***Guest Appearance
Credits to:
https://www.youtube.com/@FromAdversity2AbundancePodcast
“Desperation Has a Smell: The Psychology of Raising Private Money with Jay Conner”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3AcMDgutqM
In this episode of Raising Private Money with Jay Conner, Jay reflects on the challenges and pivotal moments that have shaped his real estate journey. From navigating a banking crisis to leveraging private money, Jay’s story is rich with practical advice and inspiration for real estate entrepreneurs.
The Crisis That Sparked Change
In 2009, Jay Conner, a seasoned real estate investor in North Carolina, was blindsided by an unexpected setback. After placing nonrefundable earnest money on several properties, his bank abruptly closed his line of credit without notice. Puzzled and concerned, Jay approached his banker, only to discover that the global financial crisis had severely impacted credit lines. This moment of adversity led Jay to ask a crucial question: “Who can help me with this problem?”
Discovering Private Money
With guidance from his friend Jeff Blankenship, Jay explored the realm of private money and private lending. Jeff introduced him to the concept of using self-directed IRAs for private lending, which allows individuals to lend money while enjoying potential tax advantages. Motivated, Jay educated himself and his network about these new funding avenues, emphasizing the benefits they offered.
Jay adopted an educational approach rather than a direct ask for money. He taught his network how they could earn high returns safely and securely by participating in his lending program. Jay’s program featured attractive terms, such as an 8% simple interest rate and a 90-day call option, designed to appeal to potential private lenders.
Shift in Mindset: Control and Confidence
Entering the world of private money marked a significant shift in Jay’s perspective. Unlike traditional bank loans, where the banks set all the terms, private money allowed Jay to dictate the conditions. This newfound control provided him with the confidence to proceed, knowing that he could secure and use $8.5 million in private money without directly asking anyone for it.
Ethical Practices in Real Estate
Ethics play a pivotal role in Jay’s business practices. He critiques certain controversial methods in real estate, such as securing large nonrefundable deposits from tenants in rent-to-own agreements without assisting them in obtaining a mortgage. Knowing that less than 5% of these tenants end up owning the homes, Jay advocates for helping tenants improve their credit and working closely with credit repair companies to increase their chances of homeownership.
Securing Trust: The Wayne Story
In an illustrative anecdote, Jay recounted how he secured his first private money commitment. During a Wednesday night Bible study, he approached a well-connected community member named Wayne, asking for his help rather than money. Jay outlined his business model and the high returns he was generating, sparking Wayne’s interest. Wayne initially committed $250,000, which later grew to $500,000.
Strategic Lead Generation
Given today’s market conditions, where inventory in the MLS is low, Jay highlights the importance of direct-to-seller channels. Through Google leads, direct mail, outbound calling, and Facebook ads, Jay sustains a steady pipeline of seller leads, allowing his business to adapt to the evolving real estate landscape.
Adapting and Thriving
Jay reflected on a notable case study involving the acquisition of an oceanfront condominium. He purchased the property for $425,000, completed minimal renovations costing $11,000, and sold it within five weeks for $628,000. This deal netted him a profit of $160,000 after fees. Such success was possible due to his ability to close deals quickly with private money, underscoring the importance of having funds prepared in advance.
Building Relationships and Leveraging Trust
Jay’s strategy revolves around building relationships and fostering trust. He emphasizes that investors are more interested in the credibility of the operator than the specifics of individual deals. By consistently offering an 8% interest rate since 2009 and focusing on protecting investor interests, Jay has instilled confidence among his private lenders.
Conclusion
Jay Conner’s journey from banking adversity to private lending triumph offers invaluable lessons for real estate entrepreneurs. His educational approach, commitment to ethical practices, and focus on building trust through strong relationships provide a blueprint for navigating the complex world of real estate investing. Through his experiences and strategies, Jay Conner continues to inspire and empower others to turn adversity into abundance.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode:
- Strategic Shift:
- How did the 2008 financial crisis impact Jay Conner’s traditional bank financing strategy, and what led him to pursue private lending?
- Private Money Approach:
- In what ways did Jeff Blankenship’s advice on private money and self-directed IRAs transform Jay Conner’s approach to real estate investing?
- Teaching the Concept:
- Jay Conner mentioned embracing a “teacher mindset” when discussing private money. How can educating potential investors build trust and secure funding?
- Crisis Reaction:
- What key message did Jay Conner convey about dealing with financial adversity, particularly the importance of asking “Who can help me with this problem?”
- Ethical Practices:
- Jay Conner criticized certain unethical practices in real estate, specifically with tenant buyers. How can real estate investors balance profitability with ethical practices?
- Handling Imposter Syndrome:
- How did Jay Conner overcome imposter syndrome when teaching others about private money, and what advice does he offer to those in similar situations?
- Investor Trust:
- Both Jay Conner and Jamie Bateman emphasized the importance of investor trust. What strategies can real estate investors employ to build and maintain trust with their investors?
- Market Adaptation:
- How has Jay Conner adapted his real estate business strategies over the past 15 years to account for changing market conditions and financial landscapes?
- Lead Generation:
- Discuss the lead generation strategies Jay Conner uses to standardize his pipeline of seller leads. Which methods seem most effective in low-inventory markets?
- Mindset and Confidence:
- Jay Conner talked about the psychological barriers real estate entrepreneurs face, particularly fear. How can building confidence and having a clear investment program overcome these barriers?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- Jay Conner is a pianist and once played the piano while Glenn Campbell sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” when Jay was 22 years old.
- Jay Conner would choose Beethoven for a hypothetical coffee date due to their shared connection in music and admiration for Beethoven’s resilience despite being deaf.
- The podcast revealed how Beethoven would hear music by feeling the vibrations through a piano placed on a hardwood floor, a method Jay Conner finds fascinating.
Timestamps:
00:01 Raising Private Money Without Asking For It
05:28 Transitioned from mobile homes to flipping houses.
06:34 Funded deals through the local bank from 2003-2009.
12:15 Discovering private lending through self-directed IRAs.
13:49 Teaching private money to personal network contacts.
19:35 No negotiation in private money, consistent 8% interest.
22:43 Secured funds through indirect Bible study contact.
26:31 Using pitch script to secure deal funding.
29:57 Investor trust and communication are key priorities.
33:02 Private money enabled profitable real estate deals.
34:05 Balancing adversity and abundance to inspire listeners.
39:30 Renovation done; use “coming soon” for listings.
40:35 Scheduled viewings to create demand, efficiency, and FOMO.
44:22 Recommended books: University of Success, The Go-Giver.
49:04 Confidence through knowledge; is key to overcoming fear.
54:56 Starting a podcast is easy; maintaining it isn’t.
Connect With Jay Conner:
Private Money Academy Conference:
Free Report:
https://www.jayconner.com/MoneyReport
Join the Private Money Academy:
https://www.JayConner.com/trial/
Have you read Jay’s new book: Where to Get The Money Now?
It is available FREE (all you pay is the shipping and handling) at https://www.JayConner.com/Book
What is Private Money? Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner
http://www.JayConner.com/MoneyPodcast
Jay Conner is a proven real estate investment leader. Without using his own money or credit, Jay maximizes creative methods to buy and sell properties with profits averaging $67,000 per deal.
#RealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #RealEstateInvestingForBeginners #Foreclosures #FlippingHouses #PrivateMoney #RaisingPrivateMoney #JayConner
YouTube Channel
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https://www.pinterest.com/JConner_PrivateMoneyAuthority
From Bankers to Private Lenders: Jay Conner’s Financial Evolution
Narrator [00:00:01]:
If you’re a real estate investor and are wondering how to raise and leverage private money to make more profit on every deal, then you’re in the right place. On raising private money, we’ll speak with new and seasoned investors to dissect their deals and extract the best tips and strategies to help you get the money because the money comes first. Now here’s your host, Jay Conner.
Jamie Bateman [00:00:33]:
Welcome everybody to another episode of the From Adversity to Abundance podcast. I am pumped today today to have with us Jay Conner, the Private Money Authority. Jay, I forgot to say I’m Jamie Bateman, your host. Jay, how are you doing today?
Jay Conner [00:00:49]:
Jamie, I’m doing fantastic, and I’m so excited and so thankful that you invited me to come along and talk about the subject I’m so passionate about, and, of course, that’s private money. I’m so excited about private money because it has had more of an impact on our real estate investing business than any other strategy that we’ve implemented.
Jamie Bateman [00:01:09]:
Absolutely. And, like, as you well know, Jay, if you’re a mortgage note investor or a real estate investor, you know, whether it’s residential, commercial if you’re a real estate entrepreneur and you’re trying to scale your business, no matter what, I’ve found you’re gonna run out of your capital or at least the capital that you want to deploy to into your own business and investment. So there are many ways to raise private capital, and we’re gonna get into that, but this is relevant for sure for the mortgage note investor or single family, you know, rental investor who may be listening to the show. Any kind of real estate entrepreneur who wants to scale, you’ve gotta get access to capital. Now before we jump into your backstory, Jay, a little bit more, what do you have going on kinda this year, if you will?
Jay Conner [00:01:58]:
Well, this year well, first, let me say where I am and what kind of market that I’m investing in. So I am here in Eastern North Carolina and have been investing here in North Carolina in the same market since 2003, focused on single-family houses. I’ve done commercial as well, shopping centers from the ground up, condominiums, and townhouses, but the focus has been single-family houses. We’ve rehabbed or renovated over 500 single-family houses now, funded with private money. But what’s going on right now? My target market, Jamie, is only 40,000 people. Only 40,000 people. We do 2 to 3 deals a month, so it’s not a high volume like some, you know, doing 200 wholesale deals a year. I mean, for goodness’ sake, don’t even have anybody to wholesale it to, right? So we do 2 to 3 deals a month, but our average profit right now this year is $82,000 per deal profit, 2 to 3 deals a month.
Jay Conner [00:03:02]:
And so these deals are now, of course, I do terms deals. I’ll buy subject to the existing node, etcetera. But the majority of them are funded with private money. And so right now, I’ve got about 10 or 12 houses at some stage or another, you know, that are under renovation.
Jamie Bateman [00:03:24]:
Yeah.
Jay Conner [00:03:25]:
What’s going on right now? There’s no inventory.
Jamie Bateman [00:03:28]:
Right.
Jay Conner [00:03:28]:
There’s no inventory Sure. In the multiple listing service. So if you price the house right or even aggressively, you get multiple offers, and it’s under contract right away. What’s going on right now? I’m not buying any houses, and I haven’t bought any houses in forever out of the multiple listing service because there’s no inventory. So of course we’re finding all of our deals what we call off the market, or direct-to-seller for sale by owners. And we have many, many different marketing channels going on simultaneously. Mhmm. I have 4 different vendors that are getting me Google leads, people going on Google and searching for somebody to buy their house fast.
Jay Conner [00:04:10]:
We have 2 different direct mail programs going on. I got a full-time outbound caller. And so we’re using different we do Facebook ads, different marketing channels to have consistent leads coming in all the time. Well, I tell you, I say it all the time, Jamie, if you don’t have consistent seller leads coming in your pipeline every day, every week, you have a hobby. You don’t have a business.
Jamie Bateman [00:04:35]:
So you didn’t just when the when the leads when the transactions all dried up on the MLS, you didn’t just say, okay. I guess I guess I’m out of business. I mean, you didn’t just pack it in and say there’s no way to make money in this environment. And I’m guessing these market conditions, and I know these market conditions, for you, are not the is not the most this is not the most adversity you faced in your business. And so I guess that you’re applying some, you know, mental fitness lessons you learned along the way today to get creative, look outside the box. Hey. This isn’t working. How do I get this done? So let’s jump back to your backstory, Jay.
Jamie Bateman [00:05:18]:
I know you’ve been through some stuff in real estate and some real challenges. You mentioned 2003. How did things go after that?
Jay Conner [00:05:28]:
So I was raised in the mobile home business, and so here comes one of the adversity stories is, the consumer financing for mobile home products, also known as manufactured housing, dried up. The whole industry fell out of favor with Wall Street. So in the early 2000s, I mean, it was in 2002, woke up one morning and had $22,000,000 in inventory and no way to sell them because the consumer finance was gone. So almost had to, file for bankruptcy, but we didn’t. We did workouts and agreements with our vendors. But I knew, Jamie, if I ever got out of mobile homes, and manufactured housing, I knew I wanted to get into single-family houses, and not build them. I didn’t want to build them. I wanted to I wanted to buy distressed properties, fix them up, and flip, and this was even before HGTV,
Jamie Bateman [00:06:29]:
You know, coming along. Before it was cool to be a flipper, you were you were flipping houses. Right?
Jay Conner [00:06:34]:
That’s right. That’s right. So started in 2003, and the first 6 years from 2,003 to 2,009 from 2,003 to 2,009, I relied on the local bank to fund my deals. That’s all I knew to do. All I knew I knew to do was to go to the local bank, get on my hands and knees, get my hands underneath my chin, beg, pull my skirt up so they can look at my assets, and pull my credit score and all that. That’s all I needed to do and that’s what most people think. That’s all they know to do. And that but you know what? That worked great.
Jamie Bateman [00:07:18]:
Sure. Well, I was gonna say if it’s working, why would you need to find an alternative solution? Right?
Jay Conner [00:07:22]:
It worked great until January 2009.
Jamie Bateman [00:07:28]:
Yeah. Well, I shouldn’t say we all know, but many of the listeners likely know what happened in 2,008, 2009, but give us a quick refresher for those who may not be familiar.
Jay Conner [00:07:40]:
Well, I was sitting right here at this desk, and I know you may find it hard to believe, Jimmy, but we still have landlines here in North Carolina with cord attack. Most people don’t even know what a handset is. You know? But anyway, I was sitting at this very desk. I had 2 houses under contract, and the potential profit on those two houses was over $100,000. And I picked up the phone, and I called my banker. His name was Steve. And, so I called him up. Now bear in mind, Steve and I had done a ton of deals for 6 years.
Jay Conner [00:08:16]:
He’d been my guy. He’d been my go-to. And Sure. So I called him up, and I told him about these 2 deals I had under contract. Well, I thought I still had a line of credit when I made those phone calls.
