The Science of Flipping - Episode 180: From Bankrupt To Millions in a Year l Wholesaling Flipping and Rentals

Episode Date: January 1, 2021

From Bankrupt To Millions in a Year l Wholesaling Flipping and Rentals

Welcome to the Science of Flipping Podcast. I'm your host, Justin Colby. Justin Colby. What is up, everybody? Welcome back to the Science of Flipping Podcast. I am your host, Justin Colby. And on this audio and visual version of the Science of Flipping podcast, I have a very special guest. The man, the myth, the legend. They may call him Mr. Burr. I call him Devin, but Mr. Devin Burr is in the house. What's up, dude? What's going on, man? Thanks for having me, brother. brother bro i'm i'm hyped this has been we are literally recording this episode on the last day of 2020 and let's call it what it is bro it's been a shit year for everybody for one reason or another uh and you've had to find the highlights you've had to find positivity you've had to find the

best days the best things uh and that's what we're all about is be able to spread that positivity, man. But I am very bullish going into 2020 specifically within real estate, dude. And I'm honored to be doing a lot more things with you and bringing you on here. And I know you and I have that very similar vibe about positivity and pushing forward regardless of circumstances. And so, dude'm i'm really hyped to have you on this episode the last episode of 2020 all positivity and then you know moving forward dude let's just do more of these podcasts dude we're going out with a bang brother let's go out with a bang so i want that i want everyone to understand why i'm having you on

you're an absolute beast but you've only been in the game for about a year. And I think it's really important for those listening. I don't care if you've been in the game 13 years like me or just starting in the game. Devin is an inspiration to everybody. And I want you to tell your story. I want you to just let it hang, you know, however long that takes, you know, how you went from a full time employment to making 200 plus grand a year or something like that to jump in all into this space, what you did. I want to I want to hear your hurdles, your challenges and your wins. Right. And I think there's a lot of people, like I said, dude, I've been impressed. I've done this 13 years and what you've achieved in just one year being in this space, uh, bro, I, I, you know, tip my hat to you, dude. It's just incredible. Yeah. Usually you're wearing a hat. What's going on, brother? Well, bro, you know what? I decided to keep the hair flex today

because here's the deal. When you're balding, you got to respect the hair you got left, right? I mean, you have a nice flow of hair i got like four hairs that i'm trying to just like somehow manicure so it looks like i got more you know what i mean yeah you still got some so you might as well show it that's it that's it i wish i try to get my haircut my fade and my lineup today so we could be just real pretty on this episode. But that is happening this afternoon, as a matter of fact, at three o'clock. So I got some time. Love it. Well, first and foremost, dude, appreciate all the kind words. I think you kind of hit on what it really is. It's inspiration, right? You said I'm an inspiration. I think a lot of people's goal should be to be the inspiration, be something that is going to give somebody else inspiration. The way you do that is you just overcome hurdle after hurdle after hurdle in your life and then document it. Let people know what you've done because chances are there's someone out there, probably multiple people out there that are going through the same shit.

Can I cuss on this? Absolutely, bro. We're real people here at the Science Flippin' Dog. Yeah, they're going through the same shit, motherfucker, Jesus, bitch. But all jokes aside, people are going through the same stuff you are. So those hurdles only make you into a better version of yourself. And that end version compared to where you were at is inspiring to people that are on that same path, that same journey.

So what I've tried to do over the last few years is just be inspirational by just overcoming the hurdles that I have. And to touch on them, basically for almost five years ago, I was bankrupt. You know, I had like $600 to my name. And the reason why is because I was trying to impress people that I didn't even like. I had two cars that were just super upside down. I was paying like 1500 bucks a month in payments. Insurance was crazy high, maxing out credit cards to get nice stuff just to try to impress other people. So I got to a point where I had to file for bankruptcy and I was down to 600 bucks to my name. Again, this is only about four or five years ago. And I realized that I was doing things for the wrong reasons, instead of just working on myself becoming a better version of myself. other people with my story. The more people you help, the more help or the more you get in return, the law of reciprocity, give, give, give, give, give, you will get a lot in return, right?

