On today’s episode, James Spann joins Brian to talk about building your brand on social media. As a weatherman, James uses social media as a way to open up two-way communication between himself and the people he serves. Though James is not in real estate, the information provided in this episode is invaluable to people pursuing business in any field! In addition to social media, they discuss some aspects of the city of Birmingham specifically.

Key Takeaways:

[1:55] With his brand, James does a lot of social media. Podcasts/audio is becoming more mainstream, as it becoming easier and more convenient to access this media.

[3:49] James talks about how he has been able to build his brand through the use of social media. Their “Weatherbrains” show has attracted a national following. Locally, James’ philosophy for managing his social media is to engage with people, treat them right, and have a servant’s heart that put others’ needs before their own. He tries his hardest to answer or connect with everyone who reaches out to him. It takes hard work — and time — but it’s important.

[8:43] In the early days of the social media business, he realized it would connect him to other people by allowing the people he serves to talk back to him. The main thing he saw early on was the ability to get information from the field during life-threatening weather. In his particular line of work, social media also allows him to reach demographics that maybe wouldn’t be watching tv or listening to the radio in case of inclement weather.

[14:02] Brian and James talk about the changes in Birmingham. James has been working professionally in Birmingham for thirty-seven years. Over the course of this time, he’s seen the phase where people wanted to get out of Birmingham, but now they’re in a cycle where people are trying to come to Birmingham. They talk about some of the positive changes in the city that make it a desirable place for people to live.

[18:28] In the next 5-10 years, James imagines there will be a population increase. The biggest obstacle right now is fixing the public school system. Besides that, the affordability, culture, and other things make Birmingham a great place to live.

[21:17] Brian and James discuss the predictability of the weather in Alabama and also reflect on the weather history in Alabama. The effect of severe weather to some areas in Alabama could be devastating. A weather radio and good smart phone app are crucial resources to be safe.

[25:00] As a real estate agent, there is not a guaranteed way to ensure a location based on weather.

Mentioned in This Episode:

ALAREIA Website

Meetings

Daily REIA Show

Facebook Page

ABC 3340

Y’all Connect Conference

Follow on Twitter: @spann

James’ Facebook

Instragram: @spannpix

Snapchat: spannwx

In this episode of REIXtras, Brian gives his manifesto that will be the thesis of his next book, due to be out in January 2018. The name of the book is Nothings's For Sale. Brian's number one core business belief is coming to life with this project.

Come out to Logan's Roadhouse on Skyland Blvd. in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday, August 8 to listen to Brian talk about this subject matter. He will provide you with details on how to make money buying and selling houses using the power of social media.

Also, at the end of this episode, there are clips of Gary Vaynerchuk when he spoke in Atlanta on June 29, 2017. There is some coarse language, so be advised.

Listen along as Brian Trippe successfully protests his taxes. Come along as Brian takes his videographer along with him into the courthouse and captures the dialogue between himself and the county appraiser.

A few weeks later, Brian got a letter in the mail that gave him the ruling. He opens the letter in front of everyone.

Brian and his team have decided to start a new series under the AlaREIA umbrella called REI Extras. Real Estate Investing Extras. We hope you come along with us on our journey to provide the very best real estate education in the state.

On today’s episode, Tuscaloosa native Richard Henry joins Brian on the show to talk about the real estate market in Tuscaloosa. There are several different aspects of Tuscaloosa that make it different from the Birmingham market, and Richard shares his story of how he got started in real estate, how he survived the recession, and how he is now thriving in the Tuscaloosa market. Tune in today to hear about his business model, and the importance of networking and partnerships.

Key Takeaways:

[3:20] Richard was born and raised in Tuscaloosa, and got his Building Sites degree from Auburn. After graduating, he moved back to Tuscaloosa and started doing flips, and after the recession, started acquiring some rentals as well. Today he flips around 10 houses a year, and buys about 15 rentals a year. He is also looking to get into commercial apartments as well. They manage everything they own, and he also took over an existing property management company.

[5:58] When he first started, the banking regulations were a little bit different, so he was able to get the purchase price plus the improvement price in lending. Richard talks about his experience with his first few purchases, and how he worked with local banks to get financial support.

[9:23] During the recession, Richard was able to find some work overseeing the building of townhomes in Tuscaloosa, and worked with his brother at his moving company. In 2010, Richard started buying again, and after a tornado hit in Tuscaloosa (April 2011), he started fixing and flipping damaged houses. This was a great opportunity for Richard as well as the community.