Jay Conner [00:08:31]:
I’d put earnest money down on those deals, Jamie. And back in 2009 here in North Carolina, you couldn’t get your earnest money back. When you paid earnest money, I mean, you were in the deal, right?
Jamie Bateman [00:08:43]:
Nonrefundable. Yep.
Jay Conner [00:08:45]:
And so I told Steve about my deals. And I learned like that on that phone call that my line of credit had been closed with no notice to me. And I said, Steve, what are you talking about? Why are you telling me the bank has closed my line of credit? And we’ve got a great relationship? I’ve never been late on a payment. Mhmm. And he says, Jay, don’t you know there’s a global financial crisis going on right now? I said, no, Steve. I don’t know anything about the global financial crisis, but you’re giving me a global financial crisis right now.
Jamie Bateman [00:09:26]:
Right.
Jay Conner [00:09:26]:
Because I can’t fund these two deals unless you fund them. I don’t have anywhere to go. Sure. He says I’m sorry, Jay. That’s that’s just the way it is. So I hung up the phone and I sat here for a moment and I thought. Now, Jamie, I’m getting ready to share with you and your audience the most powerful question that I could have asked myself during that moment, right after that phone call. And the power’s in the questions anyway.
Jay Conner [00:09:54]:
And so I’m going to share a question right now I don’t care what adversity you are going through. I don’t care if it’s health, relationships, career, finances, whatever it is, whatever your adversity is. Here’s the most powerful question you can ask yourself. And here’s the question I asked myself when I hung up the phone from Steve. I said, Jay, who do you know that can help you with your problem? You know, it’s not how. It’s who. Who can help you with your problem? And by the way, Jamie by the way I’m sorry. What’d you say?
Jamie Bateman [00:10:31]:
Who Not How is a is a great book as well.
Jay Conner [00:10:33]:
Yes. Yes.
Jamie Bateman [00:10:34]:
Yeah. But you’re right. It’s an incredible incredibly powerful mindset shift. You know? Going to ask who not how. So you ask yourself who can who can help me with this problem?
Jay Conner [00:10:49]:
By the way, Jamie, these people going around saying every problem is an opportunity. I wanna throw up. I didn’t have any support I didn’t have any opportunity. I had a problem. Right? Sure. And I need somebody to help me with my problem.
Jamie Bateman [00:11:03]:
Yeah. Well, high you know, hindsight helps with, hindsight and maybe looking at other people’s problems helps maybe, you know, come up with these catchy phrases. And I think I think after time, we end up seeing what good comes out of problems.
Jay Conner [00:11:19]:
Oh, yeah.
Jamie Bateman [00:11:19]:
But in the
Jay Conner [00:11:20]:
I mean, as I share my story Yeah. You’re gonna you’re gonna see how this was the biggest blessing in disguise. But but I but I couldn’t be Pollyanna. I couldn’t be Pollyanna. We have to we gotta we gotta address this problem.
Jamie Bateman [00:11:37]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:11:38]:
Head on to so, anyway, so I asked myself that question. Who do I know that can help me with my problem? Immediately, I thought of Jeff Blankenship. Jeff is a dear friend of mine and Carol Joy’s, my wife. He was living in Greensboro at the time Greensboro, North Carolina at the time. And he was investing in real estate as well, single-family houses. So I picked up the phone, and I called Jeff. And I told him the story of what had just happened. And Jeff said, Well, Jay, welcome to the club.
Jay Conner [00:12:15]:
I said, What club? He said, the club of having the bank close your line of credit. He says, My bank just shut me down last week. I said, Well, Jeff, how are you gonna fund your deals? He says, well, Jay, have you heard of private money and private lending? I said, no. As he said, have you heard of self-directed IRA companies where individuals, people can take their current retirement funds that they’re not happy with and transfer them over to a self-directed IRA company, and then they can lend money out as a private lender and make their returns either tax-deferred or tax-free? Have you ever heard of that? I said, no. And so I knew Jeff had told me something, so I studied private money, private lending, and I’m not talking hard money by the way. I’m not talking about brokers and any kind of institutional money. Private money, I’m talking about doing business with individuals.
Jamie Bateman [00:13:11]:
Other Right. 1 to 1. 1 person lends money to the other person. Right?
Jay Conner [00:13:15]:
Exactly. With no middle person involved, no broker. So I studied it. And so what did I do? You see, Jamie, here’s what’s interesting. From that moment in time of learned about private money to this day, although that was in 2009, so currently to right now, I have never, never asked anybody for money. And I got $8,500,000 of private money that we use from project to project to project. Never asked. And look, I’ve never pitched a deal in my life.
Jay Conner [00:13:49]:
And people ask me all the time. They said, Jay, how in the world do you get funding for your deals and you never ask anybody for money? Well, here’s the answer. So I got off the phone with Jeff and studied for a minute. So what did I do? I said, I’m going to take on an attitude, of a teacher, of a teacher, and leave with a servant’s heart. And I’m just going to start sharing with people 1 on 1 and in groups, private lender luncheon, put on an event, have a little teaching event, and start teaching people. And I started with my network and my connections, people I go to church with, people in my cell phone, people at the Rotary Club, right, my connections, and just started teaching them what private money is, and how they can earn high rates of return safely and securely. So the first thing I did was I put my program or my opportunity. I put the program together that I was going to start teaching.
Jay Conner [00:14:51]:
Now, one of the first things I had to get straight in my mind, Jamie, is that doing private money and borrowing private money, is a 180-degree shift from going to the local bank or a hard money lender and borrowing money. Because when you do it the traditional way, you’re selling, you’re begging, you’re persuading.
Jamie Bateman [00:15:13]:
Sure. They have all the power. Right?
Jay Conner [00:15:15]:
They have all the power, and they’re making all the rules.
Jamie Bateman [00:15:19]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:15:19]:
They’re making all the rules. They’re doing their own they’re doing their underwriting. Right?
Jamie Bateman [00:15:23]:
Right.
Jay Conner [00:15:24]:
They set the interest rate. They set the length of the note, all that. So I took a 180-degree shift in that mindset. I said, guess what? I’m going to make the rules. I’m going to make the rules. I’m going to put together a program that will show people how they can safely and securely make high rates of return. And so I put my program together. I decided I was going to start paying everybody 8% simple interest.
Jamie Bateman [00:15:55]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:15:55]:
I put the length of the note. I put together a program called a 90-day call option, how they can get their money back in case of an emergency, etcetera. So I
Jamie Bateman [00:16:04]:
I have a quick question.
Jay Conner [00:16:07]:
Sure.
Jamie Bateman [00:16:09]:
So I love love that. How did you deal with the, with a lot of people who are starting in a new business or new skill set, if you will, deal with what people call the imposter syndrome? So you’re going out and teaching something that you just learned yourself. And and and look, I’m not I’m not throwing shade as they say or whatever. You know, how did you deal with that? You’re pushing your boundaries, you know, with what you know, and then you’re going out and teaching others how they can invest. How did you deal with that mindset shift?
Jay Conner [00:16:42]:
Well, I didn’t create it by myself. All I did was pretty much copy other people’s programs that they were offering. Sure.
Jamie Bateman [00:16:50]:
Got it.
