Rei Talk Detroit | Weekly News And Interviews With Active Real Estate Investors In Metro Detroit, Michigan

In this episode I talk to Mike Schoen and Marianne Marzolla of Donate Real Estate For Good. Mike grew up in the Detroit area and has “The D” in his heart. He is an accomplished biker, hiker and outdoor enthusiast with a love of health and fitness. Educated as an engineer, Mike has always dabbled in real estate investing and he owns multiple income producing properties. He is a father to two grown sons. Marianne is a Detroit transplant and is originally from New Hampshire. At an early age, she was awed by the lovely old neighborhoods in her community and gained a huge appreciation for architecture and the preservation of old homes. She is a licensed professional counselor and gains a sense of satisfaction from being a helper. She is the mother to two grown daughters. She has a passion for working with her hands, creating something from nothing and running. A Word About Finding Motivated Sellers Just a short year ago the question that I got most often from real estate investors here was how to fund deals. Latel

In this episode I talk to Kelly Brittingham. Kelly started her real estate investing business with her Husband Todd in 2009 with their first investment in a single family rental property. Since then she has completed over 40 real estate transactions. Her investments have included single family rentals, lease options, wholesales, fix & flips, turnkey rental properties and most recently they have focused their business on building new homes. In the midst of all of this Kelly is a mom to two great kids – Alivia who is 8 years old and Jaxson who will soon turn 3. Before Kelly was a real estate investor she was a working mom, but she found that her job took significant time away from her kids. Now as a real estate mom, Kelly is able to stay home with her kids focusing on their needs while helping run their well-established real estate business. Crowdfunding News As I mentioned in a prior REI News segment, for the last couple of months I’ve been working on a project involving Crowdfunding. If you’re not familia

In this episode I talk to my good friend Dave Sullivan. Dave is a classic buy-and-hold investor. He characterizes it as "regular guy" investing. My business is pretty similar to his - and so I agree with his characterization. It's not sexy - there are no frills. But the cash flow keeps rolling in month after month after month after month. Dave graduated from Western Michigan University in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in Finance. He started in the mortgage industry as a loan officer in 1991. Less than one year later started selling credit reports to Mortgage Companies, Banks and Credit Unions. On September 19, 1997 he started AIR Credit Midwest out of his car. Over the next two years Air Credit Midwest grew to a multi-million dollar company. In 2000 he was approached by one of the largest Credit Reporting Bureau’s in the nation to purchase AIR Credit Midwest. He sold it and worked for that company as Sales Manager of the Michigan and Ohio market for the next ten years. During his career in the credit industry

In this episode I talk to Todd Brittingham and John Rospierski. Together they formed a new build construction company about a year ago. John's background is in homebuilding, and Todd and his wife Kelly are real estate investors here in the metro are. I'm having Kelly on the show in a couple of weeks to talk about their other real estate investing activities. Oh and Todd also has a day job. Talk about being productive. These guys are just flat out getting it done. Crowdfunding News As I mentioned in a prior REI News segment, for the last couple of months I've been working on a project involving Crowdfunding. If you're not familiar with it, Crowdfunding is where you openly solicit investors you don't know to invest in your business. If you'd looked into this before you know that this used to be highly illegal, and there are several people that you would probably know by name in jail right now for running afoul of the SEC rules regarding general solicitation. But that has changed. A couple of years ago Congress

In this episode I talk to Brian Borawski. Brian is a CPA who happens to have several real estate investors as clients in this area - including me. I've used Brian for several years now, and it's been great to have a knowledgable person like him available when issues come up like the sale of one of my apartment buildings back in January of 2013. The great thing about Brian is that he's versatile. I found him during my search for a CPA who knew real estate investing in depth, but he's also been very helpful in creating and managing a corporation that I set up for an Information Technology consulting business I started two years ago. A Word About Motivated Seller Leads Just a short year ago the question that I got most often from real estate investors here was how to fund deals. Lately though, with the market tightening up and a ton of new investors entering the space, the question I get most often is how to find motivated seller leads. I started in REI here in 2004. And the source that I started with was Probat

