How Evan Wagley Turns Probate Homes into Million-Dollar Deals

Evan Wagley (00:00)
mindset is literally everything. It’s your reality, right? And for me, knowing that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, I’m definitely not good looking, obviously, there’s a video of me. So what do I have to ⁓ fall back on? Well, I know how to work really hard.

and I don’t know how to quit. And those two things can get you extremely far in life, literally further than anything, further than talent, further than good looks, further than financial backing, like further than anything, as long as you work hard and don’t give up, you literally cannot lose. You can’t lose if you don’t quit. Now you’ll 100 % guaranteed lose if you do

Kristen Knapp (02:19)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen Knapp and I’m here with Evan Wagley, who’s a realtor in the San Diego market, which is one of my favorite areas, I was saying. I’m so excited to talk to you about it. Thank you for being here.

Evan Wagley (02:31)
I think it’s everybody’s favorite, isn’t it? It’s like, why don’t we live in San Diego? And then they pull up homes.com or Zillow and they’re like, yeah, that’s why, because everything costs an arm and a leg.

Kristen Knapp (02:33)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Right, there’s so what I love about San Diego, there’s so many different areas that are, you know, very unique to themselves, but they’re all amazing.

Evan Wagley (02:51)
Yeah, you know, it’s funny. ⁓ My wife moved down here from the Bay Area about 20 years ago. I literally met her like the day after she moved here and we’ve been inseparable ever since. But when she moved down here to San Diego, she told me one day when she was watching the news, she was like, you know, you guys are a big city, but like every newscast that I see is like talking about like,

Kristen Knapp (03:02)
Bye.

Evan Wagley (03:15)
old grandma Annie’s cat was stuck in the tree and look at the sunset and here we are at the beach again. It’s like it has a very like hometown small feel even though it’s a big city. Yeah that’s why I love it. I’m born and raised here. I’ll never leave anywhere else to go anywhere.

Kristen Knapp (03:26)
Right.

apps.

Oh yeah, I love it so much. live in Southern California, so anytime I can make it to San Diego, I’m always, always looking to. And yeah, exactly. Great burritos, great Mexican food. Um, so let’s go back to the beginning. What brought you into real estate?

Evan Wagley (03:39)
Bring it, come get a burrito.

⁓ You know, it was people that are smarter than I am honestly I was lucky enough to have one of my closest friends who’s actually our team leader and owner of our company whistle real realty group he is one of my best friends and He’s been in real estate a long time and he’s like dude. You got to get into real estate You like talking to people we’ll figure out the rest along the way

And I said, OK, I’m all in. And so here we are. Let’s see. I’ve been an investor since 2009. I got my license in 2004. So yeah, been in and around it for quite a while.

Kristen Knapp (04:23)
Bye.

That’s amazing. And that first year when you were kind of building up your business, what did that look like?

Evan Wagley (04:33)
Well, it was rough. I got in, my first year in the business

Kristen Knapp (04:35)
Yeah.

Evan Wagley (05:28)
2004, 2005. And that part of the market was at the top and starting to crest and come down. And what seemed like was unaffordable at the time for everybody. I mean, now the prices of homes are

way above what they were back then. When things started to go sideways before 2008, that’s when it was very, very hard. And that’s kind of when I first started in real estate. And from there, I learned, my gosh, this is way harder than I thought. And I actually stepped away from real estate.

Kristen Knapp (05:59)
Yeah.

Evan Wagley (06:08)
Um, especially when 2008, 2009 things were just, you know, very, very tough for a lot of agents and a lot of agents stepped away and I was one of those casualties too. And, um, eventually because I loved real estate so much, I was able to recapture some of that fire and come back. And it’s been just absolutely amazing ever since.

Kristen Knapp (06:31)
That’s wonderful. And it sounds like when you maybe were getting out of the realtor game, you kind of entered the real estate investing game.

Evan Wagley (06:38)
Correct, yeah. So we were very fortunate timing wise, whatever you want to call it. 2009, we purchased our very first property. In 2009 was, I mean, at the bottom of the market because 2008 it just happened. there was defaults, there was bank owns, there was short sales like crazy.

And so we were able to get in really at that bottom of the market and then grow our business when everything was so slow from an investment side. And then, you know, we’ve just been so fortunate since then, and we’ve bought and sold a bunch of properties from that time. And it’s been a great experience. Everybody that should and could get into investing in real estate, go for it. It’s awesome.

Kristen Knapp (07:27)
Yeah, I think it’s probably something that a lot of people have trepidation about because it’s scary.

