COVER STORY
TAMMY PHELPS-KEGLOVICH
ily real estate due, in large part, to the allure of regular, monthly cash flow without the deeply personal involve- ment that many investors find is part of single-family residential real estate investing, particularly when it comes to fix-and-flip investing. The two started investing in multi- unit projects including apartment buildings, mobile home communities, and even an assisted living care home on the National Historic Registry, after Jim was injured in 2003 while working on a large single-family flip. “Jim wasn’t able to finish the project. It literally came to a halt,” recalled Tammy. “We ended up doing something everyone tells you not to do: taking out a mort-
gage on our personal residence to hire someone to finish the job. But I’m grateful it happened because we learned so much and created such a beautiful home for the family that rented it in 2007 with the option to purchase and still lives there today.” One of the things that the two learned was although they could not stand to forgo their personal involvement in their investing, they needed to change the type of investments they were making in order to maximize the returns on the immense personal stakes they believe are essential to creating a profitable and productive multifamily community. “We wanted to have cash flow coming in even if we were not physically work-
ing on a property,” said Tammy. “And we put in a lot of physical work, a lot of time into our properties early on so that we can achieve that,” Jim added. “What you build today affects your tomorrow, especially in multi-unit invest- ing. This type of investing is about build- ing wealth for your future, and that means repositioning, stabilizing, and building up that community today so that it is a solid part of your future and your residents’ future,” Tammy concluded. MOONWALKS, BARBEQUE, AND A SERIOUS SWEET TOOTH While Jim is handling the construc- said Tammy proudly. She noted that another student recently purchased a duplex and is already cash-flowing “al- most $600 a month positive” is ready to convert the property to a triplex thanks to cCREIA training and support. “It’s the support that is critical,” Tammy said. “We honor our members. We support them. We feature their hard work in our monthly newsletters, we interview them so other members can learn, and we look at each other’s proj- ects from the standpoint of ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’ so that we all learn. “We support each other, learn from each other’s challenges, and celebrate each other’s successes. It’s all about making a difference in each other’s lives and helping each other create financial freedom, wealth, and independence.” cCREIA meets on the fourth Wednes- day of each month at the Hampton Inn Alexandria in Alexandria, Virginia.
When Tammy and Jim rehab a property, it’s not simply a matter of tearing out floors and walls. Tammy says her “60,000-foot view” helps her see physical issues in a building and places where the community structure is weak as well.
the construction work, that’s what I do. I’ve been doing it now for 26 years, and I knew exactly what I was doing when it came to making that home a great place to live.” The Phelps-Kegloviches bring a whole lot of heart supported with strong, stable bones of practical investment strategy to each of their multifamily investment projects. “When we buy a property, we pour all of our knowledge, talents, creativity, and resources into it. We don’t just fix it up to the best of our ability and make it a nice, clean, safe place to live. We also get involved in the development personally and work hard to make that real estate investment an active part of the surrounding community,” explained Tammy. “It is vitally important to us that we put literal strong bones into each building to make it a good place to live and figurative strong bones into it to make it a home, not just a house. We believe it is important to create a place for it in the local community.” Jim added, “We tend to spend more in terms of both time and money up front than some investors, but when you
build something correctly from the very beginning, the right way with quality, integrity, and care, then the long-term costs of maintenance and repairs are going to be very minimal.” This mindset pays off literally, the two say, in the form of very low ongoing maintenance costs in their investment properties, as well as in low tenant turnover and sky- high appreciation in their projects over time. “We force appreciation by build- ing community within the community,” they explained. “Our total expenses are lower than most at 28 percent monthly on our apart- ment building in Baltimore, Maryland, for example, compared to the area average of 45-50 percent,” said Tammy, noting that one of their Baltimore investments that they purchased just a few years ago for $375,000 now appraises at $2.6 million. A HANDS-ON APPROACH TO A TRADITIONALLY HANDS-OFF BUSINESS Like most real estate investors, the Phelps-Kegloviches got into multifam-
WHEN TAMMY PHELPS- KEGLOVICH AND HER HUSBAND, Jim, talk about their first deal together, it is clear from the start that the pair of multifamily investors have a unique way of tackling their real estate projects. “We made a lot of mistakes starting out,” said Tammy with typical, forth- right honesty. “We had no idea what we were doing! We just bought a property to fix-and-flip like we’d heard in the seminars I attended. We made that property one that we could be proud of, though, and we put everything we had into it. It took some creativity, determi- nation, and sacrifice, but looking back, neither of us would change anything be- cause without all the learning moments on this journey, we wouldn’t be where we are right now.” At this point, Jim, a commercial project superintendent who was man- aging several such projects when he and Tammy first met, chimed in with a firm tone reflecting decades of experience in construction, “When she says we didn’t know what we were doing, she means in terms of investing. When it comes to
ALL IN THE FAMILY: CAPITAL CITY REIA’S ROLE IN PHELPS-KEGLOVICHES’ SUCCESS
T ammy Phelps-Keglovich may seem like a bit of a “softie” when you first meet her, but she has a backbone of steel when it comes to her dedication to building community. At Capital City Real Estate Investors
apart a deal for a member who may be struggling, and multiple mastermind sessions that showcase successful deals and how the investor who handled them made them happen. We make a real difference in our inves- tors’ lives.”
Association (cCREIA), she runs her meetings with one goal in mind: building up her mem- bers personally so that their professional lives will benefit from that growth. “We are all growing
cCREIA, like Tammy, is primarily focused on community and family. Attendance at most of the association’s events is free unless,
as Tammy describes it, “We do something big, like rent a bus so we can tour properties,” and most trainings and educational events have a heavy focus on readily and easily implementable strategy. “Two of my brand-new investors, both 24 years old, just put a 29-unit apartment building under contract,”
together and my members are learning real estate and doing deals,” she said proudly.
“Our community grows by 30-50 per- cent each year. In 2017, we more than doubled in size! We feature hand-se- lected and vetted educators, regularly occurring ‘hot seats’ where we pick
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