How To Find Motivated Seller Deals With Equity Using AI & Data Intelligence
Show summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews Francisco Mago, owner of Reifax.com, a real estate information system that helps investors identify potential deals. Francisco discusses the unique features of RiaFacts, including its focus on providing actionable insights rather than just raw data, and how it serves a variety of clients, particularly wholesalers and real estate investors. He also addresses the challenges posed by emerging technologies and the integration of AI in real estate transactions. The conversation highlights the importance of education and mentorship in leveraging technology for real estate success, as well as the subscription model that RiaFacts employs to engage clients effectively.
Key takeaways
- A deal requires two factors at once: the property has equity and the seller is motivated. Reifax is built to find the intersection of these two things rather than just hand over raw lists.
- Reifax operates in 7 states with Florida as its primary market: Florida, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Jersey.
- The platform goes beyond basic comps, providing open code violation data, owed taxes, pending foreclosure status, mechanic's liens, and short-term rental comps in addition to standard and rental comps.
- Reifax's biggest clients run 20-50+ seats/accounts on the platform, using virtual assistants to place offers statewide at scale.
- The company built an in-house AI system over two years that can evaluate properties, negotiate with agents and homeowners, send contracts, and respond to emails. It's in production and sourcing 25-40 deals a month, though it's not yet sold to clients.
- Many of the AI-sourced deals are being acquired at 50-65 cents on the dollar with both equity and cash flow upside; Reifax is currently raising capital to actually purchase these deals.
- Reifax works closely with mentors and coaches because the company believes the tool is advanced and investors need education to use the data effectively, comparing it to needing to be a trained pilot to fly a plane.
- The standard system is sold as a monthly SaaS subscription, and Reifax provides unlimited free training to clients rather than charging extra for onboarding or education.
In this episode
- 02:20Introducing Francisco Mago and Reifax.com
- 02:56What Reifax actually does: equity + motivation = deal
- 04:02Markets served: Florida plus 6 other states
- 05:19Primary clients: wholesalers
- 05:35How the platform works: CRM, offers, contracts, comps
- 07:33What sets Reifax apart: information vs. raw data
- 09:04Scaling with investor clubs and multi-seat accounts
- 10:28Other client types: realtors and mortgage brokers
- 11:03AI challenge: building a system that negotiates and closes deals
- 13:41Raising capital to buy deals the AI system finds
- 15:18Why Reifax partners with mentors and coaches
- 16:37Subscription model and free training
About Francisco Mago
Francisco Mago is the owner of Reifax.com, a real estate information system he describes as having been built over the last 20 years to help investors find deals based on property equity and seller motivation. His company operates primarily in Florida with expansion into six other states, and he says Reifax counts a few dozen millionaire investors among its client base.
Listen to the audio
“To define a deal, you need to have two main things. The first thing is where, what is the money? Is the property half or does it have equity? And the second one, which is equally important, is the seller motivated.”
Francisco Mago
“We used to say to our clients that we do everything but collecting the check. With the AI, the system is actually be able to do everything, up to collecting the check.”
Francisco Mago
“It's the same thing. You can travel by plane, but you are the one, you need to be a pilot. If you don't know how to use not only the system, but information that you're just going to be placing your hands, then you're wasting your time and money.”
Francisco Mago
Questions answered in this episode
What is Reifax.com and what does it do?
Reifax is a real estate information system, not just a data provider. It analyzes properties to identify potential deals by looking at two factors: whether the property has equity and whether the seller is motivated. The intersection of equity and motivation is what the system flags as a potential deal.
Which markets does Reifax cover?
Florida is the main market, with operations in seven states total, including Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Jersey.
Who uses Reifax besides wholesalers?
Wholesalers are the primary clients because Reifax is strong at identifying deals, but realtors who work with investors also use it to find deals, and mortgage brokers use it to find homeowners with disadvantaged mortgages based on equity data the system provides.
What makes Reifax different from other real estate data providers?
According to Francisco Mago, most systems just hand over raw data like foreclosure or probate lists. Reifax interprets that data and tells users why a property might or might not be a deal, including details like open code violations, owed taxes, pending foreclosure, or mechanic's liens, plus short-term rental comps in addition to regular and rental comps.
Is Reifax a one-time purchase or subscription?
The standard (non-AI-automated) version of Reifax is a SaaS subscription billed month to month. Prospective users can go to reifax.com for a demo, and training sessions are included for free with no extra charge, even unlimited training if needed.
What new AI technology is Reifax working on?
Reifax has spent the last two years building an in-house system that can evaluate properties, interact with agents and homeowners, negotiate, send contracts, and respond to emails automatically. It's now in production and acquiring between 25 and 40 deals a month, though it is not yet being sold to clients since the company is raising capital to actually purchase the properties it identifies.
