Episode 15| Michael Del Prete: How To Network With Investors With No Experience. Advice From the Executive Director of AZREIA!

Michael Del Prete is a  wholesaler, real estate investor, networker and Executive Director for the Arizona Real Estate Investor Association. Headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, his wholesaling business has done hundreds of deals. In this episode we dive into how to network your way to the top. 

Transcript

Michael: 0:00

And I was like, then he, he, he was like, I'll give you half of. This spread from 18 to 25. It's like another 3,500 bucks I got, right? So that all process happens. Now. I'm sitting there, I'm saying, okay, I made 5K up front. I'm starting to make a little, you know, few bucks every month, and I got another 3503, 4 months later. This guy didn't find the deal. He didn't fix the deal. He didn't pay for the deal, he didn't manage the deal. And he didn't even get the long-term financing to pay the first person back. And he owns the house. Like, like, and he cut me in like, so that, that, that right there switched how I start thought, I, I was like, I gotta start, there's something different here. He wanted to, when I say people wanna help, that's what I mean. I was assigning him deals. I met him at a networking event Right. With 10 people there. Right. And he changed my life. And he didn't have to, I didn't ask him to do that. He saw something in me from showing up where he was just like, you need to start owning properties, Mike.

Haydynn: 1:05

Welcome back to The Art of Connecting. We have a very special episode here. We have our second ever virtual episode that we've recorded and our first ever social media reach out episode. And I'm super excited to have Mike Doreet here today. How are you doing, man?

Michael: 1:23

Wonderful man. I appreciate you having me on your podcast,

Haydynn: 1:26

It is my absolute pleasure. So I'll tell you guys a little bit of the origin story about how me and Mike kind of virtually met. So I am, as a lot of y'all know, from listening to the other episodes, a real estate investor myself. I post a lot about my investing and my. Adventures gallivanting around Chattanooga and, and other places to go look for houses. And I got a follow from Mike and I saw that he works with Zare which is the Arizona Real Estate Investors Association. And Mike will tell you guys all about that. But I got a follow from his his business page and reached out to Mike and was like, Hey man, I. Love real estate. I love networking. Looks like you guys do a lot of that. Would you be willing to come on? And he said yes. So that's how we got here today. So Mike, would you mind telling us a little bit about what Azari is and, and what you guys do?

Michael: 2:21

Of course, man. Yeah. Thank you for having me on, man, first and foremost. And, and I, and I love the, the name of your podcast, art of Connecting and that's exactly what we did. We're just connected through social media and I'm telling you, social media will ch you. I feel like you could run your business on social media and you could do real estate. Just through those relationships and those connections. But the es, ria, the Arizona Real Estate Investors Association has been a staple in, in Arizona. We represent real estate investors throughout. The whole state or nor north, south, east, west where a RIA is a real estate investing association. So there's the national ria, right? So there's a national REA and there's RIAs in every state, and, and there's, and we're licensed, so we're, we're licensed rs. We have ethics and guidelines to follow and stuff like that. So that's, that's kind of what, where RIA started come from. We represent Arizona. So we're licensed here at Arizona as the ria. We started 20 years ago. Our founder was Alan Langston. Yeah, man, we've been supporting, educating, providing networking opportunities government affairs, you name it, anything to support real estate investors' career and protect them and, and, you know, let them, reach financial freedom. We provide that here.

Haydynn: 3:31

Fantastic. How long have you been with AZ r?

Michael: 3:35

I've been, I've been a member for 12 years since I started real estate investing. Obviously, that's the first thing. Go to your local ria, right? That's what you hear, right? So you go to the local RIA and you start meeting people. But, so I've always been a member and about, probably about four and a half, five years ago I was invited to start doing some teaching here. So I started doing like hosting some of the subgroups is what we call subgroups. We have our main event and then we have smaller events throughout the month. So I started doing some networking classes and I also started doing some training classes like wholesale and raising private money and stuff like that. And it's just, you're in, you're in the mix. You're in the community, right?

Haydynn: 4:10

Yeah, and then you get asked, Hey, can you come run this thing?

Michael: 4:14

Yeah. Then, you know came to the point the conversation started happening with me and the executive director, and before you knew it, I'm the new executive director,

Haydynn: 4:23

That's fantastic. Cool man. So I, I love the whole cascading effect cuz I've been kind of, I really diving into this for the last. Probably five months is when I have gone headfirst into real estate, and it is kind of mind blowing how quickly you go from, all right, well, I'm just going to join this mastermind. That's kind of how it was for me. I joined the Action Academy Mastermind with Brian Lumen, and as soon as I did that, it's like, okay, I need to learn what all of these different terminologies are and how to, I need to understand what I'm surrounding myself with. And then that turned into, okay, well everybody else is taking all this action, so I need to as well. And then, you know, looking back five months now, I'm like, okay, I've started this really cool podcast. I've met all these amazing people, going across the country to network with people. And it's, it's really kind of mind numbing when you think about the power of getting a like-minded group of people together.

