation. I promise you your lender wants to hear from you because they do not want your house back. I promise you they do not want your house and call them up and say look, I can now make payments. What do I do to apply for a loan modification or a deferment program? And maybe they can work with you if you can prove that you can make the finances.

Speaker 2:

I never advise anybody to file bankruptcy because I'm not an attorney and I can't give that advice. But obviously, if they file bankruptcy, if that's in their best interest, that's going to stop the foreclosure as well. So if we can give them an idea on keeping their home, then we're going to give them the idea. Unfortunately, most people do not have the financial wherewithal to do it. Now how else do we serve these people?

Speaker 2:

Well, we buy these properties and here's how you're going to fund these properties. You're going to fund your property when you buy a foreclosure. You're going to buy it subject to the existing note. That's nothing new. It's on line 203 on the HUD settlement statement. It already says mortgage subject to existing mortgage. It's already there. Your attorney doesn't have to create anything.

Speaker 2:

And buying subject to the existing note is very simple. The seller of that property, the sales you the property. You take title into your entity. They leave the mortgage in their name and you agree to bring their payments current because they're in foreclosure, and to make their payments on a timely basis. You say who in the world would allow you to do that? I can tell you who would allow you to do that Somebody that needs debt relief, that can't make the payments anymore.

Speaker 2:

So how else do we serve them? They many times will sell us the property for what they owe, but guess what? I don't buy it for what they owe. If I'm making an average of $82,000 per deal, for goodness sakes, can I not put a few thousand dollars in their pocket and help them get back on their feet. Well, of course I can. So we'll put $2,000 to $4,000, depending on the deal in the seller's pocket to help them get back on their feet. It's all about win-win-win scenarios. My dad, wallace Connor, who's 91 and a half years old right now he'll make sure you know you got the half on that he told me years and he's in a slight slap dab in the middle of a housing development right now. Tony's building 350 houses and at 91 and a half years old.

Speaker 2:

He's got it halfway built out here in Newport. But anyway, he told me decades ago Jay, if everybody's not winning in the transaction and if everybody isn't getting some meat off of the bone, don't do the deal.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. That's a fantastic way to look at it and you know, when we're talking about this, people might say, well, why doesn't this person just call a realtor and list it before they go to foreclosure or when they're feeling this? Well, the reason, typically, that that's not the case and these aren't the homes for being listed, is these homes are probably in some type of distress, have not been maintained properly. If they're inherited, they're full of junk, might've been a hoarder and it's just overwhelming for someone to go, and especially if they're in financial problems or financial disarray, they don't have the money to fix it, to list it, to get everything cleaned out, to get it all ready for listing. So when you don't have the finances to pay the mortgage, you surely don't have the finances to get it prepped and ready to list. And maybe they're embarrassed that they can't do that, so they don't want to call a real estate agent. Or maybe that they don't want a bunch of people traipsing through the home because of the condition of the home to sit and tell them all the problems when they don't want to deal with all those things.

Speaker 1:

You're like a superhero, coming in when you give them this letter and then when you're coming and saying okay, I'm not only going to buy this house, take over, help you out of your problem. I'm going to give you some money so you can get set up in a new apartment and establish yourself and get started all over. You're like a savior. So, yes, zig Ziglar is a fine, a fantastic individual and is all about helping everyone else in order to help you. So, just like with setting goals, he's very good on that. Build up, as many people help each other get what they want, to help you get what you want. So Zig Ziglar is fantastic. I love that you read him. He is a classic and, yeah, I love that you've done that and also it's very impressive.

Speaker 1:

Jane, I'd like to get a little bit of an understanding. We're talking and I understand that you've done that and also it's very impressive. Jane, I'd like to get a little bit of an understanding. We're talking and I understand that you have delegated out. Because you've been in business so long, how have you adapted over the years? It was a completely different industry in 2003, 2005. And then you went through the foreclosures. If that's what you did in 2004, was fantastic. But how have you adapted to all the transition of technology over the years, because I imagine in the beginning were you doing door to door knocking almost. It was, like you know, driving for dollars back then is what everybody was doing.

