How Tunita Bailey Funds Dreams & Builds Wealth in Real Estate

Tunita Bailey (00:00)
COVID. Nobody was

I still like to eat steak every now and then. And I like ribeye by the way.

when things change is I had to pivot to construction.

And the way that it happened was I was working with a client and they basically said, well, we’re not moving. I’m not going to move. I want to renovate my house

Do you know anybody that can help us get a loan to renovate our house?

Yes, I do.

you know anybody that can actually do the work?

Yes, I do. So,

Quentin (00:30)
Yes, I do.

Tunita Bailey (00:32)
basically had begun to ⁓ transition to construction, capital city construction,

Quentin (02:11)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the ⁓ Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m excited. I’m excited. You know, I say that all the time, but I do. say excited because I get to meet some amazing people. I get the chance to interview some amazing people who’s doing amazing things within this space that we call real estate. Right. And so today is no different. ⁓ We have someone who I know you’re going to glean some

good information from, and I’m loving it. can’t wait for y’all to hear our perspective. I can’t wait for y’all to hear just our expertise. And so I got the honor and the privilege to introduce to you, the listeners, Miss Bailey, the money lady. How are you doing today, ma’am?

Tunita Bailey (03:03)
I’m doing fantastic and I appreciate the opportunity, Quentin, to be a part of your podcast. Thank you for the invitation and I’m looking forward to sharing some information.

Quentin (03:19)
Absolutely.

I love it. I know our listeners are really going to get a good, good takeaway from your approach to where you do things. You’ve already shown me how humble you are, just how, you know, I call it humble. And I hope for you to accept that. Cause I know you said, listen, I’m looking at the numbers. Like I’m looking at what makes sense and I’m only doing what makes sense. But for me, I know it’s not always easy.

to be humble in this space, especially when you feel like you know what you know, but then sometimes you really have to scale back and take a step back. And so I thank you for you being humble. And I am so excited just to get people to hear just your perspective in your heart about what you do. And so if you don’t mind, I want to dive in for people who may not be familiar with you and your world. What’s your main focus these days and what markets are you operating?

Tunita Bailey (04:14)
Okay, Quentin. Well, first of all, I’m excited to be here as well. And let me just tell you a little bit about Miss Bailey, the money lady in Capital City Mortgage. Okay. First of all, I love to tell people that I’ve been in this business and in this real estate and mortgage game my entire career, you know, which is

37 years.

And the thing that’s important about that is that I absolutely love what I do because I get an opportunity to serve people with something they need. You know, they need housing and they need access to money. And so I love what I do. And the other thing that I love about it is that I never run out of people.

I never run out of clients because everybody needs a place to live. Everybody needs access to money. And I never run out.

And so, you know, that’s why I’m able to, think, you know, ⁓ stick and stay, if you will, ⁓ you know, because I have something that everybody needs. But what we

⁓ is that we help people ⁓ fund dreams at Capital City Mortgage. We are a mortgage brokerage company. And what that means is that we ⁓ have relationships with over 200 ⁓

lenders or investors. And so what we’re able to do is we’re able to take a person’s file and see exactly what they’re trying to accomplish. And then we can match them with the lender. And then that way we can help them get approved for a loan, whether they’re trying to do a primary residence, they’re trying to do a second home, they’re trying to do investment property. It doesn’t matter.

the process is still the same. And so that’s what we do. We help people fund their dreams of either homeownership or we help them build wealth by investing in real estate.

Quentin (07:07)
I love it. love it. You know, one thing again, you know, that really caught me about listening to you talk as I was taking notes, your humility and your perspective, but also one of your opening lines was that you genuinely, and I think you said it twice, genuinely want to help people get access to capital. Like you talked about how, you know, you consult with people, you consult with your clients, you want to educate them. And so for me, that genuinely caught my attention.

to the type of business that you’re running.

