A Journey Through Every Side of Real Estate

Brian Davila shares his inspiring transition from barbershop owner to real estate success. Learn how he started as a realtor, moved into flipping and wholesaling, and overcame challenges like tight budgets and the impact of COVID-19. Discover his strategies for choosing between flips and wholesales, adapting to rising interest rates, building top-performing sales teams, and managing projects efficiently. Brian also dives into leadership insights, future business goals, and how he leverages tools like ChatGPT to optimize processes. This episode is packed with actionable tips for anyone looking to succeed in real estate!

Transcript

Mike: 0:00

All right, everyone, welcome to the real estate game changer show. I'm your host, Mike McKay based in Jacksonville, Florida, and each and every week we do this show with people who are changing the game of real estate all over the country. And this is a live show guys. So if you have any questions, please put them in the comments for our guests to answer. If anyone is in the Jacksonville area and has been thinking about getting into real estate, uh, We are hiring sales reps for our team. Sales experience is great, but if you don't have it and you're hungry, we're still interested in talking to you. So if that sounds like you, send me a DM on Instagram and let's talk. And this week on the show, we have Brian Davila. Brian, welcome to the show.

Brian Davila: 0:41

Thank you for having me on, brother. I appreciate you, uh, letting me be on your show.

Mike: 0:46

For sure, man. So for the people who don't know you, could you tell us how you got into the real estate business and how that's led you to where you are today?

Brian Davila: 0:57

Yeah. So, um, I actually started in real estate, uh, when I was about 25 years old, so I felt like I started a little bit late. I had a nine to five job. Um, I met someone at a business that I owned. I owned a barber shop back in the day. Right. Um, crazy, right? Barber shop, no hair. Interesting. Uh, I did. Very short hair, but I had hair but um, I owned a barbershop and the barbershop was actually failing So the business was literally just going down and I was sitting there I was sitting in there one day and some guy walked in told me about him Being a realtor. He said, you know realtors make like 50 to 60 K a year So I was like dude, that's more than I'm making that's really good job. So that's what initially got me Interested in real estate. So became a realtor, you know, did very well as a realtor is making up to like 500, 000 a year as a real estate agent. Um, and then transition to flipping and wholesaling houses. Cause I saw there was like more upside to that. Um, so then since then been flipping wholesaling, uh, bought rentals, own some Airbnb, bought some like small four plexes, um, yeah. And since then I've done about like 400 real estate transactions myself. Off. Um, and yeah, I host a podcast to teaching people about how to flip and wholesale real estate.

Mike: 2:27

Cool. And then when you made that transition from being an agent to kind of flipping and wholesaling, which one did you start with?

Brian Davila: 2:36

Um, so I started off flipping, so I wanted to flip houses. Um, I thought, you know, the flippers make more money. So I was just like, I just went all in on flipping houses.

Mike: 2:48

Yeah. And were you like, where were you getting your inventory at the time? Yeah.

Brian Davila: 2:53

Uh, so I used to get all of my inventory as a realtor from cold calling. So what I used to do is just like, instead of pitching them on, uh, letting me list their house, I was just pitching them on letting me buy their house.

Mike: 3:06

Gotcha, okay. And um, you know, I'm sure there have been some challenges along the way from zero to 400 deals. What were some big inflection points and challenges you faced early on, maybe in the first two years you were doing it?

Brian Davila: 3:22

Um, so I guess it took me like a year of like thinking about flipping my first house to actually doing it. So that was like a big inflection point getting from zero to one took me like a whole year. And then after I started flipping, there was like another inflection point where I Would like run out of money. So I was only able to flip as many houses as I could personally afford. Um, so once I started like raising capital and partnering with people, that's when my business like really blew up. Um, COVID was another inflection point because, you know, prices went up. So we were just crushing it, flipping houses in Southern California. When everything was going like this, when interest rates rose and, you know, uh, Prices dropped. That was like a, like an inflection point down. So yeah, there's been a few, there's been a few ups and downs through the last few years.

Mike: 4:29

How long did it take you when you were using your own money to flip to decide, okay, like it's time to bring in some outside capital?

Brian Davila: 4:36

Um, I actually flipped with my own capital for probably, um, maybe like the first two years. Um, because Yeah, I didn't even I'm very risk adverse. I'm very like not a risky person. So I didn't feel comfortable using other people's money to like flip houses or even to partner with someone like putting my name on anything with someone else. I was like very like risk adverse. So I didn't want to do that. So it took me like two years before I started like partnering and raising some money.

Mike: 5:12

you to kind of overcome that obstacle? In your mind.

