Rachel Ford, an insurance agent and friend of Brian and John, join the guys in this episode. In addition to that line of work, she also invests in real estate. Rachel provides insight on both her insurance work and real estate investing. We hear about how Rachel differentiates herself from other insurance agents and why reputation is so important. She also talks about why she wanted to invest in real estate and unique stories about interactions she has had with her tenants.
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Covered Topics:
- The difference between a captive agent and an independent agent.
- Rachel’s approach to investing in real estate, including working with Brian and John.
- How Rachel forms relationships with her tenants.
Show Notes:
- 00:55 - What’s been going on this week.
- Talking about goals and performance with staff.
- A recent flip that was held for thirty-eight days.
- The results of sending out mailers.
- 04:32 - Introducing Rachel.
- Brian’s desperate need for insurance leading him to call Rachel.
- How she started in the insurance business.
- 08:27 - The difference between what Rachel does and what large insurance companies do.
- Being a broker and representing sixteen different companies.
- Accepting higher risk than captive agents.
- The effort that Rachel puts into continuing her insurance education.
- Brian and John’s experiences of being insured through Rachel’s offerings.
- 11:27 – Why Rachel got into insurance.
- Getting talked into obtaining an insurance license and then falling in love with it.
- Her commitment to doing things the right way.
- 13:56 - How Rachel started investing in real estate.
- Realizing that many people were retiring with rentals and wanting to have the same source of income.
- Taking out a loan on her primary house to fund a deal.
- A deal that Rachel and Brian went in on together.
- Learning more doing deals than going to a class.
- 20:57 - Continuing to buy rental property.
- Rachel completing a deal that John referred her to involving an LLC.
- How Rachel manages her properties.
- Letting tenants paint their walls and make other changes so that they really feel like the property is theirs.
- 28:27 – Spending time in Florida.
- Rachel’s story of nearly closing on a property in Florida but then backing out.
- Going to a timeshare information session in Las Vegas and the surprising reaction Rachel had to it.
- The timeshare that Rachel bought, and the exchange program associated with it.
- A timeshare horror story from Brian.
- 35:52 – Rachel’s freedom to make her own schedule.
- The reasons why Rachel prefers to go to her office instead of working from home.
- Referral sources being the biggest cause of Rachel’s business growth.
- 38:55 – What’s next for Rachel.<SB>Wanting to partner with Brian and John for another flip.
- Rachel’s thoughts of how Brian and John have grown their business.
- Growing with her clients.
- 41:49 – Closing remarks.
Topic Takeaways
- The best way to learn about real estate deals is to do them.
- To make your tenants want to stay long-term, let them have some freedom in modifying their rental.
- Referrals are a great tool for growth in any business.
Tweetable Quotes
“The captive agents really just have their product, whereas I have a product for anything. I’ve yet to have a risk come across my desk that I did not insure” (Tweet This!)
“You only have one reputation. You’ve got to do things the right way. You can’t do what’s easy, you have to do what’s right. That may not always be what investors or my clients in general want to hear” (Tweet This!)
“The properties are low-maintenance and I hope it stays like that. I try to stay on top of things and do little things as I go so that I don’t have to any big jobs at once” (Tweet This!)
Contact
Email: RFord@@associated-ins.com
Call: (614) 882-2335 ext 211
