How to Invest in Real Estate with No Money | Dave Webb

Dave Webb (00:00)
Exactly what I’m telling everybody. I didn’tneed my own money to make this happen and I wouldn’t have wasted, you know, 20 years or so of my life trying to think I needed it, trying to build it up, trying to get my down payment, trying to do all that. I’d have done this 20 years ago and had a lot more fun for the last 20 years, you know? So the whole thing, the whole book, everything is about you don’t need money. You don’t need credit. You don’t need the perfect situation. You can do it right now.from wherever you are, whatever your situation is, you can start buying cash producing properties.Kristen Knapp (02:06)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen and I’m here with Dave Webb, who is the author of No Money Millionaire. It’s out on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online right now. So thank you for being here, Dave. So I’m excited to get into your book, but let’s first just start into how you got into the real estate industry.Dave Webb (02:17)
Yeah, thank you for having me.You know, I always wanted to be in real estate, you know, as far back as I can recall. And, you know, early on I did a couple property. did a, my first property was back in 1997, I think. And so I did that. was,along with like what I write about, it was a no money deal, you know, and, uh, it took me a while to really even figure out what I had done.You know, it was a lot of work I put in to getting that. No one thought I could do it. And so, you know, I ended up getting that deal and about 10 years later, I ended up doing another one, a seller finance, but it still hadn’t clicked. It still hadn’t clicked that, you know, you could do deals without having any money, even though I did, I have done two of them, still wasn’t in my head yet that I could do no money deals. So I kept thinking I had to have.

all the pieces in place, my tax returns, the down payment, all of those things. And it wasn’t until like another 10 years after that, that it all finally came together. And now that’s what I do all the time, full time.

Kristen Knapp (03:34)
I mean, it’s so true. Everyone

has such preconceived, you know, notations of real estate and what you need to do and who you need to be. But it’s great that you were able to kind of break those, break that stigma in your brain.

Dave Webb (03:49)
Yeah, yeah, definitely. You know, I did put some savings together and I did get my first multifamily by using some of my own money. But then after that, I wanted to do more. But it took me, you know, all my life to get the money together to get my first multifamily. And so I was like, well, I can’t wait that again to get another one. So I have to figure out, you know, how can I do this? You know, my ambition exceeded my capital. So

I had to figure out a way to put all that together, make something happen. once I did, once I did the first one, and then it was just like, well, there’s no stopping me now, so.

Kristen Knapp (04:29)
Okay. And how did you, where did your education come from? How did you learn?

Dave Webb (04:34)
Trial and error reading, all of the mentors reading everything I could find from anybody. So yeah, just devouring as much as I could, learning by trial and error, ⁓ losing a lot of money, paying for a very expensive education that way. so, after you learn what not to do, you can get on the right

So I think.

think it was Thomas Edison or something said, you know, I’ve never failed. I just learned 10,000 ways how it didn’t work. You know, so that’s, that’s the path I’m on.

Kristen Knapp (05:55)
Yeah.

Yeah, could you talk about maybe a time where things didn’t go as planned and what you learned from it?

Dave Webb (06:04)
Well, you know, I had an amazing property. It was in an area of Detroit and I knew the location. It was one of the best locations. was just right out, was minutes from downtown. It was right by all the new stadiums. It was the prime location and still is today. And I didn’t know then what I know now and I didn’t know how to…

to put all the pieces together. And that, could have made a tremendous amount of money on that property. And in the end, what I did was end up losing money. And you know, I had to, you I learned and nobody wanted to mess with me. I didn’t have the experience. couldn’t put together what I wanted. You know, I was just explaining to somebody yesterday about this property and it’s like the door that I opened.

to come in to talk to either the banks or whatever, they could tell I didn’t know what I was doing just by the way that I approached them. Even though I could say I’ve been doing this, I’ve been doing that, just the way I approached them, could tell that I hadn’t done it before. And so I ended up just cutting my losses and I learned from that. But yeah, that was an expensive mistake. ⁓

Kristen Knapp (07:21)
And when you say like the way you

approached them was kind of a tell, what do you mean by that?