Brian Davila: 5:16

So literally I just ran out of money. There was like no other option. So I was like, all right, like if you're flipping houses and you have, let's say a hundred K and if the hundred Ks in the, you know, in a house, then I couldn't just like not do anything. So I kind of like got to the point where I was like, Oh, like I have to like, I got to do something. And I didn't really want to wholesale. I was never like a big wholesaler until recently. Um, so I was just like, okay, I'm going to have to like, Buy some deals, uh, with other people's money.

Mike: 5:50

Yeah. And did you go out and get hard money or did you get money from people that you knew?

Brian Davila: 5:57

Oh, no, I, I've always used hard money, so I've always used hard money. And then I started raising money for, uh, the down payment and rehab with other people's money. What do you do? Do you flip houses or what's your deal?

Mike: 6:10

we flip and we wholesale too. Or sometimes we just buy stuff and put it on the MLS. That's one of my favorite.

Brian Davila: 6:15

oh, okay. Got it. And only in Jacksonville.

Mike: 6:18

Greater Jacksonville. Um, and our big thing is actually that we, we flip a lot of mobile homes on land. That's our big target.

Brian Davila: 6:26

Oh, okay. Sweet. That's pretty cool.

Mike: 6:30

um, so you said something before you said, I was never a big wholesaler until recently.

Brian Davila: 6:36

Yeah.

Mike: 6:37

What made you make that change?

Brian Davila: 6:40

Well, dude, I don't know about you, but over here, uh, on the West Coast, the Best Coast, it is slow as crap. You know, the market is extremely stagnant, like extreme, like it's actually bad right now. So. Earlier this year, I was like, dude, like some of our wholesale deals are making just as much as our flips when I started looking at the numbers. And then

Mike: 7:07

I think you, tap something on your mic because it's, it's echoing.

Brian Davila: 7:12

now, yeah, yours is echoing too. Now. I don't know why.

Mike: 7:15

now, you're good. All right. You're good.

Brian Davila: 7:17

But, um, what I was saying was like earlier this year, I could feel the market was a little bit slower and I was looking at the books and our wholesales were making just as much as our flips. So I was like, you know what, like, even though I've never liked wholesaling, I think right now might be a good time to just focus more on wholesaling than flipping. So this is like the first year that we've. Wholesale done. Uh, we focus more on wholesaling.

Mike: 7:47

Gotcha. What changes did you have to make to obviously switch to like a more wholesaling model versus flipping?

Brian Davila: 7:55

Um, well first is like mindset because I'm literally used to always buying the house. So sometimes like when you're wholesaling, you're like, I can make 20 K wholesaling, but I'm giving up 40 K. So like getting over that for sure. Um, and then that's pretty much it. I mean, I already knew how to wholesale. Like I, I have wholesaled the last few years, but not like making it like the primary thing versus flipping. It's always been like flip first, then wholesale now kind of like almost flipping it where it's like more wholesaling and equal to flipping type of thing.

Mike: 8:32

Yeah. How are you making a decision when you get a property, if you're going to flip it or wholesale it?

Brian Davila: 8:38

So for me, uh, I don't want to do any heavy rehab. So if it's a heavy rehab, I'm for sure going to wholesale it. Um, if it's like on a busy street, if it's like, if it's like, she's like a weird property that I'm not sure if it's going to sell as much as the other comps. Um, also depends on the area. So if we're flipping an LA, I want to make at least 60, 000 for sure. If it's like San Bernardino County, at least 40, 000. Um, I like. quick flips, not trying to deal with tenants, um, not trying to build a to use or add square footage. So it just has to be like cookie cutter, easy, quick flip, or I'm going to wholesale it.

Mike: 9:18

Gotcha. What do you consider a heavy rehab?

Brian Davila: 9:24

Um, anything where I'm spending more than like 50 grand is like a heavy rehab.

Mike: 9:28

Okay. Yeah. So nothing, that's not even that crazy. Yeah.

Brian Davila: 9:32

Yeah, yeah, so yeah, nothing, nothing where we're like doing the roof and doing the AC and doing the new electrical like none of that has to be like cosmetic or like by enlisted type of thing.

Mike: 9:47

Okay. And is your primary acquisitions channel direct to seller still, or?

Brian Davila: 9:52

Ah, so direct to seller, we're doing some direct to agent, and then we're doing some Facebook ads. So it's like a blend. And then I get people that hit me up on social media. So it's like relationships. So it's like a blend of all three.

Mike: 10:09

Gotcha. And then, You know, over the years, I mean, I know you said there were some different inflection points, obviously before this was kind of interest rates rising. And that obviously having an effect, I'm not sure. I'm sure it affected you guys, but I

Brian Davila: 10:24

For sure.

Mike: 10:25

us. Um, what happened in your market during that and how did you handle it?

