Build Wealth, Serve People, Live Free Through Real Estate with Nick Disney

Transcript

[Mattias] (1:00:03 – 1:00:08)
Welcome back to the REI Agent. We have Erica back. We have Erica in the house.

[Erica] (1:00:09 – 1:00:13)
Yeah, Nick, you’re lucky. I haven’t been on one of these for a while. So fantastic.

[Mattias] (1:00:13 – 1:00:14)
I’m glad you can make this one.

[Erica] (1:00:15 – 1:00:15)
Yeah, yeah.

[Mattias] (1:00:15 – 1:00:42)
And we have Nick Disney here. So thank you so much, Nick, for joining us today. We’re, yeah, excited to have Erica here to dive into her specialties as well.

We won’t psychoanalyze you, but we might get a little bit sidetracked from the just me business and real estate focus and hear a little bit about how we try to live a holistic life through real estate. So yeah, Nick, tell us, give us a bird’s eye view of who you are and what you do in real estate.

[Nick Disney] (1:00:42 – 1:01:08)
Perfect. Nick Disney, I’m a single family real estate investor in San Antonio, Texas. Almost all of our business is single family residential real estate and almost all right here in San Antonio.

We’ve done almost everything in that part, you know, flips, wholesale, non-portfolio rentals. Our specialty we’re probably known for is more owner finance, where we’ll purchase a property and then we’ll sell it back on terms and carry back a note. Okay.

[Mattias] (1:01:09 – 1:01:21)
That’s awesome. Yeah. How is the market in San Antonio now?

I’ve interviewed people from Austin and I think Austin itself was a little inflated through the pandemic more so than maybe the rest of Texas. How is San Antonio doing?

[Nick Disney] (1:01:22 – 1:01:53)
So Austin really took off, but San Antonio grew during that same time, just not at the same level. And so things are a little slower on the sale side here in San Antonio. You can expect a little longer days on market.

People are seeing a little longer to get properties to rent, but we’re still moving forward. You can still sell houses. You can, you know, you can still make money investing and you can still lease your properties here in San Antonio.

Just a little slower than, you know, we all let ourselves get a little bit used to. Yeah.

[Mattias] (1:01:54 – 1:01:59)
I mean, in some ways it’s a little bit more relaxed and enjoyable. It got wild.

[Erica] (1:02:00 – 1:02:00)
Yeah.

[Mattias] (1:02:00 – 1:02:23)
Yeah. If you’re, if you’re writing as an agent, if you’re writing, you know, like five offers for a person to just be, you know, outbid, outbid, outbid all the time. It’s just got a little old, but yeah, also had a lot of business.

So it was, it was good and bad. Absolutely. Nick you, you’re, so you’ve stayed basically in Texas.

Is that where you started your investor journey? What, how’d you get into real estate to begin?

[Nick Disney] (1:02:24 – 1:03:05)
So it’s pretty much all been in Texas and I was, you know, like everybody, I was kind of working my, my nine to five and wanted something a little more, something I could do in addition. And I read the same books that we all read, the rich dad, poor dad, and a few others, and learned a little bit about cashflow and felt like real estate was a spot where I could invest and I could do it on the side of, of, you know, my, my main income and, you know, started it like everybody. It starts with that first one house and then built it from there.

And, you know, now that, you know, I’m over 15 years into it, we’re a little busier now than when I started, but it’s, it’s been a great journey. I’ve learned a ton and I’m looking to learn some more.

[Erica] (1:03:06 – 1:03:07)
What was your nine to five before you left it?

[Nick Disney] (1:03:08 – 1:03:23)
I was working in sales. So I worked in a pharmaceutical sales job and then I worked for the same company, but on their vaccine side. And so that was where I was working.

And, you know, in between calls or in the evening, you know, you definitely had time to do something in addition.

[Erica] (1:03:24 – 1:03:31)
Did you feel like that pharmaceutical sales, like that skillset helped you in the real estate world or was that different when you transitioned?

[Nick Disney] (1:03:32 – 1:04:18)
I think it, it definitely helped because you talk to so many people and you interact with, your job was to interact with people and I would interact with 30 or 40 people every day. And so you just learn how to better communicate with people, how to, you know, really hear where they’re coming from and not so much, maybe just what was said, or if they’re having a bad day, you know, the push and pull. So I think the skills from that and really just it, real estate is a, is a, is a people business.

