She bought a Crack house and made Millions, Here’s How! ft. Desarrie M.

Real estate is my thing. A thousand percent. It's my calling. It's what I do, is what I love to do.

So talk about it. Your first real estate investment property. You had one and you was buying another. Mm, tell me about the first one.

So the first one is actually the house I live in now. I purchased it as an investment property. It was a crack house. It was a crack house.

You purchased a crack house as an investment property, now you live in it?

Yes. The best purchase of my life. The best purchase of my career. As an investor, you have to pay attention to what's happening. Right. What's coming along. I knew I was looking to purchase a property. I had X amount of dollars. But around the corner, up the street, a few blocks over, the neighborhood was getting gentrified.

Okay.

So I said, well, if they're there, it's only a matter of time before they're here.

You bought a crack house Cash?

I did.

How much did you pay for it?

15,000. You know, a lot of people look at your success and think that they don't know. In 2007, when I got licensed and I purchased that investment property in 2008, what happened? The market crashed. In 2010, I was digging in my sofa for change. I had no money at all. I remember calling my mom and telling her. I was in tears. I was like, I don't have money to buy my dogs food.

That mindset and that attitude is why you made it to me. I come across people that have every single reason to quit.

I hustled. I was selling stuff on Craigslist. I was hustling.

You just built your whole real estate empire through struggle.

Through struggle.

Welcome to another episode of Brick by Brick with Charles Noonan. I'm your host. Today we have a very special guest, Desiree Real estate agent McDuffie.

Real estate diva.

No, your. Your name on Instagram is Real Estate Diva.

Yes, it is. It is.

I refer to you as real estate agent McDuffie.

Okay.

Because you like a special agent out here in the real estate game.

Okay, thank you.

What you do, and we highlight individuals that make money in real estate through non traditional ways. So one of the ways that we both do real estate are very similar. So I really like that about you. It takes a special person to do real estate without getting heavily into debt. Into debt?

Yes.

That's like the. That's like the. The gold in real estate is to own, and then you own debt free. So just so you know, I'm a huge fan of yours.

Thank you.

All right. Just because of that.

Thank you.

Yeah, because you know, the common, the common theme in real estate is like the bird strategy. Go get a bunch of properties, pull all the money out, go do it again. Do it again. So speaking on that, all your prop, your properties are debt free.

Debt free.

When you get the money from rent, you get to stuff it in your pocket and do whatever you want.

I do.

Come on.

Yes.

Come on now. Come on now. Come on now. How many doors you have?

I have four doors.

That four doors is outperforming people's like 12.

Exactly.

You realize that, right?

Yes, yes.

All right, cool. So let's get into it. I'm. I know you. What really struck a chord is the size of a deal that you were, that you were in on $3.2 million. Was that your biggest deal?

That was my biggest deal. It was a commercial deal. Yes.

Tell me about.

Was actually a church. A pastor, well known pastor in Philadelphia referred this church to me and put it on the market. Got it. Sold 3.2 million. It wasn't an easy sell, but it was definitely. That check was real nice.

So would you say church is big business?

Church is big business. Sadly. Sadly though for me, sadly it is. But yeah, I've sold a lot of churches throughout Philadelphia.

Really?

I have, I have one under contract now that I'm selling.

Are they selling to get bigger churches? Are they going out of business? Are they selling pastor to pastor? Tell me about that.

Some are selling pastor to pastor. More recently I would say selling pastor. The pastor. But most of them are selling to downsize. So a lot of the churches in Philadelphia, they don't have parking and the neighborhoods are gentrifying. The people moving in are complaining about the church, parishioners coming in and parking and taking a parking spots and all of that. So they're fighting with all of that. And then a lot of the churches in Philadelphia has old infrastructure and the church itself, the members, they can't maintain the church. So they end up selling to downsize into a smaller facility or to similar, same size facility, but they have parking. So it really. Each church is different.

I love it. I started this show to teach people non traditional ways to get into real estate. I would have never thought I would have had someone on here closing million dollar deals through churches.

Well, I'm not, see, I'm proud of that, but I'm not proud of it. Right. Like I'm proud of it but you know, I don't know, it's sad to me to see churches closing.

Here's what I say it's gonna get sold regardless.

You're right.

