In a world where career changes are increasingly common, the story of Dan Cantillana stands out as an inspiring example of how one can transition from a seemingly unrelated profession into a remarkable success in real estate. From the busy corridors of a fourth-grade classroom to the dynamic world of real estate investment, Dan’s journey is one fueled by passion, purpose, and the drive to uplift others through his ventures.
Dan’s career began as a fourth-grade teacher, a role that instilled in him a love for educating and helping others. However, his path took an exciting turn when he connected with real estate mogul Jay Conner’s podcast and book on raising private money—a pivotal moment that encouraged him to dive into the real estate market. What started as a curiosity soon transformed into a calling. Inspired by what he learned, Dan immersed himself in the world of real estate, flipping properties and improving communities while simultaneously offering investors double-digit returns.
One of the most striking aspects of Dan’s story is his approach to raising private money. He began by simply sharing what he was learning and doing with his network. By leveraging his ability to communicate effectively—a skill honed in his teaching years—Dan garnered attention and interest from potential investors. Embracing the power of storytelling, Dan utilized short videos and email marketing to capture the essence of each property deal, making his investors feel a part of the journey. His mantra, “Do you like making money in your sleep? Call me,” encapsulates the appealing simplicity and honesty of his approach.
Dan’s business thrives on relationships and transparency. His commitment to his investors, whom he considers partners, is evident in his dedication to making the real estate investment experience both profitable and enjoyable. It’s not just about the financial returns; it’s about being part of a story that transforms communities and uplifts neighborhoods. Dan’s emphasis on customer experience and communication has grown his referral-based business, building a robust network of satisfied investors.
The foundation of Dan’s success lies not only in his teaching skills and ability to communicate but also in his unwavering dedication to his values. His master’s degree in Christian leadership underscores a life guided by principles that he applies both personally and professionally. Dan’s real estate ventures are not just about making money; they are about making a difference, reinforcing community strength, and helping others build wealth.
Technology and networking play a significant role in Dan’s business model. From attending meetups to leveraging social media and tapping into the power of search engine optimization, his approach is multifaceted, much like a perfectly prepared dish of chicken gumbo. Every element adds flavor, culminating in a successful strategy for finding off-market properties and raising private money.
Dan Cantillana’s journey from a fourth-grade teacher to a real estate entrepreneur showcases the potential that lies within career transitions. His story is a testament to the power of lifelong learning and the impact of mentorship—a theme he consistently returns to, continually crediting his success to the support and guidance of those around him. By courageously stepping into real estate and sharing his journey, Dan has not only transformed his own life but has also created opportunities for others to grow and prosper. His story serves as an inspiration to anyone seeking to pivot their career toward new horizons.
In conclusion, whether you’re a seasoned investor or a curious beginner, the lessons from Dan’s journey are clear: embrace learning, leverage your existing skills, communicate your vision, and above all, remain committed to helping others. With these principles, success is not just a goal; it’s a journey worth pursuing.
If you’re inspired by Dan’s journey and are interested in entering the world of real estate investing, attending Jay Conner’s Private Money Conference might be your next step. Transform stories into reality, just as Dan did, and explore the potential of real estate to build not just wealth, but meaningful impact.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode:
- How did Dan Cantillana transition from being a fourth-grade teacher to a successful real estate entrepreneur, and what motivated this career change?
- Dan mentioned the role of personal connections and community in his journey. How important do you think personal relationships are in real estate investing?
- Discuss the significance of Dan’s discovery of Jay Conner’s book and podcast in his real estate journey. How do educational resources impact new investors?
- What are some unique strategies that Dan uses to raise private money without directly asking for it, and how effective do you think these strategies are?
- Dan mentions leveraging his network by sharing stories through short videos about properties. How does storytelling enhance investor engagement and trust?
- With a diverse background in sales and teaching, how do you think Dan’s previous careers have influenced his success in real estate investing?
- What role do you think faith and community play in Dan’s approach to business and investing, based on his background in Christian leadership?
- Dan discussed the importance of helping the community through real estate investing. Why is this aspect significant for investors and local neighborhoods?
