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Show Summary
In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, host Skyler Byrd interviews Karter McCoy, a young entrepreneur who has made significant strides in the real estate and land investment sectors at just 21 years old. Karter shares his journey from working in a restaurant to becoming a successful realtor and land investor, highlighting the importance of mentorship and building relationships in the industry. He discusses his innovative selling strategies, including affordable payment plans and community engagement, as well as his vision for creating value in the communities where he operates.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Karter McCoy (00:00)
we only require $350 down and a $300 document fee buying a lot from us. And that can be paid from credit card, Apple Pay, whatever you want. It doesn’t matter to us. And we have a website where you can actually go directly on there. You can scroll, find a community. So whether it’s Lake Tansy, the Village of the Four Seasons, Cherokee Village, any of these communities, you can click on view community and actually search for a lot, have drone pictures, have it all, know, utility access, all that, directly on there. You can click which one’s affordable to you, and we have some cheaper than that. We have some at $99 a month and you can click pay now you’ll have a deed in 30 days from us. And you know, we kind of want to, you know, sell obviously the American dream. if we can make it affordable in any way we can, we will.Skyler (02:22)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host today, Skyler Byrd, and today I am joined by Karter McCoy. Karter, ⁓ a young man doing big things in the land world. I’m super excited to talk to him. This is going to be very interesting. So Karter, thanks for coming on, Absolutely, man. ⁓ So first of all, I think the big thing to get out of the way, you’re only 21 years old and you’ve been in real estate since you were what, 18?Karter McCoy (02:39)
Yeah, thank you for having me. Thank you.18.
Skyler (02:53)
Alright, so tell me first of all, at such a young age, why did you decide to get into real estate? How did you do it? Take me from there.Karter McCoy (03:01)
Yeah, so I actually was working at a restaurant local in Murfreesboro and I had worked there for four years and I had a good family friend that was already in real estate and he had been in real estate for a long time and so I was serving him one day and I had always shown an interest in real estate mostly more on the investing side, you know. At the time, you know, I’m 18, you know, it’s more of a fix and flip. It’s more of stuff like that, obviously being young and just, you know, seeing what YouTube and all the other things are andHe had told me, because he used to work at a restaurant too before he got into the real estate business, and he was like, you know, I think you would absolutely kill it in real estate. And he’s like, and I told him, was like, you know, I don’t know anything about real estate other than what I watch on YouTube. And he said, well, how about this? You know, I’ll mentor you. I’ll teach you everything you need to know. And you come work with me. And probably two weeks later, I had bought the school, started it, completed, you know, the test and everything. And then I signed with Road Realty.
in Murfreesboro and Hunter McDonald has been a huge mentor. I wouldn’t be in the business without Hunter and ⁓ he’s a partner here at Red and it’s been
up from there. I I definitely would not be in real estate without him. That’s a fact.
Skyler (05:03)
That’s awesome. So you have the good connection right away, somebody that could kind of take you under their wing. ⁓ let me ask you, so when you got into it, how did you find it when you first started diving in? Because I’ve been in the finance world where you kind of do the same thing, right? And a lot of times you get into it, it’s not quite what you think. when you first got licensed, started getting out there, man, how’d you find it?Karter McCoy (05:24)
Yeah.Well, really, honestly, I got pure lucky in the beginning is because I had already worked at the restaurant for four years. And so I had made so many connections there. I mean, I absolutely love everybody at that restaurant. And probably like three weeks after I got my license, I was really talking to a table that I always talk to. And they mentioned that they were about to move out and they needed to buy a house. And I just happened to be like, I just got my license.
two weeks ago and they were like, seriously? And I was like, yeah. And next thing you know, I sold my house like three weeks later. And so like it was honestly a God thing and it just, made a sale super quick and they were amazing. And really that was really what started it because typically that doesn’t happen when you get in the real estate business. Obviously, you know, it takes six months, you know, some people say you only do one or two deals in your first year. And I was blessed. did, I think seven my first year.
being a realtor and obviously at this point I was dabbling getting into the land stuff, dabbling but mostly it was just all traditional being a realtor and I absolutely loved it. Hunter was my mentor. I had not met my other business partner Jack Sirianni that I own the land business with. I hadn’t met him yet and Reds taught me so much. gave me training and all this paperwork, all this stuff that you need to know.
to be a realtor and just be in the real estate world.
