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How to Get Started in Real Estate with Sonia Booker · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  321.
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  Lift off.
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the Small Biz Chat podcast with the number one small business expert, Melinda
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  Emerson.
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  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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  you need to succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the smallbizchat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Have you subscribed to the Small Biz Chat podcast?
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  Well, it's time.
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  Every Wednesday, we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start and grow a successful
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  small business.
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  In just 20 minutes or so a week, you can get a ton of insight and resources to propel your
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  business forward.
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  Be sure to subscribe to the Small Business Chat podcast today.
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  Hi, everybody.
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  You're watching the Small Biz Chat podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady.
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  I hope that you will subscribe.
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  I want you to share it with others.
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  And by the way, go and like my Facebook fan page too.
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  I would really appreciate it.
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  I don't want you to miss another episode of the Small Biz Chat podcast because we drop
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  knowledge over here.
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  So with that, let me introduce my guest, Sonia Booker.
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  She is a social real estate developer.
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  She is the CEO of the 16th Street Equity Group, a company dedicated to reimagining affordable
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  housing.
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  With over 20 years of experience, she has developed and managed over $200,000,000 in
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  single family condominium, multifamily, and commercial property.
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  Sonya's areas of expertise include all aspects of construction, development, and building exit
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  teams.
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  Her hand drawn approach to building is what makes Sonia's talent stand out from the field.
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  She is based in Atlanta, and she is amazing.
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  So all you have to do is head over to soniabooker.com to learn more about her.
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  So, Sonya, welcome to the Small Business Chef podcast.
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  Thank you.
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  Thank you for having me.
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  Oh, gosh.
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  I'm so excited to talk to you.
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  Let's just jump in.
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  How did you get started in real estate?
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  Well, I'd like to say that I grew up in real estate.
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  My grandfather owns tons of land and, in Mississippi, a little place called Utica,
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  Mississippi.
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  And I grew up, staying summers on a farm with my grandparents, being in the household with my
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  mom, who was a single parent at the time, and working in the summers.
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  And so it was like you had to go spend time with your grandparents, and I it ended up being
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  a really good thing because I got to do a lot of activities and see a lot of things.
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  My grandfather was, like, one of the first entrepreneurs that I knew, and, I learned a lot
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  from them in in reference to real estate and the value of it and and why it was so
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  important, you know, to build wealth with it, to build generational wealth with it, to leave
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  a legacy, and that just kind of stuck with me.
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  And even though I I I dibbled in a couple other things, I ended up in real estate and, you
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  know, I couldn't imagine anything else at this point.
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  Well, tell me.
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  So if I am I am, you know, running my business, but I got a little bit of change over here, and
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  I wanna start getting into real estate, what are some of the first steps I should take if I
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  have some capital, but not, like, a whole lot?
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  Like, how do how do I get started in it?
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  Yeah.
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  I I I tell people the biggest thing is to really just try to kinda take that assessment.
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  Everybody is always like, I wanna start in real estate, but what does that look like?
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  It's so many ways that you can invest in real estate, and the the worst way is to think that
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  you have to be a real estate slipper that you know, we get so energized by watching
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  television sometime, and it's like, they make it look so easy.
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  And, you know, in 30 minutes, everybody's made a boatload of money, and so it just gets
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  everybody off the sofa, and they're like, I am out here being a real estate investor.
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  No.
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  That is not what you wanna do.
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  You really wanna think about how much time you have and what are your ultimate goals, and do
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  you have time to build a team?
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  And if you know, who's gonna do that renovation work that you you know or trust or could get
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  referrals from?
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  That makes or breaks an entire real estate transaction, not knowing what you're doing and,
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  not having a good team in place.
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  And then you're at work or running your business trying to, like, now manage a real
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  estate project is a very bad idea.
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  So I tell people to really just think about what are you trying to accomplish.
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  Is it extra money?
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  Is it building assets?