Resources and links
Full transcript
Francisco Mago (00:00)
Well, I will tell you one of the challenges that arise right now is it will have to be with technology and the race of AI. Right now, things like evaluating a property by pictures and…
I actually having a smart analysis of a property are in play. We were working from the last two years for the system that actually can buy and sell real estate by itself, negotiate the property.
actually interact with agents and homeowners and negotiate, send contracts, respond emails. This is the latest technology that we’re working on right now.
Michelle Kesil (02:20)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chat with, Francisco Mago, who is the owner of reifax.com, helping provide real estate information. So, excited to have you here today, Francisco.
Francisco Mago (02:43)
Hi Michelle, happy to be here with you.
Michelle Kesil (02:46)
Great, so let’s dive in. First off, for those who are not familiar with you and your work yet, can you share what your main focus is?
Francisco Mago (02:56)
Yes, basically we are a real estate information system. When I say information, most of the people when they me what is that that you do, you sell data like this or this other side. And Basically the simple answer is no. We were not just
sell data, give you a foreclosure list, or give you a probate list. What we do is we tell you where the deals are. For example, you know, to define a deal, you need to have two main things. The first thing that you need to have when you’re finding a deal is where, what is the money? Is the property half or does it have equity? And the second one,
at which is equally important is the seller is the seller motivated. So when you have the intersection of these two things, motivation and equity is when is the moment when you can find a potential deal. And this is what we have been dedicating for the last 20 years actually.
Michelle Kesil (03:58)
Awesome. And which markets do you operate in?
Francisco Mago (04:02)
Where
our main market is Florida, though we have operations in seven states, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Massachusetts, and a few others. say Maryland and New Jersey. I hope none of them escape right now for me.
But I can tell you those are the ones that were open.
Michelle Kesil (05:14)
Awesome. And who are the primary people that you are serving?
Francisco Mago (05:19)
My main clients are wholesalers because we are very good to identify where these are. That’s our bread and butter.
Michelle Kesil (05:28)
Yeah, absolutely. And so how does your website work?
Francisco Mago (05:35)
Basically, the system not only identifies the deal, we have capabilities to make offers directly between the system. The system ⁓ generates contracts. We have a full CRM that allows you to actually control your offers and
Negotiate the properties that you’re trying to get the ones that are on market. You also work with off-market properties We We do have a very deep analysis of every single property that we actually Analyzing the system
We’re very out of the box in the information we provide when we say that. Or when I say that, we’re probably one of the very few.
systems out there that provide information about open violation just to give you a detail regarding to that. Additionally, we’re one of the very few that provide real comps for shorter rentals, not only regular comps and rental comps, but short-term rental comps as well. Providing information.
We are very, very detail oriented when it requires to property analysis and where the potential deal is coming from. Not only we can identify one challenge that the homeowner might have, let’s say that a homeowner is in probate, that’s one of the challenge we identified. We also…
tell you that the property, you know, owed taxes or he has an easy foreclosure. You have any mechanical links of any other situation that the system may.
found regarding to the property. We’re very detail oriented. We’ll give you a very deep analysis of every single deal. So the user can actually make a decision regarding to the property. So if he continues or not.
That’s on my side.
Michelle Kesil (07:33)
Awesome. And what do you feel are some of the things about your business and your website that are different from what other people are doing?
Francisco Mago (07:43)
As I told you, most systems out there provide data. And data is facts regarding to the property. What we provide is information. We interpret the data and we tell you, know, this property might be a potential deal and this property might be not.
and we will tell you the reasons why. So yes, in order to create information instead of data, you need to have ⁓ knowledge and apply that knowledge. And that’s what we do here and that’s what is set us apart.
Michelle Kesil (08:52)
Awesome. And what would you say are some of the main parts of your business that have allowed it to continue to grow and to run smoothly?
Francisco Mago (09:04)
Well, the way I see it, the relationship that we have with the real estate investor clubs and the investor communities is very tight. Basically, a big part of successful real estate investors are mainly in Florida.
They not only use the system day in, day out. Not only they have one account, they have 20, 30, 40 accounts, depending on how many people they have using the system because it’s scalable. basically that would say that.
Michelle Kesil (09:45)
Yeah, can you expand on the scalability aspect?
Francisco Mago (09:50)
Yes, we have actually we have clients that have like 50 seats or more. They put offers all over the state. They control that offer with those accounts. I would say they’re very successful doing that.
They use virtual assistants and that’s what we’ve been doing for have clients with me that do that the last 10 years. They’re to be very successful in that.
Michelle Kesil (10:19)
Yeah. And your clients, are there any other types of clients besides wholesalers that use your services?
