Pro Wholesaler VIP Reviews: How Chase & Diana Made $40,000 Wholesaling In California!

In this Real Estate Skills Pro Wholesaler VIP Review, Ryan Zomorodi (Co-Founder & COO of Real Estate Skills) interviews Diana and Chase, two Real Estate Skills students who recently closed two wholesale deals in California, resulting in a $40,000 net profit!

As a couple no stranger to tough times, Diana and Chase explain how the Real Estate Skills program changed their lives for the better! With the stresses of full-time positions and kids to provide for, Diana and Chase were still able to start real estate investing using the tools and systems at Real Estate Skills!

After just a few months in the program, they made 2 deals for a total net profit of $40k! Come watch how Diana and Chase got their first wholesale deals!

In this interview & Pro Wholesaler VIP Program Review, we cover these highlights:

🏡 Diana and Chase work in the entertainment industry and decided to venture into real estate due to job instability caused by the pandemic and other crises.

📈 They were looking for a more stable and flexible Plan B that they could manage while raising their young children.

💡 They found the Real Estate Skills program, which allowed them to learn and apply new skills without needing large initial investments.

🔍 Learning Process: They learned how to handle properties, from searching to negotiating and closing deals, through a step-by-step approach provided by the program.

💼 Their first deal was challenging but Real Estate Skills provided valuable lessons on handling contracts and negotiations!

💪 Despite initial difficulties, they successfully closed two deals and continued building relationships with real estate agents for future opportunities.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 They use their earnings to secure their family’s future and educate their children about the real estate business.

🌟 They generated significant profits, improving their financial situation and establishing a solid foundation for the future.

If you want to learn EXACTLY how to wholesale real estate in California visit: How To Wholesale Real Estate In California: Step-By-Step

*For in-depth training on real estate investing, Real Estate Skills offers extensive courses to get you ready to make your first investment! Attend our FREE Webinar Training and gain insider knowledge, expert strategies, and essential skills to make the most of every real estate opportunity that comes your way!

--- VIDEO TRANSCRIPTION ---

Ryan Zomorodi (00:00):
Hey everyone, it's Ryan Zomorodi, co-founder of RealEstateSkills.com, and today I'm here with two of our students who have an amazing story. They recently closed, not one, but two real estate deals, which resulted in a $40,000 net profit into their bank account. So I'm here with Diana and Chase, who are members of the Ultimate Investor Program, who started as new investors and were able to implement our tools, systems, and processes to close their very first wholesale deals. So Diana, Chase, thank you so much for being here. I'm thrilled to be getting to know you a little bit better and to be able to share your story with our audience. So first off, how are you guys doing today?

Diana (00:39):
Yeah, we're good. We're good. Thanks for having us.

Chase (00:41):
Yeah, nice to be here.

Ryan Zomorodi (00:42):
Awesome guys. Well, thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it. I'm sure you're very busy. And just to start this off, tell us a little bit about your background, right? Who are you and what were you doing before joining the real estate skills program?

Diana (00:57):
Sure. Good. Okay, so I'm originally from Maryland. Chase is from Minnesota, but we both live in Los Angeles or just south of Los Angeles. We both work in the entertainment industry. We work in documentary television, and one reason that we got involved with this was because obviously the pandemic made things tough for everybody. And then for our field, we had the writer's strike. We had mergers with different networks, and so in our industry we call it the drought, and we have two small kids and we have a house, and you really don't have an option to not succeed when you have a family to support. So we decided that we needed a plan B and something that was a little more stable and that we could do anywhere, and that would be weatherproof against future drops. So that's why we found Real Estate Skills and we wanted something that would be able to fit our schedules because we, as I said, have two small kids. We both work full time, so we don't have a lot of spare time, but we wanted to find something that we could that was flexible and it's been working great for us so far.

Ryan Zomorodi (02:10):
Yeah, absolutely. So it sounds like you're kind of looking for something with more control over your time and something that was a little bit more recession proof. Obviously a lot of people were displaced as far as their careers and their work with the pandemic, and your industry of course was affected substantially. So what else was it about real estate that seemed to be the vehicle that could be the solution for some of the pain that you were feeling and some of the frustrations you had with how things were going in your career?

Chase (02:44):
So for us, we have periods of downtime. So for us, it fits into our lives naturally because we're on projects and then we have some periods where we don't. So having the control over filling in that time and being able to jump back into it each time is good. As Diana said, the control is good. Also, there's a lot of connections to our industry. There's a lot of similar crossover skills that we found in terms of pitching and putting projects together, putting houses together, finding them, vetting them, talking to people. We do a lot of that in our jobs. So for us, it made a lot of sense this type of program because it's stuff that we're doing anyway. So it just sort of was a natural connection. On top of that, we've been looking even before finding Real Estate Skills, we were looking at getting rental properties and passive incomes and things like that. So we've been researching that for a long time, really just looking for consistent income over long periods of time and something to always have there.

