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 a wide variety of events, including an ATV ride, a river paddle, and campfires, all of which brought in business and kept the new look of the Tower Shore Motel at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
By summer 2022, the hotel was booked for nearly the entire summer season and will serve as host to fiber-installation professionals as well as hunters, ice fishermen, and snowmobilers during the winter months. “I just keep looking for opportunities to do more,” Nutt said.
