Flip Talk Rookie Playbook

Week 43- Checks, Balances and Exit Systems

  Establishing a working system is a necessary step in scaling your real estate business. A system can help bring in the kind of deals you truly want. But, how do you know if your system is doing what you set it up to do? What if your system, in the long-term, turned out incapable of producing the results you expected? Today, Don and Ryan discuss how they set up their checks, balances, and exit systems to keep their business operating at the level they require. They explain how their acqui...

Week 35- Leadership And Your Sales Team

  Whether they admit it or not, sales people have strong egos. They always think they can close a deal no matter who the clients are. However, this type of confidence can be a problem in a growing business because those with strong egos are difficult to teach and work with. This is why creating your sales team is about team chemistry as much as it is about conversational skills. Today, Don and Ryan discuss how leaders should form their sales team. They share their experience on creating ...

Week 35- Leadership And Your Sales Team

  Whether they admit it or not, sales people have strong egos. They always think they can close a deal no matter who the clients are. However, this type of confidence can be a problem in a growing business because those with strong egos are difficult to teach and work with. This is why creating your sales team is about team chemistry as much as it is about conversational skills. Today, Don and Ryan discuss how leaders should form their sales team. They share their experience on creating a ...

Week 33- How to Manage Your Marketing

  The best way to sustain your business is to become the top-of-mind company to potential leads. It means you have to be always relevant, and to be relevant is to actively pitch your business to sellers and buyers alike. This is where an efficient and well-calculated marketing strategy comes in. Today, Don and Ryan share some of their business goals for the coming year and why they’re putting a lot of emphasis on efficient marketing strategies. They describe their personal preferences rega...

Week 32-High Level Cashflow Control

  The market may seem to be brighter every day, but we all know this uptrend won’t last forever. As investors, we must not only put money on assets but also make sure we protect them. You have to establish an adequate cash flow so you won’t end up with negative returns during a short or even long-term crash. Today, Don and Ryan explain what it means to have high-level cashflow control. They share examples of numbers you always need to keep in mind and share the strategies they used to adju...

Week 32-High Level Cashflow Control

  The market may seem to be brighter every day, but we all know this uptrend won’t last forever. As investors, we must not only put money on assets but also make sure we protect them. You have to establish an adequate cash flow so you won’t end up with negative returns during a short or even long-term crash. Today, Don and Ryan explain what it means to have high-level cashflow control. They share examples of numbers you always need to keep in mind and share the strategies they used to ad...

Week 31- A Deep Dive Into Numbers and Building a Team

  The higher you go in business, the harder it is to keep track of its growth. That’s a fact for any type of business, even in real estate. Crunching numbers in deals is one thing, but to deep dive into numbers of your own company is a whole other matter. If you don’t know what you’re doing, things can go south pretty fast. Today, Don and Ryan discuss the importance of not just having data but having a ton of it. They explain how accumulated data can help steer your business in the right d...

Week 28- Let's Talk Acquisitions - I Answer Listener Questions with My RockStar AM RUBEN

  Part of the role of an acquisitions manager is to have the patience and wisdom of a researcher and the charisma and confidence of a negotiator. Their tasks mainly revolve around fieldwork, settling, and elections to purchase short and long-term lease agreements that meet your business’ goals. Suffice to say, hiring the right acquisitions manager is critical to making sure each contract signed will translate to your company’s earnings. Today, Don introduces his Acquisitions Manager, Ruben...

Week 13- Raising Private Money

  When you’re just starting your real estate investing journey, one of the most critical factors you should consider is how you plan to finance your projects. Deciding whether to use hard money lenders or JV partnerships to raise private money to fund your projects is often one of the most challenging decisions you will need to make. On today’s episode, Don and Ryan share how they raised money to fund their first projects and the lessons they have learned from these experiences. They sha...

Week 1- First Week Strategies to Build a Successful Real Estate Business

  Welcome to FlipTalk’s Rookie Play Book podcast - the show dedicated to helping new real estate investors learn the step-by-step process of building a successful business as an investor. Each week, your hosts Don Costa and Ryan Scialabba share real-world experience, insight, tips and strategies to help you learn the necessary steps to start, build, and grow your real estate business. Don and Ryan break down the tasks new real estate investors need to accomplish each week in order to learn ...

Week 49- Final Rookie Playbook

All good things must come to an end, and it’s no different for the Rookie Playbook series. It’s been an amazing 48 weeks, and we believe if you’ve come this far, you are now fully equipped with the knowledge on how to run your own real estate business. This isn’t a goodbye from your hosts as much as it is a see you soon, however, and we want you to know that we have plans set out for other shows that can help you with your real estate journey. Today, Don and Ryan explain why they’re ending ...

