RJ Bates III

You’ve heard me talk about the four seller buckets for years…


Bucket 1: Seller wants full retail and has no real motivation.
Bucket 2: Seller wants the right price but has no motivation.
Bucket 3: Seller is highly motivated but the price is wrong.
Bucket 4: Seller is highly motivated and already at the right price.


Most of the time, the focus is on that third bucket.
Highly motivated seller. Incorrect price.


That’s usually where the process matters most.
But the fourth bucket is where people get sloppy…


Not because it’s rare. But because people assume it’s easy.



I want to be very clear about something…

These leads are dangerous.

Not because the seller is difficult.


Not because the numbers don’t work.


But because excitement replaces discipline.



You grind through a hundred leads to find one like this.




The price already works.


No negotiation. No education. No friction.

And that’s when most wholesalers stop following the process.



They rush.


They skip credibility.


They assume trust instead of earning it.



I learned this the hard way on a live seller call in 2023.



The seller gave me a great price immediately.


The deal worked as-is.


And I still lost it.

Not because of numbers…


But because I abandoned the fundamentals.



You can hear the seller questioning everything…


Who are you?
How does this work?
Is this real?



Those questions are normal.


What wasn’t normal was how little structure I gave him.



I didn’t slow the call down
I didn’t clearly walk him through the full process step by step
I didn’t set expectations around timing, paperwork, or what would happen next
And that lack of structure is what ultimately cost the deal.


That call became one of the moments that reshaped how I teach the four seller buckets today.



If you want to hear how a “perfect” lead can quietly slip away when you stop following the process, watch the full breakdown in the comments!



It’s not a highlight reel.




It’s a reminder that the fundamentals matter most when the deal feels easy.

4 days ago | [YT] | 23

RJ Bates III

A seller sees this pop up on their phone:
“Hey, just following up. Any updates?”


You think you’re being polite…
But the seller feels like you just handed them homework.


That message asks them to re-open a decision, explain themselves, or say no. And for a text they didn’t ask for, that’s a lot of effort.


So they don’t reply.
Not out of spite...
Out of avoidance.


Now compare that to this:
“Hey John, RJ here. Last time we talked you mentioned timing was the biggest concern. Has that changed, or is now still not ideal?”


Same seller. Same situation. Completely different experience.


You remind them who you are, give them context, and make the reply easy.
No pressure. No guilt. No chasing.


Texting sellers isn’t about closing deals. It’s about earning the next response. One clear thought. One simple purpose. One small step forward.


If a text requires courage to answer, it’s already dead.


When sellers go silent, it’s usually not timing...
It’s friction.


And most “just checking in” messages create more of it than people realize.


I break down why seller texts fail, what actually gets replies, and how to text confidently in the video pinned in the comments.


Watch it, then look at your last few seller texts.


You’ll see exactly where the conversation fell apart

5 days ago | [YT] | 41

RJ Bates III

Most wholesalers don’t lose deals on objections…
They lose them in the silence that follows “I need to think about it.”
They either panic, and start pitching…
Or they go quiet and accept the stall.
Both kill the deal.
The truth is…
“I need to think about it” is almost never the real objection.
It’s usually one of three things:
I don’t trust you yet
I don’t like the price
I’m overwhelmed and don’t know what to do next
So when you respond with “Okay, let me know.”
You didn’t handle the objection…
You handed the deal to the clock.
And the clock kills deals.
The real mistake is thinking your job is to persuade. It’s not.
Your job is to diagnose.
So when a seller says they have to “think about it”...
You need to validate without giving up control.
“Totally fair. This is a big decision.”
You’re not agreeing to wait forever.
You’re just lowering their guard long enough to get the truth.
Then you force clarity with one question:
“When people tell me they need to think about it, it’s usually price, timing, or wanting to be sure I’m legit. Which one is it for you?”
That question does all the heavy lifting.
It pulls the real issue to the surface without pressure or awkwardness.
From there, you stop selling and start solving.
If it’s trust, make the next steps visible and predictable.
If it’s price, you tighten the box and negotiate with reality
If it’s overwhelm, you simplify and remove friction
And no matter what, the call never ends without a next step.
If a call ends with “I’ll think about it,” you lost control.
You might still get lucky.
But pros don’t build businesses on luck.
I broke this down step by step, including real language and a side-by-side bad vs good role play, in the video pinned in the comments.
Watch it if you’re tired of deals dying to “thinking about it”...
And want to start walking away from calls with clarity instead of hope.

