The average Texas real estate conference speaker has three things to sell you before they hit the stage: credibility, hope, and a $10,000 program. Black Sheep runs the other direction — operators with real deals, no product pitches from the mic, and training you can use the following week.
But even a no-BS event is worthless if you show up without a plan. Here’s how to walk into Houston with an agenda and walk out with a deal structure that actually fits a real lead.
Step 1: Register Before the Price Goes Up — $249 Is Not a Standing Offer
StepStone agents get in at $249 for the full two-day event. Sept 26–27, Houston. There’s a one-day option if your schedule won’t bend, but it means choosing between Alan Seschger’s sub-2 session and his novations and JV agreement session — and those two are deliberately sequenced. Each one builds on the other. Splitting them costs you more than half the value.
The mistake that blows this step: Treating the price as flexible. You’ll pay more closer to the event, or find it sold out. Register now. The people who get the most out of training are the ones who were committed before the week of.
Step 2: Know Your Sub-2 Baseline Before Alan’s First Session
If you walk into Alan Seschger’s subject-to session cold, you’ll burn the first 20 minutes just catching up on mechanics while everyone else is already absorbing deal-specific lessons.
The one number that anchors a sub-2 deal: the spread between the seller’s existing PITI and the market rent on that property. A seller who locked in at 3.5% back in 2020 and sits on a property that rents for $400 above their monthly payment gives you positive cash flow from day one — without refinancing, without new debt, without waiting for appreciation. That spread is the deal. Know it before Alan starts.
The mistake that blows this step: Confusing equity with motivation. Sub-2 works when the seller has a low-rate note AND a reason to move quickly. High equity plus no urgency equals a listing. Know the difference before the first session and you’ll catch the nuance instead of chasing the basics.
Step 3: Use the Novation Session to Capture the Leads Sub-2 Can’t Close
Sub-2 is not a universal tool. If a seller needs their equity proceeds to buy their next house, handing you the deed solves exactly nothing for them. A meaningful chunk of distressed leads — the sellers who need near-retail money — will never qualify for subject-to.
That’s what novations close. With a novation structure, the seller nets 10–20% more than a standard cash offer because the property goes to MLS and gets market exposure. You earn a spread through the process. It’s a different seller profile, not a consolation prize.
Alan’s second session covers novations and JV agreements back-to-back, which is the right sequence. You walk out with two fully loaded tools and a clear mental model of which one fits which lead.
The mistake that blows this step: Filing novations under “backup plan.” If you treat it as what you do when sub-2 fails, you’ll fumble the leads it’s actually designed for. It has its own ideal seller. Learn that profile.
Step 4: Go to the Apartment Syndication Sessions Even If You’re Not a Syndicator
The apartment sessions at Black Sheep aren’t cheerleading. They’re a breakdown of what’s actively going wrong for investors in that space and how to avoid walking into the same wall.
Here’s the real situation right now: a wave of 2021–2022 syndicators used short-term bridge debt assuming they’d refinance into permanent loans once they stabilized. When rates jumped, those refi projections vaporized. Some deals are sitting on 60–90-day extension requests before forced sales begin. That’s distress. Distress is where creative finance deals live.
The mistake that blows this step: Only attending sessions that match your current strategy. The syndicator who tells you what blew up their deal will give you intelligence a wholesaler seminar never touches.
Step 5: Build a Lead List in the 48 Hours After the Event — Not a Project Plan
Convention energy has a half-life of about 48 hours. By Wednesday most people are back to normal operations, and the training starts fading into “I should really do something with that.”
The one action between Houston and home: build a list of 15–20 leads that match the deal profiles you now understand better. Not a CRM audit, not an automation setup — a list. Properties or sellers that fit the sub-2 spread criteria or the novation seller profile. Concrete names, zip codes, situations.
The mistake that blows this step: Organizing your notes. Notes are not leads. A list is not a deal either, but it is the next physical thing standing between you and one.
Step 6: Make One Call Monday Morning — Exactly One
Monday is where 90% of post-event momentum goes to die. The inbox fills back up, the calendar takes over, and Houston feels like a different week.
One call. One person in your network who knows the zip code you’re targeting. Tell them what you picked up at Black Sheep Convention. Ask if they’ve seen anything that fits the sub-2 or novation profile. That five-minute conversation moves faster than four hours of “implementing systems.”
The mistake that blows this step: Treating Monday as Launch Day. One call is implementation. Everything else is planning to plan.
Two days, Houston, Sept 26–27. Nobody on that stage is selling you a program. Just operators who’ve run these deals, telling you what actually worked and what blew up.
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