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*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Dave's Background:
In this episode we cover:
Connect with Dave Dubeau:
Connect with Dave:
Other ways to listen/watch:
Follow or Subscribe:
If you enjoyed this episode or like the show, please subscribe and leave a review! It is a huge help for just a little effort
*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Welcome to the Making Money in Multifamily Show, where we discuss everything to do with multifamily real estate investing. We believe it's the best way to gain financial freedom and build lasting wealth. This is where you'll find it the best information and practices to help you succeed in your real estate business, whether you're already experienced or just starting out. Here's your host, Dave Morgia.
Dave:Hello listener and welcome to the show. I'm your host, Dave Morgia. And with me today is Dave Dubeau. Dave, welcome to. the show.
Dave Dubeau:Thanks for having me, Dave, must be a heck of a good guy with a name like that.
Dave:You know, I've had maybe one or two Daves on and Yeah. There's always some type of synergy there. you came in kind of before the show and were really geared up. So, yeah, it just must be that intangible, commonality with the name. yeah, just, going to have a good one. I got, a good feeling about it. just before we dive in.
Dave Dubeau:Let's have some fun for sure.
Dave:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. before we dive in, just want to give your background for the listener, founder of results enterprises incorporated host of the property profits, real estate podcast. He is also the founder of the money partner formula, which we’ll probably dig a little bit into today. that covers a service, which is a complete investor marketing service and a book, which he authored. And then last but not least, it's kind of the pitch with this book. And I really just want to kind of pick, and maybe we'll start with how you explain this, but he helps investors raise capital without Fear of rejection. So with that, Dave, do you just want to kind of lean in and maybe explain your background and what your focus is.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah. Well, as your listeners will pick up on I'm from north of the border, I'm up here in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, born and raised, I spent a little bit of time, actually, almost 14 years, living overseas in Latin America, Ten of those years in beautiful San Jose, Costa Rica. And then in 2003 with my Costa Rican wife and our Costa Rican kids. We decided to pack everything up and move back up to the frozen hinterlands of Canada and everybody. goes, What the heck were you thinking? tropical paradise, frozen hinterlands? Well, first of all, it's not always frozen up here, but anyhow, you don't realize what you got until you, leave it for a while. Dave. So Latin America is wonderful. Costa Rica is amazing, but being the pasty-faced white guy, that I am, whether you have money or not, people assume that you do. So there's a bit of a target on your back and things. like Getting kidnapped and held for ransom don't happen very often, but they do happen and they hardly ever happen where I live in beautiful, British Columbia. So that's why we moved up. And then it was a matter of, okay, now what do I do? Because I had a language training company in Costa Rica. I wasn't going to do the same thing in Canada. I was pretty much unemployable because I'd been self-employed for so long and I hadn't been able to sell the business so I didn't have much cash. So I saw one of those late night infomercials. You remember the. kind? You too, can get rich in real estate with little or no money down the
Dave:guys with the cars and the big house. Yeah.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah, exactly. So I saw one of those, And said, Hey, that's perfect. because that's what I got little or no money. So why don't, I see how this works?” So set away for the courses way back in 2003 took massive action. Did 18 deals in 18 months, which sounds impressive. But a lot of these were crappy little mobile homes. I'm not talking mobile home parks. I'm talking about actual mobile homes in mobile home parks and other weird wonky. single family home type deals, But I got my feet wet and made a few bucks and kept the lights on and got some experience. And, then I took a few years off and because of my real estate background and my marketing background worked with an up-and-coming guru up here, kind of the Canadian version of Kiyosaki and the rich dad thing that, that kind of idea helped him grow his company from two employees To 128 and seven offices, up to $200 million a year in revenues and all that kind of good stuff. and then that's where I got kind of excited and passionate about teaching and training. I wrote a few books and coauthored, some books on marketing and real estate investing started speaking and that kind of stuff. And, took some time off of real estate investing then jumped back in, in 2010. And at this point I got out of the completely creative type deals and actually started buying properties, single family homes. And like most people after the first couple of deals I did. I ran out of cash, ran out of credit, hit that wall. It stopped me hard. And I remember, of course that's when the perfect deal falls in your lap. Right, Dave. So I had this perfect deal fall in my lap. I was doing kind of a lease option kind of a strategy at that time. And I'd crunched the numbers. and I was going to make a nice little $40,000 profit on this deal over about two years. If I could just get an investor on board. And I don't know if you've ever heard this Dave, but I used to hear, Hey, if you just find a good deal, somehow the universe. will deliver the money too. It's like the secret, Put it out there and the universe will answer. So find a good deal. The money will find you. That's what I heard, but I had this good deal, but I knew I needed to do something. the universe wasn't just going to hand me a check. It wasn't that big. I think I only needed to raise like 85 grand. But it wasn't going to happen by itself. So I had also heard, Hey, if you want to raise money, pick up the phone and start dialing for dollars. Ever heard that one Dave?