Right. Why not? You be the, the church cell lady. The church sales the churches. So look, if your church is in trouble, to all the pastors out there, if your church is in trouble, please reach out to real estate diva. She'll get your church sold for you.

Absolutely. And I, I'm a true advocate. Like, I, I fight for the churches just like I fight for my community. I make sure they get top dollar.

Where do you put them? Because we don't see churches on Zillow and Trulia. Where do you put a church?

Loop Net costar, you know, on the commercial websites. But I do put it on. In, in the MLS as well.

You educating today?

Yeah.

You educating today?

Yeah.

So LoopNet Cold star. What's the other one? Is it like Brexit?

Yes. Yes. Brixie.

Brixie.

Yes.

Net Cold star. So up and coming pastors or pastors that are growing in Philadelphia will say, hey, we're moving to a bigger location.

Yeah, they can contact me and I can, you know, put them in another building for sure.

Give the number up right now for all my people watching.

267-6784-2085. Let me say it again.

They heard it.

They got.

If they want to sell their church, they going.

They going to rewind and get.

They going to rewind.

Okay.

All right. How did you. So that's your biggest win, right? Your biggest deal. Talk to me about your biggest loss.

My biggest loss, I, honestly, it's crazy because it goes back to a church. For me, the biggest loss was, was for a client of mine, actually. I had a pastor who was selling their church. I actually sold their church. And they had a house that they purchased in 1969 on the main Line in Philadelphia. They were elderly. They were maybe about 70, 80 years old. And they had taken out a reverse mortgage on their house. And somehow along the way, they became. They got completely upside down and they had to sell their property, their house, for no profit because the reverse mortgage had eaten up all of the equity in the house. And I still remember it was a husband and wife. The wife passed away while we were in the process of selling their house. And I just felt like she was heartbroken about losing her house that she purchased in 1969. Like when they had the one page contracts. Yeah, yeah.

Did you do. So why was that a loss? That was just like a real negative time in your career.

Yeah, it was. So I resonate with my clients. Right. It's not. And to Me, it's not just about me, you know, making a dollar. Like, I really care about my clients, you know, I really care about their situation. And it was a loss because we ended up not getting that deal done. I will tell you, we weren't able to. Getting able to get the deal done. The house ended up getting foreclosed. It was a big old mess because it was under contract. It's a whole crazy story behind it.

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Okay. But it just broke my heart that this person was losing their house, you know, and she died while we were in the process of trying to get her house sold. And the husband had to go to a senior home. Like, it was just a lot. And I connect with my clients. I care.

Did that make you want to get out of real estate? Like, oh, this might not be for me.

Oh, no. Because I know I did what I could do to help them. So. No, Real estate is my thing, like a thousand percent. It's my calling, is what I do, is what I love to do.

So, yeah, talk about it. How did you get into real estate? Did you get into real estate on a positive or a negative?

Both.

Can't be both.

It was. It's both. Right. All the, all. Everything aligned so that I could get into real estate. Right. So what happened is I was working in social services. I was a social worker for 10 years, and I was working with at risk youth and families.

Okay.

So I was getting burnt out again. I, you know, I care, Right. So I was internalizing a lot that was going on with my clients and I would begin to look for another career path. So during that process, I noticed that a lot of my. A lot of the people that we were servicing were not homeowners.

Okay.

So I said, you know what? I need to try and home ownership was never the goal. Like, they were living with family and PHA housing, Section 8 housing, you know, in shelters. Home ownership was never the goal. So I began to think about my upbringing and how I had the stability of home ownership. Right.

Okay.

So that's one component of it. The second component was that my nephew had just left college, and he was trying to get a, you know, figure out what career path he wanted to take. So I saw an information session about real estate. I said, ro, come on, let's go to this class. You know, just get the information. Long story short. Oh, no. The other part is three parts. The third part of this was I was purchasing my second investment property around that time, and I couldn't find an agent to help me because I wasn't spending a whole lot of money. I was only spending $35,000. And, you know, agents, we want to make money, right? So there's no commission in that.

So not worth the time.

Not worth the time. So I couldn't get an agent to help me. So. So it was like this trifecta of things happening at that time. And my nephew ended up not doing real estate. I ended up taking a class and getting licensed, and that's how I got into real estate.

So that's a positive.

