Flip Houses Like a Girl

From Flip to Flow: How Midterm Rentals Doubled Cash Flow and Cut Headaches

• The FlipSisters

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What if your most profitable rentals aren’t beachfront bungalows or urban lofts—but clean, furnished homes in “ordinary” cities serving people who come to town to work? We sit down with Stacy, a self-managed investor in Cedar Rapids, to unpack how midterm rentals can out-earn long-term and out-calm short-term, all while serving a steady stream of traveling professionals, construction crews, insurers, and families between homes.

Stacy shares the exact moves that scaled her portfolio: buying multiple properties in a focused sprint, renovating like a flip to kill maintenance headaches, and setting simple, tenant-friendly standards—fast Wi‑Fi, utilities included, monthly light cleanings, and durable furnishings sourced from estate sales. We dig into pricing MTRs at 1.5x–2x long-term rents, when to put TVs in bedrooms, and why thoughtful touches preserve linens and reduce turn costs. She also explains the less-talked-about pitfalls, like the insurance gap for under‑31‑day stays, and how to protect yourself without doubling your premiums.

The engine behind consistent bookings is smart lead generation. Stacy registers with relocation firms, responds in minutes to Furnished Finder requests, markets to realtors for bridge housing, and taps union halls and Facebook groups to reach crews before they arrive. One lease was signed in 15 minutes with ID verification and digital signatures, a glimpse into how speed and simple systems win. We close with creative scaling—ADUs, basement conversions, multi-unit setups on a single mortgage—and a mindset shift: treat it like a business, tell everyone what you do, and solve problems with heart.

If you’re ready to build calmer cash flow without chasing nightly reviews, this conversation is your blueprint for midterm rentals that work in real markets, not just vacation hotspots. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s MTR-curious, and leave a review with your biggest question so we can tackle it next.

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The Flipsisters
Leaving people and places better than we find them.

SPEAKER_00:

You're listening to the Flip Houses like the Girl podcast, where we educate, empower, and celebrate everyday women who are facing their fears, doubling family and business, embracing their awesomeness, and wholeheartedly facing their dream of flipping houses. Each episode delivers honest to goodness tools, tips, and strategies you can implement today to get closer to your first or next successful house flip.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, welcome back to the Flip Houses Like a Girl podcast. This is the show where we highlight real stories of everyday women who are learning to flip houses and create freedom for themselves and their families. I'm Blair, one of the coaches here with the Flip Sisters. I've been flipping houses for six years and I've done 30 flips. Today we are so excited to introduce you to Stacy. Stacy joined the Flip Sisters program in April of 2023. And since then, she's been making incredible strides in her local market and has found her niche in midterm rentals, otherwise known as MTRs. We can't wait for you to hear her story, the lessons she's learned along the way, and the advice she has for other women who are just getting started. Okay, so let's dive in. So first, a little point of education. I know I said the midterm rental earlier, sometimes also known as an MTR, but what exactly is that, right? There's all kinds of rentals out there. So a midterm rental is when someone rents a space that you provide. It's usually an entire house or a unit, like as a condo or townhome or an additional dwelling unit. And it's normally fully furnished. So it's set up for someone to just come in and live. They're not really bringing anything but like their personal stuff with them. The lease term can be anywhere from longer than 30 days to under a year. That's what considers it a midterm is the lease terms. These are usually utilized a lot by traveling healthcare workers, tradespeople, I think like plumbers, electricians, or specialized trades, where like you know, there's not a whole lot of them in the country and they travel all over to fix issues. Or others like did they become super popular with digital nomads. There's a lot of people who do all of their work from their laptop or a computer, and they have the freedom to kind of travel wherever in the country and they may want to go stay somewhere for a couple of months, enjoy the local culture, and then move on to a different city. Midterm rentals are really one of my personal favorite rental strategies as well. But I want you to hear more from Stacy and about her adventure because I really do. She's the MTR queen. She's just gotten so awesome at them. And I've loved watching her story and watching her maximize profit on a unit. Like so a house, you know, you can do long term, you can do short term, and you can do midterm. And she's really shown us through her story and her journey just how awesome midterm rentals can be. So we're gonna go ahead and jump in here. I've got Stacy. So, sis, if you can kind of start us out with like what first drew you to midterm rentals?