Even though we deal with houses and loans and mortgages and money and bricks, it’s a people business and, and learning how to understand where people are coming from and how you can help them get to where they want to be is a huge skill. And a lot of that I learned just for talking to so many people.

[Erica] (1:04:18 – 1:04:32)
Yeah, I bet. I bet. And you sound too, I mean, if you’ve been in sales, I guess I’m going to make an assumption here that you operate pretty well under some pressure and, and maybe also with having quite a variety to your day and to your routine.

[Nick Disney] (1:04:32 – 1:05:02)
Yes. I like having a variety to my routine, you know, I like, and I also like to be busy and I do think pressure can be a very good thing for certain people. And lots of times it’s helpful for me and we absolutely have to get it done.

And in, in, in sales, as in a lot of people find in real estate, whether they’re an agent or investor, you do typically get out what you put in and those that, you know, work harder and spend more time on their craft, whichever section they’re in tend to get better results.

[Erica] (1:05:02 – 1:05:05)
Yeah. Yeah. That makes, yeah, absolutely true.

[Mattias] (1:05:05 – 1:05:06)
I can relate to all those things.

[Erica] (1:05:06 – 1:05:23)
Yeah. Yeah. It sounds very similar.

How did you, or how have you, I guess, maybe it’s evolved over the years, but how do you normally manage the stress that you do end up feeling given, you know, you have like a really tough week where you have had a lot of hard stuff going on.

[Nick Disney] (1:05:23 – 1:06:14)
So I mean, working out is a huge thing for me. It’s pretty much every day, like every single day. And that’s, it’s, it’s before everybody else gets up.

It’s kind of my me time. But through through that it helps a ton. So I like the physical activity and then, and sometimes I just need a five minute break and I’ll typically, I will walk outside or, you know, it’s better with the fresh air.

Cause sometimes now I’m not, I’m not out as much as I used to be. I’m in the office a ton and I just have to step outside and take a deep breath. And then, and I think I’m also, I’m fortunate to have some great people that I work with here, you know, our partners here in the business that we’re all feeling the stress sometimes.

And it’s not usually, we’re not always feeling it at the exact same time. So being able to talk to them, talk through it and invent that, that’s super helpful.

[Erica] (1:06:14 – 1:06:27)
Yeah. I feel like we can both relate to that. We also rely quite a bit on, on working out.

We both do CrossFit and oh man, you can tell a difference when you haven’t been in a couple of days, you know, you do a hundred percent.

[Mattias] (1:06:28 – 1:06:29)
You can tell a difference.

[Erica] (1:06:29 – 1:06:29)
Yeah.

[Mattias] (1:06:30 – 1:06:49)
Yeah. It’s, and there’s times where I don’t want to talk to anybody. Like I, there’s a thing I’m working through and I just like, I can’t talk to this person until I get it to the gym.

Once I, once I go, I am curious about, I mean, you mentioned partners. So what’s your, what’s your operation look like right now? I mean, how many people are in it?

[Nick Disney] (1:06:50 – 1:07:42)
So, so I, me have a full-time business partner. He owns half of the business here. So my San Antonio house, that’s, that’s more of our acquisitions.

We buy houses, cash for houses. And then we, we purchased most of our things through MD Realty. And then, you know, we have a couple other guys that are absolute key members of the team.

You know, one guy who does almost all of our acquisitions, which was a role that I used to have. And now he’s helped take over so I can focus on other things. And then some people that help us with sales because selling with owner financing is a, you know, has, is a little different than your traditional MLS sale.

It just, it’s different. Right. And so they really focus on that.

And then, and then we have someone now who, who helps us with our direct off market or our cash sales. And so having those people and those team members in place, it’s super helpful.

[Mattias] (1:07:42 – 1:07:53)
Yeah. I was going to ask too, like where you’re finding your deals, where are you sourcing that? Are you doing a lot of mailers, advertisements, off market on market combination?

What’s that look like?

[Nick Disney] (1:07:54 – 1:08:46)
Great question. So the majority of what we buy is off market. Most of it’s going to come through our website.

SellMySanAntonioHouse.com. It’s it’s for motivated sellers who need a cash buyer. We’re not typically the best fit for people who really need an agent to support them.

And, you know, but there are people who were a better choice for, and so they’ll, they’ll find us typically through the website. We also do quite a bit of direct mail. And then we have lots of agents that we work with that will bring us properties like, Hey, I represent this person for whatever reason.