[14:32] When he started buying again, he was able to acquire some of the properties through bank foreclosures, but most of it was self-funding. With the changes in the bank regulations, they started buying in cash, fixing it up, and then refinancing it.

[16:01] This business model is something relatively easy for beginning investors. They started with just one, and built their portfolio from there. For Richard, he’s been doing this for about ten years, but he now has a couple of solid business and is making a great income. For newcomers, especially, it’s important to not take on too much right at the start.

[18:55] Richard and Brian talk about the market in Tuscaloosa right now: Overall it’s strong, with the higher end and middle moving pretty fast. The lot inventory is pretty low, so there isn’t too much new housing construction. The traditional rental market is strong, but some of the commercial development for student housing is oversaturated.

[21:28] The student market is strong close to campus — if you could walk or ride your bike to class, it’s extremely strong. It’s around $600-$800/bedroom, where a traditional rental would be more like $300-$400/bedroom. The university is growing so quickly that there is still need for off-campus rentals.

[25:20] In the regular market, Richard typically goes for properties in the $125,000 - $175,000 range. Sometimes they go a little higher, but most people who qualify for loans qualify for over $100,000 so they’ve had the most success in the median range.

[26:33] Tuscaloosa is a smaller market compared to Birmingham, but there are available properties. They may not be as easy to find as in some of the bigger markets, but if you work at it you can find deals. Richard places great importance on networking in finding deals; it’s about a 90% referral business. He also posts some finished properties on social media, and he has his real estate license as well, which allows him to go to sales meetings and find out what’s going on with the market.

[31:40] Wholesaling is not quite as common in Tuscaloosa, especially compared to the Birmingham market. To become a successful wholesaler in that market, you need to find a way to understand the market and the values in the market. Get a feel for what the consistent buyers will buy. Getting to know the buyer is incredibly important — it all comes back to networking!

[36:18] Richard is working on moving toward acquiring more appreciation-based rentals, rather than cash-flowing rentals. The biggest reason he’s transitioning is to get into a better-quality house from a construction standpoint; when it’s remodeled, it’ll hopefully hold up a little better. With better-quality properties, he may eventually be able to sell it to an end user, versus another investor.

[39:36] Richard manages the properties he owns, and has also acquired an existing property management company. They acquired the company to be able to add and lease more properties.

[42:18] Richard and Brian talk about the importance of bringing in partners from the start. With every partnership, there should be value added — find a partner that brings value, and someone that you get along with.

Mentioned in This Episode:

ALAREIA Website

Next Meeting: August 10th

Daily REIA Show

Facebook Page

Five Star Management

Richard’s Website

Druid City Properties

Contact Richard: (205) 409-3260 or [email protected]

Today’s guest is the president of Brik Realty and the team leader of the Gusty Gulas group. Gusty is a Realtor® who is working to build a brokerage and have the best sales team in the market. In today’s episode, Brian and Gusty talk about specifics of Birmingham, and what type of growth the city could experience in the next few years, and how that will affect the real estate market.

Key Takeaways:

[3:26] Gusty has been in real estate for almost 11 years, and he built a brokerage in two and half years. He started Brik Realty in 2014 with 8 agents, and now they’ve grown to 121 agents and 3 offices.

[5:29] Brik Realty uses some technology that other brokerages don’t use. Gusty talks about the Matterport Camera (Brik 360), which provides a Google view of the inside of the house.

[6:45] Their game plan from the beginning was to be a very team-centric company. Their mentality is very positive-competitive. They are doing a mentorship program with their agents, and they try to develop their agents by learning from each other.

[8:03] Brik’s social media presence: They have an agent who runs their Instagram account with “Takeover Tuesday,” that shows the life of a Realtor®. They also use Facebook to celebrate their agents. They have also used social media to promote some of their properties.

[11:12] Gusty decided to start Brik because he wanted his team to make more money; he didn’t feel like he was in a place where teams could do very well. They are big on being a team-friendly company from a leadership standpoint, and their team leaders meet once a month to discuss topics and learn from each other.

[12:34] Brian and Gusty talk numbers in the Birmingham real estate market. For a relatively new company (compared others in the area), they are doing well. He talks about his parents’ background and where he got the drive and spirit to lead his team.

[15:10] To set themselves apart, the agents at Brik try to foster relationships within the real estate community. Staying active within the community makes deals easier, because you can collaborate with others to share different types of knowledge and information.

