How Real Estate Investors Can Profit From the Silver Tsunami While Helping Seniors

Carrie Mumma (00:00)
Yeah, I think it comes down to two things. There are so many amazing investors that are really just doing good business. But when we take a minute to slow down, especially when we’re working with our aging clients and people that we’re buying homes from that are in distress, when we take a minute to slow down and really figure out what’s going on with them from that real heart centered space, we get a much smoother transaction with a much more grateful client.

And we’re not only just making an impact on that neighborhood and making the home beautiful or making another rental that is needed by a new family to move into. We’re now making a huge impact on an individual’s life that maybe didn’t have any hope.

Michelle Kesil (02:18)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Carrie Mumma who is a real estate investor and the creator of Roadmap for Aging. So excited to have you here today, Carrie.

Carrie Mumma (02:34)
Yeah, great to be here. Thanks a lot, Michelle.

Michelle Kesil (02:36)
Perfect, let’s dive in. So first off, for those not familiar with you and your world, can you share what your main focus is these days?

Carrie Mumma (02:44)
Yeah, absolutely. What started as just a desire to be an investor with a heart turned into an entire aging consulting company that’s making a huge impact on real estate investors and helping realtors in the Colorado market. And we’re getting ready to launch that nationally, which is super exciting.

Michelle Kesil (03:06)
Awesome. Can you share more about what this platform is?

Carrie Mumma (03:10)
Yeah, absolutely. So as a real estate investor, one of the biggest problems I ran into is I would meet people all the time with unwanted properties. You know, they call because they want a cash offer on mom’s house, but mom can’t live alone anymore. And so they were in just the state of panic and unknown and stress. everything you can imagine dad passed away and what do I do with all the stuff in the house? And I live at a

These aren’t new things to any real estate investor out there. What we found is there were some strategic questions that if we answered early on, we created some amazing relationships with these people. We were able to buy the properties at the price that made sense in our market. And we were able to make a really positive difference for the family by really sitting down and getting to know them.

Michelle Kesil (04:05)
amazing and what does that process look like and how is impacting these people?

Carrie Mumma (04:12)
Absolutely. So with Roadmap for Aging, we sit down and we do what’s called a discovery meeting. Most of the time these meetings are at the same kitchen table that real estate investors do their deals at and negotiate the transactions at. And we look at four pillars during that initial conversation. The first pillar, which is so critical, is who are they and what’s important.

What do they want their legacy to be? What are they doing when they’re really happy? What are the things in their life that really matter to them? And what are those roadblocks that are stopping them from moving forward? So that’s pillar number one. Pillar number two is looking at their financial house.

Not very many people, when they’re in retirement and they’re stressed out, have someone sit down and say, hey, are you on Medicaid? Because they potentially could lose all of their health benefits and run out of money very quickly without the right strategic plan. And with most of America having their largest asset be real estate, it’s really important to discuss what that looks like so that they’re protecting themselves.

The third pillar we look at in that conversation is their legal pillar. Do they have legal documents in place that are actually in alignment with who they are and their situation? I’ll tell you, I’m gonna share one of the hardest stories I heard. This wonderful family brought us in. They had looked at a cash offer on the property.

And they called in a panic. The son actually called, he’s a realtor out of Texas. And they were realizing that their dad was actually getting pretty advanced dementia. Kind of cute. He was getting up at three o’clock in the morning and going out the back door, going to the front door and doorbell ditching his own wife.

and giggling, absolutely adorable, but this is really scary. Someone with dementia leaving the house at three o’clock in the morning in Colorado, that can be dangerous. So I came in and helped them go through these pillars and really helped them figure out what they needed to do to create the right environment.

And then that last pillar that’s really important is their health insurance. Do they have the right health insurance for their particular stage of life? And when you blend all four of these things together in a discovery conversation through the system that we’ve put in place, and we actually use clinical psychologists to do this. So it’s a really soft.

meaningful conversation that doesn’t feel and is not a sales pitch. It’s a problem solving conversation. Then they ultimately end up with a plan that all of their influencers can get on board with, with that particular family.

We were able to put some safety things in place. We were able to find an appropriate living community for the mom and the where they could still be together, but it would be safe. And we were actually able to cover almost $10,000 a month.

by changing around his insurance and working with them within the means. So we’re really able to do some amazing things for families ⁓ and investors that are investing in these homes and make sure that deals go well and are not just thrown against the wall, not knowing the impact of what we do.

