Middle-School Teacher Makes $100K in 6 Weeks on Her FIRST Deal

Summary

Real Estate Rookie Episode Summary: "Middle-School Teacher Makes $100K in 6 Weeks on Her FIRST Deal"

In the January 20, 2025 episode of Real Estate Rookie, hosted by Ashley Kerr and Tony J. Robinson from BiggerPockets, listeners are introduced to an inspiring journey of transformation and success in real estate investing. The episode features Laura Sides, a middle-school teacher from Pennsylvania who transitioned into a successful real estate investor, earning $100,000 in just six weeks from her very first deal. This detailed summary captures the essence of Laura's experience, the strategies she employed, the challenges she overcame, and her vision for the future.

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Introduction to Laura Sides

The episode opens with Ashley Kerr welcoming listeners and introducing Laura Sides, highlighting her remarkable achievement of transforming from a stay-at-home mom and educator into a thriving real estate investor.

Ashley Kerr [00:00]:

"Today's guest is Laura Sides, a teacher turned real estate investor out of Pennsylvania. She picked up two game-changing properties by fostering positive relationships in her community."

Tony J. Robinson [00:20]:

"Today's she's going to walk through how she got started and all of the important lessons that she learned along the way."

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From Teaching to Investing: Laura's Epiphany

Laura shares her unexpected journey into real estate investing, sparked by a mid-pandemic trip to Florida where she read "Rich Dad Poor Dad". This experience ignited a realization about financial independence and the potential of investing.

Laura Sides [01:12]:

"We came back from Florida and everything changed."

Ashley Kerr [01:53]:

"That's awesome to have that epiphany on a beach."

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Securing the First Deal: Building Connections

Without any prior entrepreneurial background, Laura leveraged existing relationships to secure her first real estate deal. She explains how a chance conversation with her neighbor led to purchasing her initial property.

Laura Sides [03:05]:

"Ms. Sherry, you meet with a real estate agent... I’ll buy it. I’m here for you, girl."

Tony J. Robinson [03:57]:

"When you have an actual conversation with someone who's done the thing that you're trying to do, it makes it feel more real."

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Navigating the First Flip: Learning on the Go

With minimal knowledge about real estate contracts and financing, Laura and her husband used a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) to fund the purchase. The renovation process was swift, culminating in a profitable flip within six weeks.

Laura Sides [07:49]:

"We got under contract, we helped sign up, like set her up with movers... then we got to work."

Tony J. Robinson [12:08]:

"You are like a shining example of just like jumping in and taking action."

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Unexpected Success: The Beachfront Airbnb

Following her first successful flip, Laura serendipitously acquired a beachfront property through another neighbor. This unexpected opportunity allowed her to diversify into short-term rentals, enhancing her income streams.

Laura Sides [15:25]:

"We are pivoting. We are definitely buying this place."

Tony J. Robinson [18:02]:

"Using active income from flipping to buy passive income properties is a great strategy."

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Strategies and Systems: Streamlining Success

Laura discusses the importance of efficient processes and strong contractor relationships. Her approach emphasizes quick decision-making, thorough preparation during the due diligence period, and maintaining a tight buy box to ensure consistent profitability.

Laura Sides [25:18]:

"From the moment that we go under contract on the property, we get in there... materials have already been ordered."

Ashley Kerr [27:45]:

"Knowing what a good deal looks like and being able to jump on it quickly is crucial."

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Leveraging Relationships and Networking

A significant factor in Laura’s success is her ability to build and maintain positive relationships within her community and professional network. By understanding sellers' motivations beyond just the purchase price, she creates win-win situations that facilitate smooth transactions.

Tony J. Robinson [40:36]:

"What is your motivation for selling? What are your challenges? It seems like that's made the biggest difference."

Laura Sides [39:42]:

"Working with a great agent that understands investors and has good communication skills is a big piece of the puzzle."

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Future Plans: Expanding Horizons

Looking ahead, Laura plans to continue flipping properties while exploring new opportunities in real estate. She is considering vertical integration by acquiring a related business, signaling a potential tenfold growth in her real estate ventures.

Laura Sides [36:07]:

"We're going to buy a company that’s a great vertical integration for what we're doing... it's going to be a record year."

Tony J. Robinson [37:22]:

"We’ve come up with three different billion-dollar business ideas."

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Conclusion: Inspiring Financial Freedom

The episode concludes with Laura expressing gratitude and excitement for what lies ahead. Her story serves as a beacon of inspiration for rookies in real estate, demonstrating that with determination, strategic planning, and the right connections, significant financial milestones are attainable.

