How to Start Real Estate Investing With No Money Using Sweat Equity | Halah Ladson

Halah Ladson (00:00)
When I started investing in real estate, I didn’t have any money. But what I had was drive, what I had was grit, and what I had was perseverance. And I was meticulous on running the deals. And I went and shot my first deal. And when I went, it was a lot, and so I said, “Listen, this auction is coming up to this property. It’s a good deal and you need to buy it. And I don’t have any money, but I’m going to do everything for you. So this is my sweat equity on the front end.

Issa Hanna (01:59)
Welcome back to another episode of the Real Estate Pros Show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today we have Halah Kablan Ladson with us. Hello, welcome.

Halah Ladson (02:06)
Hi, how are you this morning?

Issa Hanna (02:09)
I’m doing super, super good. Excited to have you because you are a wealth of knowledge in so many different spaces of investing. So for my people at home, can you start with what you’re focused on nowadays and then give us a rundown of a day in your world?

Halah Ladson (02:25)
Yes. So I am located in Charlotte, North Carolina. I’ve been in business since 2013, and currently my focus has been to grow the property management business. I’ve been an investor, gosh, since probably 2005. I got my real estate license in 2004. So it’s been a really long time. I guess 2004 to 2026, that’s 22 years that I am in and out of all things real estate. And so it’s been super exciting to see what’s been happening in several different markets.

I was in New York City, I was down in Long Island, and then I was in Philadelphia—I was flipping Philly, if you wanted to call it like that, before 2008. And then I’m currently now here in Charlotte, North Carolina, covering North and South Carolina. So it’s been awesome, it’s been exciting.

Issa Hanna (03:15)
I love that. And you learned in the trenches, I always say, because big city real estate is different. As a former Chicagoland agent who’s done hundreds of deals out there, there’s always competition and they move in a different way. When you go to a smaller market, you know how to move a lot better in that smaller market because you learned how to get it in the big city. So I love that.

Halah, I wanted to ask you: what made you want to start? What made you get into real estate? Everybody has that story where they kind of stumbled into it. So what’s your origin story? How’d you start?

Halah Ladson (03:51)
So, it’s kind of funny. I graduated high school in 1997—so I’ll date myself, I’m 47, almost 48. I graduated high school in 1997, and they were all pushing, because Y2K was coming, to get into computer science, information technology, and supply chain management. So I studied computer science—my bachelor’s is in computer science and Spanish.

I started reading *Rich Dad Poor Dad* when I was a senior in college. I graduated college and never did anything with my computer science degree. I jumped in—I was 23 when I bought my first house. Then I met my boyfriend, then fiancé, and now my husband during that time, got my real estate license, and just kind of jumped in from there.

In the beginning, I did retail just because I didn’t know anything, I was 24, 25. It became very obvious in Suffolk County, Long Island that a 26-year-old having a house was rare. In Long Island, as expensive as it is, nobody at 26 years old had a house. Everybody that I was selling houses to on the retail side were families with kids who wanted to talk about school districts, and that just wasn’t my forte because I was 26 and didn’t have any kids.

I had met some contacts when I was bartending in the city in New York in the evenings—so I was doing real estate during the day and bartending at night, living two very drastic worlds. I met some people that were doing bus tours into Philadelphia, and I was like, “Okay, what are you guys doing in Philly? I love Philly. Philly’s only an hour and a half train ride.” They’re like, “Well, we’re flipping houses down there.” I said, “I want to go.” And so that’s kind of how I got into the investment side.

I ended up getting my license in Pennsylvania and ended up taking bus tours of investors from Brooklyn down to Philadelphia. We were in Northern Liberties, Fishtown, up by Temple University and Temple Hospital on Erie Ave. This is 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. All my northeastern investors will know that those were rough areas. But it was super fun! That’s when I really got the bug for the gutter part of real estate: the dirty titles, the squatters in the house, the ones that pose the most difficult challenges to clean up. I like those—those were just fun for me.

Issa Hanna (07:22)
Definitely. It’s a great way to source your deals: the tax liens, the tax foreclosures. I want to get into that in a second. I want to pull one thing out of your answer: you went to Philly, you started in retail, it wasn’t for you. Guys at home, sometimes you get your real estate license and you’ve got to find your niche, right? Halah found her niche with investors. You went to Philly in a big city market and started going after the full gut rehab homes, the squatter homes, the tax liens. So you got such a first-hand education and deep knowledge of the game. When you do these houses as an investor who owns homes in Cleveland, Ohio that are a hundred years old and not in the best neighborhoods, you see almost everything.

