The Real Deal Podcast
Unlock the door to success in the dynamic world of real estate with your hosts, William Gomez & Alfredo Madrid. Join us as we dive into the inspiring journeys of loan officers and real estate agents, sharing their triumphs, challenges, and invaluable insights. Your key to navigating the ever-evolving landscape of real estate starts here.
The Real Deal Podcast
#16 A Hustler's Guide to Real Estate Investing
Curious about transforming less-than-desirable properties into profitable investments? Top-producing real estate agent and investor, Jennifer Samuelson, reveals her journey from selling to managing a remarkable portfolio. With over 50 units sold in the past year and as an early adopter of the eXp Realty model, Jennifer’s story holds valuable lessons for anyone in the real estate industry.
Learn from her transition from Airbnb to midterm rentals, a strategic move driven by unforeseen challenges, and discover why having reliable investors is key to maintaining business stability. Jennifer’s portfolio showcases the diverse opportunities in the real estate market and offers practical advice for aspiring investors.
I found my niche with investors so I hustled. I sold a lot of really gross, crappy houses, but also met a lot of great people along the way.
Speaker 2:How long did it take you to build a team that you could trust? I?
Speaker 1:can save money on doing my own GC work and finding better people at their own trade.
Speaker 3:Because a lot of times, you know, we listen to people giving advice and all these kinds. It's just everybody has advice and you're like what?
Speaker 2:Whenever you giving advice and all these kinds of it's just everybody has advice and you're like what? Like whenever you have the knowledge and you're able to educate your, your buyers and sellers like that's where the money is made. Truly, jennifer Samuelson, thank you so much for making time for us today. I know that, um, your schedule is very busy, but I'm super excited that you came on board. I wanted to have you on board because, of course, we have a lot of conversations with different loan officers, top producing agents, and not only are you a top producing agent, but you actually invest in real estate yourself. You hold some long-term rentals, you have Airbnbs, you do flips and you do it all. So I think that you're not just talking the talk, but you're walking the walk with when you're talking with your um, with your clients, and seeing the production that you've done. You've done over 50 units in the last 12 months, which is super impressive.
Speaker 1:And he always knows that I'm not like a volume follower, I don't like keep track of my stuff.
Speaker 2:Thank goodness exp does for me yeah um, because I am and I will add that you're an exp og I tell everybody your number. Okay, I don't even know what this means, but I remember you being excited about telling me this, I think we're at like 92 000 across the world now because we're in like 23 different 92 000000 agents.
Speaker 1:Correct. And uh, Daryl Baskin. I met him 11 years ago at Starbucks at Utica square and I was like, if this guy believes in this company, so am I, and I jumped on board and have been with it 11 years, so I'm like agent one 69, 169 out of 92,000. So, they give you a number you get a number kind of like on the mls or whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean now people, that join are, like you know, 92 172 exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dang, that's pretty impressive it is impressive, I you know so do you.
Speaker 3:I know they do like stock share or something like that. Are you pretty well set there?
Speaker 1:so to be honest, we'll just put a little exp plug in here. But like that was one of the business models that sold me, or one of the reasons why this business model sold me was like they're very agent-driven. They are, you know, they understand that we're the boots on the ground and so they're like your first transaction of the year. Here's a little stock, you meet in certain volume. Here's some stock, you become an Icon agent. They give you that stock, or that um 16,000 that you capped completely back. So anyways there's. I mean I have benefited from eXp um immensely, especially like my early days, like when the stock cranked up there I cashed out two times. I used one for a complete remodel and then one to put a down payment on a on a property, or like um, actually that was the condos, the 21 units. So had I been with any other brokerage, that would have been possible.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so one of the things that we always talk about is like what type of people will get into the business on the real estate side or the loan officer side that is going to be successful in this business, because we know that there's a lot of people? Um. To give you some perspective, even in the market that we're in right now, there, if you're doing 10 transactions a year, you're in the top 15 to 20% in the entire Tulsa MLS Um, and that shows a lot who you are as a person to stick with the same company for the last 11 years. Um, because there's a lot of moving around, especially right now, because the grass is always greener, right.
Speaker 2:So, alfred, I don't know if you knew this, but she came from being a teacher which which, if we're sitting here interviewing a loan officer and they're a teacher I don't know about you, but that's not a um occupation that I'm thinking like they're going to be a great coincidentally, a lot of agents for teachers.
Speaker 3:Teachers make the best.
Speaker 1:anything we do, we like multitask, we can handle like high stress, put us anywhere we got it. So I don't know, maybe that's what it is tulsa public for 11 years as well.
