How Laurel Sagen Built a 100+ House Flipping Business With Integrity and Seller Care

Laurel (00:00)
That for me makes it that I cannot.

I can’t go backwards. I can’t be about me. I just got a cancer diagnosis. I’m gonna be doing chemotherapy real soon. But I am not backing down. I may not be the one to personally go and talk to everybody out there because probably not smart. But I can sure empower people who work for me to go make that difference for people.

Quentin (00:12)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds and I am excited to be here today. Y’all see that lovely lady right there? This woman. I am so excited for y’all to get to know and learn from. She says so many things as we was talking and preparing to come on air. One thing that she said that stuck with me, she told one of our employees, hey, don’t talk to me about the number. Talk to me about the people.

She really wants to help people and really helping people within this space. She has a servant’s heart. And so I’m so excited for you all to hear from Miss Laurel Sagen. Did I say that last name right Miss Sagen? Miss Sagen? Awesome. How you doing today, man? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, listen, so good to be here with you as well. I am the type, I like to dive in. So I would love for you.

Laurel (02:38)
Yeah, you said it right. Perfect. Yeah.

Doing awesome. It’s good to be here with you.

Quentin (02:53)
just to tell the people what’s your main focus these days. If you can give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into this space, like the buildup to where you are now, and then let them know what part of the world you’re into. So Ms. Laurel, you have the floor, man.

Laurel (03:07)
Well, we’re in Northern California, Sacramento, California, Stockton area. So we serve the NorCal area. I’ve been flipping for over 25 years. I got into this kind of by accident. Red Rich Dad, poor dad started buying rentals, hated being a landlord, but loved fixing them up. And so we started flipping. And nowadays I work really directly with sellers.

before we were working through real estate agents and wholesalers and people like that buying houses, fixing them up and selling them. But ⁓ one day, mean, there were a lot of incidents, but the precipitating incident was I was doing a walkthrough that you do just before you close. And I was told nobody would be in the house. And so I went in the house. And when I went in, there was this elderly woman with a walker standing in the middle of the living room floor. And she was just weeping.

I was like, my God, sit down, sit down. And we sat down, I go, what’s wrong? She said, the real estate agent said it had to have everything out of the house by Friday and I don’t have anybody who can help me. And that’s really when I realized that real estate agents can’t help everyone, right? It’s not the right solution for everyone. And I had bought a few houses from investor and wholesalers, people like that who, I was like,

I could go direct. So we got a list of properties and we started, I actually had some of my friends help me handwrite cards. And then we, created a, I didn’t know anything about websites. You know, at this point I’m like 55 years old. I’m poking on the computer, making a website from Carrot and Laurel by his houses. We tried two sites, but the Laurel by his houses seemed to get traction.

Quentin (04:58)
Yeah.

Laurel (04:59)
And then I actually have a social worker background in one of my careers. And so I started going and talking to people. And I just started talking to people, had houses and ended up buying stuff. And so we’ve been doing that going direct ever. So we started doing postcards and then social media. I don’t know, four years ago, we started doing TV commercials and that’s when it really took off for us. And so.

Quentin (05:03)
Wow, okay. Got you.

Yeah.

Wow. Yeah.

Laurel (05:26)
You know, we do over 100 houses a year now. And I have people that help me do the buying and meeting with sellers now too, but I’m always available, especially when it’s a tricky situation. And, you know, do a lot of coaching now, stuff like that with my team.

Quentin (06:30)
Woo, thank you for sharing. Like again, I’m an active listener. As you was talking, I was writing things down. So definitely thank you for taking me through the journey. Telling me what you do now to walk up to what you do now in the journey itself. And I’m a regurgitate a lot of the things that you said to me. I’m gonna say them back to you. One, I wanna show you I was actively listening. Two, I wanna make a statement and ask you a question. So Sacramento area.

25 years of flipping. I’m kind of got into it by accident. read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. You was doing a walkthrough and found an elderly woman in the house. And that just sparked that, know, relatives can’t help as much as they really want to. So you kind of, you know, grew, ⁓ lower by houses, became a Monica for you, social worker background. Four years you’ve been doing commercial and now you went and coached. So I just.

Throwing some things back to you that you gave us.

Laurel (07:29)
Okay,

I’m actually not coaching people, just my team. Only my team, yeah. Yeah.