Week 48- Successful Strategies For Selling Your Rehabs

Selling your rehabs aren’t as complicated as buying a property, but it’s not exactly a walk in the park either. There are many factors to consider before letting go of your hard-earned asset for cash in the bank. From analyzing the neighborhood, computing costs and price points to creating the contract, you have to take the right steps and consult with the right people to make sure you’re not marketing yourself short. Today, Don and Ryan discuss the processes involved in turning your proper...

Week 47- Keeping Your Eye on the Ball

One of the most common errors real estate entrepreneurs make is the idea of never slowing down and always growing. While that in itself is a great business strategy, there is also such a thing as growing too big, too fast, and in too many places. If not handled properly, scaling too quickly can make you lose your business focus. How exactly do you know when to pause and when to continue? Today, Don and Ryan explain some of the reasons why you shouldn’t always try to chase bigger money. The...

Week 46- We Get Real About Your Team and Your Numbers

Working with people can be one of the most challenging parts of being a boss. Somewhere along the way, you’re going to come to a point where managing your staff becomes a separate business altogether. The worst part is, the longer you remain as a business, the more likely are you to have to sort out and even cut the underperformers. How do you do that with the best interest of everyone involved? Today, Don and Ryan discuss what it means to handle a team that just isn’t performing as expect...

Week 45- Working With Contractors Step One

If you think managing one real estate business is hard enough, imagine managing two. That’s what working with contractors can feel like if you don’t know what you’re doing or if you’re generally unprepared. If you’re not careful, the wrong contractor could trick you with endless changes and revisions in the contract or outright overbid on your projects. How can you prevent these things from happening? Today, Don and Ryan discuss how you should work with contractors. They share their indivi...

Week 44 Taking It To The Close

Real estate investors know the deal is only over once it’s over. Until everyone involved gets their money, the contract is never closed. In this business, closing a deal can be as soon as the house is sold or can take as long as when your next deal starts. Doing this faster means not just trust in your team, but also forming good working relationships with contractors. How do you do both? Today, Don and Ryan explain how to properly manage a deal during its closing phase. They share the var...

File Progress Week 43- Checks, Balances and Exit Systems

Establishing a working system is a necessary step in scaling your real estate business. A system can help bring in the kind of deals you truly want. But, how do you know if your system is doing what you set it up to do? What if your system, in the long-term, turned out incapable of producing the results you expected? Today, Don and Ryan discuss how they set up their checks, balances, and exit systems to keep their business operating at the level they require. They explain how their acquisit...

File Progress Week 43- Checks, Balances and Exit Systems

Establishing a working system is a necessary step in scaling your real estate business. A system can help bring in the kind of deals you truly want. But, how do you know if your system is doing what you set it up to do? What if your system, in the long-term, turned out incapable of producing the results you expected? Today, Don and Ryan discuss how they set up their checks, balances, and exit systems to keep their business operating at the level they require. They explain how their acquisi...

Week 42- Transaction Coordination Systems

From an onlooker perspective, a transaction is just the exchange of money for goods. It looks simple enough, but in real estate, this can get more complex than what you expect. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you might not get what you paid for. What happens before, during, and after a transaction? Today, Don and Ryan discuss transactions and some of the systems you can use to get started. They share some samples of sales transactions and the systems they used to make each one simpler....

Week 41- Acquisitions Systems

Getting leads is critical to your business’ cash flow, but knowing which properties are profitable is just as important. This is where establishing acquisition systems come into play. You have a team and tools to help manage your acquisitions, but those are just parts of a bigger machine. How do you make sure each section runs smoothly? How do you know what kind of acquisitions systems to use for your business style? Today, Don and Ryan share their wisdom when it comes to building an effici...

Week 40- Lead Intake Sytems

When you’re starting in real estate, one phone call can be the difference between a five and six-figure annual income. Each call could end up becoming your biggest deal yet which explains why it’s critical to build a proper system around it. How do you know what lead intake system to use? What call service should you have? Today, Don and Ryan discuss why having a lead intake system is essential to a budding real estate investor. They share how they coped before they figured out what syste...

Week 39- Marketing Systems Shared

A successful business of any kind runs on two things: The right people and the right system. You can easily filter qualified assistants and staff, but you can’t say the same when it comes to systems. This is especially true when you’re on the verge of expanding your real estate business. How do you know if a system is a good fit? What do you do after installing one? Today, Don and Ryan explain the importance of not just applying a system in your business, but also knowing its purpose and th...

Week 38- It's Not Easy and You Have to be Self Aware

Managing a real estate business is probably one of the most stressful career choices a person can make. As a budding entrepreneur, things can feel so more overwhelming you might think about quitting. It happens to everyone - even the most seasoned investors think about closing shop once in a while - but what sets the pros apart is that they persist. How do you push beyond your breaking point? Today, Don and Ryan discuss the importance of stepping away from your business to have more clarit...