Speaker 2:Um over at you do everything 11 years, huh yeah you're about to go.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you've reached your 11 years come november.
Speaker 1:Here we are. I gotta make a life change, but no, I uh. Yeah, so it was eugene field over on the west side, you know kind of where they hold october fest. Yeah, like they completely they just renewed it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, all that um and so I was. So it was Eugene Field over on the west side, kind of where they hold Oktoberfest. They completely redid that.
Speaker 1:They just renewed it. Yeah, yeah All that, and so I was there for a long time and that was kind of like a really hard decision. That's probably one of my questions.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I probably have a hundred questions about the investment side of things, so I'll kind of try to pace myself here. But how did you transition from being just a real estate agent to getting into the investment side of things? How long into your career did you do that? And it's also pretty amazing that I know as much business you do on the investment side that you still were able to do the 50 transaction that Will's talking about. How do you balance that? But how did you get into it in the first place?
Speaker 1:Thank you. So I overlapped teaching and real estate for three years because you know I did one transaction my first year being an agent. I was like one one and it was a referral from Daryl, and I was like Daryl, I'm quitting, Like I can't do this.
Speaker 1:Like he's like no, no, you have to hang in there Like you have the personality, you can do this, I know you'll be great. So I hung in there and then in 28 and it just kind of kept growing and I found I found my, my niche with investors. So, um, I moved into Owen Park, which is kind of my like, my little I don't know, it's my expertise down there. I've sold probably like 75 houses just in Owen Park and met an investor. He had like 100 doors and he offloaded a couple packages. He gave me the last 20 and was like see what you can do. And I was hungry and I just, you know, I hustled. I sold a lot of really gross, crappy houses but also met a lot of great people along the way and made some investor friends who then I sold crappy houses to. They fixed them up, they let me sell them when they're all pretty, and I started to just kind of absorb the process and I was like I can do this, you know.
Speaker 1:And so three years after overlapping, I walked away from the classroom. That was really hard. I felt like I was like abandoning the kids and that's like a whole thing. But it was the best decision I ever made for myself. I still get to help people, love what I do, extremely passionate about it. I wake up day excited. But then the investment side. So again just like meeting other investors, watching what they do, meeting contractors, like kind of just seeing the ins and the outs, like from start to finish, because, like I would get them the house watch the whole process. Then they kind of started asking me to like help, you know, there are these guys I don't know what, you know what looks pretty. So they kind of start asking me, my, you know. And I found out like hey, I'm actually really good at this too. So, um, then I saw a house on auctioncom like who finds something?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and my grandma, my grandma, to help me buy this house and flip it, my first flip and this is how long into your career this is probably year four year four so kind of did just the buying and selling, just not you know helping people, and then I was like oh, I want to. I want to do this. And so I saw this house and I was like this is it? And my girl was like, do you think it's going to make any money? And I'm like, yes, this is the one.
Speaker 3:She was your partner, just she was my partner.
Speaker 1:So we decided to go 50, 50. Like she would, she would fund the whole thing front to back and I would do all the work, obviously. And so it was a house in Owen Park. It was filled like needles, dog feces, probably some human feces, who knows spray painted graffiti. It was just. The whole front door was just trash out on the front lawn and I, you know, I did like my, you know, peek under the carpet great hardwoods, original, still intact. You know, I saw the vision. I just kind of just like I can do this, so I bought it for $36,000 and ended up selling it for about $240,000.
Speaker 3:Wow, how much did you put into it $100,000.
Speaker 1:$100,000. So Graham was like yeah, all right, you did it.
Speaker 2:Let's do this again. How long did it take you to do the whole thing?
Speaker 1:That I would say probably like six months.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a pretty quick turnaround. It was like six months and you did what percentage of the work?
Speaker 1:I just hired out contractors at this point, so I had already started. I had a couple of rentals at that point. So my husband and I we had a couple of rentals and start like maybe two, maybe two, maybe three.
Speaker 3:So so, based on how you handled that one and how you handle them now, what are some big lessons that you learned along the way? Because your first one there's probably.
Speaker 1:It seems like you did amazing on your first one, but there's still some things you could have that, you would have been like, well, yeah, you know, and I I will chalk this up Like I got to give God a shout out because, like he blesses everything I do, I have not lost.