- How do Dan’s proprietary deal-finding systems differ from traditional methods, and what advantages do they offer in finding off-market properties?
- Dan emphasizes creating a positive experience for his investors. Why is investor experience important, and how can other real estate investors implement similar practices?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- Podcast Discovery While Doing Chores: Dan’s journey into real estate investing took a pivotal turn while he was doing some yard work. As he was spreading bark in his yard, he decided to make it an educational experience by listening to a podcast. A search for “private money” on Apple Podcasts led him to Jay Conner’s show, where he became an avid listener. That day of yard work became life-changing, setting him on a path to raise over $7 million in private money for real estate investments.
- Family Affair in Real Estate: Real estate isn’t just a solo venture for Dan; it’s a family affair. His 17-year-old son once helped source a property while at their country club. By striking up a conversation with a former employee who had become a real estate agent, his son learned about an off-market opportunity. This interaction exemplifies the power of networking and how Dan’s family shares his enthusiasm and involvement in the real estate business.
- Unique Incentives for Wholesalers: Dan has a creative approach to building strong relationships with wholesalers. He doesn’t just stop at buying properties—the connection continues with unique tokens of appreciation. Dan likes to build goodwill by gifting concert and Gonzaga basketball game tickets to wholesalers he works with. These thoughtful gestures not only show appreciation but also keep Dan top of mind, ensuring he’s the first to know about new off-market deals.
Timestamps:
00:01 Raising Private Money Success Story
03:57 Jay’s “Where To Get The Money Now” Book
https://www.JayConner.com/Book
06:22 From Teaching to Sales Success
07:23 Real Estate Investment Passion
12:13 Inspiration for Wealth and Community
14:20 Investing Success Through Communication
18:10 Real Estate Success with Off-Market Properties
20:54 Jay’s Live Events
https://www.ThePrivateMoneyConference.com
23:18 Real Estate Acquisition Strategies
24:12 High Referral Marketing Strategy
28:40 Connect with Dan Cantillana
29:11 Investing Experience with Double Digit Returns
31:07 Download Jay Conner’s Free Guide
https://www.JayConner.com/MoneyGuide
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
https://www.youtube.com/c/RealEstateInvestingWithJayConner
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https://www.pinterest.com/JConner_PrivateMoneyAuthority
Raising $7M in Private Money Changed Dan Cantillana’s Life: From Teacher to Real Estate Investor
Jay Conner [00:00:01]:
Welcome to another amazing episode of Raising Private Money. I’m Jay Conner, the Private Money Authority, also the host of the show. And this is the podcast where we talk about how to raise private money for your real estate deals without ever having to ask for money. Well, guess what? I’ve got a very, very special guest today. After reading my book and tuning into this podcast, he’s raised so far $7,400,000 in private money for his real estate deals. Well, he’s been in real estate investing. His experience spans over fifteen years now, and his journey begins from being a fourth-grade teacher to becoming a very, very successful real estate investing entrepreneur. He’s got a proven track record of over 500 successful real estate transactions.
Jay Conner [00:00:55]:
And, in addition to being an expert in raising private money and serving his private lenders and getting his private lenders very, very high rates of return safely and securely, he’s also an expert in off-market property acquisition, how to find those motivated sellers that are not in the multiple listing service. And so, because of that, he developed a proprietary deal-finding system on how to find these deals. We’re gonna unpack all that in just a moment. You’re gonna meet my very special guest, Dan Kantianna, right after this.
Narrator [00:01:34]:
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.
Jay Conner [00:02:02]:
Welcome to the show, Dan. It’s great to have you back.
Dan Cantillana [00:02:06]:
Yes. I appreciate you inviting me back. You know, first time’s great. Second time’s better. Right? So, thank you.
Jay Conner [00:02:12]:
Absolutely. So you’ve raised over 7,000,000 in private money. And so, tell everybody in your own words, how did your journey of raising private money start?
