How Investors Are Scaling Deal Flow With Hyperlocal Real Estate Data

Denny Patterson (00:00)
Okay, great. Yeah. so it’s a quick story. Back in twenty twenty, I got COVID and flew the flu at the same time. I never had the flu before. It was it’s actually Christmas Day of 2020. And and it was late, you know, needless to say I was very sick. I was very sick. And at that time you had to quarantine for ten days, right? And so I was in automotive space

and I had never really had time to think for ten days at a time before. I guess nobody really does, right? So I was in the room just feeling terrible, just you know, just trying to sleep as much as I could. and I got to thinking on day four or five, you know, that I was pretty dissatisfied with my career. I already knew that and just it wasn’t what I wanted to do.

Scott Bursey (02:13)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And today we are joined by a Titan in the data intelligence space who is fundamentally changing how we look at the market opportunities. Denny Patterson of REIntel is in the house and he’s bringing the kind of high octane fuel that transforms maybe deals into closed contracts. If you’ve ever felt like you’re flying behind with the marketing or your lead generation.

Denny is about ready to turn on the lights. Denny, welcome to the show.

Denny Patterson (02:46)
Thank you, Scott. Glad to be here.

Scott Bursey (02:47)
It is awesome having you here, my friend. And to our listeners who may not be familiar with your journey, please give us the front row seat and how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Denny Patterson (02:58)
Okay, great. Yeah. so it’s a quick story. Back in twenty twenty, I got COVID and flew the flu at the same time. I never had the flu before. It was it’s actually Christmas Day of 2020. And ⁓ and it was late, you know, needless to say I was very sick. I was very sick. And at that time you had to quarantine for ten days, right? And so I was in automotive space

and I had never really had time to think for ten days at a time before. I guess nobody really does, right? So ⁓ I was in the room just feeling terrible, just you know, just trying to sleep as much as I could. and I got to thinking on day four or five, you know, that I was pretty dissatisfied with my career. I already knew that and just it wasn’t what I wanted to do.

I I had been in it my whole life and I enjoyed it, but I at the time when I was younger, but not anymore. And I had a family to think about and how do I climb to the next level?

And you know, I I answered, I asked myself what my life would look like in ten years if I could paint it in any brush I could, any any color I wanted, with no boundaries. And I answered that question. I worked backwards from there. and the first step was to get into real estate and learn. I didn’t know how a house was bought or sold or what a contract was or an appraisal. I I I just didn’t know any of it. I wasn’t from that world. So I decided to be a real estate agent.

so I got my license and and I switched from automotive to real estate agency and ⁓ and then I started helping investors ’cause I thought it was a lot funner than than I don’t know, I just really enjoyed the investor space and I I liked watching them work numbers and and learning from them on on what they think and how they think. ⁓ and well then I just you know, saw the checks they were getting compared to the ones I was getting at the closing table and so well I should do that too. And so I joined in and here I am. So

Scott Bursey (04:42)
That’s awesome, Denny. What an incredible journey. And you know what really caught my attention about your work recently was the way that you’ve been able to turn complex market data into intelligence, effectively giving your investors a distinct and comp competitive advantage that most people are still trying to figure out. You know, that shows a level of precision most investors are completely missing.

Denny Patterson (05:54)
Absolutely, absolutely. That that’s what we’re passionate about is ⁓ you know, what was really intimidating to me, even though I had been helping investors for years, was when I started doing it myself, I was like, wow, I really don’t know what I thought that I knew. I can’t compete with some of these Titans. It’s intimidating, right? You got these guys with deep pockets and and you tell yourself, I don’t know if I can I don’t know if I can if I’m able to compete with these guys. How do I find these deals? And a lot of the time what I found through just doing it repetition was

the deals are right there in front of you. You just have to know how to see and and and also it’s the speed to it’s the speed of the lead, right? So it’s it’s being able to underwrite yourself or being able to look at all the details now and not look at, you know, flood maps and look at zoning and look at is it, you know, is this gonna be approved here or what’s the rent data or what’s the neighborhood like or what are the schools there? And all that stuff. It sounds great, but it can take you ten, twenty, thirty minutes, depending on the property, per per property. And if you’re

really looking at a lot of deals so you can find the best one, it is an enormous amount of time. ⁓ and that’s what we condensed, right? So pretty passionate about helping the guy that was me, right? which didn’t know anything, and the person who does know everything, just helping them scale too, right? So yeah, that’s that’s who we are.

Scott Bursey (07:09)
Speed and execution. I couldn’t agree anymore. And Denny, looking at your current operations, you seem to have a superpower when it comes to data filtering. How do you lean into that strength to ensure REIntel stays ahead of the curve?