Jay Conner [00:16:51]:
From other very successful other very successful.
Jamie Bateman [00:16:53]:
I love that answer because you’re not I love that about real estate too. Generally speaking, you’re not you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. It’s No. It’s been done by somebody else who’s very successful. Right? Success leaves clues. So, didn’t mean to derail us there. I was just curious about that.
Jay Conner [00:17:09]:
Sir, I put my program together that I’m gonna teach. So I take on the mindset of a teacher. And what did I do? I put it on my private money teacher app. So that’s how that’s how I’m thinking.
Jamie Bateman [00:17:21]:
Love it.
Jay Conner [00:17:22]:
Private money teacher app. So I’m gonna teach. So I went about, teaching other people what it is. And so desperation has got a smell to it. Desperation has a smell to it. So what I mean by that is one thing I learned at the very beginning is if I talk about my program, that is my opportunity where people can turn these rates of return. If I talk about that and I talk about a deal or a couple of deals that I need funding for, I’m already sounding desperate.
Jamie Bateman [00:18:02]:
Sure. That makes yeah.
Jay Conner [00:18:04]:
The worst time to be raising money is when you need it
Jamie Bateman [00:18:07]:
When you need it. Right?
Jay Conner [00:18:08]:
For a deal.
Jamie Bateman [00:18:09]:
Great point.
Jay Conner [00:18:10]:
Right?
Jamie Bateman [00:18:10]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:18:10]:
And you know what, Jamie? I’m getting ready to take a risk. I’m getting ready to take a risk now. I’m getting ready to say something you might disagree with. And if you disagree with it, I’m sure you’ll tell me. But let me tell you what drives me crazy. I know you’ve heard this. I’m getting ready to say it, and I know you’ve heard it. It drives me stupidly crazy.
Jay Conner [00:18:31]:
These gurus, other you know, whatever, will get on the stage or platform, and here’s what they say, quote-unquote, oh, just get the deal under contract. The money will show up.
Jamie Bateman [00:18:45]:
A 100%. You hear that all the time. I want
Jay Conner [00:18:48]:
I wanna throw up. I wanna say, where is the money gonna show up? Is it just gonna, like, rain out of clouds or something? And another thing they’ll say, another thing they’ll say, they’ll say, if the deal is good enough, the money follows the deal.
Jamie Bateman [00:19:02]:
Right. Exactly. That’s what we hear a lot. I wanted to disagree with you because, you know, controversy is good for, listeners and views and things, but I agree. I mean, it’s it sounds good. Right? It sounds like good advice. It’s not sound tempting to buy into. You know? But, yeah, I mean, like you it’s a great point.
Jamie Bateman [00:19:23]:
Even if the money does show up, it’s probably not gonna be in very favorable terms because No. I mean, you got deep that money.
Jay Conner [00:19:30]:
Now you’re looking for money. Well, you just gave up your power.
Jamie Bateman [00:19:33]:
Sure. Right? Right? It’s a great point.
Jay Conner [00:19:35]:
You’re now in a negotiation. Guess what? Do private money the way I do private money. There is no negotiation. Right? I pay all my I pay all my private lenders the same thing. Right? And guess what? I’ve been paying them the same thing since, February 2009 when I started doing it. And here we are many years down the road. And you know what, Jamie? People say to me and say, Jay, how in the world are you still paying your private and no points, no origination fees? See, Jay, how in the world are you paying those people 8% ever since 2009? Look what the market has done.
Jay Conner [00:20:15]:
The interest rates have gone
Jamie Bateman [00:20:17]:
slack way about They can get they can get 5% in a savings account. Why are they why are they putting their money with you?
Jay Conner [00:20:22]:
Yeah. Why are they putting their money with me at 8%? There are 2 answers to that question. Number 1, I make the rules. Right? Number 2, 8% is still a whole lot more than 4 a half, or 5. It’s come down to 4 a half recently, and it’s going to continue going down. Sure. So anyway, this mindset of I’m not chasing, I’m not begging, I’m not selling.
Jamie Bateman [00:20:49]:
Yeah. You’re not desperate.
Jay Conner [00:20:50]:
The rules, you know. So I back to what I did. Yeah. So I put on my teacher hat. Now there’s another mindset that there are 2 primary ways to start conversations with people about private money that don’t know what private you know, I have 47 private lenders right now. Not one of them even knows what an accredited investor is. They don’t know what an accredited investor is, and there’s a small handful of them that are they are accredited.
Jamie Bateman [00:21:22]:
They are accredited, but they don’t know.
Jay Conner [00:21:23]:
But they don’t know that they’re accredited. Right?
Jamie Bateman [00:21:26]:
Right.
Jay Conner [00:21:27]:
And look, all 47 of them never heard of private money or private lending until I did what? Right. Right. And none of them had ever heard of self-directed IRAs. An important thing about self-directed IRAs is to establish a relationship with a self-directed IRA company so that when you’re talking with somebody, an individual who’s got retirement funds, and they’re not happy with the returns, then you can introduce them to the rep so they can move them over. You know?
Jamie Bateman [00:22:01]:
Now that’s a that’s a very valuable point because there, you know, there are a lot of people who have heard of self-directed IRAs and who have who have capital there. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s a very small number compared to those who have their typical, you know, Vanguard account or whatever with stocks and bonds. And
Jay Conner [00:22:18]:
What should I
Jamie Bateman [00:22:19]:
I mean, so there’s a ton of opportunity there.
Jay Conner [00:22:21]:
Your typical financial adviser never heard of them either.
Jamie Bateman [00:22:25]:
Never heard of it. That’s so true.
Jay Conner [00:22:26]:
And they hadn’t heard of it because there’s no money to be made for your traditional, you know, financial adviser. Anyway, how do you start conversations? For the sake of time, I’m not gonna share, but I’m just gonna share what I call the indirect method.
Jamie Bateman [00:22:42]:
Okay.
Jay Conner [00:22:43]:
The indirect I like coming in the backdoor. Right? I like coming in the back door. So here’s the indirect method. Here’s how I got my first $250,000 of private money. It was on a Wednesday night at Bible study here in Morehead City, and Carol Joy and I were going to Bible study, and, I knew there was a gentleman there that I wanted to talk to, and, his name was Wayne. He’s passed away now. Nonetheless, I walk into the foyer. Wayne is standing over there.
Jay Conner [00:23:11]:
I walked up to Wayne. Here’s exactly what I said. I said, Wayne, if you got a few minutes, I wanna talk to you about something confidential after we finish Bible study. He said, sure. No problem. So we have Bible study. We get together. We go down to the nursery in the building, shut the door, and here’s exactly what I said to him.
Jay Conner [00:23:29]:
I said, Wayne, you know everybody in this town. And he did. He was the original Zenith television dealer. Now if you don’t know what the Zenith television dealer was, that means you’re too young to remember life before Walmart came to town.
Jamie Bateman [00:23:48]:
That’s right. But, anyway, I do know for the barely. Barely.
Jay Conner [00:23:52]:
Barely. Barely. That’s right. So, anyway, Wayne was very connected in the community, and very involved in the Rotary Club. And I told him, I said, you know, everybody in this town. And I said, Wayne, now here’s the magic phrase. Here’s the magic phrase. I said, Wayne, I need your help.
