If you are in the real estate industry, you already know it’s hard work. Whether you’re a realtor, an investor or a wholesaler, having longevity in the real estate business requires consistency even when things aren’t working out in your favor.
We wanted to know, what does it take to create momentum and be successful in the real estate industry?
Greg Davtyan is a property acquisition and investment specialist with the Prospect Group. They buy mostly off-market fixers, they buy homes for cash fast in Southern California. Davtyan has worked in finance, he’s been a realtor and now works in investments and acquisitions.
He says, it takes a lot of discipline and a lot of hunger.
“I think if you don’t have that hunger to create a life that provides you to live on your own terms, or if you don’t have kind of like your belief on why you’re doing what you’re doing, then it’s going to be hard for you to do everything day in and day out with everything that real estate consists of, which is a lot.”
A lot of realtors – especially those who are new to the industry – think that real estate is what they watch on HGTV or the glamorous life they see on social media. But that’s not the case. There is a lot that goes into transactions, negotiations, calculation of numbers.
Watching an agent selling three, four or five million dollar homes is inspiring. Many who are new to the industry think they too can do that immediately, but what they don’t see is the amount of work that realtors put in to get to that point.
Here are some tips to keep you moving forward on your path to success.
Positive Mindset/Find Your Purpose
Identify what it is about real estate that you like. Get your mentality and beliefs in sync with each other on why you’re doing what they’re doing. What is your mission, dream, and goal working in real estate? Finding the answers will help you push through the tough days.
Know your numbers
A successful person who is in the real estate industry must understand the numbers and how much they impact a deal. Know how to run comps well so that you can set realistic expectations whether you’re representing a seller, a buyer or working with an investor.
Be Patient
It’ll be hard in the beginning. Keep doing the work. Focus on progress not perfection.
Real Estate professionals who are looking to grow their business and scale can partner with investment professionals such as Prospect Group to sell house for cash fast. Davtyan says, to be successful in a partnership with an investor, it requires persistence. Not every deal that you pitch will work out and that’s OK. The key is to continue to stay motivated and to continue to pitch off-market and listed fixers.
If you are interested in learning about how to work with Prospect Group or Greg Davtyan, contact us at contact@prospectgroup.net.
A CONVERSATION WITH GREG DAVTYAN
SIlva [00:00:00] Hello, everybody, I am Silva. Welcome to Prospect Group where we talk about real estate and investments and how we can help you make more money. Because who doesn’t want to make more money? Everybody wants to make more money. Everyone. Today we have Greg Davtyan with us. He is a property acquisition and investment specialist. He’s also a realtor. He’s been with Prospect Group for some time. He’s an expert in what he does and how he runs numbers. I’ve seen him do it. It’s pretty impressive. Today’s topic, we’re actually going to talk about REAL ESTATE FOR BEGINNERS and potentially those who want to get into real estate and realtors specifically because I think he has a unique perspective and understanding on all sides of the coin of real estate in the industry. But before we get started, Subscribe. Comment. Like. Share this video with your friends because we want to offer you as much value as possible. So thank you for Greg making time with us.
Greg [00:01:00] Thank you for doing this for us.
SIlva [00:01:01] The truth is, I had to bend his ear a few times to get him here.
Greg [00:01:04] It’s taking some time.
SIlva [00:01:05] Yeah. You really good at sharing information, but I don’t know why it’s so challenging to.
Greg [00:01:14] Not as much so on camera, maybe.
SIlva [00:01:16] Yeah, maybe.
Greg [00:01:17] More so in person.
SIlva [00:01:20] We’re going to pretend like the cameras aren’t here.
Greg [00:01:22] Pretend. I’m gonna try.
SIlva [00:01:23] Try. Yeah, I know. It’s kind of hard to do.
Greg [00:01:25] I’m gonna try, It’s a lot.
SIlva [00:01:26] The way part of the reason why we started this year with the team is because we want to offer value to everyone out there within the real estate industry. And then we’re having all types of people within their expertise talking about things. I wanted you on because you have a unique perspective on being a realtor, working as a realtor, and also being an acquisition. And you work with realtors a lot. So I want to see if we can bridge the gap and maybe talk about some of the things that are a must know, a must-do for those who are beginning and want to actually have some momentum in this business and set them apart. Can we do that? Sure. Awesome. So let’s start with what does it take to be successful in this industry?