Laura Sides [24:30]:

"We have two vacation homes that we don't have to pay anything for because... we never thought we would have a beach house."

Ashley Kerr [41:30]:

"Thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Real Estate Rookie."

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Key Takeaways

1. Start with Education and Inspiration: Laura's reading of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" was pivotal in shifting her mindset towards investing.

2. Leverage Existing Relationships: Building connections with knowledgeable professionals, like mortgage brokers and investor-friendly agents, is crucial for securing deals.

3. Be Ready to Act Quickly: Success in real estate often comes down to speed and decisiveness, especially in competitive markets.

4. Diversify Income Streams: Transitioning from flipping to short-term rentals allowed Laura to create multiple income sources, enhancing financial stability.

5. Maintain Efficient Systems: Streamlined processes and strong contractor relationships enable swift and profitable renovations.

6. Understand Sellers’ Motivations: Going beyond the financial aspect to address sellers' needs can lead to more successful and amicable transactions.

7. Plan for Growth and Integration: Thinking ahead about vertical integration and expanding business operations can significantly amplify success.

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Connect with Laura Sides: For those inspired by Laura's journey and looking to follow her ongoing real estate endeavors, you can connect with her on Instagram at @sides_Investing.

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This episode of Real Estate Rookie offers a compelling narrative of how dedication, strategic planning, and community engagement can lead to substantial financial success in real estate investing. Laura Sides' story is a testament to the transformative power of stepping out of one's comfort zone and embracing the opportunities that real estate has to offer.

Transcript

[Ashley Kerr]

Hey, rookies. Sometimes finding a good deal hinges on being a good neighbor and it can net you $100,000 or 4K per month. Today's guest is Laura Sides, a teacher turned real estate investor out of Pennsylvania. She picked up two game changing properties by fostering positive relationships in her community.

[Tony J. Robinson]

And today she's going to walk through how she got started in all of the important lessons that she learned along the way. So we'll talk about buying her first deal, then stumbling into an Airbnb rental to perfecting how to find and rehab properties within 30 days.

[Ashley Kerr]

This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast and I'm Ashley Kerr.

[Tony J. Robinson]

And I'm Tony J. Robinson. And welcome to the Ricky Podcast where every week, three times a week, we bring you the inspiration, motivation and stories you need to hear to kickstart your investing journey. So welcome to the show, Laura. Super excited to have you with us today.

[Laura Sides]

Thanks so much, Tony and Ashley. I'm so excited to be on the Bigger Pockets Rookie Podcast.

[Ashley Kerr]

Well, we are excited to have you, Laura. So let's start off with what were your life circumstances and motivations that made you want to start investing in real estate?

[Laura Sides]

So I didn't even know that I was going to be a real estate investor. I didn't know investors. I have absolutely no entrepreneurial background. So this is still kind of new and exciting to me even three years in, we went down to Florida with our kids mid pandemic after being a stay at home mom. And we brought rich dad, poor dad. And I was sitting on the couch reading quotes out to my husband and I was like, oh my God, babe, there's a whole nother world out here. And it honestly was a light bulb moment, moment because we didn't have any investing history. And we came back from there and we're like. And everything changed.

[Ashley Kerr]

That's awesome to have that epiphany on a beach too, you know. So once you decided that you want to start investing and what were some of the things you did to kind of start your research and navigate the world of real estate investing?

[Laura Sides]

It was more. I didn't even think of it. Still, as an investor, I was just thinking, how can we use the money that we have and put it to work? Because I was like, hey, we don't actually have to work for every dollar. Like, we were raised to believe in school and all that we can take the equity that we have in our primary house and put it to work. So I'm like, let's come back from Florida, we'll take a HELOC out on our house. We'll use that as a down payment on a condo in Florida. And he's like, okay. So I started just making connections with people who knew more than I did. And at that time, that was our mortgage broker friend, and he helped, you know, do a pre approval, and then he hooked me up with a small local bank to do a HELOC, and they put $100,000 on our $100,000 HELOC on our house. And we were talking to property managers about condos in Florida when I ended up pulling my trash cans in one day, and my neighbor across the street told me she needed to move.

