How Carson makes $40k profit wholesaling at 22 (fresh out of college)

All right, so today I wanted to talk to you, Carson, because you are literally the definition of somebody who's just like, I'm gonna make this work. So I want you to kind of just introduce yourself, like if you could kind of tell a little about who you are and what you've been up to.

Yeah, for sure. So I'm Carson, like Tyson said, and I'm 22. I live in North Dakota and yeah, I've been starting to wholesale a little bit. And how I kind of got into this, I was a college student and I thought I was going to, just like an average college student, I thought I was going to go down the corporate route, get an accounting job. And as Tyson knows, I actually had an accounting internship lined up for last summer that I ended up not doing to try to pursue this. So I kind of just, made that go out the door and, uh, figured I would try this like full on, full force and see where it'd take me. And yeah, now I'm here and I graduated college, uh, about a month ago now in December, like middle of December. And I quit my job at a warehouse job at FedEx last week. And yeah, now I'm just full-time doing this and it couldn't be better.

Nice, man. So, uh, you, Your first foray into real estate wasn't with me. You had had some other kind of training, right? And did you ever get any deals from that or anything?

No, no. I didn't have good guidance back then. So what I did back then was I pulled lists in terrible areas. Oh, yeah. I didn't know what I was doing. The values were just super low. I thought I could get deals and get deals that way. And another mistake I made when I was first starting out that I didn't learn that. I learned this the hard way was I hired VAs that were just feeding me leads before I like actually got on the phones enough myself.

Yeah.

So, so I, and like, yeah, so I, I mean, I spent so much money on VAs and pulling lists and all this stuff and I never like got any results from it. And then, yeah, I joined your program back last year and it was kind of just like in the, a transition time of when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do, if I wanted to keep going down the corporate route or if I wanted to do this full-time or what I was wanting to do. And so I joined your program in February of last year. And then I was, I wouldn't even say I was doing it really hard or full-time or anything like that. And then I was able to get my first deal under contract that I actually got paid on and everything by April.

Yeah, that was, what was that? Like an $18,000 deal, something like that?

Yep. That was $18,000. And it was also my first deal in an Ovation.

But the fact you did that while you're in college is just, it's really insane, man. It shows how hard that you are actually working and putting into this.

Yeah, no, but the value that I think you provided me on that first deal was I wouldn't have been able to get that done for sure without your help because it was an Ovation. Just with everything that goes along, all the extra, things with title and listing on the MLS and everything, there's no way I would've been able to do that. And I didn't have to JV with you. I was able to do it completely on my own, but just have you there as a person to just reach out to if I needed help.

Here's the thing is, I didn't do anything for you. You rowed your own boat. It's just that I've been through these different things and I've dealt with the actual process of real estate so much that I've been in these experiences and I can just, you know, it's like these things take me— they're 5-second conversations of you being like, hey, I just got this paper, what do I do with this? Or, hey, they said this, like, what's the thing? And it's like, no, it's this. And I'm just— because I've done it so many times before and I can help show you. But it was you who went and got that deal, got it sold, made the whole thing happen, right?

Oh, for sure. Yeah, no, it's just crazy to me thinking back on that sometimes of Because when you think of a brand new wholesaler who's never done a deal, being able to do novation on their first deal and actually get it done and stuff like that, it just usually isn't going to work out like that.

Absolutely.

It's crazy to think about sometimes.

Well, I mean, it's really a testament to yourself because you went, you found the deal, you did what you were supposed to, you're on top of people following up. And because of that, now you've done several of them. But you got started in this while you're in college. You didn't have any prior real estate experience either, right? Did you just find out? How'd you find out about wholesaling?

So like I said, when I was going down the corporate route, my plan was to kind of just go do all that stuff, do accounting. And I liked real estate a lot. And that was kind of my goal, was to use my salary, invest in real estate, and then retire early, which would be 40 or 45 in the corporate world. That'd be pretty early. For retiring. So that was kind of my goal, was to use real estate as a vehicle for that. But I was always interested in real estate of investing and renting out properties. I didn't want to flip or deal with any of that stuff. So I kind of just pushed wholesaling off right away. But then I just realized that you can actually make a lot more if you just do this full time. And because I would've started at a salary of like $70,000, $80,000, And then as I'm watching this stuff, I see that that could be 2, 3 deals. That's all you'd have to do to get something like that. And it just really opened up my eyes.

Yeah. So while you were in college, you made, I mean, what, you closed 3 deals? What was the total amount?

It's just under $35,000.

All right. So just under $35,000 while you're in college is pretty crazy. I know that this year is about to be crazy for you. Now that you're going in full-time, you don't have any distractions. And you've now seen a wholesale deal, a subject-to deal, and an Ovation. This is going to be a crazy year. What's your goal this year?