Speaker 1:I, you know, like I don't know, he's just like um, he's with me every step of the way. But I will say I've been very fortunate to find good contractors. That's like the number one thing. People you can trust, um, like when you send them to the store, you do a work order, that those supplies are going to show up at your job site, that they didn't say, oh, I need, you know, you know 42 by fours and there's really 20, and they got the rest of them at their shop or something you know. Um, so, just finding like great people and I feel like I've had that, I've such a good Rolodex of people that I trust you know I've got all my guys I would let in my house, you know, alone, whatever, but um, I'd say that's like the number one thing is just having your your people, your team Um.
Speaker 1:I pretty much GC everything I have kind of like my main guy there, you know, in and out, but like I've got my plumber, my electrician my tile, my framer, my trim, my floors, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:How long did it take you to build a team that you, you could trust?
Speaker 1:So the first one, alfredo, like you said, that would be my main thing. I trusted him maybe a little too much and he didn't really take advantage. But he probably took longer, because then they take other jobs, you know and they're like not there every day.
Speaker 1:And so this guy was like I can do it all. I've got the electrician, I've got the plumber, and so then I realized I can save money on doing my own GC work and finding better people at their own trade rather than relying on him to, you know, take a little money off the top and whatever. So I would say that was my kind of lesson. There was like you know what, I think I'm just going to kind of find the best people that I can find and, you know, let them do their own thing and manage it.
Speaker 3:And just so that the people listening, get an idea of what kind of business you manage here, and you strike me as a very modest person in this, so you probably don't know these, these numbers right off the top of your head. But just give me some estimates. How big is your portfolio right now? Right, and then, how many flips you think you have done since that first one? Just a week, cause a, because a lot of times you know we listen to people giving advice and all these kind of it's just everybody has advice and sometimes you go. Well, how many of these have you done in their life?
Speaker 1:I'm on my third one right and you're like what, like um, I don't know, okay, so right now about 35 doors like rentals.
Speaker 3:So you have 35 doors right now, yes. How many are Airbnbbnb? How many are long term?
Speaker 1:so I used to do more airbnb, which you probably relate to this a little bit. So airbnb was like booming covid, you know, actually I got robbed of everything during covid. I had an airbnb guest book and when they checked out they didn't even leave in me. They didn't even leave the handle pulls in the kitchen or the light fixtures at one of your houses yes, I walked into, like drop supplies off and I'm like where's the washer dryer?
Speaker 1:and then I like, because I like open the back door, and then I like walk in, I'm like where's the house? Like maybe there's another word in there, but like you know, I'm like I was oh my gosh, like it was probably the most devastating feeling I've ever felt, like you're in the middle of a pandemic, the the shelves are empty because they're not shipping anything, no one's working and I have all these bookings because people were like, well, let's go travel, let's go stay in these Airbnbs.
Speaker 1:Let's go, and so I had to shut down, completely, lose my bookings, try to put a house together, back together in a pandemic. And I like to make things cute, like I'm not just going to throw whatever I see. Like there's a couch, great. No, like I have to make it look cute. Everything has a theme. I've got the charmer, the farmhouse, santa Fe they all have a little theme to them. So it just it was horrible, so that happened. So I've kind of tapered away from the Airbnb. I have two actual ones online, online. And then I've moved moved one, two, three, four. I've moved four to midterm stays and, um, I've really been enjoying that.
Speaker 3:What's a midterm stay?
Speaker 1:Um 30 days or longer. And most of the time, people are there for like three to six to a year. Honestly, like I um put one up.
Speaker 3:Same platform.
Speaker 1:Uh no, I just put it up on Zillow, to be honest, like Furnish Finder is a place I put things out on, but I have had zero luck. Truthfully, just Zillow has been-.
Speaker 3:So furnished though.
Speaker 1:Fully furnished, basically like an Airbnb. They can pick up their bags and move in. Like right now I'm helping a client out. He, him and his wife, are going through actually a terrible situation. Their son has an autoimmune disease, he's got PANS, and they had to get out of their house immediately because they found mold in the air ducts, in the basement and whatnot. And I said, hey, I got Airbnb, you just go take care of your family and we're doing all that. But the midterm stays are basically I've had trades guys that call up say, hey, I've got a group of guys they need a place to stay for six months. Great, I love them. They don't call me for nothing. Um, and then I've got one bed, one bath over at the Pearl district. I call them Crest condos and there's two of them there. Um, travel nurses and it's right by Hillcrest. That's been great.
Speaker 2:How much business do you think that you get for your like real estate business from doing a lot of rentals, a lot of Airbnbs, flips even? Do you think that that's a big percentage of like why you do so much business?
