BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast - I Had 4 Kids, No Cash, and a Traveling Spouse: Now I've Got 4 Rentals

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

Just three years ago, Joanna Caldera was working as a nurse, raising four children while her husband was gone most of the month in the oil fields. She wanted time with her kids and her husband to come home, but all of that required money. Now, just three years later, she has four rental units, has made $130K in profit from her first two house flips, has replaced her nurse’s salary with real estate income, and has her dream home. Anyone can do the same, using the strategies she shares today, even if you have no experience, even if you’ve got very little cash to play with. Joanna even overpaid for her first property by $20,000—a mistake almost every rookie investor is scared to make, but it paid off. She’s done everything—cosmetic flips, BRRRRs (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat), added floors and rooms, dealt with hoarder houses, and did it all in between picking up her kids from school, taking them to practice, and oftentimes while working a nurse’s shift. Joanna proves real estate investing is possible for everyone, and within just a few years, your life can completely change because of it.  In This Episode We Cover How to invest in real estate when you have very little time or cash  Why “overpaying” for a property is not a bad idea (if your situation is like Joanna’s)  Using your home equity to invest and why HELOCs are an investor’s secret weapon  Pulling off the “perfect BRRRR” and getting a renovated house for very little money  Raising private money from your friends and family when starting to invest (and how to protect their principal)  Making six figures to renovate your dream home? Joanna did it, you can, too  And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠h⁠ttps://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1252 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I was scared to make my first phone call. Now she has four rental units and she's profited over $130,000 on her first two flips. In 2023, Joanna was home alone with a six-month old baby while her husband was offshore working and she was looking for a passive income stream that could help her have enough money to bring him home. Then I discovered real estate investing. Joanna didn't have any cash to start with, so she leveraged her home equity. I wasn't seeing many deals on the market and that's when I started talking to sellers. She didn't have any construction experience, but she figured that out.

I bought my first rental property for $100,000. And that's after she paid the seller $20,000 more than he was asking for. I'll explain that later. Now that house is worth double the amount I paid and it's cash flowing hundreds of dollars. Joanna has made five more investment deals since 2023 right in our backyard of northwest Arkansas. Her husband isn't working offshore anymore and her family has a beautiful new five-bedroom home. That's the lesson of this inspiring story. anyone can figure out real estate investing and start on the path to building financial freedom.

You can even use the same real estate investing strategies I used. Because we're about to reveal them right now. Jamada, welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, Henry. This is cool, like good full circle moment for me because I've been around you for a while and I'm excited for you to tell people your story because I think it's really inspirational. Yeah, I just in a short amount of time, have been able to essentially change my family's life. It's a pretty big deal for us. I love it. I love it. So let's start at the

beginning. Tell us how you got scarred. I'm a nurse. My husband used to work in the old field, and we had a lot of children. So at that time, we had four children. I was just like, we didn't figure something out to where you can come home. Also, he was working like out of town. Yes, he was working 20 days out of town and then he'd be home 10 days. The boys were getting older and so I was just like, they need their dad. So I started thinking about ways that I could make money for us. Also just thinking about when they go to college, how are we going to pay for all this? So I started listening to Bigger Pockets, actually heard you on a podcast,

Henry Washington, North is Arkansas able to achieve 100 doors. And I was like, wait, there's somebody here who does this? So I was raised in Serena, Arkansas, and immediately started following you, immediately started watching your funny videos, and just was like, okay, I think I'm ready for the next step. Joined your mentorship in January of 2023, and then decided, okay, it's time for us to start sending mail. So started sending mail, and that is how I got my first deal. I received a call in June from an elderly man who was looking to sell his property. He was getting older. He didn't want to deal with the hassle of owning a home anymore.

His children did not live close. And so he was ready for the next step in his life. So, of course, I asked him all the questions that I needed to ask him. And then in the end, I was like, what are you looking to get? What are you wanting? And he said, you know, I really would like to just get 82,000. And I was like, oh, okay, yeah, sounds great. It's an oddly specific number.

In my mind, I was like, this house must be terrible because he only wants $82,000. And it's in the middle of Rogers, Arkansas, which is, it was in a great location. So I go over to the house that evening because, you know, Henry's always like, you got to go that day. So I went that day, looked at the house, made him my offer. and essentially I asked him again at that point, you know, what are you looking to get? And he said, you know, I really want $82,000. I said, well, I'll be honest. Your house is in great shape.