Michael: 5:25

Oh, I bet, man, like the first time I experienced that in the real, the real estate world was actually the first ever bigger pockets convention in Denver. When, when I was new to the business. Yeah. Just being like, I. There's like hundreds of people all with the same goal in mind, all doing the same investing strategies, similar, you know, similar strategies. So it is, it's an amazing feeling. So being around the people, that's one thing that keeps you going in this business. Through, cuz there's gonna be tough times, there's gonna be slow times, there's gonna be rough days, there's gonna be great days. Right. So it's like having that. Those like-minded individuals that are all on the same path with you and having them in your network to, to bounce ideas off of or, or vent or, you know, work through problems is huge man. It's, it's very important. So, being so early in the business and the fact that you're going out a, around, around the country jumping in, man more power to you man. Keep it up.

Haydynn: 6:19

Yeah, it, it's one of those things too, where it's almost hard not to when you start realizing the, the caliber of people that go to these things. And, and not that that's like a necessarily even an income level. It's by, what I mean by caliber is the amount of action that people take. Instead of just sitting there and saying, oh, well maybe one day I'll go and do this. It's like, all right, there's an opportunity. Let's go line it up. Let's go get this person and this person together and, and make this thing happen. And that's something special about the real estate industry.

Michael: 6:53

It, it's the difference that makes a difference. It's like, I don't, you know, you could be brilliant. You could be smart, you know what I mean? Whatever it is or, or dumb, whatever it is. The person that takes action, the person that actually applies it gets some bumps and bruises, works through it, keeps, picks himself up, keeps going. Is the person that's gonna make it. Doesn't matter who you are, what skill level, whatever, right? That's the person that's gonna get through this business. Any business, anything in life, right?

Haydynn: 7:23

Can you tell me a little bit about your, your startup story, like maybe what you did before real estate? You mentioned 12 years ago you started that. What, what did you kind of do before that? What was your origin story getting into this business?

Michael: 7:37

Got it. Got it. So, To, I won't dive too deep, but I'll just say that I was in the music business, so here in Phoenix, you know, whenever major artists like worked for record labels like Columbia Universal, Tommy Boy, rocket, like all these things, all these labels. So when they promoted a art, art, a new artist coming out, so as a, we ran street teams. So it was basically meaning I'll get a group of peop promoters and marketers together and when it Let's say universal as the m and m album was dropping. We would go out to all the DJs, all the rec, all the radio stations, all the concert promoters. We would give them swag, CDs, whatever you name it, anything to do to promote that artist coming. And then they would come to town, we'd promote the event, so on. So I was in the world of, in that promoting type marketing world, right? Ultimately, when you work for. Record labels in that aspect. You start to get known from the radio stations and the concert promoters. Cause they want you to start, you know, leveraging your connections and having you bring people, or, or excuse me help bring people to their shows. So then I'm promoting concerts and then all of a sudden, you know, you start doing, and all of a sudden people want you to manage their bands. So then you start managing bands and hip hop groups and all that stuff. So, so now I'm like in this position where it's like we're doing band management. We start throwing our own concerts, bringing our own artists to town you know, selling tickets. It's, it's similar to putting on these events. Right. It's just, that's kind of probably where now you say origin story, that's where the networking came in and where I learned, my, my old mentor in that business would say the gift to gab, right? Like, yo, you just gotta talk, you gotta hang out, you gotta build connections. And that's how you get, get in with these artists at high levels and you bring'em to town. Then you got that marketing aspect. All right, so now I got the connections to get the artist. Now I gotta get a hundred, 200, 300, 400 people to come and pay me$20 for a ticket. To get in the door and you, you gotta put on a show. So all those aspects is kind of like what got me into the networking and and marketing world. But then as you know, I met my wife, we had a kid, and I was like, okay, so now I got a year old kid, whatever, and I'm out to in the nightclubs till three in the morning, right? You know, doing business, but it was just like, it wasn't the right fit. Right. You know what I mean? The business was up and down it's party, it's just bad. It's not the right environment to, you know, start a new family. So I kicked off and I went to a Verizon Wireless, you know, cell phone company. Right.

Haydynn: 10:00

I know them a little bit too well from all the times I've had to sit on hold.

Michael: 10:05

no, and I was probably the guy you were waiting for. So yeah, it's, and because I have a call center background too, I was always in the call center world. But yeah, so that, so I was there for about a year and a half is how long I worked there. But while I was there when we were waiting for a training class, you know, water cooler talk, everyone's kind of like just, you know, shooting a venting, talking sh talking crap. So I was like, some guy was like, yo hot pads.com, which is, which was bought up, I'm pretty sure by Zillow. They're like, houses are like 30, 40 grand here in Phoenix. I'm like, that's weird. I just remember watching like my buddy make like 50 grand on flips and the houses were two, three, 400,000. So I thought that was weird. And I was watching H G T V and all that stuff while working. So I got curious and I was like, well, what's going on? Just, I don't know the, I'm not in real estate, so I saw that things were happening in real estate. I was watching HGTV and I was like, I wanna make those$80,000 checks. In 30 minutes, you know what I'm saying? Like, so, you know, so I started getting curious. So, so, so I started going on Google and all that stuff and I was like, I can't be a fix and flipper. No money. No credit, right. You know what I'm saying? I don't know how to swing a hammer. I got, I work 60 hours a week. When do you flip a house? When, where, how? Right. Then I was like, landlord, okay, same concept, but you keep it and you rent it out at the time, like 800 bucks a month. And maybe you're left over with a hundred or two. Like how do you get rich? Right? I didn't understand wealth at that moment. Then I'm like a real estate agent. You gotta go shake the bushes and you're, you're no safety net commission based. Like, I got a family, I gotta pay bills, got a mortgage. So then I came across the word wholesaling. No money, no credit. Make 5K in 30 days. Bam, that's that. That's me 100%. So what is this wholesaling thing? And I just went down the rabbit hole and Googled and searched and searched till I found this gentleman that had 100 free YouTube videos on how to wholesale real estate. Okay. And this was a time that I'm talking 12 years ago, right? Like, Like, that's when you had to pay five, 10 grand to get a box of CDs and binders, you know what I'm saying? Or go to a big seminar and swipe your card in the back like this. Like right now, everyone that's watching and listening, you can get, especially now with chat, g p t, like you could learn how to wholesale, there's no excuse.

