Epic Real Estate Investing - Is Turnkey Investing a Good Fit for You? | 483

Episode Date: September 29, 2018

Find out if turnkey investing is a good fit for you in today’s episode with Karry Valentine; a TV professional and a real estate investor! Discover her experience with the first acquired property, why she flew to see it, and the strategy for her upcoming second property. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is Terio Media. So you want to be a real estate investor, but you don't want to do the work. If there were only a way where someone else could do it for you, now there is. Tune in here each and every Saturday on the Epic Real Estate Investing show for Turnkey Saturdays with your host, Mercedes-Torres. Hello and welcome. Welcome to the Turnkey portion of Epic Real Estate Investing podcast. My name is Mercedes-Torres, and I'm like,

lucky enough to be partners in crime with Mr. Matt Terrio, the guy who created the epic real estate empire. For those of you who are just turning in now to our turnkey real estate investing show, the show was specifically created by Matt and I to really help that busy professionals who understands the importance of real estate to, you know, dive right into the work without doing all the work themselves. I know, I know. It sounds too good to be true, right? Well, because I hear that all the time. This week, I decided to share a story of one of our clients by the name of Carrie because goodness gracious, that woman followed us, investigated us and did all the research about us before she

decided to pull the trigger. Now, turnkey real estate investing is certainly not a good fit for every person. But I certainly think it helps those individuals. individuals that are too afraid to jump into real estate investing because they either don't have the time or don't have the knowledge. So in that case, turnkey is a great alternative. I'm going to let you listen to my conversation with Carrie and let you decide for yourself if turnkey real estate investing might be a good fit for you. So ladies and gentlemen, this week, I am very excited to be joined by an amazing. powerhouse woman that's full time in the TV world but just jumped into real estate investing. And I think it's taken her a while to pull the trigger. I will let her tell you all about

herself. So welcome to the show, Ms. Carrie Valentine. How are you? Hi, Mercedes. I'm great. How are you? I'm fantastic. Thank you so much, Carrie, for joining us. I know you are a busy bee. And I just really appreciate you taking the time to share your story with our epic listeners. Absolutely. I'm happy to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, you're so welcome. So we're going to make this very simple. And let's just start off by introducing yourself and tell us a little bit about Ms. Carrie. Okay, sure. So as Mercedes said, my name is Carrie Valentine. I am a California native. I've lived in Southern California just outside of Los Angeles my entire life. And I do work in television production, which keeps me pretty busy. It's more than a full-time

job, but I absolutely love what I do. And actually, before I met Matt and Mercedes, I knew nothing about real estate. So I've learned a ton over the last couple years, and I am just thrilled with the knowledge that I've been able to acquire through them. You are one of those people, Carrie, that just is thirsty for just learning and growing and just asking the most carefully thought out questions. So I will have to say I absolutely love that about you. Well, thank you. And it's true. You know me. I always have questions and I'm always kind of looking to get more information. I love that. Carrie is one of the few people that calls my office with a list of questions. They're already carefully thought out and like in chronological order. And I love it. I think that's why you've done

so well. So tell me, Carrie, how? What made you think about passive income? I know you're a busy bee. You're extremely busy. You love what you do in the TV world. What made you decide, okay, I'm going to jump into this whole different realm of possibilities in a whole different world from television. Why passive income?

Absolutely. So I think as I've gotten older, I've started to realize that retirement plans aren't what they used to be. You know, back in the day, people got really fat pensions from their jobs. Working in television, you kind of move around a lot. So sure, there's 401k opportunities and some other things, but I just didn't feel like it was going to be enough when it comes time for me to retire. So really, I'm kind of looking out for my future and my golden years and kind of what that looks like. And I don't want to be one of these people that's, you know, realizing when I'm in my 70s that I can't afford to retire. So I'm starting the planning. I mean, obviously,

