Unlocking Wealth: 5 Proven Investment Strategies in Opportunity Zones

John Harcar (00:01.777)
All right. Hey guys, welcome back to the show. I’m your host, John Harcar. And I’m here today with Anthony Silver. And what we’re going to talk with him about is, you know, besides his journey in real estate and business, we’re going to talk about flipping and opportunity zones. You know, it’s something I heard about a while back. I never really pursued it, but I’ve heard some folks have some really good success and I’m sure Anthony is going to tell us a lot about that.Remember guys, at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, I mean really all real estate entrepreneurs, 2 to 5X their business. And we do that by providing the tools, the resources in the community to scale and grow your business to a level to where you can now afford the life that you want to live. Tony, welcome to our show.Tony (00:48.151)
Hey, thanks for having me.John Harcar (00:49.517)
like Tony or Anthony? Which one? Tony. Alright. Alright. Cuz some people don’t like, you know, like my brother likes me called Chuck not Charles and he ate that but so I’m excited to talk about the opportunity zone thing. Once again, I’ve I’ve I learned a little bit about it back in the day but I never really did anything on it. So, before we get into that, tell our audience a little bit about kind of your experience, your journey through real estate and really what brought you to today.

Tony (00:51.426)
Tony, Tony, yes.

Tony (01:16.174)
I’ve been in real estate probably around 14 years. I started taking it serious about 11 years when I actually created my LLC

I am the owner and proprietor of Red Door Properties Group LLC here in Louisville, Kentucky. Nice Midwestern or between Midwestern and Southern, you know, city to where we haven’t experienced the big highs and the big lows. So we’re right in the middle. So good, robust market, low inventory. So we’re able to create some really good flips in income.

we have quite a few rentals also.

John Harcar (01:57.999)
Awesome. So if you’ve ever watched any of my podcasts, you’ll know I like to go back. I think there’s a lot of value in the journey and in the story. So you said you’ve been doing it for about 14 years. What did you do before Real Estate?

Tony (02:09.966)
Mm-hmm Well, actually it’s kind of funny this is gonna be funny I actually

after serving a 10 year prison sentence and getting released, I actually was able to acquire a pretty good paying job, but I knew I’d be going into real estate. while in prison, I became a certified carpenter and electrician. So because I didn’t think anybody would ever put me in charge of anything ever again. So I felt like I was going to be working for the rest of my life. So I was able to get those

John Harcar (02:34.906)
Awesome!

Tony (02:46.8)
certificates, got a couple of degrees. When I came out, I hit the ground running. I was able to secure a pretty good job. And then we jumped right head first in the real estate. You know, my very first, my very first experience, I actually, I bought a house six months out of prison. And we moved in it, you know, once we got stabilized, I decided I was going to get a rental.

John Harcar (02:58.024)
Yeah.

Tony (03:10.926)
And I bought a house, have any money, was able to take a little bit off my 401k. And I did all the work myself, all the nights and weekends, and we finally finished it and got a rental. And then we haven’t looked back since.

John Harcar (03:29.299)
And I want to touch back on something you said that you you always knew you’re going to be in real estate. So you picked up these trades which I think is tremendous. I think a lot of people undervalue the fact of learning some of these trades to help you develop in the business if you’re going to plan to own your own. But why did you know? How did you know you were always going to be in real estate? Did you read a book? Did you have someone in real estate in your life?

Tony (03:52.51)
we read all the books, Rich Dad Poor Dad, Think and Grow Rich. I’ve read every piece of literature that I could get my hands on and it just all led to real estate. know, when they talk about passive income, I’ve been doing it for 14 years and I haven’t been able to secure the passive part. I’ve gotten the income, but it’s definitely not passive, you know.

John Harcar (03:56.089)
Okay, I was waiting for hear that one.

John Harcar (04:03.923)
Awesome. Okay.

John Harcar (04:16.741)
Yeah, I don’t think flipping or even holding rentals by any means is really passive income because you’re always working on something. So as you got out, you started doing these things and you started, got a good paying job and then eventually, what were some of the struggles that you had in learning or growing or being more efficient?

Tony (04:22.595)
Right.

Tony (04:37.734)
one of the biggest things is being a certified carpenter electrician. When you’re negotiating with contractors and you get a high bid or something like that, instead of actually learning to be a better negotiator, I just decided I’ll just do it myself. And of course, you can’t scale a business that way. And it actually, it was a hindrance in the beginning. It wasn’t until I started doing general contracting work for other people.

that I realized that I can’t be doing everything. was just gonna have to cut, I was messing with other people’s money, so I just had to cut the check. So I had to become better at negotiating and following up and follow through and all of those things. So then that’s the way I do it now.

John Harcar (05:22.727)
Okay. And did you end up branching out and delegating and like joining, like building a team or, or are you just a one? Okay. You did. So in it’s, I had a conversation earlier and I think it’s at that stage to where we all want to do it on our own. But then we all turn into that now turn into that the who not how mindset, right? Who can help me achieve this? and, and our businesses grow. So are you currently still working for someone? Did you go out and start your own? How long ago did that all happen?

