Pre-probate leads real estate: Find $200k equity deals off-market

¡Hey everybody! Toby Potter here with Global Integrity Finance. We are here today in Dallas at the LeverageCon real estate expo. We are running and gunning, uh, tons and tons of people here, um, learning about products, programs, uh, investors, brokers looking for more capital. But we're here today, we got the distinct honor and privilege of speaking with Nancy. Nancy, tell us about your company, tell us about what you're doing. I've known Nancy for what, 5, 6 years now?

At least.

She's come to our big events at the Lava Cantina. She was one of our biggest fans, then she disappeared. Don't know what happened, but But she's back. We grabbed her, said, get over here. We're gonna talk to you, Nancy. Talk to us.

Tell us what's going on.

All right.

Okay. Well, thank you. Well, hey everyone, my name is Nancy Wallace Sobs. I'm a real estate broker investor and I've been investing since, oh my gosh, I started when I was young, but 2006. So I've been through the markets. I bought my first rental property. So where have I been, Toby? Oh my gosh. So I focus on single family homes. So yes, you helped me out. And one of the things that I know when you find a deal, you have to find good lenders.

Yep.

Because you can't grow and scale without the money.

Right.

And you know, the people always say, well, where do you find the deals? Or where do you find the money? Well, you know, once you have a good deal, it's not hard to find the money.

No, ma'am.

You know, and one thing I love about your company is that they actually help you run the numbers. So you might be newer and you don't know the numbers, you know, like, oh, is this a good deal? And so if you go to a, a trusted lender, they're actually gonna, before they give you money, they're gonna do a little vetting with you.

So, oh, we teach everybody, you have to have 3 things to be successful. Okay. And this is a hard, fast, in concrete rule. So you have to have the money, the money, yours or a lender. Number 2, you have to have the right deal because it doesn't matter how much money, if you have the wrong deal, you lose it all.

Right.

And then number 3, you have to have knowledge. And so this is where we come in and help you see what you may be missing. We help analyze it so that the knowledge that you think you see is confirmed or we work through it.

Yes.

So that's what we've always done with you.

Yes. And that's then helped me grow my business. And then I, I focused on short-term rentals, uh, or I'm sorry, long-term rentals. And then, uh, I fell into short-term rentals and then I ended up teaching realtors how to help their clients identify properties because just because it's a brand new property, a new build looks all pretty, doesn't mean it's make— gonna make a good short-term rental.

Right.

And you know, and then you need to have a lender. So sometimes the terms are a little bit different with short-term rentals. Um, but I was actually, so you asked me what I've been doing. So I've actually been doing doing a lot of speaking. I was a— really, I was a speaker at the Texas Association of Realtors conference last August. I'm hoping to be a speaker at the national conference. Um, my daughter, she had my second grandbaby.

Yay!

Thank you.

You saw my grandkid?

I know, I love it. It's the best being a grandparent, isn't it?

Oh my gosh.

So he had a corporate job and she was getting ready to come off of her, you know, maternity leave.

Yep.

And she's like, "Mom, I can't do it," 'cause she had a very stressful management, inside sales management job. She had like a team of 20 and she was torn because giving 100% to your workplace, 100% to your family, there's just no balance. Right? Right. And then throw in the cost of daycare. So she came to me and she said, "Mom, do you think that I could make a living, replace my income with real estate investing?" And you know what I told her? I said, "Yes, you can." but you can't just do it overnight, right? You know, and you have to be dedicated, you have to be consistent, and you have to learn what a good deal is. So she came on board. I, I gave her some information and education along my years of investing, and she did her first wholesale deal and she made some money.

Nice.

And then we launched Money Making Mamas. Money Making Mamas. And we have a podcast that we started this year, and we talk about mom stuff And what's been very interesting, Toby, I was doing a little research and, you know, of all the investors in the US, only 32% of them are women.

Right.

But the thing is, when women invest, they're twice as likely to be more successful than men. Yeah, right.

Yeah.

So, but why aren't more women? So we really wanted to focus on women. And it turns out we have two different audiences. So we have the moms that have the little kids like you're, you know, your grandkids. And then we have moms more closer to my age who realize, oh, maybe I don't have enough money for retirement. Oh, I got divorced. Maybe there was a, you know, somebody passed away or they just had an interest because they always watch HGTV and they just didn't know where to start. So Money Making Mamas is all about that.

Money Making Mamas. I love that.

Yeah. And then the other thing, so a lot of things have just happened because of, you know, in real estate you can make money, right? And I, you know, and I love building wealth, but then it also can be a very service helpful industry. So for example, I've been dealing, uh, I've been working pre-probate leads since 2018. I find all my off-market deals there. So what's a pre-probate lead? Well, that's when someone passes away a couple weeks ago, and in Texas and in other states, but in Texas, you can, uh, purchase a property from a seller without going through probate. I mean, there's a process. You have to work with the title company, and it's a great resource. So last year I started training realtors and investors on these pre-probate leads. Then that led me to getting into the death industry because, um, I, and because of what I'm doing, uh, I've partnered with funeral homes as a referral source for their families. Yeah. That have real estate that they inherited it from the— Yes. And a lot of times, you know, mom and dad, you know, maybe mom passed away, dad needs to go to a nursing home and the family needs to sell quickly. To pay for the nursing home, right? So there's a lot— that's become like an industry now, you know, with us all aging. Of course, you and I are not aging.

