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meeting, introduced themselves and took him out for dinner. That led to a productive mentorship. “Now we have him on speed dial. We call him and talk every few weeks,” says Kelly. The brothers are happy to return the favor and help others who want to try the real estate investment busi- ness. But they see many people hesi- tant to begin, so they were glad to see one real estate agent acquaintance buy a property through owner financing. “That’s one of the key secrets to get- ting started in this business—you’ve got to get creative with your financial frame,” says Chris. “Unless mom and dad are just giving you a million bucks to go buy a rental property, the banks aren’t
Edwards Capital Partners is the invest- ment arm, where they offer a consis- tent 9 percent return secured by real estate. Their fourth business is Orange Elephant Painting and Restoration, which the brothers call “the painting company we could never find.” Orange Elephant will soon go na- tional. In 2018, the Edwardses plan to launch the business across the United States as a franchise, based on experi- ence they’ve gained through volume. “We’re now handling the renovations for a national hedge fund that buys property, about 25 a month, and we’ll have two to three weeks to do a $20,000- $30,000 renovation, and so our company, Orange Elephant Property Maintenance, is handling that piece. It’s just kind of a neat tie-in to how we started, looking for
always keen on lending it,” says Kelly, who adds they’ve found success buy- ing from retiring landlords. The brothers advise that all you can do is ask to buy a property and hear one of three possible answers: “Yes,” “No” or Hell, no.” GROWING THEIR BUSINESSES The Edwardses continue buying in- vestment property; they have 51 units and flipped four in 2016. In addition, they added their father’s business to their portfolio in 2012 with the purchase of an agency now in four lo- cations. It provides cash flow, a steady customer base and a quality staff, which allows the brothers to continue to grow their rental property business.
The brothers say they “like making old stuff old again.”
22 | think realty magazine march :: april 2017
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