So my goal is to do $250,000. I think that is definitely achievable, but I didn't want to put it too high because I've never made that type of money in my life. So I want to just put a goal out that I know I can achieve, but it's still pretty high up there.

Yeah. Well, you're going to crush that. I already know that. One thing that you pointed out earlier, which is I feel like really important because I'll talk to people who they have money to put into this and they're immediately like, oh, I need to get VAs, let me get some PPC running. And they want to just jump, you know, headfirst into it before they've built the foundation of like actually talking to people. So you were kind of saying like you got VAs and they were sending you over leads, but what exactly was wrong about that?

Yeah, I mean, You hit it on the head. That's exactly what happened to me. So back then, I was always broke my whole life, just normal college student, whatever. And I actually, I got, my grandpa passed away and I got an inheritance from that. So I had a pretty decent amount of money saved up. And then that's kind of when I started to do this wholesaling stuff. So I had the money and then I, like you said, I was just like, oh, let me just throw money at this. And I should get deals from it if I just throw money at it. And then So yeah, I hired the VAs, I pulled lists, I got dialers. I, I just did everything that I needed to do, but I then realized that when the leads came through that, you know, I didn't really know what I was doing on the phones. I didn't know like what I was looking for. I did not, I didn't have enough practice, like with any sort of script or anything. I was just fumbling my words. And yeah, that's, that's really the biggest thing I've learned is that like when you're starting this journey, it's best to just do like the cheapest methods possible. Just cut your teeth, grind it out, and that's really how you figure it out.

That's the— see, and that's why I tell people is like, I get like people will come to me and they'll be like, look, I have this budget, I want to get started. And I still, I would like, no, you got to do the same thing that I would tell somebody who has no money getting started because you're going to just waste that. In the beginning, you need to get used to talking to people on the phone and having these conversations. And I don't care if you've done phone sales before or if you've been a realtor before, any of these other things, you need to get used to this specific thing we're doing because you do not want to spend a bunch of money on something that you're not going to be able to get a return on, right? Like getting the marbles out of your mouth, like just getting used to having the conversations and doing it. But the cool thing is, is you are now— you've already made it past the hardest part of wholesaling. Which is like getting that first deal and figuring it out. Where now I feel like you're confident talking to people, you're confident at looking at deals and kind of understanding, you know, where you need to be on them and, you know, where to pay and things like where to offer for the property and things of that nature. And so like this year, I mean, I think, you know, quarter million is— that'll be nice. But I think you're going to get there in like That's probably, you know, quarter 1 and quarter 2 maybe for you.

I hope so. I'm just going to keep working hard and we can update the goals as the year goes on.

Absolutely, bro. Yeah, absolutely. But I think that's so important and very just wise of you to recognize that. But the coolest thing is when I first talked to you and you were like, yeah, like I have the internship because we talked like before the summer The, the, so last summer, before last summer, and you're like, yeah, I have this internship and you explain to me the accounting thing and yeah, it's what I've been studying, whatever. And you were working at a hospital at the time too, right?

Yep. I was an accounting intern there.

Yeah. And, and you're like, hey, I've, I've got this internship, but like, I don't know, like you're like, I kind of like thought about what my life looks like if I go through that. Like if I do the internship, I'm definitely gonna get like a full-time job. And yeah, but this is what this is gonna look like. I feel like I should probably take this summer just to see if I can do this. And then you closed the deal and made almost $20,000, which how much were you going to make the entire?

Uh, well, I did the math and it was, so it was like $30 an hour. And if I would've been working like 10 hours overtime every week, it was like $13,000 maybe or something like that. And that's with working 10 hours overtime every week. So like, I, yeah, I made a lot more than I could have last summer from doing this. And yeah, like going back to that. Like your story is kind of really what resonated with me because, you know, I was talking to these people that were around the same age as you that like were in accounting firms and stuff like that, you know, just a few years older than me. And, you know, I saw like your lifestyle compared to theirs and it, it just, I had to just make that decision of like, is this what I want or is this what I want?

And, well, here's the thing is what you're talking about is, look, that's the kind of a safe way. Like, okay, yeah, you can go and you put in the next like 8 or 9 years, work hard in like an accounting firm, you'll be in a little cushy spot where I don't know, probably making like $300,000 a year maybe after like, you know, you've really put in some time. But it's like, dude, you can get there like one year with real estate, you know. Now look, here's the thing is, is it's going to be a little bit scarier. It's not as like cut and dry of like, hey, this is going to happen so long as you put in the hours, but your time just compresses.

And where do you like to do things?

Like, I know that Why do you want to wait till you're 40 to be able to do that?

Right, exactly.

I want to be able to, you know, spend some time and go do that whenever while I can right now while I'm like the pinnacle of my health. And, you know, so me and you think the same way in terms of that. Yeah, I know.

