Episode 74 - Flo Jacques Bought Her First Home at 22. Here's Her Plan to Retire by 40
In this episode, I sit down with Flo Jacques to talk about her journey from educator to real estate investor, how she bought her first home at 22, and why taking action matters more than waiting for the perfect opportunity. Flo shares what she learned from appearing on the BiggerPockets podcast, the lessons she's gained from rehabs that went over budget, and why successful investors view mistakes as tuition rather than failure. We also dive into the Raleigh-Durham market, how newer investors are approaching today's opportunities, and why analysis paralysis is one of the biggest obstacles to building wealth. We break down one of Flo's recent investment projects, discuss creative financing strategies, and explore the importance of building a strong team that includes lenders, contractors, mentors, and advisors. Flo also shares how she teaches new investors to analyze deals, manage risk, and stay focused on long-term wealth creation rather than short-term market noise.
Stephen and Flo talked about:
00:00 – Flo's BiggerPockets experience and investor mindset
05:06 – Why mistakes are tuition, not failure
08:16 – Understanding the Raleigh-Durham market
12:41 – Buying a first home and getting started in real estate
16:04 – Overcoming analysis paralysis as an investor
19:26 – Finding opportunity when others are fearful
21:17 – Breaking down a recent investment deal
24:31 – Creative financing and hard money lending
32:34 – How Flo teaches new investors to analyze deals
45:07 – Flo's advice for new real estate investors
TRANSCRIPT
∎ Teaser / Highlighted Clip
00:00 Flo Jacques: My most recent project I purchased, I said yes when every investor was saying no. The ceiling was not meeting minimum code of seven feet for the city of Raleigh. And so I was like, well, all we gotta figure out here is a number. How much is it going to cost to fix? And how much are you as the seller willing to let it go for? And so if we can get to the bottom of that, then we're good. And so while everyone is saying no, you take advantage and get it for a discount, then you can still win. You can still get a profit margin in there if they're willing and you're willing.
00:34 Stephen Husted: If you zoom out 10, 15, 20 years, I can tell you right now, any old timer who's been an investor for 20, 30 years. has gone through the same things that we've gone through.
∎ Podcast Intro:
00:46 Stephen Husted: I'm Stephen Husted and you're listening to The Breakthrough Podcast, a space designed for clarity, curiosity, and the stories that move us. Here, we step away from the noise and into the moments that define us. the early influences, the hidden struggles, and the breakthroughs that reshape our lives. From personal reinvention to building a life through real estate and entrepreneurship, these conversations remind us that success isn't a straight line. It's a series of honest decisions, brave actions, and small shifts that change everything. This is where those stories live. Let's begin.
∎ Guest Introduction:
01:25 Stephen Husted: In today's episode, we're joined by Flo Jacques, a real estate investor and agent based in the Raleigh-Durham Triangle, who's quickly making a name for herself by doing what most new investors are too afraid to do, take action. From buying her first property at just 22 to diving into large-scale rehab projects early in her investing journey, she shares what it really looks like to build wealth in today's market. We talk about navigating analysis paralysis, learning through costly mistakes, and why having the right lender and team can completely change the game. Flo also breaks down how she approaches deals, builds confidence as an investor, and why she believes real estate is a long term game. not just a quick win. If you've ever wondered whether now is the right time to invest or felt stuck overthinking your next move, this episode will give you the clarity and push you need to get started.
∎ Podcast Proper:
02:27 Flo Jacques: Flo,
02:29 Stephen Husted: thanks for jumping on today. Appreciate it.
02:31 Flo Jacques: Thanks for having me. Thank you so much for having me on this. I'm so excited to have this conversation.
02:37 Stephen Husted: Yeah, it's really cool that the very first podcast you ever went on was BiggerPockets. So you literally started at the top when it comes to going on podcasts. How was that experience?
02:47 Flo Jacques: I mean, mind blown. Honestly, Stephen, the kind of outpouring love I received after that was not at all what I expected. Really? Yeah. I mean, I've been a member of BiggerPockets and so I've attended their conferences. I'm an investor, you know, yada, yada. But, you know, the amount of people who kind of like reached out and, you know, sharing similar stories.
03:11 Flo Jacques: how their experience as an educator resonates with them. And, you know, you forget that there's a whole other world of people who have done the same kind of things that you've done.
03:21 Stephen Husted: Yeah. And it's such a it's such a connection point, especially when you're getting ready to start to invest and you get into the bigger pockets. There's just so many really cool stories of how people went from nothing to owning portfolios of properties and just all the backstories. It's super cool.
03:39 Flo Jacques: Yes, absolutely. I was scrolling through some of the comments on the episode and somebody said, finally, somebody who didn't start their journey in 2010 or something. So you're like, you know, it's just truly connecting to this current. generation of people who are like, well, I'm starting a hard time too. Is this possible for me? It means a lot, you know, to be seen and to know that other people now feel seen too.
04:06 Stephen Husted: Yes, definitely. And when did you go on BiggerPockets?
04:09 Flo Jacques: Right at the start of this year. Honestly, I think we recorded early February and the episode went live, I think about two weeks later.
04:18 Stephen Husted: Wow. Wow. That's a crazy turnaround.
04:21 Flo Jacques: That's nuts. Yes.
04:23 Stephen Husted: Yes. Yeah. So how was that experience for you going on it?
