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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, Ryan Smith, a marketing expert and owner of LV Labs, shares insights on leveraging data to source off-market real estate deals. He discusses his background in intelligence, the importance of identifying distress signals, and how to gain a competitive edge in the market. Ryan also highlights the significance of coaching and shares success stories of clients who have effectively implemented his strategies. The conversation concludes with a look at future opportunities in real estate marketing and how to navigate the current market landscape.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Ryan Smith (00:00)
Thank you, I appreciate it. So one of those ways that I think that we could have a big advantage as smaller guys is we have speed on our side. And those records are constantly being posted online. And like I mentioned earlier, it takes a while for those events to get to the data providers in the REI space. So that window between the time it gets posted and the time that it makes it on PropStream or Batch or whatever else, that is a window where nobody else knows about it unless they’re doing the exact same thing that we are.And it gives us an upper hand because we’re talking to the people before anybody else. ⁓ If you read the book, positioning, being first is everything. So you going in there and being able to talk to those people first on a consistent basis, it just continually puts the advantage in your court.
Kristen (02:17)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen and I’m here with Ryan Smith, who is a marketing expert, the owner of LV Labs. We’re gonna take a very interesting angle on how you can use data to really help source your deals. So I’m excited to get into it. Thanks for being here, Ryan.Ryan Smith (02:31)
Thanks so much for having me, Kris and I’m excited to be here. Thank you.Kristen (02:34)
Yeah, so you’ve really developed an interesting marketing technique for people to get these off-market deals or direct deals. ⁓ Can we go back to your background and kind of your history with data and how you’ve been able to become an expert on it?Ryan Smith (02:50)
Yeah, absolutely. So I spent 13 years in the top secret intelligence world, and ⁓ I enjoyed it, and it was a lot of fun. But I realized that I was never going to make the kind of money that I wanted to make. So I started looking around for other things that I could do. I ran across wholesaling. And I got into wholesaling, but what I realized was I didn’t love every single part of wholesaling. I love bits and pieces of it. And what I realized was is that the who is the absolute most important part of any wholesale deal.is getting in front of the right people.
Based on that I realized after a bit that I could use a lot of those same data skills that I used in my previous life in this life to find more deals and get in front of people that other people are either not getting in front of at all or they’re getting in front of way way after we do so we developed, you know ways to you know, all this data starts at some source and You know after that it ends up in the prop streams and the batch leads and that of the world but
But initially when those events happen, ⁓ they get posted online. And if we can see those things right when they pop up, we have a big advantage.
Kristen (04:01)
Amazing. And like, what do you mean in terms of posting online? Like the official MLS on social media, kind of what are you looking at in sourcing?Ryan Smith (04:10)
Yeah,that’s a question. you know, when it comes to wholesaling, the biggest indicator, in my opinion, of somebody that’s willing to sell at a discount is distress. I mean, that’s just the bottom line. So we focus on as much distress as absolutely possible. Specifically, what we’re looking for are
Any kind of court level or public record events are commonly a lot of what we use. So, you know, whether that be, you know, code enforcements or probates or ⁓ legal notices or various types of liens or, ⁓ you know, real estate transactions that weren’t sold at full price, a lot of different things like that we can look into and start getting and generating leads that these other people are not aware of happening at all right now.
Kristen (05:44)
that’s really interesting. I mean, and that makes so much sense when you put it like that. So you’re kind of in the wholesaling world and you realize there’s this whole there’s this whole white space that nobody is really going after. Is that kind of how you you got to this?Ryan Smith (06:00)
Yeah,absolutely. ⁓ I think when I first started out, I was doing direct mail campaigns, but I didn’t have much of a marketing budget at all. And I needed to make my marketing budget go as far as I could. So I started doing this type of stuff ⁓ and wholesaling myself using these techniques. And I realized that we’re talking to people that not everybody else is talking to, and they’re motivated. So I’m sorry, I forgot your base question there.
Kristen (06:26)
No, yeah,yeah, yeah. I’m just very fascinated how you identified this white space so well. I I think that that’s a really good point. I people use their marketing direct mail, social media, all of that, knocking on doors. But this is really targeting people that are most likely to be in a position to sell. And then how are you actually sourcing this data? How do you kind of teach people to do that?
Ryan Smith (06:53)
Yeah, a lot of times it is, ⁓ it’s at the county level and it’s, you know, either a court record or public record or something like that. ⁓ And, you know, it depends on the county. The county determines how much information they let out. So in some places you have to get a little bit more creative. They don’t have as much publicly available data. ⁓ And then in some other places they have tons. ⁓ I live in Florida and Florida happens to be a state that has a lot of good data. I mean, I can see tons and tons of stuff from the county.all over the state. Not every state is that way, but a lot of them have different types of data. And you may not be able to target every single one, but there’s going to be some in your market that you can pick up on and start targeting. You know, I mentioned some of the different things earlier, but some other stuff that you can look for is, you know, in some counties, they’re putting out a notice when somebody has a lien on their electricity bill and they got it cut off. So if we can get in front of those people that don’t have electricity because they can’t pay the bill.
those are people that need help. ⁓ just finding those type of things and getting in front of them while the situation’s happening and while it’s at its peak, I think is the secret sauce.