Diana (03:35):
Yeah, I think that both of us were under the misinterpretation that in order to invest in real estate, you had to have buckets of money, and we don't have buckets of money lying around, so we didn't think that was an option for us, but it was something we were always interested in. We were researching real estate Chase before finding this program, was like, Hey, this is something we should look into, but we just didn't think that we could. So when we found out about this program, we learned have to have buckets of money to invest in real estate. There are ways to do it and do it with a low overhead, low risk approach, and that was appealing to us. And so that's kind of what gave us the permission to try this out.

Ryan Zomorodi (04:18):
Yeah, totally, totally. So it sounds like you had done some investigation, you were interested in rental properties, generate that passive income and that long-term wealth. Typically that does require good amount of capital to get in to really make sure that property cash flows. Of course, there's way to do it without having a ton of money, but really as an entrance point, looking for something that was more of like a lean model, something that would fit in your schedule, and also something that you could do without having to invest a ton in that first deal. So was there any hands-on real estate experience or did you have any experience in the industry prior to joining the Real Estate Skills community?

Diana (05:05):
We bought our home. So I mean, we've had personal real estate transactions, but nothing in the investor capacity. So we'd done well on the houses that we've personally had bought and sold. So we were able to buy our next house with our starter house. We were able to do do that, but we hadn't had any professional experience. We're not realtors, we're not brokers, we're just average people who had an interest in real estate

Chase (05:35):
When we have since invested in two properties in other states. And we have found the challenge of that is, as you said, you can make money, but you have to be perfect. And while you can do it with limited investment, which we're working on and doing, there is still a ton of learning to be involved in it and a ton of pitfalls. So for us, this is still a good avenue to generate wealth from our own energy and our own output without a ton of overhead, which is a big thing obviously in the part that's really challenging with owning rentals at this point. So it's just a growth process for us

Diana (06:09):
And in our industry, we're all freelancers, so we don't have our own, we don't get insurance from a company, we don't have 401Ks. Everything that if we want ever want to retire, that's up to us to be able to save as best we can. And so this was an opportunity to do that and we're really interested in it, but we needed somebody to hold our hand a little bit. It was scary to take that first step and we need someone to guide us a little bit and not coddle us, but to be there for when we have questions and have that community and have that mentorship. And it seemed to have the highest rate of success, but also wasn't outrageously expensive either. We did research to other programs and they're like, oh, give us your firstborn child in 50K. And we're like, okay, well, we could probably just buy a house on our own for that. So this seems to fit the bill for both avenues.

Ryan Zomorodi (07:08):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think buying rentals is a phenomenal long-term plan, but as you I'm sure are well aware of after buying some out-of-state rentals, there's only so much cashflow at the end of the day, and it usually is not enough to really support a lifestyle until you really aggregate it over time. And so getting into wholesaling, getting into flipping that at least allows you to generate larger chunks of capital to even help sustain your lifestyle, but then even save quicker for those other rentals. So yeah, absolutely a great way to continue working in the same space that you're investing in, but create some active income. So what was it that inspired you to make that shift and really take action when you did on the more active income side of wholesaling and investing?

Chase (08:02):
I think it was the idea after going through the class one, it made it feel more tangible and real. I think we had only had a very limited knowledge of what wholesaling was, and then starting to hear about it and going through the class we like, okay, this is tangible. This is a roadmap we can follow. This is kind of the first step. And I think it's really just the idea that you can generate with your own. It's how much you put into it, you will get out of it. It's not a matter of overhead, and it's not a matter of maybe this is for me, I like to learn about something and then start trying it and then figure out what I don't understand as I go. And so that was once we had enough of an understanding to try it, we're like, okay, then the rest as we go along. And we saw results relatively quickly. I mean, there certainly was hard and not without his pitfalls, but it was really like, okay, it's just us on the phones talking with people, connecting with people, going to things, getting the knowledge to make money. And that, I think what got us both excited about it, and also when it worked, it was like, okay, we can do this.

Diana (09:00):
It also had a formula to it. It was kind of like a step-by-step, this is what you do. I had taken small little two hour class and wholesaling from another person and it was basically like, yep, all you knock on all these doors, 40 doors. It didn't seem like a feasible approach, and it didn't seem like the time the juice isn't worth the squeeze for all the time you put into it, you weren't going to get that much out of it. And it kind of seemed a little outdated. And this Real Estate Skills approach, you lay it out, it makes sense, it's a process, and you also, it's quantifiable. You're like, okay, about 15 transactions, this is what your success rate is going to be. I really liked that you could break it down that way. And then we were able to take that and kind of be like, okay, now we have the basics.

(09:48):
Now we can kind of put our own spin onto it, play to what our strengths are from our background and make that work. And we also learned pretty quickly, it's okay to tell people that we don't have a lot of experience. You go into it, you feel like Bambi, your knees are all wobbly and you just don't know what you're doing. And then you soon are like, okay, listen, I'm going to cut the bullshit. We're new with this. This is our background. This is why we got started. This is our story. And when we're honest about it and letting people know that we're just learning and we're sponges and we want to learn from them and help make each other money, people are way more likely to help you.

