The Science of Flipping - Episode 178: Pool Cleaner Turns Fulltime Real Estate Investor

Episode Date: December 18, 2020

You gotta love a good story of how someone worked a secular job, found real estate and had their life changed!

Welcome to the Science of Flipping Podcast. I'm your host, Justin Colby. What is up, everybody? What is up? Welcome back to the Science of Flipping Podcast, and I am your host, Justin Colby. And on this podcast, I am doing an interview from a full-time pool cleaner to now full-time real estate investor, Mr. Jason Scott is here. What's up, dude? What is up? You're very dynamic. You're more than just a full-time pool cleaner. You actually owned the business and still own it. And so let's just be very clear. It's not that you're working hourly cleaning pools, but you made the leap from full-time entrepreneur in one industry into real estate investing. And we all know how hard that can be.

And so I just want to give you praise and bring you on and show the people that this is doable. This is something that can be done by more than just Justin Colby or any of the other names, but someone like Jason who went all in and committed to it is now reaping rewards and seeing success and now ultimately is going to look to even open up virtual markets based around what he's seen in our market here in Phoenix as he's a local Phoenician, as you see by his hoodie, and he is going to be jumping in a new market. So let's just start chatting, dude. What gave you the bug about real estate investing? And obviously, there's some backstory I haven't let on here,

but give us a little background of why did you make that commitment into this space? I knew where I was at was not going to get me and my family where I want to be ultimately. So I mean, I've always had this nagging thing going on behind me is what I'm doing today getting me where I want to be? And I knew the answer was no. My heart was never in the business that I was in. And so I've always had a love for real estate, always wanted to do it. Actually was, I dabbled in it a little bit back in 2010, sold it, started my pool business. So I call myself the world's dumbest real estate investor. Cause had I just stayed doing what I was doing at the time, we would be having an entirely different conversation today.

Life lessons you learn. That's it. Well, and then you got the bug because you bought, you ended up buying a rehab flip, right? And without any of my input, this is before you and I met and before I've been able to coach you, but you went out and you saw a property that looked like a pretty decent deal based around the numbers you knew how to run. And you ended up flipping a property and that kind of gave you the itch of like, why not really kind of go for this, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just to rewind real quick, I've been listening to podcasts about real estate for like the last three years while I'm out working, doing pools, this and that. So the love was there, but knowing how to get into it, I didn't know. I finally realized I have to get out of this

analysis paralysis and just do something. So I started reaching out to wholesalers, found a deal through a wholesaler and just ran with it and didn't really know what I was getting into, but I was just doing it. So, um, it worked out. I learned, I learned a lot, but the one thing I learned was, well, I want to, I want to learn more about wholesaling. Like if I can get, if I can get first to the deal, if I can be that guy that sold me this deal, that would have changed my numbers a little bit and made this deal make a lot more sense. So through that, I started reaching out, making more connections and came across you. So, yeah. And I'm very thankful for it. And so

it's been a great time. I mean, obviously I've been able to show you that there's going to be a lot of challenges in here, but you know, out of the gates, you've been able to not only do that flip, but then you did a co-wholesale, which is a way that I really try to advocate for most kind of newbies in the space, whether you're part-time or full-time, I advocate for that because it's free, right? You don't need to go out in there and spend a bunch of marketing dollars. And as you have now experienced, marketing can become very costly, especially if it's not driving in a bunch of leads that are converting right and so then there's that hurdle but not only were you able to get the coal wholesale deal done almost immediately

right like two weeks it was a two week i taught it to you two weeks later you have a check yes right absolutely and i mean the one thing i'll say about coal wholesaling is it's not rocket science. It's it is tedious type of work. You have to commit yourself to it. You have to spend time. It took me two weeks. That doesn't always happen. I'm not saying everybody's going to do that, but I committed to what you taught me. I did it. And two weeks later, had a deal done. And it's not rocket science. It's just acting. That's all it is that's it acting taking action i should say it's not it's acting not acting upon acting it's acting taking action executing a hundred percent i think that is what you just said is really like the crux in my opinion

why people don't ultimately win is because they don't take action, right? They may listen to my podcast. They may listen to my, or watch my YouTube videos or other people's, right? But then when it comes to rubber meeting the road and them having to do it, that's where they choke up. That's where like, I don't know, but that's, I would also argue that's where coaching is so powerful because you have someone saying, Hey, go get this done. And then they hold you accountable because of it. Right. And so I would still just be thinking about it, still just be listening to a podcast like this. And yes, absolutely. Like it was without me making the commitment to go, you know what, I'm just going to, I'm going to hire a coach. Some people, you, maybe you don't need that. Maybe you've got it all figured out. I know what, I'm just going to hire a coach. Some people, maybe you don't need that.

