In this raw, fast-paced episode, The Bow Tie Attorney sits down with Dane from Property Pals USA, a high-volume Chicago wholesaler who has lived through both multi-million-dollar years and seasons that went painfully in the red. Together they unpack what really happens when you move from hustling a few deals to running an operation with staff, systems, marketing, and investors who expect you to perform even when the market shifts.
Dane’s story starts far from Chicago. He grew up as a military kid on bases overseas, where his parents drilled into him that the world does not owe you anything. If you want something, you work for it. By his early teens, he was mowing lawns to buy his own cartouche necklace, learning that effort could be traded for the life he wanted.
That mindset followed him through college, bartending, and months of backpacking and odd jobs abroad. Eventually, it led him into real estate, where the same “go work for it” instinct pushed him into wholesaling distressed properties instead of waiting for a safe corporate career to appear.
Hustle can open doors, but if you never build structure around it, the business will eventually hit back.
In this episode, Mahmoud and Dane trace that path from teenage side jobs to running a wholesale shop that touches dozens of properties a year. They talk about the parts of the journey that never make it into highlight reels: anxiety, bad spending habits, messy deals, and the uncomfortable realization that hustle alone is not enough to keep a growing operation alive.
If your deal involves heirs, old court orders, code violations, tax sales, or foreclosure timelines, guessing your way through the closing can be expensive. EV Häs, LLC can review the contract, title status, and court posture and outline your realistic options before you burn time and relationships on a broken structure.
This episode is for investors, wholesalers, and small business owners who feel like they are sprinting from fire to fire. In plain language, Mahmoud and Dane walk through what wholesaling actually is, how distressed deals really work, and what changes when you stop thinking of yourself as a solo hustler and start building a repeatable machine.
You will hear how marketing, KPIs, staffing, and legal risk all collide in a high-volume shop—and why ignoring any one of those pieces can turn a profitable year into a painful one. The conversation is honest about mistakes but also focused on solutions that protect both people and deals.
At its core, Property Pals USA is a wholesale company that focuses on sellers who need a real solution, not a perfect listing. They reach out to owners in tough situations, put properties under contract at a price that still leaves room for an investor, and then assign those contracts to buyers who can actually close and take on the project.
Good wholesale deals work only when the seller, the investor, and the legal side are all aligned.
That is where EV Häs, LLC often steps in: to clean up title, sort out court issues, and make sure the closing is legally solid instead of just fast.
Dane is candid about the reputation wholesalers have. People assume you are there to lowball and disappear. Inside Property Pals, he frames the mission differently: helping people help themselves when they feel out of options. By the time many sellers reach his team, they have already been ignored or dismissed by agents, investors, or even family.
When you are someone’s last phone call, they do not need a lecture—they need a clear, honest path forward.
Mahmoud backs that up from the legal chair. In some joint cases, he has had to tell sellers and investors that a deal simply cannot close yet because the title is too broken. Together, the law office and Property Pals share a simple philosophy: no shaming clients for how they got here, solve problems with competence and compassion, and get people from point A to point B with their dignity intact.
As your volume grows, so does your legal risk. Our team helps Chicago-area investors and wholesalers tighten up assignments, JV agreements, disclosures, and workflows so your systems protect you instead of quietly exposing you.
On paper, the company’s numbers have looked impressive at times: strong revenue, a growing team, renovated office space, and marketing across cold calls, mail, TV, and online ads. But there was also a year when the books swung hard the wrong way and the business suddenly found itself deep in the red.
Dane walks through what that felt like—panic, sleepless nights, and the realization that a packed pipeline full of thin or bad deals is not a blessing. It is a liability. They had too much overhead, too many flips tying up cash, and not enough focus on the core wholesale engine that actually worked.
The transition from “I do deals” to “we run an operation” is where many businesses break. The ones that survive rebuild on purpose.
Property Pals’ deal flow is powered by data and discipline, not just charisma. They lean on predictive lists, cold-calling teams, and constantly tested mail to reach owners who are most likely to need help. Because they work in heavily Spanish-speaking counties, bilingual staff in the office and on the phones are a competitive advantage rather than a nice-to-have.
Mahmoud ties this back to legal work: the same respect for time and priorities shows up in court deadlines, title clearance tasks, and negotiations that can make or break a distressed deal.
Both Dane and Mahmoud see AI less as a toy and more as infrastructure. Property Pals uses it to analyze large lead lists, spot patterns, and pressure-test comps before committing to deals. EV Häs, LLC uses AI to organize complex case files, timelines, and documents so the legal team can focus on strategy instead of manual sorting.
AI will not close your deals or argue your motions—but it can give you cleaner information so your human decisions are sharper.
When they look at the next market cycle, Dane is cautious but not hopeless. He expects slower deals, more price pressure, and a clear separation between operators who know their numbers and their contracts versus those who try to wing it. In that environment, sloppiness gets punished quickly.
For investors, wholesalers, and heirs who are already stuck in a “hairy” situation—title problems, foreclosure timelines, tax sales, or old court orders—the message is simple: do not force a broken deal to closing. Get a legal triage first. That is where EV Häs, LLC comes in, turning chaotic facts into a realistic, defensible plan.
Whether you are behind on payments, inheriting a property you do not want, or overwhelmed by paperwork, you do not have to choose between doing nothing and taking the first offer. EV Häs, LLC can walk you through your legal options so you can exit with as much dignity and value as possible.
These answers are general education, not legal advice. Every transaction has its own contracts, court history, and risks. Talk with a licensed Illinois attorney about your specific situation before making decisions.
Property Pals USA is a wholesale real estate company. They contract directly with motivated or distressed sellers at a price that still leaves room for an investor, then assign that contract to an end buyer for a fee. The end investor closes on the property, the seller gets paid, and the company earns the spread between the two prices.
EV Häs, LLC represents buyers, sellers, investors, heirs, and sometimes wholesalers when a deal becomes legally complex. That can include clearing title problems, resolving old divorce or probate issues, addressing foreclosures and tax sales, negotiating around code violations, and making sure the closing is legally enforceable and properly documented.
You have the right to ask questions, request written terms, and get independent legal advice before signing anything. A reputable investor or wholesaler should be transparent about the numbers and timelines.
Our office can review your contract, your equity position, and your legal options so you understand what you are giving up—and what alternatives you may still have.
Call as soon as you see red flags: heir disputes, missing spouses on title, old divorce judgments, incomplete probate, foreclosure deadlines, redemption periods, tax sales, or significant code violations. The earlier legal issues are identified, the more options you have to restructure, renegotiate, or exit the deal without burning bridges.
AI cannot replace licensed professionals, but it can dramatically improve research and organization. Investors use AI tools to sort large data sets, estimate values, and prioritize leads. Law firms can use AI to organize documents, timelines, and case facts so attorneys can spot patterns and plan strategy faster.
The key is to treat AI as support for human judgment, not as a substitute for legal analysis or professional advice.
In many cases, it is not too late—but timing is critical. If you inherited a property with unclear paperwork, start by gathering deeds, tax bills, mortgage statements, and any court documents you can find. If a foreclosure has already been filed, there may still be options such as a sale, short sale, negotiated workout, or other loss-mitigation tools.
The sooner an attorney reviews your docket, deadlines, and equity, the more realistic options you will have.
Tell us what notice you received or your next court date. We’ll confirm where you are in the process and recommend your strongest next move—without panic or guesswork.
We typically respond the same business day or the next business day.
