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Hello!
I wanted to reach out and let you know of all the exciting things I’ve been doing in real estate over the past 15+ years, as well as how you can get involved! I’m pretty reserved and introverted and I’ve realized that most people are not aware of exactly what it is I do and how I make a living.
My journey in real estate started almost 20 years ago. I was able to purchase my primary residence at the age of 20. Not long after, I obtained my license to help others buy and sell real estate, specializing in helping sellers who were unable to sell with other realtors during the economic downturn of 2007. Even though I was making a six-figure income, I decided that I wanted to turn my attention to building my own portfolio of income producing real estate.
I started buying small houses in my local market. One by one, I scrimped and saved for down payments, took on a lot of manual labor personally, advertised the houses for rent, screened tenants, handled rent collection and maintenance issues, mowed the grass, etc. All this to say, I was involved in every aspect of these properties. Once I got to the point where rental income could replace my 9 to 5 job, I stopped working for a paycheck to focus 100% on investing.
Up to this point, I was mainly using my own money and bank mortgages to acquire properties. The problem with this was that I was living off the rental income and there wasn’t much left over to acquire more investments. So, I took on the task of raising $55k for a down payment on a mobile home park. I was very uncomfortable asking others for money, but I knew that I could not grow unless I got over this hurdle. I was able to raise these funds fairly quickly, as the handful of people I asked had seen what I was doing in the past and were excited to trust me with their funds for a rate of return that was much much higher than a CD/money market/savings account. From here, I focused mainly on mobile home parks, growing to nine parks total in both North and South Carolina.
Another shift in mindset was coming, as managing mobile home parks was becoming more daily work than I was excited about. At this point, I started hiring employees. We grew to three employees, self-managing my mobile home parks and other real estate I had acquired over the years. I soon found, though, that managing a team of people was as much work as managing the parks and turnover was always a challenge–especially since Asheville is a very transient place and people seem to move away quite often.
Yet again, I shifted my mindset to work smarter, not harder. Due to efforts in improving my mobile home parks, I had already built quite a bit of equity. So, I began selling parks and taking the profits to start private lending. If you are not aware, most real estate investors who are buying homes to rehab and sell (or keep for rentals), will use private funds to purchase these properties and pay for the rehab. Using private funds is quicker than trying to obtain a private mortgage from a traditional bank, plus a bank typically will not loan on a house that needs a decent amount of work. I’ve done my own flips over the years and have networked with other investors/flippers, so I have strong relationships with people who want to borrow money.
Currently, with my own funds as well as a handful of investor funds, I am managing just over two million dollars. I have the network of borrowers, systems in place, experience, legal teams, etc. to grow this to five million. This is where you can get involved! I’m taking my first step to invite people I’ve known over the years to partner with me and grow their wealth to a larger potential.
We can talk more in detail, but for a quick flyover… any funds you invest are backed by real estate, just as your personal mortgage is backed by your personal residence (if you are a homeowner). In the five years I’ve been lending, I have never had a borrower default. I’m working mainly with a network of borrowers I’ve known and trusted for many years. You can expect to earn a higher interest rate of return than the stock market’s average return. Commitments are short, only one year if you wish. I’m happy to provide you with the names and contacts of those who have trusted me with their funds over the years.
If you’d like to talk more, I’d love to connect with you. No matter what your level of interest, I enjoy discussing real estate and am happy to educate anyone more on what I do and what is happening in the exciting world of real estate investing.
I’d also invite you to check out our newly revamped website to give you insight on my passions beyond just making income.
Let’s chat! You can email me at derek@coltinvest.com or text me at 828.545.3694.