mtr

REIA Radio's next guest was previously featured on our BPCON 2022 Shorts series. She co-authored a book called The 30 Day Stay with another previous REIA Radio guest Sara Weaver aka Owen's niece. We're talking about none other than Zeona McIntyre, who's taken over the MTR space with her educational tips and tricks & do's and don'ts. Zeona shares her past with Airbnb and why she pivoted to MTR. She also explains what MTR is and a specific niche she's learning and educating people about. And in true Zeona style, she gives out limitless golden nuggets with examples on how to execute particular strategies, even giving some advice to Ted. This is another "get out your pen and paper" episodes - I mean, all if not most of REIA Radio's episodes are like that because we bring the value (and some laughs) both of which you'll find in Episode 76 with Zeona McIntyre. 

You can Join the Omaha REIA at https://omahareia.com/ 

Omaha REIA on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/OmahaREIA 

Check out the National REIA https://nationalreia.org/ 

Find Ted Kaasch at www.tedkaasch.com 

Owen Dashner on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/owen.dashner 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/odawg2424/ 

Red Ladder Property Solutions www.sellmyhouseinomahafast.com 

Liquid Lending Solutions www.liquidlendingsolutions.com 

Owen’s Blogs www.otowninvestor.com 

www.reiquicktips.com 

Zeona McIntyre on IG https://www.instagram.com/zeonamcintyre/ 

BP link to The 30 day Stay https://store.biggerpockets.com/products/30-day-stay 

Sarah Weaver’s REIA Radio Episode Part 1 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reia-radio/id1582763673?i=1000562628026 

Sarah Weaver’s REIA Radio Episode Part 2 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reia-radio/id1582763673?i=1000563049927 

If you like the content on Omaha REIA Radio, Be sure to give us a review on your favorite podcast platform to help others find us and leverage the knowledge and experience our hosts and guests have to offer. We greatly appreciate you for tuning in and see you in the next episode!! 

Hello everyone! This week we're going to talk about a very popular topic, arbitrage. More specifically we are going to focus on MTR arbitrage because that is the realm where the majority of our personal experiences lie. Rental arbitrage has become increasingly popular. It is what we would call a buzzword in the real estate world right now, and for good reason. Let’s dive in!

We do want to note that a lot of this information will also be helpful when it comes to short-term rental arbitrage as well because when it comes to MTR or STR arbitrage, the execution is nearly the same, either way. It can be a great way to first get started in REI and especially so if you don’t have a lot of capital to work with. 
 

What is rental arbitrage?

Rental arbitrage is when you lease a property, then turn around and release it, typically as a mid or short-term rental. Think of it like flipping a lease, except you are the middleman. You are getting the initial lease from the owner, then turning around and releasing it for more money so you are making a profit.
 

What are the benefits of rental arbitrage?

• It requires less capital to start
• There is significantly less risk involved
• They are very easy to start
• Offers a high ROI
• You can choose turnkey properties for quick setup
• You can potentially land properties with low, to no maintenance, that you are responsible for since you do not own the property
   

What are the disadvantages of rental arbitrage?

• No tax benefits since you are not the owner
• Less control over the property
• No control over neighboring tenants
• You are subject to property rules and rent raises by the owner
   

If you are looking for a simple way to get started in REI but have low capital, arbitrage could be an excellent way for you to dip your toe into the industry, before taking the full dive. 

Thanks for tuning in, we’ll catch you in the next WIIRE episode!

Resources:

• Check out Steadily for your REI biz
• Join our private Facebook Community
• Connect with us on Instagram
• Reserve your spot for our retreat in Salt Lake City

Hey everyone! Welcome to the WIIRE podcast. This week we’re super pumped to welcome onto the podcast our friend Hannah McCoy, a real estate investor who has a very unique perspective on the travel nurse industry because Hannah is actually a travel nurse herself! 

As an MTR owner, Hannah is bringing a lot of intel to the table and we are excited for you to meet her and get to know a little bit more about not only her journey in real estate investing but also hear a few trade secrets of the travel nurse industry.

Hannah began investing in February of 2020 with her boyfriend and now owns four duplexes and one single-family property (plus they’re under contract for another) near where they live just north of Pittsburgh, PA. 

As an ER nurse, Hannah wanted to be able to travel and make more money and has been working as a traveling nurse since 2021. She decided to try something new and knew the money you could make as a travel nurse was a huge draw and she was so excited to be able to do something different and keep not one but two income streams. Since 2021 Hannah has gained a lot of experience when it comes to looking for, staying in, and how travel nurses best utilize MTRs, and can offer a unique inside perspective to our audience. 

The travel nurse industry has dramatically changed (and still continues to change) and Hannah is sharing her take as both a travel nurse who stays in MTRs, her perspective as an MTR owner, and the changing seasonality of travel nurses, to help bridge the gap between how we as owners can better understand how travel nurses operate under their contracts and also offer them better services.

If you want to see what Hannah is up to you can subscribe to her YouTube Channel or follow her on Instagram.

Thanks for tuning in, we’ll catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• See what Hannah is up to on Instagram
• Check out Hannah’s YouTube Channel
• Check out Steadily for your REI biz
• Join our private WIIRE Facebook Community
• Connect with us on Instagram
• Reserve your spot for our retreat in Salt Lake City

Hello friends! We’re excited to dive into this week’s podcast episode content because it’s another episode that YOU, our amazing listeners, asked for! It also is on our list of most common questions we receive so in this episode we’re sharing exactly what we look for (including red flags) in an investment property. 

For us, knowing what to look in an investment property for has become second nature when we are analyzing deals, but if you are someone who is just starting out you likely have no idea where to even start - and that is totally okay!

First, we’re going to talk about what we look for in single-family properties. Amelia is one who is really never looking for a single-family home, but when she does, give her the smelliest house you can find, especially for those that need cosmetic updates as well. Amelia loves the phrase ‘smells like money’ because even a smell can scare off buyers, and often times it’s not that hard to get rid of odors. 

Grace tends to also look for houses that stink, because again, a smell can be gotten rid of with some work. Also, those tend to have less competition in a buyer pool. Grace also has learned that she now stays away from houses with less-than-desirable layouts or funky driveways, especially when the house is on a busy road. 

We both love houses that are packed full of ‘stuff’. In many cases, buyers can’t see past the junk and all you have to do is remove the junk and there can be so much opportunity behind it. A few other things we stay away from are houses with foundation issues, bad neighbors, and those that are located in less-than-desirable neighborhoods/locations. 

Moving onto multi-family homes, we agree that houses with funky driveways and interior layouts, monster/Frankenstein-converted houses, properties with little to no off-street parking, and common areas to keep clean, are all things we stay far, far away from. 

When we are looking into buying a multi-family property we look for those that are under-managed. Mismanagement is a huge area where you can add value by coming in and really overhauling their units (and business processes) and in turn, raise the rent. For the most part, tenants are okay with the increase in rent because it means you are taking better care of the property. 

