October 15, 2025 • 43 mins
What if your most profitable rentals aren’t beachfront bungalows or urban lofts—but clean, furnished homes in “ordinary” cities serving people who come to town to work? We sit down with Stacy, a self-managed investor in Cedar Rapids, to unpack how midterm rentals can out-earn long-term and out-calm short-term, all while serving a steady stream of traveling professionals, construction crews, insurers, and families between homes.
Stacy shares the exact moves that scaled her portfolio: buying multiple properties in a focused sprint, renovating like a flip to kill maintenance headaches, and setting simple, tenant-friendly standards—fast Wi‑Fi, utilities included, monthly light cleanings, and durable furnishings sourced from estate sales. We dig into pricing MTRs at 1.5x–2x long-term rents, when to put TVs in bedrooms, and why thoughtful touches preserve linens and reduce turn costs. She also explains the less-talked-about pitfalls, like the insurance gap for under‑31‑day stays, and how to protect yourself without doubling your premiums.
The engine behind consistent bookings is smart lead generation. Stacy registers with relocation firms, responds in minutes to Furnished Finder requests, markets to realtors for bridge housing, and taps union halls and Facebook groups to reach crews before they arrive. One lease was signed in 15 minutes with ID verification and digital signatures, a glimpse into how speed and simple systems win. We close with creative scaling—ADUs, basement conversions, multi-unit setups on a single mortgage—and a mindset shift: treat it like a business, tell everyone what you do, and solve problems with heart.
If you’re ready to build calmer cash flow without chasing nightly reviews, this conversation is your blueprint for midterm rentals that work in real markets, not just vacation hotspots. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s MTR-curious, and leave a review with your biggest question so we can tackle it next.
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The Flipsisters
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
You're listening to the Flip Houses like the Girl
podcast, where we educate,empower, and celebrate everyday
women who are facing theirfears, doubling family and
business, embracing theirawesomeness, and wholeheartedly
facing their dream of flippinghouses.
Each episode delivers honest togoodness tools, tips, and
(00:21):
strategies you can implementtoday to get closer to your
first or next successful houseflip.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
All right, welcome back to the Flip Houses Like a
Girl podcast.
This is the show where wehighlight real stories of
everyday women who are learningto flip houses and create
freedom for themselves and theirfamilies.
I'm Blair, one of the coacheshere with the Flip Sisters.
I've been flipping houses forsix years and I've done 30
(00:52):
flips.
Today we are so excited tointroduce you to Stacy.
Stacy joined the Flip Sistersprogram in April of 2023.
And since then, she's beenmaking incredible strides in her
local market and has found herniche in midterm rentals,
otherwise known as MTRs.
We can't wait for you to hearher story, the lessons she's
(01:15):
learned along the way, and theadvice she has for other women
who are just getting started.
Okay, so let's dive in.
So first, a little point ofeducation.
I know I said the midterm rentalearlier, sometimes also known as
an MTR, but what exactly isthat, right?
(01:38):
There's all kinds of rentals outthere.
So a midterm rental is whensomeone rents a space that you
provide.
It's usually an entire house ora unit, like as a condo or
townhome or an additionaldwelling unit.
And it's normally fullyfurnished.
So it's set up for someone tojust come in and live.
They're not really bringinganything but like their personal
(01:59):
stuff with them.
The lease term can be anywherefrom longer than 30 days to
under a year.
That's what considers it amidterm is the lease terms.
These are usually utilized a lotby traveling healthcare workers,
tradespeople, I think likeplumbers, electricians, or
specialized trades, where likeyou know, there's not a whole
(02:20):
lot of them in the country andthey travel all over to fix
issues.
Or others like did they becomesuper popular with digital
nomads.
There's a lot of people who doall of their work from their
laptop or a computer, and theyhave the freedom to kind of
travel wherever in the countryand they may want to go stay
somewhere for a couple ofmonths, enjoy the local culture,
and then move on to a differentcity.
(02:42):
Midterm rentals are really oneof my personal favorite rental
strategies as well.
But I want you to hear more fromStacy and about her adventure
because I really do.
She's the MTR queen.
She's just gotten so awesome atthem.
And I've loved watching herstory and watching her maximize
profit on a unit.
Like so a house, you know, youcan do long term, you can do
(03:05):
short term, and you can domidterm.
And she's really shown usthrough her story and her
journey just how awesome midtermrentals can be.
So we're gonna go ahead and jumpin here.
I've got Stacy.
So, sis, if you can kind ofstart us out with like what
first drew you to midtermrentals?
SPEAKER_02 (03:25):
Okay, great.
Hi, Blair.
Thanks for having me today.
I have actually been a landlordsince 2002.
I started very slow.
I had one property that I, itwas my first house, and then I
moved and it did sell, so Iturned it into a rental, you
know, and I did that a coupletimes, but I wasn't like looking
at it as a profession or career,really income stream, just to
(03:49):
pay the mortgage so I didn'thave to, you know, and now
looking back, I I kicked myself.
I'm like, man, I wish I wouldhave like really thought about
this sooner.
Um, in 2016, I started flippinghouses, like I did one or two a
year from like 2016 to 2022.
So I was okay with that.
I thought that was good, butthen I found this program in
(04:12):
April of 23, and it honestlychanged my life.
It really did.
So I was going through some ofthe podcasts, and I was drive, I
had a four-hour drive for work,and so I'm like, I'm just gonna
go through some of Debbie'spodcasts and see what see what I
find.
And I found one that was MTR.
I'm like, what is MTR?
(04:33):
So I was I started listening toher podcast, and all I remember
thinking was, This is genius, Ican do this.
I'm like, this is so muchbetter.
So I'm like, okay, well, I livein Cedar Rapids, Iowa, right?
So like Midwest, middle country,nothing special, nothing, no
reason to really vacation here.
(04:53):
So then I was like, Well, isthat gonna work here?
So I started looking around, andDebbie had said, you know, um,
furnish finders.
So I got on furnish finders andI started looking, and yeah,
there were places in CedarRapids, and I started just, you
know, just Googling some stuff.
And at that time I had onelong-term rental here in town,
(05:13):
and I was June, I was in themiddle of finishing a flip, and
all of a sudden it just blew up.
So I started like, I can dothis, and I was finishing a
flip, and I found out that therewas a house across the street
that they were gonna put forsale.
It was a rental, and they justwanted out of it.
(05:35):
I found out there was a housebehind that house that it was a
landlord, an older landlordselling, and he had a he had
like 187 houses he was selling.
So I bought four from him, and Ihad sent a letter to the lady
across the street, and I had anoffer in through my bank on a
(05:56):
foreclosure.
I got them all of them.
And so August of 23, everyFriday, I was closing on another
house.
And I remember um one of theladies in our group sending me a
message and she's like, I'mconcerned about you.
SPEAKER_01 (06:15):
Yeah, I I do remember that.
Like we were like super excited.
We're like, oh my gosh, she'sjust because you just dug in and
like followed the process.
And you know, it's crazy becauseright, like those are the
results that happen when you doit.
And then we were like, we werelike, oh wow, this is like a
lot.
Like we're super excited, butlike, is it okay?
And then of course, like youwere just amazing and handled
(06:39):
everything like a badass.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Yeah, it fell into place.
And like I did sell one of them,but so I did six, I did flip
one, and then the other five, Iturned into mature mentals.
And the one I was alwaysplanning on doing it as a
maternal, but it took a lot moreto fix it, it was bad.
So then the one across thestreet, I'm like, I can just
like make this pretty, you know.
(07:01):
So we did some paint andcleaning, and then I'm like, I'm
gonna try this first and see ifit works.
And then if it works, I'll makethe other ones do it.
But if it doesn't work, thenI'll just sell them and flip
them like I would normally do.
So my numbers always worked as aflip, but my focus started
becoming income.
So I will be honest and say Ihave purchased a couple of
(07:21):
properties that maybe didn't fitthat flip criteria, but it it
met my income criteria.
So in January 24, my husband hadsome health issues, so he wasn't
able to work anymore.
So I really at that point justwent all in on this.
Like this is what I'm this ishow I replace his income.
(07:43):
Plus, I still work full-time, sobut this is my full-time job as
well.
So I do too.
But I love it.
One of the things that I findwith midterms is it's a
different clientele.
So you're not chasing rent likeyou do potentially with
long-term rentals.
I still have two long-termrentals and they're fine.
(08:06):
When they vacate, I will turnthem into midterms.
You're in the house more often,or somebody is in the house more
often.
So, like on a long-term rental,you might not be in that house
for a year, two years, or and Idon't necessarily be in it, but
like it might not switch.
So when you they do move out,you're like, Oh, I didn't see
(08:26):
all this work that needs to bedone.
With the midterm rentals, I'm inthere every three months or six
months, and um, it's justthey're easy turns.
Most of the time, they're peoplethat all they do is eat and
sleep.
That's all they're there for.
You know, they uh I have a rightnow we have a data center being
built in our community, and it'sbeen amazing.
(08:49):
So most of my people areconstruction people, and I've
always had people when I saythat kind of give me a weird
look.
And I said, honestly, so far, myconstruction people have been
some of the best, some of thebest.
They eat and they sleep andthey're never there.
I have started to build in amonthly cleaning for the rent.
(09:09):
It's just like I don't sayanything, it just I add an extra
$50.
And I say, you know, we come inonce a month and do light
cleaning, and that's not a deepclean, but it's a light clean.
It helps at the end, it helpssave sheets and blankets and all
that kind of stuff becausepeople are used to also hotels
sometimes, so they don't thinkchange sheets.
Some people do, some peopledon't.
So in the beginning, I learnedthat I was going through a lot
(09:32):
of betting.
So now we come in once a monthand we make sure it all gets
switched out, so that's nice.
And then the income with themidterm is better than the long
term.
So I charge one and a half totwo times the normal long-term
rent, it just kind of depends.
I do include utilities, Wi-Fi.
(09:54):
I don't supply cable becausethere's so many streaming
services out there anymore.
So I just give them good Wi-Fiand let them stream their own.
Initially, I didn't put TVs inbedrooms.
I've started putting TVs inbedrooms just way, this way, you
know, this they have one.
There's a lot of mixed feelingson that, and it really depends
on the generation, right?
(10:14):
So lots of traveling nurses, Ifind they don't need they don't
want TVs in their bedroomsbecause they have their laptops
and they just use that.
