Specialties:
Residential, Commercial, Land
SERIOUS INVESTORS PREFERRED. I have successfully gained financial freedom through real estate investing before the age of 40! My portfolio was built using the BRRR Method, 1031 Exchange strategies, understanding how to best leverage assets (financial and real estate) to win properties, and building strong, mutually beneficial partnerships in the real estate industry. It truly takes a village of hardworking, trustworthy people to be successful from lenders to contractors, lawyers, CPAs, asset advisors, and of course an amazing Realtor (that’s me!) that has vetted the best of the best and as an Investment Property Coach, I am happy to share my knowledge and resources with you!
Financial freedom means something a little different to everyone I ask, have you ever asked yourself what it means to you, and potentially more important, how are you going to get there and when? This may appear as a very long bio, but it’s worth reading, I promise. You will learn something about real estate investing you didn't already know. Then let’s talk about your journey, financial freedom goals, and get started on a strategy towards exceeding those goals!
Expertise: BRRR, 1031 Exchange, drop and swaps (legal in Ohio), DSCR loans, Commercial loans, Hard Money Loans, House Hacking, Fix and Flip, Multi-Family Units, SFH, Renting, Property Management, Leveraging Assets, PCL loans, HELOCs, Local and Non-Local Investors, and so much more!
Want to know my journey in gaining financial freedom by 40?
In 2006, less than a year after graduating from Ohio University, I moved to Columbus. Since this was before the housing market crash, loan approval was easy so I quickly decided that buying a home was a better use of money versus renting, so I went house shopping with my new pre-approval letter. Being young and ignorant as to what it takes to own a home, and fearing a money pit with an older property, I decided to buy a new build condo in the Dublin area of Columbus using an FHA loan along with government supplemented funds for the down payment. I felt so adult like and free. Five amazing years later I decided to move to Cincinnati to be with my significant other at the time. By then the housing market had crashed, and the developer of my new build condo community was offering so many incentives to buy new that had I chosen to sell, I would have been $30,000 under water, not a feeling a real estate investor ever wants to feel. Without the ability to sell, I decided renting the property would be a great idea, so I hired a property manager, moved to Cincinnati, and watched the rent checks come in every month! Almost two years later, a breakup, and a desire to move back home to my condo, I called my property manager on a Monday morning requesting the “for rent” sign he had just put out on Friday be removed, I was coming home. In that conversation he shared that a couple from Michigan drove to Columbus on Saturday in a U-Haul, viewed the condo, signed a lease, and moved in. After the shock and disappointment subsided, my curiosity took over and I decided this was a perfect opportunity to live in a new (to me) area of Columbus, so I found a rental in Grandview Heights. I quickly fell in love with Grandview and decided I was no longer interested in returning to Dublin at the end of my lease. I enjoyed being a landlord (collecting rent from my property manager), so I decided I was ready to buy my second property in my new favorite area of Columbus. At this time the housing market was starting to turn around.
After 13 lost contracts - some of which I was outbid and others I backed out due to inspections - I finally found my next property, another (not new build) condo! While it was technically move in ready, I had a vision for the property, a complete renovation of all 3 levels! This was my first experience with renovating a property, and because my budget did not allow for me to live elsewhere while my contractor did the work, I lived in the primary bedroom for several months while the renovation was being completed (my sectional was at the end of my bed acting as my living room and a microwave and mini fridge outside the bathroom were my kitchen). It never felt like a sacrifice to live in one room for several months because this experience taught me how much I enjoy having a design vision and seeing it come to life. I loved this condo, being in one of the hottest areas of Columbus it quickly became the location that friends, and family came to gather. But in keeping with my goals, I knew it was eventually going to be converted to a rental, and when the time was right, I bought a home in Grandview and converted my newly remodeled condo into a rental.
The housing market continued to rise with the decrease in interest rates and after a couple of short years as a rental, I realized that I had too much equity tied up in my second condo, so I decided it was time to consider going bigger. At happy hour with my Realtor it was decided that I was going to do a 1031 exchange of my condo for a multi family. This meant my Realtor was going to have to hustle for me in order to be successful. My condo sold in less than a day, and upon closing the clock started ticking on my 1031 exchange required timelines. In no time she called me with an off market all brick multi unit (four family) in Grandview, and if I wanted to buy it, I needed to act now, so I did! I went from having 2 doors to 5 doors and 4 garage/storage rentals in one transaction. It felt amazing! Upon taking ownership two of the tenants moved at the end of their leases, which gave me the opportunity to do more renovating! I was over budget and well beyond the agreed upon timeline to finish the renovation, however once they were finished it was worth the money and wait! I listed both units for rent and my property became the highest rent for a one bedroom unit in the area! I felt proud because my new tenants had the opportunity to feel a sense of pride in their rental spaces, which quickly became important to me, and not soon after I decided that I wanted to create a high end rental, real estate company, and that is how Little Rock Real Estate, LLC, came to be (my Dad was called The Rock growing up due to the pronunciation of our last name, and being his daughter I was “little” so as a tribute to my family, I named my company Little Rock Real Estate). At this point investing in real estate became an obsession and as long as the bank continued to approve me for a loan, I was going to keep on buying. With rates still low, and a recent renovation completed I explored the option of a cash out refinance of my multi (at the time I didn’t know what the BRRR Method was but I was living it!). The bank appraisal came back, and after putting $50,000 into the property, getting the highest rent the area had seen, I added $200,000 in equity to my asset! So, I did what any smart investor would do, I pulled out the equity and went real estate shopping! By this time I terminated my property management agreement and decided to manage my properties myself. I was all in!
