Building Generational Wealth Through Real Estate with Mitanni Spruill-LeSueur

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (00:00)

Anyone who’s self-motivated, self-determined, if you don’t need anyone standing over your shoulder, you can go out, research, find out what steps you need to take. Yeah, anyone can do it.

Dylan Silver (01:43)

Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest, Mitanni Spruill-LeSueur is the founding broker of the Spruill Agency. She’s the host on the nationally televised show, Selling Memphis, which is produced by ADTV and viewed by over 30 million people each month across the travel channel, CNBC, Apple TV, Roku, and global streaming platforms. She’s a published author and her book, The Art of Creating Wealth In Real Estate is available on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, and in major bookstores.

She’s devoted to teaching others how to build legacy through property acquisition. And she lives in Eads, Tennessee with her husband and children where faith, family, and community impact remain the center of everything she builds. Mitanni, thanks for taking the time today.

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (02:29)

Thank you Dylan for inviting me.

Dylan Silver (02:31)

Absolutely. And I always like to start off at the top of the show by asking folks how they got started in real estate.

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (02:40)

Yeah, so really quick, I got started in real estate immediately after high school, right in college. went to well, the first time I went to a builder to take the real estate exam and I did pass, but he told me I was a little bit too young to start with this company to come back in a few years. That was a little sad story, but I said, you know what, I don’t want to wait. So I went through a different company.

and became licensed and started actually my company and college. And so ⁓ I decided that I would save my real estate commissions from being a realtor and purchase my first investment property. And that transaction went so smoothly. I sold that first property.

in about 10 days to another investor. And so it was a really, really fun experience. I learned early on how wealth is built through real estate. And from that, I just hit the ground running and ⁓ haven’t looked back since.

Dylan Silver (03:45)

When we

talk about getting started, you mentioned getting licensed while you were ⁓ young and going through college, right? And then doing deals in school and then taking that and really building an investment portfolio from there. I think when people think about, you know, real estate ⁓ operators, investors and ⁓ realtors and brokers, right, people think that you need to have tons of experience with this large network. But

The more I hear folks like yourself who got started, while they were even in school, the more I realize that really anybody can do this business.

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (04:23)

Anyone who’s self-motivated, self-determined, if you don’t need anyone standing over your shoulder, you can go out, research, find out what steps you need to take. Yeah, anyone can do it.

Dylan Silver (04:34)

Now walk me through ⁓ while you were in school, right? And doing those first deals. ⁓ What was the process like for you? Were you out networking? Was this through, you know, friends of friends? How did you build your business in those first couple of years?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (04:51)

So yeah, networking is definitely key. So I went out, I went to every real estate investment group meeting you can think of. I went to

much every meeting that my local real estate association had. ⁓ I went through friends and family events, just where you can meet people and rub shoulders with those who are interested in real estate already in real estate.

And from that experience, I was able to make a lot of different relationships. And I kind of was thrown into the commercial market early on. Usually realtors would start out in residential sales, but I kind of started out mainly in commercial because the people I was meeting out at these different functions and meetings, they were heavy hitters and they were already purchasing a

apartment buildings, office buildings, and they wanted to give me the opportunity. They knew I was young and hungry and wanted the business, and so they kind of helped me by getting started representing them.

Dylan Silver (06:48)

So what you doing commercial deals in college?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (06:52)

Yes.

Dylan Silver (06:53)

That must have been exciting. Do you remember the first one?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (06:57)

Yeah, it was an office building downtown Memphis. I had a client and he owned a mortgage company. He was looking for a new office building. And so I was so excited. I did not know what I was doing, but I was just excited to have the opportunity and fingers crossed nothing bad happened. I didn’t mess up anything, but ⁓ yeah, it was a really fun experience and learned a lot. I actually met

the owner of the building and she was someone higher up at the local bank and she really, you know, held my hand as well and gave me lot of advice.

Dylan Silver (07:37)

Now, when people think about realtors and real estate professionals in general, people assume that maybe they understand all sides of the business. But I know commercial and residential are two totally different entities. with my brokerage, I’ve even asked them, hey, I’m interested in representing some buyers who want to do a commercial deal. And I almost got some pushback. It’s like this is a totally different side of the game. When you were doing that first deal, did you have a broker that specialized in commercial deals? Walk me through that.

