After years of buying single family rentals, I've learned that the numbers are only the first filter.

They tell you if a deal can work.

They don't tell you if it should.

In this episode, I'm walking through the clues I look for once the spreadsheet checks out.

Hoarder houses next door that no fence can hide.

Neighborhoods where pride of ownership is missing and the whole block would need renovating, not just the house.

Streets so narrow that parked cars turn a duplex into a daily traffic jam.

I talk about why I stay away from properties near open, undeveloped land, and what happened when I found out a property near a firehouse got me a real discount on insurance.

I also share two properties I walked away from for reasons that had nothing to do with price.

One sat on a busy thoroughfare with a bedroom facing the noise.

Another backed up to railroad tracks with no fence between the yard and the rails. Both were good deals on paper.

Neither made the cut once I stood outside and actually looked.

None of these clues are dealbreakers on their own.

But they belong in your due diligence right alongside your comps and your cash flow numbers, because they are exactly what will affect your exit, whether that is renting the property long term or selling it down the road.

If you want help with the number side of due diligence, our  property analyzer is in the resource center. MMM Resource Center

Begin with our FREE Real Estate Investing Masterclass:

How to Build Income Beyond Your Paycheck with Real Estate

▶️ https://youtu.be/HqKRPymCFb8

🛒 MMM Resource Center: https://pswxb3-cy.myshopify.com/

📧 Questions? Contact Nancy Wallace-Laabs [email protected]

Description:

What if I told you that one rental property won't make you rich?

It probably won't replace your income or let you retire next year.

But it might do something even more valuable: it might give you options.

Options to work because you want to, not because you have to.

Options if life changes, if your priorities shift, or if you simply want more control over your future.

When I bought my first rental property, I wasn't trying to build an empire; I was trying to build options.

The Power of One Rental Property One rental property can profoundly change your life. Many people assume that one rental isn’t enough to make a difference, but that’s where they get it all wrong.

Here’s why:

The Journey of Growth Starting with one rental property is just the beginning.

Each additional property you acquire builds upon the last, compounding your knowledge and confidence. The real returns from your first rental property extend beyond financial gains; they instill a belief system that you can repeat this process.

This is especially empowering for women, as it opens doors to more choices and financial independence.

Investing in real estate is not merely about the properties you acquire; it’s about the options you create for your future. More choices lead to more freedom and flexibility in life.

If you’re ready to take the first step toward building your options, consider starting with just one rental property. Remember, the journey begins with a decision to act. 

💥 Access our MMM Resource Center https://pswxb3-cy.myshopify.com

The Transition Strategy: One Paycheck to Two Strategy: https://bit.ly/4w5jPcF

🐺 Book a Private Strategy Call https://calendly.com/moneymakinmamas/calendar

Contact Nancy Wallace Laabs, Money Makin Mamas

[email protected] www.moneymakinmamas.com

Contact Kelcie Leka, Money Makin Mamas

[email protected] 

Description: 

The rental properties that build the most reliable long-term wealth are often not the newest, largest, or most impressive homes.

They are usually the ordinary three-bedroom, two-bath houses in stable neighborhoods that renters can afford, lenders understand, and investors can maintain without unnecessary drama.

In this episode of the Money Makin’ Mamas Show, real estate investor, broker, and former property manager Nancy Wallace-Laabs explains why boring rental properties often make better investments than luxury homes and highly upgraded properties.

After nearly 20 years of investing in single-family homes, Nancy has learned that attractive finishes and expensive upgrades do not automatically create stronger cash flow. Tenants may appreciate granite countertops, luxury appliances, or trendy renovations, but they are not always willing to pay enough additional rent to justify the investor’s expense.

Nancy shares the rental property buy box she has relied on for years:

She also explains why these properties are often easier to finance, rent, manage, maintain, and eventually sell.

In this episode, you will learn:

Nancy also compares a high-end $600,000 rental property with a more ordinary $275,000 single-family home. The luxury property had higher tenant expectations, greater maintenance costs, a smaller pool of qualified renters, and lower monthly cash flow. The more modest property had steady demand, lower operating expenses, and could often be rented within days.

The lesson is not that investors should purchase neglected or poorly located properties.

The lesson is that a rental property does not need to be exciting to perform well.

A predictable, stable, and manageable property can create monthly income, long-term appreciation, equity, and financial options without requiring the investor to constantly solve expensive problems.