Dave:Yep. Absolutely.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah. So I tried that and I sucked miserably. I didn't have a dialing for dollars background or skill set or desire. So I cranked through probably a dozen calls, got rejected, time after time after time and quit calling and started pouting about that a little bit. And that didn't work. So I'd also heard, Hey, go out there and turn every conversation. Into a real estate conversation, go out there and start talking up your deal. Practice your elevator pitch, your 3o second commercial, whatever you want to call it. So I did that. went to the local chamber of commerce, BNI, Toastmaster, wherever they'd let me in the door and did my spiel and raised. Can you guess how much capital I raised doing that?
Dave:My guess it looks close to zero dollars.
Dave Dubeau:It wasn't exactly zero that's right. It was Exactly. zero dollars. So by this time I'm running out of time. So I got one week extension on, financing for this deal. And then I came up with my brainchild, Dave, I thought to myself, this is such a good deal. If enough other people see it, it's going to sell itself. So I put together a list of about 200 people. That I knew. And I spammed, I mean, I sent out this deal to all 200 of them. I remember I sent it out about seven o'clock at night on a Wednesday Thursday morning I got up. I was so excited and I took a look at my inbox and I got replies I went, wow, something's working until I started reading the replies, Dave. And then I was reading things like, Hey, Dave, This Dave Dave Dubeau, haven't heard from you in five years or 10 years. One guy hadn't heard from me in 18 years. And here you are hitting me up for cash for a deal, take a hike. So that deal went in the dumpster and, the worst thing was. Dave, it was humiliating because I live in a pretty small city. There are about 80,000 people in my town. So I ticked off my tenant buyer ticked off the property, seller, the realtor, the mortgage broker, major egg on my face in a small market. But the worst thing was I turned off a lot of really good prospective investors. because I was just so damn clumsy about the whole thing. So after I licked my wounds for a little while I shook my head and said, Hey, there's got to be a better way. Dubeau, If there's something you do know a thing or two about its marketing, why don't you apply marketing to raising capital And instead of chasing after investors? Why don't you try to figure out a way to get them to come to you instead? So that's, what I did. And came up with what I call my money partner. Formula.
Dave:So that's an absolutely beautiful story. And, I always love hearing these, but at the same time, you don't want to hear any more from the people around you, just because you want everyone to be able to have these success stories, but everyone's got the failures. Right. So it's amazing that you've obviously. The point of a failure is to learn from If you're going to have one is to get something out of, it seems like you did that. So if we could just, I guess, condense your, kind of story there into a good 30 minute package as to what not to do, essentially. That's really what we're getting at, You pretty much, foiled this and reformatted it to be okay. I made X, Y, and Z mistakes. This is what I can't ever do again. And a lot of it, like you said, it's more push versus pull attracting investors versus trying to drag them into your rope. So, yeah, I'm going to let you kind of have the floor. so what was the approach after that, Dave?
