Natiesha spent 17 years of her life teaching language arts in a Florida school. She thought she’d retire there. But when the pandemic hit, she was out on maternity leave to care for her second child and realized she needed a change. The teaching atmosphere in the pandemic world wasn’t a good fit for her, and the rigid school schedule meant being away from her family for longer than she liked. Her family had dabbled in real estate investments years before, starting a company together that acquired some buy-and-hold rental properties of which Natiesha was President. Along with having her realtor license for close to eight years, Natiesha wasn’t a stranger to the world of real estate. However, she wanted to move forward on her own and create a business that would provide for her growing family. Natiesha obtained a contract with a wholesaler for her first property and needed to close within 30 days, so she started searching online for a fast-moving hard money lender. Eventually she discovered Asset Based Lending through Connected Investors, one of the most popular sites for real estate investors to search for private money lenders. “I put my info in and suddenly the phone rang off the hook.” As many investors understand, the capital is available if you’re looking for it, but you need to wade through a lot of calls first. Mailena from ABL was one of those calls, and the two hit it off. Mailena understood Natiesha’s strategy and time frame. “She got me,” says Natiesha. It was important to her to have a lender that wanted to work with her and move quickly instead of dragging their feet through the loan process. Her first fix and flip project was lots of work, but Natiesha doesn’t shy away from hard work. The first property she acquired was a single-family home in Florida that she purchased for $152,000. Her total renovation costs were approximately $100,000 and resulted in a final sale price of $400,000! Initially, the appraisal came in $10,000 lower than expected, but Natiesha’s hard work made up the difference. With an International MBA in Marketing to her name and previous experience in the corporate marketing world, she used her expertise to maximize the value of her investment property. Utilizing beautiful staging furniture to better help the end-buyer envision themselves in the home, she received a bid that was $10,000 above the appraisal, meeting her initial expectations. As a bonus, the buyer even purchased the staging furniture! She currently has her hands in two different projects- one fix and flip, and one buy & hold. At the start of the year, she strategizes about the projects she wants to take on and what exit strategies work best for her goals. She contemplates how many fix and flips or rental properties she wants to acquire before she even starts hunting for deals. This level of planning means she doesn’t waste time and is laser-focused on the types of properties she’s looking for, allowing her to be more aggressive and competitive when acquiring these deals. Her strategy combines all areas of her expertise, mixing her realtor experience with her marketing degree to execute on her business plan. As her trusted contractor works on the renovations, Natiesha is focused on her target market. “Its important to ask yourself- who exactly is buying the house?” Real estate investors who understand their target market can use that information to prepare the property in a way that maximizes the project’s potential return.
In the current housing market, she knows the property is going to sell. The questions become- how much will it sell for and how long will it take? She wants people to fall in love with the home and buy it immediately. As she learned in her first deal, proper staging increases the asking price and makes people buy faster, which reduces the time she spends in her hard money loan. The faster she can sell the investment property, especially at maximum value, the quicker she can pay off her loan and move on to her next project.
I have families depending on me to do what I do. As an entrepreneur, it’s my projects that are helping to feed them, so I take it very seriously and am very thankful that Asset Based Lending helps me grow my business so I can keep feeding them.
While she began her solo real estate investment journey to provide for her family, the community of people she’s building around her has become equally important. “I have families depending on me to do what I do. As an entrepreneur, it’s my projects that are helping to feed them, so I take it very seriously and am very thankful that Asset Based Lending helps me grow my business so I can keep feeding them.”
Asset Based Lending is proud to partner with real estate investors of all experience levels, whether its helping them finance their first fix and flip, expand their current rental portfolio, scale their new construction business, or something in between. With a fleet of loan programs designed to close quickly and effectively, ABL works closely with our borrowers to execute on their investment strategy and allow them to grow at a rapid pace. If you’re a real estate investor looking for a reliable lender for your next project, then get started today.