Speaker 1:Yes, I will say, like my investors like have fueled me, like I'm so grateful for them because, you know, when there's a little bit, you know high interest rates and buyers are kind of sitting and sellers are holding out on their 2.9% interest rate, yet their credit card is 35%, you know, I am so, so thankful. I've got one investor that I work particularly with. His name is Alberto Perez. He makes the best product. I've got two investor that I work particularly with. His name is Alberto Perez. He makes the best product. I've got two of his houses on the market right now. Um and him and I have just been a great team and like I'm so thankful for him and like the business that we've been able to help each other with and you know a lot of, I would say probably 60 to 70% is probably investor driven for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, listing side. Uh, listing side, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's a great point that you pointed out there, cause a lot of people don't. You know we call that a blended rate and there's so many people that are holding on that rate but everything else has gone up. So whenever you ask, you know you ask somebody like hey, have you ever thought about selling your house? Like you could sell, you know you could make a good amount of money even though you've only lived there a couple of years. And they're like no, no, no, I'll have a 2% or a 3%. And it's like well, what's your overall rate? Because even auto loans right now I think they're like 9% average across the nation and it's things that people don't think about. But whenever you have the knowledge and you're able to educate your, your buyers and sellers, like that's where the money is made truly by helping people that have them understand really what what it takes to be able to, uh, make the next step in life there.
Speaker 2:So, um, a question I did. I wanted to go back. You said that you started with, um, an investor giving you a package of 20 houses. I've had about three or maybe four agents that I work with that they've had that opportunity and not one of them have been successful. It was kind of like one of those things where, like they got the opportunity because somebody else you know, and part of the reason is because and I don't know on your end but they had to sell, they wanted to sell the whole thing, like together it is. Was that the same thing for you?
Speaker 1:um no, so he, I mean he sold. He told me I could sell him, however, which way I could?
Speaker 1:get it done just get it done. He was moving to florida, he wanted to check out, he retired cash in and so it was unfortunate like I kind of got the scraps, like he already had sold a couple of packages like the good stuff to other investors. You know all the that world, everybody knows everybody. So a lot of the times the good stuff's not going out on the market, it's all sold between a handshake, you know, um. But so I kind of got the last 20. And this is when I was um. I was a bar cart girl at Tulsa country club. I literally brought my flyer on the card.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you guys, like I was, like I had a flyer, like you know, I had like icon pictures of like what the house was and bed, bath and the price and whatever, and like we'll just hand it out.
Speaker 3:That's amazing.
Speaker 1:Um, but, and honestly, not not one of those people have bought anything. Um, but I, but I, I mean I would take my rubber boots because these houses had like fleas in them. There was like pit bulls in the backyard and um yeah, so there were still tenants living in there uh, not, not tenants just dogs.
Speaker 2:We'll call them squatters.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, gotcha, gotcha there was one time I'm so thankful and I couldn't get in the door and so me and my clients like walked around the back and we were kind of looking in the window, you know, just see if we could find the back door open or whatever. And I'm so glad we looked in. There was a man asleep on the floor, so I called the cops and they came and met us and he had a gun like loaded right underneath him and so that has, like I felt like God was like hey, Jen, you're not invincible.
Speaker 1:Like people, like you know, there's bad people out there. I'm such a oh, everybody's great and so we. Yeah, I was very cause, who knows, Like people wake up, startled he's on something that just fires away whatever, so.
Speaker 3:I feel like you have a pretty good eye for houses, like there's some neighborhoods, like it wasn't that long ago that Owen Park. You really had an imagination to see. Hey, this area, you know, there's brady heights, there's all these areas that are close to downtown, or just you seem to have a good eye. Like I'm terrible at that. I'll drive through the neighborhood and then look at the house and I'll be like no way yeah there's just no way, but there's just some people that see it.
Speaker 3:What is it that you look for? Like what? What are there certain things in a neighborhood here that you go man, this, this neighborhood would be great, because, or I see that this neighborhood will be something someday. Or, like you mentioned, peek in and save the hardwood floors. What are some things you look for in an area and what are some things you look for in a house that you go this, this, this is up and coming I mean so the kind of the reason like where I found Owen Park.
Speaker 1:Actually, you guys might know him, cody Jacobs, with AMC Mortgage. Okay, so Cody was like he remodeled the house that I bought in Owen Park and I had seen another house that he did and I was like, wow, it popped up online. I went and toured Owen Park. It was a little bit sketchy but I was like this is so cool, like the proximity to downtown, the highway access, the park, the historic homes. I was like there's something here and at that point they were only selling for like $80 a square foot and so I kept my eye on it.