When it comes to buying a property, one big red flag we look for as a buyer is if the seller won’t let you see all of the units. In most cases, a seller not letting you see each unit means they aren’t properly being cared for or maintained. However, if you are in the position where you are buying the property and are aware that there are problematic tenants/units, that is a completely different story and you can work with it.

Next, if a seller is unorganized or seemingly hiding their financials, we recommend staying far away from those. With the exception of someone selling a simple duplex, etc., and has no other units, sellers should always be organized and upfront with their financials. The more intricate you get, the better the financials you have to have because there are so many more pieces to the puzzle.
 

​​We would love to hear what you look for when buying/selling your properties and if you have any other questions you’d like us to answer in an upcoming episode! Last, we would also love to have you inside our private Facebook Community where aspiring and existing investors come together, learn, grow and support one another.

We’ll catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Check out Steadily for your REI biz
• Join our private Facebook Community
• Connect with us on Instagram
• Reserve your spot for our retreat in Salt Lake City

Welcome back to another episode of the WIIRE Podcast. We hope everyone had a great New Years and we are so excited to jump into 2023 with all of you! This week on the podcast we are going to talk about some of the mistakes we made in our businesses in 2022 and how we are going to fix them moving into 2023. 
 

Mistake #1: Bookkeeping

This year we both learned exactly how important it is to either outsource your bookkeeping tasks entirely or set yourself up with a strong bookkeeping foundation from the get-go, in your business. Bookkeeping is something that never stops which means that you really need to stay on top of it so you don’t continue to get further and further behind. 

If bookkeeping is just not your jam, we get it. But in this case, we highly recommend outsourcing your bookkeeping early on, to make sure your finances are kept in order, track your expenses, etc., especially come tax season. 

If you plan to track your expenses and manage your books internally, that’s great! But make sure you set yourself up with a strong foundation either by using a bookkeeping platform and setting up a bookkeeping routine you can stick with, or outsourcing setting up your system and having them teach you how to manage it yourself. 
 

Mistake #2: Putting Things On Hold For The Next Big Thing
Long story short, Grace’s deal to purchase the manufacturing business didn’t pan out, and while they were out time and some lawyer fees, the biggest bummer was that they had hit pause on so many things they could have been doing. They could have purchased more rentals, upped their equity, cash flow, etc. Our biggest piece of advice here is to always keep moving. 
 

Mistake #3: Not Having a Daily Routine/ Structure

Being self-employed has amazing perks, one of which is the freedom to design your own lifestyle. The challenge is that it can be super easy to fall into the trap of not getting as much done as you could because you don’t have a daily routine or structure for your day, to allow you to be as productive as you could be.
In 2022, we both learned that by actively blocking our calendars, we were able to be so much more productive. 
 

If you want to deep-dive into your relationship with time management so that you can you can live the life you desire without the stress, join Amanda Boleyn’s live group coaching program, Attention Audit, where she will be teaching her 4 P’s to Effective Time Management. 

Thank you for joining us for our first episode in 2023! Catch you next time!

Resources:

• Join Amanda’s Beta Group Coaching Program Attention Audit
• Connect with us on Instagram
• Reserve your spot for our retreat in Salt Lake City

Hello everyone, welcome back to the WIIRE Podcast! We know you all love hearing about all things MTR so this week we are bringing you another episode about MTR strategy, except this time we are talking about the 5 pitfalls (which we’ve lovingly termed ‘cash-flow-killers’) you’ll definitely want to avoid making with properties in your REI portfolio.  
 

1. Utilities

If you’re not tracking tenant utility usage, you should be. Utilities are typically covered for tenants in mid-term rentals, but you’ll want to make sure that your tenants aren’t going over ‘average’ usage for the utilities. 

We recommend adding a utility addendum to your lease explaining that any overage from the average usage (which can typically be found on your utility company’s website) will be billed back to the tenant. You can also post signs on the doors so when they go to leave the property, they’re reminded to check things like the lights and thermostat, and not leave them in use when they aren’t even home. Lastly, you could invest in a thermostat that you can control remotely and set limits on. 
 

2. Location

C & D class neighborhoods, simply put, are just not recommended for MTRs. Even units in some B-class neighborhoods will sit vacant longer than desired because traveling professionals know what kind of areas to look for and which ones to stay away from. 

Vacant units will always cut into your cash flow, so choose your MTR location very wisely. 
 

3. Noisy Locations

Many MTR tenants are traveling nurses, and as you could guess, work nights (or even around the clock) on some days. Typically they are only in the unit to eat, sleep, and repeat so they want to come home to a quiet space they are comfortable in and aren’t interested in dealing with a noisy neighborhood or noisy neighbors. 


4. Cleaning Fees

This one can be a bit tricky. It’s nice to be able to cover your tenant's cleaning fees - it’s one less thing for them to pay, right? While true, that also cuts into your cash flow.

After covering cleaning fees for quite some time by just charging more for rent, Grace has discovered that she is likely leaving money on the table because it cuts into her cash flow. She realized that she could simply include a cleaning fee, along with the deposit, and tenants are still happy to rent her units, despite the cleaning costs coming out of their pocket. She also realized that for the most part, tenants are used to paying a cleaning fee. 

Amelia collects a deposit to hold the unit, then 1-2 days prior to move-in collects the 1st month’s rent along with the cleaning fee.


5. Not having a detailed list of supplies for your unit.

Do you know exactly how many cups, plates, forks, towels, etc., are in each one of your units? If you don’t you should. Now before we proceed, we will be the first to admit that we have both been super lax here, but it is on both of our ‘goals for 2023’ lists to do a much better job of this one.

Go through your units with a fine tooth comb. By having this list for each unit, when your tenant moves out you know not only needs to be replaced and charged back to the tenant. Keep this list handy for yourself, your cleaner, or your property manager so everyone knows exactly what should be in each unit so you aren’t losing money by keeping your rentals stocked and passing those charges along to the tenant. 

That’s all for this week friends, thank you for joining us. If you have any questions or topics you’d like us to cover shoot us a DM on Instagram!

Catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Join our WIIRE MTR Profit Academy
• See what Amelia is up to on Instagram
• Check out Grace’s updates on Instagram
• Connect with the WIIRE Community on Instagram
• Grab your spot for our retreat in Salt Lake City

Welcome back to another podcast episode! We recently received a great topic request on Instagram to talk about low and no-money-down deals that we’ve each done so this week we are diving into exactly that. In this episode, we will be sharing three examples of deals we’ve done, all real-life examples from our personal portfolios, and we hope they are super helpful and allow you to think outside of the box!

Amelia purchased a single-family home in April 2021 after having found the deal through a local investor she saw working through Facebook Marketplace. But by the time she called him about the deal, it had already sold, so Amelia did a bit of research and found out that the seller owned multiple properties in the area. She reached out to see if he had other properties for sale and offered a package deal for multiple properties. This offer was for a 30-day close on four properties and despite dragging her dad along (kicking and screaming), it was a killer deal.  Amelia and her parents partnered 50/50, but none of them had to come out of pocket for money with their creative financing techniques. 
 

