From Burnt Out Nurse to Real Estate Investor – How She Did It!

Summary

Rich Dad Radio Show: Episode Summary Episode Title: From Burnt Out Nurse to Real Estate Investor – How She Did It!
Release Date: January 16, 2025
Host: Jaron Sustar
Guest: Erica Costanzo

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of the Rich Dad Radio Show, host Jaron Sustar welcomes Erica Costanzo, a former registered nurse and dedicated mother of four, who has successfully transitioned into the real estate investment space. Erica shares her inspiring journey from facing burnout in the nursing profession to becoming a thriving real estate investor focusing on fix and flips.

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Erica’s Background and Burnout as a Nurse

[02:02] Erica Costanzo:
Erica begins by detailing her early career as a registered nurse, highlighting the challenges she faced in balancing demanding work hours with raising two young children. The long shifts, weekend work, and lack of flexibility led to significant burnout, prompting her to seek a more fulfilling and manageable career path.

Quote:
"Working long hours as a nurse, having to work weekends and holidays, and having those certain requirements really like, hurt when I wanted to just stay home and raise my kids."
— Erica Costanzo [02:02]

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Discovering Real Estate as a Solution

Frustrated with her unsustainable work-life balance, Erica embarked on a quest for a viable alternative. After extensive research and exploration of various options, she settled on real estate investing as the key to achieving financial and time freedom.

[02:30] Erica Costanzo:
She credits her decision to real estate as driven by the potential for long-term wealth, passive income, and the flexibility to be present for her family.

Quote:
"Real estate was the thing that always seemed to be the thing that'll get you anywhere you want on your own. Your time freedom, your financial freedom, long-term wealth, of course."
— Erica Costanzo [02:30]

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Initial Steps in Real Estate: House Hacking and First Investments

Erica’s entry into real estate began with strategic house hacking and small fix and flip projects. Balancing her nursing job with her new ventures, she utilized FHA loans to purchase townhouses with minimal down payments, allowing her to generate rental income while living in the properties.

[04:19] Erica Costanzo:
She discusses the practical aspects of house hacking, such as purchasing multi-unit properties and renting out additional units to cover mortgage costs.

Quote:
"We did townhouses. So two different townhouses that we did not like rent out the other room... was a way that we house hacked to get a home for very, very little money down."
— Erica Costanzo [04:19]

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Networking and Building Relationships

A pivotal moment in Erica’s journey was her emphasis on networking. Attending real estate meetups, joining Facebook groups, and building relationships with wholesalers and other investors provided her with valuable insights and access to lucrative deals.

[13:21] Erica Costanzo:
Erica underscores the importance of surrounding oneself with like-minded individuals and learning directly from those who are already successful in the field.

Quote:
"Don't take advice from someone that doesn't do like they're not doing what you want to do... put yourself in front of mentors, other investors, and people that you can really lean on."
— Erica Costanzo [13:21]

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The First Successful Fix and Flip

Erica recounts her first major fix and flip deal, sourced through a networking event hosted by a wholesale company. The project involved significant renovation, including a full bathroom overhaul, which ultimately led to a substantial profit.

[22:01] Erica Costanzo:
She shares the financial specifics, highlighting how purchasing and renovating the property resulted in a nearly $100,000 gross profit.

Quote:
"We bought it for $250,000 and sold it for $375,000... that was around $100,000 gross profit when you got done on your first deal."
— Erica Costanzo [22:01]

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Lessons Learned and Strategy

Erica emphasizes the significance of delayed gratification, staying focused on a single strategy initially, and mastering specific skills before diversifying. She advises new investors to identify their "buy box" and maintain discipline to avoid the "shiny object syndrome."

[25:31] Erica Costanzo:
She details her approach to maintaining focus, building a reliable team, and setting clear, achievable goals.

Quote:
"Staying focused so that you don't get pulled in other directions... find your buy box even... stick to that at first and don't lose sight of it."
— Erica Costanzo [25:31]

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Advice for Aspiring Real Estate Investors

Erica offers heartfelt encouragement to listeners contemplating a similar transition. She advocates for taking calculated risks, believing in oneself, and maintaining a clear vision of one’s goals to overcome obstacles and achieve long-term success.

[33:02] Erica Costanzo:
Her advice centers on having confidence, understanding personal motivations, and staying true to one's objectives despite challenges.

