Episode Transcript
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0:02
Welcome back to the open house podcast where women talk real estate.
0:05
I'm Christina Moderas. And today we're diving into a really unique journey with one of our community members,
0:06
Alicia Parker Smith.
0:13
So we talk about her leap from house hacking her first property to actually purchasing
0:13
land in Ghana after a super inspiring trip with her friends.
0:23
So her story is super cool and a testament to creativity and courage in real estate.
0:28
So as we release this episode, we're just three days away from closing our community
0:28
membership until mid 2025.
0:37
So if you've been wanting to make some big real estate moves, you whether that's buying
0:37
your first property or house hacking, exploring international investments or joining
0:47
forces with a friend, this is your chance to find the support, the resources and
0:47
connections to make it happen.
0:54
A reminder that open house education is a nationwide community where women can learn,
0:54
connect and get inspired to pursue real estate creatively.
1:02
So what do we all have in common?
1:05
You know, I started this group in August with a hundred founding members and really was
1:05
blown away at who joined.
1:12
So everyone here is driven, but really kind and thoughtful in the way that they approach
1:12
real estate.
1:20
Everyone is committed to learning and building wealth.
1:24
together in a fun and supportive space.
1:27
Many of these women are exploring partnerships with real estate and are open to the
1:27
possibility of actually meeting a woman in this space to partner with as well.
1:36
So we use the platform Circle and it's really easy to navigate and we have a handful of
1:36
forum channels as well as a space in there to watch old event recordings and to download
1:48
other resources as well. And we host two to three monthly events.
1:52
next one is actually this week, tomorrow actually.
1:55
So it's November 20th and led by community member Kara.
2:00
She recently sold a short-term rental property management company and is going to give us
2:00
like all her tips and tricks and also talk to us kind of about how the process of selling
2:12
that business went. I think she got top dollar for her system.
2:15
So I'm really interested in learning from her.
2:17
We also are rolling out an accountability partner program.
2:21
So that will be regular check-ins to keep you on track with your real estate goals.
2:25
I have had an accountability partner for the last eight years of my life on and off.
2:31
And it's really the only way that I'm able to accomplish any like big goal that I have
2:31
personal and business and real estate.
2:39
So we will be rolling that out very soon.
2:42
So like I said, I started this group in August and have seen the women in there already
2:42
get super tangible results.
2:49
you know, within, I'd say like the first one to three months, members are either buying a
2:49
property, finding a partner, or starting to implement their real estate strategies and
3:01
also figuring out what their real estate strategy is.
3:03
So yeah, I hope to see you in there this week and at the event with Kara tomorrow.
3:09
One more thing before we dive into the episode, I've been getting a lot of good questions
3:09
about our online community on our Instagram page.
3:16
So one woman just asked me, she's curious if it makes sense financially for her right now
3:16
to join the community because she's not actively looking to make any more investments at
3:28
the moment. And I responded with, yeah, totally fair.
3:33
I'm honestly, this is true. Like I'm not.
3:36
either. Like I'm not in a place in my life where I'm like actively searching for property.
3:40
Like I have my little nest egg and I'm happy with it growing it.
3:44
But it's been a really nice place to be around like minded women and share when things
3:44
come up at my current properties or in my even just like my own house if something comes
3:55
up. I like to share. I like to also I like to see the deals that come through because sometimes I'm like, maybe
3:56
I could throw so many at that.
4:03
to be a part of this property or this deal or this collaboration.
4:06
I really like to stay in the loop and keep my real estate brain fresh, if that makes
4:06
sense.
4:12
Okay, let's jump into today's episode with Alicia.
4:16
Okay, hi, Alicia, how's it going?
4:19
It's going well. Thank you for having me on this show.
4:21
Very excited for our conversation today. Yeah, me too.
4:24
Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
4:27
Yeah, of course. So my name is Alicia.
4:29
I live in Dallas, Texas currently.
4:32
I moved here earlier this year from Austin, Texas for a job opportunity.
4:37
And Austin is where I got connected with Open House.
4:41
But before living and moving to Texas, I was in North Carolina.
4:44
I grew up in a military family. So I did the whole moving around quite a few times in my younger years and went to school
4:46
in North Carolina as well.
4:52
what's your, I guess, what's your background before jumping in like for work?
4:56
I work in communications, corporate communications, doing PR.
5:00
That's my background. That's what I went to school for.
5:02
I originally thought I would open my own PR agency one day.
5:06
So the idea of like entrepreneurship has always been there.
5:09
I have since realized I do not want the lack of work-life balance that comes with owning
5:09
an agency.
5:17
And I've since looked for other options, which we're going to naturally talk about in our
5:17
episode today.
5:21
But yeah, so. Corporate Communications, Yeah, let's jump into the real estate side of things.
5:28
Do you want to talk about your first property?
5:30
I know it's a duplex, but I'm just interested in what drew you to that as your first
5:30
property.
5:37
A little bit of backstory really quick. When I moved to Austin, I was living in a house hack that I didn't even know was a house
5:39
hack.
5:44
And when the pandemic happened, my friend and I just started wanting to learn about real
5:44
estate.
5:50
That's when I came, actually a coworker of mine recommended your podcast to me.
5:56
started listening to your podcast. There's another podcast I found and I was just learning all about real estate investing
5:57
and the process of buying a house and the different ways you can do it.
6:05
And through that process is when I realized I was in a house.
6:08
Wait, was it cause your friend owned the house and she was renting it out to you?
6:12
I hear like, wait a second. Yeah.
6:15
I was like, wait. I can totally do this.
6:18
I'm like on the other side of it right now.
6:20
So that was definitely like a boost of confidence.