I wanted you to tell my viewers a little bit about how you source your deals and how you’ve learned tax foreclosures, tax liens, and that whole game, because it’s super important if you want to get massive discounts and actually make some money and not buy retail. So I’m going to let you take the floor and give us some education on that.

Halah Ladson (08 me:31)
Yeah, so tax liens and tax foreclosures are actually one of my favorites. When I was in Philadelphia and we were coming down, we were wholesaling a lot of deals at the time. I was still living in Long Island, so I was commuting back and forth. I was touring everybody, dealing with the contractors, running PM on the renovations. Some of them would buy and hold, some would flip them, and then I would sell them on the back end for them.

It was always sourcing the deals, and tax foreclosures and tax liens are such a niche market. They’re buzzwords all the time within investor communities, but there are a few of us that actually really get into it. When you get into it, there’s a difference when you go to the auctions. For South Carolina, I’m working tax liens for South Carolina, and then North Carolina is a deed state where we go to the auctions for the deeds.

For your viewers: with liens, what happens is that you can purchase the liens and take first position, so to speak. The counties—we’ll speak for South Carolina closer to Charlotte, like York County, South Carolina—every year the county needs money to maintain, and they get money from property taxes. They give you a year to pay your property taxes. If you don’t pay your property taxes when the bill comes out, then come November (York County, South Carolina does them in November), they will put it up to auction, starting only with the taxes that are owed for that year.

Taxes owed for 2025 might be $1,000. I have a rental in Rock Hill—my taxes every year are about $1,500. So if I didn’t pay my taxes in York County, South Carolina, it will go to auction for $1,500 plus expenses. You and I can go to the auctions because it’s open to the public, and we just raise our hands and bid to the value of the property.

After that, South Carolina specifically gives them one year to redeem the lien. South Carolina charges 3% every quarter, so you can get up to 12% for the year. If you’ve got a significant amount of money and want it to be secure, you wait until the delinquent taxpayer comes in and pays the balance. If I pay it six months later, you get 6% (3% for the first quarter, 3% for the second quarter), get refunded your money, and get the proceeds. As an investment strategy, if you’re sitting on cash and don’t want risk, you can make a significant amount of money on that.

On the flip side, after a year, the redemption period is over. In South Carolina, they have a quiet title process where you put out a public notice letting everybody know you are quieted title in order to get title insurance and properly sell the house. If you don’t do the quiet title, South Carolina has a 10-year statute of limitations, which means you can’t get a loan on the house. But if you just want to do cash, you can wait and apply for the deed. Those are always super fun.

North Carolina has a 10-day upset period for bank foreclosures, tax lien foreclosures, or any foreclosures here. You have to bid 5% over the previous bid amount. I have sourced dozens and dozens of deals from there—it’s one of my favorite places to go. The margins got smaller after COVID when Wall Street started going to auctions to buy for hedge funds, so fix and flips slowed down at the courthouse due to competition. But it’s still a very good market if you buy and hold as a rental portfolio.

When I go to the courthouse, there are really only about 10 or 15 guys who have been doing it forever. They’ll exchange papers, exchange deals, and wholesale deals on a handshake. It’s really fun to watch how that side of the market works through relationship building.

Issa Hanna (14:46)
100%. Viewers at home, we just got a full breakdown of how to source deals in both lien states and deed states. Halah, thank you so much on behalf of the viewers! That piece of knowledge right there—it takes people a while to figure these things out. If you figure it out early, just like Halah bought her first house at 23, you’ll be leaps and bounds ahead of other people.

You touched on relationships a lot, and you mentioned that all of your clients have been with you for years—once they come to you, they don’t leave. What makes them keep coming back? What do you do as a broker that these big box brands can’t do for the investor?

Halah Ladson (16:04)
When I first started flipping, I went to my property management clients and said, “Okay, I’ve got some good deals.” I have my clients’ best interest at heart 100%, and I’m not chasing a commission check all the time—I really call myself a real estate consultant. I believe I deserve a seat at the table next to stockbrokers and investors, and your property manager should have a seat at the table if they’re going to help you grow your real estate portfolio.