Amen. So I went from bankrupt. I want to hear billionaire. That's what from bankrupt to billionaire. I'm waiting for that. That's what I want to be hearing. Bro, it's bankrupt to multi-billions. Thank you. No, but it is bankrupt to multi-millionaire. That's right. So, and again, it's a, it's a short timeframe.

And the way it happened was bankrupt realized I was doing things for the wrong reasons. Started really focusing on saving money first off and not buying stupid shit. Met my wife. She's extremely frugal. So that kind of instilled more of it into me. And we met at work at Quicken Loans. I'd worked there for a long time. Started doing well again, saving money. She instilled saving money more. She saved a ton of money. She did really well at Quicken. So we started to get some capital, right?

And then we bought a house in 2018. That house appreciated with the market. In 2019, I went on a ride along with my mentor, Templeton Walker. And this was October 7th or something like that I can't remember the exact day but went on a ride along with him fell in love with it because I'm like this is amazing you're out talking to people building relationships making money we went on a buy appointment he had like 20 grand in 15 minutes right and I'm used to being behind a desk all day like dude this is amazing I want to do what you do. And I knew for a fact, he's no better than me. If he can do it, I can do it.

Right. And we have kind of the same personality, same kind of energy. So I'm like, dude, if you can do it, I can do it. Let's go quit my job. The next day, literally walked in. I had just gotten a promotion that day. They pulled me in the office, told me I got a promotion. I told them I was quitting. That's a real big flex, by the way. That's where you say, I'm out. Here's the way I looked at it. And my situation is a little different. Not everyone can just walk in and quit their job. My wife worked there as well.

She still works there and she was doing very, very well. Right. I think that year she was on pace for like 300 grand, something like that. So I looked at it and I'm like, if I walk away and do real estate and fall flat on my face, one, they said I could come back. Right. So I had a little bit of a promotion, right? So they loved you anyways. Right. Like they were like, well, if you ever want to come back, I was like, cool. So one, I could come back to, even if I fall flat on my face, we again are frugal because of my wife.

So we don't have a high, high amount of bills. We have a mortgage. We've got no car payments. Then we've got credit cards that we buy everything with and pay them off, right? So groceries, all that stuff. So even if I fell flat on my face, her income is more than enough to support us. So it gave me an ability to get into real estate with no pressure and just do it for the love of doing it, if that makes sense. That's right. And let me ask you real quick, let me jump in real quick. Did you actually

really file BK or were you bankrupt in the sense of like, you really filed BK? Actually filed, it was a chapter seven bankruptcy. So wiped my hands clean of all my debt but credit went through the tubes or through what's the saying is it through the tubes yeah we'll use that whatever i don't think that's right but it sounds good right yeah i'm making i'm making shit up over here that's it um so yeah credit went down the drains that's down the drain through the tubes i'm like i don't know if i ever heard this but anyways so yeah so but where i'm going with that is you also found a woman that took you in at that point, or did you file before her while you were with her? Before her. Okay. And so she knew you had nothing. Right. You were broke AF. She didn't really know because I didn't, I didn't, uh,

openly say, Hey, I'm broke. Nice to meet you. I can't provide much financial, but I have a big heart. So do you want to date me? Yeah. So yeah, she didn't really know that I was in probably the worst financial spot I'd ever been in emotionally broken. I had gotten out of a really bad relationship. Um, financially broken, just, I was broken any way you could look at it. And I put on a good front to her, but that's a different story, but it took a while for me to open up. And then once I did, me and her took off. That's awesome. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, basically bankruptcy, literally filed bankruptcy. So now we sit at six properties owned, ton of equity in them. We've gotten all the money back out through burying those properties. We've got liquid, I think we're six, 700 grand. So yeah, multimillionaire from being literally

down to $600 in my name or to my name. And it's all because of, again, me just trying to get over these hurdles. Every hurdle that came, I looked at it as an opportunity to, a learning opportunity, right? To get better. I think that's one thing that people don't do is they get a hurdle and they're like, oh, what was me? Not this, not this again.

