Episode03

[00:00:00] Jeremy: All right, good morning. So today I have Madison Dugan with me. Madison is a transactional funder and creative top tier TC certified. So transaction coordinator, , Madison, thank you for joining me today.

[00:00:16] Maddison: Thank you for having me. I'm glad to be here. Jeremy.

[00:00:20] Jeremy: Fantastic. Fantastic. Cool. So Madison, let's, let's start with your

[00:00:24] Work history and kind of some of the things that that you've done, and I'd like to see how this brings you into investing. So let's start with what you have done before you got into investing.

[00:00:37] Maddison: Oh, goodness. Um, okay. So I've done most of the little small, like retail jobs, here and there. And then I was managing my in laws mom and pop store for about 4 years.

[00:00:54] So, before my son was born, and then I worked all the way up until the day before I went into a hospital with my son. And so, once I had my son, we decided that I was going to stay home. And my husband still works his 60 hours a week at his W2. So I've, for the last 2 years, I've been a stay at home mom, which has been wonderful.

[00:01:24] I love spending time with my son. That was the whole plan. You know, we wanted to, I wanted to be able to stay home with my son and be able to homeschool. And just spend as much time as I could with him.

[00:01:37] Jeremy: Yeah. That's amazing to be able to, to take that time and that focus. Right. So, cause there's, there's, there's a couple options there.

[00:01:44] You can either raise them yourself or you're taking them and dropping them off at daycare all day. And so, I mean, it's a, that's a pretty serious commitment , especially where you is working pretty consistently before, but to be able to take that on. So again, that I applaud you.

[00:01:59] Not a lot of people are able to do that still, you know, a lot of couples still have to have two incomes. And so, no, that's, that's awesome. So that's a strong commitment and a commitment for your husband as well, it sounds like he's working a lot of hours

[00:02:14] Maddison: Yes, yes.

[00:02:15] We, you know, we had to take some sacrifices in order for that to work because personally, in my opinion, I did not want. To send my son off to daycare that was just my thought. So I wanted to be able to stay home with him and my husband was on board with that decision. And so we had to make some sacrifices, you know, of course, financially, a lot of things out and then we ended up.

[00:02:44] Selling the house and moving in with my in laws, so we live with them. So we did have to make some, some temporary sacrifices in order for me to be at home with my son, but it's worth it.

[00:02:58] Jeremy: Yeah, no, I, I agree wholeheartedly there. So that's, that's amazing. So talk to me about, during that time.

[00:03:07] You know, it's kind of a transition, right? You're, you're moving from working all the time to now you're raising this little human that you created. Right. So what's going through your mind at this time and, what takes you into like the, the idea of investing.

[00:03:21] Right. So you're, you've, you've been at home for two years now with your little one. And so. Um, at what point did you realize that you wanted to get into the investing piece of it and not just continue down this path?

[00:03:36] Maddison: Well, you know,

[00:03:40] working for a W 2, working a full time job and then being home 24 7 was definitely stressful for me because I was such a busy body before I had my son. I mean, I always told people I lived out of my car because I was always on the go. And so it really made me stop and really take in. The little things, because when you have a child, you have to focus on all of those little moments, all of those little things, because you also have to teach them all those little things.

[00:04:16] Yeah. And so that makes you stop and it makes you pause and it makes you remember, you know, like how it felt to be young again. So it was definitely very. I don't know how to it was different, like, I've never experienced anything like it before. I really had to force myself to slow down a few months after I had my son.

[00:04:40] I actually was looking into becoming a certified bookkeeper. So I actually jumped on with quick books and their training, I did try that out for a little bit. It was just not for me. Like, I love I took accounting and everything. I started college a little bit. I tried to go into nursing and I was just trying to figure out where I fit.

[00:05:14] And everything that I had tried, I just didn't feel like it had fit my personality or my passions. And I have always been interested in real estate. I love homes, I love, you know, transformations, interior design, et cetera. And so, of course, my husband just one night started watching Pace's videos on YouTube.