Dave Webb (07:26)
⁓ You know, cold calling the way that I was, ⁓ you know, not knowing. It just showed my inexperience. It just showed. And, you know, I hadn’t done a renovation of that scale and hadn’t done what I was trying to do. It was a multifamily. was my first multifamily. And, you know, it was ⁓ a couple. It was a couple million dollars. So it was a good scale, you know, good size property.

And the way that I was trying to, you know, talk to the banks to raise funds to, to, they could just tell I didn’t know what I was doing. And so nobody wanted to work with me, you know, because of my lack of experience and the opportunity I seen it. And I mean, it’s still, yeah, it’s still a great area today. And had I known then what I know now, I would have loved it. I would, you know, I would have loved it, but you live and you learn. Like I said, that’s that, that’s that tuition.

Kristen Knapp (08:09)
Yeah. ⁓

Dave Webb (08:24)
So.

Kristen Knapp (08:25)
Do

you think there’s a way to kind of fake it till you make it in the beginning or you know Places you can go to get the right education or do you think it really is just having experience?

Dave Webb (08:31)
Thank

You know, there’s lots of ways to get the education actually. You can have good mentors. mean, people could learn from people. They, you know, don’t always have to like just wing it a hundred percent on their own. ⁓ You know, and maybe some people are better at presenting themselves early on than I was, you know, I can’t say, you know, I was the way that I did it was the only way it could be done, but ⁓ there might be. And again, you know, this was, this was a larger scale.

You know, maybe if I was starting on a single family trying to do a fix and flip, maybe it had been different. But you know, the size of this project, know, the banks just are going to look at it a little more, you know, thoroughly.

Kristen Knapp (09:23)
Right. Right. So let’s go into your book. What was kind of the turning point where you thought that this book should exist?

Dave Webb (09:32)
Well, that’s this right here. It’s the no money millionaire. And what happened was I wished I had that book early on. That’s where the whole thing came from. I’m from the inner city of Detroit. And when you grow up there, it’s just ⁓ no one around you is really doing any of this. I didn’t have anybody that I ever seen talk about passive income or anything of that sense.

And so, you know, I wished 20 years ago, I had a book like this that I could read that was explaining to me, hey, you don’t have to wait till you have all these pieces. You can do real estate right from where you’re at right now, wherever your income bracket, whatever your credit, whatever situation you’re in, you can start buying and owning cash producing properties. you know that

That was foreign to me at the time. I never would have imagined that was the case. And so I still have people from back home that I talk to and then I help and I coach and it came from that. And you know, after, you know, sharing information, trying to encourage people and let them know they can do this. You know, I sat down and said, you know, I’m going to, I’m going to write a book. I’m going to put a book out there. Cause like I said, I wished, I wished I had it 20 years ago.

Kristen Knapp (11:31)
Yeah, and what are some of the key things in this book that are really valuable that you think people will really enjoy? ⁓

Dave Webb (11:39)
Well, I mean, the biggest point of the whole thing is letting you know that, you know, you can do it right from where you’re at. You don’t have to have perfect credit. You don’t have to have a large, you know, large cash down payment. You can actually start buying and owning cash producing properties from whatever your situation is right now. I have a person from Detroit that’s out here with me right now.

Same situation. His credit wasn’t right. His tax filing wasn’t all up to date. Didn’t have any money for down payment. And just August. August 1st was closed on a triplex. And ⁓ when he closed, the day he closed, he was collecting rent. So he went into it with no money out of pocket, closed and collected rent the day he closed.

Kristen Knapp (12:27)
Wow. And so your book kind of details just from start to beginning how to even

this.