Haydynn: 12:36

You can have it write a contract for you.

Michael: 12:39

Yes. So the, yeah, they'll negotiate for you probably, you know what I'm saying? Like, so, So get, so here's what I did something crazy. So I, I, I saw these videos and I watched all of'em. And guess what I did?

Haydynn: 12:52

You went and took action. I

Michael: 12:54

I applied the, in, in, in long story short and 45 days, I made five grand.

Haydynn: 13:02

Heck yeah. And was it easy though?

Michael: 13:04

So this, okay, let's put it like this. For my first deal, it was easy. The, and it's not like that for everybody. One of, so, so this business is work wholesaling business, you know, real estate business. It's work. Hands down, no, if, ands, buts about it, it takes grit and resourcefulness and in getting at it, but this, but then going to the second and the third and the fourth in the fifth, wanting to quit your job. It's worry, it's not easy, man. You know what I'm saying? Nothing's easy, right?

Haydynn: 13:37

I ask that cuz I, I hear all the time of, especially like new investors, they're like, oh yeah, I kind of wanna get into wholesaling. Like I want to dip my toe into that. And it's like, there, there's this false connotation. I feel like that, okay, I'm just gonna go in wholesale and make 30 grand and work for three hours. It's like, no, that's not quite how it works. Cause there's so much to learn. It is very repeatable to do wholesaling. But I, I feel like a lot of people have this, you know, they hear the story of where somebody made 50 grand on a deal. And a lot of those. Deals. When I really kind of asked que more questions, it came out of a connection that was you know, kind of another thing I started realizing and why I started this was, you know, I, I was in Houston at a real estate event and my buddy Ryan was up on the stage talking about one of the deals he did, and it's like he ended up getting a phone call from somebody that saw his Instagram and, that was a$50,000 assignment. And, but that would not have happened if he had not put in hundreds and hundreds of hours to build content and to put it out there. And that's, that is a connection, as you said, like social media is such an amazing way to connect, but it's something you've gotta put the time and work into and it all plays together.

Michael: 14:55

Yep. Yeah. You know, for the newer people listening or whatever, it's like, it's yes. Instagram, like I, I get like you hear a lot of people, oh, I put three hours in this deal and I made 30 grand. Yeah, you probably did, right? Like technically, like the, the art of whole like wholesaling concept, the paperwork and how it works is an easy process. But like you, you hit it. Perfectly. Like, yeah, what the, the, how many network, how many times was that guy on social media putting out content for that person to finally follow him and trust him and, and to, you know what I mean? And the engagements they probably had before that to say here, you know what I mean? And then, then they, you know, they go through the part maybe. Yeah, maybe it's like, Hey, I got a deal buddy. Cool. Oh, I know something. I'll buy that boom quick assignment. Yeah, that's totally possible. But yeah, behind the scenes to get to that level. Of having that connection like that takes, takes time and effort.

Haydynn: 15:46

And it's a, it's a, a building process cuz now, I mean like Ryan has a list of a thousand people he can send an email out to that wanna buy his houses. Right. And He even keeps the cream on top. That's something that you get to build up to when you're a wholesaler, is you start locking up deals and you, you've done it for a few years. Well now you get houses that'll make great rentals and cash flow really well for you in good areas. You keep those and then you assign out the rest of'em. And there are people willing that wanna buy the, the rest of them too, because that's their area. So, yeah, I, I love how, how connection Heavy wholesaling is because it's really two sides of. Now I had a really good wholesaler on here on another episode. It's, you've gotta form a connection with the seller, and it's a very emotional process for them to sell his house most times. And then also on the other side, you've gotta build trust and a connection with your buyers because you've gotta represent that property well. You've gotta represent your company, your self well, and make sure that you're doing your best that you can, to be honest and straightforward.

Michael: 16:47

Yep, 100% man. Agree.

Haydynn: 16:49

Cool. So as, as far as the Rio goes tell me Some of your, your favorite events that you guys do, or, or favorite things that you guys provide that, that you've gotten value out of?