I could have started earlier, but I'm trying to, you know, just take that in my own hands. And I know that, you know, passive income through real estate is definitely an option to kind of help later on down the line. So that's really what kind of sparked my interest in it. And I just wanted to learn more. And I've just loved everything that I've gotten to know about real estate. I love it. I love it. You know, Matt and I always say it's never too late to start. So you started right when you were supposed to start. So tell me, you said, you know, you like the idea of passive income. Why specifically in real estate? You know, I feel like, well, there's a couple reasons, actually. I think, you know, there's, and Matt said this on some of his podcast before, but I don't think

there's ever going to come a day where people don't need a place to live. I think that the demand is always going to be there. I think as population continues to grow, you know, they just, everywhere you look, they're just building more. I'm sure, there'll be recessions and there'll be down times in the market. But I think for the most part, like, that's one of our basic needs. We're always going to need shelter. And I just, I don't see there ever being a day where people go, yeah, I don't need a

house to live in anymore. Like, I don't think that day's ever going to come. So to me, it just feels like it's the obvious. Like it's kind of a given, you know, if you can get in at a good time, why not go after it. Yeah, food and shelter happened to be one of the priorities of every human beings. So at least I hope that is the case. Exactly. You're absolutely right. Cool. So how did you find Epic Real Estate? I mean, you were a complete newbie. You knew nothing about real estate. How did you find this? So when I kind of had the idea, when I started hearing other people just talking about real

estate and real estate investing, I knew that I wanted to be a part of it, not obviously on the, on the agent side. I knew I didn't want to be a real estate agent, but I was really intrigued with real estate investing. And living in Los Angeles, you obviously have a commute everywhere you go. So I have a commute to work every day. And I kind of told myself, you know what, let's use this time instead of listen to the radio. Like, let's start looking at podcasts and and audiobooks that helps surpass the time. And I just taught, I did a search for real estate investing podcast. And Epic Real Estate came up. And from Epic Real Estate, you know, I learned about some of the other podcasts that you guys have.

I think I attended one of your Grub and Grow Rich events a couple years ago. And then from there, I eventually made it out to one of your property tours. So that's kind of how I found you guys. And that kind of started the relationship. And then from there, it just kind of grew until I was ready to take that jump and get my first property. Yeah. Carrie is an exception to the rule, as I said at the beginning of the phone call. She was one of the people that called the office, followed us,

everywhere, came to our events, flew out to a property tour. I think it was about two years before you're like, okay, Mercedes, I'm ready. I love it, though, because you learned along the way, and I do remember the first time that I met you, you were completely green. And then when I fast forward to, I don't know, a year later, when you were at a property tour, you were just asking really solid questions that weren't the questions that you were asking on day one. So I love that I've watched you evolve and grow. And I think the podcast, I mean, surely you listen to other podcasts, but just that surrounding yourself with that world has really helped you a lot. So yeah, it's been awesome. I just love learning and just you guys have been great along the way. So I love it.

Thank you. So you've acquired your first property with Cassidy. full of savvy. Tell us about that experience. What made you decide to like finally jump in after so much thorough due diligence? Okay. So, um, I think it was, it was a lot of things. I just, I wanted to wait until I was ready. Um, I, you know, I liked it. I didn't feel like I was being pushed into anything with you guys. You, I mean, you were great at answering all my questions over the years until I was ready to actually buy. Um, but the process honestly was great. Like, had I not had you guys kind of holding my hand along the way, I don't know that I would have actually pulled the trigger only because I can't afford to invest where I live because I live in Los Angeles and it's pretty expensive here. So I love living here.

I would never change that, but it doesn't make sense for me to invest here because I can't afford it. So I knew I had to go out of state and through your cash flow savvy program, I knew that you guys were going to, you know, you've got teams on the ground, you've got your preferred lenders, you've got your team of, the management company. You guys just have all the resources and you've done your due diligence. So instead of me trying to build my own team and trying to put boots on the ground myself and just go through the process, you guys have already figured all that out for me, which was amazing. It just cut so much time off to where I could just pull the trigger and get my first rental property.

So, and this is my, I've got one so far and it's one of many yet to come. I know we started talking a couple weeks ago about pulling the trigger because I think I'm ready to get my next one. So I'm really excited to do it all over again. I think I just saw a pre-approval in my inbox yesterday for you. Is that right? Yay, congratulations. So we're working on property number two.

