***Guest Appearance
Credits to:
https://www.youtube.com/@yourAREATV-FongChua
“JAY CONNER – The Private Money Authority w/ Fong – PPSS#191 – YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4GxheJdrgI
Stepping into the world of real estate investing can seem daunting, but learning from industry leaders like Jay Conner makes the path clearer and more approachable. On a recent episode of the Raising Private Money Podcast, Jay Conner, together with Fong Chua, shared his wealth of experience, offering actionable insights for both new and seasoned investors. The conversation was packed with wisdom on sourcing deals, leveraging private money, building strong relationships, and scaling a real estate business through automation.
A Humble Beginning and an Unlikely Pivot
Jay Conner’s route into real estate wasn’t exactly pre-planned. He was raised in a family business focused on affordable housing through the mobile and manufactured homes industry. When the financing landscape for manufactured homes changed in 2003, Jay saw an opportunity to transition into single-family homes and house flipping, inspired by a friend’s profitable venture in that space. With over 500 flips since then, Jay’s early lesson was simple: leverage your background, be open to change, and let necessity guide innovation.
The Power of Private Money
A major turning point in Jay’s business arrived in 2009. After years of relying on the local banks for funding, his line of credit was abruptly closed during the global financial crisis. Rather than seeing the loss as a roadblock, Jay viewed it as a challenge to overcome. Within two weeks, he had learned about private money and began to educate those in his network on the advantages of lending privately—including higher returns, security, and passive income.
Instead of pitching investment opportunities directly or asking for money, Jay took the role of an educator. He created a private lending program, taught people what private money was, and explained how they could safely and securely earn high returns. Those interested would stay on his radar until a relevant deal arose, at which point Jay would make a “good news phone call” to let them know their money could be put to work. This approach, based on teaching rather than pitching, helped Jay build a list of 47 private lenders and raise over $2 million in funding in less than three months, ensuring he never missed a deal due to a lack of capital.
Building Relationships and Keeping Lenders Engaged
A key theme throughout Jay’s approach is relationship-building. He never tries to persuade or pressure people, instead focusing on transparency, education, and letting potential lenders make the decision themselves. The structure of his lending program minimizes risk and maximizes value for everyone involved, with all funds secured by real estate, and private lenders receiving a solid return on their investments—rates which have remained consistent and attractive even during fluctuating markets.
To keep things running smoothly, Jay meticulously tracks available lender capital, prioritizing new and smaller investors, and ensuring everyone stays engaged and satisfied.
Consistently Sourcing Deals in a Small Market
Remarkably, Jay operates in a target market of just 40,000 people, doing two to three deals a month with average profits of $78,000 per property. His lead-generation strategy is multifaceted. He leverages a meticulous foreclosure tracking system, sending direct mail to those in distress and genuinely seeking to help homeowners overcome hardship—even if it means no financial return for himself. In addition, Jay uses online marketing, including Google Ads, Facebook campaigns, and outbound calling, targeting absentee owners and tired landlords to maintain a steady stream of qualified leads. For him, consistent lead flow is what differentiates a business from a hobby.
Automating for Scale and Freedom
Scaling to three deals a month in just six hours a week required Jay to automate. He employs customer relationship management software to track every lead and manage communication, supported by a team with clearly defined roles. This combination of people and technology allows him to delegate most tasks while still making key decisions, freeing up his time and reducing stress. Importantly, he selects team members who are focused on their specialized roles, which minimizes the risk of competition from within.
Guiding Principles for Real Estate and Life
Above all, Jay is committed to authenticity, servant leadership, and sowing value without focusing on immediate profit. His mission is built on helping others, sharing knowledge, and building trust—tenets that have fueled his longevity and success.
For anyone seeking to break into or excel in real estate investing, Jay Conner’s story demonstrates that with the right mindset, ethical approach, systems, and relationships, long-term success is not just possible—it’s sustainable and deeply rewarding.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode:
- Jay Conner shares that if you don’t have consistent seller leads coming in, you have a hobby, not a business. How do you interpret this distinction, and why is consistency in leads so crucial for real estate investing?
- What sparked Jay Conner’s transition from the mobile home industry to flipping single-family homes, and what lessons can be drawn from his career pivot?
- When Jay Conner lost his line of credit during the 2009 financial crisis, he started raising private money. How did this setback ultimately benefit his business? What can investors learn from turning challenges into opportunities?
- Jay Conner emphasizes the importance of relationships in raising private money, noting that he’s “never asked anybody for money”—only taught his program. How does this approach differ from traditional fundraising, and why is it effective?
- The episode details Jay Conner’s “good news phone call” strategy for working with private lenders. How could this approach help build trust and long-term relationships with investors?
- Jay Conner outlines several techniques for consistent deal flow, such as direct mail to foreclosure prospects, pay-per-click ads, and outbound calling. Which outreach method do you think would be most effective in your local market, and why?
- The idea of automating real estate investing processes comes up multiple times. What are some advantages and possible pitfalls of automating lead generation and acquisition, according to Jay Conner’s experience?
