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Show Summary
In this conversation, John Harcar and Reine Becker discuss the multifaceted world of real estate investment, focusing on the importance of building a strong team, understanding investor needs, and overcoming networking challenges. Reine shares her journey from corporate America to real estate, emphasizing the significance of mentorship and experience in her business strategy. They explore the vision for Reine’s future in real estate, including her goals for growth and the attributes that contribute to her success. The discussion concludes with a clear definition of Reine’s buy box for potential investment properties.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Reine Becker (00:00)
Yeah, so I knew if I was going to make this transition, I needed to surround myself with excellence. I am in this for the long game. I’m not here just to try out real estate, see if I like it. I’m here to establish a legacy business that…people can truly trust and have a long-term relationship with. And in order to do that, I wanted to get to know and learn from people who have been doing this. They know the best practices. They’ve lived through several market cycles and have done well despite what was happening. Those are the people that I really was very intentional about honing in on and getting to know very well and learning from.John Harcar (02:25)
All right, guys. Hey, welcome back to our show. I’m your host, John Harcar. And I’m here today with Reine Becker. And what we’re going to talk about with Reine, besides her journey in real estate and what really brought her today, what we’re going to kind of touch on is, you know, from an investor perspective, like who are you serving and, and why are they coming to you? It’s something I’m excited to talk about, really dig in. Reine, welcome to our show.Reine Becker (02:50)
Thank you, I am so happy to be here. Thanks for the opportunity.John Harcar (02:54)
Yeah, we had a great talk prior to jumping on here. I learned a lot about your business. I’m excited for our audience to hear that. So why don’t we start off by just kind of giving them a little bit of background on you, you know, your experience in real estate and what really brought you up to today.Reine Becker (03:07)
So I come from a corporate background where I worked in operations and process improvement. So things like Lean Six Sigma or Lean Manufacturing and I’ve had a great successful career doing that.John Harcar (03:17)
Mm-hmm.Reine Becker (03:20)
But I had a little bit of a shift in mindset here in the last few years. And one of the big triggers for that was a layoff. My company laid off thousands of people. And this is a wonderful company. It’s company people seek to work at. it’s one of those, they treat their people well and everything. But it’s one of those situations where you are reminded that even with something.John Harcar (03:30)
Wow.Reine Becker (03:44)
I guess in that situation, when a company has to cut numbers, you are still just a number. And so though I wasn’t impacted, it was a great kick in the butt and a reminder that maybe you don’t have the security that you think that you have. So I had that going on and at the same time I was becoming a mother. And ⁓ so that of course alters your brain chemistry, right? And your whole outlook on life. And you start thinking about things differently in the future. And so I really, that happened.John Harcar (03:50)
Yep.Right?
Congratulations.
You
Reine Becker (04:12)
I really was thinking about things like security and how do I create more flexibility in my life and not only those items but how do I also leave a legacy for my kids? Like corporate legacy, unless you own the corporation, this is not much you can, you know, hand down. So I was thinking through all of this and that’s when I really…started getting focused on real estate. First off, course real estate, everybody talks about that investment, all the big dogs talk about it. It’s where they park a lot of their money for a lot of different reasons. But what also really pulled me in was my business background and being able to pair that with something tangible. something where could really build wealth and have community impact.
John Harcar (04:42)
Mm.Reine Becker (04:55)
Yeah, I’ve always felt the entrepreneurial spirit and this was kind like my launching pad to actually take action and do something about it and so that’s why I’m jumping into Real Estate.John Harcar (05:53)
I love it. I love it. And there’s so much to impact there. And we’re to talk about that. But there’s a question I always ask everybody back in the day, right? mean, growing up through college, through whatever, was there anybody ever in your family circle, friends, whoever that was in real estate, dealt in real estate, maybe a landlord, maybe an agent, maybe someone who bought commercial property or had apartments that planted that little seed back in the day.Reine Becker (05:56)
WeAbsolutely, and nobody’s ever asked me this before, but yes. So my mom actually was a realtor for a little while and she, her partner, so they had their own business, her partner really went on to build something big in real estate. My mom went on to pursue another career, but her partner Wendy started doing a lot of…
property, commercial, she expanded to billboards, land, she expanded her portfolio and just flourished. And so yeah, we got together with her every once in a while and I always would just say like, wow, like how did she do that? That is so interesting. So she’s definitely the one who’s like, you can make a career out of this. This can really be more than just a side gig and you can do it through other things besides being a realtor or starting a real estate firm, selling houses. There’s so much more to it than that. Yeah.