No, no, we're still young chickens.

Yes. So, uh, one of the things that I'm doing is a lot of training with realtors and investors about how to use these leads, because it's not like you can just call them up or send them a letter. There's a little bit more finesse to it.

They're a little bit sensitive right now.

Exactly. And a lot of times the the family is so emotionally attached that you have to come in with more than one solution. So I'll run comps, I'll let them know, okay, if it needs a lot of rehab, how much that's going to be, how fast, what is the family's ultimate goal with that property? So, um, so we've been doing that. So I've been busy with just education.

You do more of, hey, I just want to buy your property. You go in there and do an education.

Yes.

Hey, here's what we're up against. Here's what you can do yourself. Or you can sell it to me and let me do it. But now you have all the facts in front of you, right, to make an educated decision.

Yes.

And instead of just poaching them for the property.

Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, the funeral home thing kind of came as a surprise to me because I was at another networking group just talking about helping families through the grieving process and with the properties. And they, they approached me. Wow. And they said, hey, we have families all the time that they don't know what to do with mom or dad's house, or maybe the house is so outdated, it's gonna cost too much money.

Yeah.

And there's also an education for realtors. I, I mean, just investors and realtors, because I've met realtors that'll spend a year with a family trying to rehab a house or get it ready for market. And I'm like, why are you doing that? You could save them time and money if that's what they wanna do is sell quickly. So, yeah. So then that then comes into where you play in, because if I need to move quickly, I need to work with a lender that can do that. So turn and burn, turn and burn. So, but that's kind of what we've been up to.

That is absolutely amazing. What do you got there?

All right, so remember I was like, okay, Realtors, and this could be for investors too, but on May 22nd, I'm actually doing my next live training on how to market to these pre-probate leads, how to, uh, source them, the marketing materials, how to get heirs to agree, because it only works if all the heirs agree, right? You know, so if the heirs don't agree, there's ways that you can work with that situation. Um, and also learning how to provide solutions for the family because maybe they want to keep it, they want to make it into a rental. Great.

Right, right.

You know, so give 'em rental comps. Maybe they need property management. Maybe they need to know they want to be a short-term rental. So you have to be able to give them multiple strategies with the property, not just selling it. Right. And I think that's why I've been so successful there. And I've actually partnered then with the company that, um, provides those leads. And every lead that I have since 2018, every single lead has real estate.

Awesome.

So there's a lot of companies out there that are list sellers, right?

Yeah.

And I've used a lot of them. So, you know, and so I love this. I love the fact that I'm able to make money, find houses, but also provide a service that really no one else— it's very niche what I'm doing.

You're— you missed one important element. You're changing lives. Yes, you're changing lives. Moms making money is changing lives. Uh, helping loved ones who've just lost a family member get out from underneath the burden changes lives. So everything that you're doing is changing lives. Yes, and that is amazing.

We're just trying to have an impact, you know, and on the moms, you know, with like my daughter. So she, you know, she does real estate on a part-time basis and she was able to replace her income within 6 months. So it's the thing that you need is you need some time, you need some money. You don't need $20,000, but I've done deals with less. The least amount I've done is $100 and the most I've done is the 20% down. Right, right. But there's, you know, when we teach strategy, we teach first. Okay, well, first, how do you source the deal? Is it a deal? You know, then where— how are you going to pay for it? And what's your exit strategy? Because a lot of people, as you probably know, in 2020, '22 got into short-term rental game.

Yes.

I was just in Galveston, uh, Galveston, Texas a couple weeks ago. I was shocked at how many properties are for sale down there. So two things. One, yeah, well, but then I guess the insurance— people just are not able to afford them.

Too much of a risk. The insurance premiums go through the roof, and so it doesn't make it economically savvy, right?

And I mean, I, I mean, wherever I go, I always look at real estate, right? But I was just, I was like every block, I was like, okay, let's, here's another house, here's another house. And you can look on realtor.com, the MLS, and people are dropping their property prices $50,000, $100,000. Now that doesn't mean it's a good deal, right?

Right. So, um, you still have to look at the one thing that everybody forgets about is location, location, location. And one location may be good for a buy and hold.

Yes.

You know, or primary resident. But that doesn't mean it's good for short-term rental. Doesn't mean it's good for any, you know, so they have to understand the location has to dictate to what you want to do with the property.

Right. Exactly. And, and also if you, if you do get into, well, whether it's long-term rental, short-term rental, you know, residential assisted living is a new thing, right?

Right.

What is the exit strategy when the market shifts?

Right.

You know, because that's what's happening in Galveston. The market shift and people are left with these properties that, you know, are probably going to go into foreclosure.