- Jay Conner encourages new investors to focus on smaller markets and become “a big fish in a small bowl.” What are the pros and cons of this strategy compared to jumping into large, competitive markets?
- The episode touches on team building and the fear that team members might branch out as competitors. How does Jay Conner address this, and what is your view on fostering loyalty and collaboration within small business teams?
- Jay Conner talks about the importance of masterminding and “scheduling your successes.” How can peer support groups and effective scheduling impact your success in real estate or business in general?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- Jay Conner and his wife Carol Joy have flipped over 500 houses since they started their real estate investing business in 2003, and their average profit per deal is $78,000.
- Not only is Jay Conner an expert in real estate, but he also writes and records piano music, including hymns and spiritual songs for his church.
- Jay Conner runs his real estate business in a relatively small market targeting only 40,000 people, proving you don’t have to be in a big city to achieve major success in real estate investing.
Timestamps:
00:01 People Success Show: Real Estate Insights
05:41 Financial Crisis and Lost Deals
09:48 Passive Real Estate Investing
12:59 Investment Opportunities and Accessibility
13:44 Private Lending Prioritization Strategy
17:35 Helping Homeowners Through Foreclosures
22:33 Murphy’s Law in Rehab Deals
25:34 “Private Lending Beats Bank Rates
30:10 Real Estate Automation Journey
33:03 Streamlined Real Estate Automation
36:05 Power of Real Estate Masterminds
41:43 Where to Get Money Now
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.facebook.com/jay.conner.marketing
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JayConner01
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/JConner_PrivateMoneyAuthority
From Zero to Millions: Jay Conner’s Real Estate Private Money Formula Unveiled
Jay Conner [00:00:00]:
I say it all the time, Fong. If you don’t have consistent seller leads coming into your pipeline, you have a hobby and not a business.
Narrator [00:00:10]:
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.
Fong Chua [00:00:47]:
Welcome to another episode of the People Success Show. My name is Fong Chua. I’m an entrepreneur, business strategist, real estate investor, speaker, also best selling author, and every single day I help others unlock potential and guide them to succeed. Today on the show, we have another fascinating guest. On this show, we interview celebrities, entrepreneurs, business CEOs, real estate investors, speakers, artists, and athletes to find out their path to success, how they’re able to overcome challenges and adversity, and, of course, their keys to success. And today’s guest is definitely somebody who could shine some light into that in the world of real estate investing because he’s done it all. He’s very, very successful in that he’s helped so many people succeed in real estate. He comes highly recommended, nd I’m very, very excited to have him here.
Fong Chua [00:01:23]:
He’s helped a lot of his students and his clients find fun, close deals, and automate that process so they can do it over and over again. He’s. His courses have also impacted over 98,000 students,s and hecoachedach 2000 investors as well to succeed in real estate, showing them how they can actually get three deals a month in less than six hours a day, buying real estate without banks, and also funding secret sources of funding so that they can be able to be successful as well. He’s an author, hand e’s also known as the Private Money Authority. So please welcome Real Step investors, investor Expert and coach, Mr. Jay Connor.
Jay Conner [00:02:00]:
Hello, Thong. My lands. I think that’s like the most energetic and enthusiastic introduction I have ever had after being on thousands of podcasts.
Fong Chua [00:02:09]:
Well, thank you very much for that. I’m very, very excited to have you here. It’s always a pleasure speaking with people with your expertise and your experience when it comes to real estate investing. But before we dive into private money and all that great stuff that you’re teaching people now, I’m very interested as to how you started because I’m pretty sure you did not, you did not come out of the hospital going, you know what, I’m going to become a real estate investor. So what was that path? What were you before being in reality?
Jay Conner [00:02:38]:
Estate was I was actually raised fung in the industry of helping people own a home. So my father, Wallace Connor, is still living next month, he turns 90 years old, and he’s still in the middle of three new developments, housing developments. So my father had a company that helped people own affordable housing. So we were in, I was raised in what’s called the mobile home industry or manufactured housing industry. And these are prefabricated homes that are, that were delivered to the on site. Right. So anyway, the consumer finance, the financing for that product, essentially went away in early 2003. I already knewthat if I ever got out of mobile homes and manufactured housing, I wanted to get into single-family houses and flip houses.
Jay Conner [00:03:37]:
And, and, and so the reason and the motivation for where this came from is my wife Carol Joy and I, we’ve got some really, really good friends here in North Carolina. And way back in 1993, they invested in a house. The wife’s father bought it for him and said, look, you fix it up, and we’ll flip it, and you can keep the profit to build yourself a new home. And so they did. In less than 90 days, they made $30,000 all the way back in 1993. And I thought to myself, whoa, I’m trying to make $3,000 on a single-wide mobile home. If I ever get out of the mobile home business, I know what I want to do. So that’s why.
Jay Conner [00:04:17]:
So my wife and I, we started all the way back in 2003. Since that time, we have flipped over 500 rehabs and are still doing it. And we started using private money in 2009 after we’d been in the business for six years. So, you know, as you said, Fong, I just didn’t wake up one day and say, you know what, I think I’ll go raise me some private money. No, the growth takes place in the Valley, right? Growth takes place, personal growth, business growth, typically takes place when there is a problem. And Fong, I tell you, I remember it like it was yesterday. I’d been using the local banks. That’s all I knew to do.