Quote:
"To go for it, take the risk, you know, have confidence in yourself... make the money that I need by doing five to ten flips a year. I'm pickier about which ones I take on because I want large profits and that's okay."
— Erica Costanzo [33:02]

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Conclusion

Erica Costanzo’s story is a testament to the transformative power of real estate investing. From overcoming career burnout to achieving financial independence, her journey serves as an inspiring blueprint for aspiring investors. Jaron Sustar commends Erica for her dedication and success, highlighting her role as a valuable coach within the Rich Dad Media Network.

[35:14] Erica Costanzo:
Expressing gratitude, Erica reinforces the importance of perseverance and strategic planning in real estate.

Quote:
"I enjoyed it... thanks for having me on. I enjoyed it."
— Erica Costanzo [35:14]

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Key Takeaways

• Transitioning Careers: Identifying dissatisfaction in a current role can be the catalyst for pursuing new opportunities like real estate.
• House Hacking: Utilizing strategies like house hacking can minimize initial investment costs and generate passive income.
• Networking: Building relationships with experienced investors and wholesalers is crucial for accessing profitable deals.
• Focused Strategy: Mastering one aspect of real estate before diversifying ensures sustained success and prevents overwhelm.
• Self-Belief: Confidence and a clear vision are essential for overcoming challenges and achieving long-term financial freedom.

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For More Information:
Listeners are encouraged to download Jaron Sustar's free ebook, "How to Buy Your First Investment Property," available in the show notes, to embark on their own real estate investment journey.

Transcript

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[Jaron Sustar]

Welcome to the rich dad real estate show where we talk about the good news and bad news of real estate, hosted by yours truly, Jaron Sustar. If you haven't already, go down to the show notes and grab my free ebook, how to buy your first investment property. It's going to walk you through all the steps you need to get started buying real estate. Today we have the honor of having Erica Costanzo join us. I've known Erica for a really long time, started coaching her right when she got into real estate and now she's a rock star and she coaches others. She's a mom of four, previous registered nurse and now she's a full time real estate investor. So Erica, welcome to the show. I'm super excited for the listeners to get to hear your story today.

[Erica Costanzo]

Thank you. Yeah, I'm excited as well. Thanks for having me on.

[Jaron Sustar]

Yeah, this is going to be a lot of fun. So I want to open the floor to you because your story is pretty powerful and let you tell folks just where you started and how you got to where you are today, which is a very powerful real estate investor who makes a lot of money doing fix and flips and it's starting to add properties to your portfolio as well.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah. So as you mentioned, I was previously a registered nurse, so I went to college for my bachelor's in nursing. I very quickly began my career after that I graduated college. I already had two Kids. So when I started my career as a nurse, I had two small children and I very quickly realized that my work life balance was very thrown off. Working long hours as a nurse, having to work weekends and holidays, and having those certain requirements really like, hurt when I wanted to just stay home and raise my kids. I mean, that was always my goal all along and I thought I would have that flexibility, but I really didn't. So with nursing, I was very, very burnout very quickly. And I just kind of knew there had to be another way. I didn't want to like settle for unhappiness in my career and just like a lifetime of unfulfillment there. So, you know, I kind of was like, what, what, what solution can I have here? I know there's got to be another way. But what was it going to be? Research. Did a ton of stuff like that. Tried stuff. Real estate, honestly, was the thing that always seemed to be the thing that'll get you anywhere you want on your own. You know, your time freedom, your financial freedom, long term wealth, of course. And yeah, so I was definitely sparked interest in that. I started learning through books, podcasts, you know, following the right people on social media and then of course, you know, then getting you as my mentor to teach me everything of how to get started, um, how to use other people's money as best as, you know, as much as you can, how to start doing fix and flips. And yeah, I was able to replace my income with fix and flips especially. A lot of people are, you know, always say, like, how can you do more fix and flips? And you know, I have some rentals and I'm slowly getting there with my rental portfolio. But I would say I love fix and flips and for me that that was a need because I needed to replace my active income. I wanted to leave my W2 job. So if you're, you know, if you're happy, you like your W2 and you just want to set yourself up long term, maybe for retirement to pass on generational wealth. You don't want to work forever, you know, use your W2 to supplement. But for me, it was just an ache at my heart that I needed to get out of nursing and do something else. And now real estate allows me that freedom to be home with my kids, to not have to show up to work on Christmas or Christmas Eve, not miss soccer games on the weekends. So yeah, it fulfilled those needs for me there.

