444: 150 Deals at Age 22 by Putting Relationships Over Profit with Cole Ruud-Johnson
Feb 18, 2021
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Cole Ruud-Johnson, a 22-year-old wholesaler and flipper from Seattle, shares his remarkable journey of completing over 150 real estate deals. He discusses his early challenges, including a failed attempt at becoming an agent, and how cold calling became his ticket to success. Cole emphasizes the importance of relationships over profits, detailing his transition from a burnout phase to a lean business structure. He offers invaluable insights on persistence, adapting strategies, and building a supportive community in the real estate world.
A resilient mindset is crucial in real estate, as it transforms challenges into opportunities for growth and learning.
Successful investors should prioritize action over knowledge accumulation, dedicating 70% of efforts to implementation to accelerate success.
Building relationships through cold calling plays a vital role in securing leads and establishing valuable connections in the real estate market.
Deep dives
Importance of Mindset in Real Estate Investing
A strong mindset is essential for success in real estate investing, and today's guest emphasizes the significance of viewing challenges as opportunities for growth. He describes how his background in sports helped him develop resilience and a positive attitude towards failure. This mindset allows him to embrace the learning process inherent in real estate, where not every attempt will yield immediate success. The determination to keep trying and evolving ultimately has a profound impact on achieving long-term goals in the industry.
Taking Action and Learning
Successful real estate entrepreneurs often prioritize action over excessive information gathering. The guest stresses that many people fall into the trap of accumulating knowledge without implementing it, which can hinder progress. Instead, he advocates for a balanced approach, dedicating 70% of one’s efforts to taking action while reserving 30% for learning. This willingness to dive into real-world scenarios helps solidify understanding and accelerates the journey towards success.
The Role of Cold Calling
Cold calling has been a crucial tool for the guest, enabling him to secure leads and establish connections in the real estate market. By focusing on building rapport and understanding the motivations of sellers, he has transformed initial conversations into valuable leads. He recommends starting with manageable lists, targeting owners with high equity, and approaching calls with a genuine interest in helping sellers. This practice ensures that cold calling remains a powerful strategy, ultimately contributing to sustained success in the competitive real estate landscape.
Scaling a Real Estate Business
As the guest scaled his real estate operations, he highlights the importance of delegating responsibilities and putting the right team in place. Initially overwhelmed by chaos, he learned to streamline processes by assigning clear roles and fostering a culture of accountability. By focusing on key performance indicators (KPIs) for each segment of the operation, he was able to monitor productivity and identify areas for improvement. This strategic approach to growing the business not only increased efficiency but also drastically improved overall revenue.
The Value of Mentorship and Support
Mentorship and seeking guidance from experienced professionals have been instrumental in the guest's success. He shares the importance of surrounding oneself with mentors who can provide insights, support, and feedback throughout the journey. Having access to a network of individuals who have faced similar challenges allows for rapid learning and application of best practices. Moreover, building a strong support system empowers investors to take risks and push boundaries with the reassurance that assistance is available when needed.
Embracing Challenges and Continuous Growth
The guest emphasizes viewing challenges as stepping stones rather than obstacles in the path to success. By taking on new ventures, such as entering the flipping market, he pushes himself and his team to continuously grow and adapt. Each new project provides valuable experience that contributes to refining their main business strategies and expanding their knowledge base. This openness to change illustrates that successful real estate investing involves embracing discomfort and actively seeking opportunities for development.
It seems like young real estate investors get more and more impressive every week. Today we talk with Cole Ruud-Johnson, a wholesaler and flipper out of the Seattle area. The impressive part? He’s 22 years old and has done 150+ deals to date! Even at 22, Cole’s journey wasn’t a linear path, he had lots of ups and downs to get him to the level of success he achieves now.
Cole tried to be a real estate agent at 18, but wasn’t getting the hang of it. After failing at a couple of real estate brokerages, he entered into a third and learned how they were creating their own inventory via cold calling. He decided he’d give this a try, and partnered up with his friend to cold call for deals.
After three months, an agent brought them their first off-market deal. This first deal alone netted them $105,000. Yes, you read that right, six-figures on ONE wholesale deal. This wasn’t enough for Cole, he knew he had to get back out there and work on getting his next deal.
Cole’s small business grew to a small empire, but over time this pushed him into a massive burn out. He had to make some BIG changes in his business, many of which even business veterans wouldn’t be comfortable doing.
Now he’s here with us on the podcast, talking through his lean team, his deals, his systems, and how new wholesalers can start getting deals. Cole even throws in the script he uses to get wholesale deals over the phone, so if you’re thinking about getting off-market deals or starting your wholesaling journey, this is the episode for you!
In This Episode We Cover:
How wholesaling and off-market deals can net big profits
Why you need to be consistent when cold calling
The script that Cole uses to get off-market and wholesale deals