***Guest Appearance
Credits to:
https://www.youtube.com/@dwellynn-realestate
“DS67 | Finding deals before anybody else does | Jay Conner”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU3F3w5veYM
In today’s competitive real estate landscape, innovative funding solutions can be the difference between scaling your business and hitting a financial plateau. On a recent episode of the Dwellynn Show, Ola Dantis sat down with Jay Conner to unpack the practical strategies that have propelled Jay to success as a “private money authority.” Drawing from decades of experience, Jay shared not only the nuts and bolts of his funding system but also actionable tips on lead generation and building lasting relationships in real estate.
Jay’s business journey is rooted in small-town North Carolina. Despite focusing on a market of just 40,000 people, he’s managed to build a seven-figure business, primarily refinancing single-family homes and overseeing commercial projects alongside his wife, Carol Joy. What’s remarkable about Jay’s story isn’t the volume of deals—he averages just two to three properties a month—but the consistent, sizable profits that each transaction yields. Over the last year, his average profit per deal reached an impressive $64,000. This higher per-deal profit means he doesn’t have to play the numbers game; instead, he targets quality, high-yield projects.
A significant pivot in Jay’s career came when he transitioned from relying on traditional banks to leveraging private money. This shift not only gave him control over his business’s financial destiny but also allowed him to design a system where money isn’t a constant constraint. His approach is grounded in attracting, rather than chasing, private investors—an attitude he encourages others to adopt. Rather than pleading for funds, Jay underscores the importance of presenting a compelling program that speaks for itself and naturally draws interest from potential lenders.
One of the most effective marketing tactics Jay employs is the yellow letter campaign. Unlike generic postcards, his method uses personalized, hand-addressed letters—designed to look like notes from friends or family—which dramatically increase open rates. These letters are especially effective with absentee property owners, targeting those tired of managing tenants and looking for an exit strategy. Jay is meticulous about controlling the mailing process, ensuring letters are sent from his local zip code and handled by a trusted provider, emphasizing accountability and personal touch every step of the way.
For those new to the concept, Jay clarifies that private lenders are regular individuals—often from his existing network, new warm contacts, or those referred by current lenders—who invest their capital or retirement funds in real estate deals. More than half of his lenders use self-directed IRAs, which means investors can have control over their retirement funds and potentially earn higher returns than conventional investment vehicles.
From the perspective of the private lender, there are three key reasons for choosing Jay’s investment opportunities: higher returns than traditional banks, security through documented and conservative loans, and protection from market volatility. Unlike stocks, where the principal can fluctuate dramatically, the principal amount in Jay’s deals remains stable until repayment. The deals are structured to be both safe and transparent, with clear documentation such as promissory notes, mortgages, or deeds of trust, and proper insurance and title coverage.
Jay highlights the value of authenticity, collaboration, and education in building a sustainable real estate business. He encourages regular engagement with mastermind groups and participation in live events to share knowledge, gain new ideas, and keep up with the rapidly changing landscape of real estate investing.
For those looking to break into real estate or scale their businesses, Jay’s approach serves as a roadmap: focus on building real relationships, create value for your investors, and never stop optimizing your systems. By centering the business on transparency, education, and a genuine desire to help both sellers and investors, Jay has demonstrated that even in a small market, it’s possible to achieve big outcomes.
10 Discussion Questions from this Episode:
- Jay Conner emphasizes not chasing money but attracting private lenders. What do you think are the key mindset shifts an investor needs to make to successfully attract funding instead of pursuing it?
- In his example of the “farmhouse deal,” Jay Conner shares valuable lessons about making bold offers to sellers. How do you approach negotiation in your own investments, and what strategies do you use to determine your offers?
- Jay Conner describes sending highly personalized “yellow letters” for deal outreach. What do you think about the effectiveness of traditional direct mail marketing in today’s digital era? Do you prefer digital methods, or do you see value in direct mail?
- Private lender security is a major selling point for Jay Conner. In your experience or opinion, what are the top concerns potential private lenders have, and how can investors address these concerns?
- Jay Conner states that over half of his lender’s fund deals are through self-directed IRAs. How familiar are you with self-directed IRAs? What potential do you see for leveraging retirement funds in real estate investing?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of focusing on fewer but more profitable deals, as Jay Conner does, versus working on a high volume of smaller deals?
- Ola Dantis asks about ways to make investors aware of funding opportunities without explicitly “asking for money.” How would you design a program and presentation to appeal to private lenders based on Jay Conner’s approach?
- Jay Conner discusses the types of documents needed to close with a private lender, mentioning how simple the process can be. What are your experiences with the paperwork and closing process, and do you see room for further simplification?
- Throughout the episode, Jay Conner shares strategies for building and maintaining relationships with private lenders. Which relationship-building techniques do you think are most effective in sustaining long-term partnerships?
- Both Jay Conner and Ola Dantis stress the importance of giving back and surrounding oneself with successful people. How do you foster community and mentorship in your investment journey, and what impact does it have on your growth?
