Real Estate Market Shift 2026: Foreclosures, Tax Sales & House Flipping Opportunities

Dallas Barkman (00:00)
And in July of 2022, a large manufacturer called Keystone, which they—they build fifth wheels, which are campers basically. They laid off 300 and some people, and I had four building contracts under contract

of workers who got laid off. And then also that month I had appraisal on a $600,000 build get cut by $200,000 and an appraisal on another large build get cut. And so I lost six sales with that builder.

Joseph Crooms (02:02)
Hey everyone, welcome to Investor Fuel Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Joseph Crooms. Today I’m joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with. His name is Dallas Barkman, who’s out there making some serious moves, and he’s a broker himself. So he’ll talk more about that. Hey, Dallas, say hello to everybody.

Dallas Barkman (02:23)
Hello, everybody.

Joseph Crooms (02:24)
Great, so let’s dive into it. So first of all, Dallas, for people who may not be familiar with your world, give us the short version. What’s your main focus these days and what markets are you operating in?

Dallas Barkman (02:36)
Main focus these days is listing properties, and I’m in Michiana, which is northern Indiana, southern lower Michigan.

Joseph Crooms (02:43)
Okay. Let’s go here. So let’s talk about what is your niche?

Dallas Barkman (02:47)
Well, it used to be first time home buyers and new construction. However, the market has shifted. So currently it’s listing properties. And right now we’re starting to see more foreclosures come on the market. And also our region is gonna have big tax sale coming up. So I just think there’s the opportunity there for investors to look into.

Joseph Crooms (03:07)
Talked about well what you used to do. How has this market affected you and you know, and what are you doing to leverage, to get ahead of the game?

Dallas Barkman (03:16)
I’ve had to change my focus and part of my leverage is the team that I’m on, the people surrounding me, been able to see where the trends are going in advance to know when it’s time to shift into a new focus of the market.

Joseph Crooms (03:30)
And can you tell us, what how much volume is your t—has your team moved before the shift? How much are your monthly?

Dallas Barkman (03:37)
Well, I mean, I’ve been doing this for 30 years, so I don’t—I don’t even know. I’ve sold over 1,600 homes, so I don’t even know how much volume. But I mean the shift started back in 2022, from new construction focused to more existing properties.

Joseph Crooms (03:54)
Were you into flipping homes as well?

Dallas Barkman (03:55)
I have since 2008 I have helped investors flip homes. I’ve mainly listed them, I help find deals and then they get ready, then I list them.

Joseph Crooms (04:07)
You mind explaining once you list of what happens with your relationships, who do you contact, what do they do? Do you mind explaining that to the audience?

Dallas Barkman (04:16)
Sure, the con—the contacts were—I don’t even know the word to use, but basically through people I know for the most part. And yeah, I—they basically told me to look for deals and I get on the county websites and look for deals and then I tell them these is a good foreclosure because I know the market. I’ve lived here all the time. Same with the tax sales. So basically through people, people that I know, and then we—w—I’d send them photos of the property and then they would investigate further and decide if it’s a good deal and from there they would close on the transaction and then I would—I would list the properties and then those folks that I used to work with are either retired or they’ve changed the focus of their business because in the mid-2000s then the flips were drying up. But we’re starting to see—I’m starting to see more and more opportunities come available. So wanting to start back into that. But I’m—I don’t believe that the investors that I used to work with are wanting to do that ’cause they have different focuses right now with rental properties and that kind of thing.

Joseph Crooms (06:09)
On the rentals, are you doing commercial rentals as well or r—this basically a residential?

Dallas Barkman (06:14)
Residential.

Joseph Crooms (06:15)
What size units do you look for?

Dallas Barkman (06:16)
Starter homes that would appeal to starter homes, so in the $150 range and under $200 and under.

Joseph Crooms (06:25)
Do you do any—what am I saying? Co-rentals or like larger flips like anything like that?

Dallas Barkman (06:31)
I haven’t. Okay.

Joseph Crooms (06:33)
So where has your revenue landed at since this shift? You know, is it—is it in the last six months or the—the year? And where have you sort of like, you know, plateaued that?

Dallas Barkman (06:46)
The last four years it actually—it actually stayed pretty much the same. I mean I plateaued in 2022, I believe, would probably be my best year ever in the business. But I haven’t been much—I haven’t been down much since then, income and revenue wise. So

Joseph Crooms (07:05)
And what do you do? What—what—what—what is your your umbr—the umbrella of the company? I think you said you would—I forgot which name would

Dallas Barkman (07:12)
Yeah, Century 21 Bradley Realty. I’m a broker there, a team leader. We’re the nation’s and world’s largest Century 21 office. We’ve sold over a billion dollars a year for the last 10 years of real estate.

Joseph Crooms (07:24)
Are you or are you a decision maker with your team and and who’s on your team?

Dallas Barkman (07:28)
Yeah, I basically have one gal on my team and so yeah, I am the decision maker of that team. So just me and her.

Joseph Crooms (07:35)
Okay. And so what do you plan on scaling up on next?

Dallas Barkman (07:38)
Well, I’d like to find properties that are available to sell on land contract. We have a lot of undocumented workers in the area and or marginally credit people with marginal credit and where they have the desire to buy and just help them with housings where they could possibly buy on land contract and or flips and then also tax sales as well with the tax sale coming up.