But people my generation, myage, we want TVs in the bedroom.
So, you know, one of my tricksthat I found early when I
started was estate sales.
So I started a lot of my stuffcomes from estate sales, you
(10:37):
know.
There's always especially ifit's like maybe an older couple,
they had a spare room for thekids to come visit, and the
bed's like brand new.
Basically, no one was ever noone ever slept on it because it
was just a spare room.
So that's kind of where Istarted getting beds and
dressers and that kind of stuff.
And then initially I bought newthings, you know, like all the
(10:58):
kitchen stuff was new andeverything was new.
Well, after it's used, once it'sused, so I kind of changed my my
priority on some of that.
Like, I still buy new stuff,don't get me wrong, but if I can
find a really nice couch that'sfor sale, cheap and it's
comfortable and it works, I buythat because you never know
(11:20):
what's gonna happen.
I had one house where I had acouple extra guys staying with
them that I didn't know about,and they were using the couch as
a bed, and now I put that in mylease that you can't use the
couch as a bed because it breaksit down.
You know, just little thingslike that that I've kind of
learned along the way.
And then like the short-termrental, I sometimes I do that in
(11:42):
between, like if I have a monthopen or something, like if
somebody moves out October 1stand I've got somebody checking
in October 28th, I don't like tolet it sit.
So sometimes then I'll throw iton as a short-term rental on
Airbnb or something like that.
However, I found recently, and Ithink one thing people should
know is that your insurancemight not cover that.
(12:04):
So tell me more about that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:07):
So yeah, tell me more about that.
SPEAKER_02 (12:09):
So a lot of your rental policies are only gonna
cover for 31 days and more.
So if you have somebody come infor two weeks and something
happens, there's a good chanceyour insurance isn't gonna cover
it unless you truly haveshort-term rental insurance.
And it's usually about doublewhat the normal insurance is.
(12:31):
So I kind of went away fromdoing short term because I'm
like, I did the math.
I'm like, it was gonna doubleall of my policies, you know,
that's a lot.
And then I kind of like went inand looked at what I made, and
I'm like, it's probably notworth it.
So I just I don't do midterm orshort term much anymore.
Plus, I was always stressed outabout reviews, you know.
(12:52):
Like I always get five-starreviews, and the first time I
got like a four and a half, Iwas mad.
And you know why?
It was because I didn't havesalt and pepper shakers.
That was the only complaint.
And I'm like, really?
So then I just decided thatmaybe that's not my platform.
SPEAKER_01 (13:08):
Yeah, I so agree with you.
I think, you know, for somepeople out there, the Airbnb
strategy works for them.
It's their wheelhouse.
But that's why, like a lot ofwhat you've said is why like I
really love the midterm rentalstrategy.
Um, you know, just to kind ofrecap, it's the income.
You know, you're asking one anda half to two of the long-term
(13:31):
rent.
So that's great.
So, and for some areas where Ilive, a long-term rent, you
know, you'd kind of be breakingeven.
But with the midterm strategy, Ican actually cash flow a
property, which is super cool.
You know, having somebody paythe mortgage, getting the
equity, and, you know, even justa little bit of cash in my
pocket every month from thathouse to me is is really just
(13:52):
awesome.
But yeah, like some of thethings you may, I didn't know
about the insurance thing.
So I learned something newtoday.
That's so cool.
But yeah, for me, it's thestress.
You know, like you said, likeyour midterms, you know, I have
some people that stay like ninemonths.
So I'm not worrying about who'sthe tenant coming in.
You know, I can see their usagefor electricity and water.
(14:14):
I do pay utilities as well.
You know, I same thing.
I give them Wi-Fi, they havestreaming services.
But yeah, same thing.
So they're there and they'reworking.
Like I have one girl who stays,she's rented it for nine months.
She stays there for two days outof the week, and then she goes
home.
And she is, she's literallythere to like sleep, eat, turn
around, and then she goes home.
(14:34):
So for me, it's a lot less wearand tear on the furniture and
the house itself and theturnover with Airbnb.
And yes, I tell people, like,you know, I'm a big proponent
for hiring property managementjust because I don't deal well
with people calling me in themiddle of the night to tell me
something is broken because I'm,you know, don't wake me out of
my beauty sleep.
(14:55):
Okay.
But part of it is two, it's it'sa lot less stressful in finding
tenants, like who's the nextperson?
Are we, you know, maxing out ourAirbnb and reviews, right?
Because even though like I'vehired a property management
company at the end of the day,I'm still the one who owns the
home.
So if the reviews are bad and Idon't get bookings, I have to
(15:17):
cover the mortgage.
And so for me, like that's justreally high stress that I didn't
want in my life.
And so I've found like themidterm rental is just such a
great combination of the stresslevel I'm okay and comfortable
with, as well as maximizing out,you know, the rent and
maximizing out what I'm gettingout of that property.
SPEAKER_02 (15:39):
Yeah, it's a different mindset.
It really is.
Like I have people all the timeask me, like, well, why do you
do that?
Can't just do a regular rental.
That's why you're not turningit.
And I'm like, no, no, no, no.
unknown (15:51):
No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01 (15:52):
Yeah.
And I think it's super cool thatyou brought up like construction
workers because I think, youknow, when I first everybody
hears about midterm rentals,they automatically just assume
you're just talking abouthealthcare workers, right?
Because that's like when I firststarted, that's all I knew is
nurses.
And I was like, okay, oh, travelnurses.
And I thought, I was like, well,gosh, how many of those can
(16:12):
there be out there?
And but like there, I've learnedthere's so many different
categories of people who usethem.
Like I had one, he was anuclear, some sort of special
nuclear physicist, engineer, Idon't know, really smart guy.
There were only five of him inthe country, basically, that did
his job.
So he traveled all aroundwherever he wanted, you know,
(16:33):
when they needed somebody tofill in or come in and fix the
issues they were having.
And he and his wife, like hewould, she would come with him
and she would just, they wouldexplore the area.
They would live.
If they liked it, they'd staylonger.
So they actually ended up, Ithink they ended up staying with
me for six months because theyjust love the area.
But it's neat to kind of expandyour thinking and think about
like recently I was introducedto the insurance portion, which
(16:56):
I think we're gonna talk aboutwith you because you've really
nailed that down.
But it's just more of, you know,finding, I didn't even think
about that, right?
Like somebody's house burnsdown, where do they go?
Uh, you know, they need atraditional home that's already
set up or like water damage, orlike, you know, we've had bad
storms here with like roofdamage, and the insurance
company, you know, needs to putthem somewhere.
(17:17):
And we all know they don't movevery quickly uh with things and
repairs.
So we've had, you know, I've hadfriends that have midterm
rentals that have had peoplethere that have been there for,
you know, a couple months, sixmonths.
I've had someone that's been upto a year.
So, you know, it's just it'svery neat to hear the different
people that move in as far as orwho need the midterm rentals.
(17:37):
There's so much more out there,other than, you know, obviously
the traveling nurses, shout outto them, healthcare workers,
you're amazing.
But there are a bunch ofdifferent types of tenants who
love a good midterm rental.
SPEAKER_02 (17:52):
So yeah, I have an insurance claim right now.
He's been there 21 months, and Iknow I have him at least another
two.
So good and bad though, kind ofgoes back to what I said
earlier.
Like, I haven't been in there toclean that house very much.
I like I did like a middle, likeafter a year, I'm like, can I
just come clean?
(18:14):
And you know, but it's gonna bejust like a long-term move out,
but that's okay because he'sbeen paying for it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:21):
Yeah.
And so like it's so cool inthat, like to me, I get really
excited.
Like, property manager calls andthey're like, hey, you know,
they want to do an extendedstay.
And I'm like at the midtermrental rate, and they're like,
Yes.
And I'm like, perfect, lovethat.
Uh, just you know, to kind ofrecap, a lot of times with a
midterm rental, we are gettingone and a half to two times what
(18:42):
we could get for the long-termrent.
So, same amount of time, samespace, almost double the money.
So for me, I'm like, yes, that'sa hell yes.
Like, let's do it.
SPEAKER_02 (18:52):
Absolutely.
Yesterday I just signed a10-month lease for uh
construction and crane worker.
So, and he's like, I got morepeople, and that's the nice
thing about with construction,you gotta think about it.
If you have more than one unit,this company's bringing these
people into town.
And if you're nice and you talkto them, and you know, like now
I'm getting to the point wherethey're just sending people to
me, you know, like I don't thinkit's amazing.
(19:14):
Yeah, and that's great.
So I love that.
Yeah.
So I think the only bad thing isthis happened to me last year,
is then they all moved out atthe same time.
SPEAKER_01 (19:22):
January.
They're like, all right, job'sdone, we're out.
Yeah, and I think like for me,that's neat.
Like, I love, you know, a littlebit of the hospitality end of
things and like making peoplefeel welcome and setting up a
nice, comfortable, safe spacefor them, but not to the level
of like an Airbnb where I haveto be like all, you know, quote
unquote on all the time, likesuper over the top.
(19:46):
I think Airbnb guests'expectations are a lot different
than midterm rental.
I think they expect you to like,you know, you know, oh, there's,
you know, a spot of dirt on thefloor, and they expect you to
run over and clean it becausethey're paying a premium for a
vacation space.
Whereas like I've had, you know,midterm rental guests who are
like, hey, like I so sorry, Ibroke a coffee pot.
(20:07):
I'm like, cool, no problem.
Is it okay if I just Amazon youone?
And they're like, yeah, that'sgreat.
Thanks.
Like, and I'll just deliver it,you know, over to the rental
with that.
But yeah, you know, that's soneat that you've had so much
like word of mouth.
But if you don't mind, let'stalk a little bit about the
insurance like portion of it.
Cause I know you've had greatsuccess uh with, you know, like
(20:29):
if you talk us through like howdo you contact how does that
work?
Like who do you contact?
Are there people you can reachout to?
You know, what is your strategywhen asking for, you know, the
coverage for the the rent?
Like anything you want to share,I'd love to hear.
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
Sure.
So this one that I got rightnow, it was very early.
It was my second tenant.
So I definitely left some moneyon the table and I didn't know
that.
But there was a good part ofthat is though, like with
insurance claims, they have likeX amount of housing budget.
So let's just say they have$30,000 worth of coverage for
(21:07):
housing if something happens totheir house.
