The Real Estate Investing Platform Built to Analyze Deals Faster

Denisse Szmigiel (00:00)
So being more powerful, having that ⁓ that I’m calling it intel, intelligence, right? That that data in your in your in your back pocket ⁓ to be able to

quickly negotiate or back off it. Don’t waste time. Move on to the next thing. Don’t just sit there and have had analysis by paralysis. ⁓ so yeah, analyze it and and and go for it. And if it doesn’t, if the purchase price right that they’re all that they’re asking for doesn’t make sense, hey, be smarter and give them a number that’s not that far off.

Michelle Kesil (02:03)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by somebody I’m looking forward to chatting with, Denisse. Denisse Szmigiel, who is an engineer, real estate investor, strategist, and founder of TinkerDeal, a platform built to help investors find smarter real estate opportunities faster. So excited to have you here today, Denisse.

Denisse Szmigiel (02:29)
Thank you for having me, Michelle. Looking forward to talking to you.

Michelle Kesil (02:32)
Yeah, I’m looking forward to hearing more about TinkerDeal, so let’s dive in. First off, for those new to your world, can you share what your main focus is these days?

Denisse Szmigiel (02:46)
These days, just like everybody else, right? It’s hard to get ⁓ we’re trying to find more deals, right? Something that’ll make us grow wealth. ⁓ so it’s it’s hard with the given the economy and and deals out there, right? there’s not a whole lot of really good deals out there. There’s not a whole lot of buyers of demand, it’s not really too much there. ⁓ so here’s an opportunity to when we do find those deals, you know, some some properties are going dropping price. So let’s find those. And and if we’re able to

⁓ invest on those right now and kind of hand on to those those properties ⁓ that may not cash flow or may cash flow a little bit perhaps right now so that in I don’t know I don’t have the crystal ball but in like a year or two perhaps maybe it’ll grow into more. But of course ⁓ there’s that tax write-off there’s all the benefits that we can do but ⁓ so the idea is not to lose but if ⁓ this tool or any other tool right that we’re using some of us use calculators and you know ⁓ spreadsheets and so on.

But sometimes the speed of the deal, right? So we gotta find those deals fast. And what are the best deals out there? Those do go fast. So whenever there’s a deal there they they don’t sit there. Yeah.

Michelle Kesil (03:55)
Awesome. And can you expand more on TinkerDeal and everything that it offers?

Denisse Szmigiel (04:03)
Absolutely. ⁓ so the best way to explain it is it’s a platform that puts everybody together. The whole inve when I say everybody, I’m talking about the investor community. ⁓ that’s somebody that’s ⁓ you know, somebody that owns properties or that’s looking to get into the the owning of of properties or flipping or anything that has to do with real estate, right? Trying to put in money and and and purchase something, whether it’s to flip it or turn it around.

Or it could be also be with you know finding the deals, finding how to calculate those those deals that make me money. ⁓ so whether it’s long term or short term. ⁓ we also have the ⁓ off market, right? Those wholesalers, you can also put in the the properties here because we don’t have a platform that ⁓ everybody comes into one space, right? The off market and on market. So you got the off-market deals, so we can all see them.

you have the on market, right? That that’s that’s on MLS and so on with realtors.

So this also connects or you can import the data in from MLS in here, analyze them too, because there are still deals out there on the market. So it’s looking at both. So we’re serving the ⁓ so if I’m the investor, I don’t want to go to 10 different you know platforms and emails that I get from wholesalers and all that kind of stuff, right? It’s time consuming. It’s all over the place dealing with so many p differ

I’m also, you know, a lot of these investors, if you think about it, they don’t have time. Right. So ⁓ you know, these are the investors that don’t have have the money, just want to park their money somewhere. And maybe they don’t, you know, they just want one one stop shop place. Just give me, find me the deal. And so, and then wholesales are the same thing, right? Like they’re going all over the place, going in a Facebook marketplace, for you know you know, like the groups, sending out text messages, joining all these things, and just all over the place to market it. There’s certain ways to do it carefully and so on.