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, great. Hi, Blair. Thanks for having me today. I have actually been a landlord since 2002. I started very slow. I had one property that I, it was my first house, and then I moved and it did sell, so I turned it into a rental, you know, and I did that a couple times, but I wasn't like looking at it as a profession or career, really income stream, just to pay the mortgage so I didn't have to, you know, and now looking back, I I kicked myself. I'm like, man, I wish I would have like really thought about this sooner. Um, in 2016, I started flipping houses, like I did one or two a year from like 2016 to 2022. So I was okay with that. I thought that was good, but then I found this program in April of 23, and it honestly changed my life. It really did. So I was going through some of the podcasts, and I was drive, I had a four-hour drive for work, and so I'm like, I'm just gonna go through some of Debbie's podcasts and see what see what I find. And I found one that was MTR. I'm like, what is MTR? So I was I started listening to her podcast, and all I remember thinking was, This is genius, I can do this. I'm like, this is so much better. So I'm like, okay, well, I live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, right? So like Midwest, middle country, nothing special, nothing, no reason to really vacation here. So then I was like, Well, is that gonna work here? So I started looking around, and Debbie had said, you know, um, furnish finders. So I got on furnish finders and I started looking, and yeah, there were places in Cedar Rapids, and I started just, you know, just Googling some stuff. And at that time I had one long-term rental here in town, and I was June, I was in the middle of finishing a flip, and all of a sudden it just blew up. So I started like, I can do this, and I was finishing a flip, and I found out that there was a house across the street that they were gonna put for sale. It was a rental, and they just wanted out of it. I found out there was a house behind that house that it was a landlord, an older landlord selling, and he had a he had like 187 houses he was selling. So I bought four from him, and I had sent a letter to the lady across the street, and I had an offer in through my bank on a foreclosure. I got them all of them. And so August of 23, every Friday, I was closing on another house. And I remember um one of the ladies in our group sending me a message and she's like, I'm concerned about you.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I I do remember that. Like we were like super excited. We're like, oh my gosh, she's just because you just dug in and like followed the process. And you know, it's crazy because right, like those are the results that happen when you do it. And then we were like, we were like, oh wow, this is like a lot. Like we're super excited, but like, is it okay? And then of course, like you were just amazing and handled everything like a badass.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it fell into place. And like I did sell one of them, but so I did six, I did flip one, and then the other five, I turned into mature mentals. And the one I was always planning on doing it as a maternal, but it took a lot more to fix it, it was bad. So then the one across the street, I'm like, I can just like make this pretty, you know. So we did some paint and cleaning, and then I'm like, I'm gonna try this first and see if it works. And then if it works, I'll make the other ones do it. But if it doesn't work, then I'll just sell them and flip them like I would normally do. So my numbers always worked as a flip, but my focus started becoming income. So I will be honest and say I have purchased a couple of properties that maybe didn't fit that flip criteria, but it it met my income criteria. So in January 24, my husband had some health issues, so he wasn't able to work anymore. So I really at that point just went all in on this. Like this is what I'm this is how I replace his income. Plus, I still work full-time, so but this is my full-time job as well. So I do too. But I love it. One of the things that I find with midterms is it's a different clientele. So you're not chasing rent like you do potentially with long-term rentals. I still have two long-term rentals and they're fine. When they vacate, I will turn them into midterms. You're in the house more often, or somebody is in the house more often. So, like on a long-term rental, you might not be in that house for a year, two years, or and I don't necessarily be in it, but like it might not switch. So when you they do move out, you're like, Oh, I didn't see all this work that needs to be done. With the midterm rentals, I'm in there every three months or six months, and um, it's just they're easy turns. Most of the time, they're people that all they do is eat and sleep. That's all they're there for. You know, they uh I have a right now we have a data center being built in our community, and it's been amazing. So most of my people are construction people, and I've always had people when I say that kind of give me a weird look. And I said, honestly, so far, my construction people have been some of the best, some of the best. They eat and they sleep and they're never there. I have started to build in a monthly cleaning for the rent. It's just like I don't say anything, it just I add an extra$50. And I say, you know, we come in once a month and do light cleaning, and that's not a deep clean, but it's a light clean. It helps at the end, it helps save sheets and blankets and all that kind of stuff because people are used to also hotels sometimes, so they don't think change sheets. Some people do, some people don't. So in the beginning, I learned that I was going through a lot of betting. So now we come in once a month and we make sure it all gets switched out, so that's nice. And then the income with the midterm is better than the long term. So I charge one and a half to two times the normal long-term rent, it just kind of depends. I do include utilities, Wi-Fi. I don't supply cable because there's so many streaming services out there anymore. So I just give them good Wi-Fi and let them stream their own. Initially, I didn't put TVs in bedrooms. I've started putting TVs in bedrooms just way, this way, you know, this they have one. There's a lot of mixed feelings on that, and it really depends on the generation, right? So lots of traveling nurses, I find they don't need they don't want TVs in their bedrooms because they have their laptops and they just use that. But people my generation, my age, we want TVs in the bedroom. So, you know, one of my tricks that I found early when I started was estate sales. So I started a lot of my stuff comes from estate sales, you know. There's always especially if it's like maybe an older couple, they had a spare room for the kids to come visit, and the bed's like brand new. Basically, no one was ever no one ever slept on it because it was just a spare room. So that's kind of where I started getting beds and dressers and that kind of stuff. And then initially I bought new things, you know, like all the kitchen stuff was new and everything was new. Well, after it's used, once it's used, so I kind of changed my my priority on some of that. Like, I still buy new stuff, don't get me wrong, but if I can find a really nice couch that's for sale, cheap and it's comfortable and it works, I buy that because you never know what's gonna happen. I had one house where I had a couple extra guys staying with them that I didn't know about, and they were using the couch as a bed, and now I put that in my lease that you can't use the couch as a bed because it breaks it down. You know, just little things like that that I've kind of learned along the way. And then like the short-term rental, I sometimes I do that in between, like if I have a month open or something, like if somebody moves out October 1st and I've got somebody checking in October 28th, I don't like to let it sit. So sometimes then I'll throw it on as a short-term rental on Airbnb or something like that. However, I found recently, and I think one thing people should know is that your insurance might not cover that. So tell me more about that.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, tell me more about that.

