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Show Summary
In this conversation, Sunday McIlwain discusses the significance of embracing failure as a necessary part of personal growth and the importance of taking action to avoid stagnation. He emphasizes that trying, even if it leads to failure, is better than doing nothing, as it contributes to progress in life.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Sunday McIlwain (00:00)
I’ve seen a lot of people who are in distress that are like needing to sell their property. They’re not sure of what decisions they should make as far as this being so new, especially falling behind on their mortgage. There’s a lot of pre-foreclosures, a lot of tax liens. And people don’t know or like aware, you know, not, I want to say not educated enough, but they’re just, they just don’t know unfortunately that like, if you’reproperty is still in a tax lane, there may be some type of wiggle room where you can then, you know, kind of make up those payments to that new owner in order to get your property back. Or if you’re going into a pre-foreclosure and the property goes to auction, that’s it. You know, even if you still live there, then that new owner will evict you and you don’t receive any money rather than working with someone like myself.
Erika (02:20)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Erika. And today I’m excited to have Sunday McIlwain with me. She’s been making serious moves in the residential real estate investing space. Sunday, I’m glad to have you on the show today.Sunday McIlwain (02:36)
thank you for so much for having me, Erika.Erika (02:38)
I think our listeners are really going to love what you’re doing. you know, I want to jump in quickly here. Sunday, can you share more about your journey to real estate investing? What inspired you to get started?Sunday McIlwain (02:52)
Yes, so I was in college. My parents just had passed away. My mom passed away when I was 20 in my sophomore year and my dad had already passed away when I was 14, when I was in the ninth grade. And I was struggling as far as what path did I want to go on post-graduation and…Graduate school wasn’t playing in the cards. I wasn’t getting accepted even though I had over a 3.0 average. was just kind of yearning for something new and I was getting ready to make like $17,000 with my current degree that I was earning. So I said, this is not enough. What can I do to earn money without my parents physically being here?
3 o’clock in the morning, know, kind of like in this depression mode comes on TV. Hey, do you want to get started in real estate investing? I’m like, yeah, like, yeah, that’s what I’ve been waiting for. And I went on and signed up for the free course and went on and completed everything they had to offer to get started in real estate investing. And 10 years this month have been the beginning of my real estate career.
Erika (04:01)
Yeah, wow. That’s really something. you were getting started, was there a moment on your journey that was like a defining point or you knew you really were going to stick with this? Because it’s always hard starting something new.Sunday McIlwain (04:15)
Yeah,well, thank God, like I was able to close my first deal in 73 days after starting that free class. So that was kind of like the turning point, like, okay, yes, I can definitely make this a career. And then I just kept going, like, you know, I was in the Richmond, Virginia area and I just kept marketing to people down there. I didn’t have Black Girls By Houses yet, but I was just like,
writing on notebook paper like I want to buy your house and people were actually calling me like okay you know what’s your offer and then eventually I ended up moving back to DC did some project management deals and now I live in North Carolina getting ready to do some more fix and flipping down here so it just kind of just continued to move forward progress so I’m I thank God for that.
Erika (05:08)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And to fast forward today, Sunday, what kind of opportunities are you seeing in the markets that you’re in?Sunday McIlwain (06:05)
I’ve seen a lot of people who are in distress that are like needing to sell their property. They’re not sure of what decisions they should make as far as this being so new, especially falling behind on their mortgage. There’s a lot of pre-foreclosures, a lot of tax liens. And people don’t know or like aware, you know, not, I want to say not educated enough, but they’re just, they just don’t know unfortunately that like, if you’reproperty is still in a tax lane, there may be some type of wiggle room where you can then, you know, kind of make up those payments to that new owner in order to get your property back. Or if you’re going into a pre-foreclosure and the property goes to auction, that’s it. You know, even if you still live there, then that new owner will evict you and you don’t receive any money rather than working with someone like myself.
And you can kind of get the value of your property out of it and try to move forward in a better situation rather than having a derogatory mark on your credit or your personal history saying that you have a foreclosure or a tax lien that was not satisfied. That can do you from doing a lot of other things, you know, as far as like employment or trying to figure out another place to live. And then obviously we’re
some of the homeowners are already struggling with money, it’s gonna be harder to find a new place to live. And so no one wants to be homeless. So I really urge people to please contact myself or someone like me and get your property sold rather than somebody else making profit on it. And on the back end, lot of attorneys make that profit too. And on top of all that, the banks don’t want the house. They want the money, so.
try to make a deal before it’s too late and things end up getting worse than they already are.