Brian Davila: 10:32

Uh, when the interest rates went up. Yeah. So, I mean, houses sit, uh, they don't sell for as much. Um, you get beaten up on price. You get beaten up on repairs. You get beaten up on closing costs. You just, you just, you just get smacked around, um, for the last two years. Even right now, I don't, is the market slow where you're at right now or no? Yeah. So the market is hella slow. Like it is slow, slow here in Vegas and Southern California. So right now, like you're, you're not getting a full price offer on nothing. Like for sure. Like you're going to get a full price and they want like 20, 000 in closing costs. And the realtors like asking for 4%, it's just buck wild over here. So, um, so yeah, just getting used to. That type of market versus like a more stable market versus like a seller's market is definitely like a learning curve.

Mike: 11:38

What changes have you made based on that?

Brian Davila: 11:42

Well now like really, I'm like even more skeptical on like flips. So like, it has to be like, like we just flipped the house right now. I think we made like 52 K this week. Um, that was literally like, we bought it. I listed it. And resold it way lower than what the ARV was, but I knew if I listed it at that price, I would get an offer literally same day and then resell it. So just doing stuff like that, like way faster turnarounds versus like, let me like fix it completely up and get it staged and try to get the, you know, record in this neighborhood. Like that's just not even the play right now.

Mike: 12:26

Yeah. So are you're preferring to be, I'm assuming it was in decent shape, this deal that you're talking

Brian Davila: 12:32

Yeah. Yeah. It has to be in decent shape. Like livable, like literally buy it and relist it.

Mike: 12:36

Yeah. So are you noticing that in your market that like, it's better just to be the cheapest, even if you're not necessarily the nicest

Brian Davila: 12:47

Yeah. So everything that I try to list, I'm trying to be the cheapest for sure.

Mike: 12:51

cheapest. Interesting. Okay. Gotcha. What other changes have you had to make, like within your company as the kind of market has shifted over the last two years? Gotcha.

Brian Davila: 13:04

Besides that, I mean, um, I think before like just average people can get, could get results. So now like everyone on the sales team has to be like a great salesperson or it's just not going to work. Um, deals have to make sense. My negotiation, I, I used to be very like. Whatever on negotiating like if they're like, oh, you know extra 5k i'd be like, oh sure whatever like, you know, it might work Now it's like, Hey, like if the numbers don't work, I'm not buying it and I don't care and sucks. Oh, well. And, and if people try to walk away and then come back, it's like, I'm for sure getting an even bigger discount. So it's just, I guess being more hard on negotiations, making sure sales people are better, uh, making sure that I'm not looking at the highest comp, whatever I list, I'm going to list it below everything else. So yeah, I was like, those are big ones.

Mike: 14:07

What have you done to make sure that you're getting better salespeople?

Brian Davila: 14:11

Fire people that don't perform

Mike: 14:14

That's a good one.

Brian Davila: 14:15

Yeah, so before it was like, all right, you know, it's been a month, you know But he's nice and he's trying to figure it out. Now. It's like the first day I'm like, is this person gonna work or not? Like I'm not trying to waste time I'm not trying to like babysit anyone like I want someone that's like hungry. They have sales skills They're willing to grind. I don't want people that are just like You know, they think just because they're good at sales, they're going to be successful. They have to like put in the work.

Mike: 14:45

Hmm. Have you changed anything about your hiring process to make sure you attract those type of people? Hmm.

Brian Davila: 14:53

Um, just being very like upfront with people of like, Hey, look, like if things don't work in the first two weeks, we're going to let you go. Um, like, Hey, look, like our, our good salespeople, they get a contract a week. Like, do you understand that it's a contract a week? Got it. Okay, cool. So like in a week, we're going to, we're on Friday and we'd be like, dude, you didn't get any contracts. And then if too many of those weeks happen back to back, then we're not going to be able to work together. Cause you're not going to make money and then we're not going to make money. So. It's a waste of both of our time.

Mike: 15:26

Yeah. How many salespeople do you have on your team right now?

Brian Davila: 15:30

Three.

Mike: 15:32

Okay. And they're all hitting the one contract a week metric, most weeks at least.

Brian Davila: 15:38

Uh, two of them are, one of them is new, so he's, we'll see.

Mike: 15:45

What are you noticing? I mean, are you noticing any commonalities between the people who come and they're successful and the people who maybe two weeks in, you're like, Hey, this, this isn't going to work.

