Libby Satterfield Explains How Midterm Rentals Can Beat Long-Term Rental Cash Flow

Libby Satterfield (00:00)
Stop underpricing your properties.

When you, sometimes I’m shocked at what people will, like do not do a midterm rental and just make 200 more dollars a month than a long term. You’re losing money. You’re losing money doing that. That is not good. Also, even 500 more dollars, that’s, why are you doing that? You just added the utilities on after the restock. That doesn’t make any sense. So sometimes I’ve listened to podcasts where people are like, yeah, midterms, like just a lot more.

paying not that much more money.

Scott Bursey (02:05)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host Scott Bursey. And today we are pouring pure rocket fuel onto your real estate fire because we have a titan of the industry joining us. This pro is operating at a level few ever reach running two highly successful specialized real estate businesses. She’s a true market leader. And today she is bringing the premium high octane fuel that you need to take your game to the top.

Scott Bursey (02:35)
Get ready to ignite your potential. Let’s welcome the powerhouse behind Cola Cash Offers and Cola Furnished Rentals, Libby Satterfield.

Libby Satterfield (02:44)
Hey Scott, thanks for having me.

Scott Bursey (02:46)
It is awesome having you on the show, Libby. Thank you for joining us today. And for our listeners who may not be familiar with your journey, please give us a front row seat. And how did your career ignite and where are you applying your field now?

Libby Satterfield (03:00)
Yeah, so I would say I over eight years ago, I became a licensed realtor, ⁓ took that extremely seriously, still take it extremely seriously. But about three years in, ⁓ I was enlightened about investing and it was something that just really sparked my interest. I’ve always cared a lot about financial wellness and ⁓ making well. ⁓

I guess you would say like financially wise decisions. That’s something I’ve always cared about, but I really didn’t know anything about real estate investing, even though I was actively selling real estate and getting other investors to buy investment properties. And so it was something where I slowly became very, very interested in it. And essentially instead of investing in the stock market or conventional retirement, I decided in about 2021 or 2022,

I was going to start buying a couple rental properties. And so that is how the beginning of my investing journey started. And it began with one rental here, that going well, buying a second rental, pivoting to a furnished model, and then ⁓ accidentally buying a flip from a client of mine ⁓ because we weren’t sure if it was market ready or not.

So that’s really how I got started. I’ve been investing now for about five years total. But it’s something I’m extremely passionate about, especially for women, because to be honest with you, I feel like it’s 98 % men in realistic investing world. it’s something that I just,

I feel like it truly helps people lead the best life that they possibly could.

through financial freedom and time freedom. At the end of the day, if you’re a real estate agent and you have no quality of life but you make a million dollars a year, what is the point of doing that? And so that’s something that I had to come to the realization of is, you know, of course I love what I do. I’m in the top 1 % of what I do with real estate sales, but

Work is not everything and income is not everything if you don’t have assets. that was just something that over the past eight years, my journey of being in real estate, I became very enlightened on the power of owning real estate and all the different avenues that you can go towards to build wealth.

Scott Bursey (06:25)
That is very enlightening, Libby, and I must say you’ve earned the title pro multiple times over. You know, what really caught my attention about you was the way that you’ve been able to dominate two very distinct and complex sides of the real estate market. Running both a high volume cash offers company and a successful furnished rentals portfolio all the while, while being a top 1 % agent in the nation.

That takes some serious market mastery and operational genius.

Libby Satterfield (06:56)
Well, thank you. I feel like it happened not by accident, but it’s something that happens as you go. It sounds like a lot now, but over the course of, like to give you an example, 2021, everybody knows that was a crazy market. That’s really when my real estate business took off. I sold about 70 plus houses that year. That year made me have to figure out how to operate.

at a high level. ⁓ And that was before I was fully in real estate investing. So it made me realize how to not waste time. This is what you delegate. This is what you spend your time doing. This is what you don’t ever do. And so many times in real estate and really in any business and entrepreneurship, we waste so much time on things that don’t actually move the needle. And so I think going through that year,

really helped me realize I can’t be everywhere all the time. I can’t be everything to everyone. I have to have systems and processes and operations. Like I cannot do this without systematizing things better. you know, that was five years ago. I was in my mid to late twenties at the time. And so that was something I knew nothing about. ⁓ It was something I had to learn by going through it. And it really

turned me into a better person and a way better business owner. ⁓ And so I think doing that alone for a year and not having those things set up and having a life that looks very like it was on fire all the time, ⁓ I realized that’s not what I wanted things to be like reality-wise. Even if you make good income and good money, what’s the point if your quality isn’t there?