Dave Dubeau:Well, one smart thing that I did do there, Dave, was I came up with that target group of a couple of hundred people that I already had a preexisting relationship. with. when you're first starting to raise capital. I think that's just the logical place to go. think about it. You've got zero track record when it comes to working with investors, I know a lot of people say, well, I'm going to go out and find accredited investors or sophisticated investors, or I'm going to syndicate my first deal or whatever. Well, good on you But good luck. I mean, really? What kind of a track record do you have to show people? So the logical place to start Is with people that you already have that preexisting relationship with. Plus, timeout, first of all, caveat here, I'm not a lawyer, I'm not a security specialist. I'm not an accountant, I'm a real estate guy and a marketer. I'm sharing my understanding of things. So the logical place to start Is with people that you already have that relationship with, They already know you, they already like you, the question is, do they trust you with investing their 50, 75 or 100,000 bucks? That's the question? So a lot of people just kind of charge out and they think anybody and everybody with a pulse and a checkbook could be a good investor. Why wouldn't they want to do a deal with me? Exactly. Soo two problems with that problem. Number one is logic, Why would they, if you got no track record, second problem with that is that. Pesky little thing that you guys sell to at the border half called the securities and exchange commission. And again, I'm not a securities specialist. I'm just sharing my understanding. It's actually illegal for us to raise capital from the general public, unless we're licensed to do so, or unless we're set up with the appropriate offering memorandum and the appropriate, exemptions and corporate structure and all this kind of stuff, Which tends to be pretty pricey, especially if you're doing a fourplex fiveplex sixplex, smaller multi-family type deal. So what does that leave us? Well, there is an exemption that typically we are allowed to work with close friends, business associates and family members. So that's where I'm going to suggest we want to start first A, because it's a logical place to start. And B, because we can do that a lot, more compliantly than going out and raising capital from the general public. So that's step number one. Dave, let's create that list of a couple of hundred people. I call it the dream 200. Don't filter too much. Don't assume, you know, who has money and who doesn't have money, just put together a list of a couple of hundred people that you actually have a preexisting relationship with. So how do you put this? together? the easiest thing to do is to start with a group of 2000 and whittle it down to 200. So export all of your contacts from your cell phone get them into an Excel spreadsheet. All of your supposed Facebook and social media friends, get them out of there get them into that spreadsheet, your email contacts, just do a data dump and then go through it and whittle it down to 200 people It’s much, much simpler, and then avoid making the dumb mistake I made, which is just spamming everybody with my deals a much better plan. Dave, Is to reconnect with these folks on a personal level first, before you start talking business. So you might be thinking, well, how do I do that with 200 people? Well, you do it with technology Dave. You do it with, automated email sequences. So once you've got your 200 contacts, put them all into a CRM system or an email autoresponder system, create one message and send it out to all 200 of them personalized to each one. And then here's the cool thing. Connect with those people when they reply back. to you. Does that make sense? So When we're working with clients, we do a very simple three step warm up campaign. The first two messages are just warm and fuzzy. Hey, it's Dave. Chances are, it's been a while since we connected. Here's what I've been up to, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. here's, what's going on with the family. Here's going, what's going on with work. Here's how the whole COVID situation has been going for me, blah, blah, blah. Hey, how about you? How are you doing, please hit reply to this. email. Let's connect. Let's catch up. Send that out to all 200 people. Don't worry. You're not going to get 200 replies. Typically speaking, you'll probably get somewhere in the 20 to 40 reply range. And that's great because literally, there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital in those reconnections, if not more. And then what we do after that, Dave is very, very important. We got to set the stage for what we're going to be doing moving ahead. And we do a transition message. there Just giving people a heads up. We're going to switch gears, start talking about business, start talking about real estate investing and why we're so excited about that. So that's step number one, create that target group and break the ice with them first. Does that make sense, Dave?