Kristen (07:59)
wow, yes, I mean, it makes so much sense and that’s a great example as well. And you really are, I mean, you’re helping people in a time of need where they really do appreciate someone kind of helping them.Ryan Smith (08:12)
Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of times the people are, there’s just so deep in it, there’s so much going on that they don’t really know what to do. They don’t know maybe what options are out there. So having somebody come in and explain like, hey, here’s how we can help if you want this type of help, here’s your other options. And just kind of giving them some kind of something to work with and some hope of getting out of whatever the situation is that they’re in that they want out of.Kristen (08:35)
Yeah, I mean, that’s so cool. So tell me about some of these people you’ve worked with, some of the investors you’ve worked with, and maybe some success stories and what you’ve seen kind of happen from this.Ryan Smith (08:46)
Yeah, well, like I said earlier, I think that the focus as far as the marketing goes and outbound should be on the who ⁓ and really focused on that and tracking numbers and paying really close attention to KPIs to kind of give you an idea of how it works. ⁓ I worked with an investor over a 12 month period. We really focused in on his marketing, getting more deals, increasing his ROI without having to spend massive amounts more.In a 12-month period, he went from ⁓ about 480,000 to 1.2 million. So the system works. You got to keep doing it and keep steady at it, and it’ll produce.
Kristen (09:28)
Yeah, amazing. So talk about kind of how you do work with people. How do you offer your services and how can people learn?Ryan Smith (09:37)
Yeah, absolutely. So we do a few different things. We have some small little courses that will teach you exactly how to do some of these specific things that I’m talking about with you. So that’s something we offer. We also do some one-on-one coaching. So if that’s of interest to somebody, can hit us up about that. We work with people in that regard as well. And then we also do some list stuff on the side.Kristen (10:38)
Very cool. And I’d love for you to talk about just the state of the market right now and how this speed is really important, especially for newer investors who may be just getting into it.Ryan Smith (10:52)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s a great question. I think that there’s a lot of wholesalers that have been out there for a while. They’ve been in the game for a long time. They have their system set up, and they got it going good. And they know that if they want to do five deals this month, then it costs them $5,000 to do a deal. They need to spend $25,000 on marketing, and that’s how it works. But the average person that’s may not have that kind of money to put down. So what options do people like that have?where they can be competitive in the market, but they don’t have $5,000, $10,000 to spend to get a deal.
Sorry, I forgot where I was going with that.
Kristen (11:27)
Yeah, just, mean, the speed of the market and how this really helps you stay competitive.Ryan Smith (11:32)
Thank you, I appreciate it. So one of those ways that I think that we could have a big advantage as smaller guys is we have speed on our side. And those records are constantly being posted online. And like I mentioned earlier, it takes a while for those events to get to the data providers in the REI space. So that window between the time it gets posted and the time that it makes it on PropStream or Batch or whatever else, that is a window where nobody else knows about it unless they’re doing the exact same thing that we are.And it gives us an upper hand because we’re talking to the people before anybody else. ⁓ If you read the book, positioning, ⁓ being first is everything. So you going in there and being able to talk to those people first on a consistent basis, ⁓ it just continually puts the advantage in your court.
And it allows the average person to be able to go out there and play the game and get wins just like if they were spending like the
like the big guys and girls do.
Kristen (12:31)
Yeah, and what are we talking like for these to traditionally get to all of these lists that go out to people? we talking days? Are we talking weeks? Like how far ahead can you get of people if you just go directly?Ryan Smith (12:46)
Yeah, depends. ⁓ It depends on the service and how quick they update it. ⁓ There is definitely, I don’t know exactly how long it is, but there’s definitely a few week delay from the time that a lot of these events get posted to the time they make it into the data services. And then there’s also a lot of stuff that doesn’t make it to the prop streams of the world as well. As far as like electricity shut off or water shut off or something like that, I don’t think that they have anything like that. ⁓you know, if you have the ability to get those lists, I think they’re worth their weight in gold because nobody else has that data. They’re not going after that specific group of people unless they’re hitting on some other distress signal.
Kristen (13:27)
Definitely, and I can see how this would also apply to investors that buy distressed properties or buy from a distressed consumer. So not just wholesaling.Ryan Smith (13:40)
Yeah, absolutely. This could be used by anybody. even the wholesalers or investors that are out there consistently looking for properties that do ⁓ volume, I think that a lot of the techniques that we use are excellent ways to keep a VA busy and productive and producing an ROI ⁓ for the company. And I think that a lot of times you have a VA there 40 hours a week, and sometimes it’s hard to keep them on productive tasks the entire time.And something like this to fall back on, like an infinity task, whatever they get done with their regular stuff, I think is a big opportunity as well. It can allow you to play this game and they don’t have to go in and pull the leads themselves. They can just plug in the system and go.
