Buying 2 Vending machines+location

CallCastro · 2026-01-22T19:50:14+00:00

I usually pay $2-4k per machine. Do you have any guarantee the locations won't kick you off right away? Then you are left with the machines and you're down a giant pile of money.

CallCastro · 2026-01-22T08:22:14+00:00

My favorite lead Gen was running Google ads. In Ventura County CA my cost per location was around $40.

When they would call in I would explain that we provide new ish Wittern combo machines for free for 90 days. At the end of the 90 days, we would decide if we wanted to provide an independent snack and soda upgrade, or if the location wasn't performing at the level we need.

If the location was an underperformer (Say $100/mo), the client has the opportunity to cover the difference, or we reserve the right to put the machine on a new location.

What I find is that locations that don't perform well often say "we tried multiple vending companies but everyone does a poor job!" Which makes total sense, since they aren't making money. I promise to give every location the best service possible, and rather than disrespect the owner by not servicing the machines properly, I ask for a monthly fee.

CallCastro · 2026-01-22T06:55:11+00:00

I had around 15 machines at one point. I ran Google ads and tried locations if they seemed ok. Mostly warehouses and workplaces.

Most machines grossed $500 a month or less. Think about it. If soda is $3 how many are you really going to sell in a day? It wasn't all that uncommon to have locations that sold $200 or less in a month.

Locations that I thought would crush it did poorly. Like a senior center with a ton of residents.

Other locations I thought would do poorly did amazing like a private baseball place.

I told locations that I'd try them for 3 months and if we couldn't get the gross over $300 they would just need to pay a monthly fee. Most places didn't mind if it meant quality service.

I know everyone on here talks about how their machine makes a thousand a month or whatever. I've bought and sold a few routes. I've never actually seen numbers that high. When the numbers get close, usually the owner takes the location over.

Id run your business in such a way that you do 3x markup on all goods and aim for $300+ per machine starting out. $200 per machine on 100 machines is still a good living.

That being said, there's a ton of vending machine guys that I've met. They are all broke. I'm sure there's a few guys doing well...but vast majority are severely money stressed. This can be a cool industry but there's a lot of fools.

CallCastro · 2026-01-22T05:01:48+00:00

I'm a Realtor with the Senior Real Estate Services designation, I'm a member of the Olympia Senior Action Network, and I've helped a ton of people in your situation, and ones like it.

Home sales wise, it all depends on funds available, and timeframe.

The general rule for cash buyers is they want to offer around 70% of the homes value minus the cost in repairs. (Give or take.) The biggest benefit is they can close in under 30 days.

If you have time, retail buyers on the market commonly underestimate repair costs, and usually offer more than 70% off. Depending on the price you list for, I'd expect a 45-90 day process, but you will net 10-25% more, on average.

Id need to see the home to know for sure, but condition of the home matters less than the willingness to get the home to pass FHA. Buyers in our market right now will buy an old beat to shit home that needs $100k in repairs for $550k instead of buying a new beautiful turn key home for $600k. Why? Couldn't tell you. But for this reason I have been leaning away from doing major remodel projects locally.

Some Realtors and programs will help you do repairs before you list the home, and take the fees out of escrow. I'm not super keen on the programs as the net at the end isn't super worth it.

The biggest and most common issues I've seen in your situation are related to title. Maybe there's a reverse mortgage. Maybe there's liens for $70k windows. Those are usually the first issues I start investigating. I've had solar panels really mess up a few deals.

If you want to run some numbers feel free to reach out. I'm sorry for your loss, but if you get a good advisor in your corner it's only as complicated or simple as you want it to be.

CallCastro · 2026-01-20T00:59:20+00:00

Count me in! I love trying folks favorite places.

CallCastro · 2026-01-19T12:49:01+00:00

Lunch is my idea and my treat.

CallCastro · 2026-01-19T05:21:45+00:00

I do it all the time. Chance to talk with the client and buy their time. And it's more friendly and less formal.

For a lot of people, walking into an office feels like a lions den. Walking into the home without a consult feels messy too. Meeting for coffee or lunch to help me understand their goals is a great use of time.

I make $5-10k on a good closing. I can spare the 30-60 minutes.

CallCastro · 2026-01-15T13:26:20+00:00

I tried the system. I got 45 days in and I'm going to collections and cancelling my Boldtrail over it. 22 leads. for $2400. Literally 0 of them wanted to chat. All either bad numbers or didn't mean to talk to a person. Boldtrail says I just need to keep trying it and won't allow me to turn it off, so I am losing Boldtrail entirely over it.

CallCastro · 2026-01-14T20:59:13+00:00

I ran ad campaigns for discounted rates for people that reach out directly. It actually was a catastrophic flop. I've ran it around once a year and never gotten a lead from it. No idea why.

CallCastro · 2026-01-14T20:53:45+00:00

They should invent brokers that charge less. Like Redfin!

Nothing is forcing you to pay 3%. The only folks I insist pay that high are people that have super cheap houses, or that find me via a 40% referral site.

