← Real Estate Rookie
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- [00:00]
A
Most rookies think you need savings, family money or years of climbing the corporate ladder before you can buy your first rental. Today's guest is 22 years old, moved from Kenya just nine years ago and just closed on a Baltimore duplex with $0 out of her own pocket.
- [00:18]
B
Crystal Lloyd pulled this off all while working a full time job commuting two plus hours per day. And she stacked first time home buying grants with a house hack and, and then rented out the second bedroom inside of her own unit. The day she closed, 97% of her mortgage was already.
- [00:39]
A
This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. I'm Ashley Kerry.
- [00:42]
B
And I'm Tony J. Robinson. And let's give a big warm welcome to Krystal. Krystal, thank you for joining us on the Real Estate Rookie Podcast.
- [00:49]
C
Thank you guys both so much for having me. It's really an honor to be on the show that's taught me so much.
- [00:54]
A
And Crystal, you were at BPCON last year, right? Volunteering?
- [00:57]
C
Yes, I was. That's actually how I got to the.
- [01:00]
A
Okay, yes, I knew you looked so familiar, but I just have this like phobia of like saying to people like, I know you. Right.
- [01:07]
B
And that's actually where we met. Yeah, I met Crystal there. Bpcon. I was like, we gotta get you on the podcast. And here we are. It's come full circle.
- [01:14]
A
Yes, yes. So finally, Geez, Tony, it only took you like six months.
- [01:19]
B
Well, as you'll hear in the story, actually she was still working on that first deal, so we have to get through the first deal first.
- [01:26]
A
Okay. So Crystal, I think for anyone listening that's ever had a long commute, this is going to hit home your episode for them. You just spent your entire summer traveling and then suddenly you're two hours into your car every single morning on your commute. What was the moment that you started asking yourself, what kind of life do I actually want here?
- [01:47]
C
I think it was mainly just the shock of going from like full time freedom, as you mentioned, like over the summer, into the daily grind. The commute kind of just forced me to confront the life trajectory that I was on. And so the transition from commuting, from being. Sorry, could I start that one over?
- [02:03]
A
Yeah, go ahead. Whenever you want.
- [02:05]
C
It was the shock of going from full time freedom into like the daily grind of working from 9 to 5. The commute kind of forced me to confront the life trajectory that I was on. And that transition kind of shocked me because I had just spent the summer traveling and suddenly I was um, up to like waking up really early in the morning and commuting over two hours a day and then working eight hours before driving home again. And after about a week of that constant schedule, I just remember thinking that I don't know if I could do that exact lifestyle forever.
- [02:35]
B
I think, first, kudos to you, Crystal, right? Because, I mean, you said it took you a week. That's, like, pretty fast. I think a lot of people who are listening are, you know, maybe like a decade or so older than you, and they're still kind of coming to terms with that. So I think kudos to you for. For that. But. But just. Just to clarify, so was it two hours one way or two. Two hours total?
- [02:55]
C
It was two hours total. It was about like an hour ten each way.
- [02:59]
B
And. And for a lot of people, right, I mean, they. They get in their car, whether it's one hour one way. I mean, so that's a lot of time in the car. One way. People use their car time differently. Some people listen to, you know, music, some people listen to nothing. But I'm curious, like, like, once you had that realization of, like, man, I'm seven days into this whole, like, regular job thing. I don't know if this is what I want. What did you actually start searching for? Because again, there's a lot of financial information out there, but you turned your car into, like, your. Your, you know, your education on wheel. So what did you search for? What did you land on as you started that journey?
- [03:33]
C
So it actually started kind of over the summer. At first, I was just consuming a lot of, like, general personal finance content on YouTube. But then as soon as I started driving and realizing how much of my life was being eaten up by this drive, I wanted to continue learning more. And so I ended up typing in real estate, investing into Spotify, and that's how I found Biggerpockets, and then eventually the real estate Rookie podcast. And for months, every commute became kind of like my mobile university. And I was just constantly listening to podcasts and audiobooks and eventually listened to Brandon Turner and Joshua Dworkin's books where they explained the cow sacking. And that was the first time that real estate kind of really, like, clicked for me because I realized that it actually might be, like, a way for me to move closer to work, eliminating that commute. And I would also get to own a home and start building that portfolio.