Dan Cantillana [00:02:25]:
Yeah. You know, thank you. And once again, you know, that amount of the 500, my real estate partner and I, we’ve been partners now for a bit, and we flip around 50 to 60 houses a year. And so the journey began with Beautybark. It’s kind of Beautybark’s fault. We were doing some house chores here, and my wife had had some Beautybark delivered. And it was my turn to kinda go to work for it, and I thought, well, hey. I’m gonna make this an educational experience.
Dan Cantillana [00:02:54]:
And so I went to Apple Podcasts. I searched for private money. Your show came up. And so for four hours, you and I became best friends, which was great. I heard about your book, so I bought it. I read it twice because sometimes I miss things. And I thought, man, I can do this. And so I just really follow the book, let people know that we’re interested in real estate and, you know, we’re interested in what I was doing, what I was doing, and was able to get them double-digit returns tied to real estate.
Dan Cantillana [00:03:22]:
And from there, I’ve just found out that I I just really love helping people. I love helping people generate wealth. I love making the community better by fixing these homes. And so it’s just been this win-win scenario. And over the last year and a half, man, if you would have told me when I was, you know, dumping beauty bark that I would be at 7,400,000.0 in a year and a half, I would have said, okay. But now I believe it because it’s here.
Jay Conner [00:03:47]:
I love it, Dan. Well, since you’re talking about my book and giving this podcast and my book credit for getting you started in raising private money, I guess we should offer my book to the audience since we’re talking about it. The name of the book is Where to Get the Money Now. Subtitle: How and where to get money for all your real estate deals without relying on traditional or hard money lenders. And, this is a real book. This is not an ebook. I’ll autograph it. I’ll send it in the mail to any of you who are listening to the show.
Jay Conner [00:04:20]:
The book is free. Just cover shipping. You can spend $20 on Amazon, but don’t do that. So you can pick up my book at www.JayConner.com/Book. And get the book, and you’ll be on your way, perhaps, like Dan, who got his start by listening to this podcast and getting the book as well. Dan, thank you for sharing, sharing that story.
Dan Cantillana [00:04:52]:
Yeah.
Jay Conner [00:04:52]:
About, you know, how just applying these principles, you’re able to attract, without ever selling, begging, chasing, etcetera, without having to having to ask for money. Thank you for sharing that. So I got a question for you, Dan. You can answer this question as quickly as you like, it’d be as short as you like, or as long as you like. And here’s the question. Tell my audience, who is Dan Catayana?
Dan Cantillana [00:05:23]:
Well, yeah. I am the son of two immigrants. Both of my parents immigrated to the United States. My mom came from the UK back in 1958. My biological father immigrated from Santiago, Chile, in 1973. My mom had me when she was 18 years old in 1975. So I just told you how old I am. And, my biological father left when I was four months old, and so I grew up my mom and I grew up in, you know, tough times.
Dan Cantillana [00:05:53]:
Section eight housing, food stamps. My mom’s a very hard worker. She was not on that program for very long. She got, you know, a community college degree. She was able to get in some data processing and computers, which blessed us. And so my whole life, I’ve been blessed with amazing, amazing mentors and coaches and teachers. And so growing up, my mom had to work hard. And so I I was was kinda a little bit of a wild one.
Dan Cantillana [00:06:22]:
Thankfully, because of because of my mom and the teachers and the coaches, I was able to graduate high school, get my four-year degree, to get a master’s degree. And, you know, I got a degree in teaching, and I loved it. I loved teaching. I met my wife at church, and our debt-to-income ratio wasn’t very good. Took me a little while to graduate from college, and she went to a private college, so that was a little expensive. And so a mentor of mine had encouraged me to get into sales. And, you know, I was a fourth-grade teacher, and I was like, do you think I’d be good at it? And he kinda laughed at me and said, yeah. I think you’d be okay.
Dan Cantillana [00:06:54]:
So I helped start a direct mail marketing company, and that went well. And I learned sales techniques. I learned how to generate referrals. And then from there, I kinda did, loans for a bit. I was a loan officer. And then I was like, well, what’s a profession where I could sell something and get residual income? And so I entered into the insurance industry. Enjoyed that. So I’ve been in the financial slash insurance industry for over twenty years.
