Create Your Own Destiny: The Power of Real Estate for Freedom Seekers

Stephen S. (00:03.345)
Welcome to the show where we interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. Welcome back if you are joining us for a second, third or hundredth episode and welcome if you’re joining us for the first time you are in for a treat today. I have Antoinette Munroe in the house. We’re going to have an incredible episode together and we’re going to talk about her pursuit of financial independence through real estate and how she has been able to leverage that.

create freedom within her own life and how you might be able to do the same. Just remember, at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers, and real estate entrepreneurs, two to five X their businesses to allow them to build the businesses they’ve always wanted, to allow them to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of. That being said, Antoine, welcome to the show.

Antoinette (00:48.524)
Hi, thank you for having me.

Stephen S. (00:50.347)
I’m super excited to talk about today’s topic, which is something that just speaks to me personally, the pursuit of financial independence and real estate is just the best industry that I’ve found to actually achieve that because of the potential of what can be done and how somebody with, you know, not necessarily a traditional background, traditional education, or people that do have those things can get involved and seriously, genuinely change their life compared to what I think a lot of us are taught.

is the American dream. before we kind of get into that though, can you just give us a little bit of background of how you got started in real estate? Because as we were talking before the show, it seems like it was almost a happy accident. And tell us how you got to where you’re at now from that origin story.

Antoinette (01:37.666)
Yeah, I love to start a story with I was minding my own business. Yeah, was a standard path, right? Go to school, get good grades, go to college. I checked all the boxes, got a good corporate job, realized immediately that I hated it, but didn’t know what else to do. I probably suffered there for several years before buying a home.

Stephen S. (01:43.353)
I love it.

Antoinette (02:04.878)
And when I bought that home, was like, okay, this will be my way out. I’m going to buy this home. I’m going get a 15 year mortgage. I’m going to pay it off in five years. And then I can like go chase a dream or just do something else and not have to worry about making a certain salary because I won’t have the biggest expense. But in doing that project, there was like a full rehab that had to be done. Then there was a 700 square foot addition that happened.

And now that I had a home with extra space again, and all this debt from doing all these projects, was like, okay, let me figure out how to make some money back to pay back this project. And I was considering roommates, but instead went with Airbnb. And that was just like rocket fuel. From then on, the people that I was meeting and explaining to them what I had done and was doing with the house, they were.

when they would introduce me to somebody else, they’d be like, oh, this is Antoinette. She’s a young real estate investor in the neighborhood, blah, blah. And I’d be looking around like, who me? So enough people called me a real estate investor that I was like, all right, I gotta figure out what a real estate investor is. I need to reverse engineer what I just did so I can understand it and then duplicate it. So yeah, a very happy accident that changed my life.

Stephen S. (03:22.097)
Wow. Now, what are you most excited about that you’re working on right now?

Antoinette (03:27.518)
I’m most excited about switching gears from like acquiring real estate to maximizing the use of the existing real estate I have with the most recent thing being converting my Airbnb is to an assisted living facility of sorts. Just that’s the easiest terminology. There’s more nuance to what it is that we do, but everybody knows what assisted living is. And that’s the closest thing to what we’re converting to.

Stephen S. (03:53.647)
Now, where did you come up with that idea? Was there like some sort of experience that you went through or one day you just woke up and were like, I should convert these to assisted living facilities. Like how did that come about?

Antoinette (04:05.026)
Yeah, I knew nothing. I got fired from my job in 2020, just like, you know, a good percentage of the population. And I went to work with a contractor as a project manager because I had all had been considering getting my contractor’s license. So I was like, let’s try it to see if I liked it. And some of the projects he worked on were fixing up maintaining or setting up homes for, individuals that owned these group homes is what we call them here.

so I saw it, heard a little bit about the numbers. I was like, okay, this beats Airbnb. Why not? Let’s try it. So I probably spent five months with him before I was like, okay, I’m actually going to really go after this group home thing. bought a house the next month and that was all she wrote.

Stephen S. (04:53.123)
And so you went into it with the intention of doing the entire process then.

Antoinette (04:59.784)
Yes, I didn’t. I went into it with lots of intentions, very little understanding or knowledge. It was just very top level. Cause it’s not like I had a direct relationship with any of these operators or owners to have concrete numbers. It was hearsay, but the hearsay was so good that it was worth at least figuring out. Cause there’s no, because I already had properties, there was not necessarily a startup cost.

for me, so it was worth it to just see what would happen.