Well, if they're staying in ahotel that burns up fast, I have
found that lots of timesinsurance claim rents usually
around$3,000, you know, like inthat range.
Well, with this guy, I'm onlycharging him$18.50 because it's
a small house.
But because I was able to chargehim$18.50, he was able to make
(21:30):
that budget of$30,000 orwhatever it was last way longer
than what somebody if I wouldhave been charging$3,000.
I mean, now if when I get mynext insurance claim, it's gonna
be a little different, but now Iknow also cleaning fees.
So I charge cleaning fees upfront when they move in for
their move out.
Well, I usually charge$100,000,$150.
(21:53):
Well, this guy's been in there,he's gonna be in there like 23
months.
It's gonna cost me more than$150to clean that, but you don't
know that.
So the one thing that insuranceclaims want is a contracted
amount that will stay the same.
So they send me a like anextension every couple months or
(22:13):
whatever, but it they don't giveme the option to increase it.
So you got to keep that in mindtoo.
Like, you know, obviously myproperty taxes have gone up, my
insurance has gone up in twoyears.
Like, this is this guy is a is aunique situation because he's
been there for so long, but I doself-manage my properties.
I'm still in that, like, I wantto keep all my money.
SPEAKER_01 (22:36):
And yeah, well, and I think the good thing with
midterm rental is like that's alittle bit more obtainable and
like doable because of thecadence and flow.
SPEAKER_02 (22:45):
Yes, yes.
And the one thing that I do andI do write is one, I will live
in any property I own.
So I don't band-aid it.
And all but one of these housesthat I've got as midterms, I
went in and gutted and I treatedit like a flip.
So then when I did it, I did itright.
You know, I've got a couplehouses that have on-demand hot
(23:08):
water heaters.
Like I do it so that I don't getthose two o'clock in the morning
maintenance calls.
You know, now I'm not gonna saythat in the winter, one time the
furnace went out in the middleof the night, it happened, but
that happens anywhere.
But I do them right so that Idon't I try not to have those
maintenance calls.
And I feel like I don't get alot of phone calls.
And if I do, I know within thefirst three days that I'm gonna
(23:32):
get phone calls.
SPEAKER_01 (23:34):
Yeah, I think that's so important.
I do the same thing for myrentals.
You know, I I do everything upfront, like it would be a flip,
and then my thoughts on it arethe exact same, right?
Like if we go ahead and fixeverything, it should after
that, it should just bemaintenance over the next 10 to
15 years.
And then also like it does, youknow, get the calls down a
(23:56):
little bit because things aren'tbreaking on a regular basis.
SPEAKER_02 (23:59):
Yeah.
So back to the insurance claim.
Um, since I self-manage, when Iknow that something's coming up,
I start to get a little twitchy.
So I get on every single websitethat I can find that's insurance
companies, and I've registeredmy properties.
Like, you can like just Googlerelocation companies, insurance
(24:20):
relocation, those kind ofthings, and you'll get lists.
I've joined lots of Facebookgroups that are midterm rentals,
and then I've looked for likerelocation Facebook groups.
So I see a lot of those.
I get some leads from thosesometimes.
If I see a lead that is in myarea, I don't care what the
criteria is that they're lookingfor.
(24:41):
As long as I have the rightspace, I will contact them every
single time.
And it doesn't matter if it'sfurnished finders, if it's
Zillow, if it's an insurancecompany, I contact them and you
gotta do it quick.
You gotta do it quick.
This midterm rental isdefinitely a different space
than what long-term rentals are.
(25:02):
So, like yesterday, I had a guyon fake and furnished finders
just put it out there as ageneral request, which means the
general request is it goes toanybody that's registered.
So within five minutes, I hadsent him a message and I'd sent
him some pictures because I hada property that I didn't have on
furniture finders because yougot to pay a fee, furnished
finders$175.
(25:23):
So sometimes I just take some ofmy old properties that look the
same because a lot of myproperties are the same, and I
just put one of those propertiesup as available.
And so then I sent him a text.
Hey, I have a property of that'scoming available.
It looks similar to this one.
I can text you and or email youpictures, and so then that's
what I did.
And within 15 minutes, I had alease signed, a deposit, a
(25:48):
background check, done.
And money, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:53):
Wow, 15 minutes.
Do you do all of that likethrough furnished finders as far
as like the tools and you knowthe screening and everything?
SPEAKER_02 (26:03):
So the furnished finders I use for their
background check, but they don'tcharge the landlord for that,
they charge the tenant.
I use their background check.
I like it, it's quick.
My goal the last six or this sixmonths is like really trying to
automate better because I doGoogle Docs and then I send it
and email it, and it's hard toget the digital signatures.
(26:25):
So I've started working with Iright now.
I'm working with uh it's aprogram called Rent Ready, and
you can send the lease.
They can send, they can sign thelease, they have to take a
picture of theirself with theirID so that you can verify it's
them, and then they can set uppaying rent and everything right
through the program.
It's a cheaper program, it's alittle bit more cumbersome.
(26:48):
So I haven't decided if I'm soldon that one yet or not, but I'm
using it.
But it's quick because then Ijust upload the lease and I he
signs it, he takes a picture ofhimself with his ID, sends in
the back, and then I sign itdigitally and we're good.
SPEAKER_01 (27:03):
Wow, that's awesome!
SPEAKER_02 (27:04):
Yeah, so that's that automated part that I've been
like struggling with a littlebit that I'm trying to get
better, you know, because Istill have my handy dandy Excel
sheet.
Gotta love Excel.
Gotta love Excel.
I trust Excel more.
SPEAKER_01 (27:22):
That's awesome.
So one of the things that likereally I found interesting when
when you were talking about likeyour location, and I think this
also kind of leans me toward whymidterm rentals are a more
viable option for more peoplethan maybe an Airbnb.
So no shade at all, but you litlike Tacita Rapids, but like
(27:43):
there's that's not a super hotvacation destination.
I would imagine like it's notlike the mountains or the beach
or you know, somewhere wherethere's, I don't know, like
Disney World.
I think it's a great example,right?
Yeah.
So to me, this is so coolbecause it's saying, like, hey,
here's a great viable optionthat is super like friendly for
(28:09):
you and like landlord, and likeyou're maximizing your earning,
but you don't necessarily haveto be in like a big city like
Austin, Texas, or you know, ahuge draw for vacationers, um,
where it gets like supercompetitive, like Orlando and
Disney World.
And you're like, you know, yeah,I'm right here in the heart of,
you know, just a great town inAmerica and it works.
(28:33):
And I think that's like I livein Columbia, South Carolina.
You know, we've got collegefootball, but like other than
that, there's not a huge, youknow, it's not Charleston, which
is on our coast, where there's ahuge draw for vacationers, but
I'm very successful with my withmy midterm because there are a
huge amount of people who canutilize them that aren't just
(28:55):
vacationing.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (28:57):
Yes.
Now, you know, I have a couplerentals out in western Iowa,
small town, 900 people.
Am I gonna turn that one into amidterm?
No, it's gonna stay my longterm.
And it's still, I mean, I'm notgonna say that that's not gonna
work out in those areas becausethere's things that bring things
to town.
People move and they can't closeon a house.
(29:19):
I had a couple for a monthbecause they had sold everything
in Missouri and moved back toIowa.
And they thought they'd be ableto find a house and buy a house
in like two weeks in Iowa.
Well, no, they couldn't.
So they saved.
SPEAKER_01 (29:32):
Yeah, that's I mean, and that's a whole other great
audience that you justintroduced.
Like people who aretransitioning, you know, I'm in
real estate as an agent as well.
Um, and yeah, that's somethingthat happens sometimes, you
know, where people are having tosell a home prior to buying.
That's just the season we're inin the market.
And yeah, like where do they go?
Like whether it's two weeks or amonth, or oh my gosh, we can't
(29:54):
find anything we like, but wehad the perfect buyer.
So we went ahead.
Yeah, you're exactly 100% right.
A midterm rental would befantastic because they don't
have to like pack up all oftheir stuff, unpack it at a
rental, pack it all back up, andthen move it.
They can kind of just pack stuffup, put it in storage.
They can live very comfortablyin the space that you're
(30:14):
providing.
And then when they're, you know,they close on their new house,
they're able to just go aheadand you know, kind of just move
stuff in basically once.
SPEAKER_02 (30:22):
Yeah.
And I market to realtors.
You know, like I send my flyers.
I made a flyer and I send it toall the real estate offices.
And then the realtors that Iknow, like, I'm like, hey, when
you guys have a meeting, can yoube like, talk about me?
Uh, because they do have people.
And I mean, for something likethat, I I'll do shorter time,
you know, something.
You know, one of my houses Ibought came with eight storage
(30:44):
sheds.
And so I was marketing to one ofmy realtors and I was talking to
her, and she was saying that,yeah, my people have to be out,
but they don't know where to puttheir stuff.
I'm like, I have a storage shed.
SPEAKER_01 (30:54):
You're like, I have the perfect, and that's actually
like a perfect solution, right?
It's like an all in one.
Like you move in, but you candraw your stuff here.
Yeah, that's super cool,actually.
SPEAKER_02 (31:05):
Whatever.
So, yeah, I mean, it's justproblem solving.
This this business is aboutproblem solving.
SPEAKER_01 (31:11):
Yes, a hundred percent.
And I tell people like, truly,that's one of the reasons that I
was drawn to real estate in theinvestment space is I love I
love solving problems.
I love to move the puzzle piecesaround, you know, play the
chessboard, uh, pivot.
Like that's kind of my ultimatething.
And so it's just, it's very coolto be in a space where
creativity and you know,figuring out what's the next
(31:34):
step or how do we make this workin a win-win situation.
That is truly one of the thingsthat really drew me to real
estate investing.
unknown (31:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (31:42):
Yeah, I just have one of my houses, it's a large
house.
It's three bedrooms, very big.
That's more of an executiverental.
And I had four brothers thatneeded a place.
They came up from Texas to workon the data center and they're
like struggling to find places.
We're having so many people intown, people are struggling to
find stuff.
So they came and looked at it.
They're like, Yeah, I'm like,well, where's the fourth person
(32:03):
gonna sleep?
Because you can't sleep on thecouch.
And they're like, Oh, we'll justput an air mattress somewhere.
I'm like, I thought about it fora second.
I'm like, I can do better.