And so that gave me a really good foundation to pursue these other businesses in ways where I was not the center all the time, if that makes sense.

Scott Bursey (08:51)
It makes perfect sense and Libby, having those systems in place is so very key. Now let’s break down some strategies that keep you at the top. How does being a top 1 % agent in the nation directly benefit your Cola Cash Offers model?

Libby Satterfield (09:08)
Yeah, I would say two things. One is just general opportunity. So I run into a lot of opportunity with sellers that are in unique situations and sometimes they’re either embarrassed or they just feel like they don’t have options or

they’re coming to me because they’re not sure if their house is for market or if they even want to make repairs and things like that. So I’m able to give them honest upfront options.

And of course that’s turned into some of them don’t want to invest a lot of money in the current home and they’ll say, well, if you’ll just buy it or if an investor you work with would buy it, which I’ve done that as well, ⁓ that is an opportunity in itself, just getting in front of clients and sellers before anyone else does. ⁓ Two, I would say is just understanding what buyers want and

how that shifts in different places and different ⁓ price points. essentially, that’s very, what I talk about here in Columbia, South Carolina is gonna be nothing like other places. That’s gonna be very, very specific to county, city, is it a college town? Like there’s so many different things there, but it helps you understand who the ideal buyer is, what they’re willing to pay extra for, what they’re not.

⁓ where you’re over improving, where you’re under improving and missing extra value on the back end. So I think those two things have helped me tremendously in being able to understand a side that other investors maybe have not previously.

Scott Bursey (11:27)
That is some deep market insight right there. Now let’s go underneath the hood and see what this engine really has. What is the biggest operational hurdle you face right now when scaling your Cola Furnished Rental portfolio?

Libby Satterfield (11:42)
So I would say our operations when it comes to… Ideally, we would be furnishing a rental like every month and it would be we’re doing this one month and then the next month we have another one and it’s just this clean well-oiled machine. But as you and most other investors know, you take what the investment gain gives you and sometimes you’re backlogged with seven projects at a time and then you’re going to be completed in…

All of them are gonna be completed within the same two months or six weeks and now you gotta furnish all these rentals, now you gotta get them all. And it’s, that’s something that’s frustrating for me because then maybe you don’t do as much Legion or, you I’m not really doing the Legion, but like my husband who operates the business now, he’s doing Legion and when we have so many things happening at one time that are in the same…

not only does mess up with contractors, but it also just distracts you from the things that actually make you money. And so if I could get better, and EarthWe as a company could get better with our ideal timing of turns, ⁓ that would be fantastic because it’s exhausting when you have too many projects in the same bucket. ⁓

And you know, it’s a blessing and a curse. Like I don’t regret any of the deals that we have right now at all. I’m very excited about all of them. But it’s just one of those things where you’re like trying to figure out, okay, how do I move one of these to a different spot?

Scott Bursey (13:17)
And that is spot on. Consistency is key. And it sounds like you have a system to tackle that efficiently. Let’s continue to smash the gas. Outside of your current market, where do you see the biggest untapped opportunity right now for a cash offer business?

Libby Satterfield (13:34)
Okay, because to be completely candid with you, I’m not…

But when it comes to, I’m not interested in going into other markets at all personally. I know a lot of investors do. What we do is so specialized because we don’t buy everything. ⁓ Our buy box is pretty strict and ⁓ because we’re a furnished midterm rental model, ⁓

we know exactly who our client is and we also operate in-house, which makes it a lot more profitable. But because of that, we don’t have long-term rentals. And a lot of people will buy any deal that’s a long-term rental as long as it will cash flow. And that’s just not my husband and I. are

20 minutes of the capital of Columbia is essentially

where we will be. So, that probably doesn’t answer your question fully, but maybe that explains why I don’t have a better answer when it comes to that. Because, of course, I think there’s absolutely opportunity for investors in any market. I think there’s opportunity for you. You just have to figure out which ⁓ exit strategy is the best and all those ins and outs. But for us specifically, ⁓ we’re very honed in on where

our zone of genius is, which is furnished midterminal models.

