If you’re flipping in multiple markets and you decide to pull the trigger to hire contractors far from you, it may be wise to have a second pair of eyes ensure that the job gets done… And who better than someone who is constantly reminded to protect their fiduciary duty to you, that’s right… Realtors! She fixes and flips properties in two markets, Denver and SoCal, hear how she leverages other professionals to get the job done!
Best Ever Tweet:
Susan Eliya Real Estate Background:
– Full-time real estate investor
– Over the last 5+ years, we have completed more than 70 deals utilizing various strategies in many markets
– Her strategy is to flip in hypermarkets and create passive income utilizing the profits from these flips
– Based in Denver, Colorado
– Say hi to her at 201.424.0247
– Best Ever Book: Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson
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Joe Fairless: Best Ever listeners, welcome to the best real estate investing advice ever show. I’m Joe Fairless, and this is the world’s longest-running daily real estate investing podcast. We only talk about the best advice ever, we don’t get into any fluffy stuff. With us today, Susan Eilya. How are you doing, Susan?
Susan Eilya: I’m great, thank you, Joe. Thank you for having me.
Joe Fairless: Nice to have you on the show, and looking forward to digging in. Susan is a full-time real estate investor. Over the last five years she’s completed more than 70 deals, utilizing various strategies in a bunch of markets. Her primary strategy is to flip in hyper markets and create passive income utilizing the profits from those flips. She’s currently based in Denver, Colorado.
With that being said, Susan, do you wanna give the Best Ever listeners a little bit more about your background and your focus?
Susan Eilya: For sure. As you said, I’ve done about 70 deals going on — this is my sixth year in it. My husband and I started this business, jumped all in about six years ago. We do everything from basic cosmetic rehabs of 15,000, all the way to brand new builds and to scrapes. My examples also include condo and single-family rentals, as well as I’ve done some short-term and vacation rentals. Always looking for another strategy… The focus is to master one strategy, keep that going, keep those systems in place and then jump to the next and jump to the next, and create various streams of income.
Joe Fairless: Yeah, the good stuff. So what are you doing right now as far as the main types of projects that you’re working on?
Susan Eilya: I’m mostly doing fix and flips. I live in Denver, it’s a really hot market. I also do fix and flips in California and San Antonio… Just focusing on those three main markets. I’ve done stuff in other areas, so trying to hone in there. That is the focus, but I think the ultimate goal, like a lot of us real estate investors is – the flips are fun, but ultimately owning rentals and multi-units for that passive income, and really building that wealth.
Joe Fairless: Yeah, so that is the fix and flippers and wholesalers – to take those profits and then invest them long-term into something. You’re doing flips in Denver, which is a hot market… You mentioned California, I suspect… Where in California are you doing flips?
Susan Eilya: Mostly Southern California, outside of L.A. A few years ago you could pick up a property for a couple hundred thousand, paint the cabinets white and still make 20% on your money… It’s changed over the last few years, but the market’s still there, despite the prices increasing [unintelligible [00:04:30].14] and the profits are still there. So mostly Inland Empire, Southern California area. I’ve done everything from Pasadena, all the way to La Quinta in Palm Desert. Big area.
Joe Fairless: You’re based in Denver, but you’re doing it out of state in California… How are you finding those deals?
Susan Eilya: Actually, when we started I was living in the DC Metro Area, and that was when the California market was hot, so we started doing deals out of state, which is rare for most people. Like anything, it’s just having a solid P. My realtors there are invested just as much as I am, because they know if they find me a good deal, they’re gonna sell it a few months later, so they’re double dipping on the commissions; also overseeing my GCs… It’s all about teams, and I’m mostly getting those deals on the MLS, whereas in Denver almost all of my deals are pocket deals or directly from the sellers, just because the way the market is here.
Joe Fairless: What did you say about the general contractors?
Susan Eilya: I was just saying that your team is everything, and my realtors in California, for example, are overseeing my GCs as well; they’re just as hands-on as I am or my partner is, or my GCs, because they’re just as invested as far as they know that they’re gonna be able to make money on the front end and the back end.
