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Real Estate Returns Explained Without Hype or False Projections

By January 27, 2026Real Estate Pros Show

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Show Summary

In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil speaks with Vanessa Macey, a Dallas-Fort Worth real estate professional and investor. Vanessa shares her journey from property management to becoming an investor, emphasizing the importance of integrity and understanding client needs. She discusses her investment strategies, including the BRRRR method, and her focus on helping others navigate the real estate market. Vanessa also highlights her plans to expand into midterm and short-term rentals and the tools she uses, such as spreadsheets, to analyze investment opportunities. The conversation concludes with insights on networking and future goals for her business.

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    Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

    Vanessa Macey (00:00)
    I think one of the biggest keys is integrity. Always doing the work, never skipping a step. Always listening to my clients, what’s important to them and not assuming.

    that hey this might work for them because some don’t want to be landlords. Some you know they’re like hey I’m not into this, just kind of functioning out of what is best for the person that I’m working with and not just what works for me.

    Michelle Kesil (02:00)
    Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Vanessa who is a Dallas-Fort Worth real estate professional as well as investor. So excited to have you here today, Vanessa.

    Vanessa Macey (02:20)
    Thank you, Michelle. I am so excited to be here. Thanks for having me.

    Michelle Kesil (02:24)
    Of course,

    I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching your ability to analyze and assess the right deals. So let’s dive in. First off, for those who are not yet familiar with you and your work, can you share what your main focus is?

    Vanessa Macey (02:43)
    So my main focus is helping others purchase investment property, even helping others buy homes so that they can have that stability and then start thinking about purchasing investment property. ⁓ My main focus is to be able to ensure that first time investors are investors that are doing this for the second or third or fourth time, professional investors can understand what their expenses are and be able to see the

    I use spreadsheets and tools that will help them analyze cap rates to compare properties and understand their return on investment. So just having a thorough understanding of the numbers side as well as having a thorough understanding of the property they’re buying and the potential expenses that it poses by the condition that it’s in. So I think my strengths is the transparency and trying to fully ⁓ investigate the deal of

    what the investors are getting themselves into without all the glitz and glam and hyping it up like just the real deal what it is.

    Michelle Kesil (03:57)
    Yeah, awesome. And how did you get started in your real estate career?

    Vanessa Macey (04:04)
    Well, actually, so I’m originally from California and I started as a property manager. I’ve always had management experience and when I started being a property manager, I cared so much about my clients and understanding what their bottom line was. And then I wanted to be an investor one day. So it just kind of became this rabbit hole that I kept going deeper and deeper into. Eventually getting my real estate license, eventually becoming an investor, eventually moving to Texas to become an

    investor. I bought my first investment property in 2020.

    Michelle Kesil (04:40)
    Awesome. Can you expand on that story of becoming an investor, what that looked like for you and getting your first property?

    Vanessa Macey (04:48)
    Yeah, so ⁓

    I got my real estate license in 2017 and immediately because I was ⁓ overseeing about 150 units in California and working with probably about 20 investors, I began to understand what was important and I just thought, gosh, I want to do this myself. The opportunity presented itself in Texas. So I moved my family to Texas and I bought a four unit complex that I just thought was beautiful. It’s still my baby to this day. Originally when I bought the property.

    This is the beauty of it. The rents were about $700 in like 2019, the of 2019, the beginning of 2020. And now my highest rent is $14.75. So that was huge for me. I do like the slow steady gaining cash flow that way. It’s an unbelievable price that I bought the property for, especially coming from California to be able to spot that deal because the opportunities were not there.

    I’m from Los Angeles and then ⁓ yeah and then the next time I had an ability to I purchased my next investment property in 2023 which was a duplex but along the way I think that year before I bought my duplex I probably helped about six investors purchase ⁓ long-term investments ⁓

    what you call the strategy where you buy, renovate, rent and repeat. I’ve helped clients do that and help them get contractors in line to do that and help them see their budget. And ⁓ I have some that did that. And then I’ve had some that fixed and flipped. So all along the way, I’ve been helping clients. We usually approach this strategy of getting a property that’s not ready, fixing it up and renting it or selling it. So that’s been a cool

    strategy to do to kind of work hard for that appreciation or cash flow.

    Michelle Kesil (07:38)
    Definitely. And what do you feel are some of the main keys that made the biggest difference in allowing your business to be able to grow and to run smoothly?

    Vanessa Macey (07:52)
    I think one of the biggest keys is integrity. Always doing the work, never skipping a step. Always listening to my clients, what’s important to them and not assuming.

    that hey this might work for them because some don’t want to be landlords. Some you know they’re like hey I’m not into this, I don’t want to pay a property management company and they’re just kind of listening and functioning out of what is best for the person that I’m working with and not just what works for me.

    Also keeping the standard of what I would do for myself like hey if it was me I would you know at least bring this to my clients attention. If it was me I would let them know about AB

    RC. So just kind of keeping that integrity intact is the biggest thing to keep keep a positive brand for myself ⁓ and I want to be known as someone who is trustworthy and integral. So I think that’s been huge for my business.