They look at it in a negative light. Find a silver lining in everything because there is there is one it's just how you look at that situation your perception of that situation is your reality that's it right well and i think you're hitting on so much stuff it's a lot to unpack especially in an episode that we don't want to go for two hours. But, you know, the reality is you've only been in this space for a year. And now you said that was October that you walked in and said, I'm out. Yeah, it was October 8th. I remember that day. It was October 8th. I circled it in my calendar on my phone and took a screenshot. That's a big anniversary, boy. This year, we're going to do a nice little dinner with the four of us this year, October 8th, bringing Templeton and his wife. We'll have some steaks and some cocktails. But where I'm going with this is you're saying so many great things in the sense of a lot of my audience are either doing it, but not achieving the result they want, right? So they're already in the game. They may be doing some deals. They may be making some money.

Maybe they're even making good money, but they're not keeping any money, right? So we're talking about that. You're also talking about being transparent in kind of that law of attraction is the more vulnerable you get, the more open you get, the more things start to come to you. But then in this space for our podcast,

for Science Flipping, you went all in, you literally burned your boats. Now, yes. Based on what you're just saying, would they have taken you back? If you like fell on your face, your answer is yes, but you didn't bank on that. You didn't say, okay, well, I'm going to half-ass it. And if it kind of works great, otherwise I'm going to go back. You burned your boats and said, I'm out and I'm going all in. I think that's a massive takeaway for a lot of people because it is a hurdle for a lot of people to have that faith, that trust that like, Oh, I can do this. Oh yeah. And by the way, everybody, Devin is also in Phoenix with me. And this is largely the hardest

real estate market out there period. Uh, and has been, and for you bro, to be able to go out there, period, and has been. And for you, bro, to be able to go out there, how many wholesale deals did you do in this first year? 11, I think. How many rehabs did you do? Counting the birds or just flips? Just true flips. I think six.

And then you have five rentals uh yes plus five rentals yes so six homes five rentals six flips 11 births right brother i mean that accomplishment for most people and i know you're a go giver and you want to, you're a go getter. Like that's not even the start of what you got for yourself, but like, that's amazing. And so what would you attribute that level of success? Like, you know, not that, um, what I'd say is you are extremely talented, but like, couldn't everyone do what you did? Is it really like a Devin Burr secret sauce that was able to get you to where you're at? No, I think the biggest thing is accountability. Like looking yourself in the mirror and knowing that what you have or don't have is just a reflection of your thoughts.

It really is like what you predominantly think about. If you constantly think, man, I can't get a deal i can't find a deal you're not gonna find a deal you know what i'm saying but if you're constantly like i gotta find a deal where do i find a deal how can i find a deal possibilities open up you come up with the answers you come in contact with someone that you know is doing deals that needs help with something that you do very well. Like bottom line is just constantly think about what you want, not what you don't want. And I had that when I, when I quit Quicken October 8th, I quit and I was all gung ho, super excited, elated that I quit the job. I'm a business owner now. I'm excited about it. Right. And about a month

and a half went by, had done no deals, didn't know what to really do. I'm just sitting at home while my wife's out at the office. I'm like, uh, like, what do I do right now? So like a month and a half goes by and I'm thinking, what did I do? I walked away from six figure job. I never made less than six figures there. I was spending a lot, but I was still making a lot, right? That's why I went bankrupt, but never made less than that. I walked away from, I'm like thinking, God, I should go back. I should go back. And then I took a long look in the mirror and I was like, you know what? Screw that. You're not getting deals because you're not doing something. You're not doing enough activity. You're not learning. You're not going where people are at that are doing deals. So only thing I did different at that point, it was like December. We just got back from a cruise. That's what it was. We got back from a cruise and I went to a meetup and I just started talking to people, just being myself, a people person. I'm a social butterfly at heart. So I would just go talk to people and be genuinely interested in them. And then all of a

sudden deals start coming to you. So look yourself in the mirror and really think like, what am I doing to get to where I want to be? Am I thinking the right thoughts? And if you're not, you can change it. That's the cool thing is you have a choice of what goes on up here. That's right. I mean, again, that's, it really is so powerful. And like, obviously, having mentors like temp and being around others that are obviously around that space, whether it be, you know, Brent, and Jesse and pace, and you name myself, and you name it, I mean, you really did a great job of really embedding yourself within this crew that has been around for a long time in high performers. And I think that's whether you've touched on or not, like that really is everything. Who are you surrounding

yourself with? Cause it is a lone wolf kind of industry, right? Like a lot of people get partners for the wrong reasons and it's because they don't want to be a lone wolf. You were a lone wolf, but you just basically said, Hey, I'm going to befriend everybody. And from that point, I mean, look at, we're going to start a coaching program together, right? Well, you're going to start really crushing podcasts together. Um, you're going to be a mainstay on the science of flipping podcasts. So if you guys are liking Devin, be ready. Cause he's going to start delivering. Um, I'm going to be dropping that fire, the fire. And specifically, what I'm so impressed with is your ability to go out and create a portfolio. And wholesaling and flipping is what