6:23
And then yeah, I got connected with Jen, one of the agents at Open House and she became my
6:23
real estate agent and walked me through process of buying my first property, which was a
6:33
layout wise, it's like a duplex, it's like an in-law suite.
6:36
So I guess you would call it more of a sneaky duplex situation, but I just refer to it as
6:36
a duplex.
6:40
And then also on paper it's referred to as a condo.
6:42
So it's just a very like. Strange setup, but we've made it work, a freestanding condo.
6:47
So I don't have to pay for the roof repairs, which was nice because it got repaired
6:47
earlier this year.
6:52
And the external walls you don't have to cover through the HOA, but you just have to worry
6:52
about the external and the internal part for like insurance and things of that nature.
7:00
So it's been a really interesting learning process, just learning about how that works on
7:00
paper when you have to like get things done, like a HELOC and insurance and all of that
7:09
stuff. Yeah, that's the first property I bought a sneaky duplex in a tertiary market.
7:15
So it's actually in a college town that is now really growing and expanding because Texas
7:15
is really on the up and up when you think of like Austin going south towards San Antonio.
7:25
And yeah, when I was in the process of looking for a property, my first house, I was on
7:25
the MLS daily.
7:33
Every listing that Jen sent me, I was like scrolling through and rolling the numbers,
7:33
running the numbers and
7:38
really came like a student of just the process in that regard.
7:41
And when we found this listing, I was like, my gosh, something about it just really stood
7:41
out.
7:46
And I know you're not supposed to get emotional about listings, but there was a little bit
7:46
of emotional component there, but more so of like a peace and a calmness that I didn't
7:54
necessarily feel when I was looking at other properties and analyzing other potential
7:54
deals.
7:59
And so we went toward it.
8:02
I still had that feeling. It made sense on paper.
8:04
We did the offer and things of that nature, which we'll probably talk about.
8:07
And my offer was accepted. So we went under contract and that became my first Amazing.
8:12
Okay. I didn't realize it was a sneaky duplex.
8:15
Okay. So, and you have an HOA and you're still able to house hack.
8:19
So this is, this is good because I love showcasing all the different ways that you can
8:19
make your first home an investment.
8:26
So yeah. So what did you do to make this like a duplex, I guess?
8:31
I actually forgot to mention too, I closed on my house, I think it was like just a week
8:31
before my birthday too.
8:39
So that was like my big birthday present to myself.
8:41
It was a year a cool like personal, think it was my 24th 24th birthday, that's even
8:41
better.
8:47
21, yeah. Wow. So it yeah, it was just like a really cool like little personal milestone moment.
8:54
But yeah, I... As far as the layout of the house, it's three full bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and it
8:56
has two kitchens with like a full kitchen, really.
9:05
It's stove, stove, sink, and fridge.
9:08
It is 1,600 square feet, and that includes the garage.
9:13
So it's a top, bottom duplex.
9:16
So on the bottom floor is the garage for the top unit.
9:20
And then there is a one bedroom, one bath.
9:23
That's about 500-ish square feet.
9:26
And then there's like a really thin like side hallway that will take you upstairs from the
9:26
garage.
9:31
And that's where you have the other two bedrooms, the two baths.
9:34
The master is considered upstairs, even though the bottom bedroom I think is technically
9:34
bigger.
9:39
But the master's upstairs and then it has this really cool like wraparound porch.
9:43
But yeah, it's about 1600 square feet. And I was staying in the smaller portion because I had this really...
9:50
interesting phase where I was like obsessed with tiny houses and if you're familiar with
9:50
like the fire movement there's people in the fire movement who like did the tiny house so
9:57
they're debt-free and things of that nature and that's how I kind of got interested in it
9:57
and so I thought I made more business sense and I was also comfortable living in smaller
10:05
spaces so I ended up living in the smaller space and then renting out the larger space
10:05
where I was able to make more money.
10:11
Wow this is amazing okay so I
10:14
I'm trying to wrap my head around this property because so also it is basically a true
10:14
duplex because a sneaky duplex is when you section off part of your home and usually that
10:25
part that you section off doesn't have a kitchen.
10:27
It's usually acting as like a hotel room.
10:31
I mean, you can always add a kitchen, but it's just harder.
10:33
when you bought this property, had the people before you set this up like that, like they
10:33
had added this kitchen and everything.
10:41
So that was the floor plan of the property, like how the house was built.
10:44
And the person I bought the house from, were investors, they're investors that moved to
10:44
California and they're just offloading it.
10:50
So there's like this door that connects both sides of the houses together, the top and
10:50
bottom side.
10:56
And so what I did was just seal it off with like some soundproofing and things of that
10:56
nature, which was like maybe like a $200 investment or less.
11:04
And I didn't, yeah, I didn't have like any heavy capital I had to put in because the floor
11:04
plan already worked out.
11:09
to make it a duplex and it was already operating as a duplex with the previous owners.
11:13
Wow. so when you bought the property, was it with financing and stuff, was it seen as a single
11:14
family home or a duplex?
11:22
Single family? On paper, it's a single family home, which is really weird.
11:26
Again, it's been a really weird learning process with this property on paper.
11:31
Okay, interesting. This is like a curveball for even me.
11:34
I love it. I love how creative you can truly be with real estate.
11:39
Do you mind sharing some of the numbers? How much was this property?
11:44
How much did it cost for the mortgage? Yes.
11:47
So in the offer and my closing documents, because I took a look at them before our
11:47
conversation, so I did a conventional loan for about $241.
11:57
And I remember the lender I work with, which was recommended through you all, and she was
11:57
a phenomenal lender.
12:02
She recommended a conventional loan for my financial situation over doing a FHA.
