Transcription
And then also they're they're really motivated because they're they can make, you know, big checks, you know, um and and you know, make more money on their deals.
So it had it had like a tricky title situation. Yeah. So the the owner was uh the grandma grandma owned the property. Grandma passed away and it went to her her two daughters. Two daughters passed away. So then it went to their their uh their two daughters and so we had two um two people involved. And so anyways, we were working through the title issues on that. Um apparently grandma bought the house from um some guy in 1992 who's now in prison for fraud. Um, so you know, we had to title had to do their curative process and kind of get all that cleared up. We had to basically use the tax records as verification that she was the the rightful owner. And uh, so that took a couple of months to to get that cleared. And then so we finally got clear title and I was going to get a U-Haul and a a moving truck for the sellers to kind of get some of their belongings out. Had some issues uh, coordinating and and getting everybody to the property. So anyways, they were like, "Hey, just we don't care. We're going to leave everything in the house." And then the following Monday, buyer buyer went into the title company, buyer signed, one of the the uh the heirs signed, and then the other one was going to sign when she got off of work. So anyways, we're happy because this is now, you know, a couple months into it. And then Tuesday morning, the next day, I get a phone call from the title company at 9:00 am. I'm assuming they're calling for wiring instructions, to verify wiring instructions, you know, clear to close, Blake. We're clear to close. We're ready to go. Yeah. I just got done with a workout. I'm feeling good. I'm heading home. And uh and she said, "Hey, we have an issue." And I was like, "Well, what what is it now?" And so one of the uh errors, her ID was u expired. And so, dude, just I mean, and and you know, you know, distress seller, so getting a renewed ID, she was on probation. There was fees with the state that all this stuff. So, she actually avoided us for three and a half days um because I think she was uncomfortable because she had to go to the the DPS and and face some of these things. So, we finally, you know, got her to respond back to us and we told her like, "Hey, there's we don't we we're not concerned with your legal stuff, like we're here to help or whatever." And so, we actually had to pay a couple fees for her um to get her license renewed. So, we finally got the ID updated and that was uh this past Friday and we funded this this Monday. Um so, yeah, it's just that, you know, just one of those deals, man. You know, but I think that's why that's why we're in business.
Yeah. I always say that 90% of the problems in a deal pop up after you sign the contract. Yeah. Every time. Right. And a lot of them pop up like 72 hours before it closes. Yes. Yes. Yes, man. It's like everything starts coming to the surface and Yeah, man. But, you know, it's while we're in business, you know what I mean? you know, so you gota you gota you got to stay patient and it's something I'm I'm slowly getting better at after all these years, but um but you know, it still testes your your patience for sure.
And you you assigned that deal? We did. Yeah, we assigned it to a buyer. Uh the fee was 32,000. So it's a $32,000 fee, which you know, in Houston it's pretty good. Um you know, I mean it's the margins are not as meaty as they are in some other markets. So, uh, that's a really good fee for Houston. So, it was a good it was a good deal. The buyer got a good deal. Um, so yeah, it was it was a good one.
Solve big problems, get big checks. Yes, sir. Absolutely. That's it.
How did you How'd you find that deal? Uh, it was uh PPC lead. So, it was Yeah, it was a Google PPC lead. It came in in August of this year. We locked it up um in October. And, you know, we assigned it. It was It was in a good zip code here in Houston, a lot of investor activity. So, we assigned it pretty much within a couple days and um and then started working the the the title stuff and getting title cured.
So, you got the lead in August, you didn't lock it up till October. What took you so long? Like people like the same day, you know what I mean? Yeah, it's Well, we had one of the signatures and the other the other lady um the one that ghosted us with the ID, she she wouldn't come around. And so we finally got her to come around and and sign off. So that was that was kind of the the delay in the beginning is we had one basically one party that was good on the deal and it was sort of a layup. Um she came in uh her asking price was um I mean we didn't even have to negot we we I think we got her down like eight grand but it was already the asking price was you know already where it needed to be. Um, and then once she signed and uh I'm sorry, once we started talking to her, then we realized that there was another party and and um she was just a little bit more um difficult to to kind of reign in on the deal.
Was it an emotional like was she emotional about the sale? Did she not like the price? Did she she didn't want to get an idea? She knew that, you know, she's had some some trouble in the past and she didn't want to to pop up on anything like what what was her hesitation? What was the other sister's hesitation? I think in the beginning we thought it was she was shopping us and then we thought that um there may be some emotional so we were like okay maybe there's some emotional things there and we were our concern was she was taking our offer and she was shopping it around. um hindsight, now that all this has happened, I I think it was her personal stuff and her wanting to avoid any sort of um cuz I think the way her frame was, oh, this is a legal transaction. I'm going to have to like show up and be somebody. And uh and I and I think hindsight looking back that's that was the the snag. Um because even all the way up to closing, I mean, she she was avoidant with most communication and even with the title company, they would ask her for stuff and she would avoid. So, I think that was the issue. But in the beginning, we were we were like, man, she's she's going to go try to get a a higher offer.
