From Artist to Investor: Zero-Interest Deal & Creative Strategies

Ashley Gagne (00:00)
I had only been in real estate for four months, four months, okay? And I felt stuck, I did. I’m like, I don’t know where to find leads. I don’t have money to invest in leads. Mind you, I’m just starting. So I was like, okay, free leads. Let’s just like look on the MLS and see what’s for sale. Is there anything that’s been on there for quite a while?

And I came across this amazing property in Gardner, Maine. It’s one Lincoln Ave in Gardner, Maine. So anyone can look it up right now. And it’s just a gorgeous property. It looks like a little castle. It been on the MLS for 142

I picked up the phone, you know, all nervous. And I’m like, hello? And she’s like,

I got your LOI, I go, you did? What’d think? Because you guys, I pitched 30 years, a 30 year, they hold the note for 30 years at 0 %

I did not think they were gonna accept it. So anyways, I said, how does it look? And she goes, it looks great, but you spelt my name wrong. And I’m like, that’s it? And she’s like, yeah, you just spelt my name wrong, but we love it. And I’m like, I about

Kristen Knapp (00:59)
Yeah

Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen and I’m here with Ashley Gagne and she is in creative real estate. We’re going to talk about just the different ways you can get creative in your investing. So thank you for being here, Ashley.

Ashley Gagne (02:50)
Thank you for having

me. I’m super excited.

Kristen Knapp (02:52)
So how did you fall in love with real estate in the beginning?

Ashley Gagne (02:56)
You know, I never pictured myself even being in real estate, to be quite honest. ⁓ I was a furniture artist prior to this. AG Designs ⁓ was my business name. And I have a lot of followers in that field. So taught women how to paint. And I was like, I need more of a career, I guess. The Facebook stars are not paying it. So I ended up just, you know, I knew I didn’t want to be an agent.

nothing to the agents out there, but I just knew I didn’t want to be an agent. And I stumbled across Haste Morbys Community and, you know, I just invested in it. But I have to say the real thing that had brought me towards like being interested in that was because I wanted to help women who were either struggling with drug addiction or in abusive relationships and stuff and kind of gain property and create housing for them.

Kristen Knapp (03:48)
wow, that’s so wonderful. How did you kind of, how did that become a passion in your life?

Ashley Gagne (03:50)
Yeah.

So, I had personally hit a very rough spot in my life and I’ve actually wrote a book. I’m trying to get it published. it was like everybody was, I had a really bad circle around me, like trying to tear me down. And then I just ended up gaining a bigger circle of great people that helped me. And just some of the struggles I had went through.

where it was almost impossible to get out. Like I was doing great everything and it’s like, there was just some things that were impossible like housing and trying to get on your feet for the first time after being in a really bad relationship, it was impossible. So I was like, I wish I could just get some housing for people who are in the same spot that I was that, you know, cause it’s just, it’s definitely a touchy subject. I don’t want to cry or anything, but.

Kristen Knapp (04:39)
Right.

Ashley Gagne (04:44)
I would say keep an eye out for the book. That’s my goal to get it published within the next year.

Kristen Knapp (05:38)
Well, that sounds amazing. I mean, that’s incredible that you’ve been able to persevere and build such a great business behind you. And you get to help so many people as well. So when did you really get to the investing game? Like, when did it start to feel like, OK, this can actually be my career?

Ashley Gagne (05:47)
Yes.

Yes.

Really, when I joined the community, it was amazing. I immediately started to love it. I’ve always been creative, hence being an artist before and creating stuff. And I just loved the aspect of the creative side of being an investor. I really fell in love with it right away. I have to say when you… Okay, let me back up a second.

I was never great in high school. Like I’m gonna be real with you. A’s, I never saw those. B’s, I never saw those. C’s probably very rarely. Okay, it just was not my thing. But when I wanted to learn something, it was all over. So as soon as I started real estate investing, I retained the knowledge. I just started picking it up fast and I wanted to listen to books on audio and I…

I wanted to learn more and I wanted to talk to people. So I think when you have the passion and you’re liking something, you’re gonna learn it more. So I excelled pretty fast in it. I became a leader before I even hit two years in the community. So I’m a leader in New England for Maine and New Hampshire. And yeah, so now I’m guiding other students and getting them going, JVing. It’s a lot of fun.