Erika (07:53)
Yeah, yeah. And what’s your process for sourcing those deals? How do you find those distressed properties?Sunday McIlwain (07:59)
so it’s kind of weird. It’s kind of good but weird that all this is public record. So I just kind of pick a county in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and dive in, say, okay, pre-foreclosures Baltimore County or pre-foreclosures DC and the attorney law firm that is doing the foreclosed auction generally posts it right online to say, hey, on October 10 at nine o’clock, this property will be for auction. So then that gives me a time like, okay, like I have to contact this person today and try to make a deal with them if they accept it and get it closed so they don’t end up in that auction on the 10. So yeah, so that’s, it’s all public record. Everything is out there, but you have to keep up with the time. Cause some like tax liens are every six months, foreclosures are every week.In South Carolina, they do a once a month. So just you just got to kind of figure out what each each county’s calendar is of how they’re handling it, but it’s all online.
Erika (09:02)
Yeah, you know, sometime in these situations, you know, you only have as little as seven days to structure a deal. So what, you know, strategies have you used to have a win there?Sunday McIlwain (09:13)
So from DC being my home state, I know a lot of realtors there that kind of helped me as far as the comps and what buildings can be converted. That’s kind of my background history of like the zoning and things back there. So it’s much easier to do it for me in DC, but here in like North Carolina,It’s more just doing the comps and doing your kind of doing at home homework to find out, okay, this is how much I can offer. Some people send pictures, they send pictures from their property or can tell me that like, so can assess the damages of their property. They send pictures, then I can kind of evaluate how much damages, you know, repairs need to be done and what’s the after repair value once it’s finished and renovated.
and then base my offer based on those numbers. So it’s pretty simple. It takes about 30 minutes, hour tops depending on how much information is around the property, how much property has been sold around that particular subject property. Yeah.
Erika (10:51)
Yeah, absolutely. Sunday, I’m sure as you know, every real estate pro has a moment where things get real. Maybe a deal goes sideways or you had to completely pivot your plan. Can you share one of those moments on your journey and what you learned from it?Sunday McIlwain (10:59)
yes, so before the pandemic, this lady was really close to the foreclosure auction. we were really like down to the last like two hours, ⁓ to get something done. And the way I found her was, ⁓ my college has like the largest alumni in DC. So I would write on my letters like, Hey,I’m a graduate of Virginia State University. I buy houses, yada, yada, yada, right? So she was like, hey, my son went to Virginia State. I’m going through foreclosure. Can you help me? So the situation was that I was able to, it was a short sale deal. I was able to get the money for her, but the cost, her mortgage that she owed was still like upside down on the value of the house.
So I was not able to save her property then, but she ended up, instead of going to the auction, she just went to the court and filed a bankruptcy. Luckily from the pandemic on, the value of her property went up. So she was able to sell it to an investor out there somewhere, which I’m happy for, but I wasn’t able to get that. So yeah, I totally had to pivot as far as like that last hour, as far as.
me and the buyer, you know, what’s your payoff? And it just didn’t, the numbers just didn’t make sense. And unfortunately we’re not able to help her in her situation. So that’s just kind of one of, it kind of sticks with me because her son went to school with me and we lived in the same dorm. So it just kind of always sticks in the back of my head. Like I wonder how are they doing now type of thing.
Erika (12:45)
Yeah, yeah,absolutely. And I know from us talking earlier that, you know, you you want things to be a win and to help people in in these situations. So is there, you know, is there any prep work that you do going forward to help with it? Is it just sometimes, you know, maybe the mindset that there’s only so much you could do?
Sunday McIlwain (12:55)
mean.there is, well, I would say prep work as far as like, okay, when I call this person, what, how am I going to speak to them? And sometimes I have to go back to my social work skills and, and kind of meet them where they are. Like, okay, I understand this person is in a, they’re probably in the worst situation that they ever been in their life. how can I reel them back in to calm them down, reassure them that everything is going to be okay.
And then what’s the solution? Because that’s the main thing. Okay, like how can I save my mortgage or how can I stay in my house? And sometimes that part of the job is not feasible. But there is money that the owner can walk away with to go start fresh somewhere new and work their way back up rather than starting from zero or even more negatively if it affects their credit.
I just kind of meet people where they’re at. If they’re receptive, if they’re not receptive, then I’m like, you know, good luck, feel free to call me if they change their mind. So it’s just kind of all up to the homeowner at the end of the day.
Erika (14:44)
Yeah, absolutely. You talked about people starting from scratch. I’m sure there’s people listening today that want to get in real estate. And they’re just starting from scratch. If you were getting started in real estate today, having 10 years of experience, what would you be doing to build your business from the ground up?Sunday McIlwain (14:56)
Mm-hmm.Yes.
I can always tell people get a notebook. Go to the dollar store or wherever they have a sheet of paper for 25 cents and a pen. And if you have a phone, if your phone is on, you can start at your local neighborhood, your neighbors, that raggedy house that’s around the corner from you, leave a note. Say, hey, I’d like to buy your house and leave your phone number. And someone’s checking the mail there whether you see it or not.