- [04:18]
A
And now, Krystal, you took the leap to actually go to BPCON last year, too. So what kind of pushed you over the edge to actually sign up and go there. And what was different about you on that flight home than when you were actually going to bp?
- [04:34]
C
I. I could talk about that conference for hours on end. It was just so amazing. And I just really loved being there so much. I was really terrified going into it, but I left feeling really empowered and just like, really supported by everybody that I met there and just finally feeling like I'd find, like, I'd found what I was passionate about. Because all throughout college, studying architecture and like, I tried out a bunch of different majors, but none of them really felt like my passion. So that feeling was really nice. Feeling like real estate was what I had been looking for. But yeah, I was honestly terrified to go alone because I thought that everyone there would be, like, way ahead of me in their investment journeys, which they were. But it turned out to be like, kind of the exact opposite. Like, everybody was really nice and like, not intimidating at all and just like, really welcoming and encouraging. And for the first time, like real real estate investing kind of stopped feeling like a distant thing that people online did and started feeling really attainable. Um, but yeah, bpcon completely changed my trajectory because of the relationships that I built there. And those relationships eventually led me into, like, local meetups and then more connections and then eventually found my realtor and my first deal. So the conference changed everything for me.
- [05:43]
A
Now, Krystal, when I met you, you were. It was like, literally I'd been at bpcon, I think for like an hour, and I was going through and it hadn't even started yet. But you were helping stuff, like the bags, I think, right in the one of the big expo halls. How did you get to do that? How was your first time ever at bpcon? You just started learning about real estate investing. How are you able to get to be there and see the behind the scenes and get to meet everyone that worked at bp? And how did that happen?
- [06:12]
C
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk about this, but basically I started texting people that were going to the conference, like, the people that were organizing it. And I knew that I wanted to save like every single dollar that I could. So I didn't want to spend the like 700 plus dollars on a ticket. And so I just like, kind of asked them, like, hey, do you have any volunteer positions in exchange for a ticket? Like, I'll do literally anything that you want. And I just to be like, in the rooms. So one person said no. And then I reached out to another person and they eventually said yes. So luckily that worked out. And that's how I ended up getting to volunteer, meet everybody there and just be in at the conference, which was nice.
- [06:51]
A
That is so awesome.
- [06:53]
B
Yeah. I think one of the parts of this story that, that resonates with me the most is the fact that you didn't know anyone there. You didn't, you didn't have any pre existing relationships or like, like you went to this conference by yourself. I'm understanding that correctly. There's so many people listening, Crystal, who maybe like the idea of going to a big event like, like bpcon and hopefully having an experience like what you had, but they're not going because they're too afraid to go by themselves. So what would you say to those people who are listening right now who are fearful of going into a 2000 person conference and not knowing anyone?
- [07:25]
C
I think one thing that has always helped me is that people kind of perceive you the way that you put yourself out. If nobody there knows you, you can kind of just fake it till you make it. You can be whoever you want to be over there and they'll interpret you the way that you're presenting yourself. And the more like human to human conversations that I was having, it was just like really easy to talk to anybody there. So just kind of forcing yourself past the comfort zone and letting the rest kind of play out as it's supposed to.
- [07:53]
B
One last question on that. Do you remember who you like, who you met first? Like the person that you started like hanging out with? If you remember that interaction, like, how did you, how did you two connect? Like, who opened up that dialogue? And I know this is super specific, but the reason I ask this is because that's oftentimes, I think the scariest part for people going into like a big conference like this is like, how am I going to talk to someone? How am I going to meet someone? Like, what do I say? You know, it's like you're in, you're in junior high all over again and you're like looking for the cool kids table. So like what was that experience for you? And meeting that first person and building that initial relationship.
- [08:25]
A
And this is still true to me. I dragged Tony to a finance conference with me just since last September because I didn't know anyone and didn't want to go by myself.