I don't foresee you having any issue selling this house on your own. All I can offer you is $100,000. What a negotiator. He was like, you heard me say. That's less. He's like, can I sign this right now? I was like, yeah, sure, you can sign right now. And so he signed.

And we shook hands. I was like, it's pleasure to meet you. And I left. Why, can I just ask, why did you go with 100 when he wanted 82? In all honesty, like, I just knew that his house was working. more than what he wanted. And I knew that if he sold it on the market, he could probably get more than $82,000. At the time, I had a sibling of mine who told me, hey, I know you're starting this journey. If you find something, just know that I have $100,000. You know, I have that

money to be able to. So that's all I had. And so that's what I offered, because that's, you know, that's the best I have for you. I can't just give you $82,000. Like, I need to give you more because I know that your house is worth more. I know you're going to need more. And it, I don't know. To me, it was just a right thing to do in that moment. Like, I just, like, was like, I know I can give them 82, but I have 100. So I, even if I buy it at 100, it's still a really good deal. I think that's super commendable. Good for you. I, you know, we talk a lot on show about real estate does not have to be a zero-sum game where one person wins and the other person loses it should be mutually beneficial and you created a good situation where the seller got

more than he was expecting and you still got a great deal and to me that's the perfect example of a win-win situation you can create in real estate yeah so he was really happy about it I was obviously elated about it and that was my first deal I ended up up helping him find an assisted living where he could move to. I helped him move some stuff out and sell some of his stuff that he left in there and ended up paying him that money of like what we sold. And he actually rode with me to Tidal because he didn't have any kids around and he didn't drive anymore. So we drove together to Tidal. Do you guys still hang out? No, we don't hang out anymore.

He was so sweet and he was so happy to be in his community. So, yeah, it was a really beautiful experience. So I ended up calling my brother as well, like right after. And I was like, hey, you remember that? A hundred K? I need it all. I was like, I'm going to need that, buddy. So then immediately my brother was like, okay, so how are you going to pay me back?

And so then we, my husband and I started the journey of getting a he lock on our first property. So we were home owners. at the time, we bought our house in 2016. And so by 2023, we bought it for 130. And it was when it appraised at that time, it appraised for 250. Okay. Oh, wow. Good for you. So we were able to pull out a hundred thousand dollar he lock on that property. And I paid my brother back like two months. You know, so once we closed on that, I paid him back. So he let you the money to close. You paid cash for the deal? Yes. Okay. Then you paid him back with the he lock. Right. Was this a flip?

That was the idea going in for it to be a flip. After just telling my family members about the property, they were like, it's in such great shape. Like, you should just keep it. So we fixed it up. We put new floors in it, granite, painted, did some other work that needed to be done. Put a renter in it. Six months later, refinanced. Great.

So we were, it appraised for 220. Right. Okay. And I pulled out just the one, it was like one 10 that I was in it. Amazing. Yeah. So. Perfect bur.

Right. Right. What's it rent for? It rents for $1,500. It's a great deal. And, yeah, the mortgage is like $800 or so, something like that. Amazing. So.

Good for you. Yeah. And it's still in really good shape. So that was, man, I was so happy about that. So what I really love about this story is. And just kind of what I want to put out there because I can see the comments already like, oh, I could do this too if my family had $100,000, right? Like, I get it.

You did have a brother that gave you $100,000 to buy it. But that just bought you time because what you did was you went and you pulled a HELOC on your primary. And a lot of people do have a primary and have equity. And that's a great way to find capital. Because once you pulled that HELOC, you just paid your brother off and you were all in it with your own money. So this is something that people can repeat. And I think one of the benefits and one of the safety net that she had that I want people to realize is, Don't just go pull a helock and then go buy anything, right?

Because if you use borrowed money and buy a bad deal, you put yourself in double hot water. Yeah, right? But you used credit card. Yeah, it's got. But you used helic money and you bought a really good deal. And that gave you exits. You had equity. So if something were to happen and you were like, you know what, I need to sell this thing.

You could have sold it, got all that money back and you were safe. So helocks are great tools to use if you buy a good deal and protect yourself. Man, that's a super cool story. I heard it a bunch of times, but it still gives me goosebumps when I hear it. We've got more of Joanna's story that we'll get to right after the break. As a real estate investor, the last thing I want to do or have time for is to play accountant, banker, and debt collector. But that's what I end up doing every weekend, flipping between a bunch of bank apps, bank statements, and receipts, trying to sort it all out by property and figure out who's laid on rent.