Jay Conner [00:04:59]:
I’d been using local banks to fund our real estate deals. The very first year, the first six years that we were in this business. And so I remember it like it was yesterday. Fong, I know this is going to be hard for you to believe, but we actually still have handsets, telephone handsets with cords here in North Carolina. I picked up my phone in January of 2009, and I called my banker, and I told him that I had. I had two deals under contract, two houses under contract to buy. And my banker and I, we’d had this conversation for six years. I’d already done a ton of deals. And I learned right there in that conversation, Fung, that my line of credit had been closed with no notice.
Jay Conner [00:05:41]:
And I said to my banker, I said, what in the world do you mean you’ve shut down my line of credit? My banker said, jay, don’t you know there’s a financial. Global financial crisis going on right now, in 2000? I said, no, I don’t know anything about a financial crisis, but now I have a financial crisis because you’ve shut down my line of credit, and I can’t close on these two deals. And so anyway, we hung up the phone. And by the way, Fungi, I tell you what absolutely drives me crazy. People running around saying, oh, every problem you have is an opportunity. I want to throw up. I didn’t have any opportunity. I had a problem, right? No way to fund these two deals, and I couldn’t get my earnest money back.
Jay Conner [00:06:24]:
Well, my definition of coincidence is God’s way of staying anonymous. In less than two weeks, I learned about private money. And I put on my teacher hat phone. That’s what I did. I put on my teacher hat, and I started teaching people about private money. People in my warm market. And so I was teaching my private lending program that I was going to offer to people. And in less than 90 days, I was able to raise $2,150,000 in new funding.
Jay Conner [00:06:57]:
So you know what? That was the biggest blessing in disguise phong that I’ve had in this business in all these years was getting cut off from the bank. And you know what? Since that time in January 2009, I’ve never missed out on a deal for not having the funding.
Fong Chua [00:07:16]:
That is absolutely incredible. Did I? Did I miss something? You said that you were cut off, and then you decided to teach how to find private money.
Jay Conner [00:07:25]:
Now, I started teaching people that I already had a relationship with, what private money is, and how they could earn high rates of return safely and securely. So I didn’t start teaching other real estate investors how to do this until two years down the road, after I started doing it myself.
Fong Chua [00:07:44]:
So at that time, did you already have a bunch of private money lenders?
Jay Conner [00:07:49]:
No, I had zero.
Fong Chua [00:07:50]:
Exactly. So that’s what I was trying to get at. You didn’t haveanyy private money lenders under you. But you were teaching people to become private money lenders.
Jay Conner [00:07:57]:
Yes.
Fong Chua [00:07:58]:
And in. So got a list of private lenders.
Jay Conner [00:08:01]:
That’s right.
Fong Chua [00:08:02]:
That is absolutely amazing. So when it comes to private money, like, I know that lots of people go, you know what? I have to go to the bank. I have to go to banks. I can’t qualify for this. I can’t qualify for that. But in the end, you can only. You. You can only go to banks so many times, and then eventually you run out of money, no matter how much money you have.
Fong Chua [00:08:22]:
So when it comes to private money, how big a deal is relationships? And how do you build strong relationships so that you can keep those private lenders happy?
Jay Conner [00:08:31]:
Yes. That is so foundational. So one way we build relationships is that I never pitch a deal. I’ve never pitched a deal. You know, in fact, part of the answer to your question, Fong, is I’ve never asked anybody for money. And they say, Jay, how do you have eight and a half million dollars of private money funding at your disposal that you use from project to project? Project. And you’ve never asked anybody for money? Well, here’s the secret sauce again. I put on my teacher hat.
Jay Conner [00:09:06]:
And first of all, I teach my program. In other words, you know, the traditional way to borrow money, Fung, is you go to the local bank, you get on your hands and knees, and you put your hands underneath your chin, and you say, please fund my deal. Please fund my deal. But in this world of private money, there’s no asking for a mortgage. It’s offering, offering a mortgage. So we separate the activity of teaching our private lending program. And here’s another big thing. You know, when I borrowed money from the banks, they put the program together, they set the interest rate, they set the frequency of payments, they set the maximum loan-to-value.
Jay Conner [00:09:48]:
Well, it’s the opposite of that. In this world, we, as the borrowers, as the real estate investors, set the program, set the rate, and set the frequency of payments. And so again, we’re teaching how people can get high rates of return safely and securely, either by using their investment capital or. Or their retirement funds. So first of all, we teach the program takes about 20 minutes to go through how someone can earn high rates of returns safely and securely and be totally passively involved in real estate. So they like the program. They tell us how much they have to work with investment capital. Or maybe they’ve got retirement funds, and they’re not happy with the returns they’re getting on the retirement Funds.