Greg [00:02:13] It takes a lot of discipline and a lot of hunger. I think if you don’t have that hunger to create a life that provides you to live on your own terms, or if you don’t have kind of like your belief on why you’re doing what you’re doing, then it’s going to be hard for you to do everything day in and day out with everything that real estate consists of, which is a lot. And people think it’s all HGTV and, you know, rainbows and butterflies and, you know, all that showboating. But when it comes down to it, there’s a lot that goes into transactions. There’s a lot that goes into negotiations, there’s a lot that goes into, you know, the calculation of numbers. And it’s fascinating how, you know, numbers tie into our daily lives and how much of an impact, you know, real estate can make if you really just focus on, you know, progress and not perfection. And I think a lot of agents who come in new to the industry just focus on trying to be perfect because of what they see out there, including social media channels and Instagram. And, you know, all that they see on TV, they see all these agents selling to three or four or 5 million homes. And, you know, out of the bat, they think that they should be doing that. But, they don’t see like all the work that those agents have to put to get to that point. So I think focusing on progress and not perfection was tough for me in the first two years coming into the industry because I am impatient. I do like to get things done quick and when I wasn’t able to get results quick, it was kind of like a aha moment, like what do I do next?
SIlva [00:03:57] It’s really demoralizing, right? Especially in the realtor side when because you work on commission, right? You put all this work in and all this effort in and then, you know, sometimes it falls apart.
Greg [00:04:11] So a lot of times, a lot.
SIlva [00:04:12] A lot of times it falls apart or the numbers don’t work out or something happens. The buyer changed their minds. The seller changes their mind, things fall out of escrow and to continuously, you know, do the work without immediate gratification, which is where we live nowadays…
Greg [00:04:28] Yeah. As you know Vartan being my mentor when I came into the industry, said, this is a tough industry, so I don’t know if you want to really transition into it. I already come from a difficult industry, as is when it comes to just the lifestyle and everything, you know, having been a corporate accountant. So it was grueling hours. So that’s why I was willing to make that jump because I knew I can dedicate time into what I like doing. And I realized, well, what I like doing real estate had more of than the other careers I was doing. So for many people that just have to really. Identify what it is about real estate that they like. And and they have to pretty much, you know, get their mentality and their beliefs in sync with each other on why they’re doing what they’re doing, what their mission is, what their dream is, what their real goals are in real estate. Because a lot of people are just in it and they’re just in it to make one sale here, one sale there, and make a commission here, make commission there. But if you’re in it just to make a commission here and there, you’re not really going to make a career out of it. So I think if someone wants to make a career out of something, it takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of discipline.
SIlva [00:05:38] This is so interesting because when I was thinking about the topic and when I actually threw it out, even when I was doing the introduction, I did not think that this conversation was going to go in the mindset space. And I think that’s true for everyone who thinks of real estate, because real estate is so transactional that you automatically think that if we’re going to give some tips and have conversations about how to help realtors who are just beginning to be successful right and to help them make more money, it’s not transactional help that you need. Right.
Greg [00:06:19] And it’s not as skill — sorry to cut you off — but it’s not as much skill as much it is mentality.
SIlva [00:06:25] Okay. Talk to me about that some more.
Greg [00:06:27] A lot of agents have the skill. A lot of a lot of agents are friendly. A lot of agents like to be helpful. You know, a lot of agents are sweet. A lot of agents are really social, you know. But there’s also a lot of them that are all those, you know, characteristics that I mentioned, but at the same time, they’re not making any sales. So for me, you know, I’m not a popular realtor. I’m not I’m not I’m not an agent that’s, you know, representing many people. I’m on the investment side. So my, my my niche is pretty much finding investment deals for us. Right. And, you know, sometimes for other investors out there who are looking for something that we could wholesale out to them if it’s not a deal for us. But, you know, what I see from realtors is that, you know, I mean, I work with a lot of realtors who bring me properties, as you know, you know, we get a lot of deals off-market. You know, a lot of realtors bring me listings that, you know, they have, you know, or colleagues have. And a lot of times if they don’t work out, I realize they lose a lot of drive and they don’t continue sending me properties. I realize the ones that are good agents and the agents that do make money and the agents that have made real estate their career are constantly sending me properties, even if one doesn’t work out. So what does that say? You know, when one doesn’t work out, many others can in the future. And a lot of people don’t have that mentality because they think it’s either now or never. And that blocks it from you know, it prevents them from making future money. And I think if people have that long term mentality instead of that now-mentality, a lot of more money can be made by them. So, you know, that’s what I try to do. There’s been a lot of agents that have pushed me properties throughout the years. And, you know, there’s there’s agents I’ve known for three, four or five years. And there’s there’s one that we didn’t do a deal for with for like two, three years. And we just did a deal.