Stephen S. (05:34.289)
What is that process like? Like if somebody owns some properties and they’ve been renting them out or using them as Airbnbs, for example, what does that process actually look like? Because I would think having people living in a home long term that also need extra care would potentially have a lot more red tape than just, hey, you’re renting my house for X amount of time and see you later when you’re gone. Make sure you get your…

you know, get your stuff cleaned up so you get your security deposit. So what are some of the differentiating factors and some of the challenges that might come from doing what you’re doing?

Antoinette (06:09.23)
Well, it’s going to be specific to the state that you’re in for it. But for example, for Florida and the agency that I got licensed with, which is the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, it’s a tedious application. But there’s no cost to apply. And the only real requirements are that you can pass a federal background check. So outside of that, like you can do it with a diploma, you can do it with a GED.

Stephen S. (06:30.417)
Really?

Antoinette (06:35.702)
you know, the more education you have, the easier the process will be for you. But essentially I wrote papers on, you know, I filled out information on the page and filled out that an application for the property. They do require it to be furnished. But that was already there because it was an Airbnb. So I didn’t have to do any conversions when I initially licensed. did, however, put fire sprinklers in it.

just because of like my client base would not be able to evacuate a home on their own in case of a fire. But if you were having individuals that were walking and talking and capable, then you may not need fire springs at all. So quite honestly, I filled out some paper and submitted it and passed the background check. So I wanna simplify it like that, cause it really is that simple. It just seems like a lot more than it is now. Of course there are layers and…

Stephen S. (07:16.177)
No kidding.

Antoinette (07:28.642)
There are other areas where it can get complicated, but to become licensed is as good as reading comprehension and answering the question.

Stephen S. (07:39.227)
Love it. So now with that, what’s some of the upside potential that you have with that versus doing Airbnb or having long-term rentals?

Antoinette (07:51.0)
So for Airbnb, for the house that I was using, it was a larger unit. We normally do like a one or two bedroom. This was a three bedroom. And just the moment you cross over to that threshold, you get large groups that are not as gentle with the home and people trying to have parties. And you also don’t get as many reservations for this area. Small did better. So I was maybe making like 6,000 a month on that house on Airbnb.

And what you can, you can make 6,000 per month per resident on a base level with switching to like these group homes or a residential assisted living.

Stephen S. (08:31.685)
No kidding. Now, do they have to be like a single level house? Like, are there some things that you have to do to the property if it’s not that like, cause I’m just like imagining in my head, like it probably wouldn’t work, especially for Florida. We don’t have basements. So naturally because of our water, but with having like a second level, for example, like, do you have second story houses? Like, do you have to have them just plain?

One story is like what are some of those things that you found in doing this that you you have to really do to help with the value or what you have to look for if your plan is to potentially do this.

Antoinette (09:10.626)
Yeah, any home can work. It’s just the home that you have, will have to, your client base will need to be able to work for that home. So the property that I’m using does have a second level on it, but the majority of the bedrooms are on the first level. So because I have individuals that can’t go up and down stairs, they’re in the rooms on the second level. If I were to serve individuals that could walk safely up and down stairs, then it wouldn’t matter. They could go up.

So I do wheelchair and bed bound individuals. So I added some ramps that I got off Amazon for like 50 bucks at the front door so that the wheelchair could roll in. And that’s about it.

Stephen S. (09:44.977)
Nice.

Stephen S. (09:49.111)
Wow, that’s incredible. so with these properties and with what you’re doing, because you’re ultimately, mean, correct me if I’m wrong here, but I mean, it’s more like running a business than anything. How do you like find the clients of your, like, how do you market that differently than your average renter? Like, what are some of those things you’re doing that’s unique?

Antoinette (10:06.136)
Yeah.

Antoinette (10:14.478)
So it is different. Once you cross over to this, if you operate yourself, this is no longer simply real estate investing. You are building a completely new business model. In our case, we provide 24 hour nursing care. So I now own and operate a medical facility. So there’s just a new set of everything to learn. If you don’t have experience with any of these things, it might be a hard lift, but like I’ve had to learn.

nursing language, communication with doctors, coordinating medical care. I’m hiring. So there’s also the HR aspect, managing staff, hiring, evaluating, and then the general business operation overall. So this is beyond real estate investing, but real estate investing is what led me here. And then I can still use what I’m earning from this business to continue to build out a real estate portfolio faster.

then I would have if I was only earning what I could from Airbnb because in my area they weren’t performing that well or they didn’t make as much as these homes do.

