REI INK

From There to Here

Opportunity is Everywhere

From “Dirt Poor” to Successful Real Estate Investor By Carole VanSickle Ellis When Dana Nutt moved to Afton, Michigan, at the age of 6, he got his first experience in rehabbing real estate. “We lived in a one-room schoolhouse with an outhouse,” he explained. “But we just kept cleaning and sanding and improving whenever we could.” The family made the best of the situation, and Nutt spent hours with his father working on the inside and outside of the building, eventually installing partitions and plumbing to make what had been a decrepit old schoolhouse a livable home. That was when Nutt identified a motto that has defined his hundreds of fix-and-flip deals and dozens of other real estate-related business ventures in northern Michigan: “If it looks like a lot of work, it’s right up my alley.” Keeping Both Eyes Open for Opportunities By the time Nutt was a senior in high school, he was running a nearly full-time handyman and construction business with seven employees. After graduation, he continued to grow that company, ultimately spending more than two decades at its head before selling it to an employee who had been with the company for years while Nutt was the owner. “It was a win-win situation,” Nutt explained. He owner-financed the sale of the business and receives regular payments from the new owner while freeing up his time to pursue other passions like spec houses, residential development, and running the Tower Shore Motel, a property he purchased in June 2018 after it “broke my heart” to see it falling into disrepair (see sidebar). Between graduation and the present day, he also acquired, rehabbed, and either rented or flipped more than 200 residential homes in Florida and northern Michigan, acquired a 19-lot subdivision that was ready to build, purchased and rehabbed a small multifamily property in a neighboring town, opened a party store, and, most recently, started a self-storage company. “I’m always looking for a good deal, and I’m not afraid of hard work,” Nutt explained. “That is how I went from dirt poor to where I am now.” He is intensely creative and tends to see opportunities where others might not. For example, when he acquired the subdivision where he is currently building his spec houses, he initially only wanted to buy a single lot. However, upon learning that the owner was interested in selling the entire development and willing to take payments over time, Nutt negotiated a deal that enabled him to put a percentage of the total price down, then pay off the remainder in increments as he sold lots, houses, or both. “I always wanted to design my own homes,” he explained. “This was a great way to do it.” Gain a Little Knowledge Every Time Nutt makes it a policy to take at least “a little knowledge” out of every investment and, equally importantly, is an avid reader. He recalled being inspired by Carlton Sheets in the