Category: Jewels of Wisdom Newsletter

This is my #1 Book Recommendation for Deal Making

Before I share the book, I’ll give a bit of context. I’ve recommended this to many people over the years. I’m sure less than half have actually followed through with reading, and less than half of that half really got the point: How to apply what you learn in the book to go cash checks from making deals.

To be honest, I used to hesitate making this recommendation because it appeared so powerful in my own business I didn’t want anyone else to know about it. It was like a secret superpower that opened the door to building a continuous flow of solid, profitable deals.

Here’s why most miss the point: Most people make deals and prefer short cuts. There is a process to making a great deal, yet most just want to make an offer, maybe make a follow up call or two, and win a deal. Yes, I want that too, but that is probably HALF the deal flow available in the market place.

To earn that other HALF of the deals which cross your desk, it takes some additional effort. Strategy. A complex process which creates the desire in that seller (or seller’s broker) to choose your offer over all the rest.

Sure, you can maybe win with the highest price, but Master Deal Maker’s understand it’s about MORE than just the highest price. Anyway, I’m not going to give you each of the secrets I’ve extracted from this book here. I’ll share the book, but the discovery of the Jewels of Deal Making Wisdom are your job.

Winning through Intimidation, by Robert Ringer.

Pro Tip: Be sure to get one of the older editions from 1980’s or prior. One with yellow pages, very hard to get.  The later versions were toned down a bit by the author and lose a bit of the edge that can be gained by the early versions.

If you’ve read this far, congratulations. I actually laugh inside a little bit at the number of people who will miss this sentence here. Those are the same folks who’ve ignored the recommendation (sometimes made many times).

It is your patient attention to detail that will allow you to gain the value that I have from this book. It is also that same attention to detail that very likely ALREADY makes you a Master Deal Maker.  If this sounds like you and you haven’t already earned $150K+ per year in real estate, we should probably talk. I can help you get to the next level. Please reply to this email.

Today’s Featured Deal is a VERY BIG deal

Big Buck ranch, 118 acres, give or take, waterfront property not too far from where I’m staying. Here’s a bit of history.

We are here in the Methow Valley celebrating the life of my wife’s grandfather, Del, who recently passed. Del was a family man, a medical doctor, and a rancher.

Over the years I’ve heard larger than life stories about Del, the ranch, the cattle operation (the heard once exceeding 500 head). And of course, the hunts.

Here at Sun Mountain, these two are in the great room just past the main lobby. They used to hang at Big Buck until Del donated them to the lodge here as they were preparing to sell.

Del bagged this one in the Yukon:

And, this one in New Mexico:

Anyway, here are the details on today’s VERY BIG deal:

For Sale:  Big Buck Ranch: Broker, Darren Williams 253-221-3640

• View Photos Here
• 118 Acres zoned Agricultural (very big)
• 5 Bed 3 Bath Recently Renovated
• Surrounded by Public Land (you’ll own the closer half of that lake)
• Lake annually Stocked with Trout
• $1,360,000

It is always tough when someone passes, but I’m glad I got to know Del and be a part of his life celebration this weekend. I am lucky & blessed to have married into a great family.

How to Win this Coming Week – The Question

When you’re done reading this email, sit straight up in a chair, close your eyes and focus on your breathing for a minimum of 60 seconds as you think on the answer. The correct answer will result in a deal. Many other answers will increase your chance at other deals.  The question:

What follow up action can I take this week to create momentum on a deal was I working on that somehow slipped my mind? 

That silent 60 seconds is key. Don’t miss that part. If you go past 60 seconds of silence, that’s even better. THIS is the act of thinking deeply.  (BTW-this technique was gleaned from Thomas Edison.)

During that 60 seconds of silence, don’t break once you remember that deal you were working on. Stay with it for that full minute and go deeper on ideas and actions you can take this week to win that deal this week. Is it a phone call? A text? An email? A door knock? Showing up with donuts? Something even better?

One of my guys sat with a seller and watched a movie with him after taking a plane to the meeting.  The extra mile. What is the extra mile to activate your lost deal??

Ok, you’re thinking, “Dan, that was actually a lot more than one question.”  The goal is priority & creativity. Priority is choosing the RIGHT deal, Creativity is creating the right set of actions.

Most deals closed in “follow up” are low hanging fruit – This is NOT Follow Up…

Many people believe they are following up by keeping close touch with those buyers & sellers who are engaged, answering the phone, and giving signals all along the way that they are interested. The truth is, this is NOT follow up, this is simply closing your easy, front end, low hanging fruit deals that anyone with moderate skill will get done.

True Master Deal Makers follow up with the knowledge illustrated in Scroll VI found below: (revelation I mentioned above.)