04:26 Flo Jacques: Really good. I did not know what to expect. And so last October, I attended the conference and I spoke with Ashley Cares, right? Which she and Tony Robinson run the Real Estate Rookie podcast, which is where I've found the most, you know, comfort. And I felt like the language there aligns with who I am. and whatnot. And so I met her, we spoke, we took a picture and she said, Flo, you should apply to be a part of the podcast. And I said, really? I don't know.
04:56 Flo Jacques: I don't have, you know, like sometimes we think that we need to have like a huge portfolio. We need to have such a huge story or something for us to qualify to be on a podcast or something. And so that kind of enabled me. And I thought I was going to be on the real estate rookie, but they had reached out and said, no, we're just going to have you for the bigger pockets platform. instead of. And I was like, oh, great. You know, so it was cool to speak with Dave Meyer and Henry. That was a great conversation. I really enjoyed it.
05:28 Stephen Husted: You know, you brought up a point of that sometimes people think that investing is not attainable when they hear people that have been investing for a very long time and they talk a certain type of lingo and it seemed like they have it all together. and you feel like you're so behind but it's further from the truth when it comes to just getting going and starting to invest because your timeline is your timeline
05:51 Flo Jacques: right right
05:53 Stephen Husted: you know and i think that it's a big part so i think it's really cool that they have a couple different podcasts they got the rookie podcast and then the other podcast so what was your biggest takeaway from that day
06:04 Flo Jacques: Honestly, I think my biggest takeaway was, I think I remember having that conversation about my rehabs going way over budget and how painful that was for me. Because when you're the one experiencing it, it feels like, you know, woe is me, right? And so when Dave kind of like validated, oh, that's not that bad. And, you know, I was like, wait a second, it's not.
06:30 Flo Jacques: And so it was just kind of like. Yeah, it's like, wait a second. You know, he kind of validated like so many investors always go over budget. If you don't go over budget, are you an investor? And just validating, OK, 20 percent like that. I kind of walked away thinking, oh, well, that really has shifted my perspective from that day for the rest of my real estate investing journey, because you don't. really think about how much it is okay for you to make mistakes leave room for mistakes it's gonna happen it's always gonna happen you know so that was a very enlightening experience you
07:07 Stephen Husted: can plan for the mistakes as much as you can but and they're coming I guess the key is if you can you take those mistakes you learn from them and try to make it better the next time because I've had sometimes some of my mistakes happen a couple different times you know I'm like god again Like, I thought I knew this better. And the control of trying to make sure that scenario was playing out correctly. But, you know, that is part of the journey. You're always trying to make it more efficient.
07:35 Flo Jacques: For sure. I have a lot of really cool colleagues that I had in my circle who are real estate developers. They've been in this for 30 plus years. You know, they've built mixed use, luxury condos, restaurants, you know, shopping plazas, all sorts of things they've built in the area here. And whenever I mentioned this type of stuff to them, they say, that's just tuition. That's okay. That's tuition. You would have paid a coach for that. And instead, you got to experience that. And you didn't even have to. have paid somebody $25,000 for it. So you paid $4,000 to spend, you know, so when you hear their perspective on mistakes, they don't call it mistakes. They call it lessons and you've only paid for it. I like that a lot. That's really helpful to have those types of people in my network.
08:22 Stephen Husted: Yeah. They've been through it. So they know.
08:24 Flo Jacques: Yeah.
08:25 Stephen Husted: Yeah. Like that. This is the journey you're going to go on.
08:28 Flo Jacques: Yeah.
08:29 Stephen Husted: To get those lessons.
08:30 Flo Jacques: For sure. And the thing is, if I ever want to make myself feel better, I just get on the phone with them.
08:38 Flo Jacques: Explaining their problems, too. Exactly. I was talking to one of them just a couple weeks ago, and he started telling me about how his project was doing. He was like, yeah, you know, we just bought some land. We're about to start breaking, start developing on it. However, we just ran into boulders underneath the ground. So it's going to cost us half a million to a million to get rid of the boulders. I was like, wait, what? You know, he's like, yeah, it's going to cost half a million to a million to get rid of the bull. I was like, I don't understand, you know? And so that was completely not $500,000 minimum to get rid of Bulger's. Then he starts to tell me, this is going to take so much time out of our process. You know, we're spending about $54,000 a month in interest only for that project. And so again, I was like, $54,000 for the year? He's like, no, $54,000 a month. I said, $54,000 throughout the year.
09:34 Flo Jacques: He's like, no, we literally did the calculation and everything. Of course, he's saying $54,000 per month. But just like, you know, the big dogs, right? Doing multi-million dollar projects. As soon as I got off the phone with him, I was like, all right, I feel much better about my little $2,500 a month. I'm paying an interest only, you know?
09:57 Stephen Husted: You should have asked him, how do they plan for that? Yeah. In their scope of work and how they analyze a deal. And do they put a contingency in place for X amount of dollars? I'm sure they plan for things.
10:09 Flo Jacques: Right. They do. And I've had Abdul in my circle for a bit. And so we've done a lot of connection with the community and educating them on how they can invest too. And he says that he does plan for 20% contingency. But my question for him on this one would be, how did this Boulder issue impact that? whole plan. Cause I mean, if 20% could pretty much be taken by this one issue alone, you know?
10:37 Stephen Husted: Absolutely. And they're just breaking ground.