I've focused on for 13 years, literally focused on, to the point of my own detriment. I have not built a portfolio. 13 years in, I mean, it's crazy, right? And to be able to even see someone like yourself and be so impressed with the fact that even within your first year, coming out of a financially destitute position, to be able to acquire and hold and have a portfolio of rentals that is well north of a million dollars, multi-million dollars worth of rentals, it really is mind-blowing. And there is a system and a strategy to it and that's what you're going to drop knowledge on in the podcast they're all going to be right here at the science flipping podcast but dude i mean it's just so impressive

to come that far and again without taking too much away from you you're a normal dude you're very talented you're hard working i get that but you're a normal dude you're not anything else that like someone couldn't achieve you just looked yourself in the mirror every day and had that conversation about, I'm going to go win. What do I need to do today? Oh, great. There's a Phoenix Rhea. Justin Colby is going to be there. Chris Simon's going to be there. Pace is going to be there. You know, Brent's everyone's going to be there. I need to go hang out, shoot the shit, build relationships, see if we can get some deals going and work. And that's part of working, right?

And you took that on your own shoulders as a part of your strategy to get to where you're at today. I mean, I just, I commend you for it because that's where a lot of people have that missing link about success in the space and not is being able to have that conversation with themselves and go do what others are unwilling to go do. And you reap the rewards. You're reaping the rewards that others aren't reaping at this, that this time. 100%. And you hit on it, dude. It's just, uh, it's getting out of your comfort zone. Like I was comfortable sitting at home, right? I wasn't

super comfortable just going to some place where I know nobody. I'm a people person. I'm sociable, but if you put me in a room, I know nobody. I'm like, this is kind of uncomfortable, right? I'm comfortable with it. I'm comfortable with it now. But then I wasn't, I'm like, gosh, this is really uncomfortable. And I was reading, I can't remember what book it was, but it was talking about like the other side of uncomfortable is all the joy, all the treasures. So I'm like, okay, I'm uncomfortable with this. This means I should probably do it. So I went to these meetups and it's really simple. You know, you can tell who's doing deals, who the players are, right? Just go talk to them, be interested in them, ask them questions about them. So they talk about themselves

and genuinely be interested in them. And you should be because there's somewhere where you want to be. They are at the point where they're very successful. You're trying to get there. So you should be interested in what they're doing not interested on talking about what you do so that's that's the difference is get out of your comfort zone and go just make friends with people by being interested in them and out of that a lot of things are going to come your way and yeah me and you met at the ria that's where we actually met right january i think it was yep yep at the phoenix ray at the um what's that big ass building called down here in Scottsdale anyways I miss the Ria's dude I mean I do too I mean it's a lot of fun it's a lot of networking I mean I can't even tell me how many deals I've

done through through the Ria itself right I mean it's just right but that's so let's sit on this a little bit because your your expertise and where you're focusing real big game plan is that burr method like talk to a little talk to us a little bit about the fact that you've not spent any money Your expertise and where you're focusing real big game plan is that BRRRR method. Talk to us a little bit about the fact that you've not spent any money marketing. You were coming out of a broke, busted, and disgusted situation. You're still able to acquire, find, acquire, and have a profitable BRRRR method. I think that's some people just say, oh, I want to have a BRRRR method and build portfolio. Well, yeah, but if you're underwater and it's not profitable and you're making no money, then what are you doing? Talk to us a little bit about that. Just about how the method works or? No, you know, I think you'll be able to really in future