    Michelle Kesil (08:54)
    Absolutely. And as far as your investing journey, are there any other key components that you have felt made the difference as an investor yourself?

    Vanessa Macey (09:07)
    Yeah, so I mean I do come from very humble beginnings so but I still will say if I if I am doing a renovation on a property because someone moved out before I move a tenant in will I live here if I buy a place will I live here so I always have to ask that so that I could be proud of the place that I’m renting the place that I’m managing ⁓

    That’s been huge to keeping tenants long term or being able to rent things quicker. I feel good about when I’m leasing them out would I live here. So just kind of always never losing sight of who you’re serving and what whatever like if you’re renting or if you’re helping a client buy property don’t lose sight of who your customer or client is and what’s best for them.

    Michelle Kesil (10:02)
    Absolutely. And you mentioned about your first investment. How has that expanded? Are there other investments in your portfolio right now?

    Vanessa Macey (10:47)
    Yeah, I have a, excuse me, I have a duplex that I bought after that. ⁓ The, there was a duplex and that’s another long-term rental, but I felt like that one was…

    a step up because it’s much newer. My first one was built in 1984. Not that you can’t renovate them to look great but then this one was built in 2019. I do plan to purchase another one after I help a couple of other investors first because I I don’t want to just

    Focus on my investments. I’m going to help other people and then that helps me fund my investment properties that I purchased myself. ⁓ so this year I’m just focusing on helping as many other investors as I can. ⁓ typically I do long term. I am going to probably dabble into midterm. ⁓

    getting some midterm furnished units ready. I’m listing some for my clients and furnished units so, ⁓ but I need to learn more about like the short term industry. So that’s something that I’m trying to learn right now is the short term midterm rental industry. But as far as getting them ready, selling them, listing them, that’s something that I’m working on right now.

    Michelle Kesil (12:09)
    Awesome. And what are you most focused on solving or scaling to next?

    Vanessa Macey (12:18)
    Yeah, so exactly that. Learning more about furnished units, midterm, short term rental because that gives you higher cash flow. And a lot of people have a need for that higher cash flow and they don’t necessarily want to do a flip where they realize.

    just the big gain, the big capital gain, sometimes they want to hold on to the property a little longer and experience more higher cash flow than they would in a long-term rental. So I’m looking to scale to understand that business a lot more. It’s less predictable. It’s a little harder to get the data because it’s not just the multiple listing system and running comps and CMAs. You have to get the data a different way. And I want to be sure that I have the data that, hey, this is how

    many days you’re going to be able to have the rental for, this is how much you’ll probably be able to rent it for. Now when the season changes you might have less rental or your price might be more or I have to understand that market a little bit better so that’s something that I kind of want to move towards to be able to help people and also venture into it myself because typically ⁓ whatever I guide my clients towards is something that I would be open to do myself as well.

    Michelle Kesil (13:40)
    Yeah, amazing. And your investor clients, are these typically within the Dallas area or are they coming from, you know, all over?

    Vanessa Macey (13:51)
    Typically they are in the Dallas area and typically they are they are.

    like landlord long-term investors but I have worked with short-term investors. I’ve had people from back home in California purchase property here and then I help them like through video showing them reports going over reports because they’re not here and they’ll fly in for like a day to kind of take a look at everything. Honestly that’s how I started here too so I know exactly. So my I was in California in 2019 and I was flu.

    here for a trip to kind of see what things look like. So I do the same thing for clients that are coming from California and want to purchase investment properties. So sometimes I would say like 20 % would be from California and it’s me video chatting or meeting up with them after they flew in or a combination of both.

    Michelle Kesil (14:53)
    Awesome. And are there any opportunities that you are excited for for 2026 that you are working on or looking to expand into?

    Vanessa Macey (15:45)
    Yes, I honestly just being here with you and being able to market and reach more people to help. I ⁓ really want to try to get that component of my business is being able to reach more people, being able to help more people and genuinely work from.

    know let God work through me so that way I make people feel comfortable in their goals and journeys that they have within themselves and just kind of have that person to trust. I just want to get myself out there a little bit more. ⁓

    That’s it. My main goal for 2026 is helping more people marketing better and making sure that I’m coming from a good place to align with what they want.

    Michelle Kesil (16:43)
    Awesome. As far as it goes for like networking and getting new leads and clients, is there a specific strategy that’s been helpful for you?

    Vanessa Macey (16:54)
    yeah in in person so ⁓ joining ⁓ a lot of the the ⁓ like the city business like each city here in the df in the dfw they have like a business commerce networking group so joining some of those and going to some of their events

    Social media is what I’m trying to shift my focus on to as well and just connecting with other professionals in the industry. I’ve got referrals from contractors in which I give them referrals as well. So just kind of networking business to business as well. ⁓ Business to business and networking groups and just I have newsletters.

    and ⁓ YouTube now just kind of ⁓ educational videos about real estate on YouTube is something that I’m trying this year as well.

    Michelle Kesil (17:58)
    Awesome. That’s exciting. And yeah, so cool that you’re able to connect with people in that way. Of course. So you mentioned that you have a like particular spreadsheet that’s been helpful for you. Can you expand on what that looks like?