Week 37- Plans and Goals for the Future

As the year ends, so begins the tallying of the results of your business venture. You quantify the amount of money you made, the money you lost, and the amount of money you had to lose to earn the money you made. When it’s all said and done, what you have with you are numbers. How do you interpret these numbers in preparation for the coming year? How should your business adapt to what you achieved and the goals you didn’t hit? Today, Don and Ryan look over the past year and evaluate their...

Week 36- Planning for a New Year

The year’s almost done and at this point, you’ve either reached your quota, are nearing it, or if you’re quite unlucky, nowhere past half. Whether you had a good year or not, the next few weeks should revolve around strategizing and planning for a new year. The best business leaders plan ahead, and young investors such as yourself would only be doing yourselves a favor by following in their footsteps. What should you plan for, exactly? How do you prepare for the next 12 months in just a fe...

Week 35 Leadership And Your Sales Team

Whether they admit it or not, sales people have strong egos. They always think they can close a deal no matter who the clients are. However, this type of confidence can be a problem in a growing business because those with strong egos are difficult to teach and work with. This is why creating your sales team is about team chemistry as much as it is about conversational skills. Today, Don and Ryan discuss how leaders should form their sales team. They share their experience on creating a sa...

Week 35 Leadership And Your Sales Team

Whether they admit it or not, sales people have strong egos. They always think they can close a deal no matter who the clients are. However, this type of confidence can be a problem in a growing business because those with strong egos are difficult to teach and work with. This is why creating your sales team is about team chemistry as much as it is about conversational skills. Today, Don and Ryan discuss how leaders should form their sales team. They share their experience on creating a sal...

Week 34- What's Their Excuse

Your business is only as good as the team you form around it. So, when bad things happen, the market is the last thing you should blame as a business leader. Not everything goes smoothly in business, and many say failures are stepping stones to success. Shortcomings because of avoidable human errors, on the other hand, are the kind of stones you don’t want to step on. Today, Don and Ryan discuss what it means to inspire your team to be better versions of themselves. They explain the importa...

Week 33 How to Manage Your Marketing

The best way to sustain your business is to become the top-of-mind company to potential leads. It means you have to be always relevant, and to be relevant is to actively pitch your business to sellers and buyers alike. This is where an efficient and well-calculated marketing strategy comes in. Today, Don and Ryan share some of their business goals for the coming year and why they’re putting a lot of emphasis on efficient marketing strategies. They describe their personal preferences regardi...

Week 32: High Level Cashflow Control

The market may seem to be brighter every day, but we all know this uptrend won’t last forever. As investors, we must not only put money on assets but also make sure we protect them. You have to establish an adequate cash flow so you won’t end up with negative returns during a short or even long-term crash. Today, Don and Ryan explain what it means to have high-level cashflow control. They share examples of numbers you always need to keep in mind and share the strategies they used to adjust ...

Week 32: High Level Cashflow Control

The market may seem to be brighter every day, but we all know this uptrend won’t last forever. As investors, we must not only put money on assets but also make sure we protect them. You have to establish an adequate cash flow so you won’t end up with negative returns during a short or even long-term crash. Today, Don and Ryan explain what it means to have high-level cashflow control. They share examples of numbers you always need to keep in mind and share the strategies they used to adjust...

Week 31: A Deep Dive Into Numbers and Building a Team

The higher you go in business, the harder it is to keep track of its growth. That’s a fact for any type of business, even in real estate. Crunching numbers in deals is one thing, but to deep dive into numbers of your own company is a whole other matter. If you don’t know what you’re doing, things can go south pretty fast. Today, Don and Ryan discuss the importance of not just having data but having a ton of it. They explain how accumulated data can help steer your business in the right dire...

Week 30- Gut Check - Keeping It Real

The term “real estate business owner,” is heavily associated with being rich and owning a lot of luxury cars. The media, particularly social media, has a way of exclusively showing the perks of being a successful real estate investor, but what a lot of people don’t realize is there are a lot of uglies happening behind the scenes. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, as the song goes, and it’s no different in this industry. Today, Don and Ryan discuss some of the worst things that could...

Week 29- How Can The Right Focus Help You Grow

Growing your business involves a lot of human resources and even more working hours. The initial growth will make you feel proud and excited at what you’ve accomplished. However, there will be times where you encounter a plateau and meet stagnation. What should you do to overcome and break past this state of your business? Today, Don and Ryan discuss what is needed to continue growing in a market where every company wants to expand. They share the importance of learning multiple ways to mak...