It is a positive, yeah. But it's a negative because I couldn't find an agent. So it was like I was.

Had to do it yourself.

I had to do it. Well, I ended up getting my license the same month I closed on that property. So I did find somebody. It was a new agent. He didn't know what he was doing at all.

How long ago was this?

This was in 2007.

2007. Been a real estate agent?

Yeah.

Would you say that's a long time, or does it feel like it went by quick?

Oh, my God. It went by fast. Really fast. Yeah, really fast.

So you talked about your first real estate investment property. You had one and you was buying another. Tell me about the first one.

So the first one is actually the house I live in now. It was supposed to be an investment property, but so I purchased it as an investment property.

Okay.

It was a crack house.

Oh.

It was a crack house.

You purchased a crack house as an investment property. Now you live in it.

Now I live in it, yes. The best purchase of my life, the best purchase of my career, because I was paying attention. See, that's the thing. As an investor, you have to pay attention to what's happening. Right. What's coming along. Right? So I knew I was looking to purchase a property, and I had X amount of dollars. But around the corner, up the street, a few blocks over, it was beginning. The neighborhood was getting gentrified.

Okay?

So I said, well, if they're there, it's only a matter of time before they're here.

Yeah.

So I purchased that property. I went through some struggles rehabbing it at the time. I was 25.

Okay.

I did. I was not a licensed agent then.

I do my homework.

Okay?

You bought it cash?

Yeah. Yes, I bought it cash.

You bought it cash? You bought a crack house cash?

I did.

How much did you pay for it?

15,000. 15,000 at 25 years old, bought a crack house cash?

Who. What? 25 year old buys a crack house cash? What, what? What? What? What line of work were you into?

I was working in social services, but I worked more. I've always been a hustler.

Okay.

Like, I'm a hustler, you know?

Like, I'm a hustler unraveling. Yeah, you're a hustler. You know about the crack house. You have 15 cash. You bought the crack house as an investment property. What was your goal with buying it?

My goal was to rehab it and have it as a rental property.

Because you saw the neighborhood.

Because I saw the neighborhood starting to turn. The crazy thing about it is my dad and I, we had a crazy fight about that house because it was the worst neighborhood. It really was.

In Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia?

What? Would you mind sharing what part? Like, no, it was.

All right, so they done changed the names now, right? But it was. It was South Philadelphia to me back then. Now it's Graduate Hospital.

But I think people outside of Philly know Philly as, like, north, south, east, and west, kind of.

So.

So it was south.

It was south.

Okay.

But, you know, since the development is Graduate Hospital or Center City now.

Okay. Do you know what it's worth now?

I do.

Do you care to share or. No?

It's a lot.

You can say it. My house is worth a lot, too. And I brought it. It wasn't worth that much.

It's about six and some change now.

600,000?

Yes.

So you turn 15,000 into 600,000. You turned a $15,000 crack house into a $600,000 home?

Yes.

Amazing. I love it. Do you? I'm gonna get away from the personal stuff because I know, you know, people don't be liking the shit they. Personal stuff like that. And that's a home run. So congratulations to you. Congrats to you. All right, so let's talk about the 15,000. How'd you get that up at 25? Because my sons, they. They on their own. They not saving that kind of money.

So I was. Again, I've always been a hustler. I've always worked multiple jobs. But I will say that I had a. I did have a case. I had a small amount of that as a, you know, I had some case money. So I decided to build on the money that I got from this car accident, pretty much. But I sacrificed and I worked.

Okay.

So when my friends were going out and buying Mercedes and BMWs, I drove around in the purple neon. Barney mobile is what they called it.

Who remembers the neon?

Yes, I had a purple. And everybody in South Philly knew my car. They saw that's does in her little purple neon. I did not care.

But you were stalking that.

I was stacking. I knew what I was. I knew what my plan was because once I purchased the property, had to rehab it, right?

Yeah.

So I had to have money to do all of that. So. So that was a goal.

You were saving to get into real estate.

Yes.

Okay, so. So that's different. Because you have a goal. You can see how it makes money. So now it kind of. You had a little bit of desire, a little bit more reason behind. See, it's cool. It's okay to drive anything. When you locked in on something, it doesn't matter, Right. Especially when you have money too. When you got money, so few things matter, right? It don't matter sometimes what you wear, what you drive, like that stuff, because, you know, like at home, you straight.