Skyler (06:59)
Excellent. OK.So when did the, you know, know, purchasing land and when when did you come across that? How did you your current mentor? When that happened?
Karter McCoy (07:09)
Yeah, so I actually was in Chicago with my brother and we were on vacation and ⁓ we were doing an architectural tour on a boat when my phone went off and it was a Facebook and it was somebody I know posted that they were selling three lots in a community called Lake Tansy where we own a whole bunch of lots in Lake Tansy which is in Crossville, Tennessee. It’s about an hour and 45 minutes from where I live in Murfreesboro which is 30 minutes out of Nashville. ⁓ so I saw it andThe land was so cheap. was like, he wanted like $8,000 a lot for a quarter acre lot. And I was like, you know, I live in Mercer, like I said, 30 minutes out of Nashville. There’s nothing ever that cheap. And so I’m like, hmm, that’s weird, you know? And I had worked at a restaurant. I had some money like sitting in an account and, I’d served and you know, did all the serves, bartended, all the things. And so I, and I lived at home at the time, you know, I had just graduated high school. And so I had
money saved and I was like I think I’m just gonna buy this and my brother’s like you should do it and next thing you know I bought three lots and ⁓ it was kind of just super quick you know I just said hey I’ll buy this contingent on me seeing it and contingent on perk test and did it paid for the perk test ⁓ well actually it’s four lots technically but only bought three because one didn’t pass perk test ⁓
So technically I put in an offer to buy four, but only settled at three. So long story short, I the perk test, everything’s good, and I get three lots. And then my friend is going to build a house on it. And so I couldn’t get approval from TDEC to get a septic permit. And so I actually needed the lot next to me. I can get a permit just not for the size home we wanted to build. And so I needed a lot next door. Well, it turns out they were doing an auction for 65 lots.
one of those lots was a lot right next to mine
I Called the the auction place and said hey I need to buy this lot register me to bid You know bid whatever I need to buy because I have to get this lot They’re like, oh well somebody bought all of them I’m like in my head. I’m thinking who could buy all these you know that’s a in my head I’m thinking oh my god, you know and I’m like, you connect me with this person? Cuz I really need by that lot connected
Skyler (10:01)
Yeah.Karter McCoy (10:09)
with the person and they gave me a phone number and an email and I was honestly I was quite nervous at the time you know because I’m 18 trying to just trying to figure everything out so I sent him an email long email just saying hey I need you know pretty much I want this lot I know you just bought it and you know he comes up with this price you know I don’t remember what it was like 10 or 11 thousand bucks you know like I said I bought mine for like seven or eight thousand a lot and so I was like no I’m not gonna pay thatYou know, me and him negotiated back and forth. Long story short, we ended up selling at pretty much what I bought my lot for. And ⁓ same cost. And he hit me with a whole bunch of knowledge. You know, honestly, I didn’t think when first sending that email, I was like, you know, my lot’s bigger than yours, blah, blah, blah. You know, that’s why I’m not going to pay the same price. And then he hit me with like tons of information and honestly destroyed my argument, you know, and was like…
You know, my lot’s actually, you know, XYZ, bigger than yours. You can’t build on your lot the size of home you need to build. That’s why you need my lot. Like I didn’t tell him any of this. He just knew it. And I was in absolute shock, honestly. And so I just told him, hey, I’m 18 years old. I bought these three lots. I honestly have no clue what I’m doing. And I just became a realtor. You seem like you know a lot. Is there anything you could like teach me?