How'd you get her to come around? We we had the the other heir to talk her off the ledge um and basically sort of like drip on her and and then use, you know, use some of the sort of the emotional stuff that was going on because one of the heirs had five children. Uh the one that was super cool, like she was, you know, she was super quiet. She has five kids. She's a single mom. So we we told her I was like look get with her and let her know like this is affecting you and and the things that you want to do and with your kids and stuff and it is true and so but we just use that as leverage um and then it it finally kind of you know dripped on her enough where she end up you know committing to the deal.
Was the property vacant? Were was anybody living in it? They had a they had a cousin in the house that we had to get out of the house. So, that was another other issue once we signed the contract with both of them. Um, we found out cuz we sent buyers over there and they're like, "Hey man, this property ain't vacant." We're like, "Oh." And then we found out it was a it was a not a squatter, it was a cousin, but she wasn't cooperative at first, you know, so we had to do uh cash for keys, so we gave her a,000 bucks.
Nice. Yeah.
And so, you didn't walk the property before you put it out to your buyer database? No, we we didn't. We didn't. We had pictures. Um cuz so here in Houston, the zip code was 77016. Okay. And by the way, like we should have um but I'll give you some context. So 77016 here in Houston, it's a lot of investor activity. Smoking, smoking, smoking. And the deal came in and to give you some context, we needed a morale boost. Um we were we were going to get punched in the gut for a couple weeks before that. We had a couple deals fall through and and I got two full-time um acquisition and dispo. They do both. They do acquisition and dispositions. And so the deal came in. We finally got the contract signed, I told I told my guy I was like, "Look, we got a couple pictures from Joolisa, who's one of the heirs. I was like, just get it out because you're going to get four to five offers like sight unseen right away and they're going to be good offers." And he did. He he marketed the property that evening. Uh he we we use investor lift so we did that but then we also put it on Facebook you know things like that and he had four or five serious inquiries and um he had one offer that was um a little bit like it's five grand above our ask and I told him like dude lock it in lock it in and let's let's get EMD and then we'll we'll figure out the rest. I wouldn't advise someone to do that. Um it was more of a contextual thing kind of where we were in the business. Uh, I wanted him to get a nice little win and so we did that, but we did find out, you know, the next day that that there was someone in the house. So, we had to we had to deal with that.
Got it. So, why do why does your team do both acquisitions and disposition? Aren't those, you know, I mean, two sides of the same coin? You know what I mean? They're they're just polar opposites. They they are. Um, so I've tried a couple different models in my in my years. Um, so up until probably 6 months ago, I had different departments. So we would have acquisitions, we'd have dispositions, you know, we obviously have our TC and we still have that. Um, I actually went through a business divorce in August of last year and um, you know, was still kind of going through some of that and one of the one of our our main disposition guys stayed with that other partner and um, so I was in a situation where my two guys that that I have right now had no disposition experience and one of them has been with me for three years and the other one for a year and a half and they've just been nothing but acquisitions. But you know I I don't know how other you know small companies but there's always there was always friction with acquisition disposition you know a lot of friction um either one side so disposition was you're too high um you you're not low enough there's no meat on the bone I need you to go back to the seller and and do AB and C acquisition was you're not getting it out in front enough buyers you're not selling the deal you're not pushing the buyers hard enough. Um, so for about for years that was what I always had to deal with. Um, and then I would have to kind of come in the middle and figure out what's the middle ground here. And we had some success. I mean, it was successful system. But when that happened in in August with the business divorce and one of my main disposition guys who was with me for a couple years um went with the other partner, I was in a position where I had okay, I got this this people capital um you know I have only so much commission I can pay out on a deal otherwise you're you're you're destroying your company.
