How Harold Collins Pivoted Around Airbnb Restrictions and Built an 18-Property Rental Portfolio

Harold Collins (00:00)
Absolutely. I also have something to add to that is how it started. I think people are seeing this in other parts of the of our country is people are in other cities are banning short term rentals because you do have the parties and the things and it bothers the neighbors and all that. And so in our metropolitan cities, they were banning Airbnbs, so short term rentals. So my thought was okay, well, what’s the closest unincorporated properties I can find?

Issa Hanna (01:57)
Welcome back to another episode of the Real Estate Pros Show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I have Harold Collins with us. Harold, welcome to the show.

Harold Collins (02:05)
Really appreciate you having me on. I’m excited. thank you. Thank you for all you’re doing and sharing with through Investor Fuel.

Issa Hanna (02:12)
Thank you so much, man, Harold, for coming on. I’m always excited to talk to another fellow real estate agent, a fellow real estate investor. I feel like we bring a different type of knowledge to the viewers, and I know you’re bringing a lot of knowledge. Multi award winning realtor. started your career, about 10 years ago. I from our pre conversation, 13 years ago. So I’m gonna let you take the floor for my viewers. Give me your main focus nowadays and then give me a day-to-day in Harold’s world.

Harold Collins (02:40)
Yeah, absolutely. I didn’t share with you, but I have five children. So start the day, exercise, get the exercise out of the way. be there for my children. I love taking them to school. in our industry. so do that, get to the office, have my quiet time, get in the Bible, see what’s important. And then after that it’s starting to see, hey, what do we have? It it’s I like connecting with people. start out from sellers, whether I have good information, bad information, or no information, I still just want to make sure I’m touching base. so they feel informed. I think that goes a long way in our in our industry. And then doing the same thing, my buyers, seeing what I can find, if I have good information I can pass along. oftentimes, sometimes I think that people may not take advantage of is when you have buyers, that really gives you an opportunity to reach out to others and say, hey, can you help me? People love to help people. Can you help me? I’ve got this lady that really needs to live in this community on a one-level home with a two-car garage. So it one, it lets you have a conversation with someone within your sphere and it shows them, hey, wow, they’re going the extra mile to help their clients. So that, really, I like getting on the phones. and making connections and just seeing how other people’s day is going.

Issa Hanna (03:51)
I love that answer, Harold, because it is all about connections in our business. And then going above and beyond, going that extra mile for your client. they feel that, they see that when you care. as somebody who’s represented hundreds of buyers and sellers and never spent a penny on advertising. It was all word of mouth. That is exactly how I built the business. we’re talking to premier agent right now, you guys, a guy that knows. his craft, 13 years in the game, a lot of deals closed. So we’re gonna get a lot from that. I want to shift into your rental portfolio because like all real estate professionals, especially agents, we work off of commission. Eventually we realize hey, we need some a steady flow of income and most of us get into the rental. So I’m gonna let you take the floor. explain to us how you’re attacking the rental game because you’re not doing it the traditional way you’re coming at it from a more cash flow standpoint, I think.

Harold Collins (05:28)
Right. Yeah. So we do we have 18 properties short and midterm. We do furnished rentals. one thing we like about that rather than the traditional rental is one are we get to get in the properties more frequently to make sure that things are being taken care of. You’re able to charge a premium that a lot everybody knows short term rentals, everybody knows the Airbnb game, but furnished and midterm rentals are what a lot of people don’t know. And whether it’s someone moving trying to familiarize themselves with an area, someone who had an insurance claim, fire, water, what lightning, whatever it may be, or someone in town for work, you’re able to charge a much higher price because you’re flexible with your timeline. and then there’s not many of them out there. So, something I say it applies to many things, but something that’s difficult to recreate tends to have a lot higher value. So when you have something that not a lot are available, you can charge a premium. So that’s something that we’ve really we started out in the short term rentals and we’re transitioning more to the midterm rental game. It’s just, it’s easier to manage. The numbers work better. Thankful that we fell into that just by trial and error.