Dave:Yeah. And I think the important part there, like you said, is the first email has to be non-deal related. You had that example early on, where you had the guy that you hadn't talked to in 18 years and he says, “Wow, you've just talked to me about business and want money, and we haven't talked in in over a decade, so what's the deal here? So there has to be that genuine reconnection connection whatever you want to call it before you can, seriously, depend on somebody or even want that money to begin with. So yeah, I couldn't agree more
Dave Dubeau:great. Yeah. And then the second step is to make sure you're ready to go. If somebody does put up their hand and say, Hey Dave, what's this real estate thing you're doing. I'd like to find out more, instead of looking like a deer in the headlights, it's like, okay, great. So what I always recommend to people, Dave is, having a well-designed well thought out, well, put together slide, deck, slideshow, presentation, like a PowerPoint or a keynote something like that. Something that you can show people and walk them through what you're up to now. Here's something really important. Dave. I had to learn this the hard way. We cannot assume That the other person is a real estate Enthusiast like we are, or as I affectionately call us a real estate weirdo. So, Dave, have you ever had a conversation with a, non-real estate person about what you're up to with real estate investing? and You kind of see their eyes glaze over and you start talking about, ROIs and IRRs and all this kind of NOIs and all this kind of stuff. And they have no clue what you're talking about? All of a sudden they got somewhere to be, or, yeah, this is a very one-sided dialog After a minute, you got to try to pick up on that quick. Yeah. So I learned that the hard way as well. So here's what I do now. I put together a simple slideshow presentation and I made sure it's super easy to understand. I call it reader's digest level. Reader's digest level Reader's digest is a magazine. I think it's still around. It's written for grownups. So it's designed for adults, but it's written at a 13 year old reading level. So we want to do the same thing when it comes to our real estate investing. So if you can show your presentation to an average 13 year old and they get it you're right on track. Does that mean your prospective Investors are dummies? No, not at all. They're just not real estate enthusiastic Like we are, so we make a huge. mistake, If we assume that they are, and we're talking over their head because they're going to feel stupid and they're not going to let you know that they feel stupid. They're just going to nod their heads and forget all about. it. Does that make sense? So well-designed simple slide deck presentation.
Dave:And not only that you don't want someone who is uneducated to be investing. So if they got to, get a longer education process then that's how it starts right there, instead of assuming, and then it could get messy on if you get married too quickly. So yeah. Couldn't agree more. Yeah.
Dave Dubeau:Most definitely. So that's step number. two. Now, a lot of this stuff all happens at the same time, obviously. Right Dave, but we're trying to go in order here. Step number three is all about the marketing, constant, Consistent what I call edutaining marketing. So now that we've broken the ice with these people, now that we got our slide deck ready to go. Now we want to stay top of mind with this group of a couple of hundred people. So when they're thinking, investing, when they're thinking real estate, they're thinking about. us. So it's very, very important that you have edutaining communications and we start, with our clients with a, website specifically focused for communicating with your prospective investors. And then we do regular communications. could be electronic newsletters, video logs, blog posts, all of these things work very, very well. And again, we want to keep. it Reader's digest level. A Little bit educational. Not too much, because we've got to remember these prospective investors want to know that we know our stuff, but they don't necessarily want to know everything we know. Does that make sense? if they did, they'd be listening to your podcasts on a religious basis, they'd be taking courses, they'd be buying their own products. This is the appetizer, right? This is to make them aware of. it Without overwhelming them with too much information. So again, keep it edu-taining, a little bit educational, hopefully a little bit entertaining. And then here's a big key. Here's something a lot of people may miss. Dave. You always want to have a very clear call to action at the end of your. marketing. People say, well, Dave, how do you get Investors reaching out to you, booking meetings, calling you up, whatever it is. It's easy. I tell them to. I'm very, very specific in the marketing. Hey, if you'd like to find out more, click here, pick a date and a time and let's have a conversation, see how this might work for you. So it's all about that constant consistent communication. Keep it light, keep it entertaining, and having a specific call to action.
Dave:Yeah. And what is your, I guess, you, mentioned just click here. Is that a phone call usually to follow up? Is that to get on an email newsletter? What's your favorite channel? to connect?
Dave Dubeau:Well, They're already on the, on the email, right? Sure, yeah. That's how they know about us? So this would probably be like “Click here To book a call. So jump on zoom, have a conversation, walk them through the slide deck that spiffy little slide deck that you put together, show them how everything works. And again, in my case, when I'm, raising capital. Dave, when it comes to the chicken, and the egg, I'm trying to get my investors lined up in a row ahead of time before I go looking for deals. So I want to go forth and make offers on properties knowing ahead of time that I've got the capital to back me up, unlike that first horrendous experience. So, that's my whole goal. So what I do with these. meetings is I want to see if it's a good fit, I want to vet them. I want them to vet me. I want to see if this looks like it's a good fit for them. And if it is, then I'm going to get them to sign off on something like, an expression of interest, a letter of intent, basically the same idea, and just know that, Hey, these people are in my shortlist, So when I do have a deal, they get first dibs They are the folks that we go to. first. Follow me there?
