Coaching Student Matt Nunn Shares How the Land Geek Changed His Life

Hey, it's Mark Podolski, land geek with your favorite niche real estate website, thelandgeek.com and on this week's Art of Passive Income podcast, I am so excited to share with you one of our star students, Matt Nunn. And I love these podcasts because when we can really delve deeply into one of our clients or students experience, you can gain so much insight and experience for yourself and apply it to your own business and smart cut what they have done. So without further ado, Matt Nunn, how are you?

I'm good. I'm nervous, but we're good.

No, no reason to be nervous. In fact, I'll give you, I'll give you a second. Today's podcast is sponsored by Flight School. Learn how the next 16 weeks and transform your life. Go up that mountain of land investing quickly, step safely and efficiently with Scott Todd as your sure place that thousands of times. You're going to make that flight school tuition back 180 days or less. So it's not going to cost you anything guaranteed. So learn more. Go to landgeek.com forward/training the landgeek.com forward slash training Matt Nunn let's just, let's just skip the pleasantries. What brought you to land investing?

So I graduated college in a great job market.09. My department had like a 99.5 literal like job placement and only 3 of us found jobs. But after maybe 5 or 10 years of a corporate job, I knew it wasn't, wasn't what I wanted to do.

What were you doing?

I was in purchasing so I was working for a family company. It was a manufacturing facility making epoxy insulators. And when the family owned it it was awesome. And they were bought out by a huge conglomerate. So I went from one of 70 employees to like 10,000 overnight. And, and they had plans for me and they it was a great place to work, but it just wasn't what I wanted. I started an ATM route so I had an ATM business that I was running that got to a point where I could quit that job and do ministry. And so ATM investing is probably not the safest for having kids at a young family. So I knew I need to do something different. And I've been listening to your podcast since back in the day, probably since 2016. So a long, long time and had started flipping land, started with a thousand bucks and just sold the ATM business and went all in on land and love it. Now my wife quit her job and she's full time in it too.

That's amazing. That's amazing. I love the fact that you're able to replace your wife's income so that she could quit her job, spend more time with the family. And that's really the whole idea of getting out of solo economic dependency is so that you can do the things you want to do in life and have that, that freedom. So I'd be remiss if I just didn't even ask you, like, what's been your favorite deal?

I think everybody likes their first deal. I bought it for a thousand dollars. Felt like I had sent too much mail. Bought it for a thousand dollars and sold it in a week for two grand cash. And a thousand dollars at the time was a lot of money for us. And so first year was always one that I love. But I bought 120 acres for less than 100 bucks an acre. Like, I mean it was like an eighteen hundred dollar total purchase for one hundred twenty acres.

Wow.

So that was probably my favorite.

What'd you make on that deal?

I sold it for around 20 on terms.

Wow, that's, that's a great deal for everybody.

He just paid off. So that was a sad day because it was a good reminder of like the business work, you know, like every time he would pay. Never late, but I'll find another one.

That's, that's amazing. That's amazing. Let's talk about your coaching and coaching experience. Why is coaching valuable to you?

So I was established in the business before I got into coaching. The, the year before coaching, I'd done about 200 sales. But I knew if we were going to make my wife go full time and spend time with the family, that it was kind of counterintuitive. But investing in coaching was really important to us to get to the next step. It was good to have someone to bounce ideas off of and kind of didn't know what I was doing wrong in the business. So Tate was really good at gently nudging me in the right direction, but I couldn't have scaled faster and, and higher than I ever thought I could without coaching. But I mean, if Tiger woods, best golfer in the world, has a coach, I think I, I need one too. And probably everybody else.

Yeah. Yeah. And so what has been the result of that, that, that, that year with Tate, how's, how's your business scaled up and grown?