Brian Davila: 15:55

No, but I, I think I have seen a commu, commu, commuality, I can't even say the word, but like the, the producers produce. There's like, they come in and they produce. I've yet to have someone that sucked and turn them into a rock star, but I've had rock stars come in and they're just rock stars. Like literally they get a contract in the first day or two. And I'm like, Oh, like the last guy we had, he was here for like, dude, like six weeks. And he got one deal, but he was like, nice. And he was smart. And he was like, good at sales, like communicating with us. But then I was like, you know what, let's get someone else in. We got someone else in, he got like six contracts in two weeks. And I'm like, I knew it was just like, It's just like the A players, they make it, the C players, they're just, they are who they are. I don't think you could make a C player an A player, in my opinion, the way we run it. So

Mike: 16:55

yeah. What is the way you run it in terms of like training and coaching?

Brian Davila: 17:00

Yeah. So we hire, right. And then typically during the job interview process. There has to be like clear sales experience, like very clear that I work at a car dealership. They were, they had some sort of real sales experience where they went through sales training. They understand commission lifestyle. So that starts there first, right? And then once we understand they have sales training, are they good culture fit, right? Like I don't want people who are just. You know, cursing up a storm or whatever the case may be. I, I also explain our culture like, Hey, this is like a Christian office. If you're uncomfortable with people praying and all this stuff at the office, like, it's going to be awkward. So I just want to let you know that up front. Um, they don't have to be Christian at all. Um, but I just let them know, Hey, like there's Bible studies here. There's this, there's that. So that's there. Um, and then I explained to them, like, you know, you're going to be on the phones calling. Um, you know, we're, we're here usually nine to five Monday through Friday. Um, if they're okay with all that, and I think they're a good culture fit, then we, we ask them like, Hey, like, can you come in for a couple of hours and like watch us do the work and do some sample calls to make sure that we're doing the That this is what you want to do. Cause we've done that before too, where people come in and then they're like, I actually don't like this. And I'm like, all right, great. Like, I'm glad we didn't waste any more time. So we do that. Um, and then when they start, then just like clear expectations, like, Hey, like we want to, like, at least we try to aim for 50, uh, conversations a day. And like the main KPI is one contract a week. Like, I don't care if you do. 10 conversations a day, but you're getting a contract like just do whatever it takes to get those contracts. If it takes you 200 aisles or 50 dials, I don't care. Like just focus on the contract, not the output. Um, but then yeah, just, uh, we train, we give them scripts. Uh, we listen to their calls because the whole sales team is in the same room with like the sales leader. So he's like the one really like managing them day to day.

Mike: 19:27

So you do have like a sales manager on top of the three reps.

Brian Davila: 19:31

Yeah, one of the three is a sales leader.

Mike: 19:35

Gotcha. And what, what does that look like?

Brian Davila: 19:38

Uh, so he meets with them. He looks at their KPIs. He makes sure they're, he's in the room with them. So he hears their calls. He'll like jump in and help close their calls. Um, and like his responsibility too is for them to produce. So it's kind of like a team effort.

Mike: 19:57

And he's also selling too on his own or,

Brian Davila: 20:00

Yeah. Yeah. I don't believe in like sales managers that don't sell. I feel like that's like the stupidest thing. It's like we've, we've had that before. I'm like of the education company where like the sales manager, they're just managing. Like we don't believe in like sales managers that just manage. That's like ridiculous. We need like sales managers have to close.

Mike: 20:24

Gotcha. And then what, um, I lost my question there for a second. This popped right outta my head.

Brian Davila: 20:32

There you go. How big is your sales team?

Mike: 20:35

Um, I've only got one guy right now. We're looking for three more.

Brian Davila: 20:39

Okay.

Mike: 20:40

Yeah, that's why I'm asking you all these questions so I

Brian Davila: 20:42

Oh yeah. There you go.

Mike: 20:43

amazing salespeople.

Brian Davila: 20:45

We, we also give them like the predictive index. So that's like a personality thing. So we make sure that they have like a sales profile also

Mike: 20:55

What's your favorite profile for salespeople on Predictive Index?

Brian Davila: 20:59

probably like a captain, like a Maverick captain persuader. Those are like, I don't know if there's any other sales ones, but those are like the three main ones.

Mike: 21:09

And then, um, I was like, how are you going about finding those people who are A players, like, to even get them into your hiring pipeline?

Brian Davila: 21:17

Um, we get a lot of people from like my social media. So like we got a lot of people from social media. I get people like I hired some guy. Today's his first day. That's like the third guy. Um, he, he literally just walked in and was like, Hey, I want to work for you. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Um, brought him on cause he had like some hustle. So I would say social media is like number one for sure. And then like referrals. So like, like I'll post and some, somebody will show their husband or send it to somebody else. And then they referred to me.

Mike: 21:56

Gotcha. I know your guys, are they running all phone appointments or are they going

Brian Davila: 22:00

Yeah. Everything's over the phone. Yeah. Everything's over the phone. Yeah.