Dave:Yeah, and that's something. that I think obviously is important to have the people who are basically in your corner have kind of access to you first. if they're already committed to a relationship with you, maybe not dollars yet, but they're really on board, It makes sense to want to take care of those people first. it just is going to create an even stronger relationship going forward. So yeah, definitely following. Yeah,
Dave Dubeau:most definitely. So that was step number three, that constant consistent communication. So step number four. now we got our target group. We broke the ice with them. We got our slide deck. We got our marketing up and rolling. Step number four is being seen as a credible real estate Expert or authority in the eyes of your investor list. So again, you don't have to be the next Robert Kiyosaki with a gazillion seller best seller book or anything like that. But what we want to do is we want to be seen as the go-to guy or gal in the eyes of our target group of potential investors. And the good news is Dave. You don't need to have. Thousands of doors in your portfolio to be seen as an expert with these people. In fact, statistically speaking. So statistics, you know what they say about those, right? So statistically speaking, what I have, heard over and over again is that 95% of the general population has never purchased an investment property. Their own home does not count. I'm talking about an investment property multi-family or whatever it is. So if you've even got one successful real estate deal under your belt besides your own house, you're already ahead of 95% of the non-real estate people that, you know, does that make sense, Dave? So to be seen as that. authority, it helps to have a book. That'd be great, but you don't need to. A lot of it just dials down to, when you're meeting with somebody, whether it's face to face or zoom dress, the part dress, professionally business casual kind of thing, speak knowledgeably about your strategy, or speak knowledgeably about your market have sharper looking materials, get interviewed on other people's podcasts. That's a great way to go. Having your own podcast is absolutely brilliant. as well. But again, you don't need to do any of these advanced level things to start with just, show up like a professional.
Dave:Yeah. And I guess my question before we keep moving is how, often, or how long does it usually take for you to educate and get someone? this is all a preparation process for people that are otherwise not educated. so how long is that process on average? for you?
Dave Dubeau:Well, it depends. Sure. That’s the crappiest answer ever, isn’t it? Sure. but here's the, here's the reality, Dave, this is why we focus on having a group of about 200 people. Now are all 200 of those people going to become investors. Of course, not out of those 200 people. There may be somewhere between 10 and 20 prospective investors, depending on what your price point is, Depending on what your minimum investment is. So in that group of. 200 people, maybe there's 10 to 20 out of those, 10 to 20, two or three. If you do things right, are probably hot to trot and ready to go right away and by right away. I mean, within the first 90 days that you start this process. So typically when we're working with clients, we're able to shake the tree, get the low hanging fruit first. And help them raise their first six figures in the first six weeks or so. That's the easy capital first. So there's going to be some that are ready to go, but the vast majority of them, 80, 85% of your total investors are going to have to hear from you more often. And they're going to be ready sometime, probably between month, four and month 18, give or take or 24 it's not a one-time thing. It's very, very important that you are consistent so that you get started and you keep the ball rolling. That's why we call it constant, consistent communication otherwise. And I'm sure you've seen this a lot, People are sporadic episodic, I've got a deal. I need to raise capital busy, busy, busy, busy, busy. You hear a ton from that person. They either raise the money or more often than not. They don't. And then the deal is gone and then crickets until the next deal. Then it's this hamster wheel again. You don't want to do that. You want to keep top of mind with these people so that when they are ready and whatever time and circumstances have changed for them and your message lands on their email inbox go “Yeah, You know what I should get a hold of that. Dave guy, That Morgia guy. He seems to know what the hell. he's doing. Let's have a conversation and they click on that link. Does that make sense, Dave? So it's a matter of There's going to be some of the ready to go sooner than others. The vast majority are going to take some time to feel comfortable with
Dave:it. And you kind of pick this up in there too, is that people can kind of sniff out that desperation a little bit. If you are only waking up and saying hi, when you got the deal that you're trying to raise for people kind of can eke that out. And even people that maybe aren't super educated on real estate can just sense that about what your kind of conversation is giving off. So it's important. Yeah. To just be more genuine and just more regular with people instead of just kind of waking up and saying hi, when there's something good going on.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah, very well put Dave. And what we find is just, you have so much more confidence. If you've got a group of three, four or five, six people who have already put up their hand and said, Hey, you know what? I'm seriously interested when you've got a deal. Let me know. I want first dibs.” the confidence you have when you know that. And again, my recommendation is always try to have twice as much capital lined up as you think you need. So that when the smoke clears, you know, you're going to have enough to cover you. so never stop raising capital, never stop having these conversations because not everybody who says, yeah, I'm interested is actually going to end up investing with you. so you want to always have those conversations on. the go.
