Why Land Investing is So Special for the Land Geek Coaches

Hey, it's Mark Prabolski with Land Geek with the favorite niche real estate website, thelang.com and on this week's Art of Passive Income podcast, we are really going to go into the deep dive under. What about land investing made these Land Geek coaches go into land investing as opposed to other niches. So we've almost all the usual suspects here. We've got Landon AI, the aquatic investor, Harris. Landon, how are you?

I'm well, Mark.

Good to see you. How are you enjoying this, this beautiful Scottdale weather?

I'm actually really liking it.

Right.

I mean, the temp is just right on, you know. Got a pool in the back. Still cold, but can't get in yet. But it's warming up.

It's nice. We got dude, buddy. Scott Bossman. Scott. I know things are warm in Onalaska.

Like unseasonably, unseasonably warm for the entire winter here. So 50 degrees, beautiful, sunny. I'll take it.

What are the snowmobilers doing? What are the ice fishermen doing?

It's been a, it's been a huge pain point for a lot of people. I mean, there's, there's no winter recreation, unfortunately. So now Northern Wisconsin did get a little bit of snow just in time for the Birkebeiner race this, this coming weekend, which is the largest cross country ski race, I think, in the world. So I think they're going to be able to do that, but otherwise it's slim pickings.

Wow. Wow. I love it when you call me Big Papa. Tate. Litchfield. Tate. How are things in Sin City?

They're good, man. Happy to be here.

How is that super bowl for you?

I mean, I guess it was a huge success. From what I've read, they don't allow land investors into the Super Bowl. We, we can't afford the, the entry level ticket price there. I think the cheapest seats were, you know, eight or ten thousand dollars. So.

Yeah.

Didn't go.

Don't. Yeah.

Watched it.

No. Fantastic. Was the city just a mess?

Yeah, I mean, we handled it well. They, you know, we're built for that kind of thing. Like, a bunch of people want to come in and act like children again. Like, welcome to Vegas. We're, we're good with it. Like, bring it on. We got the infrastructure, we got the hotels, we got the accommodation. We can throw a party. We're good at that.

I love it. Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's a unique place. If you haven't been, I highly recommend. Don't bring your kids it's an adult, it's an adult place for sure. So Landon, let's start with you. What was it about land investing, the land investing niche that drew you and Sharia into it in the beginning? Do you remember?

Well, if I think about it.

There.

Are a lot of things that were really intriguing about this business. I, one of the things that I found the, one of the most intriguing things was just the amount of time that it afforded you that you didn't have to always work on the business. I remember coaching, working the full time job there. But then, you know, we were flipping homes, I had rental homes and we're doing all of these things. We're getting, you know, calls late evening from renters that just are complaining about, you know, we had, you know, heat went out. Well, you know, you get a plumber out at 10 o' clock and or air conditioned unit guy out at 10 o' clock at night. So, you know, it's just one of those things. You just, you. We, we don't have to deal with those kind of issues. But you know, the, like I said, the, the amount of time that you just freed up has been just one of the most impactful things. I think that, you know, that we've enjoyed, we travel a lot more. I think I was just telling Scott last week, like, I have more time to read. I haven't had time to sit down and read a book in, man, I couldn't even tell you when I was a teenager when I was reading books. But I can read books now. I can, you know, spend time traveling, have a granddaughter, get to spend time with her, you know, so we, we really get to just enjoy life a lot more than we've ever had that. And I, I don't know any other business or any other niche that you can jump into that allows you the affordability and the amount of time that this business does, it has just surpassed really a lot of things that we could have imagined. So those are the things I think I lean back on the most. When I think about it, it's, it's a pretty cool niche and business that we do.

Yeah, I mean, it's so funny not having to deal with the renters and the rehabs and the renovations, the rodents. I don't know if we talk about that enough because that is a job. Right. Or you're going to overpay for someone to handle that headache for you. Yeah. And like people I talk to, like property management companies are a mess. Like they're not, they're not fun to Deal with. They're really expensive. They don't do a great job. I don't know if they really eliminate the headache for you.