Evan Wagley (07:33)
It’s a big investment, right? I mean, for a first time home buyer, you know, we have programs that allow you to put only three and a half percent down. But when you’re talking about a $500,000 home, that’s almost $18,000, $17,500 just in the down payment. And that’s scary for a lot of people. Now, a home that’s $500,000 in San Diego doesn’t come around very often these days. I mean, you could get a

a small condo for that, at least get your foot in the door. man, it’s daunting. It’s scary to think that I’m going to have my name associated with $500,000 in debt. But that debt is what sets you free. The debt is what gives you that investment so that you can roll it into something nicer or bigger while you’re working your regular day job.

⁓ and you’re living there and you’re making memories, you’re starting families, you’re getting married. It’s more than just an investment. All the way around, it’s awesome.

Kristen Knapp (08:31)
Yeah, it definitely, it’s a game where you’re definitely zooming out rather than living in the minutiae. You’re looking at the bigger picture of where you’re headed.

Evan Wagley (08:39)
Exactly right. I think what happens a lot of times is people are very short-sighted. They’re like, I got to make it to the next paycheck. I got to make it to the next car payment, you know. And if you’re able to step away and gain some perspective and have a, you know, a 30,000 foot view on, okay, where do I want to be in five years? Where do I want to be in 10 years, 20 years? What’s going to get me there instead of just is my…

nine to five job that I’m barely paying the bills, is that what’s going to get me there? Probably not. So I got to look at other avenues and other vehicles that are going to allow me to expand my investment so that I can move, you know, move up, so to speak, whatever that means.

Kristen Knapp (09:23)
Yeah. So you took a little break from real estate. What was that? What was that conversation with yourself where you really wanted to hop back into it?

Evan Wagley (10:06)
You know, it was a conversation I needed to have with myself, with my wife, of course. And she came from a very secure W-2 income family background where there was a check every other week and bills were paid and it was secure and jumping back into a sales type ⁓ environment where you don’t necessarily know where your next paycheck is going to be coming from.

is also scary. There’s so much opportunity that in sales you can grow the sky’s the limit. You can scale and grow as big as you want to. However, if you’re not growing then you’re dying. There’s an old saying that says, this business you’re either moving ahead or falling behind. There ain’t no in between. And that’s kind of what real estate is like.

And if you can’t adapt, unfortunately, you may be one of those casualties that real estate is known for creating.

Kristen Knapp (11:07)
Yeah, like tell me more about that mindset of just, it seems like you’re just very tenacious and you don’t stop.

Evan Wagley (11:13)
Yeah, kind of like when we were chatting before,

mindset is literally everything. It’s your reality, right? And for me, knowing that I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, I’m definitely not good looking, obviously, there’s a video of me. So what do I have to ⁓ fall back on? Well, I know how to work really hard.

and I don’t know how to quit. And those two things can get you extremely far in life, literally further than anything, further than talent, further than good looks, further than financial backing, like further than anything, as long as you work hard and don’t give up, you literally cannot lose. You can’t lose if you don’t quit. Now you’ll 100 % guaranteed lose if you do

That’s the difference. And if people can remember that and stick to it, there’s so much success out there for everybody.

Kristen Knapp (12:10)
Yeah, can you think of a time, I mean you started right when the market was on a downturn, but can you think of another maybe example of something that didn’t necessarily go correctly and what you learned from it and got stronger from?

Evan Wagley (12:22)
my gosh. Yeah. I mean, I’ve had, I’ve had lots of times in my life. ⁓ I, I just, ⁓ watched a whole short documentary, if you call it that on how your history and the hard things that you go through actually prepare you to conquer things that most other people wouldn’t be able to, because that experience is tailored to you.

Kristen Knapp (12:43)
Yeah.

Evan Wagley (12:45)
And that experience can get you through any, almost any hard thing. And if you aren’t prepared for that hard thing, well, guess what? That hard thing is going to prepare you for more stuff in the future. And I think a lot of people forget that, that all they, I don’t want to say all they have to do, but just remember that when you focus on overcoming and just

Kristen Knapp (12:58)
Mm-hmm.

Evan Wagley (13:10)
putting your head down and not quitting, like that mindset, you’re guaranteed to flourish. doesn’t matter what it is. And it doesn’t matter who you are. Like you wanna be like a Kardashian, you wanna be an influencer. Like my kids watch a million YouTubers that have zero talent, trust me, I mean zero, zero talent. Yet here they are, you know, living in, gosh, what’s his name?

Kristen Knapp (13:29)
Yeah.

you

Evan Wagley (13:36)
I’ll remember his name in a second, but he lives here in San Diego. He’s one of the famous YouTubers. He’s got a giant house and my kids love him because he lives in San Diego and he has no talent. But you know what? He’s got like a million videos and he just never gave up. And now he’s got like, you know, multi, multi million subscribers and makes a boatload of money because he didn’t quit. And as long as you have that in the back of your mind, can’t live.

