CFD 600 – GoodEgg Investments Founders Talk Real Estate Syndications

March 16th, 2020

Annie Dickerson and Julie Lam are the co-founders and managing partners of Goodegg Investments, a premier real estate investing company that helps people learn about and invest in real estate syndications (group investments). 

They are both moms (Annie has 2 kids and Julie has 3) and are passionate about helping other families build passive income so they can spend more time with the people they love, doing the things they love, and living a life by design.

Podcast Highlights

  • Who is Annie Dickerson and Julie Lam?

Annie started as an elementary school teacher and after setting out to buy her first house with her husband she was exposed to the idea of house hacking. They purchased a row home, something pretty common in DC, and rented out the bottom portion to help pay down their mortgage. After that experience they started looking at investing in other properties out of state, and that later developed into property syndications and getting to know Julie in the process.

Julie started investing in real estate in 2009 with her husband. They purchased a number of properties in the Bay area and as the market started to mature they sold off a number of those properties in 2013 and 2016. It was then that Julie started to really think about the best way of investing that will work the hardest for her lifestyle. That’s when she realized that investing for cashflow could be the solution. She quickly realized that that’s a long term strategy and she wanted to be able to scale. That led her to the idea of getting into passive investing in multifamily real estate with syndications.

Julie and Annie met at a real estate conference and being among the few women at that conference, they hit it off. Partnership wasn’t discussed at that point but as they got to know each other and found that they each loved complimentary facets of the business, partnering up seemed like a great idea. Annie loves the content creation and education portion of the business and Julie loves the deal making and negotiating aspects, so they work very well together.

  • Why Goodegg Investments?

Goodegg is about building your nest egg and investing for good. It’s not about just putting your money to work for you, it’s also about leaving a legacy for your family and having a positive impact on society.

Coming up with a business name can be a major challenge for new entrepreneurs. The process that Annie went through involved looking at the existing names of businesses in the space, and then thinking outside the box to try to find something really unique. The idea behind the name and the concept was what really brought Julie on board.

  • Creating Content As A Real Estate Investor

Before working Annie, Julie spent a huge amount of time on the phone with potential investors answering the same questions over and over again. What was missing was a better thought leadership platform that allowed people to get to know them. After establishing their platform and making content creation the foundation of the business model, those conversations became much easier as the investor often felt like they already knew them, liked them, and trusted them.

Content is your marketing. You can’t skip it because you have to make sure that people know who are and what you’re doing.

  • How did you identify what kind of customer you’re serving?

In the beginning, Annie and Julie tried to appeal to everyone with money which lead to their content feeling very generic and boring. They needed to change things up and started thinking about the investors that resonated most with their message. They decided to narrow down their audience to young working parents that have been climbing the corporate ladder for a while and aren’t living the lifestyle they want.

They created a customer avatar named Jen that helps them create content whenever they need direction. When they don’t know what to talk about, they think about where Jen is in her journey and think about the questions she has or where she’s stuck at the moment and what piece of content they could make that could help.

Once you understand your customer avatar at a deep level, when you talk with potential investors it’s almost like you are reading their mind. You are able to answer their questions before they even ask them and easily take a cold lead to an excited investor.

  • How does your customer avatar influence your deals?

Annie and Julie’s avatar is a mix of both of them so she guides them in their acquisition process very closely. This leads them to look for conservative investments that they would have wanted to invest in seven years ago when they didn’t know as much about the business. It also helps them understand if a deal is too risky or just doesn’t fit the kind of deal they are looking for.

They can also keep in mind the win/win nature of a deal and being able to feel good about their investments, that their money is being put to good use in their community.

One of the first things that Annie and Julie look for in an investment is that it cash flows right off the bat. It’s the same whether it’s a multifamily property or a five hundred unit syndication, just on a different scale. Multiple backup plans contribute to the conservative aspect of the deals they look for. Most of the properties they buy are typically 80%-90% occupied with an LTV of 60%-80%, it’s important to Annie and Julie to hedge against any kind of downturn in the market.

As an investor, it’s important to understand the definition of conservative for the person that you’re talking to because the word can mean many things to many people.

  • What is your plan to deal with a future where taxes and inflation are on the rise?

By investing in assets that allow you to leverage your money and take advantage of certain tax benefits, the kinds of deals that Annie and Julie are hedging against just such a scenario. With syndication deals, you can get access to a lot of the upsides of real estate investing without having to deal with the responsibilities of being a landlord.

  • Annie and Julie’s Takeaway

The first thing to do is sign up for the Goodegg Investor Club. Most people don’t stop to think about their investing goals, so your first step is to understand what you want from your investments. Think about what your “why” is, because when you’re clear on your “why” the voice in your head that’s going to try to stop you isn’t going to be able to prevent you from taking action.

Links:

Thank you for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe to the show on iTunes and Stitcher Radio!

Reply

or to participate.