Speaker 1:I ran into Cody. I was actually a this is me in quotations buyer for him on HGTV. He had finished a house in the Brady and they wanted to use his house. Actually, he did the whole remodel and, um, they had somebody else, actually the seller anyways. So I, um, he's telling me, hey, I got like the biggest house I ever have in no one park. I'm super excited about it. He's telling me. And I'm like Cody, I want that house, like I want to live there. So it was the dream situation.
Speaker 1:I got to pick out everything. He would just tell me like price per square foot, like to stay within like the tile, or pick paint colors or whatever light fixtures, and give me a budget. And I got to like pick out my house. It was so great and so this is no joke, the day we are closing on the house, a dead body shows up in the pond, in the fountains, and, um, my husband was like what ghetto are you moving us into? And I was like I promise you it's going to be great, like just wait and see. And he's like, okay, whatever, he just follows my crazy. You know ideas and you know sure enough. Now, like at the peak of COVID, I was selling $192 a square foot over there. Um, it's tapered back a little bit but we're at like one, you know a solid one 70 for a completely remodeled home and everything. But, um, yeah, no, it's just so. Going back to your question, like how do I find, how do I feel it out? Um, I don't know, it's intuition.
Speaker 3:I don't know.
Speaker 1:Truthfully, like you look at the street, would you live there? How are the houses around it? Because there are some. You can say, oh, I really like this neighborhood. But you go on that street specifically and there's, you know, cars in the lawn and a trashy truck and dogs barking and you're like I don't you know. So I think there's like a street in Owen Park. That's not great, but one side of it is Like there's a section of between the second block and the third block. It sits up on a hill. The houses are adorable, adorable. People will buy that all all day long. And so I think it just kind of depends on like your feel, would you live there?
Speaker 1:And then, walking through the home, does it have some unique characteristics? What can you do with it? Obviously, what's your budget like? What are you getting it for and how much can you put into it and how cute can you make it? And then my theme I don't know, not my theme, I don't know what to say. Like my motto is I always just like say um, shoot, what is it? I would make something they can't say no to oh god like make something they can't say no to.
Speaker 1:So like I don't just do Home Depot through up inside the house white and white cabinets and like the white tile, and like I want to, like I do green kitchens or black kitchens and a little bit of like bling to it or just something to make it not feel like it was a remodel, that there was like actually some thought put into it.
Speaker 3:Are there any areas right now in Tulsa that you feel are like I'm not telling Okay, no, no, no, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. I figure it helps if more people are attracted to it. Okay, truthfully.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I believe that. So Owen park, I saw the ripple effect of what downtown was doing. Yeah, they were pouring so much money into bringing downtown. I was like surely that's going to ripple effect into the you know neighborhoods, and it has. I mean, the Pearl has been brought up, obviously, the Brady even, um, so the kind of untouched neighborhood right behind the west side of, like Cox Business Center, like Olympia, charles Page, like all that, like I think that's going to fill in. I love Olympia. I own two houses on that street. I absolutely love it. It has the best views of downtown. That's like a street that people buy but you go like three over to Phoenix it gets sketchy. But I think, watching what downtown did so Brady has obviously already been discovered, or sorry, the Heights.
Speaker 3:Brady Heights only you don't say Brady Heights, you say the Heights. Oh it is now.
Speaker 1:Oh, really, yes, because there's no Brady so they renamed the street Matthew Brady to Reconciliation Way because of the race riots so no more, matthew Brady, it's just the Heights. I tell myself this a thousand times, but still comes out. That was racist. Yes, no more, matthew Brady, it's just the Heights. I tell myself this a thousand times, but still comes out.
Speaker 3:Um that was racist.
Speaker 1:Yes, um so, um. So the Heights have been discovered. Obviously they've been known for quite some time. It's still filling in. So I think anything in between, like Denver and or sorry, um, I think anything from pine up to reservoir Hill is going to fill in very fast too. So reservoir.
Speaker 1:Hill hill is like they're doing a lot of different flips there it is like if you've never been there, a lot of people haven't. Like you drive up there and it's just like the hollywood hills of tulsa. It's um, it's just like very eclectic, unique homes. Um, I remember my first time it was probably like oh, 10 years ago, like cody jacobs told me about, and I drive up there and like two peacocks jump over a fence and like land in front of my car. I'm like where am I? And there's always like Mediterranean homes and super modern homes and like I was like this is so cool. So I I think that anything in between the heights like downtown and reservoir Hills going to fill in and it already is like yeah fill in, and it already is like investors are picking up houses, Me and my guy, like we've been doing.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've seen on my the Mediterranean Spanish house that I recently put up.
Speaker 2:I couldn't recall it.
Speaker 1:It is stunning. Anyways, it is, it is yeah.