Fun facts that were revealed in the episode:
- Jay Conner developed and uses a highly personalized yellow letter mailing campaign to find real estate deals, complete with hand-written details and unique stamps, which results in an impressive 20–30% response rate from potential sellers.
- Jay Conner and his wife, Carol Joy, run their real estate business together in North Carolina, and also host about 25 to 30 live events annually to share strategies with other investors across the nation.
- In addition to his success in real estate, Jay Conner enjoys writing and recording piano music, and once had his orchestral compositions featured in a Universal Studios movie starring Ryan O’Neal, Jackie Chan, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Timestamps:
00:01 Private Money & Real Estate Mastery
05:56 Creative Real Estate Strategies
09:55 Tired Landlords and Property Deals
12:05 Flipping Success: $20K to $172K
16:54 Handwritten Letters Service Explained
19:50 Building Private Lender Relationships
23:05 Profit from Real Estate Deals
26:22 Private Lending Program Explained
28:24 Introducing Private Money Lending
33:14 Private Lending Essentials Checklist
35:31 Real Estate Investing with Jay
37:48 Real Estate, Music, and Fun
40:42 Free Private Money Guide
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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Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/jay.conner.marketing
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JayConner01
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/JConner_PrivateMoneyAuthority
Automating Real Estate Success: Private Money, Marketing, and Mastermind Tips From Jay Conner
Jay Conner [00:00:00]:
So, back to your question. Why in the world would they be interested in doing business with us? Thereares three really big reasons. They make more money, a lot of money. Number two, it’s secure and safe. And number three, it’s not volatile.
Narrator [00:00:18]:
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 to raise 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.
Ola Dantis [00:00:46]:
Thank you so much for joining us here at the Dwelling Show. Jay, I’m your host, Ola Dentist. I cannot wait to dig in with you today. Jay, I’ve read so much about you. You’re doing amazing things, you know, and I just can’t wait to get in. So thank you for joining. Jay.
Jay Conner [00:01:01]:
Hey, thank you so much for having me on Ola. I tell you what, you’ve got quite the story of what you’ve done since you got here in the United States, coming over from the United Kingdom and wow, you know, we may look a little different in age, but I don’t know, I sort of be like, I want to be like you a little bit when I grow up.
Ola Dantis [00:01:18]:
You know what I mean? Thank you so much, Jay. I don’t think anyone ever said that to me on my show. So that’s, I like that. So, just a little bit about Jay. Jay has been buying and selling houses for more than 14 years now. He’s been involved in over 52 million in transactions only. And for the past seven years,s he’s figuring out a way to really automate his seven figure business. Jay, I’m sure you can do it way better than I can.
Ola Dantis [00:01:47]:
Can you just allow Duo listeners a little bit more about yourself and kind of what you’ve been up to lately?
Jay Conner [00:01:52]:
Sure. Well, I live here in eastern North Carolina. I’ve been buying, as you said, I’ve been buying and selling single-family houses for 15 years. The first six years, I funded my deals with I relied on the local banks and mortgage companies,s and then everything changed. After getting into the business for six years, like you, I also do commercial projects. I’ve got a professional, pretty good-sized shopping center that we developed from the ground up. It’s only about 10 minutes from here to my office. I live here in Morehead City, North Carolina, and my wife Carol Joy we’re in the business together.
Jay Conner [00:02:33]:
She oversees all the bookkeeping for the business. And she also travels with me around the nation. We do about 25 or 30 live events a year across the nation, where we share with other real estate investors how we do business. And what I’m known for is being Jay Conner, the private money authority, because that’s what I specialize in. I got really good at raising money about nine years ago when I got cut off from the banks. So what have I had going on lately? Well, just last week I had my most recent live event here in eastern North Carolina, where we go out and look at our houses, and I teach real estate investors how to find deals before other real estate investors know they exist,t and that kind of thing. And just wrapped up this past week running my mastermind group. We get together every 90 days and collaborate with what, you know, what other people have got going on in the group.
Jay Conner [00:03:29]:
Because you know, this business is just like any other business. It changes, you know, what was working maybe a year ago as far as marketing and locating and finding deals and selling houses quickly. You know, the strategies changed. So that’s always exciting. I always tell people, get together as often as you can with like-minded people and with people who are more successful than you are. Right?
Ola Dantis [00:03:56]:
Yeah.
Jay Conner [00:03:56]:
If you want to learn how to play golf, tennis, or whatever it is, hang around the people who are better than you. Nonetheless, don’t forget about giving because I always like to give back to even those who are starting.
Ola Dantis [00:04:08]:
Wow. Yeah, I mean, that’s the secret, right? Giving back is that that’s a big piece that a lot of us forget. So, Jay, I can’t wait. Can you just tell us, you know, what your real estate business is currently like? You know, what are you, you know, what do you invest in, what kind of deals are you doing, how many deals a year, and profits, you know, and you just give us a spiel, just a general overview.