Tunita Bailey (07:39)
Absolutely. now, you know, initially when I first started,

it’s all about the money. You know, when you first start out, right? You know, how much money, you know, can you make? And then after you make a lot of money and you help a lot of people, then you finally realize that, know what, it’s not all about the money. You know, I mean, it’s, yeah, you need money to live, but really it’s about helping that person.

get where they’re trying to go. It’s about helping them get their first home, or it’s about helping them create wealth and even leave a legacy for their children’s children. I know that’s what I’m trying to do, but what I’m doing, and so that’s what we genuinely want to help people do, is leave a legacy for their children’s children. And you can do that with real estate.

Quentin (08:33)
Absolutely, I love it. ⁓ One of the things you mentioned too, is that you’re a big systems person. And so I know it’s not always easy in this climate, things changing. And so what’s been the key to keeping that machine running smoothly, Ms. Bailey?

Tunita Bailey (08:40)
Mm-hmm.

Well, I think, you know, a couple of keys. One is you have to embrace technology, right? AI, you know, I use AI in my business. I learned how to do it. You know, I have to accept it, right? I whether I like it or not, it ain’t going anywhere, right? So I may as well embrace it. And so what I did in my business is that I learned, I was introduced to AI. I learned how to use it in my business.

⁓ I learned how to put things together. I take it. I have a vision or something about what we’re trying to do or accomplish. And then I put it in AI. gives it to me. Then I use my marketing team to put it out there into the atmosphere, right? So I embrace technology. ⁓ I think, again, the systems, ⁓

You have to have a systems and process. mean, I’ll go back to, I read a book one time called the Edemith. I’m an avid reader. I like to listen to,

you know, people that have already done well. And I’ve read a book one time by Michael Gerber, it’s called the Edemith. And he talked about systems and processes. And he gave an example of McDonald’s. Okay. It doesn’t matter where you go in the world, when you go to McDonald’s,

them fries gonna be the same, that hamburger, that Big Mac, you know, it’s gonna all be the same. And so that’s what people want. They want consistency. They wanna know that it’s gonna be done the same way. It’s gonna taste the same no matter where they go. And so in my business, I really strive, one, to embrace the technology. And I, you know, also try to make sure that our system and process is the same, no matter who’s coming in.

If you are a new processor, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never been in the business before, a new loan officer, it doesn’t matter because I can fit you into my system.

Quentin (11:34)
I love it. I love it. That’s when you know you got a system that’s tried and true. You said, listen, I can fit you in my system and the system is going to do what it do. And even you will exceed in the system. Well, the system may spit you out, you know, we’re not going to, you know, know, but you know, but I love it.

Tunita Bailey (11:50)
You got it, you got it. Yeah,

I can replace you anytime, and look, nicks you out and nicks, I can keep it moving. I love that. Yeah, you gotta have a system and a process.

Quentin (12:00)
Absolutely.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So now listen, I know every operator I know has a moment when things get real, right? Maybe a deal goes sideways or a time when you had to pivot fast. Mrs. Bailey, you mind sharing one of those stories for us if you have one?

Tunita Bailey (12:20)
my goodness, I have a lot of pivoting times in business. I’ll tell one story of actually how I got into the construction management and finance business in 2020, you know,

COVID. Nobody was moving. I was doing, you know, strictly mortgage loans at the time. And then when the country kind of shut down and nobody was buying houses,

And if this your full-time job, it’s like, okay, I got to something different here. Cause I, you know, I still like to eat steak every now and then. And I like ribeye by the way. ⁓ So, you know, in order to keep eating, you you gotta, you gotta turn. I think it was a blessing and a curse in some cases, right? The blessing for me in that scenario, when things change is I had to pivot to construction.

I had to go from mortgage, just doing mortgages to construction. And the way that it happened was I was working with a client and they basically said, well, we’re not moving. I’m not going to move. I want to renovate my house and make it make sense. We got to work here and be here. I’m just going to go ahead and renovate. Do you know anybody that can help us get a loan to renovate our house? And you know what my answer was, right?