SPEAKER_02:

So a lot of your rental policies are only gonna cover for 31 days and more. So if you have somebody come in for two weeks and something happens, there's a good chance your insurance isn't gonna cover it unless you truly have short-term rental insurance. And it's usually about double what the normal insurance is. So I kind of went away from doing short term because I'm like, I did the math. I'm like, it was gonna double all of my policies, you know, that's a lot. And then I kind of like went in and looked at what I made, and I'm like, it's probably not worth it. So I just I don't do midterm or short term much anymore. Plus, I was always stressed out about reviews, you know. Like I always get five-star reviews, and the first time I got like a four and a half, I was mad. And you know why? It was because I didn't have salt and pepper shakers. That was the only complaint. And I'm like, really? So then I just decided that maybe that's not my platform.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I so agree with you. I think, you know, for some people out there, the Airbnb strategy works for them. It's their wheelhouse. But that's why, like a lot of what you've said is why like I really love the midterm rental strategy. Um, you know, just to kind of recap, it's the income. You know, you're asking one and a half to two of the long-term rent. So that's great. So, and for some areas where I live, a long-term rent, you know, you'd kind of be breaking even. But with the midterm strategy, I can actually cash flow a property, which is super cool. You know, having somebody pay the mortgage, getting the equity, and, you know, even just a little bit of cash in my pocket every month from that house to me is is really just awesome. But yeah, like some of the things you may, I didn't know about the insurance thing. So I learned something new today. That's so cool. But yeah, for me, it's the stress. You know, like you said, like your midterms, you know, I have some people that stay like nine months. So I'm not worrying about who's the tenant coming in. You know, I can see their usage for electricity and water. I do pay utilities as well. You know, I same thing. I give them Wi-Fi, they have streaming services. But yeah, same thing. So they're there and they're working. Like I have one girl who stays, she's rented it for nine months. She stays there for two days out of the week, and then she goes home. And she is, she's literally there to like sleep, eat, turn around, and then she goes home. So for me, it's a lot less wear and tear on the furniture and the house itself and the turnover with Airbnb. And yes, I tell people, like, you know, I'm a big proponent for hiring property management just because I don't deal well with people calling me in the middle of the night to tell me something is broken because I'm, you know, don't wake me out of my beauty sleep. Okay. But part of it is two, it's it's a lot less stressful in finding tenants, like who's the next person? Are we, you know, maxing out our Airbnb and reviews, right? Because even though like I've hired a property management company at the end of the day, I'm still the one who owns the home. So if the reviews are bad and I don't get bookings, I have to cover the mortgage. And so for me, like that's just really high stress that I didn't want in my life. And so I've found like the midterm rental is just such a great combination of the stress level I'm okay and comfortable with, as well as maximizing out, you know, the rent and maximizing out what I'm getting out of that property.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, it's a different mindset. It really is. Like I have people all the time ask me, like, well, why do you do that? Can't just do a regular rental. That's why you're not turning it. And I'm like, no, no, no, no.