No. And I was still the maintenance man.

You were still the maintenance man?

I was still the maintenance man. So I'm still going over fixing toilets and roof repair. I'm like, I don't, I don't want to do that anymore. So, yeah, it, it definitely got me out of that, that's for sure.

Yeah. And there's, there's going to be no better feeling than, you know, holding your granddaughter and then hearing that like, little ding in your, in your, your, on your phone. It's like, oh, we just got a sale. I didn't have to do anything.

No.

You know, all that work was done up front. Yeah, no, for sure. So, so moving on to dude buddy, Scott Bossman. What, what was it about it for you? Do you, do you remember?

Yeah, I do. I needed something that was not going to take a lot of money to start and was not going to take a lot of time to start. And I'm so glad I made this decision. We were actually on the verge of getting into, you know, buy and hold real estate with a duplex or, you know, we'd start with one duplex, right. But, but I think about that. How long, how long would it have taken me to be able to scale that? I would have stepped into a position where I was the landlord and having to deal with emergencies and tenants and all that stuff. And you know, we had, we had some home equity at the time that we were going to put toward that. But why not a business like land where, you know, instead of putting $30,000 down on a property, I mean you could put, you could buy, you know, $31,000 properties and you know, double or triple or sometimes more your money. And that wasn't quite apparent to me at that time, but that's what this business can do. And so, so to have to, so to have a low cost entry right into a business, you can really start this with a thousand bucks, right? You can buy $1,000 property and flip it and then just keep doing that all day long. Eric Peterson showed us that with his YouTube series Last, Last year, right, he and his son, right, he started with a thousand dollars and in a year he turned it into what, well over a hundred thousand dollars?

I think so.

Or something like enterprise value.

Yeah, it was crazy. Crazy number. Yeah.

Yeah.

It just sounds like I'm going into the land.

Yeah.

He's doing like crypto and options and all these exotic investments, and in the beginning, he was beating him. That was interesting. And I. We just keep shaking our head like, give it time.

Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. So. So, you know, you look at what you can do with just a few thousand dollars in this business, and then you look at what you can do with a few hours a day in this business, because that's all I have. I mean, I. I was thinking about this the other day. My. My four boys were between 8 years old and 15 years old. And do you know how many car. How many trips in the car we do on a certain day? Just from here, there, and everywhere. Like, we'd be in the car from, you know, after school till nine at night sometimes, just carting everybody where they needed to go. So I needed something that I could do at 5 in the morning for an hour and at 10 at night for an hour. And that's really all I could spend in this business for the first year. So two hours a day for the first year in this business, and I was able to buy and sell 30 properties. And that's just with sitting down in a quiet room and as Tate says, finding out how to buy and sell land on the computer. I mean, how cool is that? You don't have to go to these places. So that. That was it for me. Low, you know, low barrier of entry for. For money and time.

Yeah. I mean, that's. That's amazing. And, you know, when you look back, how precious that time is to be able to be with those boys, because you don't get that time back. And, you know, I. I know so many entrepreneurs who. Who, like, had this. This mis. Wanting, if you will, where they wanted that. That certain ego number. They wanted to accomplish these things. They wanted this high revenue, and they. They're just, you know, wanted to build a big business, and then they look back 10 years later, and maybe they did build, build it, but then they missed everything with their children. It was. It was like a huge sacrifice. And that relationship is. Is not as strong as maybe it could be. And ultimately, the stuff was unsatisfying. The, you know, you get to it, and it's like, okay, well, you know, that. That half life of. Of enjoying it is really short. It's like, okay, I'm on to the next thing. And. But that time's gone where. If you're someone like Tate now with, you know, three young kids, I know he works hard, but he has that flexibility. And. And that's things like, I know, Scott, you were working hard, but you had flexibility as well.