Maybe you've got it all figured out. I didn't. I knew I wanted to do something, but I couldn't figure out the actual X's and O's. How do I execute this? And even if you hire a coach for a short time, just to get you started, I would still be sitting there wondering what to do. And I've read a lot of real estate books and I've listened to hundreds and hundreds of podcasts. So trust me. And you know me now, Justin, I've become friends. All my friends know me very well. Nobody analyzes and overthinks things more than I do. My guy thinks my guy's in there. It's my biggest weakness. And I know that. And coaching taught me that. That's one of the things that coaching does for you. It points out like this is why you haven't already found success. You're thinking too much. Go act. Go do it. Here's what to do. Boom. So yeah.

Yeah. No, I think that's one of the things, if there is that it's people want to make sure it's perfect. They're scared to mess up. Right. And so I would always tell someone go out there and mess up, go out there and fumble because that's how you ultimately learn. But then holding yourself accountable for that is so difficult, right? And so, you know, you've now gotten to the place where now you've done a flip. Now you've done a co-wholesale, maybe even a couple. Did you just do one or a couple? I just did the one co-wholesale deal. And then you did your own direct? That wasn't because I couldn't, if I wanted to dedicate my time to it, just like I did to get that deal, I could be doing those. Right. I chose to try to

go out and get set up some marketing, try to focus on direct deals. So that's right. And that's where the direct deal comes from. And you just collected a 13. Is that right? How big was that check? The direct deal? Yeah. A nice 13 pounder just came, came in the mail last week. So that's great. Right. And so the way I run my model and I would encourage you and editors to be listening. If you're listening to this on iTunes, I also do these live on YouTube. So go to YouTube and subscribe to my channel, Justin Colby. If you're watching this live on YouTube, I also do daily podcasts on iTunes and Spotify and all the other carriers. So go to the Science of Flipping podcast on all those carriers. So you basically can either watch them or you can listen to them every single day. I have a podcast that comes out on those platforms

and then the videos come out once a week on YouTube. So just so you guys know where to find it. But for everyone listening and for Jason or anyone else, I use that co-wholesale space to finance my direct deals, right? So if you do even take it partially more serious and you do two or three a month and take that, let's just call it six grand for ease, whatever the number really becomes, six to 10 grand for co-wholesaling. And you just take it and you go finance your marketing. Now that $13,000 is all free. There's no actual cost that needs to come out of that because you paid for it from your co-wholesale. That strategy alone is something every investor, whether you're a new investor or someone like myself doing this 13

years, absolutely needs to take, take advantage of. Yep. And I could be doing that. And that is actually my plan going forward. I sort of have been doing everything one thing at a time because of Mr. Analytical over here. And I know that, but it absolutely works. Just like you said right there. And that, that, that's the plan going forward. So. Well, and so let's talk about the pro of maybe not being over analytical, but your perspective of on this. You never came into this to go get rich quick. You came into this to say, I want to be a great real estate investor and provide a life for my family that

we deserve. I deserve, my wife deserve, my kids deserve. And that's the real estate. And one thing I've always appreciated about you is you didn't come in here. I want to go buy a new Lamborghini. Like I want to go, that was never your thing. Your thing was like, let me first try to replace the income I get from the pool company. And once that can happen, let me now go create the life that I want and the real income that I deserve. So people, Tony Robbins says it all the time. And I quote him all the time is people overestimate what they can do in one year, and they underestimate what they can do in 10 years. And your perspective is very much the 10-year perspective. So I've always appreciated that because that's the reality of what this business is. Can hot shots come into this space and knock it out of the park and go make a bunch of money in their first year. Absolutely. It can happen. It's just the outlier. It is what everyone sees on social media, but it is the outlier of the reality of what it really takes. And so the fortitude it takes that you have to be able to learn, to slowly start to implement these strategies, the co-wholesale, the rehab,

now the direct stuff. And now what I'm excited about, which I'm excited for you to share is now you're not only going just direct, but now you're like, how do I even expand what I can do in the knowledge I've had and been given into a new market, right? And so now you're actually taking your talents to Kansas City, not South Beach. You're taking your talents to Kansas City. Did you get the joke, dude? That's absolutely. That is right.