5 days ago | [YT] | 29

RJ Bates III

Last April, Candy joined Titanium University with her son while life was hitting her from every direction…


Loss.
Family responsibility.
Major transitions.


Enough pressure to make “I’ll come back later” feel completely reasonable.


Most people would’ve stepped away…


Candy didn’t.


She kept showing up to implementation calls.


Even when she was overwhelmed.
Even when she wasn’t confident.
Even when asking questions felt uncomfortable.


Not because it was easy…
But because she understood what she was building.


Titanium University isn’t just about motivation.
It’s about giving people a place to stay anchored when life gets loud.


Over time, Candy didn’t just get better at wholesaling.


Her confidence changed.
Her energy changed.
Her outlook changed.


Recently, she closed and funded a deal, but that wasn’t the breakthrough.
The breakthrough was hearing her say she feels fulfilled.


That she loves talking to sellers.
That she finally feels settled and at peace.
That’s what happens when someone stops quitting on themselves.


Candy talked about this during an implementation call.
Not as a speech.
Not as a testimonial.


Just an honest reflection on what kept her showing up when life made quitting feel reasonable.


If you’ve ever been in that place…You’ll want to hear what she said.


Check out the video pinned in the comments to hear it from Candy herself!

1 week ago | [YT] | 53

RJ Bates III

Recently, I did a live coaching session with one of our Titanium University members while he was on the phone with real sellers.



Not role play.


Not hypotheticals.


Real conversations happening in real time.



He wasn’t brand new.


He wasn’t lost.


And he wasn’t saying the wrong things.



But the conversations weren’t landing
His intro sounded rehearsed
His pace sped up near the end
And the moment things got uncomfortable, his energy shifted



That is not a tactics problem.


That is a presence problem.



You could hear old habits creeping in. The kind that come from cold calling long enough to stop believing every conversation is winnable.

Professional. Polite. Safe.

And completely forgettable.



So I stopped him and told him something I see all the time.

I don’t want professional Ken.


I want the version of Ken that talks to people like a human being.

The moment he relaxed, everything changed.

The sellers opened up.
The motivation surfaced.
The conversations slowed down where they needed to.



And this is where most wholesalers lose deals without realizing it.


Not on price.

Not on numbers.

Not on objections.

They lose them at the end of the call…



When the seller is emotional, overwhelmed, and deciding whether they trust you, the wholesaler rushes, explains the process, or assumes the close instead of leaning in.

One of the sellers in this session was facing foreclosure, exhausted, and unsure who was actually on her side.



That was not a send the contract moment.


That was a slow down and listen moment.



This session exposed a few things that do not get talked about enough:

How past calling experience creates bad reflexes
Why sellers pull back right when you think you are close
How tone and timing affect credibility
Where rapport actually breaks at the end of calls
Why “I’ll have someone look it over” is usually about trust, not paperwork



If your seller calls feel solid until the last few minutes…




If objections show up late and you cannot figure out why…




If you feel like you are almost there but deals keep slipping...



Then check out the full clip below - where I walk Ken through his call step by step and explain exactly what I would have done differently and why.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

RJ Bates III

I paid $65,000 for my first wholesaling education training…
And for a long time, I felt like I got scammed.


Because when I strip it down to the basics, here’s what we actually learned:
How to pull deals off the MLS.
How to dispo them on Craigslist.
That was the playbook.
That was the “system.”


From a tactics standpoint, it was massively underwhelming.
And for years, that’s where I left the story.
Sixty five grand wasted on information I could have figured out on my own.


But looking back now, there’s one thing that program did right.
One moment I still think about to this day…
And ironically, it had nothing to do with wholesaling at all.


During one of the live trainings, the instructor stood in front of a room with a couple hundred people and broke down the difference between being broke, being poor, being rich, and being wealthy.
The way he explained it changed how I saw myself forever.


You can be broke without being poor.
Broke just means your bank account is low.
Poor is a mindset.
A choice.
An identity.


And wealthy is not how much money you have.
It is how you think about what you are capable of creating.


Then, he challenged us with a line I will never forget.
“Every time you walk into a room, be the wealthiest person in that room.”
Not financially.
Mentally.
Not hoping you will win.
Assuming you will.
That moment rewired how I saw myself as an entrepreneur.


And it explains more about my success than any tactic, script, or system ever could.
Because here is the truth most people do not want to hear…


You cannot outperform your identity.