Jay Conner [00:04:29]:
Sure. So my total target market, Ola, is only 40,000 people. Morehead City, North Carolina, has between 8 and 9,000 people. So my total target market’s only 40,000. So I’m going somewhere with this story. I only do two to three transactions a month in single-family houses. Okay. Not including our other ventures, but with single family house only 2 or 3.
Jay Conner [00:04:55]:
But the average profit right now over the past 12 months is $64,000 per deal. So you don’t have to do that many transactions to, you know, have significant profits in your deals. So, since I started using private money to fund my deals, when cut off from the Banks years ago, we’ve been blessed to have, you know, the net profits per year of over a million dollars. And of course, if you run the numbersfor the last 12 months, over $2 million in profits. And so again, you know, I got a lot of good friends that are wholesalers, make a lot of money wholesaling. I have friends twhodo over 100 deals a year, wholesaling with average profits of 7,000 to 12,000. But I mean assignment fees, if you will, or simultaneous closings. But I like the $64,000 profit per deal to tell you the truth.
Ola Dantis [00:05:53]:
Yeah, I agree with you on that one.
Jay Conner [00:05:56]:
So the overview of the business is two to three a month. So you know, the last 12 months we’ve done about 30 deals. Most of them we do rehab or do some renovation to them, because to make that kind of money, typically you’re going to have to do a fixer-upper to make that kind of profit. You’re not going to make that kind of profit typically on what we call a pretty house. However, it’s been my experience, Ola, that on average, only 13% of for-sale-by-owner, FSBOs if you will, will sell to us creatively. That means 87% want all the money. So,o 13% FSBOs, they’ll sell to us creatively with either owner or seller financing or buying subject to the existing note, or selling to us ona lease option or what have you. But if 87% of them are going to require all the cash and, of course, bank-owned properties, MLS, and all that, they always require the cash and auctions and etc.
Jay Conner [00:06:54]:
And I want to have the private money lined up so I don’t miss out on any of the deals.
Ola Dantis [00:06:58]:
I like that. I really, really like that. So what I’m thinking is maybe you should walk us through the life cycle of a particular deal that maybe you’ve done recently, or you made a pretty sizable profit. Just kind of walk us through how you found a deal,l and obviously your private money king. So you used private money,y and how did you kind of exit that deal?
Jay Conner [00:07:19]:
Sure. So. Well, we got lots of stories, so I’ll just tell one of the recent ones. So let’s call this the farmhouse deal. All right, the farmhouse deal. Andthere ares quite a few store quite a few lessons learned from this. What happened with this deal? So the house is located out of the country, a couple of miles off the main highway coming into our area.
Jay Conner [00:07:48]:
So I did a yellow letter campaign. Do your listeners know what a yellow letter campaign is? Feel free to be kind.
Ola Dantis [00:07:54]:
Tell us what that is.
Jay Conner [00:07:56]:
Well, yeah, in fact, I just ordered another campaign for myself. So a yellow letter campaign is what you receive in the mail. mail You mail out an invitation size envelope, typically 4 by 6, 4 by 6 inches. It’s handwritten on the outside in red ink. It’s got a live stamp, a peel-and-stick stamp. Usually, I call them fun and funky stamps. So whatever. We don’t buy a roll of stamps.
Jay Conner [00:08:24]:
We buy, you know, whatever the latest is. Okay. Where, you know, you. They come in sheets. And it’s not. It’s not licked and sealed. The back envelope or back of the envelope is tucked inside. The return address is on the back of the envelope, but there is no name, just the return address.
Jay Conner [00:08:43]:
So this gets a very, very high open rate. It looks like you got a note in the mail from your grandmother or an invitation to something. Okay. That’s why it’s called an imitation-size envelope. Inside the envelope is a yellow piece of paper off a yellow pad that’s been torn off a pad, and it’s handwritten in red ink personally. And it says, hi, my name is Jay Conner. I’m interested in buying your house located at Blank. So you are not blank, but fill in the address property.
Jay Conner [00:09:18]:
Because the mailing address might be a P.O. box or E.T., cetera. You know, may not get the mail there. And sign a call me at and J. That’s it. That’s it. So this letter gets between a 20 and 30% response rate.
Jay Conner [00:09:33]:
Okay. Very high response rate. So the different lists we mail to. So we mail different kinds of lists. This list we mailed to the farmhouse deal was an absentee owner out of state absentee owner. So I’m looking for a tired landlord. All right? You’ve got to be careful. If you’re in a resort area, you’ll be getting a lot of secondary homeowners, who don’t want that.
Jay Conner [00:09:55]:
I want tired landlords that are sick and tired of tenants and toilets, right? So that’s what we mailed to this guy responds. He landed up in Chesapeake, Virginia. This house was in very, very poor condition. Built in 1945, not habitable. So here’s one lesson learned. So over the phone, my acquisitionist and my acquisitionist is a lady who gets the seller lead sheets filled out, all the information, the mortgage information, et cetera, negotiates the deal, gets them down as low as they’ll go, a nd then sends it to me, and I review the seller lead sheet, right? And so she got them down to $80,000. And so we go look at the house now. The after-repaired value.