So volume wise, it's 50 up from an already established business. So 50 up. My notes are, are almost double what they were before I started and I'm working so much less so that, that's been the biggest benefit is I was probably working 20 or 30 hours a week on top of a full time ministry job. And some days I don't work my. We were sick over Christmas break and my team didn't even know it because I hadn't checked in with them. But it was kind of the same thing. I'm probably doing 30 minutes a day maybe. So that's a lot different than 30 hours a week.

So 30 minutes a day from 30 hours a week. And how many deals did you do in 20?

Do I. I did over 300.

Over 300. Wow.

Yep.

Yeah, that's, that's just incredible. That's incredible. So how, how do you measure success for your business?

I think everybody measures it differently. I've been tracking deals for a long time and now I've been tracking my, my note portfolio and, and watching it grow, so tracking that. But lately I've not to be too woo woo. But being more present with my family is how I've been tracking it. Business is still growing. You know, we've had a good start to the year despite whatever recession may or may not be out there. So I think being present with my family, you know, having Christmas off and the business still working, you know, no, hard to measure that, but that's definitely it.

Yeah. No, I, I'm so jealous because I remember when I had started the land business and I'd quit my investment banking job and I had no mentor, I had no awareness of how distracted I was so I'd be deluding my stuff. I take my kids to the park and I thought, oh, I'm the only dad at the park. It's the middle of the day and yet I'm at the park and I keep checking my email and seeing about my customers. So I'm, I'm there but I'm not really there. And I had, I wish that I could go back in time and be totally present with those, those kids and that, that precious time though, I'll never get back. And what, what a gift and what a special way to, to measure true success because that, that parenting that you're giving your kids, that is your legacy and that lives beyond you. So another deal is not going to really move the needle as much as that growing, developing relationship where the kids feel like oh, dad truly was, was with us when he was with us. That's, that's amazing. Getting Back to your 30 minutes a week in the business, what role have you outsourced that had the most impact.

On you before coaching around 200 deals. I had one or two days. So my intake manager was, Was my game changer for sure. It's so exhausting talking to sellers, you know. Yeah. And she's good at it. She's better at it than me. And post coaching, I'd say probably my sales manager, that was the last thing I, I wanted to outsource. I felt like I was the best at it. And it's pretty selfish to think that you're the best at everything. So once it kind of hit me. Sales manager, I got. Now his first week, he sold like seven properties. And I was like, okay, cool. I worked even less. Like, this is, this is real. Like, I should have listened to Tate six months ago. But, yeah, so probably intake manager and sales manager and then from there, bookkeeper, because I'm a, a numbers excel guy. But my books are way cleaner than I could have ever done them. And he's doing them.

That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, I, I always joke when you, when you get that first intake manager, colors are more vibrant, food tastes better. It's just. Everything's better when you get that off your plate. But when you. And we always talk about at boot camp, the, the two things you outsource last are county research and sales. And so I like the fact that you got to a point where you were able to fully work on the business and totally be in. In total and just get yourself out of it completely with that sales manager. It's true. There's always someone out there that's going to do it better than you, because as the CEO, you might be the best salesperson, but you don't scale. And as a CEO, you want to scale and grow and do that. I always think of Steve Jobs, who's a great sales guy, but you wouldn't want them at the Apple Store selling your, your Mac.

Yeah, that's true.

Yeah.

More valuable.

That's awesome. You know, how did you get out of your comfort zone? Because that's, that's really where the growth occurs. What do you, what do you do?

So, I mean, I think coaching was, was out of my comfort zone for me. Just.

Why do you say that?

It was an investment, and it was also opening up my business to someone. So it was. I mean, there's some, some vulnerable points of it. And I mean, I showed Tate a lot of the business that I had kind of kept to myself for a long time and kind of having. What's the phrase? Whenever you, you jump off the cliff and build it on the way down, you know, like, that's kind of how I had approached it, and I had a lot of pride and how. How good my business was. And, you know, Tate showed me, hey, it can be better if you do this or this or. Eric would laugh, but he. He looked through my. My systems and. And I said, okay, well, I'll do better next time. Like, I felt like I'd really opened up and, and showed him everything, but, man, it's so much better having them guys dial it in and, and kind of give vision on what it. What it could be. You know, I think I had dreamed as far as I could dream, and those guys that had helped show me how it could be better. But that was. That was really uncomfortable. I mean, it's just not my personality to be on this podcast or to show someone what I'm working on. I kind of keep to myself and introvert, but definitely coaching, and I'm glad I did it. Like, wouldn't be where it's at now if it wasn't for. For you guys.

