How She Turned the Shoe House Into an Short Term Rental Success With Naomi Brown

So many women tell me they're afraid of making the wrong move, especially in real estate. Naomi Brown knows that feeling. During the pandemic, she took her emergency savings and bought the famous shoe-shaped STR, a property that was even featured on HGTV, not because it was safe, but because she finally trusted herself. In this episode, we break down how she created a unique guest experience, why intuition matters, and what happens when a woman chooses bold action over fear. So Naomi, so many women fear making the wrong move. What was the moment you stopped letting that fear run your life?

You know, for me, that was really the year of 2020 and COVID-19, because obviously that was a huge change in the lives for so many people. And what took place that year actually got me from like, I'm afraid to do it, to actually doing the investment.

Yeah, that makes so much sense. So what about COVID-19? Okay, this is the right time. This is when I'm going to make the right move. Like, why that, that, you know, world experience, right? It wasn't just your own personal experience. Why that encourage you to just stop letting any sort of fear stop you? Why that experience? Why, why that momental experience?

So it was actually a couple of details that were behind what happened during that time for myself and my family. So I had actually, I've been a residential realtor. And I knew that I wanted to make a transition to commercial real estate. So because I was the breadwinner for my family, I actually saved up a substantial pile of cash because I was like, you know what, if I don't make any money for like, you know, a year, I need to be able to feed my family, right? So I made that transition in the very beginning of 2020. Well, guess what happens in March, right? Like, the world shuts down. And so for a couple of months, we were in our basement, and then like life returned, right? And I started selling real estate. And I was like, you know what, the world hasn't ended. And I have this pile of cash. And I actually need to do something with it, right? And so that's actually what prompted me to go out and make an investment because I was like, basically the worst thing that you could think happened did actually happen, right? Like the craziness that COVID-19 was, and, you know, life went on. So we took that money and actually went out and bought a foreclosure, which was a great time to do that because there was a lot of people afraid to buy real estate, like kind of at the beginning of COVID And we got a great deal and we did a house flip and that was the beginning of the journey.

Yeah. So that was a house flip. So that was your first investment. When did the house come into play? Because I really want to dive into that. Was that your second deal? Where was that in your trajectory?

So after we did a house flip, we actually went out and bought another short-term rental property, and that was actually a bed and breakfast that we turned into a short-term rental and kind of divided it up into a couple of short-term rentals. And that did pretty well. You know, if you think about the years after COVID-19, like there's a lot of short-term rental activity and that did real well. But then the opportunity to buy the shoe house kind of came to us because I knew the former owner. He came and said, you know, I'm thinking about selling. And I was like, this would make an amazing short-term rental property. Why don't you turn it into that? And he's like, oh, I don't want to, but why don't you buy it and you do it? And I was like, you know, again, kind of I had to be prompted to do it a little bit, right? I was like, you know what? We should do it. I already have experience 'cause we have another short-term rental property. That one's doing great. So we did it. It took a little bit of, you know, do I wanna do this? Should I dive in? Because I knew it's kind of a notable property in our area. Like a lot of people recognize.

Tell us about it 'cause everyone listening may not know. So what was the shoe? What is it? What was it, I should say. And what was it actually being used for? And then what was your vision of what you wanted to turn it into?

When we, uh, had the opportunity brought to us, it was actually an ice cream shop and kind of a museum. So people could come pay a little bit of money to walk through and then buy some ice cream. Uh, the problem was it was kind of like out in the country and it was hard to get people in on a regular basis. So from a business perspective, it wasn't doing great. And the former owner came to us and said, you know, obviously I need to do something. It's not making a lot of money. And I, you know, having the background with the short-term rental properties, I was like, oh, this would be so amazing, right?

Give the context. And I want everyone listening, you have to, you have to know that this property is literally looks like a shoe. So when we say shoe property, it's not a metaphor for something. It's literally a shoe.

