Real Estate Pros · September 16, 2026 · 20 min listen

Cold Calling for Real Estate Deals: AJ Modig’s Proven Strategy

With AJ Modig

Show summary

In this episode, AJ Modig shares his extensive experience in real estate, covering topics from probate and foreclosure strategies to rental investments and flipping. Discover actionable insights for both new and seasoned investors looking to grow their portfolios and navigate market challenges.

Key takeaways

AJ built his 35+ year real estate career primarily by cold calling foreclosure and pre-foreclosure leads, which he says are easy to source since about a hundred companies sell those lists.
He has paid as little as $1,000 to $2,500 for inherited properties from heirs who live 400-2,000 miles away and just want the headache gone, even when some of those properties had real equity.
Using the 70% rule as an investor, he says it's easy to get 30-40% off probate and foreclosure properties, and not unheard of to get 50% off.
He turned several acquired homes into Airbnbs that generated $8,000-$10,000 a month during strong short-term rental markets in Las Vegas and San Diego, and also built a house on land in Uruguay that paid for itself over about 15 years.
A real estate nightmare: a buyer's agent convinced him to let a 'buyer' rent a Skye Canyon, Las Vegas probate flip before closing; the buyer's financing kept falling through, he eventually stopped paying rent, and it took 8-9 months to evict him during COVID. AJ later found the same buyer had pulled this scheme two or three times before.
He expects the next five years to be strong for picking up rentals by taking over properties subject to existing 2.5-3% mortgages from owners who can no longer afford payments; he's working on one deal where the owner owes $850,000 on a house worth $650,000-$700,000, which he plans to convert into a PadSplit.
His advice for new agents and investors: cold call consistently at least five days a week, two to four hours a day, stay in touch with past clients, and ask everyone you talk to for referrals even if you can't help them right now.

In this episode

About AJ Modig

AJ Modig is a California real estate broker who has been licensed since 1989, operating from San Diego up to Redding, California, and across the border into the Las Vegas, Nevada market. He built his business primarily through cold calling foreclosures, pre-foreclosures, and probate leads, has worked as an REO agent, and runs bearstaterealty.com in San Diego and callaj.com in Las Vegas. He is also a broker associate with REAL Broker in Nevada and his Zillow profile shows over 200 closed properties over more than 20 years.

Listen to the audio

“I can’t tell you, I’ve actually been given more homes than most people have bought in their life. And by given, I mean I’ve paid a thousand to twenty five hundred dollars for dozens of homes over the years.”
AJ Modig

“As an investor, we have like the 70% rule. It’s pretty easy to get 30% off. It’s pretty easy to get 40% off. It’s not unheard of to get properties for 50% off.”
AJ Modig

“I’ve done really well and I don’t need to retire on every single project.”
AJ Modig

cold callingprobate leadsforeclosures and REOsubject-to dealsPadSplit conversionsAirbnb/short-term rentalsSan Diego real estateLas Vegas real estateshort saleswholesaling to agents

Questions answered in this episode

How much of a discount can you get on probate and foreclosure properties?

AJ Modig says using the 70% rule, it's pretty easy to get 30-40% off, and not unheard of to get properties for 50% off, especially from heirs who inherited a property and just want to be rid of the headache.

What is the best way for a new real estate agent or investor to build a client base?

AJ recommends cold calling consistently, at least five days a week, two to four hours a day. He also stresses keeping in touch with past clients and asking everyone you talk to, even ones you can't help, for referrals.

Where do you get lists for foreclosures and probates to cold call?

AJ says the list for foreclosures is easy to get, there are probably a hundred companies that sell it. He built his business by cranking out calls 2-4 hours a day to find motivated sellers and heirs who don't want the property they inherited.

What is AJ Modig's outlook on real estate for the next five years?

He expects a phenomenal time to pick up rentals, particularly by taking over properties subject to existing 2.5-3% mortgages from owners who can't afford their payments. He's currently working on two such deals, including one where the owner owes $850,000 on a house worth $650,000-$700,000, which he plans to convert into a PadSplit.

Why do heirs sell inherited properties for a discount instead of listing them?

AJ explains that many heirs already own their own home and live 400-2,000 miles away from the inherited property, so they have no skin in the game and view it as a headache they want solved quickly. He estimates only about 20% of the people he talks to actually want to list and get top dollar; the rest just want cash and to be done with it.