Jay Conner [00:24:09]:
There’s the magic phrase. I said, Wayne, I need your help. I said, I’ve now opened up my real estate investing business by referral only, and I’m paying insane high rates of return to people who invest with me. I said, Wayne, here’s how I need your help. When you run across somebody who’s complaining about the stupid low CD rates at the bank, the volatility of the stock market, or losing money in the stock market, would you refer them to me, and I’ll share with them the program and the kind of rates I’m paying.
Jay Conner [00:24:44]:
What do you think Wayne said? Wayne said, well, brother Jay, what you got in mind? Right?
Jamie Bateman [00:24:53]:
Love it. Yeah.
Jay Conner [00:24:54]:
And I and I said, well, I said, Wayne, I said, are you saying that you and your wife might be interested? He said, well, yeah, we might be interested. He says, we’re losing money in the stock market and not making much money, you know, in the in the CDs. He says, what kind of rate are you paying? And I said, well, Wayne, that sort of depends on the deal. I said, what sounds high to you? He says, well, we’re getting 3%, and that’s what it was in 2009. Mhmm. He says we’re getting 3% in the local bank right now. So he said, I don’t know. Maybe 5%, 6%.
Jay Conner [00:25:29]:
I said, Wayne, I can’t pay you 5 or 6%, but I can pay you 8%. He said, put me down for $250,000. So I went to his home, his and his wife’s home the next day, and I went over with them the entire program, how they’re protected, how I name them on the insurance policies, the mortgagee, and my maximum loan to value, and all that stuff. So so they well, that 250,000 very quickly became half a $1,000,000. Right? Now notice, I didn’t share any kind of deal with him. I didn’t share any kind of deal with him, just a program. Right. Right.
Jay Conner [00:26:06]:
And I want to share this with you, and I’ll turn it back to you, Jamie. So I told you at the beginning of the show, not only have I never asked anybody for money. Notice, I didn’t ask him for any money. Yeah. What you did do to me?
Jamie Bateman [00:26:20]:
You gave him FOMO, fear of missing out, where he’s supposed to you know, he’s gonna miss out on this opportunity for other people. Right?
Jay Conner [00:26:27]:
Right. I just asked for his help to spread the word.
Jamie Bateman [00:26:29]:
Sure. Absolutely.
Jay Conner [00:26:31]:
So now we got his money, and here and now how do I get deals funded without pitching deals? Here’s the answer. So, I said, Wayne, I’ll call you just as soon as possible, and I’ll put your money to work for you as soon as I get a deal for you. I said, maybe a few days, a couple of weeks, whatever. So, I still had those two deals under contract, remember, from the previous month that I’d gotten extensions on. Well, I hadn’t brought them up in conversation because I know desperation’s got a smell to it. So a few days go by, and I call up Wayne with what I call the good news phone call, the good news phone call. So here’s the script. So I get my little handset in my hand.
Jay Conner [00:27:19]:
You know? I call him up. Wayne answers the phone. I said, Wayne, I got great news for you. I can now put part of your money to work. However, I didn’t tell him about both deals. I’m talking about one deal. Right?
Jay Conner [00:27:35]:
I said, I’ve got a house in Newport with a repaired value of $200,000. The funding required is $150,000. Closing is going to be next Thursday, so I need you to wire your funds by next Wednesday. I’m going to have my attorney send you the wiring instructions. End of conversation. I didn’t ask. Look, the most stupid question I coulda asked Wayne was do you want to fund the deal? Well, of course, he wants to fund the deal. He’s told me he’s got $500,000 ready to go to work.
Jay Conner [00:28:11]:
He’s waiting for the good news phone call. And I’ll tell you something else. If he had moved retirement funds to a self-directed IRA company that I recommended, he wouldn’t be making any money until I put his money to work. So now I’m ethically bound to borrow his money because he’s moved the money at my, you know, at my advice.
Jamie Bateman [00:28:35]:
You’re right. Yep. No. That’s why I love it. So you never really your desperation has a smell to it. You can’t take the indirect method of asking for his help, and you don’t ever share the deal. And but it’s focused on her. Yeah.
Jamie Bateman [00:28:53]:
They don’t care. Exactly. Right. And that’s what I found too. Once people trust you as an operator, they don’t care about I mean, they may wanna understand generally what you’re what they’re investing in, of course.
Jay Conner [00:29:04]:
Well, here’s the and you just said something so important, Jamie. When you get down to it, they are not investing in your deals. They’re investing in you.
Jamie Bateman [00:29:14]:
That’s right.
Jay Conner [00:29:15]:
Absolutely. They’re investing in you. Now, of course, I’m not going to borrow unsecured money. They’re going to get the deed of trust. Most people call it a mortgage. They’re going to get a deed of trust that collateralizes. I’m not going to borrow more than 75% of the after-repair value. I didn’t say the purchase price.
Jay Conner [00:29:31]:
I always bring home a big check when I buy. I mean, who wants to get paid to buy houses, right? My favorite phrase on my real estate attorney’s, check and check is, excess cash to close. I love some excess cash.
Jamie Bateman [00:29:45]:
Oh, yeah.
Jay Conner [00:29:45]:
But, yeah, we’re gonna protect them. But Sure. I mean and after that first deal, they don’t even care what the after repaired value is. They don’t care where it is. All they wanna know is how much and when you need it.
Jamie Bateman [00:29:57]:
Yeah. And yeah. And I have 2 mortgage notes with no funds and, you know, through the years I’ve operated them, it’s become so much more apparent to me that once there is that trust level that we know what we’re doing, we give investor updates regularly. And I have to tell my team, like, don’t focus on these on the assets themselves. I mean, we have full transparency. If you wanna log in and see what we purchase in the fund, that’s fine. You know? We’re not stopping any of our investors, but they don’t care. They wanna know, you know, when’s my check hitting? When is my ACH hitting? When’s where’s my k one? How are how the returns looking? And do you know what you’re doing as an operator? And so absolutely true.
Jamie Bateman [00:30:42]:
So kinda briefly from, say, 2009 through today, you know, what has your business looked like? Big picture, maybe 1 or 2 highlights. How were you able to scale and maybe 1 or 2 kinds of takeaways? I know that’s a lot in 1 in 1 questions, but you kind of review the last 15 years for us, just a quick overview, if you would.
Jay Conner [00:31:04]:
Sure. Well, we’ve had we’ve had market swings and changes during that period. And so, for example, when the market is slow and houses are not moving, like the market’s super hot, still where I am, no inventory. You put it in the multiple listing service, and boom, it’s gone.
Jamie Bateman [00:31:26]:
It’s gone.
Jay Conner [00:31:28]:
But it’s not always like that.
Jamie Bateman [00:31:30]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:31:30]:
It’s not always like that.
Jamie Bateman [00:31:32]:
Right.
Jay Conner [00:31:32]:
So, I will pivot during those market cycles, and I’ll buy more houses on what we call terms. I’ll buy more houses subject to the existing note, etcetera. Because when you buy a house on terms and if anyone’s listening, you don’t know what I’m talking about, subject to the existing note. They leave the mortgage in their name. They transfer the title over. The rule of thumb is when you buy on terms, sell on terms, like sell on lease purchase, sell on rent to own. And when you’re selling on terms, you don’t care what the market does. You don’t care if the price goes up.
