How Passive Real Estate Investors Build Predictable Wealth With Workforce Housing

Cheryl Yetka (00:00)
Our janitors, our housekeepers, our nurses, our teachers, our teacher assistants, all of those people that make this country so amazing and run the day-to-day everything that all of us need and do. And they can’t afford sometimes to be in their own home. Sometimes they can’t afford to be in that A plus neighborhood.

But they want to be in a neighborhood where they can be proud to live. They want to be able to be in an apartment that they call their own, that they’re proud to have their friends and family over to, and that they’re treated really, really well.

Scott Bursey (02:05)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host Scott Bursey. And today our guest Cheryl Yetka of Quiet River Real Estate Investments is the pro who is bringing the pure high octane fuel of patient capital and low friction strategic growth. If you’re ready to learn how to create a consistent flow of predictable returns and truly accelerate your financial freedom, get ready to fill your tank. Cheryl, welcome to the show.

Cheryl Yetka (02:33)
Thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure being here.

Scott Bursey (02:35)
It’s a pleasure to have you here and to help our listeners get up to speed, please give us the front row seat and how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Cheryl Yetka (02:44)
So I’ve been in hospitality and real estate in one form or fashion my entire career. I started out in hospitality world and working in high end resorts or city center hotels and always on the operations side. And then I moved over to affordable housing and market rate housing and ended up into asset managing a very large building in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as a hotel. And I have

real estate’s in my blood at this point. Every single asset class I’ve had an opportunity to touch. And so I’m very excited to be on the ownership side now.

Scott Bursey (03:21)
Well, thank you for that, Cheryl, and that’s powerful. What really caught my attention about you is the way you’ve been able to build a rock solid investment portfolio by selecting stability and predictable cash flow over chasing the latest trend, if you will. You know, that ability to create a quiet river of consistent returns is the very definition of investor fuel.

Cheryl Yetka (03:37)
Mm-hmm.

Yes, absolutely. I think that our mission at Quiet River is to create that stable confidence in the assets that we buy. And we do that by finding assets that are more of a workforce housing model. And that’s really where we put our time and energy in. Housing is always going to be needed. And right now there’s not enough affordable housing out there. And so we really do narrow in on that.

very consistent, stable portion of multifamily and believe that it’s going to be around for the long haul.

Scott Bursey (04:19)
Now that we know your amazing background, let’s dive deep into your insights. What is the biggest, often unforeseen advantage of running a truly passive long-term investment strategy in today’s volatile market?

Cheryl Yetka (04:33)
Yes. So there are lots of investors out there and a lot of them like to find that class A, A plus property in the shiny Miami or shiny New York City, Los Angeles. And they enjoy seeing the big numbers and the flash. Right. And I can appreciate that. I like to see big numbers too. I sure do. For us, we really believe that

creating a stable passive income can be done in a lot of different ways. And the way we prefer to do it is in workforce housing. We really feel that workforce housing is going to be needed for a very long time. And it creates a very stable and predictable investment return to our investors.

Scott Bursey (06:06)
You’re definitely playing the long game.

Cheryl Yetka (06:08)
Yes, absolutely. This asset class is going to be around for forever, essentially. And we think that we do it in a really, really positive way to make our residents feel proud of where they live and provide our investors complete transparency into what we do.

Scott Bursey (06:10)
and I can appreciate that.

Cheryl, let’s switch gears here just a little bit. What is the most common temptation or shiny object that derails investors who are committed to patient long-term growth?

Cheryl Yetka (06:37)
Well, there are some investors that want to see that immediate return within two years, right? There’s several models out there that will show you that they can get a return in that two years and beyond to their next big deal. A lot of our investors want to see a very stable long-term asset that we hold typically with our investors between five and 10 years. They like that. That’s their tax strategy. That’s their passive income strategy. They often receive a prep with us.

And so they are earning money as the asset goes along. And then we work very hard to get them the returns that they expect to receive at the end of that whole period.

Scott Bursey (07:18)
that is some excellent, excellent insight right there. And Cheryl, interested to know what is the most overlooked real estate asset class right now that offers the best stable long-term cash flow in your view?

Cheryl Yetka (07:30)
So in our view, we really do concentrate on the folks that do all the work for us, right?

Our janitors, our housekeepers, our nurses, our teachers, our teacher assistants, all of those people that make this country so amazing and run the day-to-day everything that all of us need and do. And they can’t afford sometimes to be in their own home. Sometimes they can’t afford to be in that A plus neighborhood.

But they want to be in a neighborhood where they can be proud to live. They want to be able to be in an apartment that they call their own, that they’re proud to have their friends and family over to, and that they’re treated really, really well.

And so for us, workforce housing is that asset. It’s those folks who work hard every single day, and they want a nice place to come home to. And that creates a really strong asset.

Scott Bursey (08:23)
And that’s how you maintain your competitive edge. That’s wonderful. And on that note, you know, if our listeners are saying, hey, this is somebody I really like and would like to learn from, what would you like them to know first about your business?