Resources and links

Bear State Realty’s Website
AJ Modig’s Website
AJ Modig’s Email Address: AJModig@yahoo.com
AJ Modig’s Phone: 702-343-7777
AJ Modig on Facebook
AJ Modig on LinkedIn
AJ Modig on Zillow

Full transcript

AJ Modig (00:00)

And if there’s cash, they’re like happy to get some. I can’t tell you, I’ve actually been given more homes than most people have bought in their life. And by given, I mean I’ve paid a thousand to twenty five hundred dollars for dozens of homes over the years. That some had equity, some didn’t. The ones that didn’t have equity and wouldn’t cash flow, I’d sell for a short sale commission. And then some I used as Airbnbs and made eight to ten thousand dollars a month for.

years while the BNB market was really strong here in Vegas and San Diego and also Uruguay. I bought a bought some land, built a house down there, and it was it paid for itself for about 15 years.

Issa Hanna (02:10)

Welcome back to another episode of The Real Estate Pros. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I have AJ Modig with us to share his knowledge. AJ, welcome to the show.

AJ Modig (02:18)

Thanks, Issa. How are ya?

Issa Hanna (02:19)

I am super good, super excited to have you. we were talking earlier, wealth of knowledge. You’re a California broker.

AJ Modig (02:26)

I’d

say within three months I had my I was in school, I was taking the classes to get my real estate license. Shortly thereafter, I got my license and just been having fun with it ever since.

Issa Hanna (02:39)

I love that. yeah, you get bit by the bug. you enjoy the business, you enjoy working from your home, being your own boss, putting your own schedule together. It’s a grind to get clientele, but once you’re there and you have a steady flowing business, definitely a great rewarding job. And now been in it since eighty-nine. but today you’ve sold from San Diego, you said, all the way up to Redding.

and even across the border in Nevada. So you kinda can you kinda tell us how you you got your story? how’d you get your first clients and how’d you how’d you climb the ladder of California? How’d you go from south to north?

AJ Modig (03:12)

That’s actually easy. I primarily target foreclosures, pre-foreclosures. I was doing REO for a long time and I know that they’re usually a good opportunity for an investor because not only am I broker, but I’m an investor. And I saw some of the deals that the brokers and buyers were able to get from us as an REO agent. And I decided I wanted to

Circumvent well, what I heard is that foreclosures, banks lose more money on a foreclosure than a short sale. So the my idea was to try and help save the banks some money and get a good deal and circumvent the massive competitiveness that there was for a while with trying to buy a foreclosure from an agent that had gotten the REO from the bank.

And so yeah, I the list for foreclosures is easy to get. There’s probably a hundred companies that sell it. And if you’re good on the phone, just crank out calls like we do two to four hours a day, then you’ll get motivated sellers, you’ll get heirs of people who have no idea what to do with the house that they’re, Aunt Tilly left them and they don’t want it.

years while the BNB market was really strong here in Vegas and San Diego and also Uruguay. I bought a bought some land, built a house down there, and it was it paid for itself for about 15 years.

Issa Hanna (05:00)

Wow. Yeah. And that’s the beauty of real estate is if you have the knowledge like you do, like a real estate professional, like our investors that watch the show, you can speculate almost to a T, like, okay, I can I can buy this piece of property in South America and and basically have it pay for itself and even cash flow and have a place to go, in South America, all around the world. So it’s a great luxury to have, but it doesn’t come without

traveling that wrong or long hard road. And with that, I wanna get something we all have as real estate professionals. The real estate nightmare. Give me one that happened to you since eighty nine to all the way till now. one that sticks out.

AJ Modig (06:28)

That’s so easy. we bought a we bought a great property up in Skye Canyon here in Las Vegas. I guess it was it was a probate. We took over the existing three and a half percent interest rate mortgage. And the it was it was supposed to be a flip. And the thing that happened is we got a very convincing

buyer’s agent. It’s like, yeah, I’ve got this golden client. And, they want to, they want to buy the house. And so we went under contract and he’s like, yeah, he’s going to close. but he needs to, he needs a couple, he needs like a month or so. He can he move into the property. Can he rent it from you before we close? And I’ve never had a problem like this before. So I was like, sure, we can cash flow it while we’re waiting. he moved in.

