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Show Summary
In this conversation, Brea Burger discusses the challenges of managing a project when team dynamics shift, emphasizing the need for adaptability and a strong support network. She shares her experience of pivoting roles within her team and the importance of finding reliable contractors to ensure project continuity.
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Brea Burger (00:00)
And for me, it was ⁓ when I took that job in tech in the Bay Area and it did not turn out to be ⁓ the type of job that I thought it was. And I felt really trapped. I felt extremely trapped in a job I had just taken.
in ⁓ a very expensive city to live in. did not have a lot of friends. ⁓
And I had moved, I had uprooted my life and I was like, you know what? As I’m learning more about real estate, it’s gonna provide me the freedom so that I don’t have to ever feel trapped again. And it has. I’ve changed jobs a couple of times since then and now I don’t have a nine to five because real estate has given me the financial freedom to be able to leave those types of jobs which just were not a good fit for my personality.Erika (02:22)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host Erika and today I’m excited to be chatting with Brea Burger. She’s been making serious moves in the real estate investing space. Brea, welcome to the show today. I’m glad to have you here.Brea Burger (02:38)
Yes, Erika, thank you for having me. Looking forward to talking real estate with you.Erika (02:43)
I think our listeners are going to have a lot to take away with ⁓ how you’ve scaled your business. you know, let’s start in first with your story. You know, people here aren’t familiar with your world. Can you share how you got into real estate and investing?Brea Burger (03:00)
Yes. So I always like to say I’m an accidental landlord, accidental investor. ⁓Both my teachers, both my parents were teachers growing up. ⁓ I never grew up with like that entrepreneurial mindset. ⁓ So I actually was a professor on the East Coast ⁓ in public health, had my dream job, loved it, and then got an opportunity to take a job in the Bay Area for a tech company. So I couldn’t let that opportunity pass. And in the meantime, I had purchased a house to live in and I was like, well, I just bought this thing.
what, like, I can’t sell it. What should I do with it? I guess I’ll rent it. Like, that’s a thing, right? So moved to the East Coast or moved to the West Coast, rented out my house. And I was like, I should read more about this, like being a land board, what does it entail? Like, how can I do this better? And along the way, I learned that that’s how the most millionaires are made in the in United States is through real estate investing.
So I gave myself six months to learn, bought another property in Pennsylvania, Duplex. It took me a year to renovate it. I fired contractors, fired property managers, really learned a lot of lessons on that property, ⁓ but it all wound up working out okay.
Then I scaled to about 20 units and between my day job, I was also running a statistical consulting company. I was also teaching online classes for a university. I was like, I cannot continue to do all of this by myself. So I had been talking about real estate incessantly to my family, to my brother-in-law and to my sister. And about two years in and around 20 units, they joined the company.
And now, since then, we have about 170 units and we are in five states.
Erika (04:57)
You know, that, you know, from that first flip to then, you know, moving on so much, was there like a moment in your journey that you knew this was going to be it?Brea Burger (05:08)
Yeah, there was. I always call these like the catalyst moment. ⁓ The moment, and everyone has these across their life. The moment that it’s like you’re at a fork in the road. You can choose this direction or you can choose this one.And for me, it was ⁓ when I took that job in tech in the Bay Area and it did not turn out to be ⁓ the type of job that I thought it was. And I felt really trapped. I felt extremely trapped in a job I had just taken.
in ⁓ a very expensive city to live in. did not have a lot of friends. ⁓
And I had moved, I had uprooted my life and I was like, you know what? As I’m learning more about real estate, it’s gonna provide me the freedom so that I don’t have to ever feel trapped again. And it has. I’ve changed jobs a couple of times since then and now I don’t have a nine to five because real estate has given me the financial freedom to be able to leave those types of jobs which just were not a good fit for my personality.
yeah, those catalysts.
moments where it’s just like wow this is this is going to give you the opportunity to do something big and amazing with your life.
Erika (07:11)
Absolutely. Along, you know, looking back on your journey, Brea, would you say there were, you know, certain things that you did, whether it was a system or adding certain people in your team that really allowed you to grow and scale?Brea Burger (07:25)
Yes, 100%. So real estate, can only go so far by yourself. At some point, if you want to go big, which I always had it in my mind’s eye that I was, I wasn’t going to do this, you know, only five units that wasn’t going to create any amount of change in my life. You’re going to have to partner. And I have a wonderful relationship with my family. I’m one of the lucky ones where I can trust them completely. ⁓ So I was able to bring in my sister to the company.I was able to bring in my brother-in-law and that was really what allowed us to scale because we can divide and conquer we have roles and responsibilities ⁓ Now instead of just being one person. I’m three right we’re three people We have a couple of VA’s too, and we’re continuing to expand the team But really those those partnerships with people you can trust you know They’re not gonna embezzle from you. You know that when they say they’re gonna do something. They’re gonna do it you can count on them Those are the people
you got to find if you really, if you want to scale, whether it be family or other people within your network. Those are relationships you want to start fostering.