Issa Hanna (06:37)
Yeah. Yeah. man, real estate’s crazy because you can vertically scale, vertically grow out of one business. You can start so many different things. And a lot of times we do fall into it. somebody who’s married to a travel nurse. So my wife is a travel nurse. exactly. midterm rentals, that’s their game, and there aren’t that many of them. So you can definitely charge a premium. And then the client you’re dealing with is somebody that’s gonna come. Prepared, come with money, not partying in the units, they’re not, they’re living there, they’re going to work. so amazing, business philosophy for people at home thinking about getting into it. reach out to us, reach out to Harold even, and I bet you he will teach you and even find you a good midterm property rental.

Harold Collins (07:18)
Absolutely. I also have something to add to that is how it started. was I don’t know, I think people are seeing this in other parts of the of our country is people are in other cities are banning short term rentals because you do have the parties and the things and it bothers the neighbors and all that. And so in our metropolitan cities, they were banning Airbnbs, so short term rentals. So my thought was okay, well, what’s the closest unincorporated properties I can find? to get to have what’s called the Hoover Metropolitan Hoover Met. If you’ve ever seen the SEC champion S SEC baseball tournament, it’s played at the Hoover Met. Hoover, Alabama is a sports town. That’s where we live. And so we have lots of travel teams coming in, have all these fields. fun fact, Michael Jordan played on the Barons that played at the Hoover Met when he was playing baseball. So that’s what that was what Got me to buy my first one. I bought one just outside the city limits in an unincorporated area. And when I tell people locally, I do Airbnbs and all that, where are they? And I say Shannon and Cahaba, and they’re like, who goes there? Like, cause it’s just country ish, but it’s cl still close. so I say that to encourage others who are thinking about investing is find, a need that’s not met. Think outside the box. And if you have the knowledge, you’ve been doing your homework and you are confident in what you do, don’t be afraid to make that leap. because it was a game changer. It went from one to five to nine to eighteen in the matter of four or five years, just because they were successful. So very thankful. But just for those out there watching, don’t be afraid if you believe something will work, give it a shot.

Issa Hanna (08:54)
Definitely. all great entrepreneurs, whether they’re real estate investors, whether they’re anything, are visionaries, right? You have that vision, you believe in that vision, you can do it. And what a pivot, right? I do talk to a lot of investors that are in the short term space, Airbnb space, and for example, cities like Denver just banned. they’ve got a pretty big ban on Airbnbs and that whole market’s in a panic. So the foresight that you had to be like, okay, well, let me pivot, let me look at this and let me get into an unincorporated area where these bands don’t exist and short drive to the city and I can still continue this business the way it is. truly, unbelievable. shows the amount of knowledge that you have and you’ve also been recognized multiple times with multiple awards. you started in are you even got rookie of the year, your first year. So unless you kinda tell us about your awards if you can.

Harold Collins (09:44)
Yeah. So when I got into it 2013, one, I had the most amazing mentor. My mother was in the business twelve years before I wasn’t planning on going into the business. I was going into medical sales. She had she was ill for about a year and a half, needed help. So I came to help. I knew she’s a smart lady and great at anything she does. So I learned from her. And that was really what brought on a lot of early success. So I will say to anyone who has the opportunity, when someone is going to be in your corner. that is willing to pour into you and willing to teach you, the everything they know about real estate, don’t take that for granted. because there’s so much, as there’s so much to learn. We’re still learning every day. You’ve never seen it all. But having the experience of someone who’s been in it and cares about you can be an absolute game changer for your business. And but anyways, so rookie of the year 2013, very thankful for that. Had a great broker there at RE/MAX. about six years later, we thought it was time we made the switch to eXp Realty. in 2017, I was recognized with the National Association of Realtors, 30 under 30. So top 30 agents in the nation under 30. and then since we moved to eXp, been an Icon agent every year, made a lot of great connections and just very thankful that for my business, for people that trust me, in my business, being able to see my, like I said, flexibility, being able to see my children, drop them off from school, pick them up, walk them to school. and then just helping people in a time that it’s a very important time in a lot of people’s lives, whether it’s their primary home for an investment opportunity, investment property. so it just really means a lot. And, we’re here to serve and that’s what we’re doing. And so I’m very grateful, for it.

