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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, Marlene Newlon shares her inspiring journey in real estate, starting from her humble beginnings living in her car to becoming a successful entrepreneur. She discusses the importance of resilience, the lessons learned from her failures, and her passion for helping senior citizens find affordable housing. Marlene emphasizes the significance of setting goals, staying informed about regulations, and the value of community support in the real estate business.
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Marlene Newlon (00:00)
I was 17 and living in my car. I did have a job as a bookkeeper. I was able to graduate high school early because I knew I was living in my car and needed to make money. And I’m trying to figure out what am I going to do because I can’t afford rent and minimum wage was like $2 an hour and it doesn’t go very far. And I got this idea of buying a duplex.I didn’t have a good community people to encourage me, but I just kept thinking if I buy a duplex, the rent will pay the payment.
Kristen (02:03)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen and I’m here with Marlene Newlon who is a real estate entrepreneur at West Virginia. She has so much experience, has so many companies she’s, you know, keeping going at the same time. So I’m excited to get into it with her. Thanks for being here, Marlene.Marlene Newlon (02:20)
Thank you. I hope this is going to be interesting.Kristen (02:22)
I know it will. So you have been doing this since 1975. You have a lot of experience in the industry. Can you go back and tell us how you even got into it to begin with?Marlene Newlon (02:33)
Yeah, I think that’s a really good point.I was 17 and living in my car. I did have a job as a bookkeeper. I was able to graduate high school early because I knew I was living in my car and needed to make money. And I’m trying to figure out what am I going to do because I can’t afford rent and minimum wage was like $2 an hour and it doesn’t go very far. And I got this idea of buying a duplex.
I didn’t have a good community people to encourage me, but I just kept thinking if I buy a duplex, the rent will pay the payment.
And luckily my dad was still alive then and I talked to him about it. He was the only person that encouraged me. And I think you can’t listen to people that aren’t where you want to be because they’ll hold you back. That’s really important. But he was still alive at the time and he actually died before the closing.
Kristen (03:18)
great.Marlene Newlon (03:26)
But ⁓ I did have him to talk to and he backed me up and I bought the house. And since I already had two years experience at my job, believe it or not, I was able to get a loan. And I had the down payment that helped too.Kristen (03:38)
And then you just kind of went off from there, but I think that’s a good point that Sometimes it gets confusing because so manyhave opinions and their opinion isn’t necessarily Grounded and something that’s useful for you So it was great that you had your dad on your team with that So how did you kind of go about and build all these different businesses and get into different aspects of real estate?
Marlene Newlon (04:49)
That’s a good story too. ⁓ With the duplex, I had an apartment ⁓ downstairs, so I had three. And I bought some more real estate and I was doing really good. And then I got this great idea to buy a video biz franchise. And you’re too young to remember that, but I mortgaged that duplex to get the money to buy this franchise. I opened up stores doing fantastic and the market just died.And then on top of that, and people don’t believe me when I say this, the IRS took all my money out of my checking account. My one and only checking account, I was a sole proprietor. And I was like,
I don’t owe this. I can’t owe more payroll tax than I had in payroll. But they never did understand what I was saying. They cleaned out my checking account, left me with a toddler and no place to live because they took everything. And I’m like,
And so anyhow, I went from being a millionaire at 28 to being like Donald Trump, completely broke, because he had the same time period, he went totally broke. And so after that, you know, since I was poor, I was able to go to college for free, because I could get financial aid. And I couldn’t do that when I was younger, because they go on your parents’ income to get financial aid. My parents wouldn’t help.
So I couldn’t go to college, but once I got broke, I got a free college education, almost free. I had $60,000 in loans, but I went to school and got a master’s and I wasn’t making any money. You know, it’s nice to make money. So about 1990, I listened to Charles Givens and Carlton Sheets and all the guys, the gurus at the time. And the one takeaway I got was buy one house a year for 20 years.
Kristen (06:08)
Hey.Yeah.
Marlene Newlon (06:31)
And then when you retire, could sell one house a year for 20 years with a 20 year mortgage. And I thought, that’s a good idea. So I started looking and looking and looking and didn’t find anything. And then all of a sudden, I remember it was July, I two houses in bottom of both. And then it kind of snowballed because after you get your first deal, you can do another one and another one. then there’s some, I’ve had months where I bought 50 properties.Kristen (06:34)
Mmm.Marlene Newlon (06:57)
And it just, you know, the more you do it, the easier it is. And once you’ve been completely broke and almost homeless, you know what it feels like. And it’s not as bad as you think. So you’re not as scared. It makes a big difference.Kristen (07:11)
Right.I think that’s such an important part because I think fear holds a lot of people back and they don’t play the tape all the way through. And it’s inspiring to have like your story and how you were so resilient and yeah, it didn’t ruin your life. You were able to pick yourself back up. What was your mindset kind of getting back into real estate when all of that with the video stories happened?
