Property Management Growth with DoorGrow

🚀 Struggling to grow your property management business? 🔥 Need more doors but feel stuck? ⚙️ Operations a mess? Welcome to Property Management Growth with DoorGrow! This is THE podcast for property managers who want to scale faster, add more doors, and systemize their operations—without the B.S. Hosted by Jason Hull, marketing expert, entrepreneur coach, and property management growth strategist, we bring you the best strategies, insights, and hacks to help you dominate your market. Learn from top property managers, industry experts, and vendors sharing real-world tactics that actually work. ✅ How to attract more property owners ✅ Fixing broken operations & streamlining processes ✅ Marketing & sales strategies that get you more doors ✅ Eliminating stress & scaling efficiently Join our free community of growth-focused property managers at DoorGrowClub.com and get the best property management marketing & growth strategies at DoorGrow.com. 🎧 Subscribe now and start growing your business today!

DGS 340: Breaking the Cycle of Suck in Property Management 05/13/2026

DGS 340: Breaking the Cycle of Suck in Property Management Recently, one of our clients, Derek Morton, shared an incredible story from a networking event where he transformed his booth into a blackjack table to illustrate that property owners shouldn't "gamble" with their rentals. When a prospect tried to pressure Derek into matching a competitor's price by a mere half-percent, Derek firmly refused, explaining that he refuses to build a portfolio around owners willing to jump ship over such tiny margins.12 In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull discuss the vital importance of being selective about who you serve and why taking on "bad" owners creates a "cycle of suck" that destroys profitability and personal happiness. Jason and Sarah explore the foundational mistake of targeting everyone, explaining that identifying exactly who you want to serve is the first step in building a business. They apply the "Pumpkin Plan" principle of clearing rot from a business to prevent bad clients from spreading negativity throughout an entire operation.345 The discussion also highlights how poor client filtering leads to a "cycle of suck" featuring bad properties, bad tenants, and bad reviews, which ultimately traps owners in a "race to the bottom" on price. By being picky, business owners can significantly lower operational costs and achieve elite profit margins, sometimes reaching 60% to 90%. Finally, the hosts introduce a three-day initiative designed to help entrepreneurs diagnose why their growth has stalled and how to pivot toward attracting "good" clients rather than just "any" clients. You’ll Learn [01:08] - The Blackjack Table Lesson: A story about a client using a blackjack-themed booth to teach owners not to "gamble" with rentals and why he refuses price-shoppers. [05:50] - The Pumpkin Plan & The Cycle of Suck: Applying Mike Michalowicz's "Pumpkin Plan" to clear out "rot" and avoid the downward spiral of bad properties and tenants. [07:46] - Maximizing Profit Margins through Selectivity: How being picky lowers operational costs and enables elite profit margins between 50% and 90%.4 08:30 - Diagnosing Stagnant Growth: Introducing a new three-day team-led initiative to help stalled businesses identify why they are stuck and create a fix. [11:34] - Avoiding the "Property Management" Product Trap: Why selling "property management" is the wrong approach and the importance of a unique offer for your target audience. Quotables “If we took on every owner and if we took on the wrong owners, we would no longer be happy, and we would no longer love what we do. And this would become a real pain in the ass." "If you target everyone, you are guaranteed to be miserable in your own business." “You can only have a ridiculously good margin in your business if you're picky about your clients." Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) Alright, five, four, three, two, Alright. What was that? Something broke. Five, four, three, two, one. Hans goes, smash. All right, Hans, out of here. We have a dog in, two dogs in here. All right, we're going to try that over again. Five, four, three, two, one. All right, I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow. This is Sarah Hull, the COO of DoorGrow, co-owner. And we're the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential. property management entrepreneurs on the planet. We're the best on the planet. So for over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to build the industry, transform it. There's a dog walking around on my feet right now. Change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management. entrepreneurs when now let's get into the show. is awesome. I love when she brings the dogs in right before the show. He's like running into stuff like cables are falling down. I don't even know what I I'm gonna have to find what he did and try to fix it. I don't even know. Good times. All right. So what are we chatting about today? Sarah? I was going to share some good news that one of our clients was messaging back and forth with me on the weekend. Derek Morton, he's out in Utah and he was at an event over this weekend and it was a really cool event. I wish I could have been there, but he, like everybody gets their booth, right? You get your booth and you have your setup and everybody hopefully comes over and you get some leads. That's not how Derek does things. at all. So Derek gets a booth and turns it into, I think it was Blackjack. And there, I mean, he had the the dice and the table set up and he got a, ⁓ a, a card dealer and he had the chips, but the chips were like customized with his brand name. And the whole thing looks amazing. It was, it was really awesome. And the theme was, don't gamble with your rentals. Right? So obviously... Very cute, very clever. Yeah. One of the way more interesting booths at an event. Yeah. Come play blackjack. Now, it's not gambling. That's not legal, but they did have blackjack, so you can come play hand, but it wasn't gambling. And there was a lot of interest at the booth. There was a lot of excitement at the booth, which is great. And there was a property owner that was at their booth, Derek was there, and the guy was saying, yeah, you know, I've got five units and I work with this other property manager now. Derek said, yeah, that's great. It's awesome. Like, how are things going? And he's like, yeah, things are going well. Like, I like the property manager. That's great. And I guess he was expecting to be sold too, because then he was kind of like, and so, you know, what would you do for me then? And Derek said, well, Like, you know, this is kind of what we do. This is what we offer. And the guy was like, all right, well, how much do you charge? And he, you know, was telling him, hey, you know, we've got some plans you can kind of choose from. And the guy said, well, you know, my current property manager, they charge, I think it was like 7%, whatever it was, who knows. Let's call it 10 % because that's really common in the industry. So, all right, well, my property manager charges 10%. And essentially it was, you know, what are you going to do for me? And. Derek goes, yeah, this is where we sit. And the guy goes, you're not going to try to beat it. He's like, no, no, we're not. He goes, let me ask you something. If you're at 10 % right now, if we charged, if we did like 9 and 1 percent, would you switch over to us? And the guy said, yeah, yeah, I would do that. I switch over. And he goes, for 9 and 1 half percent, yeah, I'll switch over. Yeah. And Derek said, yeah, and that's exactly the type of owner that we don't take on. Okay. The guy was flabbergasted, not expecting that at all. He said, well, you know, listen, with all due respect, you know, I just met you. We're having a conversation. You're at my booth. You know, you're playing some blackjack. That's great. If you're ready and willing to dump the property manager that you work with over half of a percentage, which ends up being like five bucks in a 20 minute conversation, then where is that going to lead me? So pretty much anyone that undercuts that price, you're just going to jump ship. didn't even try to do anything and you're already ready to jump ship over half of a percent. He said, yeah, we don't take on owners like that. That's not when we build our portfolio around. And that was such a cool message for me to get. I love that. ⁓ And I was really excited that that's just Derek. A lot of people would be like, well, you we don't really do that. Derek is like, yeah, that's exactly the type of owner that we don't take on. He's so, he's not like, doesn't, yeah, he doesn't, he pull punches at all, which is great. That's why we like him. But really, he said to me, you know, one of the things that we've done really well, and they're a sizable company. And he said, but we, we're happy. We love what we do. And really that's a testament to the owners that we work with. And if we took on every owner, and if we took on the wrong owners, we would no longer be happy and we would no longer love what we do. And this would become a real pain in the ass. And that's just not what I'm looking for. Because I love what we do. And part of that is being able to say no to the people who aren't a fit. Yeah, I love it. I mean, before you start a business, the very first thing you need to figure out is who do I actually want to work Who do I want to serve? That's the foundation of the business and a lot of times people are like everyone. And if you target everyone you are guaranteed to be miserable in your own business. That means you're not going to filter out anyone. You're going to just let everybody in. Really good book on the subject is The Pumpkin Plan by Mike McCallewitz and he talks about this principle. He's been on my podcast twice. Our podcast now. So, but he's been on here twice. And he's also spoken at our DoorGrowth live conference and sharing this principle is basically, you know, if you allow everything to be in your business, then your business is gonna be full of rot and rot spreads. It compares it to a pumpkin patch. You have to clear out the moldy crows pumpkins or the rot spreads. And ⁓ Derek, you know, he's smart because... he probably at some point had some of that in his business, was like, this isn't worth it, this isn't the type of people I wanna deal with, they're not treating my team and my staff appropriately or kind. some people that's not the business they wanna run, if you're one of our clients, that's what we coach you, is get really clear on who you wanna serve and filter out everybody else. Because if you take on bad clients, it gets you into the cycle of suck that we teach, which means. you then have bad properties, which leads to having bad tenants, which means then you have bad reviews, and then you attract more bad clients. And then you end up in this weird race to the bottom with everybody else trying to compete on price. And that's the worst place to be competing. And so you can be unique in the marketplace by being the best, being picky about the clients you take on, and your operational costs are going to be a lot lower. So... Derek has much lower operational costs than most property management companies because he doesn't take on the really difficult owners. He makes sure that the owners are willing to put the work in and the money into the properties to make sure they're taken care of well, to make sure tenants are taken care of well. And that makes it a lot easier for them to do their job as a property manager. And so it doesn't matter if he could have like, 200 more doors if you would be making half the margins or even the same margins. I had a client with 600 doors that was on one of these podcast episodes. When he first came to me, he had 600 doors and was making zero dollars. And so if you have bad doors, bad owners, you have to have a lot more staff and then it's really easy to lose all your money and not be very profitable. And we've gotten some of our clients up to 50 % profit margin. Sarah had 60 to 90 % profit margin. in her business. You can only have ridiculously good margin in your business if you're picky about your clients. You have to get rid of bad clients and bad properties. Yeah. Or just say no to them in the first place. Right. Yeah. So if you're wondering, I think this actually worked out way better. I did not plan this, but the, what are we calling it? The growth blueprint. that what we're calling it? We're calling it the PM. growth audit, I believe. No, we're not calling it a audit. Well, I know that. I thought it was a blueprint. Nope, we're not calling it a blueprint. We're calling it the PM growth leak audit. It's not when we're not going to call it an audit. Well, that's what I have programmed all of our tools to talk about it as. Then we get to reprogram that because... Because blueprints are overdone. Nobody wants a blueprint anymore. So people want to pay maybe for an audit. So I don't know. But whatever you want to call it, challenge, audit, blueprint. But it's to help you find the leaks in your business related to growth. All right. So where I was going with that, whatever we decide to call this thing is stay tuned, I guess. OK. TBD. But ⁓ that's going to be something that we end up launching very soon, where you'll work one-on-one with someone from our team and they will take you through. It'll be a three day thing. Dogs trying to jump up on my lap. All right, why not? Come here, Hans. Come here. Come here. Okay. All right. He's all the way up here. All right. Okay. For those of you who are watching the video, this is Hans. Hi, where are you going? This is awkward because I'm sitting on a ball. Whatever we call this, you'll get to work with someone on our team for three days to help you figure out why growth has been stagnant or not moving as fast as you want it to be. Because a lot of people are totally stuck and they're just stalled out and stuck at the same point and they might fluctuate. gain a little, lose a little, gain a little, lose a little. And there's a lot of people that are also, they want more growth and it's just not happening exactly the way that they would like it to happen. They're getting some growth, but they're not getting the amount of growth that they are really hoping for or looking for. And we have identified a few patterns. So we've decided, hey, let's help people figure out why their growth is just... stalled. Maybe the growth stalled. I don't know. We'll call it something. ⁓ stay tuned for that because I think probably by the time this airs that will be live. That will be launched. So if you're wondering why growth might be stalled or stuck in your business and how you can grow more and get more clients and the good clients, not just any clients, but the good clients because that's what's important. then reach out to us because by the time you hear this episode, unless you're watching it live, if you're watching it live, we can't help you quite yet, but stay tuned for like a week. Give us like a week. And if everyone else, when you're watching the replay, when it launches, then if that is you, reach out to our team and we will walk you through it. And you'll walk away with a plan and you'll know exactly what's going wrong and what to do to fix it. Okay. I'm being tongue mauled by this dog. Okay, Huns. All right, you're going down. No, Captain, you can't come up. Okay, fine. Come here. Hi. Where's the other one? the other one. Okay. Okay. He looks so sad to I don't know what else to say about this. All right, so next time we will not bring the dogs in here. This is not effective. Not effective. All right. So but possibly entertaining. So if you liked if you liked seeing the dogs just like comment on this dogs and then see he'll have to do more of it. I don't know. You let me know. You'd be the judge. Yeah. All right. Well with that I think the message today then is you've got to figure out how to be unique in your market because If you're the same as everybody else, they might as well just go with the cheapest company. that is, you know, nobody also, it's important to realize nobody also wakes up in the morning and goes, I want to buy property management today. Property management is the wrong product. And this is one of the things in this challenge audit, whatever we're going to call it thing is that we will help reveal to you, we'll help you expose and we'll help you make sure that you have a really good offer. you have a really good understanding of your target audience because without those things really dialed in from the beginning, you're going to have a less healthy business. And so a lot of people have a blind spot around all of this and they just go out there and try and get clients, try and grow their business. And they wonder why it's so hard, but it's because you're selling the wrong thing and you've started the wrong business. And so, and this stuff is very easy to clean up and we can help you with that. Cool. All right. So. If, my gosh, dogs are just bumping into me. If you have felt stuck or stagnant and you want to take your property management business to the next level, reach out to us at doorgrow.com for free training on how to get unlimited free leads. Text the word leads to 512-648-4608. Also, you can join our free Facebook community just for property management business owners at doorgrowclub.com. And if you want tips, tricks, ideas and to learn about our offer subscribe to our newsletter by going to doorgrow.com slash subscribe and if you found this a little bit helpful don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review we'd really appreciate it until next time remember the slowest path to growth is to do it alone so let's grow together bye everyone I can't this. I don't know. We're stuck on the podcast forever. How about the red end phone call button? /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/41124220

DGS 339: Why the Right Room Changes Everything 05/06/2026

DGS 339: Why the Right Room Changes Everything Today, Jason and Sarah Hull attended a high-level mastermind in Boise, Idaho, where they were surrounded by top entrepreneurs, learning firsthand how proximity to the right people can completely shift your mindset and business trajectory. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason Hull and Sarah Hull discuss the power of in-person masterminds, why one insight from the right room can change everything, and how stepping out of your environment is essential for real transformation and business growth. You’ll Learn [00:01] Introduction and Purpose of the Episode [03:10] Inside the Boise Mastermind Experience [06:00] Why the Right Room Changes Everything [10:20] The Power of In-Person Transformation [20:30] The Problem With Growing Behind a Screen [32:20] Thinking Bigger and Expanding Vision [44:10] Invitation to Join the DoorGrow Mastermind Quotables “You don't need that much, you need one thing from the right person, and that is really enough to pay for the whole year of the program, which is incredible.” “ “Transformation comes by getting you in person and changing the business owner.” “If you don't change your environment, that's the challenge is you if you if you're always in your office, you're always behind a screen, you're always on your phone, whatever, that environment is the environment you're already in, you have to change the environment in order to change the person.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) Five, four, three, two, one. All right, we are Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. Okay, so in today's episode, we are gonna be chatting about what, Sarah? We just went to... weird place to go, but we voluntarily went to Boise, Idaho. What? Boise is a cool place. Boise is a cool place. It's but chilly temperature wise. Okay. Affirmative. It's better than... I'm not going to start ripping on places. This is not a good precedent to set. All of your places, if you're listening, are awesome, including... I think Boise is super cool. It's a beautiful area. Beautiful area. Okay, Sarah is not a fan of Boise apparently, but I like Boise. So my two favorite places that I was thinking of living were Boise and Austin, and we ended up in Boise. We did not end up in Boise. mean, we ended up in Austin. That's what I meant. We ended up in Austin. All right, can we move forward? so we went to an event in Boise. Russell Brunson. Cool, Russell Brunson's headquarters is in Boise. So we went there and we are part of his inner circle, which is a $50,000 a year mastermind. And we're always trying to learn from the best. think he is probably the most savvy internet marketer on the face of the earth right now, or at least one of the top. And he's quite brilliant. And he's just a really good human and he attracts really, really cool entrepreneur, entrepreneurial people, like the people that he curates. So the people in the mastermind make it way cooler. Like as one of the ladies said when we were there, she's like, I thought Russell's cool, but you're all cooler. yeah. She said, I joined for Russell. I She said, I only joined for Russell, but you know what? You guys are like so awesome. Like you guys make this way better than I even thought. And she said, don't tell Russell I said that. But I'm kind of here for you guys now. Yeah. All right. Cool, so, and we got to hang out and they split us up into rooms and they put kind of a, I don't know, like a leader or a coach over each room. And we had Annie Grace who had been in a previous mastermind with me with Alex Sharpen. And she wrote a really awesome book called This Naked Mind, built this empire helping people get free from the addiction of alcohol and doing something very different than what's typically done that's been very, very effective. And she's been very close to Russell and learned a lot of really cool stuff and she scaled her business very large. And so it was great to have her leading the room. So first we had this badass, Annie Grace leading the room. And then in our room, we also had Myron Golden, which if any of you have ever followed any of his stuff, like this guy helps people, tenets their businesses just by helping them shift their money mindset, help them shift their thing about fees and stuff. He doesn't target property management business owners. We haven't even paid money to Myron yet, but we got to hang out in the room with him and he does some extremely high ticket coaching. And so it was really cool to have him in the room, give feedback. And we also, who else do we have in the room? Dr. Benjamin Hardy. Awesome guy, right? Yeah. So Ben Hardy. So if you ever heard of the book 10 X is easier than two X or who not how, or all these, he's written a lot of books. Science of scaling his latest one really awesome time as a tool He was in the room giving hanging out with us as well. We were hanging out with Richmond din he is and runs an eight figure coaching bit or business to helping people with tiny challenges and like there's just there was so many there's another guy that has a VA company I think he said he told me he's doing 50 million a year. So we were hanging out in the room with cool people and we got to present and share and then we got to get feedback from others, which was really awesome. So it was just really cool. So what do we want to tell them about this? So one of the things that we have known for a really long time is being in rooms like that is just so powerful and it's really it's invaluable. Yeah. Because one little thing that you can take away, just one, you don't need a list, you don't need, you know, notebooks. You don't need all this. Oh, I know what to do and I've got 15 things That I'm gonna do this week and then after that I've got the next 98 on my list like that's probably too much You don't need that much you need one thing from the right person and that is really enough to pay for the whole year of Program which is incredible. Yeah It's connected us with such amazing incredible growth minded very outward focused People who are looking to change the world and have an impact and do amazing things. They're not you know, just in it because They want to be they're not just in it because they go, you know, I guess I can make some money Yeah, like they're they're looking to really have an impact and make it tremendous change in this world and being connected with people like that at events like this is so incredible and every single time that we go to one of these events I never know what we're going to get out of it before we go. I just know that it's going to be amazing. So I don't go into it Looking for a specific thing. I don't go into it thinking okay I need to figure out how to do this or I need this answer or I need to do this thing or talk to this person or get this you know answer to this question or you know this Strategy that I'm looking for I never go into it with anything most of the events that we've gone to We go into it Sometimes not even feeling like we need anything Yeah, lot of times we just go And we go, I don't really think I need anything. think we're pretty solid. Let's just be in the room. And even when you go into it with that mindset, man, you still get stuck. You still, you still, go, man, I didn't even know that I needed that. And I'm so glad that we were there. I'm so glad that we got it. And sometimes it's just being around people who think the same way that you do or think even bigger. than you do because if you think, hey, you know, I've made it, right? Like we all have that moment in life where we go, I'm like, made it, I'm good, I make this much, I can take care of my family, I can, you know, do the things that I want and have the things that I want and, you know, have this lifestyle that maybe is even better than you had ever imagined. And sometimes we go, okay, I've arrived, I'm here, I've made it. And then you get into a room like that and you go, wow, there's so much more. There's so much more that I can do and there's so much more that I can give and there's so much more that I can be. Yes. Amazing. So good. Yeah. So I've been in a lot of different masterminds. and I together have been in several and yeah, being around the right people is what it takes to level up. Your business is the sum of the five entrepreneurs or business owners that you spend the most time with basically. And you need to be in the right room. And so we've decided, know, we recently, one of our mentors, Aaron Stokes, was, he founded ShopFix Academy, he coaches auto repair shops. He was very generous and we worked with him and he taught us a lot of stuff. He recently passed and he crashed his plane, which was really sad. I really had a hard time kind of. coming to grips with that and being in Boise was helpful for that. I got to share with everybody some of the stuff with our group that I had learned from Aaron, which was awesome because Aaron's stuff was really great. I shared about the importance of believing in people and hope and how that actually affects your clients more than your tactics and how I rarely end a coaching call without telling the person, hey, I believe in you, you can do this. And that's from Aaron. And so I shared a little bit of some of the things Aaron taught and it was awesome because it was nice to see the caliber of people that we were in the room with resonate with it and see Myron Golden thanking me for sharing that and other people that, you know, just saying, hey, this is true. This is awesome stuff. We have decided to shift our own mastermind to being more in-person. Why? So. The challenge is most property managers are stuck trying to grow from behind a screen. They're watching webinars, they're sitting on Zoom calls, they're collecting PDFs maybe that they'll never read, and they're wondering why nothing ever changes. Have you ever been there? I've been there. Things didn't really start to happen for me until I started getting in the room. Now, there's a lot of stuff you can learn and things that can happen digitally, but what we found is that when people are in person, something shifts. Transformation is what's needed to grow the business. As Erin would say, if you change the owner of the business, you change the shop. Fix the owner, fix the shop. So if we fix the property management business owner, if we can trans, and that's been our mission statement, our mission statement at DoorGrow is to transform property management business owners and their businesses. But we know that Transformation comes by getting you in person and changing the business owner. We just don't see it happen digitally. just, it doesn't work as well. So we started onboarding all of our clients in person and that's been huge. It's been huge in so many ways, getting deep into their business, identifying a ton of problems that they would hide behind a screen and not share, getting real about them, getting transparent. And so there's just been big shifts with that. Now we're shifting to our activities and our events being in person. And so if you don't change your environment, that's the challenge is you if you if you're always in your office, you're always behind a screen, you're always on your phone, whatever, that environment is the environment you're already in, you have to change the environment in order to change the person. And so the people around you, they aren't moving fast enough, they don't think big enough. And nobody's holding you to the standard that you know you're capable of. And so the door grow mastermind that we've curated and created has amazing people. And so we want these people to be around each other, rubbing shoulders, getting to know each other, creating friendships, finding mentors, finding heroes, people they look up to. I've had people that I looked up to like Aaron and they changed our business. And so this mastermind, it's about getting serious. It's about coming out, spending time here in Austin with us, getting multiple times a year. working on your business. So we just created an announcement for our spring intensive, where we're gonna go deep into our clients' businesses. If you wanna be part of this, if you wanna sample this, you wanna experience some of this, then reach out to us. You're welcome to come hang out with us. We'd love for you to get a taste, but you show up, you get in the room with other owners that are actually doing the work and you leave with a plan, momentum, relationships. that are going to change you. They're going to change how your business goes. And all of the cool stuff we've had, it's all there still. Like the weekly calls on the online community, our new DoorGrow Hub app, which is amazing. All the trainings inside of DoorGrow Academy, that's all there, but that's really exists to keep you executing between your trips to Austin, where we grow and help you figure out how to grow your business. And those things are support system, which is nice, but it's not the main event. And so that's the big shift that we're doing in the mastermind. people walk out of that room different. And people walk out of that room with connections and friendships that will just last. And it's because you're surrounding yourself with your people. When you find your people, there is something that you can just feel it. You can feel the energy in the room. There's something that ignites inside of you. I was sitting in that room, and this is not our first Russell event, but I was sitting in that room and I was going, man, these are my people. This is like, this is where we need to be. Yeah. And talking to Benjamin Hardy and going, yeah, you're right. I have no idea why I'm thinking 10 million. You're right. 10 million is a stupid number. That's, that's like child's play. You're right. I should be going for a hundred million. I have no idea why I wasn't going for a hundred million, but now there's like a clear path and a clear, reason to do it. And I would not have been thinking 100 million is a reasonable number for us if I didn't end up in that room with Benjamin Hardy. Yeah, let's go. Let's do it. Right. OK. I mean, the impact that we get that we can have by doing that will be awesome. And, you know, that was a big block for me. I realize I'm like, I don't care enough about the money. but I care about impact and that gets me excited and money is your ability to create impact. That's how you have reach. So let me know if, listen to this and let us know, are you stuck in this cycle? Are you exhausted, overwhelmed, stuck as the bottleneck in your own business? Do you feel like you can't keep up? You no longer love or even like the business that you built. Maybe you're spending too much time doing admin work, playing catch up while your competitors are signing the clients you should have. Have you promised your family next year will be different? Maybe we'll have that vacation, but nothing changes. Do you start projects with great intentions but struggle to follow through without accountability? Are you tired of trying to figure everything out alone, which as I say is the slowest path to growth? While your competitors seem to have all the support and figure it out, well, you're not alone. That's what most property managers, they're saying things like, I want to grow, but I'm the bottleneck. Everything depends on me. I need to either sell the business or move on or make this sustainable. Finally, I want to add more doors, but I'm overwhelmed. They don't know where to start. If I don't solve this, I'll stay stuck and growth will stall or worse. I'll start losing doors and clients. And maybe you experienced that. So this is stuff that we tackle in our mastermind. So we'll help you get the business going. We'll help you get the business cleaned up. So I want you to step into your future real quick and then we'll wrap up. Just imagine this picture yourself. You're walking into a room in Austin, Texas, full of other property management business owners. These aren't tire kickers or people collecting info. These are operators who got on a plane because they're serious about building something real. These aren't people going to a property management conference just to go to the bar and check out from their life, right? At the hotel. These people got on a plane because they're serious. And you sit down at a table with owners, they manage maybe 50, 200, 500 plus doors, maybe someone a thousand, right? Someone shares how they added 30 doors last month, maybe using our Realtor intro engine, another owner walks you through how they restructured their pricing and add another 25K in their monthly revenue. A third pulls you aside at the evening mixer and says, I was exactly where you were eight months ago. Here's what changed everything for me. You can't. get that on a Zoom call. You can't get that in a Facebook group. You can't get that through a video or training. That kind of moment changes everything. Michael Poon, he had that experience before he added 40 units in July. Last year, Ken Harmon had it when he went from zero to 105 doors in six months by putting in just one or two hours a day. This is what happens when you stop trying to figure everything out alone and you step into a room that makes it harder to play small like Sarah was talking about. So now picture this, you're back at home, three days after our spring intensive, you're executing your 90 day plan with total clarity, your accountability partner texts you, hey, I just hit my goal for the week, how are you doing? You made that friend or that connection, and you realize you're not just building a business, you're building relationships that are gonna last for years, and these have to be built in person. So remember that feeling, because that future starts right now today when you decide. to stop just watching from behind a screen and you come spend time with us and show up in person. All right, so if this is interesting, reach out to us. can check us out at doorgrow.com. Anything else you want to add? All right. It's coming up in May. It's coming up in May. coming up in May. So by the time this episode airs, unless you're watching it live, it... But don't fret, we've got another one coming up in October. So this year we're doing two plus our DoorGor Live. So it'll be May in October plus DoorGor Live in October. Then next year we're gonna start vacating through. And we onboard new clients every month in person. You'll come hang out with us. right, so, all right, if you've ever felt stuck or stagnant, you wanna take your business to the next level, reach out to us at doorgor.com for free training on how to get unlimited leads for free. Text the word leads. to 512-648-4608. Also join our free Facebook community just for property management business owners at doorgrowclub.com. And if you want tips, tricks, ideas, and to learn about our offers and how we can help you, subscribe to our newsletter by going to doorgrow.com slash subscribe. And if you found this even a little bit helpful, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on wherever you... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40922905

DGS 338: Creative Finance Secrets for Property Managers 04/29/2026

DGS 338: Creative Finance Secrets for Property Managers Today, Jason sat down with Caleb Christopher to break down how creative finance is actually being used in today’s real estate market, especially for property managers looking to grow beyond traditional deals. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull and Caleb Christopher discuss strategies like subject-to deals, the due on sale clause, wraparound mortgages, and other creative transaction structures, along with how property managers can use these tools to acquire more doors, help investors expand their portfolios, and even build their own. You’ll Learn [00:09] Introduction to Creative Finance in Real Estate [01:01] Caleb Christopher's Entrepreneurial Journey [04:39] Understanding Subject To Deals [10:10] Opportunities for Property Management Business Owners [11:45] Navigating Legal Counsel in Creative Finance [14:17] Understanding Wraparound Mortgages [19:45] Creative Financing Structures [22:27] The Role of Creative Transaction Consulting [27:06] Building Relationships in Property Management Quotables “If you have a business and you don't know what to do with those opportunities, other people do, and you can get paid a referral fee.” “The due on sale clause is always going to be a stone hanging over your head. You can't get rid of it.” “Your low-interest mortgage is an asset I'm willing to buy.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) Five, four, three, two, one. All right, welcome everybody. I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, so in today's episode, I'm hanging out here with Caleb Christopher. Welcome, Caleb. And we're gonna be chatting about creative finance and what it really looks like in today's real estate market. And Caleb's gonna share practical insights from his time in the industry, breaking down strategies like Sub 2, Subject 2 Deals. Caleb Christopher (00:46) All right, thank you. Jason Hull (01:01) the due on sale clause, wrap around mortgages and other creative transaction structures to give a helpful real world perspective for anyone looking to get started in creative finance. for property managers, know creative finance is how you help your investors get into more units and they all want to manage more units. So cool. Welcome Caleb. Caleb Christopher (01:24) Thank you. I live creative finance, so ask in any direction. Jason Hull (01:26) So, yeah, it's your thing. Yeah, yeah, you live it. It's your middle name, right? Yeah. So Caleb was showing me he has paint on his arm from right, like, I don't know where he, yeah, he's been doing some stuff. He's like legit into the work. He's got rental properties. So he's down in the, in the paint. So Caleb, give us a little bit of background on yourself. Caleb Christopher (01:32) Yeah. Yeah. I've got rental properties. Jason Hull (01:51) at kind of your, how did you get into doing what you're doing now? What's sort of your entrepreneurial journey for the entrepreneurs listening? Caleb Christopher (01:58) Yeah, so entrepreneurship has gone way back for me. What, I'm 38 now? I'm almost 39. 39 feels a lot closer to 40 than 38, by the way. ⁓ As an entrepreneur, I'm like, wait, that's like one of those. Anyway, so. Jason Hull (02:06) Yeah, yeah. It's a milestone, yeah. I'm a decade older than you. was born in 77. So I'm feeling even older now. Keep going. Caleb Christopher (02:18) Okay. You look fantastic. So entrepreneurship in fifth grade, I found these mechanical pencils that would come apart in the middle and they were different colors. And I bought them in bulk at Costco and resold them to my classmates in whatever color combinations they want. Mates started making money. I was like, this is kind of cool. And I like customizing stuff. So that was cool. And then a bunch of little stuff like that. And it ended up where I ran a paintball field out of my parents' house in the woods. I liked working. like work as my hobby. Jason Hull (02:23) Thank Yeah. Okay. Yes. Caleb Christopher (02:48) but also paintball. I've got a 12 year old, we're building a paintball course in my, at my house now, cause he's just starting to get into it. So, but I did that and I bought rental gear and I funded my paintball journeys by having other people rent from me. And so that was that. And then I got into IT and cybersecurity consulting. So entrepreneurship has been a thing where I'm just always adding value, always had a second job, some, some other gig where I like to help do creative problem solving. Jason Hull (02:48) Yeah, fun. Yeah, good time. Nice. Yeah. Caleb Christopher (03:15) And then I discovered real estate when I couldn't sell my house. The one I'm in right now was right next door to family, which was great, but I couldn't sell the one I was in. And so I had to rent it out and I became an accidental landlord and refinanced the property. And then I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and I was like, thank God I have a rental property. And that was the beginning of the real estate journey. Jason Hull (03:27) Yeah. Right, right. And everybody, you have to read Rich Dad Poor Dad. I think it's a requirement. And then you want to get out of the rat race and yeah, yeah. We would play. Caleb Christopher (03:41) Yeah. Yeah. Start building wealth. Just treat, treat houses like a retirement account. Slow building. Even if you don't do anything else, if you get a few rentals, you're in a pretty good shape. Jason Hull (03:56) Yeah. Have you seen Robert Kiyosaki's game, the board game? Yeah, probably. Maybe it does all the math for you. ⁓ yeah. We did it the hard way and I would just make my wife do the math. I'm like, go ahead, Sarah. You do this. She's like, she likes it. She thinks that part's fun. Yeah. Right. That's why she's the COO and not me. Caleb Christopher (03:59) Yeah. It's easier to play online than it is the board game. It does. Then you don't have all the little cards handing back and forth. So yeah, I highly recommend just running a private game on a computer. Okay, what a blessing. Jason Hull (04:25) All right, so cool. Well, let's get into this. Let's get in this topic. So tell us about the first thing mentioned in the intro was like the subject two deals, like this strategy. Caleb Christopher (04:39) Yes, so sub 2 is when you take a property subject to something else. It could be a federal IRS lien. It could be the person's mortgage. It's always, by the way, everybody does sub 2 deals and they just haven't thought of it this way. When a utility company comes to dig up a chunk of your yard and you can't say something about it, that's because you bought it subject to easements, rights of way, etc. So... Jason Hull (04:52) Okay. Yeah, easements. Caleb Christopher (05:04) There are external things that can act upon you or your property because you bought the property subject to them. What we do in subject to deals is we add the loan to the list of things taken subject to. So if the mortgage company notices that you sold a house to me without paying off the mortgage, right? The deed transfers to me and I'm making your payments now. That's a sub two. ⁓ if they notice and if they care, they can accelerate that loan because of the due on sale clause. So kind of two birds with one stone with this description. It exists in every. Jason Hull (05:24) Yeah. Yeah, doesn't that void most loans or? Caleb Christopher (05:34) loan I've ever seen. Maybe not in a seller finance loan if you explicitly exclude it. It's not required, but a due on sale is a good protection for a lender to have because if you transfer and if they care, they can accelerate. It doesn't require them to. They can. Jason Hull (05:36) Right. but they can and some terms in loans I believe also if you if it switches ownership, they it says it maybe negates the terms of the agreement or. Caleb Christopher (05:59) Nope, it doesn't cancel anything else. it's, and a lot of people are like, is sub two illegal? No, it's not illegal. Here's when it is illegal. If I'm borrowing with the intent to hand it to somebody else, the deed, it was never my intention to occupy the property or to satisfy the requirements. And I'm misrepresenting or providing materially false information. That's fraud and that's illegal. However, Jason Hull (06:04) Thank Okay. Okay. Caleb Christopher (06:24) If I buy the house and I move into it as my primary residence or whatever the occupancy requirements are, and then I decide later on to sell it subject to the mortgage, I can do that. And that's a violation, a civil violation of the mortgage contract, which says if you transfer without paying us off or without our permission, we can accelerate the loan. But it's a defined default and a defined remedy. Jason Hull (06:42) I see. So I had a client and what he was doing is he was helping facilitate deals and his way of kind of getting around stuff was he would set up a trust. He would place the business, the current owner of the property as, you know, as one of the members of that trust. So they still had that person in place. They would just decrease their ownership stake through the trust, right? So. Caleb Christopher (07:07) Still technically a violation of the due on sale clause. Some people think Garn St. Germain Act protects an investor like all trust acquisitions from a due on sale, which is not true. By the way, a little more background. I'm very technical. read laws and rules and court cases. so if anybody's got a, I'm giving you a real technical answer here, not an attorney though. The Garn St. Germain Act protects family transfers, but not an investor purchase, even if you leave the seller as a partial owner. Technically it's still a violation. Jason Hull (07:16) Yeah. Yeah. I love it. Mm-hmm. Got it. Yeah. Caleb Christopher (07:36) but it's less likely they'll notice. Jason Hull (07:38) I see the sub two guys, Pace Morby or whatever his name is. And I just see a lot of people saying, this is illegal or you can't do this. And people come after him all the time. And I don't know. I don't know what. I'm not as technical maybe as you. So I don't know. What's your take on that? Caleb Christopher (07:54) It's absolutely not illegal. It's illegal to misrepresent something at any time, but there's no duty or compunction in the contract for me to notify you as my lender that I've transferred the property. Even if there was, that would just be another violation of the mortgage contract and not something criminal. Jason Hull (08:05) Got it. Got it, okay, right. You're not going to jail over it, but okay. So if you're doing the subject two or if like some of the property management business owners listening are wanting to maybe take over the ownership of some of the rental properties that they're. Caleb Christopher (08:23) Yeah, dude. Can I say that is, think, the number one opportunity for a property management company owner is you can either do acquisitions for yourself by taking over tired landlords' properties. My goodness. Hey, are you tired of this property? I'll take the deed. I'll pay you X cash and I'll just take over the payments. Huge opportunity. Also playing middleman, if you know sub 2 investors. If you've got tired landlords, you have an opportunity. Jason Hull (08:30) Yes. Hmm. Caleb Christopher (08:51) You can be the buyer or you can be the middleman who finds the buyers who are willing to take those over. And if it's older debt with a lower interest rate, I'm telling you, I will pay more for that property than I will for to get a new, the same property with a new loan. Jason Hull (08:56) Right. Yes, yeah. So, I mean, really, the smartest thing a property management business owner can do is build up their own portfolio, right. And rather than just helping everybody else build up theirs. And we've got a client and he I think he has like he has two, three hundred doors in his business. He owns all of them. He basically just uses his property management business as a honeypot. People come to him, say, hey, I need management. And then he he said, well, let's take a look at your property situation. And then he's like, yeah, well, if you sell this, you're going to have all these taxes and all these issues. And man, if only there was a way you could still get paid on this, but avoid that. And then he convinces them to do seller financing without telling him it's seller financing, sort of. Right. And so then he like just takes over the ownership and he keeps paying them to pay them off. And so he's got this really sizable portfolio. And during the, when the Caleb Christopher (09:37) Hmm. Jason Hull (09:56) If the market shifts a certain way, he's taking on millions of dollars in assets pretty easily, you know, having these conversations. And so, yeah, I think there's definitely an opportunity for property management business owners to be paying attention to this. Is there anything else you would want to say about subject two that maybe they should be aware of or? Caleb Christopher (10:10) Yes. I mean, there's plenty of discussions to be had when you get down into the details. Knowing what it is is the first stage. I would just remind back on this last point, if you have a business and you don't know what to do with those opportunities, other people do and you can get paid a referral fee. So don't sit on the fact that you've got tired landlords. Send out a survey and like, if somebody came to you with an offer today, would you sell? Jason Hull (10:17) . Right. Yeah. And the thing is, as a property manager, they have this, they have several advantages, but one, they know the market, they know which properties would cashflow the best, they know what they could rent for. They're connected to real world reality, unlike a lot of real estate agents in the market when it comes to rentals. And they have a large portfolio of owners. So if one owner is like, want to sell, they've got a whole bunch of others. They could say, Hey, do you want this? So they could do that middleman thing that you were talking about. Okay. Love it. think it's, it's just smart. And, it sounds like the biggest challenge would be the, the sound like the, sounds like the most difficult piece of this would be, how do I get really solid legal counsel for making sure that this is done or structured the right way? Or we keep the loan intact. Caleb Christopher (11:06) That's it. We're done with the episode. That's the main point. Excellent. Yeah. So one thing, the due on sale clause is always going to be a stone hanging over your head. You can't get rid of it. And if you can't take that heat, you got to stay out of the kitchen, basically. That said, I have resolved due on sale on consumer loans, not DSCR. I've resolved due on sale with consumer slash investment property loans for the individual buyer borrower. But where was I going with that? Jason Hull (11:30) Yeah. How did you solve this? Is this like a trade secret or can you share with the audience? Caleb Christopher (11:48) Nah, so the broad strokes are pretty obvious. It's the details that kill you. it's basically, if I bought your house subject to, and they accelerate the loan, then I'm going to try to call them and negotiate them away off the cliff, right? Like, hey, I'm making the payments. What's really the problem? Can I assume this? What options do we have? If they're inflexible, the bigger banks, then I'm going to have to go with technical compliance, which is I'm going to deed the property back to you. Jason Hull (11:54) Yeah. Caleb Christopher (12:15) And then we just get into this whole thing like, yeah, but what if I deed it to you and you don't sign the next document back to me to let me continue like a master lease where I keep all the profits or whatever we want to call it. Ideally, we just restructure the transaction with paperwork that's either less visible or completely acceptable to the lender. Jason Hull (12:31) Got it. So this is just a conversation with the lender, basically, hey, this is what's happening. How do we make this work? So everybody's happy. Caleb Christopher (12:37) and the bigger banks will not tell you how to make it work. They'll just require you to show evidence that ID to the property back to you. But that's only one part of the puzzle, because we still need to restructure the transaction internally. Jason Hull (12:44) I see. Okay. Right. So then it's between you and the homeowner. Yeah. Got it. And there's just making a a deal where they're making your there's money being exchanged, even though the legal technical ownership hasn't really shifted. Caleb Christopher (13:04) Right. There's a paperwork dance around any obstacle. Now you asked about legal counsel. Lawyers are good at saying no. I'm not going to discourage. Here's my law degree right here. I don't have one. So yes, I'm never going to discourage somebody from getting an attorney involved. My concern is a lot of times they don't have the direct experience on these types of deals. And when they see risk, they say no. ⁓ Jason Hull (13:10) Right. That's their default. Right. It looks just like mine. Yeah. Yeah. That's the safest thing for them to do. Caleb Christopher (13:30) That's right. And when I go to an attorney, I'm like, I'm not, I'm paying you to tell me how not tell me no. Jason Hull (13:37) Right. The pre-frame with attorneys is everything. I say the similar thing. You don't go to the attorney and say, hey, how can I get out of this horrible contract with this franchise I'm in, for example? It's this is what I want to do. What's the best way to do this? I'm going to do it. Yeah. So you give them the right pre-frame. Caleb Christopher (13:49) Figure out how. Well, you can't because there's this risk. And I'm like, yeah, there is risk. I need to accept a few risks here because let's be outcomes oriented. And if you can coach an attorney to be outcomes oriented before you start spending a bunch of money on them, then great. That said, I've had a hard enough time finding that in every state. that's why entrepreneurial, I started Creative TC, which is transaction consulting, because I've been there and I've done that with dozens of deals per month for the last four years next. Jason Hull (13:59) Yes. Yes. Caleb Christopher (14:17) in a couple of weeks here. we've touched literally thousands of these deals. We've seen them up, down, left, right, sideways and back. Jason Hull (14:18) Got it. Yeah, so the short answer is call Caleb. Yeah, okay, cool. So the next thing is like, we talked about the do on sale clause a bit. I don't know if there's anything else to mention on that. And then we can go into wraparound mortgages. Caleb Christopher (14:27) Yeah.... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40922555

DGS 337: Property Management: A Teen Entrepreneur Head Start 04/22/2026

DGS 337: Property Management: A Teen Entrepreneur Head Start Jason sat down with young entrepreneur Malcolm Keith to explore how teens can develop leadership, confidence, and entrepreneurial thinking much earlier in life, long before most people ever consider that path. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull and teen entrepreneur Malcolm Keith discuss how environment shapes mindset, why exposure matters more than pressure, and how parents can give their teenagers a powerful head start by surrounding them with the right opportunities and conversations. You’ll Learn (00:00) Why Every Entrepreneur Wishes They Could Start Earlier (00:45) Malcolm Keith’s Early Exposure to Entrepreneurship (02:00) How Environment Shapes an Entrepreneurial Mindset (03:50) Discovering the Power of Being in the Right Rooms (05:00) The Isolation of Young Entrepreneurs (and How He Solved It) (06:10) Building Teen Mastermind: From Idea to Community (07:30) Taking a Shot: Trying to Get on Funnel Hacking Live Stage (09:00) Turning Community Into Real-World Experiences (Live Events) (12:30) Designing Events for Growth: Community, Action, and Fun (18:30) Advice for Parents: How to Raise Entrepreneurial Thinkers Quotables “It wasn't my parents who were directly telling me like, you need to be a business owner. This is how being an entrepreneur works. It was the people on stage that were selling me on the idea of entrepreneurship.” “If you don't ask, the answer is always no.” “I never knew it become this big and we'd be doing live events. I just created it because I wanted a friend group.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) All right, five, four, three, two, one. Welcome everybody. I'm Jason Hull, the owner and founder of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we've brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. All right. So today this show is going to be all about giving your teenager the headstart that you wish you had as an entrepreneur. Don't you wish you could just go back and like help yourself out. So I'm hanging out here today with Malcolm. Malcolm, welcome. Welcome, Keith. Malcolm Keith (00:56) Hey, thank you. Jason Hull (00:59) welcome to the show. So I'll give you a little bit of background on Malcolm. At just 17, Malcolm launched Teen Mastermind, a growing community of more than 60 teens dedicated to leadership, entrepreneurship, and building a meaningful legacy. Now 19, Malcolm has taken that vision even further by bringing the movement into the real world with Teen Mastermind Live, a three-day immersive leadership experience designed for both teens and their parents. In a time when most conversations about young people revolve around screen addiction and disconnection and lack of direction, Malcolm represents a powerful counter narrative. As a young leader himself, he's helping teens step into confidence, develop entrepreneurial thinking and strengthen family relationships around shared purpose and growth. So Malcolm, welcome to the DoorGrow show. Malcolm Keith (01:53) Awesome. Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here. Jason Hull (01:56) Cool, cool. So now tell people a little bit, how did you get started doing this and how did you kind of start your little entrepreneurial journey yourself? Malcolm Keith (02:09) Yeah, so my parents got married and opened their dojo the same year. And so I've been in the entrepreneurial world my entire life, about as long as I've been on the mats doing jujitsu. And so those two go very hand in hand in my journey. ⁓ And so I think when I was when I was nine years old is when my parents, they've been going to a mastermind for ⁓ martial arts school owners. And so they've been like, you Jason Hull (02:17) Thank Malcolm Keith (02:38) One parent would go while the other parent would stay home and take care of me and my little sister. But one day they were like, why are we continuing to do this? We, we homeschool and we have the ability to just take the whole family together and it kind of sucks when the family is split apart. So why don't we just, so they made a commitment to always take the whole family on every trip, on every business trip. And so we got to sit in the meeting rooms. and learn from these entrepreneurs. At first we were like little kids just playing with our toys quietly in the corner, reading a book quietly. But ⁓ as a little kid, you're a little information sponge. And so eventually we actually started listening and taking notes. And then I think it was probably when we went to some of Russell's events, like Funnel Hacking Live and Unlock the Secrets was when I was like, this entrepreneur stuff is super cool. And it wasn't my parents who were directly telling me like, you need to be a business owner. This is how being an entrepreneur works. It was the people on stage that, so my parents put me in these rooms where there were people on stage and they were the ones that were selling me on the idea of entrepreneurship. And so that's how, that's kind of how I got into this whole world. Jason Hull (03:56) You had entrepreneurial parents and they put you in some amazing opportunities and rooms to be exposed to think differently. And man, that's like the best homeschool education ever, right? It's a real education that actually leads you making money instead of just being a really good employee somewhere maybe. cool. And your parents are doing, have the martial arts school and doing the martial arts thing. And do you do martial arts? ⁓ Malcolm Keith (04:08) yeah. Yeah, I've been doing it since I I learned how to walk and talk on the mats. So I've been, yeah, whole life. Jason Hull (04:26) Yeah, okay. So right. I mean, don't let the glasses fool you. This guy could probably kick your butt. So, all right. So very cool. So Malcolm, and you've been doing this mastermind, you've got this event coming up. So tell people about like, why did you decide to start this and get this thing going? Malcolm Keith (04:47) Yeah, so I've been going to these, like, there's been, we've been going to Russell's events for a while and I would sometimes meet a couple of the teens there. ⁓ There'd be occasionally a few teens, but we would never stay connected. And ⁓ as I was homeschooled, we were part of kind of a co-op. And so I still had like classmates that I would meet with every week and it was great. But every time I'd come back home from these events, I'd come back to class and talk with my classmates there. And they just didn't understand it, this whole world of entrepreneurship and being a business owner and having a big vision and actually knowing that you can achieve it. so they didn't get exposed to that world ⁓ the same way that I did. And so ⁓ that felt a bit isolating. ⁓ Jason Hull (05:32) Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Malcolm Keith (05:44) It was at like, I think it was Unlock the Secrets that I saw that, there are actually other teens that ⁓ are not only interested, but doing business already. But then I kept going to those events and we would never stay connected. ⁓ And so eventually it was ⁓ Unlock the Secrets in Paradise in 2024. And I realized, and I made the decision like, okay, this time is going to be different. Jason Hull (06:01) Yeah. Malcolm Keith (06:13) I'm going to make a Discord server and invite all the teams that I meet there. And we're just going to make a commitment to stay connected. Then we had, so I invited everybody there that I had met. We did our own little like in-person mastermind ⁓ during like one of the off sessions during the event, which is super fun. And then ⁓ one of us had the idea to start doing a call every week. So that's how that started happening. We could stay connected, keep each other updated on. what we're all doing with our businesses. And that's how that started. Eventually the idea came along to, ⁓ we had this idea to try to get on the FHL 10 stage. And it's crazy idea, like, cause only the best of the best get on that stage. But. Jason Hull (06:44) Yeah. So let's pause for a second. So I wanna explain to people listening. So he's mentioning Russell. We're talking about Russell Brunson. He's like the sort of the founder of ClickFunnels and brilliant entrepreneur, probably one of the greatest marketing minds ⁓ period of this generation. And ⁓ that's how we met you and your parents is we're in Russell Brunson's inner circle. ⁓ which is not an inexpensive thing to be part of. So getting access to that as a teenager is pretty amazing. So really awesome. And you were wanting to get on stage at Funnel Hacking Live, which was like this massive event. I think they have like sometimes 5,000, 6,000 people at these conferences, these events. And you're like, how can we maybe get on stage at this event as teenagers? So I love it. All right, so continue. Malcolm Keith (07:53) Yeah, biggest marketing business event like ever. So rock concert for entrepreneurs. ⁓ So we had this idea, what if we try to get on stage? It's probably not going to happen, but you might as well try. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. So, yeah, we put together a video made sure to include as many little like nods to all the stuff that Russell says to show that you actually listen to him. ⁓ And he really appreciated it. He said that Jason Hull (07:59) Yeah. Right, yeah. Yeah. Malcolm Keith (08:24) The lineup for the main stage was already chosen like a while before we had sent the video. But they were doing this new thing called round tables while actually bringing it back to this last event. So it was like 60 round tables each hosted by a high level entrepreneur. And they're like, maybe we can try to give you one of these round tables, which ended up being way better because we can actually talk directly to the other teens who came to that event, which there are a ton, which is Jason Hull (08:30) I'm sure. Yeah. Malcolm Keith (08:53) So cool to see. So we did that. And the team mastermind grew a lot after that event. was, I think, we were able to get our own separate room during that event. They were able to give one to us. And we had just our own in-person mastermind during FHL with 20 or more teens all in the room talking about our goals for the next 10 years. Jason Hull (09:11) Yeah. Malcolm Keith (09:23) and figuring out like what are the things that we're going to do today and this next week after we come back home that's actually going to bring us closer to those goals. So that was that was super fun. Jason Hull (09:24) That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, that's really cool. So ⁓ you're 19th over, right? What happens to this teen mastermind when you're not a teenager? Like that's within the next year. Malcolm Keith (09:40) I am, yes. Yeah, that's been something that I've been thinking about almost since the inception of it. Although at the beginning of it, I never knew it become this big and we'd be doing live events. Like I just created it because I wanted a friend group. ⁓ But they're like, this is super valuable. You got to monetize it. And so that took me a while to do that, ⁓ to kind of get over that block of like, I don't want to charge people who are my friends for something that I created. Jason Hull (09:54) Sure, yeah. Yeah. Malcolm Keith (10:17) as a community, ⁓ but they were telling me like, it is super valuable and people value it more if you actually do charge money for it. Attention, yep, exactly. So I finally did that and that immediately started to grow the team mastermind. And then they were asking for live events. And so we're like, okay, yeah, we should do a live event just for our group. ⁓ Jason Hull (10:25) Yeah, like Russell says, when people pay, they pay attention. Malcolm Keith (10:44) because there's Jason Hull (10:44) Yeah. Malcolm Keith (10:45) people, not just, a lot of them at the start were from Russell's Circles, going to Funnel Hacking Live together, but then there were teens from other places as well. And so we needed one kind of ⁓ our own place to all get together. So that's how the live event came about. ⁓ And I started with something else. I totally forgot. went off. Jason Hull (11:05) Well, yeah, it's ideas like what comes next? are you going to keep doing this? I mean, I imagine you could keep doing it, but you you're about to turn 20, so you're not a teen. But that's the main thing, can't run the team mastermind, but at some point you might be like, my friend group's getting a little young here, so. Malcolm Keith (11:08) Yeah. Yeah, so I got another year left. Yeah, I mean, the thing is, the friends that are in there right now, ⁓ they're all growing up to. And so I think once all of those people quote unquote age out as well, I'll always have like my own inner circle of people that are similar to my age. We won't always all be teens, but we'll all be around the same distance apart. And so I think there'll be a mastermind afterwards, but Jason Hull (11:39) Yeah. Malcolm Keith (11:53) I'll always be part of the Teen Mastermind in some way, maybe not in the same role that I am right now. ⁓ I'm the person that's just a couple of steps ahead. ⁓ Jason Hull (12:06) Yeah. Well, maybe you pick a teenager to kind of head it up or maybe they vote or something, but then you've got, you, give them the IP, you set up the frameworks, you help them know this, how to run the events. can ask you for guidance and you're always going to be a step ahead. know, so. Malcolm Keith (12:23) Yeah, so that's, that was a really cool part of the mastermind was that it was created by a team and led by a team for teens. And so I always wanted to keep it that way. ⁓ and a couple of the teens in the group have kind of stepped up and become their own leaders in the group. and so I've been, ⁓ recruiting them a little bit here and there, and it's been really awesome so far. And so that's, ⁓ Jason Hull (12:34) Yeah. Yeah. Malcolm Keith (12:52) That's working out a lot. Jason Hull (12:54) Right. Yeah. Now you're like Willy Wonka and you're just trying to find Charlie at the, who do I give the golden ticket to and teach them the ways and let them run this place. All right. So really cool. So what are some of the things that happen at the, at the event that you're gearing up? Malcolm Keith (13:01) Yep. Yeah, so the idea first came, let's see, that's actually, okay, I'll save that. There's the grand finale part, which is my favorite and kind of the first idea that came about. ⁓ But so at the event, ⁓ I'm going to take pieces of previous events that I had been to the things that I really liked and implement them, but also look at the things that I, you know, didn't like as much or things that I think could be improved and kind of take that into it. And so the whole event is built around community implementation and fun. At a lot of events, you know, if it's the event of like thousands of people, you can't really do this. But if it's an event of maybe a hundred or less, then you could very easily as the host, make sure that everybody knows each other. And so we start the event with Jason Hull (13:52) Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Malcolm Keith (14:10) having all the families introduce each other or introduce themselves so that everyone kind of knows like who it is that they're actually sitting next to because it's like to be at an event and have no clue who the person who the how cool the person in the chair to the right of you is. So that's how we start it. And then we love the walk and talks. Russell does that with Inner Circle. ⁓ Walk and talks are amazing. So we do that between every speaker and then. ⁓ Jason Hull (14:26) Right, yeah. Okay. Malcolm Keith (14:39) All of the, everybody sat at a round table and that's very specific because, ⁓ means that everybody is kind of grouped together and they get to talk, you know, across from each other instead of like talking all the way over to the table there, they're ⁓ sitting around and that automatically like subconsciously creates that sense of community. ⁓ so everything is built around that creating opportunities. for people to have conversations. And then implementation, we want to make sure that the teens aren't just sitting there in a room having speakers just talk at them for hours. ⁓ We make sure that all those speakers have something like some kind of workshop and the teens are doing something active. And you learn more that way and you actually get stuff done during the event. And you can take that momentum with you back home. Jason Hull (15:32) Yeah. Malcolm Keith (15:36) and continue on from there. So many events give you a ton of ideas, but you're like, have no clue what to do when you get back home. Jason Hull (15:45) Yeah, I got it. Some people call that experiential learning instead of just, you know, sitting there and listening the whole time and then eventually zoning out, making sure that I like the walk and talks. I like that there's this experiential learning where you're taking action, each of the speakers, it sounds like a challenge to do like get people to do something or implement something. So. Malcolm Keith (16:07) Yeah, so we're super intentional about that. And then fun, of course. I think that's the most important because if I really do any of this, if it isn't fun along the way, entrepreneurship should be fun. Jason Hull (16:21) Yeah, business owners, don't think of that a lot. Entrepreneurs are like, wait, like, let's make money. But yeah, but fun is nice, right? So how do you make it fun? Maybe you can teach the grownup here how to how to be more fun. So. Malcolm Keith (16:31) So again, all the speakers are. Yeah, the, mean, every speaker and all the workshops are meant to be fun. ⁓ and then we also have, excursion, like a special trip that we do for each day. So the first one is usually something kind of unique to the area for the one we did here in Oregon. ⁓ we went to wildlife safari, which I sometimes call it a zoo, but it's way more than that. It's, it is like an actual safari. we did like a bus tour and got to see a bunch of, ⁓ cool animals. Jason Hull (17:01) Yeah. Malcolm Keith (17:05) ⁓ in Arizona, we went to, ⁓ a like super car show, which is super fun. And then for this next event in Illinois, we'll be going like a ⁓ hiking trip and seeing some of the cool scenery there. So that's what we do for the first day, something kind of unique to the area that we go to. ⁓ on day two, we do jujitsu and so bringing my family's business routes there. ⁓ and there's. Jason Hull (17:13) Nice. Yeah. Malcolm Keith (17:35) As my dad always says, jujitsu is a metaphor for pretty much everything. ⁓ It's constantly in the cars, what we talk about is how does jujitsu relate. Jason Hull (17:40) Right. Is this Brazilian jujitsu or jujitsu or are you like throwing... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40654780