I’ve got a few sets of eyes – not just my GCs, but then I have my realtor sort of GC-ing the GC to make sure that things are moving smoothly, because again, we all have something to win in that project.
Joe Fairless: Wow, that’s fascinating. You have your real estate agent oversee the general contractor… How official is that and what are their specific responsibilities?
Susan Eilya: Well, they just make sure that the project is still moving. We have the GC who’s got the teams, but we’re out there fairly often. I don’t do much traveling; my husband does most of the business traveling. I’ve actually done a lot more in the last several months or so… But they just make sure that the project is moving on, and what I tend to do too is I actually, because of my relationship with my realtor, I actually will send him funds to distribute to the workers, because we’ve had a six-year relationship and I trust the guy, and we’re also discussing even making him part of my California entity, so he’s actually making profits out of the profits as well. So again, another level of commitment on his end, because of what he’d be gaining as well.
Joe Fairless: And why send the funds to the real estate agent to give to the GC? Why not just do it directly to the GC?
Susan Eilya: Well, in California my GC in particular is managing that, and he’ll say “Hey, here’s the bid”, let’s say for the kitchen, and I don’t pay anything until the work is done anyway, but a lot of times I’ll send some money to him just so that it’s available immediately to pay to the guys once it’s done. But just like any state, I’m not generally paying anything obviously until it’s done. You’ll get in trouble when a GC asks you for 50% down. I see people do that all the time… Give them 50% and then wonder why the project’s not done a week later, or hasn’t started. When you hold the money, you hold the control.
Joe Fairless: How do you structure your contracts with general contractors, knowing that your beginning, which is incredible – you were in Washington DC, but had flipped projects in California… How do you structure that with GCs?
Susan Eilya: You know, in the beginning of any business or any location that you’re cranking out your business or whatever, you really need to be present… So you’re building the teams there, and in the beginning we were out there for two weeks every four to six weeks, so we were out there very often, building those teams. And just like any other business, you have to consistently build those teams.
We’ve been present a lot, but once you get those teams in place, it’s a little easier to manage and run the projects. I’m sorry, I went off topic there and I don’t think I answered your full question.
Joe Fairless: No, you were on point, but how do you structure it? Maybe the payouts and what documentation do they need to provide you before you pay them?
Susan Eilya: First of all, we always have a contract between us and the GC. Additionally, yes, they can send pictures, but I always like a second set of eyes and get my realtor to send pictures of completed work as well. I get bids all the time. I also get invoices… I have my GC actually in San Antonio – he’s probably one of the most organized GCs ever… He’ll send an invoice with what was done, what is pending and what we need payment for for the next week. It’s like clockwork, every Monday I’ll get this invoice and then I will wire what was completed, and then either get the invoices for what was already paid for and reimburse that, or I’ll just pay for items directly.
A lot of times I even pay for items directly to the suppliers, whether it’s the window guy, whether it’s Home Depot or Lowes, or the kitchen designer… Generally, a lot of times I’ll pay for that directly so that I know the vendors are paid, and then the labor is paid to the contractors.
Joe Fairless: You’ve done 70 or so flips utilizing different strategies in many markets… Whenever I’m reading your bio and it says “different strategies in many markets” – what does that mean?
Susan Eilya: So I’ve done 70 deals… You said flips, and I just wanna clarify – those 70 include fix and flips, they include rentals that I picked up, they include properties that I renovated and refinanced and held, they include wholesale deals… I guess that’s mostly the strategies.
So anything from flips to new builds to buy and hold, or buy renovate, hold and refi, and even small wholesale deals. I don’t wholesale much, but I usually just wholesale for guys that I know that can close if I have a few extra deals. So those are most of the strategies that I do.
Joe Fairless: Are there any types of strategies that you’ve done before, that you wouldn’t do again because you got burned or you just don’t think it’s a good one after doing it?
Susan Eilya: You know, what I love about real estate is that you can either make it a business or a hobby, and whether the market is good or not, you can always find a strategy that’s good for your market. So despite what CNN or the news is saying about real estate, there’s always a strategy. So really, no, there’s not a strategy that I’ve ever done that I felt like wouldn’t work…
And frankly, if I got burned on something, I’m not gonna let that one bad experience deter me from creating a portfolio of wealth and great projects. So no, I really don’t have anything where I can think off the top of my head where I didn’t like that strategy.
