Why Real Estate Investors Become Cash Strapped—and How Flipping Fixes It

Flo Jacques (00:00)
Yes, yeah. So PadSplit is one of the companies that kinda do that, but they are spearheading this co-living thing. And ⁓ I even earlier this week I was in a space where they sponsored it and we’re talking about ⁓ doing more PadSplits here in the they started in like Metro Atlanta area and they’ve just gone all over the country now, more so along the east coast here. but they have a market here in ⁓ Raleigh, North Carolina as well. But one of the bigger things is ⁓ having this

Four-bedroom house that you can close up the living room, close up the walls, and build turn it into a six-bedroom home where you’re renting out each room for about $250 a week, right? Per room.

Quentin Edmonds (02:14)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. And y’all know I say this and I stand by it every time I say it. I have a fantastic.

Yes, it was me today. I’m super excited that we get to learn through her lens. Listen, she is a broker and an investor. She helps service investors and first-time home buyers. She’s looking for the opportunities and she sees the sing this the silver lining. So I’m excited. She has Fowler States Realty Group and is working out the platform of XP Realty. And I’m excited. I’m excited for us to really dive in and glean.

Her experience. I want to introduce you all to Miss Flo Jacques Miss Flo, how are you doing today, ma’am?

Flo Jacques (03:02)
Hey, hey. Good morning. Hello. I’m so excited to ⁓ join you guys here on the Investor Fuel podcast. So yeah, thank you for that amazing introduction. I appreciate it.

Quentin Edmonds (03:12)
Absolutely. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Well, listen, I’m glad you’re here. I think time is our most precious commodity. So I value the fact that you gave us some of your time. So I am the type I like to dive right in. I would love for you to tell the people what’s your main focus these days. If you don’t mind, give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into the space that you’re in and the market you’re operating in. So I know I just threw three questions at you, but I know you can handle it. So Madea, you got the floor, man.

Flo Jacques (03:41)
Yeah. So ⁓ I live in Raleigh Durham, North Carolina. It’s the city of Raleigh. but we s we call it Raleigh Durham, the Triangle Area. So if you’re from North Carolina, you know. and so I had started my first I consider my first home to be my first investment property because home ownership is an investment. Like there’s just no way around it. We’re not

Just because it’s not being used as a rental does not mean that it’s not an investment property. You are investing in the upkeep, the maintenance, you know, everything. And it will certainly yield you prof ⁓ a profit depending on when you sell it. I gotta say depends because the current market, gotta be careful. ⁓ so yeah, I was blessed and fortunate where God aligned things for me to purchase my very first home. ⁓

Really nine months right after graduating college. And so I purchased my first home in 2021 in Durham, North Carolina. So that tells you a little bit about my age, right? And so I purchased that first town home and I lived in it for about two years and six months. And ⁓ I think during that experience, I was already into like financial literacy, building wealth, passive income. I’d become a licensed real estate agent.

within that time period as well. ⁓ I’ve always wanted multiple streams of income. So that kind of was like the beginning of, you know, you know, aspirations for real estate and thinking about the future. ⁓ I had sold that home in 2024 and ⁓ walked away with about $70,000 of profit. I

purchased this condo that I live in now here in Carey, North Carolina, a little suburban between Raleigh and Durham. ⁓ And then that same year, about four months later, I purchased my first two investment properties. So like actual like, you know, rentals, flips, that sort of stuff. So that’s how I got started.

Quentin Edmonds (05:45)
Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for telling us about the journey. ⁓ what is it that you’re focused on now? Like where you are now? What’s your lane right now, my dear?

Flo Jacques (05:55)
Yeah, so currently I am strictly focused on flips, you know, so my first two investment properties I purchased to ⁓ keep, you know, my intention was to, you know, what we call the burr method, right? Buy, renovate, rent, refinance, repeat, you know. And so I went that path for those first two.

But and I thought I would continue because you know there’s if you’re looking to build a real estate investment portfolio and you’re looking to, you know, plan your retirement and have these assets, you’re not necessarily trying to flip. You’re not trying to sell them, you know, you want to keep them. However, one thing that I’ve learned in the world of investing is that you become cash strapped when all of your money is tied up in real estate, you know. And so I thought, yeah, currently in this season I need to just flip, you know.

Acquire them, make beautiful and let go walk away repeating, you know.