Cheryl Yetka (08:27)
That’s right. That’s right.

Well, I think what I would like them to know first is that I am not alone. I have an extremely talented team that works with me. The folks that I work with on my team have been in workforce housing for years. They’ve also handled other kinds of assets from class A to commercial class A. And we work together in a way in which really complement one another. And so when I form teams that buy assets,

It is the full service component for our investors. We have everything from an operational guru to a capital and investor relations guru to an asset manager guru. And every day we have our eyes on those assets and we make sure that our investors know exactly what’s going on.

Scott Bursey (09:25)
It sounds like that chemistry is so, so very vital.

Cheryl Yetka (09:28)
It is. is. Our teams are, the teams I work with and pull together on each different asset are amazing.

Scott Bursey (09:34)
And if you can walk us through this, what economic factor outside of interest rates poses the greatest threat to a long-term buy and hold real estate investor group today?

Cheryl Yetka (09:44)
Sure, well, as you may know, investing asset classes go through different ups and downs over the course of seven to 10 years. And so there are times when the market’s really strong for a particular asset, like a class A luxury asset, and there are times when it’s a little softer. Workforce housing seems to be the most stable within those different asset classes. And so keeping the highs and the lows to the mediums is the best way to ensure that long-term return.

Scott Bursey (10:13)
It’s really about playing offense with the defense.

Cheryl Yetka (10:51)
Absolutely, absolutely. It’s knowing what’s coming, preparing for it ahead of time. And because we’ve been in this market for so long, we know exactly what to look for in the market and start preparing early.

Scott Bursey (11:03)
And Cheryl, if you could walk us through this, what is the most critical metric you track daily to ensure your investment portfolio maintains its quiet, predictable performance?

Cheryl Yetka (11:12)
That stability, it’s so important for me. So the things that I look for on a daily basis is one, what is our vacancy? Two, what are we doing to find new residents to live with us? And are we treating them well when they come in? I’m also looking at our residents paying their rent on time. And as much as we want to be an owner who allows people to be a little more relaxed with their rental payment, we simply don’t do that.

And it’s important not only for that resident, but for other residents and helping to maintain that asset. We count on those dollars to make sure that everything gets done. And so those are really the critical areas that I look at. I also look at how long is it taking our maintenance team to turn a unit. If it’s taking them two weeks to turn one unit that just needs paint, we know that there’s a problem there. And if it’s only taking them a half a day to turn a unit that needs paint, we know that there’s a problem there.

And so we just have very high standards as it relates to all of those. And that reflects back then in our financial statements.

Scott Bursey (12:16)
That’s really some discipline.

Cheryl Yetka (12:19)
We try to be as disciplined as we can. We expect that from our team and so they need to see it from the ownership.

Scott Bursey (12:25)
Cheryl, you’re delivering some serious value. Now let’s go for the high octane fuel. For a pro who is ready to exit the high stress deal chasing cycle, what’s the most important mindset shifts they must make to successfully embrace the quiet river of passive long-term investing?

Cheryl Yetka (12:29)
Thank you.

Got it.

Absolutely. So stable confidence, right? We want to provide stability within our asset class. And again, when we speak with investors and we explain ourselves, we explain our assets, we explain what we do and how we do it, it informs and educates them that there is a different kind of asset class out there that maybe they’re not familiar with. We’re not the bright lights and shiny, know, glistening dollar signs, but we are that long

term, consistent passive income that people want to see, and it actually helps increase the value of their portfolio. So if they’re investing in other kinds of assets, including workforce housing into those portfolios, really helps to create a consistent cash flow for them through all the cycles of real estate.

Scott Bursey (13:36)
You just moved the needle for a lot of our listeners right there. But we can’t let you go quite yet. Is there any additional golden nuggets or any words of wisdom that you can leave with our pros here today?

Cheryl Yetka (13:42)
I hope so. Okay.

Well, I think that for me personally, personally, my network is my net worth. The people that I work with, the people that I put myself in front of, be in the room with, have conversations with is so vitally important. I want to surround myself with people who are smarter than I am, who may know a different asset class better than I do because there’s always something you can take away from that. And that also helps me build these brilliant teams.

brilliant people in my team that are a part of each of my deals that really enhances that investment for our investors.

Scott Bursey (15:06)
Outstanding words right there. Thank you, Cheryl. And for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane or collaborate with you on perhaps future deals, that sort of thing. What’s the best way for them to plug into your pipeline and reach you directly?

Cheryl Yetka (15:16)
Yes.

Absolutely. So we have our website. It’s quietriverrealestateinvestments.com. There is a place where you can put your name and information in and I will get a quick email. You can actually go on there and book a time with me. So either way works. Give me a phone call. My number’s on there too.

Scott Bursey (15:37)
Awesome Cheryl and Cheryl. Thank you for joining us today

Cheryl Yetka (15:40)
You are most welcome. It was a pleasure. Thank you.

Scott Bursey (15:43)
It’s been a sincere pleasure. And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you got value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be fueling your tanks with a lineup of elite guests, just like Cheryl, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.