How to Stop Overthinking and Buy Your First Rental Property

Clark Garner (00:00)
It’s not for everybody. And if you’re looking to get into the game and you don’t have a fortune already saved up, then it’s it’s very— it seems like a mountain you wouldn’t be able to climb. I’ll share quickly the way I was able to do that was to build a business and and make it successful and then sell it. That— that was for me. Now there’s plenty of different avenues for different people how you could go about that. But as many, many people know, if you’re already in real estate, right now interest rates make the numbers just not work on most of the properties you look at on online—

Meghan Escobar (02:11)
Welcome back to another episode of Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Meghan Escobar, and one of my favorite parts about hosting this show is being able to sit down with incredible entrepreneurs and learn not just about the business, but the person behind it, because every business has a story, every entrepreneur has turning points that have shaped them on how they think, how they lead, and how they grow. So today we’re gonna dive into that. Excited to welcome Clark Garner with Bent Creek Investments. And, you know, thank you, Clark, for— for joining the show. Thank you so much for being here. Of course. I always love to start with someone meeting you for the first time. Tell us, you know, who you are and what you guys are doing over there at Bent Creek.

Clark Garner (02:50)
Thank you for having me. Well, I’m a third-generation farmer, live in Alabama, live out in the country, live a very quiet life here with my family on a family farm and enjoy it. And started real estate investing in two thousand nine, went much, much deeper more recently over the past five years, and just looking— looking to grow the business some more.

Meghan Escobar (03:28)
Okay, I love that. How did you get into the industry? What— what drew you in?

Clark Garner (03:32)
Well, I— I’ve always been— for the most part, I’ve always been self-employed in some form or fashion. And I’ve always looked to people more successful than myself. And growing up I noticed a lot of those people were into real estate, rental property type situations. So that drew me and then in two thousand and nine an opportunity sort of fell in our lap where houses were drastically on sale. So I— I bought two rental properties at that time and, you know, hindsight’s twenty-twenty, should have bought much, much more than two. But it got my feet wet and saw— saw the benefits firsthand of what it can do for you and just— I just love real estate.

Meghan Escobar (04:20)
Love that. You know what caught my attention the most about the way that you guys are operating, you and Janice and the way that you run Bent Creek is something we discussed a little bit before we got on here is how you’re able to keep your— your debt down. Very unique perspective. Talk to us a little bit more about that.

Clark Garner (04:38)
Yes.

Meghan Escobar (04:44)
‘Cause I don’t think that’s an easy thing to do in— in this climate where interest rates are high.

Clark Garner (04:49)
It’s not. It’s not. And it’s not for everybody. And if you’re looking to get into the game and you don’t have a fortune already saved up, then it’s it’s very— it seems like a mountain you wouldn’t be able to climb. I’ll share quickly the way I was able to do that was to build a business and and make it successful and then sell it. That— that was for me. Now there’s plenty of different avenues for different people how you could go about that. But as many, many people know, if you’re already in real estate, right now interest rates make the numbers just not work on most of the properties you look at on— so if you’re borrowing seventy to eighty percent of the value on a mortgage, most properties do not cash flow at our— at our current interest rates. So that makes it for a dangerous situation, especially if you get into a floating interest rate, because for— for all we know, interest rates may go higher. Okay. So what we’ve done is sc— it we’ve structured our portfolio in such a way to where we have very low debt service and that way we’re protected. It doesn’t really matter what the Fed does with the interest rates. We can survive that because we do not have a lot of debt. And I think that’s key. And you know, we— we are currently— we have no partners or investors. It’s just me and my wife. But we have tossed around the idea of bringing in partners on some deals to continue to keep debt low. And that way we can mail out distribution checks to the partners every month that are much stronger than they would be if we were having to mail in large interest payments to a— to a mortgage company.

Meghan Escobar (07:23)
Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you for sharing that. Thanks— some of our listeners might be— might be interested in, you know, there’s always someone fishing for opportunity. So, every operator and entrepreneur that I’ve ever known and had the opportunity to chat with has a moment where things got real. You know, maybe that’s a deal that had gone sideways or just a time they had to pivot really fast. Do you mind, Clark, taking us to one of those moments for you?

