Interview with Long Time Member Kevin Farrell (LA 1471)
Transcript:
Steven Jack Butala:
Steve and Jill here. Welcome to the Land Academy Show, entertaining land investment talk. I'm Steven Jack Butala.
Jill Dewitt:
I'm Jill Dewitt, broadcasting from Sweets. That's still Arizona.
Steven Jack Butala:
Today we have the greatest treat of all. We have a long time member, Kevin Farrell with us who is also Kevins-
Jill Dewitt:
Does consulting for us-
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah, he does land academy consulting, he's a moderator in a couple of our forums on land investors specifically, and just always a treat to talk to Kevin because he brings a certain serious expertise, but also a certain sense of... I can't describe it. Well, you'll see it in a minute. This type of sense of humor, and this whole thing.
Jill Dewitt:
Welcome! We are Steven and Jill. Together, we've been buying and reselling land since the nineties.
Steven Jack Butala:
Our data-centric approach leaves our buyers asking, "How can you sell it so cheap?"
Jill Dewitt:
Here on the land Academy show-
Steven Jack Butala:
We answer that, and more.
Steven Jack Butala:
Kevin how have you been since the last Land event?
Kevin:
I've been well. I mean, the main word is "well" because we've gone through this crazy pandemic and you know, I'm glad I'm in the land business because I want to tell people that it has not affected my ability to acquire land or my ability to sell it, which is amazing.
Jill Dewitt:
I'm so happy. You know, I want to pause and say thank you, by the way, for all that you have done for us and our other members and the consulting and the hours and the time and the welcoming new people that you put in for us. I really, really appreciate it and I know it makes a difference and people connect with you.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah.
Jill Dewitt:
Thank you.
Kevin:
Yeah, thanks Jill. I appreciate it. It's I still enjoy doing it, so that's why I'm in there every day.
Steven Jack Butala:
Yeah. That's the same as for us here. I stopped telling people that the pandemic hasn't negatively affected us because they just... you never know how it's going to go. I don't want to, I don't want to make it seem like I'm bragging or anything, but we were just all really lucky. I can't think of anything else. Just purely lucky to be in this business when this thing rolled around.
Jill Dewitt:
That's true.
Kevin:
Yeah.
Jill Dewitt:
Right.
Kevin:
Yeah, thanks to this I don't [crosstalk 00:02:07].
Jill Dewitt:
Catch us up.
Steven Jack Butala:
Perfect example.
Jill Dewitt:
Yeah.
Kevin:
Yeah, well, [crosstalk 00:02:15].
Jill Dewitt:
What kind of deals are you doing? Catch us up in your world.
Kevin:
Yeah, I've been doing my version of the business, which is kind of laid back. When I speak with people and we're doing consulting calls, they want to know how much mail we send out, and what kind of targets to make. I said, "Well, I may not be your role model. I'm 64 years old, and if I work two days a week, that's a full schedule. I'm pretty good with that". We put ourselves in a position, financially, where our needs are not really that high, so I'm all about being comfortable with what I'm doing. I have also been trying to find my niche. I think all of us in this land business, we're always kind of trying to figure out where's our niche either geographically or property type. Whether it's desert or commercial or infill, et cetera, et cetera. I've learned some things. I've had some real good lessons the past year or two.
Kevin:
I would say the five anchor lesson is a big one that I want to pass on to experienced and new people. There's just something magic, Steve you've said it before. People want five acre properties. I don't care really where you are. If you're selling, what I call, small properties, if you're doing five acre properties that phone's going to ring more than if you had one to two acre properties or even 10 acre properties.