The best rental property may be the one nobody is showing off on social media. Boring creates stability. Stability creates income. And over time, dependable properties can help investors build lasting wealth.

Listen now to learn how to choose a single-family rental property based on performance rather than appearance.

Connect with Nancy Wallace-Laabs

Explore real estate investing tools, guides, and courses:

https://pswxb3-cy.myshopify.com/

For the first time in several years, buyers are beginning to regain something they have not had in a long time: options.

More homes are staying on the market longer.

Sellers may be more willing to negotiate.

Buyers may have more opportunities to request closing-cost assistance, seller concessions, repairs, home warranties, and interest-rate buy-downs. In this episode of the Money Makin’ Mamas Show, real estate investor, broker, and educator Nancy Wallace-Laabs explains what a changing real estate market can mean for homebuyers and rental property investors.

Nancy discusses how buyers can recognize a market shift, why higher inventory can create new negotiating opportunities, and how investors can use changing conditions to make more informed real estate decisions.

She also explains why waiting for lower interest rates may not always be the best strategy. Interest rates can change, but a missed real estate opportunity cannot always be recovered. 

The better question is whether a particular property, financing structure, and purchase price move you closer to financial stability. In this episode, Nancy covers:

Nancy Wallace-Laabs has invested in single-family homes for nearly 20 years and previously owned a property management company. She has purchased properties in buyer’s markets, seller’s markets, rising markets, and declining markets.

Her approach is not based on trying to predict the perfect time to buy. It is based on understanding the market, knowing the numbers, selecting the right property, and negotiating terms that support the investor’s long-term goals.

A changing market does not automatically mean a bad market. For prepared buyers, it may create opportunities that were not available a year or two ago. Listen now to learn how to evaluate your financial options, improve your negotiating position, and prepare to purchase a single-family rental property in a changing real estate market.

Connect with Nancy Wallace-Laabs and explore additional real estate investing resources: https://pswxb3-cy.myshopify.com/

Explore our real estate investing resources:

💥 Access our MMM Resource Center https://pswxb3-cy.myshopify.com/

The Transition Strategy: One Paycheck to Two Strategy: https://bit.ly/4w5jPcF

🐺 Book a Private Strategy Call https://calendly.com/moneymakinmamas/calendar

Contact Nancy Wallace Laabs, Money Makin Mamas

[email protected] www.moneymakinmamas.com

Contact Kelcie Leka, Money Makin Mamas

[email protected]

In this episode of the Money Makin’ Mamas Show, Nancy Wallace-Laabs is joined by real estate investor, private lender, business owner, and mom Crystal Rumer.

Crystal and her husband began with rental properties before discovering real estate mortgage notes, seller financing, and land investing. Crystal explains how they purchase and subdivide land, create owner-financed notes, and generate monthly cash flow while helping buyers become landowners and homeowners.

She also shares the less polished side of real estate investing, including rental problems, a hotel investment that lost money, a mortgage note that required foreclosure, and the lessons those experiences taught her about risk, resilience, communication, and responsible lending.

Nancy and Crystal discuss the importance of community and mentorship, the challenges women face when entering real estate investing, balancing business with motherhood, and why no investor needs to master every real estate strategy before taking action.

The second half of the conversation explores the personal story behind Refuge Funding.

After adopting their daughter, Crystal and her husband spent time in Alaska helping women and children escaping sex trafficking. They eventually helped build a place of refuge where survivors could experience safety, stability, healing, and a new beginning.

That experience shaped Crystal’s understanding of what it means to build resources with purpose and later influenced the transition from Texas Secured Notes to Refuge Funding.

This conversation shows how real estate can create more than income. It can build stability, provide choices, and give people the capacity to serve others in meaningful ways.

Topics include mortgage notes, private lending, seller financing, owner financing, land investing, passive income, women in real estate, investing mistakes, motherhood, financial stability, purpose-driven business, and taking the first step toward property ownership.

Connect with Crystal and Refuge Funding:  Refugefunding.com

💥 Access our MMM Resource Center https://pswxb3-cy.myshopify.com/

🐺 Book a Private Strategy Call https://calendly.com/moneymakinmamas/calendar

The Transition Strategy: One Paycheck to Two Strategy: https://bit.ly/4w5jPcF

Contact Nancy Wallace Laabs,

Money Makin Mamas

[email protected]

www.moneymakinmamas.com

Waiting for lower interest rates, lower property prices, or the perfect market can feel like the responsible decision.