Do you have— yeah.

So do you have any advice that you would give to somebody that is like kind of in your position, maybe like, you know, doesn't have real estate experience, might be in college, but they're in their 20s that, you know, you got to think about what you were asking yourself. I know when I, when I was starting, I was like, man, why is anybody going to trust, you know, to sell their house to me? And what am I supposed to do? But would you have any advice to people like that who are sort of thinking those sort of things?

I mean, for like, what I would say is just kind of like, think of what you want your life to be. Because like you said, like going to the corporate or just getting a normal job, like that's a safe way. And there's nothing wrong with that either. Like, you know, if that's like what you want your life to be, is just starting out a salary, getting some raises, some promotions or whatever, and then going that way, then that's completely fine. But if this is really what you want and you want to build a lifestyle, building a business is definitely the way, whether it's through real estate or wholesaling or whatever, but definitely building a business. And so yeah, I'd say that. And then just also if wholesaling is what the avenue that you want to take. I would really just say the biggest piece of advice I have is what we talked about earlier with just don't waste a ton of money right away. See the bigger picture of this is just a short term of me getting better now, and I don't need to see a deal in 1 or 2 months or whatever it is. Just see the big picture of you're gaining the skill and it'll pay dividends in the future, even if you don't see the results right away. Just don't try to throw money at it.

Yeah, well, that's a great point because the skill, once you've learned it, once you learn, okay, talking to people, which is kind of a multiple things, right? It's the skill of talking to people about their situations. It's a skill of making offers and being able to like talk to somebody and you've got to tell them that you can offer them $100,000 less than what they're asking. Right. And having that conversation and also looking at the properties and understanding, hey, based on what we see in this area, The nicest houses are selling for this, so we have to be over here. And that's just where your offer has to be and getting that. So it is a matter of building those skills, but once you have them, you are now such a valuable person because you can literally create money almost out of thin air, it feels like.

Yeah. No, it's really valuable. And I've heard you talk about how easy it is for you now just to do this stuff because you've done it so many times and stuff like that. It's just like second nature of— you can just go get on the phone and close the deal and it's, yeah, it's like nothing, right?

But, but that, you know, that power only comes with taking the first step.

Yeah, taking the first step and then putting a lot of work in.

One thing that I hear like from a lot of people, especially people our age, is that they're really scared to like make that first phone call, you know. Were you scared when you made your first, were your first call Oh, for sure.

I was scared for a lot of, like, for a while, honestly. Yeah.

How'd you get over it? Like, what was the thing that made you be like, okay, even though I'm scared, I'm still gonna get on the phone and do this?

I mean, for me, it was just doing it. Like, once you do it enough times, you, like, there's gonna be those bad people out there that you don't want to be on the phone with, but you'll realize that the majority of people out there are good people and, like, not bad to be on the phone with. And, you know, just, yeah, like, Just can't take it personally when you do run into those type of people and maybe just ran into them on a bad day and you just gotta keep going and yeah, just keep going.

Exactly, exactly. Like for, because in the beginning it's super hard. I was just talking to somebody else about this where, you know, they were new and like the, like the second person they talked to was super rude to them on the phone and like yelled at them and then they were like, oh, like I don't wanna do this anymore. And it's like, dude, you can't let that one person Like, like, you have to realize that that's gonna happen. But the worst thing, they're just words, and like, you can't even see the person. So for me, when I'm on the phone, honestly, like, I just think of them as like NPCs. Like, I'm just talking to like innkeepers and like, you know, like, yeah, like, no, that's, that's kind of what I do now.

Like, you know, just not really caring. But yeah, no, at first it was definitely hard, but for, for me it was really just practice and doing it. Like, that's really the only way I got over it.

And it's worth it, you know? Yeah, it's like, dude, you got jobs out there where you've gotta like, you're doing physical manual labor in the sun or in the snow and it's like, man, we're just, we occasionally get yelled at sometimes on like on the phone while we're sitting like in our living room, you know?

Yeah.

Really not that bad.

Yeah. When you put it into perspective like that, it's, you just gotta, you know, be able to get over it and keep going. Yeah.

Well, listen, dude, you, I mean, you're past the hardest part right now. So I mean, I can already tell you 'cause I've seen it happen with so many different people. You're about to like go on like the nuclear phase of this where pretty soon— I already know it, I can already see this, this— like I'm telling you right now, this is going to happen. You're going to call me and you're going to be like, Tyson, like I, I got to figure out, like I'm stuck at like $100,000 a month, how do I get to $250,000 a month? I'm telling you that we are going to have this conversation and it's going to be at some point this year. So because these are the levels. The first level is, oh, I got to get my first deal. And then you get your first deal and then you start stringing some more together and then you're like, okay, you're doing like a deal a month or, you know, 1 to 3 deals a month and then you want to get to the $100K. And then that is pretty easy to get to once you've done the first deal because it's really just a matter of putting— it's doing the things you did in the beginning, throwing more money at it, right?

