Business
In this episode I talk to Brent Maxwell. Brent is a real estate broker who works exclusively with real estate investors. He also primarily focuses on properties in the City of Detroit. His clients include both local and foreign investors who have risk capital available to put to work in the city. He started in real estate investing eight years ago, after having his interest piqued in high school by a late night infomercial. REI News NO REI news this week in the podcast. My conversation with Brent went long so we skipped the news and went right into the interview. A Cash Flow Mercenary Rant I'll put my CFM hat on and tell you that I'm really tired of the calls and emails I'm getting about how hard it is to find motivated sellers here in Metro Detroit. I'm tired of it because I've been using the same source of leads for ten years. All of my wholesale deals came from this source. Half of my flips came from this source. And half of the houses in my rental portfolio came from this source. And this source is just as profitable and just as easy to use as it was when I started using it back in 2004. What's the source? Probates. If you're someone who's having trouble finding motivated sellers, then I highly encourage you to start chasing probates. And I also encourage you to use my educational program as your roadmap. It's $97 and it includes my six letter sequence and my excel tracking and follow up spreadsheet. In short - it includes everything you need to start chasing probates today. Check it out at Probate Real Estate 101. Current Business Brent is primarily wholesaling properties in Detroit to investors and individuals who are looking to buy and hold properties in the City. How He Got Started in REI Brent started out trying to be a rock star. Literally! He moved to LA and pursued that dream. When it didn't work out, he moved back and contemplated grad school. But he found success in a series of sales jobs, and decided to skip grad school and dive into real estate. Biggest Mistake His biggest mistake was not anticipating the crash in 2008 - and it cost him a cool million dollar loss that he's still paying off. He did a gut check and realized that the experience would end up defining him, so he decided to take the high road and not declare bankruptcy. That decision has paid off so far, as his business is booming and he's attracted a whole new slate of investors to work with. Biggest Success Brent told me that his biggest success in real estate was his daughter. This was a great answer. It turns out that real estate has giving him the freedom to have full custody of his daughter, and be extremely active in her life as a single parent. Things would have turned out significantly different had he pursued grad school and gotten a job. Money Talks Brent uses investor funds to fund his deals. Answer to Listener Question The question I put to Brent was "What do investors need to know before they invest in the city of Detroit" His answer was - it's not "what" it's "who", which makes a lot of sense. He made the analogy that he wouldn't dream of investing in a place such as Calcutta India from Michigan without having someone local in his back pocket as a guide of advisor. The same goes for Detroit. If you're going to invest here you need to have someone here who will actively look after your interests and not just give lip service to it. Links and Resources and Information 1. You can contact Brent via his cell phone at (313) 461-6747 2. Or you can reach him via his website at Live In the D 3. Brent is actively managing over 200 properties in the city of Detroit. If you're not happy with your property manager, I encourage you to give him a a call and see if his approach would be a fit for you. 4. Also - if you're an investor with risk capital to deploy, you should call Brent to see if what he's doing in the city is a fit for your risk tolerance and your portfolio. You never know - a simple phone call could end up making you a 30% ROI next year. If you have feedback on the show, a question you’d like answered, a news item, or perhaps a recommendation of someone you’d like me to interview, or if you’d like to be a guest on the show, go to http://www.REITalkDetoit.com/contact and let me know about it.