How to Tap into A Source of Motivated Seller That Your Competition is Ignoring with Max Keller

In this episode, I am happy to interview Max Keller, who is a real estate investor, bestselling author, podcaster, speaker, and an expert panelist on the topic of lead generation and marketing. In just a few short years, Max went from being a full-time high school math teacher to flipping over 100 houses. His unique marketing approach landed him onstage with Robert Kiyosaki as he was presented with the 2019 Industry Innovator of the Year Award. He is passionate about sharing his strategies to transform ordinary investors into trusted experts in the eyes of motivated sellers and private lenders.

Max first shares his background story as a math teacher who wanted to find a way to earn more when he stumbled on real estate. He didn’t originally plan to leave his teaching job but saw a good opportunity that he liked and decided to go full force. We discussed when Max knew it was the right time to quit his teaching job at only deal number two. The market cycle was lower at this time which made it easier to scoop up a property. Max explains the tactics he used to make real estate investing work for him, like selling his house to fund the business with the support of his wife. Flipping 100 houses in two years needed a lot of funding which Max explains progressed from personal money to private money.

Max dives into his current marketing strategy which originated from a perceived lack of standing out from his competition. He shares how he created a three-criteria list of what he wanted: deals of great profit, sellers who were not resisting his offers, and to have fun doing it. Max shares how authenticity and being genuine get him more business through trusted referrals.

We discuss why Max made the transition from ‘junk mail to coffee table’ which was about finding a more scalable way to build trust. Max laughed off the idea of writing a book when he first heard it, but after contemplating it, he decided to put all his knowledge on senior housing on paper and wrote his first book, Home to Home: The Step by Step Senior Housing Guide. The book opened up other things like instant credibility and trust and now he is known as the senior housing expert.

We move on to how Max saw the need to become an objective foundational source of information for the senior living space. Max’s book teaches people the pro and cons of selling their homes, how to stay in their homes, home rehabbing, and much more. He also has materials to empower and educate adult children and grandchildren of seniors on picking the right senior housing facility.

We talk about the importance of adding a book to your marketing strategy that Max himself used to increase his response rate. He also explains how his focus on a small geographical area helps him get more leads, plus using Facebook videos to create a personal connection with his students. The book has become more of a business card and referral tool that offers value to people and a better response rate for Max. He mentions some other niche-related marketing strategies that he uses, as well.

Lastly, we discuss the importance of writing a book as an entrepreneur and how to approach it. Max explains many of the concepts of writing a book and how by utilizing these ideas, people can write their own books more quickly. Don’t miss this episode of Just Start Real Estate that is value-packed with lesser-known marketing strategies with marketing expert, Max Keller!

Notable Quotes:

“It started with my own money. When you’re doing one deal at a time, it works. But once you start doing multiples, that doesn’t work.”

Max Keller

“I really wasn’t standing out, and it was a grind.”

Max Keller

“Being a math teacher, I knew this is a number’s game. I didn’t want to overpay for deals and at least I made that good decision.”

Max Keller

“I didn’t leave teaching to be on a hamster wheel and a grind.”

Max Keller

“Of all the deals that I do, 80% of them are with people who are older.”

Mike Simmons

“When you give people choices that don’t point to you, they see you as objective and credible.”

Max Keller

“I know a lot of people that are trying to figure out how to use Facebook to generate a higher return on investment and I know a lot of people that have abandoned that because they can’t figure it out.”

Mike Simmons

“You certainly feel more like you know someone more from a video than you do a postcard.”

Mike Simmons

“Generic messaging gets a generic conversion and response rates.”

Max Keller

“The word-of-mouth marketing is very powerful and there’s really no substitute for it. It’s just very hard to scale. I haven’t found anything better than writing a book that has been able to enhance it.”