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services provided by Threadbank, member FDIC. All right, we're back on the Bigger Pockets podcast with Joanna and she was telling us about her first deal, which ended up being a rental property. So what happened next? Oh, so after we bought that one, it was July of 23. My husband was laid off from his job. And I was not working at the time. So, um, I had just had a baby when we bought our number five. Baby number five. Congratulations. Yeah, baby number five.

And I was like, okay, crap, I'm a nurse. So I told him, I'll just find work. I'll work. We were on a call with you, with your group, and I was just telling you about our situation. And you said, well, why don't you come work for me? That'll be good experience for you while you find a nursing job. So I said, tour, I'll do that. So.

Huge mistake. This is going to end now, but I don't. So I was officially Henry Washington's acquisition manager. Nice. So, yeah, so I started working for him. And about a month later, I also started working as a nurse. So I would work three days, 12-hour shifts. and then on my days off, I would work for Henry.

And then my husband was at home with all the kids, which he loved. Actually, I even more doubled down on like, I need to learn this stuff, you know. I mean, I was very blessed on my first deal. I was very happy about it, but I was still very scared. So I'm still scared all the time. So I worked for him, and that helped me a lot, just like running numbers, talking to the sellers, going through the process. And I finally got another call from a mailer in April of 2024.

It was a house on an acre out by the lake. And so I went out there to see it. I offered him, I think I offered him 130. Did he ask for one tanning for like that now? No, no. I've got one 30 for you. He's like, I could get Henry to pay. 150.

He also was an older man looking to travel. He wanted to buy an RV. He also was looking into like investing into other things. And so he wanted like liquid cash. So we went back and forth a little bit on that one. And we ended up settling at 140. Was the idea to flip this one? Yes.

So this one, I wish I would have kept it. It was a cute home. And it's like not even five minutes. it's from the lake. So I ended up putting new floors in it, painting it, granite. And it was a very light flip for me. So I was like, okay, I see why people do this. So what was the rehab budget on it? So the rehab on that one, I think we spent, what, 30? 30 on it. It took a lot longer than it was supposed to. But anyways, we ended up putting it on the market for 275. Yep. And you were in for 170.

Yeah. Yes. 24 hours later, we had a offer full price. Unbelievable. That's so cool. Yeah. So did you just finance it with cash? Because you pulled that 110 out of the first deal?

Or did you use any financing? When we've refinanced our rental, we used that money to pay the HELOC back. So we had 100K in HELOC. Okay. By this time, I had already pulled a HELOC also on my rental property. So I had 100,000 from our primary home, and then I had 75,000 in a HELOC from our rental property. So that's the money that I used to pay for it and to fix it. It's just an example of how once you get that first deal or second deal, you can use the equity that you have and that starts to build momentum and never gets easy, but it makes every deal a little bit easier.

Never gets easy. It always feels scary. Yeah. But when you buy a good deal, you do have somewhat of a safety net. And it sounds like the second one was a good deal, too, because you were all in for 170. You had it on the market for 275. Right. Had an offer full price in 24 hours.

So what were you able to like net walk away with on that one? I walked away with $82,000 on that one. 8,000 is your lucky number. It's the second time that's how much today. All right. Can I ask this for some perspective? How much were you making as a nurse? Oh, God.

I think I was making yearly probably like 50 maybe, 50 to 60 years. And how long did that whole flip take you? Probably about five months because I let him stay in it. I let him stay for a month. It took us about a month to fix it all up. And then, yeah, once it hit the market, it was. Unreal. Yeah.

So I imagine at this point you're all in on this. You're like, yeah, I just made more than my annual salary. My husband was like, okay, we're doing this. You're like, that's what I'm talking. I've been saying this. Then both jobs combined because Henry's cheap. So, yeah, I mean, that was, you know, my husband was like, this is crazy. And I was like, this is crazy.