Issa Hanna (11:18)
Amazing. spoken like a truly spoken like an award-winning realtor. I can relate. I started as an agent in Chicagoland in 2013 and actually also won Rookie of the Year, a Chicago Association Rookie of the Year in 2013. Our business philosophies mirror each other. truly, amazing. we share a lot of history and we share a lot of similar experiences, man. So I so I love it and everything that’s coming out of Harold’s mouth to the viewers. Golden knowledge, especially to new real estate agents, right? you get out of real estate school, you get your license, now what, right? Now what is always remember to put that client first, to go above and beyond for that client. Be truly grateful for these clients and always remember this is not your paycheck. This is the biggest purchase or sale of possibly of their life. if you keep that in mind, you will be successful, you will Win the awards the Harold’s won. Yeah.

Harold Collins (12:10)
I I’ll say something if you don’t mind you’re talking about new agents, because the we do a lot of video marketing now and but early on before it was really a thing, I was doing, stand in front of a house, da And here’s bow tie of the day. It was nothing special. But what I recognized was when I was out and in the community and I hear people say, I saw your bow tie of the day video. And my your whole goal when you’re a new agent is you need to what you need to let people know what you’re doing. Because if they don’t know that you’re in real estate, that opportunity for them to give you a call is not there. So get out there and let people know what you’re doing, whether that’s attending community events, shaking hands, handing out cards, knocking on doors, do things that other people are not willing to do. and then once they know what you do, I really believe it’s how you’ve treated people up to that point where, especially if you’re in an area where you grew up, they know that you treat people the right way. They know they can trust you. Then once you present yourself as a knowledgeable person, well, those two combined, that tends to snowball into a great business.

Issa Hanna (13:10)
One hundred percent. Those phone calls are gonna come. So you build your brand first, your reputation first, and then the authority, right? That’s right. and then those phone calls will come. Amazing, golden advice. and You’re an investor and not just an agent. so I’m gonna ask you about the real estate nightmare, right? Because we all have one, so Give our viewers a time where you had, the nightmare and you had to get through it, pivot and you got through to the other side.

Harold Collins (13:36)
Yeah. there’s y you wanna hear the rental property nightmare or the real estate sales nightmare? Which one first?

Issa Hanna (13:42)
man, what? How about we go both of them? But I the agent, the sales nightmares sounds a little bit more juicy. Let’s go with that one.

Harold Collins (13:48)
Yeah. I would say it was a it’s a it’s a win and a loss. So it’s helping a family. close family friends, helping them buy their dream home. And at the time working with an agent that I had full trust in. I was young, I was green, I was two years in, and this is a big this is my first million dollar deal. And things kept happening where things kept being drawn out. and had my mom as a mentor and I’m sharing with her what’s going on. And then she was like, something doesn’t sound right. I was like, no, he told me and she said, no. This doesn’t sound right. Well, she was right, of course. This agent was trying to sell the house out from under us to meet out to have a dual agency for the deal. And it we went to battle for him. We got our broker involved, our attorneys involved. long story short, we ended up getting them the home. But because we’ve, if they’re if anyone’s at fault in anything. you take responsibility. You never pass the blame. So we covered all the attorney fees. We covered all the things. So what would have been a really big commission check whittled its way down. But most importantly, we ended up helping that person purchase a home that they just they loved. So in the end it was a win. it trickles off that story because that these things happen. Ended up turning around they needed to sell it. We helped them sell it. And then helping them, look for the next place. It wasn’t the easiest. We’re looking like an hour and an hour radius. and long story short, sometimes they my friend from church and here, well, they said their agent doesn’t want to work with anybody else. They only want to sell it through them. And so then I got that call, after six months of helping that, hey, we found this house and it was just too good to pass up. And so of course I was left out of that next deal after we had helps. from our commission standpoint and then driving and all the things. it’s just one of those times you’re like a gut punch, like somebody you don’t think would ever do that to you. And it happens, but I look back on it and well, what could I have done better? maybe I should have done this and this. so just look for ways to grow. so that was a good and a bad from the sales side. and something I’ll say too When you have those experiences, say you have the listing appointment and you don’t get it, well, those are the people that I really want to make sure I’ll follow up with after, whether they called and told me that I didn’t get it, which that’s great. I wish people would do that. fortunately we don’t have to interview a whole lot ’cause we work by referral, but see the house on the property, hey, saw the house on the property, that’s great. Hey, I know I had the opportunity to interview and I appreciate it. What was something you think that helps your decision to go with other agent over me. I if there’s a way I can improve, I won’t improve. So getting constructive criticism is critical for the business. And I’m thankful for people that are willing to give me that constructive criticism.