Jay Conner [00:32:12]:
You don’t care if the price goes down because you’re not looking to cash out anyway. Right? Right.
Jamie Bateman [00:32:18]:
Right. Yeah. That makes sense.
Jay Conner [00:32:19]:
So, you know, it depends on what the market is doing. But by and large, over the past 15 years, the majority of my business still has been fixed and flipped. That’s where the biggest profits are. You’re big when you when you’ve when you’ve got a property to renovate or rehab, the biggest profits are in the rehabs. Look, I just bought an oceanfront condominium 7 weeks ago. Oceanfront, 3rd story. You look like you’re on a cruise ship looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. Well, I bought it for $425,000 The renovation was a whopping $11,000 That never happens.
Jay Conner [00:33:02]:
That was just the interior plain, a little bit of sheetrock. And so I had it for only 3 weeks, put it in the multiple listing service, and cashed out and sold it for $628,000 and I only owned the property for 5 weeks. I’m not sharing that story. So my net net after realtor fees was $160,000 The only reason I share that story is not to brag, not to brag. The reason I share that story is because it’s the power of private money being available that allowed me to do that deal. The property was going to the foreclosure steps in 2 weeks from the time the seller contacted us, and I closed on it in 5 days. You can’t close on a property in 5 days unless you got all the cash, and you got a relationship with a real estate attorney.
Jamie Bateman [00:33:52]:
Gonna say not through a bank. Right?
Jay Conner [00:33:54]:
No. No appraisals. No appraisals. None of that stuff. And so having the power of private money allows you not to miss out on any deals, even when you gotta close fast.
Jamie Bateman [00:34:05]:
Absolutely. And that is a risk we take with this with with the show is is, you know, 1, focusing on adversity too much can be problematic. And then 2, focusing on a bunt quote, unquote abundance can come across as bragging or, you know, can make the listener feel worse about themselves. That’s not the intent at all. The intent is to inspire and to show the power of the mindset that Jay is talking about and the tactical, you know, real estate and private lending, knowledge and tools that he’s putting to work. So walk us through in a little bit more detail, Jay, and then we’ll get to some rapid-fire questions. Walk us through that recent deal as an example. Just a quick case study.
Jamie Bateman [00:34:49]:
I know you mentioned a couple of pieces to it, but how did that come across your desk, and then how did you fund it, and how did you exit it?
Jay Conner [00:34:58]:
Sure. So that lead, that seller lead came in as from a Google ad. So the seller’s name was Brian, the younger fella. He didn’t he doesn’t live around here.
Jamie Bateman [00:35:11]:
Mhmm. He doesn’t
Jay Conner [00:35:12]:
Live around here. Okay. So he went he went to Google, and he googled and did a Google search. I don’t know what he put in. We tracked about 75 different phrases.
Jamie Bateman [00:35:21]:
Okay.
Jay Conner [00:35:21]:
People are searching for when they need to sell. If it’s for sale by the owner, they need to sell fast. So, the Google lead comes in. So, when that lead comes in, it immediately goes into my CRM And it’s emailed to my acquisitions. Well, what in the world is an acquisitionist? I’ve had her for 18 years. Her name’s Kim. She talks to all my sellers. I haven’t talked to a seller in I don’t know how many years.
Jay Conner [00:35:48]:
Anyway, so she talks to all my sellers, negotiates, gets the information, sends me all the information, and I decide what I want to offer from the property. So, he comes in, goes into our contact management, gets it, gets Brian on the phone, and gets the information on the property. We’ll come to find out he had 2 motivating factors. Number 1, no, 3 motivating factors. Number 1, he didn’t live around here. Not even in this state. I don’t think.
Jamie Bateman [00:36:20]:
Yeah. So he’s not emotionally attached or and doesn’t have, you know, real good knowledge of the ground truth, as to the property value or maybe the market conditions, etcetera.
Jay Conner [00:36:33]:
Exactly. And, so, secondly, it was inherited. Mhmm. Mhmm. Inherited. Right? So both his father and mother had passed away. So now it’s an inherited property.
Jamie Bateman [00:36:46]:
Mhmm.
Jay Conner [00:36:47]:
He doesn’t he doesn’t have the interest or the time to come use it. And the next big, huge motivating factor is that it’s going to sail at the courthouse steps as a foreclosure in less than 2 weeks.
Jamie Bateman [00:37:00]:
Yeah. That’s a massive one.
Jay Conner [00:37:03]:
Right? Absolutely. So, anyway, he owed, his parents the mortgage, owed $325,000. So I guess he came up with his price of 425,000 because he’s happy pocketing $100.
Jamie Bateman [00:37:20]:
Sure. So it’s a lot of money. Right? Right.
Jay Conner [00:37:24]:
And so he gives us his price. And so, I tell Kim, and all of our communication is through the software. I send back, I say, offer, I’ll pay all cash and close in 5 days. 5 days. So he took the offer. I got 2 of my private lenders to fund the deal, 1 in the first position, and 1 in the second position. So we closed on it in 5 days. And so then I already knew what the renovation needed.
Jay Conner [00:37:55]:
It needed interior paint and a little bit of sheetrock work, and that was it.
Jamie Bateman [00:38:00]:
Just not much.
Jay Conner [00:38:01]:
We got it done in 1 week from the time I closed. Got the interior paint done in 1 week. And so, anyway, I’m talking to him. I’m talking to my realtor. See, we staged all of our houses. I didn’t go look at the house. My realtor went and looked at the house and my project manager did. My realtor went to look at it to see if he had any different opinion on the value.
Jay Conner [00:38:23]:
Mhmm. And my project manager went to look to estimate the repairs. I knew all that before I met before I had my acquisitions make the offer. So we’ve closed on it. Right. Renovations are underway, etcetera. I haven’t been to the property. So we always stage all of our properties, and I do a music video that goes in the multiple listing service.
Jay Conner [00:38:50]:
And so I’m talking to my realtor over the phone. I said, Chris, how in the world are we going to get this beautiful oceanfront condominium staged and get furniture and elevators and all that stuff upstairs? He says, Jay, don’t you know?
Jamie Bateman [00:39:09]:
Oh, no.
Jay Conner [00:39:09]:
It came furnished with luxurious furniture and paintings on the walls. I said,
Jamie Bateman [00:39:15]:
wow.
Jay Conner [00:39:16]:
No. I didn’t know that. No. Nobody had ever seen told me it came in beautiful, luxurious furniture.
Jamie Bateman [00:39:23]:
That’s so funny. I thought you were gonna say, AI just to, you know, pretend there’s furniture there.
Jay Conner [00:39:30]:
So, anyway, anyway, we got it got it got the renovation done, and got the music video done. Now here’s a big secret on how we sell houses fast in the multiple listing service other than there’s no inventory. We go I have my realtor do a status call coming soon on Monday. Coming soon. So that’s the coming soon status in the multiple listing service. That means that people can watch the music video. They can look at pictures. They can see the written description.