Speaker 2:How many buyers do you think that takes out of the pool, though, for somebody to be okay, cause not everybody's going to be like the Heights, for example, like it's been discovered, however, long ago now, but you still walk through a street and you have a beautiful new build and then you have a couple of houses that are like you know, have a old couch that hasn't been moved there for so so. So how many buyers do you think that truly takes out? Like, if you have 10 buyers, a hundred buyers, uh, from from truly like taking that risk, cause you're taking a risk as an investor going in, buying, flipping, airbnb, whatever, um, but you know the risk. I feel like it's a lot higher for somebody that's wanting to make that their for their home.
Speaker 1:Um, so let's just say I'm doing an open house and people. There's people that like, know these neighborhoods, love them, want in them. Then there's the people that just saw a cute house online and a great price tag because it's not midtown prices, we're a little bit under the curve still, so it's affordable and they're like well, what about this? And so if it was 10 buyers coming in, I would say probably still, maybe three to four eliminate, based on the street or the neighbor next door.
Speaker 2:It's almost half.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I struggled like I'd say like three, because most of the people that do look already know and they're okay with it, they're fine with the neighbor, they know that that's going to get there someday or it doesn't bother them, they just want to live in the proximity that it's in and the neighborhood and reap the benefits of all the other amenities that come with living downtown.
Speaker 3:Have you felt that, have you been part of, like an investor movement into a neighborhood with their set in the market for it? Because ultimately, if you have enough investors come in and buy houses at certain prices, it's going to comp out and next thing you know, there's more investors flipping in. I mean at the level that you, like you, said everybody knows everybody in that market. Do you feel like there's a lot of that going on in some of these neighborhoods?
Speaker 1:Definitely. You know everybody had their eye on Owen Park and Brady.
Speaker 3:Heights. It just takes the first cash buyer to buy it at a certain price.
Speaker 1:Now it's, you know it's competitive and you get like, if you get something you know off market or you maybe a rehabbing house and the little old people that have been there for 40 years next door like you, get to know them and they sell it to you, um, or the wholesalers get a hold of them. Um, I feel like there's been some wholesalers have been doing a pretty good job lately, but they're also trying. They're also having to buy higher, which makes them sell higher, which also makes the numbers not work for us right now you're talking about wholesaling.
Speaker 3:You said, yeah, well, they're supposed to be licensed now, but it doesn't seem like there's some sort of what did that change? Oh, like two years ago two years ago like a year.
Speaker 2:Okay, it's been two years, maybe a year or two, it's been a minute I thought that they were still pretty much doing that because their name doesn't really that's what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:They like found a loophole, but there was some. There's a big deal about them having to get like I have seen a couple of agents post like, like, blasting them.
Speaker 2:Like you know, you're not allowed to write up a contract if you're not licensed.
Speaker 3:It's so it's such a fine line as a wholesaler for what you do. Are you helping the client or not?
Speaker 1:You know, it's just, it's a tough gig right now, like I'm protecting one of my sellers who he him to sell his house and he's like you know, kind of like ready to maybe just take something. He's like I don't really care and I'm like, okay one, they're like I'm going to, we're going to pay you cash, we're going to buy you, we're going to buy your house cash. Okay, that sounds great, as is no fuss. But then I'm like you, we please check and make sure it's not a wholesaler is waste your time because they're going to try to sell the contract and they're not going to get it sold for the price that they want to make any money. And then you're going to be you know they're going to have some loophole in their contract that they get to back out two days before closing and you start all over. So I don't know. I just warn sellers, wholesalers sometimes.
Speaker 3:Do you think considering homeowners right now? Do you think that there is a fine line between the, you know, revitalizing and, in um regent for k, regentrifying the neighborhood?
Speaker 1:so that first house that I told you guys about, yeah oh my gosh, I got lit up on social media for that house, so I you know, I'm all excited. I work hard, I get this house done.
Speaker 3:It's my first flip and you're like you're driving rent up yeah, I put.
Speaker 1:I put it on like well, it wasn't right, I was flipping it and I. But I would say, for every one hater, there was 10 people that had my back.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I mean it just like went viral.
Speaker 2:But it's only the people that are saying the negative stuff that stick out. Oh exactly.
Speaker 1:The trolls came out and I'm really thankful for the people that just like, like, well, if you read, they're not going to be affected by it because they don't raise seniors taxes, um, anyways, it's just yeah. So I just obviously then people thank me because I'm raising their property value, um, I don't know people that can't afford to buy something and they've, you know, messed up their credit. Of course they're going to be haters, um, but the people that are, you know, able to buy or sell their they see it as an opportunity for we love what you've done.