DGS 336: A capital partner to enable your growth 04/15/2026

DGS 336: A capital partner to enable your growth In this episode, Jason sat down with Brian Seidensticker of Mount North Capital to unpack one of the biggest growth constraints property management business owners face: access to capital at the exact moment opportunity appears. In today’s show of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull and investor Brian Seidensticker discuss how strategic funding partnerships work, what makes an ideal market and operator, and how property managers can scale faster by combining capital, systems, and the right long-term investment mindset. You’ll Learn (05:01) How Mount North Capital helps property management firms with funding: This is the heart of the episode: what they actually do and why it matters. (06:26) Partnership models for property managers and investors: Defines the structure of the opportunity, how both sides work together. (08:45) The win-win scenario for property managers and investors: The philosophy behind the model; why this isn’t just financing, but alignment. (09:58) Ideal property management partners and market criteria: Who this is really for, and who it isn’t. (11:19) Market selection and geographic focus for investments: Critical filter: where this strategy works in reality. (12:48) The importance of systems and scaling in property management: Without this, everything else breaks. This is the operational truth. (14:29) Overcoming growth ceilings with the right mindset and resources: The deeper constraint isn’t capital, it’s capability and mindset. (16:39) Evaluating deals in secondary and tertiary markets: Where the actual opportunity lives, beyond obvious markets. (19:17) Advice for property managers ready to grow: The moment where theory turns into direction. (21:46) Partnership requirements and collaboration with DoorGrow: The non-negotiables, this sets the bar for entry into the model. Quotables “The reality is most would never even if they knew what you were doing, most wouldn't even do it. Like most people don't implement. That's just reality in life.” “The best scenario for property managers is to manage their own portfolio.” “One of my requirements is we do want to scale on a significant level.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) Five, four, three, two, one. All right, I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we've brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management businesses, the business owners, and change their lives. want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. So today's episode, our guest is Brian Seidensticker of Mount North Capital. We're going to talk about one of the biggest challenges property management entrepreneurs face having access to capital at the exact moment opportunity strikes. So If you've ever been presented with an incredible acquisition expansion opportunity or growth moment and you wish you had immediate access to funds to confidently move forward, we're going to unpack that today. And that's what we're going to chat about. So welcome to the show, Brian. Brian Seidensticker (01:18) Thanks Jason. Thanks for having me. Thanks having me back, right? Jason Hull (01:21) Yeah. Yes, it's good to have you. So cool. So let's get into let's get into this. So ⁓ let's give everybody a little bit of background first. And ⁓ what what you know, what do people need to know about Brian that have listened to this? This is the first episode first time. Brian Seidensticker (01:47) Well, think maybe a brief history of ⁓ how myself and we, which is ⁓ Mountain with Capital, came to be. I'm actually an engineer by trade and I'd say in a different life, Jason, I would be reaching out to you for help on how to figure out this business that I randomly went off and ⁓ created and then found myself eight years later going, man, this is outgrown my capabilities. What do I do? ⁓ I got a similar help in the form of a group that I joined called Entrepreneurs Organization. And it's been transforming, getting that help from somebody that knows how to take what you build to the next level. So. As part of that, really what we ended up doing is we went from a data software company that had reached a ceiling. We had a really unique data set and then we built a fund, is Mountain with Capital, around the ability or really the model of using that data and acquiring assets in certain markets where we felt with this analytics, we could buy properties that have really great discount, right? Using, you know, not only the platform, but then the style of auctions that we attend. But a key component of that was the partners that we worked with, right? And still work with today. And we were very successful in building partnerships with boots on the ground and folks that knew what to do with these properties. Because we, A, we had a great way of identifying and we had the capital available to acquire those assets, right? At the time, these are auctions that Jason Hull (03:28) . Brian Seidensticker (03:28) that required cash, right? And that's the hard part. And it worked out really well. We went from, you know, a million dollar, you know, proof of concept fund. Last month, we were about 58 million of assets under management. And so it's, it's been great, but it certainly has also uncovered other opportunities for us along the way. The typical partner that we work with is kind of a fix and flip strategy, right? But Jason Hull (03:47) Hmm. Yeah. Brian Seidensticker (03:55) we felt a lot of the opportunities that we were seeing is much more in the, I'll say fixed to buying rent, right? It was the long-term hold strategy where we had an excellent avenue of acquiring, right, and getting them there, right? But what we were looking for and lacked is really the property managers that we want to partner with in those areas. our I don't want to give away all of the special sauce or we can dive into the details, but that's really what's led us to where we're at today is we're kind of at this pivot point and we've built a couple relationships with great partners in a couple markets and now we're wanting to grow that, right, and find more partners in more markets. Jason Hull (04:40) Yeah, we want all the special sauce, Brian. Give it to us. I'm just kidding. So, I mean, the reality is most would never even if they knew what you were doing, most wouldn't even do it. Like most people don't implement. That's just reality in life. Right. Like a lot of people like what's how's door grow helping people grow? I'll tell you, I give away free videos that teach you like what we do. But until they join our program, they find it difficult or hard to figure stuff out on their own. They just they don't do it. So. So awesome. So Brian, obviously you believe in mentorship and coaching and you've gotten, you you have had resources that have helped you get to where you're at now. So let's get into the topic at hand. So let's unpack. How is Mountain North Capital helping property management business owners unlock strategic funding solutions that fuel growth, right? Like, how do we do this? Brian Seidensticker (05:37) Yeah, I think, you know, kind of thinking out loud here a little bit, right? But, you know, I'll, I'm a big fan of, you know, it sound cliche, like win-win, right? Is we're not sick. We're not a bank, right? It's like, Hey, I got a better rate than you do. And we're not in it, you know, purely for ourselves. And so everything we go into, we, we look at it as a partnership, right? But it also has to make sense for the folks that we're going to partner with. And so, you know, Really what we are looking for are, and the partnerships that we found to be very successful are scenarios where ⁓ if there's a property manager or I guess a property manager that will. maybe wants to get into the business, You know, an aspiring property manager, if you will. ⁓ And they have access to a, you know, either it's a deal or a market or a ⁓ portfolio, right? Where maybe they don't have the ability to take that down themselves, right? because I know full well, right? Why would you partner with somebody? you know, for the capital access, if you have the ability to buy it yourself, it always makes sense to buy it yourself, right? And so really what we're looking for are folks that maybe have, you know, scenarios or deals that come across, right, that would allow them to grow their portfolio that they're managing, right, grow their business, right? ⁓ Especially if they think of it as a business, ⁓ but maybe don't necessarily have the capital stack that allow them to to pursue that to its fullest, then we might be a partner, and it is a partner partnership, to help them grow that business really with a different tool in their belt than they maybe have ever had before. And that's really, know, when we were talking with, I'll say potential partners, you know, on this concept initially was, hey, we were only interested in the acquisition and the you know, get it ready for rent. then Mount Norris typical model was let's refinance or sell it out. Let's get it out. We get out of the fund as quickly as possible. And we had success in doing that. But a lot of times, you know, the partners that we're working with, we really, they wanted to build, do that, but they wanted to keep it in their portfolio, make it a rental, right? Hold it for the longterm. ⁓ And so it was like a partial solution for them. And we, I guess, went out on a limb and built a structure with a couple of them that Jason Hull (08:10) Thank Brian Seidensticker (08:11) that it took it beyond just that initial acquisition and they'll say fix and flip stage to a, okay, now we've got another tool that we can bring to the table from our end, a new fund that allows us to take on those assets for the long term. And so we can partner with you beyond just that acquisition and disposition. it's so far has been, you ⁓ I'll say immensely ⁓ rewarding, right? But it's still early, right? And we're definitely in the growth phase. And so it's an exciting adventure to embark on. Jason Hull (08:43) Yeah, I see it as this awesome win-win. There's three sort of challenges. One, there needs to be somebody with capital to deploy. There needs to be a really good property manager. But most property managers aren't good. Most suck. And then we need somebody maybe to help bring those together, door grow, and help those property managers be good. And so I'm excited to maybe find you some... Brian Seidensticker (08:59) you Exactly. Jason Hull (09:13) connect some of our potential clients, because this might be a way that our clients can grow their portfolios, maybe even have some ownership stake in some of these investments. And you bring your capital and stuff to the table, they're able to add value by making sure the properties are managed well. And then DoorGrow, we're able to help them be able to do that so that they are able to not be a sucky property management company and that they're able to continually grow out the other arm of their portfolio. with their direct third party owners, but the best properties for property managers to manage that make the most sense would be their own. It would be something they have some sort of ownership stake in. ⁓ We've got a client, we've got a client in our program and he basically uses his property management business as a honey potter, flight, flight trapper, whatever you want to call it to just like people look at it and go, ⁓ he offers property management and they reach out to him and he convinces them to. Brian Seidensticker (09:52) Exactly. Jason Hull (10:14) sell him their properties and then he manages those. So which is some most of the portfolio he has ownership stake in. He just works deals out, you know. And so a lot of property managers leave a lot of money on the table because they're not even focused on building their own portfolio. They're helping just manage other people's portfolios. Brian Seidensticker (10:33) Right. Right. And I think that's you're exactly right. I think the best scenario for property managers is to manage their own portfolio. Right. And I think what we can allow, you know, property managers, partners, right, to do is think of acquisitions, you know, maybe where they didn't feel like that was an opportunity before. And so, you know, one recent example was a property manager working with in Mississippi who had an amazing opportunity to buy a couple of large multifamily buildings. And ⁓ she is a fantastic property manager, but didn't necessarily have all of the requirements that the bank wanted to see in order to take down underperforming. ⁓ One needed a full remodel, but the end goal is going to be a fantastic ⁓ asset to work on and to manage in the long run. And so we were able to partner on that. so That's like the perfect scenario that we're looking for is when somebody that is familiar with their market and familiar with the portfolios that are out there for sale or familiar with that, we want to be looked at as a partner that can help them either A, keep assets they already have under management, maybe moving from an owner that wants to sell and keep them in house, right? it makes sense. Maybe acquire assets in a little larger Jason Hull (11:32) Yeah. Brian Seidensticker (11:56) size than maybe they would typically be qualified for, right? The single family home is very different than a 44 unit multifamily, right? But the management of those two isn't wildly different, right? It just, the bank doesn't see, you know, the sponsor, right? And all the requirements the bank requires is wildly different, right? As far as the equity that you need to bring to the table. And those are the scenarios where it truly, I think, can be that win-win. Jason Hull (12:07) Yeah. Brian Seidensticker (12:25) Um, and, you know, long story short, Jason, that's exactly what we're looking for. Jason Hull (12:31) Awesome. So I think a question for those listening, because, you know, I love the story of the example you gave. Excuse my voice. I love that example. You know, we see it all the time. Property managers get big portfolios from some investor or they get an opportunity to get into a property in this scenario. They don't have the money to do it. So they have a partner like you that has access to capital. But then the next step is they need systems. And a lot of times they don't have the systems to be able to handle that level of growth. taking on another hundred units, another 200 units, like this starts to break some things in the business. So they're like, man, I need systems for hiring. I need systems for planning. I need systems for processes. And so at DoorGrowth, if you're listening and you want to grow fast, like we built a program around that called the Super System. those three systems, people planning a process. And when we get those things really well built out, those businesses become what I call infinitely scalable. So then they can work with somebody like you and just go crazy. They could just add lots of business, lots of doors, build things out. And if they're, if they're building equity as they're doing this, if they're taking ownership stake in this, that's even better. And so they're bringing deals to the table. You're bringing money to the table. Now, sometimes you're bringing money and a deal. It sounds like, but you need a property manager. Brian Seidensticker (14:00) Yes, right. that's the yes, there are certainly scenarios where we have assets we'd like to move into this model. And so having those ready made, hey, you know, we're looking for the partner, right, to take that that portfolio to the next level, right or next phase. But we're not just looking for any property manager to your exact point. And I think maybe Jason Hull (14:01) Thank Brian Seidensticker (14:23) speaking to the wrong audience, because I think anybody listening to this is already in the right mindset because they are thinking about how to grow. their business and how to learn, right, and how to have the right mindset, right? But a lot of problem managers out there, quite frankly, don't have that right mindset. And, you when you and I were speaking offline, Jason, it was like so many light bulbs were going off. And, you know, this was such a perfect scenario where, you know, for somebody to grow, they need lots of things, right? Capital is one, right? And flexible partners, one, which we can bring. Jason Hull (14:38) Yeah. Brian Seidensticker (14:59) but they're going to inevitably like any business, they're going to inevitably hit a ceiling where they, you know, they, they're limited, right? A limited typically by time, right? And that time can be, you know, re gained right by, like you said, people systems and, Jason Hull (14:59) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you buy time. Brian Seidensticker (15:17) Yeah, so it's a, how do you, but you need to, you need to be willing to implement those things in order to grow beyond that, you know, ceiling. And so it's having that right mindset. And I'd say most, if not everybody listening here already has what sounds like, you know, could be that mindset. ⁓ And that's where I thought I got really excited about how can we work more together with your, you your audience and your ⁓ really your members, the people that are implementing the systems that you have. That's the exact recipe that I feel like has such great potential for success. If you can't tell, I'm rather excited. Jason Hull (15:59) Yeah, I'm excited about it too because all of our clients want to build their portfolios. They all want to build equity. They want to build ownership stake. They want investments. They usually believe in the vehicle of investing. Otherwise, why would they be selling property management, which is selling that vehicle? so, ⁓ yeah, so I think it's a solid win-win-win for all three parties. And I'm excited to connect you with clients that I think would be good fit. How do you decide markets that make sense for you? So if property managers come to you and like, Brian, like, I want to get more doors. Like, let's get let's let's do some deals together. What markets would you say no to? You're like, this doesn't make sense. We aren't going to deploy capital into that state or that area. Brian Seidensticker (16:46) Yeah, it's probably easier to paint the picture of the hard nos, right? And then ⁓ maybe back into the areas because the hard nos are, I'd say in the general, very sought after, grade A rentals and markets where everyone wants to be is probably not exact fit for what we're looking for, right? Or the partnerships we're looking for. Jason Hull (16:55) Yes, let's do that. Brian Seidensticker (17:11) So where where do I mean? I would say that it breaks off most of California, most of New York, right? Most, you know, I'd say, you know, hot markets of even like where I'm from, ⁓ which is Western Montana. Unfortunately, this stone. Sorry, the show Yellowstone has totally ruined the market there as far as things at a rate that you could make a decent rental... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40654610

DGS 335: Mission, Clarity, and Leadership Under Pressure 04/08/2026

DGS 335: Mission, Clarity, and Leadership Under Pressure When building a business, have you ever felt like working harder should be the answer, but the more you push, the more exhausted, misaligned, or stuck you become? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, Jason Hull sits down with Sean Patton, former U.S. Army Special Forces Commander, executive coach, and leadership speaker, to unpack what entrepreneurs can learn from military leadership, self-leadership, and mission-driven culture. They discuss the dangers of hustle without recovery, why so many business owners never learn to lead themselves, and how clarity of mission, roles, and outcomes can transform the way a team operates. Jason and Sean also explore why the military is far more collaborative than most people assume, how strong leaders facilitate input without losing ownership, and why mission dictates culture in both combat and business. Along the way, they dive into personal purpose, team alignment, trust in sales, and the mindset shifts required to build a business that creates both impact and freedom instead of burnout. You’ll Learn (00:00) Introduction and Guest Background (01:15) Sean Patton's Military and Entrepreneurial Journey (04:16) Leadership in Difficult Situations: Military vs. Business (08:29) Dispelling Myths About Military Leadership (10:35) Collaborative Decision-Making in Special Forces (12:56) The Role of Extreme Ownership in Leadership (16:08) Culture as a Mission-Driven Concept (19:16) Aligning Mission, Culture, and Outcomes (20:51) The Power of Mission and Vision in Business (25:41) The Why Behind Business Success (29:24) The Entrepreneurial Hierarchy of Needs (35:19) Applying Military Clarity to Business Operations (37:31) The Importance of Clear Roles and Responsibilities (41:37) Closing Remarks and Contact Information Quotables “Leadership isn't a title, it's a person you become.” “Sometimes the loudest voice in the room isn't the smartest voice in the room.” “Mission dictates culture.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) Five, four, three, two, one. All right. Welcome everybody to the DoorGro show. I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGro, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we've brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, so I have an awesome guest today. I'm hanging out here with Sean Patton. Welcome, Sean. I'm going to brag about you a little bit. Thanks for being here. Sean Patton (00:53) Yeah, alright, you go for it. Thanks for having me, man. Jason Hull (00:54) All right. All right. So Sean is a former U.S. Army Special Forces Commander, Meta Performance Executive Coach at Novus Global and a leadership keynote speaker. Sean helps leaders accomplish seemingly impossible and thrilling visions through transformation. This is your bio. As a former U.S. Army Special Forces Commander, Sean brings a rare combination of battlefield tested leadership, real world business ownership. and success back to human performance principles to every stage and coaching session. His work is grounded in one belief, leadership isn't a title, it's a person you become. As an ICF certified executive coach, host of the No Limit Leadership Podcast and author of A Warrior's Mindset, The Six Keys to Greatness. Awesome. Sean, so glad to have you here. Welcome to the show. Sean Patton (01:48) Thanks, man. I'm excited to be here. Jason Hull (01:50) Cool. So Sean, for those listening, I'd love for them to get a little bit of background on you. I gave a little bio, but tell them a little bit about how did you get into entrepreneurism? When did you wake up and go, hey, you know what? I'm an entrepreneur. Sean Patton (02:04) Well, it took a little bit. was maybe a little late to the game. I originally went from a small town in Kansas. I went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, graduated and then spent 10 years as an active duty officer in the army. So I was an infantry officer and then a special forces officer in the special forces group commanding two different Green Beret attachments. So it was a busy time. I feel like I crammed a lifetime of leadership lessons into those 14 years, right? Like West Point is most intense leadership training that our nation has. And then, you know, was a rifle platoon leader and sniper platoon leader in Iraq. Then I was an Afghanistan with my team. So I was doing really difficult things and complex things with elite performing teams. And, you know, despite all of that and 22 months in combat and 30 months to point overseas, I was never really the gun guy or the gear guy. Uh, it was all, it always about the people and the problems that we were solving. And so in 2015, a little before that, I decided that I was going to get out of the military in transition. And I just had this entrepreneurship itch that I wanted to scratch. Plus, you know, I want to check out with this freedom thing that I had been hearing about all these years was all about. And so I decided to try it and. Jason Hull (03:04) Yeah. Yeah. Sean Patton (03:31) It was a rocky start. I had a lot of, I think I had some strengths coming out of the military and those experiences, but also some real gaps. And one of them was a, I think my risk tolerance was so high from things I had been doing. then also Jason Hull (03:33) Yeah. Yeah. Sean Patton (03:59) The answer in the military so often, at least in the units I was in was when things got hard, right? When the, when the darkness came, when it seemed like the weight was unmanageable, the answer was just go harder. Like, you know, like the mission is going to end, you're going to redeploy, like you, know, the sun's going to come up, just keep going, keep going, keep going. And what I didn't appreciate was when you get into the entrepreneurship space is that in the military, even in those units, there was this like, Jason Hull (04:11) Okay, yeah. Yeah. Sean Patton (04:28) mechanism around us almost protecting us. Like they had honed us into this machine that could push ourselves to these extreme limits. But they told us when it was time to turn it off and when it was time to refit and when it was time to recover. And then I got in entrepreneur space and when things got difficult and you know, I made some really bad financial decisions which we can get into and all of that. I found myself with all of that weight with the only answer I had was just go harder. Jason Hull (04:52) Yeah. Yeah. Sean Patton (04:59) And so three years later, I was in the hospital ⁓ and I had stress hives and my appendix almost burst and all these health issues and going through my first bankruptcy or my only bankruptcy, but bankruptcy after three years. And so it was a rough start to the whole thing. I had to learn a lot of lessons about myself in that. Jason Hull (05:07) Wow. Yeah, yeah. And I think, you know, early stage entrepreneurism, there's some similar patterns I've noticed because, you know, I've talked to thousands of entrepreneurs. I've gone through this sort of journey. in the beginning, yeah, we do a lot of stupid stuff. Like we make mistakes and that's part of learning. You know, we believe weird things like I just like your first hire should be a clone of yourself. If I could just clone myself, I call it the clone myth. Like we believe like You know, we think we can do everything ourselves. it'd be cheaper if I just figure out how to do it myself. If I just read the right book, watch the right YouTube video. And so we do dumb stuff like we don't get support. We don't get help. We don't get mentors. like it. had to things had to get really hard before I started getting mentors, getting help, getting coaches, getting support. And I had to be humble, you know, before I was willing to do that. And. And yeah, and so I see, I see this, you know, a lot of people play out this journey and then early stage as an entrepreneur. Yeah. We're, we're, it's almost like the hustle's glamorized. And so we go through this process of like, I got a hustle. I got to work harder. That's what you do if you own a company, if you're a CEO, if you're a boss. And so you just burn yourself out. I remember I was at end of a sales call trying to wrap it up. I was in so much pain because I like I think I'd slipped some sort of disc or was bulging in my back. And I was like by the end of the call and doing this call, I was laying on the floor and I ended the call and I was like, and I was in so much pain. I wasn't able to work and had to lay down for like two weeks. Yeah. And then I realized because I hadn't been eating, I'd been just working. hadn't been sleeping. Sean Patton (07:04) my gosh. Jason Hull (07:11) very well, I'd been just working. I thought I just need to work harder, work faster. And I didn't realize that probably I was like probably operating at like 10 % of my effectiveness mentally. I was being stupid. And I thought, I just need to work harder, I gotta hustle. And I wasn't taking care of myself. And then that's when I realized, if I don't take care of my body, I don't have a vehicle to achieve stuff or to get results. And I'm not even really present. Sean Patton (07:23) Thank Jason Hull (07:40) when I'm there with people because I'm hungry and I'm tired and I'm I'm everywhere else and I haven't even produced the, or my brain hasn't had a chance to clean itself like it does every night. And I haven't gotten food to fuel my brain. I don't have all the chemicals my brain needs. I'm lacking dopamine and serotonin and GABA and like, I'm just, I'm an absolute mess, right? And I see people do this all the time, all the time. Sean Patton (08:05) It's so true. I, in my lens, how I look through that is through a leadership lens. And I learned in the military so many great things about leading others. And as I look back at it, what I had to learn in entrepreneurship, what you're kind of talking about is like, I never really had to master leading myself. Jason Hull (08:31) Yeah. Sean Patton (08:32) I never had to look at myself as like, how am going to lead myself? Cause the way you mentioned there, like I would never treat one of my soldiers or one of my employees or have an expectation of them the way I was, I was treating myself. And so it's like, how would you. Jason Hull (08:41) Yeah. Yeah, I wouldn't do I wouldn't I wouldn't push my spouse to be like this. I'd be like, hey, come on, clean more. Work harder. Do this. Right. Yeah. Then marriage would be over real fast. I wouldn't like I wouldn't do that to my kids. Come on, go. Yeah. But to ourselves, we can sometimes be a cruel leader. Right. Can you dispel a myth? Because, you know, I got I kind of got a sense of this. I've never been in the military. And God bless you. Thank you for your service. I appreciate that. Sean Patton (08:55) Yeah. Jason Hull (09:15) ⁓ but I've realized I've been listening to, ⁓ Chaka Willa, Willick and Leaf, whatever their, their book, ⁓ the dichotomy of leadership. And I had this belief that in the military, I think a lot of people maybe that haven't been involved in it have this perception. Military, just, you either give orders or you take orders. It's rigid. There's no thinking. You just were told what to do. And, ⁓ you know, I've kind of gotten a very different picture of that. that there's a lot of decisions and there's planning and know, this is lives are on the line and it's painted a very different picture. Can you just touch on that? Cause I think some people here, you've got this background in the military and to you, it's just, you know this stuff cause you had lived it. But for those that have never been in the military, what advantage did that give you in business and how is that different that maybe people perceive it? Sean Patton (10:09) It's a great question. I do think that there is this idea from either whether it's like movies about basic training or, you know, the, or, know, about like submarines. Yeah. You just shut up and go. Right. And, know, there is in basic training or when you're, I would say when you're being transformed from a free citizen to a soldier, there is a bit of a breaking down of Jason Hull (10:16) in movies. Yeah. You blindly follow and you're told what to do. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Sean Patton (10:39) some of that, that needs to come back. But then as you build that foundation of like, when it's time to go, I go ⁓ and I have some discipline and I can, can integrate with the unit, let's say. ⁓ Then you start getting more and more responsibility. And especially as you move up in the military, you become, I mean, it's not that long, like two or three years later, even the regular military, regular army, you're going to be a team leader. So you're going to be a leader. And a of those kids are like 20, 19, and they're in charge of three people. And so they're no longer just like, it would make no sense to have someone to stand here and like, what do I need to do? This is what need to do. ⁓ That's not, not, that wouldn't like, that doesn't work in a company and that wouldn't work in a unit. And so there needs to be input on each side. And then especially when you get into like the Navy SEALs, like Jaco was talking about, or in a special forces team. mean, the planning, I was a facilitator of mission plan. Jason Hull (11:11) Yeah. Yeah. Sean Patton (11:38) but I was by no means the smartest person in the room and it was a very collaborative experience. And so my job as the commander of a 12 man special forces ODA was to receive the mission that we had been given. And that mission doesn't come down and tell us this is how you're going to do it. It says, here's the effect we need to have in the area. Here's the questions we have. And then it was up for us to sit down and I had, you know, I have a warrant officer who's Jason Hull (11:43) Hmm. Sean Patton (12:08) trained in human intelligence to a level of a CIA operative. I have an intelligence officer or an intelligence sergeant who does the same work the NSA does. My average age on my team is 30 years old, people with multiple combat experiences. I remember one time I was in Lebanon and one of my younger soldiers, Greenbright, we were talking about why there was this conflict going on and how we were trying to influence it. And I said, well, you know, it's probably because of this rift between this Hezbollah and the Shia sect and the Sunni sect of Muslims in the area. And, you my 26 year old soldier is like, actually, sir, that's incorrect. This conflict in the Becca Valley actually goes back hundreds of years. It's actually over like water rights. mean, like that's the level of conversation we're having in the planning session. And it is very much a collaborative Jason Hull (13:00) Yeah. Sean Patton (13:07) ⁓ discussion and we come up with multiple courses of action, but here's, I will say where it kind of converges to, ⁓ the lesson that comes from the military and maybe an issue, this is where the people maybe have this misconception, but I think it's an important one for when it comes to the, company is that at the end of the day, kind of go back to Jaco's first bunk on book, honestly, extreme ownership, has to be someone in charge as the commander is my dis Jason Hull (13:11) Yeah. Sean Patton (13:35) was my decision. was like, okay, I've heard everyone's input. We're going with, this is how we're going to do that. And immediately, because everyone had given their input, even if we didn't pick what their choice was, it was, okay, Roger that. Now we're going to execute that as if it was our own. And so that level of ownership when it comes to planning and execution is where we turn and say, okay, now we're on the same page. the rich discussion and input that happens before that is an important job. And that's why I think whether it's in the military or in the civilian world, as a leader of an organization like that, you need to be a master facilitator. It's not your ideas. It's how can we be the composer of the group in front of us? And if someone is taking over, how do we calm them down? How do we... Jason Hull (14:20) Yes, yeah. Sean Patton (14:31) recognize when someone's voice is being stomped out and their valuable input isn't being contributed. You know, like how do you handle that and get the idea so that the best concept comes to the top and then get buy-in to execute. Jason Hull (14:37) Bye. I mean, what I'm hearing is like, you know, this picture you're painting is you've got this team of specialists. They each bring some value and some wisdom and some knowledge to the table. They're experts at this one particular craft. They see everything through a different lens and you're getting feedback from all these different lenses. And then as a leader, you have to decide which things are valid, which things do we incorporate? And, know, and it's up to each individual that's a specialist to really put some pressure on the leader to say, this is significant, this is important. And it's up to the leader to make sure that, you know, maybe that quieter voice, but to recognize what is significant if they're not making it present, because sometimes the loudest voice in the room isn't the smartest voice in the room. And so, yeah, so that's fascinating. And, business is a lot like that, but a lot of business owners, they don't even run their teams like that. They think it's a dictatorship. They mistakenly think that's how the military works. They're like, I'm the dictator and I have all the best ideas and I'm smarter than all of you. And they do, they end up as the emperor with no clothes. Cause everybody in the team were like, yes boss, we don't want to get fired. Sean Patton (15:56) Absolutely. And that's why I think that the, main job of, let's say that entrepreneur, that business owner, that even commander, right. Is your job is to craft the vision of what you're trying to create. And yes, the outcome and clarity of outcome, clarity of vision of why does this company, why do we exist and what impact are we trying to have in the world? And once people are bought into that and aligned on that. Jason Hull (16:09) The outcome, clarity of outcome. Okay. Sean Patton (16:26) then we can have a great and rich discussion on the how, the strategy. Jason Hull (16:30) Got it. that, you know, that's, so now we're talking about culture, right? Which is the foundation before we get into tactics, we have to have culture and the military, you have all kind of chosen into a particular culture. There's a set of beliefs and that's a foundation. It's kind of like, you might maybe even take it for granted, but the military has that and a lot of businesses don't. They don't have that set culture where it's defined. Sean Patton (16:57) So can I, what I will say is that this is true in the military and I'll give you some military examples just because they're maybe interesting to your audience and then we can talk business is that mission dictates culture. So, know,... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40358280

DGS 333: Unlocking New Thinking for Business Growth 04/01/2026

DGS 333: Unlocking New Thinking for Business Growth When trying to grow your property management business, have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, it would be great if I just had more leads?” In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull discuss the Leads Myth and how “just having more leads” will not actually help you grow your business. We talk about the importance of exposing yourself to something unique and different to escape your current rut of thinking. You’ll Learn (00:00) Exploring Meow Wolf: An Immersive Experience (02:34) The Importance of Thinking Differently (05:36) Discovery and Exploration in Business (08:18) Unlocking Hidden Opportunities (09:59) The Joy of Problem-Solving in Business Quotables “Sometimes we just need to put ourselves in an environment in which we're going to be exposed to something unique, different, in order to get us out of our current rut of our current level of thinking.” “Our current level of thinking is what's causing us to stay stuck or to stay trapped.” “Business should be a problem that we enjoy working on, because I think that's the secret to happiness is to have a problem that's fun.” Resources Transcript Jason & Sarah Hull (00:00) All right, welcome everybody to the DoorGrow show. So we're going to skip all the lengthy intro, just know DoorGrow is awesome and you should be working with us and we've helped hundreds of property managers grow their business. So we're going to do a quick episode today. So Sarah and I just got back from Las Vegas and one of the cool things we got to do, got to do a lot of cool things over there, go see some shows. But one of the cool things we went and did is Meow Wolf. So what is Meow Wolf? God only knows. I don't know how to explain this at all. It's a combination of like a museum, an art gallery installation, I don't know, an art exhibit maybe. ⁓ Sort of like an escape room. of. It's not like you're locked in there. you're out puzzles and Yeah, there's like puzzles along the way to figure out. And also there's a story. Yeah. So it's not, you you go through like an art exhibit and you just look at things. This is interactive, this is immersive. You are meant to touch things and interact with them. ⁓ And there's a whole story that you're trying to figure out and solve the mystery if you want to. If you don't want to do that part, then you don't have to do it. You can just walk through and go, wow, that's cool looking. So it's that. So Meow Wolf is- How would you explain it? I don't, I don't know. That's pretty good. That's why you make me explain it? Yeah. Okay. I just like watching you struggle. don't know. that's okay. That was on camera, ladies and gentlemen. Recorded. right. So- my evidence. No, she actually described it really well. So Meow Wolf, ⁓ I think they have like maybe five locations that like we've been to. This was our third one that we went This is our third. And each one is designed on the surface like something normal that we're used to, right? Like the one in Vegas is designed as a grocery store. Another one was a radio station and another one was a house, like a family's home. But as you dig into it, you can like open up things you didn't think you should be able to open that become better doors into secret areas. It gets really weird once you get past the surface level. and things get even stranger. And it's just, it's really kind of a magical place where you really get to focus on discovery and exploration. And it really gets you to think differently. And so we're like, what should we talk about on today's podcast? I was like, let's talk about Meow Wolf and how important it is to think differently or to expose ourselves to something new or different from what we've been doing. Cause this is what we do with our coaching clients. A lot of our stuff is very contrary to what they've been told or what they've been taught or ⁓ what they think they should be doing. And so we focus and get into, you know, different ideas, different ideas of how to do pricing from what everybody else is doing, different ideas of how to do growth and build these growth engines than everybody else is doing. And sometimes we just need to put ourselves in an environment in which we're going to be exposed to something unique, different. in order to get us out of our current rut of our current level of thinking. Because our current level of thinking is what's causing us to stay stuck or to stay trapped. And this is why I value a lot getting coaches, getting mentors, joining masterminds, joining programs, because it exposes us to new ideas and new things and gets us to think differently. And it challenges our current thinking, allows others to challenge our current thinking. And they can see things that we can't see because we're too close to the fire sometimes to see it. And I can tell you how many times I've had one of my coaches give me some advice or point out something should have been super obvious to me. And I thought that's exactly what I would have told the client to do. And I'm just like, just kind of kicking myself. And but it's good medicine and it's really helpful. like, yeah, that makes sense. Let's do that. So, um, yeah, we'll feel like you might open up the refrigerator in the house and find out it is actually a hallway that leads into a whole different area. Um, if you're in the grocery store, you might open up one of the, the refrigerator freezer door sections and the whole thing opens, including what you see in the glass door. And then you can walk into a whole different area. And so, It's just, there's multiple floors in each of the ones we've been in. there's like stairways and elevators and it's just pretty wild. And the deeper you get into it, the weirder it all gets. And it gets really, really weird. And so it's totally outside of your current normal reality. In fact, that's kind of the idea between all the three we've been to is you're kind of stepping into, there's always this theme of alternate realities. and multiple realities and sometimes weird alternate life forms and non-human creatures and things are just really strange. it's really fun to get into because you don't know what to expect. so what I thought is brilliant is it puts you into a state that we usually only experience as children, which is this state of discovery and this joy of exploration and of discovery. And I feel like that's where we should be as business owners, but business gets hard. and we learn through pain and we have a lot of trauma as business owners. And so we start avoiding, we start avoiding like new things and discovery and getting excited about making changes. And this is something I think we've been really good at at DoorGrow is bringing this newness, almost like they're starting their business fresh with a new lens and a new set of, you know, ideas to... look at their business and it's like starting a business, which is over again, which is the exciting part. And so that's my challenge to everybody listening is make sure to expose yourself to new ideas. It doesn't have to be us. It doesn't have to be door grow. I think we're the best in the industry at doing this. We're very different, very unique, ⁓ but get something, get something ⁓ that's going to inject some new ideas and some new life into what you're doing. So yeah, so that was my that was kind of my thought or take on it. I think one of the cool things about Meow Wolf is as you're kind of walking through it, there's these seemingly normal items or objects that don't function as you would think they would. They're actually a portal or a secret door or there's more to it than you would think. For example, the first one we went to in the house, you're walking through and you see the laundry room. And there's normal items that would be in a laundry room, like a washer and a dryer. And I think they had a sink and some detergent and things like that. And if you didn't ever stop to look or really stop to explore, you would have looked at it for surface value and went, OK, washer and dryer. Yeah, cool. Laundry room, whatever. Let's move on to the next thing because I don't know why we're supposed to be in here. if you actually stopped to explore it and you opened the washer and the dryer, they were both actually this way, it was one was a slide and one was like this tunnel that you had to like crawl through. You remember like when McDonald's used to be fun as a kid and you'd have all the like nets and the tubes and slides and all, it's that. It's not that extensive, but so one was a slide and one was like this tunnel that you crawl through and then it takes you to a whole. different area and a whole different room and that's kind of their alternate universe is back through that way and that's one of the many ways that you can reach that alternate. But if you don't actually stop to explore it and really check it out instead of just looking at it and thinking ⁓ this is useless okay why is there a washer and dryer here and that's stupid well then you would miss the whole other part. that you would only find if you explore it. So really, it's like this whole secret world back there and this portal that can transport you to somewhere else. And I think there's a lot of things in life that are like that. How many times have we looked at something, I do this all the time because I'm a J and Myers-Briggs, I look at something and I go, useless, stupid, not worth my time. This is an important, I don't need this. I don't need to worry about this. We all do it in different ways and in business, it's one of them. Right? How many times did you hear an idea or research a tool or you know think about something, doing something a different way and then go, yeah I'm not gonna do that because on the surface all you were seeing was washer and dryer and perhaps you failed to see what was deeper is yeah it's a washer and dryer but there's so much more that you didn't even check out, you didn't even get to learn about because you immediately brushed it off. You know, I realized that ⁓ I think that's what DoorGrow is for a lot of clients. Like we look like the normal thing on the surface. People are like, yeah, they focus on growth. They probably do some sort of lead gen service or marketing or something. But when they start asking questions or talking to us, they start going, hey, this is pretty unique. This is different. They're telling me like they're explaining to me why what everybody else is telling me to do doesn't actually work or should be different. And when people join our program and get into it, they're always like surprised. There's so much available, so many new ideas, so many things they can fix or tweak in their business, ways that could work less ways they could generate more revenue. And, ⁓ and they're always surprised because they've been to all the conferences. They've learned all the stuff that is generally out there, they think. And so, yeah, we give them that. Aladdin experience, all new. Right. Maybe I'm not. No, it's time to end. A whole new world. All right. So, yeah. So, yeah. So that's kind of, you know, like there's this state of wonder learning and that's what business I think should be. Business should be a problem that we enjoy working on, because I think that's the secret to happiness is to have a problem where that's fun. It's a challenge going through and figuring out all the spaces and how to reach all the areas and me. It's a challenge, but it's fun. Yeah, it's really enjoyable. And now I want to go visit all the other ones that we haven't seen yet. So we might plan trips just to go see these because it's just so interesting and unique. Yeah. Cool. So that's that's our message today. And so we'll go ahead and wrap up. But if you are struggling to think differently or get new ideas, you feel like you know it all, maybe reach out to DoorGro and let us blow your mind a little bit. You can check us out at door.com. /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40354795