Yes.

So you don't really, really care. So I understand that, but. All right, so you started saving and through, like this heightened level of discipline. So you're how old? No, no, no.

Not now.

Not now. Not now, not now. You were 25.

That's all right. Yeah, I was 25 then. I don't mind sharing how old I was.

No, no, no, that's fine.

Yeah, I was 25 then.

I want more of my audience. The reason I'm asking this, because I want the audience to hear this stuff, to know, like, what it takes to make it. Sometimes people think it's lucky. They think you knew somebody. They think your pop set you up. They think, like, you know, whatever. But I really. I'm asking these because I want the audience to know, like, it's work. It is in the beginning to get to where people are that come on this show. I asked everybody this question. Do you think to make it struggle is necessary?

Absolutely.

Without question.

Without question. A colleague and I were talking about that on the way up here. Permit plug. We were talking about that on the way up here.

And permit plug.

Permit plug is in the building. But we were talking about how nothing has been given to us.

Right.

It's all Been a sacrifice. It's all been working hard, working to get to where we need to be. And we. We're still growing, and we still have obstacles that we're, you know, trying to get over. But, you know, a lot of people look at your success and think that is. No, they don't know. In 2007, when I got licensed and I purchased. Purchased that investment property. 2008, what happened? The market crash.

Yeah.

Right. I went full time in 2009 as a real estate agent.

Okay.

In 2010, I was digging in my sofa for change. I had no money at all.

Did you live in the house back then?

That's how I ended up moving into the house.

So you bought it as an investment property like you said, and you were in your house where you like. Yeah, I ain't living over there. Right.

That wasn't the goal at all.

Got into real estate. It tanked. And a lot of people talk about this. I don't know. I got so lucky during that time because I was selling my. My portfolio right before it happened. But this is really, like, a historic moment where for. For real estate. Right. This.08 to, like, 2011.

Yeah.

Period. Real estate was dead.

Dead.

It was just dead. Right. So there was a big correction. We'll say. So you was, like, broke, bro.

I was broke, broke. Like, I remember calling my mom. I had three dogs at the time, and I was married at the time. My husband at the time, he had just lost his job. So we're struggling. I had three dogs, and, you know, just like a parent will want to feed their children before they feed their dogs. That's how I was like. And I remember calling my mom and telling her. I was in tears. I was like, I don't have money to buy my dog's food.

Wow.

I don't have $20 to buy dog food. Like, it was that bad. Like, it was horrible.

And you. You moved into the house that you.

Live now, here's the thing. The house, because I was so young and rehabbing, it's. It's a lot in between. But I never finished rehabbing the house when I moved in. Right. So I literally lived in that house for two years. No, year and a half with no living room at all. Living room and dining room, meaning I walk in. It's just the raw floor, the subfloor.

You was living on.

Top floor. And the beans. Yes.

That's crazy.

Subfloor and joists.

Yes.

No lights.

No lights.

No. No lights, no nothing. I got the kitchen done and the second floor done. So I had a bathroom, a kitchen in my bedrooms, and the contractors I hired, they took completely complete advantage of me. I didn't know what I was doing, but, yeah, they did subpar work. And, Yeah, I literally, for about a year and a half, almost two years, lived in that house with no living room and dining room.

Did you have children?

No, I don't have any children. Oh, no, they weren't living like that. I had dogs.

That's tough.

Yeah.

But were you. Were you in real estate, and were you trying the whole time?

Yes.

Like, getting your name out there, doing the groundwork, trying to figure out these underwriting rules. Because underwriting changed now. You had to be perfect to get a house back then.

Absolutely. I think one of the saving graces in my real estate career was the market crashing. I hate to say it that way, but it really helped me to learn the business of real estate, because I had time to learn it.

Right. Instead of getting in and running and running and running and learning, you were just learning.

I learned it. And I've always been like. My work ethic has always been crazy. So what happened is seasoned real estate agents at that time, who had way more experience than I did, they began giving me their business. Because they were going back to work. Yeah, they were going back. Now I quit my job to do it. To do it. And these people who have been in for years are now going back to their jobs and say Desiree. Oh. And that was the other thing. When you talk about the Burr method and all of that.

