Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today on the podcast,
I have Molly Branson with the
District Residential Group atArla Properties.
She is a DC area realtor,licensed since 2015.
She is also an investor,homestager and mom of one, with
another on the way.
I am excited to bring you thisconversation because I am so
(00:21):
passionate about getting morewomen into investing in real
estate, as it is one of the bestways to build long-term wealth.
Let's dive into theconversation with Molly so, for
everyone who is listening, canyou give us your quick intro
into how you got into realestate?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Sure.
So I just graduated college.
I was actually going to go intonursing, so I got, like, my
nursing prereqs out of the way.
I was applying to acceleratedprograms and I already had a
boatload of student debt.
And I was looking at thetuition for the accelerated
programs and I was like, wow,that's a lot of money.
Oh yeah, yeah, am I sure thatthis is the path I want to go?
(01:05):
So I, you know, hit the brakesand did a complete 180.
I just decided to jump intosave up first of all.
So I waitressed for just undera year at a Irish pub nearby and
saved up and then got my realestate license.
And I'm really happy I did saveup because, man, those first
(01:28):
couple of years are rough as areal estate agent.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
So yeah, they are for
real.
What year was it when you gotinto the business?
It was 2015.
Oh my gosh, you're coming up onyour decade.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I know that's crazy.
Yeah, june 2015.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Oh, congratulations
you made it.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I love saying that I
was like I've been doing this
for a decade.
You're like what?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
We have a similar
trajectory.
I started selling homes rightout of college too, and it's fun
when you start young becauseyou rack up experience and
you're still very young.
Fun when you start youngbecause you rack up experience
and you're still very young.
And so it's.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
It's cool because
you're very experienced but
you're still in your prime Ilove dropping that on interviews
, because people usually doassume not that I look like
super young anymore, right likeI'm not in my 20s, but they're
like well, how long have youbeen doing this anyway?
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I'm like um 10 years
now, sir so it's always a sir,
by the way 10 years.
10 years okay, you are a mom toa little and we have a second
on the way, so how did momhoodinfluence your real estate
(02:41):
journey at all?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I think it really
made me.
Just you've got to be on pointwith how you spend your time,
because now I obviously growingup and the previous nine years
in real estate I had so muchmore flexibility and didn't even
really realize it.
And then once I have a kid,like I also want to spend time
(03:05):
with him.
I don't want to be running allover the place, which I usually
am, like weekends are incrediblybusy.
So I think I've just kind ofrealized that A I need to be as
productive as possible, as fastas possible, I need to hire the
right people and I need to trustothers to do tasks on my behalf
that I don't necessarily haveto do.
(03:26):
So I'm still learning that part.
You know it's kind of hard tolet go, but as long as you have
good people in place, thereshouldn't be any major issues.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
So yeah, it's
definitely a challenge.
I remember when I had my firstin 2015 and it was just like
rocked my world.
I'm like what just happenedthey don't want you no, this
little thing needs so much forme.
I had no idea, and I have areally supportive partner.
(03:56):
I'm sure you do too, but it wasjust like it was just still,
even with a very supportivepartner.
It was just complete chaos,yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
We both were slapped
in the face.
I'm hoping number two, we're alittle bit more prepared, but
like I have no idea, no, numbertwo is a lot easier, number
three very hard, I will say like.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Number three is like
whew, ha, whew, I'm glad we did
it, but also whew, why'd I do it?
I really wanted to talk to youbecause not only are you
juggling real estate and momlife, but you're also a real
estate investor, which I am sopassionate about because I am
also one, and I think that it isa path that a lot of real
(04:44):
estate agents who are womendon't take that often, and so
I'm curious to start at thebeginning of your investor
journey.
Let's talk about how you gotinto being an investor.
What was that first propertyand what was your mindset around
that acquisition?
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, definitely.
Well, I my eyes kind of openedto it because of a client I was
working with and he had donetons of flips on investment
properties, on a ton of rentalsand I was looking for him for a
rental in Southeast DC.
So I was exploring so manyneighborhoods, running the
numbers for him and I just kindof from that experience I was
probably like year four in myhim and I just kind of from that
(05:24):
experience I was probably likeyear four in my career and I was
like why am I not doing this?