Yeah, I had flexibility to do the business when I wanted to do it. And then as more and more wins, more and more wins tacked on, you know, a couple years down the road, I was able to eventually quit my job and then. Or go halftime. Right, right, go halftime. And then I'm, I'm home at three in the afternoon when my kid comes home from school. Right. Or I'm not stressed about driving them anywhere because I was able to have a few quiet hours by myself during the day and it just, it afforded more and more and more time freedom with my kids. And my youngest now is 17. He's the, he's the last one in the house. Right. And, and I get emotional thinking about it, but I, but I also think, man, what if I had not gotten into land investing in 2015, how much less time would I have spent with him and my other kids? So, so that's what it's done with me at. I mean my relationships with my kids and my wife are better because I went into land investing, without a doubt.

Yeah. And I really think that is the Trojan horse of doing this is just to improve all your relationships because ultimately all the satisfaction that you'll get from. Yeah, you're going to make more money. That's great. The passive income's. Look, the money is great. We, I'm not going to deny it. And money's, I'm not going to say money's not important because it is. But. And I'm not going to say that you, you know, like it doesn't buy happiness. It could buy a little happiness. I mean, you know, I know the three of you have gone on like amazing trips in the past few years like that. But those trips, those memories, those pay dividends and ultimately those trips as you need money for them, but they also provide, you know, stronger bonding, stronger memories. Not to say you couldn't do it at, at home, but ultimately when you're less stressed about money, you do have more energy to devote to those things for sure. So I kind of lost my, my train of thought there. But ultimately to say is that the biggest currency is, is the time and the energy and the freedom to work on relationships. I, I think is, we don't really talk about it enough is how it relates to the land business, especially when you juxtapose it to other businesses that require a lot more time, require a lot more resources and ultimately a bigger sacrifice. Not to say there isn't a sacrifice in this, because there is. You know, if you're listening to this, like, you know, we're not going to tell you the land business is easy. It's a simple model, but nothing worth doing is easy. And you have to make a sacrifice for sure. But then once it's done and you get that machine built, it's. It's like a. Like a plane, and it just kind of soars, and it takes a lot of energy to get that plane off the ground, but then. Then you're soaring. So, speaking of soaring, the big Papa Tate Litchfield. What about it? What about land investing got you excited in. In the beginning? Do you remember?

Yeah. I mean, it's probably the same things that get me excited about it to this day. And I say that because I'm still very much in. In love with the land business model. Like, it's all I want to do, it's all I do. Right. I don't do other types of models, and I've seen a lot of them. I've been to a lot of conferences. I've heard the other pitches. I've listened to plenty of podcasts. And, you know, it doesn't hurt that, like, my best friend has had everybody on his podcast in the world and basically come to the same conclusion as me, that we're in the right place, that we're not jumping ship. But my love for the land business model comes down to, I think, a couple different points, and some of them have been repeated by, you know, my other friends on the podcast. The first one for me, plain and simple, was the money. Like, you're telling me that I can buy a asset, a piece of property for a thousand bucks and sell it for four. Okay, where do I. Where do I sign up? Like, I realize it's not, you know, 10,000 and sell for 40, but this is 1,000, turn it into four. And I've been in the coaching world long enough to where I've spoken with a lot of people from a lot of backgrounds and, you know, as land investors, sometimes we get a little bit accustomed to those type of margins, but outside of our niche, those numbers don't even exist. They don't work. They're not real. Right. They're not real. And so I got addicted to that. Not necessarily the fast money of it, because land is slow money. Right? It's about building a machine. It's about building something that can sustain you for many, many years. And so I got addicted to that. But I think more important than anything is very similar to what Bossman just said, which was the lifestyle. Like, I loved the idea of, hey, I can do this anywhere I want, from anywhere in the world, and I get to work with only people I like. Okay, so you tell me I got to work with my friends, the money's good, and I can do it from anywhere. Isn't that the, the new dream, like, for a kid my age? That's the dream. And this package to me had it all. So I fell in love with that. And then I guess finally the last thing I fell in love with was just the people that I associated with. Like, I realized early on, like, these are just normal people. They're not out here trying to be something or someone. They're not, they're just genuine people who are trying to get more time and create something that provides them with stability while helping out solve another person's problem. And I could get behind that plain, simple. I just, I love it.

