Category: Jewels of Wisdom Newsletter

How to WIN 2027

The real estate business is all about momentum. Deal cycles take 3-6 months on the quicker end (brokerage, house flips) and 5-10 years or more on many commercial development deals or even long term rental property.

My team is buidling momentum for 2027 RIGHT NOW, in the middle of September because we understand how to create momentmum.

Deal Timeline – Illustrates Deal Momemtum

Here’s how this applies now, in Sept, to activate your deal flow for 2027. First, let’s map the timeline of a deal:

• Day 1 (Sep 26) – You learn about a deal
• Day 5-7 (Sep 26) – You’ve presented your offer
• Days 7-30 (Oct 26)  – If it’s a fast deal, you’ve negotiated an acceptable offer
• Days 31-60 (Nov-Dec 26) – You close on, and own that deal
• Days 61-150 (Dec – Mar 27) – You’ve completed your renovation & gone to market
• Days 150-210 (Mar-May 27) – You’ve gone to market & accept an offer
• Days 211-270 (May-Jul 27)  – The buyer has gotten their mortgage and closed the deal.

As you can see, we are perfectly timed, right now, to buy deals which will hit the Spring Market (when pricing is often reaching it’s yearly high) and provide income by the middle of next year.

Considering this timeline, which doesn’t account for longer term negotiations where sellers aren’t so agreeable in the first 30 days, we might actually be LATE for 2027. I bet you were even questioning my logic, my earlyness of this topic when you read this subject line….

Here are Your Action Items to Win 2027:

1. The time is NOW to build your momentum for 2027
2. Make 6 or more Offers with Urgency THIS WEEK.
3. Repeat that process again each week through 2027
4. REMEMBER those offers which deserve long term, strategic follow up.

Momentum in Negotiation 

EVERY DEAL EVER DONE BEGINS WITH ONE THING: AN OFFER

However, most junior, inexperienced deal makers think you make the offer and get the deal within a few days. There are enough of these “right now” deals available to make a successful career in the business (Here are 48).  However, this is elementry and NOT how the Deal Making Masters think & operate.

The Deal Making Masters recognize that HALF the available deals require the momentum to build -often long after that first offer is made. This is following up, keeping the conversation going until the deal is made.

The Master Deal Makers spot the pattern of a Deal to be made and then pursue that deal regardless of how many times the seller says “no” or the broker tells them “they’ll never sell for that price”. The Master REMEMBERS which deals in their system fit this pattern and stays on them. They work them until they’re closed.

The ONLY acceptable reason to forget about those deals you’re working on would be once the property has sold and SETTLED. Until then, the deal is in play, REGARDLESS of whether that seller says no, or even responds to your calls/emails/texts.

Most real estate investor are working only on the “right now” deals. Those which sign within 30 days of the initial offer. Allow me to push you to BE THE MASTER – recognize and latch on to those select deals that show signals of becoming a deal REGARDLESS of the current price that the “counter offer” has returned.

Becoming a Master, choosing correctly CERTAIN DEALS to continue working long term, is the key to doubling your income. Choose too many and you dissipate your enerygy and are ineffective. Choose too few and you miss the exact long term deals to which I am referring. Choose perfectly and you maximize your deal/effort results. THIS is how you WIN 2027!!

Lessons from a Top NJ Shore Developer

Yesterday my wife and I attended a few Open Houses here at the shore. The sport of vacations here on 7 mile island IS real estate.

Just after we arrived, one of the most prolific Jersey Shore developers walks in to check out the build himself. He did not build the house we were both walking through. I’m leaving his name out for privacy reasons, but you likely know the name & brand if you’re in Jersey or Main Line PA real estate.

We chatted for a while and I came away with 2 lessons:

1. Successful Business Operators are ALWAYS ON.
2. Location, location, location

First, let’s talk about ALWAYS ON. Here is a guy who certainly “has enough” in life. More than enough. Yet, on a Saturday during Memorial Day weekend, here he & I are both randomly walking a  new build neither of us have any intention of buying. Why?

Well, I believe for us both, is that we simply love real estate. Buildings, the brokers, the builders, the conversation. This must be the type of thrill folks get from following & talking about their local sports team. For us, that thrill comes from the business of real estate.

The other benefit here is market research. What is the competing product available in the market? Have you ever scheduled showings of houses you never intend to buy, simply to better understand the market from your buyer’s perspective? Or even called competing commercial properties available for lease to understand the rents being quoted in the market??

Now, Location, Location, Location

As we chatted for a while in this brand new house, my wife had mentioned several towns where she has considered houses. Some with 40+ acre parcels.

Our new Developer friend stopped, somewhat seriously, and STRONGLY steered us toward one of the towns she mentioned. Wayne, PA. His reason? He expects values to always climb in that highly constrained, desirable market. Location, location, location.

Then, to drive home that lesson further, as we start to break away into different directions to tour the house, he calls us back down the stairs, pulls us in close, and whispers:

“I am definitely NOT risk averse, but building this house, in this location is the riskiest move I’ve ever seen. Remember, location, location, location.”

Knowing the caliber of record breaking, exclusive homes this gentlemen builds, this lesson definitely hit differently as we stood there checking out this $4.5M home together.

On that note, do you have any Wayne, PA or similar Main Line, PA prime locations for me to buy?  1 Acre+, prefer something move ready, but willing to tear down & rebuild or renovated.

Transform Communities, One Property at a time.

This is really the operating principle of EVERY investor & developer who buys a property and invests cash in improving that property.

When you buy, fix & sell a house, you’ve caused transformation.

When you buy land & develop a building, you’ve caused transformation.

The transformation is made possible when you:

Join the Team – and Create deals with me together. Thank you to the dedicated partners here at Diamond Equity.  You’ve committed to the company and I appreciate you.

Invest in Deals – Many reading this are currently invested in Diamond Equity deals ranging from house flips to ground up construction. Thank you for your faith in our team and investment in our deals. These investments have assisted us in reaching scale over the years – transforming more than 250+ deals per year, for more than a decade.

We currently have a few more Private Mortgage Investment opportunities/deals coming up ranging from $50,000- $250,000. If you want first dibs on one of these, they pay 2 points and 10% interest (roughly equals 12% interest while we have your money. Reply to me directly if you want to discuss funding one of these.

Buy a Deal – To those who’ve bought, or agents who’ve repped a buyer on one of our deals, Thank YOU! Our business model runs on the exit-pays the investors back and provides those partner shares to each member of the team who created & operated the deal to completion.

We occasionally offer deals to our network prior to beginning construction and doing the deal ourselves. We currently have 38 available for sale here.

Thank you for continuing to follow us here. Even if you haven’t fit into one of those mentioned deals above, I APPRECIATE YOU for giving me your attention each week to read these emails. You never know when that day comes that you end up selling me a deal, buyig one of our deals, investing in one of our deals, or perhaps even joining our team.

I pray that our relationship increases the money in BOTH of our pockets!!

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!!