Yeah, I'm literally analyzingevery deal for him, like why
shouldn't I jump in too?
So I, you know, I was reallyscared, freaking out.
I didn't even own a house yet,you know.
So my first purchase actuallywas that investment property,
(05:45):
but I did it with my sisterbecause I was way too scared to
do it on my own.
So I had to drag her into it,which and it worked out,
honestly, really well.
Like we, we learned a ton.
The first tenants weren't great, we weren't cash flowing that
well, but I mean, since webought it it's appreciated a
(06:07):
hundred thousand dollars atleast that's awesome.
Yeah, so that's, that's great.
And then we also that housekind of taught us we didn't go
into this house with theintention of doing this method,
but after listening toBiggerPockets for years and
years.
There was an episode with DrJoe at Jaws, samoa, and how he
adds bedrooms to houses forvoucher tenants.
(06:29):
So light bulb kind of went offand we added two bedrooms in the
basement.
Because of the ceiling height,we had a full bath down there
and that like gave us a thousanddollars more a month and we've
had that family in there for, Iwant to say, like five years now
.
Wow, they've been fantastictenants, yeah, one of our best
properties, honestly.
(06:49):
So it wasn't really cashflow inthe beginning, but we were
really excited and now we arecashflow and pretty comfortably.
So that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So when you were
evaluating that initial deal,
like what were your priorities,that like like looking back and
maybe let's start there, andthen I'm wondering now, knowing
what you know, like, whatmistakes do you feel like you
made on that one?
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Yeah, I feel like we
wanted a house that needed minor
touch-ups that we could handle.
We didn't have the budget.
It was, like you know, tightcash up front, so we didn't want
something that wasn'ttechnically move-in ready.
So that was number one.
And then number two obviouslywe were constrained due to
purchase price, so that limitedour areas that we could buy
(07:34):
within DC and we knew we wantedto be within DC.
It's just a market that I knowthe best.
So it was just like drivingthrough neighborhoods feeling
which ones we were comfortable.
Walking down the street met afew neighbors.
They were like don't buy here.
This is not great actually.
And we're like okay, but we diddo a lot of research in that way
and just like actually goingthere, driving the blocks,
(07:56):
walking around, are youcomfortable?
We're like, we actually feelkind of good.
Then that's when we wrote anoffer on and it's been a it's
been a really great location.
People on the block look outfor each other, yeah, and
honestly, I think thatexperience made us a little bit
too confident for a purchase inBaltimore which we did a few
years later, where I juststopped by.
It was an auction.
(08:16):
I stopped by one time andknocked on the door and, like a
little kid, answered it.
I was like hey, do you likeliving here?
And he was like love it.
I was like awesome, answered it.
I was like hey, do you likeliving here?
And he was like love it.
I was like awesome.
And that was enough for me.
But the day that we, the daythat we closed, the tenant who
actually lived there was likehey, I'm moving out, too many
people have died on my doorstepand we're like oh, my gosh now
yeah, so we've sold that onesince so advice is do not trust
(08:42):
six-year-olds and I gave himlike a little like raven's gift
and he was like I love you, Ilove this.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
He's like I'm gonna
tell you anything right now,
because you brought me a presentlike you're the best.
I can totally picture mysix-year-old son doing that,
where, like someone knocks onthe door, he's like do you like
living here?
Yeah, that's the best.
Like what, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Yeah, I don't know
anything else like this is great
why didn't I ask to speak tohis mom or dad, like I just was
like oh, I trust you completely.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah so your main
investment strategy is you buy
and hold and rent.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes, okay, granted, I
am dabbling now into flips and
I'm doing my first condoconversion also Cause I also
work with a ton of developers,not only investors.
So you know I've learned a lotfrom them and I was like similar
mindset If they're doing it,why can't I do it too?
And that has been a learningexperience.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
So oh boy, yeah, yeah
.
So I think a lot of likesomething that whole it doesn't
sound like it's holding you back, which I like, um, but I think
one of the things is, like womenin particular, they don't like
taking risk and we almost liketalk ourselves out of these type
of investments or scenarioswhere we're like, uh, here's all
(10:08):
the things that couldpotentially go wrong.