In this episode I talk to Todd Waller. Todd is a real estate agent, and in my opinion, he's the premiere agent in Metro Detroit. He has a tremendously successful business model with phenomenal processes, and he combines that with a laser focus on the needs of his clients. His market focus is the I-275 corridor from Commerce Township to Canton, and then west to Ann Arbor. His reputation is borne out by his success: until recently his best year as an agent was 2008 - the very bottom of the market - when something like 30% of the agents in the state quit the business. REI News NO REI news this week in the podcast. My conversation with Todd went long so we skipped the news and went right into the interview. A Word About Motivated Seller Leads Just a short year ago the question that I got most often from real estate investors here was how to fund deals. Lately though, with the market tightening up and a ton of new investors entering the space, the question I get most often is how to find motivated seller leads. I

In this episode I talk to Brent Maxwell. Brent is a real estate broker who works exclusively with real estate investors. He also primarily focuses on properties in the City of Detroit. His clients include both local and foreign investors who have risk capital available to put to work in the city. He started in real estate investing eight years ago, after having his interest piqued in high school by a late night infomercial. REI News NO REI news this week in the podcast. My conversation with Brent went long so we skipped the news and went right into the interview. A Cash Flow Mercenary Rant I'll put my CFM hat on and tell you that I'm really tired of the calls and emails I'm getting about how hard it is to find motivated sellers here in Metro Detroit. I'm tired of it because I've been using the same source of leads for ten years. All of my wholesale deals came from this source. Half of my flips came from this source. And half of the houses in my rental portfolio came from this source. And this source is just a

In this episode I talk to Steve Londeau. Steve is currently a full time wholesaler here in metro Detroit. He had a pretty rocky start to his real estate investing career, but he got focused and got busy, and ultimately co-founded and helped grow a profitable short sale and non-performing note business.    He then had to leave that business rather abruptly due to some family issues, and in the process had to reinvent himself and recreate a six figure income in order to support his growing family.   In the process he created a workflow and set of processes that lets him run his business as a one man operation.    I’m copying some of the processes he mentioned, and you should consider it too.   REI News   NO REI news this week in the podcast. My conversation with Steve went long so we skipped the news and went right into the interview.   But I did want to mention a few things I’m working on that might be of interest:   1) I received a request a couple of weeks ago for bulk rentable properties in the city of D

In this episode I talk to Eric Persha. Eric is a native Detroiter who went away for college then decided to come back to the area and get into real estate. He’s in REI to make money, but he also likes participating in the renaissance of the city.   REI News   NO REI news this week. My conversation with Eric went way long, so we skipped the news and went right into the interview.   Current Business   Eric’s company is called Rehab Detroit. It’s he and his mom working together, and together they’re rehabbing and selling everything from single family homes to four-plexes.   They’re focusing in specific areas in the metro area, and they also do quite a bit in the city of Detroit.   How He Got Started in REI   Score another one for Carleton Sheets! Eric’s parents had been investing down south, so when he moved back here after he graduated from college, he asked his parents why he couldn’t invest here.   His dad went over to the bookshelf and gave him his copy of the Carleton Sheets program.   He went into busi

In this episode I talk to Aaron Yates. We talk about the challenges that lead to him getting started in real estate, we talk about his bankruptcy, we talk about the REI Meetup he founded, and he shares two resources that have made a huge difference in his investing business.     REI News   It’s been a slow week in the news department, so I’ll take this opportunity to ask you for a rating and a review in iTunes. If you like the interviews and the format of the show, you can leave a review via the show’s homepage at REITalkDetroit.com. Click on the box that says leave a review. It’s that easy and it takes two minutes. I would appreciate the feedback.   And if you have a news item to contribute or an event coming up, drop me a line and I’ll get it on the show.     Current Business   Rentals! Aaron is accumulating rentals one by one as he can pay cash for them. It’s great strategy that’s helped him towards his goal of not needing a day job.   He’s starting up a construction company as well to further diversif

In this episode I talk to Allan Daniels. He’s a third generation real estate investor here in Metro Detroit. We talk about his family real estate business, his really cool perspective on making mistakes in your business, how he’s funding his deals, and his pretty black and white take on Dodd Frank.   REI News   Six news items to report today:   First - crowdfunding is coming to real estate investing in michigan. Stay tuned for more information on this. It could absolutely change the way you do business.   Second - my new friend Aaron Yates passed his builder’s license exam last week. So if you see him around, or run into him on social media tell him congrats! He’s going open a rehab business shortly as well. I did an interview with him that will air in the next week or so with all the details. But in the mean time you can find him on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CkiProperties.   Third - it looks like Detroit is now on the map. I received yet another request this week for bulk rentable properties. Thi