I said, How about we take thislittle couch and move it and
I'll put a bed there, and thenyou'll have a bed there.
It'll be in the middle of theliving room, but it'll be and it
had two living rooms, so it wasfine.
And they're like, Oh, perfect.
I mean, I'm like, you're gonnaspend all this money, I'm not
(32:25):
gonna make you sleep on an airmattress.
SPEAKER_01 (32:27):
Yeah, that's and that's so cool.
Like it's so cool that you, youknow, as a landlord, you lead
with heart and you're solvingtheir problems and that you were
able to accommodate that.
And that's again another reasonI love the midterm space, is
like I feel like both partiesare trying to work to make it
the best experience for bothpeople.
I find that a lot where it'slike, okay, hey, you know, this
(32:50):
maybe didn't work, but like, canwe try this instead?
And a lot of times the tenantsand or on the other side, like
on my end, as of the landlord,it's been kind of easy to go,
okay, yeah, you know what, wecan make that work.
SPEAKER_02 (33:03):
Like, yeah, I had a lady reach out for the storage
sets the other day, and she'slike, I'm just a new
photographer and I just need aspace to like take pictures.
And she's like, Do you think Icould run a shed?
I'm like, sure, sure.
SPEAKER_01 (33:16):
Why not?
SPEAKER_02 (33:17):
Why not?
You know, it just gives yougotta really be open-minded.
Um that's one of the things thatpeople give me a hard time about
all the time is that you'recrazy.
I hear I'm crazy every day.
And probably, but I love it.
SPEAKER_01 (33:30):
I think that's a little something that you need
as an investor.
You need to be like a little bitoff off kilter, just because it
does like it.
And again, that's why like Ithink it's amazing.
You get to be creative, you getto be a problem solver, you get
to help people, and also likemake money and get time freedom.
Like, I again, I just can't findanything better than real estate
investing.
(33:50):
Okay.
I agree, totally agree.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (33:55):
Yeah, you know, and there's been some bumps along
the way.
I won't say that it's all beenclear sailing.
I've learned some things, youknow.
Like I think I said earlier,like I used to buy stuff new
right off the bat.
Well, it's not new anymore.
Things disappear.
Uh, you know, I buy goodquality, I buy certain things
good quality towels, sheets,blankets, pans.
(34:16):
Pans are iffy because I replacepans a lot because people burn
stuff and then they don't cleanthem right or whatever.
But right, um, I buy all thosethings, and when I find a sale,
I buy as much as I can.
I have a whole shelf full oftowels right now because Costco
had a sale.
So I buy stuff when I see it.
Yeah, um, I know like right nowI've I've got eight fully
(34:40):
furnished, fully rented units.
I've got four more coming onlinein the next two weeks to 60
days.
So as I'm like places, I'm like,oh, and I name all my places,
I'm like, oh, that'll be greatfor Shabby Chic, or that'll be
good for the cornerstone.
So like I'm collecting thingsright next four units right now,
(35:01):
you know, Facebook marketplace,love hate relationship.
Yeah.
You know, so that's that's onething.
You know, I think what I wouldtell people the most is you have
to have patience because Idon't.
And so when things come open orgonna come open, I think I said
(35:24):
it early.
I get twitchy.
And so then I spend every extramoment.
Okay, where else can I marketthis house?
How can I how can I make it beavailable or see it?
You know, I've gone to all ofour union halls, I've gone to
our our realtors, just myinsurance, my personal insurance
agent, you know, just you gottatell people what you do.
(35:46):
Just yes, tell them what to do.
SPEAKER_01 (35:48):
Thank you.
I tell people all the time, likeyou have to tell people, the
universe, whatever, like what isit that you need?
What are you looking for?
Because I I've so I found thatso often is like it's a lot of
times you don't know thatsomebody knows somebody that
knows someone and they they'rethe ones who need it.
But if you never voiced, like,hey, you know, I'm looking for
(36:11):
this, or hey, I have a rental,it's coming open in August.
You know, maybe you post that onyour Facebook and you're like,
well, nobody on my Facebook isgonna need a rental, but they
might know somebody.
Uh and very quickly, you know,again, this you're helping.
You're helping someone find aspace that they need.
So yeah, I'm a huge proponentfor, you know, tell people what
(36:31):
you're looking for, tell people,and it's more of like tell
people what you can provide,right?
It's not being salesy, it's notbeing, you know, me, me, me.
It's, you know, hey, I have thisspace and I provide this
service.
Well, somebody needs that spaceand that service.
So it's I love that likeconnection aspect of everything.
SPEAKER_02 (36:51):
That's one thing that I've learned from this
program is that tell people whatyou do.
So, like I said, I've been alandlord since 2001.
I didn't have a business carduntil I joined this program.
I didn't have a Facebook page offor my business.
I didn't have a website.
I never thought about that.
I've been a landlord forever,but I didn't think of it as a
business.
Right.
And even when I was flippingproperties one or two a year, I
(37:14):
still wasn't thinking it as abusiness.
But this program changed mymindset.
And like, I now I'm like, I havebusiness cards, and I can't tell
you how many times I hand themout.
Now I'm like, here, here, here.
SPEAKER_01 (37:25):
Like, look, this is pretty.
Look at my nice business card.
SPEAKER_02 (37:28):
So you know, it's a mindset.
And now my husband jokes aroundall the time.
He says, most wives buy shoes orpurses.
My wife buys houses.
SPEAKER_01 (37:40):
Yes.
Yeah, I get that a lot.
And especially like we travel alot.
And so like I'm always lookingat real estate when we travel,
just because it's like, youknow, I'd rather have a spot
that I own that someone else ispaying the mortgage for.
And if we go there a couple oftimes a year, great.
Um, so yeah, same thing.
He's like, or I forgot what wewere doing the other day.
(38:00):
He was like, Oh, did you buy ahouse today?
And I hadn't.
Like, I was like, I've been withyou the whole day.
Like, we didn't go to a close.
But it was just, yeah.
So I get that.
It's so funny when it's like,you know, yep, I'm not into
purses, I'm not into shoes.
Um, I do like to travel.
Oh, and I like to buy houses forfun.
Like that for fun.
That's my thing.
Um, so yes.
SPEAKER_02 (38:20):
But I was in Florida last weekend with my
sister-in-law, and right by thehotel, there was a house for
sale.
And I'm like taking pictures andsending it to my husband, and
he's like, Oh god.
SPEAKER_01 (38:31):
Yeah, totally get it.
And I think like, you know, justto kind of connect that to what
we're talking about with themidterm rentals, is that you can
do this in in anywhere, like anymarket.
You know, I do it here inColumbia, you do it there in
Cedar Rapids.
We have women who do it all overthe country, big cities, little
cities, vacation places,non-vacation places, close to
(38:54):
hospitals, not close tohospitals.
You know, you've just you'veshared so much with us today.
I really appreciate it.
The knowledge is incredible.
And like I said, it's reallyjust been amazing to watch your
journey.
Um, and I think I heard you say,like, so how many like actual
homes are you up to right now inyour portfolio?
SPEAKER_02 (39:13):
I was calculating before.
I've I've I believe 15.
SPEAKER_01 (39:16):
Okay.
I love that you have to likestop and think about it.
I did.
Like I was like pacing thismorning.
And you're like, okay, we wear,who are we?
What are we doing today?
Yeah.
I mean, that's incredible.
Like, that's no, that's no smallfee at all.
And I think that's gonna be soinspiring for our listeners.
And especially that you've beenable to, you know, really
maximize everything as far aslike maximizing profit with the
(39:40):
midterm rental strategy.
And then, you know, my favoritepart is like reducing the stress
of not doing short term, andthen like long-term again, is
it's I think every rental hasits pros and cons.
But for me, the midterm rentalis really where the magic is as
far as like marrying all of thepros and cons together.
And then the pros and cons kindof you know, the more the pros,
(40:02):
weighing out any cons that existin that space.
SPEAKER_02 (40:06):
Yeah.
I know like when I walk into aproperty now, one of my first
questions is how much fun can Iget out of this?
You know, and so like ADUs,mother-in-law suites.
That's my thing now.
So basements into mother-in-lawsuites.
SPEAKER_01 (40:20):
Yeah, that's and I had a friend who they had a
house like that, and it was oneof those that they actually
ended up getting it over otherinvestors because other
investors couldn't, it was avery, you know, quote unquote
weird, wonky layout.
And other people couldn't seeit.
Well, they divided like thebottom of the house, they put
the door on the back, the frontof the house, they had the front
(40:40):
door, and like the top floor wasits own unit, the bottom was its
own unit.
And then there was like a poolhouse they turned into an ADU,
and it was its so in oneproperty, they had three and
they made they were midtermrentals.
So on one property, like soyou're paying mortgage on one
property, and they had threeseparate units on the same
property that were payingmaximum rent.
(41:03):
So cash flowing, likegangbusters, great tenants, all
of that, like just all of themagic.
SPEAKER_02 (41:10):
So I love it.
Yes.
I'm so glad that I listened toDebbie's podcast.
It truly changed my life.
SPEAKER_01 (41:16):
Yeah.
And I love that, like, you know,I hate that we, you know, kind
of have to wrap up because Ithink we could talk about this
all day.
But one of the really cool fullcircle moments for me was like
hearing you talk about like Ilistened to this podcast about
midterm rentals, and that's whatgot me interested.
And I joined.
And like I said, I mean, you'vejust been amazing to watch.
(41:38):
Like you've learned, you'vetrusted the process, you've done
the work.
And then to now be sitting withyou and doing a podcast, you
know, with, you know, like Isaid, I always call you our
midterm rental queen with themidterm rental queen and just
all of the value that you'veadded back.
I mean, gosh, I've learned stufftoday.
I really hope our audience hastaken away a good bit.
Um, so I just want to say thankyou so much for sitting down
(42:01):
with me.
And this is this has beenincredible.
SPEAKER_02 (42:03):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I was so excited when youreached out.
I'm like, yes, I want to dothat.
SPEAKER_01 (42:08):
I love it.
It's a hell yes.
Yep.
All right.
Well, thank you so much, Stacy.
We appreciate you and sharingall of your information.
Yeah, great.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday on the Flip Houses Like a
Girl podcast.
I hope you found inspiration andsome practical takeaways from
Stacy's story.
(42:29):
One of the key takeaways for me,for her story, was the fact that
this can be successful prettymuch anywhere in the country.
