Memory Care Real Estate Investing: Build Wealth Through Residential Senior Care

Nicole Becerra (00:00)
Absolutely. And so if you have, if you have a home and maybe you’re okay with like I have this rental, maybe instead of having a single family rent it out, I can refurbish it and make it ADA compliant, add grab bars, add ramps, what have you, and turn it into an assisted living. It doesn’t necessarily have to even be memory care, but per room you can get, depending on your location, four, five, seven, eight thousand dollars per resident per room that starts to add up

Cody Crabb (02:04)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Cody Crabb and today I’ve got Nicole Becerra with me. Nicole is the founder of Mosaic Memory Care, where she’s combining real estate development with a fresh approach to memory care by creating residential homes designed to deliver a higher standard of care and quality of life. Nicole, thanks so much for coming on the show today.

Nicole Becerra (02:25)
Thank you, Cody. I’m really happy to be here and talk to your audience.

Cody Crabb (02:28)
So before we do anything, before we talk about anything related to y ⁓ your business or real estate, ⁓ tell me what memory care actually is. Like introduce me to the industry, to what what people say when they’re talking about memory care so that our audience can kind of get wrap their heads around it before we start.

Nicole Becerra (02:48)
Yeah, absolutely. So what I think most people memory care think memory care is rather is people who lose the ability to recognize themselves, to lose the ability to talk, or hallucinate, and that they are not able to drive and take care of themselves anymore. So they have to be put into a specific kind of living situation. It’s usually a memory care wing in an existing senior care community because it has security. So there’s not a wandering risk, which is another thing that happens to people who have dementia is they wander, they want to exit and escape. And so memory care is taking care of of them, making sure that their person is safe, you know, making sure that they have all their meals, all their medication. You just take care of them, making sure that they’re healthy and not falling. But what it it doesn’t necessarily do is see the person that’s still in there. And that’s where I think what clinical memory care ends and where my style of memory care begins. What you see in senior care homes is mostly people who are parked in a wheelchair staring at a TV with a couple of puzzles on the table. And that’s not gonna be me.

Cody Crabb (04:07)
Yeah, well I I think this is a a good piece of context is ⁓ you know you didn’t wake up one day and you’re just a developer. You you have a history of caregiving in your past that kind of convinced you that there has to there has to be a better way, you know, that old the old saying. But it’s can you tell us a little bit about that? How how did you kind of come to to think that?

Nicole Becerra (04:29)
It just came with life experience. I had a neighbor who chose to age at home and he refused to go into ⁓ a care home. And so I would stop in as a good neighbor and I would spend time with them or run errands, you know, cook a meal, whatever. And he had 24 hour care, different caregivers stay at home, which was not a cheap, you know. And when he did pass, I was asking his wife, like, what’s so bad about care? Like, what was he, you know, so afraid of? And she’s like, have you never been into this one of those homes? Like, it’s terrible, honey. Like, you know, she had described some horror stories. And so I’m like, I’m gonna see. I’m gonna see what it’s like. Like that was so long ago. She had her mama in a home and just

Cody Crabb (06:04)
Yeah, I see I see what you mean. Who knows how who knows what how long ago or what where what situation

Nicole Becerra (06:09)
can’t be the way it is now, you know? And so I go through the training, I sign up, I I do all of the things to become a caregiver. And I get my first shift and lo and behold, within 30 minutes I am seeing somebody not treated very well, not treated with dignity. And it’s so much so that it makes me cry in a corner the way that this person is being manhandled. Yeah, really sad.

Cody Crabb (06:35)
Thirty minutes of your

Nicole Becerra (06:36)
Within 30 minutes of my first professional caregiver shift. Yeah. I was like, this is not really happening, is it? I would never want to be treated or touched the way that this woman was being treated or touched. It was it was rude, in my opinion. That’s not how you take care of people. It was so brusque. She yanking on limbs, no hospitality, no kindness, just really getting her out of bed, getting her out of her clothes, putting new clues on, getting her in a wheelchair, pushing her out the door. And it was just really quick. And then the reason behind that is because that caregiver is overworked. That caregiver is taking care of 18 to 20 other residents that they have to do. They don’t have the time to stop and calmly ⁓ wake up a senior to a resident. They don’t have time to to sit with them or to rub their back or stop and say good morning, spend a few minutes waking up. How do you feel?

