How This Mortgage Pro Buys 3 Homes with Just 5% Down

John Dolbec (00:00)
I encourage them to buy multifamily first.

And you can buy a three or four unit property, especially in Rhode Island. You could do it with no money down

And they could buy a two unit property

and they could live there for a few years. And then they can move out of that house and then buy their single family and purchase it with 5 % down as

Michelle Kesil (01:51)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. And today I’m joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, John Dolbec, who’s been making serious moves in the mortgage loan space. So John, we are really glad to have you here today. I think our listeners are really going to take something away.

from how you’re approaching the loan industry. So let’s dive in.

John Dolbec (02:24)
Yes, thank you for having me, Michelle. Appreciate it.

Michelle Kesil (02:26)
Absolutely. So first off for people who may not be familiar with you and your world, give us the short version. What is your main focus these days?

John Dolbec (02:38)
Okay, alright, sounds good. So, yeah, my main focus is helping out people buy houses, residential properties mostly. I’ve been doing mortgages for about 15 years and just, I built a good local network through using technology. I always call it high tech, high touch. I know I haven’t created that, but you know, basically try to help clients as much as I can by showing them their options.

having mortgage consultations through Zoom with people and just breaking down every possible option that they have so that way they know what options they have available to them and that way they can pick the best one.

Michelle Kesil (03:15)
Yeah, and what markets are you operating in?

John Dolbec (03:19)
Yeah, so right now I’m operating in Masswood Island in Connecticut. ⁓ Recent lending laws have gotten easier to get licensed in different states. if somebody’s in California or whatever, I can actually get licensed in there. And so I’ve been doing or having, I’ve been having a lot of virtual coffees, I call it, through Zoom. So that way I get the chance to meet people. And if an opportunity comes up where I can help them, then I’m available to do so.

Michelle Kesil (03:44)
Awesome, yeah, and how are you supporting people? Can you just share a little bit more about what you do to help them?

John Dolbec (03:51)
Yeah, absolutely.

So I’ve been a homeowner. I’ve owned commercial properties. You know, a lot of times what I’ve done when I got started into the industry is I would sit down with clients and go over all their different options. I actually had a radio show back in 2000 in

2016 and I had a CPA that was a guest host on there. I bumped into him again in about 2019. He was walking out of an event. I was walking in and I said, oh, hey, are you still doing a lot of transactions in Newport, Rhode Island? He said, no, I’m actually in Southern California a lot now. said, how are you doing that? He said, oh, through this app called Zoom. They let you do the first phone call for free for 40 minutes. And I’ve been doing a lot more high volume tax returns in that way. And it was that night I went home and I actually downloaded

zoom and then very next day I started using it with clients to help them see my screen so that way I could walk them through the process. And that’s good for a first time homebuyer but I also realized that’s great for even an investor because investors they have the DSCR loans, debt coverage service ratio loans where the rents have to cover the mortgage. It’s not rocket science but if you’re actually looking at the options with the lender going through

what your different portfolio options are, it’s gonna help you understand and break it down. What I’ve realized is most investors aren’t fly-by-night salespeople type of personalities. They’re mostly having an engineer type of

mentality to where they wanna know all their different options, and they actually appreciate that transparency more than just your run-of-the-mill first-time homebuyer that just get that loan and go. Breaking everything down for them,

and taking that time helps them understand what this school is, but then also lets them plan five steps ahead too, and that’s what I like to do.

Michelle Kesil (06:28)
Yeah, that’s so important. What would you suggest to an investor or a home buyer that, yeah, like you mentioned, you like to plan five steps ahead. like, let’s say they’re at step zero, what would be like step one?

John Dolbec (06:40)
Right. Right.

So that very first step is having a phone call with me. Now, if I’m talking to a first time home buyer and they’ve never owned a house before,

I encourage them to buy multifamily first.

And you can buy a three or four unit property, especially in Rhode Island. You could do it with no money down

with utilizing the first time home buyer programs. And so ⁓ you can get

an FHA loan and then the down payment assistance through Rhode Island Housing would give them the money, most of the money towards the three and a half percent on an FHA loan. Now if they buy that three unit first, they live in there for a couple of years, the next house that they could buy is actually a two unit property.