And he sends me a long email back. He’s like, I think at the time he was 71. He was like, I’m 71. I’ve been in the real estate business for 50 something years. I don’t remember nothing was 50 at the time. And now it’s been three, three years more. So now he’s at 53 years. So he’s like, yeah, I’ve been in the business for 50 years. I got in real estate at 18 and continues to say, he’s said he built 28 apartments condominium conversions. He was a CCIM for
you know, something like 30 years. He was a realtor, you know, also a large investor. And, you know, he just hit me with all this knowledge and he said, hey, I don’t have anybody that passes real estate knowledge to, and I think you’d be the perfect one to do it. And I’ve never, you know, I think I’ve never talked to this person on the phone. I just met him three days ago. And next thing you know, probably no joke, probably about three weeks later after never meeting him, we opened a company together.
Skyler (12:36)
Okay, yeah.Karter McCoy (12:36)
Never meeting him and he’s inOrlando. I didn’t know what he looked like. I’ve never seen a picture of him and At the time and we just started up. I he said hey, I’ll do everything. I’ll teach you everything. We’re 50 50 partners and We just jumped right into it. He’s I’m gonna teach you everything I
Skyler (12:54)
So did you ever, did you get to meet him in person before you guys started, you know, started all this or no? Just.Karter McCoy (12:57)
No,I never met him in person until ⁓ I mean now I have of course but I didn’t meet him in person before I signed papers to join a Florida Seacourt before I ever ⁓ Before I ever met him in person. I didn’t know what he looked like when I signed it. I Mean he just he was he was helpful every day for the three weeks. We talked on the phone every day you know, we actually you know called and stuff every day and I mean it was a huge help
Skyler (13:13)
Wow.Karter McCoy (13:26)
And I was seeing progress in my… At this point, obviously, I’m wanting to go more into investing. But then I sold that lot, the one I bought from him, I sold it and made $12,000 $13,000. Because he told me, he said, this is what you need to do and this is how you need to do it. I did exactly what he said and made like $12,000 or $13,000 in a span of a month or two. And I’m 18. So I was like, obviously, know this guy knows everything he’s…talking about and when I did it, it made sense, you know? And then also he was giving me advice, obviously I’m being a realtor too, and then I saw my realtor business start to grow, you know? When people were saying, you’re only gonna do one or two deals in your first year, don’t be discouraged,
Skyler (13:56)
Yeah.Karter McCoy (14:49)
and then I was seeing more transactions happening based on what he was telling me to go do. so it was like, you know, plus my mentor that I had here at Red, you know, he’s pushing me, connecting with people, you know, all the things. And so I had both mentors really working with me to kind of help me grow and succeed in that.Skyler (15:06)
Oh man, all right, so you found yourself in a couple of really good situations, but the impressive thing is that you could take advantage of them, right? Because situations come up for a lot of people, right? But there’s a lot of people that won’t act, won’t put themselves in a good place for it, but you did, and that’s super impressive, absolutely. So tell me about the state of the business now, right? With what you’re focusing on, what does all of it lookKarter McCoy (15:10)
Yeah.100%.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, so we first started in Tennessee, ⁓ in East Tennessee. That’s kind of where, know, obviously I first bought the lots. That’s where we continued to grow. We probably bought the first group of lots we bought was probably 30 lots, probably. And that was kind of our first big group. That was more real estate than I’ve ever owned at that point. You know, I was honestly in shock, nervous, everything in between. ⁓ then after that, you know, once we pretty much went through that, obviously we had cash in the bank.
And it was like, now we have really room to grow. And because at that point, had never really, number one, really seen that much money at 18 sitting in a bank account. And obviously, me and him were like, I was literally just looking at him saying, you know, what’s next? You know, and because he’s more looking at it as, know, I’m 71. I want to, you know, slow down. I want you to run a business. you know, honestly, hopefully, you know, we both make
great money, you succeed in real estate, he slows down but still gets paid. That’s kind of like his goal in this. Because I had the drive and the youth and all that versus he had all the knowledge. so then we kind of expanded and I found a community in Missouri called Village of Four Seasons. I found that community and I saw a way where we could buy 40 more lots there.