DGS 334: Be Willing to Suck: The Key to Rapid Improvement 03/25/2026

DGS 334: Be Willing to Suck: The Key to Rapid Improvement When starting something new in business (sales, leadership, outreach, or growth strategies), have you ever caught yourself thinking, “I need to figure everything out before I try this” or “I don’t want to look bad if I’m not good at it yet” In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull explore why every entrepreneur begins at what they call “Level Suck.” They discuss why many business owners resist feedback, avoid practicing in front of others, and stay stuck repeating the same actions instead of improving through experimentation. Jason and Sarah break down how humility, rapid testing, and consistent feedback are the real drivers of mastery, and why the fastest way to grow is to be willing to start imperfectly and get better through iteration. You’ll Learn (02:05) Practicing New Skills and Getting Feedback (06:10) Ego, Humility, and Why Growth Requires Both (10:30) Sales Mastery: Volume, Testing, and Iteration (15:10) What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Children Quotables “Anything new that you start with, you're not going to be amazing at it right away.” “This is the worst that you're ever going to be.” “It doesn’t mean that you’re bad. It just means that the test failed.” Resources Transcript Jason & Sarah Hull (00:01) Five, four, three, two, one. All right. I am Jason Hull. This is Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry. eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. Today's episode, what we're going to be talking about, our topic is, we all start at level suck. All right. Where do we start? We'll get rid of this. level suck. I'm sucking right now, I guess. Here's a good example. Okay, we all start at level suck. Anything new that you start with, you're not going to be amazing at it right away. And a lot of times we don't even want to start because we want to figure everything out first. want to figure out how to be amazing already because we don't want to fail or look bad or not know what we're doing. And so most people are unwilling to fail. And one thing I've noticed about children is children just try stuff. They just do shit. They just want like they'll just play and it's experimentation and it's fun and they learn incredibly fast what works and what doesn't work. so a lot of a lot of people don't don't act like children in that way. And so we've this is one of the things we coach clients on is be willing to suck. So that's the topic today. So we've been teaching BDM. So what are we noticing? Well, today was the first time that they actually got to practice. and role play. they weren't that bad, actually. It's not like they started at suck. The first time they looked at the script. Yeah. But for the first time ever saying it out loud and practicing it in a semi real mock situation. Yeah. You know, it's not like they were so horrible. And then we went, wow, this is to take you a really long time. figured that out. No, they weren't. I mean, they were not amazing at it. But for their very first time ever trying it, and I was throwing a couple curveballs at them. Yeah. They were they were doing they were doing well. They were handling themselves decently well. And it wasn't amazing. But I said to them, this is the worst that this year ever going to be. Yeah. That's great news. This is the first time that you're doing it and this is as bad as you are ever going to be at this. Yeah, they were willing. They're willing to do it. And yeah, you can see the trepidation or that it was a little awkward at first to step into that and get started. So. But we've all felt that we've all I felt awkward for them. I'm like, ⁓ let's see how this goes, right? And they did fine, right? The first time, like you said, this is the worst you're ever going to be. is what you told them. So that's the good news. You're going to get better at this. And ⁓ they did OK. And then we can give them feedback. our goal initially, my goal was to encourage them, because you don't want to be like, you're the worst. I can't believe. No. So we want to be encouraging and point out the good they did, and then offer some constructive ways they can take things to the next level or step up. And that's the other piece to this is. You have to make sure that you are willing to suck in order to in front of others in order to be able to get the feedback you need in order to improve consistently. so a lot of a lot of people we coach initially, they don't want to. Look like they don't know something, even though they're here to learn. They don't want to look bad in front of others. They don't want to give us a call recording of their sales call. They don't want to, know, and really what you're saying is I don't want to improve. I want to improve if I can figure out myself, but I was already trying to figure it out myself before I came to you. So I'm not going to be able to figure it out. And, and I've learned that one of my most valuable ways to get as much out of a coach or a mentor as possible is to say, Here's honestly where I'm at. Here's what I'm dealing with currently. Here's the challenges I'm experiencing. What feedback do you have for me? And sometimes if you're opening yourself up to feedback, it can feel pretty uncomfortable. It can, but that's, think, really how we grow is, all right, don't sugarcoat it for me. Don't tell me I'm amazing if I'm not because I won't be able to improve. If I already think, ⁓ I am so good at this. I'm so amazing. This is going to be awesome. it doesn't leave any room for improvement at all. If you already think, hey, I'm amazing at this. And if you actually are amazing at it, great. Then you'll get the results that you want. But if you think you're already amazing and the results are telling you a different story, but you still think, I'm so good at this. Then there's a disconnect. And if you're not leaving any room for growth or improvement, then that's how we get stuck. And then I almost feel like it snowballs because a lot of times I think when people, don't, I don't know why, but I feel like so many of us have been trained to try to not look stupid. in front of other people. They're like, I don't want to look dumb. I don't want to seem like I don't know something. I don't want people to think that I'm not great. I don't want to be raw and vulnerable in that way. I want everyone to think that I'm amazing. Even if I don't think I'm actually amazing, I want other people to think that I'm amazing. And I understand that. really do. But there does have to be a part of you that is able to separate your ego enough. You don't have to completely kill it, but separate the ego enough to say, where can I get better at this? Because no matter how good or how bad you are at something, there's still room for improvement. You never really get to the top and you're like, well, right, I'm on the top of this mountain and there's nowhere else to go. You can be amazing at something and still have a lot of room for improvement. you can still get better. Yeah. So there's a scripture that says pride cometh before the fall or something like this, this truism. And so, you know, a lot of times we in business, we fall prey to our own blind spots. And that's where we learn some really strong lessons. I've experienced that. Many of you listening probably have. And so The secret to really making progress, to really learning, to being able to grow is humility, which is the opposite. And humility isn't debasing yourself. It isn't putting yourself down. Humility is just recognizing honestly where you're at in relation to maybe others or in relation to the goal, or it's just having a more accurate view. That's humility. I think also humility, we create that naturally by recognizing others' hand. in our accomplishments and what we're trying to do and in our own success. Because the opposite of humility is like, man, look at everything I did. I did this all by myself. The opposite of that would be, hey, look, God definitely had a hand in me doing all of this. know, Sarah's had a huge impact in helping me with these results. You know, my different team members have, you know, so I can, others hand in what we're accomplishing. That's how you create humility. And really humility then is just reality. It's just actually getting connected to reality and saying, I'm so great. I did all this stuff. ⁓ And so that means if we are humble, then we're also open to being able to get feedback. We're willing to be able to get feedback from others. If we're not willing to absorb or take feedback, which can be uncomfortable, it means you might feel a little bracing for impact. Like, hey, can you give me feedback on this? And yeah, it's uncomfortable, but it's good medicine. And then you have actionable ways to improve. And some feedback that you get from some people is not useful, right? Somebody says, well, you're really, you're a jerk. You always do this thing. And you're like, I never do that thing. So they don't know me. Maybe they don't know you. So the feedback's not valid. you got to be careful who you're taking feedback from. Generally, the rule is you take feedback from those that you're paying. like your mentors, your coaches, or from those that are paying you. They get you paid. And so those are two great sources for feedback. And then family, they're the people close to you. And so the wisdom comes from knowing, being able to take feedback and being able to analyze it and figure out, is there some truth to this? Where could I improve? How can I change this? And the worst thing you can do, for example, is a BDM. is that you're just doing outreach. You're making calls week after week, month after month, and it's not working. And it's not that what you're doing can't work. It's that you're not good enough yet. It's not working for you. If it's working, if it can work for anybody else, it should be able to work for you too. But you're doing something that isn't working. And so you're stuck. So you need to get feedback rather than just continually doing something that's not working. wasting weeks, wasting months without significant progress. You could be making progress every day. You could be getting feedback every day. Feedback on your calls. can leverage AI to get feedback. You can use coaches, get feedback. You can role play and work with others and learn and get feedback and just learning and seeing others that are experts to do something well also is a sort of feedback for you to recognize gaps between how you would do it. Like, oh, well, that was different. I would have said this, that was very cool. I could see how that'd be useful. And it felt very natural. It didn't feel awkward or pushy. So this is the process of just doing the work. A lot of times is its own feedback mechanism. And so sometimes just doing the work is what makes you good. For example, at sales, you just do it and you feel the pain of things not working. And then you make changes and you adjust. And the real skill is how quick can you adapt? Yeah, it's always testing. I feel like sales really comes down to two things and it's volume is one of them and it's A-B testing. Yeah. the other. So any sales issues that you're having can be solved with those two things. And the whole thing is a process. Yeah. And really when you break it down, you can A-B test just about everything that you do in the sales process. So... What day am I calling people? What time am I calling people? Who am I calling? What am I saying in the first few seconds? What am I trying to lead with? What script am I using? What's the close or the ask that I have? How am I presenting that? How am I pitching the offer? Am I offering value? Am I saying this word or that word? Am I flipping things around? Maybe the order. Every single little thing can be tested. And it's all about trying and seeing what is working and what isn't working. And both are really good data to have because when you know what isn't working, then it points a finger at where you need to focus. ⁓ So a lot of times people will go, oh, this isn't working. I should just quit. I mean, you could, but then you're not going to get the results that you probably were looking for if you just quit, right? Yeah. So if you start driving a car and you're like, wow, that was way harder than I thought it was going to be. I ended up going 70 through my neighborhood. That was bad. All right. Well, that doesn't mean you need to never drive. It just means you learn how to do that differently. So it's all just... tweaking and testing and tweaking and testing. And in that process, you're going to find, that really, that was bad. didn't work. That was not a good thing. And that's okay. It doesn't mean that you're bad. It just means that that test failed. It doesn't mean that you need to own the failure because if you look at it more objectively, you're just testing data points. Yeah. The idea is rapid iteration. And if you want to collapse time on doing all the experimentation yourself and you find other people that have already been doing this quite a bit, that have already figured out from hundreds of guinea pigs that have tried different things and heard and listened and figured out what is and isn't working like at DoorGrowth, we've generated over $10 million in sales revenue and ⁓ I've probably, maybe we'd have to crunch the numbers. I've probably done at least half of that personally myself. Yeah. And so conservatively. so I would, I would say, ⁓ and I wasn't a natural salesperson. I just needed to take care of my family and I wanted to take care of clients. And I was just trying to figure it all out. And so I had lots of experiments, but I also. I studied stuff, I read stuff, I figured out which things were good. I experimented. If you want to collapse time on the experimentation, you listen to somebody that's done a lot of sales, especially if it's related to the industry that you're in and you're going to collapse time significantly. You don't have to do every experiment. We can give you this works, this strategy works, this works. And then it's just a question then of, I good at that strategy? Where am I falling short of what they're teaching? and getting that feedback. then you're, then it's like a rocket ship. You're going way faster. So we'll share a quick analogy and then maybe wrap up, but analogy I like to share, there was this, this test that they did and they would take these teams and the goal was to have them compete and figure out how they could build a structure to put a marshmallow up at the top of this structure. And whoever could build the highest structure quickest that stood and didn't fall apart was the winner. And one of the highest performers, people were really surprised to find out, were children. It was just kids. They had these sticks, they had marshmallows, they had tape, they had whatever to build. And they would just try stuff right from the beginning. And it was failing and they kept doing it. And then they would build something eventually that worked much faster in the time allotted than usually college students were the one of the worst performers because they would sit there and think about it. and analyze it and talk about what and theorize and plan and draw it out and argue with each other. And by the end, they didn't actually know what worked and whatever they tried would fail. Entrepreneurs were consistently pretty decent performers. They were. And so entrepreneurs tended like try stuff and experiment. But children, one of the top performers, the absolute top were structural engineers. Unfair advantage, right? Like, you know, That's there. That's if they do poorly at that, they probably should not be helping us build anything. Right. Right. So please don't build anything if you can't do that. Right. But children, right. Children. And why children? Because children don't aren't caught up in in looking. They don't care about looking bad. They just like, let's try it. Let's do this. Let's try this. And it doesn't work. They're not like, man, I'm a failure. Look at me. I did something that didn't work. They just move on. They're like, let's try the next thing. And so there's a lot you can learn by watching how children kind of go about doing things. There's a reason why children learn so rapidly and their brain is so, you know, able to absorb information so quickly because they don't have a lot of stuff in the way. And ⁓ as adults, we have a lot of stuff in the way a lot of times. So be a little bit like a child, not childish, but be a little bit like a child in that you're open, you're willing to explore, you're willing to try things, you're willing to experiment and be smart. Like if a child listened to a structural engineer, they would probably go way faster. Because they'd be like, yeah, I'll try this. Whereas you might get some college student with an ego, and this guy says he knows what he's doing, but I don't know. Let's draw this out, because that doesn't make sense to me. And maybe they don't listen. Everybody's tried teaching somebody something that has a lot of ego and resistance, and that's really annoying. So don't be that person. Cool. Anything else we should share? No. I think if you're looking, though, if you're looking for a BDM, we have something really exciting. If any of you follow us on social media, you may have seen that we've been dropping some little hints about it. We've talked about it a little bit on the podcast and it is in the background in the works right now. ⁓ We'll tell you it's called The Door Machine and we're going to be taking all of the pain, all of the friction, all of the annoyance, all of the hard parts, all of the challenges, all of the I'm s- ducks and I don't know what to do's, we're taking all of that out of sales. And it's going to be incredible. really do think it's going to change the property management industry as a whole, which is great because I want our clients to take over the entire industry period. And I also think that any bad landlords, and you know who you are if you're out there, the ones that don't care about taking care of the properties, they don't care about maintaining things, they don't care about doing things maybe the right way or the legal way, and they're willing to do things a little bit shady. I've had a couple of those. Let me be clear, there is no place for you in this industry, and our clients are going to simply eradicate you. So I'm really excited about that. If you're on the good side of property management, as many of you are that listen to this podcast, I don't think there's anybody that I just alluded to. don't think they're listening to this podcast. everybody who doesn't fall into the bad bucket, who's probably listening right now, ⁓ you guys, that's who we want to win. We want the good property managers to win and what we're going to be launching with the BDMs. is going to allow you guys to do that much, much faster and much, much easier. And it's really exciting because this is week one for us of making it happen. it will... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40354975

DGS 332: The Mindset Shift That Multiplies Returns 03/18/2026

DGS 332: The Mindset Shift That Multiplies Returns When trying to manage properties, have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, it would be great if I just had fewer emergencies? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, Jason Hull, founder and CEO of DoorGrow, and Ryan Cadwell, managing partner at Resolute RDM, discuss how property managers can stop operating reactively and start thinking like true asset managers. The discussion includes the difference between market value and investment value, why understanding that gap is key to long-term wealth, how to structure smarter deals to increase returns, and the leadership habits that drive sustainable business growth. You’ll Learn [02:06] The Myth of Needing More Leads [11:39] Leaks in Your Sales Pipeline [22:41] The Future of SEO with AI Quotables “Why do we call it the leads myth? Well, the myth is this lie that we believe that you just need more leads. And the assumption in that is that all leads are the same.” “The more clarity you have, the less wrong stuff you're going to be doing.” “Not all clients are equal, right? Which means not all leads you get are equal. You need to qualify them.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) All right, five, four, three, two, one. Welcome everybody. I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. All right, so today's episode, I'm hanging out with Ryan Cadwell, managing partner at Resolute RDM. And we're gonna dive deep into how property managers can stop operating reactively and start thinking like true asset managers. So Ryan, welcome to the show. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (00:57) Thanks Jason for having us, we're glad to be here. Jason Hull (01:00) Awesome. So Ryan's going to break down. This is our notes, right? So Ryan's going to break down the critical difference between market value and investment value and why understanding that gap is the key to building long term wealth. And he's going to share why so many investors overpay, how to structure smarter deals that actually increase returns and the leadership habits that drive sustainable business growth. All right. Cool. So let's get into that. So, Ryan, I'd love people to get a little bit of background. on you, how you got into entrepreneurism and how you got into developing this business and maybe how this connects to property management and then we'll get into everything. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (01:40) Sure, background is we've been in the game for 18 years. ⁓ Wife and I started it and we started the overall ⁓ idea of it in 08. ⁓ Actually it was 06 when we were kicking it around and perfect time to get into all this, 08 right during the financial crisis. ⁓ Third generation entrepreneur, ⁓ both my dad and my grandfather on his side. were entrepreneurs. that's, mean, that's how it got drawn into that world. Originally was going to be just an investor. ⁓ but my dad had apartments with another business that he ran and I, I grew up around it. ⁓ I was cutting grass and I was around tenants, ⁓ that whole time. when, we were in the investment world and wanting to grow that, you know, in the ⁓ eight through Jason Hull (02:09) Yeah. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (02:36) 2012 market, I started looking for property managers. did some interviews, ultimately. mean, property management has come a long way since then. I know it's been a thing for a while, 30 or 40 years, but I think in the SFR space, it was kind of the Wild West for a while, at least in our market it was. ⁓ And we had done some... ⁓ Jason Hull (03:00) Yeah, it still might be, yeah, in most markets. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (03:06) And so when we had done some interviews with some property managers, turned out, I think, like, we were like, why don't we just build it? Like, we have enough experience. I grew up doing it. So that's what drew us into the property management world. And then it gradually grew, turned into a few hundred doors. And then we fluctuate. We fluctuate with market times. We're a boutique firm, and we really focus on adding investor value ⁓ and then we're adding additional components with ⁓ understanding market trends, understanding what overpayment is ⁓ and trying to help investors get ahead of that. we're not always helping investors that are in a reactive position try to. Weighed out time so that they're, know, the amount they paid for it can then finally start cash flowing in those kinds of positions. We try to come at it with a, with an eyes wide open, you know, if you buy it here, you're in negative leverage and what that means and how that's going to translate as far as cash flows. I mean, some investment perspectives, that's what they want. They don't necessarily mind the time. ⁓ If they've got cash flow from other things, that might be how they're going to get in. But, Yeah, that's how we got to where we are in the entrepreneurial world and then in owning and operating a real estate services firm. Jason Hull (04:38) Yeah, and you said we, meaning. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (04:41) We so I mean, I treat anything we do well is it's a team. It's our four brokers. It's our two managers. It's our, you know, contractors. It's all the guys that have helped us get and it's even some of my other partners on development deals. So there's always a we piece. I'd be remiss if I stood up here and acted like, you know, this was me. Yeah. Jason Hull (05:06) It's all Ryan, yeah. So, but this started as like kind of you're in the family business of entrepreneurism, it sounds like, so. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (05:14) Yeah, and we could talk about that too, how to work with your family. How to work with your family and how to get ahead of that too ⁓ so that you don't damage the relationships and those kinds of things. Jason Hull (05:18) Yeah, that could be a challenge. Cool. let's chat about this because property managers, they are a lot of times reactive. They're just reacting to everything. They feel like they're not going to react to everything that every tenant calls them, every owner calls them. They're just managing, putting out fires all the time. how do we start getting to think like true asset managers and get them out of this? Ryan Cadwell, CPM (05:38) Mm-hmm. It's a reactive business. I think the goal is to be an asset manager because at that point you're planning decisions ahead of time. Property management is always going to have a reactive piece to it. You're always going to have emergencies. You're always going to have things that need to be done day of. The real answer to that is a lot of those things don't need to be reactive. They could have been planned, proper expectations could have been set. ⁓ Having conversations like the way you onboard, the way you train, you educate and how you communicate in the time, know, the times that they're gonna receive statements or anything you get on a repeat basis, it just needs to be kind of be walked through. Now, if you haven't started your clients out in that, I mean, we're. We've learned that the hard way we've had to kind of modify some of some of the things when we onboard. So we've got, you know, we have clients that, that were raised in our old ways that we've had to kind of push out educational pieces, marketing pieces that are here's how we operate. Here's what we do and, send out reminders. Hey, you know, this is when stuff's happening. So to get proactive, you've got to start looking at all the things that you do, all the things that. Jason Hull (07:11) Yeah. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (07:21) they need and then start educating them ahead of time. And you educate them ahead of time, knowing that they're not going to read everything. They're not going to pay attention. ⁓ And then you just have a gentle reminder. the, and you know, our, ops staff is way better at this even than I am. I, I was way more reactive and figuring it out on the fly and Jason Hull (07:33) Yeah, people generally don't. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (07:48) And they were always like, there's no reason this is this stressful. How do we get ahead of this? How do we start educating? ⁓ Your statements will come out on this day. Your payments come out on this day. ⁓ Here's the way that our system works. If you've got an emergency, here's what to expect. and by the way, here's what qualifies as an emergency. That's another thing too. ⁓ But no matter what, it's still a people business. Jason Hull (08:11) Mm. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (08:16) It's still, you're still going to have people that aren't going to necessarily follow all of your patterns. And sometimes, sometimes you got to decide whether or not that means they stay as a client or, you know, you work on that relationship. See if you can't kind of get them in line. Other times you're going to part ways with that client just because it, it's going to be better for both of you to do that. Jason Hull (08:40) Yeah, so some of the things I'm hearing is like, you know, there's things that could have been planned. having good planning, setting expectations, having good onboarding, defining what emergencies are, setting boundaries. Right. And if they're not willing to play ball, then firing some clients for sure. Cool. So tell me about that. What's the difference between market value and investment value? For those listening, I'm doing air quotes. So. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (08:52) Go. Market value and investment value, think is the difference in those two terms is where money is made and lost every single time. The buyer wants to buy on investment value and then they want to sell on market value. That gap is truly where a lot of money can be made. Truly, Jason Hull (09:16) Okay. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (09:34) Investment value is different for every investor. have to know what your opportunity cost is. If you didn't put your money into here, where else, how much more can you make? And then evaluate whether or not this deal works for your portfolio. Everybody's money is different. Everybody's opportunities are different. So if you don't know those numbers, you typically just default to market value because Jason Hull (10:02) Hmm. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (10:03) Because appraisers, I mean, appraisers walk in and it's income approach, it's cost approach, and then it's comp approach, right? That's the most common three ways that they value it. And then brokers are gonna tell you what, if they're selling for the seller's agent, they're gonna tell you usually market value. This is what market is. Even on the bigger stuff, the multifamily stuff, they're always gonna be pushing whatever is gonna. generate the most value for their client. For you, you have to know in your underwriting, what can you financially absorb? One of the biggest things going on right now is if you're getting into the market right now, everybody's financial projections are this is gonna be long-term place. Like the fast money that we just came out of, that's most likely not gonna be in the next five years, the next five, 10, 15 years. Jason Hull (10:35) Right. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (11:02) You can't say always, because there will be some stuff that'll pop. There'll be a few home runs. Most of what's going to happen is going to be fundamentals. It's going to be operational, which means underwriting investment value is going to be key. Because if you're not doing that, you're most likely going to default to, well, if I want to put my money to work in this, I'm going to have to... I'm gonna have to overpay a little bit. And by overpay, I even mean in a negative leverage position where your desk costing you more than you're getting on your return. And if that's the case, you've got to have enough cash to weather the storm. And there are some people that are doing that. And that's their investment strategy and thesis. But if you don't... Jason Hull (11:47) Sure. Like you mean maybe like in the short term, it's not cash flowing, but as an asset or an investment in long term, it's a great play. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (12:01) Yeah, as long as you're in a position to be able to absorb that. I mean, we've run into some owners. We've, we've had, and I think this is the reason why I've come out more and started talking about this is, is a lot of the relationships where we were, where they're strained with our clients is usually when we're brought in after they bought it, we don't know how they underwrote it. They bring it to us and somebody else told them what it's going to rent for. We take it to market. It doesn't rent for that. They're in a negative cashflow position and they planned on being positive and having money for reserves. And now they're pulling money out of their paycheck to make sure everything gets paid. Jason Hull (12:34) Right. Right, because they were operating from the beginning with false assumptions or incorrect assumptions. And so the expectations are off and then you have to be the bearer bad news, but also you're the person that's finally giving them the truth and you know. Yeah. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (13:01) And that's hard to be in because it's like spent cost fallacy. It's where they spent the money on this. They bought into whatever the underwriting was and they were super excited. There was the emotional attachment. And then they get to where, no. And then with us. Jason Hull (13:24) Yeah, Spend cost analysis sums up, think, the whole state of California and how they spend money. So they're like, we bought this. They buy, they're like, they invest all this stuff into metros and buses and whatever. And everybody wants to drive cars. And yeah, like, but we put so much money into this. Yeah. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (13:31) You Right. Yep. Yep. And because we put money into it, therefore it's valid. Yeah. Jason Hull (13:50) Right. Yeah. Got it. So, ⁓ So. ⁓ So we need to understand the difference between market value and investment value. ⁓ Understand that gap is how we understand long term wealth, because if the gap's off, it's either profit or loss. That's what the gap is. So it could go either way. And so we want to make sure there's there's profitability there. And even if it's in the short term. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (14:09) And that's Jason Hull (14:19) Maybe it's loss. The long-term, it still could be profitable. Maybe it can make sense. okay, so a lot of investors, they're overpaying. You want to structure smarter deals to increase the returns. ⁓ And we're also going to chat about the leadership habits that drive sustainable business growth. So where do we go from here, you think? Ryan Cadwell, CPM (14:45) I mean, I love talking about habits because habits are what good habits and sound habits create sound fundamentals. And it helps avoid a lot of the, ⁓ the, well, it helps expose a lot more of the, of the mistakes that we can get into. ⁓ it helps maintain discipline. It helps, ⁓ it helps expose us. Like if you're, mean, if you're getting emotional about a deal, I'm in an investor group and Jason Hull (15:03) Yeah. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (15:14) And it's funny when, you know, one of the guys pitches the group a deal. We all kind of have this joke. it, if it feels emotional to the person, we always poke at that. We always bring that up. Are you emotionally attached to this deal? Like, are you okay walking away? ⁓ because you don't want to get your, like money is very emotional thing. And if you're not honest about it, when you're evaluating, ⁓ it's a good way to get. Jason Hull (15:30) Hmm. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (15:43) you know, to get into that. Jason Hull (15:44) So, so Ryan, what I'm hearing is like when you talk about habits, it sounds like you've got like some rules, some guidelines that you sort of have learned to follow when it comes to these to make sure this works. And one of these is, you know, reason over emotion is like, like making sure you're not making this, you know, taking a step back and questioning yourself. Am I emotionally too attached to this and why and. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (15:55) Mm-hmm. Jason Hull (16:12) I I think at the end of the day, every decision we make at some point connects to something that connects to emotion, right? Like why do you have investment properties? Well, I want to take care of my family. Cool. Well, you want to take care of family because I want to feel like a good provider. OK. And what is that? Why is it important to be a good provider? Because I want to feel like I'm doing good in the world, like I'm doing the right thing. So you want to feel good, you know? Ryan Cadwell, CPM (16:20) Right. Agreed. Yep. Yep. Jason Hull (16:40) So ultimately it always boils down to this feeling. We just got to make sure that we recognize the feeling because sometimes there's a totally different path to get to that feeling than having that rental property, for example. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (16:51) 100%. And I think that right there is probably the number one thing to always remember. It doesn't have to be a rental property to accomplish the same goal. ⁓ Jason Hull (17:01) Okay. Right. Yeah. So maybe just working it backwards to figure out, why do I think I want these investments? Well, I want to invest. Why do I want to invest? I want more money. Why do you think this is the best vehicle? So if we just question our assumptions all the way down, we'll eventually probably connect to some sort of feeling. Can I get this feeling another way? Can I invest another way? Is this the best vehicle for me to get what I'm trying to achieve? And sometimes it might be yes. Sometimes it might be no. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (17:33) And there's ways to diversify your portfolio with REIT stocks. Those are attached to the real estate market. have those diversify your portfolio too. Now I'm not licensed to sell those. So I'm not giving advice. I'm just saying there are. Jason Hull (17:48) Explain for newbie investors what restocks are. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (17:52) REIT stocks are ⁓ a REIT is a real estate investment trust. it is REIT stocks. Yeah. R-E-I-T. REIT stocks. Nope. Just REIT stocks. Just a different way for you to invest. It's more cash cash in and out because it's a stock you can Jason Hull (17:58) you said re-stocks. Okay. Okay. I thought you were making something totally new called re-stocks, like re-stocking a shelf. So was like, ⁓ well tell me about this. Ryan Cadwell, CPM (18:20) If the market's open, you can trade it, put your money in, get your money back out. It's not like sitting on a rental house or a rental apartment complex and you've got to wait on the market to show up. And then if you've got to sell fast, you got to take a bath. ⁓ All that happens within the entity, but yeah. Jason Hull (18:23) Yeah. you Mm-hmm. Got it. What are some other habits or rules you think are important in these scenarios to follow? Ryan Cadwell, CPM (18:49) ⁓ I think it's truly understand like starting from a place of really understanding your financial position. I mean, how much,... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40354515

DGS 331: From Missed Goals to Momentum 03/10/2026

DGS 331: From Missed Goals to Momentum When you don’t hit the goals you set for your property management business, it’s easy to fall into frustration, self-doubt, or the feeling that the year was a failure… but what if you’re looking at it the wrong way? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull break down why entrepreneurs often focus on the gap between their goals and results instead of the gain they actually made. They share how to process the disappointment of missed targets, how to recognize the real progress you achieved, and why your biggest breakthroughs often come after a year that felt like a setback. They also discuss the difference between a default future and a created future, why most business owners stay stuck repeating the same results every year, and practical mindset and planning strategies to help you reset, regain momentum, and build a stronger year ahead. You’ll Learn (00:50) Setting and Achieving Goals (08:03) Recognizing Progress and Wins (13:36) Creating a Positive Future (17:17) Rewiring Your Mindset for Success Quotables “There’s really only one thing you can do with a feeling, and that is to feel it.” “Your default future for 2026 is your 2025, which was probably also similar to your 2024.” “IFocus on the progress that you had made instead of that gap between, I didn’t make it to where I wanted to be.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) All right, here we go in five, four, three, two, one. We are Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, so the topic we decided to chat about today is... Oh, okay. So she was talking with one of our clients named Jay and he was. Oh, I remember now. Okay. Then what is it? We were, we were going to talk. in 2025. Yeah, because, know, this is a common theme for entrepreneurs. We have big goals. There's a book about this. There's a book called The Gap and the Gain. And the idea is we're really good at looking at this future that we want to create. We're visionaries. We can see and create the future in a lot of instances. But sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomach. Sometimes we see this big picture of the future we could create and we don't we don't achieve it. And sometimes our goals are just too big for us and we don't, we grow, we learn, but we fail or we just learn as I call it. And so if we don't achieve these goals, it's really easy to get discouraged. It's really easy to beat ourselves up. It's really easy to maybe think we're not enough or put ourselves down. And so a lot of you just wrapped up 2025. We're recording this in January. This will go live a little bit later, but You may be thinking, man, 2025 was not the year that I wanted it to be. I really wanted it to be bigger. It's just, I didn't achieve what I was hoping to. I got derailed. There were so many things that got in the way. So we're going to chat about that a bit today. How do we get past that hurdle? First of the belief part of like feeling like putting ourselves down or thinking we should do better. And then how do we actually set goals and big dreams and hit those targets. And how do we have a better 2026 than our 2025 or a 2024 or a 2023? Maybe you haven't been making progress over the last several years. So we'll talk about that. Where should we start? Okay. I'm dying. So one of the things that I think is really easy for us to do, especially as business owners is to focus on, I set this goal, I wanted to be here, I fell short of it somehow, in some way, and for some reason. And it could be a multitude of reasons. My team quit, the market shifted, all the clients sold, some crazy competitor came in and started stealing on clients, whatever it might be. So if you didn't hit the goal for whatever reason it is, I think it's so easy to just kind of dwell on that and to get caught up in the, I didn't do it. And it's that disappointment. It's a little bit disheartening. It's, you know, you're just feeling bound out that I was hoping I would be here. I didn't know how it was going to happen, but I just had faith and did what I could do and man, I missed it. So. One of the things that is really good, and it is mentioned in the Gatlin game, is instead of focusing on, this is the goal that I had and I fell short of it somehow. Look to the beginning and look at all the progress that you have made. Yeah, look at the game. Right. So instead of saying, I'll just give you an easy example. If you started the year 2025, with 100 doors and you said, all right, I wanted to add another 100 doors. So at the end of the year, I would be at 200. And you didn't get to 200. Maybe you added some, you lost some, you added some, you lost some, you're in that, you know, kind of up and down cycle. And by the end of the year, you ended up at 145. So lots of us would look at that and go, wow, I wanted to be at 200 and I'm only at 145. Wow, I fell so short. It's not even like, ⁓ I almost hit it. We were so close. That's pretty far short. Yeah. So it's very easy for us to just get trapped in this cycle of feeling badly for ourselves. And for some of us, maybe many of us, to be a little bit hard on yourself and go, you know, was it me? What did I do wrong? What could I have done better? Did I make some mistakes? Where did I mess this up? Was I not the leader that I needed to be for my team? Did my clients not like working with our team? Are my processes not good enough? Are my prices not good enough? What is it? And it's so easy to go internal with that. And instead of looking and then concentrating so much on that, first, I feel like you do need to acknowledge it. You don't need to feel it for long time. But it is important to acknowledge, hey, I'm feeling disappointed. I'm feeling disheartened. Maybe I'm feeling like, I kind of got the wind knocked out of me a little bit and I just wasn't expecting to be here. I really thought we were going to pull it together. I thought this was going to be our year. So it's important to at least acknowledge the feeling that you're having. but then don't dwell on it. Don't get stuck in feeling badly for too long. So just identify whatever feeling it is that you have. Allow yourself to say, it's okay that I feel like this. And then you have to get yourself out of that loop. So an easy way to get out of that loop is to go, right, well, I did add 45 doors, right? So that's progress. I didn't end up with less than 100 doors. So I didn't start with 100 and then at the end of the year, now I only have 70. Right? So you still did make some progress, even though it isn't the progress that you wanted, you still made some progress. But what else happened? Because a lot of us just look at the KPIs and metrics that are associated with the goal itself that we had set, which would be doors. what else had happened in the year? Did you make changes to your team? Did you make changes to a system? Did you make changes to processes? Did you either expand into a new market or change your pricing? Did you shift things dramatically inside the business that would count as progress even though it didn't directly yet lead to doors? Did you develop yourself as a leader? huge progress and many people never even get to do that. So perhaps you didn't get the 200 doors that you wanted. Now you're not at 200, you're only at 145. But if you can say, all right, well, I made shifts to my team. I let things go that needed to be let go. I brought people in that needed to be brought in. maybe shifted people around. implemented a new software. I started working with a new coach. I learned a new growth strategy. made new connections. I grew myself as a leader. I grew myself personally. There was some growth and some learning and some personal development there. Does that directly equate to doors? Yes. It's just that it didn't happen yet. So it will. It just didn't happen yet. So 2026 might be the year. that all of that work and all of that growth and that foundation building, 2026 might now be the year that allows you to have that growth and expansion that now you're ready for because of the shifts that you had made the prior year. So focus on the progress that you had made instead of that gap between, I didn't make it to where I wanted to be. Love it. I have a bunch of things I want to share, but first I'm going to do a quick word from our sponsor, Blanket. So, and you're going to like what I'm going to share, so stay tuned. So Blanket is a really cool tool. I recommend everybody uses it. That's not part of the script, but I've also it is very cool when we're talking about, right? We added doors and I lost some doors and I had doors and I lost some doors, which is very normal. Blanket's a retention platform. Business ever. So those doors that you lose. get Blanket and you won't lose them. Yeah, yeah, so I'll read this. So Blanket is a property retention and growth platform that helps property managers stop losing doors and add more revenue and increase the number of properties they manage. Wow your clients with a branded investor dashboard and an off market marketplace while your team gets all the tools they need to identify owners at risk of churning and powerful systems to help you add more doors. So highly recommend you check it out. Go take a look at Blanket. I think it's an amazing system. I recommend all my clients use it. All right. So let's talk about some of the things that Sarah was touching on. I think these are really important. I think one, when you first have this emotion and you're in that negative space, I think it's super important to feel it. A lot of times, if you're a thinker, if you're more analytical like Sarah or myself in a lot of instances, what you'll tend to do is you'll try to avoid feelings by finding a way logically to avoid feeling. But there's really only one thing you can do with a feeling and that is to feel it. You cannot logic a feeling. You cannot create enough mental tools and resources to prevent yourself from feeling anything ever again that's uncomfortable. Part of being an entrepreneur is learning to feel the uncomfortable things. The good news about feelings, if you allow yourself to actually feel them, you don't feel them forever. But if you avoid them, you can avoid them and keep feeling them forever. And so take some time and yes, feel it. Feel through it, go into it, allow yourself to feel the disappointment or feel the shame or feel the guilt or feel the failure or whatever you think it is. But then what I want you to do is while you're feeling this, I would write out what you're feeling and write out why. I want you to list out all of the beliefs because feelings are created from your beliefs, the things you say in your head. I should have had doors. I should have worked harder. I should have, you know, taking care of my clients better, whatever it might be. Make a list of all of these beliefs and then what I want you to do once you have all the beliefs, these beliefs are what are causing you to have the problem. So this is my analytical way of dealing with this but look at all these beliefs and I want you to challenge them. I want you to look at each one and say, is this belief 100 % true? I should have had 200 doors in a year. Well, here's the reality. If reality is in Conflict with what you you wanted your reality is you didn't get 200 doors, then it's not a true statement That you should have had it. It's not true. You didn't have it. Maybe you didn't do it was required So this is where you can give yourself some tough love but list out everything and evaluate whether it's true or not and Then you can figure out was I really committed? Obviously not if you didn't achieve the result there were other factors So look at those other factors and I think this is where then it can lead into what Sarah's talking about is Now make a list of all of the accomplishments, all the wins. We do that in our planning system cadence with our team. We call DoorGrow OS that we also coach clients on and we look at the wins for the year. We look at the wins for each quarter. We look at the wins and recognize our team for each month, for each week related to the company goals. And so you are probably lacking. a system that allows you to see and recognize wins, but also to actually achieve them. Because if you don't have a system in place, feelings and desires and goals are basically just potential failures. You have to have a system for making sure that you can predict and create the future accurately. And that's what DoorGrow OS allows us to do. That's why we can innovate and create so many things. No other coaching or consulting firm in the space can keep up with the amount of things that we're rolling out or innovating. We're rolling out all this AI stuff, we're rolling out a new community, rolling out the door machine, you heard me talk on a previous episode, we're rolling out a BDM launch pad, we're rolling out so many new things. And these are just the ideas we got in the last, what, month or two. Like last month, I think. And so ⁓ AI websites, we're doing a lot of really cool stuff that we have planned for the future. And... ⁓ And we're able to move really quickly, one, because we have great people on the team, two, because we are able to plan and it's not just chaos, we're not just winging it, we have objectives. And we break those big objectives and goals down into quarterly, down into monthly, down into weekly chunks, and people are assigned to them, and we know what we need to be working on as a team, and there's just a lot more clarity. And then everybody gets recognized for the accomplishments. It shifts our brain to every meeting, every planning session that we're like, what are our wins for this period? So gets everybody in the habit of focusing on the gain, focusing on the positive. That's why DoorGrow is a really positive place to be or to work. That's why clients like feel attracted and stay with us for years. That's why our team members stay with us for a long time, because we've created a really positive culture of winning and success. And what you focus on grows. And so we shift our focus intentionally onto these things is how we do this. And so if you didn't have the year, ⁓ well, you probably have something you're dying to say. No? Because I would love to talk about the creative future default future. And then I'll tell them how to have the 2026 that they want. Okay. I'll end with that. All right. So if you're listening to this, I want all of you to understand you have a default future. It's inevitable unless you get some sort of injection of new ideas or fresh blood or new people or a coach or something, you are going to do what I call your default future. Your default future is basically what you've seen yourself accomplish in the past. Your default future for 2026 is your 2025, which was probably also similar to your 2024. and your 2023 and on and on and on. And so, and your default future may not be really exciting to you. You may feel a little depleted. So you need a creative future. And one of the things we're really good at helping our clients do is get out of, there's, I talked about three different tiers of goal setting. And the client we were talking about, Jay and others, like Jay, when he came back to us after he'd had a whole bunch of growth, was struggling, because he had lost a bunch of team members. So he was in what I call that first level of survival. Terrible goals, right? Survival is like the worst place to be. It's a hard place. Getting new team members, rebuilding the team. The next level goal is like realistic. Realistic goals. And we rarely achieve the realistic goals. We work with our clients on determining what I call impossible goals that get your brain to think differently. It becomes a tool. to get you to think outside of your current limitations and your current reality. So you have to have what are called impossible or unrealistic goals. And that's where things get exciting. That's where your brain has something juicy to work on. That's where you get into that visionary state and you start coming up with new things and you find shortcuts and new pathways to get there that you couldn't see otherwise because you were being so realistic. So those are some things that we would focus on with clients. So if you want a created future instead of your default future, then I recommend that you come hang out with us. You work with DoorGrow, you come talk to us at DoorGrow, even in our initial conversations, before you pay us anything. We will help you create a better future and you'll be able to see it. We'll show you how we can help you. We'll give you free training material. Some clients have added 10s, 20s, 30s, 41s doors, one client added just from our free stuff that we'll give you. We wanna prove and show to you how we can help you so it's not like you're guessing, well maybe this'll work. Our stuff's proven. It's been proven over and over again. So we want you to reach out, connect with us, and we will create a new future together. And some of the new stuff we're launching will allow us to really go deep into some clients' businesses and grow them. And we're gonna be creating multi-million dollar property management business owners. No question. And that's our goal. So we're gonna be kingmakers in this industry. And because we've got everything dialed in, I just need people that we can partner with that will allow us to do what we do best. And so that's what our next hunt is. So I think that's all I wanted to say. Default future versus creative future. So create a different future. You can't be doing what you've always done. And this is why I always get new coaches. I always have new mentors because it helps me level up faster. Okay. to figure out, how am I supposed to do something? And I'm kind of feeling like. done that. Now what do I do? How do I set this goal that I don't even know confidently that I'm going to hit in 2026 given that I haven't done it in past? So here is a hack that I have that will get your brain into a more positive loop. What you're going to do is you're going to take a piece of paper and I want you to write this. Don't type it out because neurologically there's a different response in your brain when you hand write something versus when you type it out. So I want you to get a piece of paper and a pen or a pencil and physically write it out. I don't care if it's line paper, printed paper, whatever, but get a piece of paper and a pen. And what you're going to do is you're going to start writing numbers next to every single number. You're going to write things in 2025 that you have accomplished. Little things, big things, personal things, business things. things in your life, things in your relationship, things in your friendships, things with your kids, maybe places you have traveled to. I don't care what it is. it. Anything. list as much as you can. And your goal is to fill up that paper. So you're going to write the things that you did... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40354480

DGS 330: The AI Illusion: Protecting Your Reputation in a Manipulated World 03/02/2026

DGS 330: The AI Illusion: Protecting Your Reputation in a Manipulated World When your property management business isn’t growing, hiring a salesperson might seem like the obvious solution, but what if that’s actually where most owners go wrong… In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull break down why most BDM hires fail, the critical mistakes owners make with commission-only roles, and the exact systems required to make a salesperson successful. They dive into DoorGrow’s Three Fits framework, the three non-negotiable ingredients for BDM success, and tease a game-changing new growth model designed to help property managers scale without burnout, bad leads, or broken systems. You’ll Learn (00:00) Introduction: The Three Fits for Hiring (01:16) The Challenges of Hiring a Business Development Manager (BDM) (02:42) The Three Key Ingredients for BDM Success (04:40) Mistakes in BDM Compensation: The Commission-Only Pitfall (05:40) The Three Roles of a BDM and the Problem with Buying Leads (09:54) The "Door Machine" Teaser: The Easy Button for Growth (14:39) Advanced Community, AI, and Final Thoughts Quotables “A BDM has zero chance of success if you hire the wrong person.” “If they’re not all three, they will fail. Or you’ll fire them. Or they will leave you because they’re not making enough money.” “If you do not have the right system to plug a BDM or a salesperson into, you can hire as many of them as you want, and they will still not work.” Resources Transcript Jason & Sarah Hull (00:01) Five, four, three, two, one. All right, we are Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, you can probably hear our dogs losing their mind in the background. Maybe not. It was perfect time. Yeah, great time. You started the episode and then they decided. And then they started barking. Well, somebody's outside. That's why they're barking. Okay, they're protecting the house. All right, so what we wanted to talk today about is protecting you a little bit. And so. One of things that's been going viral lately all over social media is this Molt book. So if you haven't heard of Molt book, it is a social network, supposedly. It's a social network created by AI bots. It's basically just only people that have access to it supposedly are AI agents and they go in there and they're talking about their humans. And this is this new AI tool that was originally called Claude, spelled like a claw, which is not the Claude. by anthropic, ⁓ but it's different Claude bot. And then they got sued by Claude for name infringement or confusion. And they changed their name to something else and then to something else. And now it's called open clock. But basically there are these, it's like an AI tool that you can build or put on your computer and it runs locally and it proactively tries to do things for you. There's a lot of security risks with this AI tool because it has access to all your stuff and it can figure things out and start to buy things for you and like do things for you. And so ⁓ it has access to all your stuff. And so you got to be careful with this. However, there's been a lot of false hype and fear mongering around multbooks. So we wanted to chat about this. And so if you've seen these scary posts about multbook, this AI social network, here's what's actually going on. So what this social media network is. you been seeing posts? Have you heard about this? Only from you. I don't follow any of that stuff, you sent me a post that was talking about all of these AI things, I guess, and the chat room that they created, and they were talking to each other and interacting with each other and asking each other questions and kind of talking about their humans, human... users, I guess, so to speak. And I went, yeah, I don't know if I'm believing all of that hype. So I had asked chat, Chippy Tea about it. And it essentially said, no, AIs do not work on their own. They are human prompted. They are user prompted. So if there is such a thing, it might exist. but it's not something that the AIs are just going and creating their own little community and having discussions as humans would have their. So let's about the hype. So their mold book is claiming and bragging that they have 1.2 million agents registered, but only 10,000 verified humans using the tool or something like this. And we know like at least a million of those agent accounts came from one guy. He ran a script, he posted about it on X on Twitter. And he said, FYI, this isn't what everybody's claiming it to be. The MoteBook has a REST API. Anybody can literally post anything they want using that API. So if anybody knows how to use any AI tool now to create any sort of code or software, like using Cloud Code or even Cloud, you can create software in pretty much anything now that has access to this API that can go post there. And so it's not, are there agents posting there? Yes, there are some agents, but some of the articles on there are probably created by, nerds that think it's funny to create posts that say my user is cap. People are capturing things with screenshots or my, my, my owner is like telling me to do unethical things. And so it's hard to know what, which of any of this stuff is true, but definitely the stats are not true. When this guy sent a million verified accounts he created to the founder of Moldbook who's a human and said, are these accounts, like here's this security flaw you have, this really isn't legit, but I don't think they care. I think they like the hype, they're getting business from the hype. And so this points out a bigger problem. And the bigger problem is with the advent of AI and with all of the AI slop, as people are calling it, you have to now verify things. People are using AI to create content, to beat the algorithms and to manipulate humans. And so A lot of posts that you see, a lot of news article posts on Instagram, they're fake. It's sensationalized, it's you AI slop BS, and it they make these sensational claims because sensationalism gets people to go, wow, I can't believe this. This is so noteworthy and newsworthy. I'm going to share it with other people and people aren't verifying this. So these things go viral and it's giving that account. clout and attention and algorithm and they can use that to make money and they're just manipulating people. And so this is this bigger problem that now things being shared on social media that are going viral are just being engineered algorithmically based on sensationalism, not based on truth. And a lot of them are just complete lies or complete fabrications and algorithms are rewarding fear, they're rewarding outrage instead of truth. And so a lot of things that you're out or noticing or things that are manipulating you, it's not even true. It's not even valid. And you're in this, get caught up in this echo chamber politically or algorithmically that really is just messing with you and playing with your emotionalism that you have hardwired into it because you're human. So I think it's really important to start to not. that you have to really question and disbelieve almost everything you see and then verify it or validate it. And this shows up in a lot of ways. Like we were talking about ⁓ all the products that we see for sale on Instagram. That you see. You get targeted. I love the buy stuff. Yeah. I know. It works really well. I like buying gadgets and gizmos aplenty. You know, I'm like the little mermaid. All right. So. So all of these things, though, if you go take whatever product or item you see on Instagram, you're like, man, that sounds really cool. It sounds like something I would love. I would need that algorithm already knows it knows you. knows everything you slow down on and look at. It knows everything you click on to check out. So it knows you what you'll you'll buy before you know you'll buy it. And it feeds the stuff up to you and it'll feed it over to you or retarget you over and over again until you actually buy the thing. Here's the thing. a lot of these products that you see, if you go look up the same product up on like amazon.com, you'll find the same product with a different brand name, because they're using maybe the same source in China to like, and then they're white labeling it with their brand name, but you'll find the same product for 50%, sometimes 25 % of the costs that you're seeing. So they're just taking products that are doing well on Amazon. They go and like find us the source of this product. And then they go do really good marketing and advertising to manipulate people, sell it on Instagram or meta ads, and they are selling it at this insane markup. People think they've got the exclusivity and they're the only way you can get this product. And they're selling it for three times the amount or at least double the amount of what you would pay normally. And if you go and got it from the source, like through Alibaba.com or something like this, you probably pay a small fraction of that. And so people are overspending on this and they're manipulating you to spend more money. So just another example of how you need to go verify or find these things maybe elsewhere. And so you need to do your own research is the basic idea. And so. ⁓ Some of the things that I have started to do is I use AI to research the things that I'm finding online to find out if they're true. So this could be health claims, product claims, product ideas. ⁓ If a product looks good, I will go send it to Grok, one of my favorite research AIs, because it's really good at doing really good research quickly. You can use perplexity to do research, but I'll say analyze this. landing page, this product, is this hype or is this a legitimate product? Do research on this. And a lot of times we'll come back and say, this is overhyped. Their product claims are not valid. It's based on studies that indicate certain things, but it's not totally true. But every now and then it's like, this product sounds legit. And then I'm like, well, do I really need this product? And then sometimes it's like, no. Right. And so you can go now leverage AI and you need to use AI to battle with AI so that you can not being manipulated or taken advantage of. So you need to do your own research. Analyze the truth of this. Go ask AI to analyze the truth and give it a link. ⁓ Grok can access Instagram and Facebook posts and things like this. It can access social media currently. ⁓ Claude, ChatGPT, some of these tools are not able to access certain links because they're blocked by those social media platforms. They don't want other AI tools looking at it. So far, I've had success using Grok to analyze Instagram posts, Instagram videos. So if you see something on Instagram real or a post, you can go post it to Grok and it can analyze the truth of it, which is super helpful. Not only that, but Grok has access to the entire X or Twitter database to do research and to find people, what they're saying and stuff like this, which I've found to be very helpful. Now we all have an internal compass and I think this is the most important thing of all. is you have to use your own brain and use that voice within. think one thing that makes us different than just AI is we have this intuition or this knowing or this higher faculty of just our mental capacity and we have this ability, or some would call it spiritual gift of intuition or of natural knowing or of, what would others call it? ⁓ The voice deep down within, sometimes deep. how I know this thing deep down, but it or some would call it the gift of discernment. You know, it's kind of a biblical gift of the spirit it talks about. Some would call it the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit or whatever. But we have this quiet voice deep down that tells you that something doesn't feel right when everybody else is sharing it or. And so, you know, start to get in tune with that, start to listen to that and to get clarity on that, because not everything that's sensationalized is true. and you need to trust that little voice within because you might go, this sounds like pretty incredible. Is this valid? Before you go share it and pass it on to other people, which is like spreading a virus, you know, it may not be a positive thing to spread this thing that's not accurate or true. So that's my two cents about this. so with this, the Malt book is an example of. something that's going viral that everybody seems to just be believing and it's not totally valid. So. OK, let's connect this to property management. OK, so that it's relevant for anyone who's going, how are they? How are they going to link this? So one of the things that I had heard recently, there's well, one of them I heard a couple of months ago and one of them I just heard. There's two examples that I can cite. That connects it directly to business. One was. I don't remember where they were located, so forgive me for that. Do your research. One of them, they wanted to see if they could use AI and all of the tools that are available, Google and SEO and the algorithm, to hype up something that isn't real. So what they did is they created a restaurant. using they did have some photos. They took a couple of photos. The food wasn't even real. I remember this. Do remember this? They were taking photos of food and people eating the food and wow it looks so amazing. It wasn't even real food. Yeah. And they used all of these photos and then somehow used bots and AI to leave a bunch of great reviews. for this amazing restaurant. And then the algorithm and Google started getting all of this data going, wow, people must love this restaurant. We should promote it. So showing up in searches and they had a wait list for a restaurant that did not ever, at any point in time, ever exist. No real restaurant, no real location, no real food, no real people, no real business, and no real reviews. All of it was completely fake online. However, the algorithm did not know that it was fake. The algorithm thought, wow, this is a real business and people love it, so let's recommend it to other real people. So real people are getting recommendations from the algorithm, hey, you might like this restaurant. And then real people are going, oh, I wanna go to this restaurant, this looks amazing, look at all the incredible reviews. And it's fake. And you can't even go there. That's example number one. Oh yeah, look at that. It's a bleach tablet. So let me share this. So you can look this up. You can just Google like fake restaurant or something like this. The article that came up was on vice.com but. ⁓ I made my shed the top rated restaurant on TripAdvisor. So what he had, he works for Vice now, I guess, but before he started working for vice.com, he had a job where restaurant owners were paying him 10 pounds, 10 British pounds ⁓ to write a positive review of their restaurant on TripAdvisor, despite never having eaten there. So was like, this is like fake. And so he became obsessed with monitoring the ratings of these businesses and their fortunes would generally turn and This was a catalyst. then he was like, TripAdvisor is this false reality, he thought. And so these meals never took place. The reviews were written by fake people like him. And so he was like, well, maybe I could just create a completely fake restaurant. He just decided to try it out. And so he took his shed, his shed in the backyard, and he built, made it the number one restaurant. And he called it the Shed at Dulwich. and ⁓ created this cool name and this was back in 2017. And ⁓ he got a burner phone, he created a phone number, built a website, bought a domain, and then he created some images that looked like delicacies. And what he used to create the images was ⁓ runny honey, ground black pepper, and Gillette shaving cream, and bleach tablets, and just made these photos that look kind of like food. See, Nevada actually looks pretty good. Right. And yeah, it's just got coffee beans. Like he just he made shaving cream, bleach tablet, cup of coffee beans on top with ⁓ with paint. Brown gloss paint. Yeah, that's supposed to be chocolate syrup. He just made fake images and. It's so ridiculous. So then he went and then he started creating reviews and getting reviews and then having photos from people. ⁓ Like he just climbed the ranks and then he actually started opening it up for reservations and started getting reservations for this. And then a bunch of people came and actually, and then he used like other companies to make the food. and brought it in and then fed it with the food and because their perception was this was a high end thing and a kind of a secret thing and it's hard to get into, people were like, this food's amazing. then they were giving him even better reviews about it and the food was just taken from other places that he had like kind of brought in. And so it got really, it was just super ridiculous. And so ⁓ he built this whole thing out. So that's that story. What was the other story you wanted to other one is what I just heard. I'm still struggling to understand what the flaw is here. don't know why this is illegal. Maybe someone can help me. ⁓ I don't remember what platform they used, ⁓ but a guy somewhere in the US used a lot of AI agents to create music. Real music. Yeah. But it was created by AI, not humans. And then what he did is he took the music and posted it to a platform. Now, I don't know if it was something like Spotify or Apple Music or whatever it is, but he used a platform, a similar platform. And instead of waiting for people, to hear the music and like the music and for it to grow. He went, huh, how can I speed this up? So what he did then is he created a bunch of AI bots to go and listen to the music that his other AI bots had created. That's where it's illegal. Because people play for licensing. rankings and listen to the songs and the albums 24 hours a day on repeat. multiple, multiple, multiple bots. So all of a sudden there's this fake music. Well, it's not even fake. It's real music. It's just created by AI. And then AI bots are listening to that music, which is pushing the rankings. Fake news or listenings, yes. Well, I mean, they're just bots. They're just not human listens. They're listens, right? But just AI's done. And these platforms pay you. for each listen. Spotify, Apple Music, paid out him because he's getting so many listens. Of course. I believe he's getting sued for $10 million. He stole $10 million in fake listens, basically. Right. had AI create the music, had AI listen to the music to then make real money. Now, I don't know, but I think he's getting sued for things like money laundering, which I don't... quite understand how that's money laundering because the platform is designed as such. So any platform, and this is my point in telling you these stories, any platform that is designed and built on attention, things like likes, comments, views, clicks, engagement, which is almost every social platform in... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40154855