And the same thing with realtors, right? You go to MLS, but that doesn’t stop there. They also are going the same all over the place, too. ⁓ and then you also have ⁓ the the the vendors as well. So when you are in the community, you also are looking for the HVAC app, who are the trusted electricians, who are the trusted plumbers out there. So I I wanna go into one place where I can find my deal, analyze it, does it still make and and once I own it, does it does it cash flow, does it make sense? ⁓

How much should I rent it for? You can look it up there too, instead of paying for another subscription, right? Say RentCast or Rentometer, whatever other tool, it’s embedded already embedded into Rentometer. ⁓ in in here as well. ⁓ so it’s it’s supposed to be like a one-stop shop and it’s it’s constantly evolving as well. As ⁓ as I make it, because I as I’m an investor myself, right? And I know a lot about ⁓ and I’m also a realtor as well. So I understand.

the edu I’m educated on it and I’ve taken a lot of the wholesale or off market training as well. So I I’m pretty well rounded on what everybody needs ’cause I’m one, two on all of them. So I’m not afraid of all of them. So I I try to build a platform that I it’s useful for me, right? If it’s gonna be useful for me, it’s gonna be useful for everybody. Does that make sense?

Michelle Kesil (07:56)
Of course. And what do you feel have been some of the main keys that have allowed your business to be able to grow and run successfully?

Denisse Szmigiel (08:07)
Some of the keys have been useful. ⁓ I I think once once people know how to use it and get in it, it it’s ⁓ you get addicted to it. It’s it’s really so easy to get on it. I mean, you know, I’ve heard people going in the middle of the night just checking it out. I’m on it right now. ⁓ so just some of the keys to success are just using it, knowing how to use it, the speed of it is amazing. ⁓ and then what’s gonna be amazing is once we get even more and more

of the community involved, ⁓ it’s it’s gonna be even more powerful as well. Not just the data, but the you know, the the usability of it, the feedback, which I can talk about it later. But yeah.

Michelle Kesil (08:48)
Yeah, go ahead and expand into that now. Okay.

Denisse Szmigiel (08:50)
Okay.

So there is a pretty interesting feature that I thought, for example, if you go to I’m just gonna pick on the most popular platforms, right? Realtor.com or Zillow and the on market and ⁓ just because they’re just the most popular people don’t know about them because they’re easy to use. So you look for a property, ⁓ put a zip code or whatever it is for the map or whatever, great. But now what if somebody already found did some research on it, right?

And they found out that there is ⁓ I don’t know, roofing issues in that property or the foundation issues, or float issues, whatever it is, right? The next person is doing the same research and finding the same issues. So wasting money and time. So what if if I go in there and I find this property and I go through the inspection due diligence and so on and find all these deals say that that it’s a has a it needs a roof placing, for example. Maybe I don’t have the funds or it doesn’t make sense for me to do it, whatever it is.

But I can make a comment in that property and say, I already whatever however I found out, it doesn’t matter, right? Whether I did an inspection or I called the realtor or the wholesale, whoever’s putting out this deal, ⁓ it needs a roof. So you can make that comment or maybe a positive one. this is a cash flowing deal. Maybe it doesn’t make sense for me, but it makes sense for somebody else.

So you can tag it, right, and make comments on the property. So that the next person, say you, Michelle, like you go in there tomorrow.

And and you do a search and you find a one, two, three Main Street, and it says, ⁓ this is ⁓ you know, somebody else doesn’t want it, but it has a roofing issue and hey, I know my brother is a roofer, I know, you know. So that may that deal might make sense for you. And that’s great. So like I’m not afraid of that deal. So you go on and on. And then we we make each other like we make feedback, we put feedback on each other’s properties and findings. So I thought that was ⁓ that’s something I would have loved to have seen around. It doesn’t happen anywhere.

Right, not just you find the deals and calculate it. Yeah, there’s also tons of calculators out there. But that community feedback as we go along, I think that they’ll be very valuable. Yeah.

Michelle Kesil (11:31)
Yeah, absolutely. And what would you say makes TinkerDeal different from competitors or other platforms out there?

Denisse Szmigiel (11:44)
⁓ I think it’s built for ⁓ by an investor for investors. ⁓ and a lot of the tools ⁓ well you know just bring it back to the community aspect feedback, but at the same time, it’s constantly evolving. So if you look at like for example, you know, Realtor Ecommerce Yellow or or there’s other ones out there, calculators, similar ones, they haven’t changed. When was the last time you have seen them changed? I mean, there’s tons of new

you know, tools out there, new AI, Intel, all kinds of other tools out there. And they haven’t integrated any of that still. ⁓ so we’re coming in and bringing in the latest and greatest. As I’m finding into this, ⁓ you know, I’m an engineer, I love technology, I’m all over technology. So and feedback. I’m very open minded. So as I hear feedback from other people or new technology advancing, ⁓ we’re gonna change it. ⁓ you know, I wanna say within the next, you know, something’s

within a day, it’s it already has an enhancement. Sort of like a Tesla car, right? You buy the car and it just keeps improving itself ⁓ with the new technology. So that’s where we gotta be. So that’s that’s the future of this app. That’s where it’s

Michelle Kesil (12:52)
Awesome. And what are you most excited about when it comes to your app and platform?