Speaker 1:Like I don't have a house that has needles spilling out the front door.
Speaker 2:so so I don't think this made on the podcast when we started talking, but you do hold the record for my shortest coffee meat that I've ever had with an agent. So I appreciate you being here on time and giving us the time. But one thing that I do, um, I it's funny because, talking about social media, I just recently met you, but I feel like I have known you for longer because of interactions that we have had, and then you're very um, you're very open with, like, what you do and everything, and one of the things that's very impressive to me is you have two boys and you're always making time for them. I just uh, you know, I just was messaging you about you, took them to this bluey thing and you're constantly, you know, like you're going to soccer practice tonight. So how do you, how do you balance all of that? Um, because you know you, it seems like you barely have enough time in the day to do all the things that you're doing in real estate. How, how do you prioritize that?
Speaker 1:Uh, ma'am, thank you, thank you. I take being a mom like it's like my, the most important job I have. Um, so, yes, two little boys, four and six, they are starting like the sports and all this you know, new world. Um, I had to do homework with my first grader. I was like what, um?
Speaker 2:but already in the first week of school?
Speaker 1:yes, it was like a it's not mandatory, but like who's not gonna do it.
Speaker 2:You know I'm not gonna wait what it's not mandatory it's not mandatory but if you don't do it, then the parent parent looks bad. Exactly, that's how I feel. Is that a thing everywhere? Shame them if they don't do it. The shame oh man.
Speaker 1:But honestly, I had so much fun doing it with him. It was like spending time together and he's young enough that homework is still fun right now. But I don't know, I just like when I have them. Yes, my phone goes off all the time and I am on it and, like an annoying rate, I get that and it's hard for people to be around me and I try really, really hard.
Speaker 2:that's like something that I'm working on is just trying to be present, um, but yeah, I don't ever think we've had a guest that has kept their phone on the table like that. You're like ready to pick up the next phone call you always have a crisis. You know there's people robbing your airbnbs or if you guys are just listening and not watching. She has checked her time, her clock, like 10, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:No, I just that was someone calling and I wanted it to be quiet oh, fredo has had his fair share of texting.
Speaker 2:And this I'm like dude, why are you doing that? I?
Speaker 1:had a shootout.
Speaker 2:I don't even have it up here. You got a what I had a shootout um I had a shootout, Um so literally. A shootout. What is that?
Speaker 1:So the Airbnb that I told you that was robbed.
Speaker 2:Oh, like a drive by.
Speaker 1:Well, no, so I put it all back together. It's whole. It's cute, it's chic, it's up and running. I have some people and they have a giant party and the police are at my door at 3 am going do you own an Airbnb in West Tulsa? Yes, we're going to need you to come with me. There's been a shooting.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh Like inside the house yeah inside the house.
Speaker 1:Outside the house the neighbors told me there was about 30 people there. They drove through the lawn, ran over my fence. There's about three bags of like large bags of weed stashed variously through the home Blood. He only got shot in the arm, so we're fine.
Speaker 3:Was there like holes in the wall?
Speaker 1:I do have to say this is how nice I am. The girl who booked it left her laundry because she came to do her laundry.
Speaker 3:Did you give her a good review?
Speaker 1:I left her laundry outside for her because she messages me after the party.
Speaker 2:You finished washing it and then folded it for her.
Speaker 1:I did not do that, but I put it in a bag with like a backpack that had a laptop in it and I said it's by the mailbox you can come get it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So right now, I had a conversation with an agent a couple weeks ago and she's just like venting to me that she's just so stressed out, she's so busy. She's like I've had seven closings this week. She's like I I just don't even know how um, she was like saying to apologize. So there was another loan officer that called her and she just like went off on him pretty much. She's like I work with Will, like don't call me. Like she was like pretty like on edge, and then I just tell her I said hey, I said you know that the problem that you currently have like all any other agent in this market would love to have that problem because most of the time the conversations I'm having, it's like oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm going to stay in the business.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, I've only closed one deal the last three months. All those comments. So you seem to have a similar quote-unquote problem as that agent. Maybe you're a lot more thankful about the situation than they were, but I feel like, no matter which side you're on, you still go through hard things and struggle with different things. What are some things that you're currently still struggling with within your business in order to be able to keep going where you want to get to.