- [08:35]
C
It was actually somebody that I met off of the podcast she interviewed with you guys a while back. I'm not sure what episode she did, but Tori, she lives in Florida, she does real estate investing with her dad and does like flips. But I listened to her episode and she, like, her story resonated me for one reason or another. And I ended up reaching out to her on Instagram and just like, texting back and forth. And when I found out that she would be at the. I found out that she would be at the conference on my way there when she, like, started posting about it on her Instagram. And I was super excited and just like, organize the time to meet with her. But it was just nice to know that there was, like, at least one familiar face in the sea of, like, thousands of people.
- [09:09]
B
And I think that's one of the best strategies, right? It's just like, see if you can connect with folks beforehand and build some of that digital connection before you actually get there. And reaching out to previous guests is a great way to do that. And now Crystal folks will be reaching out to you before BPCON and Orlando saying, hey, hey, are you coming? So. So by the time BPCON ended, you knew that you were going to pull the trigger on something. But before we get into the deal itself, just walk us through how you actually defined your buy box, because I think a lot of Rickies skip this step, right? Like, they. They just kind of look at whatever's on the market. What were you actually willing to wait for?
- [09:42]
C
So I knew pretty early on by reading, like, the book that I mentioned by Joshua Dorkin and Brandon Turner that I wanted a small multifamily property because house hacking is what aligned with my goals and, like, the time that I was able to give to its real estate given like the 9 to 5 schedule. And I figured out that I wanted something in a market that I could realistically afford while reducing my housing expenses significantly. So I wanted something near work and near a strong rental demand, especially around universities, which right now I'm located between, like, three of the major universities in Baltimore. And I tried to stay, like, disciplined and not chase every opportunity that popped up because you guys and a lot of other, like, authors and podcast hosts warn a lot of rookies not to get distracted by, like, shiny object syndrome and just have kind of like a clear buy box. That helped me and my agent stay focused throughout the search process.
- [10:36]
A
We're going to take a quick break, but after the break, Krystal says yes to a deal, and we're going to go over the math that made it work, the grant stack that got her to zero out of pocket, and the layer of the house hack most rookies never think about. We'll be right back after this short break.
- [10:53]
D
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- [13:13]
A
Okay, now that we know that Crystal got herself into the rooms and what she was looking for, let's get into the deal. She said yes to the math. Here is something most rookies have never seen done so Crystal, take us back to the day where you actually saw this duplex for the first time. Walk us through what you were seeing what was the property. And at what point did you say, okay, this one is it?
- [13:36]
C
Sure. It's an up down duplex located in Baltimore, Maryland, and it's two bedrooms and one bathroom per unit. So the bottom unit already had a tenant. So I inherited a tenant there, and he pays 1,299amonth, which is, which just like immediately helped the numbers and the property fit almost everything that I had been looking for. And it just gave me the ability to like, live in one unit and rent out the second bedroom in my own unit. And that significantly offset the mortgage from day one. And I just kind of remember the first time that I came to see the property with my realtor and it looked great to me and looked great to her, but it was the third property that we had looked at. And most of all, all of the numbers worked. And I just kind of looked at her and we were like, okay, now what? Because I had not anticipated finding a property so soon after we started looking. I was like, am I not supposed to be underwriting like 700 properties before this? So, yeah, it was just really exciting.
- [14:32]
B
I. I was going to ask, like, how many deals did you have to look at, but three. I mean, that, that's, that's like, pretty efficient. Was this just listed on the mls, Crystal, how did you find this deal?
- [14:41]
C
Yes, it was. So I gave my realtor, like, the buy box that I had just talked about and like, just mainly mentioned the things that I was like, super, like, strict about. And she put that into the mls, like, sent over listings and I would just analyze and like, run the numbers on all of the properties that she sent my way. But we would only go see the ones that I was like, fully interested in or the ones that she thought were a good opportunity. So this was one of those three and the third that we looked at.