12:07
So we did that. We did 3 % down that I could take advantage of as first time home buyer.
12:12
I had a 3 % interest rate. And when we did the offer, Jim was also really creative about how we did the offer.
12:19
So we include an escalation cause because when I bought this house, was during the frantic
12:19
craziness of the housing market.
12:27
This was in 2021. And Austin was one of those cities being mentioned in the news frequently with how insane
12:29
it was and how...
12:35
impossible it felt to buy a house.
12:37
So we had to get really creative to make it work.
12:39
And so we had an escalation clause. I think the offer was 300 and then the escalation was up to 310.
12:46
And then the second offer, I remember when Jen called me to tell me that my offer was
12:46
accepted.
12:52
Good thing we did the escalation clause because if I would have just did 300, I probably
12:52
would have lost the deal because the second highest offer was 305.
13:00
But because we had that escalation clause,
13:02
we were able to get the deal. Interesting.
13:04
OK, cool. Yeah. That's definitely a strategy that was being used a lot during that time.
13:11
I would say now the market's cooled down, which honestly I think is way better.
13:16
You can get even better deals.
13:19
I just don't like making an offer when there's like 20 other people who are doing it too.
13:25
It just feels, it doesn't feel great.
13:27
It's stressful. But yeah, I love that you were able to get something during that time and something within
13:29
your budget, something that you have made like a true investment.
13:38
Because I really, I don't think just buying a house and just like, sometimes I don't think
13:38
it's always an investment, you know, like you can buy something that will make you quote
13:46
unquote house poor. Your mortgage is high.
13:49
It's kind of like a burden, but you definitely didn't go down that route and you are house
13:49
hacking.
13:56
How long did you live in that property?
13:59
before moving? So I had just moved out earlier this year so about three to a little under three full
14:01
years and I moved just when I moved out of the property because I was moving out of Austin
14:11
and I do want to caveat going back to like the numbers of my deal and something that I
14:11
thought was out of reach for me but didn't really know was actually available for people
14:21
who are listening and probably like researching real estate, a lot of people talk about like OPM,
14:22
other people's money.
14:27
And one of the ways people often talk about us like asking family members.
14:31
And I remember when I was going through the process of learning how to buy like, going
14:31
through the process of learning how to buy a house and just learning about the real estate
14:37
market. I did not think OPM.
14:41
be a family member was an option for me at all.
14:44
I was like, I do not come from that kind of family.
14:46
Like, I don't have someone who's just gonna give me $100,000 or whatever the case may be.
14:51
But my parents really saw my dedication to see this through and find a deal.
14:56
And it just so happened that the timing lined up where my parents could start accessing
14:56
their retirement funds without the age penalty.
15:04
And because that timing aligned perfectly, my parents were willing to take out, willing
15:04
and able to take some money out of their
15:10
for their retirement fund to give toward gifting this house.
15:14
And so I was able to, again, going back to like how insane the market was at the time and
15:14
all these cash offers, I was able to present that type of cash incentive, right?
15:24
Because I bought the house for way more than it was appraising for at the time.
15:28
And I did get, know, everything ended up balancing out with appraisals for the property
15:28
now.
15:33
But. Yeah, that was an interesting situation that I didn't think was possibility but really was
15:34
and for people who that truly might not be a possibility There are programs out there and
15:44
companies you can work with that kind of act as like the rich uncle Like I used to call it
15:44
where they're able to help present offers ash cast as cash offers again We're not really
15:53
in a market where that's needed anymore. Thankfully Yeah, but it is it is an option for some people where that doesn't make sense.
16:00
I love that you brought that up because
16:03
Yeah, like I and that's exactly what we're doing at our in our community in the open house
16:03
education community.
16:10
Like I want women to meet other women and, you know, potentially buy together because you
16:10
just never know.
16:19
You never know who's in your back pocket, who you could potentially partner with.
16:23
And if you don't ask and you're not even like in that right, I guess, like headspace to
16:23
know what to ask or like how to ask or whatever you're you.
16:32
you might not think it's for you. And I'm glad that you brought that up because I think a lot of people, when they hear
16:33
people like, I partnered, like my parents helped or like I'm partnering with my parents, I
16:43
presented that to them. They kind of write it off and they're like, well, I couldn't do that.
16:47
But you're like, well, did you, you know, did you ask?
16:50
Like, did you present it in a way that they could see the benefit for them as well?
16:55
You know, did you try even before that?
16:58
like, so they could see that, like,
17:00
take you seriously, like you said.
17:02
They saw how hard you were working and yeah, it was a, I'm sure, benefit for them as well.
17:10
you know, yeah, so I love that you brought that up.
17:13
Yeah. And that actually, so, yeah, before we move on from numbers, do you, how much was your
17:15
monthly mortgage payment?
17:24
My first year, it was about $1,500.
17:29
Under 1600 just under 1600 and I was renting out the unit for that price so the way I
17:29
structured the Expenses for this duplexes because both units are on the same utilities I
17:42
have like a utility stipend basically so as long as utilities stay under $400 a month I
17:42
would pay for that out of pocket along with the HOA fee and then if it goes above to Above
17:53
$400 a month. There was like a percentage big down on the
17:56
on the square footage of each unit to cover that extra cost.
18:00
that helped.
18:02
So when I was living there and house hacking, I was basically only paying like 500 bucks
18:02
to live in my house.
18:08
was the $400 of utilities and the HOA.
18:10
And then now that I've moved out, I'm cash flowing about $500.
18:14
That's great. That's amazing.
18:16
So long-term renting are both units now?
18:19
Yes, this is kind of, guess, a con of HOAs.
18:23
My HOA doesn't allow STRs at the moment.