Speaker 1:No, very good. So I'm very thankful for one of the reasons why you said how do you have time and how do you know your voice? I do have a girl who helps me with my paperwork. She's a teacher and she's amazing. Teachers are awesome. She's like the most thorough person I've ever met. So she like, make sure I've got all the initials and all the stuff loaded into my what? We have a sky slope re-XP and keeps me on track. And then I have a an amazing babysitter who gets my boys after school and takes them to the house and get them their snack. And then I get to come home and be with them and um. But things that I struggle with definitely are try not to do everything.
Speaker 2:You're a yes person. You say yes to everything. I do?
Speaker 1:I say yes to everything, um, and I also just like struggle with, just not wanting to do it myself, like I need to delegate better, actually you know, Logan, I think we talked about this I did I went to one of his um, uh, his uh REI speaking engagements at um on like the first Tuesday of the month for investors um real estate investors in Tulsa, and he spoke and he has he's actually a part of a virtual assistant Um, like you can hire a virtual assistant and I think I need to do that, I think I need to do that. So, um, just delegating where I need to, not trying to do it all and saying yes to everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so what's, uh, what's next for you?
Speaker 1:Oh, man, See, I'm not like I at the January 1st. What's January 1st? I don't set goals, I just do, I know. But is it, are you somebody that's like man? I want to get to a hundred doors.
Speaker 3:Are you somebody that's um?
Speaker 1:okay, no.
Speaker 3:I want to go back to my real estate business and focus more. They're like what, what is?
Speaker 1:what is what's next? I would like to continue to grow my investment portfolio. I do enjoy staging. I like making things pretty, so I do design work for investors too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we forgot to talk about that. You stage every single home you list I mean if they don't live in it.
Speaker 1:Most of the time they hire me to stage it, but I feel like most agents.
Speaker 2:If they're like a regular agent, they're only staging. Like the pretty home set will look, you know, way more attractive with furniture in there. You stage everything, oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And I also stage for other. Like I have a lot of other realtors that are reaching out to me now and I'll stage for them and I call myself an investor friendly stager, like I cause I am and I understand like you've already put this much into it and you're like one more thing, gosh. But I will say it's like the icing on the cake. It helps with appraisals. It helps, you know, the pictures look better, it gets people in the door, puts it in front of more people when they walk in. It doesn't it? You know, when you walk into a vacant house, you see the imperfections, you see the little scratches, the little dings, but when they're staging it helps. I hide some of that and just like give more of a comfortable and homely feel. So I am like I am big on staging. I stage all my stuff too. Like I'm working on a flip right now on 57th and Lewis area on the east side. I'll stage it for sure. I just wouldn't ever put anything on the market without staging if it was vacant.
Speaker 2:So what's next for you? You said it was just growing your portfolio.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just growing my portfolio. I would like to maybe increase the staging business a little bit. I've got a good platform for people to comment.
Speaker 2:You definitely have enough time to do it. I know right, we might just hire you as a loan officer. She says yes to everything. Should we just? This was actually an interview.
Speaker 1:Congrats, you're hired, all right. Where's my desk? Um? But yeah, just honestly growing my portfolio and continuing to help people like um, there we go.
Speaker 2:The last question I have for you, which I would have known it if you would have filled out your interview sheet. I'm kidding, uh, what's been your biggest accomplishment just in life?
Speaker 1:gosh, I don't know if I'm there yet.
Speaker 2:I like that answer actually. Yeah, man well, thanks so much for coming on. Where can people find you if they want to get in contact with you?
Speaker 1:I don't know what's her name, just Google Jennifer Samuelson Tulsa. My wife actually calls her all the time to ask her questions.
Speaker 3:We got one Airbnb and we're always lost.
Speaker 2:And she's like I'll call Jennifer.
Speaker 3:There you go, so you have a witness. She's like what do I do when a client leaves the door open or something, just everything? There's just so much stuff. What do I do when a client steals our towels?
Speaker 1:She asked me about a vacuum over Labor Day weekend.
Speaker 2:So this is a perfect witness that you will answer all these questions.
Speaker 1:I will say one of the reasons why I feel like I am successful is I always do it now. So somebody texts me, I don't open it until I can handle that.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:I love that Cause I have the red receipts on. If I open it I'll forget it, so I do not open it until I can handle that situation or respond to them and take care of what their need is.
Speaker 2:That's good. So I open mine, but then I, I, I go back, go back to unread or whatever.
Speaker 1:You can do that. Yeah, oh yeah, anyways, but but it doesn't make it green, does it or whatever? Like you haven't read it, I need the little words.
Speaker 2:No, I'll show you. I'll show you after this.
Speaker 3:Okay, okay, Alfredo anything else, that's it. This is Jennifer Samuelson, and she's the real deal.