10:39 Flo Jacques: Yeah, exactly. So I
10:43 Stephen Husted: like to hear about your journey and I want to break down. I know you're in Raleigh, Durham, right? Okay. That's a cool area. It's interesting that when I saw the show notes and I saw that you're in Raleigh-Durham, I was like, oh, okay, that's cool. I was just talking to one of my business partners that he lives in Houston, but his brother is out in North Carolina. Okay. And so we were talking about that market and I was like, oh, how is that market? And so he told me a little bit about it. So it's cool that I got you on. So now I have the perfect time to get all the information on Raleigh-Durham and what you would call the triangle.
11:18 Flo Jacques: Yes. Yeah, we are called the Triangle
11:20 Stephen Husted: area. The Triangle. Yeah. And it's
11:23 Flo Jacques: funny because people who have like recently moved here, they'll call the area the Triad area because funnily enough, there's the Triangle area and right next to us is the Triad area. And so the Triad is Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem. And so Triangle is Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill. And so, yeah, we're all about triangles over here. here that's cool that's really cool yes let's
11:50 Stephen Husted: hear about your journey what did you so what did you start first by getting your real estate license and then get into investing
11:57 Flo Jacques: Yes. I became licensed because I wanted to be an investor. Initially, I kind of always saw myself as somebody who's building wealth through real estate. And so a colleague of mine had mentioned, you should probably get a real estate, you should probably get your real estate license, selling real estate, make money, and then start that journey. And I thought, okay, I'm not opposed. Sure, why not? And so I'm really glad I did because I started doing something that I did not think I wanted to do, which was help other people buy real estate and sell real estate.
12:26 Stephen Husted: But why? Why do you want to help people? Like, what does it give you?
12:29 Flo Jacques: I mean, it always makes me feel good. I mean, I was speaking to somebody today who's like approved for $90,000, which is quite impossible to make happen here, you know, even in the surrounding areas. But even then, I could not shoot them down.
12:40 Flo Jacques: I was like, you know what, if you're willing to move further out, I'm willing to help. So I definitely love helping people. I think it's my teacher education background, you know, like I want to empower people and help them in whatever way I can. But more about me, I grew up in Southeast Florida. and moved to North Carolina in 2013, specifically the Raleigh-Durham area. And so spent my teenage years here, went to college in the mountains, and I studied sociology. I thought I was going to be a psychologist for the rest of my life, you know? And so, you see, I've always wanted to help people, right? And so I wanted to be a therapist. And I think really halfway through the first semester of undergrad, I realized that I was not going to do well listening to others. other people's problems because they don't listen. You know, like some of us, we realize that what we need to do and we get it done. And then others, they know what they need to do and they still don't do it. And I was like, I got to go a different path here. And so I still finished like the in the education world, the sociology kind of thing. And like I said, I got into real estate literally a year after graduating undergrad. I bought my first home at 22. That was an experience that I was. so grateful to God for making happen for me because nobody told me to do this like no one said you should buy real estate you should own real estate like sometimes you kind of have this spark in you that's giving you that's leading you and it's just like you should do this and I said surely enough I can and I had the right people on my path to help make it happen for me so literally I think nine months After graduating college, I moved into my first home. I became a licensed real estate agent almost a year later. I would probably say another seven months later. And then I think another two years went by before I really got my foot in the door of investing in real estate. Although I do think your first home is an investment. It's the starting point. Yes, yes.
14:45 Stephen Husted: Yeah, and it's a process too. I remember getting my real estate license. I thought, oh, okay, I'm going to make a ton of money. Here we go. I was out buying clothes and a computer bag and going to roll in there and, you know, start making a ton of money. And then all of a sudden 2008 happened and the market crashed. I'm like, oh, we're at a whole different market. Oh, this is not what I'm thinking. Yeah, not at all.
15:06 Stephen Husted: You're going to have to grind this out.
15:07 Flo Jacques: And it fluctuates, right? Things shift now. So, you know, I became licensed in 2022. And so I just hit four years in the real estate industry. And so I am experiencing the ups and downs of the real estate market. So with the Raleigh-Durham market, the triangle area right now, it's shifted from where it was three years ago. And it's appearing to be more balanced, right? So buyers, I would say a good portion of them have the upper hand. But not in the way they think. We have a thing that's going on right now in the real estate world. You probably have heard of it. Sellers think it's 2021 and buyers think it's 2008. You know? Yeah. That's so true. Yeah. And so, I mean, there's an investment property I showed to a client last Friday. And they're asking $350,000. And the ARV on this one is somewhere about $857,000. So nearly a million. Like, I mean, it's a really good deal in the heart of downtown Durham. Granted, it's a two-story home, massive, I think about 2,000 square feet. And it's down to the studs. Everything needs to be redone in there. Like there's not even sheetrock. There's no installation, new wiring, everything. She was like, I think we should probably start around 60,000. I thought this is not going to go for 60,000, you know? She's like, well, then if they come counter, then we could just offer 70,000. I'm like, we're going to be wasting time going up by tens of thousands when this house is actually worth the 350 they're asking for it, you know? And as of this morning. They have multiple offers on it. So I am looking forward to seeing what it actually sells for because it's good for people to understand like just because a home is down to the studs doesn't mean it's absolutely worthless because... There's land and there's value. And the location tells you everything.