[Jaron Sustar]

So did you start investing while you were working at the hospital or. It was after I Can't remember.

[Erica Costanzo]

So I mean we did like a live in flip, you know, and then we did two house hacks. So we kind of very started slow there. I didn't really know it look like.

[Jaron Sustar]

What the, what the house hacks and all look like while you were, while you were working.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah, I mean, with kids that was pretty much. So traditionally a house hack. You want to buy something where there's multiple units or maybe if you live alone and you're okay renting out the other rooms. If it is single family, um, we did townhouses. So two different townhouses that we did not like rent out the other room. I mean, I have a handful of people living there already. But it was a way that we, you know, house hacked to get a home for very, very little money down. You have to live there for one year, stayed a minimum on one year, moved out and did it again to another townhome and then, you know, moved out from there. So that's what that looks like for us. Yeah, it's, you know, when you buy a home such in your primary name, again, little money down. So that was a huge benefit for us. But if you're going to do the house hack strategy and you have W2 to support it, obviously that's helpful because they're going to want to look at all that you do personally and what you make to be able to, you know, approve you for a home. So it was just like buying a house for ourself. Three and a half percent down. You can go fha. You can only have one FHA out at a time, out at a time so that if you go again, you can do 5% conventional. Still very little money down compared to if you're just going to buy a rental like property and have to spend 20% down on that investment. And I just didn't really know any better. You know, I didn't know how to borrow other people's money. I didn't know what hard money was. I didn't know the burr exactly. You know, didn't know enough about fix and flips to feel confident to take it on and how to run numbers and how to do all that. So started very slow with just like, okay, I know enough that like I've seen people talk about this strategy that seems achievable to get started with and it was really a smart move. I mean it's like a very. It's a lot of risk and I think it's. It's a risk a lot of people don't want to take. You know, we sold our. Our family home that we thought we were going to be in forever, but, you know, ultimately we weren't happy there. We didn't love the school district as the kids start, you know, getting older in school districts. And we were like, if we're going to take this move, let's do it now. And we made a house hacks out of it happen. So. Yeah. Yeah. And that first house that we sold, we fixed it up. We lived there for just two years. So again, you don't have to the benefit of not having to pay capital gains. And, you know, we sold, made a huge profit off that, paid off bad debt, paid off our cars, and we're able to get in real estate pretty, you know, smoothly with a good start. A good head start. Yeah.

[Jaron Sustar]

I think one of the best ways to get into real estate is through your personal properties when you're starting. I really do. I mean, obviously there's tons of ways you can get into real estate. You don't have to do it one set way from the beginning. But I had Ryan on, and Ryan works with our team, and he started through house hacking, and it's really hard to beat that strategy.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah.

[Jaron Sustar]

Because you're able to buy a home for yourself, like you said, a little money down, and then you bring other people in who are now paying for your living scenario. And then what happens is you just build equity over time because they're paying down your debt, the house is going up in value. And so then it gives you leverage as you move forward and want to expand into larger properties and really go all into real estate, which you and your husband have done. And so I think for anybody listening, if you can house hack, by golly, do it or do live in flips. I know people who've done live in flips multiple times. They'll live there for a year or two, fix it up, sell it, take the profit, and go do it again. And so there's nothing wrong with investing in your personal homes because. So if you read rich dad, poor dad, or, you know, the rich dad brand, the whole point is how do we lower our liabilities and increase our assets? And a lot of times our personal home becomes a liability because it's costing us every month. Well, if we can take that, which would probably be our largest liability and turn it into an asset that cash flows or that at least breaks even, we have come out ahead big time. And that starts to compound over time, over years, and it. And it really, really, really increases the pace to which you can Achieve wealth. So what was that like leaving your stable, really good job, like as a nurse. That's a really, really good job. You have all these children that you're, you're providing for and you're just like, you know what? I don't want to keep doing something that's miserable, that I hate, that sucks the energy out of me. It doesn't give me energy while also keeping me from the people that I love the most. What was that process like? Actually pulling out of that and taking the chance to go into something else.