Jay Conner [00:10:42]:
The after-repaired value at the time we looked at the house was approximately 155, $160,000 after repair. So got them down to 80. We went and looked. It’s going to need major repair. She got them in person down to 60,000. The repairs come in at $80,000. It’s a small three-bed, one bath. We have to add another bathroom and closet to the back of the house.
Jay Conner [00:11:13]:
A big rehab for a small house. Only 1300 square feet. $80,000. But it’s going to be drop-dead gorgeous. And so those numbers don’t work. If I got to pay 60, put 80 in it, that’s 140. I can’t sell it for 155 or 60 and make any money. So here’s another big lesson learned from this deal, Ola, and that is, I got back to my acquisition.
Jay Conner [00:11:40]:
As I said, offer $20,000 for the house. And it sat on two acres, almost two acres as well. She said they’ll never take $20,000. Here’s a big lesson. You don’t know. And the seller of the property does not know for sure what they will accept until you make the offer. Make the offer. If you want a property, make the offer.
Jay Conner [00:12:05]:
So guess what? They took it, right? So I bought it for $20,000, put 80 in it. Now I got 100 in it. Absolutely gorgeous. You can even have horses on this property if you want it out in the country. So 20,000. I got 100 in it and put it in MLS on a Friday. By Sunday, I had multiple offers, and guess what? I put it in the MLS for $174,000 because the value had appreciated since we got the original afterthe repaird value. We had a contract for 172 and a half by Monday.
Ola Dantis [00:12:43]:
Wow.
Jay Conner [00:12:44]:
For 172 and a half, I had 100 in it. Lower realtor commissions. And I could tell a lot of things that we did to the house. But no time for that on your show here. But that’s a recent deal.
Ola Dantis [00:12:58]:
Wow, thank you so much for sharing that. And for our dual listeners who maybe didn’t catch on, but I really love the descriptive process that went into talking about the mailing letter. Right. Because on other podcasts people hear about, oh, you just sent a letter to, you know, but you went into detail. Right. And can you just kind of elaborate on why you really described what you sent, and what you were trying to tell us almost indirectly?
Jay Conner [00:13:24]:
Sure. So first of all is getting the envelope opened up. Okay. That’s number one. Now, yeah, you can mail a postcard, but we’ve tested postcards. I’ve been doing yellow letters for almost 10 years. And the yellow letters, particularly when you start getting, if you’re, if you’re mailing something more sensitive, you don’t want to put sensitive information, that is foreclosure, you know, probate, that kind of thing on a postcard. So number one, get the envelope opened up.
Jay Conner [00:13:57]:
Number two, let’s stop and think about it. This is handwritten, and I’ve used both. I’ve actually used handwriting services, I mean, real with a red ink pen, hand-addressing the envelope, and actually writing the letter itself. But we have a service now that we use that really has a good handwritten font. So, Ola, if you want me to, I’ll share my secret sourcewith yout.
Ola Dantis [00:14:25]:
Is it yellowletters.com?
Jay Conner [00:14:27]:
No.
Ola Dantis [00:14:28]:
Okay.
Jay Conner [00:14:29]:
No, no, no. Don’t use yellowletters dot com. I mean, I don’t. I’ve been using the Same lady for 10 years. Oh, here’s another big thing on yellow letters. I didn’t know we were going to talk about yellow letters today, but here we go. So big thing on yellow letters, do not ever, ever, ever, ever, don’t ever hire a yellow letter service. I don’t care who they are, I don’t care how.
Jay Conner [00:14:53]:
Well, you know, I don’t care if they’re your best friend. Do not hire a yellow letter service and pay them money to put postage on the envelope and pay them money to mail your letters. Ask me how I know how or how I know that. Right? Because I got scammed. I sent all this money, and this was years ago, sell this money. And obviously, it’s not the source I’m going to tell you that I use. I mean, here in a second. But I spent all this money,y and I’m getting hardly any response, and I’d use other services, and I got a great response.
Jay Conner [00:15:30]:
And it’s the same kind of list. So come to find out, coming in the back door, I’m paying for a thousand letters. They’re mailing out maybe 200 and pocketing the money on the other 800. So here’s how you circle, here’s how you fix that. You pay for the yellow letter service. And by the way, a good yellow letter of service will give you lists as well. Absentee owners in state, out of state, you know, probate, pre-nod, pre-notice of default. You can get your list from a good yellow letter source.
Jay Conner [00:16:02]:
So you pay them to print them. So this service I use actually has a handwritten font that looks ugly but legible. That’s what you want. Ugly sales. You don’t want pretty. You want ugly. That’s the third reason your letters work: it looks like Joe Schmo wrote you a letter. And motivated sellers want to take advantage of Joe Schmo.
Jay Conner [00:16:24]:
So it’s not a business. It’s not a marketing business for individuals. It’s very personal to you, very personal. So you liketo be a new real estate investor, right? So come take advantage of me. So anyway, you pay the letter service the money. All right? You’re gonna have to have me back from another show to even talk about private money. We’re gonna do part two. We have a way to fund your deals regardless of your credit, experience, or income.