Um and I've done that before too. That's another story. Um, so I was like, you know what? Let's let's have these guys because one of their biggest were, Blake, I give them the money bag and they don't know what to do with it. And that's all I heard for years and years. And so I was like, you know what, let's let's give these guys an opportunity to earn more um a lot more. you know, they I was I was paying acquisitions um 12 to four 12 to 15% on the front end and uh disposition was getting I think I was paying them 10 to 12 as well. And so so what what I did is I was like look you're going to get both now. Um but the beautiful thing of it is is now you're in control. So there there's there's no more there's no more there's nobody to blame. It's actually worked out really well. think I don't know how scalable it is. I think with a small little team, I think it's working out well. What I do like about it is because they're they're so intimate with the deal, they know the front end really well, and so it kind of helps them on the back end when they're talking to buyers and kind of working some of the logistics with the buyers. Um, and then also they're they're really motivated because they're they can make, you know, big checks, you know, um, and and, you know, make more money on their deals. So, so far it's worked out well. I don't know how scalable it is, but this is the first time I've ever done that. I've always had I've always had two separate departments. Um, you know, all the way back when I first hired people in 2020. And it's just been, man, it's like Russia and Ukraine, you know what I mean? Like, dude, it's just and and and I mean, and even when you're everyone's like, you know, we got some team culture, there was always friction. Always friction. And 90% of it was um just deflection, right? And and then you know, you try to I try to come in from a leadership perspective and be objective on deals and that works, but I was getting sucked into deals every day, you know, basically I was like a judge for a deal. So it's like this is So anyways, that's that's why we're doing that right now with with both sides.
So I mean they can they can make upwards to 27%. Yeah, 27. And and I'll go up to 30% on on deals that are higher margin. Yeah, sure. Um as as motivation, you know, um like my guy Edward I paid him 30% on the 32 grand.
So it was a good payday for him. It was a good payday.
How much are you spending on PPC? So perfect world. Um I'd like to be at 20 20,000 a month. Um I've I've been through a lot of different you this has been a lot of learning lessons in my in my career. I got as high up into the low 40s in um 2022 and um I was I was doing a different model um I was doing nationwide model and and and we had some success. Um it was super messy for me. That was my experience with it. It was a, you know, we had like 50 contracts and then like nine close and it was just, it was a messy, messy, messy deal. But I also realized that I didn't have enough um acquisitions people to fulfill those lead opportunities. So, I was wasting a lot of money. So, hard learning lesson, but I went through that. Then um I kind of cranked it down, you know, to to 20 to 25 for a long time. And then in 2020 and I was still doing nationwide 2024. So I I I went nationwide and I slowly every year started going in and in and in. So 2024 I was just Texas Florida and um we had some success in Florida. But it was still one of those things where it was messy. We're we're we're cross country. Um, I felt like our deals were like one night stands with buyers because it's like, "Cool, man. I did a deal with you, but I'll probably never see you again." You know? Um, so I I couldn't get that relational churn uh that we have here in Houston where it's, you know, VIP. Hey man, I've done eight deals with you. Take this one. Um, and then I just wanted to kind of go back to the roots of Houston and and just focus on this market because there's plenty of deals here. And so, um, 2025 I went just Houston. Now, when I did that, um, my cost per lead obviously shot up, you know, because when I was in different markets and even with Texas and and Florida and I was blanketing those whole states, you know, my cost per lead was 110, you know, 100 bucks and then it shot up to like, you know, as high as 225, 300. Yeah, exactly.
So, I was like, oh, oh crap. Okay. So, um the since the business divorce in August around 125 15,000 was the high end in October and that's where we're at. But I in a perfect world I'd love to be around 20,000 because I know that that's going to produce kind of the revenue that I'm that I'd like to be at get back to. But right now we're at that 125 15 grand a month.
Love it. Is that your only marketing channel or what what else are you doing? Just PPC right now. Yeah, just PPC. Yeah, just PPC, man.
I mean, listen, I'm telling you it there's there's three tiers and I think this is really important. At the if you if you imagine everybody uh listening, imagine like a triangle and at the bottom is hustle, right? That's that's hustle. You're in the the hustle period of your business. This is where you're typically between 0 and $2,000 a month in your budget. Okay? And that's where I started. You know what I mean? I started cold calling and cold calling and cold calling, cold calling and doing all that. And you know what fits into that that bottom of the pyramid is cold calling agents, cold calling property owners, uh building referrals, uh responding, you know, trying to be loud on Facebook, like whatever you can to let people know that you buy houses and be really proactive. That's the that's the the bottom of the period. And then up after that, usually between two and five, two to 10,000, depending on your market, is going to be interruption marketing, right? We're talking direct mail. We're talking uh uh the Facebook ads, YouTube, Tik Tok, some of these, uh, you know, they're just interrupting people's day. It's more traditional marketing. And then at the top, Blake, you know it as well as I, there's nothing like search. There's nothing like search. There's nothing like search because that's when the the sellers are actually looking for somebody to solve a problem.