[00:05:41] I personally was not interested. I was, I mean, I'm, I'm a busy toddler mom, so I'm like, I'll watch this later. I'll watch it later. Can't roll my eyes. Like, I'm not interested. I was doing something one night and I overheard it and I was like, you know, and so I, yeah, I definitely piqued my interest. And, uh, so I just started watching it.

[00:06:07] And, of course, it made sense. I was very excited. I believe we actually signed up that night. Wow. With Gator, with Gator. Okay. And, um, you know, originally we, we thought about doing sub two. But that is definitely something that we would like to do down the road. We just really wanted to focus on Gator and getting our toe in the door with, with lending right now.

[00:06:31] Jeremy: Yeah. So for those that don't know what Gator is, maybe, maybe give a little bit of, of understanding about, you know, that, that transactional funding and, you know, why somebody needs a transactional funder so talk a little bit about what, what is the Gator? And what is, what is transactional funding? What is, what is, what is that even used for?

[00:06:53] Maddison: Yeah. So Gator transactional funding is people just like you and I. That have funds willing to invest in other people's deals or projects that are just a little tight, or maybe would rather use their capital elsewhere.

[00:07:15] Um, or more like, not necessarily important things, but they have plans for it, you know, so, little EMD's we people just like, you and I, we, we come in and we help fund that. Or, like, for my husband and I, we do short term lending. So short term lending. So, like, maybe 10, 000, you know, we expect a payback. Of course, you know, but we also ask for like, a return on investment.

[00:07:47] So, for example, if somebody has a property, they need to do a little bit of rehab and they just don't want to have to go through a hard money lender at that moment, or they need to come up with the funds quickly. And so they come to. People just like you and I and say, Hey, I need this amount. Can you do this?

[00:08:05] Absolutely. And then, you know, we start negotiating our terms out that way.

[00:08:10] Jeremy: Yes. So you really become a partner in their deal, right? You're, you're bringing the money. They, they may have a project that they're working on, but you bring the money to that project to make that project successful. Right. And it could be.

[00:08:25] To your point, it could be somebody that's, you know, maybe they've got a lot of projects going on. And so their, their funds are tied up in other things, or maybe they don't necessarily have enough funds to finish a project. And so you're able to bring the capital, be part of that, joint venture. A lot of times is the way you kind of hear it.

[00:08:43] And then you're able to, to help them complete their project with the expectation that you're going to receive a return right Typically in the transactional funding space, you're, you're not charging a interest or points. You're charging a set fee, right? So as part of that, as part of that partner, you may fund 10, 000, but instead of getting, you know, 12 percent interest, you may get.

[00:09:11] 2, 3, 4, 5, 000 back in return when they close the property, finish the project, sell the property, those types of things right now, correct me if I'm speaking out of turn.

[00:09:23] Maddison: No, that's correct. That's correct.

[00:09:25] Jeremy: That's, that's an interesting concept, right? So again, you have a resource that somebody needs. And somebody has a deal cause they're, you know, they're actively working in finding these deals, you know, like with yourself as a stay at home mom, raising this toddler, you know, your husband's working 60 hours, 70 hours, you know, whatever that work week looks like.

[00:09:45] It's really difficult to be able to reach out to a seller, find those deals and then be able to, to do the fix and flip. Cause sometimes, you know, a fix and flip takes a lot of, management, a lot of time, a lot of energy. Right. So that allows you to. bring a resource that's necessary for this deal to happen and then be part of that and then kind of get your feet wet, a little bit of experience.

[00:10:08] Right. I love how you said, I would dip my toe in here and get a a little bit of experience here. So I think that's a great, that's a creative way, right. To be able to be involved with that, and, and be part of that deal. So fantastic. So. You're, you're doing something else as well.

[00:10:25] Right. So you're doing some transaction coordination. So explain to me what brought you to transaction coordination? If you already were doing the Gator lending, how does that play together? How does it work together?

[00:10:40] Maddison: Okay. So yeah, absolutely. When I joined Gator in April, you get so excited, right?