“No longer will I judge a man on one meeting; no longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate today. This day he will not buy gold chariots for a penny, yet tomorrow he would exchange his home for a tree. My knowledge of this secret will be my key to great wealth.” – Og Mandino

True Master Deal Makers follow up to create deals with those difficult folks when everyone else quits. Those that stop answering the phone. Rude people. Often people who say, “Stop calling.” A character known as “Mr Hate” shows up at that first call or appointment. Closing a deal with Mr. Hate requires a Master Deal Maker.

The true Master Deal Makers EXPECT some “new person” to respond and some point in the future instead of Mr. Hate.. A new, more polite, more reasonable person ready to make their deal, perhaps he will change his name to “Mr Closed Deal”. I’ve seen HUNDREDS, maybe even more than 1,000 closed deals on which I’ve been paid throughout my career where Mr. Hate was eventually converted to Mr. Closed Deal.

The KEY to Closing Deals in Follow Up

I’ve seen Master Deal Makers follow up with calls, texts, emails, & even physical mail for years to eventually win their deal.  They’ve EARNED that deal through that follow up – with not much validation of their effort until the very end.  THAT is the KEY to Closing Deals in Follow Up. Consistently follow up – EVEN WITH MR. HATE!!

How to Earn 12% on Your Cash

Here at Diamond Equity we buy, fix & sell a high volume of deals across the U.S. Many are funded by my multiple $10M lines of credit, our own cash, and also by investors like you who read my emails.

Here’s How it Works:

You loan the full amount needed for us to buy & renovate the house.

You get 1st position mortgage securing your money against the property.

You earn 2 points origination & 10% annual interest for the duration of time we have the money working. This results in 12% return for the year if we had your cash for the entire year.  Many deals run just 4-6 months, so your annualized rate of return is actually higher than 12%

If you have cash now, and want me to add you to my short list of lenders (you receive a text message from me directly as loans fitting your budget are available), please reply to this email with your cell phone number.

If you’d like more info on how this works, sign up to receive future loan opportunities at www.FundRehabDeals.com

Hope your Sunday is as beautiful as mine!!

Sit Still & Be Quiet – A most effective Deal Making Strategy

One of my daily strategies for successful deal making is to simply close my eyes in the morning, be quiet, & sit still. You probably know this as meditation.

For the past 15 years, I’ve had a nearly daily habit of meditating each morning for anywhere from 3-30 mins. The time isn’t important to me anymore. 3 mins is just as good as 22 mins. (I used to set a timer for 20 mins and try to make it to the end. That actually was a bit stressful)

On days where I remember the mediation I notice an increase in effectiveness, better decisions, and a more calm approach to life.

I credit this meditation habit for my ability to remember tiny, specific details of any one of the 190 deals we have working at any given time.

Science shows that people who meditate have more gray matter in their brains and more brain activity on brain scans. Perhaps a mental edge can be gained through mediation?

How do you Meditate?
I meditate by closing my eyes, sitting straight up in a chair with my legs uncrossed and feet on the floor. I am not flexible enough to sit on the floor like a monk..  Then I focus on my breath.

I’m not trying to “think” of anything, but if any thoughts come up, I try to refocus on my breath and not react to those thoughts.

I actually say a prayer before the practice each day, and as I sit calmly, I sometimes visualize certain events of the coming day. I intend to see the best way to approach those events during the meditation.

How would those events unfold if I got lucky? Is there anything I need to do or say to create that outcome? Any preparation I should do when my meditation is done?

Over the years I’ve seen countless good outcomes during that 3-30 min morning meditation. Many of those good outcomes then came to pass in real life-sometimes because of the ideas received during that meditation.

While it’s probably not what you expected from the subject line, this is the unfiltered truth one aspect of Deal Making I’d guess almost no one has ever talked about.

A few billionaires who share this habit include Ray Dalio & Brad Jacobs. Not to mention Einstein. If it was effective for those guys, surely I couild  improve my results a little by modeling them, right??

Happy 4th of July, fellow Real Estate Pro!
Normally I send on Sunday, but these facts I discovered today would be stale by then:

Here, you can: 

• Buy Deals Here (33 Avail around the US)
• Invest in Our Deals Here (Accredited Investors)

Featured Deal: Turn Key, Renovated Chicago 6 Flat $549,000 (Kyle 815-370-1160)