Issa Hanna (16:26)
what? That’s something me I never did as an agent. If I didn’t get the listing, I just didn’t get the listing. So the fact that you would follow up with them and get the constructive criticism. I’m gonna steal that one from your book, Harold, and add it to mine. amazing, advice you I love it. and I wanna put our Nostradamus on I want you to be a future teller We all have the five year plan. So if we look into the future, where am I gonna see you at? what’s the rental number? You’re at eighteen right now. So you scaled pretty quick. So we all have that number. What’s the number in five years?

Harold Collins (16:59)
actually so my numbers changed a little bit. as I mentioned, my I have five children, nine and under. I do like I’m gonna mention again, thankful. I coach every single one of their sports. I never miss a game. it’s the most important thing to me. working is an opportunity to gain time freedom. That’s what I do. I don’t do it for the money, to help others and be able to spend time with your family how you want to. So I’m actually going to go from 18 that I really want to get closer to the 10 to 12 range. And I want to take funds and make those properties that much nicer so that they’re cash flowing even more. cause as with short term rentals, there’s always something, home ownership, there’s always something to fix. Well 18 homes, there’s always something to fix. So I wanted to give me back a little more of my time. But then also we want to really focus on giving the best product we can possibly give instead of just sometimes what feels like surviving and keeping it to where, hey, these are still renting, and then after we do have some goals of a property back home or back where my wife’s from, which is the beach. my family, we love to fish. So we have a lake house now, another nightmare. Had kids tossing up beer cans, hitting bottles, everything was going great. Now one of the neighbors is suing me. And so I’ll be getting rid of that one. will we’ll find another lake house. having properties that you can enjoy while also getting helping them pay for themselves. I think that’s an advantage that we have, as real estate professionals. And also not to mention all the tax deductions that we are able to use through rental properties. So yeah, maybe not what you’re thinking to hear. I’m actually looking to scale down for probably the next ten to fifteen years. And then after that, we’ll see.

Issa Hanna (18:37)
That you can actually do more with less sometimes in real estate if you know how to position the pieces the right way. And it sounds like you’re gonna buy a couple of vacation properties, get into the vacation rental market. and why not? like you said, you can take the family, which is why we do this, right? Real estate’s one of the only careers that affords us to be with our family to make our own time. You’ve got to be a great time manager, right? but if you can manage it, you can be around your kids. God bless, by the way. I love that you’re a family man. the integrity, the honor, it it’s it projects through the screen. and we can tell that, you really do put family and clients first. So I love that. But real estate’s one of the only industries where we are able to be home with our families and enjoy those times when other people have to be. the nine to five job doesn’t mean we don’t work hard any less harder. sometimes it we’re eighteen hour days and we’re always got it turning up there.

Harold Collins (19:30)
Never stops.

Issa Hanna (19:31)
Never stops, man. Never stops. especially, you gotta produce your own income. it gets tiring, thinking of different ways to market yourself and whatnot. So it does

Harold Collins (19:42)
I’ll say

Issa Hanna (19:42)
afford us.

Harold Collins (19:43)
for people out there, I’ll say one more thing for people out there that cause this is a passion of mine also. Grew up in a sports family, youngest of four boys. Now I have four boys and a girl. And so I think a gift that God’s given me is to pour in two children through sports, just because I do have that knowledge. But then also you never know what they’re dealing with at home. And a coach is much like is like a parent figure and you’re able to pray with them and preach into them they can do anything as long as they put the work in and that they are blessed. And while that is very important. And I think if you do that organically, people, their parents, see how you care. And if you truly do care, it presents itself. And those are relationships, you know, that you don’t have to the first conversation being I’m in real estate, how can I help you? eventually they will learn what you do. And that’s become a big part of my business because I don’t get to go out and do all the networking events I did when I was younger and n without family and children. And so that’s become a place for me that I’ve seen organically grow my business that like that’s just I say it’s how thankful I am. I get to meet and I’m working with friends and I see my players and I’m helping them. So it’s really special.

