How to Find Off-Market Real Estate Deals Before They Hit the Market

Amber Kimmel (00:00)
It’s a lot of driving around, seeing what’s being built. A good opportunity— not always, not always, but right now in our market, a good opportunity is new construction. So just trying to get ahead of when those properties are coming online and hitting the market. Probably the last three sets of houses that we put under contract have all been, you know, off-market properties that we just found by driving around and asking builders questions and seeing what’s going up where. And so, supply is very tight right now. So you know, you have to get creative to find the good deals and to not be, you know, overpaying.

Issa Hanna (02:14)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I have Amber Kimmel, a single-family residential investment specialist who’s seen it all. Amber, welcome.

Amber Kimmel (02:25)
Thank you.

Issa Hanna (02:26)
I’m so glad to have you and excited to pick your brain about the wealth and knowledge that you’re gonna bring to our viewers and our show. So with that, what are your day-to-day operations looking like today? You’re— you’re— you’re an investor, you’re into almost every facet of single-family investing there is. So what’s your day-to-days looking like?

Amber Kimmel (02:46)
Well, day-to-day is— I mean, the main thing that takes up the majority of the day is just sourcing deals and finding properties. So looking for opportunities across the single-family investment here locally, trying to find— find good numbers and good investments.

Issa Hanna (03:04)
Definitely. And the good thing about investing in real estate is you can almost predict the numbers a lot of times if you know what you’re doing. If you’re analytical and— and you do the comps and all that, you can— you can almost predict the numbers. But one thing that stuck out when we were talking earlier is you say that you’re talented in sourcing your deals creatively. Could you give me an example of how you’ve sourced a deal creatively?

Amber Kimmel (03:29)
Sure. So I think— I mean, it’s a lot of driving around, seeing what’s being built. A good opportunity— not always, not always, but right now in our market, a good opportunity is new construction. So just trying to get ahead of when those properties are coming online and hitting the market. Probably the last three sets of houses that we put under contract have all been, you know, off-market properties that we just found by driving around and asking builders questions and seeing what’s going up where. And so, supply is very tight right now. So you know, you have to get creative to find the good deals and to not be, you know, overpaying.

Issa Hanna (04:13)
Wow. So you guys are hitting the road, you and your husband, and you guys are like finding the builders and asking the questions and that shows, A, it’s a very smart way to— to source deals. B, it shows you guys are not lazy, and in our business, you can’t just sit around and wait for stuff to come. Like, you’ve gotta go to it. So I definitely commend you guys on that. And that’s probably a big reason why you guys have been so successful and you’re on the Real Estate Pro Show giving us advice. So kudos to you. But everybody doesn’t start at the top, right? Everybody has their origin story. Nobody started as a kid saying, “Hey, I want to be a real estate investor,” you know. We wanted to be astronauts, we wanted to be pro wrestlers or something like that, and then we stumble into real estate. So how did a young Amber get— get started?

Amber Kimmel (05:03)
Well, I think interestingly, I— when I was young, I’ve always loved investing. And anytime you study investing and you look at investments, real estate’s always a part of that portfolio. I mean, anything, anybody you read about, anything that you come across when trying to study investment, you’re gonna find a piece of real estate, you know, component to it. So that was my attraction to it. And so when I was very young, I was like, “Well, I’m gonna become a— a real estate agent so I can get front— a firsthand seat to that view in that world.” You know, a lot of people become realtors because they want to go around and look at houses all day or they want to sell houses. For me, it really was about the investment component that attracted me— attracted me to it. So that’s why I got my real estate license, just so I could have that first, you know, little bit more edge on the inside of the information. So—

Issa Hanna (06:45)
Wow. So you did want to be into real estate even as a kid growing up. Yes, you’re born for it. Wow. No wonder you’re so successful in it. And then to new real estate agents who who are, you know, just getting into school and— and just graduated and they’re excited, do you have any advice on how to drum up their first client, get their first house sold, maybe?

Amber Kimmel (07:08)
Well, I think that, like everyone usually says, it’s your— your first transactions come from your friends and family. They already know and trust you and— and want to work with you and want to help you. So I think that that’s where most people are going to find their first few transactions. And then beyond that, I tell everybody, I mean, it’s just everybody that you get to come in contact with is an opportunity. And so letting them know what you’re doing and what you’re about.

Issa Hanna (07:36)
Definitely put it out into the universe, you guys. Don’t— don’t sit there with your mouth closed, not saying anything. How are they going to know you’re a realtor or an investor if you don’t say it? So great advice, Amber. Great. And with that, every single investor, including myself, has a real estate nightmare, a time where something hit the fan, you know, and— and you had to pivot. Can you give us an example of— of a time it happened with you?