You don't have to have like asuper vacation-centered area,
and you can earn twice what younormally would with long-term
rent.
Ladies, remember everysuccessful flip starts with one
(42:49):
brave decision to get in thegame, and you don't have to do
it alone.
If you're ready to take the nextstep towards flipping your first
house, we'd love for you tolearn more about the Flip
Sisters program.
It's the leading coachingprogram and community design
specifically for women acrossthe country who are ready to
flip houses in their localmarkets.
(43:11):
To connect with us, check outthe program, or just get
inspired by more stories likeStacy's, let's visit
theflipsisters.com.
And as always, thank you forlistening, subscribing, and
sharing this podcast with otherwomen who are ready to step into
the world of flipping houses.
Until next time, keep going,keep growing, and remember, you
(43:34):
absolutely can do this.
You're listening to the Flip Houses like the Girl
podcast, where we educate,empower, and celebrate everyday
women who are facing theirfears, doubling family and
business, embracing theirawesomeness, and wholeheartedly
facing their dream of flippinghouses.
Each episode delivers honest togoodness tools, tips, and
(00:21):
strategies you can implementtoday to get closer to your
first or next successful houseflip.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
All right, welcome back to the Flip Houses Like a
Girl podcast.
This is the show where wehighlight real stories of
everyday women who are learningto flip houses and create
freedom for themselves and theirfamilies.
I'm Blair, one of the coacheshere with the Flip Sisters.
I've been flipping houses forsix years and I've done 30
(00:52):
flips.
Today we are so excited tointroduce you to Stacy.
Stacy joined the Flip Sistersprogram in April of 2023.
And since then, she's beenmaking incredible strides in her
local market and has found herniche in midterm rentals,
otherwise known as MTRs.
We can't wait for you to hearher story, the lessons she's
(01:15):
learned along the way, and theadvice she has for other women
who are just getting started.
Okay, so let's dive in.
So first, a little point ofeducation.
I know I said the midterm rentalearlier, sometimes also known as
an MTR, but what exactly isthat, right?
(01:38):
There's all kinds of rentals outthere.
So a midterm rental is whensomeone rents a space that you
provide.
It's usually an entire house ora unit, like as a condo or
townhome or an additionaldwelling unit.
And it's normally fullyfurnished.
So it's set up for someone tojust come in and live.
They're not really bringinganything but like their personal
(01:59):
stuff with them.
The lease term can be anywherefrom longer than 30 days to
under a year.
That's what considers it amidterm is the lease terms.
These are usually utilized a lotby traveling healthcare workers,
tradespeople, I think likeplumbers, electricians, or
specialized trades, where likeyou know, there's not a whole
(02:20):
lot of them in the country andthey travel all over to fix
issues.
Or others like did they becomesuper popular with digital
nomads.
There's a lot of people who doall of their work from their
laptop or a computer, and theyhave the freedom to kind of
travel wherever in the countryand they may want to go stay
somewhere for a couple ofmonths, enjoy the local culture,
and then move on to a differentcity.
(02:42):
Midterm rentals are really oneof my personal favorite rental
strategies as well.
But I want you to hear more fromStacy and about her adventure
because I really do.
She's the MTR queen.
She's just gotten so awesome atthem.
And I've loved watching herstory and watching her maximize
profit on a unit.
Like so a house, you know, youcan do long term, you can do
(03:05):
short term, and you can domidterm.
And she's really shown usthrough her story and her
journey just how awesome midtermrentals can be.
So we're gonna go ahead and jumpin here.
I've got Stacy.
So, sis, if you can kind ofstart us out with like what
first drew you to midtermrentals?
SPEAKER_02 (03:25):
Okay, great.
Hi, Blair.
Thanks for having me today.
I have actually been a landlordsince 2002.
I started very slow.
I had one property that I, itwas my first house, and then I
moved and it did sell, so Iturned it into a rental, you
know, and I did that a coupletimes, but I wasn't like looking
at it as a profession or career,really income stream, just to
(03:49):
pay the mortgage so I didn'thave to, you know, and now
looking back, I I kicked myself.
I'm like, man, I wish I wouldhave like really thought about
this sooner.
Um, in 2016, I started flippinghouses, like I did one or two a
year from like 2016 to 2022.
So I was okay with that.
I thought that was good, butthen I found this program in
(04:12):
April of 23, and it honestlychanged my life.
It really did.
So I was going through some ofthe podcasts, and I was drive, I
had a four-hour drive for work,and so I'm like, I'm just gonna
go through some of Debbie'spodcasts and see what see what I
find.
And I found one that was MTR.
I'm like, what is MTR?
(04:33):
So I was I started listening toher podcast, and all I remember
thinking was, This is genius, Ican do this.
I'm like, this is so muchbetter.
So I'm like, okay, well, I livein Cedar Rapids, Iowa, right?
So like Midwest, middle country,nothing special, nothing, no
reason to really vacation here.
(04:53):
So then I was like, Well, isthat gonna work here?
So I started looking around, andDebbie had said, you know, um,
furnish finders.
So I got on furnish finders andI started looking, and yeah,
there were places in CedarRapids, and I started just, you
know, just Googling some stuff.
And at that time I had onelong-term rental here in town,
(05:13):
and I was June, I was in themiddle of finishing a flip, and
all of a sudden it just blew up.
So I started like, I can dothis, and I was finishing a
flip, and I found out that therewas a house across the street
that they were gonna put forsale.
It was a rental, and they justwanted out of it.
(05:35):
I found out there was a housebehind that house that it was a
landlord, an older landlordselling, and he had a he had
like 187 houses he was selling.
So I bought four from him, and Ihad sent a letter to the lady
across the street, and I had anoffer in through my bank on a
(05:56):
foreclosure.
I got them all of them.
And so August of 23, everyFriday, I was closing on another
house.
And I remember um one of theladies in our group sending me a
message and she's like, I'mconcerned about you.
SPEAKER_01 (06:15):
Yeah, I I do remember that.
Like we were like super excited.
We're like, oh my gosh, she'sjust because you just dug in and
like followed the process.
And you know, it's crazy becauseright, like those are the
results that happen when you doit.
And then we were like, we werelike, oh wow, this is like a
lot.
Like we're super excited, butlike, is it okay?
And then of course, like youwere just amazing and handled
(06:39):
everything like a badass.
SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Yeah, it fell into place.
And like I did sell one of them,but so I did six, I did flip
one, and then the other five, Iturned into mature mentals.
And the one I was alwaysplanning on doing it as a
maternal, but it took a lot moreto fix it, it was bad.
So then the one across thestreet, I'm like, I can just
like make this pretty, you know.
(07:01):
So we did some paint andcleaning, and then I'm like, I'm
gonna try this first and see ifit works.
And then if it works, I'll makethe other ones do it.
But if it doesn't work, thenI'll just sell them and flip
them like I would normally do.
So my numbers always worked as aflip, but my focus started
becoming income.
So I will be honest and say Ihave purchased a couple of
(07:21):
properties that maybe didn't fitthat flip criteria, but it it
met my income criteria.
So in January 24, my husband hadsome health issues, so he wasn't
able to work anymore.
So I really at that point justwent all in on this.
Like this is what I'm this ishow I replace his income.
(07:43):
Plus, I still work full-time, sobut this is my full-time job as
well.
So I do too.
But I love it.
One of the things that I findwith midterms is it's a
different clientele.
So you're not chasing rent likeyou do potentially with
long-term rentals.
I still have two long-termrentals and they're fine.
(08:06):
When they vacate, I will turnthem into midterms.
You're in the house more often,or somebody is in the house more
often.
So, like on a long-term rental,you might not be in that house
for a year, two years, or and Idon't necessarily be in it, but
like it might not switch.
So when you they do move out,you're like, Oh, I didn't see
(08:26):
all this work that needs to bedone.
With the midterm rentals, I'm inthere every three months or six
months, and um, it's justthey're easy turns.
Most of the time, they're peoplethat all they do is eat and
sleep.
That's all they're there for.
You know, they uh I have a rightnow we have a data center being
built in our community, and it'sbeen amazing.
(08:49):
So most of my people areconstruction people, and I've
always had people when I saythat kind of give me a weird
look.
And I said, honestly, so far, myconstruction people have been
some of the best, some of thebest.
They eat and they sleep andthey're never there.
I have started to build in amonthly cleaning for the rent.
(09:09):
It's just like I don't sayanything, it just I add an extra
$50.
And I say, you know, we come inonce a month and do light
cleaning, and that's not a deepclean, but it's a light clean.
It helps at the end, it helpssave sheets and blankets and all
that kind of stuff becausepeople are used to also hotels
sometimes, so they don't thinkchange sheets.
Some people do, some peopledon't.
So in the beginning, I learnedthat I was going through a lot
(09:32):
of betting.
So now we come in once a monthand we make sure it all gets
switched out, so that's nice.
And then the income with themidterm is better than the long
term.
So I charge one and a half totwo times the normal long-term
rent, it just kind of depends.
I do include utilities, Wi-Fi.
(09:54):
I don't supply cable becausethere's so many streaming
services out there anymore.
So I just give them good Wi-Fiand let them stream their own.
Initially, I didn't put TVs inbedrooms.
I've started putting TVs inbedrooms just way, this way, you
know, this they have one.
There's a lot of mixed feelingson that, and it really depends
on the generation, right?
(10:14):
So lots of traveling nurses, Ifind they don't need they don't
want TVs in their bedroomsbecause they have their laptops
and they just use that.
But people my generation, myage, we want TVs in the bedroom.
So, you know, one of my tricksthat I found early when I
started was estate sales.
So I started a lot of my stuffcomes from estate sales, you
(10:37):
know.
There's always especially ifit's like maybe an older couple,
they had a spare room for thekids to come visit, and the
bed's like brand new.
Basically, no one was ever noone ever slept on it because it
was just a spare room.
So that's kind of where Istarted getting beds and
dressers and that kind of stuff.
And then initially I bought newthings, you know, like all the
(10:58):
kitchen stuff was new andeverything was new.
Well, after it's used, once it'sused, so I kind of changed my my
priority on some of that.
Like, I still buy new stuff,don't get me wrong, but if I can
find a really nice couch that'sfor sale, cheap and it's
comfortable and it works, I buythat because you never know
(11:20):
what's gonna happen.
