Alfonso Salemi: Welcome back, REITE Club nation. Now for another episode of the REITE Club podcast. I'm Alfonso Salemi, and today I am with my co-host Sarah Larbi. How's it going Sarah?
Sarah Larbi: Going well, buddy. How are you?
Alfonso Salemi: Very good. Super excited recording these podcasts. We're back in the swing of things recording, meeting so many amazing people, part of The REITE Club community, and so many great stories. And today is no different. We got to sit down and talk with Danielle, who you know, Didn't think she was a real estate investor, but she definitely was a real estate investor. She started at 24 years old and really her and her husband got a shot of reality during the pandemic.
Her husband was an airplane mechanic who lost his job and they went full fledged. They put the throttle to the floor. Started real estate investing, now investing across the country out east. And really an inspirational story. Sharing her story all the time on Instagram and being an inspiration, educating others. So a really great combo with her. Really looking forward to that today.
Sarah Larbi: Me too. Danielle Unsworth. I met her at an event not that long ago, a couple weeks ago at this time of recording. And she's just like a breath of fresh air, super inspirational, super passionate, willing to give back, and another woman doing it and getting things done in business, which is awesome to see.
Let's bring her on. And by the way, if you haven't left a rating and review, please do so and it'll help boost the show for more people to find it. And I hope you guys enjoy the podcast with Danielle Unsworth.
Alfonso Salemi: Welcome to the podcast, Danielle Unsworth. Thank you so much for joining us and yeah, great to have you on the show. I would like for all the listeners and others that are watching or listening to this podcast, why don't you give us a little bit about your background and who you are.
Danielle Unsworth: Sure. Thank you so much for having me. I am super excited to be here and very grateful for this opportunity. I started investing in real estate a long time ago, but I didn't consider myself an investor until about I guess last year, 2020. I bought my first property when I was 24. I was going to start my masters and I didn't wanna pay rent, so I was determined to buy my own property and just pay myself rent.
That's when it started for me because I saw the benefits and all the potential that real estate can really give you. So then I got addicted and my husband and I, instead of having the big wedding, we ended up buying our property instead. And so that's how we got started.
We went the slow and steady route by refinancing every couple years and accumulating a small portfolio that way. And then in 2020 he lost his job and we had to center, shift our focus a bit and we went full into real estate, started educating ourselves, and went to networking events.
I was very lucky. It was mostly online. So with two kids at home, I was able to attend a lot of them because I was able to do them online. And that's how it started for me. And sharing my journey on social media really helped me meet other amazing investors. And so this year we've partnered up with other investors and we're able to scale our portfolio. We're working on some amazing deals right now and that's where I am right now.
Sarah Larbi: That's incredible and it's very inspirational that when people are, it was a tough situation and I mean it still is right now, right? The pandemic can go anywhere. You've got all these restrictions. This is where people can say, I'm just gonna watch Netflix for a few hours a night and I'm gonna do that with my time and I'm not taking away from anybody, but there's a lot of people that put their feet up and are not doing as much as they could have. And then here you are really taking it and saying, Okay, we've lost, he's lost his job.
We started dabbling in real estate investing. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you are going and making things happen. And so I wanna say congratulations because in 2020 it was a tough year for a lot of people. It was definitely a tested mental strength, I think. And you took something that you were slowly getting into and you accelerated. Can you maybe talk to us about last year? Challenges up some of the things that you've accomplished and just looking back, I guess in the last year.
Danielle Unsworth: Yes. So 2020 was a huge year for growth for me. I decided to hire my first coach. We looked at the properties that we currently own and we mostly own single family homes at that time, cause that's all we knew. Started researching and people were doing all these legal basement suites at that time. We're like, How do we get into this? And so then we realized we had a sign, like a Semi Detached home with an unfinished basement. And then we thought, why don't we try to like, change some of these single family homes into duplexes?
I hired my first coach and she's amazing and helped me through the whole secondary dwelling conversion process. And that's how we started into renovations and doing the BRRRR strategy. And so after that I was like, Okay, now that we've maximized our single family home, What else can we do?
Then we had another single family home that we had that had never had any updates. It was from 1989. So we looked into renovating that and then, forcing that appreciation and then refinancing it. And then we started joining forces with my sister, who was also in real estate. But we never really just talked about it until last year.
We decided to pool our resources and we started joint ventures with other investors into multifamily units. So we were able to purchase a sixplex. We just closed on a seven plex in Moncton in August, and we have a few under contracts now. So that's how it totally escalated from that decision to commit to real estate as an investing strategy and by hiring a coach.
