From Real Estate Agent to Multifamily Investor in Central Florida

Rebecca Saint-Surin (00:00)
⁓ yes. So, hmm, I did. I originally had purchased a home. it was my first home. I’m very sentimental. And then I ended up having to relocate. And so I was like, do I want to get a tenant? Do I want to go through the throes of property management? I know there’s a lot of unsavory bits about it, but I was like, I’m just going to go for it. I’m going to give it a shot. And it was.

I really wanted to stand apart from a lot of the things I heard about negative landlords and people having an awful experience with, you landlords is painting everything white and never, you know, addressing issues and never being considerate of the fact that people are renting a home and taking care of it the way that they should be. So I wanted to be a different experience for my tenants. And it really made the world of difference. Those initial talent tenants rented for me for

two to three, two and a half leases and they ended up needing a bigger space and I ended up being their agent and we bought them a home and with the profits that they gave me from their rental, I was able to give them a credit towards the home

Erika (02:37)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pro Show. I’m your host, Erika, and today I’m thrilled to be joined by Rebecca Saint- Surin. She’s been carving out her space in the residential real estate investing world. Rebecca, it’s so awesome to have you here.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (02:53)
Thanks for having me, Erika. I’m very excited to get started.

Erika (02:56)
Yeah, and I’m excited for our listeners to hear about how you’ve been navigating this space. So let’s jump on in. For those who aren’t familiar with your journey, Rebecca, can you give us the rundown? How did you get started in the real estate world?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (03:11)
I’ve been in real estate a lot of my whole life. My mom has been in property management and juggling that, watching her juggling that growing up kind of gave me a little bit of perspective on if I was even interested in getting into real estate. And there was definitely a lot of pros and cons that I saw. But once I got a little bit older, real estate came knocking back again and I’m now a licensed agent, a property manager myself.

⁓ and I’m also an investor. So it definitely is my path for myself.

Erika (03:40)
I love that. Was there a particular moment or deal that made you say that this is it? Because you said that it came knocking.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (03:41)
I a lot of things to

⁓ yes. So, hmm, I did. I originally had purchased a home. it was my first home. I’m very sentimental. And then I ended up having to relocate. And so I was like, do I want to get a tenant? Do I want to go through the throes of property management? I know there’s a lot of unsavory bits about it, but I was like, I’m just going to go for it. I’m going to give it a shot. And it was.

I really wanted to stand apart from a lot of the things I heard about negative landlords and people having an awful experience with, you landlords is painting everything white and never, you know, addressing issues and never being considerate of the fact that people are renting a home and taking care of it the way that they should be. So I wanted to be a different experience for my tenants. And it really made the world of difference. Those initial talent tenants rented for me for

two to three, two and a half leases and they ended up needing a bigger space and I ended up being their agent and we bought them a home and with the profits that they gave me from their rental, I was able to give them a credit towards the home

and so it was like such a fun full circle experience and I’m definitely looking forward to doing it more.

Erika (05:49)
That’s

really cool and unique when, you know, and when it comes to these properties, whether you’re working with tenants or, you know, it’s the agent side of things, what kind of properties are we talking about and in what areas of the market?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (06:07)
So mostly I’m focused on single family homes currently, but I’m really looking forward to getting into that multifamily space. So that’s what I’m currently working on and working with partners and other investors trying to analyze a few deals to see if that’s gonna be my next venture. And right now I focus on central Florida. So from one coast to the next, from Tampa Bay all the way to Daytona Beach. that.

big strip of central Florida has such a good variety of real estate from waterfront options to land farms to beautiful little residential homes. And there’s a lot of development happening. There’s really no stone going unturned in central Florida. So people can buy brand new construction. can build their own home, make their own dreams, or even buy something that’s already existing and adjusted.

renovate it to what they really want for themselves.

Erika (07:01)
That’s really exciting

to be in such a place where there’s that kind of variety. At the same time, are you noticing any challenges with what’s going on in that market?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (07:10)
Yes, lots of challenges. I would say as an investor, I’m seeing a lot of neglect. So I’m seeing a lot of people who maybe purchased their home quite a while ago, have either aged in place and they don’t have the energy, time, or bandwidth to renovate the home so it’s market ready, or people who maybe jumped into the market.

a little bit pre or post COVID, depending on what the interest rates were at the time. And maybe they’re just a little overwhelmed with where they are financially. So they’re trying to unload the property, still get some sort of equity out of it. So I’m seeing a lot of mixed bag when it comes to the type of sellers that are on the market currently.

Erika (07:54)
Yeah, absolutely. you know, when it comes to you with, you know, with your investments, what are you looking at? Is it a setback when a property needs a lot of work or, you know, do you see an opportunity in there?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (07:54)
Yeah, it’s all over me.