unknown:

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And I think it's super cool that you brought up like construction workers because I think, you know, when I first everybody hears about midterm rentals, they automatically just assume you're just talking about healthcare workers, right? Because that's like when I first started, that's all I knew is nurses. And I was like, okay, oh, travel nurses. And I thought, I was like, well, gosh, how many of those can there be out there? And but like there, I've learned there's so many different categories of people who use them. Like I had one, he was a nuclear, some sort of special nuclear physicist, engineer, I don't know, really smart guy. There were only five of him in the country, basically, that did his job. So he traveled all around wherever he wanted, you know, when they needed somebody to fill in or come in and fix the issues they were having. And he and his wife, like he would, she would come with him and she would just, they would explore the area. They would live. If they liked it, they'd stay longer. So they actually ended up, I think they ended up staying with me for six months because they just love the area. But it's neat to kind of expand your thinking and think about like recently I was introduced to the insurance portion, which I think we're gonna talk about with you because you've really nailed that down. But it's just more of, you know, finding, I didn't even think about that, right? Like somebody's house burns down, where do they go? Uh, you know, they need a traditional home that's already set up or like water damage, or like, you know, we've had bad storms here with like roof damage, and the insurance company, you know, needs to put them somewhere. And we all know they don't move very quickly uh with things and repairs. So we've had, you know, I've had friends that have midterm rentals that have had people there that have been there for, you know, a couple months, six months. I've had someone that's been up to a year. So, you know, it's just it's very neat to hear the different people that move in as far as or who need the midterm rentals. There's so much more out there, other than, you know, obviously the traveling nurses, shout out to them, healthcare workers, you're amazing. But there are a bunch of different types of tenants who love a good midterm rental.

SPEAKER_02:

So yeah, I have an insurance claim right now. He's been there 21 months, and I know I have him at least another two. So good and bad though, kind of goes back to what I said earlier. Like, I haven't been in there to clean that house very much. I like I did like a middle, like after a year, I'm like, can I just come clean? And you know, but it's gonna be just like a long-term move out, but that's okay because he's been paying for it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And so like it's so cool in that, like to me, I get really excited. Like, property manager calls and they're like, hey, you know, they want to do an extended stay. And I'm like at the midterm rental rate, and they're like, Yes. And I'm like, perfect, love that. Uh, just you know, to kind of recap, a lot of times with a midterm rental, we are getting one and a half to two times what we could get for the long-term rent. So, same amount of time, same space, almost double the money. So for me, I'm like, yes, that's a hell yes. Like, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. Yesterday I just signed a 10-month lease for uh construction and crane worker. So, and he's like, I got more people, and that's the nice thing about with construction, you gotta think about it. If you have more than one unit, this company's bringing these people into town. And if you're nice and you talk to them, and you know, like now I'm getting to the point where they're just sending people to me, you know, like I don't think it's amazing. Yeah, and that's great. So I love that. Yeah. So I think the only bad thing is this happened to me last year, is then they all moved out at the same time.

SPEAKER_01:

January. They're like, all right, job's done, we're out. Yeah, and I think like for me, that's neat. Like, I love, you know, a little bit of the hospitality end of things and like making people feel welcome and setting up a nice, comfortable, safe space for them, but not to the level of like an Airbnb where I have to be like all, you know, quote unquote on all the time, like super over the top. I think Airbnb guests' expectations are a lot different than midterm rental. I think they expect you to like, you know, you know, oh, there's, you know, a spot of dirt on the floor, and they expect you to run over and clean it because they're paying a premium for a vacation space. Whereas like I've had, you know, midterm rental guests who are like, hey, like I so sorry, I broke a coffee pot. I'm like, cool, no problem. Is it okay if I just Amazon you one? And they're like, yeah, that's great. Thanks. Like, and I'll just deliver it, you know, over to the rental with that. But yeah, you know, that's so neat that you've had so much like word of mouth. But if you don't mind, let's talk a little bit about the insurance like portion of it. Cause I know you've had great success uh with, you know, like if you talk us through like how do you contact how does that work? Like who do you contact? Are there people you can reach out to? You know, what is your strategy when asking for, you know, the coverage for the the rent? Like anything you want to share, I'd love to hear.