[Ashley Kerr]

Well, that worked out pretty convenient.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Yeah. No, what a. What a connection of fate there for you guys to be chatting at that time. But before we get into, like, the neighbor and how that kind of played into your first yellow, Laura, you said something that I think is super important for our rookie audience to remember, but you said you started working with people who knew more than we did, and you said you had one friend that was a mortgage broker. And I think that is such a. Such an important first step for rookies, because you can listen to the podcast, you can watch the YouTube videos, and obviously you'll get a certain sense of what the roadmap is. But when you have, like, an actual conversation with someone who's done the thing that you're trying to do, it makes it feel more real. It makes it feel a little bit more achievable, and it doesn't feel as this, you know, this big of a scary leap that you initially think that it is. So just what an important first step to take. And I want to make sure I highlighted that for the rookie audience as well.

[Laura Sides]

So we didn't talk about this yet, Tony, but you were actually a huge inspiration to me, you and your wife, because you guys looked like normal people. And this was three years ago, and I had, from my personal. I didn't have a business Instagram at that point, so I wasn't talking about my investing journey that didn't exist, but I was watching you, and you sharing your journey was truly such an incredible inspiration to me and how. How real you guys were and that, hey, if you can do it, like, why can't I do it?

[Tony J. Robinson]

I. I very much, very, very much appreciate that. And. But I think you hit the nail on the head, Lord, that we're. We're just normal people, and all of the real estate investors that we look up to are just normal people who've just figured out the process that you need to follow. So as long as you have the courage to jump in there and try, that's like the most important thing. And you, you just seen, even from this brief conversation, I can tell that you're like an, you know, you're, you're a person with like a bias for action. So let's get back to the story with the neighbor. So you're out there taking out your trash. How does that lead into you potentially getting one of your first real estate deals?

[Laura Sides]

It was like a life changing pivotal moment. And I knew how much we were pre approved for. And guys, I knew nothing about how to finance anything. I knew I had a hundred thousand dollar heloc and I knew we were pre approved for whatever. I don't even remember what the amount was for this condo in Florida, what I thought. And she is the owner of the house that's walking down the street. And we had been friends for years. We had owned our house for 10 years at that point. So I knew she kept up with their house, but I also knew she had owned it for 40 years and she was having health struggles and it was mid pandemic. And she's like, I need to move and I don't know what to do. And I'm like, well, Ms. Sherry, you meet with a real estate agent. She's like, I did, but they want me to clean up my house and repaint it and I can't do that. And she said, I want $300,000 for it and I just want to move. And I'm like, I'll buy it. And she said, do you want to ask Glenn, my husband? And I was like, no, no, no, he'll be good with it. I go, just to be clear though, you could get more if we put it on the market. And she said, I really don't want to do that. And I'm like, I'm here for you, girl.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Yeah. And I think it highlights something important. Actually, we talk about this a lot on the Ricky podcast that for a lot of off market transactions, the motivation is just not the purchase price. It's not just the financial component, but part of it is the convenience of selling. And for her, she's been there for 40 years, the idea of having to go through, get this place cleaned up, repainting stuff, and it's more than what she was willing to do. And she would be willing to take a haircut on her purchase price in order to get the convenience that she's looking for. So for all of our rookies that are listening. When you're searching for those off market deals, you want to listen in the way that Laura was for like, hey, what is the actual motivation? What's the pain point and can we solve this? So it's a win win situation.

[Ashley Kerr]

I mean, just look at society today. Doordash the convenience of paying $20 for a cup of coffee just to have it delivered. There's lots of things people will pay more for for the convenience, but also give up money in a sense of not selling it as much for the convenience of getting rid of it too.

[Laura Sides]

At the time, I was talking terms with her before I even knew what terms were. I said, you know, we can be flexible about when you want to move. If you need help moving, I can help you. You're downsizing, Ms. Sherry. Take what you want and leave the rest. And I think coming at it with that level of compassion and meeting her where she was at was just really what she needed in that time. She, like you said, Tony, she didn't need top dollar for her house. She needed loving, compassionate, you know, perspective.

[Ashley Kerr]

After this conversation, what were kind of the steps that you took besides talking with her that kind of led you to getting the deal under contract? So maybe a rookie investor has the same situation, but they have no idea what to do next. How do you get the contract? You need to get a real estate agent and kind of walk us through behind the scenes of what that process looks like.

[Laura Sides]

This is a first deal, guys. So everyone keep in mind, I had no real estate knowledge whatsoever. So I don't know if this is the steps, but this is how it went. So I ran back in the house and I called my mortgage broker and I'm like, you are not going to believe this. And he's like, laura, you get that house under contract. And I was like, google, what does it mean to get a house under contract? And then it was like Pennsylvania State contract. And I printed that off and I was like, Sign here, Ms. Sherry. You know, and was it legit? We thought it was. So it was almost like a napkin contract, no escrow, but you know, it was more of just like people meeting each other where they were at. And so our mortgage broker knew exactly what my plan was and he was okay with funding it. And then we were going to use our HELOC as the down payment. He was going to take care of the rest. And then the HELOC made the HELOC payments and the mortgage payments and it covered our renovation. So it was really, it was incredible. So we Got under contract, we helped sign up, you know, like set her up with movers. We helped her figure out where she was going to go. Like a 55 and older community. And then we got to work.