late 1990s after reading No Down Payment and, shortly thereafter, consuming Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. “I’ve read more than 200 books, and I always make sure to get a little knowledge out of each one of them,” Nutt said. The determination to put what he was learning about into prompt action played a role in his varied experiences in real estate over the years. “I’ve bought land via tax sale (once I even ended up selling it back to the town once I had purchased it), by bandit signs, and by referral,” he said. Nutt emphasized the importance of maintaining good relationships with other real estate professionals, noting the importance of trust in today’s market. “These days, you need people that you can trust because you have to get the offer in first, then do the inspection later,” he explained. “Otherwise, you miss your chance.” SIDEBAR Taking Back Tower Shore Today, the Tower Shore Motel is a log-sided building with a bright red roof, several permanent RV installations for “glamping,” a three-bedroom log cabin with a kitchen and full amenities out back, and plenty of sites for traditional camping. Guests enjoy kayak and canoe rentals in the summer, snowmobile rentals in the winter, and campfires and s’mores just about any time the weather permits. Fewer than five years ago, however, things were very different. The grounds were overgrown and the facilities deteriorating rapidly. “I used to fish on Tower Pond as a kid, and it just broke my heart as the Tower Shore Motel started to fall down,” said proprietor Dana Nutt, a local investor who acquired the property in 2018. “When I heard it might be available for sale, I told the agent to put my offer in immediately and we would figure out the details later.” Nutt and the seller agreed to a land trust transaction that enabled Nutt to retain the capital necessary to clean up the property and get it open for business quickly. Nutt dove into the project, setting an opening date just two months down the road. It was hard going. “The rooms were just filled with stuff: beds, mattresses, furniture, you name it,” Nutt recalled. Many in the community stopped to help with the cleanup, and more stayed for paid work. Nutt says one of the best things about investing in northern Michigan and owning a variety of businesses in the area is that he is nearly always able to help provide employment if a candidate is serious about getting a job. The hard work paid off, and the motel reopened on Labor Day 2018. However, Nutt was just getting started. “I wanted make it everything I thought a hotel should be,” he explained. To this end, he began acquiring canoes, kayaks, RVs, rustic furniture, and even log siding, which he bought at an auction and installed himself on the exterior of the buildings. By 2019, the hotel boasted standup paddle boards, a pull-behind float, and a playground “to keep the kids busy” near the campground. Nutt also hosted