[17:45] Many of their agents work with investors, on local, regional, and national levels. They have an investor list, and if there’s a good property, they will send it out to a list of investors and take offers for a certain amount time. To get on that list, you can email Gusty using the contact information below!

[22:10] The best way for a new investor to break in with a Realtor® is to get a mentor — their investment mentor can help them build relationships with agents. You may also get in contact with an agent that that has investment experience.

[24:33] Brian and Gusty revisit the Birmingham real estate market. Right now the real estate market is very healthy is Birmingham; like in many other places, there is a lack of affordable housing. The Birmingham market MSA indicates a lot of growth ahead, as well.

[26:26] Some of the prime areas that are getting multiple offers are the suburbs: Mountain Brook, Homewood, Vestavia Hills. Ultimately, if it’s priced accurately, there will be multiple buyers for a property. There are other areas in inner Birmingham that are also doing well: Avondale, Crestwood, Woodlawn. In certain places, there is a buyers market. Typically it’s going to be school-driven, but there are selling points to consider when you’re looking at certain areas. Brian and Gusty talk about some of these areas.

[30:01] In the next year or so, where does Gusty see Birmingham’s real estate market sitting? There are many things that could happen that could shake the market (go to war, spike in interest rates), but they also have an election for a new mayor in the city of Birmingham so there could be some new establishment for the city. It could potentially set a new vision for the city.

[33:02] From a growth standpoint, what’s going to happen for Birmingham? Gusty talks about some of the changes in the city of Birmingham that could create growth in the population, as well as in the market. There’s increasing activity in the downtown area, and more business and housing developments being built there. They talk about some specific suburban areas, and what kind of growth could happen in those areas and how.

[38:28] Gusty and Brian talk about city politics, and how there are people in the city who want change. If you’ve got a great culture, great things will work for your benefit. There really needs to be some job growth, but there could be exciting things on the horizon for Birmingham!

[40:58] Gusty’s final advice: The key things are to foster great relationships between investors and agents, as well as doing unto others as you would have done to you. If you have a game plan and know your vision for investment, you’re going to be successful.

Mentioned in This Episode:

ALAREIA Website

Meetings Calendar

YouTube Page

Facebook Group

Brik Realty

Gusty Gulas Group

[email protected]

In today’s episode, we get part 2 of the interview with Walter Baker. In this episode, Walter gives us tips and advice on finding private lenders, how he stayed successful during the market bust, and the importance of networking. He also shares some of his motivation for getting involved in the real estate business and staying involved. This is a great continuation of last week’s episode!

Key Takeaways:

[5:01] Recap of part 1: How to find private lenders: After learning about private lenders at a seminar, he started talking to people about what they were doing and asking if they knew anyone who wasn’t getting a great rate of return on any extra income. Walter shares tips on how to be strategic about asking and finding people who might be interested in private lending.

[7:18] Fortunately Walter and his wife had a lot of interests and were involved in their community, so they had a very diverse group of people they could ask. Walter shares the success story of their first deal using a private lender — the lender was someone who played golf at the same club.

[12:07] How did Walter make it through one the worst times in the market? During this time they were actually doing more retails than they ever had before. It seemed that houses in the $100K - $180K were still moving, so he focused his energies there, and did really well.

[14:21] In addition to retails, they were getting great deals on bank-owned properties and rental properties.

[16:30] Brian and Walter talk about the possibility of the next bust, and how this could affect the real estate market. Walter thinks the real estate market is going to follow in a similar trend to the stock market: booms and busts.

[18:37] The importance of networking: One of the best ways to network in real estate is just get together with people, maybe take them for lunch or a cup of coffee, and get to learn about their experience in real estate.

[21:32] Walter is a big advocate for education in real estate. You can help decide which seminars and other events are worth your time by asking around!

[24:20] Peggy, Walter’s wife, is a great business partner for the real estate business. Walter talks about how they have found success working together. Having a spouse with you can reduce the defenses of the people you’re working with.

[28:07] Walter talks about the benefits of having your spouse involved in what you’re doing, especially if they are encouraging. He talks about some of the aspects of corporate America, and how spouses can be useful business partners.

[29:50] The lifestyle piece is one of the important benefits of Walter’s real estate business. Walter and Peggy love the outdoors, and being able to afford to do the activities they enjoy has been a really important outcome.

[32:16] Right now the most important thing to Brian is working really hard. For new people, a focus on lifestyle will come naturally. You may find that you are putting in tireless effort for a while, but it will pay off in the end, and you’ll be able to focus on enjoying your success.

