Transforming Fear into Wealth: Julia’s Real Estate Success Story

Christian (00:01.467)
Hey everybody, welcome to the show. Today we have a special guest. name is Julia. She’s a smart, focused real estate investor who currently owns five properties, totaling 10 units. Julia, welcome to the show. Super excited to have you on so you can share some value to the audience today. And why don’t you just share the audience a little bit about your background and just how you got here.

Julia (00:22.438)
Well, thank you so much for having me today a little bit about me I started investing in real estate four years ago But if I’m being honest, the journey probably started even four years before that with a little bit of analysis paralysis and just that fear of taking the leap so how I really got started was I was working for an attorney at the time that was also having

built a house flipping business and being his assistant and in the car with him and listening to the podcasts and hearing him talk with the different kitchen cabinet people and all the logistics that went into that. I really got a front row education of, like, this is so cool. And I was learning through his experience so fast.

forward to the four years ago when I started investing in real estate. It was 2021, March. COVID was very much still a thing and everyone was like, Julia, what the heck are you doing? You’re competing against cash offers and you know, it’s really not the time to buy. The market’s going to crash and there’s always going to be that level of noise. But my instinct and my intuition was like, no, this is something that I really want to do. So I just stuck with it and I bought my first rental property.

It was a duplex and we can talk more about that but that was my my foot in the door and my 26th birthday present because I closed just a few days after my birthday. So it’s a big birthday present.

Christian (01:47.707)
Wow, wow. No, definitely that’s the best birthday present you could ask for right there. Yeah, an asset. Let’s talk about that. I mean, your first deal you said was a duplex. What led up to you getting that deal? Let’s talk about a little bit about some of the acquisition that was involved with that. And then now you can kind of phase that after you answer that question into now you obviously have five properties with 10 units, right? So you got a little bit of taste with the duplex. What made you want to scale from there?

Julia (02:17.442)
Absolutely. So how I got into this property to begin with was I was really looking at all of my options and there’s many barriers of entry into the real estate market, but something that my husband and I chose was house hacking. We realized that we were able to leverage our first time home buyer. We were able to put as little as 5 % down and the property had a tenant who is also still with us in that unit. It was a good, good transition. But, but yeah, so the house hacking

was what we chose to do to kind of get in there and with low money down. And that’s how we got started. And I guess I’ll also add, we were both working remotely because of COVID as well. So we had the flexibility to move. So we left Boston, Massachusetts to Rhode Island. And we just also really believed that the best way forward was to be boots on the ground for our first property. We did not want to invest out of state without really being there and immersing ourselves in the

market. But yeah, that’s how we got started.

Christian (03:21.147)
Yeah, that’s awesome. So how did you finance your other deals after that? And how has your approach changed now that you have more experience with the process overall?

Julia (03:32.792)
Sure, I it’s different and I can walk through each acquisition and now that we have built up a portfolio we have a lot more options. But when you’re first starting off you really don’t. So for instance, I wasn’t married at the time so I was able to use my first time homebuyer on the first property. It was a conventional mortgage and I saved up my 5 % down. The second property was a single family home and my husband was able to use his first time homebuyer and because it was a single family home

and a bit cheaper of a purchase price, he was able to put as little as 3 % down. And if you remember in the COVID years, these are rates that are in the 3 % mark. So we were able to really not have a super hefty down payment, especially with those first two acquisitions. For the third one, we were actually able to use a primary residence mortgage. So we were able to use 15 % down. And how we were funding these was we still have our W-2 jobs, but also

So just the compounding rent roll that we were earning as well as an additional form of income. So that was really how we were able to save. And then for the fourth property, this was an all cash buy. We used hard and private money for this and then later refinanced into like a DSCR loan.

And then lastly, the unit that we just closed on a four unit in December, we actually were able to take out an equity line of credit on that first home that I bought back in 2021 to help with the purchase price of that for the down payment.

Christian (05:12.017)
Wow, wow, sounds like you got obviously a lot of experience, right? Different deal structure. So I’m curious to know, you know, did you have a mentor that, you know, helps you kind of learn more different strategies on how to maneuver with taking down these deals? Or is this kind of just like, I’m learning on the fly. I’m just learning through experience. Why don’t you walk us through that?

Julia (05:32.116)
Absolutely. In the beginning, definitely learning on the fly. I didn’t even know that you could put as little as 5 % down had my mortgage lender told me otherwise. So once we figured that out and he was actually the one that said to Julia, like, just put that one in your name and then have Kevin use his first time home buyer. So we were able to really double end that, which was great. And I’m sorry, what was the second half of what you asked?

Christian (05:59.153)
Yeah, so I’m curious to know, I just forgot that, so we’ll edit that part out. yeah, I completely forgot that one. But as far as metrics and then buy box criteria, when you’re sourcing your properties and you’re saying, hey, I’m gonna take this deal down, do you have a specific buy box criteria that you and your husband are looking for? Do you base it off the state? Do you base it off, is it a duplex? Is it a triplex? What are you looking for?

Julia (06:05.341)
Ha ha!