Mike: 22:04

Gotcha.

Brian Davila: 22:05

Yeah. So we do California. We live in Vegas, so

Mike: 22:08

Okay. Gotcha. And you're, you're flipping in California, even though you guys are all in Vegas. Interesting. Okay.

Brian Davila: 22:15

Yeah. Everything I do is in California.

Mike: 22:17

Uh, how do you, how does your construction operation work? Like, do you have a on the ground person

Brian Davila: 22:23

Project manager. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I used to live in California, so I just moved to Vegas like a year ago. So. Yeah, my business was already like running and everything in California before I left.

Mike: 22:36

Gotcha. What made you decide to leave?

Brian Davila: 22:39

Uh, taxes and then when I became partners with Ryan, uh, Panetta, that was like one of our agreements that what I would move to Vegas.

Mike: 22:48

Gotcha. Were you doing the whole business like, um, or not the whole business, but the sales on the phone when you were in California or was that, did you make that change because you moved to Vegas?

Brian Davila: 22:58

Uh, no, I've always tried to do the, uh, everything over the phone. Because then I would, like, waste a lot of time, like, driving to houses or, like, whatever. So, like, if we, if I was to ever go on an appointment, it would have to be, like, a, like, super legit appointment where, like, we have to go there and it makes sense. I'm not just like going on sales appointments all over Southern California. And it's too big of an area to do that effectively. I feel like,

Mike: 23:29

Yeah. Gotcha. Um, I'm curious cause we actually just hired a project manager about 10 days ago. Um, like at what point in your business did you decide that it was the right move to hire a project manager?

Brian Davila: 23:44

I've always had a project manager since like I started. So I've never, I've never like put together all these people. I've always had a project manager.

Mike: 23:53

gotcha, and are they putting together all the subs on a project or are you just having them manage a bunch of general? Okay,

Brian Davila: 24:01

Yeah.

Mike: 24:04

Cool. And like, how do you, how do you have everything structured with your project manager with you being obviously in a totally different

Brian Davila: 24:11

Um, so I do some flips here in Vegas and then, but 90 percent of everything is in Cali for both of them, um, they get paid. One of them gets paid like seven 50, 750 per project. So he gets the subs, he does all the stuff, make sure it's all gets done, and then he gets paid and then everyone else gets paid. Um, another one, he just bills me. in the lump sum of whatever the, the estimate comes out to. So if it's like 60K, he'll bill me like 62K or something like that. Um, and then he just manages the whole project.

Mike: 24:57

Gotcha. It sounds like you've been pretty kind of hands off in that side of the business almost since you started. Yeah.

Brian Davila: 25:02

Exactly. Yeah, I've never, I've never like went out and like found people to do flooring and then found people to do painting or all that crap. I've always found whoever has all those people and just worked with them.

Mike: 25:17

Yeah, what KPIs do you have for your project manager?

Brian Davila: 25:22

Um, I mean, do they get the project done in 30 days? That's it. Like, yeah, it's more like speed. There's no other, like, give me an example of like a KPI, I guess. Yeah.

Mike: 25:39

I guess, you know, if, if there was like an estimated reno budget, there could be potentially a KPI, which is, did they stay within it? Or did they

Brian Davila: 25:48

Yeah, no, no, they'd never blow it. I never if if they blow it, because there's like, there's also like, some real some investors have it wrong where they're like, Oh, man, this, this project manager blew the thing. But it's like, Okay, look at the original bid. Was there an AC on there? No. Did the AC go out? Yeah. So he didn't blow it. Uh, it changed, but if they ever bid me 50 K or whatever, it will never go over a significant amount unless something changed. But just for the work that was promised, the price cannot change. I would not allow, I wouldn't even pay him. I'd be like, Oh, I'm sorry. Like you gave me a bid for 50 K. Why would I pay you 55 K or whatever? Unless something changed.

Mike: 26:42

so you're mainly just holding up to that time expectation because you're doing the light rehabs of 30, 30 days or less.

Brian Davila: 26:48

Yeah, so main thing is like, I just want it done in 30 days

Mike: 26:52

And are you, are you guys like pretty much always hitting that or?

Brian Davila: 26:56

Yeah, there was, there was a time where I think we had like too many projects. Um, and then it got a little shaky and then I wasn't like paying close attention to it and it started to break. But now I was like, okay, we can't go over anymore. It has to be 30 days or less or you know, I'm not gonna work with them.

Mike: 27:18

Yeah. Is there anything you do to just like, keep an eye on those projects or to hold them accountable? If you've got a lot of stuff going on.