That's really where I saw the most exponential growth is by hiring my coach, giving me that confidence and then seeing the benefits of coaching and the unlimited resources that come with having a coach and then just going full force into it. And also just honestly, like she told me, my coach shares your journey because there are other people that are exactly where you are and they need someone to be their light.
To show them that, you can do this and I have zero renovation backgrounds and I'm scared all the time to get like my hand sawed over or things like that. So to me, if I can do it, I know other women can also do this and it is scary, but with the right coach and the right support system, anything is possible. And that's what I learned in 2020.
Alfonso Salemi: That's amazing. That's a great answer. And like you said, the partnerships and now working with other investors, inspiring them, to bring on bigger projects, the Sixplex, the sevenplex. So you mentioned Moncton, So is that where most of the multi-unit are right now? Or where you're investing or where you're spending most of your focus?
Danielle Unsworth: Yes we started shifting into the East coast because we are working with a partner and she has a local expert team like tease there and she has a local team there as well. And we're just seeing that shift in the market and it's much more bang for your buck in terms of larger multifamilies in the east coast.
We are also working on another larger multifamily with our investor and she's analyzing, it's a 24 unit. And so it's just the deals are getting bigger, but we're just getting more comfortable with them. And we also wanna share these opportunities with other investors who wanna invest in real estate but aren't sure how to start.
By sharing our journey, they can see the progression. We went from single family homes to small ties, and now we're starting to go to the mid range and larger multi within a year. It's definitely doable. You just need to get out there and start talking to people who are doing what you wanna do.
Sarah Larbi: You mentioned a word, comfortable and just even getting outta your comfort zone to do something and over time you become comfortable with it and, many people are out there not taking action because it scares them and , just like even for me, like when I first bought the first piece of land to build on, I was worried, but I don't think, if I didn't buy it, if I didn't push myself out of that comfort zone to say, I'm just gonna buy a piece of land and we're gonna do something different, I don't think that resort would've been even in the carts.
It's almost like you take that leap forward, then you get more comfortable with that, and you get comfortable with something else. And just having the right people around you is definitely huge. But to go back to obviously your husband and he lost his job. How has that changed your life or your lifestyle with what you have now? Looking back, are you, is he going back to work? Is he done forever?
Danielle Unsworth: I'm sure he would like to, The thing with my hu he's an aircraft maintenance engineer, so he works on airplanes. So he actually loves his job, so he does wanna go back and real estate is more of my passion. So he's been playing a very supportive role in terms of helping me look through the inspection reports, analyzing deals. Because he's like a math genius. So he's like my go-to for deal analysis and so he's been doing a lot of that support work while I'm the one that's closing the deals, putting them together, etc.
At one point he does definitely wanna go back to work because he misses that atmosphere. It's totally different from real estate, like he has his crew and he's got his engines and he gets to work on them. There is that component that he is definitely missing. And it was hard for him at the beginning because he was temporarily laid off.
He was temporarily laid off, but then six months later it became official. So for six months he was very hopeful to go back. So that was an emotional rollercoaster for him and for us as well. But then once we got to the final papers, that's when we were like, Okay, we need to figure this out because we can't just be hopeful that you're gonna go back to work.
At this point we're at a really good Phase in our lives because of our real estate portfolio that we're able to sustain the same lifestyle. And if he does go back, it would be by choice. That's something we're very grateful for. So the power of real estate is amazing. Like it really can change your life and it gives you the freedom to choose whether you want to go back to work or not. So that's where we are.
Alfonso Salemi: I think Sarah and I have said it a few times, and I know once Sarah had her job or her job and by myself as well, they'll almost be considered unemployable. That you don't want to report to somebody else or put that effort in for somebody else. And, you are working on all different types of projects. You mentioned the 20 plus unit, the six and seven, how, here's a question, for finding properties out east and, getting comfortable, being uncomfortable and pushing yourself, how do you like to find those opportunities?
You mentioned you have some good contacts, but you're obviously very personable and we just met and, great personality and great outlook on life altogether. But how do you keep active or how do you find these opportunities? In all different parts.
Danielle Unsworth: That's a great question. So the key is to be resourceful and literally you have to tell people what you're looking for because if you don't tell people what you're looking for, they won't have you on their mind when something comes up. So you, everybody that you talk to, you have to let them know, Hey, this is what I'm doing.
This is what I'm looking for. If you hear anything, please let me know. And then they'll always keep you on their radar. So to me, it's a lot of networking and talking to people, because you can be on the computer and you can look up all the deals, but those deals aren't like the great deals.