Yes, I do. So I went about the finding home improvement loans and I discovered that it’s a whole big world out there of home improvement. I just had no idea it’s different than mortgage loans, right? And so I went out and I ⁓ found ways to do home improvement loans for clients. And then once I got them approved for the money, then they asked another question.

Hey, do you know anybody that can actually do the work? And you know what my answer was, right? Yes, I do. So, yes, I do. And so at the same time, we basically had begun to ⁓ transition to construction, capital city construction,

Quentin (14:22)
Yes, I do.

Tunita Bailey (14:36)
and already had the company in existence and in place. And, you know, I always say it was heaven sent because

I was already in place to do it and we started doing construction financing. I started doing construction loans and you know, look, ⁓ this is our fifth year doing construction management and financing. And so that was a great example of how

when something happens, you know, you got to change and start doing something else. And we basically have had, you know, our best year ever.

⁓ because I can do the construction and I can also do the financing.

Quentin (15:57)
I love it. That’s an incredible story. I love it. Thank you for your honesty. This is what shows me you separate yourself from somebody that’s just dabbling ⁓ from someone that’s kind of doing it long-term, You’re in it. You know how to pivot. You know how to strategize. And I love it. The only issue I had with that story, absolutely. The only issue I had with that story is when you talked about the rib eye. Everybody know the New York strip is the best.

Tunita Bailey (16:15)
I’m in it to win.

Quentin (16:27)
But anyway, we’ll leave that at no, I’m just saying everybody know that. But anyway,

Tunita Bailey (16:28)
No, no, I got to have it.

It’s a real bad thing. It’s thing to sing and chop. We got the best, okay? Best.

Quentin (16:40)
Okay, okay. Whatever, whatever, Miss Bailey. I’ll ask, yes, whatever, whatever. But no, I love it, I love it. But listen, let me ask you this. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like what’s the next real goal, Miss Bailey?

Tunita Bailey (16:46)
Okay. ⁓

Well, our next real goal, well, I got a short-term goal and I got a long-term goal for the end of the year. My short-term goal with my team right now is that we’re to do 30 and 30. And that just means that we’re going to close 30 loans in the next 30 days. OK? So my birthday is in September. So I said, OK, we’re going to start now. By the time we start in August the 11th to September the 11th, hey, we are going to do

30 transactions, we’re gonna have 30 families between now and then. So 30 and 30 is our short term goal. Our long term goal for the end of the year, ⁓ we will be able to close and fund a total of about $5 million this year. That was our goal at the very beginning to close and fund and do construction for ⁓ a minimum of $5 million in projects. And that will be double what we did last year.

So that’s where our goal is. And so I’m hitting it hard and heavy for the next three, four months till we get to the end of the year to get to that $5 million funding goal.

Quentin (18:11)
I love it. That’s big. The 30 in 30 closing 30 loans by the time September 11th, by your birthday, closing the fund to 5 million. Like, I hear you ma’am. Y’all setting goals and y’all want to move towards them. I hear you.

Tunita Bailey (18:28)
Absolutely. Gotta have goals, right?

Quentin (18:30)
Absolutely. Now you

gotta have goals, right? And so, you know, you’ve been in it for 30 plus years, right? You know, the next move either can compound things or create total chaos depending on how you play it. And so, but I like it. It don’t seem like to me you’re detailed one bit from the challenge. You’re like, let’s go. We gonna win.

Tunita Bailey (18:51)
Yeah, I mean, you know, when you’ve been in business, as long as I have, mean, pretty much, I mean, you used to challenges, changes, ⁓ you have to pivot, you know, and so, and especially if you believe in what you’re doing, you know, it’s easy to be, to stick and stay if you’ve got something that other people need, right? Now, if you’re doing something and nobody needs it or wants it, and you can easily turn and go somewhere else, but.

