Affordable Housing Investing: Manufactured Homes, DSCR Loans & Cash Flow | Anise El Hayani
Show summary
In this episode, Anise El Hayani shares his journey from mortgage expert to successful real estate investor, focusing on affordable housing and land development in San Antonio. Discover how his deep mortgage background fuels his investment strategies and the lessons learned along the way.
Key takeaways
- Anise sources rural land, brings in electrical and water hookups, uses septic systems, and installs brand new manufactured homes, selling them as affordable FHA housing with payments between $1,300 and $1,500.
- He uses DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) loans to qualify investors based on a property's rental income rather than personal income, drawing on his mortgage broker background.
- Lending standards have tightened: investors now typically need 30% to 40% down to leverage current interest rates and maintain adequate cash flow, compared to the low-money-down environment of the past.
- His business model splits into three income speeds: fast money from mortgage work, medium money from land/manufactured home packages, and slow money from buy-and-hold rental properties.
- He keeps multiple land parcels moving at once (working on about two of four lands simultaneously) to avoid losing time and money while waiting on electrical and water installation.
- His current portfolio includes about 15 single family homes in and around San Antonio, three international properties (one a successful Airbnb), and roughly four land/manufactured home packages completed per year.
- His advice for starting over in a new market: join local real estate investing groups, find a mentor with area experience, and focus on affordable housing as a durable demand category.
In this episode
- 01:54Introduction of Anise El Hayani
- 02:48Career origin: mortgage industry to real estate, 2003–present
- 03:41How a mortgage background helps find deals, DSCR loans explained
- 04:40Hardest lesson transitioning from loan officer to investor
- 06:16Why affordable housing is the biggest opportunity right now
- 06:59Protecting the portfolio: leverage, down payments, and the slow/medium/fast money framework
- 07:49Keeping builds affordable and finding the right deals
- 08:49Managing inventory and timelines on land/electrical/water work
- 09:18Current portfolio: 15 single family homes, 3 international, 4 land packages a year
- 09:55Starting over: first moves to build wealth in a new city
- 10:31Final advice: real estate is a long-term cycle
About Anise El Hayani
Anise El Hayani has over 16 years of experience in the mortgage industry, starting his real estate career in 2003 in Michigan before moving to Texas in 2007. He worked as a mortgage broker, including handling short sales for five years and working as a mortgage broker since 2020, and now focuses on affordable housing and land development in the San Antonio area, owning about 15 single family homes, three international properties, and developing roughly four manufactured home land packages a year.
Listen to the audio
“Based on the economics, based on everything we have right now, affordable housing is the way to go.”
Anise El Hayani
“Don't give up on real estate. It takes 10 years to build any portfolio or to see anything growing because starting it.”
Anise El Hayani
“There's three things I work on, is like slow, medium and fast money. Fast money is my work in mortgage, medium is doing the land package and slow doing the rental properties.”
Anise El Hayani
Questions answered in this episode
What is Anise El Hayani's affordable housing model in San Antonio?
He buys land in rural areas, brings in electrical and water, uses septic systems since the land is rural, and installs brand new manufactured homes. He sells these as affordable FHA homes with payments between $1,300 and $1,500, aiming to make them cheaper than renting an apartment.
What is a DSCR loan and how does Anise use it?
DSCR stands for debt service coverage ratio. Anise explains it helps investors qualify for a property based on the rental revenue covering the payment, rather than personal income. He uses his mortgage broker background to help investors in San Antonio access these loans.
How has the lending market changed for investors recently, according to Anise?
He says investors used to be able to work with very little money down, but now need more skin in the game, typically 30% to 40% down, to leverage current interest rates and ensure enough cash flow.
What is Anise's 'slow, medium, fast money' strategy?
Fast money comes from his mortgage work, medium money comes from doing land packages (developing and selling manufactured homes), and slow money comes from holding rental properties.
How big is Anise El Hayani's current real estate portfolio?
He has about 15 single family homes in and around San Antonio, three international properties (including one successful Airbnb), and he completes about four land/manufactured home packages per year.