And but it but like you said, it can be expensive for the absolute best keywords in most major markets. I mean, you're upwards to an average around 225 to 300,000 uh three 300 bucks a lead, right? So, you have to have enough. Now, you don't need a tremendous amount of leads to get a deal. and your acquisition teams love it. I mean, if you want top tier class A salespeople, give them great quality leads, right? Cuz you you just can't throw texting and and calling and and and a million Facebook leads and all those other things, man, in in in that, right? And then with PPL, with PPL, it can be great, but it's a mixed bag. you you don't know. There's no there's no lead purity. You don't know where it's actually coming from. And so, yeah, it's that that's all we do. And we're we're in that 40 40 to 50,000 a month range here in Phoenix. Now, you you mentioned something that made me kind of shiver a little bit. You said you post your deals on Facebook. Yes, I know. And in my experience on posting on Facebook is this is where the the snakes are found, right? You go into a a investor group, a wholesaling group, a RIA group in Facebook, you post, hey, I got this deal here. Let me know if you want it. And if you put the address in there, oh, all of a sudden there's a million people at the seller's door. It's literally people's lead generation source for their acquisition team. They're going to go and say, "Hey, listen. Don't worry about that contract. Rip up that that contract. I'll get I'll I'll I'll give you more." Even if they can't, doesn't matter, but I'll I'll I'll go get you more. I I can get you more. And that was always so we we've avoided posting anything on Facebook because we just don't know who's seeing it and what their business strategy is and if they're going to do that unethical approach of literally they're trying to encourage people to breach a contract.
Yes, sir. Yeah. That's their business model. Like that's their actual business model. And you're you're 100% right. Um what we've what I tell my guys and is they just put they'll just put the zip code. Um now and then it's still not look what I this is the thing when I was doing dispositions in our company and I I kind of gotten out of that in 2023. I just did everything through investor lift and through our VIP list. Um that's what I felt comfortable with. my my guys or one of my guys is uh he's a he's a grass he likes that grassroots and he he just loves that that type of thing but we do have we kind of agreed as a happy median is like look just put the zip code and then whenever people send inquiries you know we got to vet them out pretty hard because I have experienced that and I got into real estate in the very end of 2017 and I didn't know anything I mean I didn't know any about anything and I made all the mistakes and I was gullible and um super naive and so I had those things where I was getting my deals which I didn't have a lot of deals cuz there's like they're scarce in the beginning and I'd put them on Facebook Marketplace and I had um quite a bit of deals that other people jumped in on um and I lost deals that way. I would have people show up at the property and things like that and and that was a that was a hard lesson for me to to learn. Uh cuz it's just messy. And and and the other thing that I've realized over time is exactly what you said. It's that is like actual that's their business model. Like they sit around all day just you know like that's their acquisition, right? Like you know we you know we do Google PPC. Their acquisition is I'm going to get on Facebook and hijack uh three to four deals this month and see if I can get one of them to close, you know? And so that was a hard learning lesson, but I agree like Facebook's not the ideal ideal place for sure for for some of these deals, especially here in Houston. I mean, I know Phoenix is the same way. Super competitive. Everybody and their mom is out there trying to get a deal. Yeah. And listen, I understand it. You You want to have great profits and you want to just try to steal other people's deals. Uh I don't think it's a long-term good business strategy.
Agreed. uh they you know it's not that big of a world that that we work in and live in. Uh and so reputation really matters, but for a quick buck um people are people are willing to do it. So
Amazing. So you're just putting you're just putting the zip code in and then do you require people to actually call you and talk to you and have a conversation? Yeah, we we vet them out because yeah, we get a lot of like you say a lot of a lot of noise will come in um you know and there there's al there's always tell signs you have a buyer who's saying all the right things but he needs four days due diligence and I'm like you know I'm like we don't know you know and so there's always tales as well u but we we like to vet them out and and with Houston it's a big city but it's you like you said it's a very small community, so you kind of know who's who um to a degree. And so we we like to bet them out before we like send them to the property or we give them an address.
Awesome. We're talking to Blake Hawkins out of Houston, Texas. Property Royals. Yes, sir. Why Why Property Royals? What does that mean? Well, so we were Freedom Hawk cuz my last name is Hawkins and uh I was Freedom Hawk for years. uh but went through a little little business uh situation and so I rebranded in August of last year and I was going to do Property Kings. Um uh but just to be honest with you, the LLC was taken. So I was like, "Okay, cool. Well, what's the next best thing?" I was like, "But so that's how I came up with Property Royals." And uh and so that's that's how the name came up.
I love it. I love it. So, you mentioned that you had a couple bad weeks before this deal that you got and a couple deals fall through in a local market. I understand from a nationwide uh standpoint why deal deals fall through. You lock up 50, you close nine, which by the way, that's a great ratio. Usually, you lock up 50 and you close five. It's it's a 10% close ratio, which means a lot of nonsense that you have to deal with with the other 45 because you have the expectations of all these sellers that they're going to close and they have their property sold and that's just a mess. It's just it doesn't feel good. It puts a black cloud over your over your business.