That's awesome. Well, thank you. We appreciate that. And I know the whole team has loved working with you. And for us, it's exciting to see that type of improvement and growth because most of our clients don't come in with an established business, you know, already doing 200 deals. And so for us to take that challenge on and say, okay, we can help you do even more deals in less and work less is. Is especially gratifying. So that's that. That was an amazing gift for us. Who would you recommend should look into coaching based on your experience?

I think if you're. If you're on the fence, it's. It's certainly worth the conversation, if nothing else. But if you. If you've been in the business or if you're interested in real estate in general, I think. I think it would work. I should have been coaching probably two or three years ago. So I would say anybody that is. Is interested in. In growing it. You know, if you've got a. Listening to bigger pockets or something. If you're interested in real estate and kind of don't know where to start, I think land is like the gateway drug to. To doing different stuff. So I think if you're interested, it's worth a phone call for sure.

I love that. I love that. So if you were to start over today, what would you do differently and what would you do? The same.

So I guess same. Let me start with that.

I would.

I would start slow. Like, I. Like, I Did with. With one deal, a thousand dollars. I bought three properties that first month and freaked out, quit mailing because I had too much. And then I started all in two weeks and had to restart. So that's probably what I would do different is I would, you know, follow the recipe and mail, mail, mail, and don't slow down your mailing. And there's nothing that says you have to scale at a certain speed. You know, I scaled really slow and wish I'd have scaled a little quicker. For the past two years, I've scaled really fast and, and that. That's expensive and that's also a lot of work and it's worth it. But scale at your own pace. Don't. Don't let someone else define your success. I'd say scale how you want to scale.

Okay, great, great. What has been the hardest thing in the business for you?

Probably learning my new role. You know, like working on and not in my business. You know, I bought 25 properties through title last week and I told my wife I haven't looked at any of them. I don't know what they look like. And it's a different mindset. Like, takes a different set of skills to. Not that, not that I've like, gained wealth, but it takes a different set of skills to like, gain wealth versus keep wealth or like, scale up versus like, maintaining, I guess. And sometimes it feels like I'm herding cats with my assistants, you know, but I'm more like working on it and not in it. And that's been hard to. To let go. Like, especially that sales manager that was really hard to. To give him the keys and trust him after enough training or whatever. But that's definitely been the hardest thing for sure.

Yeah, that, that is a challenge. But I love the fact that you said you gave them the keys after enough training, because one of the biggest mistakes I see people make, there's a big difference between abdicating and delegating. Abdicating is kind of the blind leading the blind. And you just, you know, you want to get to that point where someone's listening to this podcast, they just want to be you. Like, okay, here you take the sales rollover. But they haven't been properly trained, and the person that's. That's advocating hasn't done it enough themselves to even train properly. And so there, there is that, that distinction and it's very subtle. So for sure, to keep your. Your sanity and sleep well at night, you definitely want to delegate and not, not abdicate. So if you're Talking to a beginner in this business. What advice would you give them from a. From a mindset standpoint, maybe even tactically?

So I think pay attention to the details. I was really good at details early on. And when I started scaling right before coaching, I got sloppy and I was chasing volume and not, you know, not perfection, but excellence, I guess would be. Be a better word for. It's like, I'm gonna butcher it. I know. Scott Todd would, Would know it like the aviation 60 to 1 rule where. Yeah, if you're 1 degree off and in 60 miles, you'll be a mile off. You know, I had, I had grown some really bad habits that I didn't even know we had.

Can you give an example of one of those bad habits?