Quentin Edmonds (06:53)
Yes, ma’am. No, thank you. Thank you so much, Flo, for just taking us on your personal journey. We glean from each other’s journey, right? So I love it. Thank you so much for sharing. So I have a saying destiny has no wasted moments. Meaning nothing’s random. We are building momentum on the people we are through every leg of the journey. So, Flo, I would love to know what has the journey taught you about yourself.

Has it taught you discipline, resilience? Has it increased your tenacity? What has the journey revealed to you about you?

Flo Jacques (08:13)
Yeah, that’s a good question. ⁓ I definitely would say that i i I’ve definitely seen myself a lot more

resilient. ⁓ it’s definitely taught me patience, right? Because you know, you think you going you’re going into a project and it’s only gonna take three months, four months, no more than that. And then you realize a bunch of foolishness happened, whether it’s city inspections, permits, contractors, subs, you know, the work not being done right. Like you learn so much dealing with other people and ⁓ you know, giving grace, being patient, being understanding. So

Patience is one of them. It’s definitely ⁓ and and patience under pressure because I mean, I don’t know about y’all, but when you’re using hard money loans, even private money loans, depending on the financing terms, you have monthly plant payment obligations and interest accruing. And so each month that goes by, we really we say time is money. And some people don’t even believe time is money because time is more valuable than money, but time is truly money.

in this situation. Every day that goes by is accrued interest ⁓ significantly. So yeah, I think patience is one of the things that I’ve learned a lot more. ⁓ it’s building it more within me. And I my ability to fall down and get back up too, that’s a huge one because like I said, like sometimes if you don’t do it right. And you learn so many lessons in every deal anyway, but one thing that’s inevitable is going over budget. And

In going over budget, sometimes the deal can go so sideways and we s I still recovered, but it can make you feel like, you know what, I’m not doing this for another. I I’m done. I’m done. I’m never doing this again. Right. and I literally just gave me like six months to recover and I was right back up again looking for the next deals. Yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (10:03)
Yes, sir. Yeah. Yeah. Love

it. Thank you, Flo. Thank you for that reflective answer. I always say at the center of all of our business is us, the business owner. And so I I appreciate that reflective answer because the journey teaches you about yourself. And and a lot of times what that leads to is putting better systems into place. Right. Absolutely. I I would love to know what’s one operational thing.

you’ve put into place, let’s say the last two years, that’s made the biggest difference in how you run your business and run your deals.

Flo Jacques (10:35)
Hmm, good question. I mean, operation-wise, ⁓ I would probably say my spreadsheets, you know, because there’s always gonna be something that you miss in that first walkthrough, right? And and even that second walkthrough, if you don’t have a system in place to ensure that you’ve captured

were all lights working? How old is the ⁓ electric panel? You know, how is there a water heater? Like what’s the age of the roof? Like if you don’t capture, was there a meter on site? I mean, I think there was a scenario where I had an investor client of mine ⁓ purchase a investment property where we didn’t realize that there was no meter, electrical meter on the property.

Until after closing, you know, you were like, my gosh. Now having to go through the and then I mean it told you a lot about the neighborhood too, it was stolen, blah blah blah. You know, like you know, you just it without having like these things in place to make sure you capture everything because sometimes you’re there and you’re you’re so deep in it, you’re only looking at the walls, you’re only looking at the windows, you’re only seeing what’s in front of you. ⁓ but if you have that.

Quentin Edmonds (11:34)
Yeah, wow.

Flo Jacques (11:57)
checklist you’re like okay meter present okay roof is looks okay you know like you’re able to capture everything and you don’t walk away thinking like I forgot to look at that you know yeah yeah

Quentin Edmonds (12:08)
Yep. No, thank you. Again, thank you for that answer. Thank you for that reflective answer. I appreciate it. That I think that gives a lot of people insight on different things to look for. So that spreadsheet that you have is ultimately going to save you some time and money in the long run. And so I appreciate you talking about that part of your operations for sure. So what’s next for you, ma’am? Like what’s the next real goal? What are you looking to solve at scale next?

Flo Jacques (13:08)
Yeah. next. Honestly, I would like to transition into commercial real estate investing. You know? Yeah. I don’t necessarily have I thought I wanted to acquire 50, 100 ⁓ single family duplexes, whatever, you know, until I was like, wait a second, I want to scale. I am working my way through wealth.

and I wanna do it much quicker and faster than, you know, the more painful way, you know. so I aspire to have, you know, the commercial condos, ⁓ the industrial stuff. Like, and so I’ve been actually tuning into some podcasts. I think that’s the very first place to always start, right? Because that’s where I started when I wanted to

Invest in real estate, I started just listening to information and it’s a completely different world. You know, I’m a real estate broker as well. And so I’m more licensed for real for residential and commercial, but they’re very different world, let alone the space of investing into it, being the investor and calculating how to determine rent. And, you know, they stay on the market a lot longer.