Grace also has done her share of creative financing and on her deal wanted to use instant equity that they were buying into. At the time she had one single-family home that was under construction and wanted to buy two duplexes (four units) for $255,000. 20% Down would have been $51,000, which she absolutely did not have at the age of 23 and only one year into her W-2. Even splitting it 50/50 with her partner wasn’t going to work, but Grace was willing to work some creative financing to make it happen. Grace knew the owner of the four units who had had a wholesaler approach him to purchase the units. Grace convinced the seller to let her look at the unsigned contract and told him, in short, that it was basically a piece of crap, and he should sell to her instead. The good news was that the wholesaler had already worked the seller down to his bottom dollar of $255K. 

Grace called the bank she had used for a previous deal, which turned her down. She called a second bank, one she had been banking with personally, and spoke with the VP directly, who knew Grace and her background well and was willing to take the chance on her deal of 10% down. Being newly employed at the time and her boyfriend being unemployed, Grace turned to her sister to bring her in as a 3rd partner in the deal. Her sister agreed and this allowed Grace’s portion of the down payment to drop from the original amount of $51K to only $8,500. 
 

The final example were going to share is the first (and only) deal Grace and Amelia have partnered on together. In a previous episode you heard us share that we purchased a property in Amelias hometown from one of her friends parents for only $38,940. Having mentioned to the seller about a year prior her interesting buying, the seller remembered that seed Amelia had planted. 

One important thing to note about this deal was that the seller is moving and not taking everything with them, and was moving into an apartment and didn’t need the immediate seller payoff. Amelia and Grace negotiated to pay her one year after closing, so they could fix it up and flip it with no down payment. They planned to do some painting, updated the flooring, and sell it for between $60-70K. During the process, plans changed and they ended up putting a renter into the property, furnished, and with a few other unexpected expenses coming up, they had to do some additional work to refinance the property so Amelia could solely own the property and buy out Grace’s portion. 

A few months in, Amelia refinanced with her local bank to purchase Grace’s portion of the property, which appraised at $65K. To buy out Grace’s portion of the property Amelia partnered with her parents because, despite Amelia financing the down payment, her parents adore the property and would like to flip it when the current tenant moves out. All in all, they were under contract for $38,940 and did a wrap mortgage for the financing, and paid her off in full after the 1-year time period. 
 

One final recommendation…

Don't be afraid to wheel and deal with your bank. Some of them will say no, but some of them also might be interested in what you have to offer, especially if they know that you can get the deal done. So the first deal you do, maybe you won't be able to wheel and deal as much. But as you establish that relationship, just ask and make sure you're exploring all of those options.

We hope you liked the breakdown of these deals. As always, if you have any recommendations for future episodes, feel free to DM us on Instagram. We love getting your requests, and we will catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Grab your spot for our WIIRE retreat in Salt Lake City
• Connect with Amelia & Grace on Instagram

With 2022 drawing to a close, tax season is nearly upon us. This week on the podcast we are joined by our friend, Natalie Kolodij, a Real Estate Tax Strategist who is sharing her expertise with us on what we should be doing to prepare for tax season when it comes to REI. 

Natalie is an IRS Enrolled Agent and Real Estate Tax Strategist who has been working exclusively in real estate since 2014. Natalie is highly specialized in her niche and loves helping people get set up with the right strategies to really work on building their wealth in the most effective way they can.

The first thing we cover in this episode is how you can save on taxes by having your rental property transition (temporarily) to a short-term rental property, before turning it into a long-term or mid-term rental. One of the key things with normal rentals, long-term rentals, or even mid-term rentals, is that they're in the same category for taxes called ‘passive income’ to the government, meaning that you don't pay any payroll taxes on it. But a trade-off there is that when a passive activity like a rental creates a loss, you can't always use it, depending on your circumstances. There are certain circumstances where you can, and some circumstances when you can't. So typically, if your annual income is above $100,000, you might not be able to use that loss. It can always offset other passive income, but not your W-2’s or other income types. It's in its own bucket and that is passive loss limit. You don’t lose it, but rather it carries forward into the next year. 

Short-term rentals are a unique hybrid area where if you have a short-term rental, where the average stay is 7 days or less, then it can qualify as non-passive. By breaching that nonpassive designation, any losses you create are no longer subject to that income limit and there’s no true cap on that. So with a short-term rental, you can do something like utilize cost segregation, where you push some of your depreciation up to the front end, have a big loss in one year, and be able to fully deduct it against your earnings from your W-2 job (or flipping income or any other types of income). It creates a really great loophole. 

In this episode, Natalie shares so many great tips and tricks, just like this, about how to prepare yourself for tax season, find the right accountant for your business, and so much more, in a way to help set you up for a stress-free tax season. She also shares her Year End Tax Prep Checklist for Real Estate Investors with our listeners. 

Want to connect with Natalie or find out more about her current client offerings? Shoot her a DM on Instagram or visit her website to learn more!

Thank you for listening, friends! We’ll catch you in the next episode! 
 

Resources

• Visit Natalie’s Website
• Connect with Natalie on Instagram
• Grab your ticket to our 2023 retreat in retreat in Salt Lake City

Hi everybody, welcome back to the WIIRE podcast! We are so excited to welcome our friend and real estate investor, Jessie Dillon, to the show this week! Jessie is not only a member of the WIIRE Community, but has attended two of our retreats, and today she is going to be telling us all about how she rents out a room in her home as a mid-term rental.

Jessie is based in central Massachusetts and rents out the room in her own home as a house hack, and aside from her REI business she owns a beauty business and is a wife and stepmom. Jessie has grown her REI biz to 5 doors and in 2022 alone grew her portfolio from $0 to $1.5 million!
 

Why rent by the room?

Jessie started investing in real estate in January 2022 and at the time lived in an extremely reasonably priced apartment with a fantastic landlord. While he was a great landlord, he owned multiple properties, causing him to not pay super close attention to each individual property. Jessie decided that she would only move and increase their cost of living if it was the absolutely perfect situation. 

Eventually, Jessie found a duplex property on Zillow that had been listed for roughly one month and was only one mile away from their apartment. After looking at the numbers they went all in on it and by that evening had signed an offer (in a smoothie shop, nonetheless) for the property. It was in a great neighborhood, half of it was newly flipped and the listing agent was also the owner who had done the work. It was so easy - no one else really even needed to be involved. They purchased the property in July and moved in at the end of August. 

Right away they got a long-term tenant for the other half of the duplex and they began tossing around the idea of renting out their guest room as a mid-term rental. They debated whether they wanted to share their personal space with a complete stranger and eventually decided that the potential income it would bring in was too good to pass up and they should at least try it out. Within 6 weeks they had a tenant locked in.

How much does your tenant pay in rent?

Their monthly mortgage payment is $3,850, and between the income from the other half of the duplex and their mid-term tenant, they only have to cover $50 of that monthly mortgage payment. They basically are getting $700 per month of principal paid down, with their $600K asset appreciating (in a high-appreciation state), and them only paying $50 towards the principal interest, taxes, and insurance, it’s just too good of a deal. Jessie and her husband purchased the property for $590K using an FHA loan and also a private investor from their circle.