Yeah.

So many of them were investing in real estate, and they. They were thin. Right. They had loans on everything. Yeah. So they were forced to sell. When they sold, who did they call? Me. They wanted me to sell them, of course. So that actually helped to save me, save my real estate career.

One thing I got to say, I got to point out about you that I picked up very early, and this is. I'm gonna ask you what separates you from everybody else who. Who was in the market at that time and didn't make it? But one of the things I noticed. And Paulette, you could tell me if you agree, you turn everything into a positive. That mindset and that attitude is why you made it to me. Like, I. I come across people that have every single reason to quit. Right? Yeah. The lights was off. Yeah. The industry looks ugly right now. Right. You got your license. It looks ugly. Everybody's probably in your ear saying, you probably need to get a regular job, because you asking me for money. You trying to do the real Estate.

Why asking nobody for money?

You ain't ask nobody for no money.

No, no, nobody.

So you thugged it out.

I thugged it out. I hustled. I was selling stuff on Craigslist. I was hustling. Okay, yeah, Like, I don't, I don't eggs. I hustle, I make a way.

And then, yeah, over time, people are giving you deals to sell. You're building your book of business, you're building relationships with people, and you just built your whole, I'm going to say, real estate empire through struggle. That's awesome. That's awesome.

Spiritual background.

You can't whisper into a mic. You're gonna say something, you gotta say it. I'm thinking of the spiritual background.

Rooted spiritually, were you?

You prayed up.

I'm praying up. I prayed before I came into this. So I pray. Listen, I can't do none of this without God.

You had some communion too, before you started the podcast?

I did. Had a little communion. That's all right. That's all right. Little communion.

You know, don't judge me. Don't judge me. All right, I respect it.

Yes, absolutely.

So as it got dark in there, right, And Philly get cold. Dark is cold. You just praying. Are you praying, asking God? Because I want people to understand what it takes from your position. You praying. You asking God for real estate, like, let me close this deal or you like.

I was asking God to make provisions, period. Like, I remember, excuse me. A situation where I literally had no money. And when you said asking people, I refused to ask people. I knew God was going to be my provider, period. And like I said, I was selling things on random. I would get stuff free on Craigslist that same moment, put it on them on Craigslist and sell it. Right? And people, I remember I got a washer and dryer, picked it up from somebody, put it on Craigslist. Before I could get it off the truck, somebody was buying it. Good. So I knew God was making a way. But I remember I went to a, a faith conference at my old church at Pack the World Christian center in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and I didn't have money to get. It was a all day conference for three days, two sessions, up and back. So while I'm trying to do go to the conference, I'm still trying to get some work done. So I had to come home. I did not have money to pay the tools. $5 has zero. I did not have $5. And I remember this one particular day, I was just like, God, how am I going to get to the conference. I don't have the money. This man, it was a. You remember serious satellite radio?

Yeah.

This man from. I think he was from Jersey somewhere. He waited almost an hour for me to come and meet him so that he can buy a 15 serious satellite radio. To me, it wasn't even worth $15. Why this man wanted this 15 serious satellite radio at that time, I have no idea. But he waited, you know, all this time, and he gave me $15. So I was able to go to the conference. While I was at the conference, God said, give it. Well, God, I got to get over the bridge.

Yeah. And you can't run the bridge back then because they got the arm exactly in. The arm goes up or there's a person taking.

There's a person taking the money. God was like, give it. I gave the whole 15.

Not knowing how you're gonna get home.

Not knowing how I was gonna get home. I. So, again, I was married at the time. Me and my husband at the time were in this struggle.

So you were in the house with the studs with this. With your husband?

With my husband, yeah.

That makes me feel a little.

Because he lost his job. Right. So we ride and we riding together. We doing this together.

Okay.

So we're trying to figure out how to get home. And we're like, all right, well, we. We don't have that much gas in the car. So we're like, okay, well, maybe if we go through Trenton, we don't have to pay toll. Take 95 through Trenton back to Philly, Philadelphia. 95. We're home. Gas tank. We don't have enough gas to do that. We don't have no money. All right, so we just gonna have to go through the toll and tell them we don't have it.

Yeah.