Erika (08:35)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s interesting because, you know, I’ve had, you know, all different guests on the show. And, you know, when people talk about family and business, it’s either one view or the other that it was either the best thing or it was the worst thing that they could have done. So with with your experience, how have you, you know, been able to build a successful team? Like what what are the qualities that, know, you look for in someone?Brea Burger (09:04)
Yes, that is such a great question. And until you have awareness of what your own values are as a person, you’re not going to be able to attract those values and others. So one is integrity. ⁓ I view myself as a person of high integrity. I try and walk into every single relationship and conversation from a place of integrity and looking for that in people who I choose to partner with. My sister and brother-in-law are both those typesof people. ⁓ They’ve been, you know, through ⁓ just things in their lives that made them strong, made them gritty, ⁓ made them realize how, you know, how important integrity is and that’s how they show up. Communication, that’s a big one. ⁓
Being able to communicate, set boundaries, have clear expectations. Those have been lessons we have learned along the way. We didn’t just start out as like great team communicators. ⁓ Personality assessments have helped with that. Like how do we show up in a conversation? ⁓ And being ⁓ self-aware and aware of the other person and what they need and being able to communicate in a way that fits both of our styles. So that’s a big one.
Transparency, ⁓ owning when you’ve made a mistake. Hey, I did this. This did not work out how I thought it was, or I dropped the ball. This is how I’m gonna improve. This is how I’m gonna be showing up better, 1 % better every single day. That is definitely one of our core values, and we’re all working on that. ⁓
We look for people ⁓ who are in masterminds, who are doing the work, right? Because this is not an easy space to be in, real estate or entrepreneurship. You get beat up all the time. ⁓
So working with people ⁓ who are in those masterminds who are doing the work on themselves so that they can, again, continue to show up 1 % better. So those are really some key values that I have as a person. And then it’s reflected in my partnership with my sister and brother-in-law and some of the other strategic partnerships that we have.
Erika (11:50)
Yeah, and you know, I was thinking as you were outlining all those different aspects, you know, it’s not like family just because you’re family that you get a rubber stamp of approval. It’s, you know, you have to possess all those qualities.Brea Burger (12:04)
Yes, I love that, exactly. They were already showing up as those types of people. ⁓ And so it was an easy slide in when they were ready. I had been talking about it for quite a while. And they had young kiddos at the time and it just was not the right time. But when it was, it’s like, yeah, you already possess these qualities. ⁓ Let’s go do this. Let’s go big.Erika (12:17)
YeahYeah, and now you have properties in five different states now, right?
Brea Burger (12:36)
Yes, correct. ⁓ We have the majority of our portfolio in Pennsylvania, which is where I used to live. So I know that market very well. We have a little single family in Charlotte. We have a handful of properties in Nebraska, which is where my brother-in-law is from. So he knows that market very well and it intuitively made sense to start investing there. We are all in Colorado. So we started to build a portfolio here and ⁓ we have a house in Arizona, whichwhere we my sister and I grew up so we know that market very well.
Erika (13:12)
What are you noticing as some of the unique opportunities or challenges in the various locations?Brea Burger (13:24)
Whew, that’s a really, really great question. Cause every market is so different. And that’s one reason why we decided to build portfolios in different parts of the country ⁓ is for that diversification. So for example, our Pennsylvania market, our houses are all 1880s to 1920s, pre-asbestos era. But ⁓ you know, with those types of properties comes some challenges, some maintenance, some capex challenges.⁓ Yet the areas that we are in, we can have a unit rented within one to two weeks. ⁓ Easy turns, get it out there. Things rent very, very quickly.
Whereas in our southern Colorado market, we’re seeing a softening. We’re seeing our units sit a little bit longer, probably due to some of the economic uncertainty that’s a little more localized here. We’re talking to other investors in the area and it’s like, oh, this is weird, this is odd, you know, what’s happening. We start to speculate kind of game plan or troubleshoot. But you can see the, you have a positive thing with having a sizable portfolio in an area that rents very quickly.
to ⁓ another area where things have slowed down.
Our Midwest market in Nebraska, that is just steady Eddie. We’re not gonna see huge appreciation swings, but once we get tenants place, it’s like, it’s just crickets, it’s silent. Those are great properties that we want to have more of because it’s a lot less headaches, you know, as a landlord. But again, we have to have those cash flowing assets and you know, in one market in order to save to acquire these other type of assets, let’s say like in Nebraska that maybe at a higher price point,
They may not cash flow as well, but they sure don’t have a lot of problems and maintenance and issues with tenants. So it’s just kind of that diversification. And then some markets, better cash flow, invest there. And then you can take that money and invest in an area that may have higher appreciation. And then you can take that money and invest. So you’re kind of diversifying and playing this little weird hedge, hedge your bets.Erika (16:21)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And when it comes to, you know, having a diverse portfolio like yours, how are you sourcing those deals?Brea Burger (16:30)
Yeah, so it depends on the market.In Pennsylvania, we have some great property managers. I mean, we really see them as part of our team and they’re basically like friends slash family to us now at this point. ⁓ They have built some systems within their company where they are able to source deals. They have some internal, ⁓ you know, maintenance contractors, so they’re able to manage the rehab from end to end. So whenever we’re ready to buy, it’s like, hey, here’s our buy box. They’ll go and win a deal like that.
pops up for them, we are usually able to take it down.