Next came furnishing the unit. Jessie kept it super simple and while she considered going the normal marketplace route, she opted to go with mostly new items because that way if the in-house mid-term tenant thing didn’t work out, she would at least have a super cute, furnished guest room.

So, how is it working out having someone else live in your space?

Actually, great! She shares our space respectfully and we get along great. They did a full background check, social media search, Facetime calls, formal lease, etc., the same as they would for a short-term tenant or a mid-term tenant in a separate property. It’s been about 6 weeks and she actually might extend it out further. Jessie listed the property on both Airbnb and Furnished Finder. The tenant pays $1,700 per month, which includes everything, including ‘light pet care’ and laundry service since Jessie works from home (creative bonus income!). 

If you want to know about Jessie or connect with her personally, send her a DM on Instagram!

Thank you for joining us this week, we’ll catch you in the next episode!

Resources

• Connect with Jessie on Instagram
• Join us March 2-5, 2023 for our retreat in Salt Lake City
• Find out more about the WIIRE Community

We are back this week with episode 21 of the WIIRE podcast and joining us this week is our friend, Cat Storing who recently joined us at our WIIRE retreat in Orlando. Cat is going to be sharing with us all about her experience in hiring Virtual Assistants (VA) to work on her team. Cat had so much to share and brought an amazing energy to the retreat, and we are so excited to have her on this episode. 
 

All About Cat

Cat is a business coach, is really good with technology (her claim to fame), is an author, hosts the REI Podcast, is excellent at figuring out processes, and is really into real estate investing. And while she loves doing all of the things, she is still just one person, so this is where hiring a VA has come in really handy in her business. She has worked as a personal stylist and also in purchasing and now has transitioned into real estate and business coaching. Cat helps people monetize their expertise and is an amazing resource to so many people. 

Cat’s First VA

When Cat hired her first VA, she was ready to really dive into the world of social media but knew the demands of social media and the dedication it requires. She also knew she couldn’t be doing all of these things, and posting to social media while still working her full-time job. Cat found her first VA (located in India) on UpWork and her specifics was giving the tasks to her VA and having them complete them overnight so that when she got up in the morning she could review them first thing. The problem (that she now realizes) is that she did not manage them well enough and they wound up taking advantage of her. She paid him on a weekly basis and since she wasn’t reviewing the tasks, he quickly figured that out, and simply stopped completing the tasks. 

Now, Cat has learned how to successfully manage her VAs and review their work, prior to submitting payment. Her biggest recommendation for those looking to hire their first VA is to allow them to learn your ways. 

Cat’s Best Tips for Hiring a VA

• Decide exactly what tasks you need to outsource (or what you simply don’t want to do)
• Look for a VA in your niche if you are looking for a real estate VA look for those specifically)
• Once you begin working well together figure out if they are teachable and want to learn more tasks before offloading additional tasks on them
• Have a system in place to review their tasks regularly
• Treat your VA the way you would want to be treated
• Start before you need to hire someone (i.e. NOW!)
• Test the waters with different VAs

If you want to see more about what Cat does, visit her website or connect with her on Instagram. 

Thank you so much for joining us, we’ll catch you in the next episode!

Resources

• Join us March 2-5, 2023 for our retreat in Salt Lake City
• Check out Cat Storing’s website
• Connect with Cat on Instagram
• Hear Amelia’s episode on the REI Podcast
• Hear Grace’s episode on the REI Podcast
• Find your first VA on UpWork

Hi friends welcome back! This week’s podcast episode is a fun one because it’s another behind-the-scenes episode where we’re going to dive into exactly what we are working on and give you a unique glimpse into some exciting things we each have happening in our businesses.
 

Amelia’s Updates

A few weeks ago Amelia (and her biz partners) submitted an offer and letter of intent to purchase a motel property and finally heard back from the sellers. While it wasn’t a resounding ‘YES’ to their offer, the sellers did ask to sit down with them and get to know them and their businesses, and really build that ‘know, like, and trust’ factor. 

A big part of why they want to sit down with Amelia and her team is because they’ve asked them to carry $1M of the down payment on a seller-financed note. This will allow them to vet them as sellers and learn about their experience and it is a great start to moving forward.

Amelia found this deal by posting on a local Facebook group for investors in Des Moines, Iowa. She had a pretty graphic created depicting her exact buy-box, and what she is looking for, and very quickly a broker reached out to her. Despite it being slightly outside what she was looking for, they anticipated she might still be interested in this unique property. Amelia had previously tossed around the idea of purchasing a hotel/motel type of property so really this wasn’t entirely outside her buy-box. With a higher purchase price, this 41-unit motel has a lot of potential, and she is super excited to see how this deal moves forward (knock on wood). 
 

Grace’s Updates

Grace and Brandt are in the process of purchasing a manufacturing business, even though the purchase is moving a bit slower than anticipated. For this purchase, they agreed on a 20% down over 7 years at 4.5%. A business acquisition works a lot like a large real estate deal where you have your letter of intent and then you have to get your purchase agreement signed. They had their letter of intent signed and sent a purchase agreement approximately 30 days ago and they’ve heard back from their attorney that their next step is to collateralize their real estate, which they had already anticipated happening. 

To do this, they made a list starting with the highest equity to the lowest, prioritizing things they want to hold onto. The seller asked for 20% down so they will be financing 80% at a purchase price of $820K. To finance this purchase they are using private money, plus the money they have from cash-out refinances that have been sitting. They cashed out their 8-unit BRRR about 3 months ago and haven’t used that money either, so all of this will be added to their financing. 

They’ve submitted their list and are just waiting on the response from their attorneys and they are excited to move forward!

They found this deal because a few months back, Brandt expressed interest to Grace in buying something other than traditional real estate; a business. After doing some research they eventually found this manufacturing business that was up for sale on BizBuySell. With both of their backgrounds in engineering, this was a great opportunity and they jumped on it. 

They plan to implement better management as well as better systems and processes and make this business a long-term purchase. 

Hopefully, on the next BTS episode, we both have promising updates!

Do you have questions or things you’d like to hear us talk about on an upcoming episode? We would love to hear them! Just DM us on Instagram. 

Thanks for tuning in, we’ll catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Grab your spot for our retreat in Salt Lake City
• Connect with Amelia & Grace on Instagram
• Get the book Buy Then Build by Walker Deibel
• Follow Codie Sanchez

Hello everyone, welcome back to the podcast. In this podcast episode, we're going to talk all about creative financing. Specifically, we will be breaking down the three main types of creative financing: seller financing, wrap mortgage (also called a wrap-around mortgage), and Sub2 mortgage. 

When you hear the words “creative financing”, you need to understand that is an umbrella term for seller finance, wrap mortgage, Sub2 finance, etc.; all of those terms are in the realm of creative financing. Many times people confuse seller financing (us included!) with these very specific, and different, types of financing. 
 