podcasts, you're going to really dive in more about that, but talk to us about how you don't spend any money and you're able to find these deals and turn them into great burgers for yourself. And I've done it five times within your first year of business. Got it. So yeah, all my marketing is just networking. So that's how I get all my deals is just by again, building relationships and being first in their mind when they have a deal. So being loud on social media, send me your deals. You got a deal, send it to me. I put out, um, I haven't been as prevalent on it lately, but on Instagram, I used to put out a lot of just like entertainment kind of stuff. Oh, and by the way, I do real estate deals. Send me your deals. Right. I put out a

music video of me. Just it's like a spoof music video of send me your burr. Right. Like, I don't know, just that's been all my marketing is just befriending people, giving people entertainment through social media, but also giving them value and letting them know what I do, which is real estate. So deals get sent to me. I have to actually comp them, see if it's a deal. So there's just no marketing dollars. I don't do as many deals as some other people I've done. I think it's like 21 deals or 22 this year. So not a ton, but again, I'm keeping all the money because there's no dollars going into marketing. And then what I do is I save half of whatever I make as if I didn't even make it. The rest is what I play with.

So that way I've got more to reinvest. I was just going to say one of the secrets of being able to do, you know, for you specifically, but I would advise anybody go and do a couple wholesales and rehabs, take the profit and buy a rental, do some more. Right? So like if you have to do 10, and let's just say you make 100 grand, pay yourself 50 grand, take 50 grand, and buy two rentals or one rental or whatever the price point is, right? That's how you start to accumulate that without having any of your own money out of pocket.

So many times I hear, I had a good buddy Chris Krohn on recently, and he's bought a billion dollars worth of rentals, a billion, right? And one of the things that he says is he never needs his own money. Now, when you get to a certain point, you can bring in partners and other things, but the idea is to bring in enough money in the wholesaling and rehabbing that you buy rentals. And then you can turn those rentals in that portfolio into more money by either refining out equity and buying more

if you bought right or start to sell them every five years take the same money don't pull the money out 1031 exchanging and doubling the volume of right so in five years you sell your five properties you take that and you go buy 10 now you have 10 properties on year five right right you do it again in five years now you have 20 properties in 20 five, right? Right. You do it again in five years. Now you have 20 properties in 20 years. And you're, I mean, you're, I'm sorry, 20 properties in 10 years. And you haven't had to come out of pocket with any of your own money, right? Now that's, to some, that's a lot of deals. To some, that's not a lot of deals in terms of rental portfolio.

But you have to understand, once you have 20 properties and you have equity in it, the banks are just going to hand you money essentially, right? Because they're going to see how secure of a borrower you are. And they're just going to start lending like crazy to you because you have so much equity in there. And then obviously any of the profits, you can start to save up the profits and buy more. But the reality is to get in the rental game, to get in the burr game, you don't need any of your own money. Now there's certain structures that obviously Devin will talk about and creative financing opportunities. I was just, uh, pace and I did just this incredible clubhouse, which by the way, if you're on clubhouse, bro, we got to rock that. It is

incredible. I just got out last, uh, last night, I think. Yeah. So, I mean, we could even do one after this, but the reality is like, you don't need any of your own money. You know, Pace does everything with private lenders on all of his sub two deals, any down payment, any whatever. He's like, bro, I have private lenders. They love me because I give them a great rate of return. They're backed by the asset. Even when we do sell, or if someone does execute the option, I say, hey, do you want your money back? Do you want to keep rolling? They always tell me, option, I say, hey, do you want your money back? Do you want to keep rolling? They always tell me, there's a way to run this business that you don't need any of your

own money. You can use creative financing. You can partner with other individuals. You can actually go wholesale a couple. Learn from me about wholesaling and flipping. Take 100 grand that you earn. Take 50 of it. Buy rentals.