And they could buy a two unit property

they can own or occupy it. And even if they don’t refinance out of that FHA loan, say the rates are really low, like a couple of years ago, it wouldn’t make sense for them to refinance. They can still buy that two unit property with five percent down.

and they could live there for a few years. And then they can move out of that house and then buy their single family and purchase it with 5 % down as

If they really want to go on a game plan of trying to keep as much money in their pocket. And so I help out investors do that, whether it is a first time home buyer, veterans are actually fun with that too, because they could buy that first house with an FHA loan, then they could buy their next house with 0 % down with a VA loan. And then they have the experience as a landlord so they can actually use the rental income to qualify.

And so I love looking at all the different options like that. I’ve helped some of the top investors in my local market with doing the debt coverage service ratio loans to where they’re refinancing and taking cash out of their investment property that they have right now, probably with a hard money loan. And then they’re utilizing that money to go purchase other properties. And again, it’s doing the Zoom call with them. It’s looking at all their different options and figure out what’s going to be the path of least resistance, but then also what’s going to yield the highest results for the goal that they’re looking to do.

Michelle Kesil (08:37)
Yeah, super valuable. I’m sure that there’s so many creative ways that people can be supported through these loans that they’re not aware of.

John Dolbec (08:47)
Exactly, and I’ve realized that a lot of my friends, a lot of my competitors in the mortgage industry, they just expect that everybody wants everything quick, and I do understand that part. We do move quickly on that end, but at the same time too, if you take the time to look at all the different options with somebody, they’re gonna be more understanding and you could probably help them more when they understand it to make more transactions happen, which helps them and obviously helps you as well.

Michelle Kesil (09:15)
Yeah, of course, sometimes quick isn’t always the best solution. Amazing. So what do you feel has been the key to keeping your business running smoothly?

John Dolbec (09:19)
Exactly.

Yeah, think it’s, you know, so way back when I was on a submarine, I was in the Navy. I don’t know if it came out of there or if it came from just working in restaurants ever since I was 14, but I’ve always had a knack for having systems in place. And so I have a pretty good routine when it comes down to how that initial phone call goes with understanding somebody’s who, what, why, when, and where for what their goals are to having them complete the application to then.

Utilizing calendly to have them schedule their mortgage consultation look at their different options and move forward with processing and underwriting so I Think that’s the big thing with how to make this move. You know I’ve done as much as 150 loans in a year I’ve had good teams behind me in the past as well a big part is the systems that you put in place to make it

Just move with you, and then it’s also just staying stern with not having

those systems get adjusted too much. And what I mean by that is somebody that can, whether it’s going to meet a client and spending all day and a half with them to where it’s going to take up too much of your time just trying to be systemized and having people flow through your system more so than caving to what they want.

Michelle Kesil (11:22)
Yeah, for sure. That’s important too.

John Dolbec (11:24)
And that’s always hard to do because I am a people pleaser. So I have a hard time saying

no when somebody needs help or, you know, if I have to go out of my way, I typically just work more hours or find a way to bend over to make it happen while still keeping my systems.

Michelle Kesil (11:37)
Okay, well at least you have that awareness. Awesome. Now, every operator I know had a moment where things got real, maybe a deal that went sideways or just a time that they had to pivot fast. Would you mind sharing one of those moments for you?

John Dolbec (11:39)
Yeah.

Ooh, you know.