18:26
So I'm, you know, limited to the long term rental situation.
18:31
But it's been a really cool process finding long term tenants and building relationships
18:31
with them.
18:36
I've really started to enjoy the property management side, which we'll talk about a little
18:36
bit later.
18:40
But yeah, it's been it's been a fun process.
18:42
Do you mind sharing like how you found tenants and like
18:48
how that whole process goes. feel like people might hear your story and be like, wow, she just like went from, you
18:49
know, renting and then like being a homeowner and then she also had to find tenants.
18:58
Like, so when you were living there, you kind of had to find tenants pretty quickly,
18:58
right?
19:03
Yeah, I think the same month I closed, I was looking for tenants that same month.
19:09
Also, I closed in July and again, I mentioned a college town, like July was like ending
19:09
the hot season to really find or have the biggest batch of tenants available.
19:18
So I was kind of working against the clock. I learned a lot about finding tenants in my time owning this property.
19:26
I remember my realtor, she told me when I was closing on the house, she was like, you
19:26
don't really need to use a property management to find companies.
19:36
There's a whole community, there's resources, there's people to support you.
19:39
You can look at stuff online. There's, you know, certain, like, additional rights you have when you live at the house
19:41
versus just, you know, renting it out completely.
19:48
And kind of what you were saying earlier, alluding to earlier, I was so overwhelmed with
19:48
just the home buying process.
19:54
And I just, kind of threw myself in there and was just learning so much.
19:58
was like, I don't know if I can tackle, like, property manager on top of that and learning
19:58
the laws and everything.
20:03
So. I definitely psyched myself out, hindsight being 2020.
20:07
I definitely could have, did both on my own.
20:10
And I worked for the property management company a first year, did not work with them
20:10
again.
20:16
And I started finding tenants on my own and using listings.
20:20
There's different listing sites and some property management software companies have
20:20
listing components to them.
20:25
So you can kind of do your research and figure out what site works the best for you and
20:25
your situation.
20:31
There's Facebook posts and then communities like Open House have been really helpful in
20:31
giving tips about posting, listings for the post, the copy you're using, advice when
20:41
you're of like screening for tenants, so you're making sure you're doing it in an ethical
20:41
way.
20:45
But it's definitely something that you can self-manage.
20:48
And then I used a listing locator kind of sort of company this last time around when I was
20:48
renting out the...
21:00
The second part of my house, just because I was already moving, I was already in Dallas at
21:00
that point and I couldn't do the back and forth to do open houses.
21:07
So from a convenience standpoint, I outsourced that, but I had a great relationship with
21:07
them and they found some really great tenants and it was a really good partnership.
21:14
So in the cases where you do have to work with someone like a, a realtor or a, property
21:14
locator company, property management company who does locating, just finding a really good
21:23
relationship where you work well together. But in other cases, you can really do this on your own, especially with community.
21:29
Yeah, that's totally fair. Yeah, I've used like Zillow before in Facebook.
21:35
think Facebook's like the best now to find people because you can like check on their
21:35
profile.
21:39
I don't know who uses Facebook still though. It's like, know, I of listings on Facebook.
21:46
Okay. But okay.
21:48
So yeah, how did you find I okay, I think property management companies, it's a really
21:48
hard job, but they're, they get a bad rep.
21:56
But it's also really hard to find a good property management company.
22:00
So you said you found like a, almost like a, like they help you find tenants, like a
22:00
locator.
22:07
How did you find like a reputable company?
22:10
Trellin Errer. My first experience was so sour.
22:14
I just happened to learn a lot from it.
22:17
And that gave me a lot of wisdom moving forward.
22:20
And then also just like asking folks questions about like, what questions should I be
22:20
asking a locator?
22:26
How do you know if they're going to really go the extra mile?
22:30
When you're signing contracts with different locators, there's normally a percentage of
22:30
rent that they're going to take.
22:36
Normally people who have a higher percentage of rent tend to take your listing more
22:36
seriously.
22:39
That's kind of just how it happens sometimes.
22:41
So negotiating a deal that works for both parties.
22:45
But I think there's an intuitiveness.
22:49
I don't know if you can relate to this as well, or maybe it's just me being alone here.
22:53
There's this intuitiveness instinct I've just felt a lot through the real estate buying
22:53
process and being a landlord.
23:00
And you just know. You know what I mean?
23:02
I think we just know.
23:05
Trust your intuition. You do have to get your hands dirty a little and make some quote unquote errors.
23:13
But you learn so much from that.
23:15
And then next time you're like, I'm going to ask.
23:19
this question now or like, I'm getting a weird vibe from this person in the attitude
23:19
they're giving or like the way they're communicating.
23:25
And I totally agree that, yeah, trust your instincts there.
23:29
Okay, so when you were moving to Dallas and, you know, you had to go from living in the
23:29
space to fully renting it out, was that hard to let go of your like personal space?
23:43
Or were you just like, ready to move on and have it become like a full investment
23:43
property?
23:49
Yeah, I knew when I bought this property, I was eventually going to move out completely.
23:54
When I bought it, I thought I would move out sooner, but life happened.
23:58
Especially in subsequent years when layoffs became a bigger thing and I was impacted by
23:58
that.
24:03
And that kind of just changed up my timeline a little bit.
24:06
So when I was thinking about moving out completely, that was the same time I actually got
24:06
the job.
24:11
So I was like, okay, well, this kind of answers the question for me.
24:14
I can't really track my feet here.
24:17
And I was excited about it, but also a little anxious and getting in my own head.
24:21
think one of the things for me, one of my biggest hurdles has been like the mental hurdles
24:21
of just like the unknown and, taking risks.
24:29
but yeah, I.