I'm just not even going tobother doing it.
So tell me more about how youadopt a mindset of risk taking
and like, is that just naturallyyour personality or do you have
like a thought process you gothrough to kind of make yourself
more apt to take on the risk?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
I think what has been
really beneficial for me is
partnering up with people.
So if it was just me trying topurchase that first investment
property, I don't know if Iwould have done it.
That's why I pulled in andgranted, like my sister's more
cautious than I am, but I think,because we both were able to
(10:51):
talk through like worst casescenarios.
It wasn't just like completelyon your shoulders to be like,
okay, if we can't rent it forwhat we think, like then we're
going to have to pay out ofpocket $500 a month Like right,
that's probably worst casescenario with like the average
rents nearby.
You know, it's just it's easierto take that blow mentally if
(11:11):
you have a partner, and I mean,granted, I am, I lucked out
because my sister is into thisand I trust her, obviously, and
also my husband.
He trusts me, he lovesinvesting in investments.
There's the potential upside,yada yada.
So that's my other partner on alot of deals.
But I mean you can, as long asyou have like things written out
(11:32):
like an agreement.
Uh, you can do it with friends,you can do with someone you
meet at a investor meetup, likethere are ways that you can meet
people to do this with you, butI think partnership really has
been a big thing, cause then Ican, you know, make decisions,
and if it goes bad, I'm not theonly one.
That's going to be, you know.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah, it's less
lonely.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
It's totally less
lonely.
Yeah, exactly, but likesometimes I do present our
cashflow like to my husband.
We have like quarterly budgetmeetings or whatever and I'm
like so this was a rough yearand I feel that burden so hard
because I'm dragging him downinto this.
So, like it can, it can goeither way.
(12:15):
But I really think getting apartner, especially maybe for
your first one or first- coupleis really important, because
it's easier to make decisions.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Yeah, I, my husband
is also my investment partner
and so, yeah, we're like similarin that.
Like he trusts me completely,almost too much that like I'm
like, uh, he's like well, if youthink it's a good idea, let's
just do it, and I'm like no, butlike can you look at the
numbers?
He's like no, lindsay, like Itrust you, and I'm like, oh, can
you not maybe a little bit thenumbers?
(12:43):
Yeah, can you like actuallyjust look at the spreadsheet?
I did, because it would make mefeel a lot better.
I've just spent a lot of timein the spreadsheet, right, I did
, and I would like you to lookat it because it's important for
you to understand what's goingon too.
Yes, another way that I've seenpeople enter investing is just
buying a primary residence andthen just renting that out, and
(13:04):
then that was actually how I gotinto investing was just buying
my first place and then rentingit out and then buying another
primary residence and renting itout and buying another one and
renting it out, which is great.
So I think it's interesting Likeyou just went like full into it
.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Molly, I love it.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
You're like no, I am
an investor and I am getting my
sister and we're doing this.
I did it the chicken shit way,which is buy a house I'm going
to live in and then rent it outand then buy a house I'm going
to live in and rent it out.
That's the best way to do it.
I feel like it was very it wasnot as risky, so I like that.
You just went full risk, likeI'm obsessed with that and I did
(13:43):
not.
I like that there's differententry points because you and I
both want to see more women inreal estate investing like 100%.
I think that building wealthfor women, real estate if you're
in real estate, it's yourwheelhouse, it's your area of
expertise.
Like, why are you not takingadvantage of all the knowledge?
(14:04):
Like you just said, you weredoing all of these analyses for
your investor clients.
Like why am I not doing thisfor myself?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
I also like to spin
it where, like if I do make
mistakes because I am like areal estate agent, this is only
making me a better agent,Totally Cause then I get to
share my mistakes with myclients and now I'm going to
better perform than anotheragent who has no experience
talking about this stuff andgoing through it.
So that's how I look at some ofmy failures.
I'm like, Ooh, that was awful.
I'm like okay, well, this is.
I've learned so much throughthis, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
So let's talk about
failures, because I think that
that can sometimes be a littlebit helpful for people is like
imagining worst case scenario.