What advice does Anise give to someone starting real estate investing from scratch?
He recommends starting with local real estate investing associations, meeting people and finding a mentor who has experience in the business and knows the area, then focusing on affordable housing because that demand isn't going away.
Resources and links
- Anise El Hayani on Instagram
- Anise El Hayani on TikTok
- Anise El Hayani-NMLS#1930658, Elite Mortgage Services on Facebook
- Anise El Hayani’s Email Address: anise.sanantonio@gmail.com
Full transcript
Anise El Hayani (00:00)
On a quarter market right now, it’s affordable housing. Based on the economics, based on everything we have right now, affordable housing is the way to go. The way I develop homes right now, that basically we get lands, we bring electrical water, I work in our rural area, so we use septics mainly, and bringing brand new manufacturing home and selling it as affordable housing for buyers.
to be able to qualify and be able to have that payment between like $1300 and $1500 and keep that affordable cheaper than for them renting an apartment.
Scott Bursey (01:54)
Welcome back to the *Real Estate Pros* podcast powered by Investor Fuel. Glad you’re with us. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And today we’re delighted to have Anise El Hayani in the studio. Anise brings over sixteen years of high level experience in the mortgage industry. Having served as a top producer at Wells Fargo, he has successfully pivoted that expertise into owning and managing a diverse portfolio of local and international properties.
Listeners, you can expect to learn how Anise leverages his deep understanding of lending to fuel his current real estate investments in the competitive San Antonio market. Anise, welcome to the show.
Anise El Hayani (02:34)
Thank you for having me. Appreciate it Scott.
Scott Bursey (02:37)
It’s awesome having you here and to help our listeners get up to speed. Please give us the ninety second highlight reel of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.
Anise El Hayani (02:48)
Yes, so I started this business back in 2003, back in Michigan, and then moved to Texas in 2007. I’ve been in the mortgage industry for 16 years, but the real estate since 2003. Went through the 2008 great financial, and right now I’m focusing on just affordable housing, manufacturing rooms, building them, developing them, and selling them as affordable FHA homes.
Scott Bursey (03:10)
That is a classic journey. The discipline you picked up in the corporate lending world clearly laid the foundation for the massive moves you’re making now. Thank you for highlighting that, Anise. And what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to seamlessly translate high level mortgage expertise into your own real estate investment strategy. And expanding on that, how has your deep mortgage background been the secret way of
weapon, if you will, in securing deals in San Antonio.
Anise El Hayani (03:41)
100 % yeah, that helped me a lot by being an emoji broker being in the side starting the bank the one the short sales for five years kind of give me the foundation then move into the being like a motion broker since 2020 it kind of Give me the whole overlook of the financial system. So we have all this opportunity to get to work with the SCR loans, which is
for people that listen, that service coverage ratio that helps you pick a home based on the rental revenue covering your payment. So these are the opportunities I learned. I work with a lot of investors in San Antonio and the Sonoran area, help them with their mortgage needs and as well for myself by investing on real estate and building my portfolio in the past 10 years.
Scott Bursey (04:31)
And Anise wondering what was the hardest lesson you learned when you first transitioned from being a loan officer to a full time property investor?
Anise El Hayani (04:40)
Yes, it’s the journey for me like a start working in and from a loan officer to become an investor, looking for financial freedom, know, trying to be able to travel, be able to, bring enough revenue for and create that wealth for the future, for a generation. So for me, this is the main goal to do for doing this.
being in real estate is going through everything, seeing 2008 and growing over that and going to the current time. So maneuvering with current interest rate right now. So finding the opportunities.
Scott Bursey (05:18)
Love to hear your thoughts on this. With your success in international properties, where do you see the biggest untapped potential in the current market?
Anise El Hayani (06:16)
On a quarter market right now, it’s affordable housing. Based on the economics, based on everything we have right now, affordable housing is the way to go. The way I develop homes right now, that basically we get lands, we bring electrical water, I work in our rural area, so we use septics mainly, and bringing brand new manufacturing home and selling it as affordable housing for buyers.
to be able to qualify and be able to have that payment between like $1300 and $1500 and keep that affordable cheaper than for them renting an apartment.