So I continued to work for Henry. I continued to do my nursing job. While I was fixing that one around June, another house came up that a wholesaler had. essentially he contacted me and was like, do you know Henry Washington or do you work for Henry Washington? And I said, yes, I do. And so he said, I have a house and I'm looking to sell. I went to go see it, made the offer. Made the offer for me. Yeah, made the offer for Henry. And Henry, you know, the goat, he's just had all these projects going on. So he was like. It's too busy. Yeah, he was so busy. So he was like, hey, you know what? Do you want to do this one? And it was a very scary one

because it was not what I'm used to. I'm used to these little pretty ones that I can just, you know, put some floors, paint, granite. You know, obviously I was not going to say no, but I was definitely scared. And so I was like, yeah, no, I'll take it. It's not a big deal. Yeah, I got it. And so he was like, all right, find money. Oh, you thought I was going to pay for it. So my mother-in-law had just retired, and I knew we were on the brink of closing the one by the lake. So I was like, that money is going to come right back to me. So I talked to my mother-in-law about lending us money.

And then my other brother, also we were just having a discussion, and I was like, I don't know where I'm going to have to get these other $50,000. because we went under contract for $150,000 with her. And he was like, well, you know, I have a HELOC on my house. I can just let you borrow that. You could just pay me the interest on it. And same with my mother-in-law. I actually was the one who had the idea because she had it in a savings account. And it wasn't really making her a whole lot.

So I was like, listen, I'll pay you 10% on your money if you let me borrow it. That's fair. So I borrowed the money from them to pay for the Bella Vista. Closing. Yes. And then once I closed on the Lake One, when we got that money, I used that money to rehab the Bella Vista one. Can I ask you a little bit about this? Because in real estate, everyone always talks about private money.

Right. Private money, it sounds like this like organization of like bankers who are like handing out cash left and right. But usually it's friends and family, at least when you're starting. It is very, you know, I do some private lending. I don't really lend to new people if they haven't done a couple of deals. But I imagine it's hard to approach your family and friends with those conversations. Can you just tell us a little bit about like how you approach those conversations and how they went? Definitely.

So I really had to lay all the numbers out for them and let them know that their money was secured by the asset, right? So, you know, with my mother-in-law and my brother, I just let them know, listen, if I was to sell this how it is, you could still get your money back. It's a good deal where we could clean it up, put everything in a dumpster, get it nice and clean, and we can probably still sell it as is for X amount of dollars, and you can get your money back. Like, I wanted them to know that it was a safe investment for them, that I wasn't just like making up numbers. and, you know, I really had to explain everything out to them, what I planned on doing, and what the value of that house was. I mean, that's great. That's how a bank would think about it.

Right. We're looking at the collateral and operator experience. So this one, you paid one for 150. Mm-hmm. You put how much into it? We actually ended up putting 60 into it, which was about budget of what we were meant to put in it. And we sold it for two. 81.

Amazing. Yeah. So. So you made, what, 40? Yeah. One thing I didn't budget for was like windows. That was something that I wasn't expecting, but still worked within the budget. I have a lot of uncles that helped me on that one.

That's nice. Yeah, I ended up getting a roof for like five grand. Oh, nice. So that helped me. In terms of roofs, that's almost free. What is your uncle's phone number? Yeah. Yeah.

So that helped me out with. the budget, I was able to put the money that I thought I was going to put into a roof into the windows. My stepdad does floors and tiles, so he did my floors and tiles on that one. Not for free, though. Yeah, not for free, but he, you know, he helped me out. Yeah, yeah. She got a dose of reality on this, though, because it didn't sell in 24 hours. And when I tell you, this girl was freaking out after like two weeks on market.

What did you do wrong? That she didn't have enough. I think a whole generation of investors felt that in 2024, though, 25. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Yeah, I listed it in October of 2024 and crickets. I did everything brand new. So roof, windows, water tank. I mean, everything was new. Everyone wanted the heating and cooling system. Like, they wanted a brand new heating and cooling system. Just the one thing you haven't done. The only thing I didn't do. Do you have an uncle who does H-W-W-W-R-W-I? I don't. I don't have an uncle that does H-W-W-R. I know. I'm telling my cousins, I'm like, I need one of y'all to do

So anyways, we did end up going under contract in December and we closed in January of 25. Nice. The next step, because my realtor was like, okay, it's getting long here. Like, I know your money's out. Like, I know you're making those payments. So what he's like, I really recommend if you don't sell it, just rent it or like your BNB it. And we still would have been in a position, I think, to be able to do that.

Perfect. But that week, we had that conversation. we ended up getting an offer on it. How many days on market? Over 50. Yeah, I mean, that's like an average these days, but I'm sure it's shocking going for. I remember it was over a month because at about a month you were asking me. You were like, I don't know what I'm going to do.