So let's, can you walk methrough maybe one of your recent
acquisitions or projects andyou're like, all right, here's
like the worst case scenario.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
And then're like all
right, here's like the worst
case scenario and then beinglike I'm okay with that.
Yeah for sure.
Most recent one would probablybe a flip that my sister and I
did in DC.
And I'm new to doing flips bymyself, like art on, you know,
without not being the agent, andlike advising a developer.
I'm new to doing it solo andthe margins were tight and they
kept on getting tighter andtighter and tighter.
(15:22):
But before we went into it a Ihad a good idea of how much
things were going to cost, got acouple of estimates.
That's huge.
You should always get at leasttwo, I think that's huge.
You should always get at leasttwo, I think.
But you know, probably like ourprofit, we're looking at
$30,000 and that can be eaten uppretty quickly.
Oh, yes, you know, butthankfully we did walk away with
(15:45):
almost exactly that amount.
But as backup, you know I alwaysrun rental comps and see if it
would work well as a rental.
The basement ceiling heightswere there, so I know I could
add another bedroom in thebasement, should I want to not
sell this and keep it as arental, and it wasn't.
We would have kept it as arental, but it just wasn't as
(16:08):
profitable.
Like, the cash on cash returnwasn't too solid.
So the flip made the most sense.
But I knew that if, like wespent too much money on it, a
bigger thing came up or peoplejust didn't want to buy it, we
could always rent it out.
So that's why it's important tohave that backup plan, just in
case.
And with real estate plan Bautomatically is almost like
(16:29):
what does it look like as arental property?
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So I think that
that's good advice.
I also like like it's not aboutjust taking blind risk, and I
think so often it seems likethat's what people are doing.
But there is this like what'splan A, what's plan B, what's
plan C, and making sure thatyou're not completely trapped in
a situation that's going tobankrupt you or make it so
(16:53):
you're foreclosing on a propertyor you can't pay a hard money
lender or whatever you know,yeah, in that scenario though,
like, okay, they foreclose onyou, hopefully you bought it in
an LLC, so that LLC, you know,has that ding on it, and then
move forward.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Like I think that,
yes, that would be worst case
scenario, but you could stillget through that, you know so,
yeah.
And like I think that, yes,that would be worst case
scenario, but you could stillget through that, you know, so,
yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:16):
And like again,
perfectionism is sometimes not
the best.
It can be great, but it'ssometimes not the best.
I don't think for real estateinvesting it's the best, but it
is about like that long termgoal or vision for yourself.
So I'm curious, like, likeobviously you're investing and
having fun and probably havingsome not fun days too, but
(17:39):
what's your long-term realestate investing vision?
Like, what's your big?
Why?
Why are you doing this?
Speaker 2 (17:47):
Uh, I really enjoy it
right now in terms of I'm
focusing more so on like theflip side of things now.
Um and don't get me wrong, I dolike the rental side.
I've just have been doing thatfor a little bit longer.
So the development side isnewer to me, which is why it's
more exciting.
You know, get the designelement and all that good stuff.
But I think, long-term, I justsee my family growing and I love
(18:13):
being a real estate agent Ireally do, but it truly is seven
days a week, even when you areon vacation, even when you just
had a baby.
Right, there's no maternityleave for real estate agents,
really.
So I think I see that and seethat I want to spend more time
with my family.
So I kind of view it as anotherincome stream where I still am
(18:37):
going to be fully functioningreal estate agent.
Maybe I'll refer a few moreclients that are at a certain
price point or a certainlocation that I would have been
to years ago, and thedevelopment side of things will
subsidize maybe that, thatdifference in income that I'd be
making, and right now it's justmore fun for me.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
So yeah, yeah, I
think real estate can be
unpredictable.
And also, you're right, you areon a lot Even if you have the
best systems, the best support,the best everything, you're
still ultimately the one that'sresponsible.
So having the diversificationof your income streams, I think,
(19:18):
is so crucial to having sanity.
As a real estate professionalLike you have to have different
income streams.
My reason for being forinvesting is I want to retire
and basically have my passiveincome just support my
retirement.