Yeah.

And but then once you get to the $100K mark, then that's where it's difficult to get to the next level. Because that's when you really have to start getting people and hiring employees and stuff. If that's something that you're wanting to do, I'm excited to help you out with that portion of it. But dude, you've done an amazing job and you're really a testament to, seriously, you came into this as a college student studying accounting. How did you find out specifically about wholesaling?

Do you remember? Well, like I said, I was interested in real estate.

Right.

And I would just, just, you know, just through doing research on real estate and everything.

Gotcha.

Inevitably it just kind of popped up.

Yeah, it'll come, it'll come, it finds you.

Yeah. So yeah, I don't even specifically remember, but yeah.

But just to clarify, you didn't have any formal real estate education, like, or anything like that? You're not a realtor? You didn't have, like, you know, your uncle was like, Carson, here you go, you gotta start calling people, making offers? You just sort of fell into this on your own and started ripping it?

Yeah, no, exactly. I grew up, my grandpa was all in the stock market, my dad's only in the stock market. That's how I always grew up, was never real estate, always the stock market and stuff. So yeah, no, I completely was on my own, completely new to real estate when I started to do real estate stuff, but then I was completely new to wholesaling and joined it. And now hopefully, well, now I'm going to make it my full-time career.

Exactly. And look, we're having this conversation right now in January of 2024, You're going to see this. We're going to do another interview and it's going to be in about 6 to 8 months from now. And what I just said is going to be exactly the focus of this next call. All right. It's going to be Carson. You're going to be mad that you're stuck at $100K and you're like, dude, how do I get to $250K a month? And then we'll talk about that. We'll get you there at that point.

Okay, perfect. I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to work hard towards it every day.

Hey, I know you will. You've proven that time and time again. So one thing that I'm going to say also that like, like the reason why I knew that you were going to kill kill it, like that you were gonna come in and do this when we first started talking, was you had like a day off or something from school and you're— or I can't remember, maybe it was a snow day or something, but you said to me, you're like, dude, I'm just so excited just to be able to cold call all day today.

Yeah.

And then we talked later that day and you did cold call all day. Like, you like so many like calls, it was insane.

Yeah, I know that. Like, at first that was my biggest thing was just having the time because I had a job where I was working like 30 hours a week I was a full-time student trying to focus on that. I was still in the college, trying to be a college student and then trying to add this on top. So I really didn't have a lot of time, but then yeah, I just took opportunities of days like that.

Yeah, but that's exactly it, dude. You didn't make excuses for yourself where so many people is going to, they're going to say, oh no, I'm a student. I've got this and the job and I can't do it. And you're just like, dude, I'm going to find time. I'm going to make it happen. And you did.

Yeah. Yeah. No, there's always time. You got to make it though.

Exactly. Well, look, dude, that's amazing. I appreciate you taking some time to tell people about this because the biggest reason I think there's, there's so many people who are interested in this, they've been watching videos, they're watching this video now, and I'm never going to take that first step just because they're like scared. And I think that it was really helpful. I mean, not only for you and for me to hear you say this stuff, But for these people watching, just to see that, like, okay, like this, I really can do this. And to see somebody who did start, didn't know, had all these things going against them with, you know, your time commitments and also your everything you were doing. Oh, also your parents like did not support that, right? Like you saying like, oh, I'm not gonna do this internship.

I mean, not like they weren't like super against it, like cut me off or anything, but they definitely wanted me to do the internship.

Okay.

Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah.

But yeah, so just for clarity there, like we were saying earlier, Carson was like, "Yo, this summer I want to go into this and really try it." But he had the internship for the accounting firm that would've gotten him a nice job afterwards had he gone through it. And he was like, "All right, we're just going to try wholesaling. If not now, when?" Yeah. All right. Do you have anything else you'd like to say, Carson?

Not really. I just want to thank you for letting me get on here and everything you've done with or helped me with. And I hope that if I could help someone make that first step, that would be awesome. So I hope I could just help one person. And yeah, that's all I got to say. Just take that first step and you'll be there in no time.

Right on. Well, Carson, dude, I appreciate you sharing your story. It is going to help people and it's going to give them the courage to finally be like, you know what, what am I doing? Like, why am I so scared of this? Let's just go make it happen, just like you've done yourself. So to you, man, it's going to be a big year, and I'm really excited to talk again at the end of it when I'm telling you you're going to have the exact same problem I'm speaking to you right now about.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too. Thanks, Tyson.

Good. All right, Carson, we'll talk to you soon. All right, brother.

Sounds good.

All right.

See ya.