Doing loans at a high volume, think it just, it happens with experience to where that’s gonna happen to you every once in a while where you’re gonna have a, you’re gonna hit a rut to where it’s high stress and you’re gonna lose sleep over it and you just have to find a way to make it happen. I think it was probably a good 10 years, probably closer to 12 years ago, I helped out a family purchase a house in Providence, Rhode Island. It was actually North Providence, technically, but.

the taxes on the house were astronomically high because they actually had a barber shop in the basement. so therefore the taxes were assessed as a half commercial, half residential property. And so it almost blew the deal. And I remember, I want to say that was probably one of my first times where I felt the weight and the pressure of trying to find a way to get it done, but then also having the confidence to know that I was going to find a way to make it happen. And I feel like

That’s just something that you have to have in this industry that most people don’t realize. ⁓ When it comes down to getting in this, everybody’s looking at you from start to finish to get the deal done, especially if you have real estate agents involved. Everybody’s asking for an update all day, every day. They want to make sure that the financing is good. And even if it’s not your fault, something could pop up and you have to find a way to make it happen. Like those taxes, for instance, you’re not going to get the taxes back until the title report’s done.

and then that’s where it was flagged and that blew the ratios for the client. I forget exactly what I did at that moment, but I remember being in my, I think way back then I was probably just new in mortgages. I think I still rented at that point. I remember looking in the mirror and being like, all right, I’m gonna find a way to get this done. And then it happened. And then as time goes on, you’re gonna hit roadblocks and hurdles and you’re just gonna have to keep on finding a way to keep everybody calm and keep on figuring out what you’re gonna do to make it happen. I always say if there’s a will, there’s a way it’s gonna get done.

If the client doesn’t feel like moving forward, fine, that makes sense, I get that. But it’s the goal to find the options that are gonna be comfortable for them to make the situation happen. Whether it’s a low appraisal or with FHA, they have the self-sufficiency rules where you can’t have the rent so low. So you just got to find ways to make it happen. And fortunately, I’ve worked with some really great agents and investors that are deal makers, not deal breakers, and they’re gonna find a way to make it happen with you.

Michelle Kesil (14:26)
Yeah, definitely the mindset piece is so important. So let me ask you this, what are you most focused on solving or scaling next?

John Dolbec (14:30)
Absolutely.

So, my good friend is ChatGBT. I’m sure most people can attest to that if they’re listening to this. I actually, last week I just taught a class to real estate agents about how to utilize ChatGBT and how to master it for real estate. I’m gonna be doing that again probably in the next couple of weeks, so

stay tuned for that end. But with ChatGBT, I realized, I started poking questions as far as what I could do to build my business more.

And it did mention the idea of going in more areas where there’s more VA loans. Because once again, I’m a Navy veteran. ⁓ I love doing VA deals. That’s a good portion of my business. I just set one up right now for an Army vet. ⁓ you know, Virginia, Texas, and Florida is where there’s the highest concentration of military. And so right now I’m actually focused on scheduling virtual coffee meetings.

with agents, investors in those three states that have a high concentration towards helping out veterans and military. So that way I can help them with their VA loans as well.

Michelle Kesil (16:30)
Yeah, that’s super important. And what is like the next big goal for you or your business? Like what? Yeah.

John Dolbec (16:41)
Yeah, I would say, you know, the last couple of years have been, ⁓ you know, the higher rates have slowed everything down. I went from, ⁓ you know, doing 150 loans. I had an office. I bought an office space. had, I managed a team of 10 loan officers. As the rates went higher, I ended up, you know, selling my office space, disbanding my office.

And I went back to just me and I switched to a local Rhode Island company within the last year and a half. So right now I’m just focused on getting back to 100, 150 units, ⁓ possibly adding on another team member. But right now I can handle everything on my own. So I’m just, I’m in like a rebuilding phase. Like I feel like most loan offices are in the country, just getting back to the basics, figuring out all the ways that work for them and just growing that way.

Michelle Kesil (17:35)
Yeah, that’s so important to focus on like rebuilding those foundations when necessary.

John Dolbec (17:41)
Yeah, absolutely. know,

talking to law officers that have been doing this for 30 years or longer, this time where rates have gone up and has slowed their business down even more than when the markets slowed down in 2008. And that was because they could do the HARP refis. Right now it’s just, it’s been slower on the mortgage production side. So it’s just, how are you going to build back up and how are you going to revamp right now? And that’s what I’ve been focused on.

Michelle Kesil (18:07)
What are some of the tools that you’re using to revamp and build up?