Take another 50. Pay yourself. Do it again. Right? I think the biggest thing is cash on cash. 50 of it, buy rentals, take another 50, pay yourself, do it again. Right. I mean, it's just, I think, um, the biggest thing is a cash on cash. That's what I always look at. How much cash do I have in a deal and how much am I going to get out? What's that percentage, right? And what's your mark? Cause Chris and I just did this last night to my coaching clients. He came on and blessed

the coaching clients with almost two hours of pure content. He has his own mark. What's your mark? What's a cash on cash return that's acceptable for you to buy the deal? I will not do it if I am less than 30% cash on cash. Okay, so he and you probably look at it a little different. When he says cash on cash, this is how he does it. If he needs to put 10 grand down on the deal and needs 30 grand down for rehab,

he's 40 grand into it. So he will not do the deal if he can't make 7% on his cash. So what would that math be? How much would he make? I think we're doing it different, I guess. Yeah, so let's just say rents are $1,200. I'm making numbers up. You remove debt servicing and the cost of the loan, right? For the mortgage, you remove taxes in any rehab costs, whatever that the net profit is relative to like, it would have to be almost $400 a month. If he was 40 grand into a deal, it'd like i got you three hundred dollars a month he'd have

to be earning to make that a absolute seven percent no-brainer i got you so you're talking about um the cash flow of it yeah the cash flow but it's a return on his actual cash that's the cash on cash return is the cash on cash return is how much actual cash am i in the game with and then what am i getting every month? So to get 7%, I mean, I'll do it just for shits and giggles, but what's 7% of, he would have to be bringing in $233 a month net after all expenses to be making 7% on his cash. I got it. Okay. So I was looking at more of like a flip. That's what I was thinking. So like, if I have so much in it, I need to get 30% return on that money. So yeah, with cashflow,

it's going to be a little different. I always just look at around 200 bucks. If I can get around 200 bucks cashflow, I think it makes sense. As long as you're not into it for a hundred grand in cash, because then that return isn't very good. I mean, there's literally like a 2% return on your cash, which effectively you can go do in a CD nowadays, right? For sure. The most I'm into a deal right now out of my five rentals is 15,000 bucks. That's how much is left. That's how much is left in it after I burr out of it. That's right. And so that's the point, right? So if you burr out of it and use your strategy again, guys, this is kind of the launching point. Devin is going to have weekly or even twice a week podcast episodes right here on the science of flipping. So make sure to be listening on iTunes and Spotify and all the platforms, but also, so what Devin's going to be doing here is he's going

to be going live talking specifically about burr method, building wealth, real estate, you know, the whole thing. And the reality is, um, he's going to be doing this right here on this platform. And so if you're liking this, if you're on YouTube and you're liking this, make sure you're smashing the like button, the YouTube gods love that, but also make sure you are subscribing to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and everywhere else, all the platforms, the science of flipping Devin's going to be rocking it. He's going to be showing you how he went from bankrupt to multimillionaire literally in one year. And that's a, that's the game. I think it's the game for everybody. I wish it was only one year. It's about four years. Well, when you cut, when you went bankrupt, but you got in the real estate game.

If we talk about one year, it's from net worth probably 250, 300 grand to multi-millions. Good for you. It's been a great year. And we're blessed, man. I mean, I look at it as 2020 has been hard for a lot of people. For everybody. I don't care. There's no one who didn't feel the effect of 2020 let's put it that way 100 and there's people lost jobs people are struggling um so i mean i have empathy for those people but 2020 has been my best year you know so it's like again there's silver lining is in everything. You just got to find it. You got to adapt. You got to be able to, you know, roll with the punches.

Let's go. Let's go. Well, dude, I want everyone to find you on social. What's your social handles? First of all, I gave you my social TikTok handle. I don't even think that's that. That's how good I am at TikTok. What's your social handle?

So everyone can find you, start following you. We're going to be putting out a lot of content about how to build wealth going into 2021. So what's your social handles? So guys, my social handles on everything is Mr. Underscore Burr. So that's B quadruple R, B-R-R-R-R r go ahead and follow me on tiktok instagram i don't really get on facebook much um but if you guys have questions you can also shoot me a text um 602-708-1348 boom um brother you rocked the house on this podcast. So let's keep delivering. You're up now at least once a week, baby. Let's go. me and my team, just go to the science of flipping.com. Uh, there's a simple form. We're happy to do a strategy session with you to figure out how, uh, we can help you wholesaling, rehabbing, buying and holding, creating wealth, making a ton of money, go to the science of flipping.com, fill out the form. If you are interested more in Devin burr method, all that, just mention it in the form. Um, that'll help us understand how we

can best help you. Uh, but besides that guys, that's it for this episode. Look forward to seeing you guys next year. Happy new year's everybody. Happy new year's dude. Appreciate you brother. Yes, sir.