[35:42] They have a mentoring program, and he’s also turned their one-on-one coaching into courses that have resources for everyone to check out.

[37:37] Everyone has a different coaching style and mentoring style. You definitely want to pick someone that you mesh with, and if you can find a local mentor, that is very beneficial. Walter recommends mixing in some very specific seminars from people across the country.

Mentioned in This Episode:

ALAREIA Website

ALAREIA Meetings

YouTube Page

Facebook Page

Walter’s Website

Call Walter: (205) 410-0185

In the first part of this episode, guest Walter Baker joins our host Brian to talk about his success in the rental market of real estate. Walter has been full-time in real estate for almost fifteen years, and has found a niche in the rental market. Walter talks about the business of owning rentals, the benefits of property managers, as well as other ways to find success in this sector of the real estate business.

Key Takeaways:

[3:43] Walter got into real estate after attending a seminar with Ron LeGrand. He had attended other talks/seminars that piqued his interest, but after Ron’s he decided it was a business he would like to get into.

[5:35] His real estate career really began when he became an “accidental landlord.” Walter and his wife owned a house in Houston and had to move, and they ended up having to rent out that property in Houston. Although it was not a great experience, it didn’t deter him from pursuing more real estate ventures.

[9:02] Since then, Walter has gone through a similar path to many other real estate investors. He and his wife started out by flipping houses for cash in order to replace their corporate income. He has taken the time to seek out different educational opportunities, and has tried buy-and-holds as well as rentals.

[12:39] Now they’re focusing on buying properties that will provide a consistent, passive income through rentals, while still doing a couple of flips during the year. Usually if they do a flip, they will use the money to invest in another rental house, which is how Walter and his wife have been able to build up their portfolio.

[15:45] If you’re starting with nothing or very little, or want to replace your corporate income, wholesaling and fix-and-flips are a good way to make the money that you can invest into properties that will provide you passive income.

[16:30] Buying rentals is definitely a business. While it is technically passive income, there will of course be issues with tenants or maintenance. Walter uses property managers for his rentals and pays them a percentage of the gross rent. There are options to consider if this is a business you think you might be interested in!

[19:20] Some people don’t like rentals because they don’t feel like the tenant or maintenance issues are worth the monetary cost. Both Walter and Brian argue that while there may be expenses involved for rentals, there is still a lot of money to be made from having rentals, and there are tax advantages as well.

[21:05] Walter and Brian talk about certain areas in Birmingham that would be good for someone just starting out. Typically, the lower you go, the more you make (in terms of tenant incomes), but there may be some areas you still want to avoid. Walter shares some specific locations where he has rentals in the Birmingham area.

[24:04] It is important to do your due diligence when looking for good places to have rentals. Knowing your market is so important, but there are also a lot of different things that add up to finding success. Networking with other investors in your area is a great way to get to the know the market!

[25:01] Another way to get to know the market is to get around town and see what’s out there. Property managers are also a great connection.

[27:10] Walter often pays cash for his properties, rather than using the leverage method. But if you’re leveraged at the right level to where your tenant is paying a rental off for you, that’s good debt. Walter’s favorite way to buy a house these days is with seller financing. Walter talks about the pricing of his properties, and some of his expenses to figure his profit.

[29:55] Stay tuned for the continuation of Walter’s episode!

Mentioned in This Episode:

Next REIA Meeting

ALAREIA Website

Daily REIA Show

Facebook Page

Today’s guest is Mrs. Rolanda Eldridge. Despite there not being a large presence of women in real estate in Alabama, Rolanda has made a place for herself as both a real estate investor and a Realtor®. In today’s episode, she shares some of her experience of being a woman in the real estate business, and how her personality and determination has helped her to achieve success. She shares several great tips for all listeners, so tune in today!

Key Takeaways:

[2:48] Rolanda started her real estate career in 2005, and she started with investing. She bought three properties from the start, then fell in love with the rehabbing piece. Since then, she has also become a Realtor®.

[3:45] What made Rolanda decide to get into real estate investing? Rolanda is an accountant by trade, and her initial goals in getting involved were to help build wealth for her family. For her first properties, she and her husband used traditional lenders, but as she’s bought more properties she’s had to explore some other financing options.

[5:28] When the market tanked, she started focusing completely on rehab, and she was able to buy a lot of properties for very little money. She had a private lender that worked with her in those days, and she was able to flip a lot of properties to rent them out.