Dave:Yeah, I couldn't agree more the double capital is a great one. Not only is it deal specific for some people, but then other times it's just their personal kind of situation. Maybe it's not the right time for them and they're going to be ready for next quarter or whatever. So definitely got to be conservative for sure.
Dave Dubeau:yeah, exactly. And then step number five, of the whole five step process. Once you've got one or two investors under your belt, and they're happy with how things are going, it's so much easier. To get more investors, if you're good at getting testimonials from your existing investors. So ideally video testimonials because what somebody else says about you is 100 times more effective than, us beating our own chests. And then warm introductions as well because your investors tend to know other people with capital so they can make those connections. They can help you get started with those new relationships. And you're going to be piggybacking on the relationship they already have with that contact. So that's really where the snowball effect starts Once you've got one or two investors on board, and you're doing a good job with them. It's really easy Dave, to start rolling out with that snowball effect.
Dave:Yeah. so five steps here, really just kind of all the way from curating the list to maintaining entertaining and just really maintaining the kind of conversations. then ultimately, obviously the goal is to close the deals. my question, I guess, before we keep moving forward is what is your favorite aspect of that five-step cycle? for you?
Dave Dubeau:Well, I'm not only a real estate weirdo. Dave, I'm a marketing weirdo. So I, love the marketing side of things. I love being able to send stuff out and get responses and have people reaching out to me instead of me chasing after them. Because I tell you what I'm sure you've experienced this Dave. The difference between me chasing after somebody to try to convince them, to invest with me and them coming to me already, at least a little bit. Pre-educated a little bit pre-qualified because they poked around on my website and see what I'm doing and have an idea of that, the time frame and the minimum investment, that kind of stuff. pre-qualified coming to me Predisposed. Because they are actually requesting that meeting. So Whether we meet together face to face or via zoom, it's a completely different ball of wax versus chasing after people. So that's my favorite part of the whole. process.
Dave:Now, I love that. I mean, yeah, to a certain degree, even if it's just a couple minutes on the website, they had to have done some form of research even to just fill out a form and get on a call. So some level of preparation went into getting there if you didn't pull them in. So to have the. kind of Roles reversed and have someone more eager to get to you than maybe the reverse is obviously super attractive just from the money raising capabilities, but also I think rewarding internally, because you, have someone that's genuinely interested to get to know what you're up to. So you, kind of know you're doing something right there, So it's pretty cool on both sides of the coin.
Dave Dubeau:Well, and what a confidence booster too, right? Right, yeah. And then that's the nice thing. And this is what we show our clients is when you're doing a presentation, when you do it this way, when you're, actually Raising the capital before you need it. It takes all the pressure off, Because when you got a deal on the go and you need the money yesterday, you're desperate. You're needy. And as one of my mentors. Steve Chandler says needy is creepy and they can sense it. they could just sniff that out. So it actually repels people. But on the other hand, when you're meeting with people and it's kind of like, Hey, You know, what? you're thinking to yourself, I've already got six or seven people lined up that say they want first dibs. If this person is in or out, it does doesn't really make that big of a difference. It's not going to make me or break me. You can have a much more relaxed conversation. And that confidence just transfers to the other person. They feel much more comfortable. and you really are, like you mentioned, which is brilliant. You really are educating them about what you're up to and you're seeing if it's a good fit, you're showing them the. good, You're showing them the ugly side of the deal, the pros, the cons, the whole bit, allowing them to make their own educated decision as to whether it's a good fit for them or not. If it is great, if it's not that's okay too, you're still going to be friends and you know what, they're going to still be on your list. T Time and circumstances may very well change for them and maybe five months or two years down the road. They change your minds.