Michael: 17:02

Got it. Got it. Well, We hold over like at least 15 events a month here. Right? And so we, and we have an a, a meeting for almost every strategy. Fix and flip landlording notes, beginners, women's, we play cashflow one-on-one board game. So there's like, we have something for everybody depending on what trying of lane you're trying to go down or if you're trying to explore. Okay, so that's first and foremost. You know, for me it's hard being an executive ever executive director cuz you have to ha you have to have that passion of wanting to see people succeed and wanting to care and, and, and truly help people, right? So it's like every event I love. So you, you know what I'm saying? So, but if I was to pinpoint a couple, like one, I like the board game cash flow 1 0 1. Okay. Have you ever

Haydynn: 17:48

That's the second time that that's been mentioned. I had Jeff Holst on his, his episode's going live tomorrow, and he mentioned it too, and I need to get that board game I've never played before.

Michael: 17:58

It literally like it's the real estate business simulator. Like if you know you're on a flight simulator, Right. You go on the board game, it puts you through real scenarios in real estate and stocks. Real estate is a, you know, getting wealthy is a team sport, right? So it shows you how to joint venture, do deals with each other, analyze things because it takes, it takes you from your normal life and how you think. And you take that, what happens is you take the way you think in, in normal life and you put it into the game and it doesn't work. So it, it forces you to start thinking differently to get ahead in the game. Okay. So it starts getting outta that nine to five type mindset. And what I love about it, it has real scenarios. Like, so-and-so's going through foreclosure, so-and-so inherited a house. Someone lost their business. And it, I, I always say train your brain to see money because you go, you know, for the people that are new to real estate, it's like you're. You're in this world and you're going to the grocery store, you're going to work and there's problems happening all around you that you can solve with your real estate skill, but you just don't know what you don't know. So it's hard for you to offer an assistance cuz you don't know what you're looking for. So the game puts that in front of you. So now when you're out in the world, world we have a gentleman, Jeff here at is Ria. He, he started coming to our class. He's in the military and one of his buddies in his, his group was going through a house situation cause he got deployed and they couldn't sell the house and there was enough equity and all this stuff. But before I come, coming here and participating at es r he got, he started to see that, that there was, there problems can be opportunities to help someone and earn money. And he was able to get another investor to come in and do a sub two. You know what I mean? Not leave this guy hanging and so on. So I won't go into the deep, into the story, but it trains your brain. So cashflow 1 0 1 is, is great for those reasons. And it gives, what, what I like about it is the ah, the aha moments when you got so ongoing. I, I, I didn't know that was possible. Wow. I could have done that with my family member last year and I didn't like, like it's like that type of stuff that, like the eye-openers that shows people newer to real estate. So that's what I love about Cashflow

Haydynn: 20:16

That's kind of amazing. I, I'd imagine also like when y'all are playing that together, deals are created by that. Like people are realizing maybe new techniques and like, wait.

Michael: 20:26

100%.

Haydynn: 20:27

Can anyone help me with that? And like probably right there around the board game, it's like I am a lending officer. Let me help you with that, that I'm gonna buy that game. This, I'm gonna do that today. I'm getting the game. I'm gonna get together with a few of my, my business partners and we're gonna play and make it happen.

Michael: 20:41

just play a few times, man. You gotta go through the motions. You gotta get, you know, go through it, man. But I highly recommend anyone listening yourself to play play with others.

Haydynn: 20:50

Yeah.

Michael: 20:51

It's a good cause we're here talking about art of connecting, right? So it's like you're sitting around, whether it's your friends or you invite a couple family members over to play and you're connecting. It's, it's forcing you to not in a bad, like it's making it your connect. You're thinking, you're like trying to win the game when it's, and, and once you figure out like how to, you can get out of the rat race, so to speak. It's like, yo, you can do that. It's all real. You could really do this outside of the game, you know? So yeah, it's life changing,

Haydynn: 21:17

That's amazing. So I'm gonna kind of make like a little simulated situation here. I'd love for you to kind of walk through what you would do. So you're going to Houston, there's another real estate meetup in Houston, like some kind of networking event or meetup or conference. What are some tools that you use to create solid connections with people, bring new partners in? What are some things that you do to kind of foster that relationship there?