Jay Conner [00:16:54]:
So you pay the money to the letter service. They handwrite the letters, stuff them in the envelope, okay? They put a teeny, tiny number in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the envelope that corresponds to the printout. So you can randomly check that they stuff the right envelope. I mean, letter in the right envelope. And they mail all the envelopes already folded in force. So you fold this yellow letter in force, and you mail it. They mail them all to you. And you and your team put your fun and funky stamps on the envelope, and you drop them in the mailbox.
Jay Conner [00:17:33]:
That accomplishes two things. Number one, you know they got mailed. Number two, you know when they were mailed, so you know when you should be getting a response; you’re not relying on somebody else telling you when you mailed them. And then thirdly, so you know you got them mailed when the mail comes. Oh, and it’s coming from your local zip code. You know, the stamp on it, instead of coming out from California somewhere. I mean, nothing against California, but I’m in North Carolina.
Ola Dantis [00:18:03]:
Right.
Jay Conner [00:18:03]:
So it doesn’t, like, sync up. Yeah.
Ola Dantis [00:18:07]:
I’ve never, ever heard it described that way. Jay, thank you so much. That is amazing. I’ve never, ever heard. I’ve never even thought of that before. Actually, send it to me, and I can, you know, send it out and distribute it. I really like that. I really, really like that.
Jay Conner [00:18:20]:
So before we can. It keeps everybody accountable. So anyway, here’s my secret source. All right? Her name is Christy King, K I N G. She’s located down in Florida. She’s got great lists. She handles all the printing and turns it around in 48 hours. It’s crazy.
Jay Conner [00:18:38]:
And her website is www.yellowletterlady.com.
Ola Dantis [00:18:46]:
I was close. I was close, Jay.
Jay Conner [00:18:48]:
I was Close, I’m sure there. I mean, I haven’t gone and looked. I’m sure there’s a yellow letters dot com, but whoever it is, I don’t know.
Ola Dantis [00:18:55]:
Right. No. Thank you so much for giving us that secret sauce. I really, really appreciate it. I appreciate that. Before we jump into the advantages of private lending, which I’m sure you will anyway, most dual listeners will be thinking, why would a private lender want to give me money? Why would they want to do that?
Jay Conner [00:19:12]:
Sure. I think what we need to do first, Ola, if you don’t mind, is to define even what a private lender is or what a private lender isn’t. So a private lender is an individual, just like you, just like me, who loans us money and funds our deals. And whether it’s single-family houses or apartments, or commercial, whatever,r from their investment capital. Okay. Or their retirement funds, personal retirement funds. Very, very big. I mean, over half of our private lenders loan to us from their retirement funds.
Jay Conner [00:19:50]:
We have, Carol Joy and I, we have 47 private lenders right now. And of course, your audience doesn’t need 47 private lenders. Start with one or two. Right. The way I did. But it’s really important for your followers, viewers, and listeners. If they want to get private money, they need to establish a relationship with a self-directed IRA company and a representative that they can refer their new private lenders to, to get their funds transferred over from where they currently have retirement funds to a self-directed IRA company, where the lenders can truly self-direct. But anyway, I guess we should do a show on self-directed IRAs, so it’s an individual.
Jay Conner [00:20:38]:
So we’re not relying on banks, we’re not relying on institutions, we’re not relying on mortgage companies. This is all about doing business with individuals, and they come from three primary categories. All right. We call it your warm market. So, people you have some kind of relationship with. Secondly, existing private lenders. Existing private lenders. And of course, we can talk about where in the world you find those.
Jay Conner [00:21:04]:
And then I alsohave the third category, which I call your new warm market. It’s people who can tell you where to go to meet. I can tell you where to go, where the money is, how to network with those people, and then those people can become private lenders. So it’s an individual. So, back to your question. Why in the world would they be interested in doing business with us? There are three really big reasons. One is that they’re going to make a whole lot more money than they can get through any traditional resources. Ola, did you know, do you know what the average 12-month certificate of deposit is paying at the local bank?
Ola Dantis [00:21:43]:
I can guess, I can guess. 0.05.
Jay Conner [00:21:48]:
Unbelievable. So just a few months ago, it was 0.27. I’m talking about a 12-month CD. But it’s been a little crazy recently. It’s all the way up now. It’s all the way up to 0.71% per year. So when you come along and pay a private lender 8% now, not 15% like hard money, but 8% with no points, no origination fees, no extension fees, straight 8%, that’s still 16 times as much money as a private lender is going to get at a certificate of deposit. You know, I mean, they got some stuff out there now you can do, go pretty aggressively at between 3 and 4%, you know, with your stockbroker, and get a fixed rate.