Quentin (07:32)
Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Gotcha. But you

still coach, but you still coaching, but I got you coaching team. I got you. Ms. Laurel. I have a saying where I say destiny has no wasted moments. Meaning no matter what we go through in life, we borrow from each moment and it makes us the people that we are now. We, we figure out our why we figure out our passion. We figure out what make us tick. We figure out our superpower. So I would love to know Ms. Laurel.

throughout these moments that you just so eloquently laid out for me, what has these moments taught you about yourself? What has the journey taught you about you? Has it taught you resilience, discipline? Like, what has these moments taught you about you?

Laurel (08:14)
good question. One. ⁓

Nelson Mandela had a quote about being, we’re not afraid of how weak we are, we’re afraid about that we’re more powerful than we know. And as I took each step, I had to become a better leader.

And I had to listen better. I had to stop listening to the noise in my own head.

I, in my 30s, led seminars about communication and was a very powerful technology about relationship and communication.

I realized I had skills, abilities to make a difference. And if I didn’t go on and just not worry about me so much and worry about people and my employees and my partners and my investors. And if I spent all my time thinking about that, the right thing will always be right there to do. And all you got to do is do it. You can step forward, have conversations with people.

and something magical will happen. Right? And then…

I don’t need to worry about me. Okay, I’m fine. Believe me, I’m 66 years old. I don’t have to work. I really don’t. I could have a good modest life that way. But this isn’t game worth playing. Helping people, developing business people, my employees. ⁓

Quentin (09:35)
Mmm. Yeah.

Laurel (10:00)
making a great living for my business partner and my families. These are all things worth doing. And I can tell you, I have 20 stories from the last six months about people’s lives we really changed.

That for me makes it that I cannot.

I can’t go backwards. I can’t be about me. I just got a cancer diagnosis. I’m gonna be doing chemotherapy real soon. But I am not backing down. I may not be the one to personally go and talk to everybody out there because probably not smart. But I can sure empower people who work for me to go make that difference for people.

Quentin (11:07)
Yeah.

Yeah.

⁓

Yes, ma’am.

Laurel (11:21)
I can have conversations that make a difference for people no matter what. I often tell my wife, as long as I can talk, I’m happy. As long as I can listen.

Quentin (11:34)
Yeah.

Laurel (11:40)
as long as I can connect. I’m good. The only thing I’m afraid of is dimension. And I figure I’ll be in my own world anyway, saying this, it’ll be okay. You know what I mean? And that’s, God, I hope that people can be inspired by that. Believe me, I have fallen on my face. Cher had this song about getting back up after being knocked down.

Quentin (11:43)
Mmm.

Laurel (12:07)
that was in that movie Burlesque and I play that to myself every once in You haven’t seen the last of me ever. And when we come back, we come back stronger as long as we keep our values there. how’s that, Gretchen?

Quentin (12:25)
⁓ that was so well said. Thank you.

Laurel (12:29)
And you know what? I’m 66. Those

of you who are 46 or 36 can definitely do that.

Help more people get what they want. You’ll have everything you’ve ever dreamed of.

Quentin (12:41)
⁓

Thank you, Laurel. Thank you for the reflective answer. ⁓ Just a thoughtful answer. ⁓ Just the authentic answer. You know, I said this before the show and I’ll say it now. And people that watch me, they know this is something that I say. Old proverb, when you refresh others, you in return will be refreshed. When you take care of others, it has to come back to you. And so I just want to applaud you as a leader.

Laurel (13:10)
Absolutely.

Quentin (13:17)
Because I’ve found with certain leaders, some leaders are self-aware. Some leaders are self-confident. When you are self-confident, you are very sure about you and what you do, but it’s at the detriment of everybody else around you. So when you’re self-confident, you will sting roll people. You will make people feel bad just to make yourself feel good. Just to say, hey, I’m proficient. This is what I can do. Self-aware leaders, they do things in compliment of everybody around.

So they know who they are, they’re honest about who they are, they know their superpower, but they make sure that that superpower complements everybody that’s in their ecosystem. And it creates a space for that leader to create other leaders that’s going to keep passing on the trait. And so I just applaud you for just being a self-aware leader, complimenting everybody around you, sharing with everybody around you, building a culture.

where people can thrive around you. I really, I had to say that I appreciate that. That’s what I’m noticing about the things that you say and what you do. So I appreciate you. really do. Absolutely. What’s the next goal for you and you in the business? What’s the next goal? What are you looking to solve a scale next?

Laurel (14:22)
Thank you.

Well, you know, I ⁓ just want to get better at everything we do. ⁓ You know, one of the things I really help people with is inherited homes, right? ⁓ In fact, I’ve written a few books. One of them I wrote with six attorneys that we give away for free to people in our area. It’s called the inheritance puzzle. Somebody just handed it to me and I wrote it with.