Marlene Newlon (07:37)
Well…In one of the buildings that I ended up getting foreclosed upon, I wrote myself a five-year lease and the bank honored it. So I didn’t get homeless and I wrote $200 a month rent and the bank accepted my rent every month. I had a place to live, but five years was up. I needed a place to live. And a close friend of mine put the mortgage in her name and let me pay the loan payments.
And I remarried. And my husband was from South America and they don’t have opportunities there like they have here. And you know, had a master’s degree too, so he was highly educated. But he was, we were trying to find a place to go and at that point we had two kids. You know, I had my one from my first marriage and then I had, you know, one with him and he’s trying to put us in university housing and I’m like, we don’t live in, let’s buy a house. He’s like, you can’t do that. Like sure we can.
So anyhow, we bought a house down the street and my friend put the mortgage in her name. And then he’s just like, so many opportunities, United States, he wanted to work all the time. He’d just work, work, work. Plus he’s teaching at the university and he’s doing all these other jobs. And I said, well, you know, we could go back into the real estate business, but you do get calls at three in the morning occasionally. He goes, that’s fine. I don’t care. you know, I’d much rather get a call at three o’clock in the morning.
Kristen (08:55)
Yeah.Marlene Newlon (08:59)
than all these other ways that you can make money. And he was doing everything. I he was mowing grass, he was cutting firewood, was anything you could think of to make money. He was just so enthusiastic to be in the United States with all the opportunities. And he would go do research and bring it to me to read and like explain it to him. You know, of course he was just learning English at the time, like the slang English, you know, the real English, you know, he knew the book English, but not the other kind of English.Kristen (09:27)
again.Marlene Newlon (10:02)
And I mean, you had to get foreclosure information out of a Charleston newspaper. But he would go to the library and look all this stuff up and bring it to me and say, what do think about this house? Or what do you think about that? And he believed me, he was like my biggest cheerleader. And together we just started buying houses and he didn’t mind the calls. And it just snowballed, it just really did.Kristen (10:29)
Wow, and then you were able to kind of expand and diversify within real estate, which is so impressive. ⁓ Talk about some of the other facets you’ve done like property management, development, talk about everything you’ve kind of done in this industry.Marlene Newlon (10:44)
Well, I was at a real estate seminar in another part of the state and I met someone that wanted to do real estate but wasn’t sure how to do it. And we ended up becoming partners and we still have ⁓ a business together. And he filed bankruptcy somewhere along the way and lost everything he had, but he still had the investment with me. So now he’s getting a check every month. He’s getting his investment back. And you know.He had nothing, you know, and he did it when he was older because he had retired. He had ended up going back to work because he lost all his money. And he was going to seminars and buying things and that he didn’t really understand. And at the time I would, and he’s really smart. He’s like a super genius and he’s doing these. He bought houses in Vegas. And I know you’re kind of young to remember this and he bought houses in Arizona and the market dropped. changed.
and he lost everything, like everything, had to go back to work. And, but yet our business was still going. It didn’t have any cash at the time, but now it’s making cash, so he’s getting money. So that was interesting. And it came from going to a real estate seminar and meeting. And then ⁓ we went to some seminars about tax sales. And at first I said, I will never make money off the backs of a poor person that can’t pay their taxes. I said, I just won’t do that. But then when I realized is a lot of times their houses that
people don’t want or vacant lots. The kids are in California, the property’s here, they don’t want to be bothered with it. You can’t get a loan on it because the house isn’t in too bad of shape. So nobody wants it, it sits empty, it becomes a blight on the neighborhood. Well, by me going in and buying it on a tax sale and bringing it back into operation, I’m doing people a favor. And it helps the community, it makes everything look good. Even if I buy a vacant lot and I keep it mowed.
I’m helping the community from not having that blight. So I got a different attitude and we did a lot of them for a while and we kind of stopped. The last couple years we’re doing a little more. The laws are changing in West Virginia now. You don’t get interest anymore. It used to be you got 10 % interest if the person redeemed. Now you don’t get anything. So you got to think about it lot harder because you have a lot of money tied up and things can go wrong. One time they didn’t.
Somebody did something wrong and I lost $20,000 and it took me about a year to get over that one. But you can’t let that hold you back because there’s so many hurdles. And like I said, it’s like playing Monopoly for real. You pull a chance card, you don’t know what it’s gonna say and you can’t let it stop you. You gotta keep going.