Clark Garner (07:50)
You know that if we’re all honest, that happens a lot more often than we care to share. And I’m gonna be a little more transparent than I feel like some investors are. That happens— I would say that happens once a month for me. A— and here’s the— the funny part is a lot of times it’s not financial. I do virtually all of my service calls, repairs, anything, you know, if something goes wrong at a rental property, I’m the one that’s gonna show up and fix it myself. Okay. That— that also keeps cost extremely low to keep profit margins high. And I can control how the work’s done. I can make sure it’s done correctly. Okay. Well, having said that, it— one thing a week doesn’t break. You’ll have four weeks where nothing breaks and then that one week everything breaks. So yeah, you know, you can get frustrated. It’s easy to say like, “Man, I’d be better off to do something else in that moment.” But I’ve never found a career or anything you can do that actually makes money that doesn’t come with frustration. And real estate’s no different. You’re gonna have good days and bad in real estate and you’re gonna have good days and bad in everything else you do in life. That’s just life. And but for the most part, real estate can afford you a wonderful life. Mm-hmm. And on those good days you will be awfully glad you’re in it.

Meghan Escobar (09:11)
Thank you for sharing that perspective, Clark. I— I don’t think anybody could have said it any better. You know, that’s the kind of stuff that people don’t talk about, especially because we live in this highlight society is what I like to call it, right? Everybody’s flashing all the goods of, you know, where they are in the entrepreneur journey online, highlighting all the— the cars and the money and the— the screenshots, right? But what you go through and the struggles that come with it, like you said, when everything breaks in one week, but you had three weeks of, you know, steady, no real like issues, and then all of a sudden it’s that moment where everything breaks and you second guess everything and wondering if it’s worth it. You know, that’s what separates the folks who are here to just dabble and go through one tr— trial and error and say, you know, th— I’m throwing the red flag in, or the white flag, surrendering, right? Versus the ones who stay in the game long term. And with you being able to still be here after 2009, well, investing in 2009 after the 2008 issue, speaks volume for who you are as a person. So, what are you guys most focused on next? What’s the next real big goal for you?

Clark Garner (11:06)
We’re looking at two asset classes right now. Okay. The first and foremost probably being multifamily, because we’ve been seeing multifamily in a correction for two to three years already. I think the timing is getting close to right to start looking at— at putting in offers on some of these multifamilies. There’s— there’s a lot on the market. There’s— there’s a lot of people still trying to get their money back out of them that bought in 2020 to 2022. And— and unfortunately for those people, that’s not realistic at the moment. It’s just— they’re just not worth what they were at that time. So that presents an opportunity. There’s also some bank-owned properties on the MLS right now, multifamily. And that we have not seen that in quite some time, but they’re hitting— they’re starting to hit the market. And you know, when— when the bank owns it, I’m not saying you can get it for free, but you can get a discount.

Meghan Escobar (12:08)
Now is that predominantly like foreclosure or new builds or—

Clark Garner (12:13)
Y— yes, there is foreclosure. Foreclosure. And— and you hate to see that for the investors that owned it. Yeah. But the reality is the bank already owns it. And at this point, somebody’s gonna buy it. Somebody’s gonna buy it at a discount. Why not us?

Meghan Escobar (12:26)
Yeah. Why not you? Yeah, I— I can get with that. I mean, you weren’t the one who created the problem, but maybe you can provide the solution. Yep. So that’s huge, right? So especially when you’ve already got, you know, the properties that you have at such a low debt. You know, the next move, you know, it’s gonna be able to help compound things for you guys or maybe create some chaos, depending on how it’s played, right?

Clark Garner (12:38)
Yes. Yes, yes.

Meghan Escobar (12:57)
So a lot of our listeners, Clark, are, you know, either very early on in their journey, you know, just like you back in 2009 getting your feet wet. A lot of our listeners are just getting their feet wet, whether they’re, you know, wanting to become an agent, an investor, a builder, or whatever the case may be. And then the other half of our listeners are folks who’ve been in the game for a while and are looking to level up and— and take things to the next level. You know, whether that’s bringing in new systems, working with AI, partnering up with, you know, other— other fields in the industry. But I think they would benefit from hearing this. And, you know, when it comes to building relationships and growing your network, what has made the biggest difference for you?