Okay. That's what we're going. You're about to go jump into Kansas City. Yeah, I am. And so just knowing how hard I've been marketing in Phoenix, how hard it was to get that deal. Phoenix is a very, very tough market. I know everybody says their market's tough. And I don't even know if the grass is going to be greener on the other side, but I'm going to try it anyways. I will tell you this being that I just opened Oklahoma city. The people

are different now. I've not opened Oklahoma or I have not opened Kansas city. So I can't speak, you know emphatically that it will be the same for you. But I mean, and you know, my manager, Anthony, like it is just night and day relative, right? Um, now there's other tricky things that you'll have to learn within that market that things happen more, whatever. But I would tell you going into that city, even if you can go do three a month in that city and maybe do a flip here and like, that's the game is being flexible and fluid. That is not just, you know, anytime I've ever gotten hurt in my business, that was a one trick pony. And if you can be fluid and, you know,

be able to focus your time, energy and effort in Kansas city, but at the same time, maybe do a couple of coal wholesale here. That's how you can start to get real income coming in. That is correct. What's your strategy going into Kansas City? I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast that I also, back in 2010, doubled. I actually completely rehabbed a fourplex and owned it for three years. So I did a buy and hold situation. So now I've done four different strategies. So basically taking all of those and I'm going into Kansas City with the attitude of, you know, going back to what you just said about Oak City. And I know because I talked to a lot of the Oak City leads and stuff. The people are different and I'm going there to invest in and people and not necessarily looking at,

uh, you know, what's perfect for me. I'm going in there to try to make connections with real people that want to be successful that we can, you know, help each other out in any way whatsoever and take, take each lead. Sorry about the dog barking each lead one at a time and look at it. I can flip a house. I've done it. I have done buy and holds. I've done it. I can quickly wholesale a deal if I need to. Whatever it takes, whatever works for not only myself, but whoever it is I'm working with. And now I have the confidence because I have done just these little deals, even though

it's just one here, one there. Yeah. My mindset is right to be able to do that now. And I just think I'll have more success there than I will for the same amount of marketing dollars spent. That's why. What are you going to go in there? What kind of marketing are you going to do? What's that? What kind of marketing are you going to do? Texting, cold calling. That's for now, I'm going to do that. I'm not going to jump into, you know, PPC stuff right away or email just because you and I have talked. But for those of you who don't know, it takes a lot more dollars to get a deal basically through those strategies.

So once I create more dollars in this business, then I will grow it. Absolutely. But kind of one step at a time. I love that, dude. I love that. And I'm always going to be here for you, man. Dude, I'm so excited that you've been able to do what you've done. You know, I know you so well.

I know you wanted more. I get it. And everyone does. But the amount that you've been able to learn over the time we've been working together has been incredible. And now you're collecting checks, like real checks that you collect 12 or 13 of those in a year. It's like bye-bye pool business. And that's not even a big business, right? If you do 12 deals a year, you're doing great, but you know you could do more, right? So you're really on your way.

And the perspective I'd give anyone listening to this or even watching this is that perspective. What Jason has, and it's not easy to have his perspective. He's gone through a lot in life. He's owned multiple businesses. He's had a lot of different jobs. So he's built that perspective. But his perspective is what leads to ultimate greatness in real estate. And that's patience.

It's fortitude. It's persistence. It's perseverance. It's keep failing and getting up and keep going. And you and I both know there was a chance to do several co-wholesale deals and they didn't work out, but you didn't stop. And then you got yours done. And so I would really encourage anyone to have that perspective of just keep taking the action. And ultimately, that momentum starts to build on itself. Where people ultimately go wrong from here is they start getting maybe a little even cocky and they start to say, okay, well, I'm going to

go do three or four different marketing strategies and I'm going to do this and that. Why don't you get a consistency of deal flow? So that's what I would say to you is just keep getting the deal flow, go get your first deal in Kansas city. And, and you know, that momentum, momentum's like a wave, right? You got to ride that wave because at some point your momentum stops, something's going to happen. So ride the wave, but your perspective on this business, brother has been incredible and is in my opinion because i know you have an incredible work ethic that between your work ethic and your perseverance that's everything in 10 years from now we'll have a conversation with a beer and you're gonna be

like bro you said it on the podcast like here i am and i have whatever it is i have a thousand rental units and i have you know all this other stuff absolutely Absolutely. Yeah, man. I don't think we have to wait 10 years, but... Well, hey, you never know, man. You never know. I'm just taking it for told you. I've been doing this 13, baby. So this is a full-time. And by the way, you love this the same way I do.