Kristen Knapp (14:02)
It’s so true. What is the saying? can’t, you’ll never fail because you’ll never quit. Something like that. ⁓

Evan Wagley (14:08)
Yeah, exactly. Yeah,

you’re guaranteed to lose if you quit.

Kristen Knapp (14:53)
Yeah, I love that. Switching gears a little bit, so you’re in the client servicing business. How do you make each client feel like the only one?

Evan Wagley (15:01)
You know, I feel like if there was a talent that I had, this would be my superpower, so to speak. And those agents that can do that, I think do a really, really good job and do a lot of business and provide for their families and flourish and become wealthy. Is when you can…

Kristen Knapp (15:07)
Yeah.

Evan Wagley (15:22)
Treat somebody like they’re the only person in the room and that they are the most important person in your life in that moment. If you can do that, man, you can be just about, you can be successful in literally anything if you can do that. And sales and promoting in a regular business type corporate job. mean, podcasting.

Kristen Knapp (15:37)
Mm-hmm.

Evan Wagley (15:45)
I mean, you do it all the time. You make people feel so important. And if you can do that, man, that is a superpower. And I really, really enjoy meeting with clients one-on-one. Especially, I think we’ll talk about it in a bit, especially with clients that have inherited properties that may have to go to probate. Their family member that just gave them the property just passed away.

Kristen Knapp (15:48)
Mm-hmm.

Right?

Evan Wagley (16:11)
So there’s all these emotions and I love being that helpmate for them. I love being that servant for them and saying, look, we’re gonna get through this together and seeing that light kind of flicker that, okay, we got it. And it turns on, I love that. There’s nothing better for me in this industry.

Kristen Knapp (16:29)
Yeah, I

think a lot of people might see real estate as maybe like transactional or something like that, but you really are meeting people at such a stressful time in their lives. I mean, just the typical home buyer or home seller, it’s such a major life change. And then I know that you have a specialty in inheritance and probate, which I would love for you to talk more about. Yeah, you’re just, you have to really support people.

Evan Wagley (16:52)
Yeah, you know, it’s, it’s, ⁓

It’s definitely not a transaction. There’s agents that treat it like just a transactional type industry, but sales in general, but I think specifically real estate, because that’s my experience, is that this is a people business. And if you can connect with people on a personal level and meet them where they’re at, where you can help them with

One of two things, either a pain point, something that really, really hurts and you’re there to help them, or conversely, a giant goal and you’re there to help them on that giant goal, which is investing in their first or 10th investment property. If you can be that person for them, you have a client for life and you no longer have to spend

your time prospecting, finding new clients, paying for leads. You don’t have to do any of that because you’ve just made somebody so happy. And I’ve seen it time and time again in my own transactions, on the other side of the transaction. I’ve seen it on our team and that connection, it can last literally a lifetime. I love it.

Kristen Knapp (18:05)
Totally, there’s so much more measuring success. These client relationships are so huge that they just go beyond sales.

Evan Wagley (18:12)
Yeah, it really does transcend just the real estate industry or just the sales transaction in that given moment. Like you, I feel like I’m really helping change lives in very pivotal points in their life. Like who likes moving? No, like literally nobody, right? And some of these people either like are renting a property that

Kristen Knapp (18:30)
Yeah.

Evan Wagley (18:36)
the lease is up and the landlord’s selling and they’re like, holy moly, have 45 days to figure something out and you can get them into their own home and they’re like, I didn’t even know this was possible and like they’re mind blown. Like that is so fulfilling for me that I’m literally helping change these people’s lives forever. Like generationally even, you know, there’s nothing better.

Kristen Knapp (18:49)
Yeah.

I

Thank

Absolutely, I completely agree with you. And I would love for you to talk about that specialty, the inheritance specialty.

Evan Wagley (19:08)
You know, it’s something that I’ve focused on probably more specifically, I would say the last six months or so, even up to a year. And I’ve had other probate and trust sales in years prior. But I think the difference is, is that I’ve kind of caught the bug in not, and this kind of on a ⁓ next level, helping people buy a home for the first time is awesome.

and or helping somebody that is a renter, you know, buy their first property. That’s awesome. And I love that too. Or helping sellers move from one house to another or closing, going to another state because their grandkids live in Arizona or whatever. love all of that. But I think on the next level for me personally is helping a family that just had a loved one pass away and they’ve just inherited this home.

that they have no idea what to do with it. They know it’s X amount of dollars here in San Diego. It’s probably worth around a million dollars. And they can somehow unlock this inheritance from this property so that they can go and buy their properties for themselves that maybe they haven’t been able to ever do because affordability is so low here.

being able to change that life in that way is great, but then also being that servant and providing that service that holds their hand through this probate process that is scary. Like, wait, we may not be able to get this home or we may be having to spend $50,000 in court and attorney fees to get this thing sold.

