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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, Steven Howell discusses his journey in real estate, the importance of perseverance and consistency, and the innovative features of Deal Machine, a leading lead generation and data management tool. He emphasizes the significance of building relationships in the industry and provides actionable steps for listeners to take in their real estate endeavors.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Steven Howell (00:00)
Yeah, well, I like to dial things in and I just want to encourage you wherever you’re at in that spectrum, whether you’ve done zero deals, whether you’ve done 100 deals, you’re working full-time job, you’re working a part-time job, I just want to encourage you to continue to take the next right step, to continue to take action, right? And simplicity is key.We can have the most grandiose business plan. We can have the most grandiose ideas. And I’m all for dreaming big,
backing it down to something that’s simple and actionable.
Quentin Edmonds (02:11)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds. And you know what I’m gonna say? I’m excited to be here today, have another fantastic guest. And I’m excited, really excited about this guest because he comes from a name that you’re gonna obviously recognize when he say it. So he comes back with years of experience and I’m just excited about this conversation. I’m excited about him. He’s a guy, most people can’t…You know what mean? I say like that. guess that’s not a little too arrogant, but I normally have to bring the energy. This guy energized me. All right. Let me say it this way. This guy energizes me. And so I’m so glad to have him here and I want to introduce you all to Mr. Steven Howell. This is Steve. you doing today,
Steven Howell (02:55)
Quentin, I’m doing awesome, doing awesome and so glad to be here. It’s an honor to be out on the Real Estate Pros podcast here with you hanging out and it’s been a joy texting and I’m excited to be on here. yeah, thanks for having me.Quentin Edmonds (03:10)
Man, I’m so glad you’re here, sir. Now listen, I wanna dive right in. I want you to tell the people what your main focus is these days. If you wanna give us a little bit of an origin story of how you got started, where you are, we love origin stories. And man, if you don’t mind, tell us what part of the world you’re in and what markets you’re operating in. so Mrs. Steven, sir, you have the floor, man.Steven Howell (03:32)
Yes, Quentin. Well, I’m here on behalf of Deal Machine. So Deal Machine ⁓ is one of the number one lead gen providers and data providers in the country. And so I’m honored to be working with Deal Machine, head of new partnerships with David Lecko, the owner and alongside Matt Kamp, who’s head of our business development. And so it’s such a pleasure. I’ve used Deal Machine for years and years and years. I’ve been a real estate investor.since 2011. So we were chatting a little bit before this and so thinking back and reminiscing, going full time into real estate in 2011, which was the year I got married. And my background is in wholesaling real estate and just marketing off market direct to seller. And so I’m here in the Dayton, market. And so doing that for years and years also
I’ve had my own coaching and consulting company where I helped real estate investors get their first deals done. So I have the vantage point of doing the marketing, talking with the sellers, working with folks all around the country who have done a handful of deals or have yet to do their first deal and helping them role play and make offers and been able to do deals all over the country that way. And ⁓ I’ve done many webinars with Deal Machine. And so I’m just super excited.
⁓ to be here with Deal Machine and be able to help people implement it.
Quentin Edmonds (05:51)
Absolutely, man. I love it. Thank you for sharing a part of your journey and was listening to you got married in 2011. I hear you on part of that Merge Club team, man. So I hear you on that. Yeah, absolutely, man. A new position at Deal Machine. You did some consulting. And so I want to pick into you a little bit. I have a saying where I say destiny has no wasted moments, right? Like as we go through our life and different journeys into our life, different stops along our journey.Destiny teaches us something about ourself, right? So in this journey in real estate, what has it taught you about you? Has it taught you perseverance, consistency? Like what are different things that destiny has taught you within this real estate space?
Steven Howell (06:36)
Wow, that’s such a good question, Quentin. So those two words that you mentioned right there, perseverance, consistency, and just almost a vulnerability of like, as you’re going through this, you’re putting in the work and you’re realizing there’s things I don’t know, there’s things I need to learn, like I thought I was talented or I thought I was good at this or this, and you realize like, I need to level up my skills in this area.and the results that I’m desiring for myself, for my family are not going to happen unless I start to compound the consistency, unless I start to level up the skills, unless I start to kind of put myself out there and I’m gonna fail a little bit. I’m going to make mistakes. I’m gonna trip over my words. And so those are some of the things. So naturally, ⁓ my wife and I joke, I’m kind of…
on the borderline of introvert extrovert and like and so I ⁓ you know just just made that commitment of like okay if I want to go where I want to go I need to be able to put myself you know out there I need to be okay with you know fumbling a little bit and so that that has been a thing that is that has really kind of carried me through from each each phase for sure.