SPEAKER_02:

Sure. So this one that I got right now, it was very early. It was my second tenant. So I definitely left some money on the table and I didn't know that. But there was a good part of that is though, like with insurance claims, they have like X amount of housing budget. So let's just say they have$30,000 worth of coverage for housing if something happens to their house. Well, if they're staying in a hotel that burns up fast, I have found that lots of times insurance claim rents usually around$3,000, you know, like in that range. Well, with this guy, I'm only charging him$18.50 because it's a small house. But because I was able to charge him$18.50, he was able to make that budget of$30,000 or whatever it was last way longer than what somebody if I would have been charging$3,000. I mean, now if when I get my next insurance claim, it's gonna be a little different, but now I know also cleaning fees. So I charge cleaning fees up front when they move in for their move out. Well, I usually charge$100,000,$150. Well, this guy's been in there, he's gonna be in there like 23 months. It's gonna cost me more than$150 to clean that, but you don't know that. So the one thing that insurance claims want is a contracted amount that will stay the same. So they send me a like an extension every couple months or whatever, but it they don't give me the option to increase it. So you got to keep that in mind too. Like, you know, obviously my property taxes have gone up, my insurance has gone up in two years. Like, this is this guy is a is a unique situation because he's been there for so long, but I do self-manage my properties. I'm still in that, like, I want to keep all my money.

SPEAKER_01:

And yeah, well, and I think the good thing with midterm rental is like that's a little bit more obtainable and like doable because of the cadence and flow.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, yes. And the one thing that I do and I do write is one, I will live in any property I own. So I don't band-aid it. And all but one of these houses that I've got as midterms, I went in and gutted and I treated it like a flip. So then when I did it, I did it right. You know, I've got a couple houses that have on-demand hot water heaters. Like I do it so that I don't get those two o'clock in the morning maintenance calls. You know, now I'm not gonna say that in the winter, one time the furnace went out in the middle of the night, it happened, but that happens anywhere. But I do them right so that I don't I try not to have those maintenance calls. And I feel like I don't get a lot of phone calls. And if I do, I know within the first three days that I'm gonna get phone calls.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think that's so important. I do the same thing for my rentals. You know, I I do everything up front, like it would be a flip, and then my thoughts on it are the exact same, right? Like if we go ahead and fix everything, it should after that, it should just be maintenance over the next 10 to 15 years. And then also like it does, you know, get the calls down a little bit because things aren't breaking on a regular basis.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So back to the insurance claim. Um, since I self-manage, when I know that something's coming up, I start to get a little twitchy. So I get on every single website that I can find that's insurance companies, and I've registered my properties. Like, you can like just Google relocation companies, insurance relocation, those kind of things, and you'll get lists. I've joined lots of Facebook groups that are midterm rentals, and then I've looked for like relocation Facebook groups. So I see a lot of those. I get some leads from those sometimes. If I see a lead that is in my area, I don't care what the criteria is that they're looking for. As long as I have the right space, I will contact them every single time. And it doesn't matter if it's furnished finders, if it's Zillow, if it's an insurance company, I contact them and you gotta do it quick. You gotta do it quick. This midterm rental is definitely a different space than what long-term rentals are. So, like yesterday, I had a guy on fake and furnished finders just put it out there as a general request, which means the general request is it goes to anybody that's registered. So within five minutes, I had sent him a message and I'd sent him some pictures because I had a property that I didn't have on furniture finders because you got to pay a fee, furnished finders$175. So sometimes I just take some of my old properties that look the same because a lot of my properties are the same, and I just put one of those properties up as available. And so then I sent him a text. Hey, I have a property of that's coming available. It looks similar to this one. I can text you and or email you pictures, and so then that's what I did. And within 15 minutes, I had a lease signed, a deposit, a background check, done. And money, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, 15 minutes. Do you do all of that like through furnished finders as far as like the tools and you know the screening and everything?

SPEAKER_02:

So the furnished finders I use for their background check, but they don't charge the landlord for that, they charge the tenant. I use their background check. I like it, it's quick. My goal the last six or this six months is like really trying to automate better because I do Google Docs and then I send it and email it, and it's hard to get the digital signatures. So I've started working with I right now. I'm working with uh it's a program called Rent Ready, and you can send the lease. They can send, they can sign the lease, they have to take a picture of theirself with their ID so that you can verify it's them, and then they can set up paying rent and everything right through the program. It's a cheaper program, it's a little bit more cumbersome. So I haven't decided if I'm sold on that one yet or not, but I'm using it. But it's quick because then I just upload the lease and I he signs it, he takes a picture of himself with his ID, sends in the back, and then I sign it digitally and we're good.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, that's awesome!

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so that's that automated part that I've been like struggling with a little bit that I'm trying to get better, you know, because I still have my handy dandy Excel sheet. Gotta love Excel. Gotta love Excel. I trust Excel more.

