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Show Summary
In this conversation, Jeannie Armstrong shares her journey from being a licensed therapist to becoming a successful landlord, emphasizing the importance of biblical principles in business. She discusses her experiences in real estate, the challenges she faced, and the systems she developed to manage her properties effectively. Jeannie highlights the significance of accountability, personal transformation, and the mindset required for success in the real estate industry. Her insights provide valuable lessons for aspiring landlords and business owners looking to integrate their faith into their professional lives.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Jeannie Armstrong (00:00)
I started off answering the question, can you be profitable and biblically based?or turn that around. Can you?
Stand on godly principles and still be profitable. And the answer is absolutely yes. And you said it earlier, I’m not talking about what I know. I’m not talking about what I’ve heard. And I’m not talking about theory. I’m talking about what I’ve tried, has been proven, and what I know to be a fact.
Q Edmonds (02:13)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. And today is a special day for me. If you know me, if you’ve been watching me, you know I often blend in the Bible. So I’m gonna let y’all know from jump. We probably gonna talk about some scriptures here. I’m just gonna let y’all know. So hopefully you stick around because you know we talk about real estate as well. But I’m gonna tell you right now, I have someone.who stand on biblical principles. And I’m sure she’s gonna tell you about it. It’s been a formula to what she do and how she’s so successful. And so this is very, very exciting to me, but I want you to understand she knows what she’s talking about about real estate. She got receipts. She ain’t talking about what she think gonna work. She’s gonna tell you what she knows work. And matter of fact, she wanna teach you and probably have an offering for you as well as something that you can pick up that’s gonna help you along the way. And so I am so-
excited to introduce you all to Miss Jeannie Armstrong. Miss Jeannie, how you doing today?
Jeannie Armstrong (03:18)
Absolutely fine. I’m excited. ⁓ I’m fine. Thank you so much for having me.Q Edmonds (03:25)
Absolutely. So glad to have you. So glad you’re here. And listen, I want to dial in. I want you to tell people in your own words, at your own pace, what it is that you are involved in, what your main focus is these days. Ms. Jeannie, if you want to give us a little bit of an origin story of kind of how you got into real estate, we love origin stories. And if you don’t mind, tell us what part of the world you’re in. And so ma’am, you have the floor.Jeannie Armstrong (03:54)
Thank you, Absolutely. I am in Mobile, Alabama, my hometown. Was born here, grew up here, was educated here. I left, went to Northern Virginia, was there for about 35, 40 years, retired. And believe it or not, the day I retired, I had my U-Haul ready, packed up, ready to come back home.It’s just a blessing to be here. But you know, I don’t know if your audience have experienced when you’ve retired, but you’re not done. You still feel something in your belly that says you’re just not done. When I got back to Mobile, I spent some time doing the cruising and the hanging out and sipping my wine and just trying to relax, doing what I read you do in retirement, but I wasn’t done.
always wanted to do real estate and wanted to do something that wasn’t with my hands tied behind my back, blindfold. You know, I want to do something hard, hard for me because what’s hard for one person may not be hard for another person. But this one was hard for me because it required me to take my money and put it at risk. And that was something that I’d never done before. Did a lot of things.
Q Edmonds (05:15)
Mm. ⁓Jeannie Armstrong (05:22)
but I hadn’t done that. And I always wanted to do real estate. And I started. I started doing real estate, buying properties.I thought that you buy a nice property, you fix it up. I knew I didn’t wanna be a slumlord. I knew I wanted to have top notch properties because I wanted to offer people what, to live where I wanted to live. I collect the rent and everything was great. Well, it didn’t work out like that. It got really, really difficult. And fast forward after about six years of documenting
putting things into practice, I realized that I needed a system. I also realized I didn’t have a system and I needed to create a system. Well, not create at first, I went out looking for a system, couldn’t find a system, not one that really spoke to what I was trying to do. That there was something behind or beyond just collecting rent, that you had to stand on something.
Q Edmonds (06:59)
Hmm.Jeannie Armstrong (07:20)
And for me, I had to stand on biblical principles. I had to understand that what was what had landed in my hand, these assets, these houses, stewarding houses, stewarding people, stewarding God’s properties weren’t mine. And I had to do it according to his principles. And so I started out several years ago just researching. Is there a thing called biblical boundaries?What does the Bible say about boundaries? You know, what does the Bible, and I start finding things like let your yes be yes and your no be no. And I’m like, okay.
That’s where I started. So basically what I do now, do buy and hold real estate. I’m a landlord. ⁓ And I steward from a biblical standpoint. Everything I do is biblically based.
Q Edmonds (08:14)
Thank.
Jeannie Armstrong (08:26)
I started off answering the question, can you be profitable and biblically based?or turn that around. Can you?