Francisco Mago (10:28)
Realtors that work with investors to find deals. Mortgage brokers to find because one of the things is we determine how much equity the property has so we have information of the mortgage.
So they know they can market to people that have disadvantages, mortgages. So they use the system to find what potential clients that way.
Michelle Kesil (10:53)
Awesome. And what have been some of the challenges that you have experienced in this field?
Francisco Mago (11:03)
Well, I will tell you one of the challenges that arise right now is it will have to be with technology and the race of AI. Right now, things like evaluating a property by pictures and…
I actually having a smart analysis of a property are in play. We were working from the last two years for the system that actually can buy and sell real estate by itself, negotiate the property.
actually interact with agents and homeowners and negotiate, send contracts, respond emails. This is the latest technology that we’re working on right now.
Michelle Kesil (12:32)
Awesome. And so how are you using different sources of technology to expand the type of data that you get?
Francisco Mago (12:43)
What we’re doing right now is we actually are, we finished the testing part of that technology and we’re actually into production at this moment and the results are really incredible. We are able to actually put some
acquisition system in automatic and we are acquiring right now between 25 and 40 deals a month with this new technology. The difference is this in these cases are in-house technology. It’s nothing that we’re selling to our clients at the moment though it’s something that was
very new, we are working on that, but the results has been staggering. The amount of contests that we’re having to close is
Michelle Kesil (13:36)
Awesome. And what are you most focusing on solving or scaling to next?
Francisco Mago (13:41)
Well, what I’m doing right now, it has to be a lot with this new technology. And the way that we do it is we can’t at this moment buy all these properties. So we are in the process of actually finding the right capital to…
actually buy these properties and many of these properties have not only 50 cents or 65 cents in a dollar, have a lot of equity, but they also have cash flow opportunities and we’re living a healthy amount of money on the table right now. So we’re in the process of raising this capital in order to
put all this technology to work. And that’s what we’re focusing right now. We have a healthy system on the SaaS side of the business, which is the clients that we currently have. But with all this new technology, we’re able to put the things in automatic. We used to say to our clients that we do everything but collecting the check. With the AI, the system is actually be able to do everything.
up to collecting the check. So that’s where we’re dedicating most of our, that’s the direction that is companies taking at the moment.
Michelle Kesil (14:55)
Awesome. And so how are like real estate professionals leveraging your services? Like, are they just browsing for things through you guys or yeah, are they able to sort through information better? Like what is like kind of the leverage that they’re getting?
Francisco Mago (15:18)
Well, I’m going to tell you this. We have a few, when I say a few, I will say a few dozen millionaires on our belt, people that use and abuse our system. They have become very wealthy. OK, and the reason being that they’re the
The only thing that they need is actually identifying the deal, which is what Pre-Effect does. And after that, they take over and do what they know, what they need to do. That’s why we work very closely with mentors. We work very closely with mentors because we consider our tool to be an advanced tool. But if you don’t have a…
It’s the same thing. can travel by plane, but you are the one, you need to be a pilot. If you don’t know how to use not only the system, but information that you’re just gonna be placing your hands, then you’re wasting your time and money. So we partner very well with coach. And the reason being is because they not only have the…
information, the data, but they also have the education. You need to know how to drive this thing. That’s very important.
Michelle Kesil (16:29)
Yeah, definitely. That’s an important component. And how does it work? Is it like a subscription service? How does that work?
Francisco Mago (16:37)
Yeah, what
we call the regular system that is one that is not AI updated is it works as a SaaS system. It’s a subscription base that is month to If you need to check it out, you go to REIFAX.com.
Go there, check it out, analyze the information, and basically you will check out the features of the system there, whether that the success stories that we have. basically, you check it there.
Michelle Kesil (17:15)
Okay, amazing. Well, before we wrap up, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more about what you’re doing, where can people find you and connect with you?
Francisco Mago (17:26)
Okay, again, reifax.com, reifax.com, and you can reach our old social media is there. And ⁓ our phone numbers are in there. We have a chat room. What we usually do is we give you a demo of the system. We show you what the system can do for you. And after that, ⁓ every single…
session that you might want, might need to learn the system is totally free. We don’t charge for additional training. So that it has been very good to our clients because you once you had the need to learn something, we understand that systems are very important in order to.
understand what you need to get. You need a little bit of time so we don’t charge for training or you can have unlimited training if you need to.
Michelle Kesil (18:15)
Perfect. Well, appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. Thank you so much for being here.
Francisco Mago (18:21)
Michelle, thank you very much for your time and for this interview. It’s been very nice being here with you.
Michelle Kesil (18:28)
Great. And for those listening to the show, if you got value, make sure you have subscribed. We have more conversations with operators like Francisco who are building real businesses. We’ll see you on our next episode.