Dan Cantillana [00:07:23]:
And so with that, it gave me some margin to be able to start investing in real estate in hard assets. And that’s what I enjoy is I love residual income. I love real estate, and I love hard assets. You know? As we know, housing is a nondiscretionary item, and so people want to buy houses. And so and long and short of it is, I love selling. I love the Lord more, and I love my wife, and I love my kids. What’s great about this business is that it allows me the freedom to be a husband, to be a father, and also allows me the great opportunity of having some fantastic employees. And we have a number of them, and I’m very thankful for all of their hard work.
Dan Cantillana [00:08:05]:
And that’s kind of me in a nutshell.
Jay Conner [00:08:08]:
I love it, Dan. Well, you know, you and I have got something else in common that we haven’t talked about, and that is that both of us met our wives at church.
Dan Cantillana [00:08:17]:
It’s a great place to,
Jay Conner [00:08:19]:
That’s right. Better than meeting them at a bar. Right? So, I moved out to Wichita Falls, Texas, when I was 24 years old. And my very first Sunday in town was at church, and I met Carol Joy there that Sunday. And so, we’ve been dating ever since. We’ve been dating for forty-one years. We just happened to be married for thirty-nine years of our dating career. So, anyway, now, I didn’t mention it in the introduction.
Jay Conner [00:08:47]:
And we’re gonna dive into private money, private lending, and how you raise private money and all that kind of stuff here in a second. But you also have a master’s degree in Christian leadership. Tell us about that.
Dan Cantillana [00:08:58]:
Yeah. You know, it’s a unique scenario. We were part of a young church in Tacoma, Washington, and my mentor, Brian, had a real heart for a lot of us to be grounded in the word and grounded in, you know, what we would say is sound theology. So, my mom and like 20 of my closest friends, it seemed like we went to a seminary there in Tacoma at the time called Faith Seminary. And so, it was amazing. It was really hard. I was, I was also a rugby coach at the time at the University of Puget Sound, and we had just had twins. And so those two whole years were a little crazy.
Dan Cantillana [00:09:36]:
But 20 of us went to this seminary called Faith Seminary. And, you know, the beauty of education is you’re always learning. And so I learned a lot. I will say that I did have some questions even after seminary, and I still do, just like we’re all on a journey. But I’ve enjoyed the principles. The professors were just fantastic, and it was such a great experience to be with your fellow brothers in the congregation that you share church with, and then going two years, in faith, together. So and it’s, you know, principles that I try to implement every day and model. And, you know, I’m a sinner.
Dan Cantillana [00:10:10]:
I fall short, of course. But believe me, I do wake up and I do wanna honor the lord to the best of my ability. And it’s been a fantastic, I guess, motivator knowing that I could start and finish a master’s program. It was very hard for me. I’m not the most academic person in the whole world. I love to read. So it was, it was a big, big blessing, and it’s something I’m very proud of.
Jay Conner [00:10:35]:
Oh, that’s wonderful. Well, let’s dig into private money. So, you’ve been, you know, investing in real estate, been in the space for several years. What was it that came along that was a pivotal moment or point that triggered you to go on Apple Podcasts and search for a podcast on private money? What was going on in your business that you realized, you know, I need to start utilizing private money?
Dan Cantillana [00:11:05]:
The simple answer is people. I just really enjoy serving people, and I enjoy having something to offer people. And I knew that if I could find what I call the vehicle, I call real estate off-market buying at a discount. That’s the vehicle. I knew that if I could find these off-market properties that I’d be able to find and educate people who might wanna invest in them. I’m a high communicator. I’m a networker by nature. I have these fun little things that I send my friends called Dancan.
Dan Cantillana [00:11:40]:
That’s my brand. You might see the neon sign behind me. Dancan musings, and they’re just things that I find interesting about life. And I share them with people. I love to share the stories of these properties because each one of them has a story. Finding these properties, each one has a story. And so the actual moment where I thought private money was, man, if I could help people that I know make double-digit returns, that would seem like a lot of fun. And it is.