It’s not a setback. Realistically, every property will sell to the right buyer. So me, I’m not a huge flipper. I know some people with a lot of capital who love a messy rundown project who are ready to practically build a property from the ground up. They don’t mind demo, demo the whole building if you can. You know, they’re into that. I am not a developer, so I’m interested in

really bringing that property back to life, bringing it to 2025 standards, making sure it’s clean, habitable, and it’s a comfortable space for tenants, or even if I’m going to resell the property, making sure that the property is ready for someone and turnkey.

Erika (08:54)
Yeah, absolutely. earlier you were talking to me about what it’s like being a property manager and how rewarding that’s been. Can you take us through that journey a little bit more?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (09:40)
I love being a property manager and I think it’s because I really truly from the beginning I do a lot of my due diligence in terms of screening. And so I want to make sure that not only is my property a good fit for the tenant, but the tenant is a good fit for that property. So if it requires a lot of landscaping, I’m like, Hey, this place has a huge yard. Are you interested in landscaping? Do you want to pay for additional landscaping or Hey, I see that you have a

you know, a fun, full family. Are you going to need a place that’s near a park or somewhere where you can, you know, get some of that energy out? Are you looking for a specific school zone? I try to make sure that whatever they’re looking for is something that can last for them long term. And then once they are ready to maybe even buy or want something larger, if they are a great tenant and they pay their rent on time for their full lease for Christmas, I give them a full

month off of their rent because I know Christmas time is like a huge time where people do a lot of spending and I would love a full month of free rent or full month of free mortgage really. But if they’re taking care of the property, I feel like they’ve earned that. know, the house looks good. It’s in great shape. I’m not seeing like any deterioration that I wouldn’t see normally like standard wear and tear. I’m very a big dog person. I have two dogs of my own. So all my properties are pet friendly.

So I make sure that they’re gated and that they have like plenty of access to dog parks or any, I partner with local veterinarians and things like that. So I really tried to make it like a very different experience when it comes to renting with me.

Erika (11:21)
Yeah, that’s

really awesome. And then tell us more about your work with other investors. Is that more with projects that you’re working on or is that you operating as an agent?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (11:36)
Mostly I’m operating as an agent. I haven’t partnered as an investor with other investors as much as I’d like. So most of the time when it comes to working with other investors, usually I’ll have some deals come across my desk or I’ll find some deals on my own where people are ready to transition out of the home, but maybe they don’t wanna do all the fixing up. Maybe they don’t want to it market ready, but they still need it sold because they need the capital or they need

you know, some extra cash to, to kind of move on with their next journey. So I work with a lot of investors who do flips, buy and holds. A lot of investors who do some development. I’m working towards working with a few more commercial investors as well. So people who are in that retail space, buying laundromats, buying strip malls. There’s a lot of towns that I’m seeing like start

rebuilding, not necessarily from the ashes, but from a time where things were like very unaffordable and they’re kind of reconfiguring the town with more accessibility, less food deserts, more options for services and resources for the community. So I love being part of that.

Erika (12:47)
Yeah, yeah. And that

also sounds like that’s a great opportunity for the investors in the area too.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (12:53)
Absolutely. If they’re interested in helping the infrastructure of a town and they have the capital, they really can not only make quite a bit in terms of ⁓ the government contracts that they can get and the kind of returns of their investment, but they can really turn a town around. Sometimes it takes one beacon of, we’re coming into the new age. All right, excellent. Let’s start.

building a few things, let’s start building a few shops, a few resources so people have access.

Erika (13:22)
Yeah, really exciting.

When it comes to, you know, the deals that you have going on, whether it’s the agent side or the investor side, have you found any tools or strategies that have been a game changer?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (14:16)
I have, I’ve run across a few deal analyzers. I know that there’s quite a bit on the market, right? So there’s a lot of like Excel sheets and calculating tools. And I also use a rental analysis tool so I can help my investors know, hey, as a purchase, this is what you’re looking at, but as a long-term rental investment, this is what you’re looking at. So they can kind of make a decision on how they want their exit strategy to be.

Also, there’s different types of rentals, right? There’s short-term, mid-term, and long-term. And depending on the market and the location, some perform a little bit better than others. Of course, in places like Orlando, near all the attractions, short-term rentals still are really great, even though the market is very saturated. And then like big healthcare areas like Lady Lake, the villages, they have lots of hospitals. And so,

travel nursing is a big thing. So midterm rentals are very, very lucrative there, but there’s still a lot of options for long-term rentals. And so I think it’s got a good variety of options and I’m really trying to like pick help my investors pick and choose what’s going to make the best sense for them.