[Ashley Kerr]

Yeah. So now to the exciting part. So you got the deal under contract, you close on it and now you're going in. Did you do any kind of rehab estimates before you actually closed on it? Do any kind of due diligence with this property?

[Laura Sides]

We knew that it was in pretty good shape and it was, it's. We live on a street where the houses are all the same model. So I knew what I was working with because we live in one of them. I had just started making contacts with subcontractors. I'm like, I can play the general contractor on this. So once she moved, we did all the demo. We had a dumpster pulled into the demo and then we had subs come back and put it, put most of the things back to work. We'd put our kids to bed across the street, bring the wifi monitors over and like scrape floor up. You have to do those things to know what you don't want to do in the future.

[Ashley Kerr]

So getting the confidence to actually, you know, find contractors, talk to contractors, hire them, like how did you figure out who to even call and like who you needed to get in first and then to get in second? Things like that.

[Laura Sides]

I don't know that the order went as smoothly as, I mean, we got it done really fast. It was in six weeks because we just hit the ground running. So I don't know if I could consult on order at that point of my career because I remember my father in law being like, why'd you do the floors before you paint it? I'm like, let's go, let's go everybody. But it was just kind of like this delusional confidence that hey, if we can do this, then I know we're gonna make money on the back end. Let's just figure it out. And the way we found contractors is just leaning on other experienced agents that work with contractors in our community or nextdoor or Facebook community apps and just asking like, hey, who's reasonably priced, wanna work with small businesses, stuff like that, and keeping a close eye on them. And that's how a lot of our contractor relationships started.

[Tony J. Robinson]

So Laura, did you know going into this deal that your plan was to kind of rehab and flip it or when you, when you got it under contract, were you still trying to determine what the best exit strategy was for the deal?

[Laura Sides]

We definitely considered the long term rent and it probably would have been a good idea, but we knew nothing about brrrrs at that time or and since we had kind of conventionally financed it, how to finance out of it and all that kind of stuff was not even on my horizon today. Should we have kept it 100%? We should have. But I think it all worked out. We knew like our plan was to flip it and in the six week renovation, we bought it for 300 and we sold it for 465 in six weeks. It was a $35,000 Renault. It was incredible.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Six weeks, $35,000. I mean, what did you budget for your renovation? Was it, was it more or less than the 35,000?

[Laura Sides]

I didn't know much about budgeting for anything. I just knew that when we bought it there, there was going to be enough room and we to just get our feet wet type of thing. I'm like, we're going to make money. I don't know how much money, but we're not going to lose here. Let's figure it out as we go. The delusional confidence is really what got me through.

[Tony J. Robinson]

But that is great, right? I mean, you know, quick back in napkin math. You bought it for 300, put 35 into the, into the renovation. You know, tack on some closing costs. I mean, you guys probably netted close to 100 grand maybe on the deal somewhere in that ballpark.

[Laura Sides]

You're right. Absolutely right. Yeah.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Fantastic. Well, you are, you are like a shining example of just like jumping in and taking action. So I love that. Laura.

[Laura Sides]

Thank you.

[Ashley Kerr]

Well, we're going to take a short ad break, but when we come back, we're going to ask Laura about her next deal in the conversation and how she made that happen. So we'll be right back after this listener.

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[Ashley Kerr]

Okay, we're back with Laura. And real quick, if you have if you haven't already, make sure you check out our YouTube channel at realestate. Rookie. We are trying to hit 100,000 subscribers. Okay, so Laura, you already told us about your home run first deal. How did you find your next deal?

