We recently connected with Torre Escott and have shared our conversation below.

Torre, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

As a Cleveland Native I remember what the city looked like when industrial market was at its peak and factories were booming. Once the factories began closing the City of Cleveland began an instant decline and never recovered. Many families were unable to adjust to the shift due to lack of education, training and resources which in turn led to high foreclosure rates, abandoned homes and homelessness. Today Cuyahoga County has 1..2 million abandoned, foreclosed and un-rehabbed properties. In, 2002 I was homeless sleeping on streets and living outside eating out of trash cans. I found shelter in many of the abandoned homes. I found solace in these forgotten treasures. Eventual , a homeless shelter took me in and began teaching me viable skills which would later fuel my passion and purpose.
Who knew twenty years later I would fall in love with real estate. In 2018 I purchased my first home. In 2019 I became a realtor and saw first hand the equity inequalities throughout underserved communities. I began my mission of creating comp to raise equity in many of these dilapidated neighborhoods on Cleveland’s eastside. I concentrate in 5 major zip codes 44112, 44110, 44105, 44108 and 44 103. Using my platform to find investors and hand pick properties, rehab them and create curb appeal that changes the feel of that street one home at a time. This helps increase values in each neighborhood block by block and people begin to take pride and create more ownership. For every rental that I rehab I help families get qualified to purchase homes in these same areas. As the equity increases in these underserved communities it will become desirable for business and funding to continue the rebuilding efforts.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a former resident of Transitional Housing Inc, on W. 25th Street in Cleveland, Ohio now known as Front Steps Housing and Services. I had no real skills, education or training. The shelter gave me skills including cooking, gardening and small home repairs. They helped propel me into my educational journeying by paying for my first year of college. They showed me a world outside of struggle. I then built a career in sales and moved away from Cleveland to Philadelphia where my career blossomed in the corporate arena.. I returned home to Cleveland in 2018 to purchase my first home and reconnect to the shelter as a board member. I immediately went to work and and the more I served the community the more my passion grew. I wanted to show everyone what gems were hidden throughout the city and within them selves. I understood that financial strain, homelessness and lack of education and training in just the symptom and I set out to find the root of the issue which took me on my own journey, I am a real estate solutions provider. That looks different based upon each individuals needs. Whether it is a rental, home ownership, carpentry training or real estate sales training I assist people in rebuilding and developing a plan. My goal in to provide each individual with a creative solution to real estate that doesn’t drain their finances while providing quality rehab that is above average standard in neighborhoods with ceramic tile finishes in bathrooms, up to date fixtures, technology and safety feature in each property. More than just a realtor, or rehabber I want to create spaces that allow people to grow into who they want to become.

I am a Licensed and Bonded General Contractor that creates hope. I am also a Certified Emotional Intelligence Practitioner and offer a 6 week workshop on Being Vs, Doing. This distinction allows me to use emotion and put humanity back into business with practical steps to creating ownership by taking ownership of the process and creating industry best practices along the way to improve equity equality in underserved areas

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Crazy enough money isnt always the solution. As business owners we must constantly educate ourselves in our segmented industries and also in business acumen. The largest problem the rehab investment industry faces is lack of qualified workers. I failed a a few projects early on and even as i scale the business I have had to take a step back and reevaluate my approach and short comings. That is when I decided to get serious and become Licensed and Bonded which allows me to permit my work, create legitimacy for the business and hire works. I had to unlearn the mentality that more money was the answer. Quality work and quality finishes speak volumes. Not taking on more jobs than I could handle at a time and completing projects before taking on new ones. I have failed forward and grown form my own mishaps which is how Hiyield Rehabs LLC was born. The city has so many awesome programs that teach business readiness and development. I took the time and opened my books to Jump Start Inc and they helped me rewrite my narrative and taught me many of the lessons I was lacking.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I wanted to share my journey and so each week I would video myself walking through an abandoned property via Youtube. I created a channel called Torre-Says and my story telling videos took my audience with me from discovery to rehab. If ever there was a new skill I wanted to test I took my audience to my house and experimented live. There were a many mistakes made at home which helped me hone my skills. Eventually, investor become sharing my videos and joining my journey. I also worte an ebook The Simple Guide to Investing (https://a.co/d/iNqyXy4) which is a short 10 step real estate guide. This also gave me visibility in the real estate investment world. Keeping my audience engaged and staying up to date within my industry builds referrals and consistency.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.torre-says.com
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@torresays2034
• Other: Amazon: Simple Guide to Investing https://a.co/d/2Xw5f4K