Tony (05:28.386)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tony (05:43.886)
Exactly.

Tony (05:53.29)
Okay, I ended up getting laid off at my job. I was there for about nine years and I ended up getting laid off and then I just decided to take the leap of faith and just do full-time real estate. So we’ve been doing that for about five years now.

John Harcar (06:05.992)
Okay.

John Harcar (06:10.469)
Awesome. Okay. And then you are in the Louisville market. What kind of properties are you flipping? Are you flipping single families? Are you flipping duplexes? What are you doing?

Tony (06:13.623)
Yes.

Tony (06:20.494)
I hold anything, all the multifamilies. If I get a duplex, a triplex, a fourplex, I hold those. Just to put in my portfolio, I’ve got several single families also. When you’re dealing with inner city though, what people don’t understand is some streets can never be flipped. There are always gonna be rentals just because of safety, security, and the aesthetic of the neighborhood.

John Harcar (06:24.499)
Are you okay?

Tony (06:50.19)
Street by street in in opportunity zones That’s my competitive advantage So if if I get a house on a pretty good street That has the right factors that I’m looking for that I did the neighborhood decides whether or not it’s gonna be a flip or a rental Yeah

John Harcar (07:10.131)
Sure. OK. How are you marketing? How are you doing your marketing? Do you have callers? Do you do texting? Do you do mailing? What’s your SEO?

Tony (07:20.212)
I’ve been really blessed. I use social media. From the process, from the beginning process, from demo all the way up to completion, I’m posting pictures. I do a lot of before and after. I’ve developed a nice following. can follow me on Facebook or Instagram. And generally speaking, I have a buyer before the house is finished.

because people are used to a certain quality for me and I have relationships with realtors and I start showing the house all the way up to as soon as when drywalls up.

John Harcar (08:01.617)
Yep. So the social proof is what brings you a lot of referral business. I love it. And why do you think people don’t put as much of that? Because they might post like, you know, what they do and maybe a picture or two. How come a lot of people don’t understand the value of so much content? Like, why, why, why did you feel the need to go put so much out there?

Tony (08:06.869)
Exactly.

Tony (08:24.366)
We I really like doing it. I like to show people the process You know and then when if you can go back and look at this house and you can see that we completely gutted it We completely you know rewired it has new plumbing. It has new electric has new HVAC He has a new roof, you know that you’re getting a quality house and we stand behind it You know so you can actually just look at the videos and and I’ve done enough work to where I’m creating more

comp my own comps in a neighborhood that there hasn’t had appreciation in such a long time. Yeah.

John Harcar (08:58.011)
had the cops. Yeah. Yeah, that’s an awesome play. I think it really lends to the credibility to the credibility of what you’re doing. So why did you choose opportunity zones? I mean, what what specifically made you kind of look more into that and then obviously eventually start buying in there?

Tony (09:18.668)
Well, you know, I grew up in these neighborhoods. The west end of Louisville is considered the hood. And it’s the same neighborhood that I grew up in. I went to school here, I work here, and I actually live here now. So what I want to do is I actually want to give options to people who have moved out of the community over time because it either got so bad or they got better opportunities someplace else. I want to give them.

people opportunities that want to move back the options, you you’re not going to move back. And you don’t have the aesthetics that you want, you know, if you, got your credit together and you want a three bedroom, two and a half bath with a finished basement and a, a two car garage, you know, you know, I can offer that stuff to somebody for 30 % less of what they’re getting in other neighborhoods. So, but you know, we give them the same quality. So,

That’s what I like.

John Harcar (10:17.491)
Do you feel that maybe people, yes, the house that you do are beautiful, but what about the one next door that’s not and the one next door that’s not? I mean, do you think that’s a reason maybe why people don’t maybe come back as much because you have maybe just these solo houses that are fixed, not kind of the whole neighborhood gentrified, things like that?

Tony (10:36.974)
Right, right. And that’s an issue. But what we’re doing is we’re actually creating wealth in those neighborhoods and we’re getting, you know, of course, now that, you know, I sold this house for $200,000, you know, the house that you have free and clear, it should be worth 160,000. So it helps the neighborhoods. But if I’m selling a house for say $200,000 and they go and…

John Harcar (10:56.979)
Mm-hmm.

Tony (11:04.398)
a neighborhood that’s 15 miles away, that same house is $310,000. And that’s what type of quality we’re giving them at that price. So I just haven’t had any problem with that.

John Harcar (11:09.875)
300, yeah.

John Harcar (11:22.149)
Okay. And what are the benefits of investing in Opportunity Zones?

Tony (11:28.334)
Well, it’s like if you see a neighborhood is transitioning and we see them all over the country, know, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Atlanta, you see where a neighborhood, whole neighborhoods are seeing investment. And once you see an investment, you’re able to get on the ground floor when you see it changing. So the same house that’s worth $200,000 now is gonna be worth 300,000 in the next 10 years.

you know you you really want the the benefit is you’re getting in before it gets too expensive

John Harcar (12:04.709)
Are there any tax benefits? Because I mean, I think I read before something about deferred taxes and whatnot, being that it’s an opportunity zone. It’s like an XY 15 years down the road or something like that.