What an honor. I'm humbled. Really, Carrie, because you've come a long, long way. So let's talk about, you know, you said it was so easy and everything was already set. It sounds very easy. It took us 10 years to. get to be able to present this amazing property to carry. And so what I love about Carrie that was a little bit different that less than one percent

of my investors actually do is you actually flew to go see your property. And your property is located in Cleveland. And I think you made a weekend trip out of it. So tell me about your property. And then tell me what made you decide, I'm going to go see this property. because less than 1% of our clients actually fly to go see their property. After all, that's why they hire us to help them with the process. So go ahead.

Tell me about that. So I do realize that most people don't go out to see their properties, as you mentioned. I think for me, it was because it was my first property, and I really wanted to make sure I knew as much as I could about the property. And it's not like I didn't trust, you know, kind of what you guys were doing and the information you were presenting me with. But it just so happened during that 10-day, I think it's 10-day due diligence period that you have.

I was able to get my inspection done. So I got the inspection report back. And I thought, you know what? The weekend's coming up. I don't have any plans. What if I just went out there and hopped on a plane to look at my property? And honestly, I'm so glad that I did. I know that moving forward, that may not always be the case.

And I may not have the opportunity to go out and look at the property before I purchase it. But I'm glad that I did, especially on my first one, just because as things kind of have come up over the past year, it just helps that I'm able to visualize and kind of know what they're talking about because I've seen the property. Like I said, I think that's more of a luxury. I know I won't always be able to go out there. But the fact that I did on my first one, I just wanted to make sure that I was, you know, making the right decision and that it was the right property for me. on paper, you know, you want the numbers to make sense, obviously, but actually going out and seeing the property just reassured me that like everything was what you guys said it was going to be. And it was just nice to get that reassurance. So I think that's kind of why I did it was just, it was my first time.

I didn't know what I was doing and I was just trying to do my homework. I love it. And so when you actually got there, was everything conveyed to you the way it was actually? Yeah, for the most part. I mean, everything was, you know, how the inspection report came back. Everything was pretty much, it was pretty much status quo. Actually, while I was there, I loved it because the management company was even showing it to potential tenants. So the property actually wasn't even mine yet, but they were already working to get tenants in there so that right when I closed escrow, I could have somebody who's already signed and ready to move into the property. So timing-wise, it was all perfect. And I just love to see, you know, the people showing the house already. So that

kind of made me smile as well so that I knew it wasn't just going to sit vacant for months at a time. Awesome. So tell me about the actual property. What did you buy? So I bought a four-bedroom, two-back house in Cleveland. It's a great, it's a cute little property in a town called, I forget, I think it's called Old Brooklyn is the area, the neighborhood. And it's really cute. There's kind of, it's up and coming in a way. There's kind of, they'll be doing stuff in the area. So that was good to see. One of the other great things about going to see the property was I kind of drove around the neighborhoods and got to know the neighborhoods so that when I go to buy my next property, if it's in the Cleveland area, I'm somewhat familiar with some of the other neighborhoods and just kind of what's going on. It was good to see, you know, shopping centers and restaurants and, you know, just what to expect and what kind of people are living in that area.

So that was exciting. But yeah, the house is really cute. I think it's a decent size, a good family home. And I'm very happy with my purchase. Awesome. And do you mind sharing what you paid for it and what your returns are? Oh, gosh, you might have gotten me on the returns. I feel like at this point, I paid $110,000 for the property.

We've had a couple things come up. Just normal wear and tear stuff on the house. In the winter time, we had a pipe burst, so there was kind of repairing that. But I'm not discouraged by any means. I know that that comes with the territory. Like there's going to be things that need that need repair. So there's been a couple of things that have come up that set me back. I think there might have just been one month where it did end up being vacant.

But that's okay. I know that's what I've signed up for. So I'm not letting that discourage me at all. I don't know that I've actually seen any returns at this point. I think just because like I said, some of the repairs and when you have a pipe burst in the basement and the basement floods and you're kind of dealing with that. But, you know, these things happen. So I think in the long run, I'm in it for the long haul the way I look at it.