Cody Crabb (07:13)
Sure too, yeah.

Nicole Becerra (07:32)
It’s like imagine, you know, imagine what that must be like. And that’s when I really knew that I could do better because I would never treat anybody like that. Yeah. And so for the rest of the day, I I just observed and I saw people lying on the floor crying and other caregivers saying, That’s that’s okay. She does that every day. That’s not okay.

Cody Crabb (07:57)
Okay, yeah.

Nicole Becerra (07:58)
Not okay. When they and they push them all into the dining area, for instance, there’s one caregiver, maybe with like 10 other residents, and she’s trying to keep an eye on everybody, make sure everybody’s eating and she’s feeding some of them. You’re not looking out to see if anybody’s really choking, if they’re getting how many bites are they taking? Are they actually, you know, how are they getting down their food? Are they, you know, just there’s no way that to possibly take good care of.

Cody Crabb (08:16)
How good?

Nicole Becerra (08:27)
All of those people.

Cody Crabb (08:28)
Well, and something that you called out that I didn’t even think of, because I was my first thought was like, ⁓ you know, they’re they’re getting overlooked or whatever. But some of these workers are probably also extremely frustrated with this situation too. Like they it sounds like they are com a lot of them might be just completely overwhelmed, even if they had the very best of intentions. ⁓ yeah. These expectations they have are impossible to to meet. And so they’re trying to do what they can, but so I see what you mean. There it’s just from all angles, this is just a frustrating situation.

Nicole Becerra (08:58)
It is. And even in, you know, and in even in very beautiful places where there’s a baby grand in the hallway and, you know, a bistro and fine dining and all these great things and everything’s gorgeous, what’s going on behind the trenches is not. And that’s where I just knew I’m I can do better and there’s maybe a business opportunity for me to do better because these communities are making quite a bit of money ⁓ in the senior industry. And they’re not providing near the care that I think people deserve. So this is where Mosaic comes in. And ⁓ in a small setting where there aren’t, you know, 60 people to watch after on one floor, there’s 16, 16 residents, no more. And you’re in a beautiful home on a beautiful property. And you’re with staff who know you, who are trained. It just you’re gonna get better care. We’re gonna provide better opportunities for you to enjoy life because we’re gonna take the time to know you, what your life history was, to know your tastes, to know your preferences. And you’re gonna have a beautiful day every day. And that’s our mission is for you to have a beautiful day every day, even though you have dementia.

Cody Crabb (10:57)
Yeah. Wow. Well, and I think ⁓ especially in memory care, this seems like something that is so crucial too, because it we’re not even just talking about people that need assistance with these things. Like these are people that are might wake up completely panicked and confused of where am I? And it it’s this extra level that on top of all of the stuff that needs to happen. So I think that’s really Yeah. Seriously. And so I think it’s it’s really great that you’ve kind of thought through that in a way that

Nicole Becerra (11:19)
Thank you.

Cody Crabb (11:25)
that you’ve kind of ⁓ landed on a a number that’s like this is doable, this is possible. And I I’m listening to myself thinking, well yeah, if I if my parents were in a situation like that, I would that’s exactly what I would want. Someone to really be closely, carefully watching out for them and you know, and and it not ch not cost me like ten times more than a r a r a regular facility necessarily. So when you finally decided I’m gonna build this myself, what were like the foundational principles that you felt like were the most important, besides like the kind of ratio and and number of beds and things.