[Erica Costanzo]

A little bit scary. But I'm a, I'm a big risk taker. Personally, I've kind of always been that way. I don't like to settle. I go after what I want. If I want something, I'm gonna go seek it. Yeah. And then it was just freeing, you know, like I work night shift as a, as a nurse, so getting by my life back. Really. Like you think you're working one 12 hour shift at night when it doesn't matter because your kids are asleep. But I have to sleep before that and I have to sleep after that. So it's like working two days where you have to sleep, taking up that time and in the night. So it just freed up my life. I felt like I had my life back. Yeah. And like I said, it was a big risk. You got to get comfortable being in uncomfortable situations. When you take risks like that and take on a business like this in general, you're going to come across hurdles that you're going to have to overcome. So I'm not going to say it was easy. It was a big sacrifice. I think that's a big word I would use for what, what happened. You know, you got to, it's like the ultimate delayed gratification. Like we had to, you know, live in house hacks for a little while and sacrifice some things for a little while. But we're like, and that gets hard, not gonna lie. But you gotta think long term. You gotta think what you're setting yourself and your family up for long term. And that is like, you know, and I came from a background where I was a single teen mom. I got pregnant in high school. I have no business owning a bunch of real estate property. But you know, I'm not that person that was gonna let that start story, that statistic really become who I was. And I was not going to let that define me. And I think a lot of people think I'm in real estate, they assume I'm a realtor. And you know, I Must have done that because I didn't go to college or do anything else. And like, when people hear that I actually went to college, I got a bachelor's degree and. And they're like, oh, well, what are you doing, you know, as a realtor? And it's like, well, I'm a realtor now. Not really. I never really call myself a realtor. If you meet me, I'm a real estate investor. That's what I go by. But yes, I have my license now to supplement my business. I just got it a couple months ago. So I did wait over like maybe a year and a half to even get my license to now supplement what I do and not have to go through agents or pay agents. So, you know, that was a super smart business move and I was ready for it at that time when I, when I went after it. But, you know, my background and who I was and how I got here, it's like this crazy story that people are always like, oh, well, don't you feel like you wasted a lot of time in nursing school and. No, I would have wasted the rest of my life being unhappy in a career when there's something I could do about it. And, you know, now I get to essentially work for myself or, you know, around my own schedule and, and be able to be there for my family's needs and, you know, provide still. So, yeah, I feel like when we.

[Jaron Sustar]

The age that we have to make the decisions of what we want to do with our life, we don't really know what we want to do with our life. Like, does any of us really know yet what we want to do with our lives? I mean, you know, you finally find some passion down the road. But a lot of times we're making this decision when we're 17, 18 or 20s, and it's like you, you can't say that you being in nursing school, but now you don't do nursing. It's not a waste. You learn so many things along the way, and I think that's the important thing to learn. Just life lesson in general is it's about the journey, like the destinations. When you reach a destination, you have a big win. It's over just like that. The real gems are found throughout the journey. And so I think your story is amazing. I think it's awesome that you went through a lot of hard things and like you said, you didn't become a statistic. You didn't let anything that people probably tried to put on you, label you or keep you from going and achieving what you wanted to accomplish, you didn't inherit all this money. That's the biggest thing is people be like, oh well, you just must have been given a bunch of money to buy real estate. It's like, no, wasn't the case. We did it ourselves. And you know, I'm proud of you and I love your story and I think it's amazing. I'm excited to break down what you've done in real estate. You said one thing though that I always point out on these shows. People who listen regularly probably laugh, but when I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of successful people on this podcast and so you hear some things that recur over and over and over. And one of them that I hear all the time is delayed gratification. And you said it like you sold what you thought was your forever home so that you could go in and house hack knowing that you're going to have to sacrifice. But anything worth having in life is going to take sacrifice. You did it. You delayed your gratification. Well, here you are today and we were talking, I think off camera, you're about to close on your guys new personal home which is probably, I don't know, I hadn't talked to you yet. Nicer or better than the first one that you had that you ditched to get into house hacking. You're making all this money off flipping, you're building your portfolio all because you delayed gratification. And that is key number one to building long term success. Number two, which I want to open the door for you to talk about is networking. That is the second thing that all successful people say have helped them get to where they are today. I know networking was huge for you when you first started out. What did that look like? And what's your advice to anybody who's wanting to break in to the real estate space?