Brian Davila: 27:27

Um, not really now, like if, if I think they're falling behind, I'll go there and, um, make sure they know like, Hey, like what's going on here. Like I'm at the house. That doesn't look like we're going to finish by X, Y, Z. But um, I used to go to the projects every week and all that crap, but like, it's such for me, it's a waste of time. So I kind of like rely on them to do their job. And if they can't do their job, I'll just find someone else.

Mike: 27:56

Yeah. Are they, um, Like, you know, obviously, you're putting the houses under contract virtually. Are they the person who goes out there initially to do the walkthrough? Or do you send someone else?

Brian Davila: 28:07

Uh, no, I literally like typically I could tell what a house is going to cost. Um, but just like pictures or like a video or like an estimate, like, all right, this house is 1100 square feet. It's three one. I do like 40 to 45 a square foot. It's probably going to end up around there. And then like, does it need a roof? Does it need AC? And then I'll just add that.

Mike: 28:33

Gotcha. Simple. I like it.

Brian Davila: 28:35

Yeah. It's very simple.

Mike: 28:37

Yeah. Um, what's your current role in your business?

Brian Davila: 28:42

Uh, I would guess like CEO or owner.

Mike: 28:47

So what's your day to day? I mean, so what's your day to day look like? I mean, you've got the project management handled, right? Seems like the sales team kind of runs its own

Brian Davila: 28:55

somewhat. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so my job is like when they do have a deal that they're close on or they're about to get, I will like final underwrite it to make sure it's actually a deal. Um, because I don't want, we try not to get contracts that we have to back out of. Um, so like right before we're about to sign it, I'll like review it. Um, sometimes they'll sign it. Um, and then I'll review it. And then before putting in a deposit, I'll say, Hey, like this is aiming a deal or not. Um, so I'll do that. Uh, I wire money obviously, cause, uh, I have the bank account, so I have to wire money to the project managers, the escrows, the hard money lenders, whatever. Um, hire, so I'm in charge of like hiring and recruiting. Um, hire, recruiting, um, and just thinking like, what do we need to do? Like, are we getting enough leads? Are we not getting enough leads? Do we need to like, are we spending money on this marketing and it's not working? So more like thinking of like ideas and stuff like that. I honestly don't work a lot. Like my, I probably really work like. Really, really worth like a couple hours a day.

Mike: 30:18

Yeah. What do you think is the most effective thing that you spend your time on?

Brian Davila: 30:24

Most effective thing. What do you mean by that? What does that mean?

Mike: 30:30

The highest return for the least amount of time invested.

Brian Davila: 30:35

Uh, my hires return is like when I'm underwriting those deals to make sure. They're a deal and then like, if it's too low, then I'll be like, let me talk to the agent or the seller and then getting them down or renegotiating or telling them to renegotiate, I would say that would be like the most and then like paying attention to like what the sales team is doing. Because obviously, like, if they're producing, then everything's working. If they're not, then, yeah.

Mike: 31:07

Yeah, gotcha. What, uh, what other recent roles have you hired for in your business?

Brian Davila: 31:15

Um, recent roles. So, I have, I can tell you all the roles. So, we have a listing agent. Uh, we have a Uh, she's, she's here. Yeah. So yeah, she's like in the building. She's not, uh, yeah, I don't know. She's here. Um, so we have a listing agent, we have a PC, we have a project manager. Well, we have two project managers. Um, we have the sales leader and then we have two sales people. And that's pretty much it.

Mike: 31:51

Okay, so who does the dispositions on the wholesale stuff for you

Brian Davila: 31:56

Yeah, I guess I forgot that. Yeah. So I do the Dispo. So that's like the role that I still do

Mike: 32:03

Gotcha. Anything, uh, unique you're doing with a dispo in this, in this market?

Brian Davila: 32:11

know. So, um, I have investor lifts. I post on investor lift, um, post on my Instagram. Um, if it's like in, because we have a coaching program. So if it's in a market like, uh, San Bernardino, I don't know if you know where San Bernardino is, but like, I know people there. So I already just call the buyers that I know, and then I'll try to sell it. If I can't sell it, then I'll go to investor lift and then try to dispel it there.

Mike: 32:38

Gotcha. Okay. And, um, have you, have you noticed any kind of challenges in the disposition side, just cause obviously I'm assuming a lot of people are selling to flipping, right? So they, those

Brian Davila: 32:51

Yeah,

Mike: 32:52

filter down.

Brian Davila: 32:54

for sure. I mean, yeah, like you can't right now people aren't buying stupid deals. So that's why like I make sure that's why I like, I guess, like we said, the most effective thing is that final underwriting, because. If it's too high, when I go to Dispo, it's not going to sell and it's a waste of time. And then I'm wasting time wiring money. And then we're wasting time with the seller or the buyer. So I guess that would be like, the main thing is like, is this actually, do I think this is actually going to sell? That's like the main thing that I have to like, make sure

Mike: 33:30

Gotcha. Okay. And then, um, what other changes have you made in your business in the last, like two years or so?