And so then we kind of moved some funds over there to where we could buy 40 there and buy 40 more in Tennessee. And then we had 80. And then we started moving through these. Then we found a community in Arkansas where we actually bought 117. Yeah, 117 I think on that one. If it’s not 117, it’s somewhere around that 125 or whatever. And we bought those. At this point, now we’re getting up in the 200s as we’re selling them. And so then we continued to do that.
Then we bought some in Pennsylvania and then West Virginia, and then we started doing all these different states. Then we kind of did a step back and realized, hey, let’s be more personalized in each community because we do better in that. Tennessee, I’m obviously born and raised here, so I love Tennessee. I love everything it’s about. And then I love Missouri. I love Arkansas. So I said, how about me and him both are great. Maybe we should slow down and say…
let’s as many lots as we can in these three states. We still own lots here and there, and we’ll still sell those, but instead of going in buying 100 in this community, let’s spend more money in the communities we’re really in and people know who we are, versus going in the communities and just buying 50 or 100 lots and just selling them and not really leaving a footprint. We want to leave a footprint. We don’t want to be just going in there
Obviously everybody wants to go in, make a whole bunch of money. Obviously that’s deal for everybody, but we actually want to build a relationship while we’re there. And, you know, for instance, in East Tennessee, we actually want to provide a benefit, you know, to these people. Like we want to increase property values. We want to give more tax dollars to the, to the county to, you know, make the county better. you know, we would add, if they asked us to, we would add another pool at the community. We would add something because that’s how much we actually love this community and feel it’s a value.
And that’s kind of what we’re going towards is bringing value to every community that we step into and not just go in there, try to be just like any other business and buy a whole bunch of lots, make people mad, sell them, you know, and then screw off, you know, that’s not really what we want to do. So if we can add more communities while also still having a personal relationship with people in communities, then I’m happy, we’re happy to do that, but we still want to maintain that.
Skyler (18:58)
Mm-hmm.Yeah.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Sure, absolutely. like, you know, again, I think that’s a great way to go about it. And you’ve got kind of an interesting model when it comes to actually selling your lots. So can you tell people about that? Yeah.
Karter McCoy (19:36)
Mm-hmm.Yeah, yeah, for sure.
we do some weird, some people would think weird. I think it’s fun. I think it’s creative. And also me and Jack are in the business where we like to do stuff fun. even if sometimes the deal isn’t the best deal, if it’s fun and we know it’s going to be enjoyed, we’re probably going to do it. And I think that also what sets us apart sometimes is ⁓ it doesn’t always have to be crystal clear. As long as we can like
just understand how we can benefit from, you know, maybe it’s just a relationship. Maybe you called me up and said, hey, you know, I don’t have 15,000 bucks for a lot, but I have 7,000, but I have knowledge in, you know, whatever it may be. Maybe we don’t have knowledge in it. Maybe that’s the value you’re giving. You’re giving us a $7,000 worth of value of whatever you know. And so that’s one thing we do. Another thing ⁓ which…
some people call us crazy for is
we only require $350 down and a $300 document fee buying a lot from us. And that can be paid from credit card, Apple Pay, whatever you want. It doesn’t matter to us. And we have a website where you can actually go directly on there. You can scroll, find a community. So whether it’s Lake Tansy, the Village of the Four Seasons, Cherokee Village, any of these communities, you can click on view community and actually
search for a lot, have drone pictures, have it all, know, utility access, all that, directly on there. And you can, there’s three options, let’s say, it depends on the lot, of course, and the price, but let’s do, for example, it’s $150 a month, 250, and 300. These are three payment You can click which one’s affordable to you, and we have some cheaper than that. We have some at $99 a month, and we have some that are $300 a month. It just depends on the price a lot. And then it tells you the terms of the deal.