Scott Bursey (06:50)
Anise, thinking about your journey, how are you protecting your portfolio against the current shifts in the in the mortgage and lending landscape?
Anise El Hayani (06:59)
Yeah, so I use leverage and things are different right now. Before you can work with money like a little money down. I with this current market, you have to have more kind of skin in the game. You have to more cash to work, 30 to 40 % down to leverage the interest rate and to make sure you have enough money coming in enough cash flow that common So as a
As I say, it’s a basically there’s three things I work on, is like slow, medium and fast money. Fast money is my work in mortgage, medium is doing the land package and slow doing the rental properties.
Scott Bursey (07:37)
That’s some smart strategy right there. And interested to get your take on this. What is the one skill you use every day that keeps you ahead of the competition in San Antonio?
Anise El Hayani (07:49)
By making sure, reducing the cost of my build so I keep things affordable for buyers, find the right deal, the right property, making sure I find the right homes, like a modern looking at the same time, like, affordable for people to be able to enjoy.
Scott Bursey (08:46)
It really comes down to execution and speed, doesn’t it?
Anise El Hayani (08:49)
Yes, it does. it’s basically it’s the way you do it. You have to have we have to keep our inventory. So we make sure I make sure I have enough land going on the project and speed because electrical you have to make sure that the electrical water these things takes time. So you have to time to get like four lands in the same time work on two in the same time. So you keep your inventory going. So you’re not losing the time of money for getting homes. So
Scott Bursey (09:13)
Anise, if you could take us down the path of what is your professional network look like right now?
Anise El Hayani (09:18)
Right now, we’re looking at about, I have about 15 single family. And I do international homes. I have about three international homes. One is Airbnb, which has been very successful for the Airbnb based on me turning the location and 15 homes all over San Antonio and outside the square of San Antonio. And I do the land package, which I do about four homes a year.
So.
Scott Bursey (09:41)
Appreciate you highlighting that. And Anise, curious, if you had to start over in a new city today with only your current knowledge, let’s say, what is the first move that you’d make to build wealth?
Anise El Hayani (09:55)
So first I will go to local real estate investing and meet people, get a mentor who can help you, who’s been in the business and where you can learn about investing and learn about the area. And then I will focus on affordable housing. Affordable housing is going to be here and it’s not going to go away anytime soon.
Scott Bursey (10:16)
It’s all about the fundamentals and building relationships from day one. Completely understand. And Anise, is there any additional words of wisdom, any final words that you’d like to leave with our listeners here today?
Anise El Hayani (10:31)
Yes, I would just don’t let this time real estate is about it’s a cycle in real estate. So don’t give up on real estate. It takes 10 years to build any portfolio or to see anything growing because starting it. You might see it now as an interest high. But when the time that will happen, 2021, 22, it’s not going to happen again. but having that.
Real estate, having your portfolio, growing value, using all your tax benefits, know, as own a real estate, it will help you offset any income you have. Real estate, it’s a great thing and it’s not gonna go away. It’s like I remember my grandfather, like he was, real estate, that’s how it was, my old grandfather, that’s when he started.
that’s 100 years ago.
Scott Bursey (11:18)
Powerful. Very powerful. Thank you for that. And for those of our listeners, Anise that like to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane, collaborate with you. What’s the best way for them to plug into your pipeline and reach you directly?
Anise El Hayani (11:32)
Yes, they can reach me my information here. I’m on social media. My name is Anise El Hayani. can find it on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook. Also, they can reach me directly. I can provide my email address and all that.
Scott Bursey (11:48)
Anise, thank you so much for joining us today on the *Real Estate Pros* podcast.
Anise El Hayani (11:52)
Thank you. Thank you Scott for having me.
Scott Bursey (11:54)
It has been an absolute pleasure. And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you receive value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with a lineup of a leak guest, just like Anise, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.