Everybody needs housing. Everybody needs access to capital. So it’s easy to stick and stay. But yeah, mean, challenges always come up, right? You always, you know, like I said, I had to take myself out of my company and stop working in it and start working on it. So I had to do that. I had to kind of mobilize my systems and processes so that we could get to our goals, you know, 30 and 30.

So I mean, you know, I just have to always try to pivot and change. I’ll tell you a new thing real quick that we are doing. We do manufactured housing, financing now. And so we’re actually going to be doing land development where if a person has a lot, let’s say it’s a lake house and they want to put a manufactured home on it, we can do the land development. We can also do manufactured housing. And then if you want to rip that out on Airbnb,

then we can help you get that set up as well. So that’s kind of our next phase that we’re going into is capital city land development and using manufactured homes or prefab homes. That’s what we’re doing next.

Quentin (20:28)
Mmm.

Bailey, I hear you. I hear what you’re doing. I hear the moves that you’re making. I hear it. I hear it. And I guess what I want to ask you this, because you alluded to this, because taking yourself outside of your business, sounds like you care about the people that’s under you. You want not only your substance to see, but you want people to see, right? So I know a lot of people that are listening, they’re either early in their journey, they’re looking to level up. And I think they have benefit from hearing this.

When it comes to building relationships and growing your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you, Ms. Bailey?

Tunita Bailey (21:15)
I think ⁓ my willingness to partner and to listen, ⁓ because I do challenge people that come to work with me, ⁓ is that we’re on a team and this is me and you together. ⁓ But if you have new ideas and things that you can bring to the table and make things better, I’m all ears. So I pride myself on listening and then I execute.

So, you know, those are the couple of things that I, you know, I focus on and then just creating partnerships with people. ⁓ Because if we’re working this together and we’re collaborating, I mean, you got to be able to make income to feed your family. And then we have, as a company, have to be profitable. And if we’re working it together, then it’s a win-win, right? And that’s always what I tell people that, you know, that come to work with me or even if I do business, if it’s not a win-win, I’m out.

Okay, but if it’s a win-win and we both can win, you gonna make money for your family, the company is gonna be able to sustain itself, then it’s a win-win. So I think partnerships has really been key for me in helping people to understand that this is not a job, it’s a career and

a calling.

Quentin (22:35)
that I love the end tagline that it’s a calling and that’s what I sense when I listen to you I sense that you know it’s a calling like you know this is is ministry and I believe that you are doing it at an exceptional level so I thank you for that.

Tunita Bailey (22:53)
Yeah, thank you.

Quentin (22:57)
So listen, all right, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you?

Tunita Bailey (23:08)
The best way for them to reach me is to one, you can go to our website, which is capitalcitymtg.com. And there at the bottom of that site is my information, my email, my phone number. You can get an appointment on my calendar, or you can simply email ⁓ sales at capitalcitymtg.com, ⁓ or you can do T Bailey.

at capitalcitymtg.com. That’s how you can reach out to us. And we’re happy to help.

Quentin (23:45)
Absolutely. There she is. Miss Bailey, the money lady. I appreciate you so much, ma’am. I appreciate your time. I appreciate your story. I appreciate your perspective. I appreciate you giving us a second chance, coming back so I could have the delight of actually doing this. so, hey, everybody don’t need to know that, but I know you get what I mean. I just really appreciate you being here, ma’am. Thank you for doing business the right way and building a real business in this space. I appreciate you, ma’am.

Tunita Bailey (23:51)
Yes.

Yeah.

Thank you so much. Appreciate you.

Quentin (24:19)
Absolutely. And for those tuning in, if you got value from this, please make sure you are subscribed. I keep telling you, you do not want to miss out on these amazing conversations. And Ms. Bailey is just, I mean, hey, y’all seen it, right? Y’all heard it, right? And we want to make sure that you continue to get this valuable information. So thank you for tuning in and we will see you on the next episode.