Denisse Szmigiel (13:01)
really passionate to help people. ⁓ so growing wealth is is key for all of us. You know, whether whatever your goals are, whether it’s for for your next vacation or generational wealth, that’s that’s key, right? So I don’t want people to get into the bad deals. I I love to get people into invest into real estate, whatever strategy right they end up using. We all have different tools out there, but

Don’t just rely on your, you know, your your regular nine to five W-2. You should be investing. Or if you’re not an investor yet, because you don’t have the funds or whatever it is, ⁓ it’s a good way to start. So let’s ⁓ advertise into one place and bring in the people that want to invest as well. So put the two and two together, that marriage, right? The the people that are finding those deals and have them, and the people are looking for them. Put that marriage one together in one place, easy place to to use it. So I’m excited about.

that combination ⁓ and and partner with with really quick good key people as well and bring the community together. So I’m excited about that.

Michelle Kesil (14:03)
Yeah, absolutely. And what has been one of the biggest obstacles or challenges that you’ve overcome and had to learn from through this creation?

Denisse Szmigiel (14:16)
think bring think like putting the word out there ⁓ right now ⁓ we’re just starting out so trying to scale as fast as we can getting the word out that’s that’s that’s stuff but once it spreads out I think it’ll be it’ll be great. So it’s just showing people ⁓ little by little I you know it’s takes a minute because there’s just so much capability within one place. ⁓ another challenge I suppose is you know technology is changing very fast.

⁓ so adapting to it and just modifying it. So constantly modifying it to bring the best, ⁓ best tools for for the users. I think that’s that’s ⁓ that’s a to that’s a gonna be a challenge and I think it’s a good one. It’s a positive one. ⁓ making it better and better. But it’s it’s it’s it’s good. Yeah.

Michelle Kesil (15:40)
Awesome. And what is some of the main opportunities that investors gain from TinkerDeal?

Denisse Szmigiel (15:53)
The mean for investors it would be for them to quickly figure out, so if I have I find a property, whether it’s a single family, multifamily, whichever, right? ⁓ so I wanna see what the income of the property is. So sometimes we get the performer, right? Whether it’s from the ⁓ a wholesaler or a or other realtor. ⁓ so how do we trust that that’s the right number ⁓ to charge for the for income?

So you can quickly go in and and and find it there and at least look at the average. then you have to do some some some intel, right? Like is it do you and it shows you the low, the middle, and the high end. So depending on location, the the condition of the property and that and so on, you can make a determination which income should you use. And then cause you can maybe the performer that that the realtor, the wholesale or the owner gave you maybe way off.

So this gives you a good range of and and negotiating, right? So hey, like why ⁓ this this this particular property doesn’t make enough money ⁓ at this number. Even even if we adjust this number, still doesn’t make it doesn’t justify the market.

So being more powerful, having that ⁓ that I’m calling it intel, intelligence, right? That that data in your in your in your back pocket ⁓ to be able to

quickly negotiate or back off it. Don’t waste time. Move on to the next thing. Don’t just sit there and have had analysis by paralysis. ⁓ so yeah, analyze it and and and go for it. And if it doesn’t, if the purchase price right that they’re all that they’re asking for doesn’t make sense, hey, be smarter and give them a number that’s not that far off.

But it that makes sense. That’s fair. Because you’re if you I see it so many times people offering so numbers so way off that the deal breaks off, right?

But if you can come in closer, something that makes sense. Now you’re in the now you’re in the table. You can discuss, right? So that makes you know makes sense. So you don’t want to be too over you know overpay. You don’t want to underpay where you’re not they’re not gonna take you seriously either. So be somewhere in the in it somewhere that makes sense, right? But that that intel makes ⁓ it helps you out too and it tells you we within the ideal analyzer you can find that, or if you’re looking for properties, a massive table that yours is a

the app is able to figure that out, it it tells you that. But if not, you can analyze it and tweak it a little further if

Some property taxes as well that you can there’s a lot of calculations within there that you can either override or it helps you like figure it out as much as possible. Yeah. Does that make sense?

Michelle Kesil (18:35)
Yeah, absolutely. And what are some of the main analytics tools that you feel are like the most important to highlight for investors?

Denisse Szmigiel (18:49)
have ⁓ well cash flow at least for it depends on the people’s strategy, right? Like at least I’ll just speak for myself, you know. I I I care about a certain number, bottom line number, monthly cash flow that I want to have at the end of the day. ⁓ which I think many people do. So people use a cap rate, ⁓ which I you know, ⁓ you know, using the NOI and all that. And that’s great, but it doesn’t encompass the entire like cost.