Joseph Crooms (08:05)
Let me ask you this question. What’s been the key to keeping your machine running smoothly, Dallas?

Dallas Barkman (08:10)
Social media. That’s my biggest—my biggest source of referrals. And then I do—I am bilingual in Spanish, so that definitely helps. And I take care of my customers. I treat right. So

Joseph Crooms (08:22)
Okay. So I get it. So you plan on scaling going a little bit backwards into hopefully flipping homes and doing more. Tell me, what are some of the key things that—key relationships that you build with property managers or—or other brokers? Can you tell me what’s made the biggest difference to you?

Dallas Barkman (08:41)
Well, yeah, I do know all the property managers in the area, so that does help and they like and trust me and I like them and trust them. As far as relationships go, otherwise, yeah, I mean I just have a large network of people, people from the past growing up. Just had a gal this couple of weeks ago I went to elementary school with and she said she was getting married and she wanted to sell her house quick because she wants to move into her fiancé’s home and she doesn’t care what it sells for, she just wants to sell it. So had a couple of investors looking at that right now. So just—just longevity in the area, you know. Lived here all my life, 52 years old. So

Joseph Crooms (10:04)
So, you know, Dallas, I know there’s been a time when things just didn’t go how you planned. Do you mind sharing one of those incidents or—or situations where you had to pivot quickly to our audience, please?

Dallas Barkman (10:16)
Sure. Our area is highly manufactured area, so we have a lot of factory jobs and we’re in the recreational vehicle industry. And in July of 2022, a large manufacturer called Keystone, which they—they build fifth wheels, which are campers basically. They laid off 300 and some people, and I had four building contracts under contract of workers who got laid off. And then also that month I had appraisal on a $600,000 build get cut by $200,000 and an appraisal on another large build get cut. And so I lost six sales with that builder. And so yeah, we had to part ways, but like clockwork I just kept on a going, you know, managed to work through that and not miss a beat as far as just selling—selling homes.

Joseph Crooms (11:12)
It does. Let me peek into your—your—your mind a little bit. Tell me how you reacted when it first happened. Tell me what you did to refocus. And tell me how you got back on plan.

Dallas Barkman (11:21)
All right, well, yeah, I was reaction—I had a mix of emotions ’cause I’d been with that builder for 11 years at the time, so I was angry, hurt, sad. I picked my son up and we went and cleaned my office out. And you know, when you have a f—family you don’t have time to talk about it. So I just started messaging people on social media and calling people and saying I’m no longer building home or with a home builder, but you know I can help you with your needs. And I did—I did set a plan B which was to possibly teach and through taking classes to teach, gained more business that way ’cause there were peop—40 people in the class and they had homes to sell or knew of people and just worked a little harder and it just—it just things kept clicking. So just the attitude that gonna get through it either way, whether it’s real estate or something else, I’ll—I’ll make a way.

Joseph Crooms (12:16)
Yeah, you know, there’s a reason why—actually can you share it, you know, let’s peek into your mind a little bit what how you felt. Thank you for sharing it to our listening audience because that is the difference between those that are dabbling and those that in long term. You just can’t fake the relationships that you build, how you capitalize up your thoughts and and rebound. So you can’t fake those things and and and everything you just gotta be real in this space. All right. Before we wrap up, if someone wanted to reach out, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn a little about what more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way to reach you, Dallas?

Dallas Barkman (12:47)
Just look me up on social media, Facebook, Instagram, Dallas Barkman. It’s B-A-R-K-M-A-N. And and also email me [email protected]. Phone number 574-202-4352. But yeah, most—most of all my contacts come through social media.

Joseph Crooms (13:05)
So you know Dallas, it’s every time you give a number to my somebody, man, he went too fast. So do you rem—remind me, Pete, there was just one more time. I want to get those slow in finders, let them get that get your number.

Dallas Barkman (13:15)
Yep. 574-202-4352.

Joseph Crooms (13:19)
Email again and—and just give us the whole gamut.

Dallas Barkman (13:21)
B-A-R-K-M-A-N D-A-L-L-A-S at gmail.com ([email protected]) and on social media, Dallas Barkman, B-A-R-K-M-A-N, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, all over YouTube.

Joseph Crooms (13:36)
Solid. We got it. Thank you so much, Dallas. Well, perfect. Well, listen, I appreciate your time, your story, your philosophy, and how you read the market and what you’re doing to stay in the game. We need more people in space who are doing it the right way. Thanks again for being here, Dallas. Appreciate you.

Dallas Barkman (13:52)
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. Yeah.

Joseph Crooms (13:54)
So, and for those of you tuning I know you got some value for this. Make sure you’re subscribed. We got more conversations coming from operators just like Dallas Barkman, who out there building businesses, real business, helping people, also, you know, taking it even further, educating people. I really appreciate that, Dallas. We’ll see you on the next episode. Hey, Dallas, before we let them know how to get to us, tell everybody you’ll see them later.

Dallas Barkman (14:17)
All right guys, catch you later. Make some money out there.

Joseph Crooms (14:19)
All righty. So we’ll see you on the next episode of Investor Fuel Real Estate Pros Podcast. And we had our guest today, Dallas Barkman. We’ll see you soon. Joseph Crooms. Talk to you later. Bye.