Kristen Knapp (07:05)
That’s amazing, so you really found this passion right away. And you’re right where you had such a creative background, it’s very obvious how you kind of took this approach in the real estate world. ⁓ When did you start kind of playing with, I guess it comes with experience, but when did you kind of play with these different creative opportunities?

Ashley Gagne (07:09)
I

Well, that’s really what they teach in the group with Pace Morbry. It’s all about creative finance and all these different, you know, taking a deal and finding a way to make it work, to give maybe the seller what they want, meet them where they want, but how can we get there creatively? So it’s more than just giving a cash offer. know, cash doesn’t always work. know, cash is king. Cash is king.

That’s where we always want to aim first. It’s a quicker close, everything. But if it’s not going to work, then we try to just get creative and figure out, okay, how can we make this work? Did that answer your question? Okay, I was like, did I answer that question?

Kristen Knapp (08:03)
Yeah, course. was a good answer. Can you, I would love

to hear about a time where this really worked out for you, where you were able to do a deal that you’re really proud of.

Ashley Gagne (08:13)
Okay, I have one. ⁓ So

Kristen Knapp (08:14)
I’m

Ashley Gagne (08:15)
I had only been in real estate for four months, four months, okay? And I felt stuck, I did. I’m like, I don’t know where to find leads. I don’t have money to invest in leads. Mind you, I’m just starting. So I was like, okay, free leads. Let’s just like look on the MLS and see what’s for sale. Is there anything that’s been on there for quite a while?

And I came across this amazing property in Gardner, Maine. It’s one Lincoln Ave in Gardner, Maine. So anyone can look it up right now. And it’s just a gorgeous property. It looks like a little castle. It been on the MLS for 142

Some of y’all might have heard this story because it’s already been on the Get Creative podcast. It got labeled to the best deal of the year in New England last year. Mind you, I’m a very new student.

Kristen Knapp (09:35)
I will.

Ashley Gagne (09:37)
And I said, you know, the only way I can ever make this work is by taking action. Okay. I don’t care if I don’t know everything. You’re never going to know everything. Like I’m still learning every day. So I just, picked up the phone and pitched creative finance to the best I could to the agent. And the agent said, well, that sounds very interesting. Let me check with the sellers, which I didn’t expect a call back. truly didn’t.

But as you know, it’s my favorite story. So you guys know she did call me back. And it just, she said they’re interested in hearing a little bit more about what you have to offer. So I ended up doing an LOI, which if some of you don’t know what that is, it’s a letter of intent for an offer. And I, the rest was history really. I got it locked up for, we didn’t have to go up on the price.

They had it, I messed up on the LOI, the original one. It was listed for 965. It got, and I put 975 on the LOI and.

Okay, the funny part, here comes the funny part. So when I submitted the LOI to the seller, because I had already been communicating with the seller, she called me back after I sent the LOI and I didn’t answer the phone because I was too scared. I didn’t answer, I just let it ring. And then she called back like a half hour later and

Kristen Knapp (10:46)
Yeah.

Ashley Gagne (10:52)
I picked up the phone, you know, all nervous. And I’m like, hello? And she’s like,

I got your LOI, I go, you did? What’d think? Because you guys, I pitched 30 years, a 30 year, they hold the note for 30 years at 0 %

And

I did not think they were gonna accept it. So anyways, I said, how does it look? And she goes, it looks great, but you spelt my name wrong. And I’m like, that’s it? And she’s like, yeah, you just spelt my name wrong, but we love it. And I’m like, I about

Kristen Knapp (11:14)
Yeah

Yeah. ⁓

Ashley Gagne (11:22)
You know,

so it was really great. We kind of structured it like a Morby method. did want a significant amount down because they wanted to pay off the current mortgage. They didn’t want to do a subject, too. So whoever was bringing down that money, they were going to get the rest, which was like over 600,000 for 30 years at zero percent interest. And I also structured it with a year with no payments. So.