Quentin (15:22)
Mmm, yeah.

And that’s

Laurel (15:36)
five attorneys and myself so the six of us wrote this book. We give this book away for free. And so I want to take that and create a way for other people in other areas to be helped by this so what’s one of things I want to do I wrote a book about hoarding. Because hoarding. As we’re getting older. In more more of us have to deal with our parents ⁓

Quentin (15:50)
Yes.

you

Laurel (16:03)
It’s a big problem in a lot of areas. It’s hard on the whole neighborhood. And I wrote a book again about hoarding. We give it away for free. ⁓ I wrote this one. ⁓ And so I’d love to create a blueprint too for other people to be able to help people in other areas about it. ⁓ this is a book I wrote with Max Keller, by the way. It’s called Your Next Move. Max Keller is a big guy. This is for people who are transitioning to being, into.

Quentin (16:10)
Love it. Love it.

That’s it. Yeah.

Laurel (16:31)
transitioning from living on their own seniors into assisted living or living with family or you know dementia care stuff like that. And again these are all books we give away for free. So I want to kind of help create some I don’t necessarily want to buy houses in other areas but I want to help people who have good heart help people in other areas. So we’re working on some stuff like that but

You know, we just really want to be able to serve Northern California area better and better. And then move in, especially for inherited homes. California is a tough state. So be a resource for people all over the state of California who are, you know, dealing with an inherited home. Yeah. I can’t tell you how many people we run into who’ve been living in their mom and dad died 20 years ago. They’ve been living in the house and they never took the house for probing. And it’s

hard to do in California. It takes something and we’re a great resource for people. And so we want to teach other investors about that too.

Quentin (17:34)
Laura, I appreciate you so much. I’m going love asking you this question, right? Because I love your heart. I love how you care for people. So when you hear the word relationship, what comes to mind for you? What are some of the things that pop out when you hear the word relationship?

Laurel (17:51)
Well, in a relationship, you’ve got to have care.

Right? You have care. You gotta have attention. And you gotta have listening.

Quentin (17:56)
Yeah.

Laurel (17:57)
I can’t relate to people if you don’t listen to them.

Quentin (18:03)
Mmm. Mmm.

Laurel (18:05)
attention there.

Quentin (18:07)
Mm.

Laurel (18:07)
If you don’t…

you don’t have care, right, kindness. Otherwise it’s a toxic relationship and who wants those, you know?

Quentin (18:13)
And this is why sometimes I like to ask the question that way, because all relationships are not good relationships. They are some toxic relationships. And I love how you laid out care, intention, listening. Like those are hallmarks of good relationships. So even in business, people listen. You know, I talk about relationships a lot, but there are toxic relationships in business. If they ain’t caring for you, they don’t care about your intentions, if they’re not listening to you.

Laurel (18:22)
Ha ha.

Quentin (18:42)
then some business relationships need to be severed. And so I’m so glad you brought that up, Laurel. I think you’re the first person to bring up the side of a talk about a toxic relationship. And I haven’t even thought about it. That’s why I love asking people that question. That’s why I knew I would love asking you that question and getting your answer. Wow.

Laurel (18:48)
beautiful space.

Yeah,

you if you get him you got to go into the relationship with a good heart, right? I know some companies they retrade that’s all you know, they’d retrade every deal. Well How does that honor the relationship? Right if that’s your strategy It’s a lie to the person right up front now stuff happens. I get that. Okay, I’m not gonna tell everybody how to run their business, but For me if you have a relationship with someone

You’re have care, you’re gonna think for them, right? And if really what you need is something at 200, but you told them 250, that’s a lie. That’s toxic, I’m sorry. If something comes up that you didn’t know, that’s okay, we can talk about that. But we never retrade. We give, know, we never, we guarantee you. But again, just, there’s different ways to have not be a.

good in business relationships, right? There are different ways to, and you know, that’s one of my unfair competitive advantages, because I’m a ⁓ woman. I see this a lot in life, right? It’s just part of the world.

Quentin (20:04)
Yeah.

Yeah.

So sad, but true. So sad, but true. I love talking to women that are empowering other women. I did a talk with my wife. She was in the room and I got the flair for dramatics. And so I’m in a room full of women. I’m like the only guy there and I’m going to talk about just like some self care practices. first thing got in my mouth, Miss Laurel, I love women. And everybody looks at my wife like, what is good?

But I go to explain that my mom raised me. My sister’s a powerful woman. My wife’s a powerful woman. And so I love seeing powerful women do what they do best. And that’s just thrive and be successful. Y’all make everything y’all touch, y’all make better. You know, what would life be without you guys? And so ⁓ I’m so I’m so happy about what you’re doing. I believe you told me a woman woman owned business. Yeah.