Jay Conner [00:40:03]:
They can see the price. But they can’t get in the property. Right? So I want to build up demand. I want to build up scarcity, and urgency. And so, then on Friday morning at 8 o’clock, we go active-active status. You see, I want appointments lined up for the people seeing this property back to back to back. Right? Sure. More scarcity.
Jay Conner [00:40:30]:
More FOMO. They see each other.
Jamie Bateman [00:40:32]:
Yeah. FOMO. They see and then they see each other. Right? And
Jay Conner [00:40:35]:
Exactly.
Jamie Bateman [00:40:35]:
I would do that when I was, managing my rental properties. 1, for efficiency and not wasting my own time, but 2, I would be sorry. I should explain what it what it is. I’d always have the, you know, specific window where we meet the prospective tenants, not on their own time, but this is when I’m gonna be there from 4 to 6 or whatever it is. And they see each other, you know, and so that it creates that that demand and that, you know, the bandwagon effect, I guess, if you will, and that FOMO. So okay. I love the fact too that you, you know, have been at this for a while, and clearly, you already talked about the who is who do I know that can help me with this. So it’s clearly very much a relationship thing for you, but you’ve also automated your business and are not afraid of technology, it sounds like. So, not only pivoting about market conditions, but also pivoting about technological advancements and, but keeping the relationships front and center.
Jamie Bateman [00:41:42]:
That’s that’s just top of mind a few things that I’m pulling from this. So, I love the approach. And so to wrap up that deal, then how did it go?
Jay Conner [00:41:52]:
Yeah. So it went live. Right? Active Friday morning, 8 o’clock. Well, on Thursday night, I got 2 cash offers on Thursday, sight-unseen
Jamie Bateman [00:42:06]:
Wow.
Jay Conner [00:42:06]:
Before it even went active. Well, they were lowball offers, so nothing nothing there. Gotcha. But then on Friday, I had 3 offers, 2 of which ended up being a little bidding war. And I had it listed for 5.95. But I had an offer for 6.15. And then the winning offer was 6.28. And listen to how clean this offer was.
Jay Conner [00:42:36]:
All cash, no mortgage, no mortgage, all cash, no appraisal, no inspection, no inspection. Of course, it’s a condominium. Right? What do you mean? Sure.
Jamie Bateman [00:42:49]:
Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Jay Conner [00:42:50]:
No inspection. Close in 10 days.
Jamie Bateman [00:42:57]:
All kinds.
Jay Conner [00:42:58]:
Right?
Jamie Bateman [00:42:59]:
Higher than the list price. What else what else could you want?
Jay Conner [00:43:02]:
Right. It’s like twisting my arm. So there we go. So sold it at 628. Yeah. Paid my realtor 5%. Because of the volume, I paid 5 and not 6. And, and I only had and I only had to carry a cost, you know, for a month and
Jamie Bateman [00:43:20]:
a half. Brief period. Right. And the reason you’re able to have those funding partners is because you’ve done so many deals before this, and you’ve built that reputation. And they say, send me the money here or send them to send the wire here, and they do it. It sounds like I mean, I don’t wanna put words in your mouth, but, you wouldn’t be able to pull off a deal like that without a track record.
Jay Conner [00:43:43]:
Oh, absolutely. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. You again, the worst time to be raising private money is when you need it for a deal. Right.
Jamie Bateman [00:43:52]:
So you
Jay Conner [00:43:53]:
want your private money lined up, ready to go. That’s why I teach and preach that money comes first.
Jamie Bateman [00:43:59]:
Love it. Alright. Jay Conner, are you ready for a few rapid-fire questions?
Jay Conner [00:44:04]:
No.
Jamie Bateman [00:44:05]:
That’s the first time anybody said that. I love it. Alright. Some of these are business and some are a little more personal, but we’ll try to fly through them. What is a book or two that you’d recommend for my audience? I know you have a couple of your own books but go ahead.
Jay Conner [00:44:22]:
Well, one book I would recommend changed my life when I was 24 years old. I was in a very, very dark place. The name of the book, and it’s still in print, and the name of the book is University of Success by Ogg Mandino. University of Success by Og Mandino. And, another book I would recommend, and I know you’ve heard of it probably, Jamie. I’ve had the coauthor, Bob Berg, on my podcast, and the name of the book is The Go-Giver, of course. Yep. The Go-Giver.
Jamie Bateman [00:44:56]:
Absolutely. Great book. Yep. Love it. How about something you’ve seen in your in industry that you’d view as or maybe that you would label as controversial, maybe unethical? You don’t have to name names or anything, but, I mean, the real estate space is generally, there’s a low barrier to entry, so tends to attract some less than ethical people. So Oh, sure. What would you what would you say is a maybe recently common practice that’s that’s questionable?
Jay Conner [00:45:33]:
Well, it’s a common practice right now. Most real estate investors, and in my opinion, it’s unethical, most real estate investors, when they sell a house on a lease purchase or rent to own, they’ll collect, as I do, a large nonrefundable lease option deposit. The actual legal term is an option fee, which means that that money will be applied towards the purchase price if and when we call them tenant buyers, the person renting the house gets ready for a mortgage, and there’s a predetermined price. So, that’s called the option price.
Jamie Bateman [00:46:14]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:46:14]:
It’s called an option because they have an option to close on the deal to buy it, but they don’t have the obligation.
Jay Conner [00:46:26]:
But they had to pay an option fee. So, typically, I’m gonna get at least a 5% minimum of the purchase price. In my opinion, it’s unethical to take that money without helping those people get a mortgage. Now, I know from doing this since 2003, the likelihood of them ever getting a mortgage is less than 5%.
Jamie Bateman [00:46:47]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:46:47]:
And since I know that, since I know that, then I’m going to offer to help them get the the reason they’re buying on terms is because because they can’t verify the income.
Jamie Bateman [00:46:59]:
They don’t have other options. Right?
Jay Conner [00:47:01]:
Or their credit is messed up.
Jamie Bateman [00:47:03]:
Sure.
Jay Conner [00:47:03]:
So I’m gonna offer to help them get ready for the mortgage. Now, I can’t babysit them, and I can’t make them. Yeah. But at least I’m gonna say, hey, look. I know you need help getting your credit score up, so you cannot exercise this option. Sure. So let me plug you into the credit repair company that I recommend.
Jamie Bateman [00:47:22]:
Okay. I love it. And I know this is rapid fire, but we enjoy in the mortgage note space having that discretion. And I bought a lot of land contracts or contracts for deeds, which are similar to lease options, and we will try to work with borrowers or or buyers, you know, in that case. And, you know, but you’re right. It’s you can’t I can’t I can’t force them to improve their credit. I can’t force them to manage their money well. And so that is one of the most frustrating things is you wanna help people, but it’s it’s they’ve gotta help themselves as well.
Jamie Bateman [00:47:55]:
And so but I do love the fact that you and I, we have discretion, you know, on a deal level basis to be able to help people. So that makes a lot of sense that that’s unethical. What would you say is one of the biggest psychological barriers that real estate entrepreneurs face today?
Jay Conner [00:48:16]:
Psychological barriers. Wow. That’s a big question. So one psychological barrier is and you and I talked about this a little bit before we went live on the show. One psychological barrier is fear. You know, psychologists can’t even figure out what fear is.