[00:10:47] There's so many opportunities. That try to pull you separate ways so I, I was just trying to figure out where I fit in in the creative real estate industry. So I tried a couple of different things to see where I could potentially add value. Um, and I was being pulled so many different ways. I was overwhelmed.

[00:11:14] I believe my first month I talked to like 160 people just connecting with everybody. That was like my goal. It was because I'm an introvert. So I, wanted to be able to change myself into not being so introverted. And so I definitely put myself out there, but in that I , I had that shiny object syndrome, you know, like everything was interesting. So after about a month and a half, I had to sit down and focus on one or two things. So of course I was focusing on Gator, Gator lending, that transactional lending. And then I was like, You know, transactional coordination, I love to be organized.

[00:11:59] I love helping people. I like all the tiny little details and just kind of not being introverted, but also kind of an introverted task because you're kind of doing things on the back end, but you still have to communicate with people. And so I thought that that was a good place for me. And I just so happened.

[00:12:20] Somebody tagged me in Jay's. Yeah. Post like, a couple of days afterwards, Jay was looking to hire a few people on his team for his finish line team and I contacted him. I interviewed for that position. I ended up getting that position and signing a contract with finish line. And then right after that.

[00:12:43] Molly came out with her top tier TC certification course, I signed up for that and became certified. And it's, I love it. Like last week, I went from no deals and went to eight deals. Oh, my goodness. So, in like three days.

[00:13:02] Jeremy: Wow. So it sounds like it really helped supercharge your ability to be, to be part of these deals.

[00:13:08] So looking at where do I fit in? How do I best, become part of the community and the program and the lending piece of it, and being able to go to somebody like Jay Holder, who's seasoned in, the transactions and he's building a team. Right. This is a great opportunity.

[00:13:26] I, I, I love that, you know, the, again, the networking, right. Then that networking piece of it, you probably wouldn't have had somebody, , tag you in that post, or you may not have seen that post if you hadn't been doing the networking. Right. And so the networking is super key in this.

[00:13:42] Maddison: Oh, exactly. I, I, I agree.

[00:13:47] Yeah. So then being able to work and go to work for Jay. Because, I mean, yeah. And he's great. I love Jay. Jay is, he, I have a question and he answers it just about every time. I know I bug him, but I try not to. He says I don't, but I know I do.

[00:14:11] Jeremy: You know, the, the cool thing is, is. Jay is awesome. The someone like Jay, you know, because he's building a team, he understands, the process he's, experienced with it.

[00:14:22] Right. And he's going to understand, like, you have a lot of questions, you're going to be working through this stuff, but being able to work with somebody like him, that's seasoned and has a lot of experience, you're going to be able to get a lot of. It's good, timely feedback and make sure that everything is answered quickly, answered correctly, make sure you get your answers, make sure that your transactions go through smoothly.

[00:14:46] Right? So again, you're on his team. It's going to be important for him to make sure that your. Representing the finish line TC services in a, in a positive way. So, yeah, I think that's, that's cool. And, and to be able to have somebody like Jay that you're working for, it sounds like you're having a wonderful time.

[00:15:05] So that's awesome.

[00:15:07] Maddison: Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, there's a thrill. There's like this adrenaline thrill, especially when things are a little chaotic and you feel a little rushed. So. Except for that fire drill that Jay gave me, he's like, you got to get this done in like an hour. And I was like,

[00:15:32] but we got it done. We definitely got it done.

[00:15:34] Jeremy: Cool. That's, awesome. So, so let's talk through just for a minute, kind of what, what does that look like? When you get a request for some help from a transactional coordinator, what does that process look like from when you first received that request to when, you're done and closed you're closing that file, if somebody wants to. Become a transaction coordinator, just so they kind of get an idea of what's involved.

[00:16:02] Maddison: Yeah, absolutely. So typically we have a consult we try to get on a zoom call so we can understand what's going on with the deal.

[00:16:14] Get the terms of the deal, things like that. Once we have all of that information, including all of, the parties that are included. We typically have you sign a service agreement stating that. That we will be servicing on this deal and then, we get that 50 percent non refundable opening deposit and we start.