The Wrong Day?: The Continental Congress actually voted to declare independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776. John Adams was so fiercely convinced that July 2nd was the true Independence Day that he routinely turned down invitations to 4th of July events and sent angry letters to people celebrating the wrong date.
The Wrong Month?: Contrary to popular belief, the 56 delegates did not all sign the Declaration on July 4th. Only two men, John Hancock (as President of the Congress) and Secretary Charles Thomson, actually signed it on that date. The rest of the delegates signed it on August 2, 1776.
July 4th Presidential Deaths: Three U.S. presidents died on July 4th. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826… Exactly 50 years after July 4, 1776. Five years later, in 1831, President James Monroe also died on July 4th.
We ALMOST didn’t have slavery: Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration of Independence contained a fiery paragraph condemning King George III for the slave trade and the institution of slavery. Delegates from Georgia and South Carolina demanded it be completely deleted so the document could pass a vote without offending states dependent on slave labor.
Mock Funerals: During the summer of 1776, American colonists in some cities celebrated independence by holding literal mock funerals for King George III. They would stage a burial of the Crown’s rule over the colonies to signify the birth of the new republic.

Now you have some cool stories to tell at your BBQ, while watching other countries play soccer to entertain you on your special day!!

Today is a quick reminder on one aspect of building & maintaining wealth. At any given time you are either growing or shrinking. There is no such thing as standing still, holding your position.

Be diligent to know the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations. – Proverbs 27:23

Don’t become complacent. Watch the details of your business. All of them. Intently. This attention makes it grow.

Miss the details, become complacent and it will shrink.

I’m off to buy a house!!

Here, you can: 

• Buy Deals Here (39 Avail around the US)
• Invest in Our Deals Here (Accredited Investors)

Featured Deal: 35,794 Sq. Ft. Warehouse – Barnesville, GA $795K ($22/ft.)

Could you Run 6-10 Deals at any Given Time?

If you are already doing this, congratulations. You can simply delete this email, buy one of these as your next deal, and carry on with your week.

If you are not already doing this, let me share what this looks like.

Running 5-10 deals at once means you are closing 1-2 deals every month. Steady, above average income.

Running 5-10 deals at once is also a lot of work. You are managing dozens of negotiations at any time with sellers in search of that next deal.

You are managing dozens of negotiations with contractors around design, repair items, and inspection reports. You have a strong rolodex of these service providers and are good at underwriting the risk of hiring a new contractor.  (Will they run off leaving a job half finished?)

You are a master at managing the contract cycle – both on the buy-side with sellers and the sell-side when you’re exiting to the retail buyer. You are aware that you have the ability to compress those cycles by a few days here and there-which amplifies your yearly income.

You have resources lined up such as $10M in financing at any given time which is used to buy/renovate that constant flow of deals.  Ok, $5M is prob enough to manage this pipeline.

To be honest, this is how Acquisition Managers are living their life with us here at Diamond Equity Investments. Running 5-10 deals at any given time. 1-2 closings every month.

We have the money, a decent rolodex of contractors, and a steady supply of sellers who own houses that need renovation. We also have strong admin staff to help get closings done. Finally, we have a senior underwriting team to help make the most important decision in any real estate deal:

How much do you offer?? (this is the #1 question most investors get wrong which leads them to big losses, or no deals. I have answered this question correctly alongside my team more than 5,000 times in my career. I can help you answer this too, assuming you’re on the team.)

At this point in this email, I hope you’re actually wondering the same thing:

“Dan, How much do you offer Acquisition Managers who run your deals?”

My answer, “A partnership share on any deal closed.”

There is no cap in the ability to earn income here at Diamond Equity. We are looking for one Acquisition Manager who understands Deal Making & is ready for a lifestyle in the real estate business.

This is a grind, not a “lifestyle real estate business” where you work remotely and go on lots of vacations. The goal is for you to earn $1M after taxes, in the bank, after a few years in the position and then become a private lender-loaning that $1M out at 12% and setting yourself up with an income stream for life. This will take hustle, grit, & determination to be considered & succeed.

At this point in this email, I’ll ask you, “Do you know anyone who might make a good acquisition manager?”  If so, I’d appreciate an email introduction.

We are always buying value add residential, commercial, & industrial property. Happy to review any deal you might have available.

Here is my observation on the residential real estate market across the US:

Buyers seek perfection. Dated, “needs some repairs” handyman specials are increasingly selling only to investors at cash prices.

For the past 5 years since Covid, retail buyers would accept houses that needed some work.  Not anymore. At minimum, the house must be painted & clean. Ideally new appliances. Better yet-fully renovated.

In a flat or declining market, which we is the case in the majority of local markets, renovated houses hold their value. People pay for convenience, ad it is mighty convenient to move into a fully renovated house, unpack, and just live.

Ready to Renovate another house?  Here are 34 properties for sale, many work for fix & flip 

Here, you can: 

• Buy Deals Here (3 Avail around the US)
• Invest in Our Deals Here (Accredited Investors)

Featured Deal: 35,794 Sq. Ft. Warehouse – Barnesville, GA $795K ($22/ft.)