Jay Conner [00:22:39]:
But it ain’t 8%. So number one, a lot of money. Number two, it’s secure and safe. And here’s how it’s secure, because I don’t borrow any private money from private lenders unless I give them a mortgage. Okay. Here in North Carolina is called a deed of trust. So I don’t borrow any unsecured funds. And it’s safe because it’s a conservative loan-to-value.
Jay Conner [00:23:05]:
So I borrow up to 75% of the after-repaired value. But guess what? I still don’t bring any money to close it. How do you do that, Jay? Well, if you’re buying at 50% of the after-repaired value, let’s say you got a $200,000 after repaired value. If I buy it for 100, which is not out of the ordinary. I mean, if it’s a bank-owned property or distressed property, you can buy it at 50% of the after fair value. I can borrow up to $150,000 on that deal. I can bring a $50,000 check home when I buy. Who wants to get paid to buy? But I’m not going to bring that big check home unless I’m doing a rehab, right? So the second reason is it’s safe, and it’s secure.
Jay Conner [00:23:50]:
And the third reason is, and my private lenders love this, particularly the older they get, the more they love it. Their principal loan amount is not volatile. The principal loan amount stays the same until cash out. No,w what they love about that, i.e., that’s in contrast to the stock market. All my lands, is the stock market volatile? Well, as of today, when you and I are doing this show. And yeah, it’s volatile. It’s all over the place. And the older the private lenders get, the less time they have for a correction.
Jay Conner [00:24:25]:
Right? So they love it. So let’s say they loan me $100,000 on a deal. Okay. They loaned me $100,000. Well. And I tell them nothing comes out of that loan amount. I mean, no fees, no commissions. You’re going to get all your principal loan amount back when the house cashes out.
Jay Conner [00:24:47]:
Okay. Plus any unpaid accrued interest. So here’s the deal. So for that to work, we’re making interest-only payments or accruing interest-only payments. A lot of our deals, we only make monthly payments. We’ll pay quarterly, semiannually, or annually. Okay? So the reason interest-only payments are so attractive to both the lender and me, first of all, on the side of the private lender, they’re gonna make a whole lot more money. Because if I’m paying principal and interest payments, I’m paying their principal amount down to the payments.
Jay Conner [00:25:26]:
They’re not keeping all their money at work. They’re not making as much money. And on my side of the table, interest-only payments, of course, help cash flow. Those interest-only payments are less than principal and interest. So those are the three reasons they make more money. A lot of money. Number two, it’s secure and safe. And number three, it’s not volatile.
Ola Dantis [00:25:52]:
Wow. I really, really, really like that. Actually, I’ve never looked at it from that angle. Just the way you kind of put that together.
Jay Conner [00:26:00]:
Yeah. So now you’re gonna get more private money.
Ola Dantis [00:26:02]:
Yeah. And I can’t wait. Constantly. We’re always looking for investors, constantly looking for passive investors. You already know that. So. But what I do want to ask is how do you get the word out there that, you know, I am looking for, you know, a private investor? I have good deals. How have you done that in the past? What strategies have you used, and what has worked for you?
Jay Conner [00:26:22]:
Well, let me first tell you and your listeners and followers, never ask anybody for money. I’ve raised millions and millions and millions of dollars, and I’ve never asked for money. Well, let me tell you what I have done, and I put it on automatic. I make my program available. You say, what do you mean, Jay? Your program? Yeah, my private lending program. And here’s what I mean by that. When I was borrowing money from the banks, it wasn’t my program; it was the bank’s program. They set the interest rate, they set, you know, the frequency of payments and the term, and blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Jay Conner [00:27:04]:
It was the bbank’sprogram. You see, this was a huge mental mind shift that I had to get my mind wrapped around. When I got cut off from the banks and learned about private money. When I learned about private money, I was able to attract. See, that’s just it. We’re not chasing, we’re not begging, we’re not selling, we’re not trying to talk anybody into anything, right? And which is easier, chasing or attracting? Of course, attracting is much easier. So what I did was I just, I put my program together. All right? So here’s the.
Jay Conner [00:27:36]:
And I pay them all the same, okay? Cause they talk. So what interest rate am I going to pay? What’s my term, you know, how can they get their money back in case of an emergency, blah, blah, blah, blah blah, etc. And how am I going to get that word out? Well, so I recorded, I wrote,e and recorded this audio called Stress Free: How to Print Money Automatically. And when I started nine, 10 years ago, I mean, in private money, I’ve been doing the business for, you know, quite a while. So I recorded this audio. And this audio, the purpose of the audio was not to sell people in my private money program because the audio doesn’t spill the beans. The audio gives an overview of what private money is. ‘Cause nobody’s heard of private money.
Jay Conner [00:28:24]:
All 47 of my private lenders, none of them, zip, nada, none of them had ever heard of private money or private lending until they heard my audio or until I told them about it over lunch or whatever. And so the audio tells what private lending is, but it doesn’t tell the interest rate or how they get their money back in case of an emergency. All the details. You see, the purpose of the audio is to get their greed glands swelling up so they cannot wait to hear what your program is. See, it raises those questions. And so I mean, when I started, you know, nine years ago or so, attracting private money, I just handed that CD out like it was candy. And I didn’t even tell them. I didn’t say anything about real estate, I didn’t say anything about private money.