It's literally a 3-bedroom, 2.5-bath house that's shaped like a shoe. So it's got, it's got laces painted on the outside and everything. So what, what took place was that there was a gentleman back in 1950 who owned a whole chain of shoe stores. And this is before the day and age of the internet, right? And so he was looking for ways to advertise and kind of promote his shoe store brand. So he built this shoe-shaped house, he had this house built, to promote his shoe store brand, and he would raffle off stays in the Shoe House to people who came in his stores and bought shoes. So think about it, back in the day, it was actually a short-term rental property before there was short-term rentals, right? So that's how the Shoe House came about. But over the years, it kind of morphed into, you know, it was an ice cream shop, it was a private residence. There was a whole bunch of different things it was used for over the years. But then when we bought it, we turned it back into a short-term rental, which was the original use. It was a guest house, you know, originally.

So I love that. And I think there's a really important lesson. No matter what's happening in the economy, there's always an opportunity to ask the question, what's the highest and best use of this property? Right. And regardless of what's happening in the economy, the answer to that will help yield, okay, what's the business plan? Right. Where's the opportunity? Like you were saying, the gentleman who owned it, I always like to say it's kind of like a tired landlord. He was tired. He didn't want to run it anymore. Really cool property, wasn't making the money that he wanted to make, and you saw an opportunity. So walk us through some of your vision. Okay, I want to make this a short-term rental. How did you assess, okay, it's not working as an ice cream store, but it will work as an STR? What answers did you get to kind of feel confident in that answer, in that kind of like, okay, this is the path I want to take this property?

You know, it's interesting that I've, I've had a lot of people talk about your intuition. And I would say this was a moment where a good part of it was just intuition because I knew that this was a very unique property that would do amazing as a short-term rental. But you know, where are you going to go out and find data, Liz, that you can, you can say, you know, a shoe-shaped house is going to rent for X dollars a night, and you're going to have this occupancy and all that stuff, right? So some of it is just like knowing, based on your market knowledge, and then just having the confidence to trust yourself that you can make good decisions based on that.

Now that, that makes sense. Now you lived in that community. So you did have a sense of confidence in that market and who would be using, who are your customers? 'Cause that's an important question, right? I don't own any short-term rentals yet. I should say yet. I've done everything in real estate in my 20 years, but I have not owned a short-term rental. But my first question would be, okay, who are my customers, right? 'Cause short-term rental could be obviously people vacationing, could be people visiting their children in college. There's a lot of customers. So did you know who you wanted your customers to be or who that opportunity would yield itself to?

Yeah, for sure. So I do live within the local area, so I knew the context of, you know, the customer base basically. So we're near a couple of tourist-type attractions, I would say, like, you know, Hersheypark and, uh, Vents is near us and Gettysburg is not far away and Lancaster, that's Amish country. You know, most people are going to recognize those types of landmarks. So I knew those types of like tourists attractions would bring people in, but also just knowing like the uniqueness, sometimes people will go a little bit out of their way just to have something unique, you know, so we're not that far away from Philadelphia and some other major, more major attractions. So it gives people an opportunity to go out and experience something a little bit different, even if that means they have to go out of their way. So fundamentally, yes, I did my homework and I knew that would work, but to some degree it's like, You know, how do you know how much it's gonna rent for per night? Well, you know, there's some statistics, but some of it is just an estimate based on what I know about the market.

Walk me through this too, because I think you're not alone with women looking at a property saying, hey, this is being used for a commercial use. This would be a great fill in the blank, a long-term rental, short-term rental, converting things, right? Commercial to residential in general. I think is an opportunity depending on the market that somebody's in. How did you ensure you were putting the right kind of line item in terms of even just value-add costs of being able to turn the property around? Like, walk us through some of that planning. What do you know now that you wish you'd known then? That type of information, especially when it came to converting the property into an STR.