Stand on godly principles and still be profitable. And the answer is absolutely yes. And you said it earlier, I’m not talking about what I know. I’m not talking about what I’ve heard. And I’m not talking about theory. I’m talking about what I’ve tried, has been proven, and what I know to be a fact.
Q Edmonds (09:07)
I absolutely love it. Thank you so much for taking us through the journey of how you got started, where you are now. Like I said, Ms. Jeannie, I often slip scriptures in. Some people know they, there’s scriptures. Some people they, they don’t know it’s scripture. But one of the ones that I say quite often, ⁓ cause when you talk about, you know, finding the system, when you talk about putting discipline in place, you know, there’s a scripture that says no discipline feels good at the time. But once it’s finished,it produces a lifetime of righteousness and peace. And so if you want some peace on the other end, you got to let discipline do its work. And so I love how you talk about finding systems and stuff. absolutely love it. Yes, ma’am.
Jeannie Armstrong (10:24)
I didn’t know that. I didn’t even know that mindset. I didn’t even know how to get to there. That was a journey and a transformation for me. Even getting to how I, as a person, as a businesswoman, how I transitioned from being a licensed therapist for 35 years and being a businesswomanQ Edmonds (10:34)
Mmm.Jeannie Armstrong (10:53)
standing on tools, principles. I had to define what a lease was. Now I knew a lease, because I had rented back in the day and I had a lease, but everything in my lease, nothing in my lease really spoke to what was actually happening on the ground. It didn’t speak to riding by and seeing five or six cars on your rental property looking like a car lot, but that’s not in yourQ Edmonds (11:12)
Yeah.Jeannie Armstrong (11:23)
That’s not what you rent it. But realizing how do you deal with that legally?Q Edmonds (11:30)
Mmm.Jeannie Armstrong (11:32)
when it’s not in your lease, you didn’t even cover that. You have none of those criteria, none of those scenarios defined in your lease. And so when I, for example, looked at my lease, I realized my lease did not cover what I needed it to cover. So I went back and started adding over the years. And what I have right now is a nine page lease.Q Edmonds (11:42)
Yeah.Jeannie Armstrong (12:01)
It doesn’t mean that everything applies to everyone, but it covers just about anything that can come up with a tenant landlord situation. And so when something comes up, talking about that piece, when something comes up, I can refer back to my lease. Can I give you an example?Q Edmonds (12:06)
Absolutely, yes, man.Jeannie Armstrong (12:30)
A week ago, I was driving near one of my rental properties. So I decided I’ll just take a little detour and check it out. Now, keep in mind, this is one of my absolute best tenants. I have some really good tenants now, because I’ve sent them through my system. But this is a really good tenant.but I drove by the house and she had five cars parked on the lawn.
Well, that’s an issue for a number of reasons. It has some legal issues, it has some property damage issues, has some financial issues that could be for me down the line. But because I already knew that these kinds of situations come up, I was able to send her a quick letter from my plug and play templates.
indicate that her lease stated that she had two cars with the registration and asked her to clarify, remove them. If there was something I’m missing, update me. Reminded her that where she’s to park in the carport and the driveway gave her a timeframe and I left it at that. Years ago, I would not have had that in my lease.
Q Edmonds (13:59)
Yeah.Jeannie Armstrong (14:03)
I would not even know how to deal with that. I would have been very upset driving by and seeing my rental property turned into a mini car lot.But that’s where the peace comes in. That’s where stewarding my asset come in. That’s where having a lease that covers those things come in.
Q Edmonds (14:28)
Absolutely, love it. know, Ms. Jeannie, ⁓ very often, you know, I try to do ways to pull out people’s superpowers, right? Like, I’ll say this quite often, that destiny has no wasted moments, right? Meaning no matter what you went through in life, destiny has a way of refining you.Like every stop along your way teaches you something about yourself. I say that because I want people to know that there is something that has been building inside of you that makes you who you are today. There’s a reason why you are successful. And I want people to unpack why they are successful. And like listening to you, I can see how you have looked at your journey and see
Jeannie Armstrong (14:59)
Look, there.Q Edmonds (16:02)
Why you are successful and one of these things is putting that lease in place, right? Putting different things in place, language in that lease. So I am interested to know also, what has destiny also, what other things have destiny taught you about yourself on this journey, specifically in real estate? What has this journey kept revealing to you?Jeannie Armstrong (16:25)
That is not by accident that I’m here.I took a real estate, intro to real estate course. had to be somewhere in 1980. It had to be before 82, I put it like that. And the reason I know it was before 82, it was when I was in college. Got it? I wanted to do real estate back then, but I didn’t.
