Ashley Hamilton is a landlord, multi-unit investor, reverse flipper, hard money lender, and everything else in between. You may recognize her name from episode 331, appropriately titled “10 Real Estate Deals on a $20K Waitress Salary,” which became one of the most popular BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast episodes. If you haven’t heard of Ashley, here’s a quick rundown: As a teen mom, Ashley was working hard daily to provide for her kids. With only a $20K/year salary, she began buying rental properties, often in cash, in the Detroit area. The last time we chatted, Ashley had ten units. But now, things are very different.
Ashley knew that ten units and $7,000/month in cash flow was life-changing, but wanted to go even bigger. Since then, she’s rapidly expanded her rental property empire, growing her portfolio by many multiples and expanding into other businesses like consulting and hard money lending. She’s even developed her own version of the BRRRR strategy called “reverse flipping,” which makes high interest rates a non-issue when trying to refinance out of your property.
She gives some killer tips on keeping tenant turnover low, why paying taxes isn’t such a bad thing, and how betting on cities like Detroit can make you much wealthier. One surprising thing about Ashley is that she built the foundation of her portfolio on cash deals while making a below-poverty salary. So if you think money is the one thing stopping you from investing, Ashley will probably change your mind!
David:
This is the BiggerPockets Podcast, show 674.
Ashley:
I put myself in a position of the tenant, right? The number one thing that I did, I kind of overimproved my properties, and again, investors, you’re new here, that’s not always advised. It just depends on where you’re at. But obviously I may spend 3 to 5,000 more on a project, but this person wants to stay forever or at least three to five years. I know it’s a business, but I constantly relate to my tenants…