Yeah, for sure. So, you know, I always feel like, like a lot of people, you get a little bit of, analysis paralysis, right? Like I did my homework. And then internally, I'm like still kind of second-guessing myself. But if you know the facts that you have in place, so I knew that we'd have demand for that type of property. I knew that because it's unique, it would do better than, you know, comparable surrounding properties, right? But also knowing the things that make any short-term rental popular, right? So we put in a hot tub, we put in a fire pit, we put in a barbecue, You know, we made it unique and added touches like a record player in the living room to kind of bring back the nostalgia of the 1950s, you know, because we decorated it like that era. So knowing like the success principles of the short-term rental industry, we definitely brought those things in. So I knew those from the onset from our previous experience, but then also knowing like you know, the fundamentals of this, the surrounding market will bring people in and things like that, helped me be able to make that decision and make that case actually, because, you know, we did get financing. And so this was a very unique property that I had to prove to the bank and the appraiser that this is going to bring in money, and it's going to be successful. So that in and of itself was a data search to make my case, so to speak, that this is gonna be successful, uh, cuz it's so unique.

I love that. So if women are listening or those that are listening are looking to really invest and make a move into something that's unique, cuz a part of this process, Naomi, and I'm sure you get it as well, is like women want to, especially women in our InvestHer community, they wanna be part of meaningful projects and creating a unique, experience for people, literally going into an STR that's shaped as a shoe, right off the bat creates this uniqueness, this differentiator, this, oh wow, this is something different than maybe the other projects I've done. And I think there is an element to a lot of investors yearning for unique projects that are not just financially thriving, but actually are creating meaning for other people. You know, put a smile on people's faces. I think those things matter. What are the biggest mistakes that you have seen people that are doing some sort of unique STR experience? What are they making? What, what mistakes are they making that you wish you could just shake them and say, do this instead?

You know, I've seen a lot of other people and heard other, other stories that oftentimes if you're in a really rural area, that can— you can have the most unique property ever. But if you are really out of the way, it's, it's gonna hurt your occupancy, right? So making sure that you do have that market presence. Like for us, I knew that being within those 3 major tourist-type landmarks, like I, I described, would help to make us successful. But if you're really like out there and you don't really have anything to draw you in, um, that is, is really, I think, the, the worst thing that you can have. And then not having it well amenitized or making sure that it's really clean and looks good. Because I've seen a lot of short-term rental owners like not take great care of the property. And when you start getting poor reviews, it's like the kiss of death, you know, you have to really make sure that you stay on top of those details, which is difficult. But you know, I've, I've brought in a host for our property because staying on top of everything all the time is very demanding. So having the host do all the hosting and then I can just watch out for some of those other details helps to make a big difference.

But in terms of like long-term, I, I am an asset manager and I hire a property manager to run my day-to-day of my property, right? That's what someone in multifamily would say if they had a third-party management company, which we do and we've had for many years. Is that the same thinking? Is that the host is in essence getting some sort of revenue cut of the property? And are they, are they responsible for just like responding to guests? Are they also responsible for like the actual business plan, ensuring that, you know, revenue is there, expenses are lowered? Like, walk me through a little bit more about what that host does and why it's been so helpful for you.

So I've seen a whole different spectrum of host responsibilities and duties with different short-term rental owners. It, it can really vary. So for me, he does just basically the guest communication and make sure that the guests are well taken care of and basically does a check-in with the cleaners every so often, communicates with the cleaners and the handyman if something needs fixed, that type of thing. But the actual like paying of the bills and making sure that your capital improvements are taken care of and things like that, that's, I mean, I do that, but that would be more of like the asset manager role, right? In the case of the multifamily properties. So there can be a whole spectrum. Now I obviously pay less to have a host than if I had, you know, a company who was doing everything and it was an all-inclusive thing, you know. So, um, that works for me. Other people, they might want something more all-inclusive, but I think it's good for, um, owners to stay involved in, in some degree because I've had a lot of people who said, oh, I, I just want to own it and I don't want anything to do with it. But then the problem is like Oftentimes they don't know if their management company is not doing a great job until they've like lost a whole bunch of money. And then all of a sudden they wake up and they're like, oh my gosh, it's not going so great. So staying involved to some degree, even though that takes time and effort, helps to make your investment more successful.