Michael: 21:42

Got it. Well, so I'm going to a real estate event and I wanna build some new relationships. One, first and foremost, I, I probably wouldn't leave until I knew, met everybody in the room. Right? You know, me. You know, I would say introvert, I was always a guy leaning against the wall kind of to myself, not outgoing, don't want the, don't want the light on me kind of thing, and all the attention. So I've really gotta step out. Alright? So, but I always come from the perspective of like, I'm here to help. I can help somebody. I have knowledge and skill that if we align correctly, right? And if it's the right timing or there's a connection of some sort, I can truly help somebody. So that's, that's the approach. I don't go with any expectations anymore. Like, I'm gonna go in here, I'm gonna meet 15 people, I'm gonna make$10,000 maybe. I don't know, man. I go in and say, who can I meet? Let's make the best of this, right. I'm gonna meet everyone I can in there. And then I start with the idea of, I imagine that everybody I talk to has a necklace on their neck that says, make me feel good. And I go with that, right? I go and I just approach people and let's just have a human conversation, you know? I know there's always that, like I got business cards all over the place. It's just like, Hey, what'd you do? Oh, I do this. What do you do? What do here? Good card out. And you know, one ever calls each other. Come on, man, let's get real. No one ever calls each other afterwards. So I try to build, try to get to know people, as many of people as I can, and get to know them personally and about their business. I don't even, I don't even bring up myself unless they ask. Right. I just try to just let them talk. Cuz what happens is people love to talk, especially real, real estate investors. We love to talk. So so let them talk about themselves. You, you know, how many situations I've been in where it's like, Hey, you gotta go. And they didn't a maybe it's 20 minutes. They didn't ask me one question about myself and they're like, that was a great conversation. And then we have a great relationship because they just talked about themselves the whole time. So, and I don't, I'm okay with that. You know what I'm saying? So I just start there, man. Like, just make the initiative to go there, meet everybody, listen hear what they're about, and just make good connections. And, and you'll know just when people are, are vomiting everything they're saying, you're gonna know if you can help them or not, or you know what I'm saying? Or, or you'll, in your, my brain, I'm always thinking like why they're talking. Can I, I'm connecting the dots in my brain. Like, okay, they said they do this over here, they handle this like that. They do. And I'm just kinda like, where does that fit in my business? And I really feel like that skillset that they brought up in that scenario, if it could help my business, then I'll interject or maybe lead into that point that could, I think we could connect on.

Haydynn: 24:26

Something I try to do too is as soon as possible I try to think of somebody else that I've met that I can connect them to that would help grow their business. Like if I'm meeting a real estate investor from Arizona tonight, while I'm in Atlanta, I'm gonna be like, Hey, you need to meet Mike. He runs the R there. He can get you connected and looped in. And, and like right there, what I'll do is I'll pull my phone out and I'll send that message. And you know, that's kind of a hazard of being connected with me is like, you're probably gonna get a few texts every once in a while of a group text with somebody who I meet and I think would be a good connection. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but as soon as you can as you were talking about, like running through your head, If you can connect somebody to someone else like that, right there is, is value. It's a, it's a value add. Even though I'm 22, I don't have millions of dollars. I can go and invest in something. If someone's doing a project that lines up with someone that I know who can, I can just make that connection and even if I don't get anything out of it right now, you know, later on when I need something else, if I help that out, that's it just opens up for opportunity.

Michael: 25:34

And when I first started, I was always like in kind of like the group I was around or my old partner. It was always like, this is business. Get everything you can out of everything, right? So it's like, so if I connected people, I'd be like, all right, something happens. Hit me off, right? Break me off, you know, so that, that didn't, that doesn't work. You know what I'm saying? I learned that fast. So it's, I go, like I said, I go with detention with no expectations. So whether it's a connect, if I could truly help them, somehow connect them with somebody and then I lit it play out. And then three years when you're, when you're in this business long enough and you're consistent in it, it's being 12 years now. You start reaping the benefits all year over time from people from three years ago, da, da, you know? Yeah, it, it, and then, yeah, even then someone comes into your life and is like, Hey, someone told me about you, Mike. They said I should ask you about or offer this to you. And I'm like, wow, thanks. You know, someone else is thinking about you, you know? So. Yeah, man. Good point, man. Just helping people man, and with no expectation is, is the route I'm on, man. And, and it makes me think I like, you know, to this day I still have mentors and I still I was talking to a buddy when I took, this was about almost two years ago when I took over the Rhea and I'm like, you know, you, you know, you get those limiting beliefs. It's like, I don't wear a suit. I'm not polished guy. You know what I'm saying? I'm just like regular old guy doing deals, making things happen. Right. And you know, cause the, the other executive always had a sue high. High, very high reputation. And I'm like, man, like I got big shoes to fill. But I was talking to one of my mentors, he was like, being who you are, got you in the door. You know what I'm saying? So stick to that. Stick to what got you there. Right? If if, if I wasn't who I was, I wouldn't be able to have this. So obviously there's something there, you know, so, you know what I mean? And he was like, and, and we were saying, but one of the other things like. Because we're a community, right? So like people, in order for us to be a useful community, there needs to be resources and connections. So that's like we're, you're, you gotta just keep connecting people, man, and not wanting to be a part of every deal and every single situation going on. I can't do that within the community. It has to be a place where people come together and connect together and do deals together and help each other without any benefit on my end. You know what I

Haydynn: 27:52

I think of the saying I forget what book this is in. I've read a lot of books recently. I think it was in Who, not How, but it talks about how you should collaborate instead of compete. And we, I just went to a, a meetup the other day that we have at, at a local pizzeria, and there were like five property managers in the room. And it's like, okay, well these guys are all competition. But at the end of the day, it was very civil. We had great conversations, some great questions brought up, and we all benefited because we all came together. And so many people, I feel like it's, it's cutthroat. It's like my way or the highway kind of thing. And constantly just trying to compete and compete and it's like your company has weaknesses. That another company that does the same thing as you may have a strength in, and you may have a strength where they have a weakness. You know, if, if it's someone who you want to work with and isn't, you know, a total butt hole, then

Michael: 28:44

Yeah,

Haydynn: 28:44

build that connection and see where you can help each other. And the worst thing that can happen is you propose something and they're like, no, we want to do our own thing. Okay. That's perfectly fine. So I think that's really an, an interesting thing too, to think about.