It can be a time constREInt or the condition of the property. We think that they should at least look at what a correct cash offer would be. And they’ll still represent the person, but they like, Hey, can you come in and make us a cash offer?

So we know what that would look like. And then they can decide what’s best for them.

[Mattias] (1:08:46 – 1:09:06)
Break it down. I think, I think that sometimes there’s a misunderstanding from the agents have on investors that would be making cash offers or may have, I mean, you know, we could get into wholesaling too, but could you, could you break down what it looks like for somebody who would benefit from your services?

[Nick Disney] (1:09:07 – 1:09:08)
Absolutely.

[Mattias] (1:09:08 – 1:09:51)
So break it down and more as far as what types of people are, what situations are, yeah, like show, show, give us an example of, of why somebody, so, so what I’m getting at is basically like, you know, you’re going to be buying a property, a cash, a low market value, and there needs to be a, you need to have an exit strategy here. You need to be able to flip it to make it a profit from it or whatever you’re wanting to do with it and explain to our listeners, you know, you know, why somebody would choose to use that. And, and, and, you know, cause I don’t believe you’re swindling people.

You’re not, you know, telling them, you know, like it’s like, yeah. So explain to somebody who may not understand that.

[Nick Disney] (1:09:51 – 1:12:04)
No, it’s a, it’s a great question. And it, it can be a little bit of a misunderstanding. We don’t have to swindle anybody.

We can tell them the truth and sometimes we fit and sometimes we’re not the best choice. But a lot of reasons, you know, people have a property and that property can cause a lot of stress and a lot of pressure on them when they either don’t know what to do with it or feel like they need to sell it. We do have an advantage that we can, we can close incredibly quickly.

You just can’t go to market and sell the house as fast as we can buy it. And so that, that time constREInt can come in. It’s, it’s generally not financial.

It’s not that the people are struggling. That’s maybe eight, 10% of all of them that it’s not typically what it is. But they may have their dream job.

They may want to move somewhere else and we will tell them like, we are going to buy this below market value. They understand we’re buying it below market value, but they feel like the trade off of either, Hey, knowing exactly what their closing date is going to be, um, be knowing that we’re going to close, we’ll put up a ton of earnest money. We’ll guarantee the close and we close on that date.

They know that it’s done. Um, which, you know, when a market’s tougher, obviously has more value for a lot of people who need to move forward. We’ll buy a lot of inherited properties.

So the family has it, they don’t need this home. That can be an incredibly emotional, stressful time for them. And they really want someone to, that, that house is it’s not, it’s not about how much they get for the house.

They want a fair price, but it’s more about, can you take this stress off? We don’t want to show my mom’s house. We don’t want people walking through there.

We don’t want to go over offers and negotiations and repairs. And then it falls out of contract and that is not what they would like. And we’ll tell them, Hey, this is what we can offer.

This is a cash price. We will guarantee it. Um, and you can pick the closing date and they will just decide if that’s a better fit for them.

Um, and so that’s a lots of times where we’ll come in. And then of course, the ones that need substantial repairs, we do get a lot of those calls. We buy houses that need hardly anything, but when a house has substantial repairs, you’re really going to reduce who’s willing to buy it.

You’re not going to sell it to your standard homeowner. They can’t get a loan on it. It really is going to shorten that pool and you’re going to end up pretty close to the same amount at the end.

[Erica] (1:12:04 – 1:12:23)
Anyway, going back to the inherited houses, do you, have you ever gotten, um, like a house like that where that just has like a ton of stuff in it that the family’s like, I don’t want to go through this. It’s going to take forever. Can you just take the house, get the stuff out?

I don’t really care. Put it on an auction. Like has that situation ever come up?

[Nick Disney] (1:12:23 – 1:13:06)
It happens a lot because, um, you know, we’ve all known someone or that, um, collects things. It’s not always that, that it’s not just, I mean, we do buy hoarder houses. It’s not in this, it’s not that situation.

They just have so much stuff. And I have seen it with my own eyes. You know, it’s typically a son or a daughter who’s helping sell it.

And there’s just, it’s just full. And when you tell them like, Hey, you take anything you want, you leave as much as you want. And this may be a, I mean, full, like we’re, we’re turning to the side to walk through the hallway.