But while you wait, potential appreciation, rental income, and mortgage paydown may also be passing you by.

In this episode, Nancy Wallace-Laabs explains why delaying the purchase of a rental property for one more year could cost you thousands of dollars in missed wealth-building opportunities.

Using examples from the Dallas–Fort Worth and Orlando markets, she breaks down how appreciation, tenant-paid mortgage reduction, and time can work together to build long-term equity.

Nancy also discusses why certainty rarely arrives before the best opportunities, how to think about changing interest rates and market conditions, and why knowing your numbers is more important than finding a perfect deal.

This episode is for women who are considering single-family rental ownership but continue to wonder whether they should wait for a better time. The goal is not to rush into a property. It is to become financially prepared, choose one clear strategy, and recognize when waiting has become more costly than moving forward.

Highlights:

Waiting can carry a measurable financial cost

Delaying the purchase of a rental property may mean missing a year of appreciation, rental income, and mortgage principal reduction.

Tenants help build an investor’s equity

When rent is used to make the mortgage payment, the tenant is helping reduce the loan balance while the property may also be appreciating.

Interest rates are only one part of the investment

A higher rate does not automatically make a property a bad investment. Purchase price, rental income, expenses, financing, and long-term performance all need to be considered together.

Certainty often arrives after the opportunity has passed

Many investors are not truly waiting for a better market. They are waiting to feel completely certain. By the time everyone agrees that conditions are favorable, competition may have already increased.

A sound process matters more than a perfect first deal

Real estate investments rarely go exactly as planned. Understanding the market, selecting a clear buy box, analyzing the numbers, and knowing when to walk away can reduce risk and help investors move forward responsibly.

💥 Access our MMM Resource Center
https://pswxb3-cy.myshopify.com/

🤖 Access my FREE Guide to Finding Hidden Deals → https://bit.ly/4v4ERHM

🐺 Book a Private Strategy Call https://calendly.com/moneymakinmamas/calendar

The Transition Strategy: One Paycheck to Two Strategy:
https://bit.ly/4w5jPcF

Contact Nancy Wallace Laabs, Money Makin Mamas
[email protected]
www.moneymakinmamas.com

Contact Kelcie Leka, Money Makin Mamas
[email protected]

If you are waiting for a motivated seller to show up in your CRM or hit the MLS, you are already losing that deal to a bidding war or a tech-giant referral fee.

In this episode, Nancy Wallace-Laabs walks Realtors through the exact system she has used for nearly 20 years to find motivated sellers before they even know they need to sell.

She breaks down the three life events that trigger a 90% probability of a home sale, how to use free public data to build a consistent lead pipeline, and the consultative communication approach that separates agents who win listings from agents who get politely declined at the door.

Whether you are working the DFW market or building your business anywhere in Texas or Florida, these strategies apply. This is not a hustle framework. It is a positioning strategy built for agents who want predictable deal flow without cold calling from scratch.

5 EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
1. The Three Life Triggers That Signal a Sale
Nancy identifies the three events that create a 90% probability of a home sale within six months: pre-probate and estate transitions, tired landlords, and tax delinquency situations. She explains how to find these sellers through free public records before any other agent even knows the opportunity exists.

2. How to Find Leads Without Cold Calling From Scratch
Nancy walks through using public records to identify absentee owners, out-of-state heirs, and vacant properties at no cost. She explains how to cross-reference property tax records with death certificates to surface pre-probate opportunities that most agents never consider, and how to build a 72-hour hidden inventory checklist to stay consistent.

3. The Problem-First Script That Opens Doors

Instead of opening with 'are you thinking of selling,' Nancy teaches the problem-first framework: leading with the financial cost of holding the property. She shares a real story of a vacant childhood home whose owner had never been asked the right question until Nancy put the true 10-year cost of ownership on paper.

4. Opportunity Mapping: Where to Focus in DFW Right Now
Nancy explains her methodology for identifying the highest-probability areas in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, including B-class neighborhoods in Mesquite, Garland, and North Richland Hills. She details the signals to look for: older homes, longer-term owners, deferred maintenance, and the 50% equity threshold that indicates a seller who does not need to squeeze every dollar out of the sale.