Kristen (13:14)
Yeah, and it’s so interesting. You’ve had such a long career in real estate where there’s been so many changes in technology and even just business types that you’ve seen, like with the videos and with the market up and down. I’m sure you’re definitely seeing somebody who weathers the storm through good markets, bad markets. What’s your perception on where we’re at right now?Marlene Newlon (13:38)
Well, West Virginia is different than most other places. And I listen to a lot of people in the real estate market and read a lot of books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and things like that, or even Donald Trump’s books I’ve read. It’s not the same here. So, you know, there’s opportunities around all the time.I would not go to Vegas or Arizona and buy property though. And one of the real estate gurus I listened to said, don’t buy anything more than 50 miles away from where you live. I think that’s a good rule. You need to be able to lay eyes on it. I see people buy stuff on eBay and then they relisted on eBay and they’ll go, ⁓ the pictures look good, but you you can’t rent it or it doesn’t meet codes. I have people call me all the time because our office is New Ray Realty.
Kristen (14:10)
Yeah.Marlene Newlon (14:25)
And they’ll call and they’ll say, hey, I’m in New York or California and I bought this or bought that and I want somebody to manage it. And you go look at it you’re like, you can’t manage that. It’s too bad. And there are a lot of codes and regulations and licenses that you have to have now that you didn’t have in 1975. You have a state license, you have a city license, then you have special taxes you have to pay and that all varies. I have a little business, another business in Pennsylvania too.Kristen (14:35)
Yeah.Marlene Newlon (14:53)
The laws are so different there. Like, I don’t really want to learn any other states right now. It’s just, it’s too much. Yeah, so I actually, you know, I have a CPA there that handles a lot of stuff. You know, here I do most of the taxes and everything myself because I stay on top of it. But I don’t want to learn any more new laws. I’m done.Kristen (14:57)
I can’t speak English.You it.
It’s a lot to keep track of and especially with the changes and staying on top of that, you really have to stay alert. You can’t just be passive because then you’ll probably run into a lot of mistakes.
Marlene Newlon (15:53)
It is.Well,
a lot of times I’ll talk to someone I’ll say, well, you know, you can’t really do that because you got to check this, this and this and I’ll argue with you. I’m like, why are you arguing with me? I’m just trying to help you. You can’t do that. That’s not legal. And it’s hard because you know, there’s not that many people here. There’s more. I’m in Grafton right now. I mean, I still have real estate in Morgantown and I’m from Morgantown. ⁓
Kristen (16:10)
Mmm, yeah.Marlene Newlon (16:30)
You have a lot more developers in Morgantown, a lot more competition in Morgantown. But you try to explain something to someone and they like they fight you on it. And I’m just telling you, you can’t do that or this is the way it’s done or maybe you should check that. But people that buy real estate in West Virginia from out of state, like, you know, you have to have inspections and you have to have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers andThere’s so many things, your grass has to be not more than so many inches or you’ll get fined. And in West Virginia, they will take your driver’s license if you don’t know your grass. I mean, there’s a lot of things you need to know. they’ll buy property and rent it and not follow the regulations that I have to follow. And that’s kind of upsetting. And then when you try to tell someone you can’t do that, they argue.
Kristen (17:22)
Yeah.right?
Marlene Newlon (17:26)
Well, I don’t make the laws, I just follow them.Kristen (17:29)
Yeah, it does get confusing because there’s a lot of information being thrown out and I do feel like it’s kind of hard to stay educated in this day and age because there’s so many ways to get information. So that’s a really interesting point. ⁓ I want to shift gears kind of because we’re getting a little bit towards the end. I want to talk about, I know that you have a passion where you really want to help senior citizens on fixed income by homes and I would love for you to talk a little bit more about that.Marlene Newlon (17:56)
We have a lot of tenants that have low incomes, I mean even low for West Virginia, but people that live on $1,000 or less a month and they’re trying to pay rent out of that.Well, there was a HUD program actually where they wanted to start taking the HUD payment and instead of paying rent, they were going to pay the senior citizens ⁓ house payment. Now, I don’t know what’s happening with all that because of the government changes, but if that would come through.
My idea was that the tiny homes would be great because you have to get it so that their payment can’t be more than 30 % of their income. And even with the HUD money, there’s still insurance and all these other things that you got to think about that they got to have. And I’m not sure they’ve even thought about all these programs because sometimes your homeowner’s insurance can be almost as much now.
as your house payment. I mean, it can get really high. And people don’t think they buy a house in a flood zone. And I did that, bought a cheap house, and I paid way more for flood insurance than I paid for anything else. And I had to have it because I had a bank loan. So those are the things you have to think about when you’re trying to see what could a senior citizen afford. And
it can’t be something with loft because most of them can’t do steps. So it’s got to be more or less handicap accessible and meet their needs and be at a payment that they can afford. So that’s what we’re working on right now.
I mentioned to you earlier, you also have to think about if it’s a tiny home, they’re still going to want to have Christmas dinner with their families. So where are they going to have that? So you’re going to have to have a community room and you don’t want them to have to have a lawnmower because where are they going to keep it? So how do we get the grass mowed? Where do you keep your Christmas tree? Where do you keep your bicycle? You know, your luggage, all the things. So there’s going to have to be storage somewhere on site where they can keep those personal items.