Michael: 29:00

Abundance. Yeah, there's definitely enough for everybody, man.

Haydynn: 29:03

Yeah. I also love what you mentioned about attire and appearance. I've met a lot of people in my lifetime now, and some of the people that you meet that you would never imagine, Are in the position that they are. You know, a lot of the guys that I've met that are in a really great position as far as like being able to be free and go do what they want when they want, that's kind of my vision of someone who's kind of like made it is someone who's financially free and those guys all wear t-shirts and jean shorts or khaki shorts, you know, it's like they're, they're the people that you would never really think about being the the big business person because they don't care to impress anybody. Like, you don't need to impress anyone. It, it doesn't matter for you. And, and I love that cuz that's, I'm dressed up today only because all my other clothes are dirty and I needed something to wear. But you know, I'm laying by the pool at 12 o'clock. That's my idea of you know, that's my idea of making it, is just being able to do kind of what you feel like doing.

Michael: 30:12

That's it. There's no right or wrong, right? You know? Yes, I know. People are always judging or whatever, you know, I, I, what? Doesn't matter. You know, me, I just personally, you know, I, if I gotta dress up, I'll dress up, right? Like it feels good. Nothing's wrong with it. So it's just like me. I'm on the go every day. Black t-shirt, my jeans, sneakers, and a hat. I got like 10 of these, yo. You know what I'm saying? I just rotate'em, man. And it's just don't have to think. You just go out, man. I'm, you know? Yeah. So you know nothing wrong with it. Everyone has each his own man. Do what you feel,

Haydynn: 30:50

I think you should talk to, you know, don't let somebody's attire deter you from connecting with them. That's kind of what I wanted to hit at because you just, you never, ever know who is across the table from you. And I think also as a new networker, try to be situationally aware. Like if you have a day off for some reason from your job and you're laying by the pool and you see three people on their laptops laying by the pool and they look like they do that every day, go over and talk to them and ask what they do, if that's something you want to do because they're in the environment that you want to be in.

Michael: 31:26

that's true. Yeah. Your location. They made me think about like, yeah, here at the Rio it's like, so one thing the previous director and his staff was they were older. They were in their sixties, so it kind of brought in an older crowd. And so that's something we're working on, diversifying and getting younger crowd. Right. So, and it's working well. So, so one thing is we still have. Our, you know, our members that have been around for 15 years, 20 years. So, so now like when you go to like a lot of events, it's like they're at the bar and you know, whatever. And that's all fun. We do stuff like that. But my thing is some people are like, oh, it's like an older crowd here. A lot of old pe you know, I'm like, you don't, don't judge a book by a card. There's wisdom here, right? You can go to the bar and, and hang out with like-minded people and meet great people, of course. But there's guys like, They don't even shave nothing. They have like 500 houses. I could put, I like, I walk around one of our meetings and be like, that guy's, like L said, he has like a million dollars to lend, that guy has like 300 houses. This guy just bought an apartment complex, but it's an older crowd. Go where you want, you know, you, you know what I mean? Do what you gotta do. But I encourage it's wisdom and it goes vice versa. If an older person's, like a lot of young people are coming, oh my, you know, whatever, which they don't, but it's like, That's wisdom too. It was like if anything, that's a perfect connection. Like the the person that's not the older person that might not have the marketing. Right? Those young guys are brilliant, man. They got the new technology, the new software, and maybe you bring that to the more experienced person that has the money and the crew and you guys crush it, right? Like I'm just always trying to put that

Haydynn: 33:03

Yeah. I also think of like, whenever you are, like, I'm a young person, 22 years old, when I'm going into a room of older people, you know, I don't have the money to bring the table, like I mentioned, but I have the hustle. You know, I can go work and I, I have a lot of free time because, well, I don't have a lot of free time, but I have flexibility of time and I get to choose where I spend it. And so if they need something, like, I went up to a guy at that pizza meetup I was telling you about, and he lives in Florida, has like 30 houses. And he was like, how can I get someone to check out a neighborhood while I'm not here? And I went up to him, I was like, Hey, here's my card. If you need me to go drive through our neighborhoods, send you some pictures and a video, let me know. And I didn't say, oh, you know, I'll charge this much or whatever. I, I literally, I'll go do it for free. I'll go drive that neighborhood and I'll send'em the videos. Because that's like, I can provide value in that way, and really if you lead with value, it just leads to so much amazing opportunity, like you were saying, without the expectation.

Michael: 34:03

Good point, man. Like, like what I would say to people that are nervous approaching maybe experienced investors in some aspect. Like I know when I first started it was like, oh, I don't wanna sound stupid. Everyone's probably rich and da da da da. Right? Man. People wanna help, especially successful people. Successful people know that the understand that they were helped everyone has been helped. You know what I mean? So. It's, I found that being people in our community, at least were very helpful and like to give back. And I'm the same way, right? So it's like, so don't be afraid to just, you know, connect with anyone in the room. But, and then also what I would add on that is when you're experiencing the business, you've been around, you know when someone has it or not, like, do your efforts, right? Like if, if you say you're gonna do it and you go do it, and you're putting in the work and you're just showing up, They will help people. Like my, my wholesale company, there's three guys on the sale side all came to as R and said, I wanna work with you. And I'm like, I, a hundred people a month will tell me they wanna work with me. Maybe one will stick around. You get what I'm saying? Like, so these guys stuck around, like the more they put in the work, the more they brought value to the table, the more they showed effort and they were hungry. Even if they made mistakes or, or you know what I mean? It's like, They keep getting better. They kept wanting it, so people will keep people see that in you and they'll keep you around.