You can just see the relief just come over them. And they’re just like, and so it’s just, that’s a huge value to that person. Um, and it’s just part of what we’ll do.

And we’ll, we’ll, you know, we tell them, Hey, you take anything you want, leave anything you don’t, don’t sweep just, you know, you can just leave.

[Erica] (1:13:07 – 1:13:12)
Oh, that would feel so good. I can just imagine. I bet you’ve found some pretty interesting stuff in these houses.

[Nick Disney] (1:13:13 – 1:14:06)
Um, we found some very interesting, um, from time to time, you know, um, some things that are, um, you know, you find a appropriate things, inappropriate things, you find great things. We even found things and you’re like, man, I know they would have wanted this and the best feeling in the world. Cause we found things like, you know, they didn’t mean to leave behind.

And, um, if you can still get ahold of them and like, Hey, they found this black, it’s like old black and white photo album. Those are a couple that really stand out to me. You know, these photos are however old those are and they didn’t know that we’re there and like, Hey, do you want these?

And, um, I’ve even, I mean, I’ve even shipped them across the country to people that were over there, but just, you know, it gives you a chance to do something great. And they’re so, so thankful, um, found those. I mean, I probably found hundreds of bowling balls.

That one always stands out to me. Like, I don’t know why people have so many bowling balls that they leave behind. Um, and everything else appropriate and inappropriate that you could think we have found it by now.

[Mattias] (1:14:07 – 1:14:13)
Um, I, I found a bunch of taxidermy squirrels. Um, I’ve got that going for me.

[Nick Disney] (1:14:13 – 1:14:15)
So, you know, so that’s a little win. Yeah.

[Mattias] (1:14:17 – 1:14:58)
Um, you know, Nick, as you’re talking about it, I was kind of like thinking of a good reframe, uh, for people to look at it. They may have some negative connotations with, um, this would be almost like it’s a luxury service. Like, right.

Like you’re almost like people would expect, uh, to pay more for a luxury service. And that’s essentially like, and obviously you’re taking on risk. Like, so you’re not just like a luxury real estate sales agent that is going to handle everything and charge a higher commission.

I mean, you’re, you’re taking the property on and that’s the, how your problem, um, you know, for good, bad or the ugly. So, I mean, that’s, that’s kind of a one way to frame it, reframe it as like, you know, you’re, you’re providing this luxury service. Like we’re, we’re, we’re going to be good in like two weeks.

[Nick Disney] (1:14:58 – 1:15:36)
You’re going to be, you’re going to have your money and that for certain people, um, is incredibly valuable. Um, and that, you know, and we tell them this is our business. They know when they call us, I mean, we get the call all the time, Hey, I know that you need to make money and you know, and so you’re not going to pay me the top dollar for this house.

We’ll tell them we are not going to, we’ll pay you as much as we can, but it’s going to be based on the factors of your property, the value, how much work does it need? And you know, the fact that we do have to make a, you know, we’re a for-profit company, everybody understands that. I can’t think of people that ever pushed back on that fact.

Um, it’s just, if we’re the right fit, then, you know, we can help them.

[Mattias] (1:15:37 – 1:15:49)
So, so tell me a little bit about your exit strategies then. Um, so I’ve heard, uh, you know, owner financing, so selling it, owner financing, and I want to dive into that more later. Um, what else do you do?

Do you, you Brent as well?

[Nick Disney] (1:15:50 – 1:16:45)
So we’ll, we’ll, um, we don’t do many flips anymore. We have done a lot. It’s not, it’s not my, you know, my, my favorite thing to do.

Um, but we will purchase some and we will, we’ll generally wholesale them out. We don’t, um, or we’ll generally wholetail them out. We don’t do a lot of, uh, wholesaling or signing of contracts.

Um, we’ll typically, you know, purchase the property that way we can control it and there’s no hiccups wherever sold it to us. So we’ll close on the property. Um, then we may clean it out.

Sometimes we don’t fix it. We’ll sell it. Maybe somebody that wants to fix her up or a rental or for whatever reason they want it a little bit discounted.

Um, we do have a portfolio of rental properties. So we’ve held onto those for long term. Um, and so that, and then owner finance where, so we’ll, we’ll purchase the property, we’ll rehab the property.