In Southern Colorado, we use a lot of wholesalers and brokers. So we’re on a lot of lists and as they pop up and look good and we’re ready to buy, we source deals that way. We source deals through our networks. Hey, do you know of anyone who wants to sell a property? So right now I’m actually talking to a couple of owners directly just through referrals through our networks of, oh yeah, I work for this guy and he’s ready to sell. You should talk to him. And then MLS.
put an offer on a property that popped on the MLS. I don’t know if we’re gonna get it, but we’re still finding deals that way as well. So through your network, through wholesalers, MLS are all good places to keep looking for deals.
Erika (17:54)
and it’s nice to have so many different ways to find those opportunities.Brea Burger (18:00)
Yes, yes, exactly. Where we’re not constrained to one market to only source the deal one type of way depending on what is happening there.Erika (18:09)
Yeah, and as I’m sure you know, you know that diversification is good because there’s going to be a moment where something goes sideways. Maybe a deal falls through. Maybe you have to pivot fast. Bree, can you share one of those defining moments on your journey?Brea Burger (18:27)
Yes, I can. There are so many. Let’s see, which one do I want to pick? ⁓ So we had… ⁓partnership that just wasn’t working out and that’s okay. But the role that that person was in and the partnership was more like a boots on the ground person. And because we decided to part ways, now we had to pivot quickly and either be the boots on the ground ourselves or find someone else who could step into that role. So what we essentially did was we, ⁓ my sister, brother-in-law and I, we all took weeks rotating being on site.
And then we found a really great contractor to work with at the time who was willing to take on more of that project management role. So he bit out his scope. But as other things came up, like for example, sprinkler mitigation, which he couldn’t do as a GC. We had to hire a separate company to do that. He helped with coordinating those things and we didn’t have to be on site as often. So, you know.
When it comes to pivoting, it’s like you got to have the right team around you because again, you can’t do it all yourself. ⁓ And if if a fire happens or a partnership ends or anything along those lines, it’s like who else is on your team that can help you cover those bases? And then what resources in your network can you tap into to find people as a more permanent solution? So ⁓ and that’s how we found our GC was actually through a property management company at the time. We’ve leveraged that relationship to see if he wanted to
do more than just like handyman work. And he did a phenomenal job on that project and we’re hoping to continue that relationship with him and have him work on some bigger projects for us.
Erika (20:17)
That’s exciting. Well, speaking of bigger projects, Brea, what would you say is on the horizon right now for you?Brea Burger (20:24)
Yeah, yeah, so we are working on identifying…opportunities to buy properties in this like 20 to 60 units space. I talked to a few friends of mine who are in a mastermind called Go Abundance and we talk about, these are really like these wealth building opportunities where they’re too small to really syndicate. So you’re not competing with the syndicators. Like a syndicator isn’t gonna touch a 20 unit. Like.
The juice isn’t worth the squeeze on those. They’re going after much bigger stuff. ⁓ And your baby investor is not in that space yet. And so we’re looking for these types of properties where it’s like we can own more of it. We don’t have to give a lot of it away like a syndication and that wealth doesn’t realize until you actually sell the asset. But rather, hey, can we find these? Can we find, you know, maybe some baby boomers who have held them for a couple of decades that want to sell their finance?
want that mailbox money, can we bring in a JV partner ⁓ and then we’re able to own that and really have those wealth generating properties that we can hold for decades to come or as it makes sense. So that’s really the space that we’re looking to elevate and play in next.
Erika (21:46)
exciting. Well, Brea, if someone listening here wants to reach out, connect, collaborate, or you know, maybe they think they have, you know, a property that’s in alignment with what you’re looking for, what’s the best way for them to reach you?Brea Burger (22:00)
Yeah, ⁓ I’m on Instagram, so people can follow me. My handle is @brea_reiforfi. So BREA_REIFORFI, real estate investing for financial independence.Erika (22:18)
Well, Brea, it was so awesome having you on the show today, sharing your story and your expertise. And I just love the energy that you’re bringing to the space,Brea Burger (22:28)
Yeah, thank you. It was so fun to be here. I could talk about real estate all day. So it’s fun stuff. Yeah, thank you.Erika (22:34)
Yes, keep it up, Brea.And for our listeners, if you enjoyed this episode and got value from it, make sure that you’re subscribed to the Real Estate Pros podcast. We’ve got more conversations coming up with experts like Brea, who are out there building fantastic real estate businesses. We’ll see you on the next episode.