Jay Conner [00:10:32]:
Well, in that case, we introduce them to the self-directed IRA company that we recommend. And that, by the way, is Quest Trust in Houston, Texas. Well, guess what? Over half of our private lenders, I have 47 right now. You don’t need 47; you need one or two to start. But over half of them are using the retirement funds that they’ve transferred over penalty-free, tax-free. And then they loan us money for our deals. And so again, here’s the secret teaching the private lending program what it is that you’re going to offer. And by the way, I’ve got a book here that at the end of the show I’m going to give out to everybody for free.
Jay Conner [00:11:14]:
And in the book, it’s got the exact private lending program that we teach. They tell us how much they have to work with and then phone. The next part that is so important isthat we get our deals funded by calling up our private lenders with what we call the good news phone call. So we don’t call them up to pitch a deal. We call them up, and here’s the exact script. We say, I’ve got great news for you. I can now put your money to work. Well, guess what? They’ve been waiting for the phone call.
Jay Conner [00:11:45]:
Particularly if they move their money over to the self-directed IRA company. They’re not earning any money on that money until they fund your deal with that money. So we call them up with the good news phone call, and we say, I’ve got great news for you. I can now put your money to work. And then we tell them four bits of information about the deal. I’ve got a house in Newport. So I tell them where it’s located. The after-repaired value is 200,000.
Jay Conner [00:12:10]:
I tell them that afterthe repair, the funding required is $150,000. I know they got $150,000. They already told me that two weeks ago. And the closing date is next Wednesday. So you need to have your funds wired to my real estate attorney by next Tuesday. So. And that’s it. I’m not going to ask them if they want to do the deal.
Jay Conner [00:12:31]:
Of course, they want to do the deal. They’ve been waiting for me to call them to put their money to work. So again, it’s the separation of conversations. You know, the worst time in the world to be raising private money is when you need it for a deal because desperation has got a smell to it. So no, we’re going to teach the program, tell them we’ll put their money to work for them. Just as soon as possible, call them up with the good news phone call.
Fong Chua [00:12:59]:
Wow, absolutely fascinating. Now, when you teach these programs and these courses, I’m sure there are a lot of people with money who go, hey, I want to be part of this. Hey, I want to be part of this. Put me on that list so that I could get that, that good news phone call. Now, for the people who are signed up or part of that list, there are lots of different backgrounds, different levels of funding, of funding and whatnot. How do you determine who gets what, and how much people can put in? Whether there’s only one investor or a group of investors. Do people with only a small amount of money to put into it ever have a chance to be a part of anything? And I think that’s a lot of issues with people who go, you know what? I don’t have a lot of money, and I’m never going to get called. I can’t fund that $150,000 deal.
Fong Chua [00:13:43]:
So how do they get involved?
Jay Conner [00:13:44]:
Yeah, great question. So first of all, part of the program that I teach for my business is what is my minimum? What’s my minimum, you know, amount of investment that I can work with? And today my minimum is $50,000. Now, I can’t use $50,000 typically to buy a house, but I can use that for rehab money. So, in answer to your question, Phong, who gets chosen next to fund the next deal? Right. Well, it depends. If it’s a brand new private lender that hasn’t funded any deals yet, they go to the top of the list because I want to prove to them that I can perform and I can put their money to work for them. And then secondly, if it’s a smaller amount of money, like if someone’s on the list has got money available that I’ve paid them off from a previous deal or they’ve just come in, then I can use their money as rehab money, renovation money, and they can go in second position as a junior lien underneath the first position.
Jay Conner [00:14:51]:
So let’s say I’ve got a deal now that I’m ready to fund, and so I’ll just look at my list. We just keep an Excel spreadsheet of our private lenders and how much they have available. Right. And so I look at, so we call them, putting them in the queue. So when we pay off a private lender, as a matter of fact, we have a closing day after tomorrow, and I’m paying off the private lenders that have funded that deal. So we pay them off. Now they go back in the queue. So they go to the bottom of the list, and they work their way up.
Jay Conner [00:15:24]:
So we use larger amounts of money for the purchases and the smaller amounts of money if the. If theproperty needsg rehab.
Fong Chua [00:15:34]:
Wow. I’m sure that list is a nice, long, long list. And lots of people want to be involved and want to go back in the queue over and over again. So that leads to the next question, which is, well, first of all, you have the four pillars, and we’ve talked about basically your second pillar, which is the funding. Now, to keep all these investors happy and making money over and over again, you have to find these deals. So how are you able to find so many deals so fast,t and deals that are actually good deals that benefit your list?
Jay Conner [00:16:05]:
Absolutely. Well, we’re here in a small area. Our total targetmarket iss only 40,000 people, and we do only two to three houses a month. However, as of right now, today, our average profit per deal is $78,000 per deal per house that we do. I don’t share that to brag. I do share that to say, though, it’s because of these high profits that we’re able to pay the high rates of return to our private lenders. So how do we find these deals? Well, here are the answers. First of all, my wife Carol, Joy, and I, all the way back to 2004, started putting our foreclosure system together.