And it was just one problem after another, whether they were fabricated or not, the buyer had loan issues that just kept popping up one after another. We’d clear he’d clear one. And to make a long story short, when I decided I didn’t want to be in escrow with him anymore, he stopped paying. And COVID was already in process. So it took eight or nine months to get him out. no, more, no rent payments and

when I looked him up in in hindsight, he’s done this two or three times before. And his name was no. anyway, so yeah, that’s my that’s my one of my biggest real estate nightmares. other than maybe losing ten or twenty thousand dollars on one or two houses, I don’t have any real nightmares other than tenants.

And even the other tenant nightmares are just like, my partners and I have had renters so long we’ve actually had two people die in our units after being there over a decade. And not really a nightmare, but just not the funnest thing to deal with.

Issa Hanna (08:13)

Definitely, yeah. as somebody who owns a lot of rentals, I’ve had a couple of people die in my units as well, long term rentals. yeah, sometimes you can have those tenant nightmares, those long evictions, especially during the COVID times. Yeah. my goodness. And if and if you’re mortgaged on the property, forget about it. I mean, it’s like it’s like you’re you want to pull your hair out, you’re losing tons of money. And here’s a tip from me as a former

Buyer’s agent of over 250 first-time home buyers. agents at home, vet your clients. Make sure these this paperwork, this documentation they’re bringing you is correct because then you’re gonna you’re, gonna waste a lot of time and you’re gonna put a lot of egg on your face in your own community. people are not gonna take you seriously. and somebody like AJ, he does a lot of business in this market. So next time he sees your name.

He’s probably not going to look at your offer seriously. So just the word of wisdom from a former old agent. yeah. definitely and then I wanna I wanna lean into the probates and the foreclosures. And you touched on it for a little bit. I just want you to give your knowledge now to my viewers about how good, how much percentage, how much of a discount you can probably get by picking up.

by getting good at picking these type of deals up.

AJ Modig (09:30)

as an investor, we have like the 70% rule. it’s pretty easy to get seven, it’s pretty easy to get 30% off. It’s pretty easy to get 40% off. It’s not unheard of to get properties for 50% off. and as an agent, I literally tell the people I’m buying properties.

what their property’s worth, what they need to do to get top dollar, how to be a non-skeezy, agent. And they still they’re like, yeah, thank you. show me the money. And like, okay. And everything I do is in writing. So yeah, it’s it’s an interesting situation. People who are inheriting properties, they have no skin in the game.

A lot of times they own their own home already and they live, 400 to 2,000 miles away. They just don’t care. it’s like this is a headache for them. And I’m happy to solve their problem. A lot of them, I mean actually not all, but there’s a there’s a percentage, maybe twenty percent that actually want to list the property and get the top dollar for the property. but they’re the exception, not the rule. And I’m happy to help them too.

I’m happier to help them. I like, I like having that balance. I’ve done really well and I don’t need to retire on every single project.

Issa Hanna (10:40)

Definitely. And there’s not that many people operating in that space, in the probate space. So somebody like you who’s been operating in it for so long, I mean, you’re probably one of the foremost people to come to in the in the nation, let alone in the California and the Vegas market. So and yeah, I could definitely see that. you own a property 500 miles away that you’ve inherited, there’s property taxes on it.

This property may come with violations if it’s a residential thing, It’s on you. It becomes a headache to you. So I can imagine people wanting to get rid of the headache, and that’s where you come in and you’re almost like an angel swooping down like, Hey, I’ll give you some money for this headache of yours, So yeah, and that’s an amazing business model. Yeah, definitely. future now. Let’s talk future. I’m gonna look you up in five years, AJ.

Where am I gonna see you at?

AJ Modig (12:11)

boy. back in San Diego. a lot more rentals because over the next five years it’s going to be a phenomenal time to pick up rentals, especially if you’re going in and picking them up subject to the existing mortgage or assuming, these two and a half, three percent mortgages. And I hate to I hate it, but there are just so many people who can’t afford who are

not being able to afford their mortgage right now. And I like I’ve literally working on two properties where again, I just I’ll give them a small amount of money because property is upside down. And they’re just going to walk away, sign it over. And I’ll turn them into PadSplits or whatever type of whatever type of scenario works.

one of them’s highly leveraged. They owe like 850,000 and it’s worth 650 or seven. But it’s a big house. And have you done have you worked on or interviewed anybody who does PadSplit? Okay, so I’ve never done it before, but I can see that I can see the opportunity with this particular house to get into that space.