17:01 Stephen Husted: Absolutely. And an experienced investor that knows how to run numbers, timelines, and knows what an ARV looks like and how much they're going to be put into it, they'll figure it out in an hour.
17:10 Flo Jacques: Yeah, exactly. And we ran the numbers. Sometimes people are still like in a different world. We ran numbers. I said you would make a $400,000 profit on this. Like, you know, like if you could buy this, that's if we bought it at $200,000, you know, say you spent another $200,000, you could make $400,000 profit. But even then, like, let's just say you bought it at the $350,000, you spent a $200,000 on it. You'd still be making $200,000. $300,000 profit if you flip this thing. But instead they're like, no, surely it's only worth $100,000.
17:46 Stephen Husted: Wait, so they got multiple offers?
17:48 Flo Jacques: So I'm the buyer agent. This is the conversation with my buyer client investor. They, as of this morning, have multiple offers on this property right now. So it
17:57 Stephen Husted: probably is going to go over
17:58 Flo Jacques: list. Right. Exactly. Yeah.
18:01 Stephen Husted: Are your buyers, are they newer investors or they were going to move into it?
18:06 Flo Jacques: They are newer investors. They're not rushing into it. I say, listen, just watch it go under contract and lose out. Yeah, and they'll get to see that
18:17 Stephen Husted: whole process if they're still out there looking. They maybe see the house get rehabbed or back to the market. It's a good case study for them to understand so that if something else comes up like that, that they don't sit there and try to undercut it. If their numbers make sense at the purchase price. And the ARV then proceed.
18:36 Flo Jacques: Yeah. Proceed. Yeah. But you know, Stephen, some people get, you know, they are just completely riddled with analysis paralysis. Like they're so afraid of making a mistake. And unfortunately, they don't understand that you're going to make a mistake. It might not be this mistake, but you're going to end up making a mistake. You know, there'll be multiple mistakes on that.
18:56 Flo Jacques: Multiple. Yeah. And so you don't want to hold yourself back on an opportunity that is clear as day in front of you, simply out of fear that you're not completely all sure of the numbers. If you have an investor, real estate agent that is telling you and showing you, I printed out the value. I've given you all the things. We're doing the rent by the room co-living model, running the numbers. and everything you're good to go you're fine you know you're good to go was
19:26 Stephen Husted: that going to be the first house they were going to potentially write an offer on as
19:30 Flo Jacques: far as working with me yes however they do own one investment property already out in eastern north carolina yes yeah
19:38 Stephen Husted: sometimes that could be a time suck certain buyers
19:42 Flo Jacques: Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, I respect it. Like you want to be confident. I want you to be happy. There's so many pieces to the puzzle. And so I don't want you to rush into something and then you're doubting yourself through the process. Like this is a huge investment. And the more confident you are, the more empowered you'll feel. And I definitely don't want anybody coming back at me because I've had it. I've had it where somebody's come back at me saying this house has this and blah, blah. And I'm like. dude, you're an investor, you buy things to fix them. Like, we knew that, you know? It just goes to show sometimes not everybody should get in the game. That's a...
20:22 Stephen Husted: Very valid point. I had a gentleman on the podcast recently that he's a broker too in Detroit. And he explained the difference between the investors that make it and the ones that don't. And he says that the ones that don't are the ones that anytime something happens, they get fired up. Everything is such a huge ordeal where the ones that are the true operators that have, you know, they can have the grit are just big problem solvers. And they solve problems fast. Like the minute there's an issue, you figure it out and you move on. Because that's not going to be the only issue that comes up, especially when you start to have multiple properties. You're going to have issues with everything.
21:02 Flo Jacques: Absolutely. That's a very key characteristic to success. You know, I've been wrapping up the book, Think and Grow Rich by Holy in Hell. And that is one of the key principles he mentions. Like the most successful people are very decisive. They think and they make a decision quickly. You cannot be paralyzed by indecision. That can cost you time. It can cost you money. So those types of factors there, if you don't have it together, you're definitely not bound to make it to that end goal.
21:37 Stephen Husted: Yeah, absolutely. And do you feel right now, just for where the market is and everything that's been going on, has it been a little bit more problematic with some of the investors that you work with and how they see? the market itself and the outlook? Or are they business as usual thinking that this is a good opportunity?
21:53 Flo Jacques: You know, that's a really good question. And that's actually going to be different across every investor. This is the market that's going to show you who's in it to win it. Because there are some investors, they see opportunity. And then there are some that are scared and they're sitting on the sidelines. And they're the ones that are going to lose out, right? I mean, even when you listen to some of the more popular podcasts, including BiggerPockets, including Earn Your Leisure, you know, those types of podcasts that talk about how and where and when. wealth is built. Most millionaires are made. during the economic downfalls, right? During recessions, during losses. That is when those who are willing to go after opportunity, that's your opportunity. That's your time to shine. My most recent project I purchased, I said yes when every investor was saying no. The ceiling was not meeting minimum code of seven feet for the city of Raleigh. And so I was like, well, all we got to figure out here is a number. How much is it going to cost to fix? And how much are you as the seller willing? to let it go for. And so if we can get to the bottom of that, then we're good. And so while everyone is saying no, you take advantage and get it for a discount, then you can still win. You can still get a profit margin in there if they're willing and you're willing. But when you're saying no because you're scared, you're too big, it's too big of a project, I'm not sure, and you don't want to go find the solutions, you missed out on a possibility to make a six-figure profit.