Julia (06:29.142)
Absolutely our our criteria is mainly value add we’re always looking for something that we can get for under market value for the purchase price and then being able to to renovate it bring it up, you know to market standard rent and you know, Hopefully gain on the forced appreciation there I think something when it comes to buy boxes and especially in this market with interest rates so high and you cannot just solely rely on cash flow. Yes, it’s important, but there’s

many other factors that go into real estate and how you can build your wealth through real estate. So I like to play in the value add properties.

Christian (07:08.401)
I’m so glad you said this because a lot too many people are not talking about that, right? They’re painting this picture to where it’s like, you can just do this one option. It’s like, you’re going to be golden. It’s like, no, there’s, there’s other avenues you got to look out for, right? No matter what.

Julia (07:22.03)
Yeah, I mean and speaking through experience to insurance rates are through the roof right now and I think people are in accounting for it as much as they should in their miscellaneous You know costs when they’re really penciling out their numbers So if you’re only looking at cash flow, you’re gonna be in a little bit of trouble

Christian (07:28.433)
100 %

Christian (07:42.171)
Yeah, yeah, that’s an understatement for sure. So the properties that you have right now, are you managing them yourself? Are you working with a property manager? What does that look like for you as well?

Julia (07:46.123)
You

Julia (07:56.29)
So I took on the brave undertaking of self-managing the portfolio myself. Yes.

Christian (08:01.036)
wow, wow. Why is that?

Julia (08:05.528)
For all to start, mean…

Because we started with house hacking and we were living in our properties. I mean, it’s hard to hide that you’re the landlord when you’re, when you’re living in the property. So I, I truthfully fell into it by accident, but once I learned, you know, tenant relations, creating, you know, standard operating procedures and being really organized, I realized that we were able to save so much money if we were able to, you know, manage it ourselves. And when you spend the time to create these, you know, what I call my SOPs and you stick to them.

You are able to have a life manage your rentals and still have a full-time job and the biggest like needle mover for me is how much you get to save by not outsourcing and I’ll also add when you do things yourself and when you do shop around to see what things cost out on the market to outsource self-managing or some portions of renovation whatever it is you’ll have a really good understanding of the value of what you’re paying for and if someone’s trying to overcharge you or

Like you get what you pay for. having that expertise and the first hand experience, you’ll know if you’re paying the right price.

Christian (09:15.887)
No, 100%, I like that. eventually, let’s say you scale to over 20, 30 plus properties, will you eventually look into maybe transitioning that offer? Do you feel like with SOPs and the processes that you’ve really built in place with the existing properties you have now, do you feel like that could be duplicated no matter how much you from?

Julia (09:36.822)
I think it can.

I think yes and no. I think if we were to continue to grow our portfolio in Rhode Island, we have such a strong team there between handymen’s electricians, plumbers. I do think with just printing out my SOPs and handing it over to someone internally, I think we would be able to self manage it ourselves. Or if I were to hire like a virtual bookkeeper and keep it in house, you know, I think that would be fine. I mean, of course, if we were to scale to the West coast or somewhere that’s like really out of reach.

I think we would definitely need to hire a property manager, but we’re still within the bounds of which I feel comfortable that we would keep it in-house as long as possible.

Christian (10:20.081)
I love that. I love that. I love how you took the bulls by your horn and just said, you know what, I’m going to make my own process, right? That’s the way to do it. You know, I feel like so many people eventually when they get involved, you know, they get their foot in the door. They just want to pass the baton immediately onto somebody. And it’s like, wait, you know, if you ever tried to do it yourself, right? First to see where you can take it. But obviously everybody has a different, you know, risk appetite. So, but kudos to you for doing that. So what is your long-term vision, right? I mean, are you aiming to eventually grow to 50 units?

Julia (10:44.11)
Thank you.

Christian (10:49.573)
you know, a hundred properties, you know, what does that look like for you and your husband where you’re looking to take things?

Julia (10:56.994)
Yeah, I would love to grow as much as I can. I don’t have a set ceiling set for myself yet.

Yeah, well, we’ll see when the time comes as we keep growing. But no, this is something that I definitely want to do full time. I really do love it. There’s I mean, there’s times that are hard when you have, you know, a certain tenant conflict and you got to keep your cool and you have to make sure everything’s professional because there there really is high risk. But, you know, especially with the renovation that we have going on there, there’s a lot of things where it could feel really overwhelming. But at the end of the day, really

state has given me so much to my personal net worth and just letting me live a lifestyle that I don’t see how I would be able to have otherwise. So sky’s the limit. So we’ll see what number breaks me.

Christian (11:49.297)
Yeah, no, there’s no number that’s going to break you. That’s the mentality, right? Of course. So is there any creative strategies that you are currently exploring or have ideas on implementing? I’m curious to get your take in your opinion on seller financing, just any creative strategies that you may be looking to utilize at all.

Julia (11:54.766)
Right.