Nicole Becerra (12:02)
I sort of had to learn as I went along and learned the industry because I’m I’m new to this. I’m not a land developer. And I didn’t know anything about what it took, to be honest with you. So I just had to dive in. And that’s when I started listening to podcasts, learning from the internet, learning from others who had done it before. And what we had found was that once we had an idea of how the home was going to be, and you know, my husband and I, we literally like s would sketch it. And we had sample plans from other, you know, other people who had built something similar, you know, to kind of sketch what this house is going to look like and then what that property, what shape that property has to be. And then we really just started looking on Zillow, started looking on Redfin and started looking for raw land so that we could build ⁓ exactly what we wanted. And we were looking for land that was in an unincorporated part of the county so that we wouldn’t be overly beholden by too many city regulations for building development. And learning all of that took time. It just did. And a lot of trial and error, a lot of meetings with people who knew a lot more than I did, where I just asked questions and said, You know, this is my first rodeo, but my heart’s in it. So I’m gonna learn everything I can and I’m gonna learn from you. And people were so happy to share their knowledge. And like I said, it took almost two years to really get to where we are, which is ⁓ now in Dripping Springs, Texas, proud owners of 14 acres. And ⁓ we’re right now in the midst of deciding who we are going to work with with regards to our lending. We’re going the SBA route. So

Cody Crabb (13:50)
Why why did you choose the SBA route specifically, just out of curiosity?

Nicole Becerra (13:53)
We thought that it would it we it has better terms, you know. Be with the SBA, it’s I think 50% is bank and then the 50 per 30 percent will be the CDC and then 20% from us. And so I think that it’s going to be a lot more I think for favorable repayment terms as well. So yeah.

Cody Crabb (14:18)
Yeah. Yeah. I think this is bit this is really interesting to me because this isn’t you know, this is a a real estate investment podcast. And so in in a lot of ways you are, you know, you’re you’re investing in real estate. And you you even mentioned to me before we started you you’ve even had experience with real estate before you expanded into here. But ⁓ the other thing that I think is interesting is it’s not just real estate, you’re also like tacking a business on top of all. Real estate. So how how are you using the real estate to your advantage to to make the to to incorporate it as part of the whole business? Because you’re not just like finding a facility and opening it. Like you’re building it from the ground up.

Nicole Becerra (15:43)
Yes, it was by design like that on purpose. When we realized that we wanted to have our own everything, we were like, we got to own the land so that we can be the landlords and build, you know, as as we want to build. And then the operating company we also have to own so that we can pay ourselves rent. So that’s kind of the play there, of course, I which I think is the dream. To own the land, own the homes, and own the operating company. Yeah. And I think that’s I think that model is important because when you are have that much skin in the game, you want to provide good care. So it kind of feeds into each other because if you get a bad reputation, no one’s gonna want to be in your home, which means you can’t pay your rent, which means you know your property is maybe just sitting there empty and meanwhile you’re coming out of pocket for these payments. Like

Cody Crabb (16:32)
Yeah. Well and you’ve got a really specific like custom situation. So like it’s not necessarily gonna be yeah, so I s I see where you mean. Well right. So so I’m I wanna I wanna get a better idea of you know, fast forward a few years, let’s say someone pulls into this new development for the first time. I would love to hear like what would they experience and on their first visit, just to kind of get a picture in our minds.

Nicole Becerra (16:40)
Hope us to do well. I think you get a sense of a place from the moment you lays eyes lay eyes on it. And our our homes are going to be beautiful. They’re going to be resort style homes. I happen to love Spanish architecture. I’m originally from California, so I love that Santa Barbara cottage look. And so that’s kind of what we’re leaning towards. It’s going to be, of course, ADA compliant. It’s a course going to be My gosh, the word escapes me. Secure. Sorry. In memory care, you have to be secure facility. So we’re gonna have special locks on the doors. But it’s also just going to take your breath away. It’s going to be serene. And once you get inside, you’ll see that each bedroom is beautiful. It has its own private bath. We have our own chef that will make your food from scratch according to your preferences and your dietary needs. We’ll have an activity director who knows what you need to do as far as mobility.

Cody Crabb (17:59)
Basically describing a cruise. Like this sounds incredible. This place sounds absolutely incredible. Like I I could see why people would be just floored walking into this when some of the other issues that you’ve mentioned have been so present.

Nicole Becerra (18:12)
Yeah, that’s the idea is that we want families to walk in and feel like this is a beautiful home. I want to live here. Mom gets to live here. Yeah. You know.

Cody Crabb (18:23)
Yeah. That’s a that’s a great way to put it.