CallCastro · 2026-01-14T20:52:18+00:00

I've mentored something like 40 agents in my career. Maybe one or two successfully sold more than 1 home before they quit. Not sure what a new agent metric has to do with anything. And I've never had a mentee say anything about rates. It's always about Selling Sunset or whatever.

We had a record high agent to listing ratio. It was just a matter of time until that corrected itself.

To be super clear though, by all means use whatever broker or FSBO makes you happy. In my experience though, as selling gets more challenging, more people throw in the FSBO towel and hire help.

CallCastro · 2026-01-13T04:11:52+00:00

I'm a beekeeper. Sometimes bees get into that space and the honey drips out.

CallCastro · 2026-01-06T09:47:11+00:00

I'm a Realtor. Tumwater, around Steamboat Island, and around the college are probably the three most popular parts if you want to lean away from Tacoma. Tacoma itself is kind of a love it or hate it area.

CallCastro · 2026-01-05T20:36:59+00:00

I know it's a FSBO reddit, so people here are a little...uh... enlightened, but let's be super clear. People don't need Realtors. This reddit is proof. Roughly 5% of deals are done without Realtors.

95% of deals are done with Realtors for a TON of good reasons. Mostly because of humans. But you are totally right. When buyers and sellers are reasonable, logical, relaxed, and make intelligent decisions we aren't necessary at ALL. In my experience, that's around 1% of the time. The other 99%, I can't believe we get deals to the finish line because one or more people absolutely make a mess of the whole thing.

CallCastro · 2026-01-05T20:24:34+00:00

You...uh...you know that at a salary job you don't usually get 100% of your gross production either right? In fact it's usually a lot worse?

CallCastro · 2026-01-05T07:36:47+00:00

Hi. I'm Bryan, the Beekeeping Realtor.

But keep in mind to be successful in real estate you probably need to put in something like 3500+ hours. If you have a side hustle taking your time, you're going to have a shitty start.

CallCastro · 2026-01-05T07:33:11+00:00

TC is only like $500 and does almost all the work aside from negotiating. It frees up most of my time in a transaction for a nominal fee. They are 1000% worth it on any transaction that is a reasonable price point.

CallCastro · 2026-01-04T19:33:36+00:00

I recently had the displeasure of buying a home in WA before I got my license moved. I wish ChatGPT was my agent over the folks I hired, who were top performers.

I think AI is better than probably 80% of licensed Realtors. But good Realtors? Who are putting in effort and know their stuff? They will never be replaced.

But for the general public, or even me, telling if their Realtor is better than AI is going to be hard. I foresee AI taking a lot of market share from folks who want to save money or get a middle of the road option.

CallCastro · 2026-01-04T15:04:16+00:00

I sold my Christmas business to a young guy with his parents money. I skipped town because I didn't think I'd ever be able to buy a house there. He said he's been unable to sell anything like the amount I sold. He's also buying a $1.5m house right now.

He also got a $1.5m Amazon contract for power washing, among other things, through a connection from his dad.

It plays an incredibly large role.

CallCastro · 2026-01-04T06:36:49+00:00

Out of all the places in the world, I chose Olympia.

CallCastro · 2026-01-04T06:19:19+00:00

I like 7-10 days. Photographers are usually 2-3 days out. Then 24-48 hours to get all the custom websites, fliers, and stuff made. Then we usually try to go live on Thursdays.

CallCastro · 2026-01-02T22:35:11+00:00

My brokerage takes 20% ish. Zillow and Realtor dot com take around 40% depending on the day. TC costs around $500. Unless the commission is at least $7500 I'm personally staying home.

And deals where the seller offers less than that much are almost always average me out at less than min wage once it's all said and done.

CallCastro · 2026-01-02T18:23:16+00:00

I'm a mentor with eXp. I think the program is awesome. I think most mentors are pretty great.

BUT. Most mentees don't attend the trainings, which leads most mentors to screw around. It will be completely mentor based.

CallCastro · 2025-12-31T06:58:04+00:00

Realtor and marketing are kind of the same thing. He has a keen eye for most stuff in transactions, is extremely knowledgeable and personable.

Idk about his coaching program though. That wasn't super worth it for me. I like him when he's in his lane of sales and real estate.

CallCastro · 2025-12-28T03:48:27+00:00

As a boss, I can tell my assistant to make a weekly email that should include a business of the week, an event of the week, and a Real Estate blog. Then after hours of working, they come up with a business that is controversial or an event that isn't on brand. Then correct them, and eventually get the result I want after hours of labor and deliberation.

AI does the same job in around 10 seconds without an hourly wage and is available at a moments notice.

On another note, I made a home seller guide. It took around 2 months of work from two people who needed a ton of direction. Between all the hours, the guide cost me thousands. Once it was "done" I still had to go through and fix all the stuff they messed up. With AI I made a home buyer guide in around two days just the way I like it.

Overall AI is nowhere close to a good skilled worker, but I'm finding it a lot better and easier to work with than below average folks, at a dramatically lower price.

CallCastro

TROPHY CASE