You know, s if you’re gonna take out a mortgage, some of these calculations don’t ⁓ encompass that. ⁓ so I I wanted to have like a rough idea very quickly, what’s the what are all the expenses? If I’m gonna take out a loan, what are the ex what what is the potential interest rate? What’s the mortgage, what’s my monthly payment, what’s the insurance, what’s the HOA, property tax, you know, ⁓ property management, all those expenses, right? Estimated as

fast as best as I can. If I can override it, I if if I know some some way, some other information about it, great. Do it quick. And what’s the income as well? So I’m not just gonna take the number from that I got from the owner or whoever, right? I’m gonna also compare it, like I was talking about, with some kind of rental database that’s gonna give me a a good range. What should I use for that? Like whether I need to if I take on this property and which we see many times, ⁓

the landlords end up having tenants for ten, fifteen years and they haven’t increased their rent in forever and they’re still charging such a small amount, say a thousand dollars, but the rents in the area are like, you know, eighteen hundred dollars, ⁓ that’s fine. But the thing is that they’re selling the property ⁓ at a price that it would be eighteen hundred. It doesn’t cash flow at a thousand. So, you know, and and now you gotta come in, you’re gonna buy the property, now you’re gonna be the landlord

That’s gonna be you know, over ⁓ like being the bad guy in a way, taking over the property, you’re gonna have to increase, hey, tenants starting to mother, I’m the new landlord, I’m gonna charge you eight hundred dollars. That’s not gonna go so well, right? ⁓ or it you know, you might have to kick them out, you if the tenant might be upset, they might break something on purpose. There’s just so many things that could go wrong when you’re the new landlord, right? Coming in. ⁓

So that kind of thing. So in negotiating that like trying to figure out the strategy, how to take over that property, how to ⁓ take over that the numbers make sense. If I’m gonna take on this this this property that’s at a thousand dollars, fine, I gotta bring it up to par, but how do I do that? Or how do I negotiate so that we’re somewhat in between? I’m like, I have to take, you know, ⁓ what number makes sense? ⁓ to to figure that out. So yeah, so you have those ⁓

you have that. ⁓ there’s also a landlord section as well where if you already have a pl portfolio of properties and now I own them for a while, what’s the equity in it? Should I continue to own these properties? Or maybe I should perhaps ⁓ sell them, do a ten thirty one exchange. I’m not sure if if anybody knows what that is, right? That’s when you exchange quickly ⁓ a property, avoiding property tax, but you get another property in exchange of certain

There are certain rules. ⁓ but maybe another property then that cash flows more or that could make sense and I could use it based on the equity. I mean, there’s a million ways to do

You know, at the end of the day it’s still the investor, the landlord’s decision. But what can I see in there? There’s something called the ROE, Return On Equity, that you can use in there and it calculates you that. So you the landlord can go in and put in how much it bought the property for, what are they renting it for? what are the opportunities in there? and there is a metric in there, even if you don’t know some of these calculations, it it explains it to you. So you can go in there and

You know, sometimes you don’t may not need to need to take all these courses. You can just click on there’s a little section that quickly tries to explain what that formula is and what it means. So using especially using AI, some intel like, hey, yeah, ⁓ in in in reasonable words, and you can go into your favorite platform, ChatGPT, Claude or whatever you it is that you use and and see it as well. But it it keeps it organized all like, hey, property one, maybe you should try to sell it or think about it.

Or pay two cash flows, keep it, you know, keep it going. It’s it’s doing well. And there’s a metric for that. And so on. But yeah, those all those things makes you know are are pretty useful. At least I I’m I’m using them. So if it’s useful for them for me, I’m sure it’s useful for others. Yeah.

Michelle Kesil (23:24)
Perfect. Well, thank you so much for sharing all of that.

Before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you?

Denisse Szmigiel (23:34)
You can reach out to ⁓ tinkerdeal.com. ⁓ I also have my own website, denisseszmigiel.com I know that’s a rough name, D-E-N-I-S-S-E. S Z M I G I E L dot com. And you can reach out to me there. Thank you so much.

Michelle Kesil (23:52)
Yeah. Really appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.

Denisse Szmigiel (23:55)
You’re welcome. Thank you for having me. Mm-hmm.

Michelle Kesil (23:57)
Of course. And for those tuning into the show, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We have more conversations with operators like Denisse who are building real businesses. And we’ll see you on the next episode.