Seller Finance

Let’s first break down seller financing. Seller financing is when the seller lets a buyer buy them out over time, and the property has no debt on it. You can negotiate the terms to be exactly how you want and it can be much quicker to close, especially with rising interest rates, to benefit both you as the buyer and the seller. A seller finance deal has a purchase price, a down payment, a monthly payment, and a specific term length.
 

Wrap Mortgage

The second type of creative financing we’re going to discuss is a wrap mortgage or wrap-around mortgage. Think of a wrap mortgage as a seller finance deal, but with debt on the property. With the purchase of the property and you are taking your mortgage and wrapping it around the existing debt on the property. 

An example of this would be this: think of a property with a $95K mortgage on it. You come in and buy it for $105K, which wraps around the initial mortgage and whatever the difference between the mortgage debt, and the purchase price is the equity that the owner has. Just like a seller finance deal, a wrap mortgage has a purchase price, a down payment, a monthly payment, and a specific term length.

Sub2 Mortgage

The last type of creative finance we’re going to cover is the latest buzzword, Sub2. Sub2 is essentially the same thing as a wrap mortgage, except you're not giving the seller any equity. Also with a Sub2, you're not preparing any documents that show that you are owning the house, like you would with a mortgage. 

An example of a Sub2 would be if you are taking over someone’s house, it means that you are taking over the existing loan. Say the loan is for $95K, which is a $600 payment, you take it over at $95K. In the $600 payment, the seller basically gets to walk away with their hands clean. Maybe they had a super distressed property, maybe they moved out of the house three years ago and they've making been making two mortgage payments and they're just ready to be done. For whatever reason they're willing to let you take over their mortgage and just walk away. The difference is that you don't draw up a mortgage agreement stating who is purchasing the house from whom, for $X per month for X number of years. That document is what would protect the seller down the line if they decide to go get another house in terms of showing a DTI (debt to income ratio). With a Sub2, there is no seller protection and no mortgage documents outlining payment terms/schedules. 

To summarize…

• Creative financing is the umbrella term. 
• Seller finance is when a seller sells a debt-free property and the buyer pays them back over time. 
• A wrap mortgage is the same thing, however, there's an existing piece of debt that the buyer takes over and they pay it back over time. 
• Sub2 is the same thing as a wrap mortgage, except for there are no mortgage documents that protect the seller from DTI requirements. 

If you have any additional creative financing questions feel free to shoot us an email or DM us on Instagram.

Catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• MTR Free Training
• Connect with us on Instagram

Hey everyone welcome back to episode 18 of the Women Invest In Real Estate podcast. We are super excited to talk to you today about how to know when it's time to go full-time in real estate investing and a couple of steps that you should take prior to quitting your full-time job. Plus, we're going to dive into our personal stories and when we knew it was time.
 

Amelia’s Journey

In 2020 Amelia flipped a property (hear this story in episode 1) and this led her to the realization that she was interested in buying rental properties and replacing her income from her full-time job with rental income. She then bought a tri-plex which cash-flowed around $700-800 per month. At the time her income from her full-time job was right around $50k so she was used to sticking to a strict budget and living below her means but knew she could get to where she could quit her full-time job. Quickly after that, Amelia then purchased a quad-plex from the same seller and was cash flowing around $1,000, so she was already at $1,800 per month. 

Being that Amelia was already debt free, she really only needed to bring in enough to cover her own rent and food. She eventually reached 7 doors, and by the end of the summer of 2021 was up to 15 doors and just shy of replacing her full-time income. She also knew that by quitting her 9-5 she could focus more on her REI career and be able to bring in even more income. The last step before she quit was going under contract for an 11-unit property with her partners from Idaho. Roughly 30 days later, she left her full-time job and never looked back. 
 

Grace’s Journey

While working remotely from Iowa as a mechanical engineer Grace’s income was sufficient but far from making her a millionaire. She was supposed to be relocating from Iowa to San Diego to begin working in-person for her job and in February of 2021 after wrapping up a large BRRR project. She felt really good doing this real estate project in the place she was born and raised and knew that it just would not be in the cards in California. She asked her company if she could work remotely permanently which they quickly shot down. She decided it was time to try this real estate thing on her own. She gave roughly three months’ notice to give herself time to prepare. 

Grace took the time to step out on a limb, and create an emergency fund for herself and she ended up taking some of her 401K out just to live on as a cushion (totally worthwhile in the long run). Amelia and Grace constantly remind themselves that you can’t fully see the opportunities that can come when you don’t have time or energy to look because you’re working full time. 

Once you are able to focus on entrepreneurship full-time, there are so many ways and things that you can do to make money.

Best tips to prep for quitting your 9-5:

1. Give yourself a deadline to replace your full-time income
2. Remember your WHY
3. Be personally debt free!
4. Know exactly what you spend every single month
5. Establish good relationships with lenders after you have a few successful projects under your belt but before you quit your job
6. Have an emergency fund (most people say 6 months is sufficient but think hard about your personal situation)

Don't forget, that there is some opportunity cost with you still being in a full-time job and you have the ability to make even more in real estate if you can focus full-time on that instead.

Thank you so much for listening! We will catch you in the next episode.

Resources:

• Listen to WIIRE episode 001
• Find a Healthcare Plan for your solo biz

Hey everyone! Welcome back to episode 17 of the Women Invest In Real Estate podcast. In this week's podcast episode we're going to be talking all about how you can make your mid-term rental stand out in a saturated market. This is such a great question and so relevant right now because the mid-term rental market is on the verge of some fierce competition and it’s super important to make sure that your listing stands out among others to keep your occupancy rate high and vacancy level low. You won’t want to miss this!
 

Tip #1: Post great photos

While we’re both guilty of not following this rule, if your MTR is in a highly saturated market we highly recommend investing in a professional photographer to take your listing photos. If you must take the photos yourself using your cell phone here are a few good rules of thumb to follow: use landscape mode, make sure your finger is not in the photos, take photos of small details (washer/dryer, kitchen utensils, etc.), and always brighten your photos.

Tip #2: Accept pets

We have learned that many travel nurses travel with furry companions and you can do things like requiring an additional non-refundable pet deposit and charging monthly pet rent to keep your listing in demand and keep the tenants happy to have their pets with them.

Tip #3: Provide laundry access

Nurses, specifically, do a lot of laundry. They can’t go to their hospital shift in a dirty pair of scrubs and having to sit at a laundromat outside of their working hours is less than ideal. Also, generally, the first amenity people look for, is laundry. So if you can swing it, and you’re in a saturated market, invest in putting a washer and dryer in your unit (or have a shared laundry space).

Tip #4: Add a security system

Many of our travelers are solo travelers and having that extra security feature can help people feel much more comfortable and safe when they are traveling in large cities. Also, some insurance companies offer a discount for having an active security system installed.

Tip #5 Update small touches

Small changes can make a big impact, without making a big dent in your wallet. Update light switch plates, cabinet hardware, faucet heads, and outlet covers; even simple ceiling fixtures can be a nice bonus to travelers (ceiling fans are big sellers!).

Tip #6 Focus on the bathrooms and kitchen

A big visual point in any property is the kitchen and bathrooms. Investing in even small updates in those spaces can go a long way.