I had one house where I had acouple extra guys staying with
them that I didn't know about,and they were using the couch as
a bed, and now I put that in mylease that you can't use the
couch as a bed because it breaksit down.
You know, just little thingslike that that I've kind of
learned along the way.
And then like the short-termrental, I sometimes I do that in
(11:42):
between, like if I have a monthopen or something, like if
somebody moves out October 1stand I've got somebody checking
in October 28th, I don't like tolet it sit.
So sometimes then I'll throw iton as a short-term rental on
Airbnb or something like that.
However, I found recently, and Ithink one thing people should
know is that your insurancemight not cover that.
(12:04):
So tell me more about that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:07):
So yeah, tell me more about that.
SPEAKER_02 (12:09):
So a lot of your rental policies are only gonna
cover for 31 days and more.
So if you have somebody come infor two weeks and something
happens, there's a good chanceyour insurance isn't gonna cover
it unless you truly haveshort-term rental insurance.
And it's usually about doublewhat the normal insurance is.
(12:31):
So I kind of went away fromdoing short term because I'm
like, I did the math.
I'm like, it was gonna doubleall of my policies, you know,
that's a lot.
And then I kind of like went inand looked at what I made, and
I'm like, it's probably notworth it.
So I just I don't do midterm orshort term much anymore.
Plus, I was always stressed outabout reviews, you know.
(12:52):
Like I always get five-starreviews, and the first time I
got like a four and a half, Iwas mad.
And you know why?
It was because I didn't havesalt and pepper shakers.
That was the only complaint.
And I'm like, really?
So then I just decided thatmaybe that's not my platform.
SPEAKER_01 (13:08):
Yeah, I so agree with you.
I think, you know, for somepeople out there, the Airbnb
strategy works for them.
It's their wheelhouse.
But that's why, like a lot ofwhat you've said is why like I
really love the midterm rentalstrategy.
Um, you know, just to kind ofrecap, it's the income.
You know, you're asking one anda half to two of the long-term
(13:31):
rent.
So that's great.
So, and for some areas where Ilive, a long-term rent, you
know, you'd kind of be breakingeven.
But with the midterm strategy, Ican actually cash flow a
property, which is super cool.
You know, having somebody paythe mortgage, getting the
equity, and, you know, even justa little bit of cash in my
pocket every month from thathouse to me is is really just
(13:52):
awesome.
But yeah, like some of thethings you may, I didn't know
about the insurance thing.
So I learned something newtoday.
That's so cool.
But yeah, for me, it's thestress.
You know, like you said, likeyour midterms, you know, I have
some people that stay like ninemonths.
So I'm not worrying about who'sthe tenant coming in.
You know, I can see their usagefor electricity and water.
(14:14):
I do pay utilities as well.
You know, I same thing.
I give them Wi-Fi, they havestreaming services.
But yeah, same thing.
So they're there and they'reworking.
Like I have one girl who stays,she's rented it for nine months.
She stays there for two days outof the week, and then she goes
home.
And she is, she's literallythere to like sleep, eat, turn
around, and then she goes home.
(14:34):
So for me, it's a lot less wearand tear on the furniture and
the house itself and theturnover with Airbnb.
And yes, I tell people, like,you know, I'm a big proponent
for hiring property managementjust because I don't deal well
with people calling me in themiddle of the night to tell me
something is broken because I'm,you know, don't wake me out of
my beauty sleep.
(14:55):
Okay.
But part of it is two, it's it'sa lot less stressful in finding
tenants, like who's the nextperson?
Are we, you know, maxing out ourAirbnb and reviews, right?
Because even though like I'vehired a property management
company at the end of the day,I'm still the one who owns the
home.
So if the reviews are bad and Idon't get bookings, I have to
(15:17):
cover the mortgage.
And so for me, like that's justreally high stress that I didn't
want in my life.
And so I've found like themidterm rental is just such a
great combination of the stresslevel I'm okay and comfortable
with, as well as maximizing out,you know, the rent and
maximizing out what I'm gettingout of that property.
SPEAKER_02 (15:39):
Yeah, it's a different mindset.
It really is.
Like I have people all the timeask me, like, well, why do you
do that?
Can't just do a regular rental.
That's why you're not turningit.
And I'm like, no, no, no, no.
unknown (15:51):
No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01 (15:52):
Yeah.
And I think it's super cool thatyou brought up like construction
workers because I think, youknow, when I first everybody
hears about midterm rentals,they automatically just assume
you're just talking abouthealthcare workers, right?
Because that's like when I firststarted, that's all I knew is
nurses.
And I was like, okay, oh, travelnurses.
And I thought, I was like, well,gosh, how many of those can
(16:12):
there be out there?
And but like there, I've learnedthere's so many different
categories of people who usethem.
Like I had one, he was anuclear, some sort of special
nuclear physicist, engineer, Idon't know, really smart guy.
There were only five of him inthe country, basically, that did
his job.
So he traveled all aroundwherever he wanted, you know,
(16:33):
when they needed somebody tofill in or come in and fix the
issues they were having.
And he and his wife, like hewould, she would come with him
and she would just, they wouldexplore the area.
They would live.
If they liked it, they'd staylonger.
So they actually ended up, Ithink they ended up staying with
me for six months because theyjust love the area.
But it's neat to kind of expandyour thinking and think about
like recently I was introducedto the insurance portion, which
(16:56):
I think we're gonna talk aboutwith you because you've really
nailed that down.
But it's just more of, you know,finding, I didn't even think
about that, right?
Like somebody's house burnsdown, where do they go?
Uh, you know, they need atraditional home that's already
set up or like water damage, orlike, you know, we've had bad
storms here with like roofdamage, and the insurance
company, you know, needs to putthem somewhere.
(17:17):
And we all know they don't movevery quickly uh with things and
repairs.
So we've had, you know, I've hadfriends that have midterm
rentals that have had peoplethere that have been there for,
you know, a couple months, sixmonths.
I've had someone that's been upto a year.
So, you know, it's just it'svery neat to hear the different
people that move in as far as orwho need the midterm rentals.
(17:37):
There's so much more out there,other than, you know, obviously
the traveling nurses, shout outto them, healthcare workers,
you're amazing.
But there are a bunch ofdifferent types of tenants who
love a good midterm rental.
SPEAKER_02 (17:52):
So yeah, I have an insurance claim right now.
He's been there 21 months, and Iknow I have him at least another
two.
So good and bad though, kind ofgoes back to what I said
earlier.
Like, I haven't been in there toclean that house very much.
I like I did like a middle, likeafter a year, I'm like, can I
just come clean?
(18:14):
And you know, but it's gonna bejust like a long-term move out,
but that's okay because he'sbeen paying for it.
SPEAKER_01 (18:21):
Yeah.
And so like it's so cool inthat, like to me, I get really
excited.
Like, property manager calls andthey're like, hey, you know,
they want to do an extendedstay.
And I'm like at the midtermrental rate, and they're like,
Yes.
And I'm like, perfect, lovethat.
Uh, just you know, to kind ofrecap, a lot of times with a
midterm rental, we are gettingone and a half to two times what
(18:42):
we could get for the long-termrent.
So, same amount of time, samespace, almost double the money.
So for me, I'm like, yes, that'sa hell yes.
Like, let's do it.
SPEAKER_02 (18:52):
Absolutely.
Yesterday I just signed a10-month lease for uh
construction and crane worker.
So, and he's like, I got morepeople, and that's the nice
thing about with construction,you gotta think about it.
If you have more than one unit,this company's bringing these
people into town.
And if you're nice and you talkto them, and you know, like now
I'm getting to the point wherethey're just sending people to
me, you know, like I don't thinkit's amazing.
(19:14):
Yeah, and that's great.
So I love that.
Yeah.
So I think the only bad thing isthis happened to me last year,
is then they all moved out atthe same time.
SPEAKER_01 (19:22):
January.
They're like, all right, job'sdone, we're out.
Yeah, and I think like for me,that's neat.
Like, I love, you know, a littlebit of the hospitality end of
things and like making peoplefeel welcome and setting up a
nice, comfortable, safe spacefor them, but not to the level
of like an Airbnb where I haveto be like all, you know, quote
unquote on all the time, likesuper over the top.
(19:46):
I think Airbnb guests'expectations are a lot different
than midterm rental.
I think they expect you to like,you know, you know, oh, there's,
you know, a spot of dirt on thefloor, and they expect you to
run over and clean it becausethey're paying a premium for a
vacation space.
Whereas like I've had, you know,midterm rental guests who are
like, hey, like I so sorry, Ibroke a coffee pot.
(20:07):
I'm like, cool, no problem.
Is it okay if I just Amazon youone?
And they're like, yeah, that'sgreat.
Thanks.
Like, and I'll just deliver it,you know, over to the rental
with that.
But yeah, you know, that's soneat that you've had so much
like word of mouth.
But if you don't mind, let'stalk a little bit about the
insurance like portion of it.
Cause I know you've had greatsuccess uh with, you know, like
(20:29):
if you talk us through like howdo you contact how does that
work?
Like who do you contact?
Are there people you can reachout to?
You know, what is your strategywhen asking for, you know, the
coverage for the the rent?
Like anything you want to share,I'd love to hear.
SPEAKER_02 (20:45):
Sure.
So this one that I got rightnow, it was very early.
It was my second tenant.
So I definitely left some moneyon the table and I didn't know
that.
But there was a good part ofthat is though, like with
insurance claims, they have likeX amount of housing budget.
So let's just say they have$30,000 worth of coverage for
(21:07):
housing if something happens totheir house.
Well, if they're staying in ahotel that burns up fast, I have
found that lots of timesinsurance claim rents usually
around$3,000, you know, like inthat range.
Well, with this guy, I'm onlycharging him$18.50 because it's
a small house.
But because I was able to chargehim$18.50, he was able to make
(21:30):
that budget of$30,000 orwhatever it was last way longer
than what somebody if I wouldhave been charging$3,000.
I mean, now if when I get mynext insurance claim, it's gonna
be a little different, but now Iknow also cleaning fees.
So I charge cleaning fees upfront when they move in for
their move out.
Well, I usually charge$100,000,$150.
(21:53):
Well, this guy's been in there,he's gonna be in there like 23
months.
It's gonna cost me more than$150to clean that, but you don't
know that.
So the one thing that insuranceclaims want is a contracted
amount that will stay the same.