Haydynn: 35:24

And they'll pour into you more than you could ever imagined too. And that goes to any level, like at your level, there's always gonna be someone who's a level up. And, you know, it's, it's scary no matter what level you're at. We talked about that with Jeff. He's got a few hundred units and it's like he hangs out with Brandon Turner all the time and all these really cool people. And it's scary to make that like next level jump cuz you're like, oh, well what if these people are, you know, these people are just too big and that that's just not the case. Just reach out and people want to talk to you and want you to treat them as a human and not as like a God cause. It's, it's, that's all a lot of people really ask for is I wanna have a good conversation and not be wooed over.

Michael: 36:05

So true, man. Good points there. Good discussion.

Haydynn: 36:07

Yeah. Well, we're running up on our time here, so I wanted to go and ask my my one question I asked every guest, is there a time that really sticks out in your head when you made a connection with or, or met somebody that just really changed a trajectory of, of where you were headed and, and changed your life for the better?

Michael: 36:24

Got it. Okay. Yeah, so I, I call this my dentist story, right? So so, so I was wholesaling houses. This was back, I started in the, the great Recession, right? Everything was down. And, and that's another thing I'll talk about that later, but like everything was down and out. So I had this property in Central Phoenix, and no one wanted to buy it. Right. And so I was telling, I was selling deals. Dennis is a flipper landlord, he's an all round investor, and he had a boatload of properties and, and brought the property to him after no one wanted it. He was like, I'll take it. And I was like, all right, cool. You know, and I, I was gonna make a$5,000 assignment fee, and so, so the numbers are really low back then, so I'll, I'll go, I'll just give you the numbers. So it was. I, I had the property locked up at 5,000. It was a really small house, right? And in Central Phoenix,

Haydynn: 37:10

Oh my gosh.

Michael: 37:12

So 5,000 houses and I wanted to sell to him at 10. That's it, right? Just wanna make my 5k. I'm new to the business, I'm just trying to keep the money coming in. Didn't understand anything but a sign. A sign, a sign. So he's like, I'll take it. Cool. Boom. Let's do it. Whatever. He goes, Mike, do you wanna keep the house? And I go, I don't know. You know, what do you mean keep the house? I, I'm, I don't, I can't fix it, you know? I don't know nothing. I just assign, right. He's like, what if I kept you in the deal, made you part owner 25%. Okay. Do I get my five grand? You know what I said? Like, that was my main concern. And he is, he's like, yes, you'll get your five grand. Okay, cool. I'll, whatever that means, I'll, I'll take it. So assign it to him. 10 K made my five, now I'm in the game. Right? He had now buys the house, puts$8,000 into the property. He has, he has a property manager, he has the contractors, he has crews, everything. They go in there within the month, whatever it was, a couple weeks houses rented out, which like it was like 800 bucks at the time. He's like, cool. So now you'll start getting net 25% of the net rents and I start making 50 bucks whatever, a hundred bucks, whatever. Whenever knows what it was at the time and Cool. So three months go by. He goes, Mike, hey we're gonna refinance this thing. So we're into it at 18 K, right? And he is like, we're gonna, we're refinance this. I'm like, what do you mean refinance? Like, I knew what, what it was, but what do you mean? I thought like, he's the player, right? Like this guy had, at the time, he had like 50 rentals in like one neighborhood, right? Like, so I was like, didn't you pay for it? He's like, no, man, I didn't pay for it. My buddy at the golf course paid for it. He gave me 18 k. That's how we bought the house. I was like, Okay. Right. Remember, I'm new, so I'm like, wait, so the guy at the golf course put up the money, my assignment fee, the house, the whatever. He's like, yeah, okay, cool. We gotta pay him back though. It was just a short term loan. I was like, he's like, but I have this another lady. She's gonna give us 25 K. We're gonna pay the 18 back to my buddy, and then she's gonna just let us loan us the money for like 10 years. Something crazy. I was like, okay. And I was like, then he, he, he was like, I'll give you half of. This spread from 18 to 25. It's like another 3,500 bucks I got, right? So that all process happens. Now. I'm sitting there, I'm saying, okay, I made 5K up front. I'm starting to make a little, you know, few bucks every month, and I got another 3503, 4 months later. This guy didn't find the deal. He didn't fix the deal. He didn't pay for the deal, he didn't manage the deal. And he didn't even get the long-term financing to pay the first person back. And he owns the house. Like, like, and he cut me in like, so that, that, that right there switched how I start thought, I, I was like, I gotta start, there's something different here. He wanted to, when I say people wanna help, that's what I mean. I was assigning him deals. I met him at a networking event Right. With 10 people there. Right. And he changed my life. And he didn't have to, I didn't ask him to do that. He saw something in me from showing up where he was just like, you need to start owning properties, Mike. You know how to find deals. You're a deal finder, so why don't you start keeping some of these? Cause that's what's really good. So I didn't understand rental property. I didn't understand wealth, cash flow, all that stuff. So by Dennis exposing me to that one and two, the fact that he showed me how to do it with no money. Right. As a wholesaler, it's like, no money, no credit, no risk, da da da, no license, da da. No. This guy was the true player. He didn't even find the deal. You know what I'm saying? He just had other, other people's money, other people's resources, other people's knowledge, other people's time, other people's houses, and he, he was the, he was the conductor,

Haydynn: 41:06

was the connector.