You know, so there’s just a lot more, but yeah, commercial is really where I’m ⁓ looking to pivot to.

Quentin Edmonds (14:28)
Absolutely. I love it. I love the vision. I love it. I love it. So let me talk to you about relationships a little bit. So I would love to hear your philosophy on business relationships. I would also love to hear about some of the relationships and business that you formed that continue to help you out to this day. So talk to me a little bit about relationships, man.

Flo Jacques (14:49)
Yeah. ⁓ yeah, relationships are critical because this this journey can certainly feel isolating and you can feel like you’re the only one. You can feel like you’re the one who made that mistake, you should have known better, you’re the only one drowning, you know. ⁓ my god, other people aren’t doing this, and until you go and connect with other investors. ⁓ and the way the easiest way to do that is by going to your local RIA, otherwise known as real estate investors associations. So

Starting with your local Rhea, you’re able to connect with people who ⁓ do the same thing that you do. And that really has changed my life. You know, speaking with other people, experiencing the same things and just using, you know, bouncing off of each other. Like, ⁓ and honestly, dare I say misery loves company, you know. So, ⁓ but and I had amazing wins too, you know. ⁓ just

Amazing stories that I’ve shared with other people and my ⁓ profit margins and things like that too. So it’s not all terrible, but it’s important to talk about the good and the bad and the ugly and investing. So ⁓ I built great relationships from with my local Rheas. I call onto private money lenders, hard money lenders, and they’re just you know, ⁓

And then other other people within my local network of real estate agents who are also investors, ⁓ who I just lean on to if I have questions, you know, or just want to talk, you know. So ⁓ I think one of my favorite relationships is the ones that you level up. Because remember, your net work is your net worth, right? And so the having met some builder developers, ⁓ I’ve gotten the

I’ve gotten the amazing opportunity to build friendships with people who are multi-million dollar developers. You know, so they built apartment complexes to luxury hotels, luxury homes here in my area. And, you know, just you know, calling them, hanging out with them, coffee, lunch, going to their ranch, 40-acre ranch, like going to these people’s.

spaces help like that right there, that’s like a lifetime relationship because they’ve got where I want to go, you know.

Quentin Edmonds (17:04)
Yes, ma’am. Absolutely. Absolutely. Ms. Flo, is now I know I I’ve given you some questions today. Is there anything that I have not brought up that you would like to talk about? Like maybe you came in with a message on your mind that you wanted our viewers to know, either just in general or about you or about your business. I just kinda wanna open up the floor that if you came in with a message that you can land it.

Flo Jacques (18:07)
Yeah, you know, I I don’t have nothing really on the top of my mind. I will say that ⁓ given that this is the ⁓ the investor fuel podcast, it’s important to talk about what fuels me. And for me, that’s my faith in God, my trust in him, you know, because ⁓ you know, like so a lot of people

mix the idea of wealth and being you know rich as something bad, especially in the Christian community. But one of the biggest things that you come to realize is how Deuteronomy 28 verse 18 tells you that he gives you the power to build wealth. And that right there changes the game when you think about how many people in the Bible had wealth.

You know, and mostly real estate, right? When we talk about all sorts of ways that you own property and build all of that, it kind of changes the game for you to understand like, listen, I am blessed, I am highly favored. And speaking that onto my business. And by the way, it’s not just that, that box of wealth, but the ways that we get to help other people, right? One of my investment properties is a group home. So I’m not

Running the group home, but somebody else is being a blessing and helping other people through this kind of like individual room situation housing thing, right? ⁓ so just thinking about the many ways that our investments, the work that we’re doing, is serving the community, is being a blessing to other people. ⁓ because I mean, I think, have you heard of like Pad Split or like the co-living model?

Quentin Edmonds (19:54)
Co living? Yes, yes.

Flo Jacques (19:55)
Yes, yeah. So PadSplit is one of the companies that kinda do that, but they are spearheading this co-living thing. And ⁓ I even earlier this week I was in a space where they sponsored it and we’re talking about ⁓ doing more padsplits here in the they started in like Metro Atlanta area and they’ve just gone all over the country now, more so along the east coast here. but they have a market here in ⁓ Raleigh, North Carolina as well. But one of the bigger things is ⁓ having this

Four-bedroom house that you can close up the living room, close up the walls, and build turn it into a six-bedroom home where you’re renting out each room for about $250 a week, right? Per room.