Tip #7 Create an inviting outdoor space

After working a long shift in a hospital or corporate office, traveling professionals enjoy having their evening meal or even their morning coffee on a nice patio. Add a bistro table and chair set and this will help your unit stand out amongst the competition. It's so nice to have just that little outdoor space where you can spend time.

Tip #8 Write a detailed description (that sets the mood)

The more details you can add to a description the fewer questions people will have. They know what to expect which is a huge draw for a potential tenant. Help them envision what it looks like to live there: “enjoy your coffee outside on our shaded patio in the mornings and evenings”. Put yourself in the tenants’ shoes and answer the questions before they are even asked.

Tip #9 Make the barrier to entry low 

Make your responses and communication timely; the application process easy; the deposit process seamless, and never wait to respond to questions and inquiries. If you wait more than 1-2 days, chances are that tenant has already moved on. 
 

That’s all for this week. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to us on Instagram.

Thanks for listening and we’ll catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Join WIIRE inside The Community
• Connect with us on Instagram

Hello friends! Welcome to episode 15 of the Women Invest In Real Estate podcast. This week we are super excited to be fielding some FAQs that we often receive from our followers on Instagram. We’re going to answer some of these questions and hopefully help you out on your REI journey.
 

The FAQ Lineup

When purchasing a property, should a mid-term rental work as a long-term rental first, numbers-wise?

Our take: Absolutely. It should definitely function as a long-term rental first, at least enough to where it's going to cover your mortgage, your insurance, your property taxes, and your utilities. At the very least, you want to break even.
 

What is the difference in amenities/supplies in an MTR as compared to an STR?

Our take: We each provide a ‘starter pack’ of items such as paper towels and toilet paper, but in the long term we don’t provide these for the entire stay. We consider what they need to have a comfortable first couple of days while they get settled in, move in their clothes, buy groceries, to have a nice day. 
 

If you know you could get $X for midterm rental, what would you pay for the property?

Our take: We want to cash flow $200-400, or ideally as a long-term rental. As a bare minimum, we consider the 1% rule when analyzing deals.
 

Where should I list my midterm rental and how do I find tenants and comps for monthly MTR rates?

Our take: FurnishedFinder. You can check out comps and find tenants all in one place. We also recommend AirBNB to help fill gaps between bookings as well. 
 

What value do you use for vacancy when running your numbers in MTR versus LTR?

Our take: Amelia uses 8%, for MTR, even though we've found that it's significantly less than that. But again, she runs her numbers very conservatively and she also has some gaps in between bookings (maybe a week or two here or there) which adds up. Also consider that some banks, when you're underwriting larger deals like five+ units, they'll usually actually require a 10% vacancy in your underwriting. They simply want to see that the property still functions even if there is up to a 10% vacancy for the year.
 

Do your units have washer/dryers? We have no room for hookups and I'm pretty sure it will be a hard pass for some people, with others expecting cheaper rates.

Our take: You pretty much answered your own question. We recommend checking out FurnishedFinder for the specific area you’re considering and see if there are listings available that don’t have hookups for washer/dryer and it will show what is available. If they're all available right now, that means people don't want them. If they're not available for another two or three months, it means they are getting booked, so you could probably go for it. For Amelia, her units don't have washer/dryer, but there is a washer/dryer in the unit in a shared room. However, it is a hard pass for some people to not have a washer/dryer in their unit, and that's okay. 

We also recommend taking a play from our friend Britt’s playbook and getting creative by offering a laundry service for an upcharge. Our friend Jess got creative by offering pet care because she lives on the premises and works from home. This is a game changer for travelers with pets, especially traveling nurses who work long hours.
 

How do you get a hold of insurance companies to offer your an MTR for insurance claims?

You actually can call the adjusters at insurance companies. They have a department that's called a re-homing or re-housing department, and insurance companies will place displaced families in your units and pay for their housing. This is also an option to offer to local realtors to offer to people who have sold their houses and are still in between homes.
 

If you want to dive deeper into what we just touched on in this episode check out our MTR Profit Academy, which gives you the A to Z on how to start a midterm rental and successfully rent it out.

Have more questions? We would love to hear them! Shoot us an email or DM us on Instagram.

Thanks for tuning in, we’ll catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Join the MTR Profit Academy
• Connect with us on Instagram
• List your MTR on FurnishedFinder
• Fill your gaps using Airbnb

Welcome back to episode 14 of the podcast. This week we’re going to focus on how to scale your REI business quickly. This is another question we hear quite often from our followers on Instagram and since we each scaled our businesses quickly, having gone from 0 to more than 20 units in only one year, we’ve learned some hard lessons along the way. We’re sharing our best tips and practices for scaling quickly.

For Amelia, the realization of needing to scale quickly came when she purchased her first triplex on her own, had it rented out, and it was cash-flowing well. She had been bitten by the REI bug and turned around and purchased her next property rather quickly. She used the money to purchase her triplex from her first deal, which was a flip. She had planned for her next buy to be a buy-and-hold, so she already knew what she was looking for in the market. 

We frequently talk about how real estate investing really isn’t hard. It’s actually a simple concept, but can be hard to put into place. However, at the same time if you can do a decent job and have a decent product it could bring you a lot of success. 

Grace realized she was going all in on REI when she realized that it could literally be an end to a means and allow her to quit her job. Two deals in, Grace and her partner (Brandt) decided they were going to keep buying and not let a lack of funds stop them. They would find good deals, and the money for each buy, along the way. They did each of their first 10 deals very differently but her first most people would find the most interesting. Keep in mind they have never sold any of their properties. It was a BRRR and they put down 20% bank loan and then used cash to pay for the rehab. 

Grace’s second deal was two duplexes and was split evenly between herself, her boyfriend, and her sister. They paid $255,000 and they convinced the bank to let them put 10% down, drastically reducing the amount of cash they would need to pay upfront to get this deal. Eventually, Grace began to get super creative with her financing so she could continuously purchase value-add deals so she could re-access the capital out of it to pay off private money, etc. Simply said, Grace got scrappy with her financing and it has definitely worked out in her favor. 

We both have decided to see our goals and design how we want our future to look around those goals. Then, we go for it. For both of us, real estate investing is “passive”. We have built out our systems and put them into place which allows us to continuously move the needle forward.  

Another way we have been able to scale so quickly is to find good partners to work with along the way. With constant buying, the money will eventually run out and in order to continue to scale we have figured out ways to not use all of our own money to tackle every single buy. When we first met a year and a half ago, we decided to partner up, and look where it has brought us! Partnering can be absolutely amazing if done the right way. 

One more important detail when it comes to scaling is financing. Grace used different lenders for her first three buys and has since stuck with the 3rd. It is a commercial lender which means their terms aren’t as favorable but the financing is easy to get. Plus she got in good with this lender by building a relationship with them and proving to them time and time again that she will under-promise and over-deliver on what she says she can/will do.

Amelia has also built a good relationship with her lender and while they do still occasionally ask for her tax returns, they also know the level of return they can expect from her. 