Because of that partnership I develop with my clients, they can’t go anywhere else because they’re not going to find anybody else that’s going to do all the things that I do for them and truly have their best interest at heart. When my clients want to sell, they call me: “Halah, when did we do the HVAC? When did we buy the refrigerators?” I have all those records because I project managed all of it. That partnership is the biggest difference.

Issa Hanna (18:54)
100%. Caring and doing the deal for your client as if you were doing it for yourself, managing the property as if you were managing it for yourself—it goes such a long way. Investors need somebody like you on the team as opposed to a big box brand whose bottom line is making as much money as possible for the company.

I want to bring the tone down just a little bit though, because we all have them: the investment nightmare, the real estate nightmare. Give me one that sticks out in your mind.

Halah Ladson (20:15)
When you’re involved in the gutter part of real estate, there are real people and stories behind that. There were two properties—I won’t name the counties to respect privacy. One ended up being a murder-suicide scene that involved biohazard cleaning, which most investors don’t deal with. I had a hard money loan on it and it was bleeding me dry, but I had a job to do. We closed the deal, and the margins were extremely small, but I was okay with that because it didn’t have good karma.

The second one: when we came to change the locks with the sheriff, the homeowner had actually committed suicide in the driveway. The sheriff wouldn’t allow me in the house, and he had a family. Those are the nightmares. We get excited about numbers and ARV, but sometimes it doesn’t sit well with your karma, and I was okay with making no money on those because it’s sad, but it’s part of the business.

Issa Hanna (22:24)
Having heart like that shows you care. Sad, but definitely part of the business.

I want to flash forward now. Give me your five-year plan. If I look you up in five years, where am I going to see you?

Halah Ladson (23:22)
I’m focusing heavily on the integration of AI and operations. I started a separate AI company for that because for solo entrepreneurs and small business owners, integrating AI allows us to streamline smaller tasks and be more present with my clients. In five years, my focus will be integrating AI in all aspects of investment real estate—from property management and general brokerage to land development and project management.

Issa Hanna (25:14)
I love that. AI isn’t going to do all the work for you, especially the relationship building. By integrating AI, it does the grunt work and organizing, giving Halah time to focus on what’s really important: her clients and building relationships.

Touching on relationships: what is one piece of advice you would give new agents or new investors on establishing that first business relationship to start growing their network?

Halah Ladson (26:15)
When I started investing in real estate, I didn’t have any money. But what I had was drive, grit, and perseverance, and I was meticulous on running the deals. On my first deal, I went to an investor and said, “This property is going to auction, it’s a good deal, and you need to buy it. I don’t have money, but I’m going to do everything for you—this is my sweat equity on the front end.”

And I did! Always be nice and polite to everybody at the courthouse because they don’t have to help you fill out paperwork. For new agents wanting to work with investors: you’ve got to bring value. Investors don’t want to shop around; they want to call somebody, run the numbers, and know you have their best interest at heart. If you don’t have money as a new investor, source the deals and put your sweat equity in.

Issa Hanna (29:45)
Yes! You’ve got to keep chipping away. When I first got licensed in 2012, nobody handed me clients—you have to bring value, be dependable, and have their best interest at heart.

Halah, you mentioned reading a book that many successful entrepreneurs read: *Rich Dad Poor Dad*. For young people at home, go get that book and read it!

Halah, amazing advice and golden knowledge. Tell people how they can get ahold of you.

Halah Ladson (32:18)
My name is Halah Ladson. I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina, servicing Mecklenburg County, Cabarrus County, Rowan, Union County, and upper South Carolina (Lancaster and York County). I’m a broker-in-charge and owner of Queen City Management Services (QCMS).

If you have property management needs, eviction problems, squatters, or dirty titles, I can help. You can reach out to me on my website at qcmscharlotte.com. My office number is on there as well. I’m an open book and happy to help you grow along the way.

Issa Hanna (34:29)
All my investors in North and South Carolina, reach out to Halah! She is the person that will take you to the next level. Halah, thank you so much for coming on the show—it was an honor to have you.

Halah Ladson (35:12)
Thank you so much, Scott. It was an honor to be here, and I’d love to come back!

Issa Hanna (35:39)
And to my viewers at home, if you enjoyed my conversation with Halah, make sure to hit like and subscribe. Until next time, the Real Estate Pros are out!