The great deals are the ones where you're talking to your mortgage broker and then his last client is thinking about selling his apartment building. So he's gonna tell you, Hey, My last client has this deal. He might sell. If he does, I'll ask him if he's really serious and I'll let you know, and then boom, you have a deal.
It's really a matter of just letting people know what you're doing, what you're looking for, so that they can think of you when those deals happen. And like for myself, I always try to, when I talk to someone or when I meet someone, I always try to give some sort of value so that they'll remember me or they'll keep me on their minds by doing something different.
Like either providing free advice or offering to help them in whatever it is that they're struggling with. So that way they'll just, they'll appreciate that help and they always wanna give back as well, cause it, what goes around comes essentially, and that's how I do business ?
Sarah Larbi: That is amazing. And you mentioned, off market opportunities, do you have some experience that maybe you can share in one of your deals? That's how it happened? It wasn't necessarily on the MLS, but it was through word of mouth?
Danielle Unsworth: Yes, of course. This is my favorite story. So the, one of the townhouses that we bought in, I think it was about a year and a half ago, I was literally standing outside of a house that had a for sale sign and I was waiting for our realtor and he ended up being late. And this couple walked by and they just, Randomly asked me, Are you looking to buy that house?
I said, Yes, we're just waiting. And then she said we're thinking about selling her house. And then my like, my radar was like, Mom, I gotta talk to her. I just asked her, like where the house was, what it looked like, why she's selling, what, so I just talked to her essentially.
Then she ended up asking for her phone number. She ended up taking the Like inviting us over to look at the house, like right there. So we went and we saw the house. It looked great, and I just said let's talk about the number and go back and just figure it out. And three days later we had an offer.
The deal came to me and I was just standing outside, like waiting for my realtor. So things like that happen all the time because if you're not open to it, it won't happen. So maybe like a few years ago, I would've just said, Yeah, we're looking for the house and then. She would've just kept walking by.
The minute I heard her say she was thinking of selling, I was like, Tell me more. Like, why do you wanna sell? How can I help you? Do you need to pay for your son's school? What is the problem that you have that you're thinking that you need to sell this house? So how can I help you make that problem go away? That's how I look at it. And it happened, and she's so ecstatic because she was able to help her son. They bought a condo and she downsized. It worked out really well for her.
Alfonso Salemi: I love that. And we say that all the time. The risk of real estate investing is really not about the real estate, it's about the people, all the different people, the professionals, the power teams, the people that we work with, the people that we're trying to help solve their problems, and people that are helping solve our problems, right?
It can coincide with each other. For those of you that are list. And thinking, this is talent. You know what, Danielle is special. She's got this unique ability. And you are, you're amazing, and you did some amazing things, but there's so many of us. You can go back through the hundreds of podcasts now that we've done, and these are the same type of things that keep coming up over and over again.
People help people, right? So maybe for yourself that you didn't consider yourself an investor and you were slowly grinding and okay, take out some equity and then, build out that portfolio. What's some of the advice that you would give to someone aspiring to be an investor or maybe sitting there today thinking I'm not a real estate investor, where you were, just a few short years ago. What advice would you give to them?
Danielle Unsworth: Oh my gosh. So my advice is don't think you have to do it alone, because literally it was me and my husband for 10 years just like trucking along by ourselves, not telling anybody what we're doing. We're literally just alone, the two of us. Doing this. So don't think you have to do it alone.
The easiest way to meet other investors is to literally go into your Facebook and type up whatever city you're from and then just put on a real estate meetup and it will, I guarantee it will pop up there. There is a local meetup group and just force yourself to go and meet those people and just talk to people.
Don't be alone. And if you feel like, you're too scared to even do that, do some research and hire a coach because the coach will make you do things that you're not comfortable and she will force you to go and, meet people at these local meetups and she's gonna make you, or he's gonna make you sign up for things that.
You didn't even think about it, like my coach told me I had to do one non-real estate event every month, and that's how I met other people that were not investing in real estate, but were thinking about it. So if she hadn't pushed me to do that, I wouldn't have been able to meet all these amazing other people and help them in their real estate journey.
Don't think you have to do it alone. Hire the help if you need to. And the other reason, the other thing I would say is that don't listen to people who aren't where you wanna be, because I think that's super important. I hear all the time like, oh, so like Bob's uncle's cousin lost money in real estate, so I don't know if that's what I wanna do, but is Bob's uncle's like friend?