And I'm like, all right, let's run through the numbers. And I'm like, you're sitting on 50. You're right. Yeah, yeah. Like, you're fine. Breathe. Right. All right, Joanna, that's three amazing deals.

I like the creativity you used to be able to get these things fine. but it's actually not the most creative deal that you've done. And we'll get into that one when we come back from our break. If you own a short-term rental, here's something worth knowing. Not all landlord policies are built for your type of property. And with holiday bookings, chilly weather, and higher guest turnover, having the right coverage is more important than ever. Steadily offers insurance designed specifically for short-term rentals,

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They obsessively measure the things that matter for your bottom line. Things like occupancy, delinquency, and net promoter score, and they have the results to prove it. Go to mine.co slash show me to see how mine performs and get your first month free, which is much cheaper than learning the hard way. All right, we're back on the Bigger Pockets podcast, and we are talking with Joanna, and she's talked us through three deals that she's done, where she's had to get created with how she took the deals down. But they were really successful.

But I know you've got another one that involved a little more creativity. So let's talk about that one. So in Northwest Arkansas, we had a huge tornado come into the city. That was May of 2025. The city was destroyed. It was the worst thing that I think we've ever, that has ever happened in this area, tornado-wise. There was a house on a corner lot that I would drive by, every day. Had it been tornado damage? Yes. So there was no roof on it. And one day I happened to drive

by and I saw somebody putting a four sale, like an older man putting a for sale sign. So I stopped immediately and hop down and, you know, I was like, hi, my name is Joanna. I'm a local investor in the area and I wanted to talk to you about your property. You tell me a little bit about it. And he was like, well, as you can see. And so I said, okay, well, let's just get to it. What are you looking to get for it? What do you want? And he said, I really like to get $120,000.

I immediately messaged my realtor, asked him for some numbers. He told me ARV was $350, $375. So the very next day, I walked to the house with my uncle, who's a contractor. And he was like, listen, honestly, rough. He's like, you're probably going to spend like 150 or 60 on this house if you want to put it back where it was. So that's a big, much bigger bite than you're taking so far. Yeah. So I told the little man that I would give him the 120.

Was he short? Well, he wasn't a little. He was very sweet. He actually, as we're signing the contract, had people like pulling up and were like wanted to buy it. and he was like, nope, I'm selling to her. We're signing a contract as we speak. And this guy was even like, I'll give you 150. And he was like, no, I'm in a cellter.

And I told him, I was like, take it. Take the money. Take the money. People just want to sell you houses. Right. Honestly, no, it really is a skill that you have. Like, if you obviously have away with people, they trust you and want to work with you. I think he was a very old school man and was like, we shook on him.

we signed the contract, I'm selling to you. And I was like, this is nothing but a piece of paper if you want to sell it to him. So anyways, I ended up closing on that one. It was going to be a flip. My husband walked it with me one night and he was like, why don't we add rooms up top? And he was like, we can just move in it. And it'll be brand new. He's like, we've been talking about we want a new house.

All the houses in Northwest Arkansas that are four bedroom five, you know, they're selling. for a significant amount of money. You're currently at this time married with five children. Right. So it's seven of you and you were living in how much square footage? It's 2,100 square feet. We had a bonus room in the back. But really, it was a 3-2.

They converted the garage. So we used it as a play area. So we had all the boys in one room. Baby was in the room with us. And the oldest, obviously, she had her own room because she's the oldest girl. Ready for bigger house. It was crowded. It was crowded.

Yeah. Our older boy, he's 11 now, but he was just like, you know, they never really complained. They like being with each other, but we knew that they needed their own space. Yeah, at a certain point, yeah. Right. So. And this house that you're talking about, I mean, pop on the top's expensive, but there's no roof on it. There's no roof.

The lid's already gone. The top's been on. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And you're going to have to do some structural work, I assume, on this house anyway. Right. So we ended up getting an architect out there and getting an.

engineer out there to let us know if it could bear the weight of like adding on top. They said yes. The house was originally a three, two, but again, it had like a, it had like an office in the back without a closet. And so we ended up converting that office into an actual room. And then we built a room upstairs with a bathroom. And so it became a five three. Okay.

Is what it ended up being. And I had a garage. Which I was so excited about because we didn't have a garage at our old house. So it ended up being a 5-3. We started on that renovation in August of 24. I didn't have any money. I mean, we had money, but not enough for me to pay cash, as you can say. And this kind of changes it because you're not going to sell it quickly.