It's fun. I tell everyone all the time, maybe how I invest will change, but I'll be doing this at 80. Right. It just might be a little different. I'm probably not going to be hustling wholesale deals or co-wholesaling at 80, but like, it's a fun real estate in itself is just enjoyable to be doing. Right. And there's a lot of money that comes out of it. Yes. I just, you know, I'm in my forties now. So you get to a certain age and it's like look I keep working the rest of my life I can make money I'm never worried about it that's that's one thing

that um I'm not afraid to take a chance like I have a 13 year old daughter and 11 year old son and for me that's what this is all about that's my why everybody has to have a why that is absolutely my why and that's also why it's a long-term mindset and not this get rich quick, you know, the Lamborghinis you were talking about earlier. And if I get no financial benefit from this, but I teach my kids how to do this and they'll be okay, I'll be fine. Honestly. That's the perspective, dude. That just gave me chills, bro. I love that. For me, like, yeah, absolutely. Would I like some Lamborghinis parked in the driveway? Sure. But that's going to come after all the rest, the knowledge I didn't, I didn't pay to go to college. I've been a worker my whole life. I can go make money at any time. Even if this were to some reason fail, we, I know we can't control this,

you know, the whole pandemic that we're in and the politics that's going on and all that stuff. It's like, you know, a lot of people would say, why would you start a business right now? It's like, why not? Why not? I mean, I can always go make money. I can always, I didn't pay to go to college. So even if I try some of these things and some of them fail, so what? I mean, look how many people paid, you know, a hundred thousand dollars to go get a college education and they don't even use it.

So that's right. It's a, yeah, just don't be afraid to make up your mind, do what you want to do. And that's what I'm doing. And commit, right. And I'm not his biggest fan per se, but Grant Cardone talks about that a lot. Like commit when you go after it, go commit to what you're going to go do and then take massive action. But it's that level of commitment where people break down down like, I don't know, I'll try it and see if it works.

And then they half-assed it and it doesn't work. And they say, see, I told you it wasn't going to work. You can't win that way. Yeah. But I am that person. I can totally relate to everything you just said. It's just, I just don't quit. Right. How many things I've tried and failed. It's okay. No big deal. Try another thing. Like don't quit. Like, you know, sometimes this definitely gets hard and tedious, but, um, if you enjoy it and you really have that long-term mindset, you'll be, you'll be fine. So what's your one piece of advice to someone jumping all into this space? Well, I mean, if you've never done it or if you're thinking about doing it, but you really don't know where to start, I'm telling you, I would still be analyzing what should I do? Or I would be getting myself involved in stuff that, you know, without somebody to

bounce it off of. I would say find somebody, honestly, whether that's a paid coach like you, Justin. I mean, you've been huge for me, getting your mindset right, understanding what not to do and what to do. I mean, he'll lay it out for you. So to me, it was well worth it. And I've looked at I looked into coaching before I ever came across you. And there's some very, very expensive coaching programs out there. And these big commitment thing, that's not, that's not the way you were at all. So you've been a great mentor and teacher for me. And it's turned into a great friendship. So I would, I would tell people to, to, if you don't have a mentor or anybody to reach out to, I would find

somebody, even if it's not Justin, find the right fit for you and just get as educated as you can, but also act at the same time. Don't say I can't do something because I haven't done this yet. You can do it all. Right on. Right on. Well, I appreciate it, dude. I know Sunday, I know football is about to start. I will let you go, guys. Go over to thescienceflipping.com. Tons of free resources over at thescienceflipping.com. Jay, I appreciate you, dude. Go enjoy your Sunday. And we will.

And by the way, yes, we are recording this on Sunday. We're that committed. Let's go. All right. All right, brother. Talk soon. Take care.