- [15:07]
B
You know, I think for a lot of rookies, Crystal, they show up to their first deal with their finances kind of all over the place. Right? Like, you know, they're, they're not quite sure, but you showed up with no student debt, a pretty clean balance sheet. You have some reserves intact. Walk us through how you were actually able to set yourself up financially at a relatively young age, pretty early in your career. How were you able to set yourself up financially before this deal even came along?
- [15:32]
C
So a huge part of this started before I ever even like, bought the first property. As you mentioned, during college, I worked multiple jobs. I've been working ever since I was like, 16 and just like, didn't Stop. And eventually during college I became a resident assistant, which covered my housing while I held that position, which was really only for a semester. But during college I would also like apply for jobs that allowed me to do my schoolwork while I was on the clock. Like front desk jobs at buildings that didn't really get a lot of traffic on campus so that I could like kind of like double up on that time. And I was also like aggressively saving everything that I made from those jobs and using that money to pay off any like student costs or anything and just like aggressively applying for scholarships and grants instead of assuming that they weren't available to me. And so eventually by graduation, I was able to pay off any of what was left of my student debt and use the savings from working. And that gave me kind of like a clean financial foundation before I ever started looking at properties, which was nice.
- [16:32]
A
So now let's, let's kind of look at the actual funding on this deal. Because, you know, when most people think about closing on their first deal, they think they probably need at least 30 to 40 to $50,000 in cash just sitting around to actually buy your first property. But how did your math work out? Did you have to have this huge down payment and kind of walk us through, through step by step, what your funding looked like?
- [16:56]
C
At first I thought that it would be like that. And so I was saving aggressively. From the moment that I started working, I would save about like 70% of my income, which thank goodness I lived like within a drivable distance to work because I could save a lot of that by not paying rent.
- [17:11]
A
70% of your income you were saving?
- [17:13]
C
Yeah. Yeah.
- [17:15]
A
That is a huge savings rate. That's awesome. That takes a lot of diligence.
- [17:19]
C
Yeah. My friends would make fun of me because we would go out to eat and I would be like choosing like something small just that I could like still spend the time with them. But like, I just was not willing to spend my money because like I had like meal prepped at home. There was no way that I was going to like put this goal on hold. But for like the math part, I ended up using a conventional loan with like 5% down and combined that with a lot of like first time homebuyer grants and assistance programs in my area. And those helped me cover about 5% of the down payment and closing costs. And so my main like out of pocket expenses were inspections and due diligence items during that process. And my realtor structured the sale of the property so that the purchase price was actually higher than the seller's asking price to help the seller walk away from this deal feeling satisfied, but also to help me pay my closing costs, which meant less money out of pocket to closing for me. My realtor, she's really amazing. She made the deal work for both the seller and I's interests. And one thing that I'm really grateful for is that this structure of that sale allowed me to keep my reserves intact after closing. Because the stabilization costs and all of the unexpected expenses are absolutely real and would have been really scary to deal with if I didn't have those reserves.
- [18:31]
B
Crystal, how did you find these additional grants? Were these found through your lender? Were you doing research on your own? Who, where were these grants coming from? And tell us more about the grants you're able to secure.
- [18:42]
C
It was like all hands on deck. I was like doing all the research that I could. Just like, if anybody mentioned something I would like immediately write it down and go look into it. Like when I met you at the conference, you mentioned naca and so I like looked into that until like a final point. So yeah, I would just like sign up for like all of the like first time home buyer classes and they would always mention something there. So I would just compare all of the programs that they had and like, yeah, just using the time in the car to like listen to more and more about each of these program programs and kind of like seeing every idea to an end. And I also communicated this with my entire like acquisitions team. So all throughout they were also looking for like similar programs for me. So everybody on my team was geared towards the same goal.
- [19:25]
B
Do you remember the, I guess A, the amount, but B, the, the terms of those grants, like was it, was it truly just free money or you know, like, like for example, when I, when I bought my first primary residence, we went through this program called calhfa, which is the state of California. I think it's like the, I just looked it up. It's like the California Housing Something Association. But basically they gave me a loan that operated as like a silent second mortgage on my property. So it wasn't my full down payment, but it was. A good portion of my down payment was funded through this CALHFA loan. And it was a, it was a silent loan, so I didn't have to make any payments on it. And only until the original loan was either paid off or refinanced, we didn't have to make payments on that loan. We end up refinancing like a few years later, we paid that off. Now we don't have it anymore, but. But that's how ours was structured. So I'm just curious if you recall the. The actual terms. Is it. Is it truly free money or like, it's just a grant that they gave to you, or is it, like a loan product that you'll have to pay back at some point?