[Laura Sides]

It came as unexpectedly as the first deal. So because this flip was Directly across like Caddy Corner, across the street from our house. And we had lined up the moving company for her and helped her box up her things. I was really surprised one day when I saw that she had a friend over loading boxes into his van. And he was an older gentleman, he had a cane and he was carrying these big boxes out to his car. And I said to my husband, I'm like, let me just go over and help him. Like maybe they need a little help here, you know. And we were friendly so it wasn't intrusive and it was well intentioned. And I get over, I'm carrying like the third box out, and he stops me and he goes, are you the one buying this house? And I was like, I am, you know, and he goes, well, I have a house for you. And I remember thinking, oh my goodness, is this how this works? Like people just come to you? And I remember. And then I also thought, like, act like you know what you're talking about, right? I was like, oh, you do, Tell me about it. And he goes, it's three bedrooms, two bathrooms right outside of Bethany Beach, Delaware, which is a very popular beach town on an acre. And I'm thinking in my head, there is no way I can afford whatever he's about to say. But let's ask. I'm like, how much do you think you want for it? And he said, 200,000. And I was like, oh my gosh, we hadn't even bought our first flip yet. I ran back to our house, my husband and my father in law were in there. And I was like, guys, we're buying a beach house. And they're like, that's not part of your plan. What are you doing? And I'm like, we are pivoting. We are definitely buying this place. And that's how the second deal came about.

[Ashley Kerr]

That was a little bit of a shiny object syndrome there for you. Is that pivot. So during this transition, what were, what was kind of your game plan with this property once you figured out like, okay, I can purchase it, this is what I'm going to do?

[Laura Sides]

I said to him, I was like, hey, do you think you can wait until we hadn't even bought our flip yet? But I was like, hey, do you think you can wait until I close this house? Because I didn't know anything about financing or creative finance. And I was like, then we'll use this money to buy your house. And he's like, yeah, sure, no problem. Let me know when you're done. So that was the Plan. And then at the time, I was like, all right, we're gonna quickly renovate this place. We'll set it up as an Airbnb and we'll put a property manager in place, because I knew nothing about running Airbnbs. So we did. We put a. We renovated the house, took the profits from our first flip, used them as a down payment. Cost to renovate, cost to furnish, put a property manager in place, and then immediately started cash flowing.

[Ashley Kerr]

That's awesome.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Yeah. And I just want to say what a great strategy to use active income from your, like, from flipping. You know, you can flip, you can wholesale to generate active income, and then using that to go out and buy passive income with a. Or, you know, semi passive income, I should say, with a. With the short term rental, I feel like more people should maybe leverage that strategy to build up the capital that they need to take that to take down those next deals. I got. I got to just like, hang out with you more, Laura, and just like catching these conversations because what a great way to find your deals. They're just like falling into your lap right now.

[Laura Sides]

It's been life changing, truly. And what you said about using the capital, because I knew that, like, we didn't. I really, it turns out that I really enjoy flipping and we've got a great system down now. But at the time when we quickly made that first hundred thousand dollars, and I don't know if you guys can relate to this, but it really didn't feel like our money because all of a sudden I made two and a half years of my teaching salary in six weeks. And we're like, oh my gosh, what do we do with this? Because you know how quickly you could use it on yourself. Cars, a house. Right? Like, lifestyle creep.

[Ashley Kerr]

You mean you didn't buy a Ferrari?

[Laura Sides]

I haven't thought about it, but we're like, how can we put this money to work that will work for us? And then the universe was like, well, how about a short term rental in Bethany Beach, Delaware?

[Tony J. Robinson]

So, Laura, tell us a little bit more about this, this beachfront property in Delaware. So, like, as someone thinks to buy a short term rental, a lot of times the recommendation is, hey, do some, do some market research first so you, you can feel good about the market you're going into. Do a little bit of analysis on the property to make sure you feel good about the underwriting. So there's like some layers there. It feels like you just kind of jumped in. So what was it about that deal in that city that Made you feel confident to lock it up before you'd even finished your, your, your flip.

[Laura Sides]

This is kind of two tier because if you rewind to like, our actual lifestyle at home, the life that we built in our primary residence, our cars, you know, is very affordable. And my husband does a great job keeping it that way that we're not in any debt. So when we picked up this house, we're thinking, hey, if we can use rental income to just slightly offset the cost of it, then we can also use it with our family and our kids and share it with our family members and just have it be a beach house for us. So it was kind of twofold. And I didn't even realize at that time appreciation, tax benefits, or just how well it would do as a rental. And now it pays for itself in a year, five times over. It makes me probably five times what it cost me to own that house in a year. Now because we got it so affordable and because the money that we used as the down payment and the renovations wasn't debt. It was money I quickly made on the flip. We wrapped it in and now the appreciation on that property, plus what it saves us in taxes and the rental income and the enjoyment that it brings my kids and us as just, we never thought we would have a beach house. This was crazy. So I don't think that I did all the due diligence that everyone does. It was just a blind faith like, that this is gonna work. And it also works really well with our lifestyle.