While vacationing with a friend on Deep Creek Lake in Maryland I received a call from a Realtor friend letting me know she was getting ready to list an all brick multi unit in the Grandview area in case I was interested in adding to my portfolio. Of course, I was, and I was so grateful she reached out because while on vacation, I was not browsing real estate and would have missed out on this amazing opportunity! We closed just a few weeks later, and I went from having 5 doors to 9 doors just like that! In sticking to my brand of high end rentals, I did a rinse and repeat and renovated two units as they became vacant so that I could set myself up do another cash out refinance.
In the meantime, I thought it may be best to diversity my real estate portfolio with my next investment property (I had 1 two bedroom condo, and 8 one bedroom garden style units). So, I went in search of two bedroom duplexes, and luckily one hit the market that I wanted. Without having completed a cash out refinance on the second multi unit, I needed to explore other options for buying this duplex with no funds for a down payment available. In came my financial advisor who let me know that I could borrow against my financial investment portfolio (called a priority credit line or PCL loan), in which there are no closing costs or fees, and upon signing paperwork the funds would be in my checking account in 24 hours. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, I was approved to borrow enough to pay for the duplex in cash! Two weeks later I went from 9 doors to 11 doors. The goal of the PCL loan was to acquire the asset and immediately put another loan on the property to pay back the credit line. I learned that with Fannie and Freddie regulations I was going to need to wait 6 months, and with interest rates on the rise I thought this was too risky, so I ended up doing a commercial loan on the property.
With the urge to continue to build my investment property portfolio, I eventually cash out refinanced the second multi unit so I would have a down payment ready for the next opportunity, and not before long the next duplex I had to have hit the market. This one was listed by another Realtor friend of mine, which allowed me to gain some insider information on what it would take to win the property, and a few short weeks later I added 2 more doors to my portfolio! This is the first and only property I purchased already renovated, however it came with a significant amount of land for the area, which will allow me to build additional units on the property down the road. Having additional options to bring in revenue from a property adds to the attractiveness of the investment!
Since the closing of this property, I have been focused on renovating the remaining units in my mutli family properties as well as my first duplex. It won’t be too long before I pull some equity out and add the next investment to my portfolio! I am still contemplating what type of property will be next!
There are so many investment strategies out there depending on who you follow and how you envision your business. For me, it has obviously been to buy, renovate, rent, refinance, as well as squeezing as much as I can out of each property. Whether you want one investment property or 200, you can be successful!
Want to know more about me professionally?
For the first 18 years of my professional life, I had a very successful career in medical sales, selling medical device, capital equipment, diagnostics, and AI Pathology. I closed complicated multimillion dollar contracts with large health networks from Cleveland Clinic to the VA Health System, large University Medical Centers to Children’s Hospitals and so many others across the Midwest. I love every aspect of sales. Prospecting, product knowledge, market research, negotiations, closing deals, following up, and most of all building strong relationships and lifelong partnerships (that’s what fills my cup up!). Doing your job right is expected but doing it by exceeding expectations proves fruitful not only from a financial aspect but from a personal aspect as well. I won President’s Clubs at every company I was employed, except the last one, a startup Pathology AI company that made a business decision to reduce their employee head count by 30%, and (un)fortunately I was a part of the 30%. What could have been a very scary time in my life became one of the most pivotal. With a little extra time on my hands, I finished the real estate courses I had paid for 5 months prior (so I could negotiate my own real estate deals) and hired an amazing career coach, Kate Peabody (kaptivateme.com) to guide me on what was next in my corporate sales career path. After five short weeks of her twelve-week coaching program, I decided to retire from my corporate career path and made the exciting decision to become a full time Realtor! My curiosity and creativity were in full spin and that’s how building my Investment Property Coaching career was fostered. Ironically, I always had a goal of becoming a Realtor, but in retirement (mostly because going from a W2 with benefits to a 1099 without benefits was scary to me) and how fitting, that retiring from corporate medical sales would lead me to real estate much sooner than expected. Kate “held up a mirror” for me which allowed me to realize that everything I loved, learned, and exceled at in my sales career along with my knowledge, relationships, and expertise in owning and operating my own rental property business as a hobby, would make me an amazing Realtor and Investment Property Coach. I haven’t looked back and grow more and more grateful with every client I am honored work with, and hold a mirror to, as I coach them on gaining financial freedom through real estate investing.
Your homework is to write down any way you think you and/or your family’s lives will change through achieving financial freedom. You’ve just taken the first step let’s talk about what’s next!
If you would like to work with me on your investment property journey, let’s connect, I am here for you!
Andrea, Realtor and Investment Property Coach
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