Dave:Well, before we get into these five key questions, what's the longest you can at least recall that someone has taken to finally go from your marketing list to getting in touch and starting to invest.
Dave Dubeau:Well, I've got a client long term client that they had, somebody that they were just kind of keeping in touch with. I think it was for four or five years. And who cares, right? I mean, really
Dave:it's just an email, right. And you already wrote it for someone else.
Dave Dubeau:That's a beautiful thing. When you've got it setup and systematized, it really doesn't matter. now. It didn't take him five years to get any investors. It was just that particular investor took that long for time and circumstances to line up where they are now. Not only ready, willing, but also able to invest. Because I think in that case, his minimum investment was $100,000. So it's not like everybody can do that at the spur of a moment. right?
Dave:Yeah, again, like I was saying, sometimes it's just a personal situation, has nothing to do with how successful you are in your business. It just might not be the time for that certain individual. So yeah, really, I just like to hear the kind of stories like that and see, the anomalies and, it's always, usually I'm sure we can get into it, but usually it's a good story, but it sounds like a student here, so I'm sure we don't have that one. but yeah, Dave, as long as you're ready, I would love to hit these five key questions.
Dave Dubeau:Sounds good, buddy. Hit me.
Dave:So first one here, if you could only pick one trait that explains your success, what is that trait and why?
Dave Dubeau:I would have to say it's. Probably tenacity. Just sticking to it because I guess everybody's listening to this interview, but I've got quite a few gray hairs on what's left of the hair on top of my head. so, very rarely do things go 100%, according to plan. in fact, I can't remember them ever going 100%, exactly. According to plan. So you got to be persistent. You got to be tenacious. in anything in life and everybody is in one area or the other, but sometimes we kind of forget it when it comes to being in business and being in business for ourselves. So as real estate entrepreneurs we really are entrepreneurs and being an entrepreneur. is An unsteady existence at the best of times, It's not like we're, punching the clock and we got guaranteed income or anything like that. So you got to be tenacious. You got to be persistent and you got to be able to pick yourself up and dust yourself off and keep chugging along.
Dave:And then Dave, what is the most uncharacteristic thing you have done in your business and why did you do it?
Dave Dubeau:You know what, for me. It was probably starting to speak on stage because, by nature I'm a reserved, shy kind of a person. And so I had to get over myself and get comfortable speaking in front of groups of people. So that was probably the number one thing.
Dave:Yeah. I, talk about loving hearing stories, but I had a show the other day, same story. People who were super shy, found their outlet to really just get out of their shell. And if you're listening and you are that person, and you're seeing a guy like me, or a guy like Dave or anybody else that you think is kind of outgoing, it's just a skill like any other, you can kind of learn it eventually. And one day you'll wake up and realize you can talk for half an hour without even thinking about it. So just get out there and start talking and you'll kind of figure out the rest.
Dave Dubeau:And I don't know about you, Dave, but I almost find it at, this time. I'm almost more comfortable speaking in groups than I am speaking. one on one sometimes it's the strangest thing.
Dave:that is not my personal preference. I like the one on ones better just as far as feel, but yeah, I've, seen and heard that too. So, yeah, it's, funny how you get to just, repeat those muscles and they become natural to you for sure.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah, exactly.
Dave:And then Dave, can you name a time where you felt like you were not going to end up successful and how did you overcome that fear?