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Overcoming Obstacles

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From Prom Dresses to Real Estate By Brittney Fairweather My career started out quite differently than most. For one, I was a teenager. Second, I wasn’t exactly seeking a lifetime career.  I had been asked to the prom and I was thrilled. I had the exact dress picked out that I wanted. However, dresses cost money — more than most 14-year-olds have from an allowance. I had to earn some money, and fast. To earn that money, I approached a local gym owner, Trixy Castro, about running their “kids club” that provided childcare while patrons worked out. Unfortunately, that gym did not offer childcare. When Trixy saw the discouraged look on my face as I sulked toward to door, she said that if I wanted a job, I could jump on the phones and help sell gym memberships. She handed me a phone and the yellow pages, and I got immediately to work. Not only was I able to buy the prom dress I was after, but I made a life-long friend and colleague. I have worked for Trixy for more than 15 years now, and her willingness to give me that first opportunity to prove myself has made all the difference in how I approach challenges, personally and professionally.  An Unlikely Career Path with an Unlikely (and Hugely Talented) Team After taking on sales at the gym, I began working with Trixy across different small business ventures throughout high school and during college. I attended college in Southern California, but went right back to work with Trixie after graduation. This time, I was working in my first real estate role. I was the receptionist at Rightway Financial Group (I got the job after completing my very first professional interview in a blazer I borrowed from my mom), but reception was not where I wanted to stay. I set out to expand my understanding of the industry and began to study for my real estate license. Every day, I would stay late to teach myself the ins and outs of loan processing. By 2007, it was becoming evident to all of us that a market shift was imminent. We shifted our business model away from conventional loans toward more investor-oriented styles. Where the market was heading, it was imperative to build a firm with its own capital or we would not survive the economic downturn on the horizon. First, we made short-term loans to investors who needed to access funds quickly in order to compete in buying homes at auction. Then, in 2008, we launched our first mortgage fund, Genesis, offering a product that met the needs of local real estate investors while keeping our core underwriting standards intact. Soon, making risk-averse loans to bankable clients who simply could not wait for the archaic lending system took over our conventional mortgage platform. There was such strong demand, we knew we had to duplicate the idea elsewhere, and with hard workdays and nights, our team pulled together and exceeded everything we believed we were capable of.  Just one year after Genesis launched, a valued team-member, father figure, and mentor passed away without warning. Suddenly, we were a young, exclusively female team operating in an industry that was notoriously unreceptive to female entrepreneurs. It was a struggle to be taken seriously, but we leaned on mentors, clients, and vendors to vouch for our credibility and overcame many obstacles that could have overwhelmed our business. We eventually started Genesis Auctions to supply discounted inventory from banks and servicers to investors. Evolution at Lightning Speed By this time, my personal life was changing and evolving as well. In 2010, I had a son and was pregnant again, with my daughter, while working around the clock to build a business. I felt like I was running as fast as I could to keep our business ahead of the curve and secure our position as a key player in the space. Those were challenging, sometimes brutal years, but they taught me perseverance and grit. I grew both personally and professionally, and so did the business. The success of Genesis Auctions led to the 2015 acquisition of Hudson & Marshall, LLC, a leading real estate auction platform. In 2016, I moved to Philadelphia to expand Genesis into Northeastern markets, including New York and D.C. We sold Genesis Auctions to Fidelity National Title in 2017, and, in 2018, we sold Genesis Capital to Goldman Sachs.  After the sale of Genesis, I dedicated some time to learning about the mechanics of long-term rentals, wholesaling, and purchasing land for development. By 2019, I was back working with Trixy and the team as a consultant on investment deals. We worked with builders all over California and, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became very clear we needed a lending company once again. Thus, in the summer of 2021, Aureus Finance Group, a complete debt partner across all facets of residential and multifamily real estate development, was born. Good Chances Pay Off Over and Over Again Through the years, I have had two more children, lost more loved ones, and settled with our family on the East Coast far from where I grew up, all while pushing ahead and climbing over hurdles simply based on gender stereotypes. Over those ten years working alongside Trixy and the team, I had the incredible experience of creating and building high-demand entities and was a part of so many pivotal moments within the real estate and finance verticals to date.  But these moments would not have been possible had I not been that teenaged girl looking for a way to buy her prom dress, or if Trixy had not taken a chance on that young girl. SIDEBAR Brittney Fairweather’s Tips for Building a Stellar Team The biggest piece of advice I can offer to new entrepreneurs is to build a team with which you can walk through fire. Hereare a few tips for accomplishing this: » Find at least one person (hopefully more)