24:32
I needed that push to get out of that property because I really wanted to buy something
24:32
new and start looking at other things, but I would keep psyching myself out and it just
24:40
elongated the process. And so this was something that really shocked my system.
24:44
One thing I was afraid of was like, okay, what if I move out and I have this mortgage and
24:44
maybe I have a vacancy and the tenant rent is not paying for all of it.
24:55
And then I have another mortgage. What am I going do?
24:57
Am I going to go bankrupt and all those. But things work itself out.
25:00
There's numbers to run. can conserve, you know, can contingency plan essentially for these and have a good amount
25:01
of reserve.
25:07
So I try to stick to the numbers when I get really emotionally overwhelmed in my head.
25:14
And you know, since moving out completely, I think it's given me that boost of confidence
25:14
to really see being a landlord and building my portfolio as something that's more
25:24
achievable to scale because I'm not so emotionally.
25:27
tied to it, like, you know, an example of living under the roof that I'm renting out as
25:27
well.
25:33
From moving to Austin to Dallas, what did you buy something else or what was your next
25:33
move from there?
25:39
Yeah, so because it was a very quick move, I started renting again, which is interesting.
25:47
At first I was like, kind of whatever about it, but I'm learning to enjoy the process.
25:51
so I'm looking at options to buy multifamilies when my lease is up.
25:57
So that is the next goal is to continue buying or I've even started getting interested in
25:57
studying business acquisitions.
26:06
So I think those are my two options when my lease is up, either buying a company that's
26:06
kind of in the real estate industry because I really think ultimately I'm going to be in
26:14
the real estate industry in some capacity. Or if I find a really, really good multifamily deal here or a deal that I can structure to
26:16
be a good deal.
26:21
I'm doing that. kind of two course, two paths I can take.
26:27
Yeah. But I'm pretty sure that you like kind of went, didn't skipped over this land situation.
26:36
Definitely. When did that happen?
26:39
You're like, yeah, I didn't buy anything.
26:41
like, what about the overseas land that you said you bought?
26:45
Yes. OK. So this was very interesting.
26:49
So there is an organization, an old coworker of mine started called Black Women Invest.
26:54
And it's a networking group where they talk about real estate, stock investments, a whole
26:54
bunch of different things.
27:00
I've heard of this. Yeah.
27:02
Shello, she's awesome. And so she does trips overseas, real estate investing trips.
27:07
And so I went to one of her brunches last year.
27:10
She mentioned that she was going to Ghana in the summer of 2024.
27:13
I had always wanted to go to West Africa.
27:17
And it was hard to find people who wanted to go to West Africa with me.
27:21
I was like, well, I don't want to go alone. So when I was at this brunch and she was talking about the trip, I was like, my gosh, this
27:23
is my ticket to go.
27:27
And I get to learn about real estate. so in the process of going for the trip,
27:31
Before we even left to go to Ghana, we were meeting with lawyers and their versions of
27:31
real estate agents, brokers, and just learning about the real estate market there.
27:43
And even during all of this research, I didn't think I was going to buy anything.
27:47
I was like, this is going to be a really cool learning experience.
27:50
I'm going to enjoy my time in Ghana, and I'm going to come back to the US.
27:55
And so when we got there, we toured a ton of different.
27:59
and attended different areas in Accra, on the coast, just all over.
28:03
And we ended up finding toward the end of trip some raw land that was available.
28:09
it's outside the city of Accra, but it's kind of going out into the hills.
28:15
The best way can describe it for people who live in Texas is like the equivalent of buying
28:15
something in Wimmerly, like the Hill Country, and its proximity to Austin, but a little
28:22
bit closer because you can still see like the skyline and stuff like that.
28:26
So it was absolutely gorgeous and breathtaking and yeah, raw land there and that area is
28:26
kind of more of an affluent area anyways.
28:35
And so we got some, we heard about a really good deal on plots of land being sold by a
28:35
developer and...
28:40
We literally all jumped on it. I was the last person to jump on this.
28:44
So there was four other women who bought plots.
28:48
So we all bought plots of land in the same area.
28:50
So we're going to be in the same neighborhood and neighbors when it's all said and done.
28:55
They all got two plots. There was only one available.
28:58
I only had one Wow. We're like FOMO I just got my one.
29:01
I know. We're doing this.
29:05
my gosh. And so yeah, it was a...
29:08
The plot of land was equivalent of about $5,500 American dollars.
29:12
And it's about 1.16 acres, so roughly a little under 7,000 square feet.
29:21
So a smaller plot of land, but still able to work some construction there for potential
29:21
investing opportunities, or if I just want to hold the land for a couple years and sell it
29:31
back and flip it. The transaction process for them, it's mainly a lawyer that you're working with.
29:38
in the States where you have like your agent and your lender, since we were essentially
29:38
doing all cash for these deals, didn't need lending options.
29:46
We just worked with a lawyer who was in direct contact with the developer for the
29:46
contracts.
29:52
The lawyer cost about 3000 American dollars and then some miscellaneous expenses with
29:52
contractors surveying the land, getting some people to do some quotes for fencing and
30:01
things of that nature, which is probably... going to be about an additional $2,500 when it's all said and done.
30:08
yeah, just a little over $10,000 to have a piece of land internationally.
30:15
I have so many questions and I don't even know where to start with this.
30:19
Like, how did they pick Ghana?
30:21
why did she have ties to Ghana?
30:24
Like, how did she like pick Ghana?
30:26
So she had a relationship with a
30:30
Essentially the equivalent of a real estate brokerage in the area and one of their main
30:30
points of pushing and doing business with is people of diaspora, the African diaspora,
30:39
because we're all over the country. Ghana has also made a really big effort to bring more members of the diaspora home for
30:41
tourism.