Scott Bursey (15:46)
That was broken down beautifully. Thank you for that. ⁓ Let me go down this road for our listeners. If ⁓ our pros are wanting to follow your journey or perhaps partner with you, what would you like them to know first about your business? Businesses, I should say.

Libby Satterfield (16:06)
Yeah, I would say this might sound cheesy, but genuinely we do things correctly. ⁓ We do not cut corners at all, even when it costs us. And we’ve had a multitude of times where it has cost us. ⁓ when we buy a property, we don’t ever put lipstick on it and put a tenant in, because like I said, that’s just not our model. ⁓

because we are asking a lot of money for our midterms, our clients and our tenants expect a really nice home, very safe home, and because of that, we’re redoing the plumbing, we’re redoing the electrical, we’re redoing the foundation, we’re redoing everything by the burr model, and because of that, ⁓ we’re able to one, ask top dollar, but two,

anyone that invests with us, it’s a safer investment for them too, if that answers your question.

Scott Bursey (17:09)
That is pure fire and that explains why you’re operating at such an elite level. What factor like raising interest rates or local regulation worries you the most for the furnished rental space in let’s say the next 12 months Libby?

Libby Satterfield (17:24)
Yeah, so that’s people talk to me about that all the time, mainly because people don’t understand what I do. ⁓ But a lot of investors understand that, but everyone thinks that ⁓ short-term rentals are midterm rentals and they’re not the same. So I would define a midterm rental as a 30 plus day stay. ⁓ Short-term rentals are the one under a ton of fire.

And rightfully so in some areas. I’m not gonna be the investor that says, no, there shouldn’t be any regulations. No, of course there should be reasonable regulations within neighborhoods or municipalities. Just there needs to be reasonable expectations. But I also think it’s completely criminal to tell someone they can’t do something with their property. So I’ve done short-term rentals. It was exhausting for us, even though I wasn’t doing the turns and I wasn’t doing any of that.

I did not want to continue to do that in my market. ⁓ I felt it was a lot more scalable and easier money with higher quality tenants to pivot to a midterm model because you’re dealing with people that don’t trash your property. They’re there for a job. An insurance company is paying you or a

their corporation is paying you. And so that’s the easiest money you’ll get. I mean, it just is. I think in five years, I’ve evicted one person and it was my fault for not vetting entirely the person. So that model to me is a clear way to operate more efficiently.

⁓ and demand way more money instead of going out and buying a hundred long-term rentals. I only need 25. If you have hundred long-term, I can make the same amount of money off of my 25 midterms. So that’s why we have our model ⁓ and what we stick with is because it’s something that we’ve seen is more efficient and

Like I said, there’s tons of ways you can make money. I know some really successful guys that all they do is ⁓ long-term rentals and they’re doing great. But for us, it’s more efficient.

Scott Bursey (19:52)
once again, is having those systems in place that has your well-oiled machine running efficiently. Libby, you’ve mastered both the transactional side of real estate and the investment holding side. For a pro who is focused solely on traditional buy and hold investing, what is the most valuable piece of advice you can give them on leveraging the furnished rental model to dramatically accelerate their equity and cash flow?

Libby Satterfield (20:21)
Stop underpricing your properties.

When you, sometimes I’m shocked at what people will, like do not do a midterm rental and just make 200 more dollars a month than a long term. You’re losing money. You’re losing money doing that. That is not good. Also, even 500 more dollars, that’s, why are you doing that? You just added the utilities on after the restock. That doesn’t make any sense. So sometimes I’ve listened to podcasts where people are like, yeah, midterms, like just a lot more.

paying not that much more money.

Yeah, not if you don’t ask for it. So price it like it’s premium because it is. You’re offering someone a safe place to live with they can move in if there was a disaster to their home. There’s laundry, there’s parking, there’s linens, there’s kitchenware, there’s nice stylish furniture.