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Justin Parker

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“Getting Into the Weeds” to Achieve Success Where did you attend college and what did you study? I got my undergraduate degree at Clemson University majoring in finance and accounting. Then, I received my MBA with a focus on management and leadership at Queens University at the McColl School of Business. What positions led you to RCN Capital? Following my undergraduate time at Clemson I accepted a job at Ally Bank. The focus was within the Treasury Department, particularly within secured and unsecured funding. And really what that pertained to was managing our warehouse lines, our debt, and managing our securitization activity both on the secured and the unsecured front. It was a fantastic place to start my career and dip my toes in the water regarding financing, particularly within treasury. Most importantly, it was a way for me to start understanding the real world, and not just from an academic viewpoint. Where did you go after cutting your teeth at Ally Bank? My goal was to then take those experiences from Ally and apply them on a more granular level with a company that was newer to the space and start to help build something from the ground up. That’s when I made my transition from Ally to B2R Finance. My job at B2R was to come in and help solidify their securitization activity, which was a major focus for the company regarding what they were looking to achieve from a fiscal perspective, and then start to refine and grow the treasury and financial activities within the company. For me, it was a good way to go from what was well established in BS and ABS markets and bring that knowledge base into private mortgage lending which didn’t necessarily have the sophistication and the infrastructure at the time. So, it was a good way for me to step in and really start to have that level of impact. My goal was to continue to grow the company, continue to be ahead of the game in terms of the products we were offering, and be fiscally sound. Then, I met Jeff Tesch, which is ultimately what led me to RCN. Tell us about your move to RCN? I joined RCN in March of 2017 as a Vice President of Treasury and Capital Markets. Jeff had built a remarkable platform for private lending and a remarkable brand. That is what attracted me to RCN. And the goal was to blow this thing up and really expand our significance within the industry. So, the goal when I stepped in was to bring in new debt alternatives, new capital structures, new business models pertaining to how we’re funded, and to help scale the company. Jeff just kind of handed me the keys and said, “here’s what we got, go get it, I’m here to help, now make it happen.” Two years later, I moved into a Senior Vice President role working remotely out of Charlotte while the company was still primarily focused in Connecticut. As we grew the team and our structure, Jeff entrusted me to start building out a team here in Charlotte. The private lending industry allows for flexibility and creativity which ultimately leads to growth. Growing the RCN team was such a unique and awesome thing for me to be able to do during my time here at the company. Then in March of 2021 I was promoted to Chief Financial Officer. The company and Jeff really pushed me to achieve things that I quite frankly never thought possible. At RCN, what you put in is what you get out. If you walk in with a strong work ethic and are open-minded to new ideas and willing to listen, the company is set up in such a way where you can achieve things that you never thought possible. When I first joined the company, we had roughly 40 employees and doing about $100 million a year. Fast forward five years and we’re at 220+ employees and doing over $100 million a month. It’s all based on the company culture, attitude, and the trust we have in each other. Where do you see your future? First off, RCN will grow into a household name in terms of private lending. When you think of banks, you think of Bank of America or Wells Fargo. When you think of private lending, you WILL think of RCN. What I really expect to see next year, three years, five years down the road is, as a company, we will continue to grow and take advantage of this devolving marketplace called private lending. Personally, I don’t know if I have a great answer for this. I want to continue to grow and continue to evolve. And as the next year, three years, and five years progress, a lot of opportunities are going to present themselves for this market and for the company. I want to continue to grow my team and continue to put gas on the fire; take something that’s burning really well and just blow it out of the water. I’m a strong believer that “you don’t know what you don’t know,” and RCN is a great way for you to be able to learn and expand and discover. Looking back at your journey now, is there anything that sticks out that has shaped your outlook on your business principles or philosophies? One of the first things which I found to be so unique in my journey was when I started with Ally. Ally was a very well-established bank and a well-established corporate lending institution. You learn a lot about how these well-oiled machines operate, but you don’t necessarily get into the weeds. You understand the car runs, but you don’t understand what’s happening to make the car run. I learned a tremendous amount about successful treasury mechanics and what it means to have strong financial health, but most importantly, I learned about the weeds; understanding the goal and how to achieve it.