And then when we sell it, we’ll offer it with owner financing, they’ll bring a down payment, we’ll create them a mortgage. And so then they’re, you know, they’re paying us. And so basically we’re, we’re the, we’re the lean Lord instead of the landlord at that point.

[Mattias] (1:16:45 – 1:17:34)
Yeah. Um, now I’ve heard of the, the ideas and the strategy behind the rent to own, um, the lease with the option to purchase essentially those people are typically, um, not quite mortgage ready. They might be, have a clear path to being mortgage ready, can’t get their own financing.

Uh, so this is, this offers a great solution to kind of lock in a price, you know, rent for a couple of years while they get the credit score or whatever they need, um, in order to be able to purchase, or maybe they just started a business and so they can’t get, they don’t have two years of income to from taxes to, to report. Um, and that’s kind of the, the angle there. That’s where it’s a win, win for the investor and the, uh, and the, the leaser.

Um, what about, um, what about for the, the, the mortgage? I mean, so what’s, what’s the, why would they be going with that as opposed to a traditional mortgage?

[Nick Disney] (1:17:34 – 1:18:54)
So, um, the big difference in when we own, when we own our finance, we’re typically not, you know, we’re typically not going to do a rent to owner lease option. Um, we’re going to directly sell it. So they’re putting a down payment.

They, they own it just the same as if you got your loan from Wells Fargo and you purchased they own this house, they’re not waiting. Um, and so that obviously for the, the buyer of the home can have some advantage. Um, if, if they have the down payment and typically we will service folks who are either a 1099, some type of contractor or some, they’re business owners.

Um, and it’s a little more difficult for them to get a traditional loan, but they make really good money. They’ve saved money for a down payment. Um, sometimes that can be a real struggle when you have to nine or you’re new or you, you know, you worked in this field and then you switched over to this one.

Uh, since we’re doing the financing, we can look at it, um, how we want. We don’t have to fit in the same box that a bank would. And so that’s why people would typically come to us.

Um, a lot of independent contractors, a lot of business owners, they own a restaurant. Um, a lot of people in construction will come, um, make good money, have money for a down payment, just needs to get started and, and we’ll let them refinance whenever they can. We don’t put a prepayment penalty.

They can, if they can refinance the next day, typically that’s not an option, but if they can do it in a year, two years, five years, they can refinance whenever they want. If they can get a better deal and we’ll all move forward.

[Mattias] (1:18:55 – 1:19:14)
Uh, so, so it sounds like it’s, it’s essentially the same solving the same problem, um, as the, but you’re just, you’re actually selling it to get me supposed to, to, um, and then, um, with that, uh, strategy or, or with, with that, what’s the interest rate look like? Does that, does that reflect kind of market rates? Are you, are charging a bit of a premium premium?

[Nick Disney] (1:19:14 – 1:19:42)
Oh, we’re typically a little higher than, than, you know, we’re typically a couple points higher than, than market rate. Um, you know, we do take more of a risk and we do have, you know, we are committed to this for the longterm if they want to stay, you know, and paying their mortgage. Cause we will, we, um, we don’t put balloons, um, and we don’t put prepayment penalties and we’ll do 15, 20 or 30 year financing if they fit.

So we’re, we’re fully committed. So we’ll typically be a couple points higher than, than what is out there. Um, just, it helps offset our risk.

Oh, it makes sense.

[Erica] (1:19:43 – 1:19:54)
So where, where you’re at right now with the business, have you arrived to like where you want it to be, how it’s set up, how big you are or are you hoping for it to change in the next couple of years?

[Nick Disney] (1:19:54 – 1:20:45)
Um, I mean, I’m, um, I’m not unhappy. I’m typically just an unsatisfied person and not, you know, so I’m, I’m usually looking to do more. Uh, sometimes that’s, um, more positive.

Sometimes it’s less positive. Uh, so I’m always, you know, always looking to grow, right? We’d like to, um, fine tune things.

We’re, we’re really good at what we do. We have a lot of really good people that work with us, but there’s some spots where we could get better. Um, and so growing the owner finance part is, um, is one place and do doing more growth towards the lending side.

Um, we do the longterm loans for own occupants, but also looking to do, you know, some more short term loans, uh, for people who, who need that, whether it’s, um, short term financing for a rehab project or, uh, they’re going to do the birth strategy, something like that. So probably more growth in, in that direction is the next thing that’s, that we’re looking at.

[Erica] (1:20:45 – 1:21:08)
Yeah. And you’re in such a good business too. That’s always evolving.