Why in a local market do deals fall out? It's a it's a good question. I I I think most of us we like it's stuff that we that we did on we did wrong on the front end. Um now the deals that I was referring to during that time period they were all um MLS listed so there were noation we were you know we flat feed uh the listing. There was there was some complexity on those deals. one of those deals. I remember it pretty vividly because we actually the the memorandum came back and so this week we're going to get like two grand off a memo. But um we were working with a seller. It was actually a referral from one of my guys. He he got a referral. He did a good job on it. We listed the property and we had we had offers on it. The margin was tight um even with the offers on the MLS. So then we had to go back to him and see if he was be if he'd be willing to go down 15 grand. And he he said yes. He said yes. He signed the amendment. Um we opened up everything at title and then as we started getting down the title process, he started ghosting us and we couldn't get a hold of him. And um long story short, one of his family members, a real like a real estate agent, she got involved and um she was, you know, basically a deal killer on the whole thing. It was like, "You're underelling it. I can sell it for more, you know, and and some of it's true. She she could have maybe got a little bit more, but there's also time with that as well." And so that particular deal, we lost it because, you know, I think we could have handled the communication on the front end a lot better. um you know, we we probably could have done better with that. I think the other piece was it was an MLS deal and so he his motivation was already not super high. I mean, he was he wanted to sell for logistical reasons, but it wasn't as emotional maybe as we would like as far as the motivation. And so anyways, he ghosted us and and um it looks like he actually ended up listing it with his uh family friend. they sold it and we're going to get two grand on a memo release. So, that was one uh that was one deal. I think for local markets, the the only thing that I see when deals fall through is is there's just title title stuff that just we cannot cure or or there's something there that it just may take time to cure. That's that's the main reason. Um the other reason is just we lock it up too high. we just get the property too high on the front end and we're not able to monetize it and the seller isn't willing to um re you know retrade the deal and come down to another number. That's that's typically the biggest reasons why we see deals fall through and and um you know I think that's a tough pill to swallow and and but those are the two main reasons for the local market is trying to you know we got to retrade on a deal and they're not willing to do that.
Got it. Yeah.
You you mentioned wholesaling deals, you mentioned doing noations. What other exit strategies do you do? That's that's it right now. Just wholesale and noations. Um,
do you ever buy them to close them and then just sell them? Yeah, I did. Um, I I've done that in the past, you know. So, some of my my evolution in this industry is when I first got into it, you know, you go through these different stages and 2020, I was like, I want to flip houses too, you know? So, like, I want to be that guy. I because I, you know, it's like it was ego. It was Yeah. It was pure ego. Um I can I can post on Facebook. Hey, look at me. I'm walking my property. I just closed on this. I did all that. It's like you have your own HGTV show. I mean, people love it, right? 100 100%, man. And so, you know, I even went out got private lending and da da da. Like, look at me. I'm over here. Um it was a it I was terrible at it. I was terrible at it. I did about probably 15 to 20 actual flips myself. I had two that turned out really well. The rest I either lost money or they were insanely small uh proceeds at closing, which if you if you break it out over time, you're essentially losing money. And um my last flip was in 2023 and uh and I I stopped doing it then because I also realized that my skill set didn't align. I'm not a, you know, I'm a I'm a broadstrokes rehab guy. I'm not a let me get to the fine needle of electrical and plumbing and da da da, you know, and you got to know those things cuz I I had contractors take advantage of me. And so, you had to kind of really get into the weeds. And so, that's not my skill set. Um, I love building teams. I I love sales. I love marketing. I love doing stuff like that. And I just had to have a coming to Jesus moment where I was like, you're just not good at this. Like, you're just not good at this. But there's guys that are really good at it. We're going to sell them deals.