So you need money that you can leave into the deal. Right. I went to several banks to ask them for a loan on this house. we looked terrible because we had both our helix out. So we had our helix in the Bella Vista house because it wasn't selling. Essentially, I paid my family back. My mother-in-law and my brother with the helix. And so we were out the helix and people were looking at us like,

y'all are crazy. You have $175,000 in debt and you think I'm going to give you a loan. Yeah. So several shut doors. Like they would not, they would not. And I was starting to freak out because I was like, how am I going to find the money to pay for this? Like I told him that I was going to pay for this. But you already had under contract, but you hadn't closed.

No, we had it under contract and I was looking for the money. One of my cousins said, you need to go see Martin at Legacy. He knows our family. He's helped me with some deals. So there I go. Right before my nursing shift, I go in there and I'm explaining to Martin the situation. And I said, listen, as soon as the spell of vista property closes, I'm going to pay those healers. locks back. I'll be in a way better position than I am now. I've done a few deals. He was like,

well, tell me about you. Tell me about you. Are you from here? Like what? I said, well, obviously, you know, my cousin and all my brothers have their own businesses. And then I started doing this. And I said, my mother has her own business. And he was like, well, what does your mother do? And I said, she cleans houses. And he's like, oh, okay. He's like, what's her name? And I was like, Delilah. I was like, her company is Dedi's cleaning. He was like, Delilah? And I was like, yes, Delilah. Dedy's cleaning is your mom.

And I was like, yes, Diti's cleaning is my mom. And he was like, she cleans my house. He was like, I know your mom. I've known your mom for years. Oh, my God. That's so funny. And so I was like, no way. And he was like, I'll tell you what.

I know your mom. I know she's an amazing human. I know she works hard. He was like, I'm going to work this out for you. We're going to get this done. He's like, we're going to get this done. So essentially. Is this a community bank?

Yes, local community bank. And he ended up lending me the rehab and lending me the purchase. So we just had to come up, obviously, with the, it was 10% down payment. And was that financing? Did you refinance it when it was done? Yes. So that was just like a bridge long kind of thing. Right.

Yeah. So purchase was 1. 120. Rehab was 1.60. So you're all in for 280. We were all in for 280. and when we refinance the house appraised for $420,000. Wow.

Boom. Unbelievable. That's so cool. Yeah. So we ended up just refinancing it and now in the process of pulling a heat lock on that one as well. Amazing. And the kids like it. The kids are obsessed with it.

They love it. They love it so much. And I'm not going to like to you. I used to talk to Henry about this because they used to make me mad. They did not want to move from our old house like you were because. They just, like, love the neighborhood and they lived there all their, their childhood. So, you know, we'd walk it when it was almost done, and they'd be like, I don't like this. I don't know.

And I'd be like, you ungrateful little things. I'm working two jobs. I'm flipping. I love it for you guys. And you guys don't like it. And now they love it. And now they love it. Yeah, they are obsessed with it.

They're so happy. Oh, that's great. Oh, what a cool story. Good for you. What I like about this story is there's a couple. couple of lessons. Like in real estate investing, oftentimes we make decisions for other people. Like it could have been very easy for you to say, four banks told me no. They're right. My finances aren't in the best place. I get it. And you could have walked away from this deal, right? That

obviously has improved your family's life for the better. And so I think there's a lesson in this in not taking no for an answer, right? Like banks, one bank isn't the end-all be all. and community banks can be a little more flexible. So instead of just saying no, you had to go put yourself out there again at the risk of being told no. So I love that you put yourself back out there. But also, this is what community banking is, right? Like personal relationships matter. And there are ways you can manufacture connection.

Like we've talked about this all the time. Get in your local community groups. You can go to RIA groups and meet local bankers. You can go to Rotary Club meetings and meet local bankers. you can go to Chamber of Commerce groups and meet local bankers, and you'll meet them on a more personal level so that when you're walking into their office, at least these people have seen you.

So these are things that you can manufacture. But like this is the point of community banking is to support local businesses. And as a real estate investor, as a house flipper, you are a local entrepreneur. So walk into these banks, put yourself out there and try to take advantage of some of the benefits that come from community banking.

I love this story. It literally makes me feel good every time I hear it. I just know your family personally. Joanna's children are just amazing human beings. And so, like, me envisioning them in this house just makes me feel good. So it's a super fun story. It's great that real estate has allowed you to do that. So did you continue to buy?