23:21 Stephen Husted: Got to be creative. Got to think out of the box. Absolutely. And that's what you did. Yeah. So how's that one going for you?
23:28 Flo Jacques: Well, we're moving. We've taken down the ceilings, roofs, demoed out all that stuff. And we've already started rebuilding the trusses, the whole roof framing thing. So we're cruising along. I'm excited to get to the finish line, of course. Yeah.
23:43 Stephen Husted: But so how did you break down how the deal got structured? Since you knew that you had to do some... changes inside what did that look like and then you know how did you come to terms in price with the seller
23:56 Flo Jacques: Yeah. So I initially went out there, looked at it, kind of gathered what was going on. The wholesaler kind of gave me an idea of what some of the challenges have been, why it's still on the market, what kind of feedback they've been getting from people who've walked through it. And so he kind of already started showing himself saying like, hey, we're willing to let it go for 135. At that time, they were trying to ask 153 or something like that. And so I said, sure. So the next day I went out there with a contractor. We had not entered into an agreement yet. I just went out there with my contractor so I could get his idea of how much it's actually going to cost. Now, I've done a huge project similar to that before. I haven't done the roof thing. I've done it on the bottom thing where I had to rebuild the entire foundation. And so I'm kind of used to dealing with large scopes of work as a newer investor. I haven't been in this for a decade yet. Yet my first ever project was massive. And here we are, third project, massive. And so the contractor gave me... idea of what it was going to cost. And I ran the numbers. And, you know, so long as the ARV was at 70 percent, that's what I was trying to do everything at conservatively, especially in a changing market where you're seeing homes not fly off the shelf as quickly anymore. Things are not completely dead. But at the same time, a home is always only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Right. So the seller can say, hey, this house is worth four hundred thousand dollars. But if nobody's. willing to pay you $400,000 for it. It doesn't matter what your opinion is as the seller, because the market is telling you their opinion, you know? That's a tough one for some sellers, especially right now.
25:37 Flo Jacques: Exactly, exactly. So, you know, if I calculated the ARV somewhere in the mid 350s, you know, somewhere around there and did that 70% model minus the rehab budget and from my contractor. And I said, well, how confident are you with this? Making sure that we're built in contingencies and such. And I came back to the seller and said, hey, I'm willing to do this. Now, at first, it's kind of tough, right? Because you really.
26:02 Flo Jacques: We want this deal, but you're not willing to overpay for it. And sometimes we're kind of like just energetic inside. And you're like, I got to get this. We got to make it work. And it can cost you the deal. So you got to be careful to not show your poker face. Because I think I was willing to go up a little bit, but I made it seem like I was not able to, you know? And so I said, yeah, 120.
26:25 Flo Jacques: And they're like, well, can you go up to 125? And I'm like, no, I don't think so. Even though I actually would have. You know, so and so he had to go back to the seller and negotiate a little bit more to make the deal work because, you know, he's a wholesaler, you know. And so once we settled it, we were rolling. That's it. You know, so they say if you're not insulting them, it's not low enough, you know.
26:55 Stephen Husted: Wise words right there. So how did you. Walk me through your financing structure.
27:02 Flo Jacques: Yeah, so I use the same lender I've used for my first few deals. My hard money lender offers 100% financing of the purchase and rehab. And so all I needed was to bring the closing costs. So if it's a deal, they'll fund it, right? So they'll lend up to 100% of purchase and rehab, up to 75% of the ARV. So long as it fits into that structure, it'll work. Like I said, in the current market, it's important for us to be conservative, as conservative as possible. So I went with a 70% model. And so they're quite easy and quick two-week closing. And I've had a lot of people kind of reach out and kind of inquire about that. And so one of the cool things that I do is partner with this lender. very often so we teach classes together i'm actually teaching a class this saturday at 10 a.m on zoom to a lot of folks who are also interested on how to find 100 financing in 2026 i've seen where so many people that are new, it's hard to find this because they all want you to have some experience. Like the bigger brands, like I think Kiavi or, you know, Asset Based Lending, Easy Street Capital, all those types of hard money lenders, they kind of want you to have at least three or five deals under your tool belt before they're willing to lend out to you at 100%. Otherwise, you're going to have to bring 10% down. So this is the first and only lender that I've ever come across that's willing to lend to you without any prior experience. at 100% so long as it fits the deal. I
28:37 Stephen Husted: got a question for you. How important is it to find the right lender that kind of understands your vision?
28:44 Flo Jacques: The most important factor in your entire real estate game career. identity, everything. Because as soon as you find it, you're rolling. If you don't find it, then you're kind of stuck like over leveraging your own funds, right? So you're thinking that it's going to take you so much longer to build your real estate portfolio because you're trying to work and save every penny to be able to save and buy the next deal. And then you saved all of it and it's all blown away through a rehab project. And you don't even have any reserves left after that if you've got a tenant in it, if you were doing. the BRRRR method. So there's just so many things where you lose out if you don't find the right financing to really leverage out and not. As soon as you find the right person and it works for you and everything makes sense and you understand them, they understand you and you're going, you're building that relationship. You're building that reputation of having... Done a project, paid them back. Done another project, paid them back. Like just building that with them. When you bring a bigger deal to them with a $200,000 rehab budget, they are willing to lend to you because of that. I mean, as a result of finding that out and learning the financing piece early in my real estate investing career. I bought my first deal in September, 2024. A month later, I bought a duplex October, 2024. Like it's literally, as soon as you figure out the financing, you're just like, nothing can
30:18 Stephen Husted: stop me now. Yeah. It's like the light bulb moment.