Hey guys, it's Brent here. I want to interrupt real quick to tell you about working capital pros. I just got over $200,000 in business credit at 0% interest. It's incredible. And listen to this. I have not paid for first class travel or accommodations in over five years because of rewards points. This is a cheat code for every entrepreneur. Check out workingcapros.com. workingcapros.com. We'll also link it down below. It is a musthave for every entrepreneur. And um so I got out of fix and flipping. That was one. I actually I did the rental thing. I'm actually in the process of selling my last rental. Now we're closing at the end of the month. Um that was terrible. um squatters break in, you know, people that I had to evict people, people tear up the property and then I got to go spend money and then it takes all the cash flow out of the deal for like two years and it's just, it's, you know, it's a full-time thing and you and I feel like with those exits and I'm not knocking holding real estate. I I I think that's that's beautiful, but I want to do it more passively, but for me, um it just doesn't align with my skill set. you know, I feel like you you got to be a really detail oriented, on top of things, know your numbers, you know, really handle um the financials for, you know, the flips and the rentals, and you got to be on top of it. And I just wasn't. So, I got out of all that. Um, and so now we just assign and and and do no, um, and we I I like to keep it that way. I mean, brother, you're seeing this is like we have the we share the same brain. I mean, I'm telling you, it's really interesting, Blake. So, I had a conversation with um an incredible investor or or um starting out like somebody that's just just getting going. um Marcela and I was speaking at Aria this Monday and she came up and and she was just asking some advice on um you know how does she find good hard money lenders and um that that'll help with construction costs and I asked her well what are you what are you doing this is a this was a wholesale panel this is a wholesale event I just literally told everybody don't do flips when you're getting started and here you are literally getting started telling me that you're going to do flips. And this is the this is the one filter that I put on this. Okay. If your family comes from construction, if your if your bloodline, somebody in your like really close, like really close to you, uh you're you're close-knit group. If they're doing if they're really good at construction and been doing it years and years and years, great. Great. Find some deals, do some flips. I love it. Well, Marcela's family all does construction. I mean, every single one of them does construction. They're just looking for her to go find great opportunities, understand the numbers, understand, you know, how to talk to people, those type of things. And so I was like, "Okay, great. That is fantastic." Like that that works. Yes. Okay. But if you're not from a construction background, I am telling you, you are going and I say it all the time. People are going to get mad at me on this podcast. they might not listen to my podcast, these podcasts anymore. Cuz I say this so much. Um, but I if you don't have somebody that really understands it, you're going to pay the stupid tax. 100%. You're going to pay the stupid tax. And it goes for single family rentals as well. As you're growing your business, it is tough to be an entrepreneur. Yes. and to put your hard-earned after tax money into real estate and hope for more active income. It doesn't happen. You're not getting active income. It's all going back into the property. So, this is long-term wealth building. Just build your business and and at some point build up build up a nest egg so well that's so big that you can go and buy a multif family. Yes, sir. Or you can buy something cash if you want the active income. Yes. All the rent the two rentals that I have I own free and clear. Mhm. Good cash flow. But I'm I literally just wired $30,000 for a pool remodel. Yeah. This morning. I know. I know. I know. It's Man, I'm I'm so with you, Brent, on that. And I think I I look back on my journey, you know. I think for me what you know it's a tough industry and especially in the beginning when you're new you know you're you really want to you want to prove yourself but you also want to like prove yourself to yourself and um I know when I during that first couple years for me it was just like you know it was it was ego some of it but not all of it was for bad reasons but I'm like I'm gonna go do this I'm gonna go I'm and and I look back I'm like man I could have number one I could have a lot more money right now than I you know that I do because of some of those deals and um you know I got in some hot water on some of those deals you know with with lenders and you know I mean it's it's not fun you know and and um when you're going underwater on a deal because you know you don't understand the numbers or you a contractor screws you because those things happen people take your money they don't do the work um you're left you know holding the bag and uh it's just it's not a fun experience but I I do agree with you. I think if people have like that unique skill set of construction, I just think, man, it really takes a special personality and typically those people most of the time are not really geared for wholesaling, you know, they're they're very, you know, and so that's the beauty of what we do. It's like, hey, we're we're on the different side of the street, but we can provide value for those guys. Yeah. I just just made peace with it. And man, I I'm a I'm a I'm you know, a proud wholesaler uh novator and I will be uh till the day I die.