So in the meantime, my tenantsare paying my mortgages down and
completely off and that's goingto be my retirement, which so
(19:40):
it's like you do have to have areason why, and for you it's
like fun right now, but you'realso building that long term
wealth.
You've created the real estateplayground and you're able to
use all your expertise and yourknowledge and build some wealth
with that, which is reallypowerful.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
For sure.
And to your point, I mean,sometimes I see, because I own a
few properties with my husbandand a few properties with my
sister, and you know I see those, as you know.
My kids' college education fundRight, you know, yeah, cause,
yeah, yeah.
And my retirement, you're right, my retirement plan, that's
like going into it.
I was like I need to have that,because some people have 401ks
(20:20):
that are funded by their jobsand my job doesn't really do
that.
So I'm like this is my 401k.
Exactly, don't ask me specificson tax stuff for that.
But I'm just like this is my401k.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
That's my 401k, right
?
No, I agree.
All right, let's go a littlebit higher level.
What do you feel like?
You wish more women knew aboutreal estate investing.
That it's doable.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
I think that a lot of
people just get so freaked out
about starting and they're like,oh well, I'm in a really
expensive market.
And I'm like, well, yes, you'reabsolutely right, we are in a
very expensive market, but thereare opportunities Granted.
There are certain properties Iwouldn't necessarily buy as like
a long-term investment propertylike a one bedroom condo with a
(21:05):
high condo fee, for example.
Maybe not the best move, right,but I just feel like there's so
many excuses you can make aboutlike how you're limited, that
you just never take action.
So I, yeah, I just think thatit's important for women to make
the right contacts, see thatit's like possible and just act.
(21:29):
There's just such a limited,you know, not a lot of action.
Like I have a, I have a, not topull on any friends or anything
, but I have a couple of friendswho have always expressed
interest in investing orflipping and yada, yada, and I'm
like we've been talking aboutthis for three years now, you
know.
So here are all the tools youknow fall forward, it's okay to
fail.
I think also, being scared tofail is a big one and, granted,
(21:52):
like it is a lot of money that'son the line, but there are
smart ways to protect yourselfagainst that and if you make
mistakes along the way, you area hundred percent.
But now you have a lot moreknowledge than you did two
months ago.
So I think just you really gotto take action.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Let's end on a crazy
positive note.
Tell me what you feel like yourbiggest win has been in your
investing journey.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I think it has just
opened up the door to so many
different clients.
It has really supported mycareer as a real estate agent.
You know which I wasn't reallyexpecting going into it, but of
course it it adds up and makessense.
But now I have so much moreexperience on the development
(22:43):
side, on the investing side, onthe property management side,
that I can talk to so manydifferent things where I
couldn't from the very beginning.
But some other agents who'vebeen in this industry for two,
three decades, maybe they don'thave the same experience in that
realm.
It's just I can see that peopletrust me more because I have
this experience and that hasbeen very beneficial for growing
(23:06):
my career.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Honestly, yeah, you
are a full real estate authority
.
Your authority in real estateis like you've got the master's
degree now.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Like you've got the
master's degree.
He's like you're going to forthis kind of conversion I'm
doing.
He's like you're just gettingyour master's degree.
This is kind of what it is.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
I was like it feels
like it feels like a PhD, but
true, you're like, it feels likea PhD, true.
Well, thank you so much forcoming on and sharing your
wisdom.
If people want to connect withyou, where's the best place for
them to find you?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Probably Instagram.
Molly Branson Realtor.
Okay, awesome and I do have adistrict residential website,
but Molly Branson Realtor is thebest.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
All right.
Well, I hope they find you onInstagram.
This is so great and I justlove that you weren't scared and
you just like, got in therewith your sister on that first
property, because I really thinkit is all about just pulling
off that bandaid and you did it.
And now look at you, you'redoing condo conversions.
Girl, it's amazing.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Thank you.
I look at you.
You're doing condo conversionsgirl.
It's amazing.
Thank you, I'm trying.
We'll see how the off sale is.
All right, I think we have likeanother episode.
Speaker 1 (24:19):
It'll be part two,
post condo conversion and with
baby number two arrival, so trueAugust.
So All right, future episodecoming soon.
Thanks again, molly, thank you.