Week 29- How Can The Right Focus Help You Grow

Growing your business involves a lot of human resources and even more working hours. The initial growth will make you feel proud and excited at what you’ve accomplished. However, there will be times where you encounter a plateau and meet stagnation. What should you do to overcome and break past this state of your business? Today, Don and Ryan discuss what is needed to continue growing in a market where every company wants to expand. They share the importance of learning multiple ways to ma...

Week 28- Let's Talk Acquisitions - I Answer Listener Questions with My RockStar AM Ruben

Part of the role of an acquisitions manager is to have the patience and wisdom of a researcher and the charisma and confidence of a negotiator. Their tasks mainly revolve around fieldwork, settling, and elections to purchase short and long-term lease agreements that meet your business’ goals. Suffice to say, hiring the right acquisitions manager is critical to making sure each contract signed will translate to your company’s earnings. Today, Don introduces his Acquisitions Manager, Ruben, t...

Week 27- Its Time to Take Action

You can invest a lot of money in getting educated and learning from real estate experts, but it will all be for nothing if you don’t take action. Overthinking the risks and methods involved in this type of business will get you nowhere. Sometimes the only advice you need is the advice that makes you walk out that door and get started. Today, Don and Ryan describe the challenges of employing people who look capable on the surface, only to be exposed when pressured and how having quality comm...

Week 26- Marketing Marketing and More Marketing

You can market your business without scaling, but you can’t scale a business without marketing. Marketing is responsible for getting your business leads, referrals, and closed deals. This is why a properly executed marketing strategy is imperative when it comes to expanding your real estate business. Today, Don and Ryan discuss some of their best-kept marketing secrets and how they led to successfully scaling their businesses. They share the marketing strategies they used, the ones that fai...

Week 25- Here Is Our Secret to Real Growth

Week 24 Talking Struggles Systems and Moving Forward

Week 23- Talking With The Team - Our Acquisitions Rep Oscar

Week 22- Talking With The Team- My Right Hand Kass

Week 21 Talking With The Team - Our Dispositions Rep Justin

Week 16 - Get Your Mind Right

By week 16 in your real estate investing business, you have already learned much of the basics of running your business. Finding properties, negotiating deals, renovating homes, hiring a team, and marketing your products for the best possible return on investment are a few of the things you should have already began doing. By now, it often means that everything that comes next in your business is simply a matter of “rinse and repeat” Start from scratch and continue to build your team, grow y...

Week 3- Your Next Steps in Building the Relationships in the Real Estate Business

Networking and building relationships is critical to build a successful business. By networking with others in the industry, you not only learn more about the various real estate markets you want to invest in - you also open the doors of opportunity to start your business on the right foot by learning from other people’s mistakes. But, as a new investor, where do you turn to begin building those valuable connections and relationships? On today’s episode, Don and Ryan discuss what you shoul...

Week 15- What's Next

As your journey of starting a real estate investing and rehabilitation business continues to unfold, you have likely realized there are many moving parts associated with getting your business off to a great start, landing your first real estate deal, and working your way toward success. At the end of your first quarter, you should already have at least one real estate deal under your belt and should be ready to develop a plan of action on how you want to earn a profit from that deal. On tod...

Week 14- Working With Contractors

Hiring and managing contractors is often one of the most challenging aspects of owning a real estate rehabilitation company. There are many moving parts and things to consider when finding and hiring the right contractors to work on your rehab project. Understanding where to find good contractors as well as how to properly vet and train them is critical to building a successful real estate business.   Today, Don and Ryan discuss how working with the right contractors can impact the succes...

Week 13- Raising Private Money

When you’re just starting your real estate investing journey, one of the most critical factors you should consider is how you plan to finance your projects. Deciding whether to use hard money lenders or JV partnerships to raise private money to fund your projects is often one of the most challenging decisions you will need to make. On today’s episode, Don and Ryan share how they raised money to fund their first projects and the lessons they have learned from these experiences. They share st...

Week 13- Raising Private Money

When you’re just starting your real estate investing journey, one of the most critical factors you should consider is how you plan to finance your projects. Deciding whether to use hard money lenders or JV partnerships to raise private money to fund your projects is often one of the most challenging decisions you will need to make. On today’s episode, Don and Ryan share how they raised money to fund their first projects and the lessons they have learned from these experiences. They share st...

Week 12- Wholesaling The Contract

When you have a working contract, the next step is finding the right buyers. This may come as a bit of a challenge for a new real estate investor, as the market is hot right now and everyone wants to buy something. However, just because people want to buy doesn’t mean you should just wholesale the contract to the first interested prospect. Today, Don and Ryan describe the steps new investors need to take when it comes to wholesaling a real estate contract. They discuss the importance of get...