Focus on Being Great at One Part of Your Business (LA 1266)

Focus on Being Great at One Part of Your Business (LA 1266) Steven Butala: Steve and Jill, here. Jill DeWit: Hi. Steven Butala: Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill DeWit: And I'm Jill DeWit, broadcasting from sunny southern California. Steven Butala: Today, Jill and I talk about focusing on being great at one part of your business. We talked about it a little bit yesterday. Jill, what are you great at? What's your thing? Jill DeWit: Getting deals done. Steven Butala: Getting deals done. Jill DeWit: It's in my soul. I can't help it. I am a deal junkie. That's it. Steven Butala: The truth is, I'm a deal junkie, too, but between the two of us, you're better at it than I am. I love data. When I sit down ... When it's a data day for me, when I sit down and do prepare a mailer, that's a good day. I truly get excited about sitting down, researching and pulling data, scrubbing it all out and pricing it and getting it out there. I don't know if it's like a ... It's a chicken and the egg thing. I don't know if I was good at that before I learned how to do it or the other way around, like I had so much interest in it that I learned it the right way. Jill DeWit: I think it's just nature for you. Steven Butala: Is it nature for you? Jill DeWit: Yes. And we'll talk about that. Steven Butala: All right. This is a great point. Before we get into it, let's take a question posted by one of our members on TheLandIvestors.com online community. It's free. Jill DeWit: Nick wrote, "I'm about to call the county for a couple of properties I have under contract to purchase. What things should I be asking the county when I call?" Actually, I saw this question, too. Here's a cute ... One of our members, Lori, answered ... There's several in there, and we'll answer, too. But Lori wrote, "Here's what I ask when I call, along with the department that typically handles it. I verify the current owners name with the clerk or recorder. I ask them how to get a copy of the vesting deed if you haven't been able to find it online." These are all very different than what I thought it was going to be. This is just Lori's response. Steven Butala: Yeah. I want to hear yours, too. Jill DeWit: Okay, good, because this is ... Let's just say, the view points in this thing are not necessarily those of the hosts. I will help with this in a minute here because ... Okay, anyway. This is what Lori does. "And ask if the land is off the grid. Ask if the property has water rights or mineral rights included. That will probably refer you to the deed. Ask if there are any easements granted through the property. Check on the taxes owed; the assessor, the treasurer. Check on how the land can be used; zoning, planning, or engineering department. Also, ask them if there have been any permit applications for septic or building. And if so, try to get a copy of them. Is public water still available? That's with the water and sanitation departments. Hopefully not the same thing. And most importantly, be nice and express your appreciation for their help. That's very true, obviously. You might need them again. Best, Lori." Jill DeWit: Do you want to talk first? Steven Butala: No, no. Go ahead. Actually, you're more qualified ... Jill DeWit: Okay. Steven Butala: ... Than I am to answer this. Jill DeWit: A lot of stuff is overkill. I don't need to know all that. And maybe because I've been doing it so long, I know some of the areas, I already know what the answers are. I can look up what R2 is or Land Use 400. And some areas I know and I keep a little cheat sheet. Here's what I would say, too. As you're doing this stuff, create yourself a little cheat sheet going along so you always know ... Oh, yeah. That's what that is. That's what this is. Even when we do ... I used to do a lot of recording ourselves, create our own deeds and send them in. I had a cheat sheet so I didn't have to look up the address every time...