Jay Conner [00:29:14]:
When I’m giving the CD, all I said was, I’ve got a 16-minute. And I stress that 16 minutes because I don’t want to think it’s some hour-long thing. I got a 16-minute audio, and it will show you how to get higher rates of return on your money than you probably get anywhere else. That’s all I say. I give it to them. I did no follow-up. I didn’t chase anybody. I didn’t call them up.
Jay Conner [00:29:36]:
I figured if they listen to that audio and they got money, they’re going to want to talk to me, right? Cause fantastic program. So now we convert that. And I have recorded that audio and personalized that audio now for over 1000 of my students across the nation. Customize it for them because it works. And so now we converted to the MP3, so you can email it or, you know, send it by Dropbox with a link, you know, so you don’t have to hand out the CD. And I mean, the email that you send is so simple, so simple. Because again, we’re not chasing anybody. You know what the subject line of the email is?
Ola Dantis [00:30:11]:
What?
Jay Conner [00:30:12]:
Hey.
Ola Dantis [00:30:18]:
So it’s.
Jay Conner [00:30:19]:
And we convert it to a YouTube link so you text it to, you know, anybody, you know, so that’s one big way that I did consistently in that first 90 days. And I still. Today I did a private lender luncheon. I attracted $969,000 in one little private lender luncheon. By the way, if you want me to, at the end of your show, I’ll give information on how people can go to my online masterclass called where to Get the Money Now. And I go into detail about the five steps of going from no private money to millions in private money in a short period of time. But the audience. So YouTube, you know, and the reason I thought of that is that I talk about private Linner luncheons on the master class that, you know, your viewers can watch.
Jay Conner [00:31:09]:
So, of course, you know, the Rotary Club is always looking for a speaker now and then. So if your viewers or listeners are not into being in front of the camera or being in front of an audience, get somebody in your team to do the talking for you. I got this really simple. Simple, you can read, you can do it. I got this simple PowerPoint called the Private Lender presentation that talks about what private money is. And so, you know, it’s just getting the word out, you know, and the money, I mean, and when the word gets out, the money’s chasing you, the money is chasing you. I’ve never, as I said, I’ve never asked, I’ve never chased, I mean, my lands.
Jay Conner [00:31:46]:
I just got a call a couple of days ago. This guy’s been referred. He’s heard about my provident program. He wants to start with $150,000. So, you know, I got almost 7 million right now that were, you know, churning from properties or, you know, single-family houses and stuff. So anyway, sorry for the long answer.
Ola Dantis [00:32:04]:
No, that was great. That was great. The idea that you attract money as opposed to chasing it is just, I think, fascinating. So definitely want that for our Dwell listeners. Yeah. Before we get to the quick run, I’ve just got a quick question I want to ask you. So we know how to attract funds now. We know the strategies.
Ola Dantis [00:32:20]:
Well, we have an idea of the strategies that we can deploy, you know, deploy to get, to get private money. But how do you actually close or fund, you know, with a private lender? What kind of documents would you need to get that done?
Jay Conner [00:32:35]:
I’m so glad you asked because they don’t get any simpler than this. All right, so in all the private money deals I’ve done, I’ve never been asked for an appraisal. I’ve never been asked for proof of, for proof of funds, even though I do supply that to my students. So here are the documents. I mean, literally closing can take place literally in one minute at the real estate attorney’s office or whoever your closing agent is, title company, you know, escrow company, whatever. Here are the documents. Simple, simple, simple. First is a promissory note which lays out the terms of the note.
Jay Conner [00:33:14]:
You know, who’s the borrower, who’s the lender, what’s the interest rate, what are the payments, what’s the frequency of payments. And what’s really cool is I have got a 12-point little checklist on one Word document that takes less than two minutes to fill out. You fill in those blanks, email it to the paralegal or the real estate attorney to prepare the documents, and it’s got all the information on those 12 little points,,s and they prepare the promissory note. The other document, of course, is the mortgage, or if you’re in a deed of trust state, the other document is the insurance policy, which names the lender, the private lender, as the mortgagee. Okay? So God forbid the property burns down, mortgagees, private lenders get paid first before the rest of us. And the title policy, they’re named as an additional insured on the title policy. Boom, that’s it. And guess what, here’s a big tip.
Jay Conner [00:34:12]:
If you really want to get your real estate investment on autopilot. I don’t even have to go to closings. I’ve given my real estate attorney power of attorney with the authority to buy any property, to sell any property, sign the documents as my power of attorney, and I just have to put in an email the authorization that I’m approving the term, and you know, boom. The attorney does the closings.
Ola Dantis [00:34:36]:
Wow.
Jay Conner [00:34:37]:
Then I just send somebody to their office to pick up the big check because we always get a big check when we buy, and then another check if we sell on rent-to-own, and then another big check when we cash out three checks on every transaction. If we’re selling on rent-to-own, two big checks if we’re just cashing out an mls.
