On the show today we talk… Wholesaling with Damon Dumas!

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Show Links:

– Damon’s LinkedIn
– Mountainside Properties LLC website
– Facebook
– Investor Grit Podcast #78 with Damon Dumas listen here
– Our podcast on Profit First with Mike Motorbike
– John Cochran the King of Systems website
– Our podcast with Jeff Watson on Legal Wholesaling
– Julie mentioned to get an Inman News subscription

Show notes for Wholesaling with Damon Dumas

The Vantastic Life is…
– is in Amalfi Italy (and it’s AMAZING!)

The awesome Damon Dumas with two amazing athlete kids, one of whom is a college football player.

Joe
How did you get into real estate.

Damon
From Chicago, born and raised. My background was mortgage brokering, for about 15 years. And prior to that was in auto sales and finance.

So, it was a natural progression to go from cars to mortgages. And then from the mortgage business to the wholesaling business.

I got into the mortgage business because the car business was crazy and took a lot of time. And I didn’t want to sacrifice time with my kids. So, I made the move to have more time with my family and my kids.

Then around 2008 the real estate business got crazy, and wanted to get into wholesaling. At that time we decided to move from Chicago to the Seattle area. My brother was the person that motivated me to head out there. Plus my mom and other brother moved out there.

There are definitely some things that I miss about home (Chicago).

Julie
How did you get introduced to real estate education for wholesaling?

Damon
I had the background from the mortgage business, so I had the lingo, but I was sick of the mortgage stuff. I wanted to work on my own without any other employees.

Julie
So you became a drug dealer? Hahaha!

Damon
Hahaha! Yeah!

The freedom and many options with this business is amazing! Wholesaling, fix and flip, buy and hold, training, become a speaker, etc.

This business was something that I decided to stay with, and I came across one that seemed like a pretty good mentorship program called Investor Grit. I went all in, and followed it to the T, and it worked!

There were definitely some things that the program gave me. The learning curve definitely helped me out.

Julie
Awesome! Are you still apart of the community?

Damon
I am, and they call us Rhino’s (those who go through the program). I don’t do as much with them as I’d like to.

Julie
I was actually looking at the Investor Grit guys a few weeks ago, and didn’t know you were going to mention them.

We tell people to get your education wherever you feel like you fit, and then plug in to your local real estate groups.

Damon
The Investor Grit guys actually have a podcast and I was on number 98, I think…

Julie
What’s your commitment on your business… how much are you working, and where?

Damon
Only in WA in King and Pierce counties. I like to go see all of the properties and things.

I don’t believe anyone can do it part time. I just don’t think that you can and run the proper systems. You’re going have to take a call and see a property at 10am or 12pm or 6pm. If you have a full time job you’re going to have a hard time doing it.

When I got started I went 100% full in, and don’t see how I could do it otherwise.

Julie
I absolutely agree, and tell people that I coach all the time that you need to be 100% committed all the time. You have to have the 100% hustle.

If you are listening and want to hear me talk more about that… come see me on a Tuesday in Burien.

So, what do you love most about wholesaling?

Damon
I love the negotiating! I don’t really love the other parts.

I shine at the negotiating table!

Julie
Where did you learn your negotiating skills?

Damon
Yeah, I didn’t read any books or classes. It was really from the car business days. You’re dealing with people that think you’re the scum of the earth. It takes some talent to get people to be disarmed, and get them to open up to you. And that carried over into the mortgage business.

So, yeah, it was self taught. Being in different scenarios, and you start to see those scenarios repeat themselves.

Julie
I’ve seen other people that came from the car sales business that are totally smooth operators as well.

Damon
Well, I can tell you that it’s different now. Things have changed with the internet, and the dealerships have changed how they do things.

Julie
Tech has changed the car industry, and it’s changing the real estate business.

Here’s a tip, get the Inman News.

Do you listen to any podcasts or get into from anywhere?

Damon
I don’t really listen to any podcasts, but I go to a lot of local groups.

Grant Cardone
Think and Grow Rich
Never Split the Difference

Julie
I have another book for you called Profit First. Joe can you drop that in the show notes.

What do you think is the easiest deal to close on and what is the hardest?

Damon
It all depends on the situation… if a property is in desperation or maybe or hoarder. Those are the easiest to close.

The harder ones are the people that don’t really need to sell their home. They are tire kickers that say they’ll sell if they get the right price.

I try to find motivation, and the biggest thing that I say is that you need to find people that have to sell their house, not want to sell their house.

Julie
Is that the hardest… I always think that pre foreclosures are the hardest, because they always shop your offer around.