In this episode I interview Mike Simmons. Mike is a landlord, a flipper, a podcaster, and he coaches new investors on how to get started in real estate. Mike's husband and father of three. He, along with his wife Nanette, started flipping houses here in metro Detroit back in 2008. He's been successfully flipping houses in Metro Detroit ever since. In November of 2013, Mike started a podcast call "Just Start Real Estate", with the goal of helping new real estate investors "Just Start" their real estate investing business. Mike also recently launched a coaching program which helps him work more closely with investors who want to either launch their real estate business, or take it to the next level! REI News One REI news item this week - and it’s a serious one. It looks like the Fair Housing commissions across the country are stepping up their prosecution of of fair housing violations. If you are a landlord - I strongly encourage you to read the two articles that I saw on this, then do an internal review of you

In this episode I interview Trent Dalrymple, former Hard Money Lender turned Real Estate Investor. Trent’s story is inspiring. He was cursing along with a profitable lending business when the government jumped in and changed the rules. Overnight he had to switch gears and find another way to earn a living. And he did. We talk about what he experienced and what he did about it during our conversation. REI News No local REI News to report this week. Just a reminder though that I’m still looking to put a group of folks together to do some decent volume of suburban turn key properties for a couple of hedge funds that called me. So if you’d like to participate with funding deals, or if you can do some volume in the suburbs (not including cities like Pontiac or Inkster) then go to the contact page http://www.REITalkDetroit.com/contact and let’s talk. And if you have a news item to contribute or an event coming up, drop me a line and I’ll get it on the show. Current Business Trent is now on the investing side of the

In this episode I interview Ron Walraven. He’s a former top REO broker turned real estate investor and deal maker. Ron is incredibly knowledgeable about REI. Having done over 3000 BPOs, he has a lock on property values which is a great advantage when he sizes up deals. He’s also a great resource to new and experienced real estate investors. Even though we’ve both been in real estate in this area for a long time, our paths have really never crossed. So I really enjoyed sitting down with him and catching up. I think you’ll enjoy it too! REI News One item today:My friend Oscar Garner has started a new company called Garner & Associates LLC. They’re doing Venture Capital and Commercial Lending, and so he’s now facilitating venture capital and commercial mortgage loans. If you’re looking for some big ticket funding, I recommend that you call Oscar and see if it makes sense to work together. You can reach him by phone at 248-718-0173 or email at garnerassoc@gmail.com. And I want to remind you that I’m still loo

In this episode I interview Jeremy Burgess, the Detroit Market Expert and Urban Homesteader.   Jeremy has been knocked down and lost everything. Twice. And he goto back up both times. I think he epitomizes the guts and determination that’s required to succeed if you invest in the city of Detroit.   REI News   A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by two smaller hedge funds. Both are looking to build a portfolio of rental homes here in the suburbs. They’d both like to build up to a purchase volume of ten homes per month. So I’m looking to put together a small group of folks with the money and the ability to do that kind of volume here on a consistent basis.So if you’d like to participate with funding deals, or if you can do some volume in the suburbs (not including cities like Pontiac or Inkster) then go to the contact page http://www.REITalkDetroit.com/contact and let’s talk.   Current Business   Right now Jeremy is focusing on his real estate networking group - the Renegade Detroit Investors. He’s on the dow

Welcome to REI Talk Detroit – the show for and about real estate investing in metro detroit. In this kickoff episode I introduce the show, tell you how it’s going to the structured, and very briefly give you my background. And in the money talks segment I tell you how I’m funding my deals. REI Talk Detroit is a show by and for real estate investors here in the Metro Detroit area. Each week I’m going to interview someone in the real estate investing space here in metro detroit. Most of the people I’ll be interviewing will be investors. A few though will be service providers such as private money lenders, property inspectors, and contractors. Each quarter we’re going to talk to one or two real estate agents about the state of the market, and I’m also planning on having shark tank type sessions and open Q&A sessions with private lenders Everyone that I talk to though will have one thing in common – they will be actively involved in real estate investing in some way in metro Detroit. Some of the folks you’ll