30:46
They did a really big tourism push a handful of years ago.
30:50
And so there's been a really big interest in people investing.
30:52
There's also lot of American celebrities that invest in Ghana.
30:55
think Jay-Z owns quite a bit of land there and there's a lot of
30:59
American developers starting to go there to do projects similar to like, you know, either
30:59
selling plots of raw land or developing townhouses or condos or really, it's a very cool
31:13
process to get to be involved in.
31:15
And I feel like it's kind of an early enough stage where you're seeing the results that
31:15
people are having, but it's not super crowded and congested.
31:22
And it's a really cool opportunity to learn about
31:26
Yeah, what real estate looks like in other countries.
31:29
my gosh. 100%. Like what a cool opportunity and like seemingly kind of like cheap grad school for you to
31:30
real estate grad school for you to like really learn about something that like who else is
31:43
going to be teaching you this? Like you got to go there.
31:46
You got to learn from the people there and like, yeah, that's, that's really cool.
31:52
what was, you know, when, how did they convince you to buy like?
31:56
I feel like a lot of women are like, okay, I want to buy a house with my friend, but I
31:56
don't even know where to like, how do I get them to take me seriously?
32:03
So when these women were like, okay, we're buying this land.
32:07
Were you just like, I'm in or were you like, what did you hear to be like, I'm in?
32:14
Yeah, I think it's so interesting because to be completely honest with you going back to
32:14
like the confidence you have when you
32:22
when you partner with people on deals and you buy a house with friends or a family member
32:22
and things that we talk about in the open house.
32:30
I don't think I would have bought the land if it was just me.
32:33
I think I would have been way too scared and intimidated and just overwhelmed with the
32:33
experience.
32:38
But the fact I had other people who were going to be with me during the process, we used
32:38
the same lawyers, we got on Zoom calls together and chatted with each other.
32:45
We made sure that we were all comfortable, though at the end of the day, we were all
32:49
buying individual plots of land for ourselves, we were in it together.
32:53
And that kind of camaraderie, I think, was the confidence we all needed to really go
32:53
through with the deal.
33:00
just the value of the land, that's a crazy cheap deal to be able to get.
33:07
I mean, I don't know what a plot of land in Wimberley, Texas would cost, but.
33:10
It would be a lot of money. Not 56, or how much did you say?
33:15
5,500, yeah. Not 5,500.
33:17
Yeah. So yeah.
33:19
It made sense. The math made sense.
33:22
then having people who were going to be alongside you in that process, who you weren't
33:22
doing alone, really make the difference.
33:29
God, I love, this is so cool. And I love your attitude towards it.
33:32
It's so true. All these women were doing this, and you could share the resources.
33:38
It's like, why not jump in?
33:41
together and do this. Like you're on this trip, this real estate investing trip.
33:44
And yeah, I love that so much.
33:47
my gosh. Okay. So what now?
33:51
Like what did you all buy this?
33:54
Like I heard you said, you know, you might hold it for a couple of years.
33:57
Did you have immediate plans? we like, this just seems like a cool thing to do a good idea long term.
34:04
I'm going to buy it, figure it out as I go. Or did you have a plan?
34:08
I had generally a sense of option A is I would just flip it and hold it for a while.
34:13
And option B, I would just take my time to build on it.
34:17
Another thing in the culture, they don't really believe in debt the same way Americans do.
34:23
And so what you'll have people do oftentimes is they'll buy land, they'll fence it.
34:29
And then when they have money to start building the foundation, then they'll build the
34:29
foundation.
34:34
When they have money to start building the next phase of the house, then they'll build the
34:34
next phase.
34:38
You know, a house would take maybe five to 10 years to build there versus, you know, here
34:38
where we just, you know, take out loans for things.
34:45
So the idea, even if I want to hold and build on a long-term is something that's already a
34:45
part of their culture.
34:51
So that's something I don't feel like I'm necessarily like losing out on or missing out on
34:51
taking a longer process if I decide to hold it long-term.
34:59
But option A is definitely to hold it for a couple of years and then evaluate if it makes
34:59
sense to sell and potentially buy something else in the area.
35:07
Wow, cool. So I am assuming then you didn't really look into how much it would cost to build house or
35:08
did you hear around how much it is?
35:15
Depending on the developer you use, probably we were getting different quotes like smaller
35:15
houses, probably about $86,000 American dollars.
35:22
And if you want bigger houses, probably $180,000 to $200,000 American dollars.
35:30
Okay, got it. So way more affordable than
35:35
Texas to do.
35:38
Okay, cool. Well, so were the other women also in the same boat as you like that they were probably
35:39
just going to hold it?
35:46
I think most of them are planning to build.
35:48
And eventually retire there or or like, it down to children?
35:54
my gosh. So cool.
35:57
yeah, the all the creative things you could do.
36:00
with this. absolutely. And I always knew I wanted to eventually buy something overseas.
36:04
I had no idea truly that I would be doing it so soon.
36:08
But when opportunities happen and you have the resources and availability to do it, just
36:08
kind of go for it.
36:14
totally. The amount of houses in Italy my friend sends me and I'm like, wait, but what does that
36:16
mean?
36:23
Like, how do we do it? Like these castles that are like $10,000 and you're like, but wait, what?
36:29
I can't comprehend, like, yeah, what kind of option to buy over there?
36:36
Is it way different? You know, it's so cool that you were able to go over there and all figure it out together.
36:42
Because, I'm baffled by this.
36:45
I want to hear more stories of people buying in different countries because it's such a
36:45
new territory for me as well.
36:54
But yeah, I'm interested to keep... like hearing the updates because, you did have an update.