SPEAKER_01:

That's awesome. So one of the things that like really I found interesting when when you were talking about like your location, and I think this also kind of leans me toward why midterm rentals are a more viable option for more people than maybe an Airbnb. So no shade at all, but you lit like Tacita Rapids, but like there's that's not a super hot vacation destination. I would imagine like it's not like the mountains or the beach or you know, somewhere where there's, I don't know, like Disney World. I think it's a great example, right? Yeah. So to me, this is so cool because it's saying, like, hey, here's a great viable option that is super like friendly for you and like landlord, and like you're maximizing your earning, but you don't necessarily have to be in like a big city like Austin, Texas, or you know, a huge draw for vacationers, um, where it gets like super competitive, like Orlando and Disney World. And you're like, you know, yeah, I'm right here in the heart of, you know, just a great town in America and it works. And I think that's like I live in Columbia, South Carolina. You know, we've got college football, but like other than that, there's not a huge, you know, it's not Charleston, which is on our coast, where there's a huge draw for vacationers, but I'm very successful with my with my midterm because there are a huge amount of people who can utilize them that aren't just vacationing. Right.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Now, you know, I have a couple rentals out in western Iowa, small town, 900 people. Am I gonna turn that one into a midterm? No, it's gonna stay my long term. And it's still, I mean, I'm not gonna say that that's not gonna work out in those areas because there's things that bring things to town. People move and they can't close on a house. I had a couple for a month because they had sold everything in Missouri and moved back to Iowa. And they thought they'd be able to find a house and buy a house in like two weeks in Iowa. Well, no, they couldn't. So they saved.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's I mean, and that's a whole other great audience that you just introduced. Like people who are transitioning, you know, I'm in real estate as an agent as well. Um, and yeah, that's something that happens sometimes, you know, where people are having to sell a home prior to buying. That's just the season we're in in the market. And yeah, like where do they go? Like whether it's two weeks or a month, or oh my gosh, we can't find anything we like, but we had the perfect buyer. So we went ahead. Yeah, you're exactly 100% right. A midterm rental would be fantastic because they don't have to like pack up all of their stuff, unpack it at a rental, pack it all back up, and then move it. They can kind of just pack stuff up, put it in storage. They can live very comfortably in the space that you're providing. And then when they're, you know, they close on their new house, they're able to just go ahead and you know, kind of just move stuff in basically once.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And I market to realtors. You know, like I send my flyers. I made a flyer and I send it to all the real estate offices. And then the realtors that I know, like, I'm like, hey, when you guys have a meeting, can you be like, talk about me? Uh, because they do have people. And I mean, for something like that, I I'll do shorter time, you know, something. You know, one of my houses I bought came with eight storage sheds. And so I was marketing to one of my realtors and I was talking to her, and she was saying that, yeah, my people have to be out, but they don't know where to put their stuff. I'm like, I have a storage shed.

SPEAKER_01:

You're like, I have the perfect, and that's actually like a perfect solution, right? It's like an all in one. Like you move in, but you can draw your stuff here. Yeah, that's super cool, actually.

SPEAKER_02:

Whatever. So, yeah, I mean, it's just problem solving. This this business is about problem solving.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, a hundred percent. And I tell people like, truly, that's one of the reasons that I was drawn to real estate in the investment space is I love I love solving problems. I love to move the puzzle pieces around, you know, play the chessboard, uh, pivot. Like that's kind of my ultimate thing. And so it's just, it's very cool to be in a space where creativity and you know, figuring out what's the next step or how do we make this work in a win-win situation. That is truly one of the things that really drew me to real estate investing.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I just have one of my houses, it's a large house. It's three bedrooms, very big. That's more of an executive rental. And I had four brothers that needed a place. They came up from Texas to work on the data center and they're like struggling to find places. We're having so many people in town, people are struggling to find stuff. So they came and looked at it. They're like, Yeah, I'm like, well, where's the fourth person gonna sleep? Because you can't sleep on the couch. And they're like, Oh, we'll just put an air mattress somewhere. I'm like, I thought about it for a second. I'm like, I can do better. I said, How about we take this little couch and move it and I'll put a bed there, and then you'll have a bed there. It'll be in the middle of the living room, but it'll be and it had two living rooms, so it was fine. And they're like, Oh, perfect. I mean, I'm like, you're gonna spend all this money, I'm not gonna make you sleep on an air mattress.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's and that's so cool. Like it's so cool that you, you know, as a landlord, you lead with heart and you're solving their problems and that you were able to accommodate that. And that's again another reason I love the midterm space, is like I feel like both parties are trying to work to make it the best experience for both people. I find that a lot where it's like, okay, hey, you know, this maybe didn't work, but like, can we try this instead? And a lot of times the tenants and or on the other side, like on my end, as of the landlord, it's been kind of easy to go, okay, yeah, you know what, we can make that work.