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  And whatever that is, really kinda go slow in putting together a plan as to how you're going
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  to make that happen.
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  Wow.
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  I I think you you you I do I mean, I do love love it or list it.
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  I'm I'm a tell you.
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  I do.
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  But I I know I know what you're saying.
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  I do know what you're saying.
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  But I'm saying it's okay.
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  I mean, that was like you know?
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  Because it it's not like you know?
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  There there's so many other ones that, you know, people watch.
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  I know.
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  I know.
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  There there's 2 other ones that look that look scarier.
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  I so appreciate that.
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  Love it.
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  I do love I love them.
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  But, so so but okay.
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  So everybody doesn't have to be a flipper, but what can everybody do?
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  Like, if I'm not gonna do that, what what could I do?
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  You know?
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  Are there turnkeys you can buy?
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  Like, tell me about sort of, like, option a, b, and c.
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  If I wanna get into real estate, what are my realistic options?
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  So, you know, I wrote this little book, you know, became a best seller, like, Real Estate
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  and Wealth, Investing in the American Dream.
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  And that's a book that you can pick up on Amazon and on my website.
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  But, you know, really, the key there I talk about this idea of this matrix, and it's, like,
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  3 top things that you wanna think about when you're deciding what type of investor you're
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  gonna be in.
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  You know, what what do what do you have access to?
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  And that's looking at credit, that's looking at money, and that's looking at time.
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  Those are the three things that are really gonna help you determine which way you should
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  go in.
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  Because and so so when you think about all the different ways that you can invest in real
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  estate, there's a lot of people that say, you know, most people get completely attracted to
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  the field because of the no money down aspect.
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  Okay.
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  Well, if you have no money to put down, but you have some time, then maybe you should be a
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  wholesaler.
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  A wholesaler is a person that's gonna go out and look for deals.
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  They're gonna drive around, driving for for dollars, driving for properties.
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  They're gonna be online searching tax records, you know, looking at, you know, people that are
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  in pre foreclosure and things that are happening in the market, then they're gonna
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  find other investors that they could then move those properties to.
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  And then they're in the middle that all they have was their time.
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  They might not have any money, any credit, or they had time to sit there and create those
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  deals, and be kind of that liaison and make money in the middle of that.
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  So, that's the way that you could become a, you know, investor.
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  You can start in real estate that way, and a lot of people do that.
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  And when you start as a wholesaler, which is how I started, and when you start as a
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  wholesaler, you're always a wholesaler.
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  It's the skill set that you never that never leaves you.
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  Right?
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  Because, you know, I could be in, you know, Target, a Walmart, or at the doctor's office,
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  and I'm always talking to people about real estate.
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  Everybody loves to talk about real estate.
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  So, you know, I'm always like, you know, or, you know, if you know anyone that's, you know,
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  in trouble with a property or is looking to sell a property or, you know, purchase a
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  property, you know, you know, pass my card on, and I pay referrals.
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  Like, that's it.
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  You know?
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  I didn't say how much of a referral.
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  I didn't say, you know and it gets people kinda talking like, oh, wow.
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  Like, I can make money in real estate.
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  Yeah.
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  My cousin friend was is behind on their mortgage.
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  You know?
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  And just like that, you start finding, you know, out and finding these deals, and then
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  that might be somebody that made a $100 for just telling you about that or more.
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  But that's the thing that you're it's a skill set that you learn, and you're always, you
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  know, kind of talking about real estate.
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  And then I started as a host seller because then I could, go into other, you know, fix and
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  flip.
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  I could take that money.
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  I wanted to build enough money so then I can go and do some short term real estate fix and
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  flips.
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  But then I knew my ultimate goal was asset accumulation, And I knew that I wanted to have,
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  you know, apartments and, multifamily and things where I was getting income, residual
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  income, and I had the asset that was continuing to grow.
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  And I wanted asset accumulation, and I wanted, you know, passive income.
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  So, that was my ultimate goal, but it took me, like, you know, a while till I actually reach
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  that goal.