Awesome. So Blake, having business partners are awesome, isn't it? Oh, it's terrible. So, you know, look, I not to throw shade at whoever you worked at, uh just from an overall perspective, guys, you have a business, you already have a business partner. It's called the the United States government. Yes. All right. you you're you're already paying them. All right. Now, you can you can start out if you if you're not confident. I wasn't this was this is coming from my experience. I wasn't as confident as I felt I should be. I always played team sports. I love camaraderie that like really fills me up, right? Like that that's fulfilling for me. So I always say, you know, I in my younger part of my career, I I would have business partners and now I don't and I make way more, not just double, but 10x what I did. Yes, sir. And at some point at some point the lives will diverge. Wow. Yeah. Right. And when you one partner is looking at the other partner like, "What are you doing? What do you do to bring in income. And whenever that starts going, it's it's a problem. And and when tough times happen and one person's being selfish, respectfully so, for their own family and you're really into the whole team thing, it hurts. It hurts your soul. It does. It's one of the worst feelings that you you will ever feel 100%. And so I say, listen, if you if you're going to start out and have a business partner, make a plan that after year one, you're going to you're going to split off and have two awesome businesses. Okay? And nobody takes that advice, Blake. Nobody does. And you know, and and Brent, like I um so I this is actually so I've been through two business divorces. Okay. So, I I I this has been and it's and to be honest with you, man, it's been um probably the hardest thing that I've dealt with in my life the past six years. Um and I got into the first partnership in the very end of 2020. And I did that for the reasons that you mentioned earlier was u my lack of confidence in myself. And I had this person um come across my path, very smart guy. um he worked for Exxon Mobile so he was corporate and you know he was like he had a finance background and uh my thought process was we'll get a little cash injection so marketing is going to go through the roof um you know what I mean and then I also had this guy to help really professionalize my my finance the finances of the business because full transparency before that it was it was a mess. Okay. um you I was you know it was a mess. I did learn a lot from him and so I went through that partnership. We were partners for a couple years. We made we made some good money. But exactly what you said, we I got to the point where I was I was in I was an operator. I was in the business every day. Um at that time I'm doing dispositions in my company and I had three acquisition guys. So I'm I'm dispo. I'm the business owner. I'm doing all these things. I was 60%, he was 40%. And we got to this place where um it's exactly what you said. Okay, I'm making you a lot of money and that's cool, but you're in France right now. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Let's be honest. Yeah. It's not cool. Yeah. Especially when you're in France for two months and you're traveling and and it's like what kind of income are you bringing in? So, we went our separate ways. Um, I partnered up with with somebody else here in Houston. Um, I actually I have a lot of respect for him. He's a super good guy. We I partnered up for the right reasons, the right intentions. It was less about insecurity and more about he did he did something different in real estate and um I don't want to I don't want to give him a ways, but but you know, but he did something different real estate. Hey, this is like milk and cookies. We're going to come in here and we're really going to do this thing. And um we were 50/50 and it just same same thing. Um in real estate, was he more like creative and and and making like uh port portfolio building and had those different skills or a flipper like what what lending? Lending. Got it. Okay. So the the idea was um to basically I we were going to have an acquisition company and then he we were going to package up these deals with the buyers and throw in lending on it, right? And it just s on paper it just oh makes sense. Um there's a lot of complexity because there's other people involved on his end. Um a lot of red tape on stuff. uh a lot of personalities. And so, you know, you you end up dealing with stuff that I just couldn't foresee happening. Uh people dynamics and and weird weird situations and power games and all these different things. And um it really wasn't him personally. It was a lot of other the other pieces that were involved. And um it just never manifested into what we thought it was going to be essentially being two silo companies where he's doing his thing, I'm doing my thing. and and we share P we share ownership but there was really no uh integration or camaraderie like you were mentioning and I just realized after that man that was in August of this year I told my wife I was like you know I'm I'm done I can't do this no more you know and she she agreed and and business partnerships are really hard and it is like a marriage I think a lot of people don't realize that um but you own assets together you share bank accounts u people you know and and their ideas envisioned, it does impact the daily operations. It just does. And and I never really understood that until I went through it. And um and so I've realized now I was like, it's not for me. Um you know, you have to
have insane alignment, uh, with those situations. And and and I kind of look at my my guys with me now as business partners. Um, maybe they're not on paper, but the way we interact together and the way we work together, um, I, you know, there's a lot of lot of love, a lot of loyalty with with what we have, and it's like, hey, we're we are partners in a in a in a way, you know, it's we're all trying to get 35% margin, you know, as a company. I want, if I can get 35% bottom line margin, I'm I'm very happy. They're getting, you know, because they're getting double dip, they're getting close to 30%, so I'm like, hey, we're just going to get our 30 a different way. I'm getting it this way, you're getting it that way. Yeah. But in a sense, we are partners and it just has a better energy to it. But yeah, business partnerships are really, really difficult, man. And I just, I I've, by the way, people told me that before I got into it, and it was one ear out the other, you know, and uh, until you until you learn the hard way.
So your guys get 30% and do the whole thing?
They do the whole thing.
You're just the rainmaker?
Yes, sir. Correct. And and, well, I'm so I I'm in the deals, but I'm I'm more strategy. So, um, I'm not talking to the seller directly or the buyer directly. They call me, um, and I help them navigate different deals, um, sort of like from a bird's eye view, and that's my main my main responsibility to them besides providing the lead flow and the system.
Money and expertise.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And so that's that's what I do all day. Uh, it it's a bunch of strategy calls on deals. Hey, I have three offers. You know, what do you think we should do? What do you know, this guy's doing this, the seller's doing this? And I just kind of use my past experience to try to help these guys navigate that.
Love it.
Yeah.
Love it. That. And so, you're almost on year 10 in this business?
Yes, sir.
Yeah. How many deals have you done?
Total probably 400 closings.
Awesome.
Yeah.
Why? Why? Why do this, Blake? I mean, you could do anything, right? You could get a corporate job. You could you could run a a store. You could you could be a restaurant owner. You could be anything. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
You could be a race car driver. Like, why why are you in this crazy business?