Michelle Kesil (08:24)
Amazing. Is this something that you’re implementing with other investors or yeah, how does this coincide with like your investing journey?

Carrie Mumma (08:35)
Yeah, absolutely. So I do this consulting roadmap for aging for other real estate investors in realtors. We’ve done it in seven different states at this point via zoom and technology, which is amazing. My favorite is still the table conversations I’m able to have here in Denver, but we do this service. We charge a flat fee for this service to be able to help the families and help the investors remove whatever roadblocks are needed.

So it’s pretty great.

Michelle Kesil (09:03)
Yeah, and what type of families do you usually work with in this process?

Carrie Mumma (09:10)
We really have two distinct dynamics in the clients that we’ve helped over the last three years. The first is those that are aging alone. These are people that is really common in every neighborhood. They’ve maybe lost their spouse. They maybe didn’t have children or life took a different turn for them one reason or another, but they’re alone in their home and they don’t know what to do.

They maybe have a neighbor or some friends, but they really know they can’t be at home anymore, but they’re just stuck. So that’s our first client. These clients often come to us from realtors and investors because that becomes too big of a scope for someone to dive in and create that very specific plan and that care team that’s needed to help that person with whatever the next transition is.

The second one, not to pick on the oldest daughters, but we get a lot of phone calls from oldest daughters and the oldest sons that come to visit mom and dad and they know mom and dad can’t be in the home any longer. So it becomes a really meaningful family conversation where we’re really able to honor the wishes of the ⁓ person that’s aging.

yet at the same time give the family that security that they need.

Michelle Kesil (11:01)
Yeah, amazing. And how are you focusing on scaling this or growing this platform?

Carrie Mumma (11:10)
Yeah, we’re really excited. We have been working with a number of nonprofit mental health organizations and teaching them how to go through our discovery meeting, which is very different than

anything anybody goes through with a financial planner, with an attorney. So we are developing a vast network across the country of individuals that are trained to do this. We’re also really excited and started some conversations about franchising roadmap for aging, which is going to be great just to be able to duplicate the one-on-one efforts that we have. So we’re rapidly growing. It’s a huge need. I think the statistic is seven

What was it? Over the age of 75, I think there’s 15,000 people turning 75 a day, which is crazy. And we also know we’re at the very beginning of that silver tsunami where the majority of assets are with seniors. So if we can help them plan, then we really become trusted partners and they stay in our, they’re able to do what they need to do better. So.

Michelle Kesil (12:18)
Yeah, absolutely. And how are other investors implementing this? Like, does it blend with their business well and their efforts in investing too?

Carrie Mumma (12:31)
It really does. Most investors, unless they’re buying properties directly from real estate agents or wholesalers, especially for an investor that is doing direct marketing, adds this as a value add. They start talking to a lead. They know that this lead is going to sell sometime in the next six to 18 months.

and they build a little bit of rapport and recognize that this person is just kind of stuck. And that’s where they say, hey, let me introduce you to Roadmap for Aging.

regardless of if I buy the house. I have some investors that simply pay our flat fee, they bring us in to do the consulting piece and they follow up. And they’re really having some great success because now these people have all of the resources they need and they’re able to feel like they’re in control, which empowers them to sell their properties faster.

and Real estate agents are also using us in that way to help their clients and have a value add. We have some that just do referrals. We do track all of those referral sources and keep the referral partner up to date on what’s happening in the roadmap. With the client’s permission, we will share the roadmap so that they have a higher level of confidence as to what’s happening and what needs to happen further.

Michelle Kesil (13:43)
Yeah, amazing. And where do you see this business growing or heading to? What are the goals that you have?

Carrie Mumma (13:52)
Well, the big hairy Audacious goal is we are developing out an application. So very excited about that because if we can help more people plan better, people can live their lives and they can really enjoy the rest of their lives and they deserve that. So that’s huge. That’s probably coming at the end of next year.

⁓ And again, like I mentioned earlier, we’re getting ready to start franchising this and the platform and what we’ve built out that’s very unique. To be clear, this is not an estate plan for what happens after somebody dies. This is a plan on how to age and live well.