[00:16:43] To fill out all your documents and send them out for signature. Typically, we. Open title, get in contact with title and escrow, we can mean or closing attorney and communicate. Most of the time, all the communications are via email. We try to keep everything in writing. So, I mean, it depends on when the deal is supposed to be closed on how quickly this process takes.

[00:17:11] So, everything's in email mostly. And then, the funds get wired, the deal gets closed, we get. Settlement statement, et cetera, et cetera. Cool. So you went through that really quickly. It's just, I mean, yeah,

[00:17:29] Jeremy: no, no, no, no. It goes to show, like I say, the, that, that there's, there's a lot of steps in there, right.

[00:17:38] And I just want to, I want to unpackage those for just a minute. So. As you're going through these steps, you are the person that makes sure that all the T's are crossed, the I's are dotted, make sure that everybody's names are correct, the addresses, the property, all of that information has to be correct, right?

[00:17:58] And so if it's not correct, then it could, then the whole deal could fail. Fall apart. Right. So without somebody like yourself, that's willing to, pay very close attention to those details, the, the buyer and the seller of the property could completely fall apart. The whole deal could fall apart.

[00:18:19] And so there's, a lot going on there, right? So not only are you communicating through email, so you've got a track of everything that's going on. Um, but you've got to know who all the parties are. You got to know who who's involved with every little piece. , who's providing the EMD, you know, who's the title company, who's the, the agent at the title company.

[00:18:42] And then, okay, well, do you have other partners on this deal? So, so you have to, you have to know all of these people, right? So you're getting introduced to. You know, usually 7, maybe 10 individuals along the way for this deal to happen. And so keeping all of that straight again, having the paperwork in place makes a big deal.

[00:19:08] It is a big deal, right? And also their bank, right? So then you got to talk through, okay, well, where's the funds coming from? Where's the funds going? Okay. Title company. We need to make sure we have your, information on where we're going to send, the funds or where's the transactional funders and the funds.

[00:19:25] And so there's, Okay. There's all these moving parts. To me, just looking at it from the outside is it looks like it could be total chaos. So how do you manage that chaos?

[00:19:36] Maddison: I didn't say it. I didn't say it. Was it messy?

[00:19:42] Jeremy: Okay. So it's a little messy. So yeah. How are, how are you keeping things? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:19:50] So how are you keeping things organized?

[00:19:54] Maddison: Well, I have everything in a file. Okay. Yeah, I have everybody so each client has a file and then I also have it organized within my email. So each client also has their own email, like tab, their little card. Okay. Their tag.

[00:20:11] I've been attempting to set up my Trello board. My husband is way better at setting that up. So we're going to get together and set that up soon. Okay, cool. I started to try. So I try to do the Trello to help me stay a little bit more organized. Other than that,

[00:20:30] recently, just getting started. I'm constantly on the computer. Just learning and kind of taking my time with all the little details, you know, I'm not saying that I'm, I'm ignoring my son because I did say I'm a stay at home mom. Usually I'm outside with my son. I take my computer outside and so he can play or I'm working like, like now he's taking a nap.

[00:20:50] And so I have time for that. I do stress out a little bit. And so I have to take moments. My husband tends to have to remind me to take a moment to breathe, but other than that, , I think I flow a little bit better when I feel like I have a lot of things that I need to do my mind just works differently.

[00:21:12] Like, oh, okay, I gotta get this done. I gotta get this done. I gotta get this done. And my husband's like, I have no idea what's going on. I'm like, it's all up here. It's all up here.

[00:21:22] Jeremy: Yeah. And I think that's, I think it's amazing. So, um, I'm just, I'm just gonna do a plug for the female gender. Right. Because my wife is very much, very similar, right?

[00:21:35] She has so many things going on in her mind at the same time. I need her to tell me, he says, Hey, we've got this, we've got this, we got this, we got this. Right. So it's obvious that your mind is working the same way, right? You've got all of these things that's going through and they're all going through, you know, parallel with each other.