It turned out great. I got a $30,000 assignment on it and I assigned it to one of my good friends, Justin Tuminoski, which a lot of people probably know. And Pace Morby came up to it. It was a good time. It was a really good time. That was my biggest deal last year. And when I say biggest, I think it was the best terms, just, you know, most recognized. I had other deals that I made a little bit more on, but it was definitely a good time.

Kristen Knapp (12:13)
That’s amazing and what did that do for your confidence? You you were talking about how you were so scared you couldn’t even answer the phone. Like how did that help you gain a little bit more confidence?

Ashley Gagne (12:22)
It just shows you that you can do it with barely any knowledge, right? You know, I literally just picked up the phone and pitched Creative Finance to the best I could to an agent, which I wish we had that recording. I do. It was not recorded because it was such a spur of the moment thing. But I can tell you that the agent still calls me with deals. We still talk. I still talk to the sellers. That’s one thing I really pride myself on is keeping the relationships.

Kristen Knapp (12:35)
Yeah.

Ashley Gagne (12:49)
You know, I love networking and just making like long-term relationships with people.

Kristen Knapp (12:55)
Yeah, I know that building rapport with your your sellers is like a big strength of yours. What are some tips you have for people to kind of make those relationships stronger?

Ashley Gagne (13:02)
Yes.

So, I mean, I could tell you the basic things, like when you pick up the phone and talk to a seller, mirror them. If you’re talking to a timid old lady, don’t be like, hey, how you doing? Like scare them away. But if you got like a nice outgoing person, know, mirror that. I do the mirroring. But I think the biggest thing is I’m actually passionate and genuine about it. I actually care. So I think that comes off in my voice and

Kristen Knapp (13:14)
Yeah.

Ashley Gagne (14:11)
and how I approach. For a while, my business partner who, know, the CEO of Oak Hill Acquisitions, he was like trying to make me go buy a script and we role played almost every day. And he’s like, you’re not using the script. I’m like, I’m not going to use the script. You know, every conversation is unique. I cannot go buy a script. So finally I got him on board by that. So like now he’ll tell you scripts are crap.

Kristen Knapp (14:27)
Thank

Yeah.

Well, that’s amazing. feel like so much of this business really is just being a trustworthy person because building trust is everything. And can you talk about maybe a time as you’ve been starting out where things didn’t really go as planned and how you learned from that?

Ashley Gagne (14:44)
Yes, absolutely.

Yeah, so consistency is one of the things that I know I need to work on. And I would say just knowing

trying to figure out like how to, what’s the best way to say this because when it really started working out for me is when I started, you know, working with PPL, Pay Pro Lead and getting affiliated with ICB to Lead, which is the company that I’m a brand ambassador for. So I would say prior to that, things were slow. You really just got to take action. That’s the main thing. So.

If you just take action, get your reps in, that’s the only thing that’s gonna make you stronger, better, and just more knowledgeable, I guess.

Kristen Knapp (15:34)
Yeah, and every deal is so different, so getting those reps is really important.

Ashley Gagne (15:38)
Absolutely, 100%.

Kristen Knapp (15:40)
I would love for you to talk about just kind of what you’re seeing in the market right now and the opportunities you see maybe, because I know there’s a lot of information being thrown around and a lot of people are scared to get in the market.

Ashley Gagne (15:51)
Yeah, I mean, I was actually just talking to one of my really good friends today. He’s an agent in Maine and we call those agents that like to work with investors, unicorns. And, you know, he was even just saying he’s like, it’s crazy because the agents out there that aren’t turning to a bit of creative and wanting to pair up with the investors, they’re not winning right now because the interest rates are so high. So people are

maybe don’t wanna list their house because the interest rate, they have the mindset people aren’t gonna buy because the interest rates are so high. So we’ll wait till the interest rates drop a little bit. And I’m sure that has to do a lot with how they price their house. So I think the main thing is the interest rate. Everyone’s scared of. And I mean, if you go out and you buy a $500,000 house and put it on a 30 or go conventional with it, with a bank and everything,

⁓ You’re looking to pay almost a million or maybe even over by the time your loan is paid off. That is scary. And that’s why I love creative so much because we can get into those, you know, nice low interest loans by taking them over subject to or even a seller finance, you know, you got to paid off property and you take that over seller finance and structure some great terms like I did with the mini castle in Gardner, Maine.