Denny Patterson (07:25)
I’ll tell you how we we include you know we’re in three states right now, right? And we’re we’re growing, we’re at about a state a week. and there’s a couple things that that will keep us competitive in in two ways. Competitive as a business, right, to to help investors, but also competitive for the investor and help them be competitive themselves, which really is the only one that matters. and and what I mean by that is, you know.

We we offer a platform that has all your local auctions on it, right? All your your REOs, your bank owned, all these things. And it’s got your your little local auction houses. Like for instance, we’re based out of Kentucky and just in the bluegrass area, there’s eighty one licensed auctioneers for real estate, right? And they post all these little deals and yeah, there’s some websites that that that pull their data, like some of their data, but there’s not one place that has it all.

and that’s who we try to be is to have, hey, all your deals are right here, but it’s also your judicial sales, your master commissioner sales, trustee tax sales, tax liens. ⁓ you know, we compile that all in one in one spot. So we feel that we keep it competitive for the investor by giving them there’s so many deals. Nobody can snag them all, right? It’s just not gonna happen. There there’s enough deals out here for everybody. And every what I hear talking to investors, even just yesterday I was having a conversation with one is

It’s hard to find deals. It’s really not, if you know where to look. And and that’s where, you know, we come in, right? Now, now with that said, we also we we give you the flood data at your fingertips. We give you you know, the zoning, we give you the beds, baths, square foot, you’re built, does it have a garage? What’s the assessed value, rent, neighborhood data, schools? We give you all that in one package, one screen, right? So it’s no more.

chasing information around and and hoping you read the flood map correctly or having to call planning and zoning to understand what the zoning actually is. It’s right there at your fingertips. So ⁓ I I can tell you the big guys in our space, right, they they will never have hyperlocal data like that. They just couldn’t. They couldn’t. It would cost them millions and millions and millions of dollars to to go in and and get that data now. Right? It would take teams of people. Well we’re building it from the beginning. So it’s

It’s just right here, it’s what we’re doing. We we don’t just add markets to add markets. We have markets that that have all of that data in there. ⁓ and and we’re we’re more of a quality over quantity approach. So yeah, we might not have all fifty states by by the end of the year, right? But but we do want to have a majority, but it has to have those data points first before we just wing it and throw it and become one of the other you know, C of of auction sites that you have, ’cause that’s not who we are, right? So

Scott Bursey (10:09)
I love that focus, Denny. It’s clear that when you play to those strengths, the results speak for themselves. Most people try to be jack of all trades, quite frankly, but you’ve clearly found your lane.

Denny Patterson (10:56)
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, it’s it’s very enjoyable. And I and I love it really that what we’re who we are is to help is to help the investor, right? Is to help people. because it is it it especially for someone who was new like me, it’s it’s a challenge. It is a it is a grind to learn it. And you have to, you know, my there’s a investor friend of mine who says you’re either learning or you’re earning. and I can tell you I learned a lot and it took me a minute to start earning some money. So if we can shorten that curve for people, especially people that have families and

And a lot a lot writing on this like I did, you know, it the information is is a necessity. You have to have it, in order to make a good decision. So, yeah, that’s who we are.

Scott Bursey (11:34)
Spot on. Denny, let’s shift gears here just a little bit. Every high growth engine has its friction points. What is one internal process or weakness you’ve identified recently that you are actively working to refine or automate?

Denny Patterson (11:48)
Mm, interesting. So, well, I mean really it is just the deal it’s the deal finding, right? but it’s not it’s not just the deal finding. So I shouldn’t I shouldn’t have said that. What what I mean is

It’s the fragmented data that is everywhere, right? It’s it’s believe it or not, pulling zoning for a lot of these counties. You know, for instance, Texas, where where you all are located, there’s two hundred and fifty-four counties, right? And I can tell you that the zoning is it’s the same in some, but in most, it ac i there actually are some differences. you know, we’re in Florida and Florida’s got the same zoning for the whole state, which is really nice. Kentucky does not. Every county’s completely different.

and so just even little data sets like that. I think the biggest opportunity is is again is just really grinding to get that information for people, and just making it accessible at their fingertips, right? Just just for convenience sake. So

Scott Bursey (12:37)
That’s a refreshing bit of honesty right there. I think a lot of our listeners struggle with the exact same bottleneck and hearing how you’re tackling it is huge. And interested to know, Denny, what is the strategy that you’re employing for let’s say the next twelve to twenty-four months?