Dan Cantillana [00:12:13]:
And so your book, the podcast, the coaching that you provide, you know, these live events that you provide, man, if you’re thinking, man, can I do this? You absolutely can do this. The biggest thing is to have a mentor and a coach. I allow books to coach me and mentor me, and Jay’s book was just fantastic to do that. So for me, it was then, and currently, it’s about helping people, and it’s about helping people gain wealth. But I also want them to be about my story. I want them to enjoy the availability of making double-digit returns, but also improving the community in which these houses are found. And so that’s kinda what the inspiration was is I love people, and I love talking to them, and I love helping them make what I call mailbox money.
Jay Conner [00:12:58]:
I love it. And, of course, as you now know, since you’ve raised millions and millions in private money, there are all kinds of ways to attract private money. What are some of your favorites?
Dan Cantillana [00:13:12]:
Yeah. So what I did is I just started, I do short little videos because when I go every Wednesday, I go and look at my properties. We’re currently working on six. I will just go, and I’ll do short videos of, you know, what I call Dan Can happy investors. Right? And so I have 21 investors currently, and I just do these Dan Can happy investor videos where it shows, you know, the property, what the value add is, you know, what are some obstacles, what are some things that went our way. Each one of these houses has a story. And so I use a lot of short videos. In addition to that, I also do email marketing to, you know, about 10 people that have kinda raised their hand and said, hey.
Dan Cantillana [00:13:56]:
I might be interested. And then outside of that, we generate referrals with our current investors. And so I try to make it a unique experience. You know, high net worth, high income individuals, they don’t have they typically don’t have a lot of time. They’re usually busy with something. You know? That’s either family or work, or a hobby. And so they love the fact that when they talk to me, their money is moving. They know.
Dan Cantillana [00:14:20]:
They can see the projects in which they’re invested. I’ve gotten some feedback that sometimes I communicate a little bit too much, which kinda sounds a lot like my elementary grade report card, which was, you know, a pleasure to have in class talks too much. It’s worked out, though. So that’s kinda really how I do it is I I initiate with my sphere. I do have a website, invest with DanKan, and that is some marketing that I’ve done in regards to Facebook, Instagram, and some Google AdWords search. But, really, the majority of my money hey. There it is. The real capital I’ve raised has been from my sphere and then referrals outside of that sphere.
Jay Conner [00:15:03]:
So when you talk about doing these shorts or the reels or, you know, the short videos and you’re out in the field at a house and you’re talking about that house and you’re sharing that story, what kind of call to action, if any, do you have in that reel? Like, my call to action is I’ll, you know, I’ll share a story about a house and I’ll say, hey. If you wanna talk money, DM me. Right?
Dan Cantillana [00:15:30]:
I like that.
Jay Conner [00:15:30]:
So that that’s my that’s my call to action. What’s yours?
Dan Cantillana [00:15:34]:
Well, do you like making money in your sleep? Call me.
Jay Conner [00:15:39]:
Oh, that’s a good question.
Dan Cantillana [00:15:40]:
Make money in your sleep with Dan Kent. Yeah. You know, in these stories, if you don’t mind, can I tell a story about one of the houses that my 17-year-old son sourced for us?
Jay Conner [00:15:49]:
Oh, please do.
Dan Cantillana [00:15:50]:
Yeah. So I have three boys. I love them tremendously. And oftentimes, when I’m talking to an investor, they, you know, like, they have a tough time. If you’re not a part of this, real estate off-market world, they have a tough time believing that we can find properties at fifty, forty, 60 five percent sometimes. Well, I was at work, and my youngest son’s a pretty good golfer, and he’s down at our country club. And he was hitting balls, and a prior employee who used to work there had walked up to hit balls. And my son asked him, “Hey.
Dan Cantillana [00:16:21]:
You’re back. Where’d you go? He’s like, well, I went to college, and now I’m back in town. And so my son asked him, Well, what are you doing now? And he said, Well, I’m a real estate agent. I work with my dad. And so my son said, Well, my dad and I, we buy off-market properties. If you ever come up with one, let, let us know. And the man kinda looked tilted his head a little bit, and he’s like, well, I’m going to an appointment after this for some people that may wanna sell their property. So my son texted me.
