Succeeding in Real Estate
“Every Market is a HomeVestors Market”
Chris and Lauren Kelly are independent owner operators of a HomeVestors® of America, Inc. (HVA) franchise in the Tampa, Florida market.
They started their franchise, CL Solutions LLC, in 2018 after both working as project managers in the commercial renovations industry. Chris and Lauren are a brother-sister team who purchased their franchise while both in their early twenties.
Life Before HomeVestors
Chris graduated from Florida State University with degrees in both real estate and finance and Lauren graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in health sciences and a minor in psychology.
Chris learned about HomeVestors through a friend, Frankie Herrera, who is now a HomeVestors Development Agent in Florida. In 2017, while working as a licensed contractor, Chris began working as a part-time realtor for Herrera and his associate Albert Leon. He listed properties and handled sales coordination for them and eventually did the same for other HomeVestors franchisees in the area.
During this time working as a part-time realtor for other franchises, Chris saw an opportunity in a property he listed. He pooled his money together with Lauren to buy, renovate, and sell the house. Then the light bulb went off, “If we had our own HomeVestors franchise, we could be making more money on these transactions,” Chris explained. So, in June 2018, Chris, 23-years old, and Lauren, 24-years old, bought their HomeVestors franchise in the Tampa market.
Becoming a HVA Business Owner
“Even though I got degrees in real estate and finance, had my contractor’s license, and also had some successful real estate transactions under my belt, I took full advantage of the HomeVestors training, program and systems,” said Chris. “I followed their systems from the first day. And equally important, we set up our office in the same building that had several other franchisees, so there was a lot of coaching, mentoring, and collaboration. HomeVestors is a team sport – not competition.”
In Chris and Lauren’s first year, they bought one-to-two houses per month and sold them to real estate investors and other franchisees.
Present Day and Beyond
“Today, we are still looking to do a few houses per month because we made the decision to focus on quality projects that yield higher returns instead of focusing on just volume,” explained Chris.
The primary focus of CL Solutions is fix-and-flip properties, with some buy-and-holds. The future goal is to continue building a rental portfolio.
“I love HomeVestors and can’t imagine doing real estate any other way,” said Chris. “Both Lauren and I love the company, love the people, and we get immense satisfaction from helping people with their real estate situations. We are going to continue buying properties to sell for good returns and we are going to continue building our rental portfolio.”
Even though perception may be that the real estate market has slowed down a bit, Chris explained that market conditions have not negatively impacted his business. He elaborated by saying, “Every market is a HomeVestors market.” And, Tampa, in general, is a great market – there is huge growth in Tampa and investors from all over the country want to own a piece of it.
When asked what advice he would give to new real estate investors, his advice was straightforward: “The first thing is to figure out what you want to do in real estate and be adaptable and flexible. Then, consider purchasing a HomeVestors franchise, which would help you find a mentor, design your strategy, and get to work.”
Homevestors
Whether you are curious about real estate investing or you have dabbled in it and want to make it a full time job, HomeVestors helps entrepreneurs from all walks of life build their own real estate business. Our franchise owners enjoy independence while also benefitting from the famous We Buy Ugly Houses® brand and our best-in-class real estate investing tools, software, and mentorship.
If you are interested in a franchise, call 866-249-6932, email franchisedevelopment@homevestors.com or visit https://franchise.homevestors.com/. Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.