Dave Webb (12:34)
I try to cover every aspect about it, ⁓ even down to CYA, make sure your documents are right and don’t shortcut on the attorneys, ⁓ any of these aspects. But yeah, I try to be thorough in every way you can do it, whether it’s seller finance or if you want to utilize hard money or private money, however you want to go about it. I touch on all the different elements.

Kristen Knapp (13:04)
Amazing and this is online or people can buy it online. So it’s already available right now

Dave Webb (13:10)
It’s on Amazon. can, you know, ⁓ get the hard cover or a paperback, but it’s also on Kindle. We’re going to be releasing an audio book soon. And right now this is all brand new. just, I just, you know, really I was just always investing for myself, but then once, you know, I was, I was becoming very successful. People from back, back home were asking me and, and, you know, I’ve been trying to coach and help them. And so then, then the book came out. So this is all relatively new. And so the website.

is being developed as we speak and should go live real soon. the book will be available for a free download on the website. you know, it’s information. I really just want to help people. so, you know, they, again, I’m talking to people who don’t have, you know, a lot of income, a lot of savings, and I didn’t want to just make a book that they have to buy. It’ll be available for download for free. So.

Kristen Knapp (14:02)
That’s amazing. And how long did it take you to write this book? What was the process?

Dave Webb (14:07)
was once the idea had, you know, had formulated, it took six, eight months, I think of steady rewriting and reading it and editing it. And it took some time, but not quite a year, but definitely six to eight months, I’d say.

Kristen Knapp (14:27)
Yeah, that must have been a fun project to do on your own.

Dave Webb (14:30)
It was, it was a lot of changes, you know, you know, I’d write it, think it was finished and I’d go back and reread it and I’m, well, no, this is, you know, this is not in there. And it, was a lot of ⁓ rewrites, you know, so was a work in progress for a while.

Kristen Knapp (14:44)
Yeah.

Well, I’d love to shift gears just a little bit. I’d love to just talk about the market in general. I think there’s a lot of information being thrown out at people of if it’s a good market, a bad market, if you should get into it or hold.

What is your perspective on everything that’s going on right now?

Dave Webb (15:46)
⁓ I mean, it’s obviously not one of the better times, you know, we all just experienced some of the best times and, I, I wasn’t even that active then. So I didn’t get to take advantage of those beautiful interest rates that were there, but, I, I don’t really fear the market. You know, there’s always opportunities. There’s, there’s, there’s always going to be seller finance, ⁓ you know, fix and flip opportunities.

They’re always going to be there. You’re always going to have someone who’s tired of what they have, someone who’s neglected what they have. That’s never going to go away. You’re finding more and more people are coming to this industry right now. It seems to be really hot to get into the multifamily and all of that stuff. But there’s, think there’s always going to be some opportunities and really it’s, it really depends on your market.

You know, when I watch any of the people that I respect and I listen to what they’re saying, you know, they’ll show you, you know, it’s not nationwide when things are bad. I mean, there’s different areas that are still doing well, even in my state here where I’m at, you know, there’s different areas that do better than others. And so, you know, it’s not a flat across the board, you know, problem.

And again, I think there’s always some opportunities if you look hard enough.

Kristen Knapp (17:12)
Yeah, I mean, I think that’s a really good point that the markets are different in every state, every county. There’s opportunities everywhere. And I like hearing an optimistic view of the market. ⁓ What would you say to someone who is just scared to make the jump into real estate right now?

Dave Webb (17:31)
Yeah, that’s what I’m really addressing right now. A lot of my videos and a lot of my posts and stuff online have really been about, you know, stop holding yourself back, know, cut out the excuses, you know, I don’t have the money, I don’t have the credit, all of these things. And, you know, I’ve just been really hammering on that. That’s not true, you know, there’s opportunities there.