    Vanessa Macey (18:04)
    Yeah, thank you.

    Yeah, okay, so now I’m gonna geek out a little bit because I love this spreadsheet. Essentially… ⁓

    I have different versions of it, but the main version is for long-term rentals. So there’s a section where you’re you’re put in your current rents then it’ll be a pro forma section where you can expand on what you think the rents can be or what they’ll be next year. So you can see what your actual ⁓ financials look like in the current state that the investment is in and what you project it to be in with the pro forma section. So there’s a section

    in the spreadsheet that’ll calculate that and it’s calculated on an annual basis and at the top you’ll have ⁓ like your ROI, your ⁓ gross rent multiplier. So once you put in all the data in the spreadsheet it automatically tells you that with your cap ⁓ rate, all of the financial numbers you want to see at the top and then you at the bottom there’s a key. So what interest rate do you think you’re gonna get because that’s gonna factor you’re gonna do a 30-year.

    ⁓ you know, so that’ll factor. So all the key would be at the bottom and then the calculation will be in the middle. So it’ll tell you essentially what your, ⁓ and then of course your tax rate, property taxes affect your cash flow here in Texas tremendously. So ⁓ once you punch it in and I try to make good estimates, I mean they’re just estimates, but there’s a way for you to get the tax rate to see what it currently appraised at so you can see what those

    expenses

    are you can estimate your expenses for the property like, am I just going to be paying insurance or will I be paying insurance and cutting the grass or will I have to pay the water bill because it’s not metered separately. So we’ll kind of make an educated estimate on all of the expenses and then once we plug all those keys in it’ll tell you like you’ll be getting $1,800 a year if you purchase this property but if you increase rent to this

    out you’ll be getting.

    $3,500 for the year. ⁓ Something like that. Or in a lot of cases sometimes it’s in parentheses because the number is negative. If you buy this property you’re going to lose money. And so I’m able to clearly tell people that with my spreadsheet and show them ⁓ what to expect and it sets clear expectations. Sometimes people say, I want this property anyway and at least even if it’s in parentheses in the negative because

    they see the pro forma is in the positive or they feel projected ⁓ projected equity or appreciation will be worth it so it’s just all about I love that spreadsheet because it’s that it helps me set clear expectations on what to expect ⁓ and then sometimes people perform better than my spreadsheet and then ⁓

    That’s great. There’s another version of the spreadsheet for flips and this could be used for the BRRR strategy as well because on the spreadsheet in addition to all of that, ⁓ of course you take out the rents but you replace that with a budget for renovation. So then you plug that number in and then there are some other ⁓ line items that’ll plug in for closing costs and transaction costs which will affect what your flip. ⁓

    total net profit is going to be. So I have a spreadsheet that will just kind of like account for as much as I can think of that’s going to be a part of your expenses and then see what it’s going to be. Of course with a flip I’m going to have to do an ARV so the after repair value will be estimated and that will be plugged in and I just love my spreadsheets because it’ll lay it all out and there’s no guesswork because sometimes investors are like I think I could see a profit and

    this kind of is like a tool to be like well here’s what I see based off of everything that I was able to research so ⁓ and I I do these for free ⁓ obviously if you are searching with me this is something that I’ll just run up the spreadsheet or you can you don’t we don’t have to put an offer of course we’re gonna do this before we put an offer and it usually just takes me like a day to kind of gather the information that estimate these numbers for you.

    Michelle Kesil (22:52)
    Amazing. That sounds like such a supportive tool for your clients.

    Vanessa Macey (22:56)
    Thank you.

    Michelle Kesil (22:58)
    Yes, of course. So before we wrap up here, if somebody wants to reach out, connect, learn more. Where can people find you and connect with you?

    Vanessa Macey (23:09)
    Yes, so I have a website and it’s caprei like the name of my company ⁓ I am on instagram VanessaSellsHomes2

    and I um you can you can just call me too. My phone number is still a California number 323-423-5539 and um yeah I think Instagram oh and then I’m on YouTube but that’s just like the educational videos um and it’s under CAP real estate investments and just the thing about CAP real estate so um CAP sounds like capital

    And I just thought it was great, but this is my personal company that I manage my properties under and that I work under for real estate. ⁓ But I’m brokered under Fifth Stream Realty, but Cap ⁓ is actually my brother. My ⁓ brother’s initials. ⁓ Christopher Aaron Palmer, he passed away. So a lot of people don’t know. It’s like very sacred to me, the Cap. So I just thought it paired really good with real estate, his initials. But so.

    Sorry to just throw that in,

    Michelle Kesil (24:28)
    That’s beautiful, thank you for sharing your story. And yeah, thank you so much for coming on here.

    Vanessa Macey (24:35)
    Thank you, Michelle. I appreciate all of the questions and ⁓ being excited with me about my business. I love that and I appreciate what you do.

    Michelle Kesil (24:44)
    And for the listeners that are tuning in, you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We have more conversations with operators like Vanessa who are building real businesses. We will see you on the next episode.

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