EP 77: Quitting Corporate America One Land Deal at a Time with Mark Podolsky

Um, so obviously you started with, you know, maybe smaller parcels making, you know, six, eight hundred dollar, uh, return.

Um, what-- Can I ask what kind of deal sizes you're working on now?

Yeah.

I mean, I'll work on everything from, you know, two million dollars to a thousand dollars.

And so really, Mike, if, if you would, let me kinda walk you through the model-

Yeah

... step by step so you can kinda see exactly how it works and, and the listeners can, can replicate this.

So Mike, where do you live?

Uh, Connecticut.

Connecticut.

Okay.

So let's assume that you own five acres of raw land in Colorado.

And let's say, for example, you owe two hundred dollars in back taxes.

So you're advertising two important things to me.

Number one, you have no emotional attachment to the raw land.

You're in Connecticut, the property's in Colorado.

And number two, you're financially distressed in some weird way because when we don't pay for things like our property taxes, we don't value them in the same way.

As a result, the county treasurer keeps sending you notices saying, "Mike, you don't pay your property taxes, you're gonna lose that property to a tax deed or a tax lien investor." So all I'm gonna do is look at the comparable sales for the last twelve to eighteen months on your five-acre parcel.

I'm gonna take the lowest comparable sale and divide by four, and that's gonna get me what Warren Buffett would call a three hundred percent margin of safety.

So I send you an actual offer for...

Well, let's just use easy math.

Let's say that the lowest comp is ten grand.

I'll send you an actual offer for twenty-five hundred dollars.

Now, you accept it.

Why? Because for you, twenty-five hundred dollars is better than nothing.

Um, so obviously you started with, you know, maybe smaller parcels making, you know, six, eight hundred dollar, uh, return.

Um, what-- Can I ask what kind of deal sizes you're working on now?

Yeah.

I mean, I'll work on everything from, you know, two million dollars to a thousand dollars.

And so really, Mike, if, if you would, let me kinda walk you through the model-

Yeah

... step by step so you can kinda see exactly how it works and, and the listeners can, can replicate this.

So Mike, where do you live?

Uh, Connecticut.

Connecticut.

Okay.

So let's assume that you own five acres of raw land in Colorado.

And let's say, for example, you owe two hundred dollars in back taxes.

So you're advertising two important things to me.

Number one, you have no emotional attachment to the raw land.

You're in Connecticut, the property's in Colorado.

And number two, you're financially distressed in some weird way because when we don't pay for things like our property taxes, we don't value them in the same way.

As a result, the county treasurer keeps sending you notices saying, "Mike, you don't pay your property taxes, you're gonna lose that property to a tax deed or a tax lien investor." So all I'm gonna do is look at the comparable sales for the last twelve to eighteen months on your five-acre parcel.

I'm gonna take the lowest comparable sale and divide by four, and that's gonna get me what Warren Buffett would call a three hundred percent margin of safety.

So I send you an actual offer for...

Well, let's just use easy math.

Let's say that the lowest comp is ten grand.

I'll send you an actual offer for twenty-five hundred dollars.

Now, you accept it.

Why? Because for you, twenty-five hundred dollars is better than nothing.