Does the Topic of X Repel or Attract You (LA 1183)
Transcript: Steven Butala:
Steve and Jill here.
Jill DeWit:
Hi.
Steven Butala:
Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala.
Jill DeWit:
And I'm Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny Southern California.
Steven Butala:
Today, Jill and I talked about, does the topic of X repel you or attract you? Does the topic of talking on the phone repel you or attract you? Does the topic of going to college repel you or attract you? Taking on a husband, repel you or attract you, or do you just really want a wedding?
Jill DeWit:
Restaurant picking, menu planning, laundry.
Steven Butala:
And my whole point, I can save us a bunch of time because Jill has a lot to say-
Jill DeWit:
Car shopping.
Steven Butala:
... if stuff repels you, don't do it.
Jill DeWit:
Hold on a moment. Let's talk about ... I have more to say on this.
Steven Butala:
Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of our members on the landinvestors.com online community. It's free.
Jill DeWit:
Mike wrote, "Hi, all. I got a call from a landowner who wanted to sell us their property. It has access to a main river, which I believe leads right to the ocean, but no access from the land. Obviously..." It had access to, but no ... okay. But not directly from the land. Okay. "Obviously, there are a few properties in the area like this, but much less that had been bought and sold recently. It's 3.3 acres for $5,800. The seller and I both know, if I'd had access, it'd be extremely valuable. I've heard Steve and Jill mention that some people will prefer no access properties. Any advice on how to test this property for a reason or any advice on trying to get an easement? Thanks." You want to go?
Steven Butala:
This is what separates the men from the boys, so to speak, in this business. You got to send a bunch of mail out. You got that down. Price it right, got that down. It looks like that to me. You get a bunch of properties back. Should I buy it or not? I run through my checklist, Jill's little due diligence checklist. Houses or land or anything else, you got a little checklist. Whether you're flying a plane, little checklist. You check them all off, and you get to that one thing. While this property is awesome, it checks every single one of my boxes except this one thing. It doesn't have access. Should I buy it or not? And my answer always is this. I answer it myself by asking myself one or two questions.
Steven Butala:
Number one, I'm going to buy it for $5,800. If I listed for 10 grand right now, can a sell fast, even with its flaws? Or number two, is it worth it for me to fix this flaw so then I can sell it because I know it's worth 50 grand with access. Or maybe access is in there somewhere, you just can't see it. You just overlooked something. So it becomes an if/then statement. Okay. What do I need to go do to find out if there's access. I'll order an info report. Will that do it? A simple conversation with the planning and zoning, will that solve it for me? If I look at a platte map, is it obvious that this property has access? Do I even care that it doesn't have access because it's got water access anyway with the year-round river, and so I can sell it under the guise of, "Water access only. Build your dream cabin. No one will ever bother you again."
Steven Butala:
So the way that this question is written, and what he's saying is, please take the mystery out of it for me. What he's saying is, tell me what to do. Is it okay? And the answer is, it's okay for certain people. And that's what makes this so incredibly profitable. I would probably buy this and I'll tell you why. Because we have a lot of experience buying property on a river with no access otherwise. Doing great. People love water-only access property if it's, in fact, year-round water and a bunch of other things. So that's probably not the answer that most people want. Most people want mom and dad here,