5. Why Distressed Sellers Need a Consultant, Not a Closer
The single biggest mistake agents make when approaching emotionally overwhelmed sellers is showing up with a listing presentation instead of a listening posture. Nancy breaks down her three-step consultative framework: open with cost, uncover the goal, close with clarity. Agents who lead with empathy and lift the burden win these listings every time.

Know a Realtor who feels like they are always competing for the same listings?

Share this Episode of The Money Makin' Show.

Nancy breaks down exactly how to find motivated sellers before they ever hit the market.

This is the episode that changes how you think about building a real estate business.

#dfwrealestate #texasrealtor #motivatedsellers

After two years of building Money Makin' Mamas together, we're taking a look behind the scenes at the tools, systems, and lessons that have helped us simplify our business and reclaim our time.

In this episode, Nancy and Kelcie share the technology, AI tools, marketing platforms, and organizational systems they are using every day to create content, manage their business, streamline social media, and focus on what matters most.

From YouTube and podcast production to AI prompts, social media scheduling, landing pages, automation, and public speaking presentations, this episode is a candid conversation about what is working, what isn't, and the lessons learned along the way.

This is also a special episode as we celebrate two years of Money Makin' Mamas and wrap up Season 2 before taking a summer break.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, real estate investor, Realtor, or small business owner, you'll walk away with practical ideas to help simplify your business and get more done with less stress.

✔ Celebrating 2 years of Money Makin' Mamas

✔ Preparing for Disney and preparing for business

✔ Why we pivoted our content strategy

✔ The biggest mistakes we made with social media

✔ How AI is helping us save time

✔ The truth about expensive AI prompts

✔ Why authenticity still matters in business

✔ The platforms we use every day

✔ Lessons learned from building a podcast

✔ How we streamlined our marketing and operations

✔ Why relationships matter more than automation

✔ What we're focusing on next

00:00 Welcome and celebrating 2 years of Money Makin' Mamas

03:00 Preparing for Disney and preparing for business

05:15 Why we pivoted our content strategy

08:20 Building a YouTube channel and learning thumbnails

13:30 The truth about AI prompts and online gurus

18:45 Using AI to improve business decisions

23:00 Leading with empathy in business

28:00 Creating a better customer experience

31:40 Simplifying systems and organizing the business

36:00 Kajabi, Canva, Vista Social, Claude, ChatGPT, Gamma, and Riverside

46:15 How AI is helping with presentations and training materials

50:30 Looking back on two years of growth

53:00 Wrapping up Season 2

Free Transition Training:  Learn How We make Money with Single Family Properties

In this episode of the Money Makin’ Mamas podcast, Nancy Wallace-Laabs and Kelcie Leka share a candid conversation about what happened behind the scenes as they approached their two-year anniversary building Money Makin’ Mamas.

They discuss the reality of entrepreneurship, why some business strategies stop working, and how knowing when to pivot can completely change the direction of a business. From raising young children while building a company to redefining their audience and message, this episode offers an honest look at growth, recalibration, and making strategic decisions in real estate and business.

Topics include:

• knowing when to pivot your business strategy

• balancing entrepreneurship and family life

• transitioning from one income stream to asset ownership

• building confidence in real estate investing • why relationships and empathy matter in real estate

• the difference between activity and alignment in business

This episode is especially relevant for professionals, entrepreneurs, and women exploring real estate investing as a long-term strategy for creating more stability and flexibility. Download the free guide:

“If You Have 60 Minutes a Week, You Can Be a Real Estate Investor” Learn more at: moneymakinmamas.com

If you caught the last episode where we broke down why so many Dallas realtors are going to struggle for listings in 2026, this episode is the solution side of that conversation. Today Nancy Wallace-Laabs walks you through exactly how smart agents are finding listings without cold calling, without chasing expired listings, and without competing in the same crowded spaces as everyone else.

This is the off-market property advantage. And it's been Nancy's primary lead strategy since 2018.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

Connect With Nancy 📞 469-430-9885 📍 Frisco, Texas — serving the greater DFW area 🎯

Specializing in off-market opportunities, pre-probate listings, and single-family investment properties since 2006.

Download the Free Training 

👇https://bit.ly/pp-preview-yt

If this episode helped you, please leave a review and share it with a realtor friend who is ready to stop competing and start positioning.