John Harcar (07:07)
Yeah. And that’s why I like to find out. It’s interesting. It’s right. It’s like, all know about real estate. We all hear even throughout that wealth is built through real estate. But when we, when we make that decision, in my opinion, I think there’s always something in the background, some influence that we have, maybe we didn’t know or remember that pushes us that way. ⁓ community impact. Okay. Let’s, let’s, one thing that’s important to you I can see it, it’s, it’s the, it’s a computer secure community impact part. Why is that so important for you?Reine Becker (07:25)
Absolutely, yeah.Yeah, you know, that piece really started being the most important after I had kids.
Going around the community and seeing places where children, there are lots of children and it is children, it’s not built for children or the children’s playgrounds are now overgrown with huge holes in the slides. I mean I’m talking parks, not just real estate apartment complexes, but just all over the community. And so that, when I started seeing life through a new lens and when I started seeing things like that, that has been a huge driver and a passion of mine is how do we truly impact the
John Harcar (07:58)
Sure, sure, sure.Reine Becker (08:10)
community in a positive way to make it more family-friendly, where these kids can be safe. Yeah.John Harcar (08:16)
I love it. love it. Isn’t it funny that, know, before you had kids, you can walk by a park all day long and not really notice anything on that playground. But then the minute you have a kid, you’re like, man, look at that. That flooring needs to be redone. It’s a little soft here. I don’t think this isn’t safe. You know, it’s like you all of put them in a bubble. Yes. I mean, what if she what if she slid down this and that screws up a little too high? I what’s going on here? You know, so that’s funny.Reine Becker (08:23)
Yes! Nothing twice!Yeah, or like that’s a sharp edge like yes. Yes, it’s wild.
Right!
John Harcar (08:42)
That’s so funny.All right. So where are you at for your business? Now you left corporate America kind of give us a little overrun of what you’re currently doing. Maybe what your business and your team looks like, etc.
Reine Becker (08:54)
Yes. So,Right now I am, okay, so where I’m at in my business. I have a core team that I’m working with. I have identified some people who have a lot of experience. We’re talking 30 plus years experience, 15 plus years experience that are actually on my team. We are looking and vetting properties together and are building the business plan together and going to work through these projects. So I’ve surrounded myself with those folks and
So we’re set up, we’re ready, it’s just a matter of finding the right property now. Additionally, I am from a network perspective, also surrounding myself with experience. So I have a mentor, Matt Pacenny, backstage guide to real estate syndication, shout out to his book, check it out if you haven’t seen it. And also, Marson Droge from a capital perspective, who again, both of these guys are masters of the industry and I am learning.
John Harcar (09:41)
YouReine Becker (09:50)
touring me at this time. So in my business, my business is growing, developing. I’m almost a year old at this point. And so yeah, I know I’m, feel like I’m kind of rambling here, but the point that we’re at in development is searching for the, for our property so we can execute this beautiful business plan we have built.John Harcar (10:03)
No, no, you’re good.And where specifically are you looking for property? know you mentioned you’re in the Katy ⁓ area of Texas. Where are you looking in Texas? Are you looking nationwide?