Brian Davila: 33:41

two years a lot. Um, yeah, two years, a lot. So, but I, I would say like biggest change is just having the mindset of like, I'm not, the business cannot rely on my efforts before it was like, it was the Brian Davila show I'm freaking hustling. I'm on acquisitions. I'm on dispositions. I'm like doing everything where now it's like, okay, now I have a listing agent that does all the listing crap. I have a TC. Um, I usually have like a personal admin. Um, that's not just on the real estate side, but on the personal side. And then having that sales leader is huge. That's like the biggest piece for sure. Um, and then like the, the company cannot rely on my efforts on sales. Like for sure. That's like a non negotiable now where before it was like, I got to pack up and get my ass to work and do sales or else there's no revenue coming in.

Mike: 34:45

Yeah. When did you make that shift of saying, okay, I'm not going to be the main producer here.

Brian Davila: 34:51

Um, I would say January of this year. I was just like, I'm not doing this anymore where I'm like the main guy.

Mike: 34:59

Yeah. And at that point you started like, hi, did you have some salespeople before then? Or are

Brian Davila: 35:06

Yeah, I had some sales people, but then I really put it on like one of them to be the sales leader. And then he stepped up and kind of took over managing the team. Cause that is, that's honestly like probably like the hardest part. Um, so yeah,

Mike: 35:23

Is being the sales manager or sales leader?

Brian Davila: 35:26

I would say yeah, I would say for sure sales leader of any company is probably like the most, the hardest, most important part.

Mike: 35:33

Yeah. What do you think of the traits that he has that helps him be a good sales leader?

Brian Davila: 35:38

Uh, he's very patient. He's very kind. Um, he's very smart. Like he knows his stuff. He's not just winging it. Um, Uh, yeah, I would say patient kind and he knows his stuff. He knows, he knows what's a deal and he knows what's not a deal. Um, so yeah.

Mike: 36:02

And he, but he was working for you for a while before as a wrap. You were saying,

Brian Davila: 36:06

Yeah. Like only like six months.

Mike: 36:09

Okay.

Brian Davila: 36:10

Yeah.

Mike: 36:12

Gotcha. Any, uh, why I'm actually curious, what's your, what's your vision for the next three years?

Brian Davila: 36:20

Vision for the next three years. So, um, I don't have like a three year plan, but I know I'm trying to make, I'm trying to, right now we're trying to get up to where we make a hundred K a month. Every month. Like that's the standard. Okay. So we're working towards that. Um, that's literally it. I don't have any other like goals or visions or anything else. So get to a hundred K once we get to a hundred K, how do we get to 200 K a month? And then I feel like that that'll probably end up being like the sweet spot, uh, of like running a flipping and wholesaling company. That's kind of automated where it's not relying on me. Um, if I can get it to more, that'd be great, but I, I haven't seen that. So I feel like 200 K a month. It's like pretty good.

Mike: 37:08

Is that when you say 100 or 200 K, is that gross revenue net

Brian Davila: 37:12

That's revenue. Yeah.

Mike: 37:13

revenue? Okay.

Brian Davila: 37:15

that's revenue. Yeah. That's not like, Oh, I sold the house and we get a check for a hundred K. It would be like the profit of that flip and then the profit of the whole sales.

Mike: 37:26

But not the net profit of the entire business after all expenses.

Brian Davila: 37:30

No.

Mike: 37:31

No, okay.

Brian Davila: 37:32

Yeah. Yeah. So we want to get to a hundred gross and then how do we get to a hundred net? So it's always like think gross net. Um, yeah. Have you heard that before? Yeah.

Mike: 37:49

Yeah. That sounds like that's straight out of the Gary Keller book. I'm pretty sure he says, what is it? Gross a million

Brian Davila: 37:59

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Think a million, No, it's think a million, gross a million, then net a million. That's exactly it.

Mike: 38:05

In about seven years since I read it. It's a great

Brian Davila: 38:07

Yeah. Yeah. I read it probably maybe five years ago or so, something like that.

Mike: 38:14

Yeah. Very cool. Cool, man. Well, um, we're getting kind of close to the end here and there's always a, two questions I like to ask at the end of the show. Uh, first, first one is. It's kind of a fun one, which is what is the craziest or most uncomfortable situation have ever experienced in a real estate deal?