Absolutely. And we're going to see a big, a big trend of that, um, for, for many reasons. Um, and I think that, you know, what you're doing is going to really give us another leg of investors that has been kind of neglected, you know.

Yes.

This, you know, I had a lady on earlier who's a CEO of her company, and she was talking about there's not enough women in this space. This is a male driven space. But I can tell you this, like you said, when women get into this, the profitability goes up.

It goes way up. Yes, they do. They do. And you know what? While we're talking about like profits, let's talk a little bit about interest rates, because I get the question. I'm sure you do, too. People think that they shouldn't invest because of the too high of interest rate. I'm like, okay, no, that doesn't have anything to do with it, you know? And I think on then just on top of that is that, you know, like cash flow. Because, you know, yes, it's great to think that, you know, $500, $1,000 a month, but sometimes it's not realistic. But what you really need to be looking at is tax savings, tax savings, and appreciation.

Appreciation. You're building wealth that you can't see.

Exactly.

And that's what people don't understand. Our generation, the generation of today, not our generation, the generation today is so embedded with immediate gratification.

Yes.

It kills me. Stop. That's all I can say. Stop. Jump in. Now is the time to invest in real estate because if you can at least break even, meaning I'm getting $100 a month on a property because I'm renting it and it's paying my mortgage, paying all my taxes, all my insurance, I'm getting $100, $150, $200. That's a win because appreciation, tax deductions. Now that becomes— if you really break it down, now you're making about $500 a month.

Yeah.

You look at the end of the year, your savings across it. Breaks out to about $500 a month on the minimum.

And if people would just stop and learn, yes, they would say, oh, and just the tax savings alone is, you know, well, I'm going to just tell a story about myself. So I have a short-term rental, so I kind of like, you know, got— and, and it was not, it was not cash flowing because it's in an area that's a little over on the saturation side. We do use it personally sometimes, but I was like, okay, but I had it, had quadrupled in appreciation.

Appreciation.

So I went to a banker, I went to a lender, and I said, okay, I want to refinance and cash out, right? Because there was so much equity in it. And when I say so much equity, I'm saying like $200,000. Wow. And I had a hard time finding a lender because the property wasn't— I mean, it was breaking even, but it wasn't cash positive, right?

Right.

And so I finally found a lender. I mean, sometimes it just takes knowing the right person.

You got to know the right person.

And also your credibility and, and, uh, ability to pay, right? And so anyway, we were able to find, find a lender that we were able to do a cash-out refi on the property. And then we took that money and we're reinvesting it, right? So sometimes, you know, even though one property, like, okay, on the paper, month to month, yeah, it's, you know, kind of sucks, right? But the tax advantages outweigh that, right? And then I was able to take $200,000 cash-free money and go buy more money. And I think that when people learn the strategies, so it's all the things together. So don't let the high interest rates scare you off because actually that's kind of a good time to buy.

Well, it is because you're getting a bigger tax write-off.

Yes.

Yeah, you're getting a bigger tax write-off. And when people start learning and understanding the overall value of investing in real estate, then they won't care.

Yes.

And that's what we're trying to do is teach, educate, and inform.

Well, let's just talk about the stock market, how it went up and down, up and down. But real estate, your real estate is going up.

It's a—

I, and I do it.

The only thing I— in fact, I pulled all my money out of the market about 6 months ago. And, and now we bought some properties last year. We got almost 300 doors last year. Um, we're still reinvesting all that because the market, I just, I don't, I can't control it. I can control real estate.

Yes.

I can control when I put half a million dollars into a real estate property that I've controlled that asset and what it will do for me. I can't control the market.

Exactly. Exactly. And so I think it's a great time to invest. There's the inventory is starting to grow larger. Yep.

Yep. Um, and the demand is higher than it's ever been.

Yeah. Oh, on rental properties. Yeah.

You know, 6.5 million people are looking for housing. So we have a 6.5 million housing shortage in the United States.

Yes.

We need more properties on the market.

We do. We do. So anyway, I think this was absolutely wonderful. I'm so glad I ran into you today, Toby.

So honored.

All right. So they should contact me and they—

how do they get ahold of you?

All right. So first of all, Money Making Mamas, that's money and then makin', M-A-K-I-N Mamas, M-A-M-A-S. And I'm on Instagram. We have a LinkedIn page. My phone number is 469-430-9885. And you can find, you can message me on LinkedIn, Facebook, all of that. So Nancy Wallace Slobbs. Yes. And if you're, you're looking for some off-market properties, you need to get on. Yes. And if you can't make it, cause the 22nd is like the end of school year, right? You know what? It's all being recorded and we're going to send you everything and you get a one-on-one with me afterwards.

Let's get registered. Hey everybody, if you like what you heard, like, share, subscribe, get a hold of Nancy. Let's make this thing happen. Let's grow this up. All you moms that are looking to get into real estate, this is the lady that you need to hook up with. I support her. I've known her for years. I endorse her. Let's do it. Thank you so much, Nancy.

Thank you, Toby. Good to see you. All righty.