Dave Dubeau:Well, you know what, yeah, that takes me back to when we first moved back to Canada and quite frankly, I was nervous as heck because I didn't have a plan B. So I had been self-employed so long. I was pretty much unemployable unless I was going to work at McDonald's or something ridiculous like that. And I had a family to support and all that kind of stuff. So. it was very nerve wracking getting started with real estate because that was brand new. That was, a brand-new thing to me. So that was a time, before I got that first deal under my belt, I was scared spitless to be perfectly Frank with you.
Dave:And we kind of grazed on this one at the first question, but can you name a time where something in your business went perfectly and what did you do to make that a reality?
Dave Dubeau:Well, very rarely does that happen where anything goes perfectly
Dave:I'll take really, really well. How about that?
Dave Dubeau:Yeah, well that's, one good thing about having a positive outlook. Dave is even when things are going for crap. There's typically some things that are going really, really well. So at different points, there have been different things going really well, but at, this particular time that I'm thinking, I've got a really good team on board for doing some lead generation stuff and, it's almost miraculous that I've set up the systems and I'm getting joint venture conversations popping up on my calendar without me physically having to do a darn thing. We've just set up, the system, set up the processes, and I only have to show up on zoom, click start and voila. We're going. So that's something that's been working really, really well for the last, quite a while. actually.
Dave:Now, that's amazing. and it kind of leads into this one, but what have you been focusing on lately to improve yourself or your business?
Dave Dubeau:Oh yeah. Well, lots. I'm a lifelong learner and God knows I got a long way to go. My friend,
Dave:nobody should stop learning. I don't care if you're 80, 100, 20, it doesn't matter.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah. So what I'm really enthusiastic about, right, now, Dave is I've finally got around to signing up for a. Thing called strategic coach with Dan Sullivan. So I've been a big, fan of strategic coach of for a number of years, even though I haven't been a member, I’ve followed these guys for a long time, heard great things about, them, so I finally ponied up and joined up this year. So something that's big with that group right now is this whole who not how” Philosophy of life, instead of trying to learn everything yourself and do everything yourself, it's a matter of figuring out what the heck do you want to accomplish? And then who's the best person that can help you make that happen sooner rather than later, it doesn't necessarily mean you need to learn how to do it. It could quite often be, Hey, hand this task off to somebody who's already good at it. Somebody who already enjoys doing this and let them run with it. So that's, been a major kind of mind shift for me because for many years I was a die hard, Do it yourself kind of guy.
Dave:I'm stubborn too. It takes a lot of, again, talking about muscles to kind of flex, but you got to really learn to let go of a couple things and let someone, like you say, that's better at it. it's a win-win you get something off your plate and they're great at it and enjoy it. so it's Very very symbiotic.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah. I'm at the point I want to let go of a whole crap, ton of stuff. No, seriously.
Dave:There you go, start purging, yeah.
Dave Dubeau:Yeah, start purging and really focus on, your unique abilities because all of us have unique abilities and we think we can do it all. but We're deluding ourselves. And we're not going to do anywhere near as good of a job as if we just really, really focus on what we're good at.
Dave:Absolutely. Couldn't agree more Dave. And before we sign off, do you want to just let listeners know how they can reach you today?
Dave Dubeau:Yeah. Well, thanks very much, Dave. So if you'd like to find out more about what we do and perhaps even get a complimentary copy of my book, money partner. Formula, In exchange for your name and your email address, of course, go check out moneypartnerformula.com, moneypartnerformula.com. You can get the book, you can sign up for one of our upcoming webinars. You can come out to one of our live, full day zoom workshops to take a deep dive into this whole five step process. If you'd like. And that's how we can best connect.
Dave:Dave really appreciate explaining the process today. obviously there's a lot of value in understanding who you're trying to attract as an investor. So starting there and then building a process to really work with them instead of forcing them into a relationship is super key and you really laid it out simply. So. Appreciate your time today.
Dave Dubeau:Thank you very much, Dave, I look forward to having you on my show as well.
Dave:Absolutely. Thank you for listening. This has been the Making Money in Multifamily Podcast. If you have any questions, comments, or would just like to connect, please feel free to check out the show notes for how you can connect or visit longviewacquisitions.com