30:22 Flo Jacques: Exactly. It really is.
30:24 Stephen Husted: Yeah. I remember my day when my first investment property was here in San Jose, California. You know, we paid $740 for that property. And, you know, we're doing 25% down. And then, you know, I'm not going to save up more. And, you know, you can't even cash flow in California. So then you're saving up all your commission checks. But then the more you made, you get taxed more. And so it was just really interesting when I moved into the Midwest and started learning about hard money.
30:51 Stephen Husted: I was like, wait, you gave me 100% of construction money? Oh. Wow. Okay. Now that you just start, you learn as you go. And the more you learn these things, how it improves your business over time. And you get all that from just going through it. And then you start building that relationship with your lender. And, you know, now you've got that piece of the puzzle running smooth. And they're kind of like, they're on your team. You can balance deals and they're going to give you good information. And they want you to win because they want you to have a successful exit so that you could pay them back and move on to the next one because that's what they want. That's what they want. They don't want you to get stuck in a deal that, you know, potentially you can't get out of. They don't want that. They want the investor to make it through to the end and rinse and repeat. It's such a key thing. And that lender is that's one component of your team. If you can get your contractor and your handyman and your property management all dialed in the same way, then it's running smooth. But if any of those are off,
32:01 Flo Jacques: your
32:02 Stephen Husted: business is off.
32:03 Flo Jacques: Exactly. Until you fix it. Yeah. You're in problems. Yeah. I think that statement you made about they're on your team, the lenders are on your team is the utmost truth. I think we were used to working with traditional banks. We can feel like they're not on our team because they do want everything. Right. But, you know, the traditional banks, I wouldn't say they are on their team. They're on their own team, you know. But when it comes to the hard money lenders, private money lenders, they are 100 percent on your team because they do want their money back. So they're going to protect you by making sure that there is profit and room in this for you. So, you know, I teach real estate investors. I have an academy. And so I work with a lot of newbies who are learning the ropes of this. And so sometimes they're like, well, what if this happens and I can't do this? And I said, well, to begin with, the lender is not going to give you the money to successfully close on that deal if they can see that it's not going to work. So part of your fear here is already resolved because they're going to make sure that there's profit in this. And I say, before we even close on it, they're going to send out their own appraiser to give an appraisal value of the ARV. You've just said that the ARV is 550,000. Their appraisers are going to go out and confirm that it is indeed 550,000 by running comps to see what are some updated homes in this neighborhood actually selling for. So your concern of what if it's not right? What if I'm wrong? What if I'm off? You know, it's okay. They're not going to let you close on the deal if it doesn't work. Yeah,
33:36 Stephen Husted: absolutely. Well, they have enough control in the overall deal. But then it's like you have to make sure that you have the right contractor who's going to get you from point A to B. And that's the sticking point for some investors, you know, in the beginning and highly skilled investors run into timeline issues because timeline issues can eat up. You've got carrying costs and it just keeps eroding your profit quick, really quick.
34:10 Flo Jacques: Building for holding costs is a huge part of what I can teach to people because it's not just the purchase price and the rehab. It's also how much is it going to cost you to keep it for this period of time? So a huge piece of it.
34:22 Stephen Husted: So how do you teach your new investors? It's interesting because there's so many moving parts with teaching a new investor how to invest. And a lot of it, for me, comes from my experience. Like I just like to give new investors, here's everything that I've gone through. So that you don't make that mistake, even though some of them you're probably going to end up making the mistake. But I'm going to put it all out there so that you're aware of what's coming down the pipeline. But there's so many different moving parts. How to analyze a deal is a huge one because everybody has different kinds of methods and ways of doing it. How do you teach your new investors with this kind of aspect?
35:00 Flo Jacques: I think the number one thing I always make sure you understand is that right now you're approaching, there's a formula you're looking at. You know, whether it's the 75 percent model, 70 percent or under. I think that's the basic most like the basic understanding everybody needs to get, because without that, they're kind of looking at a deal. How do I know if it's a deal? How do I know if this works? Well, let's start with does this fit this? And so I showed them how to look at values in the area. Right. Zooming in through different resources, including, I mean, dare I say Zillow, you know, or otherwise done as. pillow you know um i'm not a fan of that platform but I like it only to look at rental comps and then every renter is looking at homes on there. So if you're trying to get a home rented, that is where you're going to successfully find your next tenant. Outside of that,
35:57 Flo Jacques: you know, I use other property resources such as something called RPR, which realtors get access to. And so we kind of look at what are some comps in the area and understand that we're comparing apples to apples. Like the red apples and the... to the next green apple it needs to be in the apple family right three bedrooms two bathrooms and the like in this neighborhood you know so just helping these investors understand like you're not gonna take a two bedroom one bath to three hundred thousand dollars if a three bedroom one bath is selling for three hundred two hundred thousand dollars and it doesn't match like that you know so just kind of helping them understand how the running the arv works how running the car And then, of course. partnering with the right people like this is not a business that you need to be going at it by yourself I mean you can go at it by yourself in terms of doing your deals by yourself instead of partnering with somebody but you definitely need a team you need coaching you need mentorship you need people to bounce ideas out off of I say connect with your local real estate investors association start getting to know other people who are a bit of ahead of it than you are because there's so many pieces to the puzzle
37:15 Stephen Husted: There's so many moving parts
37:17 Flo Jacques: that you
37:19 Stephen Husted: can go on and on. You can talk about it in videos and YouTube and podcasts, but the true university education, it just comes in a five to 10 year period.