Issa Hanna (13:14)

Definitely. And that’s what I love about you, about operators like you that are, so knowledgeable is real estate, we got to pivot, right? there was this huge boom post COVID, 21, 22, 23. interest rates were still low. There were so many buyers on the market. There were so many sellers selling out for such crazy prices. In some markets, 30% higher than they are right now.

that yeah there is a foreclosure market ahead it’s already started if you can get into this foreclosure market and you can maneuver you can pick up a lot of good deals coming up in the future so amazing knowledge amazing strategy you’re giving my viewers right now I feel like we should be paying you AJ for all this.

AJ Modig (13:57)

I did says sure.

Issa Hanna (13:59)

I wanna pick your brain about one piece of advice for my younger viewers, for my new guys, my new investors, my new realtors, my new professionals. our business is all about establishing relationships, connections, growing your network. you get nowhere without a good network. So for the person just starting off, and maybe they just got their real estate license and they’re like, Okay, I know what the square foot of an acre is, but I don’t know anything else,

Where would they start establishing these relationships?

AJ Modig (14:25)

Well, if they were if I was doing it, if I was just starting out, I would definitely do a lot of cold calling. It’s what I’ve done, it’s what I do. And even today we’ll make phone calls when I’m done here today. And I’ll make an appointment or two for today and tomorrow and

Keep in touch with those clients that you help out. Ask, those clients, and the people who you get a get to talk to, but don’t that you can’t help them or they’re not ready. Ask them for referrals. yeah, it’s all, that and then be consistent, five days a week at least, two to four hours a day at least. and you’ll be, you’ll be very successful.

Issa Hanna (15:02)

Definitely, guys. real estate agents, what? We are real estate people. We don’t want to work for anybody else. So what we do is we we trade that forty hours of working for somebody else for eighty hours a week of working for ourselves. So Absolutely. you bring that mentality, you’re gonna be successful in the game. just like AJ is. AJ, if people wanted to get a hold of you, they wanted to use your services. I mean, just bringing you on the show talking to you,

I mean all the deals, all the knowledge that you bring, why wouldn’t the California market and the Vegas market want to get a hold of you and have you represent them? Where could they reach you?

AJ Modig (15:38)

Well, yeah, I’m easy. If you look me up AJ Modig on Google, the probably the best profile to pop click on would be the Zillow profile. It sh it shows 200 properties that I’ve closed over the last, 20 plus years. And it’s got all my contact information. It’s AJ Modig at Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, you name it, I’ve got them.

My company in San Diego in California is bearstaterealty.com And it’s callaj.com in Las Vegas. So you can always look me up that way. But if you just Google AJ Modig, I’ll be happy to you’ll get my information. I’ll be happy to chat with you. I’ve worked with and helped a lot of younger agents and older agents who just don’t know what to do. I’ve got a team of people that call for me right now.

I’m actually looking for some more people who want to learn how to cold call and are looking to prospect for a commission. I’d be happy to do that with pretty much anybody. I have a partner who he worked for the number one team here in Vegas, in California, in Nevada for a while.

And he was their number one caller. He would typically do two or three times what the rest of the team would do on a daily basis. He would set three to nine appointments in a day. And yeah, I mean, he’s a he’s a coach. He likes doing what he does. And it would be great to find some people here in Nevada, California that are looking to do that. Also, I’m with

I actually am with REAL Broker in Nevada, even though I’m a broker sale broker salesman or broker associate. I can work with agents anywhere in the country and can Canada even. So yeah, if you’re a new agent, you’re looking to switch to a different company, get some great training, feel free to give me a call. 702-343-7777.

Issa Hanna (17:26)

Wow. super easy to get a hold of AJ, you guys. That’s how he’s been in the game for a long time. He knows how to move in our space. So make sure you guys contact him because it I mean, he’s bringing such a wealth of knowledge that a lot of agents just don’t carry. he’s done a lot of things that a lot a lot of agents just haven’t done. So he can definitely help you guys. So make sure you contact him. AJ, thank you so much for coming on the show.

we’re all out of time for today. I’d like to invite you back on the show for a different day if you if you have us.

AJ Modig (17:56)

I will come back anytime you want, Issa.

Issa Hanna (17:58)

Thank you so much. I super enjoyed talking to you and to my viewers at home. If you enjoyed my conversation with AJ and want to see more like it, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until next time. go ahead, AJ.

AJ Modig (18:15)

No, love it. Appreciate you. Thanks so much.

Issa Hanna (18:17)

Thank you so much. and until next time, guys, The Real Estate Pros are out.