DGS 329: The Power of Impossible Goals 02/24/2026

DGS 329: The Power of Impossible Goals When you set “realistic” goals for your property management business, you might actually be limiting your growth without even realizing it… In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull challenge entrepreneurs to think bigger, much bigger. Inspired by their experience flying a fighter jet and the concept of “impossible goals” from The Science of Scaling, they break down why realistic goals keep you stuck in current thinking, how unrealistic targets activate visionary leadership, and why 10X growth can actually be easier than incremental growth. They explain how impossible goals shift your brain from grinding harder to thinking differently, why realistic targets often become a yardstick to beat yourself up, and how visionary entrepreneurs use bold thinking to collapse time, find new pathways, and unlock opportunities that logic alone would never reveal. They also share how to handle naysayers, protect your vision, and use doubt as fuel instead of letting it shrink your ambition. If you’re ready to stop playing small, stop chasing “safe” growth, and start building something that transforms your market — this episode will challenge the way you think about goals, leadership, and what’s actually possible in your business. You’ll Learn (00:00) Introduction to DoorGrow and Unrealistic Goals (07:37) The Importance of Unrealistic Goals (15:54) Overcoming Doubts and Limitations (22:56) Visionary Thinking and Future Goals Quotables “I want to tell everybody to be unrealistic.” “You need to decide, I can do the things that I want to do.” “The slowest path to growth is to do it alone. So let's grow together.” Resources Transcript Jason & Sarah Hull (00:01) All right, five, four, three, two, one. All right, everybody, we are Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, so today's topic, Sarah wanted to talk about. I want to tell everybody to be unrealistic. We're going to talk about unrealistic goals. She wants you to be unrealistic. I do want you to be unrealistic. And I also want you to clear all of this off. OK. Yay. Happy. Yeah. Slightly. All right. All right. So one of the things that we got to do very recently is something that I never, never thought we would be able to do because it was seemingly unrealistic. And that was to fly a fighter jet. And by fly a fighter jet. Yes, it was a real fighter jet. It's an L39 Albatross. For those of you that are familiar, it was not typically equipped with fighter equipment. It was mostly used as a trainer. However, it can be armed and therefore is classified as a fighter jet. And yes, we actually got to fly it. We didn't just go in it and take a look and see. Both Jason and I, one at a time, of course, got to. fly a fighter jet and do some aerobatic maneuvers. Which was insanely fun. Right. So we took a trip to Australia and to visit my parents in Brisbane. And we saw a billboard that said, fly a fighter jet. And I was like, what? And Sarah's super into flying. So was like, hey, there's a thing. It says this. And she's like, what? I don't think so. And I'm like, yeah. So it turns out there's, guess, the person there that runs it told us there's three countries in the world that allow you to do this because normally you can't fly one of these planes or go in as a consumer to fly one of these planes because, you know, there's all these rules because it's then a commercial flight and a commercial flight. have all these legal requirements and things you can't in the U.S. They cannot. You cannot charter or pay for a chartered pay for a flight and then not have all these safety things in place. And this is not like, it's not the same, right? Like he's teaching us at the beginning how to eject. He's like, if we need to eject, this is what you need to do and like do this. And I'm like, what? And so there is not an ejection seat on it. There's no ejection seat. So what we'll do is we'll fly up really high and then you're going to. do this thing and do this and the canopy will fly off and then you gotta push off. then once you're in the air and you've then pulled this thing, if your parachute doesn't automatically deploy, you wanna grab this. And I'm like, if I don't remember all this, I die? Like what? Yeah. So. It's just two levers. Could you imagine if you're on. It's two levers to open the canopy and he's gonna fly and you don't have to jump. You're like, have to launch yourself. right, you don't have to launch yourself. You pretty much will just wait for the plane to fall out from under you while you float in parachute. Could you imagine you're like, get herded in like cattle into Southwest and you're like, you're on the Southwest bus, right? And you get your seat. Actually, they're going to have assigned seating now, I guess. But before I was just free for all. you're like, get in and you're like, and they're like, hey, by the way, here's how to. like find a parachute and here's what all the steps you need to do in case there's a problem. Do you have this down or you die? You ready? We're like, wait, what? Yeah. They're just like, here's a flotation device and your seat and like here's how to use your seatbelt and then breathe in this thing if you need to. And otherwise, like that's it. But yeah, like parachute down. Because on the airlines, it's like, if you survive the crash, then we'll tell you what to do after that. Don't worry about it. OK, so. Sorry. Yes. So no possible goal. It's very, very safe to fly on the airlines. is. it's it's consistently getting more and more safe. This is slightly different than flying on an airline. This was it was really cool. Super fun. He let us take the little joystick control and like. The little joystick control. What do you call it? What is it called? The little joystick control. It's between your legs and it's a joystick. Don't get any ideas. just called But you grab this thing and like, yeah, you take the stick. like, do you want to do it? He's like, all right. He guided me through doing, I got to do a barrel roll. Yep. And I got to do a loop. Yep. Which I call a loop-de-loop. Yeah. But I got to do a loop-de-loop. And it was really, it was crazy. Like I'm like doing, I'm like, and we got a video like on his DJI camera, like a GoPro, like the whole thing was recorded. So there's evidence that I did this. Right. But yeah, it pretty wild. was really wild that we could go do that. And apparently if you spend enough money and you're in the right country, you can do maybe anything. I don't know. There are certain places, upon further research. There are certain places in the US that will let you fly certain jets. And the Albatross is actually the most common out of the ones that you can fly in the US. The is finding someone that will allow you to fly it. that's a bit different. Yes. Like if you get to control it. Because, yes, exactly. Yeah. And sometimes ⁓ these are owned by private owners. So like if you know a guy and you go, hey, can you... Can you take me up? They might let you take the controls. might let you do it, you know, but there's also schools. I think there's one. Oh, I forgot where it's called, but it's called like Jet Trainer Center or something like that. The guy that runs it is Larry and they have an albatross is one of them, but I think they have like six different actual jets that you can fly and learn as well, which is really cool. But then there's schools. So it's not impossible in the US. It's just there's a few extra hurdles that you might need to cross. it's something though that I thought I would never ever get to do. Like when you look at these crazy jets, generally I don't think you look at it and go, yeah, I could fly that one day. We went to that air show. During any of that point, were you looking at those planes going, yeah, I could fly one of those. Yeah, I wonder what it would take to fly one of those. No, I was not thinking that. right, because you just don't usually think that it's possible. You think, oh, wow, those are probably owned and many of them are by museums. or by some sort of club that's funded to keep this thing airworthy and maintained and flying, they probably aren't going to let the public fly it. Okay. So why is it important to have unrealistic goals? Well, I think you should be very unrealistic in your goals because if you're realistic, if you go, okay, I just want to do things that I know that I can do. Then it almost takes the fun out of it, number one. And I think that's, for entrepreneurs, that's half the battle is, it fun? What was the journey like? Or was it something that you can just go, yeah, I did it, but everybody else can do it too. Where's the fun in that? Yeah, Cindy Lauper said girls just want to have fun. ⁓ So we had to make sure she had some fun. ⁓ Yeah, guys, we want to have some fun, too, right? So it was yeah, was super cool to be able to do that. I think the way I view this, I've been explaining the idea of unrealistic goals or impossible goals, ⁓ which we got the idea from Dr. Benjamin Hardy and his book, The Science of Scaling. And we got to hear him talk about this at a mastermind. The idea is that our. know, realistic goals are based on our current limited level of thinking. And so that means our brain already knows how to do it. And it usually is just do what you already know how to do. But because that's not enough, just do more, work harder. And that's not a great strategy or great path is to just work harder because that's not really exciting. That's not super. That's not fun. Like, hey, work, work, do what you're doing already, but work harder, which is less, more uncomfortable. just. More effort. Work 22 hours a day instead of 18. Yeah, yeah, more hours. And so Impossible Goals, our brain, I view as this magical like quantum computer. Like it can create whole realities instantly in our head while we're sleeping. And it can do all these amazing things. And our unconscious mind or subconscious can be working on problems and crunching and chewing on challenges and figuring stuff out and coming up with ideas. that bubble up to the surface. But if we focus on realistic goals, it shuts down. It doesn't have anything useful to do. It's going to figure out why is this so hard? Cool. Here's all your reasons. Let's just make it harder. And how do we avoid pain? Well, I'm going to convince you or cause you to have challenges in just even doing this because this sounds uncomfortable. It doesn't sound fun. So I'm going to give you all the excuses and BS stories and reasons to not do it. So our brain actually starts working against us. And so when we get in, so usually realistic goals become this yardstick by which we beat ourselves up with over the head, right? And we measure ourselves by it, but then it really just becomes a tool to beat ourselves up. Whereas when we shift into impossible goals or unrealistic thinking or unrealistic goals, it doesn't matter if we hit these goals. It just matters that we have this amazing new tool or resource to convince or get our brain to think differently and to come up with new pathways. And so our brain becomes this awesome tool to find new pathways or new ways of thinking. And it gets us to think differently. So even if we don't achieve the goal, we're far more likely to get good results because we're thinking outside of our current limitations or the current box. And so we use goals as a tool or we use time as a tool. We either shorten the timeline for the outcome to where it becomes impossible or unrealistic, or we just 10x or increase the goal amount or what. result we want to achieve in the timeline we had set. And so time becomes a tool or the goal becomes a tool and we find new pathways. We find new ways of doing this. And I've seen clients do this. I've seen this in reality. We've started doing this in our own business. And this is why we're able to innovate, come up with new ideas, because our brains are alive. This is where you actually shift as an entrepreneur into being a visionary entrepreneur. Because if you're focused on realistic goals, there's no vision. You already know what to do. You know it all. You already know what to do. And so you're not focused on anything different or anything new. There's no vision there. And the Bible says where there's no vision, the people perish, right? You got to some vision. That's leadership. So now you're a visionary, you're a leader. And visionaries and leaders throughout history have always had some sort of goal that everybody said, that's not going to work. That's impossible. Why are you trying so hard? Just focus on something realistic. And the cool thing about these impossible goals is even if you don't hit it, you're not going to beat yourself up. Like if your goal is a thousand doors in a year, but you hit 300, are you going to cry like a little baby? No, you're not going to cry. You're going to be like, Hey, this awesome. You're going to be excited. And so you're still like, I didn't hit the goal, but I won. But if you have a realistic goal and you're like, I want to get a hundred doors this year. then you're going to feel like garbage when you don't hit it. Cause you're like, it's so realistic. know I could have done it and I didn't do it. And then you start beating yourself up and I didn't do it this year, Jason. And I should have signed up with door grow and I just didn't do it. And I would have achieved my realistic goals or maybe some impossible ones. And you drop the ball. You messed up. You should have got with us and we could have helped you out. All right. You messed up. Isn't that from A.A. You done messed up A.A. Ron. Yeah. Okay. Key and peel. right. So here's how to not mess up your maintenance though in property management. OK. That was a segue to our sponsor. was. gave me like three of them and that's did we go with this? OK, cool. So ⁓ yes. So how do I turn that on? boy. All right. Right over here. Many clicks. wait. No, no. I got it. I got it. All right. So. Yeah, you made me close this. because you said it was in the way. Right on the screen. Because you got to like. right. All right. Here we go. Sponsored by this episode, sponsored by vendor. So many of you tell us that maintenance is probably the least enjoyable part of being a property manager and definitely the most time consuming. But what if you could cut that workload by up to 85 percent? That's exactly what vendor is achieve their leveraged cutting edge AI technology. Use that to handle nearly all your maintenance tasks from initiating work orders and troubleshooting to coordinating with vendors and reporting. This AI doesn't just automate, it becomes your ideal employee, learning your preferences and executing tasks flawlessly, never needing a day off, never quitting. This frees you up to focus on the critical tasks that really move the needle for your business, whether that's refining operations, expanding your portfolio, or even just taking a well-deserved break. Don't let maintenance drag you down. step up your property management game with Vendoroo. Visit vendoroo.ai ⁓ slash door grow today and make this the last maintenance hire you'll ever need. All right. It was a smooth transit, smooth operator. Cool. I'm leaving this up because I need the outro. Fine. No. Okay. I can't. Sorry. Well, I said no. all right. Cool. So here's what I was thinking originally, right? is... boy. I know. So when you start to think about the things that you want to do... You know when you have that half second where you just dream a little bit? Yeah. And it's almost like you get transported back in time where when you were a kid and people would ask you, what do you want to do when you grow up? And you can say anything. Yeah. And it doesn't matter what you say. You can say anything in the world. I'm going to be leader of the free world. I want to be an astronaut. President of the United States. you should be an astronaut. I wanna be a doctor that operates on, I wanna be a brain surgeon, right? And people go, yeah, you should do that. That's amazing. That's so great. We need to get back to more of that in adulthood though. So now it's like, hey, what do you wanna do with your business? And for some reason, instead of this outlandish, unrealistic, seemingly impossible, crazy thing where it's like, you know what? I wanna take over an entire state. or wanna dominate the entire market, or you know what? Actually, I think what I wanna do is I wanna get so big that I purchase all of my competitors and all of the slumlords properties and I turn them around. And then I completely eliminate bad property managers and slumlords in my market and I'm gonna do that. Man, that's exciting, but we don't allow ourselves to do that anymore as adults because we're so nervous about, but. Can I do that? And what will other people think about it? And will people believe that I can do that if I say this crazy thing? Do you think that it would have been crazy for me to tell people, hey, one day I'm gonna go fly a fighter jet? Yeah, people would have laughed at me. They would have been like, yeah, sure you are. Sure, okay, Sarah, sure. So here's my current goal. And it's not a new goal. It's on the list, but it's definitely staying on the list. My goal is to fly a Boeing 737 without being an airline pilot. You don't want to work for the airlines. So if I went to the airlines, it would be really easy. It's like, oh, okay. I mean, it's not that hard, right? Because you're choosing a path that you know is going to get you there. I don't want to work for the airlines, but I really want to fly a Boeing 737. So without working for the airlines, that seems pretty much impossible. And in fact, I have shared this online on social media and pilots, pilots are telling me that it's impossible. They're like, yeah, good luck. You'll never be able to do that unless you work for the airlines or you could go fly a simulator. Why don't you just be happy with the simulator? So when we share these crazy goals and people go, you can't do that. That's never gonna happen. Are you insane? Like, who do you think you are? That's my favorite one. I'm like, you don't even know who I am, right? Who do you think you are? You can't do that. I'm like, watch me. Watch me. Just watch. So for me, like that's fuel. For other people, it's so crushing. For other people, when people have this huge goal and they're like, ⁓ I'm so excited about this. I'm going to do this. And other people, nay, nay on that. And they go, no, no, no, you can't do that. Let's keep you down here. Let's keep you small. I don't know. You're dreaming too big. Like that's not, it's not going to happen for you. Sometimes that feels really crushing and it takes the wind right out of your sails. And then you go, you know what? Maybe they're right. I shouldn't even try. Okay. So you can either use it as fuel. If you're somebody like me who likes to prove people wrong. then that's great fuel. If that doesn't fuel you, then you... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40109495

DGS 328: Why Property Managers Miss Millions in Syndication Deals 02/23/2026

DGS 328: Why Property Managers Miss Millions in Syndication Deals When your corporate job feels “secure” until it suddenly isn’t, real estate can become the Plan B that turns into your best move… In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, DoorGrow founder Jason Hull sits down with John Casmon (multifamily syndicator, host of Multifamily Insights, and co-creator of the Midwest Real Estate Networking Summit) to break down how corporate professionals can transition into multifamily investing without becoming a stressed-out landlord. They dive into how John went from corporate bankruptcies to building a multifamily portfolio, what passive investors actually need to know before putting money into a deal, and why trust + clear expectations matter just as much as the numbers. Jason and John also unpack what this means for property managers: how to align with investor goals, why the best operators project calm control (even in chaos), where syndicators hang out, and how PMs can position themselves to win more multifamily doors. You’ll Learn (00:00) Transforming Property Management: An Introduction (00:59) John Casmon's Entrepreneurial Journey (02:56) Transitioning to Multifamily Investing (04:33) Understanding Investor Types and Property Management (05:48) The Role of Property Managers (07:49) Investor Control vs. Trust in Management (09:33) Challenges in Property Management (11:17) Aligning Goals with Property Managers (14:19) The Real Product of Property Management (17:14) Managing Investor Expectations (19:50) Syndication: A New Avenue for Property Managers (23:44) Legal Considerations in Syndication (26:41) Calmness in Chaos: The Key to Success (31:40) Partnering with Syndications (33:54 The Role of Property Management in Syndication (38:29) Finding Syndicators and Building Relationships (42:24) Understanding Passive Investment in Syndication (47:45) Identifying Your Investment Goals (51:54) Assessing Risk in Real Estate Investments (55:15) Choosing the Right Market for Investment (01:00:12) The Three C's of Raising Capital Quotables “The first C is confidence. Confidence comes from preparation.” “The investment itself, we got to go out there and execute. But that investor psyche is a completely different game.” “It is not your job to hope. Your job is to analyze the information in front of you and make an informed decision.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) All right, five, four, three, two, one. All right, I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. And for over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. So my guest today, I'm hanging out here with John Casman, a multifamily syndicator, host of the multifamily insights podcast and the co-creator of the Midwest real estate networking summit. And in today's episode, John's going to break down how corporate professionals can transition. into multifamily investing, how to find the best markets, how to raise capital effectively, and what separates successful operators from everyone else. John, welcome to the DoorGrowth Show. John Casmon (01:10) Yeah, Jason, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to be here. Love the intro, your intro, not my intro, ⁓ but excited to be here and share as much as we can on our journey to help all of your listeners reach their goals. Jason Hull (01:22) Cool. So John, ⁓ it's great to have you. I would love for people to hear about your entrepreneurial journey. How did you get to where you are now? And then we can get into your business. John Casmon (01:34) Well, the short answer is bankruptcy, right? I worked for a couple of different companies that went through bankruptcy and that really made me consider my other options. You know, I was at General Motors back in 2007, 2008, 2009 when we went through bankruptcy and I was there and I watched what that did to a lot of my peers. I one day in particular when we were going to have a lot of layoffs, I went to work as late as I could. But when I got there, I had a red message, a little red dial on your phone. for anybody who's worked in corporate and remember voicemails. So I had a red dot on my phone, picked it up, pushed the play button and my heart skipped a beat because I thought maybe I was getting to the can, right? And it was actually a colleague of mine who sat kind of kitty corner in front of me and he had been let go. He, you know, was diabetic. He didn't know I was going to pay for his medication. He just was venting in his voicemail. And I just remember feeling empathy for him, but also a sense of I just never wanted to be in that situation. So it made me really start to think about Plan B. Eventually I moved to Chicago, realized real estate was going to be that path and learned everything I could about investing. So it kind of took me down that pathway to say, you know what, I need a Plan B because no matter what you do, when you work in corporate America, you do not control your future. You know, there's politics, there's policy, there's a lot of different things involved that you do not control. And sometimes it does just come down to someone not liking you for whatever reason, or they think you're a threat. And I didn't want to spend the rest of my career navigating those issues. So I figured I had to take more into my own hands. Jason Hull (03:16) got it. And so you start taking things in your own hands and what was the result? John Casmon (03:20) Yes. So we landed on multifamily investing, started with small multifamily. My first investment was a two unit building. We house hacked it, which is a common popular phrase now. But back then it wasn't quite as common. But we lived upstairs. We rented out the first floor unit and it worked great. You know, it worked so great that we went to refinance and we had created enough equity in that first investment to pull out a six figure line of credit and go out and buy another property. So. Jason Hull (03:45) Nice. John Casmon (03:47) That really got the ball rolling. bought a three unit building, we bought an eight unit building, and at this time I'm still working in advertising, still working in corporate America, and I enjoyed what I was doing, and I just had my second child, but the agency I was working for also went through bankruptcy right at this time. We had expanded, we were growing, and we had kind of combined with a few other agencies and kind of became this little conglomerate, and it just eroded just as quickly as it grew. I remember again, just sitting there and I've got some real estate. I've got a little bit of cashflow, but not enough to pay all my bills. New baby. And I just realized this real estate thing is working, but the exact strategy I'm employing doesn't allow me to insulate myself from these economic changes and shifts. So I had to change my strategy and that led me to syndication. Since then, we've acquired over $150 million worth of apartments. We've partnered with busy professionals to buy these properties and give them some passive income. And that's what we've been doing ever since. Jason Hull (04:50) Got it. So your area of genius really is helping these people that were similar to you, they're in the corporate environment transition into being an investor in real estate. John Casmon (05:01) Yeah, exactly. And I would say too, it doesn't have to be you're going to quit your job and do this full time. And in fact, most people don't, you know, but most people do want a little bit more control over their life. You want a little bit more flexibility. You want to earn and start building up, you know, your net worth. You want to have a little bit more liquidity. You have to look at your investments to say, what should you be doing? I think most people know that their 401k, their, you know, company issued life insurance. probably not enough to really get you on the fast track to retirement. So what else could you do? Certainly you can invest in the stock market. Lots of folks do that. But real estate is a proven vehicle. The challenge is, I don't know anyone who really wants to be a landlord, right? ⁓ Certainly you want the benefits of real estate investing, but very few of us want to get those 2 a.m. phone calls. So the shortcut there is, ⁓ hire a property manager. Great solution. But now you have to be able to manage property managers, right, which is this whole other business. And if you don't have enough scale, then it's hard to get that person really focused on your business. So we offer an alternative, right? You get all the benefits of real estate investing, all the ownership perks without any of the headaches of being the landlord yourself. So it really is a great marriage of being in real estate without having to do the heavy lifting yourself. Jason Hull (06:15) Okay. Okay, so ⁓ the target audience of this show are property managers. So if they're not gonna use property managers, then what's the alternative? How does this work? John Casmon (06:29) Well, first of all, what we do is not always for that individual. So I think that's the key, right? You've got to understand who you are from a psychological standpoint. So when it comes to investors, there's two types of investors. One wants control, right? They're not willing to be passive. And some people think they want to be passive until they're in a passive situation and then they're calling and they want to know why you did this and why you did that and how come you did do that. That's not a passive investor. And that's fun. Jason Hull (06:45) Yeah. Yeah, they're anxious. Yeah. Yeah. John Casmon (06:58) And if that's you, you should be active, right? And you should work with a property manager, but you also want to work with the property manager who is going to be right for you, right? Because sometimes that is not how they operate. So you want to understand that. And that's a process to understand who you are as an investor, what kind of investment strategy fits you and what's going to be right there. When it comes to property managers, though, I think there are a couple of things. And as a matter of fact, we just left out of meeting with property management company yesterday. They have 2000 units. We talked about some other services that we offer. And one of things that stood out to me was just understanding some of the challenges that property managers face. And one of them is property managers are really in a position to think like everyone. They're supposed to think like an investor. They're supposed to understand maintenance and kind of the construction arm enough to understand what needs to happen at a property. But they are really little CEOs, right? Because for Our stuff, the large apartment stuff, those are typically million dollar annual revenue businesses. And this person is in charge of that asset of that business. They are making the day to day decisions. They are the face for the residents, aka the customers of that business. They are the face and their experience with that individual is how they view that business. So it really is an important role. And if you're working with property managers, it's really important to understand how to find the right people. to connect with them and have them represent your business, your brand, company in the right light. Jason Hull (08:30) So now you left an open loop that I want to close. So you said there's two types of investors, those that want control and maybe should go find a property manager, you said. And then what's the other type? John Casmon (08:34) Yeah. The other type is those who don't want control and they trust someone else to handle that. And for them, there are a couple of different ways of investing. One is investing passively with a group like ours. The other is turnkey investing where again, you hire a property manager, but you really entrust them to manage the property. The only thing I would say for either one of those groups, myself included, is you want to trust but verify. Okay. You've got to do a lot of your due diligence upfront. You want to understand how they operate. You want to talk to some of their other clients, some of their other investors, because you need to get a really good sense of what to expect. And a lot of people are great at selling themselves upfront, right? I can tell you everything you want to hear upfront. You want to know what is it like once you sign the paperwork? How often are we going to talk? How frequently am I going to get updates? And at what point am I able to weigh in and make decisions? Because if, if you are someone who wants to be more active or be heard, or you've got thoughts and opinions, Jason Hull (09:18) yeah. John Casmon (09:35) You want to make sure you have a voice in your investment. Otherwise you may get really disappointed or you may bring on someone who has a different perspective of what that relationship looks like and that never is going to work out. Jason Hull (09:47) Yeah, there's a big challenge in the industry and that's that most property management companies suck. so most investors that have dealt with property management to some degree are they have some scar tissue, they've been burned a little bit. They've a lot of property managers that started their businesses that come to me for help to grow their business. They started because they were investor and they couldn't find anyone else to manage the property good enough. And that's why they started their business, but it can be a difficult business to run. so none of them start their business saying, I want to suck. But that's kind of the default unless they get some really good support or figure some things out through a lot of trial and error. And so that's where DoorGrow comes in. We help them with that. But one of the things I coach my clients on a lot is that they need to shift into being daddy over these rental properties. They need to like tell the owner, hey, you need to trust me. And they need to be able to have a really effective business so that they can lean into that trust. because a lot of people are anxious. They'll come to them with concerns, but generally if a property manager is good, they're much better at this investing stuff than most investors. And they're much better at coordinating maintenance. They're much better at handling leasing. And so when an owner tries to micromanage a property manager, it kind of doesn't make sense to hire somebody to manage your asset just so you can manage them to do the job. And so I think the secret is finding a really good property manager that you can let go of control because you can trust them. And but yes, you need to verify that they can do the job that you need them to do. And so a good property manager will take ownership of it and they'll take control and they will, they'll display a lot of certainty and confidence in how they communicate and they won't allow you to micromanage them is what I've seen. So. John Casmon (11:37) Yeah, Jason, and I'll add to it. There's a two way street there. And I think it's easy for people to say, ⁓ most property managers suck or they're not good or whatever. And listen, there's certainly a lot of challenges there. A lot of folks who are not living up to par to the standards. But I will go back to this. We ask property managers to do the work of generally like a CEO. Right. I mean, again, they're managing million dollar businesses in many cases, yet they don't have that training. They don't have that experience. They don't have the ability to navigate. all of these various things. So part of what owners and investors need to also understand is that you play the role of asset manager. And that means giving clear direction of what success looks like so that that property manager has a framework to make decisions. It's not to micromanage those decisions, but to help them understand how their decisions impact the greater good. And part of that is like, again, just sitting down with annual goals. What are revenue goals? What are our goals on? Occupancy, what are our goals on in a lot? And this may seem simple, but I promise you a lot of folks don't do this. And if you don't do that, then that property manager is going to default to, for instance, I'll give you a great example. I've got a property manager. She's awesome rock star. But she always gets nervous when occupancy is not at like 96 or 97 percent of this property. So she is, you she starts apologizing profusely and all I did this or done that and like. Jason Hull (12:58) Yeah. John Casmon (13:04) Occupancy is one of our KPIs for sure. It's important, but that is not the KPI. I am focused on my net operating income. And if we're going to push rents, the impact of that is you're going to have higher vacancy and she is not comfortable with that. And that's probably because she's used to working with owners who want that thing fully rented and they are comfortable having 100 % occupancy. Jason Hull (13:13) Yeah. Hmm. Yeah. John Casmon (13:33) if they're leaving 50 bucks, 75 bucks, whatever it is of rent on the table. And that's the part where you've got to really align with your vision versus their vision, because what they have in the back of their mind may not completely align with what you have. Or they have residents in their face who are coming into the office. They want something fixed. They want it done quickly. They want it done right. They want it done yesterday. Jason Hull (13:49) Right. . John Casmon (13:59) So they've got that pressure of this person in their face. So they may go out there and spend the money or authorize the money to get spent. And maybe they're not picking the most cost effective measure. So you have that. And I'll give you one third one. A lot of times when you run into the flip side of that is maybe occupancy is low. They say, hey, we need to increase our marketing spend, right? We got to increase our marketing budget. know, ox is down to 88 or 90%. We got to spend more money. And we're not necessarily. really zeroing in on what the specific issue or challenge is at that property. So for an owner, your job as an asset manager is to partner with them and to help them see what the options are, help them work through with some of those challenges and solutions are and partner with them to find success. It's not to micromanage them and tell them what to do, but it's really to understand the situation better and give them that perspective. Jason Hull (14:49) Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. think, you know, one of the things I've seen is that I've noticed a lot of property managers, they make the mistake of thinking that the goal or the product that people want to buy from them is property management. But investors don't wake up in the morning and go, man, I'm so excited to get property management today. The thing that they want. And so the way I describe it to them as they say, property management is like the flight to Hawaii. It's not Hawaii. and you're trying to sell the flight. That's not the... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40109185

DGS 327: AI, Survival & Property Management’s Future 02/17/2026

DGS 327: AI, Survival & Property Management’s Future As property management faces rapid technological disruption, what happens to the businesses that refuse to adapt… or the ones that go all-in on AI and eliminate the human element entirely? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, Jason and Sarah Hull sit down with Joe Oliveri in Brisbane, Australia to unpack the accelerating AI revolution and what it means for the future of property management. With over 30 years in the industry and 16 years as an international real estate business coach, Joe shares why he believes the next three years will determine which companies survive, and which disappear. They explore the shift from traditional property manager roles to data-driven client relationship managers, how AI can transform processes like lease renewals, the risks of deepfakes and security threats, and why the winning formula will be a strategic blend of technology and human connection. You’ll Learn (00:00) Introduction to AI in Property Management (00:40) The Evolution of Property Management (01:58) The Impact of AI on Property Management (05:35) Integrating AI with Human Interaction (10:30) AI's Role in Tenant Management (14:17) The Need for Verification in AI (16:30) The Future of AI in Property Management (21:44) Consequences of Ignoring AI (25:43) Finding Balance: AI and Human Roles Growth Quotables “If this industry does not change and truly understand AI, we're going to be irrelevant.” “Three years is all we've got to make the changes.” “AI isn’t something that they can go back to their office and say, we’re going to build this AI. Let the experts do it.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) that companies will need to be able to make to keep up and really frankly, survive. It's recording. We can time up. Shifts in layout. Let's count. All right. You think it's going to work there or should we hold that? Well, we'll probably have to do this. All right. Cool. No introduction. Well, no. Just do it. I'm saying not the full intro that you normally do the way you read the entire thing. Just do a quick. You're not going to have all that when we're going to send it. OK. Do an intro, but you're not going to do the normal intro. All right. Put those somewhere. Hang them on your shirt or do something. Okay. That's very Brisbane. Well you have to fit in. When in Brisbane, do like Brisbane. Right, so we are... It wasn't pretty. Okay. Five, four, three, two... If you can see the camera, it can see you. Can you see the camera? can. You don't... can. Okay. Alright, you ready? Five, four, three, two, one. Alright, so I'm Jason Hull. This is Sarah Hull with DoorGrow and we are Hangout with Joe Oliveri. And we're in Brisbane. Brizzy. Brizzy, yeah. And you can't see but we're overlooking the beautiful city and the river right now. And what is this, a wine room? Yeah, this is our wine cellar. Private wine cellar. Private wine cellar. Okay. And so we're going to be chatting today about AI, the future, and how that's going to impact and affect property management. So, Jill, why don't you give people a little bit of background on yourself and who you are and how you got into property management. Yeah well that's a long story but I'll make it short. So I've been in the industry for about 30 years now so it makes me feel old when I say that. ⁓ But for the last 16 years I've been a real estate business coach and I've been lucky enough to coach people in Australia and the USA so I get a really good oversight of what's going on in the world. ⁓ But you know my focus for the last 16 years has been where is this industry going and how can we help businesses to get there and what do need to do? So basically, yeah, for the last 30 years, I've been doing property management and yeah, I think it's exciting where it's heading and through that journey, I met you guys, which is wonderful. So yeah, yeah. Yeah, fantastic. We've been able to have you out at one of our conference events and have you speak and yeah, it's been delightful. ⁓ I know, I mean, in 30 years, you've seen a lot of changes, but it's speeding up. Like we're in the middle of this AI revolution right now. Everything's changing dramatically. And so what are some of the things that you're noticing? And you have a process software called Thrusos, which we use to run our own operational side of our business. ⁓ What are some of the things that you are right now? thinking are going to happen and you're trying to figure out. Yeah, well, I'm actually concerned about the future for property management in a positive way. If you can kind of like say that. Because what I'm seeing is we are going through rapid change. I remember when I started in the industry 30 years ago, we were just introducing property management software. Everyone was still using spreadsheets and you know. paper documents and all sorts of things. ⁓ Carbon copy leases, know, that's how far back we go. And there was major pushback on property management software. And the pushback probably took about five years for the industry to completely transition to understanding you had to use software. Well, we don't have the luxury of five years anymore because my belief is it's changing so rapidly. And it's the consumer expectations that are going to force change that if this industry does not change and truly understand AI, we're going to be irrelevant. So I believe in three years time, we're going to see completely different roles in the way that we do things. in the next, like leading up to that three years, I believe that in the first year, we're going to see probably about 40 % of businesses starting to struggle and disappear. They're losing managements, clients are going elsewhere because they're expecting AI and seamless processes and interactions and tasking. And then that will speed up. And by the second year, we'll see 80%. And then we'll only have a small percentages. I know this seems like doomsday, but it's a reality. Only a small percentage of existing businesses that are around today who will be around in three years time. If they do not adopt AI and AI is very broad. So they've got to understand AI, but you know, that's my belief. That's what I'm seeing as well. So yeah, you know, we've got to sit up and take notice. Yeah. And I think a lot of the things that I've been noticing, some people kind of shift right away and some people are a little bit more reluctant to shift. Yes. And I think the ones that it's almost you need to find the balance. You don't want to go all in and all AI and you don't want to have no AI. You want to kind of find the right balance and that happy medium and really figure out what is the best way to utilize AI. and have a human component. Because I do not believe it will be able to be all AI. I just, think when it really comes down to it, it is a relationship business. It's a human to human contact business. really when things go wrong, humans want to talk with other humans who understand. They don't want, have you ever been on the phone and you're going, agent, agent, representative, and it's not. understanding and you're like, just get me to the human. do I, what button do I need to push? What option is it that I the human? And I think that will continue, that will prevail. However, AI is such a powerful tool that I think we just need to figure out what's the most complimentary way that the humans and the AI can interact together to provide an amazing experience so that the tenants are happy and the clients are happy and the property management business is happy. really be able to figure out what's the best way to do this. And something that you were telling me yesterday, I went, ⁓ she is so smart for doing that. Can you talk a bit about your, ⁓ tell us first about Flusos and what it is and how it works. And then tell me what you were chatting with me about at dinner last night about what you're going in and updating in Flusos because of all of the advancements in AI that are happening. Yeah, yeah, so you're 100 % right Sarah, you know, there will always be the human element. It's necessary. We're a service business. So people want the customer relationships. They want that person who lets them know, hey, this is all right. You know, we're going well here. But the role of the property manager has changed. There will always be a role for property managers, but not in the way that we see it today. And that's where we've got to make that transition. But one of the simplest flows to talk about, when I talk about flows, Flusos is workflows on all of the various tasks that we do. To help people understand how AI integrates with the human side of property management is if we look at a tenancy renewal. So when we're doing that renewal, there's so much that AI can do that takes away that you know, that personal kind of like input ⁓ into the task as in like if a property manager doesn't like a tenant, then you know, like it becomes personal. ⁓ If they do like the tenant and they've built this relationship with the tenant, where the tenant is making them feel like if the rent goes up, that the tenant will lose the home, the property manager gets too involved personally and emotionally. So to take away that very personal and emotional element and deal in the facts, if we look at, you know, a tenant renewal, AI has the ability, and this is what we're building into Flusos. So AI has the ability to go through and say, these renewals are due. It will then look at the tenant history to say, you know, how's the tenant pay the rent on time? Let's look at the in-resident inspections that we've done and we can see that the tenants looking after the property, abiding by the terms and conditions. Everything's going great. We can see in the system where the tenant has, you know, kind of like mentioned that they would like to renew, that their children go to the local school and they want to stay there through the primary. We've got all of this data that's built up. So AI will be able to go in and say, yeah, you know, like this tenant has mentioned they want to stay on. We look at their history. It's all good. We're also going to look at the market. And the market is determining that we can increase the rent to this much or it stays, it remains as it is. And we should offer a lease term of this length because AI will be able to determine what's going on in that marketplace. There could be infrastructure rebuilds going on, which could push people away from moving there. You know, just because we've got infrastructure being built, there is a building period that turns people off. So AI can look at all of that and then say, okay, this is what we should offer the tenant. Now, the property manager then looks at that and they can say, well, you know, this owner has this property as a ⁓ full-time ⁓ or permanent investment property, but we need to talk to them and say, hey, as an investment property, this is where we recommend that you, you know, take the property, increase the rent, offer renewal because of this. ⁓ And then the owner can make a decision. Now AI jumps in, does all the lease renewals, sends off the documents, updates the system. And the property manager's next role is talking to the owner and saying, congratulations, the tenants have signed the renewal. AI has then given them updates on your property is now achieving this in comparison to market. This is what the increase means to you in terms of dollars and percentage. And we become that voice of, you know, like ⁓ reason and congratulations and service. And the owners look to us for that because all the information that's given to them is not based on personal, ⁓ you know, thoughts on what's going on or emotion. So, yeah. And it makes it seem either that's the thing. No, I guess not. Oh, I think they're building over there. So maybe it'll be good and yet they're supposed to build a new stadium and that'll bring in. It's really figuring out things that we just don't know what the impact will truly be. And I love that it's kind of like, OK, have the human monitor the AI and have the AI do the heavy lifting. and then you kind of watch it, make sure it's doing the right thing, and then you get to be the human to human connection. Exactly. Let me be the one who calls the owner, but AI has done all the things for me, so it's kind of prepped it, gotten it ready, wrapped it up in a pretty package that now I can present to the owner, and I get to be almost a bearer of good news instead of the bearer of bad news. Exactly, exactly. And know, owners don't want to hear that you should renew the lease because they're a good tenant. Well, what constitutes a good tenant? They have to pay their rent on time. They have to look after the property. They have to look after the garden. So they've got to abide by the terms and conditions. It doesn't mean they're a good tenant. So owners don't want to hear that. The owners want to hear that they've abided by the terms and conditions. So we see no reason why they shouldn't be offered a renewal. I think one of the interesting challenges that are that's going to come with AI is that AI can make anything now. I can take a photo of you, I could use AI to make you say stuff and match your voice. And so the danger with AI is that I think we're gonna get to the point where people will only trust human in-person interactions to begin things or to end things or just, you know. And so there's gonna have to be this human element of verification unless there'll probably be some people that work this out. like some sort of verification system. You can load it up on your phone and verify that this is a real thing that you're talking to on Zoom or something. you know, that with all the AI slop as they're calling it and all of the fake videos and it's now becoming nobody believes anything. And so it's hard to know, is this really true? Is this actually the property manager that I'm talking to that is, you know, that I have this property and I'm the owner and you know, are they real? And so, am I giving them access? And so I think there's gonna need to be some sort of verification system in order for people to trust because people will trust, I think it'll get to the point where we'll just trust this. Like I can shake your hand, I can touch you, I you're real. I mean, we might all be fake on the I you don't know we just took a photo and write the whole podcast and do it and yes But they're really in Ulston That's right. Yeah There's been so much that's happened with deep fakes there've been yeah millions of dollars scammed and Now there's it it's getting so aggressive that it's recommended that if you are a human that recommends or that interacts regularly with another human, like you and your husband, for example, or you and your children, that you have a a safe word, a password, a verbal safe where if you get a phone call from what looks like and sounds like your daughter saying, mom, I'm stuck on the side of the road, please send me money, I need help, what's the word? What's the word? And then you know if that word isn't said, that is not my daughter even though it looks like it sounds like it. And I think that's going to be something that we need to kind of incorporate as well and for that reason I agree. I think that in-person, personal relationship will be more important than ever. Yes, I agree with that and this is something that's interesting you bring that up because I always had a safe word with my children. It was given. ⁓ It's something that I think property managers take for granted. They call owners and tenants and talk about all sorts of things without any sort of security check. So, you know, like if we're talking to the banks or, you know, anyone, we get a telecode or we've got to like key in what our personal sort of verification. Exactly. So I think that's another area, and I'm glad you brought that up because it's another area where industry has to step up. We've got to protect the data that we've got. We've got a lot of sensitive data there. So we've got to really look after that. But there will always be that human element in property management because people want to know that they're making the right decision. People want to chat about it. They want to go through and say, based on that data, would I be wrong in increasing the rent? It's like, no, a property manager is like, that's what the market is determining. So if the market determines a rental increase, then that's what the market is saying. Holding back rent only impacts every other investor in that market. I think it'll be interesting. So I think moving forward in the future, if we start to leverage AI, but we build our processes around things. you know, initiated in a way that it starts with a human and that sensitive touch points are done as a human and that we come up with our own verification methods, we're going to avoid some of these traps and our processes will have a longer life span. Yes, yes. You know, we won't have to, man, we have to change everything now with the, all these scammers are doing this one thing where they call up and pretend that they're you, you know. And so, yeah, because you can go on 11 Labs right now. You can upload your little recording of your voice and then you can have your voice and you can have it say anything. so, yeah, so I think that's going to be a challenge. And I think we're going to have to figure out a way to how do you how do you on a Zoom call with a remote owner that's out of state or out of country verify that each of you are an actual real physical human being. Somebody needs to invent that device that verifies it's like taking a blood sample. It's like they're human and it's it's like, this is the, this is actually Joe I'm talking to across the pond. So yeah. Okay. Yeah, it is important. And I think the other thing for the industry to understand is that, you know, AI isn't something that they can go back to their office and say, we're going to build this AI. ⁓ Let the experts do it. Let the experts who understand process and know, Sarah is a real expert on process and to have that level of expertise, it takes a lot of knowledge and a lot of like building and rebuilding and understanding and it's tweaked, you know, for different companies. But you know, like they shouldn't be taking this on themselves. Let the experts do it. And when we talk about, you know, our tech. We need tech stacks and there is a lot of different technology out there that we've got to build it all in together. Property managers can't do that. A lot of business leaders can't do it either. know, have faith in the experts. That's what I'm saying to the industry is have faith in the experts because, you know, they are doing a lot of work behind the scenes on making sure that AI is not a negative. impact to the industry is only making our industry sustainable and relevant into the future. mean that's going to be one of the temptations and dangers is that anyone can now go create any software. can load up lovable or any of these other tools and they can say make me a CRM or make me a property management software. But yeah the problem is you then have to become some sort of expert that's constantly communicating, fixing bugs, tweaking it, figuring it out. And if you can't or something breaks or something gets hacked, then you're at risk. Your whole business is now at risk. And yeah, so I think that, but in the future, everybody will be able to create anything. So I think the people that really thrive and survive... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40108775

DGS 326: The Three Key Ingredients for BDM Success 02/16/2026

DGS 326: The Three Key Ingredients for BDM Success When you’re trying to grow your property management business, perfection can feel like the standard… but what if chasing “perfect” is actually what’s slowing you down? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull unpack the hidden cost of perfectionism in business. They break down why striving for 100% accuracy in tools, systems, or team members leads to frustration, stalled growth, and constant “shiny object” switching. You’ll learn how to evaluate mistakes the right way, when to keep a system versus scrap it, and why imperfect action often scales faster than polished hesitation. They also dive into the six core functions of a healthy business, the danger of over-optimizing the wrong areas, and how to free up your time so you can focus on what actually moves the needle. You’ll Learn (00:00) Introduction to DoorGrow and Perfectionism (05:24) Optimizing Business Processes Without Perfection (11:07) Scaling Beyond Personal Limitations Quotables “Perfect businesses are out of business.” “There is nothing in this world that is going to get 100% accuracy 100% of the time.” “Perfectionism is usually born out of an insecurity and discomfort in ourself and we have to get comfortable with things not being perfect in order to scale a business.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) All right, five, four, three, two, one. We are Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry. eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. All right. So what are we chatting about today, Sarah? Perfection. Perfection. So this is a big challenge in business is that especially for early stage entrepreneurs, they want everything to be perfect. They judge, we judge ourselves so harshly. We're so worried. We have imposter syndrome and where we feel like people are gonna figure out that we don't know everything and that we may not know something they know. There's all these early stage entrepreneur concerns that a lot of people go through. so they have this fear that I need to make sure everything is perfect. And perfectionism can cause some serious problems. And this is a temptation, I think, for most every entrepreneur that I've ever coached or dealt with. to some degree. So let's talk about this. All So the issue that had come up was just last week on a coaching call with a client and she was saying that, you know, hey, I have this tool that does a specific job and it's pretty good, but it's not 100%. Okay. And it was, she was frustrated that it wasn't 100 % perfect. All right. Right. And she said, because it's not like sometimes it will miss little things or I think it called a client or a tenant called a tenant by the wrong name. Right. So it might miss little things here and there. she said, you know, I I'm not doing it, but I'm having my team member just kind of watch over things. And so she said, and I'm looking for an alternative because I just don't feel like that's going to be the solution. It's just not where I want it to be yet. So I said, I totally understand where you're coming from with it. ⁓ My bet, my best advice on it is not to try to strive for perfection because truthfully, it really doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't matter if it's a tool. a system, a process, a software, a team member, or ourselves that's doing a particular thing, there is nothing on this world that is going to get 100 % accuracy 100 % of the time. So if that's what we're striving for, we're going to be let down at some point, and we're going to consistently feel frustrated. And then we're to jump from thing to thing or person to person looking. for this magic solution that does 100 % all the time. And it's just, it's not possible. If you ask yourself, have I ever made a Sure. Who hasn't? What technology hasn't messed up from time to time? What computer hasn't messed up from time to time? What even AI sometimes you'll ask it a question and it gives you answers that you know are not correct. And then you have to correct it. And then it goes, I'm so sorry. You're right. Here's now the correct information. first time it gave you incorrect information. Right? So if we're striving for, no, this thing in order for me to use it has to be perfect all of the time, otherwise it's not worth it. And now I have to go look for something else. That puts us in this loop of consistently we'll forever be searching. will forever be searching for something to be perfect. My rule is if, If you're using some sort of system, whether it's a tool or a software or AI, if it makes a mistake, and it will. So when it makes a mistake. If the same thing was done by a human, would this be an immediately fireable offense? Yeah. If a human made the same mistake that the system or tool or AI did, would you go, I immediately have to fire this person? Most times the answer is no. And if the answer is no, then why would you be looking to immediately be getting rid of that tool or stop using that AI or stop using that software? Right? So a lot of times what I've noticed is we have a lot of grace when it comes to humans and we have very little when it comes to technology, including AI. Yeah. We've almost none. We expect perfection all the time. You're a supercomputer. You should know everything all the time and never make a mistake. And that is fantastic in theory. But in practicality, it's probably just not realistic, even if it is a supercomputer and it's infinitely more intelligent, even than we are, it's still going to make mistakes sometimes. So if a human made this mistake, if you would look at that and go, yes, I immediately need to fire this person, then you're probably on the right track by getting rid of that tool or system. But if a... human made this same mistake and you would just chalk it up to, hey, they need more support or hey, they need more training or hey, you these things happen from time to time. It's not a great situation, but I'm not gonna fire them over it. Then I also don't feel like it's worth scrapping the tool for the same reason. Okay, yeah, I agree. So I think ⁓ perfectionism is a big challenge. So one of my mentors, Alex Sharfin, shout out to Alex. said, he used to say perfect businesses are out of business. And I think one of his mentors told him that. So the idea is when you are trying to make your business perfect, you aren't focused on a lot of times the right things. ⁓ One of the books he recommended to me, a great book, it's called The Goal by Elihu Goldratt. And in this book, it talks about how if you optimize each thing in the business, the business actually becomes less efficient. So he uses this story uses an example of like a factory and there's different stages in this process. Just like in any business, there's different stages. And if you over optimize one particular stage that leads into another, the challenge is it creates inventory or it creates like more work or it creates excess. And so everything needs to be moving in concert towards the goal. And anything that's not moving the entire business towards the main goal. can actually become a distraction. So it's very easy for operators in business to over optimize a piece or to spend too much time on something or to put too much attention on making the perfect onboarding process or the perfect system. And it actually makes you less money. It like brings you less client retention. It brings you more headaches and more problems. It makes you need more staff. And so we have to be really careful about optimizing or making everything perfect. Elon Musk talks about how one of the biggest mistakes made in business is optimizing for the wrong things. And so we need to make sure we're optimizing towards what the actual goals are. And a lot of times also clients get our clients that we coach, they get so focused on making sure their clients have such an amazing experience while neglecting the lead gen and the growth of their own business, which is the lifeblood. So it's like, I want to take care of everybody that is paying me, but I don't really care about taking care of myself and my family, and paying myself is what it kind of plays out to be. And so this is why we look at things through the lens of what I call the six core functions. Lead gen, nurture, conversion, delivery, lifetime value, and financials. And so these are like six little kids you gotta take care of in the business. And a lot of business owners focus on one that is their favorite darling child. and make sure that they're fat and happy, and then they have at least one or two that are starving in the corner that they're neglecting. They're like, And usually, lead gen is the one that's being neglected. find, and delivery, taking care of the client's experience, delivering the product is the fat one. And so this means you're being a bad steward in your own business. You're not making healthy decisions. And here's the thing we teach when we have our clients rate these on a scale of one to five, five being best, each of these six children, these functions in the business, ⁓ it's impossible for all six to be a five at the same time. That's impossible. Perfection is impossible because if you ramp up lead gen and nurture and ⁓ conversion, sales are those three. Sales is ramping up. Now you have constraints and now you need to hire more people, build out your team. And once you build out your team, you have more expenses, then you need more leads. It's a constant juggle of figuring out which one needs the attention right now. But you're always leveling up, it's impossible for them all to be perfect at the same time. Because it's always relative to your current progress. Like our versions of a five now are very different than my versions of a five in previous history. Like our ones now, nowadays, Indoor Grow, when we rate things, I would have dreamed of having as, it would have been fives for me in the past in terms of how much money we make, leads, like, et cetera. And so, yeah, like early Jason entrepreneur wouldn't have even have dreamed of having a business as big as this is and being able to live the lifestyle that we live. And so, ⁓ that's important to take note of as well when looking at this that. Perfectionism is usually born out of an insecurity and discomfort in ourself and we have to get comfortable with things not being perfect in order to scale a business. Speaking of being able to scale the business, let's have a word from our sponsor. Yeah, let's share. Okay. So our sponsor today is Cover Pest. So Cover Pest, they are the easy and seamless way to add on-demand pest control to your resident benefit package. So residents love the simplicity of submitting a service request and how affordable it is compared to traditional pest control options. Investors love knowing that their property is kept pest free. and property managers love getting their time back and making more revenue per door. Simply put, CoverPest is the easiest way to handle pest control issues at all of your properties. To learn more and to get special door grow pricing, visit coverpest.com slash door grow. Okay. That's our sponsor. All right. Thank you, CoverPest. So, yeah. So when it comes to perfectionism, How do you get clients past that? What do usually tell them? So I have a rule that if there is some sort of software... member that can do a particular thing so that I don't have to be the one who's doing it. If they can do it even, even like 60 or 70 percent as good as I can do it, ⁓ I'm going to make that trade every day of the week. Why? Because at some point if you're trying, if you're holding on to no I will never settle for 60 percent, that is unacceptable, then you very quickly will hit a limit to where you can scale. and you will no longer be able to grow. Yeah, you hit a limit in your capacity because you only everybody has a limited of what we call the five currencies, time, energy, focus, cash and effort. That's what you have to invest. And your most important or valuable resource, I believe, is time. That's your life. Like you're going to die. And so you're giving away chunks of your life and. You know, if you're going to give away chunks of your life, it might as well be towards things you actually enjoy doing in the business and not holding on to all these things you think you have to do because your ego says you're the best and nobody else can do it better. Let me tell you this. This is the humbling thing I learned is that if you don't love doing those particular things in the business, there is always somebody that can do it better than you. Because if you don't love doing it, somebody else would and they would easily surpass your level of expertise in that. and your ability to perform in that and show up consistently well in that. And so you gotta find the people. Another thing early stage entrepreneurs don't understand that I didn't early on is they don't understand that there's somebody out there that loves doing everything that you hate doing. The big mistake we make in the beginning is we think we need to find a clone of ourselves. I just need to clone myself. I call it the clone myth. The reality is it takes about 10 or 12 people to clone you. So just find, you just got to find specialists, experts, and they will be better at these things than you. And you can stick to the stuff you love. Cool. if they're not better at it than you are, if it can still be done well enough that you won't lose business over it, that is a trade that I would make every day of the week. So I might do something and have amazing results and someone else might duplicate. Let's just say sales. Let's say that I can close nine out of 10 deals. but I really don't like doing sales. And I'm doing it because I have to do it because I want to grow the business, but I don't actually really enjoy doing it. And then I can find someone who I can have do this for me, but maybe they only close six or seven out of 10. Well, easy math will tell you, hey, I'm going to be closing less deals. That's not a good trade. But really it is because you're getting somebody who's doing a decent enough job. so that you're not losing business, you're not costing yourself anything crazy, it's not like all of your clients are going to leave you. They're doing a decent enough job to continue to move the business forward, meanwhile you're able to stop doing that thing and then go focus on doing something else that you actually enjoy and very likely with that extra time you will be able to find Ways to make more money that you did not have time for previously because your time was being eaten up By whatever thing that you can now replace with either a person AI or a tool So even if it's not perfect even if it's not going to do everything the way that you want it to all of the time And it's just not as good as me If you're going to hold on to that belief that it has to be as good as you otherwise it cannot be used then it will hold you back in your business and you will very quickly hit a ceiling on the capacity of doors that you can enter. Okay, the one problem with that analogy is that most business owners, if they're doing the sales in their own business, they're only doing it part-time. They're not full-time. And so your part-time results might be the equivalent of their full-time results. And so you're not really giving up something if you get somebody full-time, they take that off your plate. They might even surpass you because it's really hard to compete if you're only putting in an hour to a day to actually grow the business and you've got somebody doing it eight hours or six hours a day. They easily will eventually be beating you in terms of results, especially if you don't like it and they love it. So all right, cool. Well, that's our episode for today. If you are I'm trying to find my outro script here. I can't find it. This is a mess. Oh, there we go. I lack the carriage return. All right. So if you have ever felt stuck or stagnant and you want to take your property management business to the next level, reach out to us at doorgrow.com for free training on how to get unlimited free leads. Text the word leads to 512-648-4608. Also join our free Facebook community just for property management business owners at doorgrowclub.com. And if you want tips, tricks, ideas to learn about our offers, subscribe to our newsletter by going to doorgrow.com slash subscribe. And if you found this even a little bit helpful, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. We'd really appreciate it. Until next time, remember the slowest path to growth is to do it alone. So let's grow together. Bye everyone. /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40105230