Best Practices for Scaling & Building a Relationship with Your Lender:

• Be flexible/easy to work with
• Perform well: under-promise then over-deliver
• Show them you’re a professional, don’t be a mom-and-pop shop
• Have a strong mindset
• Know your buy-box (good-deal criteria)
• Spread the word - you never know who is looking to sell a property!

That’s all for this week! Thank you so much for listening, we really appreciate you all so much and we will catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Join the WIIRE Property Management Academy
• Grab our MTR Starter Guide

Welcome back to another podcast episode! This week we’re sharing the top misconceptions about midterm rentals that we commonly hear and going to debunk each one of them for you! Not allowing yourself to get caught up in these common misconceptions could actually get you ahead of the game just by knowing how to tell apart a fact from fiction about midterm rentals. Let’s get started!
 

The List

Myth #1: The units in midterm rentals must be luxury or extravagant. 
The Facts: Keep it simple: clean, safe, comfortable, and affordable. For the most part, traveling professionals are only in this space to sleep so their needs are low and they are trying to keep their costs that way too. 
 

Myth #2: Midterm rentals are only for traveling nurses.

The Facts: Recently a teacher who was brand new to the area moved into one of Grace’s midterm rentals because he didn’t know exactly where he wanted to put his roots down yet in his new local area. Amelia has housed all sorts of construction personnel, solar panel and wind turbine contract technicians, traveling corporate employees for companies like Starbucks, and more. They are only working 1-3 month contracts and don’t want to live out of a hotel for the entire time so they choose midterm rentals that suit their needs. 
 

Myth #3: MTR tenants are always the best tenants.

The Facts: While this might generally be true in 95% of cases, there is still that 5% of tenants who have been problematic renters. (Throwback to episode 13 where Amelia dished about her tenant who caused her internet to become suspended!). 
 

Bonus Myth #4: Midterm rentals only work in large cities.

The Facts: Cedar Rapids has a population of about 120,000 people and Grace lives in a town of about 1,000 people and MTRs are absolutely successful there. Amelia has a MTR in a lake town and her cottage is going to be an MTR for the winter when travel slows down for the season. She put up the listing on FurnishedFinder and within two hours her MTR tenant had paid their deposit and booked the unit!
 

Bonus Myth #5: Short-term rentals have a higher vacancy level.

The Facts: In reality, our midterm rentals typically were near 0%. We both work our business to keep our vacancy levels as minimal as possible where a tenant moves out and a new tenant moves in within a matter of hours, allowing for just enough time for a good cleaning and turnover. 

That’s all for today friends, thank you for joining us! Catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Enroll in MTR Profit Academy
• Join the Property Management Academy
• List your property on FurnishedFinder

Hello everyone, welcome back to episode twelve of the Women Invest In Real Estate podcast! We have had such great feedback and so many questions about our day-to-day’s, so today’s episode is another behind-the-scenes WIIRE episode where we’re going to give you the scoop on what we are both up to in the world of real estate investing and managing our properties. 

We’re going to start off with a crazy story that Amelia has been bursting at the seams to share (and has made us wait until we recorded this episode to share) all the deets about recent happenings at her mid-term rental property!
 

Amelia’s Internet Novella

A few days ago Amelia received a call from Mediacom that they were suspending her service for illegal video downloading. She inquired about the specific router and with several units sharing routers she had to determine exactly when the video downloading occurred to narrow it down to the exact culprit (tenant). 

The downloading apparently began the day after this tenant moved in and she was taken aback because they claimed they had called her to inform her previously (nope, they did not, nor could they prove it). No one (and we mean NO ONE) likes to deal with utility companies and this time was no exception.

Amelia’s red mane was flaming and she was furious about the problem this tenant had caused, because not only did he cause her account to be suspended, but Mediacom informed her that if it continued they would be canceling all of her accounts! This would be quite problematic because not only were all of her units in this building run on Mediacom, but a few others as well, including her personal account. 

She asked them to give her a few hours to nail down the tenant and resolve the issue and as soon as she hung up she immediately called the tenant. While Amelia normally prefers to handle all of her tenant communication in writing, time was of the essence and she needed an immediate response. 

When he answered she immediately informed him that she was aware of what was going on and that the internet has been suspended and he was to remove all content from all of his devices, effective immediately, or she would be taking legal action against him.

To cover her back, she sent him a text message detailing exactly what she had just verbally told him, as well. He was very apologetic but still received a BIG timeout from Amelia’s paid-for wifi. 

Grace’s Next Move

With more than 12 units using Mediacom for internet service, they finally advised Grace to move to a commercial internet account (quite literally to help her avoid situations just like Amelia’s), so it doesn’t cause an issue across the board on her accounts.

Grace is also in the process of hiring an in-house Property Manager and could not be more excited! After so much back-and-forth about the decision to hire Grace has pulled the trigger and is now learning how to ‘be the boss’! This investment will come back to her simply on the time she will be saving by having someone else handle all of the little (and big) details for her biz. 
For the time being, Grace has been in a reactive stage. She reacts as requests come in, and would rather be able to be in more of a proactive space where she can be prepared for things ahead of time. It is going to be a whole new stage in her business.

Other Updates

Another announcement Amelia is excited to announce is that if you tuned into our first BTS episode you heard that I was under contract on a seller-financed triplex and they finally closed on that property last week! The first thing they are planning to tackle on this project is actually replacing the roof. It will cost around $22,000 to fully demo and replace (including the removal of 4 old layers) the roof of this property. She is also going to have the gutters replaced as well which will add on another $4,000, spending $26,000 right off the bat, which they are financing through a line of credit and they will BRRR into a commercial loan once they are finished with the rehab.

A couple of fun surprises they found on this property were that it still has old knob-and-tube wiring. While it is in good condition, they will likely still go ahead and replace it since so many walls will already be opened up. Another surprise was that this owner actually did a full clean-out from all of the ‘stuff’ that originally had been packed into the property (rare, but a much-appreciated surprise!). Lastly, while they were pulling up the old, brown shag carpeting they discovered beautiful wood floors, in immaculate condition!

That’s all for this episode, friends! If you’re looking to connect with us outside the podcast you can find us each on Instagram:

• Amelia’s IG
• Grace’s IG

That’s all for this week, we'll catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Join the Property Management Academy
• See how you can use TenantCloud in your business
• Check out Hospitable for your vacation rental properties

Welcome back to episode 11 of the WIIRE podcast! In this week’s episode we’re sharing with you about our very first (ever) rentals; how we found them, how we managed them, and if we still have them in our portfolio. 

Amelia’s First Rental Property

Amelia’s first rental property was a triplex in a small town in her hometown, with a population of around 5,000 people. It was a 2-story property with 3 units; two bedrooms, one bathroom on the first floor, and two units with one bedroom and one bathroom each on the 2nd floor. Amelia found this property listing on Zillow and really, only by accident. She typically had only been searching for single-family properties and didn’t realize she had the multi-family filter selected when she came across this property. 