Jay Conner [00:16:46]:
We track every open file of every foreclosure in our county, and we physically go to the courthouse twice a week, and we get the information before any other real estate investors know about these opportunities. And so I’ve got eight letters that we mail to these people who are facing foreclosure. So these are eight sequential letters. And of course, once they respond to the letter, we stop mailing the letters. The magic sauce on that program is that I’m looking to help these people in distress. This has nothing to do with taking advantage of anybody but helping solve their problem. Even when the respondent says, I will sell my home for what I owe. And by the way, most of these we fund, subject to the existing note, and buy them that way.
Jay Conner [00:17:35]:
In other words, we agree to make their payments, they transfer ownership, and then we use private money in the second position to bring those past due payments current. But when they respond to our marketing, one of the first things we ask them is, do you want to keep your property? And if they say yes, and if we can help them with an idea such as a loan Modification or a deferment program with their lender, then if they’re able to keep their property, Fung, there’s nothing in it for my team. But you know what? Through the law of reciprocity, there’s plenty and enough to go around. If we can help somebody keep their property, that’s fantastic. And when they say they’ll sell to us for what they owe, we don’t do that either. If, for goodness’ sake, if I’m going to make $78,000 average profit per deal, can I not put a few thousand dollars in those peoplepocketsket to help them get back on their feet? So, number one, how do we find these deals? The foreclosure system. My intent is to help these people who are in distress and buy their property between when the file opened and before it goes on sale. Why do I want to have all that competition at the courthouse? So number one, our foreclosure system.
Jay Conner [00:18:46]:
Number two, Google search, pay per click, and pay per lead. So I’ve got three different vendors that I pay here in our local area. So when someone searches on Google, buy my house fast or sell my house fast, I’m at the top of the list on one of those three service providers. So Google leads. Number three, Facebook ads, paid ads. So I’ve got two different Facebook campaigns that I run. One is what we call distressed owners, and the other one is what we call the generic campaign. Those campaigns are just a picture of me holding a sign, a bandit sign, a yellow bandit sign that says I buy houses,s and our phone number that goes to our answering service.
Jay Conner [00:19:33]:
So, paid Facebook ads that show up in people’s news feeds. In addition to that, we have a full-time, 40-hour-a-week outbound caller who’s calling and texting. So we got all kinds of lists, special absentee, out-of-state absentee, and tired landlords. Right now is the hottest list of tired landlords in our area. And so I have a lead manager who makes sure none of our leads falls through the cracks. And we also mail to pre-probates as well. And so those are the majority of the ways that we consistently, every day, are sourcing leads. And you know what, I say it all the time, Fong, if you don’t have consistent seller leads coming in your pipeline, you have a hobby and not a business.
Fong Chua [00:20:24]:
Very, very true. And that’s, I think, unfortunately, a lot of investors are that way. They don’t havethoseet consistent leads coming in, and eventually their pipeline dries up. And then, okay, what do I do now? Kind of thing. Now, you kind of mentioned a lot about the automation part of it, too. Having the, the auto calling list going out and having other people employed to help you do those calls or follow up on leads and whatnot. So you’ve also helped a lot of people get into real estate investing. Now, for a person who’s like, okay, I really want to get into it, but look at, look at Jay.
Fong Chua [00:20:56]:
Jay’s already covered the entire market. What am? How am I going to compete with that? So what do you tell the people who are up and coming, trying to get into the market? How do they start?
Jay Conner [00:21:06]:
So the best way and advice that I can give on starting is don’t try to be right there in the middle of the city competing with all those other real estate investors. The best markets are to go into the suburbs and to the outlying markets. So, are there other real estate investors here in my area? Sure, but it’s hard. There aren’tt many. I’m the only consistent game in town that is marketing every day that I know of. So I say the smallest. Like, my area is only 40,000. I mean, you don’t have to be in a market of hundreds of thousands of people to be really, really successful when you can dominate a small market.
Jay Conner [00:21:48]:
I would much rather be a big fish in a small bowl than a tiny fish in a big bowl.
Fong Chua [00:21:58]:
Wow, that’s very good stuff. Because I know a lot of people who start going, hey, I’m going to go into a big pond right now and jump right in. Because once I’m successful, I could keep on repeating that process. But what they don’t think about is what if it doesn’t work, then you’re really, like, stuck in a spot where you don’t know where to go. I know, talking to a lot of real estate investors, that some of their best stories are the houses that they walk into,o and it looks like a disaster. Do you have any disaster stories or deals that just did not go according to plan that you could share with us?
Jay Conner [00:22:33]:
Well, Fong, I’m sure you’ve heard of this gentleman by the name of Murphy. And you know, Murphy is the guywhot is the godfather of if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. And so, like, when it comes to estimating repairs on the rehab deals we do, which, by the way, not every house is a full rehab. I mean, I buy subject to the existing note on what I call pretty houses, and there’s not much renovation to those. But whenever there is a rehab going on, if you’ve estimated repairs of 30,000, 40,000, $50,000, I can assure you I have never, ever, after doing 500 rehabs, I’ve never gotten the estimation of repairs perfectly. That’s why the secret is not in estimating repairs perfectly. The secret is in your offer. There’s, there’s where your, you know, your cushion is, if you will, for the unexpected.