What I’ve realized now though, and again, like I just said, what I’ve been addressing lately is how to bridge that gap. When I was working and before I got into real estate, I didn’t know. I didn’t know how to start and I threw money everywhere and I lost a lot of it. so now I’ve been thinking, okay, I got to start now helping people. How do you go from working your job, struggling, paying your bills?

to actually getting that first property. And, you know, and I have people asking me, well, are you suggesting that I just quit my job and just dive right into this full time? And that’s absolutely not, you know, you have to, you have to take things, you know, slowly and, and, know, you always want to make sound steps. And so that’s what I’m working on now is addressing that, bridging that gap. How do you get that first property and still incorporate that with your current situation? And, and then, you know, do you want to.

eventually go full-time into real estate or is just something you want on the side supplement your other income and those are things I’m addressing right now

Kristen Knapp (19:03)
Yeah, no, I think that’s really good advice for people. Yeah, it’s great. mean, I don’t think there’s a one size fits all. think there’s something that works for everybody, and I think that’s really good advice. ⁓ To kind of wrap this up a little, what would be a piece of advice that you wish you learned earlier in your career?

Dave Webb (19:14)
Sure, sure.

Exactly what I’m telling everybody. I didn’t

need my own money to make this happen and I wouldn’t have wasted, you know, 20 years or so of my life trying to think I needed it, trying to build it up, trying to get my down payment, trying to do all that. I’d have done this 20 years ago and had a lot more fun for the last 20 years, you know? So the whole thing, the whole book, everything is about you don’t need money. You don’t need credit. You don’t need the perfect situation. You can do it right now.

from wherever you are, whatever your situation is, you can start buying cash producing properties.

Kristen Knapp (19:58)
Yeah, and this is really like freedom building for people. It’s helping people build a life where they have more time, they have more resources, and they can live a more fulfilled life.

Dave Webb (20:10)
You know, a lot of people think about building wealth as, it’s rich, it’s fancy cars, it’s this, it’s that, it’s designer clothes. It’s freedom. It’s the freedom to be at your kids’ school when needed to be. It’s the freedom to be able to travel when you need and not worry about jeopardizing and losing your job. If family member needs you out of state and you need to leave for a minute, you’re not going to…

not going to lose your job and then up end your whole your whole life situation. It’s more it’s more freedom and you know coming from the the lower you know poor areas you know we always were struggling you know where everyone’s made just going from paycheck to paycheck you know struggling paying their bills this or that and you don’t have any freedom you don’t have any freedom and that’s what building wealth gives you is that that freedom.

Kristen Knapp (21:06)
Absolutely. And so what’s next for you?

Dave Webb (21:10)
Well, more properties. I’m closing on nine houses right now as we speak. So hopefully that’s wrapped up in the next 30 days and just, you know, I love the area that I’m in. I think I’m here at the right time. And so, you know, there’s a lot of growth going on here. doesn’t, the market doesn’t seem to be affecting here, you know, like it is other areas. And so I’m just, I’m happy to be part of that. I really am.

And so just, ⁓ and then with the book and the podcast, these things here getting more involved, helping other people, you know, I have a lot of people reaching out to me now and help me with this and help me with that. And that’s exciting. I like helping people.

Kristen Knapp (21:51)
Yeah.

Amazing. We’ll remind everyone where to find the book and how to find you.

Dave Webb (21:58)
It’s the No Money Millionaire. It’s available on Amazon and also Barnes and Noble.

Kristen Knapp (22:04)
Awesome. And then do you have, you know, personal Instagram people can check you out?

Dave Webb (22:08)
Sure, it’s

the No Money Millionaire. You can find it on Instagram, it’s No Money Millionaire on Facebook, and also nomoneymillionaire.com.

Kristen Knapp (22:16)
Fabulous. Well, thank you so much for being here, Dave.

Dave Webb (22:19)
Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. You guys are doing a wonderful job with what you’re doing.

Kristen Knapp (22:21)
Awesome.

Yeah, thank you. And I mean, I encourage everyone to check out Dave’s book. I think that you can learn a lot and really build the freedom for yourself that we were talking about. So thank you everyone for listening and we will see you back next time. Bye.

Dave Webb (22:36)
Thank

you. Thank you very much.