You know, and then it doesn’t have to be so scary. And I think that’s what I like talking to the sellers about too, because when they’re talking about selling their property and they’re like, yeah, I just don’t know if I’m going to be able to get into anything because of the interest rate. You know, I like to possibly have them as a buyer for one of my properties that I come across, right? Because we’re always looking for buyers. you know, expressing to them, hey, we come across deals like this all the time. You know, we could get you.

into one at a lower interest rate by taking it over subject to or, know, seller finding, you would wrap it, but I don’t explain that. That would be too, you know, a little bit too intricate for the seller to understand. You get it. Yeah. So.

Kristen Knapp (17:45)
Yeah,

I think that with interest rates, think the thing people don’t think about is once they lower everyone, the competition is going to be crazy. Everybody’s going to want to buy stuff. Yeah.

Ashley Gagne (17:59)
Mm-hmm, absolutely. And

I don’t I personally don’t think they’re gonna go Low I don’t I think they’re probably if they if they drop it might go to like six point two five And I think that’s like the average right now or six and a half is the average so like it’s not gonna drop significantly or they might go like I Don’t even think it would go to five and a half. I don’t

Kristen Knapp (18:05)
Yeah.

Yeah, I think, no, I mean, I agree with you. I think a lot of people think that they’re gonna plummet, but I don’t, it might be a little bit more gradual than that.

Ashley Gagne (18:21)
Maybe I could be wrong.

Yeah, no, I talked to a seller in Florida and he was, the way we were structuring a deal and he was like, yes, in two years, I don’t remember the amount of time he said, he’s like, they’re gonna go back down to maybe even 1%. And I’m like, what are you, nevermind, I’m not even gonna go there, but I’m like, what are you thinking, seller? Like, don’t they want?

Kristen Knapp (18:45)
you

Yeah.

Yeah, well I mean it’s good to know that

like there is optimism in the market right now and you don’t have to wait and there are ways to be creative if you really want to get in the market you can.

Ashley Gagne (19:03)
Yeah, absolutely, you can.

Kristen Knapp (19:04)
And to kind of wrap this up, what is a piece of advice that you wish you learned earlier in your career that you could share with us?

Ashley Gagne (19:11)
So remember when I said taking action even if you don’t have the knowledge? That was one thing that did hold me back because I’m like, oh my gosh, what if they ask me something I can’t answer? And you can simply tell a seller, I don’t handle that part or just let me double check with my business partner and make sure I have the right answer before I give it to you. You can always tell them you don’t know, be honest. That’s building rapport, that’s being authentic.

Kristen Knapp (19:16)
Yeah.

Ashley Gagne (19:39)
You know, that’s being yourself and that’s what really attracts sellers to you. It really does. I have a lot of great reviews. I love building relationships, like I said. So I wish I really could have sunk that into my own head when I first started because I feel like that held me back months that it shouldn’t have. So getting those reps and even if you don’t know what you’re doing, you have to, you’re going to mess up and that’s okay. It really is.

Kristen Knapp (20:06)
Yeah, because if you don’t even try, the answer is already no. You already know that you’re not gonna get the deal. Yeah, well, I mean, I think that’s great advice for people and good inspiration. So where can people find you?

Ashley Gagne (20:11)
Exactly.

So ⁓ you could find me on Instagram. It’s a very small Instagram page because I, my kids like to call me a dinosaur. I more so use Facebook, but I’m trying to build up my Instagram. So if y’all want to go on Instagram, it’s on AshleyGangne33. ⁓

Kristen Knapp (20:37)
Amazing. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here, Ashley.

Ashley Gagne (20:41)
Thank you so much for having me.

Kristen Knapp (20:42)
And thank you everybody for listening and we will see you back next time. Bye.