I was a psychology major. I became a social worker. I got my license. I got my master’s degree. I went on to work on my doctorate. You know, I started having a family, started having a mortgage. I started having car payments and insurance and life took me in another direction. Then I got safe.
Q Edmonds (17:20)
Yeah.Hmm
Jeannie Armstrong (17:24)
I started depending on and nothing wrong with a W-2. I’m a product of a W-2. I just say, if you’re gonna do it, retire well. Okay? Because you can spend 30 years and retire. That’s a totally different subject, but you can spend 30 years and retire and not retire well. And so when I did retire and I felt… ⁓just some freedom and really some sass, some sass about ⁓ it’s my time. It’s my time. I’m going to do what I want to do. I’m going to do, I’m going to just be a little bit more courageous. I’m going to take some risks.
Q Edmonds (18:19)
That’s right.Jeannie Armstrong (18:20)
And I came back to real estate. But I couldn’t, I couldn’t void my experience. Cause I had 35 years of a pretty hefty, very nice, successful mental health therapy practice. I’ve been a Christian ever since I, I think I was 11 years old when I got baptized. But what I’m saying is I had to marry all of that together.Q Edmonds (18:35)
Come on now.Yes, ma’am.
Jeannie Armstrong (18:49)
I didn’t know what I was doing. And now you’re going to make me feel really emotional now because I didn’t know what I was doing. But I also knew that I had never in my life surrendered to God’s will.Q Edmonds (19:04)
Hmm.Jeannie Armstrong (19:06)
And so I wanted to surrender.because I wanted to do what he had called me to do. I’m not saying God had called me to real estate. I’m not saying that. I’m saying God had called me to his will.
Q Edmonds (19:22)
I love, I love everything you’re saying, Ms. Jeannie. One of my faith is probably my favorite thing I like to talk about the most and most impactful. Just my faith believe in, Jesus Christ.Secondly is therapy therapy has changed my life therapy the methods have changed my life I often tell people if you don’t have everybody even if you don’t have a therapist everybody needs therapy Right. Everybody needs something therapeutic lighting the candle taking a bath going for a walk You need something that kind of brings you back. Say it again
Jeannie Armstrong (20:00)
mindfulness.Q Edmonds (20:01)
Mindful come on is that? Talk with you get an expert. So yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely correct, right? ⁓ can you still hear me? Okay, say something to me. I’m gonna make sure our our levels Perfect. ⁓ Yep, My wife, ⁓ is a school counselor been in council for 20 years and so there yes. Yeah. Yeah, so She’s really gonna enjoy this episode when she see it but ⁓Jeannie Armstrong (20:13)
Perfect. Okay. Perfectly. ThankQ Edmonds (20:30)
I love how you talk about marrying the two and we know Jeremiah 29, one, you know, he knew us before we just formed them out our mother’s womb. And so I love how you said, this is not by accident. God has been ordering your steps. He has been growing you into where you are now. And so I love that God just has, he’s the wise master builder. Right. And so I love the 35 year journey that you had as a therapist.I’m also so excited for where you are now and where you’re going. And so I would love to know, Ms. Jeannie, what are your next real goals? Like what’s next for you?
Jeannie Armstrong (21:10)
Well, we haven’t mentioned, but.What I did was put everything.
into this book. It’s called, can you see it? It’s called Beyond.
Q Edmonds (21:29)
Yes, ma’am. Beyond.Jeannie Armstrong (21:35)
beyond that. And it’s the basis of what we’ve been talking about, that there is something beyond just collecting rent.And that is having a tried and true system.
And we’ve talked about biblical principles, yes, it is immensely important, but it’s also important to have a system in place.
Q Edmonds (22:02)
Mm-hmm.Jeannie Armstrong (22:04)
⁓ I mentioned at least having good inspection reports, knowing when to do that, ⁓ working with contractors, knowing what a scope of work actually looks like.Having a good application that collects the information you want. Why credit checks are important? I credit, yeah, credit checks, credit scores are important. Deciding what your values are and what your framework is. And I give you an example. Some people won’t lease to a felon.
Some people won’t lead to a somebody who’s been evicted. But it’s all about what you would choose based on what your values are. For me.
Q Edmonds (23:01)
Mm.Jeannie Armstrong (23:04)
I would rent to a felon all day long before I rented somebody who’s been evicted. Because if you won’t pay him and her and force them to take you to court to get you out or to get your rent, their rent, you’ll do the same to me. And I believe in redemption. I believe that people can change. I believe in giving people second chances.So because you have a family doesn’t mean that I won’t rent to you, but keep in mind that’s just my framework. And in my book, I talk about my transition and how important it is to have your own framework. And so I have a 23 plug and play templates. And my first template is defining and developing your own landlord template.
your own blueprint, your own framework, your own belief system based on your beliefs and the scriptures in the Bible that speaks to you. And it’s different for everyone. I share with you how I came about mine. I share with you what mine is. I make it clear that yours can be different than mine and how to define yours for yourself.