And then at the bottom it says due today and it’ll be $6.50 and you can click pay now and pay right there and then you’ll receive a deed of trust and a promissory note automatically sent to you where you actually already have everything where you just need to print it out, notarize it, mail it to us and then you’ll have a deed in 30 days from us. And ⁓ it’s as easy as that. And you know, we kind of want to, you know, sell obviously the American dream, you know, everything’s so expensive now.
Skyler (21:39)
it.Karter McCoy (22:03)
especially here, know, wages don’t sometimes make sense to buy a piece of land or do that, you know, American dream of buying land and building a house. It’s gone for a lot of people, or at least currently, and we don’t want that. And so if we can make it affordable in any way we can, we will.Skyler (22:20)
Yeah, no, mean, that’s an awesome model. And like you said, I it makes it so much more affordable, at least not just to get the land part done. Yeah.Karter McCoy (22:27)
Just get the land part. mean, we understandif somebody calls us and says, hey, my daughter got in a wreck last month. You know, I can’t afford this month’s payment. We’d say, no problem. Just pay it when you can. That’s really the, that’s really, because we’re also people, you know, we understand stuff happens. Now, if you said, hey, you know, I just, can’t pay because I just don’t want to pay on the lot anymore. That’s a different story. But you know, that’s just, we’re still people, you know? I mean, it is a business, but we’re people.
and we understand mistakes and all that. And we also, if let’s say people pay 12 months on time, no late payments, no anything, we will give a week vacation in Orlando at usually like a West Gate or one of these other big resorts. And we actually will give you a voucher for that. Or if you decide to pay upfront, which there is an option, there’s a tab for finance or pay upfront. I think we give it
25 % discount payment upfront and you can actually pay that with a credit card as well and Which is you know some people say is crazy I’ve also seen some people actually get a credit card no interest for you know 14 15 months with a balance like 25,000 bucks they go buy a lot they build a house and when they’re building a house they actually get the when they get the loan they actually pay the credit card back and they had no interest on the credit card and ⁓ which I’ve seen people do which is crazy and actually really smart, but
⁓ When they pay upfront, then they’ll get a one-week voucher to ⁓ Orlando. It’s a vacation. So it’s kind of just one of those bonus ads to a deal.
Skyler (24:05)
I mean, you make the process super easy. I mean, it sounds like it’s fun. You guys have good business practices. I mean, it’s really incredible what you’re doing out there. And again, on your side that, at such a young age, you’re able to dive into this and really make a business out of it. I mean, that’s all very, very cool. I love it. ⁓ Absolutely. And ⁓ Karter, as we’re coming up on time here, if somebody wants to get in touch with you, if they’re interested in buying a property,Karter McCoy (24:24)
Yeah, thank you.Skyler (24:33)
⁓ Working with you, how can they get in touch, what’s that?Karter McCoy (24:37)
Yeah, so they could go to, ⁓ they could do a couple things. They could call me, call or text. ⁓ I don’t know, can we drop my my phone number somewhere in this? ⁓ And then my website is nationalpremierproperties.com, which does have my email and phone number, so they can reach me right there. There’s an About Us tab. It has both me and Jack’s information on there, everything you need. ⁓Skyler (24:47)
Yeah, absolutely.Karter McCoy (25:05)
or if you just look up Karter McCoy, Karter’s with a K and ⁓ there should be stuff pop up. They’ll have my realtor, my national properties, all the other things. ⁓ So they can reach me and they should be able to find my phone number and email pretty easily. Hopefully. Yeah, I should. Hopefully they should be able to find it pretty easily.Skyler (25:20)
You’re out there. I love it. All right, man.Sounds good. Excellent, Well, Karter, again, man, thanks for coming on. Real interesting story. A lot of success at a young age, making it work, dude. Again, super impressive. And for everybody else that’s listening out there, if you’ve got something of value from this conversation, please hit Subscribe. We’ve got more interviews like this coming down the way all the time here. And we’ll see you all on the next episode.
Karter McCoy (25:29)
Thank you.