Dan Cantillana [00:16:50]:
I contacted the real estate agent, and I was, you know, a day later, I’m in the house. And it’s a great house, Jay. It’s my favorite ZIP code, all the great stuff. And this is where the story of the house comes in. And so I was like, okay. You know, we walked to the house. We were upstairs, and I said, Hey. This is a nice house.
Dan Cantillana [00:17:09]:
Like, I don’t understand why you wanna sell at a 40% discount. Like, I would love to buy it. And he said, well, it’s my brother-in-law. And I’m like, okay, family. She’s no big deal. He’s like, well, no. It’s a little bit more than that. And I said, okay.
Dan Cantillana [00:17:23]:
Well, I was like, let’s go downstairs. So we go downstairs, walk around, walking our way around, and I walk into his brother’s room because the brother won’t move out. I walked into my brother’s room, and he was just a very unique person. I’ll just say that. And so I said, okay. Great. Yeah. Like, we’ll buy this.
Dan Cantillana [00:17:44]:
I get it. So he had to sell the house basically for his brother to move out. And he did, you know, which was great, but it was wonderful. It was my son. You know, I gave him a commission because he sourced a house for us. So the more people you help, the more they talk about what you do. And that is what, you know, I learned from your book was, you know, whatever you talk about happens. So if you tell people, you can do double-digit returns.
Dan Cantillana [00:18:10]:
If you tell people that you like to buy off-market properties, if you ask people, well, what do you like about real estate? You can be very successful in this industry. And if you’re thinking about doing this, I’d encourage you to think about going to one of Jay’s events, because what I’ve learned is I’ve had fantastic mentors, like I said. So my real estate partner has been investing since 1998 in off-market flipping properties. I was able to learn from him. I realized that many of you might not have that, but you do, and Jay and you do in the program. And so I’d encourage you to get the book, listen to all the podcasts, and get to an event. And so, in regards to my son, he just hears me talking about it all the time, and so he told other people about it. And we’re gonna list this house here in probably about a week and a half.
Jay Conner [00:18:58]:
Oh, wow. That’s exciting. So what are the numbers looking like? Like, the after-repaired value, how much did you buy it for? What’s the rehab looking like?
Dan Cantillana [00:19:06]:
Yeah. So our average so we’re located in the Pacific Northwest, beautiful Spokane, Washington. And so we typically buy right now, our average is about 55 to 60% of the ARV, and then we put in anywhere from 45 to 65,000. And so at that point, you know, we’re gonna make anywhere from a 15 to a 25 spread depending upon, you know, if there’s a bidding war or for, you know, covering closing costs. And as you know, the market varies. Right? Sometimes you have to do those. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes you bump up the sales price.
Dan Cantillana [00:19:39]:
The ZIP codes in which I operate predominantly, we focus on first-time homebuyers, and so we stay within the FHA and VA limits, which help us with our buyer pool. And then outside of that, our houses are as pretty as a brand-new penny. And so our competition in regards to other people who are in the area. In our area, a lot of people don’t wanna put money into their house right before they’re gonna sell it because they wanna keep that capital, that profit. Well, for me, we try to make our houses look so great that they can just plug and play. They just need 3.5% down for an FHA loan. Or if there’s a VA loan, it’s 0% down. And they’re they’re move-in ready to go.
Dan Cantillana [00:20:20]:
We want the pictures to pop. We want the house to have great appeal. And we’ve had a great, great amount of success with finding some off-market properties most recently. And so that’s kind of our model.
Jay Conner [00:20:33]:
That makes sense. Well, and since you were talking about my live events on private money, I guess we should give our viewers and listeners some information about that. So if you’re interested in raising private money and learning how to do it quickly, in addition to the book, I’ve got an upcoming live event, just a few weeks down the road. It’s called the private money conference, and you can check it out at www.theprivatemoneyconference.com. Again, that’s www.theprivatemoneyconference.com. And, yeah, it’s in person. It’s three days, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It’s me teaching all of those three days.