- [20:24]
C
So it was kind of mixed. We stacked a couple of them. About 8,550 of it was seller credit. And then I had a $5,500 grant in there from my. From the lender. And then there was also a home buyer grant stacked in there. So the home buyer grant was really the home buyer grant and the grant from my lender were the two, like, free money portions of this. But there was also a 4477 Project Reinvest Grant, and that is going to be, like, due on sale, like, if I ever refinance or sell the house. So that will be the only piece that I have to pay back.
- [21:02]
B
It's incredible. It's incredible. Yeah. It makes me think of, like, man, have I not been looking for enough grants? You know, even. Even. Even for myself? Right. So the. The funding part makes sense here, Crystal. But I think the other piece that's important is how you actually layered not. Not just your. Your kind of funding strategies together, but you also layered the actual real estate strategies together. And I think that's part of what makes your story unique. Most people hear the word house hack, and they just picture a duplex where you live in one side and you rent out the other, which you did do. Right. You're renting out one side, but. But then you went one layer, one step deeper. So walk us through how the roommate inside of your own unit changed the math and the profitability on this first house hack.
- [21:42]
C
Sure. So the tenant in the bottom unit, as I mentioned, pays 1,299amonth. And my mortgage is 2054. So he pays about, like, 63% of my mortgage. But I kind of wanted to get closer to having most of it paid or. Or even cash flowing. But right now I'm baking, even because of the roommate. So when I added in the second bedroom of my own unit, my roommate pays 700amonth. So between the two renters, about 97% of my mortgage is covered now. And so that layered approach is really what changed the math because it just kind of, like, upset my housing. Like, instead of just offsetting my housing by 63%, I now have 97% of my mortgage covered from the beginning. Which was really nice. And it just made me a lot more confident in the property because now I know that I like when I do move out of this bedroom. I could get similar rents as my roommate pays, which would help me cash flow as soon as I move out. And so, yeah, just adding the roommate layer to the steel made a massive difference, but it's definitely based on personal preference. And I didn't really need the extra space in my unit. And so since I just graduated college, I was already used to having roommates. And it also meant that instead of potentially having to find a place to rent and spending over $1,000 on rent, I'm only spending about $55 a month out of pocket to cover the other 3% of the mortgage and paying half of utilities, which are split down the middle by my roommate and I, because the bottom unit is separately metered. So adding in the roommate changed a lot.
- [23:14]
A
And Crystal, when did you close on this deal? What month?
- [23:18]
C
In March 9th.
- [23:20]
A
So March 9th of 2026. And everybody says there's no deals out there. You can't cash flowing. You're technically not cash flowing, I guess, but you're also living in the property. You're spending $55 a month to live in a unit that you could potentially rent out for $700. Or like you said, you'd have to pay $1,000 to go and rent somewhere else. So that is incredible that from attending BPCON to March 9, you were able to find a deal. And there's people out there making excuses that they can't find a deal. But I think you showed how much work you are putting into it, how much research you are doing. You're analyzing the deals. You're sending a buy box to your agent. So many people talk about building out their buy box and stuff like that, but very few people actually send that out to their agent and are having leads sent to them. I think just all of the little action items that you did just shows how valuable it is to do those next steps. Tony, what does Brandon Turner call that?
- [24:30]
B
The most important next step?
- [24:32]
A
Yeah. Okay. Couldn't be more obvious.
- [24:38]
C
Yeah, A lot of those next steps were kind of like defined out from listening to this podcast. So I'm really thankful to you guys as well. Cause I, like took notes. Like I had my phone in my hand and I would like take audio notes whenever I was driving. And so just like whenever I would hit the next step and go like, okay, what do I do now? Like, I have to keep the ball rolling. I would just like, look back and it's like, well, Ashley said this on this day and Tony said this. So I always had like a good frame of reference because of YouTube.