Nicole Becerra (18:25)
And that you’re not gonna have to worry, that you can stop by, that we’re always going to communicate with you. And that it’s your mom’s house, that it it’s still at the heart of it, a home. And it’s going to be it’s it’s just going to be everything that I think is missing in in memory care, and that it honors the person, not just you know, deals with the disease. Yeah.

Cody Crabb (18:53)
Yeah. Wow. So for someone listening who’s inspired by what you’re building, what’s a piece of advice that you’d give them if they’re kind of thinking about combining r actual real estate with kind of a mission driven type business like you’re talking about?

Nicole Becerra (19:07)
I would say do it, especially if it’s misdriven from the heart, because that’s how it will succeed, is because you want it to happen. And of course, building wealth through care is beautiful. Not only are you making a great living, but you’re providing an incredible service to your community and to your fellow man.

Cody Crabb (19:29)
That’s the definition of a win win, I suppose, yeah.

Nicole Becerra (19:31)
Absolutely. And so if you have, if you have a home and maybe you’re okay with like I have this rental, maybe instead of having a single family rent it out, I can refurbish it and make it ADA compliant, add grab bars, add ramps, what have you, and turn it into an assisted living. It doesn’t necessarily have to even be memory care, but per room you can get, depending on your location, four, five, seven, eight thousand dollars per resident per room that starts to add up and so if you have a property over you know think about what you could do with it think about how you can convert it or even if you want to build purpose the way I’m building new construction purpose built yeah it could be cool and we need more operators we need more people to get into this specific niche specifically I believe because

Cody Crabb (20:06)
Yeah, no kidding.

Nicole Becerra (20:29)
the demographic changes that are coming.

Cody Crabb (20:32)
About that, yeah, that there’s big changes in the demographics coming up.

Nicole Becerra (20:35)
That’s right. I think by twenty sixty there’s going to be I think one million new dementia cases. That’s not I just yeah.

Cody Crabb (20:45)
Holy cow. See, I’d heard the I’d heard the number of seniors, but not the number of dementia cases projected. That’s wild.

Nicole Becerra (20:51)
Not everybody also is cut out to age and place, or sometimes siblings, or not just siblings, but sons and daughters aren’t equipped and aren’t, you know, just don’t want to take care of their parents that way. Yeah. And there’s just not a lot of options other than a big smelly facility or ⁓ a smaller air RAL. And I like I said, I think smaller RALs are great. But when it comes to memory care, it needs to be a locked facility. Yeah.

Cody Crabb (21:24)
Yeah, I totally get where you’re coming from there. Yeah. Well, if if people would like to get in touch with you, I mean, this has been a really awesome episode. If people are hearing about you and and what you’re doing and and they want to get in touch or they want to find out more about it, where can they go to get in touch with you online or or follow you online?

Nicole Becerra (21:39)
I’m on Instagram at @caringwithnicole. And you can reach me at ⁓ my website, which is buildersofcare.org as well. You can fill out a form there.

Cody Crabb (21:50)
Awesome. And so who should be reaching out to you? Who would you love to be reaching out to you?

Nicole Becerra (21:54)
Gosh. I would love to talk to families who are interested in the kind of care that I provide. I would love to talk to other entrepreneurs who are interested in this kind of business, maybe have land that they aren’t doing anything with and are thinking like maybe I can build something too. Yeah.

Cody Crabb (22:12)
Well, that fantastic. Thank you so much for all the all the amazing information you’ve shared with us today. I think it’s got everybody thinking a little bit about like, you know, maybe not just doing a a real estate deal, but doing ⁓ doing a real estate deal in a way that could be you know, i it could affect people’s lives in a positive way. I mean, that’s th there’s there’s probably no better feeling than like I’m making money by also improving a lot of people’s lives. Like that’s pretty that’s pretty amazing.

Nicole Becerra (22:40)
Yeah, exactly.

Cody Crabb (22:41)
Well, thank you so much again ⁓ for for coming on and audience, thanks so much for giving us some of your time too. And we will see you on the next episode, Nicole. It’s been a pleasure. Thank you so much.

Nicole Becerra (22:52)
Been a pleasure.