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (08:08)

I get pushback, you’re correct. So brokers do not want inexperienced realtors working a commercial deal. ⁓ Because if you mess up, if you drop the ball anywhere, it falls on the company and you. And so, yeah, I did get a lot of pushback from the broker at the time. I did go in asking, hey, you know, do we do commercial deals? How can I get involved? And he said, look,

there’s more than enough homes out here for you to sell. So let’s focus on that. But when I did meet my client, the one with the office building who wanted to purchase the office building, I said, I’m not going to turn that deal over. I’m going to work it myself. And that’s what I did. And I submitted the contract to my office and the contract was written ⁓ appropriately. I got in my eyes, crossed my teens. did.

a lot of research to make sure I was doing the right thing. And my buyer, he was experienced as well. So he kind of helped me with it as well. And yeah, I cemented it. Everything was right. And we closed on it. The broker was happy at closing. And I kept moving from there.

Dylan Silver (09:21)

Did you then pivot your business at some point to retail, single family, or has it stayed and remained a large part commercial?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (09:31)

No, didn’t even plan that. So what I did, if I had a client that wanted commercial, I would sell them commercial. If I had a client that wanted residential, that’s what I would do. ⁓ Land is something that myself as an investor that I love to purchase even today. And back then I was selling land as well. So I did not have in the beginning one particular ⁓ type of property that I would sell or not sell.

Dylan Silver (10:00)

Now when we talk about land deals, I’m licensed in Texas. So of course, land, there’s so many different plays that people could do with land. You could

do a small development, you could do, you know, an RV park, you could do a storage facility. I’ve heard people talk about like land banking even. What are some of the deal structures that you’ve seen that makes land attractive to you?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (10:58)

Well, personally, I love land and maybe you and I can do some land business together. I’ve actually, can’t remember the address and I never even walked the property, but I did close a land deal right there in Houston, Texas where you’re licensed. And so basically just vacant land. I recently had a client that wanted to purchase and we did close on it, vacant land just so he can store his equipment.

You can use land for many different ways.

Dylan Silver (11:32)

You know, one of the interesting things when we talk about investing is there’s so many different segments to get started. We we’re talking about land right now, but

you you could be a long term buy and hold. You could do STR short term rentals. When you started investing, what was your focus as an investor?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (11:51)

When I started, I was young, I was hungry. So my focus was making money. ⁓ So I just wanted to make sure that I had enough money to pay my rent and put gas in my car. You have to keep in mind, I was a college student, ⁓ just trying to make it. And also I wanted to make sure that my mom didn’t want for anything and my family and my son was taken care of. I was a teenage mother, so I didn’t have the normal.

⁓ teenage college life. know, when I went to school, it wasn’t to party or hang out. I just I was focused, laser focused. I originally went to school to become an attorney. But when I got in real estate, I said, wow, this is pretty fun. And I’m still representing clients. And I’m still doing a lot of paperwork and, and contracts and things of that sort. And so I decided just to stick with real estate. ⁓ But yeah.

I just loved just getting out there and helping clients. And clients that I had from back then in college, they still come to me today buying their second and third homes.

Dylan Silver (13:00)

Did you get into flips? you build a rental portfolio? As a real estate investor, what ⁓ did your business look

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (13:11)

Mostly land. So that’s my portfolio. When I did purchase a single family home or whatever I purchased at the time to flip, ⁓ it wasn’t a buy and hold. ⁓ It was just like you said, it was a flip. So I would buy it, renovate it, ⁓ and sell it. That summer’s investment property that I mentioned earlier, it was not a renovation. So I purchased it and I immediately flipped it.

to another investor that actually renovated the property. And the funny story about that, the investor that I sold it to, ⁓ that’s the same investor that hired me to do the project management of the renovations. Keep in mind, I know nothing about his real estate. And so he entrusted that project with me. And so I was out there every morning, ⁓ maybe five, six hours, just making sure the…

contractors and subcontractors were doing their job properly. And I knew it was being done properly because I was doing research on what is this and what is that. And that helped pave the way for me later on becoming a general contractor. So I have lot of moving parts in my career.