No, I, I love it. And it's, it's such a good point because we, I think we discount the fact that when you have your own business, you do get to choose who you work with, and you do get this opportunity to create your own utopia, if you will. And then if it's not a utopia, you, you can make it. You can make. Okay, you know, there's this great line from, from Joe Polish. He, he's got this, this group called Genius Network, and he calls people elf or half. So, you know, half is hard, annoying, lame, and frustrating. And Elf is easy, lucrative, and fun. And so if you're, if you're, if it's not elf, and you're not creating this elf business, then you need to make change and pivot. And a lot of our, our clients now we're seeing, they've got path businesses where they're in, you know, they're home flippers, and they're just not enjoying the job of it. And so they come here like, okay, this is so Elf. It's easier, it's lucrative, it's fun. Again, I don't want to say it's easy, right? I would rather say it's a simpler model, but, but easier, right? It's, it's so true. I, I, that is one of the things that I think is so, so important in, in life and in business is just being around people you enjoy every day again. I mean, you know, we watch the Office, and what makes the Office so brilliant is that it's such a great, just picture of what office life is because there always is that person that is like a Dwight, they're annoying, or an Angela that's hard to be with. Or, or whatever. And it's like there's always those politics and having our own businesses, we, we get to avoid it for the most part. Especially when you're working with hard working virtual assistants that have just so much gratitude to be afforded this opportunity to work with us. And they get to make their own hours and they're, they're intrapreneurs, right? They're making their own hours. They're. They have a sense of agency, they understand the purpose behind it, and they don't feel like a cog in the wheel either. And it just makes for such a more enjoyable experience. I, I know for me personally, what I loved about the land business when I first started was the fact that I didn't see any risk in it. Right. Like, I remember thinking, well, what's the big downside here? I mean, I've got a piece of paper and I'm not filling up my garage with a bunch of stuff. Worst case, I can't sell it. I can barter. Like, I. Being very risk averse and very conservative, I didn't see any downside. And then from there, not having to go out and get hard money or raise money, I had enough money to do it knowing that I had time to sell the property because the property taxes were so low. It wasn't gonna, it just was thrilling to think, like, oh my gosh, this downside, not bad at all. Like, let's do it. And even I remember thinking, like, there's no way these margins are sustainable. I remember thinking, okay, this is a 30 gross margin business at the end of the day. And that was 23 years ago, and it's still inefficient, the margins are still insane. And I know it feels like there's a lot more quote, unquote, competition, but inevitably, I mean, in reality, because the market's so big, it's. It's not true. I mean, you know. Tate, are sales down for you the past five years as more competition has come in?

No. I mean, you know, anybody that, that's, that's a discussion for another podcast.

That's another.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We should talk about that as well.

But the reality is, no, this is a blue ocean. There's so much potential and it's so untapped. Anybody who's concerned about this, stay tuned because we got a podcast coming to solve that concern.

Exactly. I think that's a great segue to ask Landon for his tip of the week. A website, a resource, a book, something else actionable for the auto passive income listeners to Go improve their businesses, improve lives. But before we do that, just want to give a shout to our sponsor, which is flight school. Learn how the next 16 weeks can literally transform your life. Because if, if you know your. Your why, you can endure anyhow. So start going up that mountain of land, investing quickly, safely, efficiently. Learn more. Just go to the land.com training. And I know what you're thinking. Oh, the tuition. The tuition ain't going to cost you nothing. Guaranteed you're going to make back that money. 180 days or less, cash return, sales. Just shows you did the work. Land geek. The land geek.com forward slash training. Landon AI Harris. What is your tip of the week?

So have you ever heard of the author Adam Grant?

Love Adam Grant.