It's a marathon, not a sprint. So I think over time, and soon enough, I'll start to see those returns. I love that you shared that, Carrie, because that's very realistic about just what happens in real estate investing. So let's talk about the challenge. So you had a pipe first. Mind you, you and I are neighbors. I own properties in that old Brooklyn area. I love it.

It's up and coming. It's also in Cleveland. And Cleveland is very seasonal. A couple years ago, we had the worst winter in like the century, I believe it was the way it was described to me. I had a couple of pipes burst as well, as did you. Tell me, how did cash flow savvy and our management team help you deal with that? Were they in communication? Did they take care of everything for you?

How did they, you know, how did the tenants get handled? Share that with us. Absolutely. So the experience was pretty good overall. I have to say the management company was great. Their main priority was getting, making sure the tenant was okay, which I love because I'm trying to keep a happy tenant. I don't want my tenants to be upset or, you know, not getting a response from the management company because I don't want them to leave. Like I would love it if they would stay for the long, long haul here. So as soon as that pipe burst, they did have someone over there to look at it. And I know they had to pull up the carpet. and try to dry it. They were pumping water out of the basement. So they were on it. And they had actually started the process of getting the tenant taken care of before they had even had a chance to call me and tell me what had happened. So my first question was, is a tenant okay? And luckily it happened in the basement so that the tenant could still live upstairs and it was just pumping the water out of the basement. So all of that went great. I was really happy with the management

company's kind of response time to getting them taken care of. So everything was great. I think I'd probably even reached out to you at some point, Mercedes, just because I had questions along the way. And that's one thing that I love about cash flow savvy is once I buy my property, it's not like you guys say, see you later, best of luck. You know, it's like you're still there to hold my hand. And I've reached out to you a couple times of things that have popped up just to get, you know, your take on it or input from you or your advice on stuff. So I've really appreciated that. Thank you so much. But I think I even reached out to you about the pipe bursting and just saying, well, whose responsibility is it?

And just trying to figure out, you know, because not having done this before, I didn't know, is the tenant responsible for the pipe that burst? Because they didn't keep the water flowing at a trickle through the house, or is it my responsibility. So we kind of talked through that. So that was great. Cash flow savvy was there for me. The management company handled it all.

And it all worked out. And I learned a lot, too, because obviously living in Los Angeles, I don't know what that's like to have a pipe that burst because it freezes. So I've learned a lot. So this next winter, I'm prepared and I know kind of what to expect a little bit more. So it's a learning process as well, which I've also enjoyed. Actually, Carrie, you know, you experienced something, pipe, due burst in properties. Usually when they're vacant, you know, when a tenant is in place, well, there's running water. And even if it's negative 30 degrees, if there's running water, there isn't an issue. So yeah, that was kind of surprising.

because when you called me to tell me, my first response, wait a minute, I thought your property was tenanted. So that was interesting to learn. But what made you really happy is that your tenant and property management took care of just about everything before they even informed you. And at the end of the day, that's our goal. If you have a happy tenant, you will have a paying tenant. So I'm glad that everyone came together for you.

So let's, you know, we talked about your return when you, I did a little homework before we got on our call. And when you purchased the property, you were at a 10.8 cash on cash return. You might have broken even this year. But with the deductions that you're going to be able to take, even if you filed an insurance claim, you're still going to be in the positive miscarry. So just know that. I did the background search on that before we hopped on this call. So, Carrie, despite the fact that you've had these challenges, and I know you said that this didn't discourage you, what made you think, okay, this is just a bump in the road? I think I went into it knowing there were going to be bumps in the road.

I never had expectations that everything was going to go perfectly because I'm a homeowner myself. I own the house that I live in and, you know, things happen and things come up or things break and you have to repair it. I never went in. I think it's all about kind of managing expectations. And I think if somebody goes into it thinking that, you know, it's going to be 100% you know, cash flowing every month. And over the long term,

it will cash flow. But I think there's going to be times where, yeah, you've got repairs and stuff. And that's just part of being a homeowner, whether it's a rental or you live in it. So I never thought that, you know, oh,

that this stuff won't happen to me. Like I knew it was going to happen and I was prepared for it. And, you know, I think, too, at least in my head, I feel like it makes sense that, like, the more properties you get, the easier it is to cover expenses on the ones that do have issues because you kind of build like this machine and they all kind of start to fund each other. And so I think maybe when you have one property, it's almost harder. And Mercedes, you can correct me if I'm wrong. But it does make sense that, you know, if you've got five properties and you have a pipe verse, you're not going to feel that financially as much as you would when you only have one property. So that's why I thought, okay, let's look to pick up another property and just to kind of keep the machine growing, so or speak. Carrie, you are a thousand percent right.