Issa Hanna (20:52)
Very special. Sports is such a rewarding rewarding. I’ve grew up playing football, played college football. So actually played at a junior college out in Santa Clarita, California. Nice called College of the Canyons for a few years. And then, these were the times where you hurt your knee and your career is over. So hurt my knee, career was over. But A lot of my main mentors growing up, a lot of guys taught me a lot of life lessons were my coaches. And then the adversity you face in sports, it builds a certain type of character. and then, takes a special person to really care about the kids and really want to coach. and that does project over to the families and why wouldn’t their families want you to be their real estate agent? they trust you with their kids, they’re definitely gonna trust you with their home. unbelievable and that wasn’t why you did it, And a lot of times when you do things with the purest intentions and like I said, guys, with thinking of the community first, thinking of those people first, the clients will just come to you because they see how good of a person you are for the community. So

Harold Collins (21:53)
One.

Issa Hanna (21:54)
Exactly. We’re getting literally a how to book on how to be a successful real estate agent. And I wanna get one more piece of advice for the new guys, right? So New guy. They just finished real estate school. They know how many square feet are in an acre, because they that’s what they teach you, right? In real estate school. They don’t know how to, write the contracts. They don’t know how to go out there and get clients. So if you had to give them one piece of advice on the first step they should take what should be that first step?

Harold Collins (22:20)
I would say, take a look around, do your homework and see someone, look for someone that has a business that you would like for yours to look like. and it’s not hard to find the who are the successful people and then who do you enjoy talking to? and ask questions. Man, I ask a lot of questions. and I still ask a lot of questions, but especially early on, ask questions to people that are running a business. And they don’t all just have to be realtors, because business, it goes across all lines in different types of businesses. ask those other business owners and it means a lot to people. I was literally having this conversation with my mom about getting our house built, our house burned nine months ago. So we’re working on doing that. Part of the reason I need to sell some of the houses to help pay for that new rebuild. But people are honored when you ask for their advice, their knowledge, their wisdom. And you’ll be surprised how much people are willing to share and how people want to help you. So you just show that you’re willing to put the effort in and the humility of, the worst thing you do as an agent is talk like it all. You don’t need the help. so have that humility say, hey. Please, can I take you to lunch? Can I take you to coffee? I just wanna pick your brain. I love what you’re doing. I and I’m look I wanna be successful and I wanna do it the right way. Yeah, so I just wanna learn.

Issa Hanna (23:39)
Amazing advice. Amazing. yeah, you get out there, you ask questions. Don’t be a wallflower, you guys, right? you’ll be surprised how many successful people will even take you under their wing when they see that potential. because a lot of people are embarrassed to ask questions or they do wanna, they wanna fake it till they make it almost, right? So they’ll get the real estate license. I’m a realtor, I don’t need any help. those type of people are the ones that do things like Harold’s nightmare where they were doing some shady stuff and they had the dual agency stuff going on. Those are the wrong people to model your careers. So be observant and like you said, look at somebody who you want to model your business after and ask them questions. this is literally a how-to on how to become a successful agent. but now I’m gonna give you the floor, Harold. If they wanted to get the best real estate services in the city of Birmingham, where could they reach you at?

Harold Collins (25:12)
you can reach us through our website at youmaylikeithere.com or at my cell phone (205) 919-1861. you can also follow us on social media, @harold_collins, that’s my personal, and then Collins Group on Instagram, that’s our business page. But if you visit our website, it has all of that there. if anybody has wants to reach out, there’s any way I can help someone out there. I’m more than willing. and I just appreciate what you’re doing here, getting here, building up people in the business. you’re great to interview with and how you’re helping others. It just it really goes a long way. So wish you much success and very grateful for you.

Issa Hanna (25:53)
Harold, it was a true honor having you on the show. You brought so much knowledge, so much light, breath of fresh air to the show, I think our new agents are gonna get so much out of this episode. So truly, grateful for your disappearance. and I wanna invite you back on the show at a later date, if you’ll have us.

Harold Collins (26:09)
Yeah, you let me know, but we’d love to. Really appreciate it.

Issa Hanna (26:11)
Hundred percent. I’m gonna go follow @harold_collins on Insta and then we’ll slide into the DMs and we’ll we’ll get something booked up. but truly, enjoyed the conversation, man. And then to the viewers at home, if you enjoyed my conversation with Harold and want to see more like it, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until next time. The Real Estate Pros are out.