Your Title Company Is Killing Your Deals, Here's Why | Ash Selle
The MORE Show
Justin Colby interviews Ash Selle, a 25-year veteran of the title and escrow industry, to discuss navigating complex real estate transaction
Key takeaways
- Ash Selle's company, Phoenix Closing Co, operates in seven states including Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, and Michigan.
- A major risk factor in real and wholesale deals is the lack of transparency regarding assignments or profit margins.
Main topics
- Investor-friendly title services
- Wholesale ethics and transparency
Notable quotes
Transparency is huge. And being ethical, ethical is my favorite word.
Conclusion
Successful real estate investing requires prioritizing transparency an
Transcript preview
Speaker 1 (0:00) For many of us, going further isn't a choice. It's a feeling we can't ignore. Because ambition has a way of outgrowing where it began. Turning dreams into direction. Every journey brings us closer to the life we imagine. So, where will your journey take you? Etihad. Beyond Borders. Speaker 3 (0:30) I mean, there was so much going on here. Everyone's got sued. Everyone. A lot of wholesalers rush, rush, rush. They want the money. I get it. You know, I'm all about helping investors make money. Totally get it. But when you rush, there's a lot of red flags there. What had happened is they didn't make the auction. The money got rejected. The property went to sheriff sale. Basically, all parties were screwed in this transaction. And we're talking several wholesalers. We're talking the end buyer. She lost her money because she sent it on to reinstate something and never got reinstated. The seller gave a deed to someone and the property went into foreclosure. Speaker 2 (1:16) What is up? What is up, The Moore Show family? Welcome back to Maximizing Opportunities in Real Estate. My guest today has 25 plus years in the space of title and escrow, and she knows exactly how to take those complicated deals, the ones that are super challenging, super hairy, and get the deal across the finish line. She has Phoenix Closing. She is the founder of Phoenix Closing. Ashley Selle is here. How are you, Ash? Speaker 3 (1:43) I'm awesome. How are you, Justin? Speaker 2 (1:45) I'm super great. I'm super excited about this. As someone who's done thousands of transactions myself, you, you've usurped me. I mean, you're tens of thousands of transactions in this multi-decade career. The real estate space is changing real time. You own Phoenix Closing, right? And first and foremost, where can everyone go to get a hold of you and learn a little bit about your title company or get in contact with some of your representatives? Speaker 3 (2:14) Sure. Our website, our web address is phoenixclosingco.com. We can also be reached through Instagram, Facebook, any of those platforms. I do love to speak to my clients one-on-one when we are just meeting and bringing in potential clients. So my cell phone number is 612-248-6124. 6108. And we have a great team. Everyone's really skilled at investor friendly transactions and traditional transactions throughout a lot of the US. Speaker 2 (2:51) That's awesome. Okay, so phoenixclosingco.com. Speaker 3 (2:55) Correct. Speaker 2 (2:56) I love that. Now, the real estate market is changing. We're all fighting tooth and nail to get deals, and a lot of these deals now become deals because they're hairy, because it takes kind of this expertise. I've done this now 20 years. You've done it 20-plus years. You know, the four-year investor a lot of times doesn't know how to configure those deals. What are you seeing? right now in the state of uncertainty that is coming up? Speaker 3 (3:23) Sure. The market has certainly shifted. I spoke to a couple of clients actually to ask them kind of what they've been experiencing. And they all have, you know, it's different realities for a lot of the sellers. They all use different types of. Speaker 3 (3:44) Excuse me. They all are seasoned investors and they all use different types of models for finding properties and, you know, getting deals to contract. But they all agreed that with the market shift, it's just so much uncertainty with the buyers. They're comparing a lot of stuff to like everything should be so perfect and wonderful. Speaker 3 (4:06) compared to like a lot of social media posts and TikToks and things like that. So it's getting a little harder to move some of the properties that they're flipping and stuff for single family homes. We're also finding that sellers need to kind of adjust their expectations. It's not the same market that it used to be. And the agents also need to influence and make these sellers understand. So we're all kind of just... dealing with a weird market, one thing I found is nobody mentioned interest rates. Not one person complained about that, which I found really surprising. we're running into a lot of buyers backing out last minute, getting cold feet. But a majority of what we're doing, what we're really busy with and keeps us consistently busy year to year, which hasn't changed so much, is helping those that are in distress. So people that have lost, they're losing their homes, they're going through divorces, they're going to prison, someone's deceased, all of those types of things. Speaker 2 (5:14) You know, you mentioned interest rates really quick and you're saying that, you know, when you talk to some of your highest producing clients now you're in seven states, correct? Speaker 3 (5:23) Correct. We're based out of the Twin Cities, but we are in seven states. So that would be Arizona, Iowa, North Dakota, Florida. Michigan's been a hot one for us. North Dakota, Wisconsin and of course, Minnesota. Speaker 2 (5:39) OK. And then you have plans to even go beyond that. Speaker 3 (5:43) Absolutely. A lot of the Midwest, I would say, and Southwest for sure, that aren't attorney kind of led states. They're a little easier, especially for investors. So we're definitely going to be expanding and we're going to expand pretty quick. I used to handle up to 20 states. with previous companies. So we're already familiar with what needs to happen and, you know, how it's different from other markets, things like that in those states. But definitely really aiming for Arizona right now. I just feel like that would be a really awesome market. There's not a lot of competition for an investor friendly title company or closing company. There's a huge need for it based on the groups that I'm a part of down there. So I really want to jump in that market. Florida also, but also because the seasons are opposite for this market. So when it's busy here, it's slow down there when it's hot. Speaker 2 (6:48) Yeah. Speaker 3 (6:49) And high spurs. Yeah. Yep. Speaker 2 (6:52) So you mentioned about, you know, the highest producers that you're talking to, you know, what are they seeing? And you said no one's really mentioning interest rates, but you're also in the same breath. You said, you know, buyers are getting cold feet. They're backing out. Right. After 20 years, I just feel like that is actually because of the interest rates, because they're trying to figure out, can I really afford this home? Would you agree? You Speaker 3 (7:14) know, and that's why I was so surprised by that, that that wasn't a huge thing for any of them. But what we're finding is. I don't know. Maybe the investors think that's not the issue because they're canceling during like inspection periods or or maybe they think they're shopping for a different property. Maybe the investors aren't being realistic. Honestly, I'm not sure. Speaker 1 (7:37) But Speaker 3 (7:38) we are having trouble getting a lot of the traditional buyers to the closing table. Speaker 2 (7:43) Now, when you deal with some of the hairier deals, is that more the investor? Is the buyer not the traditional buyer? You're dealing with someone who's looking to come in and fix and flip it or turn the property around? Speaker 3 (7:54) Correct. And wholesalers, lots of wholesalers. So Speaker 2 (7:58) you work with wholesalers, fix and flip, subject to wrap deals, as creative as it gets. This is your sweet spot. Speaker 3 (8:07) So that is my sweet spot. That's where I wanted to focus on. That was what I decided over a decade ago. I wanted that to be my niche market because there is a huge need for it and there's not a lot of competition. So it was a smart move. We're consistently busy no matter the season. And I really just like the challenges. I honestly would be terribly bored if all I had to