Clark Garner (13:44)
That’s a good question. To— especially to the people that are looking to just get started, there is a lot of free resources online— podcasts such as this one on YouTube. There’s many others. There’s books you can read. Don’t get stuck watching and reading content for three or four years before you try to pull the trigger on your first deal, though. I ca— I see that happen sometimes. You know, there’s an old saying, “learn by doing,” and I know that sounds dangerous when you’re playing with real estate because there’s a lot at stake, but there’s a lot of things you just can’t learn until you jump in there and do it. You know, what do you do when somebody sets up in a rental property and— and basically takes it hostage and is living in it? Well, you have to get creative, and there’s probably not a book out there to explain to you what to do in that situation. So just be— I would say be ready to adapt. Be ready to call somebody and say, “Hey, what do I do in this situation? Because I don’t know.” You know, I— this is— I think there’s— and I blame social media with this— but I think there’s too many people that try to put on the appearance that they have it all together. None of us have it all together. Yes. There— nobody has it all together. We can try to pretend we do, but we don’t. So be quick to ask somebody, “Hey, what would you do in this situation?”

Meghan Escobar (15:46)
Highlight society, right?

Clark Garner (15:59)
Because they may have a perspective that you never even thought of that’s much better idea than what you were gonna do. So— so be quick to ask advice.

Meghan Escobar (16:08)
So do you think it’s important for, you know, I mean, I guess at any level, you know, whether you’re a vet or just starting out, do you think it’s important to have a mentor, somebody who has more experience than you?

Clark Garner (16:20)
I— if possible, I think so. I— I didn’t really have that. I did in some of the other businesses and— and aspects of my life, but not as much in rental property. It was— it was more just “learn as you go” type situation. And I do think it would be helpful if you’ve got a mentor, especially close by where you live, that you could call on to help you. Now, if— I will say, if you took on a partner… And I would be careful who you take on as a partner, let me say that, and structure it correctly. But if you took on a partner, then essentially you’ve just created a mentor, if they have experience, because you’re gonna learn a lot through that process and they’re gonna be there with the experience. And it can be good for both parties. They can— the people with the experience may not have as much time, so they can show you what to do and let you learn, and— and get your feet wet on a property with them leading you and guiding you through it.

Meghan Escobar (17:21)
Mm. Yeah, definitely. I— I think creating the, you know, good relationships with people you can trust is— is very important. And I know you mentioned, you know, in this specific journey, as far as your real estate investment is gone, you— you never really had that, but you have in previous careers. So, you know, you know the importance of, you know, having somebody that has more experience that doesn’t know what you know, right? I’ve— I’ve had a mentor for quite a while, and one thing that he told me years ago that ha— it sticks with me all the time is if you ever feel like you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room. So, you know, find those— those people who you can learn from. You know, the— get into the rooms of the people who are living the life that you want to live, right? Learn from them. So relationships are everything in this space. And I hear it all the time. You know, r— real estate’s a relationship business. It doesn’t run without people, right? So before we—

Clark Garner (18:17)
Yes.

Meghan Escobar (18:21)
—wrap up here, Clark. If someone wanted to reach you and, you know, be able to connect with you and learn more about the way you structure things, what would be the best way for them to connect with you? Is there an email or a website?

Clark Garner (18:35)
Actually, my email would be the best. And it’s bentcreekinvest@gmail. ([email protected])

Meghan Escobar (18:42)
Okay. And that’s B-E-N-T Creek C R E E K Invest at Gmail dot com ([email protected]). Perfect. Perfect. Clark, thank you so much. And I— I really appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. I— I love being able to sit with people who just come from the heart. I can tell you have a big passion for this and, you know, the people in the— that are in this space doing things the right way. And it seems like you and Janice have a pretty good system in place. And it— thank you again for being here. And for those of you that are tuning in, if you did find any value from this, please be sure to hit subscribe. We’ve got more conversations like this coming in with operators just like Clark here, who are out here building real businesses in real time with real people. So thank you and we’ll see you on the next episode.