Jamie Bateman [00:48:40]:
Interesting.
Jay Conner [00:48:40]:
Or what causes it. But you know what it feels like.
Jamie Bateman [00:48:44]:
Yeah. You know it when you when you feel it. Right?
Jay Conner [00:48:47]:
You know when you feel fear, but you really can’t figure out
Jamie Bateman [00:48:50]:
How to define it.
Jay Conner [00:48:51]:
What is it. Right?
Jamie Bateman [00:48:52]:
Mhmm.
Jay Conner [00:48:52]:
So people ask me, Jay, what’s the best way to get started in real estate? You got to own the real estate between your ears before you start owning real estate, you know, out there.
Jamie Bateman [00:49:04]:
What do
Jay Conner [00:49:04]:
I mean by that? Well, the first thing I mean is, first of all, how do you eradicate this fear? Well, in the context of private money, let me ask you a question. How can you fear rejection if you’re not asking anybody for money? How can you fear being rejected if you’re not asking? Now, I am asking for their help. I’m asking them to help me spread the word. Right? But I can’t be I can’t be rejected if all I’m doing is offering to serve, right? And so now what causes this feeling of fear? One thing that causes this feeling of fear is you don’t feel confident, right? Yeah. Well, how do you start feeling confident? You start feeling confident by knowing what you know. So, in the context of private money, the first step in raising private money, in addition to getting your mindset right, is you gotta know your program. You gotta know your opportunity. You gotta know what you’re offering.
Jay Conner [00:50:10]:
I mean, what interest rate are you gonna I mean, I say just sort of duplicate my program. It seems to work pretty well. Ever since 2009. Right? Yeah. But be confident about your program. And here’s a big mind shift right here. You’re serving these people, these potential private lenders.
Jamie Bateman [00:50:29]:
Yeah.
Jay Conner [00:50:29]:
I mean, Carol, Joe, and I have gotten I don’t know how many handwritten notes and hugs and kisses from our private lenders, particularly our elderly private lenders. Mhmm. We’ve changed their retirement years.
Jamie Bateman [00:50:43]:
Yeah. That’s good. I mean, and that is a mindset shift that’s that goes a long way. It is about becoming empathetic and putting yourself in someone else’s shoes solving their problem and serving them. They don’t want to do what you’re doing. They don’t want to go out and find the deals, they wanna put their money to work and go enjoy their grandkids or enjoy their career or whatever that whatever else it is. So you are serving a need for them. So, yeah, I love that.
Jamie Bateman [00:51:12]:
If you could have coffee with any or a drink or whatever with any historical figure, whom would you choose?
Jay Conner [00:51:19]:
Historical figure. Wow. Probably Beethoven.
Jamie Bateman [00:51:25]:
Okay. Interesting. Probably have that one.
Jay Conner [00:51:28]:
Yeah. Probably Beethoven. I’m a pianist. I’m a composer. I’ve been writing recording and releasing piano music since 1997, and my stuff is in Universal Studios movies and all that kind of stuff like that. Wow.
Jamie Bateman [00:51:40]:
That’s amazing.
Jay Conner [00:51:41]:
But I studied my first five years of piano, I studied classical, and Beethoven was my favorite. The thing about Beethoven I mean, you talk about resiliency and not stopping. You know, Beethoven was deaf.
Jamie Bateman [00:51:53]:
I did.
Jay Conner [00:51:53]:
Beethoven was deaf. Yeah. And do you know how he could hear his music? He took the legs off of his grand piano and put the piano on the hardwood floor, and he would lay straight out on the floor and put his ear down to the hardwood floor and play his compositions. And he felt the vibration, and that’s how he heard his music.
Jamie Bateman [00:52:17]:
Talk about overcoming adversity and getting to abundance. Right? That’s that’s that’s amazing. Alright. I’ve never asked this question. Final question. What is something you’ve never shared on a podcast before?
Jay Conner [00:52:32]:
Wow. Well
Jamie Bateman [00:52:33]:
I just just popped into my head.
Jay Conner [00:52:35]:
Well, I’ve never shared on a podcast that I, on Christmas day, when I was 22 years old, I played the piano in my parents’ family room while Glenn Campbell sang Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Jamie Bateman [00:52:57]:
Really? That’s that’s amazing.
Jay Conner [00:53:00]:
There’s a story behind that, but that’s the bottom line.
Jamie Bateman [00:53:04]:
We’ll tell that story when I bring you back if you have time to come back.
Jay Conner [00:53:08]:
I’d love to come back sometime, Jamie. You’re a great host and interviewer.
Jamie Bateman [00:53:12]:
I appreciate that. Jay Conner, where can our listeners find you online?
Jay Conner [00:53:19]:
Well, believe it or not, the easiest and best place to find me is at www.jconnor.com. And I’m an ER, not an OR. So www.JayConner.com. Now here’s why you want to go to jconnor.com. It’s not to look at my picture, I can assure you. The reason you want to go to www.JayConner.com is that I just finished and launched and released my brand new 7-day private money challenge. And so I recorded 7 videos. They’re only 15 to 20 minutes long, chock block full of how to raise private money, and how to get it quickly step by step.
Jay Conner [00:54:01]:
And go to www.JayConner.com. I’ll come into your email inbox every morning for 7 days at 10 am Eastern Time. And so if you want to learn step by step about how to raise private money and never miss out on a real estate deal, go to jayconnor.com and enroll in the private money challenge with me. Oh.
Jamie Bateman [00:54:23]:
I love it.
Jay Conner [00:54:23]:
In addition to that, I got a podcast with over 700 episodes.
Jamie Bateman [00:54:28]:
Wow.
Jay Conner [00:54:29]:
This is my 7th year of podcasting. And so come check me out at, I know it’s going to be hard to believe, the name of my show is Raising Private Money. How about that? So I’m on iTunes, Spotify, and all the popular platforms. So just go search for Raising Private Money with Jay Conner, and, I have amazing guests just like Jamie.
Jamie Bateman [00:54:52]:
That’s right.
Jay Conner [00:54:52]:
Come on my show, twice a week, on Monday mornings and Thursday mornings.
Jamie Bateman [00:54:56]:
Yeah. I mean, that’s that’s another thing that requires staying power and persistence. You know? Doing a single episode is not really that hard, but sticking with a podcast twice a week, especially for 7 years. A lot of people get what they call pod fade, and it just, after a year or 2, it’s like, why am I doing this again? But, I love it, and it’s a fantastic medium to build trust and learn and build your network and, you know, add value to the listener, really, ultimately. So, Jay Conner, thank you so much for spending your time with us today.
Jay Conner [00:55:30]:
Jamie, thank you so much for having me, and God bless you.
Jamie Bateman [00:55:34]:
You too. And to the listener out there, thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time. Thanks, everyone. Take care.
Jay Conner [00:55:43]:
Are you feeling inspired by the knowledge you gained in this episode, then head over to www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide. That’s www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide and download your free guide that shares seven reasons why private money will skyrocket your real estate investing business right now. Again, that’s www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide to get your free guide. We’ll see you next time on raising private money with Jay Conner.