We get to the tall person, look up at them. We don't have a bunny. We don't got it. The guy get out. I'm gonna have to take your toe, your plate number down. And all this other stuff come behind the car. All of a sudden, he said, just go ahead, man. Just go.

Yeah.

Now, that may not seem big to some people, but that was big to.

Us when you asking for it.

When I was asking God to give provision. Right. So that's when I knew, like, God will provide regardless. You just gotta. And I don't mean to turn this into a. You know.

But no, this is. This is how. This is your house. This is your.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I. I trusted God to get us. Me through the entire process. And Then it was just moment after moment after moment of where God made provision. Okay, so.

So today, you and your husband own the portfolio?

No, me and my husband don't own any. No, but I own the portfolio. I'm divorced.

So how you. Hold up? Hold on, hold up. Stop. How you go from living in a crack house with your husband? No floors, no ceilings.

I had more than him. I'll just put it like that.

To. How does.

I had to let it go.

What happens in the world where y' all could make it through that and then break up, that's kind of.

This is not the story, the time.

All right? This ain't the time for. This ain't the relationship show. Yeah, but I just feel like in my mind, this is what's going through my mind. If y' all can make it through that, y' all will be together forever.

Yeah, well, that's a lot of things that we. We made it through cancer and all kinds of things, but we didn't make it, so. All right, moving on.

All right, well, look, you're not doing a relationship show, but not this time. I'm happ hear that you had things around you to pull you through. Definitely. So here's what I always ask people that made it through struggle, what separated you from everybody else that has failure at that. At that level?

My faith in God, for one, and trusting and believing that he is going to see me through regardless of the struggle. This is just a moment in time, and I look back at other times that God has seen me through, and I'm like, you know, what? If he did it then, he's going to do it now. So.

Yeah.

Trusting in him. Right. The other part is my hustle. Faith without works is dead. I know I have hustle in me, you know, even right now, the market is changing, right. I gotta get to work. I can't do the things I did two years ago.

Yeah.

To be in business, I gotta go back to the basics.

They making it a little harder with the. So I appreciate that answer. Faith plus works, right? So you. You're gonna pray about it, you're gonna ask, but then you're gonna go do some. Some action, right? And you're praying that God amplifies that action or gets you to where you want to go through the action. It ain't just praying and it ain't just working for you. It's. It's a combination.

It's a combination.

And then you got your history to draw on, right? So if you got pulled through, if God pulled you through the crack house. 08, 10, 12. You looking at whatever happened in 2019, like, y', all, you're not even a stranger to, like, dark times. Like, y' all be fine.

Yeah.

Is that why you think you have this, like, positive attitude where you're like, yeah, I'll be cool. It'll work, huh? We'll figure it.

I mean, I'm not going to say I don't have my moments, right? I'm human, so I have my moments where I'm like, these bills are pay, you know, piling up. I gotta pay taxes on multiple properties, you know? Yeah. I got rehab projects going. And I'm like, how am I going to do all of this? But again, it takes me back to my faith in God. He. He wouldn't have given me these things if I couldn't manage them.

Let me ask you this. You got how many houses?

Four.

Four houses. They all single family or two family? Three family.

All single family. One was supposed to be a triplex, but, you know, that's the other story. You know, the city strip properties of their zoning and blah, blah, blah. So, okay, there's going to be a single family. I'm actually rehabbing that property now to put my mother.

And they're. They're all debt free.

Debt free. Everything is debt free.

So if you had some financial struggle, you almost sitting on, you're sitting on a lot of money in equity. What make? And I'm not counting your pockets or anything, right? But you sitting on a lot of money and equity. What makes you not take from there if you ever need it? So you could take a million dollars right now and go, go, go do a rehab or whatever it is you want to do.

So sometimes you have to change your mindset a little bit. So that's what I was saying earlier. Everything right now is debt free. But for this project that I'm doing to put my mother into right now, so that I'm gonna. I'm gonna live on the second and third floor. My mother is going to live on the first floor. For this project, I have to take out a loan because, you know, of where the market is right now, the cash flow isn't what it was.

Right.

So rather than put myself in a bad situation, I'm going to take an equity loan on one of my properties to do the rehab on the other property.

Do you have a lot of rehab experience?

I mean, just not to this magnitude? No, not whereas this house had to have a make, safe. It was a complete shell, had to be gutted. To the studs and not to that account. Like everything else I did was just cosmetic rehabs.