But I also talked about how important those tools are. I also have a 10-week reflection that it takes a ⁓ landlord, tenant-related, real estate-related ⁓ issue and speak to it from a Christian standpoint and how to resolve that problem and how you take your tools and biblical principles
and put them together.
comes twice a week on an email over a 10 week period. So I present a four part ecosystem.
that you the tools, the mindset and the transformation, know, to allow you to.
you know, to manage this journey.
Q Edmonds (25:31)
Absolutely. Ms. Jeannie, I could talk to you easily, probably for another two hours, easily, like just easily. ⁓ But this has been a very, very fruitful conversation. Listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can they get in contact with you, Ms. Jeannie?Jeannie Armstrong (25:55)
I can be reached at ⁓ my website, www.legacylightpress.com. On my website, I have free templates. And what’s so important is the inspection, move in, move out template. I am telling you, there is a ⁓ chapter in my bookmy most favorite chapter. I didn’t even know authors had favorite chapters, but I do and it’s chapter three. And it’s about unshakable boundaries, how you get there and what happens when you begin to go from chaos to order. And it’s called when you shake the trees and it’s called the sorting system. I have gone as far as to trademark it because it’s just that good.
Q Edmonds (26:35)
Mmm!Jeannie Armstrong (26:55)
But it’s it’s biblical it’s practical and it’s what actually happens when you start going from chaos to order ⁓ And so I have some free templates on my website, but I also have the the landlord bundle which is the book the Template the reflection points and the seven-day quick start so you can find all of that on my website and again, that’s wwwdot legacy light press dot tom. You can also connect with me on Facebook. I’m Jeannie Armstrong on Facebook. ⁓ and on Instagram, I’m under legacy light press.
Q Edmonds (27:47)
Oh, Miss Jeannie, Miss Jeannie, I don’t know if you heard this part, so I’m gonna say it again. I could talk to you for hours. I could talk to you easily for another two hours, easily. And so let me say three things to you. First, let me thank you for your time because we know our time is precious. It’s a precious commodity. We can do anything without time. So I thank you for being here today. Two, thank you for yourJeannie Armstrong (28:13)
Thankyou for having
Q Edmonds (28:14)
No, absolutely. But let me, let me, I got to give you your flowers. Definitely. Thank you for your story. Thank you for your vulnerability, your transparency, what I call the gift of your vulnerability. Jesus taught in parables. So our stories carry a whole lot of weight, a whole lot of biblical weight is a whole lot of kingdom translation language in our story. So thank you for bringing your story to this platform. And lastly, thank you for your perspective, for your mindset.and bringing your mindset to this platform. It was an honor and a privilege. I greatly appreciate you being here today.
Jeannie Armstrong (28:53)
Thank you so much, Q. It’s a blessing to share my story. It’s a blessing to share what God has given to me. I know how important it is to have a system. And I’ve developed a system. Over the last six years of my experience, I have pulled on my biblical background, my mental health background, and working with people. I have a tried and true system.And I know how important it is to have boundaries. my goodness. I went from being nice to being good, you know? Man, I take was the nicest.
Jeannie Armstrong (29:47)
me laughing behind my back, what you can find. He called now, ⁓ planning your family, your face. All of that was happening, but I didn’t understand. I didn’t understand that I serve a God who’s not necessarily nice, but he’s good all the time. And he stands on truth. And he requires me to stand on truth.Q Edmonds (29:54)
Yeah.Jeannie Armstrong (30:14)
And so I can move from being nice, and that’s also in chapter three, I talk about that, to move from being nice to being good, to stay standing on truth. And so the first four chapters of my book, I actually talk about my biblical transformation, my transformation to how I got to where I am, even dealing with how I manage money.and my own mindset about a Christian having money, my own guilt about that. Because I know we go through a lot of that. I see it in our churches, I see it in Christian businesses, I see it all the time. That we have some misconceptions about what God says about money.
Q Edmonds (31:05)
Mm, mm, mm, mm.Jeannie Armstrong (31:07)
and what God says about what he was saying.Q Edmonds (31:11)
Ms. Jeannie, I thank you. I thank you so much. again, this is such a privilege. And listen, y’all heard Ms. Jeannie. Y’all heard it. Listen, check the show notes, see how to get in contact with her so you can get these books, get our book so you can start putting systems in place that is absolutely going to help you. So definitely check her out, but definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise you, we’re going to keep bringing up incredible people just like Ms. Jeannie.So Ms. Jeannie, I wanna say thank you again. And to everyone else, we will see you on the next time.