Jay Conner [00:23:33]:
So, for example, when we estimate repairs on a house, before I make an offer, regardless, I always throw in an extra $10,000 in repairs to just give me that extra cushion for the unexpected. Now, I’m also going to have insurance in place, and I’m not talking about property and casualty insurance. You never want to close on a deal. And I learned this the hard way: you don’t want to close on a house and purchase it if you’re going to rehab it without a home inspection. Don’t ever buy a house that’s got a major rehab without a home inspection. And when you get that home inspection before you close, you give that home inspection to your general contractor, who is then going to give you the final quote and bid on the project. So again, you want to have those practices in place to protect you.
Fong Chua [00:24:28]:
Now, recently, with interest rates going higher and higher, lots of investors out there are kind of struggling with those rates and rental incomes no longer covering, or what they used to cover. You being in private money, has the rise in interest rates with banks affected how you do business?
Jay Conner [00:24:47]:
You know, Fong, that’s a really interesting question. You know, it’s a historical fact. The Fed, the United States federal government, has raised rates 11 times in the past 22 months. That is a historical record that’s never happened. But here’s the beautiful thing about private money. Did you know that I am paying my private lenders today the same thing? I’ve been paying them ever since 2009, when I started. And you see, since we make the rules on setting the rate, the market does not determine what rate I’m going to pay. I determine.
Jay Conner [00:25:34]:
And when you start doing business with your listeners the way I do, you set the rate. So you know, like for example, prior to COVID coming along here in the United States, the 12-month certificate of deposit at the local bank, the annual yield got all the way down to 0.17%. Now today, this side of COVID, I mean, the bank right down the street from where our office is is paying four and a half percent in a 12-month certificate deposit. But guess what, I’m still paying 8% have been since 2009, I’ve been paying 8% of my private lenders, and you know what? 8%. And by the way, we don’t borrow unsecured money. All the notes are secure,d collateralized, and backed by the real estate that we are purchasing. And so our private lenders still absolutely love 8% a lot better than four and a half. And, you know, I don’t have a crystal ball.
Jay Conner [00:26:39]:
Nobody’s got a crystal ball. But if I had a crystal ball, I think it would tell me we’d be seeing mortgage residential rates back down in the 5% range, probably in less than two years.
Fong Chua [00:26:53]:
Wow, that is fascinating. And I love how you’re able to maintain your payments back to your investors the same for all these years. And they’re always going to be happy because of that. Now, when it comes to working with you, like, people with money go, you know what? This sounds great. I want to get in it. I want to be part of that list. I want to be part of a program. What are some of the most common negative comebacks or feedback that you get from people that says, you know what? Maybe this isn’t for me, like, and how do you?
Fong Chua [00:27:23]:
How do you show them? Nope, this is the best way of investing. This is the best way of using private money. This is why.
Jay Conner [00:27:31]:
Well, you know, that’s an interesting question. Phone. Because I’ve never had anybody tell me that this is not for me, except for the following reason. It is for them, but their money is tied up, and they can’t get to it. For example, I just had coffee a few weeks ago with a good friend of minewhot we go to church with, and he works for the civil service, for the government. He’s got over $500,000 in his retirement fund, and he’s sick and tired of the volatility in the stock market, which is where his retirement funds are invested. He says, jay, I want to come into your program. So we visited.
Jay Conner [00:28:13]:
I said, well, I don’t know if you can or not. Check with your plan administrator where you have retirement funds and see if you have the option to pull a portion out before you leave the company or you retire. And he didn’t have the opportunity. On the other hand, I have one private lender, and here’s what’s funny. He worked for Fannie Mae. One of my private lenders worked for Fannie Mae, and he had been with them for over 20 years. And when we first visited about the program, he said, well, Jay, I want to do this with you. He said, but I can’t until I retire, and then I can move my funds, my retirement funds.
Jay Conner [00:28:51]:
I said, well, how do you know that? I said, contact your plan administrator and come to find out. When he did, they allowed him to move up to 50% of his retirement funds anywhere else he wanted to go without penalty or tax because he had been with the company for so long. So, back to your question, Fong. You see, we don’t have to put on our selling hat. We’re not selling anybody on the program. We’re not persuading, we’re not trying to talk them to anybody. We are teaching people. We’re simply putting our teacher hat on and teaching them about private money and how they can get high rates of return.
Jay Conner [00:29:30]:
And you know what? When you’re not asking anybody for anything, you can’t be rejected.
Fong Chua [00:29:37]:
Awesome. We talked about some of your pillars, and finding the funding closing is pretty self-explanatory. And then also automating that process. Now the thing is, you’ve also shown a lot of your students and your clients how they’re able to find close to three deals a month in less than six hours of work a week. Now, I’m assuming that that has to do with your four pillars, but if you could give us a wide shot as to how that works. How does one do three deals a month in less than six hours of work?