And can the parking lot be a parking lot or does it have to be at the door because someone’s trying to make a few steps to the front door. So there’s just a lot to think about in addition to can I do it for the price they can afford.
And it’s got to be maintenance free because they’re not going to get out there and paint their house every few years or do all the other things that a homeowner, you know, can do. If it’s senior citizen, I mean, you want to think maintenance free for 20 years. I mean, that’s my goal. So there’s a lot to think about and get it to come together. But that’s what I want to do just as like something that I want to do to give back to the community because I’ve been doing this for so long. And I know we won’t make any money.
But I want to do it. I just think it’ll be fun.
Kristen (20:51)
Yeah,that’s amazing. I think that it takes someone like you who’s so educated and who can think ahead on what the problems might be to really get it done. I think that’s incredible and I think it’s very needed as well. To kind of wrap up this conversation, I would love for you to talk about what’s a piece of advice you wish you learned earlier in your career that you could share with us today.
Marlene Newlon (21:18)
Well, I think I said this before, but.You don’t take advice from anybody that isn’t where you want to be. That’s the most important thing because everybody will say you can’t do that or that’s not a good idea or you know, come on, let’s go do this. And you’re like, no, I can’t. I have this thing I need to work on tomorrow and I can’t stay up all night because I have a goal. Now, the other thing that we did in our family is we had a big whiteboard. If you can even see, I have a whiteboard there and I have whiteboards in the office.
But ⁓ what we always do is we keep a big whiteboard with the goals on it. And when we started back into real estate, you know, back in the 90s, we had a big whiteboard and it had the goals. Every goal on that whiteboard we met. Every single goal. When it’s written down, you see it every day, you can do it. And then, like I said, don’t listen to negativity. If you think you can do it, you can do it. And you can break the goal into little pieces.
Today I’m going to do one thing. You know, this month I’m going to do this. But once you write your goals down, it becomes reality. And I think too, maybe saying a little, I don’t know if you want to call it a prayer or something like that, where you just thank the universe that you are where you are. Just to be thankful, even if the only thing you have is good health.
Be thankful for it. And I do think that when you say you’re thankful, you get more and more and more. It really seems that way for me.
Kristen (22:49)
way.Yeah, gratitude is so important and it really helps you see the bigger picture and yeah, just live a happier life for sure.
Marlene Newlon (22:59)
definitely more fun.Kristen (23:00)
Yeah, exactly. It makes life more fun.Marlene Newlon (23:02)
Yeah, and no matterhow stressed out you get about something, you just go fishing. Go take a walk and it’ll make you feel better. And then you read the goals.
Kristen (23:07)
Yeah.Yeah, I love that. think that’s very practical advice that a lot of people can benefit from. So please tell everybody where to find you.
Marlene Newlon (23:18)
We’re in downtown Grafton and Grafton is the home of Mother’s Day. Also, it was the hub of the B &O railroad station for over 50 years. All trains that came east came through Grafton. So we still have the B &O railroad station. And right now the old Willard Hotel is there. There are still rural landmarks as well as the Mother’s Day Shrine. And we’re right there. We’re right like a triangle, the B &O, New Ray Realty and the Mother’s Day Shrine in downtown Grafton. We have two stoplights.Kristen (23:46)
Amazing.Marlene Newlon (23:47)
So that’s where we are,but we really like it. And I was in Morgantown. I’m from Morgantown and Morgantown has gotten really big with West Virginia University and they’ve got a lot of developers and a lot of apartments, but I enjoy the slower pace here. And like you can go out on the streets here in the middle of the night naked and nobody would pay any attention. just, you know, they might get you a towel or a bathrobe, but you know, you would be safe.
Kristen (24:07)
Hahaha ⁓I didn’t think so.
Marlene Newlon (24:13)
It’s just like really, really safe and you don’t have to worry about things like working in towns. It’s safe, but it’s just not the same feeling you get. I mean, I can sit on the sidewalk, you know, on a bench in the middle of the night. Not a problem. It says you can walk your dog here and people are friendly. And if I want to see the building inspector, I can walk into his office. If I want to see the city manager, I can walk into his office. I just like that.Kristen (24:28)
Yeah, amazing.Yeah.
Marlene Newlon (24:40)
In Morgantown,it just doesn’t feel the same anymore. And so I’m turning into my mother is what I say. I’m going back to the way things used to be. Never thought you’d be that way, but it’s nice being a slower pace.
Kristen (24:55)
That’s awesome. Well, thank you so much for being here Marlene.Marlene Newlon (24:59)
Thank you, I really appreciate it, it’s been fun.Kristen (25:02)
Thank you everybody for listening. Hope you got some great inspiration for your own business. Maybe looking at things in a different way and taking some practical advice. So we will see you back next time.