Yeah. And depending on the stage, I always like to say in the years I've been investing, properties are always in a they're usually in a stage of kind of life cycle. So, you know, when you buy something, you're in the process of stabilizing it, maybe turning it, you know, what have you. But you're getting to the point where you're looking to get to the point where you're actually stabilizing the asset, where it's running more on cruise control, if you will. And that sometimes takes a process depending on how much work is needed. Then you have the process that I think a lot of people are in right now. They're not doing a ton of buying. They're getting outbid, they're kind of holding tight with the properties they have, but they're not really optimizing what they have. And there's a huge opportunity. Is there an opportunity to increase revenue? Is there an opportunity to reduce my expenses? Right? And so I think we're always looking for the next property to get to our passive income goals, to get to our financial freedom goals. Yet sometimes right beneath us is an opportunity to increase revenue, reduce expenses. And actually bring more money into our pocket. So I think that's key, right? Where's my property, especially for everyone listening, where are the properties that I'm struggling with? Where are they in the life cycle? Are they on the way to stabilization? Are they stabilized? And am I optimizing them, fully optimizing them? And then what's the potential exit? Am I gonna hold for a long time? People don't think through the actual life cycle enough, Naomi, versus it just being, I wanna buy a property, make some cash flow, and we'll go from there. There's a lot more to it, right? And so as you think about this particular, and this property, by the way, has been featured on HGTV, so it's gotten a lot of press. Have you thought about the lifecycle for this property and has it inspired you to do more of these type of unique experiences, or are you transitioning to another, you know, asset class?

I have heard a lot of owners who, especially over the course of the past, like, year, year and a half, say they have short-term rental properties that have not been doing well. And we've done really well still even in that type of market. And I'm sure it's because it's such a unique property. So it does stay fairly well booked. But on the expense control side, like you mentioned, I'm trying to make sure that we control the expenses because as a, as a shoe-shaped house, it is kind of unique and a little more expensive to maintain than your typical property, right? Like stucco was not always made to be a roof material like it is on this property. So it takes a little more to maintain, but trying to make sure that we optimize within a market that is more of a down market, like you mentioned, is important to set us up for the long-term success. So we have tried to, to utilize the press that we've received. So like you mentioned, we were on an HGTV show. There's other TV shows that have come out and interviewed us and gone through the property. And we try to utilize that basically free press to make sure the word gets out about the Shoe House. And I'm sure that's definitely helped our bookings as well. So that's, that's free, right? It's just the social media that we're sharing as we have these opportunities and making sure that we're capitalizing on those opportunities as well. So Your question about has that made me want to do other unique stuff. So I have had people reach out to me like, oh, you should go buy, you know, this other unique property. I guess there's a potato in Idaho. There's—

I think I've seen that. I totally have seen the potato in Idaho. Of course there's a potato in Idaho.

Of course. So I've had other people say, you know, you should go buy the potato or a treehouse or something. I'm sure it would be fun to do that, and I have toyed with that idea a little bit, but I think part of what makes us successful with this is knowing the market, like I mentioned before, and I don't really know the market in Idaho, so that would be kind of a foray out into something outside of my realm. Not that I couldn't do that, but for, for the immediate term, I've, I've done some other investments that are more passive because this this particular investment as the shoe house has required a lot of more work and effort to put into it. So we have bought an industrial building and some other investments that are a little more passive just to kind of even the playing field, if you will.

I, I like that a lot. I, I, I wanna say something too about the, you know, folks that are, that are in the STR market right now. I have also spoken to a lot of women, especially in the investor community, Some of them are thriving, but there's a lot of women who are struggling in markets that are oversaturated, right? So that becomes like a supply and demand issue where supply is so high, right? And their properties are kind of getting lost in the mix of all the other properties that are in that particular market. I wanna stress something though you said, because I think it's really important to note, is that when you're buying a property and you're kind of set, you're asking the question, what's the unique, You know, what is the uniqueness of this property? Why, especially for STR, if it's an experience? It doesn't have to be shaped as a shoe to be unique. And I want to just make that— because people are probably listening like, of course your property is unique, it's literally shaped as a shoe. Like, you gotta— I love the property, I want to get there, Naomi, because it's just— when I saw it, I was like, this is so unique. But I want to make it very clear that in order to stand out, right, and to really thrive in this market You don't need to have a property that's shaped as a shoe. However, you do need to say, okay, what is unique about this property based on the customers that I have that would use this property? That's the question you have to answer. And for those who are not answering that question, I think it's going to be a tough road right now because then you're going to get lost in the mix. You're like everybody, your property's like everybody else. So what are people going to look for? They're going to look for the cheapest. Most affordable. What do you think of what I'm saying? I want people to really get creative right now, not saying, well, I don't have a shoe house, so, you know, I'm done for it, right?