Jay Conner [00:30:10]:
Yeah, well, I certainly didn’t start that way. Right. So we had to build the processes and put them in place, which I also teach that whole process to other real estate investors as well at our live events, our Mastermind meetings, and such. But how does that work? Well, when I started out, it took me a full year to really get the processes automated. I mean, I was running around, you know, 50, 60 hours a week with my hair on fire. And so the definition of automation is you’re either using technology or you’re using other people. So I’ll just give you one example on how to really automate this business, nd that is how you communicate with your team and how you stay on top of all of your prospective sellers of houses? And we sell a lot of houses on lease, purchase, rent to own as well. How do you keep up with all those? Well, I tell you what, Fung, I was a disorganized mess for a long time.
Jay Conner [00:31:11]:
I was trying to run this business off of notes on yellow legal pads and post-it notes posted all over the place. And when I really started getting everything streamlined is when I got an excellent customer relationship management software. And there are all kinds of good ones out there. But here I’m telling you, you will have deals falling through the cracks. You will not be able to automate this system without an excellent software program to keep up with all your leads. And like I have a full-time acquisitionist, so I said it’s either technology or people. In my case, it’s both. So Kim has been our acquisitionist who talks to all of our potential sellers.
Jay Conner [00:31:56]:
And you know what, I haven’t talked to a seller in years myself. So the leads come in, well, all the seller leads come in from those sources that I talked about earlier. All those leads come in, and they automatically go into our software, so I don’t have to have someone manually type all those leads into the software. So now once they get in, my acquisitionist is notified that hey, you got a new lead. So now it’s my acquisitionist job to call and text that seller lead until we get them on the phone. How else do we note automate it? What if she can’t get up with somebody after trying three times a day for the first three days, then they automatically go into our software nurturing sequence,e which is follow up text that I’ve already pre-written follow-up emails. So, let’s say my acquisitionist, Ki,m does talk to a seller. Well,l so then she will go into the notes in our software, re and I’ll be notified as to the initial conversation.
Jay Conner [00:33:03]:
So then all I’m having to do from the automation standpoint thet phone is going into the software, looking at the numbers, seeing if it makes sense for us to go take a look at the house,se and then I’ll send a note back in the software. My acquisitionist will coordinate our team, our contractor, and our realtor to go look at the house. They’ll estimate repairs, and now she puts all that estimation back in the software. I’ll look at the numbers, and I’ll tell her what offer to make based on our all-cash offer formula. My total involvement on a deal of buying it myself, I’m making the decision on what to offer. But really, from the automation standpoint,t Phong, I’ve only got two major responsibilities. Number one, personally, I have to make sure the marketing machine is turned on all the time, and we’ve got all these seller leads coming in. My second responsibility is to tell our acquisitionist what the offer is, what the offer is on the property, and then the team communicates all that. My total involvement in a deal typically is going to be less than an hour.
Fong Chua [00:34:16]:
Wow, absolutely amazing. Now One thing that lots of people are afraid of who are at that level of hiring people on, adding them to our team, automating everything, is that what if that person I’m bringing on steals those clients or steals those deals and then goes off on their own? How do you maintain your team so that they are motivated to stay with you and work with you, and build that team even stronger?
Jay Conner [00:34:40]:
Well, I’ve actually got two comments on that phone number. One, to be the entrepreneur that’s running the show, that’s running the business, you have to have an understanding of all the pieces. Most people who come onto your team are not interested in understanding all the pieces. For example, our acquisitionist does a fantastic job talking to sellers, but as far as how I get the private money, she’s not involved in that at all, as far as raising the private money. So each of our team members has specific responsibilities that they’re focused on and that they are responsible for. My other comment, Fung, is that I have a mindset of abundance, not scarcity. There’s plenty to go around, and if I can be a part of someone becoming their own entrepreneur and starting the business themselves, then that’s a win as well.
Fong Chua [00:35:38]:
That’s perfect. Now, lots of people like yourself can surround themselves with other successful people, who are able to bounce ideas with, and all that kind of stuff. I’m assuming that you have your team, your group of people that you mastermind with, that you bounce ideas with. What are some of the best things that you’ve ever heard from your. Your mentors, your coaches,s that change your trajectory as to how you’re successful? You are?
Jay Conner [00:36:05]:
Yes. Well, for one thing, my wife Carol, Joy, and I are membersof three mastermind groups all related to real estate investing. So we are all the time surrounding ourselves with other people. Right. And then we have our own mastermind group that we run,o where we are actually the facilitators. So, to my knowledge, it was Napoleon Hill that coined, developed, and made popular this idea of the mastermind, and yeah, I just can’t imagine being in this business by myself and not surrounding myself with other people. So one of the concepts I picked up that you asked about has lent itself to me being successful. I got it from the mastermind group that I was a member of.
Jay Conner [00:37:00]:
They were talking about how they schedule everything on their calendar, and they don’t have to do list, but they put all the important things to get done on their calendar. So I came up with the phrase successes are scheduled. Successes don’t happen by accident. So if something is important enough to do, get it on your calendar and get it scheduled.
Fong Chua [00:37:25]:
That’s great, great advice there. I’m going to ask one more formal question to you before we jump into some fun questions. And that is, if you had an opportunity to speak to the world on a world stage, one message that you want everybody remember. J4. What would that message be?