Erika (15:26)
Absolutely.

And you know what, what you pick out or what another investor picks out, know, buying the right property, no matter what the market is, is so important. And as I’m sure, you know, every real estate pro has a moment where things got a deal, a real, maybe a deal that went sideways or a situation that forced a quick pivot. Can you share one of those moments with your years in the game?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (15:53)
Yes, one of my favorite stories is when I was working with investor, he was brand new. And the beauty of being brand new is that you’re kind of a sponge, right? You learn so many different things on your first deal, the pros and cons. And so I was kind of guiding him. was like, okay, this, was a multifamily and I was like, this needs quite a bit of work. So even though, yes, you have the capital to secure a hard money loan, which is at a higher interest rate.

and you can afford to purchase this, you also have to give yourself some understanding on how much does it go to cost to make it rent ready. You can’t rent it as is, it’s not viable at this point, but you have to make sure you’re aligning your budget with your vision. So I got him connected with a few contractors to kind of talk about, you know, what his expectations are. And at first he’s just like, you know, scrap everything.

I want everything like marble and all of the highest, you know, finishes and all this stuff. And I’m just like, I love that for you. But realistically in this area, you don’t want to over improve because it’s not going to give you that same return. If you, you know, put marble on everything, floor to ceiling, you’re not going to get that same return as if you put luxury plank, plank violin throughout the whole place. That’s very popular, very sturdy.

You’re not going to need to have a lot of turnover when it comes to replacing it or adjusting it or cleaning it. but it was, that’s the beauty, right? Your vision, whatever you have for it, make it a reality if you can afford to do so. So the, one of the units, he was like, okay, I’m going to do that. So he put all the bells and whistles into this signature unit. Looked gorgeous, right? Very beautiful. But in one of the next units, it needed a little bit more work.

and he ended up running out of money. And I was like, hmm, how peculiar. So going through that process with him, raising more money for it, trying to get with other investors to partner with the rest of the project, it was very, very challenging. And I think it was a good lesson for me as an agent and for him as an investor as well to be like, next time maybe

Erika (17:46)
You

Rebecca Saint-Surin (18:05)
do all the floors, okay, and then maybe all the kitchens, and then that way everything is consistently the same, and then you can kind of see where you’re gonna run out of money the fastest, and you can kind of gauge where you wanna be with the vision.

Erika (18:20)
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, from the agent side, was there anything that you’ve learned with, you know, communicating with the investors that you work with?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (18:21)
you

I feel like as an agent, I am very transparent and I am very open with communication. So I’m going to give you updates consistently. Hey, this is what’s going on. Hey, this is what I’m seeing. Hey, this is what I’m hearing. Hey, this is what’s changing in the market. This is what I’m seeing. Some investors don’t want that. They’re just like, get me the deal so I can figure it out.

after the deal is closed. So really having that initial conversation with someone saying, hey, what is your love language for investing? What do you prefer when it comes to communication? What are your expectations? Because sometimes they have other projects that they’re working on. This isn’t their only source of income. This isn’t their only focus. And so I don’t want to bombard them with details that aren’t necessary. So that’s one thing that as an agent,

I have that conversation upfront, like, what do you like? I can give you a text three times a day about where we stand and we can be on a constant cadence of communication. Or I can give you an update every Friday. You know, what are you looking for? I hate every Friday for myself because I am like, there’s so much stuff that’s happened. I have all these notes. But.

Erika (19:43)
Yeah.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (19:45)
You know, depending on where they are, if they’re a seasoned investor, usually they don’t need as much communication. They’re very familiar with the process. If there’s just starting, they might need a little more hand holding. ⁓

Erika (19:56)
Yeah, that makes a lot

of sense. And I love that customization that you’re offering, which just ups your service and value. Rebecca, when it comes to building relationships in the real estate world, can you share for our listeners what’s been the biggest benefit for you? Maybe it was a networking group, a mastermind, a mentor. What has helped you grow in the real estate world?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (20:22)
I would say I did join Heather Blankenship’s bootcamp, investor bootcamp. I love that. Very great space for networking with other investors. And it’s like a woman focused group. So it was really great because in investing, you’ll see it’s become a very big boys club. It’s always been that case. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that. It’s just the reality. But I find that the term a girl’s girl,

really applies. So we really just rally around each other, support each other, being a cheerleader and having a cheerleader of your own that understands your journey makes a world of difference. Like sometimes people, they don’t have other people in their lives that are investors or even agents or even in real estate. So when they’re like, Hey, how’s your day going? Like, man, I had a closing today. And you’re like talking about it. And they’re like, I don’t know what you’re even referring to.