Quentin Edmonds (07:55)
Yeah,no, even I’m with you when you say on a verge of introvert extrovert. That’s me, man. I think I looked it up. I think it’s called being an ambivert, right? So I am, I am, I am with you, man. I am at the same thing. And me and my wife, talk about that as well. And I love how you talk about compounding things and stacking things. I haven’t mentioned this in a while, but this is one of my favorite books, Atomic Habits. I don’t know if you’ve read it before or heard of it, but it talks about habit stacking, right? And it talks about like how you, you saying when you grow.
And you compound things like you just want to be 1 % better than what you was yesterday. That’s what the book teaches. Right. And so that’s the thing is just about making progress, being one percent better and stacking those habits. And so I love it, man. I love how you talk about compounding and talk about persistence. And I think it was perseverance. And so absolutely, man, I appreciate you for that. So, Maggie, you’re over ideal machine. Let me ask you, is there any adversity that you’re bumping up against as you grow?
within your space, within your new position. Are you bumping up to any adversity or is it kind of like smooth sailing because you got systems in place? Tell me that, you know, what’s going on over there? Is there any adversity that you’re facing?
Steven Howell (09:05)
Yeah, so, so deal machine, we are growing leaps and bounds, just thousands of users. And so we are making, you know, just, just, we, we, we really try to push the line of innovation. So as far as that lead gen company and data provider, ⁓ you know, from AI to, to list building to an AI powered dialer to, ⁓ all of that, we are, we are constantly pushing the envelope and, ⁓ change the game when we.⁓ when we virtually eliminated skip tracing. So when we’re ⁓ marketing direct to seller and looking up homeowner data and building unique filtered custom lists to really help with marketing, ⁓ we decided back in 2023 that we’re gonna go ahead and instead of you having to pull this list and then go pay thousands of dollars to have that list of a couple of thousand records, skip traced.
and then ⁓ upload that to a dialer, we want to go ahead and just provide premium data without you having to do all that skip tracing. so with these iterations we’re making with the Driving for Dollars app, where you can have AI go in there now and say, hey, this list and this zip code, Quentin, of ⁓ four, five, four, two, four, we have off-market properties. And then we filter it down and we say, hey, show me the homes that
you know, were built before 1990 or before 2000 where the owner has owned it for more than 20 years where they’re likely to be an out of state owner or a tired landlord. And it filters it all the way down to, you know, 500 properties or 292 properties. We then can say, okay, let’s have our AI builder go in there and
drive, virtually drive using the Google satellite images and the street view images and show me the properties out of these that are showing the worst signs of distress, whether it’s a tarp on the roof or whether it’s overgrown grass or things like that. So because we’re doing those types of things, ⁓ one of the things that we face, and that was the reason I was brought on here for partnerships, we want to serve all of our partners. We have so many folks utilizing Deal Machine. There’s
There’s new upgrades and we really want to come on and take people by the hand, whether folks have a community of 10 people. Like I’ve been hanging out on calls. I was just on a mastermind call, 12 people that are in there. They’re cold calling live and we’re able to go in there and build lists and show little things. Whether or whether there’s a training with 200 people on, that’s one of the things that I was brought on here at Deal Machine is to help with those partnerships to really
help people utilize the tool in a practical way. And so I’d say that’s the biggest challenge, which is growth. And so we’re really big about systems and processes, documenting, innovation, ⁓ those types of things for sure.