Jay Conner [00:21:13]:
And so, again, if you’re listening to this show, check out the privatemoneyconference.com. Now, Dan, you know and I know the two most popular topics to talk about as relates to real estate investing are: Where do you get the money? So we’ve been talking about that, private money. And how do you find the deals? Those are the two main topics. Right? Well, you have developed some proprietary deal-finding systems, and you and your team have become experts in off-market property acquisition. So, pull the curtain back for us a little bit and tell us about how you find these off-market properties.
Dan Cantillana [00:21:54]:
Absolutely. So, what I would like to start with is kind of an example, I guess, if you will. I like chicken gumbo, and I think it’s really good. My wife makes some. It’s fantastic. I know we’re not from the South, but it’s still pretty good in my book. And so my question is, hey. You know, what makes chicken gumbo so good? All of it.
Jay Conner [00:22:16]:
All the ingredients.
Dan Cantillana [00:22:17]:
All of the ingredients. Right? Like, all of it. And so if you just have one thing, it’s not gonna like, if it’s just chicken, that’s not gonna work. If it’s just rice, it’s not that’s not gonna work. If it’s just broth, that’s not gonna work. So my answer is, how do we find these deals? All of it. And here’s all of it. First and foremost, one of the reasons why I’ve spent a lot of time and energy on real estate is that it’s people on people.
Dan Cantillana [00:22:39]:
We’ve heard about AI, artificial intelligence. And one of the great things about real estate and finding these deals is that, you know, the more people you know, the more you communicate, the more networking you’re gonna do, man, you’re gonna find deals. And so if you’re thinking about jumping into this industry, and I hope you do, and I’m here to tell you that you can do it, man, go to meetups. No wholesalers. So, to list off what we currently do, and once again, if you go to my website, you can download a whole webinar. It’s about forty minutes of me giving you even more great detail about how we find these off-market deals. But first and foremost, first, we go to the steps. That’s what we call it.
Dan Cantillana [00:23:18]:
We go to the auction courthouse steps here, and we buy anywhere from four to six properties a year down there. We do direct mail campaigns to houses that need to be restored. As we know, six to 10% in in any given market at any given time, six to 10% of houses or homeowners or landlords are in distress. They need to sell, so we send direct mail to them. We do search engine optimization. We also buy from wholesalers, and then we buy from realtors. And so through all of that and going to meet ups and getting your name out there, one of the things that I found is that when you buy from a wholesaler and a wholesaler, if you don’t know what that is, that’s someone whose complete career job is to find a house at 50 to 60%, and they’ll sell it to you. Once you buy one or two properties from them, you’re top of mind awareness, and so they call you.
Dan Cantillana [00:24:12]:
I’m a high referral guy, and so I give out a bunch of concert tickets, concert tickets to Gonzaga basketball games here in town in Spokane. Go Zags. And I hand those out to those people because I wanna bless them for blessing me, but I also want them to typically, they take a family member, and so I want them to have a unique experience. In addition to that, you just gotta be always listening. It’s what the market’s saying. When you do all of that kind of marketing, man, you could do some great things. We’re just now gonna start doing some cold calling as well, add that feature. But the houses that we pick up most often are from wholesalers, and the steps, like I mentioned, are direct mail for sure.
Dan Cantillana [00:24:58]:
That’s the quick version on how we find these properties at 50 to 60%.
Jay Conner [00:25:03]:
Right. You know, years and years ago, I did a lot of direct mail. I’ve done letters. I’ve done postcards. When you do direct mail now, what’s your favorite direct mail technique? Is it a postcard? Is it a letter? Is it an envelope? What’s your direct mail look like?
Dan Cantillana [00:25:21]:
Yeah. So, like I had mentioned, my first sales career was direct mail services. I did that for three and a half years. And so we just do a simple postcard. It’s it’s it’s what I call peanut butter and jelly. It’s, you know, hey. This is who we are. This is what we do.
Dan Cantillana [00:25:37]:
This is how we can serve you. We close on time. Give us a call. And so and then also in addition to that, you know, serving the customer about what is what is the selling reason is. Right? Oftentimes, they’re out-of-state owners, and they’re just tired of the property. They don’t wanna put a furnace in. They don’t wanna deal with the roof. Oftentimes, we get referrals from law firms here in town where it’s probate.