Denny Patterson (12:55)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So total twenty four months, the strategy we have a we have a few different things that we’re going to be doing. one is is adding all the states, right? We’re going national for sure. because I I want to help as many people as we can. I I’m really passionate about that ’cause it really I mean, that grind when when it’s two o’clock in the morning and you’ve got, you know, three kids in the other room, right? And and and you’re struggling hot on paying the bills ’cause you’re trying to figure this out, I mean that is that’s not an easy pill to swallow. So

the more investors we can help and and and alleviate that that that struggle the better. That’s one thing. Second thing is we’re really passionate about about people. So finding the right people has been vastly harder than finding deals, right? and I what I mean by that is the right agents in different areas, the right title companies. I mean I’ve seen some title companies over the years do some some not great things, not not kosher for sure.

and but you know I’ve seen some do do amazing work, right? And I I want to be able to have we have a local partners tab on there that we’re building currently. so people that are in these areas, so you can siphon it by state and what county, right? Who covers it? And these people are going to be vetted. and so you can hook up with home inspectors or appraisers or or whatever you want, property managers, it’s all going to be in one spot.

so you can connect with the right people. Though those are really the two big strategies that we have is is ex is scaling what we currently have and, you know, adding local partnerships in there for you. That way if you’re in if you’re in Texas and you wanna invest in Florida, you can. You know who to call. You’ve got lists of people that actually do it in those areas right now. So

Scott Bursey (15:11)
Yeah, that is some massive insight. It’s like finding a blue ocean in a crowded market. If the pros listening aren’t taking notes on that, they’re leaving money on the table. And Denny, if you could give us the play-by-play on this, you know, from a macro perspective, we see tech disruptions and interest rate volatility constantly. What is the biggest external threat you’re keeping your eye on, and how are you building to moat around your business to protect it?

Denny Patterson (15:20)
Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. The I mean the biggest threat that we have right now is is it is the big guys and the and their in their marketing. I mean, right, and and I think you know, we’ve spent zero dollars in marketing to date, right? And the reason we have is because we believe what we’re doing is is when we when we have shown people, it’s usually like wow, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s typically the reaction I I could think we usually get some

Expletives as well, they’re like, you know, they they say they’re pretty shocked by the the level of detail that’s that’s in this. so the biggest threat we have, right, as a company is is you you know spending millions of dollars on marketing a year, right? but which which we’re not gonna do right now. But and and really the other threat would be that some of these sites claim to have it’s it’s false marketing or false advertising. They they claim to have all these things and and they don’t. I’ve actually paid for these.

Some of these services myself, so I know firsthand. I’m not gonna name any names, but some some websites that are national, that you go in and and you pay the hundred bucks or you pay the fifty bucks or whatever it is, and you get in there and it’s junk, or there’s no real info in there. It’s just a hodgepodge, you know, halfway scraped data from from some random source, and it’s the same info that every other website has. There’s nothing differ differentiating them, but they have the name.

Right, for whatever reason. They’ve been around a long time. So for us as a company, the biggest threat we have is is really just combating kind of the old way of doing things and looking at the newer, techier way of of getting all of all of the data in one spot. So

Scott Bursey (17:10)
That is a huge distinction right there. Denny, let’s talk about some growth. You know, scaling a data heavy business requires a unique type of team structure. How are you involving your leadership style to ensure that REIntel fuel matches every corner of your organization and reaches the potential that you want it to?

Denny Patterson (17:31)
Absolutely, absolutely. So I’m actually I’ve I’ve developed this all myself currently. I’m not from the tech side. Again, I’m from, you know, automotives and then went to real estate. so currently I actually have af after we’re done here today, I’ve got a couple interviews with some developers and things like that to to to join in on the space and really be able to scale it. But but really you know, I I believe in the higher fast I’m sorry, fire fast, higher slow, excuse me, where

you you really find the best people. Again, it’s all about the people. I’d rather have, you know, I used to believe in having big football teams of people, right? I was multi-unit manager for automotive when I was in it. so I believe in having these big teams. And what I’ve learned is I’d rather do I can do a lot more with a lot less if I have the right team. so being able to have the right team with with with sales and marketing and and even administrative work really makes it all the difference for what we can provide to the customers. So there is a

Ironclad plan to to add in some wonderful people. But the first one is developer because I I’m hitting a little bit of a not a wall, but I’m hitting my limitation there on on on how fast I can do things. and I need to be able to deliver faster as far as adding more areas in for our customers.

Scott Bursey (18:41)
Having the right systems in place, I couldn’t agree anymore. Denny, let’s talk bottom line here for an investor who is currently spending thousands on generic lists and getting low conversion. What is the actual ROI shift they can expect when they move to a highly targeted fuel data strategy?

Denny Patterson (19:02)
Well, I mean the ROI is ridiculous, right? We so we have one price. We have one price for individuals, we have a price for teams, and we have a price for large teams, but it’s no tiered, everybody gets the same information. and and so it’s it’s ninety nine dollars a month, right? And I can tell you you’re right now in just the three states that we are, and by the way, as you and I talked before the podcast, you know, we’re adding more and more data points and data sources, I would say.