And you’re right. Unfortunately, you all get the detail in the things way too often, way too often. So, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. Listen, Miss Laurel, is there any topic that I have not brought up that you would like to talk about? Is there any other words of inspiration, education, motivation? Like, I don’t know if you came in here with, you know, something on your mind that you feel like viewers should know. I just want to open up the floor that if there is a specific message

Laurel (21:13)
Yeah. Yeah. Thanks.

Quentin (21:35)
that you want to send, I want to make sure that you get a chance to send it.

Laurel (21:39)
Well, I really wanted to have people who are gonna be real estate investors treated like a business. Okay? ⁓ And that talks about planning and being intentional and having your values front and center, right? ⁓ In the Bible, it talks about shuttering yourself away to think through your life, right?

You know, if you’re going to start a business, take a minute.

Put yourself in a room and really design what you want, what’s authentic to you, what your values are, and then operate everything from there. Look, I have fired great acquisitions managers who turned out to not have our value.

Quentin (22:21)
Mmm.

Laurel (22:21)
even though they were buying properties, making money.

they were not consistent with what the values of our company is. ⁓ And that was intentionally created and thought out. And so, yes, results is one of our values, but so is integrity. And if there’s no integrity, there’s no results that are worth it. So I would just say, and then don’t try to.

Don’t do a business the way I would do the business the way you would be. How would it be authentic to you? You know, when we first started thinking about doing the world by his houses, we actually hired an actress to do a video. She’s really pretty. Right. And she was very articulate. Right. It’s both proper English and and enunciated and was able to be understood really well. Right. And then I thought, and then I’m going to show up. Probably not good. Right.

Quentin (23:05)
Right? Yeah.

Yeah.

Laurel (23:20)
And that’s back when we started, right? And so we decided let’s do it in an authentic way, right? And I just create a business you’ll be proud of, create a business that you’d be happy to hand it to your children.

Quentin (23:36)
Mmm.

Mm.

Laurel (23:39)
Do you not have a business that you would not have your daughter work in?

Don’t do it. You get to say.

Otherwise, I’d rather sell ice cream.

Quentin (23:53)
Ha! Mm, mm.

So, Ms. Laurel, as you was talking, I got the thought to look up the word beautiful, right? Because I believe that culture has hijacked the definition of beautiful. And the more you talk, the more beautiful I think you are. And so let me tell you what beautiful is. This is what beautiful is. Someone or something possessing qualities

that delight the senses, delight the senses or mind offering great pleasure. ⁓ I can’t get this word out. Aesthetic satisfaction, I’m going say aesthetic satisfaction or intellectual admiration. You tell me you do not fit that definition of beautiful. You are beautiful and I appreciate your spirit. I appreciate who you are.

And I thank you for coming on the show. I really appreciate you.

Laurel (24:58)
I had a great time, thanks Quinton. You ask me questions people don’t ask me every day, so I love that.

Quentin (25:01)
Absolutely.

I take seriously what I do, so I appreciate you saying that, I do. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can they get in contact with you? Beautiful, Laurel.

Laurel (25:07)
Yeah.

Well, we have a website, Laurel

Buys Houses. And so you could call us or email me, Laurel at Laurel Buys Houses. I don’t always promise to get back right away, but I have an assistant, her name is Irina and another assistant named Aaron. So one of them will reach out. If there’s something we can do, I’m happy to.

Quentin (25:39)
So let me say three things to you. One, thank you for your time. Could have been anywhere in the world, but you’re here with us. I appreciate that. Secondly, thank you for your story. Thank you for your authenticity. Thank you for your integrity. Thank you for just your humility, your honesty. I appreciate your story. I believe stories have a way of planting seeds in people. We may never see the growth, but the seed is there. And before you know it, something that’s planted can grow and just literally

change everything. So I believe you’ve given enough seeds that sold to somebody and really it can literally change their life. So thank you for your story. Lastly, thank you for your mindset, the way you think and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you, Laurel. Thank you so much.

Laurel (26:18)
Thanks.

Yeah, you’re more than welcome. Thanks.

Quentin (26:28)
Absolutely. Well, listen, y’all heard Miss Laurel. I told y’all, I told y’all, I knew y’all was going to love this. Please check her out. Look in the show notes. All her information is there. Get in contact with her. Definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise you, I’m to continue to bring up amazing people just like Miss Laurel. So thank you again. And everyone else, listen, y’all have a fantastic day.