So they send me a like anextension every couple months or
(22:13):
whatever, but it they don't giveme the option to increase it.
So you got to keep that in mindtoo.
Like, you know, obviously myproperty taxes have gone up, my
insurance has gone up in twoyears.
Like, this is this guy is a is aunique situation because he's
been there for so long, but I doself-manage my properties.
I'm still in that, like, I wantto keep all my money.
SPEAKER_01 (22:36):
And yeah, well, and I think the good thing with
midterm rental is like that's alittle bit more obtainable and
like doable because of thecadence and flow.
SPEAKER_02 (22:45):
Yes, yes.
And the one thing that I do andI do write is one, I will live
in any property I own.
So I don't band-aid it.
And all but one of these housesthat I've got as midterms, I
went in and gutted and I treatedit like a flip.
So then when I did it, I did itright.
You know, I've got a couplehouses that have on-demand hot
(23:08):
water heaters.
Like I do it so that I don't getthose two o'clock in the morning
maintenance calls.
You know, now I'm not gonna saythat in the winter, one time the
furnace went out in the middleof the night, it happened, but
that happens anywhere.
But I do them right so that Idon't I try not to have those
maintenance calls.
And I feel like I don't get alot of phone calls.
And if I do, I know within thefirst three days that I'm gonna
(23:32):
get phone calls.
SPEAKER_01 (23:34):
Yeah, I think that's so important.
I do the same thing for myrentals.
You know, I I do everything upfront, like it would be a flip,
and then my thoughts on it arethe exact same, right?
Like if we go ahead and fixeverything, it should after
that, it should just bemaintenance over the next 10 to
15 years.
And then also like it does, youknow, get the calls down a
(23:56):
little bit because things aren'tbreaking on a regular basis.
SPEAKER_02 (23:59):
Yeah.
So back to the insurance claim.
Um, since I self-manage, when Iknow that something's coming up,
I start to get a little twitchy.
So I get on every single websitethat I can find that's insurance
companies, and I've registeredmy properties.
Like, you can like just Googlerelocation companies, insurance
(24:20):
relocation, those kind ofthings, and you'll get lists.
I've joined lots of Facebookgroups that are midterm rentals,
and then I've looked for likerelocation Facebook groups.
So I see a lot of those.
I get some leads from thosesometimes.
If I see a lead that is in myarea, I don't care what the
criteria is that they're lookingfor.
(24:41):
As long as I have the rightspace, I will contact them every
single time.
And it doesn't matter if it'sfurnished finders, if it's
Zillow, if it's an insurancecompany, I contact them and you
gotta do it quick.
You gotta do it quick.
This midterm rental isdefinitely a different space
than what long-term rentals are.
(25:02):
So, like yesterday, I had a guyon fake and furnished finders
just put it out there as ageneral request, which means the
general request is it goes toanybody that's registered.
So within five minutes, I hadsent him a message and I'd sent
him some pictures because I hada property that I didn't have on
furniture finders because yougot to pay a fee, furnished
finders$175.
(25:23):
So sometimes I just take some ofmy old properties that look the
same because a lot of myproperties are the same, and I
just put one of those propertiesup as available.
And so then I sent him a text.
Hey, I have a property of that'scoming available.
It looks similar to this one.
I can text you and or email youpictures, and so then that's
what I did.
And within 15 minutes, I had alease signed, a deposit, a
(25:48):
background check, done.
And money, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:53):
Wow, 15 minutes.
Do you do all of that likethrough furnished finders as far
as like the tools and you knowthe screening and everything?
SPEAKER_02 (26:03):
So the furnished finders I use for their
background check, but they don'tcharge the landlord for that,
they charge the tenant.
I use their background check.
I like it, it's quick.
My goal the last six or this sixmonths is like really trying to
automate better because I doGoogle Docs and then I send it
and email it, and it's hard toget the digital signatures.
(26:25):
So I've started working with Iright now.
I'm working with uh it's aprogram called Rent Ready, and
you can send the lease.
They can send, they can sign thelease, they have to take a
picture of theirself with theirID so that you can verify it's
them, and then they can set uppaying rent and everything right
through the program.
It's a cheaper program, it's alittle bit more cumbersome.
(26:48):
So I haven't decided if I'm soldon that one yet or not, but I'm
using it.
But it's quick because then Ijust upload the lease and I he
signs it, he takes a picture ofhimself with his ID, sends in
the back, and then I sign itdigitally and we're good.
SPEAKER_01 (27:03):
Wow, that's awesome!
SPEAKER_02 (27:04):
Yeah, so that's that automated part that I've been
like struggling with a littlebit that I'm trying to get
better, you know, because Istill have my handy dandy Excel
sheet.
Gotta love Excel.
Gotta love Excel.
I trust Excel more.
SPEAKER_01 (27:22):
That's awesome.
So one of the things that likereally I found interesting when
when you were talking about likeyour location, and I think this
also kind of leans me toward whymidterm rentals are a more
viable option for more peoplethan maybe an Airbnb.
So no shade at all, but you litlike Tacita Rapids, but like
(27:43):
there's that's not a super hotvacation destination.
I would imagine like it's notlike the mountains or the beach
or you know, somewhere wherethere's, I don't know, like
Disney World.
I think it's a great example,right?
Yeah.
So to me, this is so coolbecause it's saying, like, hey,
here's a great viable optionthat is super like friendly for
(28:09):
you and like landlord, and likeyou're maximizing your earning,
but you don't necessarily haveto be in like a big city like
Austin, Texas, or you know, ahuge draw for vacationers, um,
where it gets like supercompetitive, like Orlando and
Disney World.
And you're like, you know, yeah,I'm right here in the heart of,
you know, just a great town inAmerica and it works.
(28:33):
And I think that's like I livein Columbia, South Carolina.
You know, we've got collegefootball, but like other than
that, there's not a huge, youknow, it's not Charleston, which
is on our coast, where there's ahuge draw for vacationers, but
I'm very successful with my withmy midterm because there are a
huge amount of people who canutilize them that aren't just
(28:55):
vacationing.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (28:57):
Yes.
Now, you know, I have a couplerentals out in western Iowa,
small town, 900 people.
Am I gonna turn that one into amidterm?
No, it's gonna stay my longterm.
And it's still, I mean, I'm notgonna say that that's not gonna
work out in those areas becausethere's things that bring things
to town.
People move and they can't closeon a house.
(29:19):
I had a couple for a monthbecause they had sold everything
in Missouri and moved back toIowa.
And they thought they'd be ableto find a house and buy a house
in like two weeks in Iowa.
Well, no, they couldn't.
So they saved.
SPEAKER_01 (29:32):
Yeah, that's I mean, and that's a whole other great
audience that you justintroduced.
Like people who aretransitioning, you know, I'm in
real estate as an agent as well.
Um, and yeah, that's somethingthat happens sometimes, you
know, where people are having tosell a home prior to buying.
That's just the season we're inin the market.
And yeah, like where do they go?
Like whether it's two weeks or amonth, or oh my gosh, we can't
(29:54):
find anything we like, but wehad the perfect buyer.
So we went ahead.
Yeah, you're exactly 100% right.
A midterm rental would befantastic because they don't
have to like pack up all oftheir stuff, unpack it at a
rental, pack it all back up, andthen move it.
They can kind of just pack stuffup, put it in storage.
They can live very comfortablyin the space that you're
(30:14):
providing.
And then when they're, you know,they close on their new house,
they're able to just go aheadand you know, kind of just move
stuff in basically once.
SPEAKER_02 (30:22):
Yeah.
And I market to realtors.
You know, like I send my flyers.
I made a flyer and I send it toall the real estate offices.
And then the realtors that Iknow, like, I'm like, hey, when
you guys have a meeting, can yoube like, talk about me?
Uh, because they do have people.
And I mean, for something likethat, I I'll do shorter time,
you know, something.
You know, one of my houses Ibought came with eight storage
(30:44):
sheds.
And so I was marketing to one ofmy realtors and I was talking to
her, and she was saying that,yeah, my people have to be out,
but they don't know where to puttheir stuff.
I'm like, I have a storage shed.
SPEAKER_01 (30:54):
You're like, I have the perfect, and that's actually
like a perfect solution, right?
It's like an all in one.
Like you move in, but you candraw your stuff here.
Yeah, that's super cool,actually.
SPEAKER_02 (31:05):
Whatever.
So, yeah, I mean, it's justproblem solving.
This this business is aboutproblem solving.
SPEAKER_01 (31:11):
Yes, a hundred percent.
And I tell people like, truly,that's one of the reasons that I
was drawn to real estate in theinvestment space is I love I
love solving problems.
I love to move the puzzle piecesaround, you know, play the
chessboard, uh, pivot.
Like that's kind of my ultimatething.
And so it's just, it's very coolto be in a space where
creativity and you know,figuring out what's the next
(31:34):
step or how do we make this workin a win-win situation.
That is truly one of the thingsthat really drew me to real
estate investing.
unknown (31:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (31:42):
Yeah, I just have one of my houses, it's a large
house.
It's three bedrooms, very big.
That's more of an executiverental.
And I had four brothers thatneeded a place.
They came up from Texas to workon the data center and they're
like struggling to find places.
We're having so many people intown, people are struggling to
find stuff.
So they came and looked at it.
They're like, Yeah, I'm like,well, where's the fourth person
(32:03):
gonna sleep?
Because you can't sleep on thecouch.
And they're like, Oh, we'll justput an air mattress somewhere.
I'm like, I thought about it fora second.
I'm like, I can do better.
I said, How about we take thislittle couch and move it and
I'll put a bed there, and thenyou'll have a bed there.
It'll be in the middle of theliving room, but it'll be and it
had two living rooms, so it wasfine.
And they're like, Oh, perfect.
I mean, I'm like, you're gonnaspend all this money, I'm not
(32:25):
gonna make you sleep on an airmattress.
SPEAKER_01 (32:27):
Yeah, that's and that's so cool.
Like it's so cool that you, youknow, as a landlord, you lead
with heart and you're solvingtheir problems and that you were
able to accommodate that.
And that's again another reasonI love the midterm space, is
like I feel like both partiesare trying to work to make it
the best experience for bothpeople.
I find that a lot where it'slike, okay, hey, you know, this
(32:50):
maybe didn't work, but like, canwe try this instead?
And a lot of times the tenantsand or on the other side, like
on my end, as of the landlord,it's been kind of easy to go,
okay, yeah, you know what, wecan make that work.