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From There to Here

Brett Worthington: Veteran To Innovative Disruptor by Alison Bishop “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far go together.” African Proverb. This African proverb is a core value of Brett Worthington, senior vice president of business development at Frontdoor. It symbolizes many things along his journey and in his life today. “I heard it from a great leader of mine whom I consider a mentor. I share it with anyone who’s ever worked for me and anyone who ever will work for me in the future, because it genuinely is a core value of mine.” Worthington’s journey is rooted in developing and leading high-performing teams, driving innovation and creating meaningful change for people and businesses. From a young boy growing up working on his grandfather’s farm, to his service in the Army, to becoming a true disruptor in businesses of all magnitudes, Worthington is no stranger to overcoming challenges and truly innovating in life and business in order to make something better. Worthington grew up no stranger to hard work and a strong work ethic. His dad was a banker who received his MBA. Both his grandfathers were farmers and ranchers, which is where he spent many summers working. “I got paid $5 a week. Every Friday my grandfather and I would walk to the bank. He would hand me $5 and say, ‘One dollar is yours, pay yourself first. The other $4 is to do whatever you want with.’ He was one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.” Worthington’s original career plan was to become a lawyer, until the age of 18 when he knew he was meant to do something bigger—bigger than his plan, than himself. He was going to make a difference. “A series of events led me to a phone conversation with an Army recruiter. On that call he wanted to talk about my ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) score. To be honest, I don’t remember taking the ASVAB. I sat down with the recruiter for four hours at a Military Enrollment Processing Station and I told him I was going to make a difference.” Worthington enlisted as a 11 Bravo Infantry and dual MOS 12 Bravo, which at that time was a combat engineer. “When I told my parents, I had two weeks until I left. I will never forget the look on my parents’ faces, but it’s the best decision I ever made.” Worthington’s experience in the military not only shaped him as a leader and innovator, it taught him that you have to use the data and the inputs to make informed decisions, but it’s also important to trust your instincts and stay true to your values. “I think most successful entrepreneurs and leaders have that similar mindset. As long as you have the will and you’re grounded in who you are, and take a critical look at the opportunities ahead, whatever decision you are making—whether business, investment, family—those principles are there and sound.” After his time in the military, Worthington attended college where he earned a degree in political science from the University of Utah. From there, he went on to start building his resume and experience, which landed him an internship in the White House during the Clinton Administration, and he started forging his new path towards innovation. Over the last 13 years Worthington has been at the forefront of bringing new and innovative products to life. He served as vice president of global business development and strategic partnerships for Samsung SmartThings where he was responsible for the development of global partnerships and services as well as its go to market strategies. He led the development of an IoT smart home platform and served as director of business development for Ingersoll-Rand. He fostered and led innovation, invention and growth in the residential IoT Marketplace while at Quirky and Wink. Fostering innovation to drive change in the home With a passion for innovation and making a difference in the lives of others, it makes sense that Worthington sees tremendous opportunities to re-define how home services are delivered and experienced—especially now, with homes more essential to families than ever before. Frontdoor’s flagship brand, American Home Shield, has been providing home service plans to homeowners across the nation for 50 years. It’s leading home service plan brand founded the home warranty industry. In that time, the company has had more than 70 million service requests. “I didn’t know anything about the home warranty space before joining Frontdoor. But when I looked at the home and the opportunity to truly innovate and become the go-to solution for home services, I knew I had to be part of that transformation.” Worthington notes that after five decades of serving homeowners through its home service plans, the company is tapping into its strengths and expertise not just to drive transformation within its operations, but across the $400 billion U.S. home services industry. “What really drove me to take this role, outside of the opportunity to innovate and build a marketplace, was the culture at Frontdoor,” Worthington said. “To truly foster innovation, you have to have a culture that supports it and that is grounded in that mindset.” The foundation of Frontdoor is its House Rules, its commitments to obsess over customers’ problems; be an owner, not a renter; be transparent, build trust; and do great things every day. “The culture and the foundation of innovation and doing great things every day is what I get out of bed for every morning. Love problems, not solutions resonated with me. I think true innovators love digging deep to thoroughly understand a problem they’re trying to solve, never jumping to the easiest solution.” “When you think of owning a home, or several properties, you know there will inevitably be breakdowns to the home systems and appliances. When you add a home service plan to that home, you are adding convenience and budget protection for when those items wear down. Now, think about

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When Evolution is the Constant, Relationships Matter Most