And so it lends to, uh, lots of creative, um, strategizing too, trying to make it what it needs to be. Are you somebody who tends to, um, see the bigger picture and what could be, or are you more of a, like a zoomed in? I can make what we have work really well right now.

[Nick Disney] (1:21:09 – 1:21:46)
Hmm. Oh, I might be a little bit of a mix, Erica. Um, I I’m always looking at where we can go and what we can do.

And then at the same time, it’s like, okay, well, that’s great. But like, what are we going to do today? Cause what we do today is what, you know, puts bread on the table for everybody, you know, us, the owners, the employees, everybody wants to keep working.

So I think I’m probably in between on that one. Um, Hey, what’s our vision? How do we make a plan?

I love a plan and I love, you know, how are we going to execute on that plan? And then how do we adjust what we have today? This is what we’re seeing.

Sometimes that’s market driven. Sometimes that’s us driven, you know, and then how do we use that to, um, to help us get where we want to go.

[Erica] (1:21:47 – 1:21:48)
It’s a good to have a mix of both.

[Mattias] (1:21:49 – 1:22:00)
Um, I have a question about funding. Are you, are you all, uh, do you have like a fund where people invest, um, and get paid, uh, interest on their money or are you all self-funded? We do.

[Nick Disney] (1:22:00 – 1:22:45)
Um, you know, I can’t dive into the fund too much. If, if, you know, anybody wants to reach out and ask for more information, they can always do that. Um, but we do have a fund.

Um, and then we work with a lot of private investors. Um, there are, um, so, so many people out there who would love to be, they want their money invested in real estate. They have money, but they don’t want to do the day to day stuff.

And so those individuals we’ve got great relationships with and they will fund a lot of our projects. Cause as you guys know, I mean, we buy our product as a house, so they’re very expensive. It’s capital, you know, it’s capital intensive business.

And so a lot of private lenders, um, some bank financing and then, and then, you know, we do have a fund where, where people can invest if it’s got to be the right person though. And you know, there’s a few steps to that. Sure.

[Mattias] (1:22:46 – 1:23:06)
Um, I wanted to dig into like, uh, conceptualizing and like, you know, how agents and people like you could work together as well. I would imagine, um, you would have a decent referral network, um, where, where like, if somebody is not a good, great fit, like, you know, like do you recommend working with, uh, an agent or whatever? How, how does that look typically?

[Nick Disney] (1:23:07 – 1:24:38)
Absolutely. And it goes both ways, but to that question, you know, we get lots of calls for folks. We’re just, we either, we can’t help them based on the situation or we’re really not the best fit.

And we can talk about it and you know, we both agree, you know, between us and the client, we’re not the best fit, but sometimes an agent really is a better way for them to go. And you would have been around a long time. So we’ve met a lot of agents and like in any business, there’s some that are, you know, any business, there’s some that are better and not as good.

And so then we can make some recommendations. Hey, this might be, we’ve worked with this person might be a really good person for you to give a call and see if they could better help you. Um, and so we’re happy to refer those people.

Cause we’d rather see someone help them because we know it’s not us at that point. Um, and so that same way works just like when an agent has someone who needs to sell a house and they look at it and they’re like, this is not, this is not an MLS situation, you know, and there’s lots of reasons. Um, lots of times we’ll get an opportunity.

We explain what the cash offer looks like and they can decide between them and their agent. Hey, is that a good fit? And then we can move forward.

So, um, we definitely do that a lot. Um, and then a lot of agents who have investors that they already work with who are looking for properties that aren’t listed on the MLS or looking for something that’s off market will typically come across those, um, more often than, than most agents would. And so sometimes we’ll get them reach out like, Hey, I have a buyer.

If I have them and you have something that fits X, Y, and Z, and they could buy it from you, um, we’d like to work together. And so that, um, that happens quite a bit as well. That makes sense.

[Mattias] (1:24:38 – 1:25:59)
I’ve definitely been in a couple of situations where, um, there was a property that, um, I would consider as an investment as well. Um, as you know, they’re, they’re coming to me to, to, you know, ask about selling the house. Um, and so I think, you know, in, in that kind of situation, if you are kind of walking in both worlds a little bit, um, like you’ve talked about is like just being really transparent is I think what’s key.