Ryan Zomorodi (10:28):
Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's part of just being coachable and having that student for life mentality. It's like going into it. If you think you know everything, then it's very hard to learn and be humble about the lessons that are in front of you. So yeah, I really respect that and acknowledge that from what you're saying. And I think that's surely attributed to some of the success that you've had. Just being able to really take it in and understand where you're at and that there is a learning curve and not being afraid from the work that's involved and actually rolling up your sleeves and taking that step by step and actually executing on it, right, because a lot, there's a lot to learn. You've had some obviously transactional experience buying and selling your own primary residence, but going into it with kind of an investor mindset is different. You look at things differently and you analyze each deal differently, less emotional attachment and more about the numbers involved. So that's really amazing. Just wanted to kind of acknowledge you for the mindset going into it. So yeah, I'd love to hear about your experience when you joined the program. Was there something about the program that helped you the most as you started to implement it and started to put it into practice?

Chase (11:52):
I think the program as a whole for me was very useful. As Diana said too, I think it's the taking you through it. I think even the mindset part of it early on was valuable to us to say, why are we doing this?

Diana (12:04):
And sorry to interject real quick, but you take that part and you're just like, okay, let's get to it. Let's get to it. Teach me the things. And then you realize as you start how important that piece is. Sorry to interject,

Chase (12:16):
But I think the stages of taking you through it make you feel more prepared. And I think naturally we had this, I'm sure everyone does, is like, okay, yeah, let's get through it. Or Okay, I'm ready, or I want to stop down and quickly get my buyer's list together. But instead, just continuing to go through the process was helpful. So we walked into it going, okay, we know, like I said, we know enough to start, not we know enough to be done. We know enough to get started and start having these conversations and then recognize that. But from here, everything else is going to be learning. And as we get into talking about our deals, our deals were very unusual. So there was a ton of learning within every deal and every deal. Everything we've done since then is a learning curve. But there was just enough steps to be like, I get the concept and with getting the concept, I feel comfortable to try it.

Diana (13:01):
Yeah, I think that if we're going to talk about specific modules that were really helpful, I think that how to get the breakdowns, the conversations of how to start your first phone calls with real estate agents, the script, I remember using that a lot until I got confident enough to branch off and make it my own. And then also just the worksheets in terms of how to organize your different calls, organize the different information you were getting from your discovery calls, how to get your pipelines together. That stuff was really helpful. I'd never used that before.

Ryan Zomorodi (13:40):
Absolutely. Yeah. It sounds like some of the scripts that you had access to, some of the spreadsheets to organize your pipeline, the custom-built CRM that we have in the program, some of these things gave you the confidence to go out and start submitting offers, talking to real estate agents and start stirring up opportunity to actually create some of these deals.

Diana (14:02):
And knowing how to pivot in the conversation was helpful too, because people, if you didn't have that, people are like, no thanks. And you're just like, okay, cool. But you're able to not take no for an answer in a not creepy way. You're able to just kind of be like, all right, well, let's come in from another approach. And each time you talk with someone you see as you're just testing the waters and different approaches work differently, work better for certain people, and so you're able to kind of test it out, see what works with them and go that direction.

Ryan Zomorodi (14:34):
Yeah, absolutely. And there is a pretty detailed approach, a blueprint really in the program, but you ultimately have to be able to communicate effectively, and every single property is unique. There's no completely identical property, so there's different scenarios and you kind of have to adapt different personalities that you work with real estate agents. So yeah, it's awesome. You two were able to take the information and really run with it and make it your own, which is phenomenal. So yeah, I'd love to hear about the deals that you did complete. I know you posted one in the community in particular, and I think later on you posted that there was another deal. But yeah, I would love to kind of hear some of the ins and outs, maybe just starting with the first one, how you found it. I know there were some challenges involved, and so yeah, would love to just start with one of 'em and hear all about it.

Chase (15:36):
You start with your

Diana (15:37):
Mine. So we kind each found one around the same time. Mine, I found it on Redfin and I went to it immediately and did the process and I was like, oh, great. I can't believe how easy this is. And then as soon as I thought that stuff hit the fan and it just became challenging. But I think each property has its challenges. This one there was the owner wasn't comfortable with a lockbox, so in order to get anyone to see the property, we had to have the listing agent come, and it had some inherent challenges that were tricky. Eventually it fell out of contract, it didn't work. And so we thought, okay, we're going to chalk this up to education. This was our first try, so we learned a lot and we're going to take that with us to our next one. And that's right around the time that Chase found

Chase (16:36):
His. Before we move on to mining, there's a few other things we did learn from that first

Diana (16:40):
One. Well, I'm going to say it came back around.

Chase (16:41):
Oh, okay. Well, but one of them was we actually bid and got it under contract, but it was above list, which became very challenging for us because we found out from our buyer'-s list that they didn't want to go above list, but there was a little bit of bidding

Diana (16:56):
More, even if the numbers made sense, the numbers still made sense. Yeah, the numbers were good, but they were like, oh, but I still feel like I could have gotten it on my own. And we're like, but you didn't though.