SPEAKER_02 (33:03):
Like, yeah, I had a lady reach out for the storage
sets the other day, and she'slike, I'm just a new
photographer and I just need aspace to like take pictures.
And she's like, Do you think Icould run a shed?
I'm like, sure, sure.
SPEAKER_01 (33:16):
Why not?
SPEAKER_02 (33:17):
Why not?
You know, it just gives yougotta really be open-minded.
Um that's one of the things thatpeople give me a hard time about
all the time is that you'recrazy.
I hear I'm crazy every day.
And probably, but I love it.
SPEAKER_01 (33:30):
I think that's a little something that you need
as an investor.
You need to be like a little bitoff off kilter, just because it
does like it.
And again, that's why like Ithink it's amazing.
You get to be creative, you getto be a problem solver, you get
to help people, and also likemake money and get time freedom.
Like, I again, I just can't findanything better than real estate
investing.
(33:50):
Okay.
I agree, totally agree.
It's amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (33:55):
Yeah, you know, and there's been some bumps along
the way.
I won't say that it's all beenclear sailing.
I've learned some things, youknow.
Like I think I said earlier,like I used to buy stuff new
right off the bat.
Well, it's not new anymore.
Things disappear.
Uh, you know, I buy goodquality, I buy certain things
good quality towels, sheets,blankets, pans.
(34:16):
Pans are iffy because I replacepans a lot because people burn
stuff and then they don't cleanthem right or whatever.
But right, um, I buy all thosethings, and when I find a sale,
I buy as much as I can.
I have a whole shelf full oftowels right now because Costco
had a sale.
So I buy stuff when I see it.
Yeah, um, I know like right nowI've I've got eight fully
(34:40):
furnished, fully rented units.
I've got four more coming onlinein the next two weeks to 60
days.
So as I'm like places, I'm like,oh, and I name all my places,
I'm like, oh, that'll be greatfor Shabby Chic, or that'll be
good for the cornerstone.
So like I'm collecting thingsright next four units right now,
(35:01):
you know, Facebook marketplace,love hate relationship.
Yeah.
You know, so that's that's onething.
You know, I think what I wouldtell people the most is you have
to have patience because Idon't.
And so when things come open orgonna come open, I think I said
(35:24):
it early.
I get twitchy.
And so then I spend every extramoment.
Okay, where else can I marketthis house?
How can I how can I make it beavailable or see it?
You know, I've gone to all ofour union halls, I've gone to
our our realtors, just myinsurance, my personal insurance
agent, you know, just you gottatell people what you do.
(35:46):
Just yes, tell them what to do.
SPEAKER_01 (35:48):
Thank you.
I tell people all the time, likeyou have to tell people, the
universe, whatever, like what isit that you need?
What are you looking for?
Because I I've so I found thatso often is like it's a lot of
times you don't know thatsomebody knows somebody that
knows someone and they they'rethe ones who need it.
But if you never voiced, like,hey, you know, I'm looking for
(36:11):
this, or hey, I have a rental,it's coming open in August.
You know, maybe you post that onyour Facebook and you're like,
well, nobody on my Facebook isgonna need a rental, but they
might know somebody.
Uh and very quickly, you know,again, this you're helping.
You're helping someone find aspace that they need.
So yeah, I'm a huge proponentfor, you know, tell people what
(36:31):
you're looking for, tell people,and it's more of like tell
people what you can provide,right?
It's not being salesy, it's notbeing, you know, me, me, me.
It's, you know, hey, I have thisspace and I provide this
service.
Well, somebody needs that spaceand that service.
So it's I love that likeconnection aspect of everything.
SPEAKER_02 (36:51):
That's one thing that I've learned from this
program is that tell people whatyou do.
So, like I said, I've been alandlord since 2001.
I didn't have a business carduntil I joined this program.
I didn't have a Facebook page offor my business.
I didn't have a website.
I never thought about that.
I've been a landlord forever,but I didn't think of it as a
business.
Right.
And even when I was flippingproperties one or two a year, I
(37:14):
still wasn't thinking it as abusiness.
But this program changed mymindset.
And like, I now I'm like, I havebusiness cards, and I can't tell
you how many times I hand themout.
Now I'm like, here, here, here.
SPEAKER_01 (37:25):
Like, look, this is pretty.
Look at my nice business card.
SPEAKER_02 (37:28):
So you know, it's a mindset.
And now my husband jokes aroundall the time.
He says, most wives buy shoes orpurses.
My wife buys houses.
SPEAKER_01 (37:40):
Yes.
Yeah, I get that a lot.
And especially like we travel alot.
And so like I'm always lookingat real estate when we travel,
just because it's like, youknow, I'd rather have a spot
that I own that someone else ispaying the mortgage for.
And if we go there a couple oftimes a year, great.
Um, so yeah, same thing.
He's like, or I forgot what wewere doing the other day.
(38:00):
He was like, Oh, did you buy ahouse today?
And I hadn't.
Like, I was like, I've been withyou the whole day.
Like, we didn't go to a close.
But it was just, yeah.
So I get that.
It's so funny when it's like,you know, yep, I'm not into
purses, I'm not into shoes.
Um, I do like to travel.
Oh, and I like to buy houses forfun.
Like that for fun.
That's my thing.
Um, so yes.
SPEAKER_02 (38:20):
But I was in Florida last weekend with my
sister-in-law, and right by thehotel, there was a house for
sale.
And I'm like taking pictures andsending it to my husband, and
he's like, Oh god.
SPEAKER_01 (38:31):
Yeah, totally get it.
And I think like, you know, justto kind of connect that to what
we're talking about with themidterm rentals, is that you can
do this in in anywhere, like anymarket.
You know, I do it here inColumbia, you do it there in
Cedar Rapids.
We have women who do it all overthe country, big cities, little
cities, vacation places,non-vacation places, close to
(38:54):
hospitals, not close tohospitals.
You know, you've just you'veshared so much with us today.
I really appreciate it.
The knowledge is incredible.
And like I said, it's reallyjust been amazing to watch your
journey.
Um, and I think I heard you say,like, so how many like actual
homes are you up to right now inyour portfolio?
SPEAKER_02 (39:13):
I was calculating before.
I've I've I believe 15.
SPEAKER_01 (39:16):
Okay.
I love that you have to likestop and think about it.
I did.
Like I was like pacing thismorning.
And you're like, okay, we wear,who are we?
What are we doing today?
Yeah.
I mean, that's incredible.
Like, that's no, that's no smallfee at all.
And I think that's gonna be soinspiring for our listeners.
And especially that you've beenable to, you know, really
maximize everything as far aslike maximizing profit with the
(39:40):
midterm rental strategy.
And then, you know, my favoritepart is like reducing the stress
of not doing short term, andthen like long-term again, is
it's I think every rental hasits pros and cons.
But for me, the midterm rentalis really where the magic is as
far as like marrying all of thepros and cons together.
And then the pros and cons kindof you know, the more the pros,
(40:02):
weighing out any cons that existin that space.
SPEAKER_02 (40:06):
Yeah.
I know like when I walk into aproperty now, one of my first
questions is how much fun can Iget out of this?
You know, and so like ADUs,mother-in-law suites.
That's my thing now.
So basements into mother-in-lawsuites.
SPEAKER_01 (40:20):
Yeah, that's and I had a friend who they had a
house like that, and it was oneof those that they actually
ended up getting it over otherinvestors because other
investors couldn't, it was avery, you know, quote unquote
weird, wonky layout.
And other people couldn't seeit.
Well, they divided like thebottom of the house, they put
the door on the back, the frontof the house, they had the front
(40:40):
door, and like the top floor wasits own unit, the bottom was its
own unit.
And then there was like a poolhouse they turned into an ADU,
and it was its so in oneproperty, they had three and
they made they were midtermrentals.
So on one property, like soyou're paying mortgage on one
property, and they had threeseparate units on the same
property that were payingmaximum rent.
(41:03):
So cash flowing, likegangbusters, great tenants, all
of that, like just all of themagic.
SPEAKER_02 (41:10):
So I love it.
Yes.
I'm so glad that I listened toDebbie's podcast.
It truly changed my life.
SPEAKER_01 (41:16):
Yeah.
And I love that, like, you know,I hate that we, you know, kind
of have to wrap up because Ithink we could talk about this
all day.
But one of the really cool fullcircle moments for me was like
hearing you talk about like Ilistened to this podcast about
midterm rentals, and that's whatgot me interested.
And I joined.
And like I said, I mean, you'vejust been amazing to watch.
(41:38):
Like you've learned, you'vetrusted the process, you've done
the work.
And then to now be sitting withyou and doing a podcast, you
know, with, you know, like Isaid, I always call you our
midterm rental queen with themidterm rental queen and just
all of the value that you'veadded back.
I mean, gosh, I've learned stufftoday.
I really hope our audience hastaken away a good bit.
Um, so I just want to say thankyou so much for sitting down
(42:01):
with me.
And this is this has beenincredible.
SPEAKER_02 (42:03):
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I was so excited when youreached out.
I'm like, yes, I want to dothat.
SPEAKER_01 (42:08):
I love it.
It's a hell yes.
Yep.
All right.
Well, thank you so much, Stacy.
We appreciate you and sharingall of your information.
Yeah, great.
Thanks for having me.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday on the Flip Houses Like a
Girl podcast.
I hope you found inspiration andsome practical takeaways from
Stacy's story.
(42:29):
One of the key takeaways for me,for her story, was the fact that
this can be successful prettymuch anywhere in the country.
You don't have to have like asuper vacation-centered area,
and you can earn twice what younormally would with long-term
rent.
Ladies, remember everysuccessful flip starts with one
(42:49):
brave decision to get in thegame, and you don't have to do
it alone.
If you're ready to take the nextstep towards flipping your first
house, we'd love for you tolearn more about the Flip
Sisters program.
It's the leading coachingprogram and community design
specifically for women acrossthe country who are ready to
flip houses in their localmarkets.
(43:11):
To connect with us, check outthe program, or just get
inspired by more stories likeStacy's, let's visit
theflipsisters.com.
And as always, thank you forlistening, subscribing, and
sharing this podcast with otherwomen who are ready to step into
the world of flipping houses.
Until next time, keep going,keep growing, and remember, you
(43:34):
absolutely can do this.
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