Quentin Edmonds (12:43)
Absolutely. love it. So they brought you in to grow new partnerships. Is there a defined real goal for you? Like, it, is it a goal you’re trying to hit? Is this something that you’re trying to scale or solve? Like what’s next for you within your position?Steven Howell (12:57)
Yeah, well the the mission of Deal Machine is to bring the power of real estate investing to everyone, to everyone who has an inkling of an interest in real estate investing to change their life, to bring the power of real estate so they practically have real tools that are truly helpful to be able to to do that. And so we want to continue growing our user base but doing so in a way thatwe’re taking care of people. And so we have like weekly master class calls. That’s another thing that I’m doing at Deal Machine three o’clock Eastern every week for all the Deal Machine members. And so for everybody listening to the podcast here, you’re going to get, we want you to, to, experience this tool free for a week. And so that’s one of the bonuses we wanted to offer is, for, and we’ll talk about that in the ⁓ queue, but for everybody that does that, like,
We wanna take care of you and we have the live weekly master class calls and things like that. So we want to grow obviously, but we wanna do it right and take care of folks along the way. So they’re not just like, well, okay, I have a tool, I have a million tools. It’s like, we want this to be different. And so we’re really taking strides to do that. And that’s why we’re the most reviewed and number one app as far as finding real estate deals.
Quentin Edmonds (14:15)
Loving man. And part of your role is partnerships. So I want to talk about relationships for a little bit. How important is it to build healthy relationships? How do you build relationships? Building healthy relationships serves you well. Like, what is your perspective when it comes to building relationships?Steven Howell (14:36)
⁓ relationships are everything, Quentin. ⁓ Relationships are everything. I mean, it’s the foundation of ⁓ life. It’s the foundation of business. So it’s one of those things that we just, you know, we must do. so ⁓ something just practical, and I actually have it up on my wall here is I wanna deepen.great quality
And so one thing I try to do is, as I’m as I’m growing, you know, in circles and growing friendships and relationships, I want to sit down and have have whether it’s lunch or coffee with with someone and so I actually get a lot of insight with not only people and masterminds in my own industry, like that is so so important being part of different real estate clubs and masterminds. But
⁓ You know, I have a couple of friends that own their own small businesses or one’s vice president of a college, a small college. And so just hearing the different, ⁓ hearing different problems that they’re facing or, you know, I may be facing a similar problem and, but it’s in a completely different industry and hearing how they’re talking about something, the light bulb goes off or.
If I think it’s a monumental problem, just hearing that outside perspective from somebody in a different industry just adds that fresh perspective. so, as we’re growing those relationships, as we’re networking, it’s so, so important to continue to build out those relationships.
Quentin Edmonds (16:52)
I love it. love it. But Stephen, there any subject that I did not bring up that you want to talk about? ⁓ Is there any other maybe words of motivation, inspiration or education that you want to give to the people? If there is, I would love to hear that,Steven Howell (17:08)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, with your podcast here and real estate pros like so. for those listeners who would you say, Quentin, the bulk of the listeners are ⁓ seeking to get their next deal, seeking to get their first deal, seeking to to grow their relationships and partners or or if I’m guessing all of the above.Quentin Edmonds (17:30)
All of the above. You want it. Yes, sir. You are on it, Mrs. Stephen. Absolutely.Steven Howell (17:34)
Yeah, well, I like to dial things in and I just want to encourage you wherever you’re at in that spectrum, whether you’ve done zero deals, whether you’ve done 100 deals, you’re working full-time job, you’re working a part-time job, I just want to encourage you to continue to take the next right step, to continue to take action, right? And simplicity is key.We can have the most grandiose business plan. We can have the most grandiose ideas. And I’m all for dreaming big,
backing it down to something that’s simple and actionable
like, okay, this week, this month, I want to have five conversations. want to try this deal machine trial because I don’t want to have a bazillion subscriptions, but I need help in my marketing for real estate. I need to know how to build a unique and quality list. I need to know how to not just build the same list that everybody else is building.