37:32 Flo Jacques: No. So as soon as you realize. that people who've been doing this for five years or more are also experiencing similar, like they're still learning lessons. They're still falling down and still getting back up. You realize that it's okay for you to be a year end to a year end and falling down and getting back up as well. You know, I used to think that like, oh, by the time I get to year five, I'll be good. And I'm like, no, like you'll be better than you were year one. That's it.
38:02 Stephen Husted: I think after five years, getting into 10 years, you're just putting better systems in place to manage things and keeping things more just efficient, running smoother. Right. Keeping on top of things, building your team even further out than, let's say, your lender, your contractor, your handyman, your property management. Now you're going into your CPA and just other aspects of things. And just maybe you have somebody that manages your portfolio for you, you know, and you're working on other things. And it's just such a long journey. And everybody's journey in it is unique. We're all going to be different. And that's cool. And I've noticed that. I don't know if you've been hearing this lately online, but it's interesting people that have big followings online that maybe they're talking about Airbnb. Maybe they were flipping. Maybe they're doing this.
38:55 Stephen Husted: And then everybody's now got this opinion of, okay, long-term rentals are bad. Cath flow is dead. Airbnb is dead. This is dead. It's like, no, it's not. Because if you think for one minute, You're not going to have turbulence through your portfolio in a period of time, 5, 10 years. You are absolutely wrong. And there's going to be times where things aren't going good for a few years.
39:27 Stephen Husted: Maybe you're not buying anything. Maybe it's not working. Maybe it's not. Whatever the case may be. But if you look at it, if you zoom out 10, 15, 20 years, I can tell you right now, any old timer. who's been an investor for 20, 30 years, has gone through the same things that we've gone through. They've gone through high interest rates, market crashes, tenant issues, you name it. They've done it. But you know what the difference is? They don't sit around and whine about it. They stayed in it. And they got the rewards after that 20 to 30 year mark. Not that you have to stay in it 20, 30 years, but you do need to get to a certain point to really see what you've done and usually under five years you haven't seen what your portfolio is going to do it takes time and it's just interesting to hear people talk about things like online airbnb you know airbnb is that newest one oh it's dead well yeah it's dead because you're operating in atlanta
40:28 Flo Jacques: Yeah, well, and this is rage bait, you know, not even click bait anymore, just rage bait. They're just capturing you and hooking you with something that's just going to keep your attention and irate you and then comment and like or whatever, you know. It's true that there's ebbs and flows and there is profit in real estate investing. However, it's not always going to remain the same throughout. It's not only an up, there's a down as well, but there's also a comeback to it. I mean, we see it in the stock market. Why don't we apply that same principle in real estate? Have
41:02 Stephen Husted: you seen the stock market lately?
41:06 Flo Jacques: One day,
41:07 Stephen Husted: it's 3% up. The following day, it's crash 4%. Yeah,
41:11 Flo Jacques: and then it gets back up again. Now, granted, real estate is not as volatile, but it just goes to show you we've got to be here for a long time, not just a good time. We're taking that statement of I'm here for a good time, not a long time. I like that one, Flo.
41:30 Stephen Husted: That was good. Say that again. We're here. Wait, say that quote.
41:36 Flo Jacques: In real estate, we're here for a long time, not just a good time. It's true because the people who bought in 2004 and then watch their homes just go down tremendously in value four years later. But those who didn't just get out because they were so entrenched in numbers. Look how well they profited in 2020 and 2021. That was like a massive comeback. Granted, it didn't take that long. Like home prices started going back up in 2011, 2015, 2016. But look at that skyrocket in 2020 and 2021, right? And so, I mean, right now we just had an appraisal happen last week for a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath townhome in Raleigh, in East Raleigh. The appraisal came back at $212,000. Those home prices were near $300,000 in 2021. We're seeing them slightly go down. Not even just slightly. That's quite a bit. Now, it's not 100,000, but that's quite a bit of a downward trend. However, again, we're here for a long time. Buy this. Sit on it. Let it appreciate in value because it will go back up again soon.
42:48 Stephen Husted: What is your thought process on? being an investor and going full-time as an investor do you think that it's a good idea for people to quit their w-2s to become full-time investors or do you think there's a lot of power in being a w-2 or having residual income coming out from something else
43:06 Flo Jacques: steven i don't know if you can relate but you see how they have the memes online where it says life as an entrepreneur one day your bank account is 56 000 and the next day it's negative two dollars you know Like that is the life of being a full-time real estate investor, right? So you just spent this much on renovations and rehabs. You're still needing to recover. And if you've got kids that you're providing for a family, I'm by myself. So I don't have anybody else to think for. So I can eat air for dinner. That's fine for me, but it's always good to have residual income coming in. Now, granted, Stephen, it does get to a point in time where you do have to. break away from that W-2 job because it can then stifle you from being able to scale quicker and break through. Right. So as soon as you feel like you've got your footings, you know what you're doing. You've got your crew, people that you trust, the contractors, the realtor, the lender, like you've got your whole crew that's got your back and you know that you're completely capable of doing two projects at a time or more. And you could literally make seven figures. year I mean this is not everybody's story and I'm not saying to go after it to make seven figures a year I'm just saying it's possible but you've got to know what you're doing you know but don't break like leave your w-2s just without a plan if you know what you've been doing you've already gone up a few sometimes you get to a point where you got to let go of that in order to fully grow and reach to your goal
44:39 Stephen Husted: good points that's good points but I think it's also knowing when that time is right
44:45 Flo Jacques: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
44:47 Stephen Husted: Yeah. So what do you like to do for fun?