Speaker 2:

Right, right. Well, how I have adapted is two answers come to mind. Adapted is two answers come to mind. So how did I adapt when all the financial debacle was going on in 2007, eight and nine, and all those people had mortgages that should have never gotten a mortgage, and then the market was flooded with foreclosures? You see, tony, when Carol Joy and I started out, I never heard of private money. I never heard of hard money, I never heard of subject to the existing note. All I knew to do, tony, from 2003 until 2009, was go to the local bank. I had the same banker for six years, 2003 to 2009. All I knew to do, tony, is go to the local bank, get on my hands and knees, put my hands underneath my chin and pull my skirt up so my banker could see all my personal assets and my financial statements and say please fund my deal.

Speaker 2:

Please fund my deal. That's all I knew to do, because, you know, the banker made the rules, the lender made the rules and all that. Well, I remember it like it was yesterday, tony. By the way, you may find it interesting here in Moorhead City, north Carolina, we still have handsets on telephones with cords attached, can you believe? But anyway, I picked up my phone January 2009. I'd been in this business for six years. My banker's name was Steve. He knew me very, very well and I called him up, tony, I had two houses under contract, one in Newport, one in Moritz City.

Speaker 2:

I called up Steve. I said, steve, I got these houses under contract. I told him about the deals, like I'd done for six years, Told him when I wanted to close the funding required for the deals. And Steve went quiet on the other end of the phone, which is never a good sign when your banker goes quiet. Anyway, he finally spoke up. He says, jay, I'm sorry to tell you, but the bank has closed your line of credit and you don't have a line of credit. And I thought to myself to be sure I did not hear what Steve just told me on the telephone. I said, steve, what do you mean? The bank has closed my line of credit. We've had a great relationship for six years. What in the world is going on? Steve says, jay, don't you know? There's a global financial crisis going on right now. I said no, but now you just gave me a global financial crisis because I can't fund these deals. I got under contract, so I hung up the phone and here's part of the answer to your question, tony, of how do I adapt.

Speaker 2:

I sat here at the, at my desk, and I thought for a moment I'm getting ready to share a question that I asked myself that will help fix any problem you got in your life going on personal health relationships, financial business, it don't matter. I sat here and I asked myself this question. I said, jay, who do you know that can help you with your problem? And, by the way, these people going around saying every problem is an opportunity, that makes me want to throw up as well. I didn't have no opportunity. I had a problem. I couldn't fund my deals. So when I asked myself that question and, by the way, I love the book, it's it's who, not how, it's who, not how. So I asked, I asked myself that question who can help me with my problem?

Speaker 2:

I immediately thought of Jeff Blankenship, dear friend of mine, and Carol Joyce. He lived in Greensboro, north Carolina at the time and I called him up. I said I told him what happened. He said well, jay, welcome to the club. I said what club? He said the club of the bank shutting you down. My bank shut me down last week.

Speaker 2:

I said well, how are you funding your deals? He said you ever heard of private money? I said no. He said you ever heard of self-directed IRAs and how individuals can use their retirement money to loan to real estate investors and earn tax deferred or tax free income unlimited per year? I said what in the world are you talking about? So I studied private money, how to do business with individuals that can loan money, investment capital, retirement funds, and I learned about self-directed IRAs and I established a relationship with a self-directed IRA company to where I could refer individuals.

Speaker 2:

So how did I adapt? I asked who could help me with my problem and you know what, tony, it actually did end up being the biggest blessing in disguise in this business. Our income and our business tripled in 2009 over 2008 because you had all these foreclosures and the banks were not lending money and you had to have all the cash to buy those foreclosures. Well, my lands, literally the money was raining out of clouds. Now, because I had all this private money, I could pick and choose the deals. So let me answer. So how did I adapt? I asked other people for help with my problem. Now let me answer the question, because I've I've I've hinted around at it, but I haven't answered the question. How do I have eight and a half million dollars of private money? I haven't answered the question. How do I have $8.5 million of private money? I never ask anybody for money.