Joe Fairless: You just roll with whatever the market’s giving you and you implement it based on what makes sense?
Susan Eilya: It’s that for any business, whether it’s you running your podcast or your rentals or other businesses that are unrelated to real estate. You have to constantly adjust to your market, whatever that is. I’m doing different strategies in different markets because of what it’s providing me. I’ve done some stuff in Chicago and I know people in Chicago are picking up these cheap properties and just renovating them 30k-40k, all in less than 100k (even 90k) and then they’re putting in section 8 tenants, and that’s a great strategy for that market. You’re buying low and you’re renovating it as a rental, and then you’re putting a renter in… So there’s just strategies in every area.
Areas like [unintelligible [00:11:29].10] which have a tremendous amount of foreclosures, or areas like Colorado where inventory is so tight and the population keeps growing… People can’t even find anywhere to live, whether it’s rentals or flips or whatever it is.
Joe Fairless: With the money that you’re getting from the flips, where are you investing those dollars for your long-term holds?
Susan Eilya: I’m mostly putting them back into some of the things that I have in Denver. I do love Texas, I’d love to own some multi-units down there. I’d love to own multi-units period, as long as the numbers are good. So I care about the numbers, I don’t care about really anything else. But I’ve been reinvesting a lot of that cash in my current deals, but I’m starting now to kind of just push on the side and not reinvest them and put them into longer term holds, because I do sometimes put them in flips.
Joe Fairless: Let’s talk about the last deal that you took from start to finish. Can you tell us the numbers, the story about the deal and give us the details on it?
Susan Eilya: Sure, actually I’ve got two selling at the end of this month. I picked up a property from an owner directly, and I’m actually buying two more from him. It was a 142k purchase, put about 18k-20k in… Let’s just say 20ish, so we’re all in at 160k, and I put it on the market and sold it for — I’m getting two mixed up, but they’re exactly the same… It’s under contract for 215k.
I have two of the exact same deals. For the first one I had two offers that went over list, and in Denver you’re giving a lot of multiple offers, people are losing out on deals… They’re both actually VA loans, so they’re both veterans, which was really cool for me. They both went over list; the second person felt like he missed out, but the cool thing was I was able to say “Look, you didn’t win out on this one, but I have the same exact property a block away, the building next door, and I’m gonna list it for this and that” and we ended up putting it under contract actually for five less than I was gonna list it. So whereas he felt like he was gonna miss out, he actually won, because he got the exact same product… Though I actually like that one a little better, just because I like the flooring and it had a parking space.
So basically we’re looking at — as far as an ROI, I sold it for… When all is said and done — I’d have to kind of pull up my numbers, but we’re still looking at a double-digit ROI, and we were in and out in a matter of months, about six months.
On average, my investors are making double-digit annual returns, whether it’s on one deal or we do a couple in a year, whatever, but when you annualize it, they’re making double-digits easy, every time.
Joe Fairless: And that was the next question, and you segued perfectly into it – how are you financing these deals?
Susan Eilya: Most of my deals have been with private cash partners. When I started, I really didn’t have much… I put everything in to start this business, so where my credit was amazing, it kind of got a little hit… But most of them are cash partners. I started to use a little bit of unconventional lending, because my goal is to stay a little more liquid and leverage the funds that I have. So instead of raising $300,000 on a deal, I could bring in a lender at a reasonable rate for hard money, and then only have to raise 50k or bring in the 50k myself, so I’m making a little more cash.
With my equity partners, I tend to give up more of the profits than I would if I had brought in a lender, when we kind of look at the numbers. But for me, giving up more equity to build a relationship with a creditor, cash partner for the long-term is totally worth it. I’m not here to do one deal, obviously… This is my livelihood, it’s a career that I’m building and wanna keep for a long time, so for me to have those partners that I have year after year that wanna keep their funds moving deal after deal, it’s worth giving up a little extra equity if I have to.
Joe Fairless: What type of terms are you offering or have you offered in the past to partners?