Reine Becker (10:52)
Yeah, so I’m a big believer in impacting your own backyard. So I am in Katy, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston, specifically on the west side. And so that’s the market that I’m looking in is Houston. It’s a market I know well. I know the ins and outs of the neighborhood here. And so that’s waiting for an opportunity here in this zone.John Harcar (11:13)
Got it. Okay. And then at the end, before we sign off, we’ll talk a little bit about your buy box, what specifically you might be looking for. But I want to go back on a couple other things. Why for you was it important to find those partners that had that length of experience? I mean, you could find someone who’s been doing it for, you know, four to five years that is very well versed in all this. Seems like you had a goal of trying to get folks that have been really entrenched in it for a while. Why was that kind of important to you and that mentorship role kind of a key focus?Reine Becker (11:18)
Okay.Yeah, so I knew if I was going to make this transition, I needed to surround myself with excellence. I am in this for the long game. I’m not here just to try out real estate, see if I like it. I’m here to establish a legacy business that…
people can truly trust and have a long-term relationship with. And in order to do that, I wanted to get to know and learn from people who have been doing this. They know the best practices. They’ve lived through several market cycles and have done well despite what was happening. Those are the people that I really was very intentional about honing in on and getting to know very well and learning from.
Yeah, and so just being newer, yeah, absolutely.
John Harcar (12:29)
Well, that’s important, right?Yeah, I mean, it’s important because they have the blueprint. They know the stuff to avoid, right? If we can save ourselves that time, I mean, we could be talking about a decade worth of time savings to really get to the level where we want to be, you know, just, you know, copy what’s successful. At the beginning of the show, we talked about how we were going to talk about your journey, but also talk about from an investor’s perspective, perspective, you know, about who are you working with and why are they coming to you? Right. So talk to us a little bit more about that.
Reine Becker (12:36)
Yeah, they do.Absolutely.
So from an investor perspective, the folks that I really can speak to, relate to, establish great relationships with, at this point, let’s see, sorry, I’m getting lost in my answer here, but what I want to say is, I come from,
John Harcar (13:15)
It’s okay.Reine Becker (13:17)
So, and I understand what it’s like to be in leadership positions where you have very little time to do anything else in your life. You know it’s important to invest and maybe you’ve got some money in the stock markets, but you know you should diversify your portfolio, you have no idea how nor do you have the time to figure out how to do it.So that’s where I come in. I understand those pain points and I understand what really your hopes are and your goals are from a corporate perspective and just trying to also live your life perspective. And so I can speak to that. I can relate to it. yeah, real estate and what I’m starting here is a great vehicle to diversify. Get knowledge of the basic understanding and then place your trust in someone who you know is gonna really take care of you.
And so that’s what I’m providing for my investors. So a lot of the investors I’ve talked to, ⁓ corporate America of course, but also high income professionals, doctors, lawyers, dentists, folks like that who have the capital but don’t have the time.
John Harcar (15:01)
got it. No, and I love that. And I think it’s a great business process. Let me ask you this, as you’re trying to build this business and build this, you know, trust, I guess, I guess you could say, and what challenges do you run across? Like, when you started this, what were some of the things that were like, man, I didn’t expect these hurdles or, or these are things that just kept nagging at me.Reine Becker (15:20)
So I would say one, didn’t necessarily, it wasn’t necessarily unexpected but is,being able to get in front of these folks. I know that I can help them and I know that they would be beautiful partnership, but it’s how do I get into a circle where I can talk to these folks. They get pitched every single day. So it’s how do you break down that wall and really get in to have a conversation. If it’s not like a fit, it’s not like a fit, but at least to start having those conversations, I think that is a big barrier that I’ve
John Harcar (15:46)
Sure.Reine Becker (15:57)
working to overcome just through networking and getting out there like this. ⁓John Harcar (16:01)
Got it. Yeah, I know that’s awesome. And that’s the best way to do it is just hit it head on, get yourself out there, really start telling everybody what you do. And a medium like this, right? There could be someone out there that has had that pain, has felt that pain, and you know, will reach out and kind of walk you through some stuff. So what are the goals of your business? I mean, right now you’re working on your first syndication, right? Like, where do you see yourself in five years?Reine Becker (16:26)
Yeah, so my overall dreams for backup premier property is the big vision is really to get into more of a fund model.But I want to be a name that high income professionals know and trust and understand how’s integrity for when they are ready to start diversifying and looking into real estate to start those conversations. So that’s what I’d like. I’d like to expand out to potentially a broader portfolio. Let’s start talking 10 years probably from now about a broader portfolio with other offerings aside from value add.
be classy at work. So that is the ultimate dream is to truly build this into a business. Now I’m not trying to be a conglomerate, but you know I am trying to have a an underwriting department. That would be great. Somebody who underwrites. Somebody who’s business plan development, know, so small business but still very well established and has a very strong portfolio.