Tony (12:14.414)
State and local tax code will give tax benefits to buyers in those. There’s all kinds of incentives. There are all kinds of incentives, yeah.

John Harcar (12:24.045)
In those specific zones, OK. Awesome, that’s that’s that’s yeah, because that’s what I remember. What drew it to me was a little bit of that tax issue or those tax benefits for you. That’s what made me look into it. So how many properties have you done in these opportunities?

Tony (12:41.614)
Oh man, I’ve probably done around 60 flips and I have 35 doors right now for Reynolds.

John Harcar (12:47.378)
Wow.

John Harcar (12:52.051)
Okay. Are you targeting specific neighborhoods, specific areas to maybe try to, you know, beautify it up a lot faster, right? As opposed to going this big broad circle.

Tony (13:04.758)
It’s kind of organic. I start a house on 130 South 38th Street, when I start that project, I’m looking around for vacant and abandoned properties. I was just driving for dollars. that project progresses, I’m trying to locate owners, absentee owners, you know,

John Harcar (13:06.311)
Okay.

John Harcar (13:18.451)
Yeah, yep, good.

Tony (13:34.37)
distressed properties and I’ve been quite successful. I’ve done two, maybe three on a street because of that. Just keep working in the neighborhood. And then I’ve gotten calls from people that I’ve done houses in their neighborhood. Well, my grandmother is, she’s not, we don’t know what to do with the house and it’s in pretty bad shape. We didn’t know it got this bad. Would you come and take a look at it and see if you’d be interested in buying it?

John Harcar (13:35.965)
Mm-hmm.

John Harcar (13:41.276)
awesome.

Tony (14:04.118)
I’ve probably bought 10 houses like that just because they’ve seen my work and they know what I do in the community and what it means to me. They’d rather sell it to me than the guy that says we buy houses.

John Harcar (14:16.883)
Yeah, no, and it goes back to that credibility piece. You know what I mean? And I think a lot of people don’t take advantage of when you’re doing a deal or a flip or whatever. Yeah, hit those homes right around there. Knock on everybody’s doors. mean, just maximize the time in the area. So do you feel that more people, do you see any trends of more people investing in these opportunity zones?

Tony (14:20.302)
Mm-hmm.

Tony (14:40.622)
Well, they’ve always invested in them. It just hasn’t been available to people of color. Generally speaking, it’s been people with the big pockets. They can get the tax incentives. They can fill out the paperwork. They have the infrastructure in place. They have lending. And they just were able to get the…

John Harcar (14:55.251)
Sure.

Tony (15:04.449)
to benefit from the opportunity zone because there’s tax credits. Tax credit is only good for those that making a lot of money. Yeah. No, it doesn’t help the small guy at all.

John Harcar (15:07.773)
Yeah, yeah.

John Harcar (15:12.519)
Yeah, it’s true. It don’t help the small guy as much.

So for you, right? What do you think have been some of your keys to success? Maybe the things that kept you going, kept you on the right path and just kept you driving to your goals.

Tony (15:30.614)
We have a model at Red Door and it’s we take houses nobody wants in neighborhoods very few believe in, rehab them as if we’re gonna move in and sell them to people we hope to see every day. if we, those four principles, we follow them, the rest will take care of itself.

John Harcar (15:49.885)
Yeah. For anybody that’s out there listening that might want to get into investing in opportunity zones, maybe learn more about it, what kind of advice would you give them, resources you can recommend to kind of really set them up for success?

Tony (16:07.47)
local careers wherever you are real estate groups, RIAs and stuff like that man it’s just a wealth of knowledge because you know it’s like real estate it’s several ways to get where you need to go you just need to find where you want to fit and there’s somebody already doing what you plan on doing

So it’s just don’t reinvent the wheel. Don’t try to come up with something new. It’s already been done. Just find out who’s doing it and try to align yourself with them.

John Harcar (16:41.361)
Yep, that’s the mastermind principle. know, be around people that have done what you want to do and are far beyond where you want to go. That’s awesome. I love all the information you shared with us today, Tony. If there’s folks that are on here that are either in your area, maybe they want to do some deals with you, talk to you a bit more. What’s the best way for our audience to get a hold of you?

Tony (16:43.768)
Mm-hmm.

Tony (16:49.502)
Absolutely.

Tony (17:04.916)
Either Facebook or Facebook I’m on Anthony Silver, just my name. Or I’ve got a business page, a Red Door Properties Group. That’s my business page. On Instagram, I’m Mr. Build the Block on Instagram. And that’s how they can get a hold of me.

John Harcar (17:26.515)
great name Mr. Build the Block. I love it dude. Tony thank you again. I really appreciated your story, your journey. You dropped some good, good information. Folks at home, I hope you enjoyed this. I hope you took some good notes and we will see you on the next one. Tony, thank you again. All right, cheers.

Tony (17:43.726)
All right, thanks for having me again. All right, bye.