Michelle Kesil (15:07)
Yeah, amazing. And are you still focusing on investing as well as you’re working on this?

Carrie Mumma (15:13)
I am. My dad and I have a very successful company here in Denver, Colorado. This year we’ve already purchased eight properties. So very excited to be doing that. Keeps me busy.

Michelle Kesil (15:25)
Yeah, I’m sure. what has been the biggest challenge that you’ve found in your career, whether investing or in your new venture?

Carrie Mumma (15:37)
You know, I worked for some really talented CEOs in my career and one of the best pieces of advice, which has also been my most challenging to implement, is to automate the predictable and humanize the unpredictable.

So every single step of the way from when I started working with my dad doing real estate investing to starting to build out and really develop roadmap for aging, that has been my ongoing challenge, especially with all the new technology out there. How do we automate the predictable, set the right followups, et cetera, yet at the same time not lose the really important human element of what we’re doing. So, yeah.

Michelle Kesil (16:17)
Yeah. And how do you set up other investors with this? it just throughout Denver or like what markets are you bringing this into?

Carrie Mumma (16:28)
Yeah, absolutely. Currently we do it remotely in Texas, Arizona and California. We’ve developed out resources to support those in Southern California, specifically Los Angeles South.

⁓ We do have the ability to do the same discovery process across the country because of technology. ⁓ When we integrate a new investor that wants to use this particular tool to help the people that they’re buying properties from that are in their pipeline, we simply sit down and really talk about what that particular investor’s goals are. We go through and really provide them a little bit more in-depth review of what we’re doing and why it’s effective so that they can introduce

with a level of confidence. And the other thing we do for most of our referral partners is we will take them and their spouse or them individually through this process. Because the truth is, even though this is very much focused on retirement age individuals, having a plan for what to do if you can’t speak for yourself while you’re living is critical at all stages of life.

Michelle Kesil (17:30)
Yeah, absolutely. And what advice would you give to investors that are looking to grow and utilize this platform?

Carrie Mumma (17:41)
Yeah, I think it comes down to two things. There are so many amazing investors that are really just doing good business. But when we take a minute to slow down, especially when we’re working with our aging clients and people that we’re buying homes from that are in distress, when we take a minute to slow down and really figure out what’s going on with them from that real heart centered space, we get a much smoother transaction with a much more grateful client.

And we’re not only just making an impact on that neighborhood and making the home beautiful or making another rental that is needed by a new family to move into. We’re now making a huge impact on an individual’s life that maybe didn’t have any hope.

And I think a lot of real estate investors forget that. So really, as we’re thinking about what we’re doing, the numbers are the numbers and it’s definitely a very fun game and always fun to see beautiful properties and get them sold and have it be successful. But at the end of the day, if we have that plus the aspect of really being a good neighbor and caring for our community by helping people plan and have more resources, we make a much bigger legacy impact.

Michelle Kesil (18:53)
Yeah, absolutely. And what opportunities are you looking forward to with this project? Is there anything that’s coming up for you that you’re excited about?

Carrie Mumma (19:03)
I love the fact I’m gonna end up with like 700 grandmas. I get to meet and hear so many amazing stories from these individuals and I get to help them really live that life in retirement and give them a little bit of hope.

So that’s really what I’m excited about, Michelle, is the opportunity to expand this to not only make older properties beautiful again, because that’s always a great thing to do, but really to be a great neighbor and give these people hope when they didn’t have any.

Michelle Kesil (19:37)
Yeah, amazing. Thank you for sharing.

Carrie Mumma (19:39)
of course.

Michelle Kesil (19:40)
Well, before we begin to wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, and learn more, where can people find you?

Carrie Mumma (19:46)
Yeah, absolutely. So our website is www.roadmapforaging.org. On there, there’s an information link. And if you’d like to reach out to me directly, the best way to do that is my email. It’s Carrie, C-A-R-R-I-E at roadmapforaging.org.

Michelle Kesil (20:07)
Okay, perfect. Well, appreciate time and your story. Thank you so much for being here.

Carrie Mumma (20:13)
Absolutely. Thanks, Michelle.

Michelle Kesil (20:14)
Of course. And for the listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure you have subscribed. We have more conversations with operators like Carrie who are building real businesses and we’ll see you all on the next episode.