Brad Cossingham’s Journey From Fax Room to CEO by Carole VanSickle Ellis Brad Cossingham, CEO of National Field Representatives (NFR), grew up around the property preservation business. “My father founded the company in 1989 when he purchased two existing companies and formed NFR,” Cossingham explained. “As a kid, it was not uncommon for me to be sent to the corner drugstore to have the films by the contractors developed. This was the practice before the adoption of digital photography.” Cossingham left home for Bentley University in 1998 and earned a degree in business administration and management, but returned to NFR in 2003 to begin an extended training process. The senior Cossingham was determined not to treat his son differently than any other employee in the company, and he made that goal clear from the time the young man started in his first formal position. “My dad made it very clear that I would have to earn a place at NFR,” Cossingham recalled. Earn that place he did, working nearly every position in the company over the following years. Cossingham started out as a property inspections coordinator, spent some time in the fax room, worked in the insurance loss department, had a role in IT, and ultimately “got hooked,” as he put it, on property preservation. “That is where I moved into a management role and ultimately became vice president of property preservation, then senior vice president of operations, and, eventually, president and CEO,” he said. “A lot has changed since the fax room,” Cossingham laughed. The fact that Cossingham not only remembers getting contractors’ film developed at the corner drugstore but was actively employed in the fax room where companies used to handle much of their “instant communications” is a testament to just how much experience he has in the property preservation space—and how well-equipped he is to lead NFR through yet another evolution during COVID-19. “Things have evolved since I started, and they are changing even more now,” he said. “We have come a long way from when processing just 400 inspections took a week to complete. Today, the same volume takes us only four or five minutes!” Perhaps the biggest shift since the start of 2020, of course, has been the decline of in-person communications as COVID-19 concerns and health policies created barriers between service providers like NFR and company clients used to seeing representatives in person. Fortunately, communication is a strong suit for NFR and flexibility is a point of company pride. “From our beginnings in 1989 to today, interactions with our clients have certainly morphed,” Cossingham said. “In the early years, there was less face-to-face interaction and a lot more paperwork. We used to send reams and reams of paper to contractors to place orders, then process the hard-copy results in order to provide our clients with hard-copy reports, photos, and invoices. Then, we transitioned from hard copy to fax, and then to electronic communications. As that happened, we also began to increase our face-to-face interactions. Today, we have adopted technology to aid in the ‘face-to-face’ interactions while travel is restricted due to the pandemic. It’s an entirely new challenge, but we know communication remains crucial.” Cossingham said that NFR’s determination to communicate with clients and investors clearly and reliably has played an integral role in the company’s ability to navigate other changes in the economy and the industry over the past three decades. “The question has always been, ‘How do we best communicate?’ That is the question whether you are corresponding through a digital platform, over the phone or fax, or in person,” he said. “Our top priority remains staying in touch with our clients and ensuring they know that we value the relationship. We care about them as human beings as well as business partners, and our focus is creating and maintaining long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.” To some clients, this means that NFR representatives are willing to get on a plane and meet in person (following appropriate safety precautions of course), but for most, it means being willing to talk via phone or video when the client is available—even if that availability takes place outside traditional business hours. Cossingham said NFR frequently contacts clients simply to check in even if the account is not currently experiencing any unique challenges. That, he said, is an indication of how the entire company operates: very much like a family. This mindset extends not only among employees, but outward to clients and contractors as well. Cossingham said proudly that NFR employees model this perspective in all their business interactions. “We are where we are as a business because of our employees,” Cossingham said. He explained NFR still views itself as a family business despite having hundreds of employees and an extensive contractor network across the country. “Early in the pandemic, we decided to stay the course and worked hard to retain as much of our team as we possibly could. We were successful. I am pleased to say that we have navigated the pandemic with no layoffs.” The key to this success lies in the flexibility that Cossingham’s father demanded of the organization when he started the company. Cossingham says this flexibility enabled the company to dedicate much of 2020 to working on procedures and systems that will help clients and the company navigate the foreclosure surge most analysts predict will begin when foreclosure moratoriums and eviction bans end in late 2021. “There is another side to the moratoriums and forbearance plans,” Cossingham warned. “We have to be top notch, prepared, and ready to assist our clients when restrictions are removed and default inventory surges.” NFR dealt with a foreclosure surge of a different nature in the wake of the housing crash in the mid-2000s. “We have seen large shifts in volume before, and we are even better prepared this time,” Cossingham said. Thanks to a wide base of contractors and two decades of experience in the business in 2008, NFR was able to ramp up operations

