We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Denise Howelll a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Denise thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

For years I watched the television shows about investing in real estate (flipping). It seemed an easy and glamorous way to supplement my income. My mom, siblings, brother-in-law and I all wanted to invest in real estate. We just needed to find the right home. One that would not be too taxing since we worked, and I lived out of state. Something that would be a great part-time project. Our initial plan called for our mother to provide the capital to fund the purchase, I would fund the repairs, and my sisters and brother-in-law would handle the renovations.

It did not take long before a foreclosed home was for sale in my mother’s neighborhood. It was time for us to put up as the home would not be on the market long. Our mother thought it was too risky as the home required more work than we would have preferred so she opted out of the project. My sister, her spouse and I wanted to move ahead. The question then was how to fund the purchase and repairs? I decided to obtain a loan from my 401k to fund the purchase/rehab. I had to make monthly payments on the loan and felt once we resold the home I would pay off the balance. This created a large additional bill that I hoped could be paid off within 60-90 days, just like TV.

As time passed, the work took longer than we would have liked since this was a part-time effort. We knew the home was going to be a larger project since other family members opted for a pass. My brother-in-law was very particular, so everything had to be perfect. While he was the lead on the actual work, my sister and I did not always agree on the design. In the end, it took 9 months to get the home on the market. We did make a profit and could have written a book on lessons learned. We went on the invest in another 5 properties in the next several years. We then branched off and begin investing on our own properties. One large lesson I share with others today is that the television shows are entertainment – not to be confused with reality.

Denise, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I grew up in a military family and most of my primary education occurred in the county that I now live in. I have an undergraduate degree from East Carolina University and graduate degree from Bowie State University. I spent over 30 years in the financial services industry and in 2017 I became a licensed real estate broker.

As a real estate investor, I initially worked with a real estate broker to sell my properties. I then determined that it would be a good idea to obtain a real estate license to sell my own properties.

In addition to selling my own properties, I work with individuals/families wanting to purchase and/or sell a home as well as provide guidance to those interested in real estate investing. When working with individuals who want to sell their personal home, I provide information on the current market as well as provide counsel on to make the home more appealing to buyers. As an investor I understand the features that our market desires. We have a large military market that wants move-in ready. They are not looking for a project home.

When working with new investors, it’s back to the basics for them. First helping them understand that what they see on the small screen (television) is not realistic. Helping investors to evaluate a property to determine if it is a worthwhile purchase as well as identifying a realistic timeline for rehab and the sale process.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson that I had to unlearn was that contractors are a lot like the consultants I encountered while working in financial services. A consultant does not have the word “no” in his/her vocabulary and it can always be done.

I like dealing with contractors that friends have utilized; however, just because the contractor installed kitchen cabinets does not mean he/she knows how to install windows, paint, etc. I had to learn that the hard way. by having to remedy a situation with a new contractor. Thus, paying for the work twice. I now utilize contractors that I have had positive experiences with and have seen his/her work first hand.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I funded my initial investment with a loan from my 401k that I had with my employer. Loan repayments had to be made monthly while there was no additional income on my part. I then started to utilize “hard money” loans to obtain capital. It required a smaller commitment up front from me and not typing up all of my capital; however, the interest rate was high, and I had to be very diligent to maintain a tight timeline in order to prevent all of any anticipated profit to be consumed by interest paid to the lender. There were times when the rehab timeline was running behind resulting in me opting to utilize my capital to pay off the loan to eliminate any future loan interest and payments.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://DeniseHowellNC.com
• Facebook: DeniseHowellNC