Dan Cantillana [00:26:06]:
Just some simple facts if you’re thinking about getting into this industry. Probate is when b law firm is the custodian, or they’re working with the house. And if whoever is in charge of that house sells, if they’re not located in the actual city where the house is, on average, they’re 300 miles away. And so if somebody in Seattle inherits this property, they don’t wanna come over and fix it up. They don’t know roofers. They don’t know any subcontractors. And so when we talk with them, it’s like, hey. Listen.
Dan Cantillana [00:26:40]:
You can come over, take all the valuable things that you want out of it. You can leave the rest. We’ll clean it up for you. We can close if the title’s clear; we can close in a week. And so when we provide that service for people, they enjoy it. One of the things I’d like to talk about is some of the feedback we get when we take over some of these distressed houses. And this is fulfilling to me, we’ve been working on a couple of houses where, you know, there were squatters, there were people there that just weren’t the best for the community. And, you know, we had to evict them.
Dan Cantillana [00:27:11]:
And so we did that. And as we were cleaning out the property and making the changes, this one house in particular, we had three of the community members come onto the job site and say, Hey. Thank you so much for cleaning up our neighborhood. We were not pleased to have these people in our neighborhood. They’re no longer here. It looks like you’re gonna flip this house, and we appreciate that. One of the houses, I call it the cat house. This house had 40 cats in it, and these cats went all over the neighborhood so, so often and so badly that the neighbors would call the police because there were all these cats.
Dan Cantillana [00:27:53]:
Now here’s the ironic thing. We clean it out. All the cats are gone. There were mice in the basement. I mean, what were these cats doing? So when you help the community, it does make you feel great about what you’re doing.
Jay Conner [00:28:07]:
Dan, that’s a big part of what we do as well. So what’s the best way for people to reach out to you and connect with you, Dan? And the reason I asked that is, we got people that are listening that would love to invest investment capital or retirement funds, looking for a home for that. And I don’t know anyone better than you, Dan, for people to do business with and get high rates of returns safely and securely by being an investor and private lender with you. So, how can people reach you?
Dan Cantillana [00:28:41]:
Yeah. Of course. The easiest thing to do is to jump on my website, which is, you know, invest with Dan can. That will give even more details in regards to what we do. On that website is my cell phone, and I can give that to you right now, which is (509) 847-3677. And every good salesperson says their cell phone number twice, and so that’s (509) 847-3677. Go to the website. There’s a section there where you can download the webinar.
Dan Cantillana [00:29:11]:
I’ll email it directly to you, and you can watch step by step, how we go about doing this. I enjoy working with my investors, and we can, most recently, in the last forty-five days, I’ve been able to set up three self-directed IRAs. And so well, we work with a great company. We could go that route. If you have what they call dry powder or extra cash lying around, that works as well. But most importantly, I want you to enjoy the experience of working with me because I am having a wonderful time, finding these properties, and helping my investors get double-digit returns. The Pacific Northwest has had a fantastic track record of holding their values and having those two to four, six, seven, year-over-year growth in regards to appraised value. So that’s how they can get a hold of me, and I would sure love to talk to anyone who would like to make money in their sleep.
Jay Conner [00:30:05]:
Oh, that’s wonderful, Dan. So, again, that website is www.investwithdankhan.com. Dan, thank you so much for joining me here on the show. Thank you. God bless you.
Dan Cantillana [00:30:21]:
Yeah. Thank you, Jay. I appreciate it. Till next time.
Jay Conner [00:30:24]:
Till next time. And there you have it, another amazing episode of Raising Private Money. And listen, you are only one conversation away from making a huge impact in somebody else’s life. How can you do that? Simply share this episode with someone you know who it could make an impact and a difference in their life. You’re one conversation away from making a huge impact. Share this episode with someone you know who would get a lot out of it. And with that, I’m looking forward to seeing you right here on the next episode of Raising Private Money with Jay Conner.
Narrator [00:31:07]:
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.