Chase (17:04):
So that was the tricky part. The other part that happened to us, and this is probably going to happen to everyone I think we talked about on the class, is we had an investor for that property who came in, signed off, said he is good to go. But then we turned out, it turned out that he was reselling our deal, so then we were suddenly tied into him and someone else. So it became a lot trickier of a property from the get-go because it wasn't just a straightforward transaction anymore. It was like we are now joint venturing without knowing we're going down a joint venture road. So it was really tricky and it did, as Diana said eventually fell out on us. So in there we'll switch the other one. We'll come back to that one in a second. The other deal happened to just be a deal nearby our house. So that was really, really helpful and obviously really fortunate. It was in the higher end property, so was a $2 million property in complete disarray. It's a beautiful house. It's on a hillside. It

Diana (17:56):
Looks like holes in the ceiling, mold growing on the walls. It was abandoned for five years and it was a shithole,

Chase (18:02):
But it looks like in the right stages when it's fixed, it looks like it could be a valor mansion. I mean it really does. Has a beautiful tennis court and things like that in the back. But we went into that kind of going, wow, this particular property could be really tricky because there's so many skeletons in the closet. You could see there's been remodels done on it, and as Diana said, there's mold everywhere. Everything's coming apart on this thing. So it was a little tricky. I was able to get in kind of on the ground floor and get in really friendly with the agents. That's been the biggest thing we've learned is getting in with the agents and being very friendly. And as Diana said, being very open and honest about who we are and what our backgrounds are and where we're at has been helpful and makes them actually want to work with us more. So that was helpful. We did ask them to be our buyer's agent. She said no, but gave us her partner that could be our buyer's agent. So that was helpful. So it gave us kind of the inside track to the deal. We eventually did land that deal,

Diana (19:00):
Which had a million dollar spread to it. So it was a really good deal.

Chase (19:05):
It was a very good deal. The tricky part, even from there though, was despite its spread, it wasn't obvious what the spread was to everyone because if you searched the comps nearby, they didn't exactly line up to what we knew the spread could be. But we lived in the areas. I actually had to draw an overhead map and a boundary and be like, I understand if you were to pull from the zip code, you would get lower ARVs. However, it's up on the hillside and it's actually one road off of these other ones that will get you the correct arv. So it was a little bit of a tricky process for us to really sell it to people of this is a special property and it has a huge spread to if you know the right thing. So it was more of a selling on that on our end and pitching that property to people that like, Hey, this can really work. And eventually we did sell it, which was great, and it

Diana (19:54):
Was only one person that came was interested, but that ended up being the person, the right buyer. So it worked out well and we had a good partner with that.

Chase (20:05):
Yeah, it did work out. That one was actually relatively smooth. The hardest part of the process was just the closing time. We actually, and again, all deals are different, but the sellers had moved back to China during the pandemic. So they had abandoned the property, but also getting paperwork and reselling it and closing on it was a much longer, more stressful process because they had to deal with the consulate and things like that. So it was tricky in that regard, but it did sell relatively easy just after some extra legwork

Diana (20:30):
From us. And we have a great relationship with the agents who worked with us on that transaction and they've come back to us with other potential transactions that we might be interested in, and they're just wonderful people. So we're really blessed to be able to work with 'em. And then my property at the time came back around, which it didn't end well when it fell out of contract. The agent was quite upset. And so I was like, all right, well never going to hear from her again. And then she called me and was like, Hey, so are you still interested because the backup offer fell out and you're already familiar with the property and we don't want to deal with someone new who also doesn't know the property and is going to bullshit us. So are you in or out kind of thing. And I was like, well, okay, yes, yes. We're back in the game. We're in. Let's do this. So

Chase (21:22):
They also dropped the price by 200 grand at that point,

Diana (21:25):
Which was a nice pad for us because potential buyers always we found come in at one price and then they decide that they want to go lower. So we were able to take that number and work with it a little bit knowing we had a certain amount of pad so we could still come out ahead, but still seem like we gave in a lot to our buyers. So everyone left happy. And that ended up being another pretty big spread. It

Chase (22:00):
Was a very good spread, but it was a similar thing where, and this is the most stressful part we weren't prepared for, which is everything came down to the wire on both deals of like, is the money going to make it in time? Before for the three days, it really was kind of even that other deal, which had an incredible spread and had a ton of interest, really didn't get money. The deposit didn't get in place until I think that the last couple hours that it was possible that they were going to pull it again and

Diana (22:27):
It had to be pushed. It had to be

Chase (22:28):
Pushed

Diana (22:29):
Twice. And so then the listing agents like, what's happening? And we're having to tap dance. And because we had initially had this person who thought was a buyer who ended up being an agent, we ended up being kind of tied to him for this transaction as well. But we ended up making a great relationship with his partner who also wholesaled and had a big buyer's list. So we ended up JVing on that too. And he was fantastic to work with and we learned his process and it's a different avenue. It's a different avenue, but it's an avenue if you feel like you need a buyer quick.