Stephen S. (11:22.353)
Sure. Now, so with boosting the value in your own homes and the ability for it to produce cash, what does that balance look like for you in terms of how many of these you need to do so you can go do more real estate? Or I know when we talked in the beginning, you didn’t want a huge portfolio. So what does that look like for you? What’s your long-term 20-year vision?

Antoinette (11:39.953)
one.

Antoinette (11:46.638)
For our specific model, one home can earn up to a million dollars a year. That’s gross. Net, you’re probably at about 800,000. So for me as an individual that didn’t want a large portfolio to manage, making this switch fit that because I don’t need to acquire more properties. I can take one property that outperforms

someone’s 50 unit portfolio.

Stephen S. (12:19.089)
That’s insane. So you’re saying the margin in that is an 80 % potential profit margin?

Antoinette (12:20.936)
Yes.

Antoinette (12:27.646)
Well, yes, because in a home like a bit for the home that I have, I can have up to six individuals there according to my city code because we do housing general care. In addition to 24 hour nursing, I’m being paid by Medicaid three different ways. And that’s what makes it so high. You’re to hear a lot of assisted living or group homeowners, and you’re not going to hear these numbers at all, but they just provide the housing and care.

They’re not providing nursing services. The point of difference, once you add those nursing services, it takes you to a different bracket.

Stephen S. (13:05.508)
Because correct me if I’m wrong here, because you’re getting the nut from the real estate itself, but then you’re also getting government funds paid out for the actual care of people from Medicaid. Is that correct? So I have a little bit of understanding on that. My son is actually special needs and was at a PPEC, if you’re familiar with that, in Melbourne. So kind of similar, same same, but different model, I’m guessing.

Antoinette (13:16.471)
Yes.

Antoinette (13:24.095)
Yeah.

Antoinette (13:29.684)
Yeah. So Ppex gets to go home and sleep at night. For us, we don’t get to sleep at night because they’re there. Yes. So let’s say your son grew up and his medical situation got a little more severe, more difficult for you guys to manage at home considering that you have three other kids. If you could, if you place him in a group home as a minor,

Stephen S. (13:33.361)
Right, correct. It’s 24 seven. Right.

Antoinette (13:55.17)
he would be in like a foster home that does these nursing services. But once he became an adult, that’s what we do. So then we take care of the adults that have aged out of, that have graduated from high school, aged out of the PPEGs and are too much to be at home with parents and family. And then we take on that care. So they’re, you it’s very, you’re very familiar.

Stephen S. (14:20.433)
Yeah, for sure. So tell me this, Antoinette. When we started the show, we said we were going to talk about the pursuit of financial independence and where it’s at now. mean, you could probably not do what you’re doing and be fine. What does freedom look like for you now?

Antoinette (14:37.578)
It looks exactly like this. I wanted the freedom of choice to like decide what I wanted to do and to pursue what interests me and to not make decisions about what I did based on how much I would earn. so that’s what financial independence gave me is it’s basically freedom of choice, right? Like if I didn’t start this business, all of my bills were still paid. I was still living the same lifestyle and very comfortable and happy with that. I just probably would be like bored because I didn’t have anything to do.

so I enjoy building businesses. enjoy learning new things and figuring out how to like create things. So, you know, this was a natural gravitation. It’s like, this sounds interesting. Let me explore and see if I can do that. And it’s like, it’s like a puzzle for me, right? I’m basically just playing with a puzzle every day, trying to fit pieces together and figure out how it all works. so yeah, freedom of choice is what would.

That really does for me.

Stephen S. (15:38.353)
Do you have a long-term idea of being the care home guru of Florida or the United States? What’s up?

Antoinette (15:46.19)
Absolutely not. No, no, no, no. Because then it’s not freedom anymore. If you give yourself too much work to do, then if you want it to do no work, you no longer have that choice because now you’re saddled with all this responsibility. So for me, this was still something that’s temporary. I’m building it to walk away from it, either to sell it or to…

put management in place that they continue to operate it. And I still collect my percentage of the profits. it’s not, my goal is not to work. don’t, I don’t really like that very much. My goal is to do what I’m interested at the time. And if I’m no longer interested to be able to transition to something else and have someone replace me to either keep that going or be able to sell it.