[00:21:51] And so we're, we're running this, we're running this, we're running this. And Oh, by the way, Oh yeah, we got to do this. And then you're. You're organizing it around a schedule and, you know, working with your son and being able to get , that time with him. And, it's really speaks volumes, to who you are being able to, keep all of this stuff organized, right.

[00:22:12] You're using some systems you've got processes in place, you know, like you mentioned with your email, you've got, labels for each one of those customers and each one of those clients and their files. And, and so there's, there's a lot of paperwork that's involved with that.

[00:22:26] And so, and then you also mentioned, you know, everything is done through email. And so that way you can keep track of everything that's going on. You're building that story as you go along. So looking from the outside is it may seem that there's Holy cow.

[00:22:41] I like it's it's chaos. Right. So that was, you know, the first one in my mind is like, Holy cow, this feels like chaos. But the reality is, is it's, it's organized. Right. And without that organization and without that skill, it could come apart fairly easily. But, and, and even improving yourself with. , using Trello.

[00:22:59] So , Trello is going to give you an opportunity, , to be able to, to help keep a little bit more organized, keep things all in the same place, communicate with others on your team and be able to get all that stuff processed through. Right. So. I, I think that's amazing. it's a good thing that we have this occupation available within, the real estate realm, because I'll tell you what with, without individuals like yourself and Jay and the team, nothing would get done, at least it wouldn't be done.

[00:23:30] Right.

[00:23:32] Maddison: Right. Yeah. So, yeah, so I think that's,

[00:23:35] Jeremy: that's amazing. So. And you kind of mentioned that you're working on learning some new things and doing some other stuff. So what are some of your goals that you have going forward as you continue into this path? And as you continue into your real estate journey, , what are some of your goals that you have, you know, short term goals, but also long term goals?

[00:23:56] Maddison: Yeah, I mean, I have a, I have a lot of goals, so they're very visionary, um, you know, by next year, I would definitely like to be in sub to my husband and I would like to start acquiring some single family homes and eventually bring in some passive income to where we can bring my husband home and eventually travel.

[00:24:25] As well as, you know, be more involved into real estate. So we want to be able to bring him home so we can be more involved in creative real estate as of right now. My husband tries to help whenever he's off, but he wants to be included as well. So, , those are kind of longer, short. I want to build my clientele for my transaction coordination business.

[00:24:53] And then I would eventually like to start underwriting. That is on the vision board cool. Learn how to underwrite and help others that way. But I believe right now, those are just, those are our goals. Eventually, maybe like, in the 5 to 10 years, we would look into multifamilies and, um, acquiring some, some businesses to.

[00:25:22] Jeremy: Yeah, that's really cool. You know, so really it's you're right now you're building that foundation. As, as you mentioned earlier, you're, you're dipping your toe into the, into the space. Right. And so building that foundation, getting a good foundation of that, , transactional funding, a little bit of PML, and then being able to build that network, short term, you know, building your clientele and building your network.

[00:25:44] , I. Personally, hadn't seen the value of that until over the last few weeks. Right. So I've been doing some real estate investing for a few years and just very slowly meeting people and talking with people, but over the last couple of weeks, I've really supercharged that opportunity to be able to meet and talk with people in the space and, and kind of build that network.

[00:26:05] Right. And. It's, it's been amazing to me how much I've been able to accelerate myself and, , my abilities just in the last few weeks. Right. So I think that's an amazing goal.

[00:26:20] And so anyway, I, like I say, again, putting yourself out there right sometimes is, sometimes if you're introverted, it's a little hard to put yourself out there. ,

[00:26:29] Maddison: it really is, you know, It really is. It's a struggle. It took a lot to really throw myself out into the community, but I have not, I have only received positive.

[00:26:45] And so I will continue to do it. That's cool. I

[00:26:49] Jeremy: love it. That's cool. Right. So, and again, I think that the cool thing is, is being in a community like, like in the Gator community, you know, with, with pace Morby and, and it just is amazing. And then being able to be part of that team with Jay Holder, again, , you're building yourself up there and, , changing who you are, you're still going to have those introverted tendencies and you're still going to want to just, you know, focus on something for a couple hours.