There's a new concept people are doing. It's leveraging 0% interest credit cards for 12 months so you can go to some banks with your, any one of your LLCs and good credit and maybe get a hundred thousand dollars in business funding at 0% interest. Why didn't you do that?

Because after the one year 0% interest, what's the interest rate?

Whatever. 17, 18, 20, 15.

That's why. That's why. So I could take that route. Right. But now I'm forced to pay this off or pay 17, 18 interest. I'd rather not do it that way. The equity loan that I'm getting right now is at 3 point something percent because it's a promotion, you know, by my bank that I've been with forever. Since I was a teenager actually. I've been with this lending institution.

Okay.

So I'm like, I'd rather do that. And then after the year, I think it's like 18 months at three point something percent, it only goes to whatever the interest rate is, the market interest rate is. So to me that's. That made more sense. I mean I could do the 0% then, you know, I don't feel like doing all of that.

You could do 0% and then do the 3.

I could. I could.

You could do. But also I want to ask how long is the rehab going to take? Because a rehab shouldn't take you a year either. Well, you just got a habit of just doing slow rehab.

No.

Doing a slow half.

No. So here's the thing with this property. It's been a lot. It is my first time doing a project of this magnitude.

I had to get house is this.

It's a triplex. Well, it was a triplex in Philadelphia. It has a two car garage. It's about what's the square feet? What's. I don't even remember what the square footage is. I think it's like 30. Yeah. Almost 3, 000 square feet.

Okay. So.

But it's like literally raw space at this point. So I have to get. I had to get architectural plans. This is my first time getting architectural plans and all of that. So. Okay. Yeah.

You rolled up in here with the permit plug.

I did. Oh, she's on it. She's on the job.

You roll up in here with the permit plug. The permit plug knows contractors in Philadelphia. You. Why are you going through this like by yourself? Talking about. So I'm saying this because I Just built a house in 62 days, right. Why are you, like, going around about this like you don't know the permit plug? Like, she's on contractors. You don't have to do half of the stuff you doing. Do you know somebody that could get her 0% interest credit cards for a year? I know somebody that knows my.

That can help her, but I got a construction part. She's very good with that finance herself.

Yeah, but, like, we have to. I know you said you want to change your. Your. Your mindset.

Mm.

I. I just built a house 63 days, 0% interest, right. I didn't want to do loans. I have the money. I didn't want to take my money out of circulation. I didn't want to do loans because you got the closing costs. You got high interest on new construction. They got hooks in your property. You could put. Possibly lose it. So I'm like, nah, if I just put it on a business credit card, right? I'm in and out. I'm. Let's just say it took 90. I still have nine months to pay that off. I could sell it. I could refi all at 0% interest. You doing 3% interest. Although 3% is really good. There's a layer to that where you could have maybe done that 3% after that 12 months and then paid it off.

I could. Right. So we all, you know, sometimes it's about communication, right? So I could. And I. I know I was offered some of those, right? So a lot of times, you know, you talking it through with someone else, and they give you the idea to say, you know what? Maybe I could do it that way. Right? Because I don't know everything, and I don't act like I know everything.

That's what. That's what the show is about.

There you go.

It's like, we want to educate people. We want to teach them new, wet, new methods of doing real estate. We want to. We want to share, and I want you. I want to share. I want you to share your information again for all my people that have land in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, right? We want to share our resources. This is what I call, like, the information era, where people are sharing information now like crazy, more than ever before. You see it on podcasts, you see it on radio, you see it on social media, where people are just saying, hey, I did this, and this is how. So when you rolled your eyes. Cause you got this long, slow hab rehab you doing. I'm like, nah, we could get a smile on that face real quick.

It sounds Simple. But I promise you, Paulette has been on the job, and it's not. I promise you, with some back end things that's happening with that project.

She's the permit plug.

She can clearly get it. All right, I get it. Look, look, look. But she's on it. She's on it. My girl's life.

I'm gonna give both of y' all 90 days to follow up with me. I need.

I need an update.

No, I don't need no update. I need progress. I need to be like, yo, moms is in there.

Yes, that's what I said. My mom. My mom has to be in their property, so.