There’s Roku TVs with streaming, there’s internet. I don’t cap my utilities. You know how many people think that that’s stupid? Guess what? They’re still paying for it because I’m asking so much money for the rent. like, if you want to be successful in midterms, stop pricing it just above a long term. That’s stupid. Like, of course, like, there’s probably people that think my model is so dumb because they don’t understand the price.

Scott Bursey (21:45)
No, it’s

⁓ certainly a wise move. Keeping that value intact and promoting that value is the reason that you have risen to the top. Libby, that was just ⁓ an awesome insight. And is there any other insight that you could leave with our listeners here today?

Libby Satterfield (22:03)
⁓ I would say, and I am a realtor, okay? So I’m not, I think realtors are great, alright? However, when you are an investor, you need to be so, so, so careful with the realtors that you deal with. ⁓ And I have so many friends that are real estate agents, I’m not dunking them, but it is a completely different beast doing real estate investing versus

residential real estate sales and I have seen so many people get hosed because their real estate agent just truly didn’t understand how to best serve them and they didn’t mean to do it. It’s just they they didn’t know. ⁓ This is a completely different beast. So if you are dealing with someone that doesn’t actively invest with all due respect, I would keep that relationship.

and the door open to opportunities in other ways and with conventional buying and selling, but you really have to understand ⁓ when you’re hiring a realtor that they have to be an investor and they need to understand what type of investor you are. If they don’t understand ARVs, if they don’t understand taxes, if they don’t understand the implications between different counties and areas,

That is setting you up for massive failure and they don’t even know they’re doing it. ⁓ I get calls from agents sometimes when they’re representing investors and I think, okay, this is not, you shouldn’t be representing this person if you’re having to call me to ask the question. And I don’t tell them that, I tell them the right answer, however, I think that’s.

Huge, huge, huge thing from a realtor to other investors. Please hire someone that invests. Please, please, please. I have had agents pull comps completely incorrectly and sell an investor on an ARV that is $100,000 lower than it actually is because they didn’t understand. I just, I see it happen a lot.

And that’s not I’m not saying ⁓ just use Libby Satterfield. There’s a lot of great investor agents in my area ⁓ But there is a massive massive difference and also don’t ever let someone else tell you that ARV Do not ever trust a seller on an ARV an agent on an ARV your agent on an ARV Do not trust that do your own research on that if it’s not the same neighborhood, and it’s not an ⁓ identical comp

you need to be highly scrutinizing that. I have gotten absolutely hosed by trusting other people’s ARV and not my own. So that’s another piece of advice that I would say.

Scott Bursey (24:53)
Libby, those are some very valuable insights. This has been an awesome conversation and we are powered up and ready to run with your insights. ⁓ there, what’s, let’s put it this way. What is the best way for our listeners to get a hold of you if they want to collaborate with you and follow your journey?

Libby Satterfield (25:13)
Yeah, so on the real estate sales side, which is my day-to-day life a lot of times, Libby’s Listings is my Instagram (@libbyslistings). My cell is 803-629-6025. And then ⁓ my husband and I also have an account. ⁓ It’s ColaCashOffers is ⁓ the handle for Instagram as well (@colacashoffers). We also have a website. It’s just colacashoffers.com. And we have, you know, funny things.

working together with your spouse and then we also just have a lot of before and afters. ⁓ Just really, it’s more of a scrapbook journey for us to look back on than it is for other people to be impressed by. ⁓ We’re not posting it for anyone else other than ourselves, but ⁓ we’re very passionate about it, so we do like to document what we do. ⁓ And it’s very unscripted, uncandid. It’s not like,

where you’ll see it’s truly like I got no makeup, I’m talking about a frustrating deal, I’m talking about things like that. So it’s pretty unscripted and it’s just kind of the day in the life of running a cash offer company.

Scott Bursey (26:26)
Libby, you have brought the high octane fuel today. Thank you so much for joining us.

Libby Satterfield (26:32)
Well, thank you so much for having me. It’s been a pleasure.

Scott Bursey (26:34)
It has been an honor and to our listeners, we appreciate each and every one of you. If you got value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ve got a lineup of exceptional guests, just like Libby Satterfield, who are making huge moves in the market. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.