SIlva [00:08:24] And they kept sending you properties. Yeah. So you have to have, I think this is the reason why almost every agent that I know or every realtor that I know invests a lot of time and money and effort in coaching and self-development because you really have to have your energy up and your morals up in your motivation up and you consistently have to be inspired and motivated to continue to move at the same pace. Even if you were not closing a deal, even if this one didn’t work out, even if that person said no, even if. Right.
Greg [00:09:07] Yeah. And you know, you know, when you really know what pushes you is when it’s not when you get a deal and you’re happy, it’s when things aren’t working out for you and you keep getting struck out. And it’s that thing you think about that keeps you going that is really your passion, that’s really your calling, you know, like when things don’t work out, I just keep doing things because I enjoy making deals, work and finding deals and crunching numbers and based off its unique characteristics, you know, creating an analysis and, and, and having our company buy, you know, a house based off of that analyzation. And then, you know, months later, seeing the product and seeing a family moving into it and knowing that it was all based off of the numbers I plugged away with.
SIlva [00:10:00] Like the houses you see right here. I mean, these are all the properties that we’ve bought and renovated, and some are better quality pictures than others, but. Yeah.
Greg [00:10:11] And there’s a lot of stories I, you know, goes into obviously family moving in there and, you know, all the.
SIlva [00:10:17] So it’s the process that that you enjoy very much more than, you know, the the end result which keeps you coming back and hungry all the time and every time.
Greg [00:10:29] Yeah, I mean, the process is super sweet, you know, because realtors really come into the industry sometimes because they just want to make some money, which is totally okay. I came into the industry because I knew there was more opportunity to make more money, but then I tried to find, what about the industry is it that kind of sparks me to do more than an average person that specializes in investments per se?
SIlva [00:10:52] Yeah.
Greg [00:10:52] You know, so realtors have to really think about like what sparks them to be better than another agent to go above and beyond to do what other agents do for their clients. And everyone wants to do the same things, but they all want to stand out. So it’s like, what’s going to set you apart, you know, if you’re doing the same exact thing as the other person. Yeah. And what’s going to make you unique, you know, and it and I just don’t get that, thought process. Yeah. And a lot of people just stay stagnant on that.
SIlva [00:11:21] Yeah. And also it’s, it, it takes incredible amount of self-reflection and some internal work by the realtor and the agent to really, truly get to the bottom of the thing that sparks you within the industry is the thing that is going to set you apart truly and it’s going to show. So, you know, lean into that and continue to evolve in that space.
Greg [00:11:48] So yeah. And besides a mentality, as much as mentality is important, skill is too. So some people have the skill and they just don’t have the mentality and some people have the mentality and they just don’t develop the skill. So I think doing both is just as important, working on both and you know, so some people are just, you know, not equipped with the knowledge to per se persuade sellers — sellers to expect less per say when they when they’re selling their property. And that’s the reason why, you know, we see a lot of listings at times that are stagnant for months. And that’s the reason why we see a lot of new agents lose a lot of possible listings they could get is because they’re not able to analyze why, you know, that seller should expect less for their home per se, you know, and they don’t generate any credible information to provide them so that they could be comfortable in the decision they make and being okay with taking less. That’s where I come in. I try to give my input and my two cents to agents to make it easier for them to pretty much make transactions happen because a lot of times things just stay stagnate. And I go in with information that they can provide to the seller and sometimes things just end up working out. And that’s how we get a lot of deals to us. Yeah. Um, so there’s no secret, it’s just really working deals and putting the time and energy and a lot of realtors slash investors, slash wholesalers, people of all spectrums and real estate try to avoid the work, but there’s no skipping it. You just have to do it.
SIlva [00:13:30] And with that, there’s no avoiding the work. You just have to do it. There’s no there is no shortcut to anything. None. Social media like us likes that likes to have us believe that there is some, you know, pill you can take and be successful and do everything. No, there is no shortcut. Just do the work. Do the work, do the work. Do the work. We’re here to help you do the work and help you make money. Subscribe, like, and comment. Come back for the next episode. If you’re listening to us, check us out on YouTube. If you’re watching on YouTube, guess what? You can listen to us when you’re walking to because we’re driving because we’re on a podcast. So check us out. We’ll see you next time.