Is he a seasoned investor? Has he invested in himself to educate himself to make these strategic decisions? Or was he just making it? Whatever he felt like doing at that time, it was not a well informed decision. So if that person hasn't succeeded in what you're doing, don't listen to them. Find the people that are exactly where you wanna be in a year or two years, or five years, and ask them for help, ask for their advice, cause that's where you wanna go. So that's what I would say.
Sarah Larbi: There's so much great insight and so much great advice. I can take in many directions, but one of the things that I think that you said was really different than the typical advice. Not that you've given lots of great advice, but one of the things that I'm like, Oh, this is actually really insightful, is figuring out which networking groups are non-real estate related to go to and you can find some potential.
Money partners, joint partners, people that aren't necessarily the active partner, but want to invest with somebody that has the experience. And so I guess, maybe walk us through, have you met people where you've partnered with them on real estate transactions from these networking events that were not necessarily real estate?
Danielle Unsworth: I have not partnered with them yet, but there's been a lot of growing interest because the thing with people who are not investing in real estate they wanna feel comfortable in real estate first. So they like to see and listen and know that their money is gonna be safe. So I do a lot of educating as well, and I'm okay with that.
I was at a point 10 years ago where nobody taught me anything about real estate. I had to figure it out all by myself. So now I see a lot of women reaching out to me that have zero background in real estate, and I'm happy to provide that guidance for them because I know at one point they're gonna be ready and they're gonna wanna invest.
The first property that they're going to buy for themselves or their family, that's when they're gonna the light's just gonna go off and they're gonna come back for more. So at this point, I'm just trying to share my knowledge and whoever is interested or whoever has that curiosity will reach out to me and I'm just letting them be. It will come when they're ready.
Alfonso Salemi: I remember, you're talking about having mentors and getting outta the comfort zone and giving more first, or giving before asking and giving again. And I just, I go back to the, once we were actually doing meetings.
We stopped to get gas and we were in the car. My mentor said, Go and talk to that person and tell them what you do. And I'm like, I don't know that person. That's so random. And I just went out there and I felt completely uncomfortable. This person looked at me sideways. I had my real estate investor card at the time, and you know what?
I don't know whatever happened to that person, but it got me feeling, wow, okay. I didn't die, nothing bad happened. I got back into the car and went on with the day, feeling uncomfortable. And that educating is so important because there's no secret magic recipes, lotion, potion, this isn't like this has been done for years and years. There isn't something that, oh my God, that Danielle's doing, or Sarah's doing, or I'm doing, that's completely different.
We're just putting our own spin on it and having our personalities, making it match our lifestyle And making sure that it makes sense with us, working with people that we do wanna work with, and that's so incredible that you're coming from that education standpoint, showing what you learned, the mistakes that you made so that you're advancing because that's what people have done for you.
To shorten your timeframe, now you're shortening others. So that's fantastic and really admirable to yell and and truly true. Truly inspiration. For sure. So you know what? I think we're at the point where we're going to start our lightning round. What do you think? Are you ready for the lightning round?
Danielle Unsworth: Okay.
Sarah Larbi: Let's do it. All right, Danielle, first question of the lightning round. What is the best advice that you have ever received from another investor or at a networking event?
Danielle Unsworth: Number one advice is to ask for help. So for myself, because I've been doing everything on my own, I'm just learning the last few weeks to start to delegate some of those tasks and some of the social media, like things that don't require my expertise so that I can focus on things that really need me and like my unique talent.
Definitely ask for help because if you don't ask, no one's going to offer. And I learned this week that there are so many people who really enjoy doing the things that you don't enjoy. So it's really, it's like you're making their day and they're making your day. And it's amazing. My friend loves to cook, She's helping us out.
I have another friend who loves Canva. She loves being creative, but I could spend hours on Canva and come up with one black dot. Like it's terrible. Like I'm really bad. But So ask for help and it's okay to delegate.
Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. All right. Question number two. What is your favorite resource for real estate investing?
Danielle Unsworth: For real estate. So I'm super thankful for the Rise Network. It was a Facebook group that I stumbled across last year, and they have been super helpful. They also have a podcast as well, and every time there's a question from someone that's new, everybody jumps on that question and they're so supportive.
I was blown away, like when I first started my journey, I'm like, these people exist. They're so nice and they're just giving me all these answers that I don't have to spend like an hour or two hours searching for. So I'm definitely grateful for them. I started also listening to the Truth about Real Estate investing by Urban Cito.
He's the reason I started. Focusing more on real estate because that's actually where I found my coach. She was a guest on his podcast. So he was like, pretty much the start of everything. So I'm super grateful for his podcast as well.