Kristen (14:22)
And I’d love for you to talk about kind of just the market in general right now and where you are seeing it headed. I know that there’s some trepidation from people, you know, maybe thinking they should slow down or they’re unclear about where the market is. What have you seen from the data?Ryan Smith (14:39)
Yeah, it has definitely slowed down. But there’s still deals out there. And there’s people regularly doing deals, and they’re doing well. So I think right now, the name of the game is just to keep your head down, remain profitable, and go from there. I think that that’s kind of the main thing to get through this period. Beyond that, though, I think that we’re coming up on some, I don’t know what type of time frame, but I think we’re coming into a time.period where there’s a lot of people that are behind on their mortgage ⁓ or different things. They’re having different types of financial distress. And I think that is going to come to the surface, ⁓ you know, in the next six to 12 months. And I think that that will be an opportunity to help a lot of people.
Kristen (16:02)
Yeah, absolutely. And I’d for you to talk about kind of staying on top of the market and how important it is to keep updating your systems.Ryan Smith (16:11)
Yeah, I think that that’s the biggest thing and that’s the biggest challenge right now for people in the industry is staying on top of, know, what is going on, what is happening, what is working, what is not working, you know, with this exit strategy, you know, how long is it sitting on the market? You know, figuring out all those little nuances and keeping track of it ⁓ is the best way to have a good feel on exactly what’s happening and not just go off a field, but go off numbers.Kristen (16:40)
Yeah, absolutely. Do you work with, I know you have courses, do you work with people directly? Like do you do coaching as well?Ryan Smith (16:49)
I do, yes, absolutely. ⁓ I work ⁓ with people one-on-one in a coaching capacity. A lot of times it is focused on ⁓ acquisitions and marketing and KPIs and basically increasing the ROI. That’s where we spend a lot of time. And then ⁓ for whatever reason, a lot of people… ⁓You know, they also have challenges in their daily lives that they want help with, or they want help to get through, or they need an accountability partner, or whatever the case may be. generally speaking, a lot of times, the real estate coaching and help turns into family help, all kinds of different types of help that the person needs. So it’s not just limited to their business. It kind of becomes all-inclusive.
Kristen (17:35)
Yeah, and can you talk about a specific client you’ve had that’s really been able to increase their deal flow?Ryan Smith (17:43)
Yeah, absolutely. So ⁓ I started working with this guy a few years ago. ⁓ he was brand new. he was hungry, but he didn’t really know that much. And ⁓ so I sat down with him for about an hour, the first time I ever met him. And I showed him how the data works, how lists work, how to target, all these different things. And he had a light bulb moment. And he realized how important this is. So we started implementing that.about a year or two later, he’s up and running solid with that system in place. And ⁓ we start working together one on one. And we have the goal of getting him on a run rate to hit a million dollars a year. And we started working on that together and looking at it by quarter and figuring out, you what changes do we have to make? What do we need to implement? What marketing channels? Where do we need to follow up more? All these different things.
to figure out exactly how to maximize his system. So ⁓ we spent a lot of time doing that. And his company grew. He ⁓ added multiple people onto his company as far as ⁓ help in various places. And he really blew up. And he was able to have a lot of success just doing the same thing over and over again. And once you kind of get into it,
it can almost get kind of boring just doing the same thing, but that’s really, you need to find something that works and then just push the button until it stops working.
Kristen (19:10)
Yeah, absolutely. Well, that’s so cool. I mean, it’s really great how you can work with people directly and really make an impact on their business. ⁓ I’d love for you to just talk about kind of what’s next, where you’re looking to take this, you know, who you’re looking to work with.Ryan Smith (19:24)
Yeah,absolutely. ⁓ think that there’s a lot of people out there that ⁓ are working a full-time job and they know that there’s something better in life that they want. ⁓ But a lot of times those people are being held back because they feel like they don’t have the marketing money or whatever else to get going. And I don’t think that that’s the case. think that we can get these people to start producing leads that are real motivated sellers.
and get these people in the game, allow them to start making money on the side, and hopefully eventually be able to work for themselves if that’s what they want to do ⁓ in the future. the reason why I say that is just because they’ll have more control over their lives, how they spend their time with their family, ⁓ just so many different things I think are an advantage of being able to ⁓ make money yourself. So I think it’s a huge opportunity, and I would love to be the person that’s going to.
get a lot of these people out of that space and into the space that they want to get into.
Kristen (20:26)
Yeah, that’s amazing. That’s really cool and I’m sure you’re helping a lot of people. Please tell everybody how to find you, where to work with you.Ryan Smith (20:34)
Yeah, absolutely. So if you want, can go to my main website. It’s lvlhq.com. Lima, Victor Lima, hq.com. And you can go there and check out some of the stuff we have going on. I also have a little mini course that I just released. It’s at courses.lvlhq.com. And you can check that out as well.Kristen (20:53)
Awesome, well thank you so much for being here Ryan. I think that you probably opened up a whole new world for people with this information.Ryan Smith (21:00)
Awesome, well thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. I had fun chatting with you.Kristen (21:04)
Awesome, well thank you everybody for listening. Hope you learned a lot, maybe looking at your business a little bit differently. I really encourage you to check out Ryan and poke into those courses. mean the courses are very affordable, that’s a great place to start and then maybe going to coaching next. So thank you so much everybody for listening. We’ll see you back next time, bye.