And ⁓ when I remember somebody in the audience was asking, ⁓ like, who are these people? Who’s doing this? And this works for markets where the rent for a one-bedroom home is $1,800 a month, $2,000 a month. Somebody would much rather pay a

A month and share a bathroom or have access to their own bathroom for maybe eleven hundred dollars a month and just share a house with somebody, you know? And these people are your UPS drivers, your ATT customer service people, like regular people who are just fighting with the housing crisis that we’re in. So here’s an investor who’s doing this co-living model with their rental property. Forget Airbnb, forget these furnished rentals.

⁓ or a family, when that family leaves, you’re out until the next person comes, right? But this co-living space is solving a housing crisis solution. So I want to make sure that we kind of like bring that out there because sometimes we don’t think about the ways that we are helping solve problems.

Quentin Edmonds (21:45)
Woo.

Well, I’m glad we opened up the floor because you had a lot. Now you said that was Deuteronomy 818. Yes. Right. So I I love it. One of the things I’m always mentioned ⁓ that if you look in scripture, the first person that is mentioned to be filled with the Holy Spirit is a gentleman named wasn’t a priest, he wasn’t a prophet, he wasn’t a king, he was a craftsman.

He was the creator. The Holy Spirit empowered him to create. He was building the temple, but he was quote unquote a construction worker, right? So the Holy Spirit empowers us in different ways. So when you talk about God giving us empowering us to build well, empowering our creativity. He is so involved in business and so involved with creating. And so I love that you brought that out. I I I just had to tack that on on the end, because that’s absolutely absolutely

Flo Jacques (22:34)
Absolutely.

Yeah, yeah. And and that’s just one of like I said, like that is a perfect example to ⁓ and just like I said, many people in the Bible who were in the world of real estate, real estate development. I mean King Solomon, King David, I mean Job had multiple assets too. Like, you know, ⁓ it’s just it’s one of the things that I had to fight against when I initially started.

⁓ my desire like the goal of owning real estate or just set building wealth in general. You speak to people who are like, you know, why you want to be you want to have money, like you’re gonna lose your soul. Like there’s just so many like negative stereotypes that like you should be con

Content with what you have and not desire more. But if I am just living check to check and living this average American life where inflation is inflation is killing you and you can barely acquire a your first home, how am I supposed to be a blessing to other people? How am I supposed to help other people if my cup is barely full as well? You know? So yeah.

Quentin Edmonds (23:52)
I greatly, greatly appreciate you coming on. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, flow, how can they get in contact with you?

Flo Jacques (24:03)
Yeah.

So ⁓ you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok at I’m Flo the Realtor. I’m Flo the Realtor. The letter I, the letter F L O The Realtor. All one thing there. ⁓ so that’s where you can find me on social media and ⁓

Follow me there. I have a real estate investing academy because I’ve gotten a ton of people reach out to me asking for mentorship. And I I’m a teacher at heart. My past life is education. I have a teaching license in social studies and a master’s in school counseling. So I truly love sharing ⁓ information and not being a gatekeeper. So I was teaching real estate investing classes all of last year, about every month except the summer. And I still am doing that this year.

same thing we take a break during the summer see my teacher life is still active even the world of real estate ⁓ and so i’ve taught classes on eventbrite and so if you google flo jacques eventbrite you should that should take you there ⁓ and so if you want to be a part of the academy you can go on therestorativecollective.com that’s the restorative collective dot com to learn more about the real estate investing academy we have self-paced

⁓ on demand education of all past classes, content like flip calculators and ⁓ deal analysis spreadsheets and lien waivers your subcontractors should be signing. You know, those types of things are all there as well as a one on one mentorship and things like that. So that’s it.

Quentin Edmonds (25:38)
Absolutely. Well listen, let me say three things to you sincerely. One, thank you for your time. I think time is our most precious commodity. Thank you for your story for showing up as your authentic self and planting seeds. And lastly, thank you for your mindset, the way you think, and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you coming on today.

Flo Jacques (25:55)
Thank you, it’s been a pleasure.

Thank you, Quentin.

Quentin Edmonds (25:57)
Absolutely. So listen, y’all heard Miss Flo. Her information is in the show notes. Please get in contact with her. But definitely make sure you are subscribed here because I promise you we’re going to continue to bring up amazing guests, just like Flo. So ma’am, I say thank you again. And to everyone else, y’all have a fantastic day.