But I don’t market to pre foreclosure or foreclosure because it’s not allowed in the WA law.

How do you feel about pre foreclosures and dealing with those guys?

Damon
I actually haven’t done any. Because of the law and all that. I do see them, but I try to avoid them because of the law.

Julie
That’s fantastic because you’re a busy full time wholesaler that’s kicking ass and you are doing it the right way.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard of John Cochran of Systems Saturday, but they talk about multiple layer of motivation. Do you do any of that?

Damon
I do. Multiple motivations are the way to go!

Julie
What do you say to sellers that are collecting offers?

Damon
Absolutely not! I do not compete, and I’ll tell them that over the phone, but I do offer my expertise. I’m not going try to comeback and renegotiate it later. But if you’re going to try to get a bidding war going… I’m not into that.

Julie
Try this one and they will call you back!

Damon
You can’t think about not getting the deal. You can’t take it personal, or freak out. You can’t worry about it. You have to make offers as much as you can. A lot of times you have to make low ball offers, even if you feel like it’s not right in your gut.

It has to fit the business model.

Julie
How do you go about that, and how do you keep them engaged?

Damon
Normally I hit them with a number, and they I follow up. Then I come back with “what’s the best price you would consider?” Then I say, I don’t think that’s going to work, but you’re saying that if I give you your number, we’re going to have a deal… yeah.

I try to get them to give me their number first.

If they aren’t willing to give me their number, they aren’t that motivated.

Another hard question is… what do you owe on the property. If they are motivated, they won’t hesitate to give you that number. If they won’t give you that number, you probably aren’t going to do a deal with them.

Julie
Are you assigning all of your properties, or are you closing on any?

Damon
I’m wholesaling most of them, but have JV’d on a few of them. Where we close and split the deal at the end.

Julie
Great! If you are getting into the full time wholesaling business make sure you have some money, and are going to know all of the legalities.

I’m so happy to say that I’ve become friends with Jeff Watson, and you should checkout our deep dive with him at https://seattleinvestorsclub.com/63

Damon does it the right way, and you need to get onto Damon’s buyers list to see what he’s doing.

He is very mindful and specific.

Damon
Totally! I’m not closing on the properties, so I need to be very specific about what I say in my marketing. This is because I’m not buying a property, I assigning a contract.

Julie
We don’t want to get too deep into that today, but you need to listen to our podcast with Jeff Watson.

And you need to close on a few properties as a wholesaler to make sure you’re being legal.

Do you do driving for dollars or what do you do to get your list?

Damon
All of my marketing is direct mail marketing, and I pull lists from List Source and Rebo Gateway. I’ve tried a few other things, but for me they just didn’t work (Facebook, Google, etc.).

Julie
Are you using RVM?

Damon
I am not, but will be trying ringless voicemail here in the future to see how it works.

Julie
I know that Sean Terry has a RVM product, and there are a lot of laws that are getting tighter on this stuff.

Lucky for me direct mail has always worked, and I have a ninja on the phones.

How do you like your Investor Carrot website?

Damon
I really love them, and their content.

Julie
Who do you use for closing?

Damon
Attorneys Title, and I love them!

I alway open title and escrow with Attorneys Title, and you can find out a lot of issues from that title report.

Julie
And how do you work your earnest money? And do you sell to the same buyers?

Damon
Yeah, that’s kinda really what it is with me. People tell you to build a big buyers list, but it’s just a handful of buyers that buy all of my deals.

If you’re going to be a serious buyer, and tell a wholesaler that you want it… you have to move quickly on it. If you’re going to be a buyer… be a real buyer, and be transparent about it.

Julie
Do you do a home inspection? I know there’s been some stuff on my own stuff..

Damon
I do an inspection contingency on all of my properties, and sometimes we’ll do a professional inspection. And at that point I have the buyer put their deposit down.

Julie
Great buyers to have on your buyers list are real estate brokers because they run around with retail buyers. And they can ask their buyers to pay them themselves. You can maybe even get a premium.

We are actually going to have to wrap it up because I’m doing a meetup with my friends at True Deed.

If you had all of the money in the world what would you do?

Damon
I would probably travel the world like Joe is doing and try to see every inch of this planet, and people and food.

Julie
Remember you can all do this right now like my partner Joe.

How can people get on the Damon Dumas buyers list?

Damon
Go to my website or email me damon@mspropertiesllc.com.

Julie
Awesome! If you want to hangout more with me… join use on a Tuesday from 12-2pm in Burien at Angelos Italian. Every single Tuesday!