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah, networking was a huge shift in my business. Finally putting myself out there and surrounding myself with people who I wanted to do the same things they were doing. You know it's true. Don't take advice from someone that doesn't do like they're not doing what you want to do. Back in the day when we sold our, like our first home that was also a townhome, um, our agent, we didn't need to sell it financially, but we went back and forth about keeping it as a rental and we were like, you know, making money as a nurse. I had just started my job, we didn't think we needed the rental income so we ended up selling. Our agent was Advising to do it. They were like, you know, it's a headache, and they don't have a portfolio, so I should have never listened to them. And, you know, you learn things as you go. But, yeah, don't take advice from the people who aren't where you want to be. Take advice from the people who are where you want to be. So I started putting myself out there, having lunch with other investors, going to real estate investor meetups, and just put your face in front of anyone you can that's doing what you want to do, and ask them how they're doing it, how are they finding their deals, where are they buying them, how are they buying them? What are they doing? You know, especially with different markets, things look different, market conditions change. How are they overcoming those hurdles? How are they swerving in their business to still make it work when these changes occur? You'll learn so much from those people who are already there and have already been through what you're looking to go through. Um, you'll avoid mistakes that, you know, you might make if you don't put yourself in front of mentors, other investors, and people that you can really lean on. I mean, opportunities for partnerships and all of those things. So, yeah, local meetups. Look up your real estate investor meetups and utilize Facebook. Facebook groups were where I really started. I joined all the Facebook groups for investors. You know, wholesalers post deals in there. That's where I met some of them, as well as agents, contractors, any of them. You know, you need those people on your team. I'm someone who. I always think I can get there alone, but trust me, you can get there a lot faster with those type of people around you and in your corner.

[Jaron Sustar]

So we'll be right back.

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[Jaron Sustar]

Dad Real Estate Show. I am here with Erica Costanza. Erica, we were talking for the break how networking is huge. You started putting yourselves into local real estate meetups, Facebook groups, having lunch with real estate investors. And the key is putting yourself around people who are already where you want to get. It makes success in life so much faster if you do that. And you are the epitome of following that playbook. And so if I remember correctly, you started doing that maybe it was towards the end of 2022, beginning of 2023, and you had a deal come along that was very, very solid not long after that. So how did it unfold? Who did you meet? How did you find the deal? And then we'll break down the numbers and talk about how you go through analyzing fix and flips.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah, so exactly. At the end of 2022 is when I started joining those groups, putting myself out there, meeting people. And then I actually saw an event that was happening. It happened in December of 2022. So I went. That was my first event. It was done by a big wholesale company, real estate company, and got to meet a ton of people there. But that's actually who I bought my first deal off of was that wholesale company. So, yeah, we closed on that shortly after the new year. And that was our first, you know, official flip that we did not have to live in or buy in our own name the right way to do it and go about it.

[Jaron Sustar]

So, yeah, that's really cool. So that wholesaler is hosting an event. Bringing people together is probably smart for them because they're probably trying to find end buyers like yourself, and then you come along and you end up buying it for anybody. Listen, who's not sure. We talk about this a lot, but a wholesaler is essentially someone who goes and gets a deal under contract, and then they sell the contract to an investor like Erica. So the wholesaler is not actually going to flip it themselves. They're not going to keep it in their portfolio as a rental. They're just going to sell the contract for a profit to an investor who then will flip it or keep it as a rental. And so Erica became friends with these wholesalers. And we teach our students get on as many wholesalers list as possible because we want to see a large volume of deals. Because we don't have a large volume of deals, it's going to be hard to close deals because it usually takes a lot of looking and analyzing at deals before we find one that makes sense. Now, sometimes it goes quick, but not all the time. And so wholesalers are a great way to, to get leads coming your way. And so what, what did that deal look like? Like what the. What the numbers look like. How'd you go about analyzing it? How'd you feel? Were you a little nervous? I remember I was very, very nervous my first deal.

[Erica Costanzo]

Um, I wasn't nervous, honestly. I was very excited, I will say, just because of doing the networking and stuff. Like, I mean, these are people I still buy from. I have another one of their events next month, so they do them quarterly. You keep in touch with these people, you know, when you sit down with them and you have lunch with them periodically. You're learning who their kids are. You get your kids together, like they become friends. And so having that type of relationship of them in my corner, like I felt like, okay, I feel like I trust them. You know, they weren't, you know, some people are selling off market deals and if it feels wrong, it probably is, or if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. So definitely do your due diligence. But I really felt like I was in the right place buying my first deal from them. Um, they pretty much had everybody on board too. Like they, you know, when they host these events, they have their title companies, hard money lenders, all these partners of them were. It really is like a one stop shop. And I learned so much through that. And I felt comfortable, you know, I felt like they helped me with the deal. And I was able to walk through the property and get eyes on it, obviously myself and a contractor's point of view to get numbers and estimates and go over a quick scope of work of what would need to be done, made sure the numbers made sense. And then, you know, we were under contract that night. So yeah, I don't know, I wasn't, I wasn't that nervous. I was more so excited about that opportunity. It just felt right because I had taken the time and did the due diligence of putting myself in places and making those relationships. So.