Chase (23:14):
I think at the end of this, with both these properties, we kept saying to each other, the biggest thing we're getting out of this is, as Diana said, learning to tap dance. It was like the whole time it's like, oh, this fell apart. Okay, let's spin it this way. How do we do with this? Let's keep everybody happy. It was just a lot of tricky maneuvering where we were trying to make sure that we're keeping everyone happy and being honest, but also making sure things are moving, but realizing things are now we're behind. We got to figure out how to explain that. So there was just a of maneuvering the whole way through it, and we just said, okay, this is how it's going to be through the process.

Diana (23:50):
I think we learned we're always going to give people tighter deadlines than we know the deadlines are going to be just in case things back out. We're always going to underpromise- and over-deliver in terms of deadlines and money and everything just because both of those transactions, we needed every little piece of pad that we could in the end.

Ryan Zomorodi (24:12):
Yeah, that's phenomenal. Yeah, I can definitely relate to some deals coming down to the wire and really to the last minute and sometimes even over certain deadlines, but you do what you can to make it happen, especially if there's promise, there's interest, it's just you need a little bit more time. So I love that word, tap dance. I haven't personally used that word, but I think I'll start using that from now on because I see the relevance there. So it sounds like you had the first deal, which you put under contract above the list price had a tough time getting that wholesale completed, it fell out of contract, and then after that you had the second deal come up, which you contracted, and then after that deal closed, the first deal came back around. Is that correct? So

Diana (24:57):
Yeah, the day that the first deal went under, the day after we had to sign the release paperwork, five people were like, oh yeah, we were interested in that. We had to be like, come on, come on. We had it yesterday, but that's why when it came back around we were like, all right, we're going to make this happen. Sorry. As we said, we're busy parents with two kids and sometimes they like to pop into meetings.

Ryan Zomorodi (25:23):
Oh yeah, no worries. No worries at all. So what was that first property listed at? What did you ultimately get it under contract for? And then what was the wholesale fee to your buyer or what was your kind of net earnings on it?

Diana (25:40):
Two, I think so I think there was a 300 K spread on it or three 50 and we got 10 K and we paid out to the other partner 10 K. So it was a $20,000 transac. Sorry,

Chase (25:55):
Tell you what, my property, your property, your property, we got $60,000 from, and then we paid out that.

Diana (26:01):
I just slipped them in my head,

Chase (26:03):
But I don't remember the starting number and I don't remember the ending number. I have to look at that. Honestly, it was, I know it's a million dollars spread. It was something like one one, and I think we thought we could go anywhere from two, one up to three depending on what the buyer was going to do with it. So there was a good spread. Now those are high-end finishes, expensive rehab costs, but the person we sold it to ultimately is someone who does really, really high-end flips. So I think they were looking at closer to three and a higher spread than we were. We ended up making $60,000 on that one, but we paid out an additional 30 to partners on it. It's on JV's on it. The other one we bought for two one, which is high, and that's why we had such a limited window of people who would be interested in it, and the resell on that one could go as high as five, but our low end, it was a million dollar spread and then the area can go to five. It could support five or five, five based on the square footage and based on some other things. And that one we were a straight $20,000 on and paid out. That's another 10.

Ryan Zomorodi (27:09):
Yeah, that's phenomenal. So yeah, it sounds like you got a great price considering what the ARVs were. That first one had a little over 300,000 as far as the spread. You are able to make a nice fee on that one. And then the second one, it's amazing that you're able to locate that buyer because at that price point, the buyer pool shrinks. And so you really need a buyer who can handle those higher end properties. And especially with the limited comps, I love how you got creative and we're able to kind of expand your comp criteria to ultimately find comps that were compelling enough for someone to really take the bet the risk at over a $2 million purchase price and with significant upside as far as the arv. So that's amazing. So you've made 30,000 on one deal and 10,000 on the other, so that's pretty freaking awesome on two deals.

Chase (28:03):
Yeah, I mean those are tricky high-end properties too. We are not necessarily looking for that level just happened to be the ones that came to us, but we're trying to stay below a million, which is obviously harder here.

Ryan Zomorodi (28:13):
Yeah, totally. I mean, you're in a higher priced area. Southern California especially has some neighborhoods that can go multimillion dollar really just entry properties. So yeah, it's cool. I'm sure when you're shopping for your primary, you probably would've looked the other way with something that had so much mold and so many repairs. But when you have your investor hat on, then those type of properties actually a signal opportunity get us investors excited. So that's really amazing. That's really amazing guys. And yeah, I love how you got creative and partnered with another wholesaler to ultimately find those buyers. I think that's a phenomenal strategy. It's about working together and ultimately doing what it takes to get to the finish line on these deals. So that's amazing. So also just curious, I know these are two successful deals. How many offers overall did you end up setting? I know Diana, you mentioned going into it 15 offers to get a deal was kind of like the rough mindset, the rough expectation. How many did you ultimately have to send to close these two deals if you recall? Roughly?