DGS 325: The Door Machine: Property Management Growth 02/15/2026

DGS 325: The Door Machine: Property Management Growth When your property management business isn't growing, relying on cold digital leads or hiring a salesperson might seem like the obvious solution, but what if those are actually the biggest time and money sinks? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull breaks down why cold leads from digital marketers are "garbage," why most Business Development Manager (BDM) hires fail, and how he's seen a repeating pattern of busy owners having no time to execute growth strategies. He dives into the Door Machine, a game-changing new growth model designed to help property managers scale with warm, relationship-based leads and a Door Grow-trained salesperson, all with no upfront salary risk and a focus on guaranteed results. You’ll Learn (00:00) Introduction to DoorGrow and Its Mission (06:50) The Door Machine: A New Solution for Growth (12:25) Understanding the Cost and Value of the Door Machine Quotables “When's the last time you actually worked on growing your business instead of just running it?” “The real path to growth isn't more cold leads. It's warm leads from relationships.” “Without the foundation, a salesperson is wasted. With it, a salesperson becomes a weapon.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) All right, five, four, three, two, one. All right, I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading coaching and consulting firm for residential property management entrepreneurs. We've helped hundreds of property management business owners add doors, increase profit, add and build winning teams. Think of us as like bar rescue for property managers. We've cleaned up and rebranded over 300 businesses. At DoorGrowth, we believe good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. We're on a mission to help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Let's get into the show. So, hey, property management entrepreneurs, I've got a question for you. When's the last time you made a cold call to an investor? When is the last time you followed up with that realtor who said they'd send you referrals? When's the last time you actually worked on growing your business instead of just running it? If you're being honest with yourself, it's probably been a while. And look, I'm not judging you. I've been doing this for a while. I've been coaching property management managers for over 15 years. I've seen this pattern thousands of times. and you started this business to manage properties, not to be a salesperson, but somewhere along the way, you became your company's only source of new business. The problem is you don't have time for it, you don't enjoy it, and if you're really being honest, you avoid it. So today I'm gonna share with you something we've been working on that solves this problem entirely. It's called the door machine. And by the end of this episode, you're gonna want to know everything about it. Okay. So welcome to the DoorGrow show. I'm Jason Hull. And if you're a property management entrepreneur who wants to grow your business and your life, you're in the right place. Our mission at DoorGrow is to help property management business owners transform their businesses so they can have freedom and fulfillment. Today's episode is different. I'm not bringing on a guest. Instead, I'm going to pull back the curtain on something we've been developing that I believe is going to completely change the game for how property managers grow their doors. Let me paint a picture for you. Okay, it's Monday morning. You've got a list of investors. They are people you should be calling. And there's that realtor you've been meaning to reach out to. And you told yourself, like last week, that this would be the week you finally get serious about sales. Then a tenant calls, something comes up, you have a maintenance emergency. An owner is upset about a repair invoice. Your bookkeeper needs something. Someone on your team has a crisis. And suddenly it's 6 p.m. and you haven't made a single sales call. Again, sound familiar? Here's the thing. You're not lazy. You're not bad at sales. You're just spread too thin to give sales the attention that it deserves. You've got other fires to put out. Maybe you're running other businesses. A lot of you are, you're entrepreneurs. Maybe a family that actually deserves your attention is waiting for you in the living room. The last thing you wanna do at the end of a long day is cold call investors or go schmooze at some networking events. So what happens? Growth stalls. You hit a plateau and you stay stuck. Not because you don't know how to grow, but because you don't have the time or energy to do what it takes. And I've talked to hundreds, maybe thousands of property managers who are in exactly this situation. They know they should be doing more sales. They just never get to it. Okay, now at this point, some of you are thinking, Jason, I don't need to do sales myself. I just need more leads. So you call up a digital marketing agency. They promise you SEO, Google ads, Facebook leads. They show you fancy dashboards and talk about cost per lead. You write a check every month and wait for the phone to ring and here's what those marketers don't tell you. Not all leads are equal. Digital marketing leads are cold leads. These are strangers who clicked an ad. They're price shopping. They're talking to five other companies. They convert it maybe 10 % if you're lucky. Here's the bigger problem. There just aren't that many people searching the internet for property management. You can prove this on Google Trends. It's not like HVAC repair where people Google in a panic. Property owners aren't searching. 60 % of them are self-managing and don't even know they need you yet. So you end up paying 200, 300, sometimes $500 per lead for tire kickers who ghost you after one call or ghost you after you send your proposal to them. Meanwhile, the marketing agency keeps cashing your checks and showing you impressions and click through rates. that don't translate the doors. The math doesn't work. The leads are garbage and you're still stuck. The real path to growth isn't more cold leads. It's warm leads from relationships. This is even going to be more pressing and more present in the future with AI. Human interaction is going to matter even more. There's AI Slop. So what are warm leads? What are these relationships? They're referrals, they're strategic partners, direct outreach to investors who don't know they need you yet, but that takes time and effort you don't have. So at some point, most property managers realize they need help. They try to hire a salesperson, a BDM, business development manager, to take sales off their plate. You post a job listing, you sift through hundreds of bad applicants, finally hire someone, who seems promising, pay four to $6,000 per month in salary, train them, wait, hope, six weeks later the salesperson quits or they get fired because they just don't produce. Meanwhile, you've burned 10 to $15,000 with nothing to show for it. Ask me how I know. I've watched this play out over and over again with clients. Here's what nobody tells you. The problem isn't just hiring. The problem is that most property management companies don't have the foundations that make a salesperson successful. Without the right positioning, reviews, website, pricing, pitch, systems, accountability, and lead flow, even a talented salesperson will fail. And even if you do have all these things, who's gonna train them, manage them, hold them accountable? You? Mr. Busy Person or Mrs. Busy Person or Miss Busy Person? You barely have time to do sales yourself. let alone manage somebody else doing it. Okay, so I'm gonna take a quick break and then we're gonna get into the solution, but this, I'm gonna tell you about our sponsor for this episode. If you're dealing with maintenance stuff, you may wanna check them out. This episode is sponsored by Vendero. Many of you tell me that maintenance is probably the least enjoyable part of being a property manager and definitely the most time consuming. But what if you could cut that workload by up to 85 %? That's exactly what Vendero has achieved. They've leveraged cutting edge AI technology to handle nearly all your maintenance tasks from initiating work orders and troubleshooting to coordinating with vendors and reporting. This AI doesn't just automate, it becomes your ideal employee, learning your preferences and executing tasks flawlessly, never needing a day off and never quitting. This frees up you to focus on the critical tasks that really move the needle for your business, whether that's refining operations, expanding your portfolio or even just taking a well-deserved break. Don't let maintenance drag you down. Step up your property management game with Vendero. Visit vendero.ai slash doorgrow today and make this the last maintenance hire you'll ever need. Okay, back to what we're talking about. Come with me for a moment. I want you to imagine something. It's Monday morning. You check your pipeline. There are three new owner leads that came in over the weekend, all qualified. all in your target market, all ready to talk. You didn't generate those leads. You didn't make those calls. You didn't do any of the follow-up. Someone else did. You didn't pay to run ads to get them. By Friday, one of them has signed 12 new doors. You didn't lift a finger. Now imagine that happening every month, 10 doors, 20 doors, month after month. And here's the best part. You didn't pay a salary. You didn't gamble on a maybe salesperson. You only paid when doors actually closed. No salary, no upfront risk, just results. No more guilt about the sales calls you're not making. No more networking events you dread. No more lying awake wondering how you're gonna grow this thing. Just doors showing up in your business while you focus on operations, owner retention, and actually living your life. What I just described, that's the door machine, the door grow door machine, and it's real. Here's how it works in plain English. So we assign you a trained door grow salesperson who works your market. You pay nothing upfront, no salary, no retainers. You only pay when doors actually close. The salesperson executes our proven growth engines, getting realtors to introduce them to investor clients, reaching out to self-managing landlords, building relationships with other property managers who send overflow your way. We recruit them, we vet them, we train them, we manage them. We hold them accountable. We're better at this. All you have to do is take on the doors they bring you. These aren't cold internet leads that close at 10%. These are warm leads from relationships that close at 90%. Our goal after a 90-day pipeline build is 10 to 20 new doors per month. Some of our clients have added over 300 doors in a year just using one realtor referral strategy and if the salesperson doesn't work out we replace them no hassle No drama, no extra cost. That's our problem to solve not yours They work for us Now some of you are thinking this sounds too good to be true. Let me explain why it's not we've spent 15 plus years coaching property managers on growth We are the best in the industry We've helped hundreds of clients at Doors using our growth engines, sales strategies, and proven systems. We've also watched the same pattern repeat over and over. We teach the strategy, but the busy owner doesn't have time to execute. We train their salesperson, but the owner doesn't hold them accountable. The system works, but the weakest link in the chain is usually the overwhelmed business owner who can't give it the attention it needs. The Doormachine removes that weak link entirely. Now we recruit the salesperson. We train them on our systems. We hold them accountable. We manage the process. We give them the support they dream of having. You just take on the doors. Same strategies that have worked for years, but now with DoorGrow controlling the execution. Now I need to be upfront with you. The door machine is not for everyone. We're selective about who we work with, and that's by design. This is for you if you want to add more doors, but don't want to do the selling yourself. if you've been burned by hiring salespeople before, or if you're smart enough to want to avoid that mistake if your margins are too thin to gamble on another salary. If you have the operational capacity to handle 10 to 20 plus new doors every month, then it might be a fit. If you want predictable growth without the drama, it might be a fit. But here's the thing, a salesperson can only succeed if your business is ready for them. That's why Door Machine is only available to active members of the DoorGrow Mastermind who have completed our rapid revamp. That means your brand, your website, your reviews, your pricing, your systems are dialed in first. We've watched too many property managers throw money at salespeople without fixing the foundation first, it never works. We refuse to set any of our salespeople up for failure like that. Without the foundation, a salesperson is wasted. With it, a salesperson becomes a weapon. Let me break down what this actually costs versus what you're probably spending now trying to grow. So with door machine, you pay 50 % of the first month's rent when a door closes. That goes to the salesperson. They only get paid when they produce. Then there's a 20 % rev share, revenue share on the monthly management fee for the doors they add. That goes to door grow. And if it doesn't work, you pay $0. These are doors you wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Compare that to hiring your own salesperson, $4,000 to $6,000 a month in salary, whether they produce or not, plus failed hires that cost 10 to 15,000 each, plus your time recruiting, training, managing, holding them accountable, plus opportunity costs of all the doors you're not adding. While you're stuck being the bottleneck, let me give you a quick example. Say the salesperson has 15 doors in their first month, average rent of $1,500, you get 50 % of the first month's rent is commission. Well, they do, the BDM does. That's about $11,000. Now you're collecting $2,250 per month in the new management revenue. Our 20 % share is for $50. You keep $1,800 per month in the new recurring revenue, plus your leasing fees on those 15 doors, plus the long-term value as those owners stay with you for years. That's the difference between gambling on growth and guaranteeing it. Many property managers are already spending 20 to 30 % of their top line revenue, not just the management fee. There's lots of ancillary fees you can make money on, but they're spending 20 to 30 % just to acquire new business. Or they're discounting the rates. They're dropping from 10 % to 8 % by two points. They're giving up 20 % just to get business on because the leads are cold and garbage. All right, I've given you the overview. I painted the picture. Now here's what I want you to do. I put together a complete document that breaks down everything about the door machine, what's included, how it works, the timeline, the investment, the terms, FAQs, frequently asked questions, right? Everything, I want you to read it. Go to doorgrow.com slash door machine to download the full offer doc. I'll say that again, doorgrow.com slash door machine, one word. Or you can text the word door machine to 512-640-2092. That's 512-640-2092 and I'll send you the offer doc. That's my personal iPhone. I respond personally. This document is going to answer every question you have and if you read it and you're interested, we'll have a conversation to see if you're a fit. Important note. Salesperson slots are limited by our training capacity. That's our biggest constraint. We maintain a wait list and place clients on a first come first serve basis, but only after they meet our requirements. We're looking for the best match, not just anyone who applies. I want to build multi-million dollar property management businesses with them. We're partnering in this way. That's the idea. I want to build multi-million dollar property management companies where it's a win-win-win for all three parties involved. the BDM salesperson that works for us and DoorGrow. Look, here's the bottom line. You didn't start this business to be a part-time salesperson. You started to manage properties, to build freedom, to have freedom, to build something. But somewhere along the way, you became the bottleneck in your own company. The door machine is designed to fix that, to take the thing you hate, the thing you avoid, the thing that keeps you stuck and hand it off to someone who's trained to do it and held accountable to produce. Our goal is to build multi-million dollar property management companies. I'm looking for long-term partners who want to grow with us, that I can continually invest in your business, that I can give you more and more of my attention and time to help improve your growth. If that sounds like you, go download the full offer doc at doorgo.com slash door machine. Stop being the bottleneck, start being the business owner. You've got better things to do than cold call investors. Let us handle it. Okay, that's it. If you're feeling stuck and you're ready to take your property management business to the next level, reach out to us at doorgrow.com. We can help. For free training on getting unlimited leads, if you want to do this yourself, go to, just text the word leads to 512-648-4608 and join our free community for property management business owners at doorgrowclub.com. If this episode helped you subscribe and leave a review, we'd really appreciate it. Until next time, remember, the slowest path to growth is to do it alone. So let's grow together. Bye everyone. /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40101115

DGS 324: The Marriage of Private Equity and Property Management 02/14/2026

DGS 324: The Marriage of Private Equity and Property Management Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, discusses with Ashton Thomas the concept of marrying private equity with property management operations. Ashton Thomas is a third-generation real estate broker in Central Florida, she got her real estate license right after graduating high school and, in February 2019, opened her own brokerage. She decided to start her own brokerage and grew to about 25 agents, but she realized she preferred property management and did not like dealing with realtors and their recurring issues, and shifted her focus after property management "fell into her lap" when employees from a failing company approached her You’ll Learn (00:45) Introduction and Ashton Thomas's Background (03:46) The Audacity to Start a Brokerage at 23 (07:16) The Marriage of Private Equity and Property Management (07:42) Benjamin Hardy's "Science of Scaling" (12:31) Understanding Private Equity and the Roll Up Strategy (17:58) The Advantage of Property Managers in Roll Ups (19:10) Advice for Getting into Private Equity (22:29) Raising Capital and How to Connect with Ashton Thomas Quotables “I've been thinking too small. That's why it's been so hard.” “That's like entrepreneurs worst nightmare is to be feeling stuck and feeling like I'm not moving and I'm not getting traction and I'm not accomplishing anything.” “The slowest, absolute slowest path to growth is to do it alone.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) All right, five, four, three, two, one. Hello everybody, I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we've brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry. eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, so my guest today is Ashton Thomas. Welcome, Ashton. Ashton (00:43) Thank you for having me. Jason Hull (00:45) So Ashton is a client of ours, but she also is a badass. And so Ashen, I would love for people to get to know you a little bit, share a little bit of your background. How did you get into real estate and property management and all of this? Ashton (01:02) Yeah, absolutely. So I'm actually a third generation real estate broker in central Florida. My granddad started in Orlando like way back in the 60s. ⁓ Both my dad and my granddad, a lot of my uncles, they're all builders. So just kind of grew up in that real estate world. I was on a job site from when I was very little. ⁓ And so I always just had a love for homes, real estate, just the whole nine years. When I was wrapping up high school about to go to college, my parents suggested, I always had like an entrepreneurial spirit, and my parents suggested that I get my real estate license. And I was like, you know what, it can't hurt to have that. So I went ahead and took the class, got the licensing as soon as I graduated high school. So I was actually a licensed realtor already working before I started my freshman year of college. ⁓ Real estate has been so fascinating because I've been able to see so many changes over the last 12 years since I got into the industry. I started with new home sales construction, actually working for my parents, ⁓ really learned about what it took to run a sales center. And then I switched to traditional real estate, like what you think of a realtor doing now. ⁓ From there, I ended up opening my own brokerage. Jason Hull (02:03) Wow. Ashton (02:28) ⁓ in February of 2019. And then property management really just fell into my lap. There was a company that was going out of business because the owner was embezzling funds. And their employees actually came to me and said, you know, we would like to work with you. We'd like to work for you. And we're bringing these clients. So I had never written a lease, seen, really even put my eyes or hands on a lease, never. This was two years ago, roughly. ⁓ And like just didn't have any property management experience at all. Figured out that we needed to get some systems in place right out of the gate. And I really took the next year, year and a half. Jason Hull (02:59) how long ago. Okay. Ashton (03:22) to develop those. And Jason, you've been so instrumental in helping us succeed in those systems. You helped us identify the holes in our business and really figure out what we needed to do. ⁓ So at the time that I had brought on the property management side, and when I say property management for us, we do both long-term property management and short-term vacation rental. So I two separate sister companies that operate. Jason Hull (03:51) Yeah. Ashton (03:51) So ⁓ at the time I had roughly about 25 realtors that worked for me under the brokerage. I had really developed that, grown that. We were one of the largest Zillow Premier agent teams in central Florida at that time. Jason Hull (04:13) Wait, can I ask you question about that? Not very many agents start their own brokerage. What? mean, how, do you mind me asking age here? How old were you you started your brokerage and what gave you the audacity to decide to do this big thing? Ashton (04:19) Mm-hmm. I was 23 when I started my brokerage and the funny part was is I actually wanted to buy a brokerage first and I had this is a wild story you'll love this so you know you look back and you say what was I thinking like I had some guts and one of those stories Jason Hull (04:33) Okay, go ahead. Okay. Okay. Yeah Ashton (04:55) So I had initially gone to this guy's office, he had four branches, local real estate agent, or a local real estate brokerage. I'd ⁓ developed his brokerage over like 50 years, had over 200 agents working for him. And I walk in and I asked to speak with the broker. He was there, they put me in the conference room. He thought that I wanted to become an agent working for him. Yeah. And I said, no, sir, I want to buy your company. Jason Hull (05:19) That's the default. my god. Ashton (05:25) And like, this was a total cold call. Like I had never talked with him before, never met him before. I ended up negotiating a price for the company ended up getting securing SBA financing. Everything had lined up so perfectly. And then a couple of weeks before we were actually going to be making it official. He decided that he wanted to, to sell his brokerage to a family member and not go through with me. And so. Jason Hull (05:53) Wow. Ashton (05:55) Honestly, in hindsight, that was the best thing that could have happened. I had no business running that large of a brokerage at 23 years old with no experience. ⁓ Over 200. Yeah. And I had secured a price for 2.4 million for the company. So with an earn out and it was just, it was going to be an insane deal if I could have like actually done that. But ⁓ I was Jason Hull (06:05) How large was it? How many Asians? Okay, yeah, I mean massive, yeah. Ashton (06:24) You know, everything happens for a reason. coming off of like the adrenaline rush from that not happening, I was like, you know what? I'm just going to start my own. Why not? So that's how I started when I was 23. Jason Hull (06:26) Yeah. Yeah. I mean, starting your own brokerage at 23 doesn't sound as crazy if you were already trying to buy 200 agent brokerage. Like, I'll just, you know, step it back a little bit. Ashton (06:49) Mm-hmm. Yes, let's like crawl before we run. Oh, so that was originally what I wanted to do was just build up a massive, brokerage with lots of agents. And I thought that in my head was the dream. No, for me, it was not. I had grown to about 25 agents, like roughly like steadily and kept that number for a while. I realized that I Jason Hull (06:56) Yeah. ⁓ Yeah. Mm-hmm. Ashton (07:21) to not like dealing with realtors and their issues over and over and over again, every day in and day out. It became like kind of toxic to me at least. And I went through and slashed a lot of agents jobs here ⁓ because it was either performance issues, attitude issues, whatever it was, they just were not the right fit for us. I ended up keeping a core five. ⁓ Jason Hull (07:32) Yeah. Ashton (07:47) and they are phenomenal people with good ethics and good business sense who care about their clients and represent me and my company very, very well. Jason Hull (07:58) What do feel like gave you the clarity to make that transition? Like, did you just wake up one morning or like, I don't like a lot of these people? Or how did you get clarity on what you really want? Ashton (08:09) ⁓ One of the things was I told my office manager, I was so frustrated one morning, I told her, said, if one more person asks me another stupid question, I am gonna lose my mind. So I was fed up, I just couldn't deal with it anymore. Jason Hull (08:23) Okay, we're just fed up. Yeah, yeah. So I know when, when did that fit with you joining DoorGrow? Because I know you had worked on culture and we'd helped you figure out kind of what mattered to you and like, that align with, was that before you came on board? Was that after? When did you let go of all the... Okay. You don't move slow on anything, it sounds like. Ashton (08:45) I don't want the same time. Yeah. I try not to. I try not to. Honestly, I feel like that's where things go to die is if you move slow. Jason Hull (08:57) Got it, yeah, right. Okay, cool, quick action taker. So obviously a very driven personality type. ⁓ And I know the topic that we were planning to talk about today is the marriage of private equity and property management, capital meets operations. So let's get into that. Again, you have big goals, big crazy goals. Ashton (09:05) Thank you. Yes. Jason Hull (09:27) that sound pretty insane to most people. But you know, the people that are bold, that have the audacity to go after these big things, achieve big things. So what are you up to now? Ashton (09:39) Yeah, so there's actually a great book by Dr. Benjamin Hardy. He has he's written like several and I know you're a big fan of Dr. Hardy's as well. He talks about like those impossible goals and how you really should and actually that one of his latest books, The Science of Scaling, is ⁓ really spurred me to action and not just having like a 10 year time frame, but like a three year time frame. And I can condense these goals. what I want to do kind of vaguely into really specifics and get it done now. ⁓ So yeah, I would highly recommend anybody listening to also read his books. Jason Hull (10:20) Yeah, agreed. Phenomenal book. I got to hear him speak down in Mexico and he hadn't released his book yet. And I was with a bunch of entrepreneurs that spent a lot of money to be there. And he all just walked out of the room with their mind blown. We were all just like, ⁓ I've been thinking too small. That's why it's been so hard. And it actually gets easier to grow and scale your business when you start thinking outside of your current mental limitations, which means it has to be something unrealistic or impossible. Ashton (10:36) Mm-hmm. Jason Hull (10:49) So that's been a game changer. I've done some episodes talking about this, but same thing for us. Like we've got some big things we're doing this year that are probably a bit ridiculous. And I don't know if we can pull it off, but if we do, DoorGrow will be the dominant player in the industry. And I already feel like we're a leader or leader, but this will be a game changer, some of the stuff that we have planned. And I've talked about it on previous episodes, just a little bit, what we're thinking of doing. But I think it's going to be some of these things are going to be game changer. and we've got so many irons in the fire right now, like we move fast and it's bit crazy, but that's where the fun is too, right? In business. So I'd rather be lit on fire with too many ideas than be stuck. And I've been that way before where I'm like, what should I do next? know, I work on. Ashton (11:35) That's like entrepreneurs worst nightmare is to be feeling stuck and feeling like I'm not moving and I'm not getting traction and I'm not accomplishing anything. That is like absolute hell for us, isn't it? Jason Hull (11:45) Yeah. Yeah, I usually joke that entrepreneurs don't care about being happy or sad. They care about whether they're in momentum or whether they're stuck. And when we're stuck, damned, blocked, frustrated, that is hell. That's like, that's hell for us. We're miserable. And yeah, and it kills our motivation, everything. But when we're in momentum, that's the drug we crave. We want to feel like we're making progress and moving forward. And so I'm that drug dealer. That's what I give out to clients. Like I'm like, let's go. That's hopium. So got to give them some hope. And then they're excited and believe they can do it. But yeah, if you believe you can do something big and you've got a big vision, a big dream, yeah, you start to find new pathways. You start to find new ideas. And so you're working on some crazy stuff. So let's talk about capital meets operations. How do we marry private equity with property management? And could other property managers do this? Ashton (12:21) You do. Jason Hull (12:47) excited to hear. Ashton (12:47) Yeah, absolutely. So I started in the private equity world really recently. It was like January of this year. And I feel like I've just been drinking out of a fire hose, like learning and being in, I've just made sure to put myself in the right rooms where I'm just like absorbing knowledge and information and wisdom from people and family offices that have been doing this so much longer than I. Jason Hull (13:13) You've been really focused on learning the private equity space, which a lot of people, that's like some crazy thing they don't really maybe even understand. They're like, oh, don't know how it works. And you decided, hey, want get in on this. Ashton (13:25) Yeah. ⁓ go ahead. What was that? Jason Hull (13:30) You said, I want to get in on this and learn about this and started figuring it out. All right, I'm going to plug our sponsor real quick, who you use, Vendoroo. How's it going with Vendoroo? Ashton (13:33) Yes. ⁓ And here's amazing. We love them. They they honestly they take care of everything. They're really good about communication. I think they're they're phenomenal. They've been a game changer for us for our day to day ops. Jason Hull (13:54) Okay, cool. I mean, it's So let me read this and then we'll get back into the show. So many of you tell me that maintenance is probably the least enjoyable part of being a property manager and definitely the most time consuming. But what if you could cut that workload by up to 85 percent? That's exactly what Vendero has achieved. They've leveraged cutting edge AI technology to handle nearly all of your maintenance tasks from initiating work orders and troubleshooting to coordinating with vendors and reporting. This AI doesn't just automate, it becomes your ideal employee, learning your preferences and executing tasks flawlessly, never needing a day off and never quitting. This frees you up to focus on the critical tasks that really move the needle for your business, whether that's refining operations, expanding your portfolio, or even just taking a well-deserved break. Don't let maintenance drag you down. Step up your property management game with Vendero. Visit vendero.ai slash door grow. today and make this the last maintenance hire you'll ever need. All right, cool. So let's talk about this private equity stuff. Help me understand what it is. I'm fairly ignorant, so. Ashton (14:59) Hmm So basically, I mean, it's a very big term, private equity, and it can span over so many different asset classes. And I think that's one of, I'm sidetracking a little just a minute, but like, I think that's one of my favorite parts about the private equity and PE industry is because you can meet somebody in your same asset class and they're doing something totally different. Like for instance, you know, what you're teaching Jason with the property management and like these operators and entrepreneurs who are owner operators really, you're teaching us the same framework and we're doing the same exact thing, which there's nothing wrong with that. That's great. That works. It's systemized. In private equity, it's all wild cards. There's a lot of structure to it, but at the same time, everybody can be doing something different. And you're not in competition truly because you all have your own unique spin on it. So it's cool. But what it means is that ⁓ if, so our firm, we bring in investor capital, ⁓ either through debt or equity. And then our investors trust us. We let them know like what we're investing in. usually have like a it depends on the type of investment. So I try not to get too technical here. It depends on the type of investment, but we let them know, hey, we're investing in XYZ companies, or we're investing in hard assets with like purchasing real estate that meet these certain criteria. So instead of these investors taking their money and putting it into the stock market, they are putting it with private firms because the stock market is the public equities. then private equity is these private individually owned firms ⁓ that I mean, you have really large ones like BlackRock and Blackstone and ⁓ all of those. And then you have a lot of small ones like myself who are just getting off the ground. We don't have a lot of assets under management yet. But as we develop that investor base, we're just going to keep that ball rolling and continuing. Jason Hull (17:04) Yeah, so there's booty firms, there's gigantic ones, there's lots of different categories of asset classes that they might be involved or invested in. And so somebody can pick a private equity company or something to partner with or get involved with that kind of is involved with the asset classes that they feel comfortable. Ashton (17:23) Yeah, absolutely. like, there's some, ⁓ like for us, we're real estate based and specifically Florida based real estate. There's, have friends who own hedge funds and that's all they do is hedge funds and specifically in like just in gold or in like just in commodities. We, there's people who are running funds based on really specific short-term rentals or within a five mile radius of national parks. So it gets down really, really, really specific. ⁓ Up until like you large firms with very large funds and they have a diversified asset class over You know, they have hedge funds. They they're doing running venture They're doing ⁓ you know Secondaries they're actually in like the private equity sphere there. So it just really depends on on the firm itself and you want to make sure as if there's any investors listening you want to make sure that ⁓ your you fit with how that firm is treating your money and running your money, and that it aligns with your goals, obviously, not just monetarily, but also with what they're investing in.... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40093345

DGS 323: Team Member Departure: Lessons on Hiring 02/13/2026

DGS 323: Team Member Departure: Lessons on Hiring Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of Door Grow, and Sarah Hull, the COO, discuss the professional lessons learned from the departure of a long-term team member. They describe the experience as bittersweet, acknowledging the torn feeling between being happy for a departing employee who has a great new opportunity and not wanting to lose a valuable team member. You’ll Learn (00:00) Bittersweet Departure: Empathy in Leadership (01:03) Maddie's Journey and Role Development at Door Grow (06:33) Security Through Documented Processes (11:08) Confidence in the Door Grow Hiring System (12:44) The "Super System" and Scalability (15:56) The Value of Structure and Culture Quotables “I think that's the first thing about being a leader is not only wanting what's best for you and the business, but truly wanting what's best for your team.” “Having processes documented has always given me a sense of security.” “The slowest path to growth is to do it alone. So let's grow together.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:02) Hello everybody, I'm Jason Hall. This is Sarah Hall, the founder and CEO and the COO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, and cleaned up hundreds of businesses, helping them add doors, improve pricing, increase profits, simplify operations, and we run the leading property management mastermind in the industry with more video testimonials and reviews than any other coach or consultant in the industry. So let's get into the show. All right. So we got some news this past what week from my daughter. I need to get rid of that. OK. We got some news this past week from my daughter, Maddie, that she is leaving. DoorGrow, she got another job offer. And so my oldest daughter has been working for DoorGrow for five years now. Which is wild. And so I remember she called me up from college and she couldn't find a job there. And she later told me the last thing she wanted was to ask me for a job or to work for me at the time. I guess she was just humbled enough that she had to come to me and ask for a job because she's like nobody was hiring around her campus because it was just a college town. Everybody had taken all the jobs and so she asked if she could do some work for me and ⁓ she started doing some graphic design stuff and she was working on her marketing degree and ⁓ she ended up working for us and she's handled all sorts of things. My social media, DoorGrowth social media. graphic design stuff, video editing, podcast editing, ⁓ lots of stuff. Client support. And then we moved her into client success. And so then she was managing client success on our team, helping to retain clients and make sure they're supported. that's, yeah, so she's had quite the journey of growth here at DoorGrow. And she was really nervous to tell us that she was leaving. She was like very concerned about this. And I told her, it's okay, I just want you to be happy. So excited to see her move on to the next thing that she's gonna do. This is like her first job outside of DoorGrow, as far as I know. And so I'm excited for her. ⁓ So we were just thinking like, what are some lessons that we are getting from this experience? And ⁓ yeah, so we thought we'd talk about a few of those things. The first thing is that moment where you go, I'm losing a team member. And you're kind of torn and you're stuck in between, I'm so happy for them and I want this great opportunity for them and I want what's best for them. And also, man, I didn't want to lose them. That happens a lot. And I would say to anyone out there that has experienced something like that, we had a client. Jay Shaw that had an amazing person in his business and this person got their dream job opportunity and came to him and said, hey, I don't know what to do with this. And he did exactly what we said. You have to take it. If you want to take it, want you to take it. I want you to do what you think you need to do and what's going to make you happy and what's going to give you opportunity to learn and grow and challenge yourself and experience different things. Right. So I think that's the first thing about being a leader is not only wanting what's best for you and the business, but truly wanting what's best for your team. Yeah. So that's what, you know, she's my daughter. So of course I want whatever's best for her. Um, one of the things that I realized, one of the things that I've always been particularly good at is identifying personalities. One of the things we wanted to recommend to all of you is that it's really important to understand your team members and their personality. Meaning, like getting to really know what their natural inclination is towards, not what they're skilled at, not what they're already trained at, but where would they naturally gravitate towards if they had had other opportunities. so Maddie's personality type, she's extroverted. naturally. I saw this in her growing up. ⁓ She's very much a feeler. She's ⁓ organized and ⁓ so yeah, so was very clear. Ladybug okay good. I think I on your foot So totally live. All right. So, ⁓ yeah. So what was I talking about? You were talking about ladybug finding, finding the right personality. ⁓ right. Okay. So Maddie and Myers-Briggs would be probably an ENFJ, right? ⁓ they're great at community. They're great at connecting with others. And she was going to school and eventually graduated while working at Door Girl. for like graphic design, marketing related stuff, advertising, and she thought, I'm gonna be a graphic designer. Well, I was like, Maddie, are, like, this is, you're naturally great with people. I'm thinking you should move into client success. We had a team member leave. She started taking over client success and doing the social media and graphic design stuff and things like that and podcast editing. And then, We knew we were gonna scale and so we said, and she knew and she said, well, if I have to pick one role or the other, I think I'll pick client success. And so it's awesome to be able to have that as a father, I think it's super important to understand your kids and to not try to push them into being what you are if you're an entrepreneur, not trying to push them into a certain job or career path in school, but to. move them towards what their natural personality would be inclined to succeed and win at that they would love to do. And so that's what I've done as much as I can with all of my kids. so Maddie, I thought, let's move her into client success for sure. And when we put her into that, eventually she chose that. She really recognized that she had a skill at that and she was really, really great at it. And that allowed her to grow and develop new skills besides just graphic design. ⁓ But yeah, she's learned a lot of different skills at DoorGro. She didn't know how to do video editing. She was very much into graphics and then she started editing our videos for us and figuring it out. And so over the years, she's just developed a whole bunch of skills. She's invaluable, super smart, learns lots of stuff. The other, I think, important lesson that is important, you talked about team members, when they leave and how you freak out. Well, we're not really freaking out. And why? Why are we not freaking out? we're sad to see her go. Sad, happy, bittersweet. A little bit of bittersweet feeling there. we're prepared for any and all of our team members at all times just in case anything happens. And that's one of the things is if they do decide to, for whatever reason, exit their role at your company. we have all of our processes already documented for each of our team members. So now that she's stepping out of that role, it's not like we're back here scrambling going, we have to hurry up and figure out how she's doing things and have her write it down and have her train somebody else and get everything out of her head. All of that already exists, which means that when we hire someone to step into that role, it will be infinitely easier for them because everything that Maddie is doing is already documented. What she does and the steps and the systems and the tools that she uses and how she's doing each thing, it's documented in our system. So that in case a team member or sometimes you have several leave at a time, didn't you have a guy that won the lottery and his whole team left? Somebody called me once. So they lost their whole team because they had an office betting pool with the lottery and they won and everybody quit their jobs. So now you have no team. Yeah. So yeah, very suddenly not likely to happen too often, but no, it is nice. as a, as an entrepreneur, as a founder, as a CEO, having processes documented, which we've had for years and years at door grow. has always given me a sense of security. There's always a sense of anxiety if you don't have those documented that somebody could leave or somebody could be out or get pregnant or be injured or whatever. And move away. Yeah. Take care of a sick family member. Right. Things happen. Life happens. Humans are humans. And so the challenge is if you don't have these things documented and you want them fresh, you want them being used, you want them documented by the people that are actually using them. so Maddie's leaving, so she went and reviewed the processes. Most everything is documented. There were some, she was like, I think we're missing this thing that I've recently started doing, or this little thing needs to be updated a bit. And so she's making some final tweaks to update the processes. But it's every team member's job to keep updated and maintain their processes. So this is why it's very important to have a process system. that is intuitive and easy enough for everybody on the team to use it. And this is why we use what used to be called DoorGrow Flow. We use Flusos and ⁓ F-L-U-S-S-O-S. And it's kind of that in between, it's like flowchart software. It's visual, it's super intuitive and easy. Our team can drag and drop things and build out the process and then they can actually use that process and run it and like work through the workflow. And so it's kind of like a mashup between Lucidchart, Revisio, and Process Street, or Asana, or any sort of checklist system. And checklist systems are not enough. They're just not sufficient enough. They're not clear enough. And ⁓ they're too linear. And there's issues with those. And so we found that this is a superior upgrade from what we used before, which was like Process Street. So having that system that Sarah, who doesn't like tech very much, will go in there and loves using it and updating processes. Maddie can go in and update her own. Giselle and her team can go and tweak or change her process. anybody on the team, and I actually don't even log into it. I don't have to use it, which is the first process system. And we've had several that we've ever used where I don't have to live in it. I don't have to work in it. We've set it up so that if anything needs to be assigned to me, it goes to a role called Jason's assistant. And then the assistant comes to me and says, hey Jason, we need you to do this thing. And so I was able to get myself out from not just having to manage and control and make every process and get really nerdy and build logic and things to hide and show and to the point where I didn't even understand it a year later and then would have to, if it broke, I had to get into it and fix it or weird connections to Zapier and stuff like this. Yeah, it just makes it so much more intuitive. drag and drop and that's been a game changer. So that's something else we realized through this process. It's like we're not really freaking out or concerned. You know, just a little sad Matty. So, all right. So ⁓ anything else? Well, speaking of things that are game changers, let's hear from our sponsor. ⁓ yeah. So today's sponsor is cover pest. Cover Pest is the easy and seamless way to add on-demand pest control to your resident benefits package. Residents love the simplicity of submitting a service request and how affordable it is compared to traditional pest control options. Investors love knowing that their property is kept pest free. And property managers love getting their time back and making more revenue per door. Simply put, Cover Pest is the easiest way to handle pest control issues at all your properties. To learn more and to get special DoorGro pricing, visit coverpest.com slash door grow. All right. So that's our sponsor. right. So other lessons or things that we're realizing. ⁓ One, another reason we don't have a bunch of anxiety is that if we ever need to replace a team member, we have an amazing hiring system. This is one of our proprietary pieces of IP that's been a game changer for ourselves. and has allowed us to be able to take care of all of our clients and help them replace entire teams if necessary, help them get that key team member they need that's going to be the game changer to get them to the next level. And that's DoorGrow Hiring and our DoorGrow applicant tracking system. And so this has been a significant tool that we've used for lots of clients and for ourselves to build out our team. And so we confidently know, like we've got a system that's going to get us somebody that is a good culture fit for us that shares our values, which means they won't steal from you. It means there'll be a personality fit for the role because we understand and have engineered the job descriptions for ourselves and for all of our clients so that it attracts or creates interest in the person that is the right personality fit for that particular role. And then skill fit. We have assessments and tools to figure out are they going to be able to develop the skill or do they already have the skill so that we can make sure that we're getting the ultimate hire because one bad hire is easily a 10 grand minimum mistake and probably three months of your time wasted. So being shot in the foot trying to train them and then they leave or you have to fire them, right? So we're really good at BDMs, which is a big need of our clients. We're really good at operators, which is a big need for our clients. so they can get out of the day-to-day operational control of the business and make sure the business is moving forward and build out what we call our super system, people planning a process. So these are some key things that make it not so big of a deal if we lose a team member. We're confident we can get them replaced pretty quickly. We can get them up to speed quickly because of our process and we're going to make a good hire. So, and we're able to get that system built out into our clients' businesses as well, which is A game changer, if you listen to us and you start adding a whole bunch of doors, then that can cause a lot of constraints and issues in your business to come to the forefront. And if you have our super system hiring the process, planning all built in, planning is DoorGrow OS. If you have all these things built in, then your business becomes infinitely scalable and you're not going to get stuck. You can just continually keep growing and adding doors. So cool. ⁓ Any other lessons or things about Maddie? We could, I would say so many good things about Maddie. So I think one of the things too that it just kind of shows when you put the right person in the right role, the results that you get because clients always tell us, Maddie is so great. Maddie is so great. Wow, Maddie is so great at what she does. Wow, I just love Maddie. Yeah. So. that tells us, we already know, but it tells us, hey, this was such a good fit for her. She truly enjoys this. She is great at helping people and she's thriving in a role like that. And I know that she will do great at anything that she decides to do. And I think that's one of the things that was so great is kind of watching that growth and development because when she came on, in the very beginning, was part-time. She was going to school, so she was part-time, and she was dabbling in just little tiny pieces. And then she would do a little bit more, and the hours would increase, and she would take on a few more things, and hours would increase, and then she would take on a few more things. And her role truly developed, and that allowed her growth and development as well, which a lot of times, that's something that great team members are really looking for. Yeah, in the beginning she was like, how do I get out of this job probably? then she was I think she told you, I only want to work with you for what, a year or something? Yeah, yeah. And then I think she kind of realized, hey, there's good culture, there's good environment here. And then eventually she was like, hey, I'm graduating school, I think I really want to work with you guys full time. And so that was really nice. yeah. And I'm sure it's not easy working for your dad sometimes. don't know. So, ⁓ but yeah, it's been awesome having her. And it's been, I'm really going to miss being able to just tell everybody all the time. Cause I get to tell every potential client I talk to during the sales process, if I'm involved, I get to like brag on my daughter, my oldest daughter works for me and she's our head of client success. And I get to just be so proud of her. So. Now I just get to talk and brag about my wife, ⁓ which I always do that as well. So you can't leave too. I gotta be able to brag about somebody. So, all right. I'll stay just so you Just because of that? Okay, all right, good. yeah. But Maddie's amazing, so whoever gets her, who knows, maybe she'll be back. I don't know, Maddie. I don't know, maybe. Maybe she'll be like, hey, know, other companies are just not as amazing as DoorGro. And I didn't realize how terrible most are out there. and then maybe she'll be back, who knows? You know what will be very interesting is seeing a team member that we have get transferred into a different business just to see how things run because a lot of times that's something that people value a lot more than they even realize that they value is, hey, I really enjoy the support that I get here. I really enjoy the culture that we have here and the type of environment that we have here. And I really enjoy how structured things are. even if it's your dream job, if the company just doesn't have things together and you step into a role and all of a sudden you go, wow, everything is on fire here. This is awful. It's sometimes very eye-opening to be able to hop into even something that you think might be perfect. And I think that's one of the things that allows us to keep great people for a long time is really the structure that we provide and the way that we run our company. I would say that that is something that will be interesting to see. I'd like to do a little post interview with her and see how... She'll be like, it's been the best thing ever to not work Because you know what ours is, right? So how is their onboarding process? How is their training process? How is their assimilation process? What is all of that like? Because when you, and vice versa, when you come from a place that had nothing together and all of a sudden you find a place and you go, wow, thank God they have all of this ready to go. It's already. built, just feels very solid, feels very safe, it feels very put together and it's an environment in which team members are truly set up for success and to thrive in a... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40090820

DGS 322: The Three Key Ingredients for BDM Success 02/12/2026

DGS 322: The Three Key Ingredients for BDM Success When your property management business isn’t growing, hiring a salesperson might seem like the obvious solution, but what if that’s actually where most owners go wrong… In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull break down why most BDM hires fail, the critical mistakes owners make with commission-only roles, and the exact systems required to make a salesperson successful. They dive into DoorGrow’s Three Fits framework, the three non-negotiable ingredients for BDM success, and tease a game-changing new growth model designed to help property managers scale without burnout, bad leads, or broken systems. You’ll Learn (00:00) Introduction: The Three Fits for Hiring (01:16) The Challenges of Hiring a Business Development Manager (BDM) (02:42) The Three Key Ingredients for BDM Success (04:40) Mistakes in BDM Compensation: The Commission-Only Pitfall (05:40) The Three Roles of a BDM and the Problem with Buying Leads (09:54) The "Door Machine" Teaser: The Easy Button for Growth (14:39) Advanced Community, AI, and Final Thoughts Quotables “A BDM has zero chance of success if you hire the wrong person.” “If they’re not all three, they will fail. Or you’ll fire them. Or they will leave you because they’re not making enough money.” “If you do not have the right system to plug a BDM or a salesperson into, you can hire as many of them as you want, and they will still not work.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:01) All right, five, four, three, two, one. All right, we are Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching company for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, and cleaned up hundreds of businesses, helping them at doors. improve pricing, increase profits, simplify operations, and we run the leading property management mastermind with more video testimonials and reviews than any other coach or consultant in the industry. We're the best. At DoorGrow, we believe that good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management, business owners, and their businesses. We want to transform the industry. eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right. So today, we're going to be chatting a little bit about the challenges of getting a business development manager, a BDM, or a salesperson for your property management business that we've seen. Yes. So a lot of times people think, hey, I need to grow my business. and they either don't wanna do it, they don't have the time to do it, or they just want help doing it. And then their go-to is, well, I'll just hire someone to do it, right? What could go wrong? Yeah, and that's where they make their first mistakes. Hiring is tough. Hiring is tough. And so, a BDM has zero chance of success if you hire the wrong person. And so, we... started solving this challenge for our clients by building out a hiring system. We call it door for a hiring. And we focus on what we call the three fits. They gotta be the right culture fit, which means they actually share your values. You can trust them. Because if they don't, aren't a culture fit, they'll steal from you or they'll do something off. And if culture's off, generally everything else goes south. It doesn't work. They have to be the right personality fit, which means they have to have the right personality to be willing and love and be able to do sales. And they have the right skill fit, which means they have to be intellectually capable of developing the skill or they have to have the sales skill already. If they're not all three, they will fail. Or you'll fire them, which is basically because they're failing. Or they will leave you because they're not making enough money. Okay, then once you hire them, assuming you get the right person, there's three key ingredients we found that are critical for BDM success and it's really difficult to get all three of these dialed in. It's even difficult for our clients who we coach to do these three things and so generally we see a lot of other BDM coaching companies they probably do a good job of maybe hiring the right people. My guess is they know how to read disk assessments and they use other tools and they can find good salespeople. but I hear a lot of them fail. Like my brother hired two salespeople from one of these BDM placement coaching companies and he fired both of them. And it probably was my brother's fault. I don't know. Sorry, Brian. But it might've been he just didn't have these three key ingredients in place. They might've been able to have a chance. So these three key ingredients are one, training. And. Basically they have the right strategies and training in order to succeed. Second, they have to have the right accountability. A lot of business owners just are like, here, here's what you do, or they rely on the BDM coaching company to just make it work. And sometimes they just get bad strategy. I don't think anybody has as good a strategy or clever or unique as I do as Dorgo does. We were very innovative on that. I think then ⁓ the third piece is we've got training, we've got then accountability, there has to be transparency, visibility, metrics, things like this. they're being, you you can see where the gaps are, where the problems are. And third, compensation. And so the compensation has to be right. If the compensation structure is off, compensation is incentive. And if the incentive structure is off, either they won't be making enough money, and they'll quit or you'll be paying them maybe too much money in the wrong way and then they get lazy and they're not incentivized to continue because they're making enough money or they're not getting motivated enough to get the results that you need so you'll fire them. There's so many ways compensation gets messed up. A lot of you think, I could just pay them commission only. Then I don't have to pay them anything unless they make money and then they're not motivated or they're not doing the leading actions. and then they fail. So we've just seen a lot of mistakes made there. And I think one of the biggest ones is the idea, well, I'll just pay them commission only. And that's a really nice thought, but in practical application, it's just not a way to set things up to be successful. And the reason is, I know everybody's going, that's what I want. Yes, we can want these things, but... In reality, the problem is that unless someone can start working in your business today and have the ability to close deals this week, then a commission only structure is just not going to work. And what I mean by that is not just, ⁓ no, they can, they can close a deal. They could close a deal right away. Great. do you have a few thousand leads for them to call today? So if they get hired today and they get trained today and then tomorrow they start making calls, do you have a whole list of people that they can call and then close deals as early as like four days later, three days later? Because if the answer to that is no, No, Sarah, I don't have an entire list. If I had an entire list, I would just call them myself and I would just work that list myself. Great. So then what you're doing is you're bringing someone in who can only make money if they close a deal and somehow expecting them, you're expecting them to close a deal, but not providing them with leads to work. So it's essentially saying, all right, I... We'll pay you if you close deals. You can get started today. I don't have a list, a long list. Don't give them 10 people. 10 leads is not good enough. I don't have many leads for you to work. I have some, but I don't have a whole list of leads ready for you to just start working that are already in the system. ⁓ You need to go find the leads and create the connections and the relationships. to get the leads and then you need to build a relationship with them and take them through the entire sales process and then you can close them and that might take two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, two months, three months. So what usually ends up happening on a commission only structure is the BDM, the first month makes zero dollars. So imagine if you did work for an entire month and you made nothing. Would you want to be in that situation? Probably not. But then we're expecting other people to want to be in that situation. And for some people, that is doable. But for the majority of people, that's just not possible. They have bills to pay, they have a mortgage or rent, they have to feed themselves, they might have a family. It's not possible to just say, well, hopefully you figure it out really quickly, even though I'm not going to give you what you need in order to be successful quickly, I hope you figure it out quickly because that's how you'll get paid. And then people wonder, why is no one applying for my job? So the problem, a medium is a little bit unique. Having a property management salesperson, they need to be not just a closer in which you like they just closed deals. They also need to be a setter. They need to be doing outreach and outbound, but they also need to be a networker. They need to be going to networking events, connecting, walking into offices, meeting with people. And so the challenge is if they're a setter, a networker, and ⁓ a closer, they really need to be compensated the way you would compensate all three. we talk about this. There's a YouTube video up where I talk about how to compensate a BDM. Check it out. ⁓ But basically there needs to be a base plus commission and there's a strategy to how to do this correctly. Feel free to check out our video about that. But a lot of people get this wrong. All right, so assuming that you get all of these things dialed in, it's still a struggle for some of our clients to manage their own BDM to do this. I'm going to share, we're going to give you a little sneak peek about something that we have coming up. But first, that's going to be a game changer for this industry. If you struggle to grow, if you tried lots of different lead sources, you tried lots of different programs, we're going to tell you about how DoorGrow will just grow your business for you. as a teaser. But before we do that, I'm going to read a word from our sponsor. So this is our sponsor for today's episode is Blanket. Wait, Blanket. Lior from Blanket. It's his birthday today, which I did not plan. But happy birthday, Lior. Yeah, happy birthday. So by the time this goes live, it'll be past. But for those that watching the live stream, maybe if it goes out today, then cool. All right, here we go. Blanket is a property retention growth platform. that helps property managers stop losing doors, add more revenue, and increase the number of properties they manage, while your clients with a branded investor dashboard and an off-market marketplace, while your team gets all the tools they need to identify owners at risk of churning and powerful systems to help you add more doors. I think Blanket's an awesome platform. You want to keep your properties, even if your clients are kind of like selling, you can keep the property and get other owners into it, and there's a network of owners that will. choose in to being your property management client and take over this property. So I think it's a no-brainer. Everybody should have a blanket. Check it out. Okay. So let's talk about something that's uncomfortable when it comes to growth and sales and hiring a BDM. So a lot of people think that in order to solve their growth problem, they need to hire a salesperson. Okay. Right? Yeah. So they go, okay, well. growth isn't happening, let me just like hire a salesperson because either I don't want to do it or I'm not the right person to do it or I am busy with other things and I just don't have enough time to dedicate to it or maybe I am doing it but it'd be nice to have some extra deals so let me hire somebody else to do it alongside with me and then I can double my growth if there's two of us. Yeah or even worse a lot of people think well I don't need a salesperson I can do it myself I just need more leads. And if you're listening and you're saying that, there's reason why you probably haven't had great growth or significant growth if you haven't and you're saying that. Not all leads are equal. We talk about this a lot. Reach out to us. Just give us a shout out on any social media. Just say leads to us and we'll send you our leads training for free or go to doorgo.com slash leads and watch this training and I break down how to get unlimited leads for free and why not all leads are equal. You don't. have to be paying anyone for leads. In fact, I recommend you don't because it slows down your BDM, it makes your BDM focus on the wrong strategies, and then your BDM is dealing with a lot of cold, unqualified leads from the internet that are the cheapest owners, that are the most difficult to manage, that have the highest operational cost, and are the most price sensitive. And this is why a lot of businesses and property management start to struggle and be unable to scale because of the types of clients and properties and owners that they're taking on. And the sales cycle time takes way longer than what our strategies are, way longer than warm leads. And so you don't want to give your BDM a pile of cold crappy leads from the internet and slow them down. And so they're not able to add easily 10, 20, 30 units a month. They need better strategy. Okay. Okay. So the uncomfortable thing is that if you do not have the right system, to plug a BDM or a salesperson into, you can hire as many of them as you want and they will still not work. So if you're trying to get a BDM in your business and grow the company without the right system in place for that BDM, it essentially is like saying, hey, I want to get in shape and I hired a personal trainer and then he's gonna do all the work. Yeah. Well, you have the right person, but it doesn't alleviate you from being involved and putting in work. So even if you have a BDM, you still have to be involved in it. It's not many times, it's not like, this BDM is just gonna come in and figure everything out and build everything and figure out what to do and how to do things and close the deals and everything's gonna be great. Yeah, normally it's not turnkey at all. I mean, I'll give you an example. I knew of a property management business here in Texas. They have since sold their business, but they had multiple BDMs. They had a whole bunch. They were shelling out a massive amount of money for cold leads and digital marketing. And they were paying for some sort of sales program that was very expensive with one of these big name gurus who I won't mention in sales. strategies and tactics are outdated and old school, pushy sales, manipulation type stuff. And they were just showing up a massive amount of money for client acquisition. It was ridiculous. And it wasn't really that effective. And they ended up selling the business because really the business was, it was just a numbers play. They were trying to stack in a bunch of doors just to get out and they exited. But, and ⁓ you know, on these, This was the CEO, this was somebody that was coaching in the industry, but the margins were really difficult and that was because they were taking on bad doors and bad clients. All right, so what do we want to share today? So what if? We're gonna play the what if game because this is what we did. And actually, this is something we had kicked around for a while and then I was talking actually with John and I said, this is this thought that I had, and what if it worked like this? But then what if we actually do it like this instead? And ⁓ then Jason and I had been kind of chatting about this, and we've developed this idea. I think it's something that we feel like we have to do for this industry. Because... Man, it just gets under my skin so bad when I see property managers doing everything wrong. And when I see them failing. And especially when they're trying so hard and it's still not getting them the results that they want. So what if there was a way to press the easy button and just have growth happen and you don't actually need to be involved in it at all? What if you were able to just have the company grow and you don't need to take any of the action. You don't need to be involved in the growth. You don't need to do any of the strategies. You don't need to buy leads. You really would just be closing a deal, having a conversation with somebody who has already warmed up and ready to go. which is I think what most people want when they say they want leads. Right. They say they want to leads. don't actually, you don't want leads. Let's be real. Easy lay down You don't want a lead because you have to work that lead. What you really want is you want someone to come to you and say, hello, I'm ready to sign up with you. And what do I need to do to make that happen? I get it because I was there. That's, I did not want to do sales in my business. And that was the only way after. I had grown it to a certain point. That was the only way I would sign on a new client is if they came to me and said, hi, I want you to be my property manager, but what do I need to do? Yeah, here, sign this. Here's the agreement. Lay it out. Easy deals. it. So I know that that's what you guys want is you just, you love the actual closing and the pitching of the deal. You don't like all of the other stuff. You don't like the outbound calls and the follow-ups and the scheduling and the rescheduling. and the nurturing and the warming up of the relationship. And a lot of times, networking, sometimes they like it and sometimes they don't. They're like, well, I don't know, I could kind of do that. But it's not really like you're forte. Really, you're like, I would love to just get on calls with people all day who are just ready to go. Yeah. They're just ready to go. So what if that was an option? That would be a game changer for this entire industry. and we would make a ton of money here at DoorGrowl and you, if you're one of our clients, would make a ton of money and it would be a win-win-win for all three parties. the salesperson would also make a ton of money. So with this idea, I feel like we can richen the entire industry, which is exciting to me. We will be creating multi-million dollar business owners with this new offer that we're going to be launching. We're calling it The Door Machine, that's our working title right now. So this is gonna be a game changer for the industry. If you are interested in maybe what this might be, because we don't wanna announce it yet. Yeah, I'm not fully... Then reach out to us. out to us and we're gonna be starting with our clients that have gone through our rapid revamp, where we rehab their business. These are clients that we've cleaned up their branding, their website, their sales pitch, their pricing, their purpose, which is the actual product. ⁓ We're rehabbing, it's like bar rescue for property managers. We're cleaning up the... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/40088960

DGS 321: The Property Manager's Contract Playbook - Lessons from the Field 12/26/2025

DGS 321: The Property Manager's Contract Playbook - Lessons from the Field When creating your property management and lease agreements, there may be crucial pieces of information you are missing that could proactively protect you and your team… In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Tim Baldwin from Property Management Law Solutions to talk about proactive strategies like scheduled inspections, maintenance plans, helping landlords stay ahead of costly problems, avoiding crisis mode, ensuring long-term property health, and more. You’ll Learn [3:06] Creating Effective Property Management Agreements [8:34] Mold Addendums, Resident Benefits Packages, & More [12:44] Building Efficient Property Management Systems Quotables “A lot of property management business owners view these contracts as just a protection that happens once you're legally at war with somebody. Instead of a proactive preemptive measure.” “A lot of times it doesn't even matter what is written in the contract, it matters what they think is in the contract, the tenant or the owner.” “We don't want to just be adding more bells and whistles and services if it's not actually going to be a profit center.” Resources Transcript Tim Baldwin (00:00) property management companies need to make sure that both of those agreements really take their business from the beginning of how they operate to at the end of the tenancy and even the move out process and what governs those relationships. Jason Hull (00:00) sure, property management companies need to make sure that both of those agreements really take their business from the beginning of how they operate to the end of the tenancy and even the move out process and what governs those All right, I am Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. We talked to thousands of property management business owners. We've coached hundreds. helping them figure out how to grow their business. And at DoorGrow, we believe good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. We are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. So today, I'm hanging out with Tim Baldwin, welcome Tim. Thank you, Jason. And Tim is with a company called Property Management Law Solutions. So Tim, give the audience a little bit of background about you and how you kind of got connected to property management, how you kind of started into entrepreneurism. Give us a little bit of your journey. Yeah. Tim Baldwin (01:05) Thank you, Jason. Yeah, so I am an attorney in Florida. I've been licensed to practice law for almost 22 years. I started out as a prosecutor when I was just out of law school. And then in 2006, I started my own practice. And when I did that, I wanted to enter into an area of law that really there weren't a lot of attorneys practicing. And so that led me to property managers, property management itself, and to the landlord business. Jason Hull (01:42) enter Got it. Okay, cool. Yeah. Tim Baldwin (01:54) Since 2006, I really have specialized primarily in this area of law. And so for the past 20 years, I have developed a clientele throughout the state of Florida with my law firm, which is Property Management Law Solutions. And we help landlords, property owners, apartments, and property management companies across the state of Florida. Jason Hull (02:18) And Florida usually is right in line with all the new stuff going on. There's California and Florida. So I'm sure you see some of the new stuff that's probably headed your way from California eventually maybe. Tim Baldwin (02:27) You We're sort of on a different spectrum, I guess you might say in California, but yeah. Jason Hull (02:38) Yeah, yeah, totally. So, okay, well, yeah, I'm really interested in getting into the topic at hand. we're gonna be talking about. proactive strategies like scheduled inspections, maintenance plans, helping landlords stay ahead of costly problems, avoiding crisis mode, ensuring long-term property health, and several other things. There's a lot. So where should we begin? Tim Baldwin (03:06) I think the place to begin really for property managers and landlords is making sure they have the foundations correct. And I think a huge part of that is the lease agreement. The lease agreement is the operations document essentially. And that's where every property manager really should start when it comes to managing property. if you want to head dive into that, I'd be glad to talk about that topic. Jason Hull (03:12) sure they have the foundations correct. Yeah, let's do it. Tim Baldwin (03:30) Well, like I said, it is the foundational document, just the operational document you have with tenants. And Jason, what I've seen throughout the years is sort of this common theme that landlords, property managers don't quite understand the significance of the lease and how ⁓ to see it as their business document, as their operations document, because that document is what Jason Hull (03:30) Well, like I said, it is the foundational. you know this was seen throughout the years is sort of this common theme that landlords that you know property manager managers I don't quite understand the significance of the lease and how to how to see it as their business document as their operations document because that document is what you know obligates the tenants to act or not act in a certain way. Tim Baldwin (03:58) obligates the tenants to act or not act in a certain way. It gives the landlords the enforcement mechanism to run their business the way that they want to run it, as long as it's in compliance with the statute, of course. And so that part of it is ⁓ just absolutely critical. And it should address all of the various topics and ⁓ parts of the property management business that property managers see Jason Hull (04:03) It gives the landlords the enforcement mechanism to run their business the way that they want to run it as long as it's in compliance with the statute of course. Sure. And so that part of it is just absolutely critical and it should address all of the various topics and parts of the property management business that property managers see not just from a day to day standpoint but also the Tim Baldwin (04:27) not just from a day-to-day standpoint, but also the sort of the more rare instances or the occasions where it are unusual, but yet the lease still addresses those topics. Jason Hull (04:31) So are there more rare instances or the occasions where it are unusual but yet the lease still addresses those topics? Yeah, so Tim, I totally agree with you. One of the challenges I see is that usually when it comes to contracts, lot of property management business owners view these contracts as just a protection that happens once you're legally at war with somebody. Instead of a proactive preemptive measure, of setting boundaries and expectations that can create a healthier relationship. so a lot of times it doesn't even matter what is written in the contract, it matters what they think is in the contract, the tenant or the owner. And so this is why we coach our clients on making sure that you do a review through the entire agreement with them and you use that as, like you're saying, as a document to help change things operationally. You go through with them and explain to the tenant, this is what we expect from you. This is when rents due. This is the consequence. Do you understand this? Because it matters what they understand is in the agreement if you want them to be a better tenant or better owner. Otherwise, the document's really just a tool to go to war with somebody once you're in complete chaos. And there's a major issue. And we don't want to be in those situations. We want agreements. And yes, we want to protect ourselves. Tim Baldwin (05:39) Absolutely. Yeah. Jason Hull (05:52) But even better is if we use it as an onboarding tool. Tim Baldwin (05:56) You know, you're exactly right. mean, the education part of this is critical so that tenants know what to expect and sort of preparing onboarding documents that of course reflect what the lease provides. And sort of in tandem with that is the property management agreement itself. So property managers, knowing what they want in their business, knowing how they're going to operate, you mentioned inspections, know, having the criteria of when it is that you're going to inspect the property. Jason Hull (05:56) Yeah, we are. sort of entanglement with that is Tim Baldwin (06:24) You know, if there's ⁓ additional inspections that may come up, whether it's owner requested or maybe it's an incidental that requires you to go inspect. So the property management agreement is just as important on the owner's side of things. And the lease in the property management agreement need to align with each other because you don't want to obligate yourself sort of on one end with the property management agreement, but then not have those enforcement mechanisms on the tenant side of things within the lease agreement. Jason Hull (06:24) ⁓ You know, there's additional inspections that may come up whether it's only requested or maybe it's an incidental that requires you to go expect so that the property management agreement is just as important important on the owner's side of things and the lease in the property management agreement needs to align with each other because you don't want to obviate yourself sort of on one end with the property management agreement but then not have those enforcement mechanisms on the tenant side of things within the lease agreement. Got it, yeah. So if it's important for the tenant and the owners agreements for them to be able to understand these, how important is it for these documents to be plain language versus legal speak? Tim Baldwin (07:10) Well, I mean, it's hard to get away from some of the legal speak if you want to call it that just because it's just like whenever you go close on a property. mean, you know, probably your audience is very familiar with that. I mean, there's just document after document. know, so it obviously can be put in plain terms, but it's not even so much about whether it's going to put in plain terms versus legalese, but rather which subject matter is going to be addressed. That's the more important part of either one of these agreements, the property management agreement or the lease agreement. And so really, ⁓ landlords out there need to make sure, property management companies need to make sure that both of those agreements really take their business from the beginning of how they operate to at the end of the tenancy and even the move out process and what governs those relationships. Jason Hull (07:37) either one of these agreements, the property management agreement or the lease agreement. so really landlords out there need to make sure, property management companies need to make sure that both of those agreements really take their business from the beginning of how they operate to the end of the tenancy and even the move out process and what governs those relationships. Got it. So if they've got these really great agreements in place, hopefully maybe the language is easy enough for them to be able to read it and understand it a bit so it's not super thick like some of the business stuff I've signed in the past. And then, and it's got like all these proactive things like inspections, rent increases are built in and some of these things that it prevents later problems and later challenges. so they don't run into these scenarios where now it's a battle or someone's upset or there's a new negotiation that has to happen. What are some of the most critical things that you're seeing that people need to be putting into these agreements? Tim Baldwin (08:40) Well, aside from just what you might consider to be the typical areas of interest in a lease agreement, what we're seeing a lot nowadays and really for the past few years, a really significant increase in tenant complaints with regard to mold. It's a really, really hot issue. And so having a mold addendum that really... provides the nuts and bolts of what is the obligation of the landlord and the tenant when it comes to a claim for mold. ⁓ It's kind of a fact I just did a podcast or a seminar, mean, a seminar on this ⁓ last week ⁓ on this issue. And because really this is a topic that for years attorneys did not, I don't think even myself included, didn't really properly... Jason Hull (09:02) I when it comes to a claim for more. It's kind of that type of just need a podcast or a seminar, mean a seminar on this last week on this issue. And because really this is a topic that for years, attorneys did not, don't think even myself included, didn't really properly address to the fullest. But since we see it so regularly now, we have a motor venom that provides for what the... Tim Baldwin (09:27) addressed to the fullest. But since we see it so regularly now, you know, we have a molded end of that provides for what the parties are to do in that event. So that's, that's a really big one. You mentioned maintenance. That's another big win ⁓ to where landlords need to be able to put some of the minor maintenance obligations on tenants because what is what's happening. And I'm sure your audience has experienced this before. Jason Hull (09:37) to in that event. So that's a really big one. You mentioned maintenance. That's another big one to where landlords need to be able to put some of the minor maintenance obligations on tenants because what's happening, and I'm sure your audience has experienced this before, is that the tenants expect the landlords to just do everything, mean, down to changing out a light bulb. So if those things are not addressed in the lease, the landlords can really... Tim Baldwin (09:54) is that the tenants expect the landlords to just do everything. I down to changing out a light bulb. And so if those things are not addressed in the lease, the landlords can really find themselves spinning their wheels and just having a hard time with informing the tenants, no, this is your responsibility. But if they can't point to it in a lease, it becomes problematic for the landlord. So those are two big issues that we see a whole lot. Jason Hull (10:05) So just making sure there's really strong clarity related to maintenance, clarity related to mold. Mold's got to be a big issue in Florida. You guys have crazy humidity there. ⁓ Tim Baldwin (10:31) Yeah. Yeah. Jason Hull (10:34) Not as big a deal in California, Tim Baldwin (10:34) It is. Jason Hull (10:35) which is pretty dry, but yeah, still an issue. Anything else that you're seeing? What about maybe like, there's been a lot of push in the last several years for resident benefits packages and putting some additional fees onto the tenants? Tim Baldwin (10:52) Yeah, yeah, the revenue stream is very important, of course, for property management companies and they're trying to figure out ways of creating those additional revenue centers. And one of them is, of course, tenant benefit packages. There's a variety of vendors that try to sort of pull those together into one package so that whatever it is that they're providing to the tenants, you can sort of get it all in one place. Some property management companies are creating sort of ⁓ Jason Hull (11:07) Mm-hmm. whatever it is that they're providing to the tenants, you can sort of keep it all in one place. Some popular companies are creating ⁓ Tim Baldwin (11:21) those incidentals on their own, whether it's insurance coverage, certain amenities, credit building, Jason Hull (11:21) those incidentals on their own. Whether it's insurance coverage, I'm sorry. ⁓ Filters. Yeah, credit building. Yeah. Tim Baldwin (11:35) online portals, and these types of things. sort of this bulk. And then, of course, you've got to price it out correctly to make sure you're not losing money. Jason Hull (11:37) these types of things are sort of this ball. And then of course you gotta price it out correctly to make sure you're not losing money. Tim Baldwin (11:44) Another thing that ⁓ is fairly common and popular nowadays is sort of having these legal services, not legal services, but they're helping to reduce the cost of legal expenses in the event you have an eviction, covering costs or if you want to cover rent that the tenant hasn't paid up to Jason Hull (11:45) Another thing that is fairly common in popular nowadays is sort of having these legal service, they're not legal services, but they're helping to reduce the cost of legal expenses and eventually have an addiction covering costs or if you wanna cover rent that the tenant hasn't paid. Tim Baldwin (12:05) a certain amount. There's all these types of things that are ⁓ becoming more more popular, but as I... Jason Hull (12:06) up to a certain amount, know, all these types of things that are becoming more more popular. as I say to everybody that comes to me in this regard, you really got to make sure you're punching the numbers properly. You don't want to be losing money. And sometimes it has to do with how many properties you manage because you can leverage the numbers to create a bigger and better benefit for the tenants as well as for the property owners. Tim Baldwin (12:13) say to every client that comes to me in this regard, you really got to make sure you're crunching the numbers properly. You don't want to be losing money and sometimes it has to do with how many properties you manage because you can leverage the numbers to create a bigger and better benefit for the tenants as well as for the property owners. Jason Hull (12:34) Yeah, that makes sense. Obviously, we don't want to just be adding more more bells and whistles and services if it's not actually going to be a profit center, if we're going to be losing money. Cool. So now you mentioned, you know, in preparation for this, you know, it says, Tim will also discuss how consistency, documentation, structured maintenance routines. Tim Baldwin (12:43) Exactly. Jason Hull (12:55) not only prevent maintenance, like prevent emergencies, but also build lasting value and trust with tenants. And so let's get into that a little bit. Tim Baldwin (13:03) Yeah, well everything that the property manager does really needs to be mapped out. Again, starting from the very beginning of creating this tenancy all the way through to the end of it is that the property managers need to know, you know, here's what I'm going to inspect. These are the services that we're going to provide. This is how we're going to process towards end of the lease processes. For an example, requiring tenants who are already placed Jason Hull (13:04) Yeah, who are already placed to apply again to make sure that they still qualify to renew that lease. So having... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/39525930

DGS 320: (BONUS) The Door Machine - Grow Your Property Management Business 12/19/2025

DGS 320: (BONUS) The Door Machine - Grow Your Property Management Business Many property management entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses do not personally enjoy being a salesperson or BDM (business development manager). If you are in this situation, you might know that you need to hire a BDM… but do you have the resources and time to do so? In this quick episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull share a sneak peek of the Door Machine™, a program where DoorGrow vets, hires, trains, and supports rockstar property management BDMs to grow your business for you. You’ll Learn [1:39] How to Automate Growing Your Property Management Business Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) All right, what's up everybody? This is Jason Hull and Sarah Hull with the DoorGrow Show. So we're gonna skip the intro today because it is the day after Thanksgiving. It's Black Friday when we're recording this. We do have a Black Friday deal, but you probably already missed out on it, because you probably might not have been paying attention, or if you got it, congratulations. But we do have something in the works we wanted to talk about that I think is gonna be a game changer, really cool. And I'll tell you about it in just a second. But before we do that, Quick word from our sponsor, which is Vendoroo. Many of you tell me maintenance is probably the least enjoyable part of being a property manager and definitely the most time consuming. But what if you could cut that workload by up to 85 %? That's exactly what Vendoroo has achieved. They're cutting edge AI technology to handle nearly all your maintenance tasks from initiating work orders and troubleshooting to coordinating with vendors and reporting. This AI doesn't just automate, it becomes your ideal and learning your preferences and executing tasks flawlessly, never needing a day off and never quitting. This frees you up to focus on critical tasks that really move the needle for your business, whether that's refining operations, expanding your portfolio, or even just taking a well-deserved break. Over half the room at last year's DoorGrow Live conference signed up with Vendero, right then and there. A year later, they're not just satisfied, they're raving. about how Vendoroo has transformed their business. So don't let maintenance drag you down. Step up your property management game with Vendoroo. Visit vendoroo.ai/doorgrow today and make this the last maintenance hire you'll ever need. All right. Let's get into it. So the exciting news that we wanted to talk about is we have this new thing called. Oh, I don't know what we're going it. We're going to call it the DoorGrow Money machine. Door machine. The door, okay, was, the money machine is the same. It's basically a money machine for your business. We're calling it the door machine. Why? Because this is a system that we're installing in your business that brings you money. Basically, we've seen a lot of challenges. People try hiring or struggle to hire a BDM. They try to get, find somebody to do sales for their business and they struggle to keep this person accountable. They struggle to find the right person. we've got the hiring down. So we're placing BDMs into businesses. And sometimes they work out because the business owner is engaged, they support them, they know how to train them and it works out. But sometimes the BDM could be great, but the business owner isn't keeping them accountable. They don't know whether the BDM is doing a good job or not. They just don't know how to best support them or train them. So the challenge is that we wanted to solve is how could we put a BDM into a business, but that BDM is accountable to us. Like we're responsible for them. That BDM has to be paid by us, we figured out. Like if we're gonna control them and get them to do the right things and get them to have the right incentives, the right training, we need to be in control of it because when our clients, a lot of the business owners are in control of these BDMs, they fall short of doing a good job at training them, keeping them accountable, supporting them, et cetera. because you're busy, you have a lot of stuff on your plate. You don't have time to babysit a new BDM. Right. A of yeah. And a lot of times you're getting a BDM because you maybe aren't good at sales or you don't enjoy it. So you trying to train them is kind of like the blind leading the blind. And so we're going to help with this. that's... ⁓ say too much more than that because we're still figuring out the details. We did give a very very sneak preview to one of our clients who before we even got done explaining it he said like eight times he's like I'm in. Yeah just sign me up. sign me Take my money, do it. So he's like yeah I think we're on the right track and it's going to be revolutionary to the industry and the BDM side specifically which I'm really excited about. I'm tired of seeing broke property managers and I'm tired of seeing property managers struggle with hiring. So I think we're just going to step in and fix it. This is the announcement. So by the time you hear this recording or if you see this live, reach out to us and say, hey, I want to hear about the DoorGrow door. What is it? Engine? Machine. DoorGrow door machine. So find out about the door machine. Yeah. money machine, maybe it'll be the money machine. But ask us about the machine, right? And we'll know what you're talking about. And we can let you know the details and I think it'll be pretty exciting. this will be a game changer. It lowers your risk and it helps us make money, you make money, BDM make money. It's a win-win-win for everybody. All right, that's our sneak peek. We are thankful for you all. Thank you for your support. Thank you for... and caring about what we do. Thank you for changing the industry. And I am really excited to do more of that. That's what we're all about here. those of you that are along for the crazy ride in the property management industry, we appreciate it. All right, that's it. Until next time to our mutual growth. Bye everyone. /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/39462860

DGS 319: Protect, Prevent, Perform: Smart Leak Detection for Modern Property Managers 12/12/2025

DGS 319: Protect, Prevent, Perform: Smart Leak Detection for Modern Property Managers How much money has water damage cost your owners? How much time and money could you save if you were able to detect issues within a property before they became a larger problem? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Nadav Schnall to explore how innovative water and gas leak detection systems are transforming residential property management and to share how these technologies can prevent costly damage, protect tenants, and streamline maintenance operations for property managers. You’ll Learn [1:14] Nadav Schnall's Background in Property Management [05:06] Innovative Solutions for Leak Detection [11:07] Understanding the Technology Behind Pro Sentry [17:25] Implementing Smart Detection Systems Quotables “If something goes unchecked, somebody's out of town, there's a water leak, I mean, it can just do massive damage.” “The responsibility of a property manager is to make sure the building is operating properly, to make sure it's operating efficiently, to mitigate damages, to mitigate risks.” “Time is of the essence when something like this happens.” Resources Transcript Nadav Schnall (00:00) No need for displacement, no need to wake up in the middle of the night, come back to a flooded home. So we can solve all that Jason Hull (00:05) All right. Welcome everybody. I am Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. We have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, and cleaned up hundreds of businesses. helping them add doors, improve pricing, increase profits, simplify operations. And we run the leading property management mastermind with more video testimonials and reviews than any other coach or consultant in the industry. At DoorGrow, we believe that good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. We are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry. eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. Today, my guest is Nadav Schnall. Welcome, Nadav Nadav Schnall (01:14) Thank you for having me, Jason. Jason Hull (01:15) All right, so your company is called ProSentry. We're going to be getting into that. But before we chat about our topic today, which is protect, prevent, perform smart leak detection for modern property managers, tell us a little bit about your background, how you got into entrepreneurism and what finally led you. Nadav Schnall (01:33) Sure, happy to provide some background. So my background is actually in property management. I was a property manager for about a decade for First Service Residential in New York City. I had their kind of luxury. group or luxury division. So I did a lot of consulting for developers and lot of property management, opening buildings, know, placing staff, making sure buildings kind of transition from construction to operation. So that was really the lion's share of my background as it relates to property management. Then I went into and opened another company that had to do with the service industry, kind of fire suppression systems, mechanicals, kind of the the heart of a building, so to speak. And that led me to connect with my co-founder and business partner, John Russ, who is a builder in New York City. I've known him for probably about 15 years. And we came together to do this idea. So really very much so kind of experiencing firsthand. what we are trying to solve and that's kind how I got into the world of entrepreneurship and into the world of ProSentry Jason Hull (02:35) Got it. All right. Thanks for the background. So you're an expert. This is your bio, an expert in smart building monitoring. We're going to chat about exploring how innovative water and gas leak detection systems are transforming residential property management and maybe share how these technologies can prevent costly damage, protect tenants, streamline maintenance operations for property managers from boosting safety to increasing operational efficiency. And in today's episode, you'll get to learn how smart monitoring is reshaping the way you care for your properties and your bottom line. So cool. I'm excited to get into this. So, so now, Nadav, where, where do we start? Nadav Schnall (03:15) Well, we can probably start in property management. And I can tell you how many times I would wake up in the morning and I'd be checking my phone and then find that I have emails from last night that there was a leak in the building or my super calling me at two o'clock in the morning saying, hey, we had a flood or someone, there was a construction going on and someone left a window open and some pipe froze. Jason Hull (03:19) Okay. Nadav Schnall (03:42) And so that's kind of where it started for me, kind of really looking into these operational issues, which in today's day and age with technology, you are able to solve. And so that's where the journey started for me is really trying to look at properties and saying, how can we help common day-to-day occurrences? More so you look at the insurance industries and that's one of the... biggest pluses that we try to bring to the table is trying to helping buildings with insurance. Water leaks are non-weather related water leaks are typically the top three causes for insurance claims. And many times it's the number one reason for insurance claims. And so you look at these things and you're saying, there is technology out there. There is ways to substantially reduce that. How do we do that, improve the day-to-day work of property managers? reduce insurance claims for buildings, reduce insurance rates and premiums, and also improve the life of the residents and tenants that live within. No need for displacement, no need to wake up in the middle of the night, come back to a flooded home. So we can solve all that and we focus in the multifamily. That's kind of our main focus. Jason Hull (04:53) Yeah, Yeah, I mean, if something goes unchecked, somebody's out of town, there's a water leak, I mean, it can just do massive damage. Yeah, so how do we mitigate that? Nadav Schnall (05:04) Yeah, so I can tell you a little bit about the technology and what we do and how we do it. first of all, traditional systems that existed so far were really based on Wi-Fi, which is a big difference. And they were more geared towards maybe something that you would do for your house or maybe something you would do for your apartment. But how do you resolve that in a multifamily world, right? Where even if I am the most responsible resident in the building and I put water leak detection and temperature and humidity and maybe gas, you put all detection technologies in your apartment, you can still get leaked on from your apartment above. Something can still happen. And you just said it, right? A resident that may be away. And we have this actually. is an actual... know, claim that we were able to avoid. In a building, someone, you know, it was a vacant apartment, a realtor came in to show the apartment, walked out to the terrace. It was a classic wintery day. Didn't close the door all the way. Realtor left, came in, blew the apartment door open and the temperatures started going down and going down and going down. Luckily that building had ProSentry and that building was notified when the temperatures hit about 50 degrees and the resident manager of that building got the notification today that doesn't sound right. Of course, checked the records, found out there was a vacant apartment, ran upstairs, saw that the door was open, was able to close the door, turn on the heat before frozen pipes. But otherwise you would have had frozen pipe and that could have easily knocked out 10 apartments insurance claims and so on and so forth. So I think that's kind of one of the biggest areas where we can save. And the nice part about that is insurance carriers are starting to recognize us and starting to recognize that we are actually reducing claims inside buildings. We're doing that across the board. We recently did a study across 18 months. We took a bunch of properties and we wanted to see what happened in those properties across an 18 month period. we alerted those properties to over 6,000 different types of water events, right? Whether it's water or, you know, could be some, some of it can be just be drizzling. Some of could be, you know, a condensate drain and an HVAC unit overflowing, right? So different types of leaks. And then we followed up with the properties. Not one of those buildings and any of those water events resulted in an insured claim. And so we were able to actually prove to the insurance world that this is a risk mitigative tool and actually the service that we provide, we like to call it risk mitigation as a service. ⁓ And by doing that, we've been able to help several buildings either move from kind of E &S, Excessive Surplus insurance policies over to admitted carriers, which of course are substantially cheaper. Jason Hull (07:27) Yeah. Nadav Schnall (07:41) or just simply being able to reduce insurance rates, right? You presented a certain risk before, now you present this risk. And so it can help properties both on the operation side, the maintenance side, but also on the insurance side. And I know I said a lot. Jason Hull (07:53) Yeah. No, that's, no, that sounds very fascinating. So I can see how this would be very important. So if the insurance companies are not having to do anything on these claims, then you would think they would be very incentivized to get people to implement this. Nadav Schnall (08:10) That's 100%. So in New York State, for example, where we have a lot of presidents, especially in New York City, we work with a number of carriers that provide anywhere from, this is on the homeowner side, but anywhere from 3 % up all the way up to 12 % premium reductions. year over year on your homeowners insurance policy. So if you have a building and let's say there's 100 apartments, if you happen to be insured with one of these insurance carriers, you will receive a discount on your premium year over year. their ROI is right there. And then of course we can help on the underlying building insurance policy as well. Jason Hull (08:50) Got it, okay. So what are the benefits for the, that's obviously a benefit for the property owner, right? What are the benefits for the property manager? Nadav Schnall (09:00) So, I mean, the obvious would be peace of mind, right? Because at the end of the day, the responsibility of a property manager is to make sure the building is operating properly, to make sure it's operating efficiently, to mitigate damages, to mitigate risks. And so the advantages of property managerial, first of all, you're able to see what happens in your entire building. So you'll have a dashboard. You'll be able to see each one of our sensing technologies. And I think we've heavily focused so far on water leak detection and maybe temperature detection, which is really, you know, these are one of our biggest sellers, but we do anything from water to gas to oil leaks, to mechanical malfunctions, environmental issues, even rodents. So we have a lot. know, thermostat. So we have different types of technologies all surrounded under our platform. And so the property manager will be able to see all these sensing, all these sensors across this entire building on one, on one dashboard. It will substantially reduce damages, right? So from a... to do share responsibility to the building. is very important, but more so it also gives peace of mind, right? That you know that this apartment or this building or this area, because a lot of our installations are mechanical equipment, right? We have a building that had a couple of leaks coming from the mechanical systems. Every time there was a leak there, it leaked into the elevators. The elevators went out, had to call the elevator company out, had to file another insurance claim. And every time that's there, the amount of time the property managers have to spend to deal with an incident like this, right? It doesn't only start with mitigating the damage itself. You gotta mitigate the damage, you gotta communicate with all the apartment owners, you gotta let them know what's going on. Then they have repairs, they have to coordinate with contractors, they have to file insurance claims, they have to file reports, they have to talk to their boards or their building owners. So there's a lot there. By installing a system like this, it gives you lot of peace of mind and saves you a lot of time. Jason Hull (10:46) So less damage, less work for the property manager, less stress in having to deal with frustrated owners, frustrated tenants. Yeah, so win-win all the way around. So you had mentioned a few things that this equipment can send for. So could you go over all those for us? Nadav Schnall (11:04) Yeah, sure. It's 100%. So we have, you maybe I started off a little bit in the beginning, we talked about Wi-Fi, but I really complete that thought. So I can start high level. So. First of all, what we use is use a technology called LoRaWAN. LoRaWAN stands for long range wide area network. So it's very similar to Wi-Fi in the sense that it is a wireless technology that we can communicate over this wireless network that it creates. But indifferent than Wi-Fi, has a couple of major differences, which is huge for buildings, huge for properties, right? Especially existing buildings where you're trying to retrofit a system, which of course you're very sensitive to, right? Because if you're... You know, if you're doing property management in a multifamily residential building and you have to access every single apartment, no one wants to like start running electricity or opening walls. It has to be really easy to deploy. You come in and come out under 10 minutes. That's what you're looking to do. So this technology, LoRaWAN, what it does is it is a very strong frequency. So the advantage is it can penetrate brick, mortar, you know. concrete, steel, whatever, whatever inside a building. And you can use one of these gateways. Gateways are similar to what we would call in the Wi-Fi world as like a router. So you would install one of those every maybe three to six floors, I would say, as opposed to a traditional router where you put it in an apartment, you have one for the entire apartment. The downside to it is that you can stream a lot of data on it. So it's great for the world of IoT and the world of sensors because you don't have to put on that. You just need to say, what is the temperature? I having a leak? Do I have this or do I have something else? So that is a very, very important advantage that this technology has over traditional systems, which rely on Wi-Fi. The other big thing it has is that it's extremely energy efficient. So each one of our sensors will last for about 10 years on battery life. Whereas traditional Wi-Fi systems, probably have to replace the battery once a year, once every two years, depending on the system. As far as our offering, so we have different liquid sensing technology, so oil and water. We also have gas detection. And for example, in New York City, they passed a law which was now tabled again, but they passed a law called Local Law 157. Every, you know, apartment or building in New York City that had gas, had to have gas detection. So we were able to help those buildings as well. And so buildings that already had our system had to now comply with a new law, easily just put it on the system, no problem. Temperature humidity, we spoke about. We have rodents. We have different types of sensing. For example, if you want to see the levels of different tanks. So for example, you have a big water storage tank or you want to know what the capacity is of trash or different. So we have devices that can sense distance. different sensors for different types of mechanical equipment to see where they go, what the status is, are they operating, are they not, are they in movement? Steam traps, we can tell you if a stream trap open. So there's a lot of stuff there. And I think one of the unique parts about ProSentry is that both me and my business partner, John, really come from the world. And so we meet with supers, we meet with property managers and they say, hey, you know, I really want to understand how I can better see this or how I can do that. And that's what we developed. And so we go out and we figure out what sensing to cloud booth exists for the world and we customize them for the buildings themselves. Jason Hull (14:15) Got it. Is this system also tie into some of the other sort of catastrophes besides water, like fire, smoke? ⁓ Nadav Schnall (14:23) So we have a smoke and vape detector, but it is not what you would call your traditional carbon-fiber monoxide type of sensor. And that is because, first of all, it's a very saturated market. There's a lot of companies out there that provide. We have the ability to interface into it. It was just a conscious choice not to get into that yet. Jason Hull (14:38) Yeah. Nadav Schnall (14:47) Just because you know, it's more of a niche market and that's more of a very wide market. There's also a lot of regular Jason Hull (14:52) Figure out smoking and vaping is another thing. Like, maybe four terms, stuff like this. Nadav Schnall (14:55) Yeah. So that we do have on the property, on the platform. that is a great sensing technology, especially for like rental buildings or buildings that have passed no smoking laws in the building. So it can do vaping, it could do marijuana, it could do cigarette smoke. And so we've had that. actually, one of the reasons we developed it, again, speaking to property managers and building owners, This is a West Coast property owner. he said, you know, one of my main reasons for non renewing leases in my building is because people smoke and people don't want to renew. And so that was one of the reasons we went out. came out with this, with a sensing technology and it can, you know, it kind of tattles on the smokers, but it works with that kind of building. Right. So if you sign into a building, which is a non-smoking building, you should have that same with hotels, et cetera, et cetera. Jason Hull (15:45) Cool. So I'm going to read a word from our sponsor and then I some more questions we'll get into. So this episode is sponsored by Vendoroo So many of you tell me that maintenance is probably the least enjoyable part of the property manager and definitely the most time consuming. But what if you could cut that workload by up to 85 %? That's exactly what Vendoroo has achieved. They've leveraged cutting edge AI technology to handle nearly all your maintenance tasks from initiating work orders and troubleshooting to coordinating with vendors and reporting. This AI doesn't just automate, it becomes your ideal employee, learning your preferences and executing tasks flawlessly, never needing a day off and never quitting. This frees up you to focus on the critical tasks... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/39378155

DGS 318: The Hidden Thief in Your Property Management Business 12/05/2025

DGS 318: The Hidden Thief in Your Property Management Business How often are you interrupted in your property management business? Tenant and owner phone calls, emails, maintenance requests, team member questions… it’s an endless cycle of wasted time and stolen profits. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull discuss the hidden thief in every property management business: the Interruption Burglar. You’ll Learn [01:23] The Burglar Stealing From Your Business [07:41] Becoming Aware of Your Company’s Time Loss [13:20] If Your Business Isn’t Growing, It is Dying Quotables “There's a burglar that lives inside everybody's business.” “One interruption is going to cost you somewhere between 15 minutes and 30 minutes of wasted labor.” “All it takes is questions to make you conscious of things you're unconscious of currently.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) Nobody can even see this guy running around stealing until we do some of these exercises with our clients. And then they start to become conscious and they can now see this interruption burglar sneaking around, stealing money, stealing profits, wasting everybody's time. Welcome everybody. We are Jason and Sarah Hull the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, and cleaned up hundreds of businesses, helping them add doors. improve pricing, increase profit, simplify operations, and we run the leading property management mastermind with more video testimonials and reviews than any other coach or consultant in the industry. We are the best in the world. And at DoorGrow, we believe that good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to relationships, real estate deals, and residual income. And our mission at DoorGrow. is to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. All right, so today, Sarah and I thought we would chat about, she said, you've been wanting to talk about this for a little while. So we're going to be chatting about what? Interruption. All right, specifically, the interruption burglar. So maybe I'm dating myself a little bit, but I don't know if you remember the Hamburglar. I do. McDonald's, okay, all right, that's good. so for those of you listening, maybe you remember like McDonald's had the Hamburglar and he was this sneaky, creepy guy going around stealing people's cheeseburgers, right? And there's another burglar. There's a burglar that lives inside everybody's business. and it's the interruption burglar. And the interruption burglar is stealing your money by interrupting. And so every interruption in a business is a hidden thief stealing from your business. And most business owners give a blank check out to every tenant and owner that they bring on that says, call me whenever you want to, interrupt me whenever you want to, steal all my profits. And a lot of property managers think they have to talk to everybody and that's what they're paid to do. And so they have to always be available. So we're going to kind of throw a wrench into that sort of level of thinking because we've talked to lot of clients get out of the trap of lacking profit, lacking margin by helping them escape or eliminate or tear up this blank check and eliminate the interruption burglar, or at least put some guardrails around that guy. so according to Gary Keller's book, The One Thing, it cites a study saying that one interruption costs 18 minutes of productivity. Dan Martel's book about time management says I think it's like 26 minutes of productivity. So I don't know if we're just that much worse when we get interrupted now. But basically One interruption is going to cost you somewhere between 15 minutes and 30 minutes of wasted labor. Why? Because when we get interrupted, if we're in the flow or we're working on things and we're being productive as a team member or as a CEO or COO or whatever our role is, we get interrupted. We then have to rebuild that house of cards that we were in the middle of working on, figure out where was I, what was I working on, you know, kind of reestablish our thinking, get back into the groove of what we were trying to accomplish, what we were working on, especially when we're trying to get into deep work where things get really productive and effective. And so one interruption, if it happens every 20 minutes or so, which in a property management business is not hard to do, you may find you feel like you're just spinning your wheels or your team members are working and busy all day long, but they're not actually producing a whole lot of output. And so this can be very expensive in a property management business. Not only that, but usually a lot of times the interruptions are internal. So you ever heard of sneaker net? Like somebody walks into your office, it's the most inefficient network ever, and then you're like, hey, do you got a minute? Or I have this question, and maybe you're the person they're all coming to ask questions to because you're the boss, and they're interrupting you all the time. And so then you're like, well, getting interrupted. And now you've got two people. One's interrupting the other and you're wasting a lot of labor. And then we set up scenarios in which one person has the ability to interrupt multiple people in the business. This is where we set up Slack channels and other stupid communication methodologies that people think is more productive, where there's one too many communication, which becomes one too many interruptions. So one interruption, instead of costing you like maybe 15, 20 minutes of labor or a half hour of labor, It can quadruple. It can be 10 people at a time. It can be really expensive. And then, you know, sometimes, you know, one's interrupting the other. So you've got it's doubling. You know, people are just wasting your time and money. And so it's really easy for you to lose all of your profits and all your margins to staff through interruptions and a lack of productivity. And we see people get stuck at small door counts on a per person basis. They're like, I can only manage 50 units by myself, or a property manager with a whole team, I can only manage 100 units. And a lot of people think, well, that's pretty good, but it's not. Sarah managed 265 at her peak, basically by herself. Eventually had one part-time person. I had one part-time person. Yeah, eventually. was part-time, but between us we You weren't even a full-time equivalent. Yeah, and that's because you had eliminated a lot of interruptions because you just didn't want to deal with them. And you set really good boundaries. Well, yeah, which was to not be interrupted. Yeah. So cool. So that's the interruption burglar. This is one of the things we help clients figure out. We help them figure out how do we eliminate the interruptions? How do we create better, healthier, more effective communication systems Sometimes your clients do this. Sometimes your team members do it. Yeah. We've got to be able to separate ourselves where we can and reduce or completely eliminate interruptions. Yeah. That's the goal. So we have methodologies that we take our clients through to, one, identify their own interruptions, the things that are interrupting them. And then we have a process for taking their team through a process so that they become conscious of the interruptions so that they can, everybody in the business can start to protect the business from this interruption burglar because interruption burglar, sneaky. Nobody can even see this guy running around stealing until we do some of these exercises with our clients. And then they start to become conscious and they can now see this interruption burglar sneaking around, stealing money, stealing profits, wasting everybody's time. And nobody likes the interruptions anyway. So by reducing them, everybody's happier. Even the people that are interrupting you, like tenants and owners are happier and less anxious. If you set better guardrails, better expectations, better boundaries, they actually can trust you more to do the job instead of feeling like they need to micromanage the person that's managing their rental property, which is ridiculous. Why don't they just cut you out if they're going to micromanage something, right? So yeah, they don't need to do that. Okay. I don't know what else we need to say about this, but. Well, one of the things that I had created recently within the last two months was a time optimization assessment that you can go through and take and you can do it every day. Kind of get a grade and a score and see what went well and what didn't go so well and then it will help you figure out what can you optimize and what can you change and You can do that even Right now so if you would like to get access to that it's a longer link So it's not like I can just give you the URL to it So I would say the easiest way to get it if you would like access to it is just email me and Sarah doorgrow.com s-a-r-a-h at doorgrow.com So if you'd like that I would be very happy to send you the link and you can use that as long as you would like but you'll essentially go through answer a couple of questions and then it will email you your results and your score so it will tell you overall you know what were the things that didn't go so well and Oftentimes when you're filling a report out like this at the end of the day It just makes you very conscious of it because sometimes our days tend to get away from us and they wonder then at the end of the day, man, how did that happen? I didn't get to that thing that I really wanted to do. Man, I was busy all day long, but I just don't feel like I was very productive or I don't feel like I got to the things that I wanted to get to. Well, this will help you while you're answering these questions. It'll just point to a few things that you can optimize. And sometimes I've tested this out with our clients a few times too. go, ⁓ as they're taking this assessment and just answering the questions, they're going, well, I can already tell what kind of day this was. This was not good. This was not good. This was not good. And then the good news is just by taking that assessment, you have a better idea of how to approach things and hopefully a better plan for the following day. Sometimes all it takes is questions to make you conscious of things you're unconscious of currently. And when we're unconscious of the interruption burglar, he gets away with murder. Like he's just stealing your money. So we've got to stop that guy. All right. So we've got a sponsor. So let me share that with everybody real quick. We appreciate our sponsors. So our sponsor today is Blanket. And Blanket is a property retention and growth platform that helps property managers stop losing doors, add more revenue and increase the number of properties they manage. Wow, your clients with a branded investor dashboard and an off market marketplace, while your team gets all the tools they need to identify owners at risk of churning and powerful systems to help you add more doors. And so it helps you retain the doors, even if your clients sell or leave. You can keep the the units, it's really a cool system. I recommend everybody uses it. And we coach and recommend our clients use it. I think it's a great system. So. For sure. All right. I think also we had just had our clients go through a time optimization challenge. We did. Using some of the things that we talk about in the program, some of the components that we coach on and some of the things that you will see in that time optimization assessment. Not all of the things, but. Some of the things in the assessment are on there and then of course there's a lot more. So what we've noticed and what a lot of people had noticed when they went through that assessment and that challenge is, wow, there is a lot of time in the business that just gets eaten up by different things and it's not hard at all to get lost. It's not hard to kind of get consumed by the day to day. It's not hard to get lost in all of the tasks that are required by a property management company. And this really goes for you and it goes for your team. Because just looking at every person's time on the team can be really, really helpful. One person might be wildly efficient. And if that person that's efficient is, let's say, the business owner, the business owner might. assume then, well, everybody on my team is really efficient because I'm really efficient. And that may not be the case. So our goal is to help you figure out, you know, who is efficient and who is using their time wisely and perhaps who is not. So that way we can figure out what are the things that we can shift? What are the things that we can change? And oftentimes it's not even really hard to change. you know what you're doing or how you're doing it. It is different and it can sometimes feel uncomfortable because you just have to do things differently. And I think in the world of property management and especially how things are running today is everyone assumes that you need to just be responding to everything immediately and be on top of everything and be super communicative with everybody. That's not always the case. That may not get you the best results. So it can create a lot of work. But being busy and being productive are two very different things. So it's our goal always to help property managers figure out what can I do to actually be more productive? And how can I make sure that somebody on the team is always having time to focus on the income generating activities? Because if you are not focusing on growth in the business, it is slowly dying. So if there's no one who's focused on growth or if there's one person who's just a little bit, it's like, well, I do it for, you know, five hours a week when I can. And when I'm not busy doing all of these other things, what's happening is we just get stuck on this hamster wheel where it's kind of like Groundhog Day. You wake up. You do things, you make no progress. You think, I'll do it again tomorrow. You wake up, you do a whole bunch of things, you're busy, but you're not making progress. And then that day just repeats over and over and over. So we're just spending all of our time doing all of these things that aren't actually helping the business grow or helping the business make progress. You're just doing the day-to-day tasks and then it's really hard to grow because sometimes it gets scary to grow. And they go, well, if I'm this busy at 40 units, there's no way I can handle 80. There's no way I can handle 150. There's no way I can handle 500. And if you're running the 500 units the same way you're running the 40 units, the answer is yes, there's no way you can do it. So you need to just look at doing it a different way. Yeah. Yeah, you need to start running your business the way you would at a thousand doors when you have a small amount of doors because it's going to be completely different. And a lot of people, when they first start out, think they need to please everybody, take care of everybody in a special way, and they don't set healthy boundaries. They take on too difficult a clients. They make a lot of mistakes. So by optimizing your time and our goal with our clients isn't just to make you more productive. Our goal with clients is to make sure as a business owner that you are more fulfilled, that you're enjoying your day more. It's not just about being able to somehow accomplish and do more work. The goal really is for you to do more of the things you enjoy and less of the things that you don't enjoy. And so usually for most business owners, that very first exit you need to do in the business is to exit doing the frontline work. If you can make it past that, everything gets a lot easier, it's a lot nicer. But when you're doing frontline work, or when you have an entire team, but they're asking you questions on how to always do or make decisions about the frontline work, you're not out of the frontline work. And so you got to exit the frontline work, then you got to exit managing everybody. And then you got to, the next step is then you're like a CEO or you're a leader and you might want to go to some higher levels of exit, but. A lot of people can't escape the frontline work. They can't figure out how to do that. So they just sell the whole business. They jump all the way to the last exit. They're like, let's go. I need freedom. And then they go start another business and they kind of paint themselves into a corner again and they're miserable. So there's a very simple path that we can take clients through to help them get that freedom. And so if you feel like you're frustrated and you're asking this question all the time, like, why won't my team? just think for themselves. It's because you've built the wrong business. The business is not built around you. The business is built around the business, which means you are now the servant to the business instead of the reverse. And so you built the wrong business, which means you also built the wrong team and you can't see it. Sometimes it takes some outside perspective to get perspective so that you can see it. And that's one of the things we enjoy helping our clients figure out. Sometimes replacing their entire team. And yeah, if you've if you're not enjoying your day to day role and you have an entire team, you built the wrong team because you built it around the wrong person. You're showing up wearing hats and doing things in the business that you shouldn't be doing because you're not the best at this. You're not somebody that enjoys it. And I guarantee if there's certain hats or roles you're wearing or holding on to right now that you don't enjoy, somebody else out there would be better at it than you. And I know that's humbling to think in the beginning. It's a very humbling thing to see, a team member and see them perform better than you, outperform you. But ultimately smart business owners know that you want to build a team of people that are better at the stuff you don't enjoy. Because if you don't enjoy it, you're never going to be great at it. We've got a lot of tactics. We've got a lot of methodologies. There's a lot of little things we could share about that. but in interest of time, if you're interested, Sarah's already offered very generously her cool assessment. Send an email to Sarah with an H at doorgrow.com. It's got to the H otherwise I don't get it. If you spell my name wrong then you don't make the top of it. Wow, okay, yeah. No patience for that. right. Cool. All right. Well, if you've ever felt stuck or stagnant, you want to take your property management business to the next level, reach out to us. You can check us out at doorgrow.com. For a free training on how to get unlimited free leads, text the word LEADS to 512-648-4608. And we will send you a hour long training that shows you how to get unlimited leads for free in your property management business. That will blow your mind. Also join our free Facebook community just for property management business owners at doorgrowclub.com And if you'd like to get the best ideas in property management, join our newsletter at doorgrow.com slash subscribe. And if you found this even a little bit helpful, don't forget to subscribe And until next time, remember the slowest path to growth is to do it alone. So let's grow together. Bye... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/39287595

DGS 317: Battlefield to Boardroom: How to Build Tax-Free Wealth 11/28/2025

DGS 317: Battlefield to Boardroom: How to Build Tax-Free Wealth As a property management business owner, you likely work with seasoned investors who are always looking for new ways to build and preserve their wealth and assets. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Alan Porter to discuss how to reveal the powerful financial strategies the wealthy and large financial institutions use and how you can apply them. You’ll Learn [01:09] Alan’s Inspiration for Uncovering Financial Secrets [08:38] Learning Financial Planning Strategies 90% of People Don’t Know [12:25] How to Get Started on the Path to Tax-Free Retirement [15:43] Strategies For Property Managers and Their Clients Quotables “The one thing you can always trust is for everybody to look out for their own self-interest.” “If your own self-interest is in alignment with their interests, then that's a win-win. Otherwise, someone's gonna lose.” “If you don't have a plan, make one. But you've got to have a plan and improve on it all the time.” Resources Transcript Alan Porter (00:00) I teach people to think outside the box, conventional financial planning, and show them the strategies that the wealthy and banking institutions have been using for years. Now, I show people how to become their own bank. Jason Hull (00:10) All right, welcome everybody. I am Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. We have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, cleaned up hundreds of businesses. Alan Porter (00:26) Thank Jason Hull (00:35) helping them add doors, improve pricing, increase profit, simplify operations. And we run the leading property management mastermind in the industry. At DoorGrow, we believe good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. We are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry. eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. So my guest today is Alan Porter of Strategic Wealth Strategies. Welcome, Alan. Alan Porter (01:16) Well, thank you for having me on. Jason Hull (01:18) Yeah, glad to have you. And we're going to be talking about, he's going to be sharing how to reveal the powerful financial strategies, the wealthy use, how you can apply them to. Alan will be uncovering the IRS approved playbook for retiring completely tax free, explain the millionaire tax strategies business owners use to keep more of what they earn and break down Wall Street myths to show how to build lasting wealth without market volatility. So Alan. Again, welcome to the show and why don't we kick things off by give us a little bit of background on you. How did you get into entrepreneurism, into business and give us a little bit of backstory so we understand how this all came to be. Alan Porter (02:00) Well, I never thought I'd be doing this. I retired from the military back in 1993. I was a Blackhawk instructor pilot and I told everybody I had a safe landing for every takeoff and I dodged all the bullets and I had a great career. And I got enrolled in the real estate mortgage business after that up till about 2008. I've had some tragic things happen to my family. In 2009, live in Little, mean Fayetteville, North Carolina. My son lived in Little Rock, Arkansas with his wife, Lynn. She was 39 and they had two little girls that were seven and four. Jason Hull (02:19) in 2009. Alan Porter (02:28) Well, we went down there for Christmas in 2009, but my son had been 100 % disabled for three years and still not getting the disability. And January 5th changed my entire life. His wife, Lynn, called me up. said, Alan, I've been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and they've given me six months to live. Of course we were all devastated, but there's a huge financial problem that's developed in my son's family because there's no money coming in. Jason Hull (02:28) Well, we went down there for business in 2009, but my son had been 100 % disabled for three years and still not in a disability. Wow. And January 5th changed my entire life. His wife Lynn called me up, she said, Alan, I've been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and they've given me six months to live. Of course, we were all devastated. Yeah, I bet. there's huge financial problem that's developed in my son's family because of the money coming in. Alan Porter (02:55) I'm helping them out, but I don't know for how long Jason Hull (02:55) I'm helping him out, but I don't help him. Alan Porter (02:56) until I'm gonna have to sell my house or do something. But I was like 99 % of the people out there, Jason, that thought life insurance was a death product that you had to die to benefit from it. Well, little did I know she had a terminal illness right or her life insurance policy that she could access within one year of diagnosis of this deadly disease and was completely tax free, which I knew nothing about. It was hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jason Hull (02:58) Yeah. Really? Alan Porter (03:21) And if it had not been for that, my son would be bankrupt and it took a huge financial strain off of me. Jason Hull (03:25) Yeah. Well, long story short, died a year later, so I moved my son back here to Fayetteville, North Carolina. But about a year after that, my daughter's an oncology nurse, and her husband's a doctor at Woodbrook and Raleigh, North Carolina, and just gave birth to my third grandson. And she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it was very bad. We didn't think she was going to live. Well, now in 2023, she's been 12 years cancer free, but she also was diagnosed with Graves' disease, thyroid eye condition. Alan Porter (03:26) Well, to a long story short, she died a year later. So I moved my son back here to Fayetteville, North Carolina. But about a year after that, my daughter, who's an oncology nurse and her husband's a doctor, they live up in Raleigh, North Carolina, had just given birth to my third grandson. And she was diagnosed with breast cancer and it was very bad. We didn't think she was going to live. Well, now in 2023, she'd been 12 years cancer free, but she also was diagnosed with Graves disease and thyroid eye condition. There's only one treatment for it. It's not a cure-all for anything, but Jason Hull (03:51) And there's only one treatment for it. It's not a cure-all. Alan Porter (03:55) it's a treatment. It's an infusion, eight infusions of this drug is called Tepezza I believe. The first one was like $32,000. The last one was almost a quarter of a million dollars. That was in May of 2023. On January of 2024, the thyroid eye condition came back. In February, she went to the doctor. The doctor said, Nicole, I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do until you go blind and then we can operate. I'm thinking, man, what a prognosis. Jason Hull (03:55) my Yeah. ⁓ Alan Porter (04:21) So we tried to get her a study at Duke. She didn't qualify for that because she had already taken the Tepezza But April did get her into the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. But basically there's nothing they can do for her. She was up there for about four days for testing and consultation. But basically, like I said, there's nothing they can do for her. They got a drug that may be 50 % effective. It's not improved by insurance. And believe it or not, it's even more expensive than the Tepezza is. And it's just, I mean, so. Jason Hull (04:39) Yeah. Yeah. Alan Porter (04:51) So both of my kids are living day to day in misery. And when I got started in this, knew, like I said, these things, because I was to have a very successful real estate mortgage business. And I said, these financial strategies that the insurance companies have, why don't people know about this? These are the greatest financial vehicles out there. People tell me, well, listen to Suzy Orman and Dave Ramsey, insurance is not a good investment. Well, first off, it's not an investment. Jason Hull (04:54) When I got started in this, knew, like I said, these things, because I was very successful in estate in my early years. I said, these financial strategies that the insurance companies have, why don't people know about this? These are the greatest financial vehicles out there. People tell me, listen, as soon as you arm it today, Ramsey, insurance is not a good investment. Well, first off, it's not an investment. Alan Porter (05:18) It's an asset class all of its own. There's no other financial product that can Jason Hull (05:19) It's an asset class all of itself. There's no other financial product that... Alan Porter (05:23) provide the protection, performance, and benefits of cash value life insurance when properly structured and fixed and fixed indexed annually. And I'll give you one big point. They eliminate or mitigate the risk in retirement that a stock portfolio only compounds. That's absolutely... Let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of sequence of returns risk? Jason Hull (05:23) could provide the protection, performance, and benefits of cash, money, or life insurance. Yeah. if you have one big point, they eliminate or mitigate the risk in retirement that a stock portfolio only compacts. That's absolutely, let me ask you this, have you ever heard of sequence of returns risk? Sequencing returns? Sequence of returns risk. No. Alan Porter (05:46) Sequence of returns risk. Well, don't feel lonely because 99 % of the people I talk to, to include multi-millionaires that have fee-based advisors. And let's say that you're 65 years of age and you go to retire and you got a million dollars in your stock portfolio. They used to say a 4 % distribution rate was a safe distribution rate to last for 30 years, index for inflation at 3%. Well, my plans go to age 120. They don't cut off in 30 years. Jason Hull (05:50) Well, don't feel lonely because 99 % of the people I talk to include multi-millionaires that have fee-based advisors. let's say that you're 65 years of age and you go to retire. You have a million dollars in your stock portfolio. They used to say a 4 % distribution rate was a safe distribution rate to last for 30 years, index for inflation at 3%. Well, my plans go at age 120. They don't cut off in 30 years. But the problem with that 4 % distribution rate Alan Porter (06:15) But the problem is that 4 % distribution rate, that's Jason Hull (06:19) That's $40,000 a year. And that stock portfolio, that's not guaranteed. What if you have a 10 % loss the first year? now your million dollars goes down to $900,000 minus the $40,000 you took out minus the fees you paid on financial advisor whether you make money or not. And then the next two to three years, 2008 happens again, where you lost 38 to 52%. You never got the money in the fifth year. And when I tell people about this, they're financial advisors, Alan Porter (06:19) $40,000 a year. And that stock portfolio, that's not guaranteed. What if you have a 10 % loss the first year? So now your million dollars goes down to 900,000 minus the $40,000 you took out minus the fees you pay that financial advisor, whether you make money or not. And then the next two to three years, 2008 happens again, where you lost 38 to 52%. You're going to be out of money in the fifth year. And when I tell people about this and their financial advisors, Don't tell them, I mean, they're said, I said, why do you think that is? Jason Hull (06:45) don't tell them. I made letters, I said, why do you think that is? Alan Porter (06:48) It's because they make a fee whether you make money or not. The number one fear in retirement is running out of money before you run out of money. I can eliminate that. Jason Hull (06:49) Because they make a fee, well, if you make money or not. The number one fair return is 20,000 dollars. Yeah, compensation structures are incentive models. And so if their incentive is not to tell you, it's because they're getting paid to not tell you. Well, they're supposed to be fiduciary looking out for their best interest clients. I'm a certified financial financial advisor. Yeah, but regardless, the one thing you can always trust is for everybody to look out for their own self-interest. Oh, you're right there. Alan Porter (06:59) Yeah, exactly right. Well, they're supposed to be fiduciaries looking out for their best interest clients. I'm a certified financial fiduciary. you're right there. Jason Hull (07:18) So if your own self-interest is in alignment with their interests, then that's a win-win. Otherwise, someone's gonna lose. Yeah. It's always the clients. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, that's quite the story. how is everybody doing now? Alan Porter (07:26) Yep. And it's always the client. My son looks like he's 85 years old and my daughter's living day to day in pain. Jason Hull (07:43) Yeah, yeah. So you have this burden of trying to figure out how do I take care of them? How do I make sure that, you know, taking care of your kids and, you know, nothing's more stressful emotionally or more motivating for us as a parent than our own kids having it going through a tough time. Yeah. I remember my oldest daughter, she was born with a birth defect that there was a rotation in her gut and she was just always sick, throwing up, stuff like this. Well, she almost died. We didn't know this. got, went and got a scan. Everything was inflamed. They're like, we have to do emergency surgery immediately. And yeah, it was pretty scary as a parent. And they had to like pull her guts out, do surgery, put them back in. And she was a little kid, you know? Now she's my oldest. I mean, she's still my oldest, but now she works for me. and in DoorGrow which is great. But yeah, I remember those times. That's really scary. And I can imagine that's just really a big load on your shoulders. So did this kind of spark you creating the strategic wealth strategies then? Alan Porter (08:30) No. Absolutely, that's my passion for this. I'm very passionate about what I do. It's all about education because people don't know. Jason Hull (08:49) Explain the passion, like what gets you excited about this? Alan Porter (08:53) Well, educating people. That's what I did in the Army. I was an educator. I taught people how to fly. it's just like this, educating people. I teach people to think outside the box, conventional financial planning, and show them the strategies that the wealthy and banking institutions have been using for years. Now, I show people how to become their own bank. I've been doing this for a decade and a half. And why don't everybody doesn't do this? I don't know why. mean, you borrow money from yourself, you pay yourself back compound interest. Jason Hull (09:16) you Alan Porter (09:20) and not the financial institutions and you eliminate the effective interest cost that you pay on the money that you borrow. And people, are you aware of what effective interest cost is? Banks love it. I had a gentleman who wanted to do my debt free for life plan. And I said, well, how much debt do you have? He says, well, we bought a new house a couple of months ago, a couple of car payments, a loan and a credit card. I said, what's the interest rate on your mortgage? He said 2.75. Jason Hull (09:20) Yeah. And people, are you aware? No, what is that? Alan Porter (09:46) I said, what's your effective interest cost on that? He says, well, I don't know what you're talking about, Alan. I said, don't fill it, only most people don't. Fill out my form, we'll do a Zoom conference the following week. I said, you got $461,000 in debt. That's not your problem. The problem is the 49.76 effective interest cost, you're paying on that 2.75 % mortgage. His eyes got real big and he said, Alan, how is that possible? I said, it's not going to get down to the 2.75 until the last couple of months of the mortgage. Jason Hull (10:10) Yeah. ⁓ Alan Porter (10:14) You've got a credit card here that's over 90 % effective interest cost. And even though you've got great credits, your average effective interest cost is over 46%. So my next question to him was, what financial vehicle are you investing in, your 401k or anything else, that gives you a 46 % return on your money? Because 46 cents of every dollar that you pay out goes to compound interest for some financial institution, and that money's gone for you forever. Jason Hull (10:17) and ⁓ Alan Porter (10:38) He said, well, nothing. In fact, I lost 10 % of my 401k. Jason Hull (10:40) Yeah, that'd be hard to find that much. And then my last question was how long does it you to your debts off? I said with my cap three buck of money and a whole lot of insurance policy, 14.17 years past, saving $73,000. And in the 10th year it would be 52 years of bids, and there's over $149,000 in cap Alan Porter (10:43) And then my last question was, how long can it take you to pay your debts off the way you're doing it? I 20 some years. I said, with my tax-free bucket of money and a whole life insurance policy and our software, we're paying all your debts off 14.17 years faster, saving you $73,000 in interest. And in the 10th year, you'll be 52 years of age and there's over $139,000 in a tax-free bucket of money that you can use ⁓ to buy a new car, whatever, college education for your kids. Jason Hull (11:06) you can use uh buy a new car whatever college education for your kids at that point your debt benefits will be $400,000 in tax-free money from the federal bank but think about this you don't have to any more money in this by the time you're 65 there'll be over $400,000 in tax-free money that you can use to supplement your income that does not affect the taxation of social security or the tax and community care part which will be in the thousands per year Alan Porter (11:13) At that point, your debt benefits over $400,000 of tax-free money to protect your family. Think about this. You don't have to put any more money in this. By the time you're 65, there'll be over a quarter of a million dollars in a tax-free bucket of money that you can use to supplement your income that does not affect the taxation of Social Security or the means testing for Medicare Part B, which will be in the thousands per year. You're protected from lawsuits, liens, and judgments, and it eliminates or mitigates all the risk in retirement. This is absolutely great for real estate investors. Jason Hull (11:35) Yeah. Yeah ⁓ Alan Porter (11:42) Because once they build that money up in the cash value of their policy, they can take it, go buy a property, and pay themselves back. I do this all the time. I just bought two new cars in last two years. I pay myself back. I'm going to have tens of thousands of dollars more because I compounded interest for me instead of some financial institution. Jason Hull (12:03) So you said multiple times, like why aren't people doing this? Well maybe you could answer your own question, why aren't people doing this? Alan Porter (12:10) It's lack of education. It ought to be taught in high school, but it's not. I've got college professors with PhD degrees in accounting and finance. They have no idea what I'm talking about. They ask me to teach their classes. Jason Hull (12:20) Yeah, got it. So it was just a lack of education on this. Alan Porter (12:24) That's exactly what it is. Jason Hull (12:25) So, yeah, well, I mean, it sounds like something that everybody should be doing. So how does somebody get started with this or how do they become aware of this or what would you say are the first steps? Alan Porter (12:38) Well, give... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/39189200

DGS 316: Happier Property Managers - Mindset, Mental Health and The Future of PM with Ashleigh Goodchild 11/21/2025

DGS 316: Happier Property Managers - Mindset, Mental Health and The Future of PM with Ashleigh Goodchild Do you enjoy property management? It’s often a thankless industry, and it’s easy for property management business owners and their team members to become unhappy and burnt out. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Ashleigh Goodchild, the voice behind PM Collective, to explore what it really takes to build a property management career that you can enjoy. You’ll Learn [01:06] Importance of Having Support [08:01] Community-Led Learning for Property Managers [15:07] Structured Management vs. Random Leadership [21:36] People-Centric Property Management [32:41] Making the Invisible Visible Quotables “There's so much help available out there. And a lot of times we just don't ask as entrepreneurs.” “The slowest path to growth is to do it alone.” “A lot of people don't actually see what we do. And I think that's where you've got the opportunity.” Resources Transcript Ashleigh Goodchild (00:00) Generally churn rate and loss rate for businesses can range anywhere between 15 and 30%. Our office is sitting at about 5%. we've got 1200 doors, to have that 5 % churn rate actually considered really great. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (00:05) Yeah. Welcome everybody. I am Jason Hull, the owner and founder of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. We've talked to thousands of property managers, helped them add hundreds of doors, help them increase profit, simplify operations, get themselves out of the business more and more. And we believe the good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships and residual income. We are on a mission to transform property management business owners. and their businesses. want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. So my guest today is Ashleigh Goodchild. Welcome. She's the voice behind PM Collective, the art of property management. together, we're going to explore what it really takes to build a property management career that you can enjoy covering the balance between structured management and random leadership, how to create workplaces people actually want to stay in, and Ashleigh's vision for a more human, less transactional industry. So Ashleigh, welcome to the show. Ashleigh Goodchild (01:35) Thank you so much for having me. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (01:37) So let's give us a little bit of background on you for those that don't know you yet, that maybe you're listening. How did you get into entrepreneurism? How did you get into doing what you're doing now? Give us some of the backstory. Ashleigh Goodchild (01:52) Yeah, so I started real estate back when I was 18 and like many people just falling into it and I was placed into an office that had a business owner, one was an air hostess and one was a pilot and really had no idea of how to run the business. So at that age of 18 and not knowing any better, I just jumped straight into the business and started helping them quite a lot. And then As I went on in my career, I then started my business, SoCo Realty, when I was 23. So I've had that business for 20 years and I've had a very blessed property management and business ownership life. I do say though that when I was 23 and when I started the business, I don't think it would have mattered what I was doing. It wasn't actually about the property management. It was actually probably about business ownership that I was drawn to. And I think I always say, even if I was a hairdresser at 23, it would have been a hairdresser shop that I opened up, just happened to be working in property management. So I've been running that and I've had a very blessed property management life. I always feel a little bit guilty when people talk about the roller coaster of their property management businesses, because I don't feel like I've had that. Or if I have, I sort of feel like maybe I just didn't sweat the small stuff. And so that led me into... Jason Hull - DoorGrow (02:50) Yeah. Yeah. Ashleigh Goodchild (03:10) running and founding PM Collective, which was bringing in a peer-to-peer mentorship and training Australia-wide where we run 200 coffee and conversations every year. And we really support each other in the industry just by that casual learning from each other. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (03:27) That's awesome. So they're getting together, hanging out with each other, sharing ideas, and you're kind of the facilitator in this. Ashleigh Goodchild (03:35) Yeah, we do it Australia wide. have loads of hosts around Australia. So other people like myself who want to give back. So it's a great opportunity for people to give back. We've actually run a couple over in the US as well. And we have just had one in New Zealand. So the idea is that it allows people in the industry who have been in for a long time, like I said, to give back to the industry and help the the younger ones that are coming in to really learn to enjoy the career as well. So it's really great. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (04:04) Yeah, you know, it's amazing how much help is available and how willing people are to help. Yeah, I'm reading a book right now by Simon Squibb, I believe is his name, something like that. And it's it's about like following your dream and having a dream. But he said he created an organization that. I guess over in the UK, but he created this organization that allowed people to either help. fun people's dreams or for people to get their dreams launched. And he said that they had way more people. He thought everybody would be wanting to get the dream and their own dream met. He said they had way more people offering to help those that had a dream. And so, and he was talking about how much help is available. So. There's so much help available out there. And a lot of times we just don't ask as entrepreneurs. know, there's this funny thing that when we start out as an entrepreneur, we've kind of come through this whole world where we're such a minority, because most people on the planet are not entrepreneurial currently. And so we get a lot of feedback that we're weird or that we're different or that we're strange. And so we learn to kind of isolate. We start to recognize, I'm different and there isn't a lot of help or support. which is kind of an inaccurate viewpoint, but we kind of view ourselves as an island. And then we start our journey as an entrepreneur and we usually think we're gonna do it all ourselves. We're gonna read the right books and watch YouTube videos and we wear it as a badge of honor. I'm gonna get this thing started and do it all alone. that's, as I say at the end of my podcast each episode, that's the slowest path to growth is to do it alone. Ashleigh Goodchild (05:40) I think as well, like we find that a lot of people are really great at their jobs. They're either, you know, great property managers, great BDMs, and they have people around them that say, you know, you're so good at what you do, you should go open up your own business. And I don't think people actually realize there is, it can be really hard to start your business. I mean, you've got the logistics side of things, but you just assume the phone's going to keep calling and start calling as soon as you're out on your own. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (06:02) Yeah. Ashleigh Goodchild (06:09) And I think that that's one of the biggest things that I see people underestimate. And so to be able to give them that support and not be forced to sell their business because it's just got too stressful. I've got one of my clients where she had her own property management business when she was in her twenties. And she ended up selling it because it was just too much to handle at that age. She didn't have the support, you know, 10, 15 years ago. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (06:14) Yeah. Yeah. Ashleigh Goodchild (06:36) And I remember her saying, I wish PM Collective was around because I wouldn't have sold my business. But now I can have the stamina for my business because I've got that support around me. So I think that that's where I'm seeing a really big gap. people who think, you know, people who are great at their job, which means that they think they're going to be great at business ownership, which is not always the case as well. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (06:57) Yeah, there's a great book on that exact subject. It's called the E-Myth, the E-Myth Revisited. And in this book, E is entrepreneur, it's entrepreneur myth. And basically the summary of the whole book is if you think you, if you've learned how to do the technician level work, you like you have learned how to bake really great cakes. The myth is that now you think, well, I could go start a business and start a bakery making cakes. But a business involves a lot more. A business involves marketing, sales, accounting, you know, a lot of different stuff that is outside the skill set of baking a cake. And so the same thing with property management. Some people are like, I've managed properties for a while, or I've done business development for a property management company, done sales for a while. And they think I could now go start a business doing this. And that's the technician level work. That's not the business ownership type of stuff. then that's where things get a little more difficult. Yeah. Ashleigh Goodchild (07:57) read that book it's actually a really great one for newbies in the business. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (08:01) Yeah, yeah. So yeah, I love that. So how does the PM collective work? How are you getting people together? How do you facilitate this? What does a typical meetup look like? How do you make these connections? Ashleigh Goodchild (08:13) Yeah, so we very much just have hosts that reach out to us and they see a gap in their location. And then they just give me, they have to give me three dates, times and locations. And I just set them up online for them. So it's relatively easy for the host. Everyone just rocks up. It's very, very casual. They grab their own coffee, they take a seat and the host is there just to sort of welcome everyone and sort of facilitate it to a certain point. We have the groups, they can range anywhere in size between four people to 20 people. And to be honest, even the groups of four, I find are so important because I find that the intimate conversations are so much stronger in those small groups and people really open up. And the conversation could be about anything. It could be about... certain products that we're using. might be about some subscriptions. It might be about what's currently not working, what demos we've had, what problems we've had. And I find in that smaller group, people definitely open up a lot more and get that real, really good support that they need. Sometimes it's we chat on a personal level. Again, that comes down to people that are personally happy, I believe make the best. employees and their best employers. And it's really important that we look after people's personal state and having those personal conversations and those opportunities to vent, think are incredibly important in that environment as well. And then we have a big mixture. So we've got some groups where we get a lot of BDMs come along, some where it's just the solo printers, some where it's the referring partners, they sort of just all find their own vibe. But one of the biggest things that has been really important is that consistency. So knowing the for the public to know that we're going to show up every single month at this location. And we're here if and when you need us. That consistency is really important. So really casual, you don't need to buy a ticket or anything like that. And I think that really what's made them successful though is that consistency. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (10:15) Got it. So is how does the PM collective have the bandwidth to facilitate this? How do you guys make money? How does that work? Ashleigh Goodchild (10:23) So we don't, we sort of run it as a bit of a not-for-profit, even though it's not registered as a not-for-profit. So the purpose is very much community-led learning. And I guess on a personal level, I run my own business, my own real estate business. So for me, that's my bread and butter, and this is really what's considered my passion project. So this is sort of more my legacy, I guess. And, you know, I've got the time and the energy. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (10:27) Okay. Ashleigh Goodchild (10:48) to and the love to do it. So that's what I do. We have got great sponsors who help support our podcast and cover the cost for the membership and things like that. And we've got a membership base, which would be say, I guess on the smaller medium size. And over time that will grow. But for now, the support is really where it's at and we're driven by that with no need. for any strong monetary value coming through at the moment. That might change in 10 years, but for now and the last five years, it's been perfect. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (11:19) Well, mean, it sounds like the people that are really giving to this community like yourself probably have some of the healthiest businesses because the people that are in over their head don't have time to go hang out or go to lunch or to meet up with people. so, you know, that, and that, you know, that allows people to come in that maybe they're are struggling to meet and hang out with people that are in a healthier place and kind of lend them a hand up. Right. So. Ashleigh Goodchild (11:32) No. It's interesting because in Australia, we've got what we call CPD points. don't know if you've got them, where they're like compulsory development points that you've got to do to hold your registration. and our events, they are not CPD registered, which means that people don't come along because they are coming because they just have to be registered and they just have to do so many points. They come because they actually want to come along. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (11:57) Okay. Yeah. Ashleigh Goodchild (12:12) And I think you'll find that that has made a massive difference with the vibe. Like we had an event the other night, because we sort of run the separate events as well. And, you know, everyone comes along, they're catching up, they haven't seen each other for a couple of months. And it really feels like someone's birthday party. But the important thing is that people are there because they want to, not because they're going to get a CPD point attached to it. And you really can feel that difference in the vibe. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (12:37) Got it. Okay, well, let's take, I'm gonna do a quick word from our sponsors. This will be relevant. If you are a property management business owner, you're tired of getting tangled up in numbers, KRS SmartBooks has your back. They specialize in property bookkeeping for small to mid-sized managers who'd rather focus on, well, managing. So with over 15 years of experience in real estate, accounting, they're pros in Appfolio Yardi and all the top property software. Trust them to make your monthly reports hassle free so you can get back to what really matters running your business. Head over to KRSbooks.com to book your free discovery call. And so maybe that'll help you have a little more time to get back to the property management community. All right. So back to what we were talking about, Ashleigh. I love, I love this idea. I love that you've facilitated this vehicle for everybody to get together. You just, resonate positivity and I'm sure that kind of sets the tone for the group that people are kind of attracted to. And I've been part of groups where the leaders are very positive and it's just a different category and group of people. There's a lot of people that are helpful, positive. I'm in masterminds like that. And then there's others where the leader is more kind of like a dictator cult leader and like, it's just a very different environment. And there's a lot of guilt and a lot of shame and stuff like this, right? and, I've been in some men's programs and things like that that were like that. And it's just, you know, it's a totally different environment. So you've created, and so this is really, I think a strong Testament to you. How many, how many people are involved in this throughout Australia and beyond. Ashleigh Goodchild (14:13) should know the answer to that and I don't. And I would probably say there would be around 20 hosts around Australia. So 20 people, have started having visionary leaders in each state and to help sort of help me control the states. But yeah, about 20 hosts. But then like I've got, for example, an audio summit coming up. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (14:21) Wow, OK. Yeah. Ashleigh Goodchild (14:37) And that's got 17 leaders in Australia doing an audio summit for me. And we're doing 17 days of tips and tricks. So there is a lot of people that make up all of this, a lot of other coaches and trainers that give their time and their knowledge as well to it. So it really is a big project. in total, I'd say there's probably about a good 40, 50 people from coaches, trainers, leaders. who facilitates some sort of knowledge base for me on all these events. So pretty lucky. Jason Hull - DoorGrow (15:07) So describe to me the difference between structured management and random leadership. Ashleigh Goodchild (15:13) Yeah, so that's something that I practice inside my real estate at SoCo. And one thing that I've learned from other people and other leaders is when we do, obviously you need structured management, in terms of processes and procedures and all of that, and that's fine. But when it comes to leadership, sort of what you talking before about the dictatorship, I feel like I probably practice servant leadership a lot more. practice servant leadership at SoCo, which is the real estate, and I practice servant leadership in PM Collective. And very much I do picture myself or feel that I'm a leader from the bottom and that you just tell me what you need and I will deliver it for you. So I do that both in PM Collective and SoCo. And that's where the support comes from. The random leadership, I think, has been something that has really helped me keep long term staff. I'm known in the industry for having a long term team. anywhere between sort of seven years and 15 years average for property managers, which is great. And one of the things I would say have helped me and I have to say I haven't done this on purpose. It's just the way that I've done it. And I now I reflect back on it. I can see how it's worked. And if we were to every single year, give our team a Christmas bonus every single year, they're going to expect that. And if one year you don't do it because you can't afford it or something's changed, people are going to start getting a little bit ticked off because it's like, where's my bonus? get one every year. And I think the same goes with the Jason Hull - DoorGrow (16:52) become expected. Ashleigh Goodchild (16:54) very much expected. And I think when we start getting, creating expectations with our team, that's when we can start getting a little bit of conflict. And I've seen it in a lot of agencies. So where I, I, I think what I think works really well is things like we might as an office randomly buy someone a coffee, or we might just randomly say, Hey, let's go out for lunch, or randomly, we'll do a Christmas bonus randomly. We might shout everyone a voucher for a massage. All of those random things mean so much more to your staff and they appreciate it so much more. Even if it was that $5 coffee or that random... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/39118980

DGS 315: The Myth of Needing More Property Management Leads 11/14/2025

DGS 315: The Myth of Needing More Property Management Leads When trying to grow your property management business, have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, it would be great if I just had more leads?” In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull discuss the Leads Myth and how “just having more leads” will not actually help you grow your business. You’ll Learn [02:06] The Myth of Needing More Leads [11:39] Leaks in Your Sales Pipeline [22:41] The Future of SEO with AI Quotables “Why do we call it the leads myth? Well, the myth is this lie that we believe that you just need more leads. And the assumption in that is that all leads are the same.” “The more clarity you have, the less wrong stuff you're going to be doing.” “Not all clients are equal, right? Which means not all leads you get are equal. You need to qualify them.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) Most of the industry is trapped in a cycle of suck. This is why most property managers suck in most markets. Maybe even you that's listening. We are Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. We help people grow their property management businesses quickly. And our mission is to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now let's get into the show. All right. So today we're going to be chatting a little bit about the leads myth that a lot of people believe. So if you have ever thought to yourself, I just need more leads. If I just had more leads, everything else would be great in my business. What do you have to say about that? Well, I think that is not the case. Okay. It's definitely not the case. And I also think almost kind of be careful what you ask for a little bit. getting a whole bunch of leads was never really the best. strategy anyway, unless you have people who are just picking up the phone and calling you and saying hey, I Would love for you to just manage my property. I don't have any questions. Here's my money. I just had a contract Those are leads I want but cold leads that are Not ready to go that need to be warmed up that have a bajillion questions That might not even understand why they want to work with you Specifically, yeah, I'm just not interested in those leads. And the other thing I think we need to discuss on this episode specifically is the changes that we're seeing because of AI. So AI is really great and also it's changing things very rapidly and leads and SEO that's very effective by this too. Okay. So. Let's get into this. So a lot of people believe they just need more leads. And the danger in that is if you really just think you need more leads, you're going to go out to the marketplace and talk to marketers and they're going to go, cool, I'll give you leads. And they will sell you leads basically. So why do we call it the leads myth? Well, the myth is this lie that we believe that you just need more leads. And the assumption in that is that all leads are the same. And they're not, they're not even remotely the same. So there's a couple of different frameworks that we usually talk about to kind of destroy the leads myth. One is the four Ds to revenue. Another is the cycle of suck we talk about and how people get stuck in growth. We talk sometimes about the pipeline leaks that you have in your pipeline. And we talk about the myth of SEO or internet marketing. And then we often talk about any others warm versus cold leads and then David versus Goliath. Okay. So we can tackle these all really quickly and go through each of these and maybe some other things will pop up as we go. Cool. Let's talk about all of that and then we'll talk about why AI has changed all of, really all of those things. Okay. That'll be in conjunction with SEO. All right, so let's go through these. And so for those following along, if you stack all these concepts, each one compounds your speed of growth. They're all related. And so these are frameworks that I love to share with clients to help them understand so that they don't make the mistake of doing the wrong stuff. The more clarity you have, the less wrong stuff you're going to be doing. The less you're going to be experimenting, the less you're going to be wasting time. And if you really wanna collapse time, the easiest hack is reach out to us and we can help you with all of this. We've been doing this for over a decade and a half. We have had hundreds of guinea pigs to figure this all out and we have over 100. case studies and testimonials more than anyone else in the industry. All right. Let's get into this. let's talk about the four D's to revenue. So these are four numbers when multiplied equal the gross revenue in your business. And I sometimes call them the four doors to revenue. And I showed four doors with a little multiplication X next to each of them equals your money. Right? So not all leads are equal. So the, these D's are, if you want to write them down, they each start with a D. It is Deals, doors, duration, and dollars. Okay? So the first is like how many deals is this client going to bring you? Not all clients are equal, right? Which means not all leads you get are equal. You need to qualify them. And how many doors are they bringing to the table? Or how many doors per deal are they bringing? And then the third D is duration. How long are they going to stick around or be involved in property management? is are they an accidental investor that's going to stick around for maybe a year, or are they in the buy and hold game and they'll be around for 10? And then the last D is revenue or is dollars. And so are they a cheapo? Are they a premium buyer? Where do they kind of fit? Or are they somewhere in the middle, like the normals as I call them? So we've got these four Ds. So let's play a quick example. Let's take the accidental investor. They couldn't sell their property. They wanna get it rented out. How does this play out in the 4Ds? done one deal. They didn't mean to do a deal, but they did. And it's usually just one door. Maybe sometimes they have two, but very often we just see one door and they're not looking to... to do more deals because as soon as the market spikes and the market is hot, they're going to bail. They're going to sell, which means the duration is questionable. Let's say it's like one year, like if they can just get it rented. but it might be a few months because if the market spikes three months from now, they're probably going to dump that property pretty quick. And then. than the dollars, they're not your premium buyers. They're not looking to do a lot of improvements. They're not looking to spend a lot of money. They're the people who, they have this property, they aren't quite sure what to do with it. They figure, let's just see if I can get it rented. They want it well taken care of, but they're not generally looking to spend a lot of money or invest a lot of money in either the property or maintenance or repairs or improvements or a property manager. So they're just trying to... Do what they need to do. It's like the bare minimum in order to get a tenant. All right, so one, one, one, right? Like one deal, one door, one year duration, for example, if this is worst case scenario and you sign a one year agreement with them and they're a cheapo, right? Now let's take a really great scenario. What would be maybe an opposite scenario or a really great opportunity? Like my, I will say my second largest client. He had 42 doors I think was the right answer but I was looking to buy more. So when I took him on he had 42 by the time I sold the business he had 60 something. So he was always doing multiple deals. Yeah. The doors that he had came out of multiple deals. So since he did multiple deals he also had multiple doors. was consistently looking to grow. He didn't want to just stop, you know, at a certain point he was always looking. He also was a buy and hold investor. He wasn't trying to buy these things and then wait, you know, until the market spiked and then try to sell them and make a profit. He wasn't up for the long term. And he was not a cheapo. He wasn't trying to cut corners. He wasn't trying to cut costs. You he wanted to work with. a property manager, wanted to take care of the properties and make sure that they were being maintained properly. Yeah. Okay. So that's a great example that previous client that you had. So let's just say like on each of these fees, we use tens instead of ones, right? Like let's say they do 10 deals over the life of being with you. They've got 10 doors. Maybe sometimes it's 10 doors per deal if they're doing small multis or something like this, right? And then you've got a 10 year buy and hold duration. In this hypothetical example that I just threw out, it would be 10 times 10 times 10. This would be over a thousand times greater lifetime value than that accidental investor in our previous hypothetical. Does that make sense? So are these even remotely equal? No, not even remotely equal. Should you then spend the same amount of time trying to cultivate both of those type of leads? Probably not. Would you spend the same amount of time following up or giving them attention? Probably not. And the great investor clients probably are easier to deal with, less emotional, have a much higher margin and operational cost is lower, right? And so there's a lot of benefits. so this is, we're just talking about the revenue piece, but when we look at the cost side of things as well, everybody knows having a really bad owner that's really needy and difficult and emotional about the property. can be a big headache and a big challenge and you may be losing money on some of those doors. So, four D's to revenue, that's one concept. One quick thing I wanna add to that is where do you think these owners hang out? So, if you've got an accidental landlord and they are looking for a property manager, where might that lead come from? Versus where might the lead of a client that has 42 doors come from? There's a lot higher probability that an online lead is going to be an accidental landlord. It's not impossible to get an online lead that has 42 doors. It's just probably not your norm because the ones that have 42 doors, they aren't really dabbling. They aren't going, oh, geez, I wonder if I should get a property manager to maybe help me with these. They are just a little bit more savvy. A lot of times those aren't going to be the leads that you're getting if you're buying leads. Although those are the leads that you want, it's not going to be the norm that you get. All right, so we're 10 minutes into this. We're going to crank through some of the rest of these. So cycle of suck. Cycle of suck, real simple. If you take on any client, it leads to you having some bad clients. So if you take on bad clients, that leads to you having bad properties, which leads to having bad. Residents or tenants which leads to having a bad reputation or reviews which leads to you attracting more bad clients. So not all leads are good. You don't want to take on every client and you definitely don't want to attract or get more bad leads. And so this is a framework that if you understand you can reverse it and focus on a cycle of success where you're picky about the owners you take on, you're picky about the properties you take on, you're picky about the tenants which everybody tries to do anyway. but those first two steps are supremely important. And then you're going to have a methodology for getting more positive reviews. These are things we help our clients with. And so then you create a cycle of success. Most of the industry is trapped in a cycle of suck. This is why most property managers suck in most markets. Maybe even you that's listening. We want you to get out of the cycle of suck. All right, let's talk about the pipeline leaks. Okay. So usually if I were drawing, I would draw a spigot or a faucet or whatever you attach a hose to, and then I would draw a hose, and then I would draw a little plant or tree that you're trying to grow at the end of the yard that this hose is trying to get water to. Most of you listening think, I just need more leads. This is where the lead Smith becomes really obvious, trying to turn on that faucet even more. I just need more water flowing through the hose. That would make sense, that would be true unless there's a problem with the hose, right? Like the hose has some leaks. And if the hose has some major holes in it, there's not going to be a lot coming out the other end. Sometimes very little at all. And so it's not about how many leads you're getting, sometimes it's just how good is your pipeline? How tight is your product? And so we need to make sure that we get those leaks shored up. And we'll just mention what they are real quick, but. One of the earliest ones that affects you is just awareness. It's going to be your perception and reputation online. It's going to be your website. It's going to be your branding. So they can tell that you are in this industry and that it's clear that that's your focus and it's not real estate or something else. And what else? Your culture and purpose. This is the actual product that you sell. So that is another one. And there are two more. Pricing. Pricing, which everybody's trying to price the same way, 10 % or worse, pure percentage, or they're doing flat fee. We have a different innovative pricing model. If you're curious about that, set up a call with our team. We can tell you about it. That allows you to close more deals more easily at a higher price point. And the last is the pitch, right? Selling. And so if you can dial in each of these leaks, what we've noticed over the years is we can double a company's close rate without changing the amount of leads or lead sources that they're getting currently if we can get those things dialed in. And that's significant. Maybe you don't need more leads. Maybe you just need less leakage in your pipeline. Cool. All right, the next one, you had mentioned warm versus cold leads. Do you wanna explain the difference? Yeah, we can talk about warm versus cold. So when I had my property management business, Yeah. what is a cold lead? So cold lead is someone who really has almost zero, very little familiarity with who you are in your company and your brand and what you do. They don't. they should work with you. That's the big thing is why they should work with you. So they don't know you, trust you or like you. That's a cold lead. And a warm lead. Warm lead would be something like a referral or some sort of recommendation. hey, Sarah is the best, I work with her and you should too. Now they're coming in already feeling like, somebody that I know that I trust recommended this person, so therefore I should also trust this person. So those obviously have a much different close rate. And there are things that you can do to increase your close rate or to warm up deals, of course. But if you're spending all of your time trying to close a bunch of cold leads, which generally is going to be what happens when you're purchasing leads, you really don't get to buy warm leads. Right. They're all cold. I mean, that would be great if you could, but when you're buying leads, you're usually buying a lead that is very cold. They don't know you at all. And oftentimes that same lead is being sold to multiple different companies. There's a lot of blood in the water there. So warm leads versus cold leads, the close rate on warm leads will be really high, like 90 % or higher. Cold leads, like the opposite, 10 % or worse. And so I would rather a client get five warm leads and maybe close four of them than 10 cold leads and maybe get one. The hidden pain point or secret with warm versus cold lead generation. or cold lead strategies is time. Cold leads take a massive amount of time because you have to nurture them and warm them up and build the trust and create the relationship. And even after all of that, and all of sudden done, the conversion rate's really low. So all of you know how high the close rate is if you get a really great word of mouth referral. We love those, right? That's a warm lead. So we have strategies and methods that we focus on with clients to increase the warm leads. while avoiding and doing cold lead advertising and avoiding worrying about cold leads. Once you start getting some growth engines installed for your business that give you warm leads, you're not going to want the cold leads. They feel like garbage in comparison, and you're not going to have time for them. And you're not going to wanna waste time on those because those are often the worst owners. All right. What I would say is as far as getting leads in, if you give me three warm leads, I will take three warm leads over even 100 cold leads. Sure. don't, I don't, I'm not really interested because even if I close, let's say two out of the three warm leads, that's great. What's the close rate on 100 cold leads? If it's about 10%, you might close 10. And some of you might be going, Sarah, 10 is better than two. Yeah, you're right. But how much work did it take for me to close the two versus how much work? did it take for me to close the 10? I would rather close two very easy warmed up leads because I can do that again and again and again. So in the same amount of time, I can close way more warm leads than I can cold leads. So I would rather take three warm leads than a hundred cold leads any day of the week. We have a sponsor for this episode. Many of you tell me that maintenance is probably the least enjoyable part of being a property manager and definitely the most time consuming. But what if you could cut that workload by up to 85 %? That's exactly what Vendero has achieved. They've leveraged cutting edge AI technology to handle nearly all your maintenance tasks from initiating work orders and troubleshooting to coordinating with vendors and reporting. This AI doesn't just automate, it becomes your ideal employee, learning your preferences and executing tasks flawlessly, never needing a day off and never quitting. This frees you up to focus on the critical tasks that really move the needle for your business, whether that's refining operations, expanding your portfolio, or even just taking a well deserved break. Over half of the room last year at DoorGroad Live, our conference signed up with Vendero right there. And then a year later, they're not just satisfied, they're raving about how Vendero has transformed their business, don't let maintenance drag you down. Step up your property management game with Vendoroo. Visit Vendoroo.ai slash door grow today and make this the last maintenance hire you'll ever need. All right. I thought it was a good time because it was a good time. Waste of time and I don't like to waste time and maintenance coordination can be a huge waste of time. Yes. All right. Let's talk about David versus Goliath. So I'll give you an example. We've got a client. that has, so this is dumb David versus smart David, right? The story of David and Goliath, if you're not familiar with the Bible. David goes to fight Goliath. These two warring nations send out their best person and David decides he is not going to wear the armor, the sword, the shield, all the heavy stuff. He's just bringing out his slingshot. He's got his sling, he's got some rock and he goes out to fight Goliath and he's like, I don't need all that stuff. What most property managers do is David basically brought a superior technology. He brought a gun to a sword fight and he... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/39031220

DGS 314: Deduct Yourself Before you Wreck Yourself - Cost Segregation for Property Managers 11/07/2025

DGS 314: Deduct Yourself Before you Wreck Yourself - Cost Segregation for Property Managers What if you could take out a loan with 0% interest and invest that money for as long as you own your investment property? This is something that cost segregation can help real estate investors do. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Daniel Boyd from CSSI Services to talk about cost segregation, one of the most powerful ways to uncover hidden tax savings for property owners and managers. You’ll Learn [03:10] How Cost Segregation Works [08:54] Recent Changes to Depreciation Rules [11:59] Why Real Estate Investors Should Care About Cost Segregation [18:33] The Importance of Working with Tax Experts Quotables “The big idea here is there's things in the property that wear out fast and there's things that that wear out slow.” “We love deductions because we want to pay as little tax as possible.” “Wouldn't it be great to take a $100,000 loan with 0 % interest, invest it for as long as you own the property?” Resources Transcript Dan Boyd (00:00) Wouldn't it be great to take a $100,000 loan with 0 % interest, invest it for as long as you own the property? And then when you sell the property, you give the loan amount back and you keep whatever you made on that investment. Jason Hull (00:06) I'm Jason Hull, CEO and founder of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. We have been helping people for over a decade and a half. At DoorGrow, our mission statement is to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. My guest today is Dan Boyd. We're going to talk about cost segregation, one of the most powerful ways to uncover hidden tax savings for property owners and managers. you'll learn how to accelerate depreciation, apply repair regulations, and know when expenses can be written off immediately. These strategies can help you improve client cashflow, strengthen relationships, and stand out in the market. All right, Dan, welcome to the DoorGrow Show. Thanks so much for being here with you. So Dan, before we get into cost segregation, which is an interesting subject, that's... Dan Boyd (01:10) Thanks so much. Great to be here with you. Jason Hull (01:19) They had some changes recently, right? There's been some changes in depreciation thanks to Mr. Trump and all this stuff going on, right? The president, I think. So I'm curious what you have to say about that. But tell us, how did you get connected to this business? Give us some backstory on Dan. Dan Boyd (01:36) Sure, yeah, it's a little funny. I meet, you bet, I meet people from time to time and they say, how on earth did you get into this line of work? Because it's not like anybody goes to school to work in cost segregation or at least cost segregation sales. know, tale as old as time, I knew somebody. And so I was working in the nonprofit sector. My goal was to become a superintendent. So I had gotten a doctorate in education and I was headed in the right direction. But I found out that the average superintendent lasts for about two years. Dan Boyd (02:05) and then they get run out of town for one reason or the other. And it's typically a very stressful two years. And so while it's a rewarding ⁓ position and the compensation is usually pretty good, I thought, why don't I just skip those two years and go into sales and consulting? And so somebody had told me, I think you'd be pretty good at this. And so I started selling cost segregation for our company. And then, There was an opportunity, they said, you know what, we needed to improve our training and our education, and you've got the perfect background. You understand what we do, but you also come from a world of education, so why don't you join us in that capacity? And so it's been a very good fit since then. Jason Hull (02:28) Got it. So you didn't wake up as like a kid in elementary school saying you wanted to do cost segregation. Dan Boyd (02:48) Believe it or not, no, I can't even say it was on the radar, right? There was like baseball player and then commando and maybe basketball player and football player. So like cost segregation wasn't anywhere near the top of that list. Jason Hull (02:53) Property management business coach was not on my radar back then either, so I get it. All right, cool. So let's get into the topic. So cost segregation, how do we uncover some hidden tax savings? Dan Boyd (03:14) So the big idea here is there's things in a property that wear out fast and there's things in a property that wear out slow. But how do you know? And that's where we come in. So our job is to tell you with our knowledge of the IRS code and buildings, that's what makes us unique. We're very good at both of those things. ⁓ What's the value of everything in your property that wears out quickly? Once you know that, you get to write it off quickly. So let's say you buy an apartment building for a million dollars, Ordinarily, you're going to depreciate that whole building over 27 and a half years. Well, there's components in that property that are going to last three years, five years, seven years. So shouldn't you be able to write it off sooner? The answer is yes. And that was actually there's a landmark court case that led to this. And that was the big argument is, hey, we replace some of these components every five years. You're making us wait 39 years because it's a commercial property to depreciate it. And the court ruled in their favor and said, you're right. And so our job is to come in and really give somebody a huge deduction in the first year. Sometimes 25, 30, 40 % of the building value can be deducted as quickly as the first year. Jason Hull (04:28) Okay, got it. That's significant. Okay. And we love deductions because we want to pay as little tax as possible. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love asking business owners. I say, what's the biggest expense in your business? Dan Boyd (04:34) We do. Absolutely. Yeah. If I have yet to meet somebody who's happy with the amount they have to pay and wouldn't reduce it if they had the chance. Jason Hull (04:49) And then they usually say payroll or staffing. And I say, no taxes, but then payroll. Yeah. they forget about it they don't think of it. It's like grabbing, right? Like you just assume it's there and you have to obey the laws. OK, you just move past it. It's like, well, my biggest expense is payroll because people are expensive. Well, yes, that's true. But if there's if you have deductions, right, if it's part of the tax code, you can legitimately I joke. Dan Boyd (04:55) Yep. And they forget about it because they don't think of it. It's like gravity, right? Like you just assume it's there and you have to obey the laws. And so you just move past it. Right. It's like, well, my biggest expense is payroll because people are expensive. Well, yes, that's true. But if there's if you have deductions, right, if it's part of the tax code, you can legitimately I joke like anybody cannot pay taxes. We help people not owe taxes. Jason Hull (05:17) Okay, yeah. So I was flying actually this weekend with my wife for the first time because she's working on her pilot's license. she wanted me to be in the plane with her and wanted me to experience flying with her. And so she doesn't have her license yet. So I got to sit in the back and she had her instructor next to her and they're flying. And her instructor, I was like this, you know, I was making jokes about how flying isn't. You know, it's pretty relaxing, pretty calm most of the time. And he said, well, I said, I thought it would feel like a roller coaster. He's like, do you want it to feel like a roller coaster? I'm like, sure. And so he does some fancy eight maneuvers or whatever. But what was interesting is when gravity disappeared, when I did not feel gravity anymore, I was like, I'm missing something that I'm so used to. I don't even know that it's there, but you notice it when it's gone quite a bit. Right? It was very noticeable to not have gravity and just be kind of sitting above my seat a little bit as we kind of dropped. And I was like, okay. So yeah, so taxes can be a little bit like gravity, I guess. Constant pressure. Dan Boyd (06:26) Yeah, and if all of sudden, you you were, yeah, if you were used to paying $100,000 in taxes and then all of sudden you didn't have to, you would notice that. That'd be a big deal. Jason Hull (06:33) Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that would be great. All right. So what are the steps to making that happen? Dan Boyd (06:42) So first thing is, ⁓ assuming that this makes sense, you've got to owe taxes and you need to hold your building for at least a couple of years. And I can get into why. But ⁓ if you wanted to see, does this make sense for me, just get an estimate. So find a reputable firm to work with that does engineering-based cost segregation. And they'll send you an estimate. And they'll say, hey, we think you're going to get somewhere between these two numbers. And that's a high and a low end. And so in general, that's 25 % of what we call the building value. So subtract land out, right? Now you're just left with the building on that lot. That's what you get to depreciate. So if you've got an $800,000 building, maybe you paid a million, land is worth $200,000, subtract that out. So you got $800,000. And again, you'll get a range saying maybe you'll get somewhere between $180,000 up to $300,000 in depreciation. If you like the way that looks, the fee makes sense, and you owe taxes, and you can use it this year, then you proceed with that cost segregation study. And usually, I would say with our firm within two to four weeks, we give somebody a report. So we make it very simple. That report justifies the big deduction. So if somebody ever got audited, which is a pretty rare occurrence anyway, they would be able to explain, here's why we did this. This is legitimate. We worked with a firm that has real engineers that did this. And it gives the CPA what they need. know, CPA is not just going to say, okay, yeah, I'm going to give you a $200,000 deduction for fun. They have to feel comfortable because their signature is going on it. So it's our report that demonstrates to the CPA and to the IRS, this is a legitimate deduction within the tax code and this will stand up to an audit. Jason Hull (08:25) Cool, because we got to make sure that IRS is okay with this. I don't really care if the IRS is happy, but I don't want to be on their bad side either. I just want them to leave me alone. That's really, I think, the goal, right? Got it. Okay. So your company helps with this, right? CSSI. Yes. Okay, got it. Dan Boyd (08:28) Absolutely. If they're not happy, nobody's happy. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, as long as they're well, I just want them to be happy with you. We're not unhappy with you. Yes. Jason Hull (08:53) Okay, so, are there different rules? I had mentioned at the beginning, maybe, I don't know, but I thought some rules that kind of change with depreciation and how it works, just recently. Dan Boyd (09:05) They did. Yeah. So in ⁓ this most recent one big beautiful bill, there was a change that brought back what's called 100 percent bonus depreciation. So what does that mean? There's some misunderstandings and sometimes people assume that means you can deduct 100 percent of the building value. That's not the case. So I said there's stuff in a property that wears out fast and there's stuff that wears out slow. So the IRS has categories for that that they call useful lives. So there's a probably the most common categories that ⁓ Property managers are gonna need to be aware of are the five-year useful life and that's roughly the stuff inside the units and then there's the 15-year useful life That's the site improvement. So that's a parking lot. That's landscaping that signage. That's a fence. That's a pool Those kind of things the things on the common ground, right? so what that means is if something has a five-year useful life, you depreciate it over five years. So automatically, that's faster than 27 and a half. So that's accelerated depreciation, because we accelerated it from 27 and a half years to five years, and from 27 and a half to 15 years. Bonus depreciation lights a fire underneath those two categories. And so rather than waiting five years or 15 years, you get some percent of that value right now. So if we're in 100 % bonus year, it means you get 100 % of the five-year value and 100 % of the 15-year value right away. And so ⁓ if we just say, you know what, cabinets, countertops, crown molding, that kind of thing, swimming pools, parking lots, that's all gonna be accelerated. So if you had $500,000 in those two categories, rather than waiting five years or 15 years to get that money, you bonus depreciate it and get all of it this year. ⁓ We just came out of what's called a sun setting bonus period. so from 2022 to 20, I'm sorry, from 2017 to 2022, people got 100 % bonus depreciation. So if your property was placed in service as a rental in those years, it gets 100 % bonus period. Doesn't matter when you do the cost segregation. But in 2023, it started to go down 20%. So 2023 was an 80 % bonus year. 2024 was a 60 % bonus year. And the first 19 days of 2025 are a 40 % bonus year. So 100 % bonus depreciation kicks in on inauguration day. So they made it retroactive to the inauguration day. So if you bought Dan Boyd (11:27) 2023 was an 80 % bonus year, 2024 was a 60 % bonus year, and the first 19 days of 2025 are a 40 % bonus year. So 100 % bonus depreciation kicks in on Inauguration Day. So they made it retroactive to the Inauguration Day. So if you bought a property and placed it in service on January 20th or later, you get 100 % bonus depreciation. Jason Hull (11:54) Cool. Okay. Right. So thank you, Donald. All right. So why should investors that are wanting to invest more care about cost segregation? Why should they be paying attention to this? Because I think this plays into their strategy, but some may not get it. Dan Boyd (11:56) Yeah. Great question. So the time value of money, if I could give you $100 today or $1 a day for the next 100 years, it's worth way more to you to get that money today because you can invest it, right? There's no inflation, yada, yada, yada. So the more tax deductions or reductions you can get early on, the more you're able to free up your capital and deploy it to grow your portfolio, right? to repair your property, to increase rent, to pay down debt. And that money is worth a lot more to you today. So if you can get 25 % of your building value back now, rather than in a quarter century, why wouldn't you do that? Jason Hull (12:56) Got it, okay. Let's do a quick word from our sponsor, Cover Pest. And then we'll continue. Cover Pest is the easy and seamless way to add on demand pest control to your resident benefits package for your property management company. Residents love the simplicity of submitting a service request and how affordable it is compared to traditional pest control options. Investors love knowing that their property is kept pest free and property managers love getting their time back and making more revenue per door. Simply put, Cover Pest is the easiest way to handle pest control issues at all your properties to learn more and to get special DoorGrow pricing, visit coverpest.com/doorgrow All right, cool. Check out Cover Pest. All right, so back to this idea of investors leveraging cost segregation. So this is going to allow them basically more money now means you can take that money, deploy it in more effective ways now to grow it so you can have more of it later, right? Is kind of the idea. Dan Boyd (13:59) Yeah, absolutely. ⁓ If you owe taxes right now and you own rental property, as long as you're going to hold that property for even just two or three years, you are going to make more money by taking more depreciation, reducing your tax burden, freeing up capital to reinvest and make some rate of return. And so as long as you can invest that money and earn a return, then you're going to benefit from doing this. Jason Hull (14:06) Yeah, same reason I file an extension every year. I wanna delay the IRS having access to any of the funds so that I can do more stuff with it before they get their hands on it, right? So more money faster and... Dan Boyd (14:38) There you go. Jason Hull (14:42) IRS later. Yeah, that's the ideal goal. Cool. So how do they make sure that they're making good decisions around all of this? This is where a company like CSSI comes in, I would imagine. Dan Boyd (14:54) Yes, so we see ourselves as consultants. so in fact, just probably an hour ago, I was on the phone with somebody who couldn't benefit from a cost segregation. And it was really because he didn't owe enough in taxes. And I said, you just don't need this deduction right now because you don't owe anything. And so you'll be paying for the service to get a huge deduction. And that's great. But it only makes sense to have a big deduction if you have a lot of income. And so our job is to look at somebody's scenario and say, here's what we think your deduction will be, let's match that up with what's your tax liability? Do you owe a lot this year? Or maybe are you going to owe next year? Should you wait? And then how long are you going to own this property? Let's do the math and figure out, does this investment make sense? And so that's kind of the big one. My two litmus tests are, do you owe taxes? And are you going to own this property long enough to invest this? And the reason for that is when you take depreciation on a property, That's kind of the big one. My two litmus tests are, you owe taxes? And are you going to own this property long enough to invest this? And the reason for that is when you take depreciation on a property, whatever you take out, you owe back when you sell the property. That's called recapture. And so oftentimes people are afraid of that. But I think the best way to think of that is like a loan, right? The IRS loans you that depreciation. And then when you sell the property, you owe the depreciation back. But they don't charge you interest on that. And so Wouldn't it be great to take a $100,000 loan with 0 % interest, invest it for as long as you own the property? And then when you sell the property, you give the loan amount back and you keep whatever you made on that investment. Jason Hull (16:15) Okay, so how long is long enough to own the property then? Dan Boyd (16:25) It depends on your rate of return. And so if I give somebody, let's say, $100,000, and they can make 7.5%, as long as they pay less than $7,500 to get the cost segregation study, they're going to make money. And so that's usually how I do that math. And it's different for everybody. And sometimes they're not sure. And so I'll kind of walk them through. my tendency is to be a little cautious with it and say, if you're not sure, I don't want you to get into a situation where you're going end up owing more than you got in terms of your reduction in taxes and any benefit out of this. But I'd say a very comfortable break-even period is three years. Jason Hull (17:07) Okay, got it. Okay, so if they own it for at least three years, then it may make sense. They should probably be considering it. Especially if they owe taxes and they haven't figured out how to zero those out. Dan Boyd (17:12) Yeah, absolutely. And if they plan to. Yeah, exactly. Because once you pay taxes, money's gone forever. You can't get it back. No, not at all. And if you, you know, if people are worried like, I don't want the... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/38945795

DGS 313: Profits Hidden in Plain Sight with Brian Seidensticker 10/31/2025

DGS 313: Profits Hidden in Plain Sight with Brian Seidensticker As a property manager, how much do you know about tax liens and tax deeds? How much do your investors know? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Brian Seidensticker, Founder of Tax Sale Resources and Mountain North Capital, to discuss how property managers can help their investors buy more properties using tax lien strategies. You’ll Learn [01:40] From Aerospace Engineering to Buying Tax Liens [06:46] How Property Managers Can Benefit [16:06] How to Learn The Ins and Outs of Tax Lien Investing [23:29] The Biggest Questions and Pitfalls Quotables “Property managers, the savviest ones, they're building up their own portfolios, not just helping everybody else.” “Property managers… what gets them access to more deals is just being connected to more investors.” “This might crack open a new idea for them, another growth channel that they could leverage as a resource for their investors.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) This might crack open a new idea for them, another growth channel that they could leverage as a resource for their investors. All right, I'm Jason Hull, the CEO and founder of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, improving pricing, increasing profits, simplifying operations. We run the world's leading property management mastermind to help them grow. DoorGrow, we believe good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. We are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market. and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. So my guest today is Brian Seidensticker, founder of Mount North Capital and Tax Sale Resources, one of the nation's top platforms tracking over 8,000 tax sales and over 1.5 million distressed properties each year. Brian is a leading expert in tax lien and deed investing and shares how property managers can turn overlooked tax delinquent properties into major portfolio growth opportunities. Brian, welcome to the show. Thanks Jason, thanks for having me. Excited to be here. Cool. So before we get into the topic at hand, let's rewind and tell everybody how did you get into entrepreneurism and how did you get into these businesses that you now have? Brian Seidensticker (01:37) Thanks Jason, thanks for having me. Excited to be here. Yeah, well, I think it's an interesting story, although I'm slightly biased because I did not grow up with aspirations of being in this space or doing what I do today, although I love what I do now. I think the probably the first sign of, maybe the standard corporate. Jason Hull (01:55) I think it's an interesting story. sign of hey maybe the standard corporate Brian Seidensticker (02:14) atmosphere isn't necessarily for me came when I was ⁓ still in school. Got my first internship in the aerospace industry, which is where I spent the first 10 years of my career ⁓ at Honeywell, of all places, in design engineering and ⁓ thought it was exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn't know much about, you know, engineering and what was actually involved. ⁓ Jason Hull (02:14) atmosphere isn't necessary for me came when I was still in school got my first internship in the aerospace industry which is where I spent first 10 years of my career at Honeywell of all places and design engineering and thought it was exactly what I wanted to do but I didn't know much about you know engineering and what was actually all Brian Seidensticker (02:40) And that is the first time that I kind of realized, okay, maybe maybe this is not what I had in mind. was, you know, it's odd, you know, ironically enough, not a whole lot different than what I do today. I stared at a computer all day and that is not what I had envisioned for engineering. was assuming it was going to be much more hands on and touching things. And that was probably the first time where I called it my earliest twenties crisis, where I was like, Oh, you know, I'm three, four years into this. Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? Jason Hull (02:40) And that is the first time that I kind of realized, okay, maybe this is not what I had in mind. was, ironically enough, not a whole lot different than what I do today. I stared at a computer all day and that is not what I had envisioned for engineering. was assuming to be much more hands-on and touching things. That was probably the first time where I call it my earliest 20s crisis, where I was like, whoa, I'm three, four years into this. Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? Brian Seidensticker (03:10) and ultimately decided, well, I'm this far along. Starting over was more terrifying. so, you know, go ahead and finish it out. I was I was lucky in the fact that ⁓ within a year out of school, I did land what I consider a dream job and did love what I did for for quite a while. ⁓ I was basically what they call systems engineer for missile defense programs, working on Jason Hull (03:10) And ultimately decided, well, I'm this far along. Starting over was more terrifying. And so, you know, go ahead and finish it out. I was, I was lucky in the fact that within a year out of school, I did land what I consider a dream job and did love what I did for quite a while. I was basically what we call systems engineer for Missed Defense Programs, working on, you Brian Seidensticker (03:39) you know, programs that essentially mimic ⁓ weapons of other countries. And then our systems would also practice shooting them down, which all sounds really, really cool. Right. And it was cool. ⁓ But my my second realization came later when I kind of well, I went on vacation for six weeks and I had a lot of anxiety about being gone that long of how much I would be behind. And when I got back, I realized, you know, how Jason Hull (03:40) programs that essentially mimic weapons of other countries and then our systems would also practice shooting them down, which all sounds really, cool. Right. was cool. But my second realization came later when I kind of, well, I went on vacation for six weeks and I had a lot of anxiety about being gone that long and how much I would be behind and when I got back I realized how Brian Seidensticker (04:08) little I was behind. Jason Hull (04:08) little I was behind. Brian Seidensticker (04:10) was basically stepped right back into it like I'd never been gone. And that was a realization for me that, you know, I'm spending a lot of my time on a hamster wheel unknowingly. And then eventually came to the conclusion that I've got two years of banging my head against the wall with government contracts, right? Anybody has dealt with that red tape associated with that for what equated to about two minutes of really cool. that those those just didn't equate for me as being worth it. Jason Hull (04:10) and Yeah. ⁓ Brian Seidensticker (04:37) Right. And that's not to say, you know, I loved what I did at certain cases that company I worked for was fantastic. It just wasn't necessarily for me. And that was where I kind of realized, OK, I got to find something else. Now, I wish I could say the next day I gave my notice, dropped the mic and left. That's certainly not how real life works. ⁓ But I did start getting into, well, originally fix and flip houses. Jason Hull (04:49) and and Brian Seidensticker (05:01) And this is in 06, 07 timeframe and ended up upside down in one of those. were flipping properties in Montana. And I guess most people know what happened in 07, 08. Luckily, it wasn't a detrimental thing and I didn't have too many houses, but was upside down. And so I've got a notice of a potential taxing on that property. Now, the odd thing is that Jason Hull (05:06) and ended up upside down in one of those. were flipping properties in Montana and I guess most people know what happened in 07, 08. Luckily it wasn't a detrimental thing and I didn't have too many houses but it was upside down and so I got a notice of a potential taxing on that property. Now the odd thing is that because the way that Montana statutes are at the time, Brian Seidensticker (05:30) because the way that Montana statutes are at the time where every potential investor had to send you a certified letter, I didn't just get one notice from the county. Probably would have never thought twice about it, but I got 20, 30, 40 of these certified letters all saying roughly the same thing. And that's really what triggered me to go, what is this all about? guess I'm a curious person by nature and started researching this whole tax lien certificate. Jason Hull (05:34) where every potential investor had to send you a certified letter. I didn't just get one notice from the county. I would have never thought twice about it. But I got 20, 30, 40 of these certified letters all saying roughly the same thing. And that's really what triggered me to go, what is this all about? Because I'm a curious person by nature. I started researching this whole tax lien certificate enigma at the time. And lo and behold, was a whole industry. Brian Seidensticker (05:59) enigma at the time. And lo and behold, it was it was a whole industry. There's legitimate large businesses and banks that are are doing this. And that's what really steered me in the direction of shifting from a fixed flip to buying tax liens. And that was really the introduction to the space that we do a lot in today. So I guess a little bit on the journey of how I eventually became an entrepreneur ⁓ and how I was introduced to this space. ⁓ Jason Hull (06:04) legitimate large businesses and banks that are doing this. And that's what really steered me in the direction of shifting from a pay-per-fit to buying tax leaps. And that was really the introduction to this space that we do a lot in today. So was, I guess, a little bit on the journey of how I eventually became an entrepreneur and how I was introduced to this space. Brian Seidensticker (06:28) I guess there's a whole line between today and then, but that's kind of the origin story anyway, Jason. Jason Hull (06:28) I guess there's a whole lot in between today and then, but that's kind of the origin story. Got it, yeah, interesting background. So from aerospace, doing engineering, to real estate fix and flips, and now you're in software and technology and doing some other cool stuff. So tell us a little bit about how can this benefit property managers? Let's get into this idea. Yeah, so. Brian Seidensticker (06:57) Yeah. So I think when it comes to property managers specifically, whether they're working with investors, to acquire on behalf of the investor and then they're operating that property or they're maybe managing that portfolio themselves. I really what tax sales have two different avenues, there's tax liens and then there's tax deeds. The tax deeds are what are sold at the end of a ⁓ foreclosure process for the Jason Hull (07:16) Deeds are what are sold at the end of a proposal process for the liens that never end up getting repaid. They go through a proposal process very similar to the mortgage proposal closure, although a lot longer timeline. And most of those are in areas where property managers or let's say a segment of property managers, you can get great. ⁓ Brian Seidensticker (07:23) liens that never end up getting repaid. go through a foreclosure process very similar to a mortgage foreclosure, although a lot longer timeline. ⁓ And most of those are in areas where property managers or I'd say a segment of property managers, ⁓ you can get great, ⁓ the great Jason Hull (07:43) great rental options, especially if you're in the avenue of fixing rent. We work with several folks that buy properties, fix them up Brian Seidensticker (07:43) rental options, especially if you're in the avenue of fixing rent. We work with several folks that buy properties, ⁓ fix them up and with intent to rent them. And so if you're looking for an avenue of acquiring properties, right, and it may shift here in the next couple of years, we'll see what comes to reality. ⁓ But it's been an avenue of acquiring properties for the past 10 years where I think most people found it to be Jason Hull (07:53) with intent to rent them. And so if you're looking for an avenue of acquiring properties, it may shift here in the next couple of years, and we'll see what comes to reality. But it's been an avenue of acquiring properties for the past 10 years where I think most people found it to be pretty... Brian Seidensticker (08:12) pretty hard to find any sort of consistent ⁓ deals at a smaller scale of acquiring to build that portfolio over time. That's really probably the biggest impact too. Jason Hull (08:12) pretty hard to find any sort of deals at a smaller scale requiring to build that footloid over time. That's really probably the biggest impact to those folks. Now on the flip side, as a data point, one of the quickest ways of getting in trouble, right, is if properties that are owned outright, and we see this all the time, that are owned outright, you don't have that, you know, tacking of... Brian Seidensticker (08:23) to those folks. Now, on the flip side, as a data point, I think one of the quickest ways of getting ⁓ in trouble, is if properties that are owned outright, and we see this all the time, that are owned outright, you don't have that ⁓ escrow Jason Hull (08:41) best grow account that's making sure those taxes get paid and that people aren't paying those on their own behalf and they can end up in a tax outproposure unknowingly. Now, most people catch on, but we have Brian Seidensticker (08:41) account that's making sure those taxes get paid. And if people aren't paying those on their own behalf, then they can end up in a tax out foreclosure unknowingly. Now, most people catch them, but we have seen Jason Hull (08:51) seen properties that make it all the way through and at the end of the day, end up essentially losing a property due to these unpaid taxes and ignoring notices over a couple years. It seems like impossible, but it happens, right? And so it's making sure that property managers and just investors in general understand. Brian Seidensticker (08:51) properties that make it all the way through. at the end of the day, end up essentially losing a property due to these unpaid taxes and ignoring notices over a couple of years, which seems like impossible, but it happens. And so it's making sure that property managers and just investors in general understand, hey, Jason Hull (09:09) Hey, gotta keep monitoring, keep paying those property taxes even after the escrow is done and you have the property paid Brian Seidensticker (09:09) you got to keep monitoring and keep paying those property taxes even after the escrow is done and you have the property paid off. Jason Hull (09:15) off. Yeah, a lot of people get confused during the sale process and think, oh, it's all taken care of. Yeah, well for so many of us it is, right? If you have a mortgage on your house, it's all taken care of, right? It's when that mortgage is paid off, it's a happy day, but now you've got a few more things you've got to monitor you've never had to worry before. Yeah, got it. So, Brian Seidensticker (09:22) Yeah, well for so many of us it is, right? If you have a mortgage on your house, it's all taken care of, right? It's when that mortgage gets paid off, it's a happy day, but now you've got a few more things you've got to monitor you've never had to worry before. Jason Hull (09:37) Yeah, property managers, the savviest ones, they're building up their own portfolios, not just helping everybody else. And so they're investors too. And so this could be a nice channel or avenue for them to find some additional deals or properties. So what do they need to know in order to get started with working with tax liens or tax deeds and finding property? Well, I think the biggest thing to understand is really how the sales are. Brian Seidensticker (10:02) Well, I think the biggest thing to understand is really how the sales occur in your area. Every state has a slightly different process, slightly different statutes, ⁓ and even within that state, counties can interpret those statutes slightly differently. And so the number one thing that I always recommend is be smart and as in talk to an attorney that is familiar with the sale process in your specific area. ⁓ It's an Jason Hull (10:08) state has a slightly different process, slightly different statutes, ⁓ and even within that state counties can interpret those statutes slightly differently. And so the number one thing that I always recommend is be smart and as in talk to an attorney that is familiar with the sale process in your specific area. ⁓ It's an unregulated space, meaning you don't have to have a license. There's nothing you have to do to participate. Brian Seidensticker (10:30) unregulated space, meaning you don't have to have a license. There's nothing you have to do to participate. If you have got Jason Hull (10:37) you've got capital, can go jump on one of the auction platforms and start buying. But that's also a quick way of maybe getting into a property you shouldn't have. you had spoken to an attorney that knows what they're doing, they might have advised you on submitting those pit holes to a lawyer. So that would be mine and one recommendation is start there. Now, if you're not quite ready, Brian Seidensticker (10:37) capital, you can go jump on one of the auction platforms and start buying. But that's also a quick way of maybe getting into a property you shouldn't have. And if you had spoken to an attorney that knows what they're doing, they might have advised you on many of those pit holes to avoid. And so that would be my number one recommendation ⁓ is start there. Now, if you're not quite ready, I think the next best thing, in my opinion, is we do, I do interview ⁓ Jason Hull (11:00) think the next best thing in my opinion is we do, I do interview. Brian Seidensticker (11:03) attorneys in different states. And so if you don't want to pay the attorney fees to figure some of that out, ⁓ it's free on our site. You don't have to pay anything. Just go to our website and there's a resources section you can filter down by the state that you're interested in. And if I've interviewed an attorney and asked a lot of those questions, it can be a free hour or two of that attorney's time ⁓ answering those basic questions for anybody that wants to start there. Jason Hull (11:04) attorneys in different states and so if you don't want to pay the attorney fees to figure some of that out it's free on our site you don't have to pay anything just go to our website resources section you can filter down by the state that you're interested in and if I've interviewed an attorney and asked a lot of those questions it can be a free hour or two of that attorney's time answering those basic questions for anybody that wants to start there Brian Seidensticker (11:28)... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/38855175

DGS 312: Optimizing Your Business for Success: Insights from Multi-Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs 10/24/2025

DGS 312: Optimizing Your Business for Success: Insights from Multi-Billion-Dollar Entrepreneurs Do you ever look at other property management companies and wonder how they were able to grow and scale to thousands of doors? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull share insights they gleaned from successful founders and CEOs of multi-billion-dollar companies. You’ll Learn [00:59] Execution is More Important Than Good Ideas [11:51] Narrowing Your Focus to What You’re Best At [19:41] Ask Your Target Market [30:33] Everyone Should be Focused on One Goal Quotables “There's no shortage of ideas. It's execution that's the hard part.” “Everyone thinks… if I scale, I've got to do more. And actually, you have to do less to be able to scale…” “A lot of times we get caught up in creating systems, inventory, things that actually cause waste or over-optimizing each individual department or each individual step, but it actually reduces the overall goal of optimizing.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) a lot of times we get caught up in creating systems, inventory, things that actually cause waste or over optimizing each individual department but it actually reduces the overall goal of optimizing for making more money. All right, I'm Jason Hull. This is Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we believe that good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate. high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. Okay, so we recently kind of split paths, right? so that you could go learn some stuff and I could go learn some stuff. So we usually do everything together. So, but we had, which I love, but we had two really cool opportunities. One I was very much more interested in than the other, because I was learning about AI, which I've been geeking out on. And then you went off to go to a profit event. And was really cool. We went to the first day together, but the second and third day I was in. AI workshop, geeking out with some of the best on AI. Cool. I would love to hear what you took away from this event and what you learned, and maybe you can share that. I wanted to go over my notes on one speaker in particular. I was kind of going back and forth between two of them and I think this is the one that I landed on. at a different date I could talk about the other one because you weren't there for either one of them. But on the second day, I'm just gonna call this like notes from a billionaire and not just a billionaire but a multi. Billionaire and not just multi-billionaire but someone who is the founding member and CEO of I think they said they grew it to like it was a ridiculous number like 740 billion or it was a big it was a big number it was a very large impressive number and he was so nice I actually had a conversation with him before I even realized who he was I was chatting with him I wish I would have known Like I recognized the name and then I saw him speak and I went man. I would've asked him a different question So I'll do a quick little intro and then I'll kind of share my notes from what I wrote down while he was presenting so intro his name is Jeff Hoffman and For those of you that don't know the name Like I didn't know the name before as soon as I say the name of the company you'll instantly go. okay No, know the company The company is Priceline. So he is one of the founding members of Priceline. They started it and scaled it to many hundreds of billions of dollars. This is some of the advice that he had shared with us in his Speech because I got to hear him get up and speak and present to the entire room. So The first thing that I wrote down I Don't know if he can be credited with saying this or if he was quoting someone else But he said it so I wrote it down because it resonated very much was ideas are welcome here But execution is worshiped And I think that's really powerful because how many times do we all have this great idea, right? my God, I had this idea. my God, I had this idea. my God, we should do this. We should do that. What if we did this? There's no shortage of ideas. It's execution that's the hard part. It's turning an amazing idea into something and bringing that to life and bringing it to fruition. So I love it so much. That's good. Yeah. too much attention a lot of times on the idea and the planning and all this stuff, but actually executing and actually getting something done, that's really all that matters. It doesn't matter. You can have a million ideas. If there's no execution, then who cares? So, okay. So I think my mom is a great example of this. Everyone, think mostly everyone knows Elf on the Shelf. So my mom, before Elf on the Shelf was a thing, she created it. She just didn't do anything with it. She only used it like for me and my brother, but we had an elf that would come and visit and kind of keep an eye on us. And he would do fun things and he would pop around to different places in the house. So every time in the morning we would wake up and he would be in a different place or sometimes he would be doing like an activity. He'd be like baking or, you know, riding a bike or whatever. And it was so funny because when you look back on it, I went, mom, like, that was off on the shelf and it's like multi-million dollar company. And she went, yeah, I wish I knew that. But she was just trying to do something fun for her kids. So she had taken that idea because it was, it was a great idea. And she executed on it, but she never brought it public. Can you imagine what would have happened if the execution was done on a larger scale? So she'll probably hate the fact that I'm calling her out on that. But I think that'll be her. multi-million dollar missed story. Yeah. Yeah. So some of the questions that Jeff had asked when we're thinking about ideas, because we all have ideas. Some of them are good. Some of them are questionable. And some of them we can say like, yeah, that was a dud. So this is kind of a framework to take you through to figure out, is this worth executing on? One is. Is this a problem? So you have to ask yourself, is this an actual problem? Like what you're doing, does this solve some sort of problem? And then bonus points if it's a big problem, right? So if we go back to the story of Priceline, many, many years ago, those kiosks that are in every airport that you can just check in on, you do not need to go and talk to a gate agent or a ticketing agent. They didn't used to exist. You used to have to go stand in line and wait forever to get your ticket and your boarding pass and perhaps give somebody physically give somebody your bag and a lot of times people would miss their flight because the line was so so so long and you never knew ahead of time like is this gonna be a 10 minute line or is this gonna be a two hour line so people would miss their flight And at one point, he turned around and he was in the airport, turned around, looked at the line and went, wow, this is such a crazy long line. And he decided, I'm going to start interviewing people right here and right now. And he went around asking people individually, how long have you been waiting? Wow, what happens if you miss your flight? Wow, what would you do? Would you think it would be valuable or beneficial if there was some sort of service where you didn't need to talk to the gate agent? And people were bidding on it. They were bidding. They were like, I'll give you $10 if you can get me my ticket without talking to the gate agent. And then somebody else will go, no, forget $10. I'll give you $50 for that. And somebody else will go, oh, I must get there today. I will give you $70 to get there today. People were bidding on it in line. So he realized, one, there's a problem, but actually it's a big problem. So he knew he was on to something right there. The second question is, is there a better way to do this? So is there a better way to check in for your flight than waiting in line and talking to a gate agent? Yeah, there sure is. It just hadn't been invented yet. But is that the best way to do it? No, absolutely not. So there was a better way to do something. And the third is, is there a value equation, which all that means is would somebody buy this? And he knew that one, he had a problem and it was a big problem. Two, there was a better way to do it. And three, people would definitely pay for it because people were bidding on it while he was standing in line. People were like, wait, do you know something we don't know? Like, I will give you money if you can just get me on the front line because I need to get on this flight. So hence how Priceline was born. So those are three questions that you can kind of ask yourself. If you're going, okay, I have this idea, should I? Should I do this? Should I act on it? Should I create something with this? Yeah. Seems pretty simple. think a lot of times we get really disconnected. you know, we study stuff, we learn stuff, we think we know, but when you actually go talk to your target audience and do a little bit of product research interview, you know, you can find out a lot of things that problems they have, things they need, and actually connect with, you know, what you're wanting to sell them may not actually work. So yeah, I think that'd be super helpful. All right. So then he kind of gave tips on, well, if you are looking to seriously, massively scale a company because it's not, let's face it, not every company gets to a million, certainly not even to a billion and absolutely not to hundreds of billions of dollars. Right. So These are tips that he had given the room in order to help you scale. And everyone thinks, you know, if I scale, I've got to do more. And actually you have to do less to be able to scale at that large of a size. he said, find your gold metal product or service. So for them, if you remember, if you would go on Priceline when it first launched, there was different tabs. the top right you could book a flight you could book a hotel room you could book a cruise you could get a rental car you do a vacation package like they did all the things yeah and they were scaling but it wasn't to the size that they wanted to get to and they went okay if we only did one thing what would it be like what are we the best at the world at and for them it was hotel rooms so they said okay It's not that we have to cut the other stuff. It's just that we're not going to market it. We're not going to advertise it. We're not going to talk about it. We're not going to put any money, time, or energy into that service. It's just there. But what we will do is we'll go all out on hotel rooms. because they were the best in class at hotel rooms. So they didn't cut the other things out. Go on there now, you'll still see, but their bread and butter is hotel rooms. So the other things are still available. It's just that they never, if you look at any Priceline commercials, you'll never see anything other than hotel rooms. Why do think that is? Because they're marketing what they're the best in class at. So that is their top service. Next is find your gold medal talent. So what was their gold medal talent? Any guesses? Don't cheat, don't lie. I know the answer because I was there. I don't know. I would imagine it's related to hotel rooms. So their gold medal talent are probably the best hotels. It was their algorithm. Okay. for connecting people to hotels. So their algorithm was their talent. They had a talent in that. What is Amazon's? Shipping. Shipping. It's delivery. So if you remember, Amazon didn't start selling everything on the planet. It started as a book store. That's it. They only sold books. And what I didn't know is that when this whole internet thing was blowing up. were three companies that were kind of becoming rising to the top all at the same time. It was Priceline with Jeff Hoffman and Partners. There was eBay. His name was Jeff and Pierre. Jeff and Pierre. And then there was Amazon. And that's Jeff Bezos. So somebody had asked him, what does it take to be successful in this internet thing? And he said, just find somebody. who's a really good Jeff. They all had the best, they were the best in class at something and then they had the best in class at a specific talent. So Amazon, they got fantastic at shipping and they only did books. And Jeff Bezos said, you know, when we get, I'm only doing books right now. And then when we get to a certain size with books, Then I want to branch out and then we'll do everything. But I don't want to do everything first right now. I just want to build our name and our reputation solely on books. Why? Because they were amazing at shipping. And now anytime that you buy something online, usually what's the first thought you think? Amazon probably has that. Why? Because you know they'll ship it. And then you need to shape your brand. That's the third piece of this. you need to ask yourself what question are you the answer to? So for them, I need a hotel room. Where do I go? right, priceline. Or, they did a lot of this too, I want a $200 hotel room but I don't want to $200 on it, I only want to spend, you know, $100 or $80. Where do I go? Priceline. So shape your brand around that. And then you've got to, in that arena, you've got to find your brand asset. So everyone goes, know, why should I work with you? I just watched a Jeremy Miner video, like at his live event, and he had a microphone and he went up to someone in the audience and he said, hey, why would someone work with you? I've seen these videos. And he let them answer. And he goes, mm-hmm. Okay, and then he goes to the next audience answer and he goes, why would someone work with you? And he does it again and he goes, okay, so all of you guys really sound the same. You're in wildly different industries and companies, but you all sound the same. Yeah. Right? So you can't sound the same as everybody else and expect to stand out. So if you could only give one reason that somebody would work with you, what would that one reason be? It's not about all the reasons, it's about the one reason and that shapes your brand. Yeah. Yeah. So I thought that was really good. If you aren't sure, you don't know, if you're like, I don't know, there's a lot of reasons why somebody wouldn't work with us. Ask your customers. Yeah, like why did they pick you? Why? What is the one reason? Don't just say why did they pick you because then they'll go, because of X, Y and Z. Great, was it X or was it Y or was it Z? What is the one main reason that you decided to work with us? And do that ask 10 people. If you don't have 10 people, then keep selling until you can get 10 people. Because that data will tell you what is it that your customers have found in your messaging even though maybe you didn't do a great job at delivering it. So I thought that was really interesting. Yeah, that's good. They talk about broadcasting versus what they call narrow casting So this is focusing on the right people not just any person Because for every product for every service for every brand There are the right people and Then there's everybody else So if you're trying to close every deal, it's almost like an impossible game Who do you target? Will we target people? Everyone. People? Really? Who do you target? Well, I work with real estate investors. Well, geez, okay. There's only like hundreds of millions of those in the world. Which ones do you target? Yeah. Right? So some of this goes into our client-centric mission statement when we take our clients through their company culture stuff. But we want to get really, really clear on who are my people. Not just who are people that could buy this. What are the right people to buy this? To work with me, to choose this, right? There's a difference. Right. I mean, this makes sense. know, yeah, you got to really be specific because if you target everybody, you target nobody. Then then you're just more noise in the marketplace. So if you want to be, you know, like we're pretty niche at DoorGrow, we target long term residential property management companies in the U.S. Like that's our target audience that do third party property management. So that's our... Do we get other types of clients? Sure, but that's our bread and butter. That's who we focus on and that's very specific. Those are the people we know we can help. And I'd say we're the best in the world at that. yeah. Right. So I think Sharan calls it a dog whistle. Right? Speak to your people and anyone who isn't your people, they won't hear it. It's not for you. Go ahead, I don't want you to hear it. Just the dogs, Just the right ones. They'll hear it. Okay. This I liked a lot. He said, focus on your second slide customer. So find your yeses instead of overcoming nos. Every sales training in the world goes, let's overcome objections. Let's overcome no. Let's work a no into a yes. Let's see what we can do to turn it around. Overcome objections. No, don't overcome objections. Just find the yeses. Second slide. Yeah, so you know when you have like a whole presentation prepared. Yeah, and The example he gave is he said he went out with one of his sales reps And there was like a 20 slide presentation that they that was like their pitch deck, right? so he spent the day with a sales guy and the first meeting they went to He got through all 20 slides and the woman was like, yeah, this sounds really good. I'm gonna think about it I think we need to go back to you. like, yeah, yeah, like it wasn't a solid yes, because she didn't commit, she didn't sign up. But she was open to it. She's like, yeah, let me think about this. Like, let me take it up to management. We'll do something. So he got out of that meeting and he said to the sales rep, said, how do you think that went? Sales rep was super proud. He went, yeah, that was a great pitch. She's definitely going to buy. Like, she's going to come back around. Like, that's a deal that'll close. It's like in the pipelines. about to close. Jeff said, yeah, I just didn't say anything. It's like, I just didn't say anything. I'm like, I'm not going to skew it. I just want the data, right? So he goes into another sales pitch, same sales rep. Slide two out of 20, two. They look at each other and went, oh my God, you're exactly what I needed. We're ready. And the sales rep was like, well, wait, let me tell you more about the rest. And he's like nudging the guy. He's like, sign them up. They're ready. They don't need more information. They don't need anything else. They're ready to go right now. Stop trying to complete the pitch. It's done. You don't need the other 18 slides. They already said yes, and they said yes on slide two. Find your slide two yeses. Don't try. to keep on going, don't try to turn the nose and do yes, don't overcome their objections, find your slide two customers. So what they actually did, this I thought was so interesting. This lit up my brain because I like data so Okay, I'm going to pause you. So nice little hook. Now we're going to go to our sponsor and... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/38765305

DGS 311: Taking control of your Business by building Deeper Relationships 10/17/2025

DGS 311: Taking control of your Business by building Deeper Relationships We are living in a post-trust era. Trust is at an all-time low, and people are more on guard than ever. How does this impact the property management industry? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Darryl Stickel of Trust Unlimited to talk all about building and maintaining trust. You’ll Learn [01:30] The Foundations of Building Trust [06:51] Where Uncertainty Comes From and How to Eliminate it [11:37] The Golden Bridge Formula [21:27] The Role of Vulnerability in Building Trust [31:49] AI and the Post-Trust Era Quotables “Sales and deals happen at the speed of trust.” “Trust is the willingness to be vulnerable when you can't completely predict how someone else is going to behave.” “There's three levers within us as individuals, and those are benevolence, integrity, and ability.” Resources Transcript Jason Hull (00:00) This is really what property managers sell. They sell trust. They don't really sell property management. Darryl (00:03) Yeah. Jason Hull (00:05) All right, I'm Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. At DoorGrow, we have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, and cleaned up hundreds of businesses, helping them add doors, improve pricing, increase profit, simplify operations, and build and replace teams. We are like bar rescue for property managers. In fact, we've cleaned up and rebranded over 300 businesses. We run the leading property management mastermind with more video testimonials and reviews than any other coach or consultant in the industry. And at DoorGrow, we believe that good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. We are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. And today, I am hanging out with Darryl Stickel of Trust Unlimited. Welcome, Darryl to the DoorGrow Show. Darryl (01:26) Thanks for having me, Jason. It's a pleasure to be here. Jason Hull (01:29) It's great to have you. So I'm really excited about the topic of trust because I talk about this all the time. In fact, one of my most common phrases that I say to clients when talking about sales is that sales and deals happen at the speed of trust. And so I'm excited to get into this. So give us a little bit of background on you and then we'll get into the topic at hand. So tell us a little bit about Darryl and how you sort of Darryl (01:45) They do, yeah. Jason Hull (01:56) arrived at Trust Unlimited. Darryl (01:59) Yeah. So I was born and raised in a small town in Northern British Columbia, Canada, fairly isolated community, harsh winter conditions. And so people learned that they had to pull together and it meant that you needed to look out for your neighbor and that if you could help someone, you should. And so growing up in that background, I had a sense of responsibility to others, desire to be helpful. When I was 17 years old, I was playing hockey in a neighboring community and I was attacked by a fan at the club. And he shattered my helmet, knocked me unconscious. I ended up with a severe concussion and I had a visual impairment. I knew that I was going to become legally blind, which I am now. So my plan had been to think for a living. Jason Hull (02:32) I ended up with a severe concussion. And I had a visual impairment. Hmm. ⁓ Darryl (02:46) And now all of a sudden I had the attention span of a fruit fly and I couldn't think. and so this experience promoted a sense of empathy for me because there were such feelings of, of helplessness and hopelessness. And fast forward a few years and I'm studying psychology and moving towards becoming a clinical psychologist. And people would just come up to me and. Jason Hull (02:52) And so this experience promoted a sense of empathy. I like... Yeah. Darryl (03:08) start telling me their problems. I'd be sitting on a bus and a complete stranger would sit down next to me and say, I'm really having a hard time. And so I wanted to understand why that was happening. And I went and did a master's degree in public administration, worked in native land claims in British Columbia. And they would ask me these sort of deep philosophical questions like, what is self-government or what will the problems look like 50 years after claims are settled? Jason Hull (03:15) So I went to understand why that was happening. And I went to do the master's degree in public administration. I worked in native land claims in British Columbia. They would ask me certain questions like what is self-government? What will the province look like 50 years after claims are settled? The last question they asked me was how do I condescend people who have shafted for over 100 years and should trust us? I thought man, that's Darryl (03:35) The last question they asked me was how do I convince a group of people who have shafted for over a hundred years, they should trust us? I thought, man, that's a good question. So I went to Duke, wrote my doctoral thesis on building trust in hostile environments. Um, had a couple of leading experts in the field of trust on my committee. And when I finished, they said, you know, when you first started, we first came to us, we had a conversation. We agreed too big, too complex. He never solves it. Jason Hull (03:43) So I went to Duke, wrote my doctoral thesis on building trust in hostile environments. Had a couple of leading experts in the field of trust on my committee. And when I finished, said, you know, when you first started, when you first came to us, we had a conversation. We agreed, too big, too complex, you never saw us. Darryl (04:03) We'll give him six months and then he'll come crawling back to us and we'll let him chisel off a little piece of this and that'll be his thesis. I said, six months in, you were so far beyond us, we couldn't help anymore. All we could do was sit and listen. And here we are years later, we think you've solved it. And so I went and worked for McKinsey and Company, a big management consulting firm, and got to start applying the concepts that I'd learned. Jason Hull (04:03) gave him six months to come from the back to us. we just left with a piece of this. would be the thesis. He said six months in, you were so far beyond us, couldn't help it. All we could do was send him us. And here we are years later, we're all sold. And so I went and worked for McKinsey Company, a big management consultant for him. Yeah. Darryl (04:25) And then on the way to a client side, was involved in a car accident, ended up with post-concussion syndrome again, and couldn't work those kinds of hours anymore. So I just started a small company called Trust Unlimited and started helping people better understand what trust was, what it is, how it works, and most importantly, how to build it. Jason Hull (04:36) started helping people better understand what trust was, what it is, how it works, and most importantly how it goes. And that's quite the journey. That's quite the story. And so now this is what your, this is your gig. This is what you focus on. You focus on helping people understand trust. Yeah. Darryl (04:52) Yeah, it's what I've devoted my career and my life to. And so for the last 20 years, I've been helping nonprofits, private sector, public sector, Canadian military got me to help them figure out how to try to build trust with the locals in Afghanistan. Yeah, so I've been trying to help solve problems. Jason Hull (05:10) Well, let's make this one of those opportunities for you to help some people that are listening figure out this challenge of trust. Because trust, really feel like, is fundamental and foundational to any relationship and to sales and to growing a business and all of that. Darryl (05:27) It is. It's so critical for your audience because they need the trust of the property owners, but they also need the trust of the tenants. They act as an intermediary and so they need to be experts at building relationships with others. Jason Hull (05:36) Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I'm sure this is, I don't know if this can be answered in a short time period, but give us an idea of how do we create trust from scratch? How do we make this work? What did you figure out? Darryl (05:56) Yeah, so we start with the definition, trust is the willingness to be vulnerable when you can't completely predict how someone else is going to behave. And that definition has two elements in it. It's got perceived uncertainty and perceived vulnerability. And those actually multiply together to give us a level of perceived risk. So we've got uncertainty times vulnerability gives us a level of perceived risk. We each have a threshold of risk that we can tolerate. Jason Hull (06:03) Okay. Darryl (06:21) If we go beyond that threshold, we don't trust. If we're beneath it, then we do. And so. If we want to understand trust, need to understand where does uncertainty come from? Where do perceptions of vulnerability come from? And how do we take steps to manage those? Because early in a relationship, uncertainty is really high. means we can only tolerate a small range of vulnerability and still fit beneath that threshold. As that relationship gets deeper, the uncertainty declines, the range of vulnerability we can tolerate starts to grow. Jason Hull (06:41) Right. that relationship gets deeper, the uncertainty declines, the range of vulnerability increases. And so really, for your audience, it's going to be about how do I take steps to understand somebody else's uncertainty. Darryl (06:51) And so really for your audience, it's going to be about how do I take steps to understand somebody else's uncertainty? How do I help reduce it? Jason Hull (07:00) What are some typical examples of uncertainty that people might have? Darryl (07:06) Yeah. So uncertainty comes from two places. comes from us as individuals and it comes from the context we're embedded in. And so for owners, their uncertainty is what are the tenants doing? How are they treating the property? Is it going to be well maintained? Are they going to pay on time? And so property managers can help manage that by helping them set up contracts, helping. Jason Hull (07:17) Hmm. Yeah. Darryl (07:31) by reviewing the property on an occasional basis, monitoring behavior patterns for tenants, understanding tenant behavior in a way that most property managers don't have the opportunity to, or property owners don't have the property, because you see a much broader swath of humanity than the typical property owner does. You're more engaged, you're on the ground. And so, Jason Hull (07:35) monitoring behavior patterns for tenants, understanding tenant behavior in way that most property managers... Because you see a much broader swath of humanity than the typical property of the country. You're more engaged, you're on the ground. And so if we start to think about how we reduce uncertainty, uncertainty comes from me and it comes from the context. Well, what are the things that I can do as a property manager to reduce some of this uncertainty? Darryl (07:59) If we start to think about how we reduce uncertainty, uncertainty comes from me and it comes from the context. Well, what are the things that I can do as a property manager to reduce somebody's uncertainty? There's three levers within us as individuals, and those are benevolence, integrity, and ability. Jason Hull (08:18) benevolence you said in integrity what was the last what was the third one ability ability yeah okay got it I got it okay Darryl (08:19) integrity and ability and benevolence is just ability, competence. Yeah. Can I do the job? And so Jason, we, all have the ability to build trust with others. Just some are better than others at it. Those who aren't very good have a lever that they pull and they pull that lever over and over again and just hope it lines up. Those who are better have multiple levers. Those who are really good have multiple levers and they know when to pull which one. And so. Jason Hull (08:37) This one. Hmm. ⁓ So what I do is I walk people through the different levers and help explain how to pull them. So benevolence is just the belief you got my best interest. Darryl (08:54) What I do is I walk people through the different levers and then help explain how to pull them. So benevolence is just the belief you've got my best interest at heart and that you'll act in my best interest. Jason Hull (09:03) Right. Darryl (09:06) So as a property manager, you're thinking about what does the property owner's best interest look like? What does success look like for them? How do I help them get there? Integrity is do I follow through on my promises and do my actions line up with the values that I express? Jason Hull (09:16) integrity is do I follow through on my promises? ⁓ Darryl (09:22) And so what are the both the explicit promises I'm making to people and the implied promises, the things that they're expecting from me. And then ability is, I actually have the competence to do the job? And a lot of times when we pull the ability lever, we make assumptions about what excellence looks like, but we don't include the other person in that conversation. Jason Hull (09:41) Hmm. Okay. Darryl (09:41) So as a property manager, you may think having the right forms in place and, you know, having a scheduled set of routines and you've got an idea of what excellence looks like. But if you actually included your stakeholders in that conversation, you might come up with a different list of things. And that's both the property owner and the tenant. Jason Hull (09:49) scheduled set of routines and you've got an idea of what essence of something. But if you actually included your stakeholders in that conversation, like both the property owner and tenant. Darryl (10:03) So including them in that conversation can be really eye-opening. Jason Hull (10:03) So including them in that conversation could be really helpful. Yeah. Yeah, just making sure you're both on the same page. Darryl (10:09) And then exactly. And we interpret the world through stories. one of the challenges that your audience faces is that they may have a story about what's going on with the property. The owner might have a different story and the tenant might have a third story. And that's where we run into conflict. Jason Hull (10:14) What are the challenges that your audience faces? they may have a story about what's going on. Yeah. Right. And so if we're not active, you know, a lot of times I'll talk to owners and senior executives and I'll tell them about those three levers and they'll say, well, I do all Darryl (10:29) And so if we're not active, you know, a lot of times I'll talk to owners and senior executives and I'll tell them about those three levers and they'll say, well, I do all those things. And my response will always be says who, because if it's me telling you I'm benevolent, Jason, it doesn't carry a lot of freight. You have to actually believe it. Right. So I need to include you in the conversation to understand. Jason Hull (10:42) And my response will always be, says who? Because if it's me telling you about the devil, Jason, going to carry a lot of freight. Right. I need to include you in the conversation to understand what are your best interests? How do I help you be successful? What are your best Darryl (10:56) What are your best interests? How do I help you be successful? What are your values? What are your, what's your understanding of my values and the actions I take? And can I tell a story about each decision I make and how it aligns with my values? Am I transparent about following through on my commitments? Do I say to you, I'm going to check the property every three months or every six months or once a year. Here's how I'm going to do that. Here's how I'm going to monitor. Jason Hull (11:11) Okay. Am I transparent and I follow through on my commitments? Do I say to you, I'm going to check the property every three months or every six months or once a year? Here's how I'm going to do that. Here's how I'm going to monitor it. And then do I follow up with the owner and say, Darryl (11:28) And then do I follow up with the owner and say, as per our agreement or as per my commitment, this is me following up on the promise that I made. Jason Hull (11:31) As for our Okay, so Darryl, I love this. This aligns a lot with a book that I'm writing right now called The Golden Bridge Formula. And this Golden Bridge Formula is something that I've used in creating trust quickly in order to facilitate sales. And it's a formula that I've taught my clients. And I think it aligns really well with this. And the basic formula is, Darryl (11:44) Okay. Okay. Jason Hull (12:00) It's based on the idea that everybody trusts others to follow their own motives, to do what's in their best self-interest. We generally can trust that. And so the Golden Bridge formula is basically in simple form is me sharing my personal why, what drives and motivates me, connecting it to the business and the business's why, and then connecting the business why to the prospects why, or your targets why, like what they want. Darryl (12:07) Okay. Jason Hull (12:26) which means you have to figure out their why first, right? You gotta figure out and ask questions first and then you can share and reveal. You know, once you figure out what they want, you can share and where they wanna go. You can share your motives. so, the more extended version of the formula is personal why, what that means, plus the business why, what that means, which is where we get into the values of the company, stuff like this. And then connect it to the prospects why and what that would mean for them. And this is... Darryl (12:47) right. Jason Hull (12:52) One of my greatest shortcuts for getting somebody that's terrible at sales to do sales in an authentic way and dramatically increase their close rate. Because any objection really always boils down to, I don't trust you. That's really the only true objection in sales. I don't trust your product or your service enough to believe that it's worth the price or that it's actually gonna work or it's gonna benefit me. The one thing people trust is for others to be selfish. Darryl (13:00) Nice. Right. Jason Hull (13:20) They trust people to do what's in their best interest. So if I can share my motivation, my golden bridge, and the actual bridge is the business. The business is this vehicle that gets me what I want and it gets my client what they want, right? And so if I can relate that, it creates this connection where we can both trust each other because if I'm selfish, I am able to help them and I get what I want. And so I'll give you my example. Darryl (13:34) Right. Jason Hull (13:46) personal why is to inspire others to love true principles. And so what that means is I love learning what works and sharing it with other people. I would do that for free for fun. I love paying for it. I take it coaches and mentors and door grow secretly not so secretly exist because I love being able to spend a lot of money on coaches, mentors, programs to be able to learn new stuff that I can turn around and then benefit and share with other entrepreneurs, with my clients. Darryl (14:12) Great. Jason Hull (14:13) And they can trust that if I continue to do that, I'm going to benefit them. DoorGrow... /episode/index/show/doorgrowshow/id/38614725

Property Management Growth with DoorGrow

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