[6:40] Rolanda and her husband started working as team when she first got into real estate, but he wasn’t quite as interested in real estate as she was. Her passion for real estate stemmed from her nature to be ambitious, and she tries to learn, network, and attend as many lectures as she can.

[8:08] Rolanda and Brian discuss women in real estate. While she initially felt like a lot of doors were closed to her because she was a woman, her ability to network has helped her to break through some of the barriers for women in real estate. Rolanda talks about some of her experiences with contractors and how she’s learned to work with them.

[10:30] Rolanda shares some of the tips she’s learned from personal experience working with contractors. She gives very little money up front, and has started buying her own materials and just paying for the labor. She also tries to sub out different pieces, bringing in specialists for different jobs. She’s developed relationships with some of these people that work with her on several projects.

[12:37] Rolanda is managing all her own properties by herself. Screening well in the beginning is better. She stays on top of her rentals and stays in contact with her tenants. She likes managing her own properties because she’s a people person, and she tries to develop good rapport with her tenants from the start. Her knowledge base and interactions with her tenants are bolstered by all her experience going to school and working in corporate, doing customer service and collections.

[17:30] Rolanda has expanded her involvement in real estate to include being a Realtor®; she’s the Queen Bee Realtor® — with real bees! She’s very intrigued by, and passionate about, real estate. She’d like to expand her involvement to include some commercial properties and commercial flips.

[19:52] Rolanda talks about some of the challenges she’s faced during her tenure in real estate. Some of the best things she learned through these challenges was the importance of screening tenants better and building some reserves in case things come up.

[22:45] Rolanda became a Realtor® one year ago. She really enjoys the buying and the selling aspect. She’s been pretty fortunate with her deals, and it’s been a great experience for her.

[25:15] Rolanda attributes much of her success to her outgoing personality, and doesn’t feel she would have had the same success if she was more reserved. There has been time where’s she had to stand her ground against condescending-type remarks. She is always finding another way to make things happen if an opportunity doesn’t work out.

Mentioned in This Episode:

ALAREIA Website

Next ALAREIA Meeting

Daily REIA Show

Facebook Page

Contact Rolanda: [email protected]

Rolanda’s Website

Today’s guest joins us from St. Louis. Damon Remy is the co-founder of REI BlackBook, a comprehensive system to help real estate investors. Once a recovering mortgage broker, helping clients find deals and get loans became their focus. In today’s episode, Damon talks all about REI BlackBook and how the system works, and how you can benefit from incorporating REI BlackBook into your business plan.

Key Takeaways:

[2:42] REI BlackBook is an all-in-one sales/marketing platform, specifically designed for real estate investors. It helps investors build marketing lead generation funnels, capture those leads, nurture those prospects, and managing the deal — all the way to how you market the deal for the end buyers.

[4:30] Damon talks about how his background as a mortgage broker helped to shape the idea for their company. They wanted to help real estate investors do more deals and do them faster, so they started building tools to do this, and were doing very well. In 2008, they suffered a huge cut to the number of loans because of the market collapse.

[8:00] During this time, they took a step back and looked at the set of tools they had already developed, and decided to put them into a more comprehensive package. October 1, 2009 is when they officially launched BlackBook for paying customers.

[11:03] For new subscribers, what is the best way to get started with the platform to utilize it most effectively? The cool thing about their comprehensive system is that it works for people on any level; you are not going to outgrow the platform. They offer training videos, bootcamps, and live events to help train and implement the system. They try to simplify things as much as possible to cater to all users.

[17:45] After you sign up, the first step is have a business plan. Understand what you really want to get accomplished and what you want to utilize the system for. Damon and Brian talk through a scenario of how BlackBook can work for a real estate investor. Damon talks about the different tools they have to offer and what some of the initial processes might be.

[23:23] Damon does two bootcamps a year where they do three days of training on the platforms. Additionally, they offer training videos over everything you can do in REI BlackBook. Every Wednesday Damon does a live Q&A, as well as accelerator events where you can actually sit with Damon or someone on his team and they will help you implement and build out your funnels.

[26:13] The importance of systems and follow up and how REI BlackBook can help make you successful: Systems are the only way you’re going to get paid consistently and repeatedly in this business. Their goal with REI BlackBook is to help their clients systematize and share this with the rest of their team.

Mentioned in This Episode:

ALAREIA Website

Next ALAREIA Meeting

Daily REIA Show — YouTube

Facebook Page

REI BlackBook