Yeah, and I think key piece there is what you just said is the creativity, right? So, you know, maybe you own a property at the beach that in and of itself is not real unique, but could you do something creative to kind of get you through what's considered a tough spot, right? So for example, like maybe you have a great long-term interest rate on that property, and you can just kind of weather the market if you did a long-term rental. And maybe you just break even on those payments for a time, but it allows you to continue to build your equity, keep your great low interest rate, and then when the market rebounds, you'll be back to doing business and you'll have survived the downturn. When other people are out there panic selling because their property is sitting vacant. So sometimes making those types of decisions of like, okay, I'm going to think differently from everybody else, maybe a little more creativity involved in order to be able to get through this and not just follow the crowd.

Yeah, because I think that's when people get into trouble, especially when you're in a time where you got to get every— you got to get a lot of pieces of the puzzle right. It's not where you could be like, well, it doesn't really matter, uh, the interest rate or how much I put— it all matters right now. And being conservative in your underwriting is important. Just as an example, in my own world of a unique, uh, project, and in a sense is that we are— we're doing a ground-up construction project on the, uh, the Delaware River. So it's right where I live. Same, I know this market inside and out. It's where I live. It's where I'm raising my family. And there's not that many properties on the river, and it's, it's desirable for people to want to be on the river here, here in New Hope, Pennsylvania. And so again, you know, in the market we're in, people are like, you're doing what, a multi-million dollar ground-up construction project? It can seem a little risky, if you will. Or during COVID buying literally a property that's shaped as a shoe— what looks like risks to some people when you know your market and you know the opportunity and you've run your numbers, it doesn't seem risky. And so I want to just say that because there's always a unique part about markets. It's not just what a property is shaped as. It could be where it's located. It could be the desirability of it from a tourism perspective. I always like to ask the question, and for those that are listening, what can I control and what can't I control? And there's one thing that I've learned, I don't know about you, Naomi, is you cannot control the market. You could participate in the market, right? You cannot— you can't control it. And I think, I think it's very, very obvious for people, but I think a lot of people try to control markets.

Yeah. And I think oftentimes, too, it's like, let the market work in your favor. So, for example, knowing the market that you're in, Liz, in Pennsylvania, a lot of the Northeast has very tight building and zoning regulations. So to do a new construction project, there's not a lot of them out there, right? And that comes back to knowing your market and how the fundamentals work. So, you know, if, if there's a lot of supply, then sure, the demand is going to go down, but you can go confidently to do that new construction project because you know the demand will be there because there's not a lot of other projects that are going to compete with you. So let the market work in your favor. In this case, it's working in your favor that there's really tight zoning and building restrictions. Because then the demand is going to be there and you're going to lease up just like that. Because when you get your project done, because you're letting it work in your favor.

So single-family home. So we're going to sell it as a property for a family. I think it's going to be like a second home. That's what I'm assuming as my customer is a couple that lives in either Manhattan or Philadelphia is looking for a property, a second home on the river. And that's my projection of my customer that we'll be selling to. We can do all the research, Naomi. We can do all the fact-finding. I think women actually do very well with getting their ducks in a row. It's rare that I talk to a woman in our community and she has no clue what she's talking about. It's very rare. It's very rare. It's actually the latter. They actually know what they're talking about. They know. They've done the work. Yet what stops us from taking action is the trust, really trusting ourselves. So for you, as you continue to— I know you're evolving into a development, land development, a lot of different, you know, sort of strategies right now. What do you do for yourself? Maybe it's a way of being, maybe it's something that you do, maybe it's a thought process. How do you continue to trust yourself in taking the right next step? How do you personally do that on your journey?