Okay. Yeah. He's got a book that came out, I think last year. It's called Hidden Potential. I started, just started reading this book. This book is so good. I, I found myself just like, just sucked into this book. It's like, it's just kind of very interesting, very entertaining. I wrote down a quote because it just, just stood out to me. And it says, you can't tell where people will land from where they begin. With the right opportunity and motivation to learn, anyone can build the skills to achieve greater things. Potential is not a matter of where you start, but it's how you travel. And this, I don't know, just kind of rung it out to me as I was reading this book. But super great book, super good book to kind of just talk about kind of how people just have these hidden talents and hidden potential and how to unlock it. So I don't know, just good reading.

That's great. Do you have a good example of that?

For me, it kind of relates to one land, but then also some of the things I was doing when I was a swim coach. So, like, there are a lot of kids that, as I'm talking to them, you know, we're discussing, like, okay, what can you specifically do? There's so many different aspects of this sport that you can do. You know, when I'm talking to land investors and, you know, we're, as we're coaching, I'm talking to them a little bit more about, okay, maybe you don't see sales as your best thing. Maybe due diligence is your thing. Maybe you know how to just really go through, you know, certain parts of it. Maybe it's some marketing and we kind of dig into some of those things with them and kind of figure out, all right, well, where's your potential in this and how can you be successful? So I don't have anything right off the top of my head, but those are just some of the things I feel like I apply, you know, to some of the just people that I've been engaged with.

Yeah. And whenever he has a new book come out, it usually takes me a year. And then I read it.

I just.

I just have such a big. A big list of books I'm always reading or listening to. It's like, oh, no, I gotta catch up now. I think I've got a Audible credit. I'm gonna have to get it.

Use it on that one.

By the way, we should just go around like Audible or Spotify. Now for audiobooks.

I'm still audible.

I don't know any different. Audible.

Still audible.

Audible, okay. But Spotify's trying to compete.

They're trying.

Yeah, trying.

So I don't know, I just haven't switched yet. It's like if you're already on Spotify, you kind of, you know, go through it. But I was kind of stuck with Audible in the beginning.

That could be a whole other podcast. It's like, what streaming services are we using? That could be a whole. A whole thing as well. Well, I want to thank the listeners and remind you the only way that I'm going to be able to cajole Landon to keep giving out these amazing tips of the week. If you. Three little favors. Follow rate, Review the podcast, Send us a screenshot of that review. Support thelangic.com I'm going to send you a signed copy of Dur Rich. And by the way, Dirt Ridge 2 should be coming out soon. The plot thickens. How to scale your land business. So be on the lookout for that as well. All right. Well, are we good?

Yep.

All right.

We're great.

One, two, three. Let freedom. Freedom. All right, thanks, everybody. So. So just. Just out of curiosity, I just have.

To know you're still recording, Mark.

I know, I know. I'm just. Just curious, though. How. How. How many. How many streaming services do you guys have for, like. Like, tv on average?

Yeah, too many.

I was literally just running them off of my head and I already, like, all. I got the 10.

We have, like, all of them in our. You have.

We have all of them. So, like, you have the full buffet of anything you want to watch on demand.

You can watch pretty much. Yeah. We have the Hulu plus, hbo, Showtime. We have Netflix. We have Amazon. We have Apple tv. We have Disney.

Well, I'm feeling pretty good.

Then Paramount.

I'm feeling really Good about myself.

Like, I got all that. Plus Paramount.

No, I don't. However, I got rid of Netflix recently.

No. What's life like? What's it like for the kids?

We don't watch that much TV in our house. Like, honestly, I don't think we. Like, my kids are little, so we can. Can kind of control that. I don't think we watch TV during the week at all with kids. We have. We have cable. I still have cable at Disney Plus.

Okay.

Apple TV and Amazon. Amazon. Just because of Amazon Prime.

That's it, right?

Yeah, but it's that, you know, you say that's it. That's a ton of content.

Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah. But, like, last night, I was trying to find something to watch, and I spent 15 minutes surfing and turned it off and just went upstairs and read a book because I couldn't. It was just too hard.

I was like.

Yeah, my new thing now is just to watch YouTube. Like. Like, I just want to learn something on YouTube. Like, that's how I'm, like, relaxing. YouTube University. YouTube University. It's fantastic. And, like, it's all really.