John Dolbec (18:13)
So just, would say right now I’ve been utilizing Zoom forever. So that’s just second nature. Most people are familiar with Zoom, so that makes it a lot easier. ⁓ With the help of ChatGBT, ChatGBT has given me pretty good prospect list in actually utilizing Instagram and social media and TikTok as well to create content, but also to reach out to people that have high followings and have

like I said, the virtual coffee meetings to get to know them further away. But again, it feels like they’re right in the same room with you.

Michelle Kesil (18:50)
Yeah, that’s the power of social media can really help shape new connections. Awesome. So I know that a lot of people that listen to this show are either earlier on in their journey or they’re just looking to level up. And I think they could benefit from hearing this when it comes to building relationships and growing your network. What has made the biggest difference for you?

John Dolbec (18:55)
Exactly.

Well, I would say when I got into the industry, I came from cooking on the submarine and not really having a sphere of influence in the real estate world. And what I did was I started just finding local networking events and going to them. So if somebody is an investor or aspiring investor or real estate agent, and they want to go get into buying property, my suggestion is to actually get out there on the local market.

Go to the boards of realtors meetings, go to the Chamber of Commerce meetings, get out of your comfort zone. I’m actually an introvert, but you know, I would walk in and I’d start generating a conversation about how the hummus was or whatever and start to build rapport and then follow up and connect with them on social media. So I think that’s where it’s a good place to start. You can also, if they have any local home buyer classes in person in your local market, go check that out. Even if you already own a house.

go to the local housing authorities and go to a homebuyer class, learn who those professionals are and maybe buy them a cup of coffee or schedule a phone call or a Zoom call. Get out there is the biggest thing. The most successful people are the ones that are out there and talking to people and so that’s what you need to do.

Michelle Kesil (20:38)
Yeah, definitely. It’s so important to get out of your comfort zone and yeah, meet people in order to build those relationships.

John Dolbec (20:48)
I agree.

Michelle Kesil (20:50)
Awesome. So is there something that you feel people have a misconception about when it comes to loans?

John Dolbec (21:03)
I think what you see on TV as far as the commercials that advertise online or during the Super Bowl, using a local lender or somebody that’s going to be through your screen is going to be important. Using a call center person or a local bank could work for you, yes, if you’re a really clean cut client, but they’re going to be order takers. You got to tell them how

you want to do it, but they might not advise you on some of the best strategies that you could use in order to do it. so meeting with somebody local that’s professional is going to be the best thing that can help you. As I might’ve mentioned before, I was in the military, I was 21 years old, was 2009. I called up an online lender, they gave me a pre-approval letter, it was for $350,000. I got cold feet, I didn’t buy my first house until 2016. If I look back now in the local Rhode Island market,

The median price point for a multifamily in 2009 was $90,000. I could have bought a multifamily for $90,000 and then I could have done the method like I explained in the beginning of the podcast. I didn’t do that. I bought a condo and then I bought a single family house. And so if you meet with somebody local and you express what your goals are and what you really want as far as being an investor and buying multiple properties, they can probably advise you a lot better than somebody that’s just gonna take your loan and get you through and get your keys.

Michelle Kesil (22:27)
Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s so important to connect with people and get their perspective and their advice because there’s so much information out there. It’s hard to sift through it all and know what’s going to be right for you.

John Dolbec (22:42)
Exactly.

Michelle Kesil (22:44)
All right, so before we wrap up here, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate or just learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach you?

John Dolbec (23:00)
So yeah, you could find me on social media. You could just Google John Dolbeck, originator. I should pop up. I’m out there on TikTok, Facebook, MySpace, Facebook, everything out there you’ll see me on. You could just shoot me a text as well, 401-321-4401, or you can email me at jdolbeck at prime res, P-R-I-M-E-R-E-S dot com.

Michelle Kesil (23:27)
Perfect. Well, listen, I really appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. Yeah. Amazing. Thank you so much for being here. And for those of you that are tuning in, if you got value from this, make sure you’re subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators just like John who are out here building real businesses. And we’ll see you all in the next episode.

John Dolbec (23:33)
Likewise, thank you. It’s been great to be on here. It’s a great podcast.