[Jaron Sustar]

And it's a people business. It's a people business and you took the time to build relationships. And I think all business is built on trust and built on relationships. And when you have that, then it makes making money for both parties very easy. What the numbers look like on that. What'd you guys buy it for? What it cost you to rehab? What'd you sell it for?

[Erica Costanzo]

Let me see if I can remember this. I believe we bought it for 250. I want to say we did not put a ton into it. It didn't need a ton. It was almost like a whole tail to be honest. But it needed a whole new full bath. So because of that, it's maybe probably a little more intense than some people would like to whole tail and just like paint and stuff like that. So I'm trying to think how much we put into it. And we sold it for 375, I believe. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. 370. It's been a while. I've done a lot of flips.

[Jaron Sustar]

It's two years. I know I'm putting you on the.

[Erica Costanzo]

Spot here, but this, this was A while ago. Yeah.

[Jaron Sustar]

Yeah. So let's say you even, I mean, you put in 50k. I don't know. I don't, I don't feel like you put that much in when, when we talked about it.

[Erica Costanzo]

No. Yeah, yeah.

[Jaron Sustar]

But even if you did, you're all in at 300 and you sold it for 375. But I think, if I remember correctly, I don't, I think you guys, I don't think you're any more than 25 to 30. So you're all in at 280. You sell at 3. Cause I just remember it being close to $100,000 gross profit when you got done on your first deal.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah.

[Jaron Sustar]

That's absolutely insane. Absolutely insane. You say, hey, I'm tired of being a nurse. I'm going to go into the real estate investing business. You dive all in, you learn from myself and our team. You go and put it into practice, you network, meet wholesalers, see a deal that makes sense, buy it, fix it up, and then GROSS Close to 100k on your first deal ever. I mean, kudos to you. That is absolutely insane.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah, it's life changing. Yeah. And I will say, like my standards and my requirements, like stay in your lane. I think that's one of the things aside from networking that like, if you're going to start a journey like this, there are so many ways to make money in real estate. I mean, just on this call alone, we've probably rambled off almost 10 different ways. You know, being a wholesaler, house hacking, fix and flipping, live in flips, being an agent, you know, just being a flipper in general. So find what works for you and kind of tackle that and master that. And then, you know, you want to branch out from there and you want to diversify. Absolutely. But learn your skill, master it, and then feel free to branch out from there because there are so many ways in this business. But I feel like when I first started and I still do, you know, I stuck to my lane and I really got clear on what I wanted to do. I tackled one thing at a time. It's why I waited so long to get my license. You know, I went through how many transactions, five, six before I got my own license? And I learned so much through those agents. But if I had started by, all right, I'm going to buy this fix and flip from a wholesale or take it on myself. I'm going to list it myself. As an agent, I'm learning so many different things at one time. I mastered the fix and Flip skill. I know how to do that, manage rehab projects, buy and flip it and you know, all those things. And in that process, I paid other people, I paid agents, and I got to learn through them what they were doing, be, you know, looking at a bunch of contracts that I felt, okay, now I'm ready for this step in my business to diversify and supplement my income by adding on my license, you know, so learn from others for now and take kind of tackle one thing at a time. Because I see some people trying to get into the game and they get so scattered and they say they want to do a fix and flip, but then they're trying to help me analyze numbers on something completely different. You know, find your buy box even. What type of home, how much rehab do you want to take on? Especially when as you're a beginner and you always learn and you always grow. There's always something to learn in this business. But, you know, stick to, stick to that at first and don't lose sight of it and why you got into this business in the first place. You know, a lot of takes a lot of sacrifice, you know, money, time, and it is a big risk. But if you do it the right way, it has really big rewards.