She scheduled a time to walk through it and was taken aback by the awful tenants living in the residence. So she wrote what she now calls a ‘love letter’ to the owner stating how she was excited to purchase a property in her hometown and be able to give back by providing quality housing to the residents of her hometown. With the list price sitting at $99,000 she submitted an offer of $65,000 and after some negotiation they landed on a purchase price of $78,000. Amelia purchased the property for all-cash because the appraisal was taking a long time to come back so she made it an all-cash purchase with the intent of refinancing into a mortgage right when the appraisal could be completed. 

This wound up being a blessing in disguise situation because the property needed some work and she was able to make them to the property before the appraiser came out. When they finally did come out to do the appraisal it appraised for $92,000. Part of Amelia’s contingency on this offer was that the property must be sold vacant, meaning no inherited tenants upon closing. 

With only 45 days until they closed the tenants moved out and Amelia ran the numbers again on this triplex (crazy for a first rental!) and knew there was no way she wouldn’t make money on this property. 

It’s been nearly two years and taking the risk on her first-time rental property as a flip, wound up being a huge success and now cash flows around $800-900 per month. 
 

Grace’s First Rental Property

After looking for a few weeks Grace and her boyfriend purchased their first rental property when she saw a property for sale, called the seller, and asked for a list of properties they were interested in selling. He sent over a list of about 30+ properties and was trying to sell them down to about 8 or so. She told him she wanted to see the grossest property he had.

He did, and it was absolutely disgusting. An absolute gut. 

Backing up a few steps to her Buy Box, Grace knew they needed to BRRR because they had the money for a down payment and for the repairs, but did not want to buy cash. They also knew they wanted it to be a single-family property, and the town Grace lives near. They also did not want inherited tenants so they could start work right away. Plus, they were going to DIY the project. 

When it came time to start working on the property it seemed to be even more disgusting than they initially thought and found more trash than they could have ever imagined possible. After purchasing with 20% down, they told their bank they would be refinancing it ASAP so the bank put them on a construction loan so they only had to pay quarterly interest on it until they refinanced it. 

It took about 6 months (which was 3 months over their initially estimated timeframe) and between $35,000 and $36,000 (when they had only estimated $23,000), which added a significant about of stress to the entire project. 

One of Grace’s ‘fondest’ memories (and biggest lessons) of this particular project was that when they were roughly one month out from completion, they made a schedule of what needed to be done. The entire 3-story property needed painting (doors, walls, ceilings, trim, you name it). She scheduled herself 3 days to paint which quickly, and painstakingly, turned into one month.

Their hard work paid off and was roughly $120,000 and when all was said and done the property appraised for $185,000. They pulled out roughly 70% equity and walked away with around $8,000 extra to use on their next deal. 

Today, Grace still has this property in her portfolio (renter occupied) and has learned some major lessons to take along her REI journey. 

If you’ve enjoyed hearing our stories in this episode head over to Instagram and give us each a follow and see what we’re up to now!

• Follow Amelia
• Follow Grace

Catch you in the next episode!

Resources:

• Grab your seat for our free 60-minute training
• Join the Property Management Academy

Hey friends, welcome back to episode 10 of the Women Invest In Real Estate Podcast! This week we are so excited to welcome Kayla Thorp, also known as thatlandlady on Instagram. Kayla is a residential real estate investor in upstate New York whose real estate portfolio currently sits at 40+ doors, mostly in the long-term rental market. Kayla is one of the smartest people we know in the REI biz and we are so honored to have her join us today on the podcast and dive into how she systemizes her business.

Kayla started out like the majority of investors, self-managing her rentals but since then she and her husband now have their own property management team they can rely on to keep their units and operations running like a well-oiled machine. 

After purchasing their first couple of rental units, they started out using Cozy.co, and when Cozy merged with Apartments.com they realized the service was not serving them well, nor was it meeting their tenant needs. They pivoted and made the switch over to Buildium, and ultimately switched again to AppFolio, which is what they still use today.

One thing Kayla impresses on other investors is that if you buy a property and don’t factor in a management fee, you are not buying an investment. You are buying a full-time job. The reason for this is that eventually if you want this to become a more passive business, you will need to hire a manager (which hopefully you will see a good ROI with appreciation and rent growth). 

For Kayla, that time came sooner than later and they were quickly glad they had factored in that management percentage from the beginning. Being able to keep that management percentage to fund their own business and lifestyle, while building their portfolio, became super valuable for them. At that point, they were already ready to put more systems in place to be able to hire out different pieces of their business.

Their first property management hire was an internal hire. Because Kayla had done her due diligence and created SOPs for each step of her business in the early stages, it made this transition much less painful. They could continuously point back to all of their documented systems and procedures for every detail of exactly how to screen a tenant, turn over a unit, review standards for rental criteria, and so much more. 

Being in New York, a very tenant-friendly state, Kayla has had to adjust her management style in a much different fashion than most others operate. Because New York has a unique set of laws and regulations regarding things such as evictions, collecting pet fees, the inability to check previous eviction history, and so much more. They have developed a problem-solving style that has really helped them get through most of these situations, without having to go through the eviction route.

Kayla and her husband also started the Rochester Housing Coalition, which is a group of housing providers and also nonprofit organizations that deal with homelessness in their city to address some of the housing policy concerns and to help the city work through those things in a way that's beneficial to everyone.

Eventually, Kayla and her husband were able to pivot their business and hire their first external property manager, who was actually an old friend of their business partner. They began to hand it off piece by piece starting with maintenance ticket coordination. They began by introducing them to their maintenance team. Introduced them to their ticketing system, worked out all of those kinks, and handed off just that piece. Next, they handed over learning the rent collection system, collecting outstanding rental payments, and so on. 

Ultimately Kayla’s goal for herself and her husband was to get down to only working in their business for a total of 10 hours per week before they would consider the stand-up complete. Finally, they were ready to really test their systems and booked an Airbnb, out of town, for a full month to allow their team to really run the show successfully with their hands off. 

Kayla’s Tips for Property Management

1. Do not be afraid to reach out to your investing community.

For the most part, the real estate investing community is so welcoming and genuinely wants to help one other. We all want each other to succeed. 

2. Visualize the absolute worst-case scenario and piece together exactly how it could play out. Could you handle that? 

Consider if you’ve done all of your homework, you’ve measured and taken responsible risks, and you have done your due diligence. If you cannot cover that risk and if there is not something that you are willing to live with, in that scenario, then you might need to change your strategy and direct it towards a scenario that you can live with. 

Kayla and her husband have now transitioned to a property management team. This is an amazing option if you have a larger portfolio and they chose to partner with someone who had extensive property management experience and was also interested in starting a property management company. Kayla and her husband brought the systems, processes, and business knowledge to the table, so this operating partnership made perfect sense for them. 

If you want to learn more about Kayla’s business you can visit her website or connect with her on Instagram.

Thank you so much for joining us this week, see you next time!

Resources:

• Sign up for our FREE 60-minute training
• Connect with Kayla on Instagram
• See how Kayla operates her business
• Check out the property management software Kayla uses in her biz, AppFolio
• Find out more about the Rochester Housing Coalition