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Envelope Stuffer to CEO

PIP Group’s Charles Sells’ Real Estate Journey by Carole VanSickle Ellis When Charles Sells, founder and CEO of Platinum Investment Properties (PIP) Group looks back on how he got started in real estate, he proudly admits he started at the very bottom of the ladder. “In my early 20s, I took a part-time job at a company investing in tax liens stuffing envelopes for $10 an hour,” he recalled. Today, nearly two decades later, tax liens and other creative investment strategies are the key to PIP Group’s consistent delivery of high-performance assets and reliable returns to hundreds of loyal real estate investor-clients. “At the start, I literally fell into the job with the tax-lien company as a side-gig to earn extra money when I wasn’t bartending,” Sells said. “I had always been interested in real estate. When I finally got the chance to be involved with it, I fell in love with it—permanently.” He quickly rose through the company, becoming a real estate manager before striking out on his own with just four clients and about $4,000 to his name. “I used every penny for legal agreements and other paperwork to form PIP Group,” he said. “Today, we have managed more than $180 million in tax liens, fund oversight roles, private loans, and fix-and-flips.” While he was falling in love with real estate, Sells also fell in love with his future wife, Lena. At the time, she was working for a competitor. Sells hired her away, “and then I fell in love,” he admitted. “She is the smartest person I ever met. She speaks four languages fluently [and] essentially runs the show now.” The two share two children, and Sells also has two sons from a previous marriage. The Right Pace for the Right Time Although Charles and Lena run PIP Group together today, Sells started out with another partner, Don Fullman. “I had the trust of my existing clients, but with most investors having a median age over 50, not many potential clients are willing to listen to a 26-year-old kid just getting started. So, I finally decided I needed a figurehead to be the face of the business—somebody older, more experienced with life to be the front man,” said Sells. Although Fullman retired from the company years ago, Sells never forgets one of his old partner’s favorite axioms. It has gotten the company through tough markets, competitive markets, and volatile ones by helping company’s leadership stay focused on what matters: getting good deals done for clients. “Don would say, ‘You’re trying to do too much, too fast,’” Sells said. “I was a young self-starter, and I wanted to do everything. I wanted to be in all the states, be invested in commercial and multifamily, you name it and I wanted to do it.” Fullman’s advice kept the new CEO focused when PIP Group had one of its biggest growth surges in the history of the company in 2009. “Business tripled nearly overnight. It probably would have killed a less-prepared company,” Sells said. Fortunately, PIP Group stayed focused on the end goal, going above and beyond for clients. “Whatever responsibility we have to our clients, we try to go about 10 steps further,” Sells explained. “We want to always do what is right, not just what is required.” In 2009, that meant leveling with clients about what the company could (and could not) do for them in one of the most opportunity-laden markets the country had seen in years. As the housing crash sent home prices spiraling downward, many of PIP Group’s clients were eager to dive into new markets and try out new acquisition strategies. “We were honest. We told them to avoid pie-in-the-sky dreams and provided reliable, trustworthy information about how we were investing and what kinds of returns we were seeing,” Sells said. The result was that the company experienced exponential growth and did not fall into the quagmire of customer-service meltdowns that plagued many investment firms during the early part of that decade. Of course, not every client was able to hold steady during the early 2010s. Thanks to these determined individuals who refused to look at hard data and preferred quicksilver action that sometimes failed to pay off, Sells also learned the importance of not just having hard data to support a purchase but also of being able to communicate that data to others and put his own skin (or Lena’s) in the game when necessary. “I have seen literally thousands of incredible opportunities slip by because an investor wants to ‘follow their gut’ rather than take advantage of our years of experience investing in real estate,” Sells said. “The biggest profits are nearly always going to be in the average-looking properties rather than the ones that look like ‘home runs.’ But you have to be able to communicate that or your client may get caught up in the excitement and completely disregard your experience and knowledge.” PIP Group communicates with investors about ongoing projects and potential deals using simple, straightforward methodology that helps clients measure risk and maintain realistic expectations. Sometimes, those expectations need to be tempered. Other times, both Sells may believe investor expectations are falling short of where they should be. Charles Sells recalled a time in 2019 when Lena elected to build a deck that had been quoted by a local professional as being a $20,000 job. Lena felt the timeframe (three weeks) and the cost were both too high. She was determined to prove her expectations for the budget and timeline of the project were closer than the contractor’s. Lena dug the postholes and laid the deck-boards in four days, proving the inefficiency of the service provider the client had planned on using. “PIP’s lead executives are not afraid to get their hands dirty and make sure the job is done right,” Sells explained proudly. Offering a Hand Up to Others Sells has come a long way from his beginnings with $4,000 for legal paperwork and $22,000 in

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