Chase (29:28):
It was under 15. I'll say that we were finding, and I wouldn't say that's necessarily the norm, we were talking to people in our area and around California saying the weather way over that number two. So we may have gotten a little lucky. We were probably seven or eight offers in total before we hit this. But again, we found this kind of odd thing where we were talking to agents and we'd make an offer to them and they wouldn't write it up for us because said, you're just going to be too low. And they kept not. So we weren't actually getting 'em technically offered, even though we were making our best offer, they weren't writing it up. So it was an interesting process to begin with that we realize now we can go to someone else and get that offer written up, but we were making deals that were not getting written. But ultimately, I think we only had a handful before we really did get these.

Diana (30:13):
No, according to the class, it doesn't count as a deal unless it's

Chase (30:15):
Correct

Diana (30:15):
A deal. So it was a deal adjacent,

Chase (30:20):
But it just kept, it was really about, for us, it was about building the relationships with those agents that really did make a huge difference, having them like us and trust us. In both cases it was the agent who ultimately helped us get the deals in place, and so that was a big part of it.

Ryan Zomorodi (30:36):
Yeah, relationships are really everything in this business, as you know. So I think it sounds like you sent about eight written offers to land two deals. I mean, that's amazing, right? That's like one out of four offers, but of course there's the verbals, which they're probably more than that. So as long as you're getting out there, you're making the calls, you're building these relationships and at least letting people know that you want to buy these properties, that's how you can ultimately land good deals. That first deal, it sounds like it was listed, you said around one four and you got it under contract at 1.1. Is that correct or roughly?

Chase (31:15):
I think that's right. I think that's kind of right. Or it was one seven and we got it under one

Diana (31:19):
Four. That's it. That's it. I think it was initially listed for one eight and we got it from 1 8 6, and then when it went under, maybe it was one seven when it went under, they dropped it to one three and then we were able, huh, to sell it for 1, 4 5 or something like that.

Chase (31:43):
Something like that.

Diana (31:44):
I'm sorry, we should, but there was partnerships, those numbers, it's been a few months and we just dropped it from our heads

Chase (31:50):
Because we had a JV on it with the company and with a partner. We didn't make as much as we would've otherwise. Initially we were like, wow, we're going to make a hundred thousand dollars on this. And slowly that whittled down to where we were like, okay, we're going to make whatever, 30 or 40,000, which was still really great for first deal.

Diana (32:06):
But that was also a thing where we're like, we're going to make even 50 K on a property. How do we do that without, when they find out how much we made being like, why didn't you sell it to us for less? I dunno. It was a little bit tricky. So we also had to, we just decided to be honest there too and be like, this is what we're looking to make. These are the numbers, but if you see something wrong with this, we're happy to compromise and work with you. And we ended up paying him more so that both parties felt happy leaving because we would rather take a shorter term loss because to us the longer term gain is keeping that relationship and getting more transactions down the line.

Ryan Zomorodi (32:52):
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it's great. You had it under contract at a much higher price over ask, obviously didn't work out with the other buyers and then came back around at a significant discount. So I mean, for everybody watching, it's an important lesson that the listing price isn't ultimately the value of the property or where it's ultimately going to sell. So sellers can list properties at whatever price they want. So for us as investors, it's important to know, hey, what price is going to make sense for our business model for a fix and flip for rental? So that's where it comes down to knowing what to offer and then ultimately what the buyer's going to be willing to pay. So I think that's super important. And yeah, I love that your willingness to be flexible on the fee, willing to compromise. We want our cash buyers to make more money than we do on the wholesale because that means they're going to come back to us over and over and over again and they're going to want to do business with us because we brought them great deals. So I mean, yeah, a $60,000 wholesale fee is fantastic, even if you have to split that with someone who's helping with the other half the disposition side of the transaction,

Diana (34:03):
Which is equally as important. Also, one thing that I found helpful was with the first transaction when it did fall out. So the listing agent also wasn't representing us, but had given us her partner to represent us. And obviously when it fell out, that's never a position anyone wants to be in. So I sent our agent who is the partnered with the listing agent a gift. When it fell out, I'd bought her a tea, we'd shared tea when we were both at the property one day that she liked. So I sent her a little gift box with some tea in it and was like, Hey, so sorry that things ended this way. That's not what anyone wants, but please do think of us next time around kind of thing. And she did. I think as long as you put the relationship first in a way and just have some integrity, I think that that goes a long way with people.