- [25:01]
A
And then you picked what Ashley said and now it's all.
- [25:05]
B
I wouldn't disagree with that. But, but Chris, I mean, you took action, which is incredible. But I, I also just want to highlight, like, what, what an incredible story. I mean, you, you were obviously super tenacious and, and doing the work. But, like, let's just think about what you just said. You have this deal where you have now control and ownership and equity in this appreciating asset with virtually $0 out of pocket, and you've reduced your living expense down to zero. So you've got loan pay down that's happening from your tenants. Like, 97% of your mortgage is being paid by someone else. So your loan pay down is there. This property will continue to appreciate year over year. And it literally cost you nothing but some time and some hard work. Like, where else can you do that? Like, that is the beauty of real estate investing that I think so many people should be taking advantage of. So, man, I just absolutely love, absolutely love the story here. How did you find the roommate for your actual unit? Was it a friend that you already had or how did you find that person?
- [26:08]
C
No, I hadn't met her yet. But the tools that I learned on the podcast with screening tenants made me confident that I could pick a stranger and verify that they were actually safe to move into my house. So I went onto Facebook and I joined a bunch of groups for the universities that are in the surrounding area. And luckily I'd just graduated, so I feel like I seem a lot less intimidating. I reached out to a bunch of students that were looking for housing and just kind of like told them about the property and told them, like, reach out if you're interested. So I sent out about like 15 different messages. I pre screened a couple people and then eventually ended up continuing with like, just my one roommate. And she's been great so far.
- [26:48]
B
So what kind of questions? Because I do think that when you're, when you're house hacking in a traditional sense and there's like walls separating you and your tenant who's in a different unit, obviously you still want to screen really well, but it's a different element when you're in the same unit together. Do you remember, Crystal, what kind of questions you were asking to screen to not only get a good, you know, to get a sense of this person will be a good tenant, but will this person be a good roommate for me personally. And if she's a terrible roommate, then we can skip that question. We're going to have to answer that
- [27:18]
C
she's been an amazing roommate. I actually have the questions. I could pull those up. So I developed a rental pre screening questionnaire using obviously like the tools that you guys have given me, which is like every part of this. But I just basically asked for like some basic information like name, email, phone number, and then asked about like when they would want to move in and like how long they wanted to occupy the room for. And then I asked about like income and employment and like what their current employment status is, how much they make per month before taxes, and like what their source of income is, what their credit score is. And then I moved into like the rental history section asking how many times they've been evicted and if they have any prior landlord references. And I took the time to call the past landlords and just verify that all of this information was true, and then just asked a bunch of housing fit questions if they're comfortable living in a shared unit with the owner of the house and if they smoke, which was a really big one for me, and if they have any pets and what their reason for moving is and what they're looking for in their next living space. Just like a bunch of questions to make sure that we were actually a good fit as roommates. And so that kind of helped me to weed out a couple of the people that like, either like smoked or like would have been disqualified for one reason or another.
- [28:36]
B
I love the, I love the screening portions though. It sounds like you had a really good sense of who this person was. But now with you guys actually living together, how are you divvying up responsibilities? Like, we've interviewed some folks who have like, you know, like a cleaning schedule for the folks when they're, you know, they've got like the co living strategy kind of going on. It's like, hey, this week it's Crystal's turn to clean the bathroom. The next week is this person's turn. Do you have any sort of mechanisms in place to actually make living together run smoothly? Like, you know, groceries and, you know, household essentials like toilet papers and paper towels. Like, how do you, how are you handling the part of actually sharing that space together?
- [29:11]
C
It's been really nice so far. I added something into the lease about us deciding on like a shared set of rules when she moved in, but I've kind of like held back on doing that because we've been just like working really well together. She kind of just like naturally does some of the chores and I naturally do some of the others. So so far it's been really good. But I do have that part of the lease that allows me to enforce a shared set of rules later on if this system stops working.
