How This Real Estate Contractor Turns Code Violations and Massive Liens Into Profitable Deals

Carl Shealy (00:00)
well, because I have the G C license, the roofing license, a home inspector license, and a mold license, I’m I’m able to work on properties that have serious code violation because that seems to be a a a big thing that other investors won’t touch. They have code violations or maybe they’ve just been vacant for a long time and they had to get boarded up and they get that two hundred and fifty day fine that just runs and runs and runs. But if you know how to go to the city correct them problems, they’ll mitigate that price. I just closed one that had a two point eight million dollar lien on it. I I reduced it all the way to seven thousand eight hundred dollars.

Joseph Crooms (02:08)
Hi everyone, welcome to our Investor Fuel Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Joseph Crooms, and today I’m going to be joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with. Our guest name is Carl Shealy, he’s been making serious moves in the industry of real estate a broad spectrum, many years of experience. And Carl, say hello to our guests.

Carl Shealy (02:34)
Good afternoon. How’s everybody doing? Good.

Joseph Crooms (02:36)
Good, good. I think our listeners are really going to get something away from you from how you’re approaching your strength your your contacts, your your business savvy, your feeling, how you’ve connected with the with the the shakers and movers of your community. So let’s dive right in, okay? All right. So first of all, for people who may not be familiar with your world, give us the short version. What’s your main focus these days and what markets are you oper—

Carl Shealy (03:07)
Well, I’m a entrepreneurial contractor. I’m I’m I’m operating in the South Florida market, Fort Lauderdale area. I’m a member of a local crew called BPM REIA and I’m also their preferred contractor. I have a general contractor license, a roofing license, home inspector license, mold remediators license, mold assessors license. And we’re certified for water loss, fire and smoke, odor, antimicrobials, bio side application, Chinese drywall, lead and thermal imaging. I do a lot of remodeling for the industry itself and I buy and fix myself as well. That that’s been very opportunist for me to I don’t have to pay retail price to get the work done. So—

Joseph Crooms (03:47)
Mm, okay. Let’s talk about the flipping and what’s that been looking like for you.

Carl Shealy (03:53)
For for me, b— I’ve been a member of the BPM group now for over thirty years, so I have a presence there that they bring me a lot of deals. I get to see a lot of properties. Because I am a general contractor with all the other licenses, I I like to put the most distressed ones. And I’ve been very fortunate to find several of each and every year. So the the deal for me is I I buy the ones that a lot of the other investors won’t mess with because they have different problems which because of the licenses we can solve.

Joseph Crooms (04:24)
Let me ask you this question. What are some of the problems that you undertake that some of your other colleagues may not want to get involved in b— based on how you explain them and can you give us a little more details how your license works and help help you in that area?

Carl Shealy (05:27)
Okay. well, because I have the G C license, the roofing license, a home inspector license, and a mold license, I’m I’m able to work on properties that have serious code violation because that seems to be a a a big thing that other investors won’t touch. They have code violations or maybe they’ve just been vacant for a long time and they had to get boarded up and they get that two hundred and fifty day fine that just runs and runs and runs. But if you know how to go to the city correct them problems, they’ll mitigate that price. I just closed one that had a two point eight million dollar lien on it. I I reduced it all the way to seven thousand eight hundred dollars.

Joseph Crooms (06:04)
Wow, wow. When you go to the the city or your municipal, what are some of the techniques that you use to get that pertinent information?

Carl Shealy (06:14)
Right off the bat I get a list of the code violations that are being finded at the moment. And then I call the code enforcement officer that that wrote that citation. I have them meet me at the property if they’re available or when they’re available. And I ask them which ones are the most eyesore or life safety for the city itself. As soon as they give me a list of how they want them, I start knocking them out. What I always do is I tell that I need a certain amount of days, but I give myself more than enough time to fix it, but then I call back early. So that way they see that I’m accomplishing it. And once they see you’re accomplishing them and you get all knocked down, they’ll go in front of that magistrate for you and they’ll really advocate for you.

Joseph Crooms (06:57)
So that really sounded like you really had to do some networking, and connecting with those people. How did you build relationship with the sub levels that would go to the magistrates?

Carl Shealy (07:06)
They’re they’re the code enforcement for the municipality, they’re the code enforcement officer for that district. And believe me, they they want them violations cleared up too because it’s a blight on the city. And anytime you can help the city, they’ll help you. They’re they’re they they’re about a win win. If they can— if it helps them, they’ll help you.

Joseph Crooms (07:25)
Thank you for sharing everyone. Know, what caught my attention was that the way you use specific strength to strengthen your relationship. And a lot of them strengths that you spoke about, Carl, were personal strengths seemed like you just learned through life. Can you speak about that a little bit? Some personal life experience that contribute to your business experience now?

Carl Shealy (07:45)
Yes, I I started contracting back in nineteen ninety two and I was fortunate enough to meet Bill and Jan Leon, which were the owners of the BPM REIA at the time. And what they wanted, they wanted contractors or people there that they could trust and have faith in. So what they did is they brought me into the group as a contractor and then they sponsored me to go get most of those other licenses. And along the way they taught me how to buy wholesale properties, fix and flip the the properties and how how to get all of that financing done. They even took me under their wing and went half and half. They did a J V agreement on a property where they bought the property, I fixed the property, and we split the deal fifty fifty. And that kinda got me started. And since then we’ve done a hundred and thirty two deals total. And it’s just been a a God bless. You know, just I just don’t know I don’t have words to describe how that worked out for me.