That's exactly right. That's why we encourage our clients, you know, if you can pick up one property a year, that's awesome. Our typical client picks up three properties a year. So you're right. If you have a vacancy or if you have a tree fall on your property, then you have two others to kind of help offset that. But you're on your way. you're working on property number two. I love it. Love it. I'm so excited. So what would you say, Carrie, has been the biggest challenge during this whole, you know,

ordeal? What has been an eye-opening experience for you? Gosh, you know, I don't really look at it as anything as challenges. I feel like, I feel like it's all just kind of feedback, you know? It's the stuff that I don't know. It's not being able to anticipate every little thing, you know. I know generally speaking that, you know, stuff's going to break. And right now I think I got an email about like the faucets leaking a little bit. But you know what? You fix it and you move on. I think it's like I said, I don't really look at it as a challenge as and it's going to like stop me. I just look at it as is kind of feedback and like, okay, we're going to get this taken care of and we're going to keep moving forward. I can't really think of any real specific challenges that come to mind. Like that word to me is just, I don't know.

I feel like it's like none of that's going to stop me. I'm just going to keep going. I love it. I love it. I love it. So what's something that you know now that you wish you would have known before you got started? I wish, and I've heard people say this, and it's interesting because now I find myself saying it. But it's almost like you wish you would have started sooner. But like you said, it's never too late to start. I think, you know, a part of me is like, oh, I should have started five years ago. But today is the five years from the future.

So why not start today and why not just kind of dive in, you know? I think it's not as scary as people think it is, and especially with cash flow savvy, kind of holding my hand through the process and supporting me along the way and answering my questions and not pressuring. Like I said, there was never any pressure there to do it. It was kind of like when I was ready. And I got to the point where I was ready and I'm like, let's do this. And now I just, I'm ready to do it again.

And it's actually fun. I have to tell you a funny story, Mercedes. When I was getting the properties, you were sending me properties daily to look at. and I kept a list of all the properties I looked at because you know me, I'm list oriented. And I think it was the 19th property you sent me. So it was kind of a lot that I went through. But I would analyze every property and rent some numbers and I had a spreadsheet. When I liked this property in Cleveland that I ended up getting, I was kind of sad to take it because that meant I wasn't going to get more properties to send it.

I had learned to like the process so much that like I didn't want to take the house because that meant that I was done with the process. And I was like, no, I want to keep doing this. It's fun. You're such a goofball. Yeah, you know, I said several times during our conversation, you're an exception to the rule. And that is absolutely an exception to the rule. Our typical client, they buy three properties a year. They usually choose a property by their third batch. And our batches consist anywhere from like one to three or four properties.

Yeah, 19 is a property. a little crazy. But you know what? You ended up with a really great property that, you know, we are in markets that appreciate at a very slow pace, especially when we compare it to California. There's been appreciation in Oak Brooklyn. You know, like I said, I own properties there as well. And I'm like you. I'm in the buy and hold and I've been holding for several years. and there's been appreciation even when I didn't even factor that in, simply because I know what locations that we're in, and that's not our main focus.

So, okay, now that you're in, we're considering number two now, actually, you've already been pre-approved. What are you going to do different this time? What am I going to do different? You know, I think I don't need to wait to take 19 properties. I think that there's probably, there was probably other ones along the way,

but I think just being my first time, I wanted to kind of see what was out there. And when you start to run the numbers, you know, a lot of your properties are pretty comparable, like as far as the return, the cash on cash returns and like what the monthly cash flow is expected to be. So I don't know that I need to wait until 19 properties this next time. I think I could probably get that going quicker. But I do think it was part of the process for me just because, like I said, it was my first time doing this. And I just wanted to see kind of what was out there. So I think I could probably get to get to the goods a little bit sooner this time.