Oh, man. I don't know where to start. Terrible. Terrible to admit on a recorded call, but double selling properties was like a huge thing for us. Like when my wife started in the business, she was fresh set of eyes, but equally invested in it, you know, so she was not sloppy. And her first month she found 10 properties that had defaulted that I forgot we owned 10 or 15 properties. And I was like, that's awesome. Like she, she found like 20 or 30 grand, you know.

Yeah.

And you know, just not being detailed and accidentally double selling something is like super embarrassing, you know, so those two things being super transparent would be worst mistakes probably.

It's so funny you say that. Cause when I first started, I was working on Excel spreadsheet. There's no LG pass and, and you know, Excel, it's, it's hard to see sometimes. So I would double sell properties and I would get that notice in the mail from the, from the assessor saying.

Customer gets it too.

The customer gets it too.

Yeah.

And I was like, oh no. And what happened was it turned out like okay. As soon as I owned up to the mistake with the customer and told them how I resolve it, they were like the best customer.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's like. It was like. It was like the weirdest.

It works out good.

It works out really well, as if you handle it well.

So you just give them something better than the property you had. You know, like, I'll give you an acre instead of half acre or you know, like whatever. Maybe that's not what you do, but that's, that's what I've done. If there was ever not happy. But most people understand, you know.

Yeah, no, people are really cool about it. And then they're so appreciative when, when you resolve it quickly, especially when you do it the way you're doing it, where they get even a better deal and then just that loyalty is fostered by a mistake, it's, it's a really interesting phenomenon. I'm not telling people to go purposely make mistakes, but it turns out when, when you do, it's not as bad as you think.

And I was gonna say, I don't do that a lot.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You only do it a couple times.

Before you learned no for sure. All right, so Matt, here is my last question. How has this business changed your life.

Man? I, My wife quit her. Her full time job. She was a cancer nurse and then she became a school nurse when we started to have a family. And she said the only thing more depressing than, you know, being a cancer nurse was being a Covid nurse because the school nurses turned into COVID protocols. So being able to retire her gave us such a different flexibility. And then the business growing to where ministry is different. Like if, if a new pastor took over our church, it's, it's typical that everyone would resign and then get rehired. And so there's. Our church has a long history of having long term pastors, but gives you a peace of mind knowing we could make this work. You know, just, it's okay. Like we got this. So it's, it's given my, my family breathing room and the ability to, you know, go on a trip if we want to or, you know, whatever. So it just improved our family quality of life and been able to, to let my wife and I be better parents, you know, not like you said, be glued to your phone at the park or something. Like, I think that maybe, maybe your, your biggest contribution in this world isn't what you do, but it's who you raised, you know, and, and I think that, that it's enabled us to, to be those parents. So for sure.

I love that. I love that line. Your biggest contribution in this world isn't what you do, but it's who you raise. Amazing. So Matt, your, your mentorship has been phenomenal. This podcast, but you know, it's coming. One more tip of the week. A website, a resource, a book, something else actionable for the art of passive income listeners to go improve their businesses, improve their lives. What have you got?

So I've got two. That's okay.

They're.

And they're quick. But first, one of the most successful guys in my area, I met him and was just having some good conversations with him and he gave me a book that is not on Audible. It's, it's probably like an old school Zig Ziglar type of book, but it's Success is not an accident, and success.

Is not an accident. Oh, check it out.

So it's like a bluish cover. I don't have it here. There's like a bluish greenish cover. And it's good at just like.

Is that Tommy Newberry?

Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. Okay, here it is. New. Yeah, Blue color. Very cool. 17 bucks on Amazon.