Speaker 2:

Well, let me reveal the secret. What I did is I put my program together that I was going to teach people in my own connections people I go to church with, people I play golf with people in the Rotary Club, people I see every week and I started sharing my program as to how they could earn high rates of return safely and securely. So what did I do? Here's exactly what I did I put on my teacher hat, my private money teacher hat, and I started teaching my own connections what private money and uh, and how they could earn high rates of return safely and securely, without mentioning any kind of deal. You know, tony, desperation has got a smell to it and if you're talking about how people can earn high rates of return and you're talking a deal at the same time that you need funded, you're desperate, even though you don't mean to sound desperate. So we separate the conversation of teaching the program how they can earn high rates of return safely and securely with having a deal to fund.

Speaker 2:

So, tony, let's say you're one of my friends and we've met at Starbucks and and we're talking along and and I start a conversation, and here's how I love to start conversations like that. I'll say Tony, by the way, are you investing in anything these days? You see, tony, you think I'm asking you for advice. I'm not asking you for any advice. I'm getting ready to share with you what private money is all about. I say, tony, are you investing in anything these days? Odds are, if you're investing in anything these days, you're probably not very happy with it, because the stock market is so volatile and all over the place and you can still only get four or four and a half percent in a 12 month CD down at First Citizens Bank. And so I'll start a conversation I said well, have you ever heard of private money and how an individual can earn high rates of return safely and securely, or tax free or tax deferred? Of course you don't know the answer to that question. If you're, you know, just an average person, and so we'll talk about private money.

Speaker 2:

So once you tell me you're interested in this program and you tell me how much you got to invest, then how do I get my deal funded without asking you for money? Well, here's the secret sauce. I call you up with the good news phone call. Well, what in the world is the good news phone call? Well, the good news phone call goes like this hey, tony, this is Jay. I got great news for you. I can now put your money to work. Now. You see, you've already told me how much money you got. If it's retirement funds, I've already introduced you to the self-directed IRA company that I recommend. You've already transferred your money over and you're waiting for the good news phone call. You're not making any money until I put your money to work. I'm ethically bound to put your money to work now, since you moved the money over. So I call you up, tony. I got great news. I can now put your money to work. I got a house under contract in Newport with an after repaired value of $200,000.

Speaker 2:

The funding required for the deal is $150,000. I know you got $150,000 because you already told me Closing's next Friday. So you're going to need to wire your funds to my real estate attorney's trust account next Thursday. I'm going to have my real estate attorney email you the wiring instructions. End of conversation. I'm not asking you if you want to do the deal. That's the most stupid question in the world I could ask you. Of course you want to do the deal. You're waiting for me to put your money to work because you already moved it over to the self-directed IRA company and you ain't making no money until I put it to work. And so end of conversation you wire the funds and off we go and close and I'm going to pick up a big check every time I buy, because I always borrow more than I need to purchase and do the rehab. That only works if you're buying at a significant discount and the favorite phrase on my real estate attorney's check stub is excess cash. To close, lord have mercy, I love me some excess cash.

Speaker 1:

Holy moly, jay, that's a way to close out the call. Hold me. My goodness, my goodness, you guys need to reach out to Jay today. Privatemoneychallengecom. Jay, that's fantastic. You've put a bunch of information bombs out there for everybody to get started and have shown by giving all this value out here for free. You're well worth someone to reach out to and get a little bit more information, spend a little bit more time with. And so if you're looking for a mentor, someone to help you to learn the ins and outs of real estate, for taking down some single family properties, please take some time, reach out to Jay. Jay, thank you so much for taking the time to sit and go through your experiences with us and give great tidbits out to the people listening today. I really appreciate it, sir.

Speaker 2:

Tony, it's all my honor and pleasure. Thank you so much for having me, and God bless you. Thank you, sir. Have a great afternoon you too.