44:50 Flo Jacques: What are your hobbies? Nowadays, my, I've actually, what, what am I doing for fun? Because work has been my fun lately. Rehabbing is your fun. Yes.
45:03 Stephen Husted: Rehabbing is my fun.
45:05 Flo Jacques: Yeah. Yeah. Typically, I like to just like let my brain decompress by watching garbage TV. You know, the same type of TV I've been watching for the last decade of my life, to be honest, The Real Housewives. I find inspiration from watching other wealthy people. It reminds me of my goals and aspirations. So that's really what I like to do to just decompress. I also like to go check out new restaurants in the area. I'm a foodie. You know, I love. the food scene here in the Raleigh-Durham area. So yeah, I mean... Yeah, tell me about it.
45:39 Stephen Husted: I heard it's really good.
45:40 Flo Jacques: It is indeed. Yeah. So I'm from South Florida. So and I'm originally from the Caribbean. So I'm so used to a lot more flavorful foods and whatnot. But this I love the diversity that exists in the Raleigh-Durham area because there's so many really good like Laotian places, Korean barbecue, just really good authentic food, which I've really enjoyed. And so some days I'm in the mood for Indian and I know I can get really good at authentic Indian. food. Where I live here in Cary, we have a large Asian population, I think 43%. And so a lot of them are restaurant owners, business owners. I'm a huge coffee shop girl. Honestly, that's probably what I like to do for fun. Go work at a coffee shop. I'm a coffee connoisseur. That's my vibe right there. Love it.
46:28 Stephen Husted: Yeah, I love coffee shops too. Yes, like
46:32 Flo Jacques: real good coffee. Like I used to work at Starbucks. I'm a little embarrassed to say that. But like, and I used to be obsessed with Starbucks when I was younger. But then I think one day the light bulb went off and I was like, this is bitter bean water coffee. Like this is, you know, just filled with sugar. And so once you explore different coffee shops, you start to realize, oh my God, there is a whole world of real. good coffee that exists and I'm into espresso so you can taste the difference in Italian espresso versus you know like it's just like a world to be discovered you know
47:09 Stephen Husted: Absolutely. And you don't notice until you start branching out. And then you're like, what the heck was I doing?
47:15 Flo Jacques: And you never go back afterwards. You won't.
47:18 Stephen Husted: And there's a Starbucks. I'm not going there.
47:21 Flo Jacques: Right? No. You know, they're like, oh, you're losing points. Your stars are expiring. My stars have all expired because I don't find anything valuable over there, you know?
47:32 Stephen Husted: Yeah. I got a question for you. What would be one piece of advice you'd give a new investor when they were first starting off?
47:40 Flo Jacques: The one piece of advice, which is going to sound really cliche, but I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Truly, just do it. Just do it. I mean, so many people spend so much time overanalyzing, overthinking, doubting, letting their fear ride them. And I mean, for me, like my goals to build wealth through real estate and retire by 40 is so much bigger than the fear. Like I need that more than my fear can have power over me. And so just doing it, just getting it done, jump into it and just start swimming. And eventually you're going to pick up your pace. You're going to pick up your strokes. Like you're going to be just fine.
48:35 Stephen Husted: It's the biggest step in the whole process. And the minute that you get into it and you start, you wish you would have done it sooner.
48:43 Flo Jacques: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
48:47 Stephen Husted: It's cool. I've literally enjoyed hearing your story, Flo. I appreciate you jumping on today. Yeah. Now I have a connection in the Raleigh-Durham area too, which is pretty ironic that we were just talking about Raleigh a week ago.
49:03 Flo Jacques: Yes. I got my girl.
49:05 Stephen Husted: Yes. I got my girl in Raleigh.
49:07 Flo Jacques: I'm excited. Yeah. You told me about that deal just now.
49:10 Stephen Husted: I was like, tell me more about that deal. Did they buy it? Yeah. Yeah. I'll take that on.
49:15 Flo Jacques: And then there's so many more. There's so many more. Like, I mean, I'm, I fear one day we will be California. I really do. You know? Yeah. Good weather, all four seasons, great market. And like, why not? You know? Absolutely.
49:34 Stephen Husted: That's cool. Great. Well, I appreciate you jumping on today. I hope you have a great rest of your week and I'll be talking to you really soon.
49:41 Flo Jacques: Thank you, Steven. Thanks so much. Have a good day. You too.
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49:45 Stephen Husted: Thank you for tuning into our show where we hope you found inspiration and gained valuable insights. If you enjoyed this conversation and want to stay updated on our latest episodes, be sure to subscribe to our podcast and share it with others who might benefit from it. We appreciate your support and look forward to bringing you more candid conversations and breakthrough moments in the future. Until next time, take care and keep exploring new ideas and strategies.