Joseph Crooms (08:43)
Wow, that sounds awesome, man. let me ask you this question. What is what is it that attracted you the most to them? To to keep you the s— to to say, you know what, I wanna be part of the Briar group and explain what that group is and in more detail.

Carl Shealy (09:00)
At that point it was called BREIA, B-R-E-I-A, which is just your leg— your local real estate as— association group, the BREIA Real Estate Investors Group. And what what they did is they brought me in, they found me. I was doing a roof across the street. They needed a roof on a building they were buying. She came over, asked me to do a roof, asked me would I show up after she gave me the money. I said, “Of course. That’s the only way to do business.” So they they signed a little contract with me. I did that. Once I did the roof and they seen that we showed up and we were diligent and we had good work ethics, did what I would say, not just talk and then do whatever. I actually said did what I said I would do. They invited me to be a member of the group, which is the Broward— now it’s called the Broward Palm Beach Miami Dade Real Estate Investors Association. That’s BPM for short. They they they carried me along for fifteen years and then they sold it to another gentleman named Anish Dave. And Anish Dave challenged us to expand our horizons a little bit. So we’ve expanded into tax deeds, tax liens, tax overages, buy and hold, and even small multifamilies at this point.

Joseph Crooms (10:46)
Thank you for sharing that call. I think that’s valuable information. Let’s take two little shift. Not every operator now has a moment when things got real. Maybe a deal can you say explain to us maybe a deal that went sideways or time that you had to pivot fast?

Carl Shealy (11:02)
Yes, we we we we had a deal and we we were just about to close on it and of course once they did the title search they found out there was another heir involved, another another survivor. They they had a s— they had a s— a son from a first marriage that was still entitled. So at that point we had to make a decision were we gonna let the deal slip through our fingers, because it was a profitable deal, or we contacted him, made a relationship to where we could talk to him about it, and we just offered him— we asked him what he would take out of the situation. What did he want out of the situation? He told us he needed ten thousand dollars. Well, we had already ran our numbers and we were confident that we were gonna make a nice piece of profit, so we went ahead and paid him the ten thousand dollars and it it still allowed us to close. So we we were fortunate enough that he was willing to to take a monetary gain and and and move on.

Joseph Crooms (11:56)
You know, the the information that you’re sharing to the group at this time is is just awesome. Let me ask you this other question, if I may. That’s the kind of stuff people talk about that don’t talk about enough. And honestly, it’s what separates folks who’s just been dabbling from one who stays in the game long term. So let me ask you this. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? What’s the next real goal for?

Carl Shealy (12:21)
Next real goal is we we want to we we want to get into the probate market. I I really believe it it is a an untapped market for for most people. And what I’ve done is as I’ve I’ve been researching lately probate properties that have a tax debt and the owners are out of town. That means they got a take time out of their busy life to come down here and deal with it, and they gotta pay some money to be able to take control. Well, if you solve the problem, which is they don’t wanna spend no money, and they really don’t want to travel down here, they’ve been gone from that scene for a long time. You have to find out what they need or want. You have to listen to people. You you gotta ask the question and then listen. You know, God gave us a mouth and two ears. That means we listen more than we talk.

Joseph Crooms (13:08)
That’s true true wisdom. You know, no, that’s big, especially when you already got in place. The next move can either compound things or create a chaos depending on how you play it. And you talked about listening. Now I know a lot of people listening are either early in their journey or looking to level up and I think they benefit from hearing this. When it comes to building relationships, Carl, and growing your network, what what makes the biggest difference to you? And I saw you sorta touched on it a little bit. Can you elaborate a little more?

Carl Shealy (14:22)
You you have to build a relationship with them on on a little bit of trust. Get them to have some faith in you and and show that, you know, you’re not here just for the buck. We’re the bottom line is you have to develop people, not you know, not money. The money’s gonna come. When you develop the value, money’s gonna come behind it. It they kind of come hand in hand. But if if people feel like they can have faith or trust you, it makes it makes a lot easier to to to make a deal happen.

Joseph Crooms (14:50)
Well, you know, Carl, I I I think that’s some wisdom for younger ones, those in the middle, ’cause sometimes can be pulled aside like money, money, money. But relationships you can’t fake relationships. And so, ladies and gentlemen, you just heard from Carl Shealy who just spilt a whole bunch of genuine knowledge to us. And so right now we’re before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, Carl, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way to to reach you?

Carl Shealy (15:24)
the best way to meet me is probably by my cell phone. May maybe on my website, but I I’m I’m I’m readily available on my cell phone at all times and I’ll give that number if you don’t mind.

Joseph Crooms (15:36)
Sure, give the website and give the website as well, Carl.

Carl Shealy (15:39)
All right. My cell phone is 954-270-1159 and my email is [email protected].

Joseph Crooms (15:49)
And that’s that’ll access you to your website as well.

Carl Shealy (15:51)
Yeah. Yes, that’ll access you.

Joseph Crooms (15:53)
Give it to us one more time and we’ll wrap this up.

Carl Shealy (15:55)
All right, that’s Carl Shealy, G-C at Gmail.com. C-A-R-L-S-H-E-A-L-Y-G-C at gmail.com.

Joseph Crooms (16:05)
Sounds great. We are finished at this time. I want to thank Carl for coming to Investor Fuel Real Estate Podcast for pros, and because he is definitely a pro. I thank you so very much, Carl, for being here, and we’ll see you at our next episode.