- [29:37]
B
All right, coming up, the part of the story most first time investors don't see. The day she questioned whether she could actually handle all of this and and the lesson with a contractor that cost her real money. We'll get into it after a quick break.
- [29:56]
D
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- [33:11]
B
The the numbers work, the keys are in Crystal's hand. Now comes the part of the story that most rookies aren't ready for the moment you realize you actually have to run this thing. So I'm curious, Crystal, about the lowest points in all of this. Right, because so far the story's been phenomenal. But I'm sure that there are some parts that maybe weren't as good glamorous because you're juggling the full time job, the, the two hour commute, the property, the contractors. There's got to have been a moment where you said, I don't know if I can actually handle all of this. Walk us through what that day looked like and, and what got you through it.
- [33:42]
C
So the hardest part honestly came like right after closing I was juggling like having the full time job commuting really long, dealing with like contractors for any work that needed to be done, like dealing with paperwork, tenants having to keep up with like fitness and trying to learn everything like at once and not being able to let anything slip through the cracks because at this point it felt like even if that, even if I wanted to put anything on the back burner, I couldn't because all of this felt like a priority. So there were definitely moments where I questioned whether or not I could handle all of it. But I would stop sometimes and kind of just realize that I was in the middle of exactly what I had been praying for for so long. And that once I got through, like, the adjustment period, it would just be easy going forward because I could replicate the same thing and, like, everything would get easier to manage, which it did, thankfully. And what got me through it was lots of praying, first of all, and being really grateful that God had given me these opportunities. So just, like, recognizing that I was entrusted with such blessings kind of kept me pushing forward. And my family and friends were also really supportive throughout this time. My family especially. They helped me move in and just kind of, like, kept up with all that was happening and celebrated every milestone with me, which was really nice. But looking back, I kind of learned throughout all of this that growth throughout these different transitory stages of life can feel really stressful. Not because you're failing, but because you're doing something that's really new and really important. And that stress is always worth pushing through because growth can really get really uncomfortable. But your dreams and goals that are on the other side of that are so worth it.
- [35:12]
A
That is so well said, Crystal. Now, during this time, you did have a stressful time, like, something happened to you with a contractor. So how did you handle that and what actually went wrong with this contractor?
- [35:30]
C
So you know how I mentioned that I was really grateful to have all of my reserves still intact?
- [35:37]
B
You're like, there's a reason for that. Yeah.
- [35:39]
C
This was the part where my pockets were, like, tested and tried. I was in the process of getting the home, like, move in ready for my roommate who was moving in in five days. From the moment that I realized like, this, and I realized that the shower was loose, and that was a problem because, like, moisture from showering could get into the wall. And that leads to a bunch of other issues that I really hope to God never to have to deal with. So I found a contractor through my realtor to come in and fix that. And in the process, he found that the hot water heater in the basement was no longer working and also needed to be replaced. And so all that together was a little over a thousand out of pocket, which, like, if I didn't have my reserves, could have gone a lot worse than it eventually did. But basically, I ended up paying the contractor too much upfront because, like, before the work was fully completed, and he ghosted me the very second that I put that money out there and hadn't yet finished sealing off the shower, which was quite possibly the most important part. And so that kind of taught me the very important lesson about structuring my payments carefully because the cost wasn't really just financial, it was also like emotional and time related because fixing mistakes took a lot of energy and more importantly like time, which I didn't have much of seeing as my roommate was moving in in a couple days. But anyways, now I'm a lot more intentional about milestone based payments, as you guys have taught me, and making sure that the work is actually completed before the final payment, no matter how nice and trustworthy the contractor seems.
- [37:07]
B
Where did you find that contractor, Crystal?
- [37:09]
A
I.
- [37:09]
C
He was referred to me through my realtor, but she hadn't personally worked with him, so I reached out to her. Like as soon as he ghosted I was like, hey, have you ever like had any issues with such and such? And she's like, no, I've never had that happen. But he's definitely off my list now. So I think it ended up working out.
- [37:26]
B
How, how did you finish the job? Did you have to hire someone in to come and, and do it or is it just like YouTube University to finish it yourself?