[Ashley Kerr]

Was there anything that did come up that you weren't expecting, like maybe permitting or, you know, an issue that did happen that you wish you would have done? Due diligence for kind of going into a new market.

[Laura Sides]

The property, thankfully, is great. The contractors that I worked with down there was different than managing a renovation that I could pop into daily. So that was a little tricky. Thankfully, my husband's handy and we kind of picked up the pieces, but we learned that managing a renovation three hours away is totally different than managing a renovation close to our house. And I think that has helped form what our flip strategy is now because of that experience.

[Ashley Kerr]

Yeah. So maybe we can talk about that little bit more as to like, what, what are those, you know, that tips and advice that you give out now for how to successfully manage from a distance?

[Laura Sides]

Yeah, no, we don't. So we flip within a 30 minute radius of our house now. And that's how we can move so fast because nothing gets the flipping is really cool. So we can flip houses in about three weeks at this point make usually 50 to $75,000. Yeah, that's been great.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Yeah, I mean I definitely want to dig into that, but I guess just give us a quick overview, Laura, of what your kind of real estate resume looks like today. So we already covered the first flip, the one short term rental, 30,000 foot view. What are the flips or the rentals that you guys hold now?

[Laura Sides]

So after that short term rental that we started, I started reaching out into my network. I started gaining a little bit more confidence. I still didn't really consider myself a real estate investor, but I started going to investor meetups and learning more and I started my Instagram page as an investor, started sharing and learning from others and that was really the pivotal point where I learned about financing and all of that. So I went on to. After that first short term, first slip turned short term rental, I flipped two more properties and I used the profit from those flips to buy my second short term rental. And that one is a really cool a frame right on the water in another beach town in Maryland. When we bought that, HGTV wanted to shoot the renovations, but it was such an expensive buy and they couldn't guarantee me that they would be done shooting in time for it to launch on Memorial Day. So we had to say I'm sorry, that's not gonna work. But it was like beachfront bargain hunt. We got it for 605. It's another one of those where I knew my family would love it and our my in laws would love it and we could share it with family and friends. So that one isn't 100% cash flowing yet. The tax deductions are great. We had a management company in place on both of those. The first one offsets the second one. So we basically have two vacation homes that we don't have to pay anything for because. But we're also not making a lot of money. So that goes into my future plans though.

[Ashley Kerr]

How often are you using these properties personally or your your family is just to kind of like gauge as to you're not paying anything for these properties but you're getting to use them. How much?

[Laura Sides]

Probably about 10 times a year. That will just pop down. It makes for a great change of scenery. It's really enjoyable, you know, and it's fun. And if it's not us using it, it's my in laws or my sister in law and her family. And it's just something that being from families that didn't have entrepreneurial backgrounds, we never thought could have been a reality for us that not only do we own one, but we own two beach houses and one is on the water. Like, it's just incredible. And there's a huge feeling of gratitude and for what we've created. I'm still kind of processing it all.

[Ashley Kerr]

I'm so happy for you. Like, I can feel like how thankful and grateful you are that like you have this and you have this for your family. It really is incred that you've been able to do this for them. So let's go into more of managing the rehab on these projects. Like what have you done to actually perfect this fix and flip strategy?

[Laura Sides]

So when we do fix and flips, from the moment that we go under contract on the property, we get in there, you know, in that contract to close period, we ask to have access to the house at least two times. So in with those two times, we're bringing in our cabinet people that measure our contractors to give us a scope of work. I'm making a list of materials so that the day that we close, all of our subs are lined up. They know exactly what they're going to do. All the materials have already been ordered. So we are just going in, pulling it all out and putting it back in.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Let me ask one follow up question there, Laura, because this is a question that I know that comes up often, but you said that you're using your due diligence period to have, you know, some of your subs go in your contractors, your cabin people, whoever it may be, and they're kind of finalizing that scope of work for you. How are you estimating your rehab costs prior to going under contract to make sure that, you know that it, you know you're going to estimate it's a $35,000 rehab, but when your subs get in there, it's actually a $100,000 rehab. So how are you during your offering stage validating your potential repair costs?

[Laura Sides]

So one thing with me as a mom and busy in our kids schools and everything that we're doing, I've really niched down to just being interested right now in condos and townhouses for the most part, which doesn't leave a lot to question, you don't really have to worry about what's going on behind the walls in a lot of cases, because in our area they're like 1970s or newer builds and a lot of the exterior stuff has been well maintained. And you're just going in and kind of and you know, you're not changing the footprint that Much on a condo or a townhouse, you're just going in, taking out the inside and making it as good as new, but replacing it almost exactly as it is. So when you talk about estimating work, because I know that you know to change out to pex and then to put the toilet right back where it was and put the sink right back where it was and the kitchen where it was. Right. Getting those estimates, I know where we're gonna land. And usually it's like $30 a square foot for that type of cosmetic rehab.