Ryan Zomorodi (35:02):
A hundred percent. Yeah. Putting that relationship first, I think that probably went a long way. It showed that you cared about the situation, that you weren't just sending an offer and saying, sorry, good luck with this. It's like you actually cared about it, which I'm sure probably made a bit of a difference when they came back to you with such a significant price reduction. So I think that's really a professional move that you did right there. It just shows that you're willing to do what it takes to stand out amongst the noise of other faceless investors who won't even call the agent and just submit an offer over email without having that personal touch. So I think that's really great that you did that. So all in all, was this whole process easier than you thought it would be? Was it more challenging? Everything you're saying seems like things went pretty well and kind of lower amount of input and time involved, but compared to your expectations going into this whole thing, how difficult was it?

Diana (36:05):
I wouldn't say it was easier than we thought it was. While we ultimately had successful outcomes, we had one transaction that was very challenging with a lot of personalities involved. I mean, we kind of just scraped the tip of the iceberg with that one, and then we had one that was really smooth sailing. So I think that that's just representative that each transaction is going to be different, each transaction will have its own unique challenges and it's going to be a constant learning process. And some of 'em are going to be hard, and that's okay, and some of 'em are going to be easier, and that's okay. I think that anyone going into this thinking that it's easy money is going to be disappointed because it's not easy money because there is no such thing as easy money. You have to put in the work. You have to be able to pivot and you have to look at the glass half full at the end of it and think even if I didn't get what I want, what did I get out of it? And if I didn't get what I wanted, then fantastic onto the next one to do it again. I think that half of it is your attitude and that determines your success.

Chase (37:15):
And to that point, I think for us coming off the classes, you're like, it's going to be a breeze. And to some degree, a lot of it worked really well, but at the same time,

Diana (37:24):
Yeah, the system works great.

Chase (37:26):
You do realize I'm learning the whole way through that each thing I'm doing is a learning curve. And so we had to constantly check in with each other and say, remember when we started off in entertainment, we did these lowest jobs. We were learning, this is what we're doing. Again, we're learning. And so every step we would take is like, oh, that's a step in the learning process. So

Diana (37:45):
I think that this program is a really great car, and you can have a really great car, but if you don't do the work to learn how to drive or operate the car or you never get in the car, you're never going to go anywhere. And so I think it's the same with this program. All the gears are there. It's an awesome thing, but it's up to you whether you succeed or not succeed.

Ryan Zomorodi (38:08):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. We can provide the tools and the resources and the training, but we can't do the work for you for the most part. So we want to make it as easy as possible, but we're not sitting here submitting offers on your behalf. So it's kudos to you two for putting in the work and making it happen at the end of the day. How did the work involved compared to what you were doing before, just on an operational perspective?

Chase (38:36):
I mean, we work in an industry that has pretty intense moments and times to it. So what I noticed, at least from my transaction is the three days when you get it on our contract and you resell it and you get that deposit down are very, very intense. And I was a little surprised at how intense it was, but I was like, okay, for us it's like being on set or being in a really intense shoot and we're getting comfortable with what that feels like. But I mean, otherwise it really is pretty smooth. And as I said before, there's a lot of crossover to what we're doing anyway, which is so much of our jobs already is just building relationships with the people and solving, communicating with them, solving and being flexible and changing and figuring out how to help and make everybody happy and make things work. So for us, it sort of meets a lot of those things.

Diana (39:22):
Yeah,

Ryan Zomorodi (39:23):
Yeah. Awesome. So now that you've had these wins, what's next for Diana and Chase? What, what's next in your to-do list

Diana (39:31):
And do it again? We started looking for our next properties, our next transactions. We want to continue to build our buyer's list, but we know now we have another avenue if we need it. So we're going to, we've got lots more to learn, and we've got a couple more properties we're looking at and we're reaching out to agents and we're just going to, we had to take a little bit of a pause for a minute just because of some personal stuff that was going on, but we're ready to get back out there and see what happens.

Chase (40:02):
I think also the long-term for us is we're learning both how to scale the business stuff a little bit. That's been a big thing, is understanding, okay, we can do two transactions. How do we do more? How do we scale that up bigger? So we're starting to learn how to do that. And then we are starting to take, I know you guys have a flipping class. The next thing on our list is to take the flipping class because that's ultimately what we're trying to go is we're using this as a tool for learning how to flip, learning how to vet the best deals so we can also be flipping. And then as you guys have shown that, do the tiers.

Diana (40:32):
Yeah, the little guys

Chase (40:33):
Evolve. Filter the money into the rentals.

Diana (40:36):
Yeah,

Ryan Zomorodi (40:37):
Totally. Yeah, we call that the evolution of a real estate investor. You wholesale, you flip for that active income and then reinvest those chunks of capital into the rentals and start to stack those rentals for passive income and just really secure a healthier financial future. So I mean, what about this is really important to you guys, obviously the wins and the flexibility. Is there anything that kind of makes these more meaningful as far as what you've accomplished so far?

Diana (41:06):
I think that it was reassuring for both of us to know that there was another option out there. When you work in the same industry for 20 plus years, you start to think like, okay, this is what else could I do? And in times where things dry up where there aren't jobs, it's a lot of anxiety to think, how are we going to support our family? How are we going to do this if things don't take a turn or if things take a bad turn again? So it was helpful for us to know that, hey, there is something else we can do. We have a backup plan, we have a safety net that we're in charge of because we are behind the wheel and it's there for when we need it and we can grow it, and we can use this as a means to retire and spend time with our kids.