Jay Conner [00:37:43]:
Be authentic. Be sincere. Lead with a servant’s heart. And when you. And here’s the phrase I would want to be known for. Jay Connor is known for the quote, it’s all about sowing. It ain’t about reaping. It’s all about sowing.
Jay Conner [00:38:01]:
It ain’t about reaping. I can’t be reaping anything until I have given and served and sown. First, keep your mind and your focus on the other person, and you’re not going to have to worry about yourself.
Fong Chua [00:38:16]:
Nicely done. Great words to live by before I let you g,o because I know you’ve got lots of deals to look at and approve on and offer on. I got five quick questions, rapid fire. Give me the first thing that comes to mind. You’re stranded on a deserted island, and you get one food to eat for the rest of your life. No consequence. What would that be?
Jay Conner [00:38:35]:
One food to eat.
Fong Chua [00:38:36]:
Yep. No consequence. You’re not going to be unhealthy.
Jay Conner [00:38:40]:
That’s a hard question to answer because obviously I love all the food, but if there is only one that I could eat, it would be cheese. I love cheese.
Fong Chua [00:38:49]:
There are blocks and blocks of cheese everywhere. Hollywood calls and goes, hey, Jay, your story is absolutely amazing. We it brought would love to do a biopic on you. Who would you like to broadcast to play you?
Jay Conner [00:39:01]:
Oh, who to play me? Oh, well, that would. It just has to be somebody that’s. That’s known out there.
Fong Chua [00:39:09]:
No, it doesn’t matter. As long as you want them to play you, it’s all good.
Jay Conner [00:39:12]:
All right. Very good. Well, that would have to be one of my best friends at church, Aubrey Spence. He could. He plays me better than I play myself.
Fong Chua [00:39:20]:
Your friend shows up at your door. Hey, I got cast to play you. Now, I know we’ve spent a lot of time with each other already. We know each other inside and out. But let’s just hang out, get to know the ins and outs of everything in your past life, and whatnot. What’s an amazing night out with you?
Jay Conner [00:39:37]:
Like an amazing night out? AActuallyly an amazing night would be at mine and Carol Joy’s home. We both love to cook, and we both write and record music, piano music. And so we’ve got the grand piano in the living room. And so we’d hang out in the living room, and I’d play you some piano music.
Fong Chua [00:39:58]:
Oh, wow, that’s absolutely awesome. Now, speaking of music, you’re on a road trip, and you are driving for hours, hours on end, for some reason it is. There’s only one song that plays over and over and over again. What’s that one song you don’t mind listening to?
Jay Conner [00:40:16]:
Oh, that would have to be a song that I wrote actually, because it’s had such an impact on my life and, and, and thousands of other people’s lives. My wife and I, we write hymns and spiritual songs for the church. And so the name of that song is I Close My Eyes.
Fong Chua [00:40:34]:
Awesome. That would be very difficult for me if I wrote my own song. I’m listening to that over and over again. I’ll be critiquing it the entire time. Last question before I get there. Give me a number from one to five.
Jay Conner [00:40:47]:
Oh, my favorite number. Three.
Fong Chua [00:40:49]:
One, two, three. So if you had to compare success to an octopus, how would you use an octopus as a metaphor for success?
Jay Conner [00:41:00]:
How would I use an octopus as a metaphor for success? You’ve got to have many, many, many tentacles that bring in seller leads every day. For estate business, don’t rely on just one.
Fong Chua [00:41:17]:
Awesome. Nicely done. So that’s what an octopus is like,e success. Thank you very much for your time. I’ve had a great time listening to your stories, learning from you, and it has gone by very, very fast. Any last words from you that you would like to share?
Jay Conner [00:41:34]:
Yes. Be authentic and genuine. Be you. Don’t try to be anybody else.
Fong Chua [00:41:39]:
Great. And also a little bit more about your book, how people can.
Jay Conner [00:41:43]:
Oh yes, I would love to give my book away. Fong. Here’s my book right here. It’s called where to Get the Money now. And the subtitle is how and where to get money for your real estate deals without relying on banks, traditional lenders, or hard money lenders. So we’re not talking about hard money. So this is not an ebook. You can’t download it.
Jay Conner [00:42:03]:
Believe it or not, the United States Postal Service is still in business. So we will actually mail this to you. Priority mail. I’ll autograph it for you. You can get it for free. Just cover shipping at www.JayConner.com/Book.
Jay Conner [00:42:27]:
So that’s the www.JayConner.com/Book. Okay, awesome.
Fong Chua [00:42:34]:
Thank you very much for that. Everybody else, make sure you get in contact with Jay. Get a copy of his book. It’s very often that you get an actual signed physical book that’s going to be coming to you for free. So make sure you take advantage of that. Once again, thank you very much for your time. It was a lot of joy and also a lot of learning on my side. So thank you very much for your time.
Jay Conner [00:42:53]:
Fong, thank you so much for having me.
Fong Chua [00:42:56]:
Great. Everybody else, as I said, make sure you contact Jay, get his book, and until next time, today is the day to unlock your peak potential. My see you later.
Narrator [00:43:21]:
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 jconor.com moneyguide to get your free guide. We’ll see you next time on Raising Private Money with Jay Conner.