What's your portfolio look like now? So after we did the refinance on our house that we're living in, I got a call about some duplexes. So we bought duplexes. and we bought those for 240. We have each side rented out for $1,200. Yeah, perfect. So we fixed both the sides, but one of them had a more extensive rehab. So we fixed that side.

They appraised for $350. And then shortly after in September, I got another call. Well, actually, it was a call, but I'd been following up with her for a while. It was another tornado house. This one had half of a roof. I'm currently working on that one. And I just recently went under contract last week on another one in front of the house where I live right now. Amazing.

So across the street. Yeah. So I have two flips going on right now and we have a duplex and two rental homes. Right. Amazing. Wow. Congratulations. So, I mean, it's been less than four years since you started.

You said started in 22. And it sounded like when you got started, you had some goals, right? You want to bring him more income, get your husband closer to home. Right. How has your progress so far helped you in pursuit of those goals? Oh, wow. Tremendously, because we were able to pay off a lot of debt that we had. He is now home.

So we're happy about that. I think my biggest goal that I didn't know I had at the time was this house. So our brand new house is just life changing that we were able to acquire that and invest in it and still not have because mortgage rates were high. So we were like, how are we going to be able to afford a $600,000 home? So now, you know, we have this room for everyone. It's brand new and we can afford it. And so that's like my biggest happiness of all of this is that I was able to put my family in a brand new home. And it's enough space for all of us.

and we all love it. I love what you just said, that your goal being your own lifestyle. I think a lot of real estate investors focus on like financial freedom. Like it's this thing, years in the future that you go out and pursue and nothing is good until you get that. But you're a perfect example that, you know, real estate can help you improve your life today. It doesn't have to be once you hit X amount of doors or some net worth. Like you have improved your family's life in tangible ways.

of a new house, your husband's home, and closer to his family. Like, that happened quick. Like, it didn't have, you didn't have to get dozens of doors. Like, that was less than four years ago. So it's a very inspiring and tangible story. Yeah, so that's just the biggest thing that he's home. We're in our new house. And he ended up opening of a car dealership.

Amazing. That's what he does. So, you know, just for us to have the lifestyle of being able to be there for our kids, for soccer, for school things. My kids, that's a lot of kid activities. I got two, and it's a lot to keep up with. Yeah, so, gosh, that's just like my biggest thing. This story is amazing, and I'm sure a lot of people got a lot of value from it.

But I also know there's probably some people listening who maybe feel like, man, I don't know if I have the confidence to do this. I don't know if I have the time to do this. I don't know if I have the finances to do this. And you struggled with a lot of those thoughts. So what piece of advice would you give to the young lady or man listening right now and feeling those feelings? Oh, man. I really had to make the time, especially when we would have the meetings.

I would be cooking on the meetings. I would be at soccer practice on the meetings. I started telling myself, I'm going to do this. I'm going to be a real estate investor. I'm going to find my first property, just believing it because I didn't believe it. I didn't believe that I could achieve what I've achieved so far. That girl would never in a million years think that she would be in this position right now. So really just tell yourself every day that you're going to do this and it will happen.

I love it. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Joanna, for coming and sharing this. truly inspiring story. It is a testament to how real estate can benefit you in the short term and long term in a testament to how we all have to kind of overcome our own, you know, negative self-thought and self-doubt. But there's fundamentals to real estate. And if you follow the fundamentals, you can, A, build wealth, but B, protect yourself while doing it. And I know that there was scariness and risk along the way, but you navigated that and you mitigated that.

And it shows. So we're proud of you. And thank you for sharing that with us. And for those of you listening, we hope you got great value from this episode. We appreciate you joining us, and we'll see you on the next episode of the Bigger Pockets Podcast. Thank you all for listening to the Bigger Pockets Real Estate podcast. Make sure you get all our new episodes by subscribing on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Our new episodes come out Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On the host and executive producer of the show, Dave Meyer, the show is produced by Ian K, copywriting is by Calicoe content, and editing is by Exodus Media. If you'd like to learn more about real estate investing or to sign up for our free newsletter, please visit www.w.w.com.

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only. All host and participant opinions are their own. Investment in any asset, real estate included, involves risk. So use your best judgment and consult with qualified advisors before investing. You should only risk capital you can afford to lose. And remember, past performance is not indicative of future results. Bigger Pocket's LLC disclaims all liability for direct, indirect, consequential, or other damages arising from a reliance on information presented in this podcast.