Yeah. You know, this business found me. Uh, so, I was I was a personal trainer for 10 years. Uh, 2006 through 2016. I worked at 24-hour fitness. I was at four different locations here in Houston. And uh, and the latter part of that trajectory, um, wanting more, you know, cuz all my clients that I was training were successful people. Um, so I wanted more, but I was just kind of the the the jock trainer guy, you know, that's what the marketplace knew me as. And and uh, and so anyways, I I end up leaving the fitness industry in 2016. And I got into car sales, um, because I didn't really know what the heck I was going to do. And, um, I got into car sales and, um, that was the first three to four months were pretty hard. Like I barely made my commissions, if not like missed it, you know, the way they had the comp structure set up. Um, but ended up having some success there and had some big months. I was making good money and I was actually kind of enjoying it. So at that time, you know, and I didn't I don't have a college uh degree or background. So, um, you know, at that time, I'm my mindset was, you know what, one day I'm going to be a general manager and I'm going to run a dealership. Those guys make a lot of money. They work 190 hours a week, but they make a lot of money. And you live at the dealership. I'm like, cool. At the time, I was single. I was like, that sounds great. And um, that was kind of my mindset. I sold a a Nissan uh Titan to a fix and flipper. And I didn't know he was a fix and flipper at the time, but I sold him the truck, uh, gave him good service, and we had good rapport. And he had some aftermarket stuff done to the truck. So, I actually had to, they let they kept it there and I had to deliver the truck to his house a couple like maybe a week later. And so I end up delivering the the truck to his house, uh, in South Houston. And um, he like has a little house on the water and, you know, and I was like, "Man, you know, you're a real estate, you know, tell me more about that. I'm just trying to draw up conversation." He's like, "Well, I'm a real estate agent, but I'm not active. I just use it uh for comps and I I fix and flip properties." And I was like, "Cool." Real estate was off my radar, man. It wasn't like I I didn't grow up wanting to be in real estate. And um, so that was pretty much it. Couple months went by and I had a really bad day at the dealership and um, um, I got I feel like I got screwed over on a commission, you know, and uh, so it's one of those one of those days.
A really bad day at the dealership.
Really bad day at the dealership. Yep. So I leave the dealership Friday at nine o'clock at night and I call him. I call this this guy and he answers and I was like, um, I was like, "Nathan, this is Blake. I sold you that that that Titan, you know." He was like, "Oh, is everything okay?" I was like, "Yeah, everything's fine." I was like, "Man, I want to get into real estate, you know. Can you can you help me?" And uh, he didn't take me serious cuz I'm sure he got that a lot. And he said, "Well, this is my office. Swing by whenever you want." And so I did. Next week, my day off, I went. So I started putting out bandit signs for him and um, did did a bunch of leg work for him for a couple months. And uh, that's how I got into real estate, man. and and I end up leaving the dealership and I went full-time in into real estate. And that first year was uh brutal. It was brutal for me, man. Like it was a rough year. Um, but uh, but that's how I got into real estate. So why am I still in it now? I I think this industry for me personally, um, has made me who I am today. There's a lot of skills that that I have today. It's a testament to uh doing these deals. And to be honest with you, there's probably a lot of things now I could do, um, with some of the skills and the network and all these different things that I have. Um, but I really enjoy this business. And, um, you know, I feel like with our industry, there's a lot of opportunity to do big things. And what I love about our industry is I feel like it's untapped. I feel like it's a it's a space where a lot of creation can come in. This isn't retail real estate, right? There's not, you know, uh, Remax and and Keller Williams and like there's a lot of innovation that could be had in this space and we're seeing it and I just I want to be a part of that. Um, and I see big things for the industry, man. And and and I think, uh, you know, it it's it's made me who I am today and and and uh, and I do some other things like multifamily and things like that, but the core of what I do is is wholesale real estate and uh, I love it, man. I love it.
Awesome. Blake, thanks for being on here.
Yeah, man. Absolutely.
People reach out to you on Instagram, send you a DM, if they're in Houston or if they just relate to your story and want to reach out.
Yeah, please. Yeah, please do. DM me on Instagram. Um, at the real Blake Ryan Hawkins. Uh, I have to put real because my other account got hacked. It's a long story, but, uh.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's obnoxious. I I tell my guys all the time, I'm like, I look like a I look like a jerk.
You know what I mean? Like, what am I doing? My wife gives me crap all the time.
I know. I get so much crap for that.
She's like, "What are you doing?"
Yeah, man. But yeah, please hit please hit me up. Uh, I love I love connecting with with everybody in the in the space.
Awesome.
Awesome, man. Thanks for being on here.