Even the phone numbers, also telephone numbers, are also sometimes public record if you put in the address into Google. call that particular person, say, hey, I would like to buy your house. And those things cost nothing. know, sometimes in marketing, things can cost thousands of dollars. But those are just like little things, and kind of more personal. When you actually call somebody or actually leave like a handwritten note.
rather than something that’s printed, because they actually feel like, okay, the person has to be around here somewhere if they left me a handwritten note. I would definitely, I always tell people, you don’t need much to start with a sheet of paper in a sentence, one sentence, and that’s all you need. Yeah.
Erika (16:15)
Yeah, yeah,it’s, you and I think there is something there with what you mentioned about, you know, that when you’re writing a note, it’s that personal touch and so much of real estate, you know, is built on relationships.
Sunday McIlwain (16:27)
Yes, absolutely. Yeah. But starting from scratch, my thing is to like, if you’re at the bottom, there’s no more going to the bottom. Their only way is up. So the best, what beats a failure? I don’t even remember that saying anymore. I say it all the time. Nothing beats a failure, but a try. So go ahead and try because you know, like, okay, I did something to progress my life in some way, or form.But if you did nothing, you know that you did nothing to do anything. So even if you do fail by trying, okay, you try. But if you do nothing, I mean, you already a failure. So yeah.
Erika (17:07)
Another aspect that I feel like that mantra applies to is networking. know, people, you know, have to, you know, just go put themselves out there in order to build their network for you. Sunday. What has been the biggest game changer for growing your network in real estate?Sunday McIlwain (17:23)
When I changed my business, guess within the first two years, I was kind of just using my name like, hey, I like to your house, Sunday Mcllwain, and my cell phone number. So obviously I’m following the We Buy Houses type model. So I said, okay, how can I be different from We Buy Houses that will still gravitate people’s attention?And that ended up being Black Girls by Houses, all from my favorite game show, Lingo, where, hey, what five letters can match up, five, six letters that can match up with house or houses, and end up being Black Girls. And I was like, oh, that fits perfectly and has like a little jingle. Let’s do it. from that point on, I got a plastic corrugated sign. I think it was in
Home Depot or something and I just wrote on the board Yeah, black girls buy houses with my telephone number and I got calls immediately So it it it gravitates people tension like okay, so who is this? Who is this girl and she buys houses? Okay Let’s let’s see if she can buy my house. So that’s that was definitely a game changer For me with coming up with that name Because I don’t know where I would be without it, honestly
Erika (18:39)
Yeah, it’s very memorable too. I’m sure people see it and they’re like, who was that person? yeah, I remember.Sunday McIlwain (18:42)
Yes.Yeah, right.
Yeah. So yeah, exactly. Like they don’t know Sunday, but they know Black Girls by how.
Erika (18:54)
Yeah. And, you know, Sunday, what would you say is next on the horizon with all the experience that you’ve had with, you know, being in Virginia, DC, North Carolina, you know, what’s next on the horizon?Sunday McIlwain (19:07)
And just continuing to grow my real estate portfolio, feeling the needs of those who are facing foreclosure, because the number is steadily increasing, educating people, whether they decide to sell or not. ⁓ or if you want to get into real estate, investing, like I do do educational portions, ⁓ here and there. So please feel free to follow me.to stay updated on that but right now in North Carolina I’m buying properties and fixing them up myself and just kind of building a portfolio for my daughter and showing her like hey this is what what mommy has been doing for the last 10 years even though she’s one half and hopefully she’ll one day want to be a part of Black Girls by Houses or something in real estate but if not that’s okay too. But yeah that’s kind of what I’m building right now.
Erika (19:54)
Yeah, yeah, that’s exciting. Well, you know, if someone listening today wants to connect, reach out, or I know you have a webinar going on, what’s the best way for them to reach you?Sunday McIlwain (20:04)
So they can stay informed on blackgirlsbuyhouses.com or blackgirlsbuyrealestate.com. I’m also on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok sometimes. And our upcoming webinar is going to be build confidence to credit to real estate investing. And that’s going to happen on October the 29th at 6 p.m. Eastern time.So you can look out on Instagram for the registration link for all that. That will be probably up tomorrow. Yes, because we’re going to start marketing for that now. So look out for that tomorrow on October the 8th for the registration link for the 29th.
Erika (20:48)
Well, that’s very exciting. Sunday, it’s been great having you on and I love the compassion that you’ve put into real estate, like helping others and also building that generational wealth for your family.Sunday McIlwain (21:02)
thank you so much, Erika. It was good talking to you.Erika (21:04)
Same here. And for our listeners, if you got value from this episode, make sure that you’re subscribed to the real estate pros podcast. We’ve got more conversations lined up with experts like Sunday who are out there building fantastic real estate empires. We’ll see you on the next episode.