Kristen Knapp (20:34)
Mm-hmm.

Evan Wagley (20:45)
That’s scary numbers for a lot of people. And being able to be that intercessor for them is very fulfilling for

Kristen Knapp (20:54)
I imagine it’s deeply fulfilling. You’re literally, you you’re meeting people at such a stressful life event and you’re helping them through it.

Evan Wagley (21:03)
Yeah, mean, it quite literally, you know, tearful moments at dining room tables where these people really don’t know what to do or where to go or who to turn to. I can, I, me being able, I feel so honored and like so humbled and so blessed to be able to say, I can be that person for you. I’m, I’m certified in this specialty. I help.

Kristen Knapp (21:16)
Right.

Evan Wagley (21:31)
of people through this process, I can help you too. I have all of the resources. I have the probate lawyers. I have the team. I have the know-how, the marketing, you know, all of that stuff. Here’s how we do it. Let’s take that step and make it happen. And then on the back end, when it’s all said and done, like for them to carefully again, sometimes say, thank you so much.

I can’t believe we got through this. really, it’s more than just getting paid a commission at the end of the transaction. It’s much more than that.

Kristen Knapp (22:03)
Yeah, because when you’re dealing with someone who’s making a conscious effort, a researched effort to go buy a home, it’s very different than someone who is in a position that they didn’t necessarily anticipate to be in. And yeah, I can see how people are very scared and confused and don’t really know how to move forward.

Evan Wagley (22:20)
Yeah, I think scared and confusion are probably the two emotions that I see the most in these probate transactions. Now, trust transactions, conversely, are pretty simple. A trust protects you from typically, most of the time, going to a probate proceeding where there is no court proceedings. But being the one that gets to tell them that,

Kristen Knapp (22:27)
Yeah.

Evan Wagley (22:45)
because they don’t know what the process looks like is really cool. And you see like the relief and you see the red face and the confusion go away and you can say, it’s okay, let’s sell this thing like it’s your home. You make all the decisions and we’ll take it from there. And seeing that is also fulfilling within itself too.

Kristen Knapp (22:53)
Mm-hmm.

it’s so amazing. So how can people find you to work with you?

Evan Wagley (23:10)
So I have a website. It’s my name, Evanwagley.com. Very hard to remember. I’m on Google. You can Google me. I got a bunch of reviews, a bunch of people that I’ve worked with through probate and trust sales that were kind enough to leave me a review and say he did a good job for me. So just Google me, Evanwagley, Evanwagley Realtor. I’m also on whistlerealt.com.

Kristen Knapp (23:15)
you

Evan Wagley (23:35)
which is the team that I’m on. I’m more than happy to give you all of the free stuff. It doesn’t cost you anything for all of the information that I have. I give a free consultation to everybody that reaches out that wants to know more about this probate process, about inherited homes. I have a whole packet that are specifically just for probate sellers that I’m happy to give out for free in a step-by-step

walk you through it if you don’t want my help, which is totally fine. That’s the easiest way to reach me.

Kristen Knapp (24:07)
that’s amazing. Well, everyone, please take advantage of that. You have so much information to share and this has been so wonderful. Thank you for doing this.

Evan Wagley (24:14)
Thank you, Kristen. My pleasure.

Kristen Knapp (24:15)
Yeah, I mean, it seems like you’re just helping so many people. So it’s wonderful to see kind of this area of the business and how you’re helping.

Evan Wagley (24:22)
You know, it’s funny because I think a lot of people get into real estate. If you were to ask most new agents why they get into real estate, I think most of them would say, because I want to help people. And I think that’s true. I think just on a very large scale, like us as humans just typically want to help other humans.

Kristen Knapp (24:35)
Yeah.

Evan Wagley (24:44)
And if we can do that while providing for our families and having some flexibility on our schedule, I think is very appealing to a lot of people. And real estate can give you that. It can give you all three. You can provide for your family. You can have a business that’s your own. I’m my own business owner and I get to help people. I mean, really it’s the best business around, I think, but I’m

Do

you own your home, Kristen, by chance?

Kristen Knapp (25:11)
I do not.

Evan Wagley (25:12)
okay. Well, and has anybody ever sat down and discussed the buying process with you and what that looks like?

Kristen Knapp (25:12)
renting in LA. ⁓

I would be happy to have you explain stuff to me. Amazing. Yeah, I know that was seamless. Love that. Okay, well, thank you so much for being here and thank you everyone for listening and we will see you next time. Bye.

Evan Wagley (25:25)
It’s super easy and it doesn’t cost you a dime. Look, I see him. I put my sales hat on. What did you think? Was that good? Did we? Okay, well, let’s up a time to talk, Kristen.

Okay, of course.

Thanks guys. Thank you, Kristen.