Ola Dantis [00:34:53]:
Wow. Fantastic, Jay. I mean, I just wish we could keep going, but we’re definitely dwelling in the quick round. These are going to be quick questions, quick answers. You ready, sir?
Jay Conner [00:35:01]:
You didn’t tell me anything about quick questions. Oh, no. What am I going to do?
Ola Dantis [00:35:10]:
First question. What makes Jay unique? I mean, what is that?
Jay Conner [00:35:15]:
So these questions are going to be so good. I got to write these down for my own show. By the way, do you mind if I tell folks about my show?
Ola Dantis [00:35:28]:
Of course. Please do it. Plug it in abundance so y’ all.
Jay Conner [00:35:31]:
Can find me on iTunes and on YouTube. It’s called Real Estate Investing with Jay Conner. And my guests are almost as excited as Ola’s, but we talk about, you know, we talk a lot about private money and finding deals and, you know, single-family commercials. So what makes Jay Conner unique? The first thing that comes to mind, a nd the things that come to mind. But I guess one thing that makes me unique is what I hear all the time. I mean, I hear it all the time at my own live events, my mastermind groups, and from my students across the nation: their authenticity and genuineness. So, you know, what you are seeing is who I am. And yes, I actually am this excited all the time.
Jay Conner [00:36:23]:
And yes, I am this passionate all the time. So maybe that’s something else that makes me unique, which is that I have contagious joy.
Ola Dantis [00:36:32]:
Absolutely contagious. Because I can feel it. Right? I really love it. Second question.
Jay Conner [00:36:38]:
Okay. All right.
Ola Dantis [00:36:39]:
Yep. Second question. What was the last book that you read,d and what was the one thing that you picked out of that book? What was that one thing that you learned from the book?
Jay Conner [00:36:47]:
Wow. One of Hal Elrod’s most recent booksis called Miracle What Millionaires Do Before 8 am in the morning. And I love. I absolutely love the morning routine in that book. The morning routine has an acronym: savers. S A V E R S stands for silence, affirmations, visualization, exercise, reading, and scribing. That morning routine, laid out in detail,l will transform your life. Oprah Winfrey only does three of them.
Jay Conner [00:37:28]:
Imagine what would happen when you do all six of them. One hour each morning.
Ola Dantis [00:37:33]:
Great book. Great book by Hal. I know that book very well. Last question. So you’ve got all your speaking events, your master classes, obviously your podcast. You’re flipping all the zooms, you’re cashing checks. What do you do for fun?
Jay Conner [00:37:48]:
Well, what you just said, the podcast is fun. Being a guest on your podcast is fun. You know, finding deals before the real estate investors find them is fun. I enjoy chasing my lands sharing with other real estate investors. What I’ve learned is fun. But what else do I do that’s fun? Well, I write and record piano music. If I could turn this camera around, I’d show you the posters up on the wall of my piano releases. So one thing most people don’t know about me is my lands.
Jay Conner [00:38:30]:
Back in the late 90s, my piano music, my orchestral music. I got piano music that’s got orchestra behind it. Was in a Universal Studios movie with Ryan o’ Neill and Jackie Cha,n and Whoopi Goldberg. The name of the movie is Burn Hollywood Burn. Terrible movie. But the music was great. So anyway, that’s fun. On Monday nights, my wife Carol Joy and I are at the church, and I teach new songs, new spiritual songs, and I write songs for the church.
Jay Conner [00:39:06]:
So, teach new songs,s and I teach sight readings. So music is a big part of our family as well. And being involved with the church, you know, serving other people is what it’s all about.
Ola Dantis [00:39:18]:
Love it. Totally can relattoon that. On that level for sure. So if I’m a dual listener listenington my conversation, and I’m thinking, wow, I really like Jay. I want to get involved with Jay. I want to be one of his students. I want to join his class. I want to learn more about Jay.
Ola Dantis [00:39:31]:
What’s the best place people can, you know, connect with you?
Jay Conner [00:39:35]:
Sure. So let’s do this. Let’s send them to your website, because everybody knows you and your website. So let’s go to the website and let’s do a special URL. So let’s send them to www.dwelliN-W-E-L-L-Y-N n.com. your website, forward slash, all in lowercase. Private money. One word.
Jay Conner [00:40:00]:
Private money. P R I V A T E money. M O N E Y. And that’s where the free masterclass is titled. Where to get the money now is located. But you know, you know, we actually answer the telephone here at my office. So our phone number is 2528-0829-2725-2808. 292,7 and that rings right here to me.
Ola Dantis [00:40:27]:
Thank you so, so much, Jay, not only for giving the masterclass to our dual listeners, but also for giving your direct number. Thank you so much, Jay. I really appreciate your time today.
Jay Conner [00:40:36]:
Thank you so much for having me on Ola. And let me know when part two is.
Ola Dantis [00:40:40]:
Yeah, definitely.
Narrator [00:40:42]:
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.