Curious about how to get started in long distance real estate investing? Get Inspired.

I met Codi Clausen at Monick Halm’s, Wealth Through Real Estate Conference. I am so happy I met Codi during the first breakout session during the conference. With conferences going online, it provided me with an amazing opportunity to meet people I would have never met in person. This particular conference was a women’s only conference and it was sensational. Monick truly made me feel like a real estate investor goddess. A REIGoddess is a professional woman who wants to create passive income streams through real estate investing, so that she can create real wealth, live the lifestyle she desires, and make the massive difference on the planet she came here to make. Codi is an REIGoddess — she is currently a property manager for a 890 unit complex in Irvine, California, she is buying single family homes in Little Rock, AR, she is a passive investor in a few syndications, and she is involved in hard money loan projects as well as other alternative asset class investing for an overall diversified portfolio. Learn more about Codi through her interview below!

Why did you start your real estate journey?

I got started in real estate along my journey to financial freedom. I started investing in October of 2018 and I’ve always been drawn to more entrepreneurial endeavors and establishing an abundant source of passive income so that I would not be tied to clocking in and out of my W2 job for the rest of my life. I don’t want to worry about money. I want to travel the world, knowing my loved ones and I are taken care of, and continue growing as a person. I'd like to continue trying to make a positive difference in the world and I can do that much more effectively and exponentially if I do not have to worry about finances.

What are the benefits of being a passive investor in syndications?

I love that you are able to provide investment funds along with other investors in exchange for leveraging the knowledge and resources of another experienced person or team that will handle all parts of the project for us. It is completely passive while my money begins to work for me. I am protected from any litigation pertaining to the project, and if there is a return of capital during the project I can reinvest the capital elsewhere and create even more returns simultaneously.

What was the greatest lesson you learned while investing in real estate?

The greatest lesson I have learned within real estate is that relationships are crucial to success. No one can do it entirely alone and you must foster connections with others so that you can all achieve success together. You must find a way to provide value to others, and through developing a reliable network of peers you can not only achieve your goals faster, but safer with less mistakes. I'm an introvert myself and in the beginning it was much harder for me to make those connections, but I took a step back, did some reading, took a networking course and was able to figure out what worked for my personality while sincerely connecting with others. I would suggest taking the time to evaluate how you are interacting with others and what value that you have to offer those around you.

Can you explain what it was like to enter into this space? What were some of your challenges in the beginning?

At first it is a lot of information to digest. There are a lot of different ways to invest and within each real estate category there are a lot of moving parts to understand. I had to figure out my own investor DNA to know what type of real estate investing was best for my personality and goals. Once I made a decision I began researching, speaking with people, going to meetups, reading books, listening to podcasts and audible books — anything that would give me the knowledge I would need to be successful.

Nowadays there is a TON of information out there. Some of the difficulty is knowing what sources to trust and where to allocate your time so that you stay on track. Finding good deal flow and establishing and fostering relationships takes decent time and has been my biggest challenge thus far. When I first started within the real estate space I was so overwhelmed because it seemed like it was a crazy seller's market and I just couldn't seem to find a good deal or jump quickly enough on the few good ones I could find. Today the markets are crazier than ever, but with consistent actions taken on a daily/weekly basis to develop connections with others and consistently analyze properties, the time paid starts to compound and work for you.

How are you able to find and manage your assets that are out of state?

I was connected to a few turnkey companies through referrals and ended up visiting the company I started working with. Their renovation work is top notch and they are very communicative which I appreciated. They have an in-house property management team that is managing my rental for me. I am a property manager of an 890 unit multifamily building in Southern California so I know how intensive the job can be and I do not wish to do this for an out of state property which I cannot readily visit nor do I know that state’s laws. I plan on using a property manager for each property for passive investing rather than actively managing the property.

How did you start becoming a private money lender?

In my efforts of building contact and making myself available for deal flow, one day I was contacted with a commercial project in Texas that at the time seemed similar to a syndication just slightly different — a promissory note with an agreed upon interest rate payable each month. I liked the simplicity and consistency of my return and ever since then I have continued to actively look for opportunities in both the hard money and syndication arenas.

What bit of advice do you have for newbies getting into real estate investing?

I would say take the time to build a solid foundation of knowledge and find a reliable group of peers to keep in contact with. I see a lot of new investors buying properties that are clearly not going to work and I wonder what due diligence is truly being done before making the decision to buy a house. Know your numbers and do not go against your own rules out of frustration or excitement just to own something.

Thank you for taking the time to read this interview with Codi. If you have any questions or want to get into contact with Codi, please let me know!

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