36:59
Tell us what was going on. You said there was a little bit of a drama with the developer.
37:05
my gosh. So a good learning lesson when you think of like buying land internationally, the legal
37:06
implications of you not being a citizen of that country.
37:15
so in a situation with Ghana, only Ghanaians can own land freehold.
37:21
anyone else who's not a citizen of the country, you basically have land leases that last
37:21
about 50 years.
37:26
So every 50 years you have to get it renewed.
37:29
There's situation, there's some essentially high level, there's some workarounds to that.
37:34
And we were told we could do a workaround.
37:37
And so we all were going through this deal with the idea that we would have a workaround
37:37
and when it was time for the workaround to happen.
37:44
They didn't want to do the work around anymore. So that caused some drama about like some people, some of the ladies weren't even sure if
37:46
they still wanted to go through with the deal.
37:52
For me, because like I mentioned, I would probably flip it.
37:55
That's my primary exit strategy right now.
37:58
I didn't really care as much about it.
38:00
But if you're going to invest in the land, build a house, kind of capital and then...
38:07
either retire there or want to give it to your children at some point, it does have an
38:07
implication.
38:12
So we were able to work it out.
38:15
Literally, I got an email update today.
38:17
So very thankful that it looks like all of this is over with.
38:21
And so we'll look at the contract signed the leasing contract portion sign.
38:26
But the land is already ours. Thankfully, I've had the land since I think early mid October now.
38:32
So are they agreeing to the workaround then?
38:35
And so then Okay, awesome.
38:38
essentially, you know, the other women who bought and if they want to like retire there,
38:38
whatever, they're, they're all set.
38:45
Okay. Awesome. Yeah, I want you're you got to share in in in our circle community in our open house
38:46
community of like, I'm going to definitely post this episode in there.
38:55
But you're you're gonna have to keep us updated in there of like, what's going on?
38:58
Because I'm so so curious. Absolutely.
39:01
I would love to do a lunch and learn to probably after I get it.
39:03
So I have a a better picture to show.
39:06
yeah, let's do a linch and learn on this.
39:08
Yes, you should. Okay, let's see where I'm like, what else?
39:12
Where do we even go from here? It's like that was I feel like you have such a good attitude towards everything that's
39:13
kind of come your way with with real estate in general, even talking about this developer
39:24
situation. It seems like you've had like a pretty good attitude towards it.
39:28
And I know real estate can be very stressful at times like
39:32
There's a lot of new things, like you said, like that you have to deal with and you know,
39:32
you're not taught this in school.
39:38
It's really you have to like go in and jump in and, you know, do it.
39:43
So what like what would you tell someone who's about to jump in and they're too scared?
39:49
Like I think a lot of us are like, we're going to do that in two years.
39:52
It's always a two year timeline. And I'm like, what you know, what would you tell someone who's like
40:00
Waiting for two years for the next 10 years, like how do you get them to like make a move?
40:05
Yeah, I think, I think as someone there are definitely deals I could have acted on that I
40:05
didn't act on out of fear.
40:13
And I definitely kick myself about that now.
40:15
And I think that's probably a shared experience with a lot of people when they're starting
40:15
out and maybe even more, you know, seasoned experience people in the real estate industry.
40:23
And I think that pain of what if has been part of the reason to
40:28
springboard me into taking action when a deal makes sense.
40:33
This is going to sound extreme, one thing I think about is like, but did I die though?
40:38
It's been really crazy. Like I have cried.
40:41
I have lost thousands of dollars.
40:44
I had had tenants who were insane personality wise and, and you know, do crazy things to
40:44
your property.
40:52
And those are some really dark moments where you're like,
40:55
my gosh, this is really for me. But even in those moments, I was like, I'm not going to let this get the best of me.
41:00
I'm not going to let this scare me away because there's something about just owning
41:00
property, being a landlord, being in this process and being in the real estate industry
41:09
that I really feel like a calling toward, you know, and I really feel like my strengths
41:09
show up well here.
41:14
And so one thing I think about also as from a perspective standpoint is what
41:20
Decisions can I make today that my future self will be proud of and thankful for.
41:25
And I use that insight daily when making decisions.
41:29
I am so happy and thankful that the Olicia in 2021 bought that house because it gave me so
41:29
many opportunities that I would not have today.
41:39
And I've told all my friends and I joke with people I'm like if we become friends you're
41:39
gonna end up buying a house.
41:45
Yes, I talk about Home ownership so much because it's such a beautiful thing and there's
41:45
so many ways to become a homeowner You don't have to do it the traditional way where you
41:55
buy a house and you live in that same house for 30 years There's so many pathways to home
41:55
ownership now and so many benefits of it And so for people who want to do and have an
42:04
interest in it. I love educating them about
42:07
about the process. I'm always telling them about open house.
42:09
I'm like, follow them, listen to their podcast.
42:11
This is who I am.
42:15
I want people to have the experience or the feeling that I feel that that sense of pride
42:15
and thankfulness and gratitude knowing, yeah, I made the right decision a couple years
42:24
ago. I'm super grateful for that now.
42:26
And the confidence that you get from just doing that first jumping into that first
42:26
property, it's, you know, it's mind blowing.
42:34
I was like a totally different person.
42:36
And I know that comes with age as well, but like it also comes with the experiences you
42:36
put yourself in right?
42:43
And if I can be like super honest when I like I I bought my first house and tending to be
42:43
a landlord I did all the research and knowing like there's gonna have to be fixes and
42:52
you're have to be like have a reserves prepared and all these things I'm gonna be honest
42:52
with y'all.
42:57
I did not know how to install a fan. I did not know how to do basic like handy work around the house
43:03
But I learned it. And so if you're listening to this and you're like, OK, well, if I buy a house and
43:04
something breaks, what am I going to do?