⁓ I need to know once I have that list built, how can I get in touch with those homeowners and what do I say and what’s working? And so that is what I encourage you is to take.
you know, simple action steps of saying, okay, I’m going to use a tool like, like deal machine that I can go in there and, and, and my zip code and my zip code that, you know, I’m, real estate investing in. I’m gonna, I’m going to go deep rather than wide. And I’m to start with one zip code and I’m going to follow, I’m going to get on one of these masterclass calls with Steven and I’m going to, you know, I’m going to put a couple of the filters in there on deal machine and you know,
build a list of 200 properties. And then there’s a little button on there that says click to call. And it’s going to.
get you in touch with the property owner. And then there’s a little AI ⁓ bubble that comes up beneath it. And it will literally tell you verbatim. It will log the call for you. If it’s ⁓ a hot lead, it’ll kind of pick up the cadence of the call. It’ll give you prompting of what to say and how to qualify that seller, how to ask the right questions, what questions to ask. It’ll set a follow-up like, Steven, I think this was a hot lead. ⁓ Here’s when we recommend to follow
follow up, that type of thing. so building a list of properties, 200 properties, 300 properties following our process, utilizing the calls. Like, okay, I’m going to, there’s a button that you can literally click and say, I want to send to these 200 properties. I want to send this postcard every 45 days.
for the net and I wanna do that six times and kind of operate within those laws of marketing and sales. And then there’s a little ⁓ CRM tracker in there where you can say, hey, I’ve begun marketing on this or we had a quality conversation or follow up in three days. And so I encourage anyone listening to this call, to this podcast to map out some simple… ⁓
action steps that you can commit to because that is really where the confidence and the momentum starts building. And so that would that would look like a free trial a deal machine that would look like building a list of 200 properties that would be ⁓ that would look like having a commitment of saying you know what I’m just gonna have five conversations a day I’m gonna have five conversations a day for the next 90 days I’m really going to not just
you know, watch a million real estate courses and get overwhelmed. I’m going to I’m going to take practical steps of of of utilizing a tool like this, but but really doing the work and doing the marketing because I want these results. So if anyone’s listening to this, that that ⁓ anyone listening that’s resonating with this, that that would be the big takeaway I would have, Quentin.
Quentin Edmonds (21:32)
Yeah, love it man. I love it. Thank you man. Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, collaborate with you, get in contact with you, learn more about deal machine, how can they get in contact with you or learn more about it?Steven Howell (21:47)
Absolutely, Quentin. So very, very simple. You want to go to dealmachine.com backslash flip nerd. That’s L F L I P N E R D flip nerd www.dealmachine.com backslash flip nerd. You’ll be able to go there and sign up for a free seven day trial. this, this, software, the number one lead gen and marketing software for real estate investing, the most reviewed,⁓ We are growing by leaps and bounds. We want you to be able to try this. We are making it a priority to come alongside you hand in hand. And so go ahead and try this out on us. We’ve had so many folks, Quentin, sign up for the seven day trial, going to dealmachine.com backslash flip nerd, free seven day trial. You’re able to go in there and you have 500 free minutes on that AI powered dialer I was talking about.
or 50 free postcards. And so we’ve had people go in there, join us on our masterclass, build us very simple list that’s unique to them of 200 properties and start marketing to them and have their first deal done by utilizing that free trial and go on their first appointment or have some productive conversations. And they’re realizing, my goodness, I…
I’ve been watching a million courses, just overwhelmed, but I took this practical step. And so ⁓ that would be my recommendation.
Quentin Edmonds (23:21)
Love it. Love it. Listen, sir, I want to thank you, man. Thank you for your time. Of course, we know time is our most precious commodity. So thank you for your time. Definitely thank you for your story and your sharing, talking about Deal Machine, sharing a little bit about your story. Greatly appreciate that. Also, man, I want to say thank you for your perspective, for your mindset and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you,Steven Howell (23:47)
Quentin, it’s an honor to be here on the Real Estate Pros podcast. Such, such a pleasure. Love what you guys are doing. Keep the energy, keep it going. If there’s any way I can be helpful, steven at dealmachine.com is my email. I would look, s-t-e-v-e-n at dealmachine.com. I would love to be of service in any way I can to your audience. Blessings to you, my friend. It’s been such a pleasure talking with you. I love it. And thank you so very much.Quentin Edmonds (24:15)
Absolutely, man. Blessings to you. Thank you so much. Well, listen, y’all heard Mr. Steven. You heard him. Check out this show notes. Get in contact with him. Check out Deal Machine. Definitely check him out, but definitely make sure you are subscribed here, because I tell you, we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people just like Mr. Steven. So sir, thank you again. And to everyone else, y’all have a fantastic day.