This mindset shows up on seller calls, with buyers, and in your results..
So fixing your identity has to come before fixing your tactics.


I broke this entire concept down in the video linked below!
Watch it and let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 10

RJ Bates III

Most wholesalers think they’re in control on seller calls…
If you listen closely, they usually aren’t.


They’re reacting to what the seller just said, over-explaining themselves, and trying to keep things smooth.
Over time, that turns the conversation into a ride instead of a route.
And deals end up stalling for no obvious reason.


The shift is simple:
Approach the call like a chauffeur.
When you hire a professional driver, you don’t grab the wheel or argue about traffic…
You give them the destination and trust them to handle the route.
Seller calls work the same way.
The seller tells you what they want:
They want to sell.
They have a price in mind.
They want to feel protected.
Your job is guiding how the conversation gets there.


Most calls fall apart early because people confuse talking with leading.
The person asking the questions sets the pace.
But as soon as things get uncomfortable, questions stop.
“I’m not desperate.”
“I talked to someone else.”
“I don’t want to be lowballed.”


Instead of getting curious, wholesalers start explaining or defending, and control slips away.
Those statements aren’t roadblocks…
They’re signals:
“I don’t want to be lowballed” points to fear.
“I don’t need to sell” points to leverage.
“I’m thinking about listing” points to comparison.
The way forward isn’t pitching.
It’s clarification.


For example:
Seller: “I want top dollar.”
Ask: “What does top dollar allow you to do next?”
Seller: “I don’t need to sell.”
Ask: “What made you take this call today?”
Seller: “I talked to another investor.”
Ask: “What stood out about that conversation and what didn’t?”


Now the seller is explaining their reality…not testing yours.
That’s when conversations move.


You’ll feel it when they start saying things like:
“If I’m being honest…”
“The real reason is…”


That’s clarity.
And clarity closes deals.
The seller decides where they want to go.
You guide how the conversation gets there.


👉 Watch the full video in the comments to learn how to take control without sounding aggressive or salesy.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 22

RJ Bates III

A good deal does not sell itself…
That’s one of the most dangerous lies newer wholesalers pick up online.


Social media makes it sound simple:
Lock up a great deal
Blast it out
Buyers fight over it
To a degree, that can be true.


But here’s the part that doesn’t get talked about enough:
Good deals only sell themselves after someone actually notices them.
And right now, end buyers are drowning.
Between email blasts and text alerts from platforms like InvestorLift, DealSpeed, Propstream, and Privy, buyers are getting hit all day long with deals that aren’t deals.
Most never get opened
Most get deleted instantly.
Not because buyers don’t want deals…
But because 90% of what hits their inbox isn’t worth a second look.


Here’s the part newer wholesalers miss:
Those bad deals from other wholesalers don’t just get ignored.
They train buyers to ignore everything.
So when you rely on software alone, your deal gets watered down and buried with the rest.


The truth is simple but uncomfortable:
A good deal only sells itself once the buyer trusts you.
That trust doesn’t come from an email blast. It comes from relationships.
Early on, dispositions should be the hardest part of your business.
Not sellers.
Not contracts.
Dispo.
You should still blast your deals.
You should still use the tools.
But the real work starts when a buyer clicks, looks, and lingers.
That’s your window.
Call them
Talk to them
Explain why the deal works
Build the relationship
Over time, that effort compounds.


Eventually, your VIP buyers will see your name and already know it’s worth a look.
But until then, software is just access. It doesn’t do the work for you.
The same way pulling lists never got you contracts, it only showed you who to call.
Dispo is no different.
Sometimes you’ll even lose deals that should have worked.
But even failed deals build buyer relationships if you work them right. Those relationships are what make the next deal cross the finish line.
That’s how you get to consistent contract-to-close ratios.
If you’re newer and frustrated because you “have a good deal” but can’t move it…
This is why.
And if you want to hear this broken down with real examples, real markets, and real lessons from deals that didn’t close, check out the full video linked below!

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 29

RJ Bates III

Pressure changes how you show up on seller calls…
It changes how you comp…
It changes how you underwrite...


And if you’re not careful, it quietly pushes you into forcing deals instead of finding good ones.
I saw this play out recently inside Titanium University during a one-on-one with Carlos Martinez.


Carlos came into TU, learned the Closers Formula, learned how to comp and underwrite correctly, and gained traction fast.
Deals started closing. Money started coming in.
Then he hit the fork in the road that almost every wholesaler eventually faces.