[00:27:13] But it's, it's amazing that,, you're able to grow and evolve. And I think that's really a lot of times what real estate is about is that evolution and how you can succeed, how you can work with other people around you. And so I absolutely have enjoyed our conversation today, Madison, and I know you're, you've got your little one down for a nap, and so I, I don't want to burn a whole bunch more of your time, but I do want to just kind of close up a little bit, and ask you.

[00:27:42] What are some, what is something, or maybe it's a book or a podcast or something that you have used, to help you through, your growth and your challenges. You know, some of that mindset stuff, a lot of times can really hold us up. Is there, is there something that you've used to be able to help you through that?

[00:28:03] Or maybe it's just as, as an individual person.

[00:28:05] Maddison: ,

[00:28:05] yeah, it's definitely more me as an individual. Simply because my, I know who I want to be and I know the actions that I need to take and, you know, before I was kind of lazy. I will admit it. I was lazy in the, like, a few years ago when we would try to do the things that we wanted to do. Now, , I have my son and I want to show him that his parents are not lazy.

[00:28:38] We want to become the people that we've always wanted to be. And so the bigger the dream. The earlier you have to wake up and later, you have to go to bed and just working hard, just working hard. Oh, I want to teach my son that I want to teach my son that things are not just. Given you have to work hard in order to to get, I mean, nobody's entitled.

[00:29:06] My husband and I just grew up differently. Okay. We didn't have all these opportunities. We weren't taught these things. So we. I want to be able to. Being a place where we could teach our son these things.

[00:29:20] Jeremy: I think that's such a powerful motivator, right? I think a lot of times, we look at our lives like you said, as, as you guys were, were raised differently, and being able to work through some of those challenges, some of those limiting mindset, right?

[00:29:34] I think a lot of times our limiting mindset. Hold us back, but being able to work through those things and internalize your goals. I think that's such a powerful motivator. Having kids to me, it has been a powerful motivator because without kids, you know, I think there's, there's a lot of stupid things that I would probably be doing, but thinking about it to that point, right.

[00:29:57] It's like, I want to be able to teach my. Son, these things and be able to have a better life for him and, , any future kids, if you guys decide to have more, but be able to take your family and elevate yourself into this world instead of just being status quo. So I think that's such a powerful thing, right?

[00:30:17] So that motivation, and your why it's, it's very obvious that you have a very strong why, and that's going to motivate you through all of this. So I'm, I'm excited, Madison, like say, I'm glad to have been able know you and, befriend you. And this has been amazing. So thank you so much.

[00:30:34] So I think that's powerful. And anybody that's listening, we all have limiting mindset, right? Sometimes we all have limiting beliefs, but being able to take those and then turn that into your why and turn that into your motivation and be able to. , really grow from that is just so powerful.

[00:30:52] So thank you for being such an amazing example, Madison, thank you for your time today.

[00:30:57] So I just want to close off if people want to work with you and people want to get to know a little bit more about you or have you do some funding or have you do some, transactional coordination work for them?

[00:31:10] How can people reach out to you? What's the best way to contact you?

[00:31:16] Maddison: Facebook Messenger, you can find me on Facebook. Or Instagram, and my handle is Madison dot Duggan on Instagram. M. A. D. D. I. S. O. N. D. U. G. G. A. N. those are the best. Two places to find me

[00:31:38] Jeremy: cool we'll put those down in the show notes as well.

[00:31:42] So that if people want to reach out to you, they can search for your handle and find you on Facebook and Instagram. , Madison, I, I, this has been an amazing, , conversation today. I do appreciate, you taking your time out of your busy schedule and, fitting me and be able to talk with you today.

[00:31:56] So thank you so much. , and I look forward to being able to work with you in the future.

[00:32:03] Maddison: Thank you for having me. I've had so much fun chatting with you.

[00:32:06] Jeremy: Yes. Thank you.

[00:32:07] Maddison: Appreciate it.

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