SPEAKER_02:

Like, yeah, I had a lady reach out for the storage sets the other day, and she's like, I'm just a new photographer and I just need a space to like take pictures. And she's like, Do you think I could run a shed? I'm like, sure, sure.

SPEAKER_01:

Why not?

SPEAKER_02:

Why not? You know, it just gives you gotta really be open-minded. Um that's one of the things that people give me a hard time about all the time is that you're crazy. I hear I'm crazy every day. And probably, but I love it.

SPEAKER_01:

I think that's a little something that you need as an investor. You need to be like a little bit off off kilter, just because it does like it. And again, that's why like I think it's amazing. You get to be creative, you get to be a problem solver, you get to help people, and also like make money and get time freedom. Like, I again, I just can't find anything better than real estate investing. Okay. I agree, totally agree. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, you know, and there's been some bumps along the way. I won't say that it's all been clear sailing. I've learned some things, you know. Like I think I said earlier, like I used to buy stuff new right off the bat. Well, it's not new anymore. Things disappear. Uh, you know, I buy good quality, I buy certain things good quality towels, sheets, blankets, pans. Pans are iffy because I replace pans a lot because people burn stuff and then they don't clean them right or whatever. But right, um, I buy all those things, and when I find a sale, I buy as much as I can. I have a whole shelf full of towels right now because Costco had a sale. So I buy stuff when I see it. Yeah, um, I know like right now I've I've got eight fully furnished, fully rented units. I've got four more coming online in the next two weeks to 60 days. So as I'm like places, I'm like, oh, and I name all my places, I'm like, oh, that'll be great for Shabby Chic, or that'll be good for the cornerstone. So like I'm collecting things right next four units right now, you know, Facebook marketplace, love hate relationship. Yeah. You know, so that's that's one thing. You know, I think what I would tell people the most is you have to have patience because I don't. And so when things come open or gonna come open, I think I said it early. I get twitchy. And so then I spend every extra moment. Okay, where else can I market this house? How can I how can I make it be available or see it? You know, I've gone to all of our union halls, I've gone to our our realtors, just my insurance, my personal insurance agent, you know, just you gotta tell people what you do. Just yes, tell them what to do.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you. I tell people all the time, like you have to tell people, the universe, whatever, like what is it that you need? What are you looking for? Because I I've so I found that so often is like it's a lot of times you don't know that somebody knows somebody that knows someone and they they're the ones who need it. But if you never voiced, like, hey, you know, I'm looking for this, or hey, I have a rental, it's coming open in August. You know, maybe you post that on your Facebook and you're like, well, nobody on my Facebook is gonna need a rental, but they might know somebody. Uh and very quickly, you know, again, this you're helping. You're helping someone find a space that they need. So yeah, I'm a huge proponent for, you know, tell people what you're looking for, tell people, and it's more of like tell people what you can provide, right? It's not being salesy, it's not being, you know, me, me, me. It's, you know, hey, I have this space and I provide this service. Well, somebody needs that space and that service. So it's I love that like connection aspect of everything.

SPEAKER_02:

That's one thing that I've learned from this program is that tell people what you do. So, like I said, I've been a landlord since 2001. I didn't have a business card until I joined this program. I didn't have a Facebook page of for my business. I didn't have a website. I never thought about that. I've been a landlord forever, but I didn't think of it as a business. Right. And even when I was flipping properties one or two a year, I still wasn't thinking it as a business. But this program changed my mindset. And like, I now I'm like, I have business cards, and I can't tell you how many times I hand them out. Now I'm like, here, here, here.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, look, this is pretty. Look at my nice business card.

SPEAKER_02:

So you know, it's a mindset. And now my husband jokes around all the time. He says, most wives buy shoes or purses. My wife buys houses.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Yeah, I get that a lot. And especially like we travel a lot. And so like I'm always looking at real estate when we travel, just because it's like, you know, I'd rather have a spot that I own that someone else is paying the mortgage for. And if we go there a couple of times a year, great. Um, so yeah, same thing. He's like, or I forgot what we were doing the other day. He was like, Oh, did you buy a house today? And I hadn't. Like, I was like, I've been with you the whole day. Like, we didn't go to a close. But it was just, yeah. So I get that. It's so funny when it's like, you know, yep, I'm not into purses, I'm not into shoes. Um, I do like to travel. Oh, and I like to buy houses for fun. Like that for fun. That's my thing. Um, so yes.