[Ashley Kerr]

So what are some of the systems and processes you have? Like are you using Google spreadsheets to track a lot of this information and data so that you know, going forward, like, okay, I can input this all into the spreadsheet and I'm going to know it's going to be $30 per square foot.

[Laura Sides]

Oh man, you would think so. But most of it right now is like a notebook where we keep our notes really clear and there's not a lot to chance we're getting them, we can spot a good deal really fast. And I think this is the biggest piece. Knowing what a good deal looks like and being able to jump on it quickly, like your speed to make a decision. And when there's that much room in the deal, we don't have to work through every single number because we know we're going to come out very ahead.

[Ashley Kerr]

And I think that it really is the hardest part is knowing what is a good deal and how to know that that that's really a struggle when you're getting started as to like, you know, doubting yourself that maybe this isn't a good deal but you kind of set it right there as to like safety net is leaving enough margin in the deal that if you don't estimate correctly or an issue does come up that it's not going to directly impact you, that you can still make money on the deal too.

[Laura Sides]

Yeah. I typically think in my worst case scenario, can I leave this at 20, can I at least make $20,000? And it usually that gets me over the like, yep, we can do that. I bring never only made $20,000. I don't think we've made less than 40. But you always just think, all right, what's the worst case scenario? Can we survive it?

[Ashley Kerr]

And that's the same with analyzing long term rentals is when you do the deal analysis. What's the worst case scenario I can get for rent? What's the best case? What, what's the rent at now? Things like that so yeah, that's a great example.

[Tony J. Robinson]

Yeah, we talk a lot about the worst case and it's like as long as you. As long as you can live with the worst case. And why wouldn't you do the deal right? Like why wouldn't you move forward with it Now, Laura, you've got a pretty tight buy box and which is interesting because you're really focused on condos and townhouses. And I can't really think of too many people that we've interviewed on the Rookie podcast that have niche down in that specific way. But what a tight buy box. You said, hey, I'm looking within a 30 minute radius of where I live. Condos and townhomes, 1970s builder, newer, you know, that I can knock out in this time frame. But how are you finding those deals? Are you still just like finding neighbors as you're taking the trash out or have you kind of evolved the way of finding deals?

[Laura Sides]

This is wild answer because I feel like, and we're in a really densely populated suburb of Philadelphia and all you're seeing here is like new construction that's $600,000 or more for a townhouse. We have townhouses right up the street from my primary that just went for 1.2 and they're like, it's a townhouse, you know. So within a half hour from our house. I know that you know what is a good buy. And we're finding everything on market, which I know is crazy, but I think it comes down to terms again too because I'll have my agent call their agent and say, hey, because you're looking at these listings right on Zillow or whatever and it's cell phone pictures usually listed by an agent that no one knows in our area and the price is lower than what you would expect. So if we can jump on the phone with them in this coming soon period, because again, not that much can be wrong in the house. We can jump on the phone with them in this coming soon period and say, what does your seller need? What can we do for your seller? Do they need to downsize, leave their stuff? Do they need us to take care of use and occupancy guidelines from the HOA community or whatever? What do they need? A flexible close date? Do you want to close quickly and basically just say, we will offer you all those things and give them the price that they listed on market for?

[Ashley Kerr]

We have to take one more break, but we will be right back after this.

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[Ashley Kerr]

Okay, thanks so much for sticking around. We're here with Laura and before we wrap things up, Laura, what's the plan for the future? What is your trajectory with your real estate business?

[Laura Sides]

We love flipping. It's really enjoyable. It's a really awesome thing to be able to give that back to the community. Community and give them someone that's going to live in the house that loves it and appreciate it as a good neighbor because they're living in this quality property. So that's cool. I'm definitely going to continue flipping, but very much like my First Airbnb that I never saw coming. But thanks to relationships and networking, another similar opportunity has presented itself that I've never seen coming and I can't talk too much about yet, but it's really. So we've gone on to. Actually, after that second Airbnb, we've gone on to flip, like, six or so houses this year. So all of that profit's kind of been hanging out in our business bank account. We're like, what are we going to do with this? And a company has come to us that would be a great vertical integration for what we're doing in real estate in our area, and they're offering to sell us their company. So it's like one of those wild 10x moments that I never saw coming. And I. I don't know the first thing about buying a business, but I'm confident that we can do it. It's an incredible fit. It's something I believe in. And if I surround myself by people that do know more than I know, I am pretty sure that we're going to be. It's going to be a record year.