Amber Kimmel (08:01)
Let’s see. I feel like it happens almost on a daily basis. That’s a— you know, I’d— I’d say my strength or what I do for a living is I problem solve. So every day, it’s— it’s just problem solving. I’m trying to think of a— a deal that went bad. It really— it does feel like it’s on a daily basis. There’s always something that’s coming up where clear c— you know, clear titles has been a lot of issues lately. You know, people passing away or people forgetting that they were married to someone else ten years ago, things like that, is where a lot of our problems have come in recently.

Issa Hanna (08:39)
I say this business is a business of variables. You— you can wake up and you never know what variable is gonna hit you, but like you said, you become a— a great problem solver as time goes on. So I don’t doubt that you are a great problem solver whatsoever. So now I want to talk future investing, future goals. Where do you see yourself in five years? Or if I look you up on Google, where am I gonna see you in five years?

Amber Kimmel (09:05)
In five years. Well, I— I hope that we continue to, you know, grow our real estate portfolio and acquire more properties, and hopefully they’re all— you know, our goal is to pay them off so that— I mean, it’s our retirement plan. So hopefully that’s where I’m at in five to ten years.

Issa Hanna (09:26)
Nice. So build the equity, pay down these mortgages, and when you’re retired, hopefully everything will be paid off. You’ll be sitting on a few million. It’s mailbox money, sipping mai tais on the beach. I’m definitely with you in that vision for sure. For sure. And then you told me an opportunity that— that you thought could be something that would be smart to get involved in was short-term rentals. Could you shed some light on the short-term rental?

Amber Kimmel (09:35)
The mailbox money. Sure. Here locally, we— it’s a great opportunity, and we’re actually attracting a lot of investors from states all over the nation right now because we have such a demand for short-term, midterm rentals because of our influx in the data center employees that are here that are more on a temporary basis. And so those short-term furnished rentals, all bills paid, are performing really well. Along with our data center employees, then we also have a lot of healthcare traveling nurses that are here. There’s a high need, demand for those short-term, midterm rentals. And then of course, investors, they love those because of all the tax incentives as well. And so it’s a great combination here right now.

Issa Hanna (11:16)
No, definitely. And it’s not just Airbnb. Can you give us some other examples of— of what you would use to— to rent these short-term rentals out?

Amber Kimmel (11:25)
As far as platforms for finding the tenants, or—

Issa Hanna (11:30)
Yes, yes.

Amber Kimmel (11:31)
So that’s a lot of just— or at least in my world, just networking and connecting with people. We have— I have three to four companies right now that are— you know, I can call them on any given day and say I have this property, and one of those three companies is gonna take it for their employees. So, just making those connections with people who are needing to source housing. So, a lot of the— I’ve met a lot of those people too by going to the multifamily or the, you know, apartment complexes because here they’re all full. And so, the— I— I— I tell them, “Tell me everyone that you’ve turned away, you know, all the people needing multiple houses that you’ve turned away.” So just, you know, getting in contact with those people who are sourcing a lot of housing.

Issa Hanna (12:17)
Beautiful. And a perfect connection and segue to my next question. For people just starting out and, you know, they’re looking at— at you and getting some inspiration from your story and they want to become investors, what advice would you have for them on growing their network and fostering their business relationships?

Amber Kimmel (12:37)
I will advise, I would say, or everything’s an opportunity. I— I mean, just constantly be gaining new information. And I think that something when someone’s first starting out is really taking a minute and self-reflecting about who you are and what you have a tolerance for and what makes sense to you. I think kind of like what I was saying earlier, because I believe if you do that, when you see the opportunity to move on, you’ll be able to move quickly on it. And that’s key, I think, in ordering— in order to get the best deals, is being able to move quickly. So kind of knowing just like your personal buy box and knowing what’s gonna make sense for you is gonna allow you to move fast and get the best deals.

Issa Hanna (13:22)
Definitely, in our business you have to strike while the iron’s hot. You can’t just, you know— I said it earlier, you can’t be laxadaisical. You gotta go. You gotta go to where the money is. So great, great advice. So Amber, if people are at home and they’re drawing inspiration or they want to sell you a house because you— you buy houses and— and invest, or you know, maybe they want to shoot you an email for a question, who knows? Where could they reach you?

Amber Kimmel (14:30)
Two great places. One, my phone number: 354-390-0787. And then my direct email address is [email protected].

Issa Hanna (14:41)
Make sure if Amber spoke to you guys and, you know, and she’s out here investing, so make sure you contact her. She’s definitely a great person to do business with. Just by speaking with her for a few minutes, I can tell she’s a really good person, does really good business, honest business, and is informed and knows what she’s doing. These are the kind of people you want to do business with. So with that, Amber, thank you so much for coming on the show. It was truly, truly a pleasure. I would like to invite you back on if you’re interested at a later date.

Amber Kimmel (15:13)
Love to.

Issa Hanna (15:14)
Sounds good. Sounds good. And to our viewers at home, if you enjoyed my conversation with Amber and want to see more just like this, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that could bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until next time, the real estate pros are out.