In every county, in every state that we’re in. So we’re in three states right now. We’re growing, but again, it’s quality over quantity. So it’s Texas, Kentucky, and Florida. and we’re adding more more data points in there. So for 99 bucks, you’re seeing right now about 5,000 different properties that are for sale off market, right? You’re not gonna see these on the MLS. If you do, it’s an auction company that has just posted them on the MLS. You can’t buy it through there, it’s just advertising the local auction, right?

again, this is not just auctions though. It’s the master commissioner sales, it’s the it’s the sheriff sales, trustee sales, tax lien sales, REOs, all that stuff is all in one spot. So for 99 bucks, you have all that, and you have the the FEMA and you have the zoning and you have all these things. So just from a time perspective, if you can’t save $99 a month in time alone by using the service, I’d be flabbergasted, right? So the ROI is just insane. I mean, I have a

a customer who who purchased two deals from it last month. Not from us, but but sourcing it from us, right? going to a master commissioner sale that he didn’t even know existed. He didn’t even know that particular county in Kentucky had a master commissioner sale, which they did, right? So he went there, he purchased it at a great price, but two properties and he wouldn’t have had that. So the 99 bucks is is clearly worth it to me. and just just so you know, you know, limited time right now what we have is the next hundred people that

that sign up on the platform. It’s ninety nine dollars for a lifetime, not per month. So it’s one time. You get all the states, you get all the counties, everything that we add, lifetime.

Scott Bursey (21:04)
That’s incredible. And Denny, you have really brought the feel here today. But before we wrap up, I want to give you the floor for one final pro tip. For the pros listening right now who want to level up their business today, what is the one step that they should take?

Denny Patterson (21:19)
the one step they should take. Okay. well I’d say for anybody it’s

It’s putting one step one foot in front of the other. And what I mean by that is w if you’re a new person that hasn’t done it before or or trying to get into it, just just keep just keep going. Cause I can tell you, I’ve been through the ringer. I have been gosh, I mean, my credit was great, right? And and through the real estate investing, when I was starting out, I missed some payments and I and it was I had family but dependent on me, right? And all these things. but but I just had this delusional belief in myself that I could do it, right? And and

And I am doing it. I’m doing it now. I’ve got nine, nine deals happening right here, close to us right now, that are happening currently, flips and things. and I’ll tell you what I’ve learned is you know, if you just keep going and just put that out of your mind about how hard it is and how how how much pressure you’re under, if you just keep going and excited about the next thing, you’re really gonna go far. And as far as for the experienced investor investor who still may have some of those emotions, and and you’re looking at

How do I scale my business? What’s that next step? Hey, this is the next place you put your foot is a place like REIntel, whether it’s us or somebody else, which there are no companies like what we’re doing currently, but it’s somebody like us, right? That that can help you scale. You can see the information at your fingertips, pass it to your admin, your administrative assistant can help, can just look at it and tell you if it’s a good deal. Right. so yeah, that’s what I would say, right? Just keep just keep going, keep moving.

Scott Bursey (22:44)
That is just wonderful. That is some high octane fuel right there. And before we let you go, Denny, for the listeners who are thinking to themselves, hey, I really like this guy. What would you like them to know first about your business?

Denny Patterson (22:59)
what I would like them to know first about my business is that we’re here for you. Right. There is a contact us form on our website, reintel.co. and what I would tell you to do is click that and tell us what your feedback is. I I am interested in hearing how great it is, but I really want to know what the opportunities are. What are we not doing? What would you like to see? What are we missing?

that that you know that you want to see on there and and we we will add those things at no additional cost, right? We we’re all about being a servile company and and providing a service for people. so so I’m really interested in that, right? So we’re we’re interested in the feedback and and that we’re here to serve and you know anything we can do on that, just please communicate with us and and we will make it

Scott Bursey (23:42)
Powerful. That is truly awesome, Denny. And Denny, for our listeners that want to reach out, collaborate, what’s the best way for them to reach you?

Denny Patterson (23:49)
Absolutely. So you can reach us, you know, my my personal email address, what you all can reach me at, is [email protected]. and then again you can go onto the website, contact us, right? And then you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram, REIntel.I personally look at all those inboxes daily. and you’re more than welcome to to get a hold of me anytime on there. and yeah, just just reach out anytime.

Scott Bursey (24:11)
Thanks for joining us today, Daddy. This has been an absolute masterclass in data and drive.

Denny Patterson (24:16)
Sir, thank you. Thanks for having me.

Scott Bursey (24:17)
And to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. Go out there, take action, and keep fueling your fire. If you receive value from today’s show, please subscribe. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.