SPEAKER_02:

But I was in Florida last weekend with my sister-in-law, and right by the hotel, there was a house for sale. And I'm like taking pictures and sending it to my husband, and he's like, Oh god.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, totally get it. And I think like, you know, just to kind of connect that to what we're talking about with the midterm rentals, is that you can do this in in anywhere, like any market. You know, I do it here in Columbia, you do it there in Cedar Rapids. We have women who do it all over the country, big cities, little cities, vacation places, non-vacation places, close to hospitals, not close to hospitals. You know, you've just you've shared so much with us today. I really appreciate it. The knowledge is incredible. And like I said, it's really just been amazing to watch your journey. Um, and I think I heard you say, like, so how many like actual homes are you up to right now in your portfolio?

SPEAKER_02:

I was calculating before. I've I've I believe 15.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. I love that you have to like stop and think about it. I did. Like I was like pacing this morning. And you're like, okay, we wear, who are we? What are we doing today? Yeah. I mean, that's incredible. Like, that's no, that's no small fee at all. And I think that's gonna be so inspiring for our listeners. And especially that you've been able to, you know, really maximize everything as far as like maximizing profit with the midterm rental strategy. And then, you know, my favorite part is like reducing the stress of not doing short term, and then like long-term again, is it's I think every rental has its pros and cons. But for me, the midterm rental is really where the magic is as far as like marrying all of the pros and cons together. And then the pros and cons kind of you know, the more the pros, weighing out any cons that exist in that space.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. I know like when I walk into a property now, one of my first questions is how much fun can I get out of this? You know, and so like ADUs, mother-in-law suites. That's my thing now. So basements into mother-in-law suites.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's and I had a friend who they had a house like that, and it was one of those that they actually ended up getting it over other investors because other investors couldn't, it was a very, you know, quote unquote weird, wonky layout. And other people couldn't see it. Well, they divided like the bottom of the house, they put the door on the back, the front of the house, they had the front door, and like the top floor was its own unit, the bottom was its own unit. And then there was like a pool house they turned into an ADU, and it was its so in one property, they had three and they made they were midterm rentals. So on one property, like so you're paying mortgage on one property, and they had three separate units on the same property that were paying maximum rent. So cash flowing, like gangbusters, great tenants, all of that, like just all of the magic.

SPEAKER_02:

So I love it. Yes. I'm so glad that I listened to Debbie's podcast. It truly changed my life.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And I love that, like, you know, I hate that we, you know, kind of have to wrap up because I think we could talk about this all day. But one of the really cool full circle moments for me was like hearing you talk about like I listened to this podcast about midterm rentals, and that's what got me interested. And I joined. And like I said, I mean, you've just been amazing to watch. Like you've learned, you've trusted the process, you've done the work. And then to now be sitting with you and doing a podcast, you know, with, you know, like I said, I always call you our midterm rental queen with the midterm rental queen and just all of the value that you've added back. I mean, gosh, I've learned stuff today. I really hope our audience has taken away a good bit. Um, so I just want to say thank you so much for sitting down with me. And this is this has been incredible.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, thanks for having me. I was so excited when you reached out. I'm like, yes, I want to do that.

SPEAKER_01:

I love it. It's a hell yes. Yep. All right. Well, thank you so much, Stacy. We appreciate you and sharing all of your information. Yeah, great. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much for joining us today on the Flip Houses Like a Girl podcast. I hope you found inspiration and some practical takeaways from Stacy's story. One of the key takeaways for me, for her story, was the fact that this can be successful pretty much anywhere in the country. You don't have to have like a super vacation-centered area, and you can earn twice what you normally would with long-term rent. Ladies, remember every successful flip starts with one brave decision to get in the game, and you don't have to do it alone. If you're ready to take the next step towards flipping your first house, we'd love for you to learn more about the Flip Sisters program. It's the leading coaching program and community design specifically for women across the country who are ready to flip houses in their local markets. To connect with us, check out the program, or just get inspired by more stories like Stacy's, let's visit theflipsisters.com. And as always, thank you for listening, subscribing, and sharing this podcast with other women who are ready to step into the world of flipping houses. Until next time, keep going, keep growing, and remember, you absolutely can do this.