All right, cool. Are you limited to where you do real estate in Philadelphia? So you're licensed in the state of Pennsylvania?

State of Pennsylvania.

Focus on Penns on Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Delaware.

County, Montgomery County, Bucks County.

Anything in Wayne County. Perfect.

All over. I will. I will work anywhere.

All right, so I do an auction, probably quarterly, where I bring. I try to limit to like 200 people. I bring 200 people to the auction. I bring them right exactly to where I get my properties from. I'd be getting them 600, 800, 900. They're worth 9,000, 12, 14,000. Some people leverage my auctions to sell their properties to. To make money. So they'll just go buy and resell. Because they have relationships with builders, some are using them to build. Okay, so on November 22nd, that's the next auction that I'm doing. I want you to come to the auction with me, and I want you to represent some of our people that may need some help selling these properties because they need money. We don't have a realtor in place that will represent our people. Now, selling a property for $20,000, you're not going to make a lot. But you told us earlier, and I'm holding you to this. You like helping people. You got in the game off of $35,000.

I did.

So you're not going to turn your nose up to a little 20?

That's actually been my business model. When I got started in real estate, I said, I will never turn my business, my nose up to someone getting started.

Say that to that camera, right?

I will never turn my nose up to anyone. Just getting started in real estate. Doesn't matter the price point. I'm winning.

Let's get it. All right, what you got coming up for, like, Q4? Like, what's going on in your business, Q4 business?

Well, the biggest thing is my. I have a radio show, Real Talk with the Real Estate Diva is a fully based radio show similar to yours. Right. But we talk about all the things that you talk about there. So you're going to be a guest on my show coming to Philadelphia next? Yes.

See, Just send me the invite. See, Send me the invite.

Yes, yes, exactly. You'll be there. So. And then as far as real estate, my real estate business, I'm just moving.

You're moving? Is there any way that I could help you amplify what you're doing? Like what? So I don't know pastors like that. I know you run up three million dollar deals and stuff. I'm not tied in with them to be like, hey, bro, I know a lady.

I don't just sell churches.

You need to just sell. Because, like, you seem like the church plug for real. But. But how could I help? Is it, like, if I get business in Philly? So obviously, I'm gonna introduce you to 200 people that are buying land in Pennsylvania. What else could we do for you to amplify what you're doing?

Just. Just. If all I need you to do is put me in contact with the people and I'll take care of them. Just real simple.

November 22nd, Lackawanna Radisson Hotel. Okay.

Lackawanna. Okay.

You know where I do pull up? I'm gonna give it a time.

Okay.

All right. I need you to pull up one more place, though, because I need some support on this initiative that I'm doing before we run out of here. Right. I'm doing a conference in Birmingham. The name of it is let's Build Birmingham. Right? And I had this crazy vision where I bring 500 African American people to one city in a conference. I'm doing it at Regents Field. That's where the Birmingham Barons played, Right? And I want to put everybody in the room with. Where they have resources, like realtors. I'm extending my builders to. To. To, like, everybody. So I got like five builders so far in Birmingham that are building for me. I'm gonna do a tour. I'm going to bring in house lending, so the lenders that I'm using for a bigger project will be there opening up their businesses to help people build. I met with the mayor. He's wildly in love with the idea and supports it. Community development is in on this thing, and it's going to be like, probably like a historic moment in time for the south. Because I don't know that they have conferences like that. They got concerts like that, but I don't know if they got conferences like that. So I want to extend the invitation to you on a bigger scale because I want you to come see it and. And I want you to be a part of it and see how you can help out as far as attendance and just connecting with people and letting the realtors there know what we're trying to do and what we're about.

Oh, yeah, I'm on it. I'm on it. I already told you, I know someone there who's a real estate estate investor in Birmingham, Alabama. So I'll connect you, too. And you know, I'm there to support a thousand percent.

I appreciate it. Tell the audience where they could find you, please.

You can find me on Instagram at Philly Real Estate Diva. I can be reached at 267-784-22-085. Again, that's 267-784-2085. Or you could go to my website, which is Philly realestateziva.com.

Perfect. That concludes this episode of Brick by Brick with Charles Noonan and my girl Desiree, real estate agent McDuffie. Hey, guys, like, subscribe. I'll see you on the next episode. Thank you.

Yes, yes.