Stephen S. (16:41.521)
So what advice would you give to somebody that’s struggling to figure it out? You know, that’s like, hey, maybe I’ve got a little bit of money. Maybe I’m just overstressed, overtapped with working. Maybe I’ve got a family, all of these things that wants to figure out how they can also live a life where they’re personally free. Like what are some of the things that you would encourage people just getting started like in real estate or maybe even.

Antoinette (16:49.837)
Okay.

Stephen S. (17:08.603)
you know, looking to do what you do potentially, like through real estate eventually. What are some of the things that you would give as advice to somebody that’s new that just doesn’t know where to start?

Antoinette (17:18.006)
I’d say first know what it is that you really want. I think a lot of people are making decisions and living life based on what they think they should do or what they see other people are doing. And they’re just kind of rinsing and repeating. If you don’t know what actually makes you happy or what your end goal is and what you truly want, you can’t build a plan to get you there. So first, just beginning with the end in mind, what is it that you want? I knew I wanted to not have to work for money.

And so every decision that I made, was way, does it get me closer to that end goal? If yes, keep going. If no, that’s not the one. and I think once you know what it is that you want, you can, you know, reverse the engineer into, well, what gets me closer to this? What do I have to have for that? You know, and kind of build a path for yourself. That’s the first thing. I’d say also listen to yourself. One of the things that I struggled with when I started was like hearing.

everybody else’s real estate story and thinking that how could I ever do that? Right? They’ve done so much. How can I get to this? Or there were just so many things that so many messages, so much I was hearing that I couldn’t fathom or figure out the way to do that. But it wasn’t for me to do that. It was for me to like build my own plan and path and do what worked for me. So, you know, get quiet so you can hear yourself and block out the rest of the noise.

Stephen S. (18:44.641)
Mm, get quiet so you can hear yourself. What a great line. I’m writing that down. That’s so good. Now, so if you had to go back to the beginning of when you accidentally became a real estate investor, but you knew what you know now, right? And you could take all the wins, all the lessons, all the failures, et cetera, back to the beginning and started all over. Like, what would you do different and what would you do the same?

Antoinette (19:16.064)
I probably.

I would, my life would be structured the same in terms of like, have very little personal expenses. and I use a lot of like different house hacks and strategies, and other travel hacks to not have to pay for things. So I would still be a cheapie and do that stuff. Right. But still have all the things I want, but figuring out ways to not pay for it. What I would do different, maybe I would have been more aggressive in the beginning.

Stephen S. (19:42.491)
Yeah.

Antoinette (19:47.584)
and ran a little faster, maybe instead of buying one home a year, two or three, but still not too crazy, right? Maybe just done a little more. I was very conservative and not really in a rush. And I say that now, but as I’m saying it and I’m thinking about it, I wasn’t going to do that. I wasn’t going to do it. I think I liked like the natural progression of

like each deal just kind of happened. I wasn’t like looking for deals, hunting for them. They all just came upon me at some point and it was like, okay, this works. I’ll do it. And I like that because I didn’t feel pressured. There wasn’t the stress of these timelines I had to hit. So I would want to keep that the same, the low pressure situation of it. But maybe I would have bought more houses, especially with those low interest rates in it. Yeah, that’s really the thing.

Stephen S. (20:45.329)
for sure. Well, thanks so much for coming out and recording with us today. If somebody wants to connect with you, learn more about what you’re doing and what you’re working on, what would be the best way for them to do that? Where should they go?

Antoinette (20:59.182)
Um, I have a YouTube channel now and take this with a grain of salt. Uh, it’s not like it’s, I had a camera follow me around for these first two years of starting this, um, the group home business. And you can watch me know things and not know them if that tickles your fancy. And that would be on YouTube, fearless and free FI is the name. Um, and that’s the main place where any information is. You can shoot a message there.

That’s also the Instagram handle if you want to send a message that way as well.

Stephen S. (21:32.561)
Fearless and FreeFI, well you heard it here first folks. Everyone I hope you enjoyed today’s show, we’ll see you on the next episode.