- [37:32]
C
YouTube University.
- [37:34]
B
Fair enough. It gets the job done. It gets the job done. So Crystal, your, your why here, when it comes to investing in real estate is, is freedom and impact, right? You know, being able to, to be present for a future family, being able to travel, you know, volunteering without being financially constrained. So I, I guess the last question for you is for a rookie that's listening to this right now, maybe two hours into their own commute, questioning whether any of this is actually worth it, is it worth it to keep listening to the podcast? Is it worth, worth it to, you know, save 70% of your income? Is it worth it to, you know, spend the time going to the conferences and making those connections for this person who's listening and is questioning those things, what do you want them to take away from, from your story and from this conversation?
- [38:17]
C
I think the first thing would be that it is 100% worth it. And I think that there's also just like a couple things that I'd want them to be able to take away from this episode. But the biggest thing and something that my mom always told me is that the world is already hard enough without you constantly telling yourself that you can't do something too, like add to the negative voices. And you don't need to know everything before getting started. Just start, learn, ask questions, build relationships, research. Like all of those things are absolutely necessary, but eventually you kind of have to take action which was something that was drilled into me by listening to all of these podcasts and books. You can only learn so much by, like, listening to other people's experiences. You kind of have to take that step for yourself. And the second thing is to build a strong foundation with the right team around you. When I first started out, I was really nervous and didn't feel prepared. And so I'm like, really grateful for the team that I had working alongside me throughout all of this and my mentor who I met at the conference last year in Vegas because they all played such unique but really integral roles and seeing me through this goal and just like to be really careful about whose advice you take. A lot of people tried to discourage me from pursuing real estate investing because, like, it had not worked out for them or something or like they had heard, like a bad story, but a lot of them hadn't actually invested themselves. And so now kind of being on the other side of that, I can say that if I had taken their advice, I would probably be spending like a really good chunk of my salary on rent and still feel, and still like feeling really stuck wondering how to break out of the thinking that I'd be tied to the same 9 to 5 schedule for many years to come. And the last thing would just be that there's always almost a way. There's almost always a way forward. And if you can stay resourceful, committed and willing to keep learning that you can do quite literally anything that you put your mind to.
- [40:04]
A
So, Krystal, not only real estate investor, but motivational speaker throughout this whole thing. I really, really. But thank you so much for taking the time today to come onto the show to not only share your wisdom, but also to share your journey with real estate investing. We really enjoyed having you on the show. So where can people reach out to you and find out more information about your journey?
- [40:29]
C
Thank you guys so much for having me as well. It's been really nice speaking with you guys today. Anybody can reach out to me. I'm mostly reachable on Instagram. My Instagram is Crystal Lloyd with three D's at the end. So C R Y S T A l dot L O Y D D
- [40:44]
A
D. Well, thank you, Crystal, so much for joining us. Everybody else, thank you for listening and if you're not already, make sure you are so subscribed to Real estate rookie on YouTube. I'm Ashley, he's Tony, and we'll see you guys next time.
- [40:59]
B
Hey, rookies, if you're watching this, we want you to apply to be a Guest on the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. That's right. Ashley and I are looking for amazing stories just like yours to be a part of our Real Estate Rookie Podcast. Now look, you don't need to be an expert. You don't need to have done thousands of deals. Even if you've done one deal, your story could help inspire the next listener
- [41:17]
A
as a rookie investor. Especially if you just got your first deal. It is all fresh in your minds and you are the best person to tell your story. Give your experience on how you got it done to help someone else get their first deal.
- [41:30]
B
So head over to biggerpockets.com guest if you want to be a part of our show again. That's biggerpockets.com guest and we'd love to have you on Uncovered windows can make your home feel up to 20 degrees hotter. Stay cool and save up to 50% off custom window treatments during the 4th of July mega sale@blinds.com from outdoor shades to room darkening blinds, finding the perfect fit is easy. Get free samples, expert design help and professional measure and install services or DIY with confidence and support every step of the way. Shop up to 50% off site wide plus huge savings on door busters right now during the 4th of July mega sale@blinds.com.