Susan Eilya: A lot of times I just go 50/50 on the deal. They bring in all the capital and we have the teams, the opportunity, the deal, we do the work, we do everything; they just kind of send the wire, sign some documents, and then I’ll go 50/50 on the profits. They get their capital back, and then we just go 50/50 on the profit. That’s usually if I have one partner who wants an equity partnership on the deal.
I have some people that have said to me “Susan, I just wanna make 6% annually.” I’m like “Great, I can absolutely do that.” Depending on how much money they have, I can put it to work.
So yeah, I have partners who are like “Just send me a check quarterly”, so I borrow their funds as working capital, and I put it into play wherever I need it, and then I pay them out quarterly with their interest payments. The benefit to that for me is that the funds are always turning and I don’t have to write a check each month, an interest check. Then I have some partners that are like, “Hey, Susan, I wanna jump on this deal” and I’ll just give them a flat return on the deal. Generally my deals are 6-8 months. The ones I’m doing now are six months. Then they make their flat return at six months, we [unintelligible [00:16:22].00] most of these people, to the property, and then after sale they get their principle and interest, and if they’re happy, they do it all over again, which most of my partners do. And again, we’re averaging significant returns annually.
Joe Fairless: For someone who’s looking to bring in private money into their fix and flip business but they haven’t yet, what advice would you give them?
Susan Eilya: I think one of the biggest fears of new fix and flippers is they feel like they’re asking for money, and they have to remember that they have an incredible opportunity where their partner can make a really nice rate of return that is secured, and a rate of return better than what they’re gonna find anywhere else.
A lot of times I talk to these new flippers and they’re like “Well, I don’t wanna ask for money” and I’m like “You’re not asking for money. You have an incredible deal in your hand, you’ve got a great opportunity, and you’re securing these people’s funds to an appreciating asset. And frankly, if something happens and you strategy is to fix and flip it and for whatever reason you can’t sell it, you’ve created equity in it and you can actually refinance their cash out of it and pay them out, or you can put a renter in and still make money one way or another.”
There’s various strategies, but I think that – to really go back to your question – a lot of times they feel like they’re asking for money when they’re not; they’re really presenting an opportunity which is secure, and that’s the key there… They’re presenting an opportunity that most people don’t have and can’t find, and probably can’t manage themselves.
Joe Fairless: Once we internalize what you just said and then apply that within our approach, it’s gonna have a tremendous difference. If we think we’re asking for money, then we’re not gonna be successful. It is about giving investors an opportunity that is, as you said, secured by an appreciating asset in most cases… So yeah, thanks for that.
I found the same thing when I speak to people and they ask “Well, what if I’m not good at sales?” You don’t have to be good at sales, you just have to have a good opportunity that you believe in and you wanna help others by sharing it with them.
Susan Eilya: For sure… I get that all the time, “I’m not good at sales…” If you feel like you’re asking for money, you’re gonna look desperate, instead of focusing on what a great deal it is. Like you said, if you have a great opportunity, you’re gonna find funders.
Joe Fairless: Based on your experience as a real estate investor, what is your best real estate investing advice ever?
Susan Eilya: I’d have to say to jump in. Do your due diligence, but jump in. You have to move fast in this business. In an instant, an opportunity can be taken away; if you don’t jump in, someone else will and you’ll lose out on the opportunities. Like I said before, I don’t care if the market is good or is bad, real estate is always good. You just have to find your niche and hammer that strategy.
Joe Fairless: There was a quote… I forget who said it, but it was a guest on the show and he said, “Every deal is a good deal in 50 years”, and it’s so true. I mean, of course, there’s exceptions to every generalization, but just going with that, most deals are good deals in 50 years. I think he actually said 20 years, which I’d still agree with.
Susan Eilya: Are you’re saying that you’d have to wait 20 years to benefit from it, or you’re gonna look abck 20 years later and say “Damn, I should have kept that!” or “I should have done that deal!”
Joe Fairless: Yeah, the latter.
Susan Eilya: Okay… That’s what I figured. [laughter]
Joe Fairless: Yeah, you don’t wanna lose money for 20 years and be like “Okay, finally I’m making profit on this…” No, it’s just holding on to it for as long as you can, because in 20 years it likely will be a good deal.