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  So, just kinda map it out.
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  Mhmm.
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  I I think that's really interesting.
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  What what types of financial habits should new investors adopt?
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  Right?
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  Obviously, you just said one, keeping your ear to the ground about different different stuff
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  comes up.
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  But what what other kinds of habits should folks that wanna get into real estate like,
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  should they start, you know, you know, should they become a realtor?
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  Should they start learning how to read the MLs or stay on Zillow every day?
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  Like, what like, what kinds of things should they be doing to learn about real estate?
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  You know, I I think that I think that that's what makes real estate so attractive,
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  especially as a wealth building vehicle because it's we have a point of reference for it.
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  We all have lived somewhere.
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  We've grown up in a, you know, a house, an apartment, you know, whatever.
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  We've we've gone to hotels.
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  We've, you know so we have this point of reference that makes real estate that kind of
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  thing that we're like, okay.
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  This makes sense.
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  And then, you know, the mechanics of it is, you know, buy low, sell high.
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  You know?
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  You you know?
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  You it's a numbers game.
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  So I think that, you know yeah.
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  I think a big part of it is just, you know, if you don't like to talk to people.
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  Right?
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  So, you know, because I know my strong suits.
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  I talk to everybody.
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  So I'm I'm in the neighborhood.
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  I'm gonna I'm walking down the street.
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  I'm I'm talking to people.
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  I'm finding out what's going on.
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  I'm at the corner, you know.
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  I know what's happening here.
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  I know who's moving.
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  I know that.
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  And and it's like once you, you know, you get out there.
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  But if you're not a people person or you don't have time, then don't think that you're gonna
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  do that.
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  You know?
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  And I I think and then people are like, oh, it doesn't work.
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  So if you're, like, more of a behind the computer person, then you are looking at
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  Zillow.
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  But what you're looking at Zillow to do, you know, like, reading that or reading a tax
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  record is really important.
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  Like, okay.
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  Now that I know how to find this information, what does this mean?
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  And so really kinda learning, you know, all those different mechanics is very important,
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  and I didn't I didn't realize just kinda this idea of this $20 book.
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  I mean, I have all kinda podcasts and all kinda stuff that I do.
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  But in that, I I have all these pictures of how to read a tax record, how to look at a MLS
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  report, a multiple listing service report that, you know, what does days on the market means to
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  a transaction?
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  You know, if something is staying on the market, for more than 90 days and a market is
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  moving, you know, at a faster rate, then that means that something is overpriced.
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  And it means you might have some opportunity to go in and and and ask for a lower price because
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  of the days on the market.
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  You know?
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  So all of those things start to you you have to, like, start to look at and then understand
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  what you're looking at.
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  I could spend hours on tax records researching.
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  For me, property is like, like, it's like DNA.
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  It has, like, this this history, and you can kinda track it from okay.
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  It was built in, you know, 1929, and then, you know, this person lived in it, then this
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  happened, and then that, you know, and and all these different things that you can see, just
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  by, like, studying, you know, the property and the tax records and stuff.
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  And and all the other thing I would say is you do not have to become a realtor to be a real
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  estate investor.
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  I've never held a real estate license.
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  As a matter of fact, if you're gonna be an active real estate investor as your main core,
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  then you can have a lot of conflict of interest by being a realtor, because you're showing up
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  now to purchase someone's property, and you're not educating them that they're selling their
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  property on the market or, you know, then they could come back and feel like you have more
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  information than they did.
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  And so you have this kinda onus at that point with that license to have, you know, educated
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  or given information, even though they weren't your client.
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  Though they very well then, you know, you know, say that you were in violation because you, you
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  know, did not you had that information and they did not.
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  When you're an investor, you're showing up as the seller and they are the buyer and, you
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  know, you are coming to a conclusion about what you're gonna buy, you know, the property for,
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  and so there's no conflict there.
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  Got it.
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  Got it.
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  Alright.