I can learn it. You're watching guys build houses out of clay, aren't you?

No.

Yeah, you are.

No, I. I started just for fun, like, last night. There's this guy, Ben. What's his name? I can't remember his name. Ben something. Just doing, like, Facebook ads and just learning about that and, like, setting up, like, because I always paid agencies to do it. I'm like, well, you know, how difficult is this really to do? And. And trying to do, like, a deep dive into that so you can learn anything about anything. It's incredible. It's truly incredible.

Very true.

And for those, by the way, like, the ray, like, I'm using Raycast now for the Mac. I love it. It's. It's replacing the finder, and it's eating all these things. It's so good. It's so geeky. And I'm learning all of it on YouTube. It's like, oh, do this, do this. It's. It's crazy. So. But take good on it. I. I'm. I'm in the bossman camp. I don't like the idea of not being able to watch something. So it's like, I just. I don't watch it, but I don't like them saying, like, I don't like. You know, Tate's like, oh, do you see this? This show that's gonna make you so. It's, like, so disturbing, but it's Amazing. On Amazon Prime. Like, yeah, I have to have it.

That one thing.

Just for that one thing. Or like, if I want to watch that one game, I have to have YouTube TV or whatever.

It's got easier for me to say no to these things.

I'm just.

I'm over and I'm like, yeah, right. I don't have hbo. I never have. I'm probably, like, the only person on the earth who hasn't seen, like, Game of Thrones or those shows. And I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I know it's a great show. I'm sure people love it. But I'm looking at it and I'm like, do I really need something that has four seasons? I don't need that in my life. That didn't take up way too much time.

I'm out some time.

I know, I know. I mean, that's the thing is, like.

I've got commitment issues.

I. I don't watch that much tv.

I know.

Dayto day. I really don't. I just like the idea of, like, anything I want to watch, I have access to. But it should be like, Sugar. Like, I'm like, I should just be all or nothing. I should just cut it all off, man.

You know? Spoken like a guy who's been off sugar before. You do that because it's supposed to make your life better, but deep down, you're not happy. You know, you're just miserable. You're like, dang. Sugar actually is one of those sweet and tender mercies that I get to indulge in daily. You know, I don't think I'm going to get rid of it.

I mean.

I mean, when you bike 90 miles a day.

Yeah. Yeah. Look, I'm not saying. Right. When you're like, when you're an elite athlete, I'm sure it's not gonna hurt you. Yeah. Land is the same way. Oh, I eat whatever I want.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Look, you gotta live. Right. We talk about the lifestyle that Land affords.

Yeah.

Live a little.

You got time.

I know. It's not. It's not like I want to be the. The healthiest guy in the graveyard, but there I. There is. There is some satisfaction of not having any cravings and no addictions. Right. Like, I'm off the sugar addiction. I'm off caffeine. What else? You know, no drugs. Right. What else? People get addicted. No alcohol. Just. Just to know, like, I can have it, but I don't have to have it is an amazing feeling. Especially when you travel and you see the big line at Starbucks, like I can just have that self satisfaction. Like, yeah, that used to be me. I don't have to have it. Enjoy your six dollar latte.

Yeah, it's fine.

Yeah. By the way, when you guys are here for boot camp. Not boot camp, coaches, live coaching. I'll be serving Kamana. It's that mesquite. Check out Kama Co. It's awesome. Use the promo code, Mark. 15 to get 15 off. I love it. It tastes like coffee without caffeine. I get the ritual and it's delicious and I'm not addicted to it. Like I'll go days sometimes, you know, not having it, but like so, but it's. It's a great ritual.

I still haven't had it yet.

I'll make, I'll make it for you. Come over, I'll make you an outage.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

For sure. All right, guys, thanks for everything. Thank you. Yep, I'll see you guys. Bye.

Thanks, Mark.

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, rehabs, renovations or rodents? Schedule a free consultation@thelandgeek.com forward slash training. Let freedom ring.