So, yeah, I mean, it's probably super old school, but. But it's timeless in that it just shows you what's important in life and helps you kind of prioritize who you are, what you do, why you do it. You know, you're working hard for your family, but you're not present with your family like you said, or whatever. And then my second, I'm hesitant to say it, but this would be just what has changed my life, and that's taking a Sabbath. So if, if you're not a Christian, still taking a day off. Yeah, you know, working, working church work and working this business. Even though it's easy, it's, it's always on. You're always getting sales at different time and organizing stuff. And I, I literally set a focus on my iPhone, where I don't have any notifications on Sunday, so I, I, I'm allowed to check it once or twice just to make sure there's nothing on fire in the business. But that Sabbath is important for just unplugging. And the iPhone hack is, is sweet. Like, I have a different wallpaper on my phone just as a reminder, like, hey, today's different, you know, so, you know, taking a Sabbath and if, if you're a Christian, then, you know, you, you know that you're supposed to take a Sabbath, but sometimes we still don't.

Because.

Probably a lot of people that listen to this show or like podcast junkies, always listening to something, always reading something audible, always working on something, and your brain needs room to breathe, you know, so, so I'm better from, from keeping that. And I think that no matter what you, what you believe or what you do, I think a day off scheduled, intentional is really important. And I think you're better for work.

I, I think that's great advice. And I just got back from Africa, and so I'm, I'm in Africa and I'm at this area that has no WI Fi. There just, there's just no, there's just no Internet. I mean, in Botswana, there's no lte. I mean, Just completely off the grid for three days. And I can't tell you what a difference it had made for me mentally. And then after that I thought, okay, I want more of that. How do I get more of that? And so the digital Sabbath has been. It was just so fantastic. There's just too many inputs. And so what I've been doing now is when I go to bed, I put my phone on airplane mode so that when I wake up, I can't check the Internet or I can't check email. It's just that that one extra step is just a reminder. Oh, wait, go and do your, your morning routine first and then do work. And then on Sundays. Now I am just gonna have a complete digital Sabbath and take those long walks that I love to do. No phone. The other thing I want to do is when I'm out with friends, leave my phone in the car when I'm out with family in the car. And that way I just, it's not even distracting to me. Now I have the Apple watch, so I do feel like, oh, if there is some kind of emergency, there's never really an emergency. I remember listening to this Chris Rock stand up and he's like, when I was a kid, the house could burn down. My dad wouldn't find out until he got home. It's true.

That's so true. You know, the world worked. It's still in the world.

The world still worked and everything got done. And it's just too many inputs for our arcade man brain. The hardware is not caught up with software for that.

We weren't wired to be advertised to 24 7. And you can't give what you don't have, you know, so you got. I'm sure you're a better business owner for it, you know, I'm sure, I'm sure your team appreciates you having time off, you know?

Yeah. 100. I mean, my team was like, don't come back, like whenever I'm on vacation, we, we kill it.

Like, don't you. It really is. Yeah, yeah.

It's the most humbling thing, but it's, it's so true. And, and you'll see this next year and you're probably already seeing it. When you have that strong team, you have those systems, those processes, and that machine is automated. It's. It's really your job just to think and break stuff. Like you'll, you'll be on a walk, you know, with your family. You have this thought like, what if we did this? And then everything's working. You Just break it. You see? And that's how you, you get to that, that next level.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Awesome. Well, Matt, thank you so much. I want to remind the listeners that the only way that a guy like Matt Nunn is going to come on the podcast and share his experience, transfer that wisdom to you so that you can smart cut your own business is if you do us three favors. Follow rate Review the podcast. Send us a screenshot of that review support attheland geek.com I'm going to send you for free a signed copy of Dirt Rich, so please do it. All right, Matt. Oh, by, oh by the way, my tip of the week, Frank Steve mentioned it. Go to none n u n n land sales.com and check out what Matt's doing. Non land sales.com all right, Matt, are you ready to do this?

Yeah.

One, two, three.

Let's let freedom Freedom ring ring.

All right. Thank you so much, Matt. I, I really appreciate taking the time. Thanks everybody. Thanks for listening to the Art of Passive Income podcast. Are you ready to learn how you can start building a passive income without renters, rec, rehabs, renovations or rodents? Schedule a free consultation@thelandgeek.com training let freedom ring.