Do I keep the W2…
Or do I fully commit to creating my own reality?
He chose to go all in.


And then life happened.
An unexpected situation wiped out most of the money he had made while still employed.
The W2 was gone.
The safety net was gone.
And suddenly every seller call carried even more weight.
That pressure started to show up in his underwriting.


Instead of educating sellers and buying conservatively, he started manufacturing deals….
Getting contracts signed just to feel momentum…
Chasing the dopamine hit of “today was a good day because I got something under contract.”


But contracts don’t pay you. Closings do.
Once recon happened, photos came in, and buyers weighed in, the truth surfaced.
Some deals were terminated.
Others turned into renegotiations.
And each one made the situation worse.


Here’s the pivot Carlos made that changed everything.
He stopped trying to be perfect with his numbers and decided to protect himself instead.


He calls it the 10-5-10 Rule.
Every time he underwrites a deal:
Take the ARV and subtract $10,000
Take the rehab estimate and add $5,000
Take the assignment fee and add $10,000
That’s a $25,000 buffer built into every deal.
This isn’t for $50K houses.
And it’s not for million-dollar properties.


This is for the average price point most wholesalers operate in, roughly $100K to $300K.
That buffer changed how Carlos showed up on calls.
He stopped negotiating from fear, stopped needing every deal to work.
He gave himself room to be wrong and still win.


If a seller was $10K off, he knew the deal was still movable.
If rehab came in higher, he was protected.
If buyers pushed back, there was still margin.
That confidence carried through the entire conversation.
And confidence closes deals.


If you’re in a tough season right now, feeling pressure on every call, struggling to fully embrace being the buyer, try what Carlos is doing.


Be conservative on ARV.
Be aggressive on rehab.
Be intentional with your assignments.


The video pinned in the comments breaks down this conversation and the mindset behind it in more detail, including why this shift immediately improves your contract-to-close ratio.


If you’ve tried something similar inside your business, drop it in the comments and let us know.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 29

RJ Bates III

One of the biggest bottlenecks I see with newer wholesalers is comping and underwriting while they’re still on the phone with the seller…


And that struggle is expected.


Comping and underwriting is one of the hardest skills in this business.
It takes time, repetition, and pattern recognition.


If you’re new and it feels uncomfortable trying to price a deal live, that doesn’t mean you’re bad at this…


It means you’re early.


Where people get stuck is misunderstanding the goal of the seller call.


The goal is not to perfectly dial in ARV, rehab, and profit on the first conversation.


The goal is to figure out what type of seller you’re talking to and whether their price is even in the right universe.


That’s it.


Instead of diving deep into numbers right out of the gate, I want you to simplify the process.


On a live seller call, you’re really answering one question:
Is the seller’s asking price correct or incorrect?
You don’t need perfect comps to answer that. You just need a quick snapshot of the neighborhood.
Let me give you a real example.
We recently closed and funded a deal in Spring Creek, Nevada. A place I’d never been to and a market I didn’t “know.”
On the call, the seller said they wanted $200,000.
So we ran a quick comp.
Quarter-mile radius.
Single-family homes.
Similar square footage and lot size.
Immediately, we’re seeing solds in the mid to high $300Ks, even pushing into the low $400Ks.
That tells us everything we need to know.
This is a $300K–$400K neighborhood.
Which means $200K is not an insane starting point.
It’s close enough to work with.


At that moment, I’m done worrying about the exact ARV. I’m not fine-tuning rehab numbers. I’m not trying to be perfect.


All my attention shifts to the most important part of the call:
Why does this seller need to sell at this price right now?
Because when the price is in the right range, motivation is what creates the deal.
That property ended up getting locked up at $170,000 and sold for $180,000. A $10,000 assignment on a deal in a market most people couldn’t find on a map.


That didn’t happen because of flawless underwriting.


It happened because we:
Used quick comps
Identified the seller type early
Stopped overanalyzing
Shot our shot
This is where newer wholesalers slow themselves down. They think more analysis equals more safety.


In reality, hesitation kills more deals than bad numbers ever will.


Even experienced investors miss on comps sometimes. I do. The difference is I build in buffers. Conservative ARVs. Aggressive rehab.


Enough spread to survive being wrong.


That’s how deals actually get done.


If you want to see exactly how this plays out step by step, I broke this deal down in the video below!


Watch it if you want to stop overthinking numbers and start locking up more contracts.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 47