Susan Eilya: Amazing… And there are definitely deals that I’ve looked at even a couple years ago and just go “Oh, I should’ve kept that…!” but at the time what I needed to do was sell it, and it’s okay, I’m always gonna have another great opportunity. It’s not like there’s just one a year.
Joe Fairless: Are you ready for the Best Ever Lightning Round?
Susan Eilya: Yes, let’s do it!
Joe Fairless: Alright, let’s do it… First, a quick word from our Best Ever partners.
Break: [00:20:03].18] to [00:20:45].21]
Joe Fairless: What’s the best ever book you’ve read?
Susan Eilya: I’m actually currently reading a book called Chase The Lion by my pastor in DC when I lived there years ago, Mark Batterson. It focuses on the fact that if your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small. It’s something that my husband and I are both reading and kind of go in each chapter together… It just kind of pushes you to the limits, it’s great.
Joe Fairless: Best ever deal you’ve done?
Susan Eilya: It would have to be the two that I spoke with, that I’m gonna close both on this month. On one I received two offers that went over the list price, and the second-place guy felt like he lost out, but instead I was able to come to him and tell him I have an identical property that I was gonna list that next week.
To me, that’s one off the top of my head. I was generally more excited for the second buy than he probably was, but I loved knowing that I could help him out, help veterans out and also put a deal under contract in zero days.
Joe Fairless: What is the best ever way you like to give back?
Susan Eilya: I feel like a lot of times we wait until something happens before we can give back; I don’t need to wait until my career has hit a certain number or mark to give back. We can give back daily, which is what I do, whether it’s helping someone learn this business and make a little extra on the side, or whether it’s me [unintelligible [00:21:55].19] who’s taking care of the much less fortunate… I’m grateful I can do something to help. I give back every day by doing what I do, which is why I love this business – I create jobs, I make homes beautiful, again… They were once beautiful and I’m making them beautiful again and I help new owners create beautiful communities.
Joe Fairless: What’s a mistake you’ve made on a deal, that comes to mind?
Susan Eilya: Well, the biggest mistake I was thinking would just be not to start sooner, but I can’t really focus on that because I’m here now, and I’m making the best of it. But if there’s a mistake… There’s always hurdles in this business, you just have to adjust to them. I guess for me maybe just this one deal – I took the owner’s report for the sewer, instead of doing my own sewer scope, and then I had to kind of change it.
After the whole project was done, the new buyers did a sewer scope and there was a crack, and I had to spend another $10,000 to fix it and change it. Maybe that one… I mean, there were still profits in the deal, and that’s 10k out of my pocket; my investors made every dime that they were promised… But maybe just not getting that sewer scope done sooner…
Joe Fairless: What’s the best place the Best Ever listeners can get in touch with you?
Susan Eilya: You could call me directly… I kind of prefer the phone, although I’ll e-mail and text sometimes. I like meeting people in person, and I think that this really is a people business. So the best way they could contact me is either my phone number. Do you want me to share it? It’s a Jersey line, don’t judge me… I am in Denver, but haven’t been in Jersey in 10 years… Hopefully I’ll get a business line…
Joe Fairless: What’s wrong with the Jersey line?
Susan Eilya: Nothing, it’s just every time I call someone they’re like, “I wasn’t gonna answer because it said New Jersey…” So that was my cell, and I do have a business line, but it comes to my cell anyway, and I just kind of work out from this one. My number is 201 — and I can’t ever get rid of that 201… 201 424 02 47. Or they can shoot me an e-mail at Susan@greenstarrising.com. I did not realize how long that would be when we first created that entity two years ago… [laughter]
Joe Fairless: Well, Susan, thanks for being on the show. I enjoyed our conversation, hearing how you’re structuring deals with investors, the advice you have for fix and flippers who are wanting to take on private money, but are concerned about asking for money… Well, it’s not about asking for money, it’s about presenting an opportunity that is secured by an asset, and having that mind shift. So thanks so much for being on this show… I hope you have a best ever day, and we’ll talk to you soon!
Susan Eilya: Excellent, thank you so much!
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