[Ashley Kerr]

Now, you don't have to tell us, but my guess is a garbage dumpster removal companies, and that's where you got your star. And it's coming full circle.

[Laura Sides]

Amazing.

[Tony J. Robinson]

You know, I was actually thinking, guys, like, this is like a billion dollar idea. So, like, right now, a lot of the, the trash, at least where I live, it's handled by the city. But imagine if like a private company came in and say, hey, your trash service will be free, but we get to put advertisements on your trash cans. Think about that. Think about, like, if every single trash can on the road had an advertisement. Everyone's going to see their trash can as they're pulling it in. People driving down the road to the trash cans. Billion dollar idea. Whoever wants to take it, just give me. Give me a quick percentage.

[Ashley Kerr]

We actually have all, like, private ones around us. Like the, like, where I am right now at this property, you have to hire your own person to come and pick it up. And then some towns contract with private companies, too.

[Laura Sides]

You know what I think is a really good idea, Tony and you, this is it, you guys. Let's buy a dumpster company. And since you're always doing dumpsters, like at flips or whatever, we can just plaster, like, we're gonna own the dumpsters. And there's our, we will buy your house. And it's in neighborhoods that need people to buy houses.

[Tony J. Robinson]

We just came up with like three different billion Dollar business ideas. So somebody, somebody execute and just give us a cut. That's all we're asking. Laura, I want to, I want to go back though, because before, before our last break, you talked briefly about your strategy for finding deals and you said, hey, I'm getting most of these on market. And you said you did how many flips last year? You said six or seven flips last year. Yeah. And this is, this is at a time where interest rates are elevated, supply is constrained there. There's a lot of competition out there from buyers. But it sounds like what you've been able to do is that's in the same way that you had that conversation with your, with your neighbor about, hey, help me understand why you don't want to go on market. Like, like, what is, what is your motivation for selling? What are your challenges? It sounds like when you're reaching out to the listing agents, you're asking those same questions like, hey, how can I actually help the seller, aside from the purchase price? And it seems like that's made kind of the biggest difference. So I just want to highlight that because it is a very, I think, unique stance that we don't hear a lot when people are buying on market. Like, a lot of the negotiations are around purchase price. Right. Concessions when we get to closing. So just what a really unique strategy that you're leveraging with the on market properties.

[Laura Sides]

I think it also comes down to working with really, really good investor savvy agents too. And the agents that I work with locally are on the BiggerPockets website where you can search for investor friendly agents. And I think that's a big piece of the puzzle. Working with a great agent that understands investors and has those good communication skills where they will pick up the phone immediately, call the other agent and say, what do you guys need? We're going to close this. And then we all work together as a team. It's not really like us against them. We're usually giving them everything they want.

[Tony J. Robinson]

And that was actually my final question on, on your acquisition strategy, Laura, is like, how are you getting to these deals so quickly? Is it your agent that's like sending a deal to you saying, hey, this just got listed. Do you want to reach out? Do you have some sort of process internally for quickly identifying and kind of comping these deals out? Like, what is your actual strategy for scouring through all the properties that are on market and get into them quickly?

[Laura Sides]

Yep. So between my husband, myself and our agent, if something pops up where you can just clearly see it fits those buy box criteria, right? Like not there's a lot of stuff in the pictures. The house looks like worn down or they are cell phone pictures. Right. And it just looks like they need help or you can just sometimes it's only pictures of the outside and the description is such that, you know, pictures might be coming soon or something like that. So we are just really keeping our eye on the market what pops up each day and then usually because we're just always looking at what's out there and we're really familiar within this 30 minute range of our house and the these good school districts, when something comes up at 200,000 or 230, you know that immediately that has potential. And then you quickly look at the comps in the area and see if it's worth contacting your agent about. And thankfully my agent is hyper responsive and really on it and then we just see if we can close it.

[Ashley Kerr]

Well Laura, thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Real Estate Rookie. Where can people reach out to you and find out more more information about what you're doing in real estate?

[Laura Sides]

I'd love to connect on Instagram at sides Underscore Investing.

[Ashley Kerr]

Okay, well thank you everyone for joining us today. You've just listened to an episode of Real Estate Rookie. I'm Ashley and he's Tony and we'll see you guys on the next episode.