43:08
Well, you can have money and pay for someone to do it. But you can also learn these things yourself.
43:12
And that's a whole other empowerment journey, knowing that you know your house.
43:17
You get to learn the quirks about your house and the intricacies of your house and just
43:17
have the confidence to know, OK, if my tenant calls me up because the toilet is having an
43:25
issue. I can go over there and fix it or have someone go over that same day and get it resolved.
43:32
And so those things also help add to the building blocks of confidence as a landlord and
43:32
investor.
43:38
my gosh. I love that you said that because I too did not know how to change a ceiling fan.
43:43
I am going to be honest that I still don't.
43:47
And when I bought my house, I was like YouTubing everything, even how to install blinds.
43:54
Then I literally the day like a week later, I met my partner He's so handy he I literally
43:54
started putting work I was like, can you install this like dishwasher?
44:06
Can you do this that and then like now I feel Now I have a handy man who lives with me But
44:06
before that like, you I
44:18
was trying to do, I YouTube'd it, you you can, you can YouTube anything, you can do it.
44:23
And also if you don't want to do that, you can hire that out.
44:26
Like you just need to know, you need, that's why our community is so good because you need
44:26
to know like what is actually expensive and what is worth me like trying to figure out.
44:35
And you can do that, you can know that before jumping into a project.
44:41
But God, I just, I think that, you know, everything you've been doing, Alicia is just like
44:41
so cool and I'm
44:47
so thankful that you're in our community and have, you you're just like bringing up
44:47
experiences that like I don't even know about like, right?
44:58
I can't know everything. You can't know everything.
45:01
We are here to learn from each other.
45:03
And yeah, I'm just so thankful that you came on the podcast.
45:07
Absolutely. And I would just add to the community aspect.
45:11
There are masterminds that I paid for.
45:15
like thousands of dollars for shame that do not amount to like some of the knowledge I've
45:15
learned and just being a part of the open house education.
45:25
And thank you so much for starting the founders member group, just even being a founding
45:25
member.
45:30
And I remember when we were doing like all the introductions and I saw all of these women
45:30
who like own STRs and land and have all these cool investments.
45:39
it was. so inspiring and challenging at the same time and also refreshing to see all these women
45:40
out here already doing it.
45:47
think sometimes when you don't have your group yet within the real estate industry or just
45:47
any industry or hobby or interest you have, it can feel very lonely.
45:55
But when I was scrolling through all the people and hearing their backgrounds, was like,
45:55
my gosh, my people, where have you all been?
46:01
Literally. It's been amazing to see people doing it, being able to ask questions.
46:07
Being in a community where it's safe to ask questions, because yeah, you can pop your
46:07
question on a Facebook page that's free, but you're probably gonna get some people talking
46:15
to you sideways. Let's just be honest. my gosh, Having that safe experience to be able to get an answer and get helpful resources
46:18
and learn the cool things that people are doing, the projects that they're working on.
46:26
I think a big part of this journey, because it's not like a job, it's not like going to
46:26
school, being in real estate is...
46:33
it's all another thing and when you don't have community, I feel like, at least for me,
46:33
I've moved slower.
46:39
I've questioned myself more and I've gotten stuck more, but having community, having
46:39
people around you who have done it or are doing it that you can learn from, learn
46:48
together, dream bigger, think bigger.
46:50
There's so many things I didn't think, like you were saying, that I didn't think were even
46:50
possibilities that I now know are possibilities and know people who are doing them.
46:58
It's been such a tremendous help.
47:00
and yeah, I just, love you guys.
47:03
thank you so much. I'm like in a launch and I wasn't even going to ask you about the community and like,
47:04
sorry, my brain, but yeah, like I, I'm, I was blown away by like who joined and everyone's
47:17
stories. And I was like, this is what my 22 year old self was like desperately wanting and have
47:17
been desperately wanting ever since.
47:25
And, you know, you know, I was.
47:29
totally blown away by who joined and everyone is just very kind, thoughtful in the way
47:29
that they are approaching being a landlord, that they're approaching homeownership.
47:39
And that's exactly what I'm looking for and have been looking for.
47:43
And I'm glad that you're a part of this founding group and more women are joining.
47:49
And it's just, it's incredible. Thank you so much.
47:51
One more last plug. have to add one more thing about the culture that I've noticed too that is so different
47:52
from
47:58
from other real estate communities I've been a part of, I think people here are good
47:58
people.
48:04
You know what I mean? You can meet some people in this industry where it feels so transactional, it's almost
48:05
like off-putting, but I'm seeing so many smart businesswomen who are also just kind and
48:17
mindful. They wanna have a good experience for their tenants or their guests, and just the level of
48:17
detail and thoughtfulness is...
48:26
something that really also that's very special about the community.
48:29
So anyways, I'm done.
48:31
Thank you so much. It's been a great experience.
48:34
Thank you. I yeah, I so appreciate you.
48:38
Yeah, it's just been lovely to learn from you and chat with you.
48:42
There's so many women that you have on the show and I love listening to those interviews
48:42
and learning about the other things that people are doing through the community as well.
48:51
Again, I think my biggest thing is like, what can you do today that the future version of
48:51
yourself is going to be proud of?
48:57
And I think me holding to that has helped me take risks, knowing that you don't have to do
48:57
it alone, that there's people out there in the thick of it who have already done it, and
49:06
literally a community right here that's helpful in a very empathetic and smart and kind
49:06
way.
49:10
Yeah, just finding your tribe and making decisions that the future version of you will be
49:10
proud I love that.
49:17
Well, thank you. Yeah.
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