Um, and I think really breaking down like this is kind of the steps of things that we probably need to do, uh, to get it on the market. Um, and this is kind of what that looks like. And um, and then, you know, or if you are interested, um, I would be open to, you know, making a cash offer on it as well.

Um, and, and then explaining, you know, that there is profit when you’re doing that, that there has to be a reason to do it. It’s not just a charity, uh, work that, you know, we’re going to have to take the risk. We’re going to have to put capital at work for a while to get this property into market condition that, you know, then we have to either turn around and refinance and rent or, um, that we have to sell.

And so most people are reasonable and understand that, like, you know, that’s not going to be just done at a breakeven point. Um, and, and so like, it’s, it’s then their decision, but you’ve given them all the information where like, you know, yes, you could make more money if you, if you put it on the market.

[Nick Disney] (1:25:59 – 1:26:17)
Um, and, and I mean, I think it’s great that you could offer that, right? Because not, not everybody can and not everybody would, but at least you’ve then given the person, Hey, here’s a couple of options. You can explain to there’s pros and cons to both side, um, and let them decide what might be a better fit for them, but at least they know their choices and can make the best decision.

[Mattias] (1:26:17 – 1:27:17)
Yeah. A hundred percent. And then there’s also just the, the benefit of having access to the contractors and the people like, like if they are, you know, wanting to do and have capital to do some improvements or whatever is needed, you know, you, you have some of the connections and you can get some of the work, help them with some of the work, getting it, getting that all done, or just at least putting them in touch with the right people. Um, so there’s, there’s just, I feel like there’s a lot of advantages, but there’s not always, those kinds of opportunities don’t come up a ton for me. Um, and the, and the residential sales space, but when it does, it’s nice to be able to do that.

And then more often than not, um, it’s the house that people very much should sell it on the market and, um, have money that they can do a little touch up things. And you can, you having gone through the renovation process a bunch of times, you can really get a what’s going to cost, but you can also see the vision of like, you know, if, if this place has their, the hardwood floors, we refinished and the, um, you know, a little bit of paint, it’s going to just pop so much more than it does now and be so much more market ready.

[Nick Disney] (1:27:18 – 1:27:41)
And I think then you can more accurately share what they’re really looking at because sometimes, you know, the seller will call you and like, ah, it’s only like $2,000 and I’ll have it fixed up. And you’re looking at it and it’s $40,000. Like, it’s just, you’re never going to, you’re never going to get there with, um, just cleaning it up.

Um, and then sometimes, yeah, you can explain that, Hey, really, this is all you need to do. You know, probably do a lot better in the end if you’re willing to go this route.

[Mattias] (1:27:42 – 1:28:06)
Yeah. Yeah. So it’s, it’s just a good, I think it’s, it’s really good for agents to have an idea and they don’t have to be like me where both I’m doing both, but I think having a good referral partner like yourself, um, is really advantageous and they shouldn’t again, hopefully understand that this is, you know, there’s different needs in the market and, um, you know, it’s again, not a swindle thing.

It’s a, it’s a service.

[Nick Disney] (1:28:07 – 1:28:18)
It’s not, you know, we’re not ripe for everybody. It’s a service. And, um, can we, can we help the seller?

And if not, it can somebody else help the seller better. Well, let’s connect those folks. Um, there’s plenty of houses out there.

There’s plenty of houses. Yeah.

[Mattias] (1:28:19 – 1:28:29)
Yeah. Um, so I was going to, I’m, I’m curious if you have any golden nuggets for either budding investors or, um, agents, uh, that you want to share with us.

[Nick Disney] (1:28:31 – 1:29:31)
No, happy to share. Um, open book. Um, all the agents out there, I would, I would really encourage them to look at being investors as well.

Uh, cause it can be a huge game changer for you. Even if you just do a little, you don’t have to start a whole business. So number one, I would absolutely encourage agents to look at the investment side and see how that might fit for them.

Um, and then my, my, one of my golden nuggets, especially if you’re starting out is, is just pick, pick one lane. All right. Because what’s going to happen is all these people are going to tell you why everything’s great.

It’s all going to be a different opinion. And it’s not that those they’re wrong, but if you’re continually looking and looking and looking, you’re trying to decide against 15 different things, you’ll end up choosing none. And you’d be much better off if you just pick a path that you feel is going to work for you and go down that path.