Michael: 41:07

right? He's a connector con, he conducted the whole thing. And now that really changed my mind. Then I, from there I was like, I need to build relationships and find money. Cause I know how to find the deals. Now I can keep these deals. And still it's like wholesaling on steroids and you get to keep the deal. So that situation changed my life, man. And I've done hundreds of deals with him, man, over 12 years. Like. A lot of money was made with him, man. And, and he cha I for to this day, man. Yeah. I'm so thankful. Changed my

Haydynn: 41:43

All from a networking event that I

Michael: 41:46

small

Haydynn: 41:48

I think that's the perfect cap to this episode. I mean, it, it really, I don't think it gets much better than that story, man. That is amazing.

Michael: 41:55

It. Oh wait, wait, wait, wait. Let me, let me before you ended

Haydynn: 41:58

ahead, go ahead.

Michael: 41:59

We sold that house last year for$300,000.

Haydynn: 42:04

When you said five grand in Central Phoenix, I was like, what?

Michael: 42:08

yeah, it sounds stupid, right? You're like, he's a liar.

Haydynn: 42:10

I believe

Michael: 42:11

give you that. But yeah, man, like,

Haydynn: 42:15

Yeah,

Michael: 42:15

don't, don't,

Haydynn: 42:17

you're one

Michael: 42:18

a lot there.

Haydynn: 42:19

changing your life. You truly are.

Michael: 42:22

Good point. You know I had another friend used to tell me all that's one your one deal away from changing your life. And I always thought in my head that that one deal was supposed to be the deal. That was the home run that like, made you retire and have fu money. No man. It's, it's singles. It's singles and double hits like Dennis compounded over time, Hey, this guy showed me how to leverage every other people and buy a rental. Right. This person showed me how to raise money. The person that showed me the board game cash flow 1 0 1 like that changed my life. Right? Like changing other people's lives. So the person exposed me to cash flow 1 0 1 to help others. It is just, yeah, it just goes on. So it's compounded person after person, network after network. You know, one thing at a time builds up to change it ultimately.

Haydynn: 43:09

That is amazing. Well, Mike, this has been. And such a great episode. I'm so excited for people to hear this. Where can people follow you and, and follow your journey? Follow AZ Rya. Where, where should people go to keep up.

Michael: 43:23

Yeah, I've been putting a, a big push on Instagram, so at Michael Del pre just my full name. So just hit me up on Instagram or obviously if you're in Arizona, you're looking to invest in Arizona. You know this Google, Arizona Real Estate Investors Association, or Esri, A z r e i a.org. And we're here to help, you know, if you we're your connection in Phoenix and you're coming through, you have any questions, comments, concerns about Phoenix, we'll give you the resources we have, the market updates, the stats, the data anything you ne need to make a well-formed decision and build your team. We have here at ez ria. So yeah, just reach out

Haydynn: 43:59

All right. That's

Michael: 44:00

and, and. And my thing for you is, I was always told that how many episodes, what episodes are, how many episodes have you done?

Haydynn: 44:07

So I have recorded about 15 and episode 13 goes live tomorrow.

Michael: 44:13

Awesome man. So what I've heard, cause we have a podcast as well, the Esri's show we're on like episode 83 or something like that. And I was always told that most podcasts don't make it past 50. So my challenge to you, my friend, hit me up when you hit 50. Man. Let's celebrate cause I know you can do it,

Haydynn: 44:30

do, I'll come out to Arizona for 50. It's

Michael: 44:34

You got, Hey man. Yeah.

Haydynn: 44:35

spoke going to Puerto Rico into reality. I guess about three weeks ago when I had Jeff on, so now I'm going to Puerto Rico cuz he lives there and we're gonna, we're gonna celebrate his birthday party. I was just editing his podcast before this. I sent him a picture. I was like, we spoke this into existence as he was like, when you come visit me in Puerto Rico and then like, I'll be there in a week now, so I'll visit you in Arizona. I'm gonna speed up to get to 50 cuz I would've come out to Arizona.

Michael: 45:02

Hey, man. Just, you know how to get a hold of me, man. Well, you're, you're more than welcome. I'll be glad to hang out

Haydynn: 45:07

all right guys. Well, this is how it happens. Thank you for listening to the Art Connecting Podcast. One thing that really helps me out, if you could go leave a five star review up in the top left, if you're on Spotify and down in the bottom, if you're on Apple Podcast, and if you're listening to this on YouTube, I can subscribe, do all the things. Feel free to reach out to me anytime and ask always. I hope you have a blessed day.