Sarah Larbi: All right, Very cool. Number three, what is the one attribute that has made you most successful?
Danielle Unsworth: I think it's my transparency. I have been very transparent on social media about what I'm doing. If there are any mistakes or any lessons I've learned throughout my projects or my renos, I'm willing to share that openly because I really don't want other people to make those same mistakes.
I'm super transparent with the numbers as well. And also I think just my overall like passion and joy about real estate. I think it just makes people get really excited about it too, because I'm genuinely like, You gotta try this strategy. It's amazing. Or look at this property. I've become obsessed. So I think that rubs off on people too, because they generally feel that. I mean what I'm saying. So I think that's really important.
Alfonso Salemi: Absolutely. Your passion definitely comes through even on Zoom. It can definitely feel the passion of what you're doing and definitely that you enjoy your day to day and the good and the bad, everything you're in between. Last question of the lightning round. What does a typical Sunday morning look like?
Danielle Unsworth: Sundays, everybody sleeps a little bit and my son comes in and he's I love cuddling with him. I spend extra time cuddling with him. He just turned six over the weekend. And then we just take it easy.
Saturdays and Sundays are special. I usually try not to do a lot of work on the weekends. It's for a family. So I spend a lot of cuddle time with him and then we go make breakfast. I listen to music. I love the nineties and two thousand champs, so I'm always, so I just blast it. We make breakfast and then I usually go to the gym after. So that's my typical Sunday morning, Saturday and Sundays.
Sarah Larbi: Sounds like a blast. And your son, by the way, I was looking at some pictures. He seems so cute.
Danielle Unsworth: Thank you so much. He had the best weekend because he actually was able to have friends over and it was his first time with his own friends cause he's always had his brother's friends over, but now they're like his official friends. So it was a big deal.
Alfonso Salemi: Oh nice. That's awesome.
Sarah Larbi: All right. Awesome. Danielle, where can our REITE Club Nation reach out and find out more about you?
Danielle Unsworth: I'm pretty, I'm very active on Instagram, so it's Danielle.Unsworth. Same thing for Facebook Danielle Unsworth and I also have a website, danielleunsworth.com. Very easy to find me.
Alfonso Salemi: Awesome. It was a pleasure speaking with you, Danielle. And we are so fortunate to have you part of The REITE Club Nation, The REITE Club community. Any last words or thoughts that you wanna share with.
Danielle Unsworth: I just wanna say like sometimes people are scared to do new things, but that's the whole point. You have to be scared to do new things because I tell my kids all the time like, you have to push through fear cause magic is on the other side, so you gotta go through it.
Alfonso Salemi: Love it, thanks so much Danielle.
Danielle Unsworth: Thank you both. Thank you for having me. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful evening.
Sarah Larbi: Bye.
Alfonso Salemi: What a great chat with Danielle. The energy was coming through the screen. It's almost like being in 3d was great. The conversation that we had, and I love what she said about getting out of the comfort zone and telling people what you do, sharing them, feeling comfortable, being uncomfortable, and magic on the other side of fear.
I really love that. And it's okay to be scared most of the time. If you're not scared. What are you doing? Maybe watching a horror movie, it's October now, maybe watching a movie that's okay, that kind of fear is okay, you're gonna be okay cause you're on your couch doing something that's actually making your heart fearful, being a little bit scared, nervous, and knowing that you have the support of others around you building that network. So really great chat with Danielle. What did you think of Sarah?
Sarah Larbi: You've mentioned a few things there. One of them I was going to mention, but that's all cool. We can share, I'm just kidding. But just being uncomfortable or being comfortable with the uncomfortable, being comfortable with the uncomfortable will help get you to the next step, the growth mode and it's just amazing to see what she's been able to do hire a coach, hire a mentor, hire somebody whose footsteps you want to emulate and who's doing what you're doing and still doing it currently. Cause sometimes there are mentors and coaches that have been outta the real estate investing market for 20 years or 10 years or whatnot. But I will tell you, she's super inspirational her story.
And how she's taken a pandemic in the last year to really change things, move things in the right direction, and took action even though it was not easy and it was uncomfortable. Danielle, thank you so much for being on the show. You're super inspirational and we're gonna have to have her back at some point and see where she's at in her journey.
Yes, absolutely. And make sure you do reach out and get in contact with her, as well as get on to thereiteclub.com. Connect with the community, build your network of people, and yeah, continue to keep growing. So unlike what we always say Sarah?
Come grow with us.
Alfonso Salemi: All right, see you next time guys.
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