Dylan Silver (14:24)

Did you take an exam to become a contractor? How’d that come about?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (14:29)

You know, it’s another ball game, but yeah, so you do take an exam. ⁓ They look at your experience and yeah, so I’ve been doing that since, like I said, since college before becoming licensed. So I’ve been licensed since 2015 in that ⁓ area of the business, but I do that mostly just for myself, not for the public.

Dylan Silver (14:54)

I do want to pivot a bit here and ask you about building a brand. Everything that you’re doing from the TV show to your brokerage to the book, it’s very… And hearing your origin story really of

working through school, contractor, ⁓ license, and then doing commercial deals and then doing a flip, it’s very clear that you have a knack for building a brand, for building spheres of influence. Was this something that came very naturally to you and also…

Is there any feedback that you have for folks who may not be as natural when it comes to building their sphere?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (16:12)

What I think about talent either, I do have natural talent in that, but you can learn talent if you are dedicated enough, motivated, like I said, self-motivated and get with a mentor, someone that can help guide you ⁓ through everything. And so my company, we do offer a online course where you can learn how to sell, you can learn how to position your offerings.

to your customers and clients to make sure you’re doing the right thing. you you’re helping not only your company, but your clients as well.

Dylan Silver (16:49)

I want to ask you specifically about the scope of a brand. When people think about where their target audience is, sometimes people will go to their backyard and their inner circle. Was this something that was very intentional for you to build a national brand, right? And did you have like a goal board with, I’m going to do this and this, or were you focusing initially and for the first part of your career on becoming like the go-to person, let’s say in Memphis?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (17:20)

In the beginning, yes, I wanted to be the go-to person in my city for everything real estate. As you can see, I’ve done pretty much every facet of real estate you can think of. And that was my goal in the beginning. And I did have, you know, weekly goals, quarterly goals, monthly and yearly goals. And I wrote those goals down. ⁓

I would say it’s good that we have smartphones and things of that sort, but I always wrote it down with pen and paper even today because it’s something about, you you connecting your conscious and subconscious mind together and visually seeing what your path is. And so I’m a big person about vision boards and, you know, goal setting parties and things of that sort. So I always say, write it down, write down your goal. If you want to build a big brand, write that down.

and then make sure you have actionable steps to achieving that goal.

Dylan Silver (18:19)

I have personal experience with understanding the power of networking and through a brand and relationships in real estate. And really from everything that you’ve done, you can connect the dots. You talk about the investor and being a contractor in that commercial deal to then the show and the book, I would imagine. How much of real estate is relationships versus underlying knowledge base?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (18:49)

That’s a good question. Of course you want to have the knowledge. So when those relationships present themselves, you know

you’re doing. You know how to guide that relationship appropriately. But I want to say most of it is relationships, but you have to have the knowledge as well, or you’re not going to guide that relationship properly.

Dylan Silver (19:10)

Yeah, I would I would agree. think about the ways that I’ve been able to maneuver in my career. And then I think about the guests that I’ve had on like yourself. And what’s clear to me is that even if, let’s say, someone at a specific point in time might not have every piece in the puzzle to finish a deal, you know, that relationship that they have or that deal that they have, which can create a relationship ultimately helps them build bridges. Right. And so

I’ve heard investors say, you you find the deal and the investors come and then I’ve heard other people say, you you got to have the right team around it. But ultimately, I noticed that with really effective real estate operators over like a decade, it’s people who have the ability to create strategic relationships and then nurture those because, you know, you might not do a deal with a commercial buyer for five years potentially, but then.

you find the deal and while they are sitting on the sidelines, they come back into play and now you’ve got a buyer on a property.

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (20:12)

True, yeah, you never know. So I’ve been nurturing some relationships for years and then all of a sudden, boom, you know, it happens. So you just have to keep nurturing, like you said, Dylan, getting out, ⁓ forming those relationships in the beginning and just keep nurturing. And sometimes you don’t get anything. It doesn’t have to be anything monetary. have to initially get out of it. It may just be, you know, you helping that person get to their next step.

So, and that’s what it’s all about.

Dylan Silver (20:45)

I wanna ask you a granular question about goal setting. For folks who may be newer realtors or aspiring realtors and maybe have some lofty goals to themself, what advice would you have for, here’s how to strategically set good goals?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (20:59)

Yeah, so like I talk about in our online course, ