From Bankruptcy to $500,000 in Wholesale Fees in 6 Months | Dan Brault

In this episode, Dalyn Hazell sits down with Dan Brault to talk about the ins and outs of Wholesaling, the breakdown of how he thrived in his real estate business after being on the edge of bankruptcy and how he was able to raise himself up out of massive failure to a complete life turnaround just by focusing on wholesaling.

Growing up in Upstate New York, Dan always had a knack for sales. First getting into real estate in 2015 while working full-time he started acquiring some rental properties and flipping some houses on the side. After a year of that, he decided to leave his safe and secure 6-figure job to go full-time in real estate. Everything was going well until 2018-2019, which was a different story. After one failed new business and a massive flop of a flip, he found himself over $400,000 in debt, and on the edge of bankruptcy. He knew he had to do something, so he took the sales knowledge he had acquired, decided to focus 100% on wholesaling, and work to get better every day. After just 6 months of full-time wholesaling, Dan was able to generate over $500,000 in wholesale fees. He was able to raise himself up from massive failure to a complete life turnaround. It is now his drive and passion to help people avoid the mistakes he made and create massive change in their lives. 

Key takeaways from this episode:

-How Dan started his real estate investing career

-How to build a company from scratch

-Lead generation recommendations

-How to grow acquisitions

-How to use wholesaling to generate over half a million dollars income

-Investing in marketing is the best way to get leads

-How to handle the different kinds of leads (cold, warm and hot leads)

-How to find the best possible buyer in wholesale deals

-How to bounce back from failures

-And a lot more!

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Connect with Guest, Dan Brault:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actiondanbro

Connect with the Host, Dalyn Hazell:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dalyn.hazell/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhazell24/

Email: dalyndhazell@gmail.com

Transcript

Introduction  0:00  

This is the real estate investing for Freedom podcast where we bring on the experts to teach you the golden nuggets of real estate investing so you can escape the rat race and start living life on your terms. Now, here's your host Dalyn Hazell.

Dalyn Hazell  0:21  

What is up everybody? Welcome back to the show. I'm super pumped for this episode because you're going to hear great rags to riches story. Dan Brault, our guest, has been on the edge of bankruptcy. And now he is thriving in his real estate business. We're gonna kind of break down how he did that. If you guys are interested in wholesaling, make sure you listen to this one throughout. Because once Dan went all-in on wholesaling, he generated $500,000 in wholesale fees in his first six months that is absolutely massive. And it brought him out of that deep part of his life, almost in bankruptcy $400,000 in debt. And so if you are maybe down on your luck, or you just don't know where to get started, or you're just struggling in your business, make sure to listen to this one because he shows exactly how he did it. So with all that being said, I'm going to start the interview. But first, here's today's golden nugget of the day. Today's gold nugget is more about mindset than anything if you set aside 612 18 months of your life these next few months, and you focus all your effort and attention on one thing. You set aside money, you fund that business, you make sacrifices with your time and you go all in on something, you'll be shocked at what you can do. Dan, bro, our guest today was able to raise himself up out of massive failure to a complete life turnaround just by focusing on one thing, and that one thing in his case was wholesaling. And like I said, he just blew up his business. And even though he had all those mistakes in his life, before in financial mistakes, that is, you know, he was able to make something of that and learn from that. And now, you know, nobody thinks about that, they only think about his success. And, and so if you're able to set aside 612 18 months of your life, maybe even shorter, if you really hit the ground running, then you can create massive ripples in your life and set yourself up for future success. So just think about that next time you are considering starting a new venture, make sure you go all in and not just have, you know, one foot in one foot out. So I know that's the kind of plugs a lot of people where they're like, Well, if this fails, I have my corporate job to go back to or I have, you know, this other business to go back to No, you need to be fully focused as best as you can, in whatever real estate venture you're getting into. And that doesn't mean you can't also have a full-time job on the side, we all have to start from somewhere. But it's the mentality of putting all your eggs in that basket and not having a plan B. Because as humans, you know, when we have a plan B, we typically, you know, drift towards that plan B and not focus on our plan A. So make sure you keep that in mind. Just a little tip to their little nugget. So with all that being said, Here is today's interview with the wholesaling phenomenon Dan Brault. Welcome to the show, Dan. How are you doing today?

Dan Brault  3:32  

I'm great, man. How are you doing?

Dalyn Hazell  3:34  

Fantastic. I'm very excited to have you on because you are an expert wholesaler. And I think you can bring a lot of value to people on this show that are interested in getting started in wholesaling how you did it. Some ups and downs and maybe some sample deals we can go over but certainly first before all that can you give the listenership a good idea of how you got started in real estate?

Dan Brault  3:57  

Yeah, so when I first started, you know, like a lot of other people, I was looking at my investment options, I was working a regular w two. And I was reading some investment books and wasn't loving the options that I saw in the stock market and, you know, the volatility and the lack of control. And just that uncertainty, and so I wanted something that I could have a more active role in. I discovered real estate investing and started off just while I was working a full-time job, bought a few rentals and started doing a few flips. And after that, it was just, you know, I just wanted to build it from there.

Dalyn Hazell  4:41  

Right? Yeah, it's the natural progression, like starting flips and starting wholesales and maybe getting some rentals long in there. But pretty soon you find out that you need that active income, you know, you need that cash now money so you start doing more wholesaling, flipping, and it's just a cycle. So, obviously, you're at the point now where you probably have Got a team in place? Who can you talk about? Like, we're gonna fast forward? And we'll dive into, you know, the middle of that. But where are you at now so people can see you know where you are now?

Dan Brault  5:10  

Yeah, so right now there's a team of nine of us. So we have each department filled in, I am the if people subscribe to the traction, the, or the EOS model, Entrepreneurial Operating System. That's how we run our business. So I'm the visionary, you know, coming up with all the crazy ideas to move the business forward and work on the big relationships, I also still do some acquisitions. So I'm still in a sales role, I probably only do maybe like 20 to 25% of the sales anymore. I'm working to get out of that role. I still do the sales training. We have two other salespeople, we have a virtual assistant who runs our dispositions team, we have a third-party transaction coordination company that does all our transactions once we have it. under contract through the closing. We have our COO, we have lead managers. And then we have some virtual assistants who help with all the backend stuff, the quality controls of the data, just making sure that we can run a nice tight ship.

Dalyn Hazell  6:26  

Yeah, I've heard of that book traction, I need to read it because I'm sure that's directly influenced how you built your company so far. So great recommendation there. So I, we've done a podcast, episode 10. If you go back and listen to it on wholesaling, in general, what is it? But today, I want to just hone in on like, how do you actually build a company because a lot of investors are Fly By Night type wholesalers. And so we want to have a good name for ourselves. So specifically, I want to talk about how you built your company, how you got started, and so forth. So in the early days of your company, what you obviously probably did by yourself, so what were you doing in terms of marketing lead generation? Because that's the big focus, right, starting out?

Dan Brault  7:05  

Yeah, so I mean, that's exactly it, when I first started, it wasn't a business, it was a job. And that's okay, that's where everyone needs to start out. Not everyone has the funds and the processes and the systems to hire a big team, it would be they would end up with more work and more stress. So you have to start out with just you start out with yourself, maybe you have a partner. And you're pretty much-doing everything. Because in order to properly delegate new tasks as they come along and put people in different roles, you have to know how to do them yourself. So if you don't know the business, like the back of your hand, you're not going to know how to train people how to maintain quality control. And so when I first started out, I was doing everything. And I used, you know, a lot of the methods that are old school, but they work. So I did bandit signs, I did direct mail. And that those were my primary two ways. And to start out. And, you know, that was just because that was all I knew how to do. I didn't know about any of the other methods really, I didn't know that people did ads online. I didn't. I didn't even know that people did the cold calling. You know, I was new to it. I just asked what some other people were doing. I was like, Alright if they're doing that, I'll just do that too. And so that was where I started, that's where it makes sense to start for a lot of people because bandit signs are cheap. And they do work depending on the market. But if you're putting them out consistently, you can expect some calls. And then direct mail. It's, it's great, it's a great method to use, but it does take time. So like what I always tell people is if you're using direct mail, you can't really judge the success of it for like six to 12 months, because you'll get calls from postcards or letters that you sent 3456 months ago. And now that's affecting your ROI, your return on investment for that lead generation strategy. So that's what I used when I first started.

Dalyn Hazell  9:23  

Yeah, totally for sure I do direct mail and I started about three months ago and I probably have not seen the fruits of all of that yet because somebody will hold on to your letter and just save it for the rainy day, you know, type of thing. So when somebody is thinking about starting their lead generation, what would you recommend they do? Should they focus on one at a time and master that or should they try to open multiple channels?

Dan Brault  9:49  

So there are a few different ways to approach it but it all depends on what you have more of. Do you have more time or do you have more money? Because if you don't have any money but you have time, well, then you can go out and you can door knock, you can drive for dollars, you can do stuff like that. If you don't have any time, but you have money, then you can purchase lists, you can hire a cold calling company, you can hire a texting company, you can do any of those things. So that's what I first looked at. But you also don't want to launch too many things at once, because it can be too much to manage. So I would have more than one, as you get going, you need to give it some time, like give every marketing channel at least three months before you give it the boot. Give it at least three months. If it's direct mail, give it longer. But for most traditional lead generation sources, you're going to want to give it at least three months to break even. I wouldn't do it if you're just starting out, I wouldn't do more than two to three different lead generation strategies, because it can give you too much to manage. But it's not too it's not too few where you have too much concentration risk. And concentration risk is just an easy way to look at too many eggs in one basket. So you know a lot of people Bill put all their money into texting, and then texting gets all these new regulations and it blows up and like, you know, we have all these issues and the leads die down and then suddenly your business dies, too. And so you want to have enough to where you're not so vulnerable to the highs and lows of any one source. But not too many to where it's too much to manage. So I would say to start out like trying two or three, get really good at them, get a process down so that you can automate it, you can delegate it, and then you can start to expand. And then from there, you need to be constantly looking at your numbers, just if the basics of it is how much money are you spending? And how much are you getting back? So you can look at your cost per lead cost per deal. The cycle time, all that stuff that gets a little bit more complex. But if you just want to simplify it down, how much money is going out? And how much is coming back from each individual lead source?

Dalyn Hazell  12:24  

Yeah, right off the bat, that is the most important metric. And it's the easiest one to track or it should be. And it doesn't get tracked a lot of time. And so, but some people track, you know, what was my response rate? What was my cost per lead? But at the end of the day, that's all that matters, your return on marketing? How much did I get back when I put that initial investment out? So I also want to talk about, you know, we touched on acquisitions, you know, you're out there hustling as you start, how did you grow your acquisitions, as you got your first few deals, like what was the first one, two or three things that you invested your earnings in then.

Dan Brault  13:04  

So you have to keep investing in marketing because that's the only way you're going to get leads. So whatever method you're using, you have to keep the leads flowing in otherwise, you're not going to have a business, everything flows from the leads. So if you don't have leads, you're not going to get appointments, if you don't have appointments, you're not going to get contracts, you don't have contracts, you're not going to get any checks. So you have to keep the leads flowing. And then once you're paying for marketing, you really should invest in a CRM, a customer relationship management system. And that's where everything should go. So you shouldn't have all these separate spreadsheets and places, where you keep your projects like everything, should be in this one CRM so that you can look at this one place have all the information you need, you should get one that has automation so that you can have your phone calls go directly into it, and they log in so that you don't have to manually record them. Ideally, you can send text messages and emails and make calls through it. You can track the status of your deals. So that you're not letting things slip through the cracks. Because that's where a lot of people go wrong is that they start spending money on marketing, but then they don't invest in a CRM, and they're trying to keep track of everything on a spreadsheet. And once you get a bunch of leads in, it's just nearly impossible to keep track of everything and be on top of it on a spreadsheet, you're just gonna lose track of things, things are gonna fall through the cracks and you're gonna be wasting money.

Dalyn Hazell  14:48  

Yeah, I was just nodding my head while you're saying that because that's exactly what my CRM does. I'm not an affiliate at all, but it's really simple. It's great. There's no setup needed. And it does all those things. So whatever you use Do you have to track? So track every conversation? You know, write it down? Do they own a dog? Do they have a brother like, you need to write down everything about the lead because you can use that to your advantage later in that conversation or during a follow-up. So recording everything about that lead is super key. So Dan, you know, a lot of people focus on the acquisitions, we talked about that. So then when you get a deal, how do you maneuver that process, because some, some leads our total laydown leads, they need you that day, some are 369-month follow-ups, and then some are out will outright reject you. So kind of explain how you handle each of those leads, like a cold, a warm, and a hot lead.

Dan Brault  15:45  

Yeah. So you, you need to have a follow-up system, like no matter what you do, I don't care what it is, you need one, you need something. And so if you're more advanced, and you've been doing it longer, you can have all sorts of drip campaigns and text messages and emails and RVM. And, and different ones for different scenarios, you can get really complex with it. But that takes time. So all you need to do is, let's say someone says, Oh, I'm not ready to sell, call me back in six months, you probably call them back in like two months, maybe a month and a half. Because you never know what's going to change in their life. People lose jobs, people move, people pass away, people have tragedies, like all sorts of things can happen. And you just never know when it's going to be the right time for them. And you would rather it would be better to call them too often than not often enough. So I would rather lose a deal by someone saying you've called me too many times, don't call me anymore, I would rather lose a deal that way, then call someone and they say oh, I already sold the property. So always follow up with them, set yourself a task. If so, let's say if this is for a beginner, set yourself a task to set it in your calendar, if you don't have a CRM that does this for you, put it in your calendar to call that person on a specific day. Don't just write it down and forget about it. Like give yourself a process, give yourself some automation, some reminders so that you make sure you do it. So no matter what we follow up with people until either one of two things happen. Either they say stop contacting us, we're not going to sell you ever, or they sell the property. So one of those two scenarios, because it's really a matter of timing, if we've reached out to someone or they've reached out to us, and there's interest in selling their property. But they're not ready to do it right now. Or we don't come to an agreement right now. It's only a matter of time until something changes where we have the opportunity to buy the property. So whether the market goes up, and suddenly we can afford their price, or something changes in their life, where now they need to sell it much more quickly. So no matter what, just have that in your mind that whether they say no, that is not the last conversation you're going to have, leave that door open to do business in the future.

Dalyn Hazell  18:25  

Yeah, and to put a tangible aspect on this, I, after I've made an offer, I follow up with that person daily, you know, because that's somebody I made an offer on if it's somebody that you know, is a warm lead, I try to, you know, follow up twice a month, it just depends on their level of motivation kind of thing. But I would always say as you said, cut that time in half, whatever they told you, if they say call me in six months, call them and three or even two like you always want to assume the worst. So assume that something, assume they need you, essentially. And because motivation changes daily, you know, one day they could really need you and one day, they could not need you. And so those are two things I tried to do in my wholesaling business. The other thing you mentioned also was like setting tasks. So yeah, just tracking, make sure you're keeping up with your tasks. And if you can set it up, if you can set up your day in some way where you know exactly what you need to do that day, then you're going to be a lot more structured and get a lot more done for sure. So I also want to talk about what let's say you get a deal under contract, how do you go ahead and start disposing of that deal? Because you know, one buyer may be willing to buy it at $5,000 less than another buyer. So how do you find the best possible buyer for your wholesale deals?

Dan Brault  19:48  

Yeah, so that all starts with building your buyers list, which is something that you should constantly be doing. Every single day, you or someone on your team should be building that buyer's list Because just like you said, what might be not a deal, and something they'd never consider for one person could be a smoking hot deal for someone else. So everyone has different buy criteria. And so really what I say is there are only two reasons you don't sell a deal. Either it's a bad deal, or your buyer's list isn't big enough. That's, that's really it. So we hear our dispo process. So the first people, we send it out to our top buyers, the ones that we work with multiple times, we know they're reliable, they're great to work with, we enjoy working with them. So we send it out to them first. And that group, it's a small group of people, there are only like five or six people on that list. We will call, text and email them the info. We will send them everything they possibly need so that they can make a buying decision in as short an amount of time as possible. So every time we send out a full video walkthrough, the interior of the property, photos of the interior and exterior, we usually end up with about 70 photos of the property. We zoom in on any major areas that need repairs, any issues like we don't avoid any of that stuff because they will find out whether you know he'd show them with photos or not. So we do the full video walkthrough, and then a full PDF, breakdown of the all the stats of the property, the condition of everything, the age of different things, what's coming with the property, what's not just anything else, they need to know the anticipated closing date, pretty much giving them everything they could possibly need to know. And what that does is that it decreases the amount of walkthrough requests that we get, which helps us to do deals faster. And the faster you can do a deal, the more healthy your businesses are. So if you can do a deal in 30 days versus 90 days, and you get paid the same, while you're actually getting paid a whole lot more if you can do it in 30 days, because there are fewer hours, there's less work included, it's just much easier. So you want to get the time down as much as possible. And so we do that by providing really good information. And so we tear it out by our best buyers for 24 hours, we'll leave it with them. And then we'll do our next tier where we've probably worked with them a couple of times. We're vetted, we know they're good. And then after that, we start blasting it out to social media, Facebook marketplace, Craigslist, or just regular buyers list of anyone who's joined. And so we tear it up by the people who have provided us the best experience and the most consistent results and then go down from there.

Dalyn Hazell  22:58  

No, that's a great thing. You do a good takeaway there. You prioritize the buyers that you know, like and trust and that are good for it. They close well, and so you give them a priority, right? I'm curious, when do you go ahead and advertise your deals? Are you including things like repair costs and ARV? Or do you leave that due diligence up to the end buyer?

Dan Brault  23:20  

I leave that to the end buyer. People have different perspectives on that. I see some people mark it out, they'll put what they think the ARV is, they'll put what they think the rehab cost is, I don't think there's a wrong way to do it. The reason that I don't include the rehab estimate is that I don't know their costs. If one person goes out and hires a GC to do all their work, their cost is going to be very different than someone who is personally going in themselves and doing the work. I mean, they could have a 20 $30,000 difference in their rehab costs. And so that will change the numbers dramatically. And I also don't know how, how much they put into the house like what level of trim they do you know how much they're really replacing? Are they going to replace the doors or just paint the doors? Are they going to put in bottom shelf cabinetry or even go put in nicer stuff? Are they going to put in laminate or granite? I don't know those things. And so I could give you what I would do, but I am not the same as every one of my buyers. So I leave that out.

Dalyn Hazell  24:32  

Yeah, it keeps you you know, safe and it keeps the end buyer safe. And I think even though they may look at your repair estimate, everyone is so different that they're probably not gonna even give much, you know, leeway to it anyway. So ultimately your cost is what your contractors are going to charge you not what the wholesaler says it's going to be yeah, great points there. So turning our attention to actually your story because I think you have an awesome inspirational story about how, you know, from what I could tell you are on the brink of bankruptcy what you told me and how you use wholesaling to generate over half a million dollars in fees. And, you know, to get you out of that place in life. So can you explain how what it was like being where you were, and then what wholesaling did for you?

Dan Brault  25:20  

And that was, that was a rough, rough, rough time. I mean, I can't imagine well, I can imagine, but I've never gone through a more stressful time when everything sort of fell apart. I was barely sleeping. I just couldn't really sleep out of the worry. I was making constant trips to the doctor because I developed an ulcer and so like me, my appetite was pretty much gone. I couldn't really eat. My stomach was so sensitive. Like, you know, when they say sick to your stomach? Yeah, about something like I was literally sick to my stomach. Got it? Yeah. So, I mean, I was wondering, like, are we gonna lose our house? Am I gonna, like, I, we were selling stuff out of our house, like we were selling side tables, lamps, like ever, like, we were selling a lot of stuff we sold, I sold my truck, I got like a cheap $2,000 car? I was I liquidated my 401k and sold my rental properties. I mean, it was beyond stressful. And at that time, we also had our daughter, she was just, she was still an infant, at that point. So like, I had had a new wife, had a new baby, had this terrible financial situation, wondering if you know, we'd have to move in with my parents. And we were going to lose the house and, like, start over completely from scratch. And it was, it was bad. It was really bad.

And so, you know, at that point I, I had previously worked in the medical device industry, as a sales rep had done pretty well. I was fortunate enough at that point to still have a really great relationship with my previous employer. And so I was able to get a position back with that company. I said You know what, at this point, I'm done with real estate. It's not worth it, too much stress, too much risk. Like, it's just, I don't, I can't do this anymore. I need to provide some stability for my family. And so I was doing that everything was going great. COVID hit and everything shut down. All so I was in surgery all they all stopped. There's nothing. I said, Well, I can't do anything. It's just not an option. I said, I looked at my options. I said, Well, real estate has been good to me before. But I can't take the risk right now. I can't go in and put all this money into a flip and not know what I'm going to get out of it. And I said Well, alright, I've done wholesaling, but I didn't really like it. The margins were good, but I didn't like it. And so I said, alright, well, there have to be people out there that are doing wholesaling, and they're enjoying it. And it's low risk, I don't have to put out a ton of money for it. I don't have to manage contractors, I don't have to do all that. I don't have to, I don't have to manage tenants, I don't have to take their calls late, I don't have to do any of that stuff. And so at that point, for me, the risk profile made a whole lot of sense and said I just need something a little more certain. I need it quicker. I need it, I need to turn it in, I need quick money. And so I said alright, I'm going to try wholesaling, but I need to do it differently. I need to do it differently than I was doing it before. So I decided I'm going to make this a real business. I'm going to learn from people who are doing this well. And so that's what I did, I went out and I learned from people who were doing it really well. And I turned it into a systematized business and I just took consistent action. I just daily non stop taking some steps to move the business forward to improve the business in some way. And I didn't reinvent the wheel. I didn't try to get all creative and fancy from the get-go like that's where so many people make mistakes because they see all these shiny objects out there. You see all the YouTube videos and the source the posts on social media and there's so much noise out there that it's hard to know what to do next. Because you see all these opportunities and you feel like you're missing out on so much if you don't do everything. But what happens when you do that when you just dabble and this and that. It's like you never really get good at one thing. And so I said, I'm just going to focus on this one thing, I'm just going to wholesale, I'm going to get really good at wholesaling. And that's it. And so that's what I did, I set my focus, and I decided I'm going to get really good at wholesaling, I'm going to move forward in this because I know it fits my profile, I know it. I'm great at sales. And I have a background in marketing, I love business. And this is much more aligned with those things than flipping or owning rentals and managing tenants. And so I went all-in on it. And I made it into a systematized business, and I just took action. And I never knew whether something was going to work or not, you never do, you can plan for days and months and years, you're never going to have any guarantees that anything is going to work. The only thing you can guarantee is that you can take action and that you can adjust when you find out what the results are.

Dalyn Hazell  31:03  

Yeah, thanks for sharing that and being humble enough to share that. So yeah, what you just said was crucial. The only thing you can control is your own action or inaction. And so yeah, when you buckle down and focus on one thing, you can accomplish so much. So how did that look? Like? I mean, because you had that focus, and you probably weren't working somewhere else? Did you immediately start seeing results from that, or did it take more time to kind of get out of that hole that you were in?

Dan Brault  31:36  

So I started, you know, I was very fortunate with the company that I was with, they provided me some opportunities to continue to teach and develop some resources for them so that I was still getting paid. But during that time, I said, I don't know how long this COVID thing is going to last. And I just need to do something reliable, something consistent. And so that's where I figured out that wholesaling was that thing. And so I started doing a little bit of wholesaling on the side. And so it started going well, you know, it started off, you know, you do a deal. And then you do two, and then suddenly, you're doing two a month, and then you're doing three, four a month, and then it's like, alright, this is really working. And I'm making more doing this than I was doing that other thing. So I just need to jump full-time into this. And so that's why I decided to do and, and then you start, you know, it's a process, it's just like any other business, it takes time to build a team, it takes time to build the systems. And it's not all fun and sexy, it's like it's a lot of work. It's a lot of spending time in front of a computer just like putting together systems and your CRM and the follow-up process. Like when you don't have a team to support you like you're doing everything. And then over time, you can afford, you know, maybe you hire a VA to help with some of the day-to-day admin tasks. And then you hire someone to help out with your lead generation, and then you have someone to help out with whatever you need help with. But no matter what, it's always a process, like you're you can't just you're not just going to start up one day, and suddenly you are doing 10 deals a month, it just doesn't happen. It's a build, it takes time.