John Harcar (17:24)
And what do you think are a couple things that your business needs to be able to reach these goals or maybe accelerate your path to them faster?Reine Becker (17:31)
If I could somehow manage, create the ability to underwrite five properties a day, that would be great. Just magical superpowers.John Harcar (17:40)
You got to find theright software.
Reine Becker (17:42)
Well maybe that’s part of it. that’s… I should put that on my list. So underwrite, really it’s… I need to get this first property and I am extra scrutinizing this property because I am hanging my entire business on it. So it’s going to be a success. I will wait for the right property to ensure that it is one that sets me up for success. And so once I get that done, the first few deals, if I can move into that fund model, thata lot of doors and a lot of time to really scale.
John Harcar (18:12)
the years and overall the stuff you’ve done which brought you up to today, what do you think are some of the key attributes that you have, the keys to success that have worked well for you?Reine Becker (18:21)
So coming from, I know I keep referring to this, but it’s 15 years of corporate America, I really got very good and was a go-to person for project execution, project design. And that’s exactly the business model for value add. ⁓is how do we take something and from the top down, so we’re talking the business piece of it as well as the community aspect, so fiscal aspect, how do we really turn that and do the right things, execute the right projects to create one, a better community for the people who live there, and two, returns for investors. I understand that logic, I understand how to map that out, and so that execution piece
piece in design of the business plan on these projects is a big piece of what I bring to the table, as well as course outreach and networking. I really just enjoy that, so that’s just a bonus. Yeah, so that’s a big piece. so again, partnering with people who also understand things like market trends and what’s worked in the past and those sorts of items is my approach here.
John Harcar (19:27)
Beautiful. I love it. Okay, cool. So before we get off here, what is kind of your buy box or what are you specifically looking for? So if we have any listeners out there that might be in the area, might know somebody who’s got a property that fits that, like what’s your buy box?Reine Becker (19:39)
Yeah.Yeah, so I’m looking at Houston, any neighborhood, if it’s on the west side, even better. I’m looking for 100 to 300 units, a Class B, Class D that has some meat on the bone for a value-add business model.
or business execution. So anything that has been poorly managed or deferred maintenance, I love deferred maintenance, but just really has good bones. It just needs someone to come in and pour some love into it. Those are the properties that I’m looking for. So yeah, if you have something like that, please, please reach out to me and send it my way.
John Harcar (20:18)
And how do they get in touch? Do you have an email? Do you have a phone?Reine Becker (20:20)
⁓ yes! Let’s roll rightinto that. Yes, so I have a website where you can schedule a meeting with me and or you can shoot me an email. My email is Reine, that’s R-E-I-N-E, @ beckerpremierproperties.com and yeah, I’d love to hear from you.
John Harcar (20:40)
And then we’ll put all your contact information and stuff in the in the show notes guys I hope you enjoyed a lot of this if you are you know anywhere near or in the Texas area Houston area specifically And you got a property that you think fits the bill reach out, you know, I said we’ll put all that contact stuff in the in the bottom Reine, thank you again. That was a ton of killer information I think you got a great business rolling and that first property will come soonReine Becker (20:44)
Perfect.Thank you. And I won’t say one more thing. If you’re in the Houston area and you’re in this industry, I would love just to meet with you. you and listeners, if there’s anybody around, just networking, of course, is a huge part of this real estate. I call it a game sometimes. So please reach out. I’d love to have some coffee with you. It is, right? Yeah.
John Harcar (21:17)
Yes.It is, it is game. Yeah,
it is a game. Well, cool. Reine, thank you again so much. You guys, I hope you enjoyed it again. I know I did. We will see you on the next one. Cheers.
Reine Becker (21:28)
Thank you.Thank
you.