Brian Davila: 38:38

crazy. So there is, it's kind of a bad story, but I was on a seller appointment one time and this, uh, this seller literally called me the N word while we're on the appointment and I was just like, all right, all right, I get it. But you know, do you want 200 K for your house? Like, so I actually, yeah, I ended up, I ended up getting him. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Cause he was just mad because it's so funny. It was a kind of a weird story. Like it was like a small house, but it had a big lot. And then when we walked into the lot, I was like, damn, there's a lot of stuff. There's like, there was like literally like a portable, like a portable school. And like, it was like just full of trash. It was just trash everywhere. And I was like, I was like, what are you going to do with this? And then he was like what the hell you think i'm gonna do with it. This is like Expensive stuff. I'm tired of you n words coming here and disrespecting me and I was like Okay. Okay. I'm, sorry. Like I was like, you know, we could pay 200k for this and we'll You know, you keep it, it's all good. Oh yeah. I would say that's like the craziest thing I could think of.

Mike: 39:58

that's up there for sure. Good on you for still getting the deal, right? I

Brian Davila: 40:04

Oh yeah, yeah, I'm not, I'm not a freaking weenie. I'm not like, you know, I'm not easily offended here. Not like all these people that get pissed off just because someone else is voting for someone else and they're like, Oh my God, I'm unfollowing this guy because he's voting for Trump. I'm not like any of those weenies. Yeah, do you still want this or not? I just drove here. It's like 30 minutes away. I'm not going to just leave because you're an idiot.

Mike: 40:30

Yeah, I like that. Cool. Well, second question I always ask kind of for the newer people listening to the show, which is if you could go back in time, give yourself one piece of advice when you were looking for that first real estate deal, knowing what you know now, what would you tell yourself?

Brian Davila: 40:52

Um, I would say like find a calculator because I feel like when I used, when I first started, I was like, I would look at the houses, not like a regular calculator, like a Google calculator, but like a flip calculator, um, put in, For right now, like 45 a square foot, just as a rough estimate. And every house just run the numbers on. Cause I, at first I would look at houses. I'm like, I mean, this house is 200. I think the houses around her son for 300. And I would just kind of guess a lot. Um, until I was like, Oh, like there's, it's just simple math. Like if, and the numbers, most 90 percent of the numbers don't change. It's like the ARV, the rehab. Everything else kind of stays the same, you know, you put your minimum net profit. So like, if I would have just done that in the beginning, I would have saved a year of just like, I don't understand like what to offer or dah, dah, dah. So yeah, like get a, get a calculator and then go out and make offers like make a hundred offers. Even if the calculator says they, you need to be at two 25 and they're at three 35, like just make the offer. And then slowly you're like, Oh, okay. Let me offer on ones that are like close to where I need to be at. So I would, if I would have done that, I would have been successful way faster.

Mike: 42:13

Yeah, I think that's a great piece of advice. And I like the fact that you say it's simple, right? Cause it really is. I've seen people with these calculators with 50 inputs. I'm like,

Brian Davila: 42:24

No. Yeah. It should be like six. Yeah. There should, there shouldn't be a ton of inputs and they're free too. So like, you don't need to go pay some guru for a calculator. Like Google, you know what, you know what, dude? I've been thinking about this a lot. So I've been using chat GBT a lot and like I legit got my nutrition plan and my whole health plan from chat GBT. And I was like, dude, like I didn't even have to go to a fricking gym trainer. Like I told it everything that I wanted. I told it the way I told it, how much I want to lose, what my body fat percentage is, what I wanted to do. And it gave me. I'm pretty sure you can go into chat GBT and ask anything about real estate and the more you use it, the better you get at using it. So frigging, if people can't figure it out now, it's because they're idiots. There's no excuse on like why you can't figure out how to do real estate. It's just a lack of effort. It's not a lack of like information.

Mike: 43:24

and it's not that much effort to type one question in the chat GPT.

Brian Davila: 43:30

Well, the effort is going to come when you have to go out and put in the offers. That's like where the hustle and the sales skills are going to have to come into, but like finding the information. Um, I guess it like, I guess sorting the information in the right sequence is important, but you know, chat GBT nowadays could like answer 99 percent of the stuff.

Mike: 43:53

For sure. Cool, man. Well, if people want to reach out to you after the show, if they have questions or they want to, you know, maybe check out your show,

Brian Davila: 44:01

Yeah.

Mike: 44:02

finding you or contacting you?

Brian Davila: 44:04

Yeah. If they go on YouTube, go to wealthy investor, RE on YouTube, or the Brian de Villa on real estate. And, uh, yeah, hit me up. I'll answer anything that you guys need.

Mike: 44:16

Cool. Awesome, man. Thanks for being on the show.

Brian Davila: 44:19

Thank you for having me on brother. Appreciate it.