Dalyn Hazell  33:35  

Right. And if it was getting rich quickly, more people would be doing it. So while it has a low barrier to entry, you have to treat it like a business and you know, you did you you were by yourself in the beginning but then you know you started building your team and so where is that company? I know you kind of touched on earlier but where how are you kind of allocating your time now that you're not you know, in that day to day operation as much

Dan Brault  34:01  

yeah, so now I'm super honored to be able to teach others how to wholesale not only how to get into it, but then how to grow and scale their companies. So you know, we work with a wide variety of different experience levels. But we take people and allow them to realize that financial freedom can be achieved through real estate wholesaling. So we were spending time there every week teaching our students and you know, launching into a new market with our wholesaling business and bringing on new team members. So all that right now is keeping me pretty busy.

Dalyn Hazell  34:50  

Yeah, I'm sure it is. So you do some one-on-one coaching work where listeners learn about that if they are excited about wholesaling, but maybe they have a full-time job that is demanding and they have some extra cash flow. Or maybe they just don't have that. But they still want some extra hand-holding. Where can they learn more about that?

Dan Brault  35:07  

Yeah, so the best way to reach me and see anything that I'm doing or what I have to offer is on Instagram Dan Brault and I spell it bro because if I spelled it like my actual last name and how it's spelled, then people would just miss it all the time. But it is bro spelled BRAULT but it is pronounced bro. So it's not just a thing I put on there. So Instagram @actiondanbro found out. You know what we're, what we've got going on and reach out to me for help. I love the messages that I get every single day from people reaching out asking for help seeing how they can make that step forward. Those are my favorite messages to get.

Dalyn Hazell  35:49  

Yeah, I didn't know that about your last name. That's a cool last name. Well, Dan, it's been a pleasure here. But first, before I let you go, the next part of the show is called the triple threat. So we ask each guest the same three questions. And the first one is, what is the app or tool that has been the biggest game-changer for your wholesaling business.

Dan Brault  36:09  

I'd have to go with our current CRM, which is left mainly by sales. So it's a Salesforce platform, and it is the absolute beast, CRM of the industry. Taking the industry by storm right now, a huge shout out to Stephanie betters, the owner and founder of that system, it has completely revolutionized what we're doing.

Dalyn Hazell  36:38  

Yeah, CRMs are important, like we talked about earlier. Number two, what has been the biggest learning lesson in the last year?

Dan Brault  36:46  

Man, I gotta say it's about leadership, and just, you know, my strengths and weaknesses, and just having to work on myself as a leader constantly. Because when I'm not clear with my people, when I don't provide clear vision and direction, and the reasons of why we're here, why we're doing what we're doing, and where we're going, if I don't provide that clarity and the culture, then the company just is going to be directionless, and the people aren't going to be committed. And it's going to lead to high turnover and low performance. And so as a leader, that I mean, that's been my biggest, the biggest thing that I've been working on this year is how to be a better

Dalyn Hazell  37:32  

leader. Right on. Cool. Question number three, our podcast is all about helping others achieve freedom with real estate investing, whether that's a financial lifestyle, or otherwise. So what does freedom mean to you?

Dan Brault  37:47  

Freedom to me is the ability to choose. And so you know, I, I love being able to work from home, and see my kids every single day, you know, when I just go up to grab lunch, or grab a drink or something to be able to see them and, and spend time with them and create memories together. So for me, it's the ability to choose, when I'm doing what I'm doing, who I'm doing it with. I'm fortunate enough where you know, I own this company, I can choose who I hire, and who I keep around and who I surround myself with. For me, that's freedom, who I get to spend my time with, and, and when I spend my time with them, and because the people you're around, I mean, that's, that's more important than, than the house you live in, or the car you drive, or the vacations you go on. Like all that stuff's great. But that stuff doesn't really mean anything without other people. I mean, what, what's a big mansion if you're in it by yourself? Like, I'd rather do it with other people. So having the ability to choose who I'm spending time with has been one of the great things that real estate has given me.

Dalyn Hazell  38:59  

Yeah, that's a great way to look at it. So well, then you've been an awesome guest. And I think almost every great leader has an inspiring backstory, from failure to success, and you obviously are one of those. So thanks for sharing your wisdom and knowledge and hope you have a good rest of your day. 

Dan Brault  39:18

Hey man, thanks for having me on.

Outro  39:20  

Thank you for listening to the real estate investing for Freedom podcast. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe and leave us a review and tune in next week for the next episode.