[Jaron Sustar]

So, yeah, that's wisdom right there. Wisdom right there. I love how you said focus on that one thing, and I think that's key because it forces you. If you stay focused on the one thing that you're good at, then it forces you to put people on your team who are good at the things that you're not good at, as good at, or things that you don't have time to focus on right now. And this is a team sport, it's a people sport, and it's a team sport. And so if we force ourselves to surround ourselves with great people and we stay focused on the one thing that we've set out to do, then you're going to put yourself in a very strong position to do very well for yourself. And I just want to drive home the point because I haven't thought about it in a while, Erica, but you're spot on. The shiny object syndrome in this business can really pull. Pull you away from what you're trying to accomplish. And I think once you make that decision of this is the type of asset class that I'm looking for. This is the strategy that I'm doing right now. This is why I'm doing it. This is the goal I'm trying to accomplish. Write that down on paper and you don't stop or deviate until you've accomplished it. Then as we creep up on almost accomplishing that goal, now we can set our new goals and pivot should we want to. Because now our skill set has grown, we've got teams in place, everything's a little more automated. But man, I really, really love that. Staying focused so that you don't get pulled in other directions. So what you mentioned the word buy box, knowing your buy box. What is that buy box for you? What does it look like when you're trying to find a property?

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah, so at this time in my business, because again, it may change down the road. It might have looked different when I first got started. I'm looking for single family homes that need rehab. They need fixing up and that's either going to be a fix and flip or a burr. For me. I like to stick to 1950s or newer. As far as far as you're built, you know, neighborhood class A to C class. I try to stay away from D. Just thinking, you know, you can get into some trouble in those areas. And I see a lot of people buy up a bunch of properties and have this big portfolio, but it's more of a headache than an asset. So, you know, buy smart and yeah, rehab. I like a nice moderate, you know, not too light, but also not too heavy, where you have to completely gut and almost rebuild the whole place. So, um, you know, for the time that it takes, the sacrifice and the money, I. That's my happy medium. There's more money to be made than if you were doing a lighter rehab. But it's also, you know, not as long as time and as much rehab as a heavy rehab. So, yeah, that's where that's kind of my buy box from a very vague standpoint that I'm on right now.

[Jaron Sustar]

What have you found, like, are some of the most important things to do from a flipping standpoint on the buyer side? Like you're saying, bro, I do this every time because it helps move the needle for somebody to buy this property, like pretty quickly. Just like the aesthetics of the house, like what, what are the big ticket items in that house that you make sure every time is taken care of. Number one, because it's going to appeal to more buyers, but then also it's going to protect you on inspection reports on the back end.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah, for sure. So I've. I've been a home buyer many, many times, so I like to think of it as myself. If I was to buy this home, you know, if you were to walk through a showing and you're going to buy it for yourself. What are the things you're nitpicking the most? A lot of people will buy a home or spend more money on a home for kitchens and baths. So you want to spend a little bit more money there. You know, your bedrooms and other living areas, you can get away with paint. You want to spruce it up, you want to make it nice and bright. Maybe new floors, but even things like light fixtures, you know, they matter. I think it's a very easy way to make a difference in a home just to, you know, spend a little more or get the nicer tones on those. And then, you know, if your systems need updating, of course, home buyers who want a brand new H vac, even things like a brand new roof, new windows, if they haven't been updated in a while, then, you know, you definitely want to count that in your rehab budget because that's going to appeal to a lot of buyers, and you want to make sure they're buying something that they don't have to then put a bunch of work into or replace their furnace or something like that.

[Jaron Sustar]

So when you fix and flip, the home buyers, quite frankly, can be a pain in the rear because they are so nitpicky on things. And so I think it's very important, definitely take care of the esthetics, like you said. Right? We want it. We want the kitchen to pop, we want the bathrooms to pop, we want the flooring to look nice, the new, new, fresh paint. But then when it comes to the bones of the house, the things that maybe you can't see, what we always do. Eric and I don't know if you guys do this, but we get an inspection on the front end most of the time before we buy the property. Not all the time, but a lot of times on the front end, we will get an inspection or we'll have our contractor walk through it. But then on the back end, we will get another inspection. Because if I can see an inspection on the back end of our rehab, then I know what's going to come up for those buyers. I can look at it and see what may scare them. And then we can go and go ahead and nip that in the bud before they ever come. Because what happens is if you don't fix things, that the common buyer is going to want to be fixed before you get under contract. You're going to go under contract with people, they're going to hit due diligence, and then they're going to have you go back and either fix the issues or they're going to bail out of the contract because they're scared. And a lot of these buyers are skittish. And so it may be something very, very minor that you could fix, but they've seen it on that inspection report now and they back out of the deal. So for us, it's things like making sure that the roof is in good condition. We don't want any leaks in the roof, nothing showing there. Foundation issues need to be fixed. Plumbing needs to be buttoned up, electrical needs to be buttoned up. Are there trees that are hanging over the house that could fall and hurt the house? We need to button that up. And so you just look at all those major items and we try to hit as many of them as we can through rehab, then have a third party inspector come in, tighten the thing up and it, man, it makes for such a smoother transaction on the back end once you get the property under contract.

