has spent decades providing that leg up through mentoring, coaching and teaching, all while remaining avidly active in the real estate investing business. WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2017: “The thing I’m most excited about in 2017 is that we are reviving the Wild Wonderful Women of Real Estate Con- ference. The first event will be in April in Columbus, Ohio, and we’ve already got a number of long-term, successful, known-quantity ladies signed up to speak in completely different arenas.” Note: Jones-Cox started hosting this event before the crash, but suspended the conference in 2008. “Women who attend are floored by seeing all these hyper-successful, high-powered female investors,” she said. “They leave just walking on air.” CRUCIAL “KEY” TO SUCCESS IN THE INDUSTRY: “Becoming successful in the real estate business is imper- ceptible. You take a step up, and it seems like a minor step, but when you look back over the course of 10 years, you’ve taken a lot of those steps and passed some very major mile- stones without even noticing.” PROUDEST MOMENT: “I have two proudest moments. The moments that make me proudest are typically when a student succeeds. I can see their upward motion better than they can, and it’s when one of them finally is able to quit their job or do something else big that I can say, ‘There you go; all that work was worth it.’ “The other thing that comes to mind is when I was invited to speak at the Cato Institute [a Washington, D.C., think tank] maybe 10 years ago about the negative effects of im- pending legislation on housing.” A WORD FOR WOMEN IN REAL ESTATE: “I think a lot of women don’t realize that they have certain advantages in this business that are inherent to their gender. They need to recognize and use that, specifically in negotia- tion. A lot of women seem to be afraid of negotiation because they don’t want to be perceived as playing hardball, using a ‘my-way-or-the-highway,’ beat-the-other-guy down, kind of approach. But the reality is that most sellers, in particular, would rather talk to a woman. I’ve done the marketing tests with mailers and the same exact mailer with a woman’s name on it instead of a man’s will pull 50 percent more calls. “Women have that advantage with sellers, with tenants and even with contractors, as long as you know what you’re talking about. The softer touch that women tend to have goes a long way in working with people. Don’t try to imitate the guys. Know what they know, but do [real estate] the way you do it.” •
SUE NELSON REO Note Profits Hartford, CT
PLACE IN THE INDUSTRY: Sue Nelson describes her real estate investing as simple. “I buy apartment complexes, basically,” she said. Of
course, over the past 12 years, the former-art-teacher-turned-com- mercial-investor has built a portfolio that once included 2,500 units, has taught hundreds of students to do the same and now maintains a healthy portfolio of 99-percent-occupied units based around her concept of “compassionate communities,” which she credits for her high occupancy rates and long-term tenants. So, as Nelson would say, “Anyone can do it,” but it does take a certain type of vision and drive along the way. “I did work very, very hard at this,” she admitted, noting that her compassionate community concept is presently what motivates her to continue growing her real estate business. “I do after-school activities with kids, lunch programs, resume-writing skills for the adults, business skills, community parties, and I get the entire community involved,” she explained. “It creates retention, and it creates just fantastic, vibrant communities” in everything from Nelson’s largest complex of 276 units to her “smaller” 50-unit buildings. “A lot of people find good deals, but not a lot of people can create that kind of occupancy or retention,” she noted. WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2017: “For me, every year is exciting because I know it is going to exceed my expectations. I’ll add properties to my portfolio. I’ll add students who become really successful to my roster. I’ll do a mastermind, which I love doing. “Here’s the thing: Regardless of anyone’s experience or position right now, they should be able to sit back and say, ‘Wow, where could I be by next year?’ We all have that opportunity to know good stuff is going to happen instead of just saying, ‘I’m going to make stuff happen.’” CRUCIAL “KEY” TO SUCCESS IN THE INDUSTRY: “Anyone can do what I do. It sounds big and scary, but it really isn’t, because it’s all about finding the deal. You make your money when you buy a potential investment that will flourish over time. You have to be picky about finding the right deal, and then you have to make the investment and actually work on building the community so that you can increase retention and get people to want to stay in that area. “The secret sauce [to successful community-building in multi- family real estate] is to find community programs that want to be
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