Julia (12:10.742)
Absolutely. mean, I can give you one example. mean, recently we were driving to our renovation and I saw this like abandoned house. It was like a really weird funky looking property. But I just did what anyone would do driving for dollars. I looked up the GIS map of the address to find the owner, called them directly and just pitched and said, hey, like I see the windows are boarded up. You know, can we make something happen here? So

I think just not being afraid to just pick up the phone and you’ll always hear about like creative financing strategies or call the owner like maybe you don’t have to use a bank or use other people’s money like yes all of those options are there and available and they’re things that I’ve leveraged in the past as well but I think sometimes just cut out the middleman and figure out who that owner is and and just put your name in the hat

Christian (13:06.929)
100%. I think sometimes a lot out there get information overload, right? And the biggest thing is just really taking action, right? Like you said, just picking up the phone. You’re gonna make mistakes, especially when you start and you just have to get used to it because it’s only gonna get you more comfortable. It’s only gonna iron and sharpen up your skills. And plus you just never know. mean, that one phone call that you make, you get that one deal, it could change your life, right? But you wouldn’t know unless you actually take the jump, right? So, but that’s awesome. I love that you’re, you know,

Julia (13:35.918)
Absolutely.

Christian (13:36.613)
doing, you know, driving for dollars. mean, that is something that anybody could get involved in. You know, just put a full tank of gas, 40 or 50 bucks, you’re off to the races. You never know what you can get out of that, right? Look for, you know, overgrown grass, boarded up windows, whatever it is and just make the call, right? So what’s something you wish more new investor? Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Julia (13:56.267)
Exactly, I mean.

Julia (14:02.474)
I just gonna add, I’ve even done direct mail campaigns and I think a piece of advice there would be, you know.

Don’t be afraid to like tell them that you are who you are. You don’t have to pretend to be this like big corporation or like hide behind that. I mean, when I do a direct mail campaign, I’m putting a picture of my husband, my dog, I’m your neighbor, I’m your friend. You know, I, this is a part of my daily walk where I pass your house and I like, you’ll get a response. I think just keep in mind, like people want to connect with people, just be yourself and you don’t have to, you know, hide behind this corporate veil that I feel like a

a lot of real estate investors will tell you, especially when you’re early on and just starting out. It’s like, just own it. I’m new, I’m here and I’m ready. So you can be creative and even with snail mail, good old snail mail can get you a response.

Christian (14:59.025)
100 % and I love the personal approach that you put in there, right? It picks your husband, picks your dog. It just makes them more relatable, right? You you’re a human being because a lot of times, like you said, you know, a lot of the people follow the corporate structure and it just looks very dry, right? It’s something that where someone sees it they’re like, I deal with this all the time. So it’s all about doing something different, right? Doing what other people are not doing and just implementing that. You never know where you can take it. Right? So that’s awesome. That’s amazing advice. What is something you wish?

you know, maybe more new investors understood before, you know, jumping into their first property or just getting involved in real estate in general, right? Whether they want to do wholesaling, innovations, fix and flips. There’s so many different avenues you can jump into inside of this, this game. So what is just something you wish more new investors understood before getting in?

Julia (15:50.892)
Yeah, I think new investors need to be a little more open minded something that I always like to preach is have your plan a B and C if your initial strategy is I want to be a long-term rental investor That’s great. And I hope it works out, but you’ll never know what’s gonna happen in a market So plan can this maybe turn into an Airbnb? Is there a hospital nearby and I can turn this into a midterm rental, you know, you want to have different

strategies and it’s not always going to be perfect but to have that plan A, B, and C just in case something goes wrong because I feel like a lot of times investors will try to put this square peg in a round hole and you’re just gonna be bleeding money you need to know when you need to change and pivot your strategy and it’s okay

Christian (16:41.051)
I love that. I love that. That’s in fact. Yep. Go ahead.

Julia (16:45.472)
No, and it’s okay. If you initially thought it was gonna be a long-term rental and something’s not working, put your pride and your ego aside. It’s gonna be okay. Just pivot.

Christian (16:57.905)
That’s right. That’s right. There’s always an exit strategy. There’s always a different plan that you can do, right? You just have to be, you just have to adapt, right? Be quick and move with urgency. That’s a big thing that, you know, I can give advice on as well, right? Time is not on your side, but you also have to be, just be proactive in what you’re doing and you’ll get some success. But Julia, I honestly wish we had more time together, but unfortunately we don’t. But for those that want to, you know, reach out to you,

or maybe have any opportunities to work with you. I’m not sure what that looks like for you. Why don’t you just share to the audience on what that looks like and just how they can find you.

Julia (17:33.248)
Absolutely. I wish we had more time too. This was fun. But for anyone that’s listening, you can reach me at The Wendy’s Real Estate on Instagram and you can contact me through the messenger there or shoot me an email.

Christian (17:46.235)
Beautiful, beautiful. We’ll definitely grab those links and we will drop those in the YouTube description guys so you know exactly where to reach out and find Julia. But Julia, it was an absolute pleasure having you on today. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day. I know you probably wanted to be hunting for more units, but you took the time to speak with me. So wishing you but the best here in your future endeavors for you and your husband and your family and all the best to you. Thank you so much.

Julia (18:12.962)
Thank you, Christian. Take care.

Christian (18:14.843)
Thank you. Well guys, I hope you enjoyed today’s episode as much as I did. And as always my friends, we will see you on the next episode. Take care.