That's really smart. And actually, Carrie, you know, and I have this discussion with all of our investors. All of our properties that are offered through cash flow savvy, first of all, they're not blasted to the public. They're only sent to the investors in our queue. And we do that so that you don't have to hurry up and make a decision on a property because you get 24 hours to make a decision on any property that we send you. And in addition to that, you get to say yes or no within that 24 hours. And if you say no, you're going to get more properties the next day.

But all of our properties meet our minimum criteria. So everything has to be three to four bedrooms, one to two bathrooms, at least a thousand square feet. And they have to produce a better return than the stock market. So we look at that criteria. And when we send it to you, like you said, our properties are going to be very comparable because they all have to meet our minimum criteria or you would never see the property.

You know, it's it's something that we have spent years to perfect and it's working. So why would we fix what's not broken? It's working. Agreed. It works for sure. Awesome. Awesome. So Carrie, I wouldn't classify you as a newbie investor anymore.

You actually have so much knowledge in that little brain of yours. what advice would you give to a new investor? What advice would I give? It kind of ties back to what I was saying earlier, where it's just you just have to do it. Like, it's not anything to be afraid of, and like the time is now. I mean, assuming, you know, you're ready.

And I think a lot of the, you know, it's the unknown, I think, that scares people. But as you said, you know, you guys have perfected the system and you guys have done your homework. you know what you're doing at this point and it really works and I feel like until you do that first one you're just kind of I think Matt has a saying what is it to know and to not do or what is it to know and to not do is to not know exactly but but it's so true like until I actually did it I had all this information but I wasn't doing anything with it it's it's almost like you just have to dive in and do it and

you continue to learn and grow as you go but you're but you can only take that so far until you actually do it. And that advice actually is stuff that people told me along the way, including people on your team Mercedes. They're like, oh, it's only scary until you do it. And you just have to do it. And the time is now, you know, unfortunately, nobody's getting any younger. So you just have to, you know, just do it. The time is now. Yeah. No one is getting any younger. And I'd have to say I can see the market shifting. Rates are increasing. Rents are catching up at a very slow rates or returns are dropping and you're going to see a difference on property number two. The return is going to be a little bit lower than what you got for property number one.

And that just comes with the territory when you wait. You know, Matt says all the time, buy real estate and wait. Don't wait to buy real estate. Exactly. Awesome. Carrie, thank you so, so much for taking time out of your super busy day in the television. vision world to just grace the audience with your insightfulness, your knowledge, and really your journey and your growth just with cash flow savvy and just your experience in real estate.

Thank you so, so much. And is there anything that you want to add? No, I think we covered it all. I mean, I just, you know, I've been really grateful for cash flow savvy. I feel like without you guys, I probably wouldn't be doing this. I think that you guys were all the pieces that I needed. You got everything from the support to, you know, kind of having your team already built that I just took advantage of in a way. So I can't thank you guys enough.

And it's been great working with you guys. And I look forward to doing it again and again. I love it. It's absolutely neutral. So for our audience, thank you so much for tuning in. I truly hope this was insightful. We've got so much from Ms. Carey. I so appreciate her.

Whenever you're ready, here's the way that I can help you. Just go to www. www.cashflowsavvy.com and that's savvy with two bees. Download our frustrated investor guide to passive income. Book a call with me and I will be happy to help you get out of the rat race just like we're doing with Carrie. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mercedes Torres from Clashflow Savvy, bought to you by Epic Real Estate Ontario Media. See you next week. If waiting for your investments to grow feels like waiting for pink to drive, there's a powerful secret. Your financial planner doesn't want you to know.

You can accelerate your investments growth by two, three, or even four times. That's bad news for Wall Street. But great news for you. We're cash flow savvy, and we'd like to offer you free information that will show you how to take control of your investments and double, triple, or even quadruple their returns. And it's yours for free. For the secret your financial planner doesn't want you to know,

go to cashflow savvy.com. That's cashflow savvy.com. This podcast is a part of the C-suite radio network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-sweetradio.com.