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  So how do you as a as a new real estate person, how do you sort of build your team, your your
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  crew of people that you need to help you do a fix and flip?
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  Yeah.
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  That's a good question because it's like this this kind of this dream team that you need,
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  and, you do want, like, to work with real estate agents.
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  Like, they are good team members because they they'll bring you properties, and then they'll
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  also be able to list the property that you, you know, are gonna finish and and things of that
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  nature.
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  Then you need that licensed contractor, and you get a lot of these people by getting out there
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  and getting in the market.
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  You always are asking for referrals.
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  You're asking for, you know, even if you, you know, go and you start researching a
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  contractor, then you're wanting referrals from them.
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  You wanna go and see some of the properties that they, you know, completed.
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  And then as you start to really get out there and close a couple deals, then that person's
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  gonna be a little bit more committed to you because they see that you're a serious
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  investor.
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  You you know, imagine having people just kick tires, like, oh, go look at this property for
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  me and, you know, give me an estimate.
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  Oh, I didn't buy that one.
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  Oh, can you check this one out?
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  You know, it's their time too, and so they're gonna charge you sometimes, you know, a fee,
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  $75 or whatever, just to go out and look at something.
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  But as you get to build those relationships and people see you're serious, then they're gonna
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  be a little bit more apt to go out and, you know, really see themselves as more of your
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  partner, and and and, you know, and then and all those sort of things won't won't count, but
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  don't be afraid to I mean, you know, you're making an investment, so, you know, don't be
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  afraid to put up a little money in terms of due diligence, you know, on the front end, getting
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  the people that you want, but get a lot of referrals.
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  You know?
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  Ask for ask other investors who they're using because it's a it's a tight market, and and
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  just because someone is a agent doesn't mean that they know how to work with investors, and
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  just because someone's a contractor doesn't mean they'll understand the level of work that
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  you need to have done if you're buying a property just for to rent it out.
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  You're not gonna go in and put $50,000 in a rental property that you just need to kinda put
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  some painted carpet in, because you're gonna rent it out.
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  And so if they don't have that level of, workmanship, then they're always thinking like,
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  oh, we gotta do granite.
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  We gotta put tile in here.
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  We gotta do this.
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  Yeah.
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  I'm like, no.
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  We can't I can't.
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  And I'm just I'm not living in here.
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  You can't make it to Taj Mahal.
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  Can't do it.
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  Not to Taj Mahal.
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  I'm not living here.
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  Yeah.
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  Alright.
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  Miss Sonia, what is the last question I've got to ask you is, what is the best business advice
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  you've ever gotten?
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  Oh my goodness.
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  So, my mentor, the late Herman j Russell, senior of iconic Asian wrestling company, I
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  started he became my mentor.
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  And the thing that he would always say to me, and it sticks out to me, he's since passed
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  away, and he always would say, Sonia, you have to focus.
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  And I would always say, I am focused, you know.
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  And because it's I think and now I see it more.
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  Like, we do sometimes we can do too much.
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  We have, like, alum doing this.
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  I'm doing that.
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  But it was like, focus in on what it is you're doing.
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  And, you know, and and that sometimes is really hard.
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  It was really hard for me.
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  And the more I get all over the place sometimes, I hear you.
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  I'm like, Sonia, you have to focus.
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  So being able to focus on, you know, what that is in front of you or what that current
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  strategy is.
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  I think it was someone really, really, you know, great that said, we can do a lot of
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  things, but just not at the same time.
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  You know?
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  We can be a lot of things, but not at the same time.
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  And so that ability to focus in these one areas and and then go to the next, I think it's
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  really important.
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  Mhmm.
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  It was good advice for me.
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  Alright.
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  Good stuff.
• 17:58
  Thanks for listening to the Small Biz Chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
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  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and join us next Wednesday for more
• 18:09
  fantastic information and interviews.
• 18:11
  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
• 18:16
  website, succeed as your own boss.com.
• 18:19
  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.