Well, I'll tell you what, we recently bought an industrial building and I'm a commercial realtor by profession. So you'd think I would know the fundamentals, right? No problem. I'll go out and buy, buy an industrial building. Even I, with all the data I knew, I knew the facts, like I know the market. I'm like, this is a great investment. Even I was nervous about pulling the trigger and going forward with it because it was something I hadn't done before. So I think it's just as a matter of practice, like recognize when you're doing something you're not familiar with, it's gonna feel uncomfortable. And you gotta push through it. So personally, I, in my mind, I always want to be doing things that I am not comfortable with just because I know that's where the growth happens. Many years ago, I knew I was not comfortable doing public speaking, so I went out and joined a local Toastmasters club, which is a public speaking organization if you're not familiar with. And I repeatedly had to do public speaking and as a result started to get much more comfortable doing that because I made myself practice and go into that realm. So just as a matter of practice, doing things that you're not comfortable with helped to build that platform and start to give me the confidence of like, yes, I can trust myself that I'm making a good choice because I've done my homework, I know my facts, and I know this is going to be successful. And then just having the confidence to go out and not like second-guess yourself all the time, right? Because women, we always do that. We're second-guessing. And we gotta let it go. Girls, just let it go. Trust yourself.

I love it. And that's really good advice because at the end of the day, we all do things that are uncomfortable for the first time. I mean, there's so many things, right? And I thought I was done doing "firsts," quote unquote, but I actually went to play paintball. My son had his 12-year-old birthday party and I wasn't gonna play. And then I'm like, well, okay, I got 15 12-year-old boys and my husband, might as well play. And I did. And it was the first time I ever did that, but I was uncomfortable. And if you're like, that's weird, I was uncomfortable playing. I didn't want to get hurt. Now I'm in my 40s. I'm like, I don't want to get hurt. And of course I get shot by my husband the first time, the first round, I was going to kill him. But my point in saying that is for those listening, take an action today from this episode. And the action should be doing one thing that makes you feel a little bit uncomfortable, a little bit. Because that muscle of doing things that are uncomfortable will help you tremendously in this business, making the offer, negotiating with the seller, negotiating with the bank, putting a deal together, going for that property that you've always wanted to buy because of XYZ reason. It all builds muscle. And I think what you're saying, Naomi, is that you continue— what you're saying is very astute. You continue to build your uncomfortable muscle, so then when that new investment opportunity comes up, it doesn't feel so scary. And it, again, we're talking, how does paintball have anything to do with real estate? Well, it's a muscle of feeling uncomfortable. Yes, it does. From the sense of feeling okay with unknowns and okay with not knowing what is around every turn. Do your research. We're not saying not do your research and do fact finding, of course. I don't think women have a problem doing that though, honestly. I don't think that's what limits us. As taking more control of our financial future. It's actually trusting ourselves and going for it. I think that's the limiting piece. So I love that you're doing that and you're doing it by putting yourself in uncomfortable spots.

Absolutely. I mean, 100% women need to have the confidence that yes, you absolutely have it right and you can do that and just go out and exercise that confidence and be willing to get a little bit uncomfortable to do it. So, and sometimes it's just simple things like what you said, playing paintball. I mean, I make myself read a poem every night, which again, sounds weird, but that's not really how my mind normally works. I'm not really a creative person, right? I like my spreadsheets, but just doing something that makes my mind work a little bit and kind of like, I'm not really used to doing that is helping to build that confidence muscle, so to speak.

I love that. Naomi, this has been great. Where can everyone listening learn more about you and follow you on your journey?

So I'm active on LinkedIn. You can find me there, Naomi Brown, and, uh, you can of course find information about the Shoe House on our website, which is hainesshoehouse.com. So you can check out pictures there if you wanna look at some pictures and, and have some fun.

It is such a cool property. I, I, I need to come visit, uh, you and the property at some point here, Naomi, but Thank you so much for being on, and everyone listening, do something with what you got from today's episode.

Absolutely. Looking forward to seeing all you ladies in the future.