Chase (41:59):
And also we are building, it's funny you said a backup plan. It's not even our backup plan. It's actually been, we're like, this is our long-term plan. This is a more of a long-term plan than what we do. People don't last in our industry forever. We don't have a lot of safety nets in our industry. So for us, it is actually, this is a stepping stone to where we're going for the future to build for that future. And also I think the biggest win out of it is we're trying to build a business and passive income, but something to give to our kids and teach them. Our son is already starting to show some interest in it. We're like, the more we can know and understand, the better we'll be. So for us, it's that. It's that legacy part of it too. That was a big part of the why going into it for the future of our family.

Diana (42:40):
We were driving around with our son and we're looking at houses and he was like, why are we, can we go to the park? We do something. Of course we take our kids to the park, but we were like, this is kind of like mommy and daddy are on a treasure hunt right now. And so you've got your rocks. He likes to polish rocks. We're like some of these rocks you polish and it's just gravel, but some of these rocks you polish and you find cool crystals inside. So these houses are the rocks, and so we're driving around and we're just looking for treasure. And so he really liked that. And so we're like, okay, if we can start him early, then he'll have an advantage that we didn't have.

Ryan Zomorodi (43:16):
Yeah, that's amazing. I mean, way to set a great example for your kids and just to really take advantage of what's out there and keep it exciting. And it really is a game. At the end of the day, just building a business is the ultimate game if you think about it. So it's cool that you're having fun with it, you're seeing it as exciting. It really is. The sky's the limit, and it can be a very meaningful and impactful exit plan, just really for anybody who's looking to build a stronger future and build something that we can leave behind once we're gone for our kids and everything. So yeah, I love that. That's really, really awesome to hear. And just to kind of start to wrap things up, do you guys have any advice for those who are thinking about going down the same path that you're going through right now, thinking about getting started with the Real Estate Skills community and starting to become a real estate investor?

Diana (44:16):
I mean, we've already told people to do it. We've told friends and family, everyone should be doing this.

Chase (44:23):
I think the advice is just simply to realize it's going to be work, but know that you have to just keep going on it and that there'll be trials and tribulations. There'll be times we have to talk to yourself and say, keep going. That fell through. You're going to feel bad about it, but just go to the next one and that you're learning. And eventually when you learn, you'll find that success or you'll tip as a lot of people say. So I think it's just that you got to continue to go through the process and realize it's not going to be instant, but you can do it.

Diana (44:55):
And some people aren't going to be very nice sometimes. And to kind of just let that slide off your shoulders and remember that they don't know me, they don't know my situation, and as long as you lead with integrity and you're a good person and you put relationships first and just let all the bad stuff go, then the good stuff's going to come.

Ryan Zomorodi (45:21):
Yeah, no, that's phenomenal advice. I think a lot of people can learn and really be inspired by how you're leading with integrity and you're just genuine, authentic, good people at the end of the day. And I really respect that about you two. I learned a lot about you today, and I think that's just a great model to follow. It's easy to want to puff up your chest and try to be something you're not in this industry. There's a lot of very experienced people, but you're leading with authenticity and you're building genuine connections with people. Like I said before, this is a relationship business. So it sounds like you're doing a lot of really great things and are setting yourself up for success to continue to compound on these wins. So Chase, Diana, thank you guys so much for your time today and really sharing your journey. And I really just enjoyed learning your story, obviously celebrating some of the wins with you two. And we are here to help you on the next phases, right, as you evolve as real estate investors. And so it's definitely been a pleasure working with you both and having you part of the Real Estate Skills family. Again, thank you too. I know it's just the beginning.

Diana (46:32):
Thank you. We appreciate all of your help because we wouldn't be able to have done any of this without you guys. Thank you.

Ryan Zomorodi (46:40):
Yeah, absolutely. It's you two that put in the work and made it happen. So again, thank you two so much again for your time today, and really excited to see where you take your businesses over the coming years.

Chase (46:52):
Thank you. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Ryan Zomorodi (46:56):
Wow, guys, there you have it. That was Diana and Chase who are in a fiercely competitive market of Southern California, a very expensive price point, and they were able to come in here with very little experience in the real estate industry, but were able to knock it out of the park within a few months of really taking action and implementing and really not even submitting that many offers to ultimately land, not one, but two wholesale deals resulting in a large nice profit of $40,000. So again, I'm just inspired and excited to have their story out there and to be able to share it with you guys. So really just take note of what it takes to be successful in this business. They're building genuine relationships, they're going above and beyond and really focusing on being authentic and genuine. So again, guys, if they can do it, you absolutely can too. So here at Real Estate Skills, it's all about you. We want help you succeed no matter where you are in your real estate journey. So go ahead and check out RealEstateSkills.com to learn more, to see how you can get started and become a real estate investor today.

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