You’re not making any sense to me. And I’m just like, cool. Everything’s fine. So it’s nice to have people who understand some of like the highs and lows of real estate. Even in a capacity, if you’re just talking to a title agent, they understand like some of the challenges as well. So it’s nice to have a good variety around you and be a supporter of other people. I’m a big firm believer in that we can all eat, right? I’m not going to be

fighting another agent for another deal. I’m not gonna be a nasty girl. I’m not gonna be like, meh, meh, meh, meh, meh. We all need to put food on our table. How can we get to that closing table? How can I get you to be just as successful? Because your success is a reflection of my success. If we close at this table, the other agent, you’re doing great, that means we’re doing great. The title company, you’re doing great, we’re doing great. My insurance guy, you just got a deal, we just got a deal, you know? And just having that mindset that,

These relationships really mean that we are all doing well and just kind of pushing that narrative. Cause I feel like sometimes people like, it’s so competitive with other agents. like, you’re only competing against yourself. There are no other agents. Everybody is working just like you would in a nine to five. You’re not competing with your coworkers. You’re literally working in unison. We are working as a one machine of real estate.

Erika (22:26)
Yeah, absolutely. I, I love that. And I feel like what you said just transitions great because, know, in this industry, I think it’s so important to be supportive of each other, which is why I want to ask, you know, what do you have going on in the future? What are, you know, your goals and ventures that you have going on?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (22:27)
Yeah.

I’m really interested in getting into the multifamily space on my own and maybe partnering with other investors. And I haven’t done much when it comes to like renovation besides, you know, like simple things, updating a few fixtures, of course, painting, like, but I really want to get into like, Hey, how can we rebuild this wall? Like I really want to get into some of like reconfiguring.

a space and making it more useful for a 2025 family or 2025 tenant or a buyer. Right now, the big thing is open living dining spaces, but I don’t want it to feel like a studio. Like how do I collaborate with the right people who can see my vision and make it come to life? And so that’s what I’m focusing on lately is really just getting into the multifamily space, being a more dynamic property manager for my tenants, kind of easing them into home and

home purchasing if that’s what they want for themselves and really just like trying to make a positive difference.

Erika (23:50)
Yeah, I love

that. And I love how much you’re focused on service and making a difference. It’s really wonderful, Rebecca.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (23:59)
I love it. I feel like we have to be a steward to each other. It’s already hard enough out here in the world, right? So realistically, if I can make your day a little bit easier and it literally costs me nothing, what difference does it make? I can alleviate, hey, my lender, he’s like a little bit hectic. He’s got a lot of things going on. Okay, hey, I’m coming by your office. I brought you some lunch. Let’s crunch some numbers. Let’s clear the air a little bit.

Erika (24:11)
Yeah.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (24:23)
What difference does it make? You know what I mean? It’s important to understand that we’re all just human beings. think sometimes we get wrapped up in like our roles and everything that’s going on and all these moving parts. Like I’m just a human girl. And these tenants, know, they’re going through things too, right? So I had a tenant who lost their job and they were really stressed out. And I’m like, you’ve been paying your rent on time since you’ve been leasing with me. Do you want something smaller?

Erika (24:38)
Yeah, yeah, I feel you.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (24:51)
I was going to give you a free month of rent. Do you want to break that up into a smaller rent payment for the next three or four months? We can coordinate. Communication is the most important part. I think sometimes people get a little bit nervous and they’re like, don’t say anything, just run and hide. And I’m like, no, we have to be human to each other so we can communicate better.

Erika (25:11)
Yeah, absolutely.

All right, Rebecca, before we wrap up, if someone listening wants to reach out, connect with you, partner up, or maybe they need help with one of their properties and need an agent, what’s the best way for them to get in touch?

Rebecca Saint-Surin (25:26)
The best way to contact me is via email and it’s roisaintsurin at gmail.com. I’m on that thing all the time. Or they can give me a call or send me a text. My phone number 727-685-8506. So those are going to be the best ways to contact me. That way you can get me directly. Text was probably the easiest if I’m like in a meeting or in a call.

I can always text you right back and we can get connected and I’ll be happy to help in any capacity that I can.

Erika (25:56)
Love it. Rebecca, you are building your business and growing the right way. Your story was inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us.

Rebecca Saint-Surin (25:57)
Thank

Thank you, Erika. Thank you for having me. I’m so looking forward to seeing what kind of positive changes we can all make together. And so if you ever need me to jump on, let me know. I’ll be happy to help.

Erika (26:18)
Awesome. And for everyone tuning in, if you got value from this episode, make sure that you’re subscribed to the Real Estate Pro Show. We’ve got more episodes lined up with pros like Rebecca who are out there building fantastic real estate empires. We’ll see you on the next episode.