[Erica Costanzo]

Yeah, absolutely. And even if you're, you know, if you're pulling permits throughout those inspections, every time you pass one of those, you have, you know, you can even acquire your co pat know that you pass those inspections. They check a lot of serious item boxes as well that some home buyers would, you know, not want to come across. And they don't know what to do with those type of things.

[Jaron Sustar]

So what would you say to the person who wants to do what you're doing? They're hearing it, they're inspired, but they haven't taken the jump. Because you, I mean, you are, you are a fantastic story of, hey, you know, don't come from a ton of money, you know, have been a mom for a very long time, got into a career, didn't love it, left the career, stay at home mom, all these kids, four or five kids running around. I got a bunch of kids. So I totally understand it. It's chaos. And I'm not even the mom. The moms have it way worse than the dads do most of the time. And here you are out here just flipping and making Bookus. I mean, your first flip, you made 100k gross. That's insane. I mean, you guys listen to this. Most people would love to do that once a year, right? You do multiple flips per year. So you start dating, you're not going to hit 100k every time. You may hit more, you may hit less, but we start doing that two, three, four times a year. That's a, that's a fantastic income. You know, it's just life changing. And for me and you, we're on the other side. And so we're like, why isn't everybody doing this? What are they doing? And they're just, you can see people just sitting there on the edge and you, like, want to grab them and pull them to where we're at because it's, it actually, the grass is actually greener. So what's your, what's your motivation or advice to people who just, ah, they hadn't done it yet, but they need.

[Erica Costanzo]

To go for it, take the risk, you know, have confidence in yourself. You have to believe in yourself and have, you know, faith sometimes, even if you're a faithful person and just know what's at the end of it for you. See, you know, picture your life where you're at. If you're unhappy, picture yourself being unhappy forever. As a mom, yes, I'm very, very busy, but I know as a nurse, I wasn't showing up as my best self for my kids. And that hurt worse than anything. You know, I became a nurse for my kids. I knew I had to provide for them. But I also don't. Can't just provide financially. I need to be a good mom. I need to have patience. I need to emotionally be stable. And my mental state was so, also so like, you know, blurred when I was a nurse and I was exhausted all the time. Um, so, you know, if it's worth it for you in those changes that you need in your life, I don't, I can't imagine why it wouldn't be. Then make the jump and, you know, feel free to put your blinders on. You don't have to look at the people who are 70 million chapters ahead of you. Start at chapter one. Focus on the people who are, you know, look at myself. I've only been doing this for just over a couple years now. I'm not light years ahead and I stay in my lane and honestly I'm. I don't even look up to the people who do a hundred flips right now that I could never manage it. My work life balance is more important than me. I make the money that I need by doing five to ten flips a year. I'm pickier about which ones I take on because I want large profits and that's okay. That's what works for me. I got to keep like, I can't lose sight of why I left nursing to begin with, you know, so have that type of vision on it and don't just look at what other people are doing and think that's what you need to do, make it work for you and create that work, work, life balance. Yeah.

[Jaron Sustar]

Wow. You have extreme vision and you know without a doubt what your why is and that has allowed you, number one, to be successful. But you found something that you enjoy doing because it's able to provide those things that that you've set out to accomplish. And it's pretty amazing to see. And Erica is one of the coaches in our mentorship and just the people who get to work with her, they are privileged because she knows what she's talking about and she absolutely crushes it. And I'm so glad that she's on our team. Erica, thank you for sharing your story today. Thank you for being on Keep crushing it and you're the best.

[Erica Costanzo]

Thank you. Thank you for having me on. I enjoyed it.

[Jaron Sustar]

Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the Rich Dad Real Estate Show. I'm your host, Jaron Suar. We had a great conversation with Erica Costanzo, a stay at home mom of four, a former nurse who is now absolutely crushing it in the fix and flip space. If you haven't already, make sure go down to the show notes. Snag my free ebook, how to buy your first investment property so we can get you started buying real estate just like Eric is. I'll see you next week.

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