And I promise later you can change if you want to, you’re not stuck to it for the rest of your life, but really commit to doing one thing on the investment side, do it well. Um, and then once you’ve done a well, then you can decide if that’s the best fit or if you need to go a different direction.

[Mattias] (1:29:31 – 1:30:06)
Yeah. A hundred percent. I think that that’s true too, with, um, just, you know, if you’re starting off and don’t have a ton of capital, um, that, that can be another element there that you can build and maybe get more complex with things that you do later.

Um, um, maybe get even into more commercial, but yeah, it’s kind of similar to like a lot of people say in sales, like the riches that are in the niches, right? If you get really good at one sector, um, yeah, it makes a ton of sense. Um, Nick, what about a favorite book or books?

Uh, if you have one that you think is fundamental that everybody should read or, or maybe one that you’re just currently enjoying?

[Nick Disney] (1:30:07 – 1:31:08)
Um, I think whenever, uh, the success principles, Jack Canfield, I think that is a great one. Um, really talks about just different principles of success and, and, um, and things that everybody can implement. You don’t have to implement all of them, but I think that’s one for sure.

Um, and then I really encourage people, um, to learn more about the lending side. Uh, it’s something that people don’t know as much about. They tend to hear, Hey, we can flip properties or we can rent properties and there’s other options.

And one of them is lending, whether that says a private lender is a long-term lender, owner finance, um, and, uh, the, the banker’s code. Um, this one right here, it talks a little bit about that. It talks about, it’s also helped introduce people kind of how banks work and, and, and the lender side.

And I think that’s something, if anybody’s interested in that, it’s a great way to create really passive income and real passive cashflow where rentals aren’t as passive as you know, they get made out to be. Um, and so I would encourage people to look at, uh, those two. That’s great.

The banker’s code was the second one.

[Erica] (1:31:08 – 1:31:09)
I haven’t heard of that one.

[Nick Disney] (1:31:09 – 1:31:47)
The banker’s code. It’s, um, I got you right here. Uh, not as many people have heard of it, not many people about lending.

Uh, the banker’s code, this one right here, um, by George Antone, it’s got, you know, it’s gonna, um, and so it talks a lot about banks lending and how that can work. And it just gives people more information and something that a lot of times when we talk about private lending or owner financing or mortgage notes, people are like, wow, just nobody ever told me this. And it’s true.

It’s not talked about as much. And so this book might be a great introduction or, um, or if somebody is listening and you just want to reach out to me and talk about it, I’m pretty much going to always carve out a little bit of time and tell you what I know and maybe write for you. Maybe not.

[Mattias] (1:31:49 – 1:31:58)
Um, Nick, you have, you’ve mentioned your website, but mentioned it again. Is there anywhere else that people can find you and follow you if they are like, like what you’re saying?

[Nick Disney] (1:31:59 – 1:32:26)
Yeah. So sellmysanantoniohouse.com that’s the website. Um, that’s our cash buying website.

So easy to find me on there. And you can always send me an email, Nick@sellmysanantoniohouse.com or, um, on Instagram, you know, we, we try to put out some quality content there. Uh, so @realestate_Nick1.

So if you want to follow us on Instagram or find us on the website or just shoot an email, I’m happy to connect with anybody, you know, who we think we could work with or, or help out in some way. Awesome.

[Erica] (1:32:27 – 1:32:44)
Yeah. Thank you. I also really appreciate your willingness to like share your information and share all of the knowledge that you have.

It’s clear. You’ve, you know, we’ve learned a lot since you’ve been in the business. And I always really appreciate it when we talk to people who are just really open to talking to anybody and helping people out too.

[Nick Disney] (1:32:45 – 1:32:56)
Um, you always get more back than you end up giving away. So, um, happy to do it. Um, and yes.

And, um, if people want to ask me about the mistakes I’ve made, I’ve got plenty of those too. So you guys don’t need to make them as well. I already did it.

[Mattias] (1:32:58 – 1:32:59)
Oh, Nick, thanks so much for being on the show.

[Erica] (1:33:01 – 1:33:03)
Thanks for listening to the REI agent.

[Mattias] (1:33:03 – 1:33:06)
If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week.

[Erica] (1:33:07 – 1:33:10)
Visit REIagent.com for more content.

[Mattias] (1:33:10 – 1:33:12)
Until next time, keep building the life you want.

[Erica] (1:33:12 – 1:33:18)
All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.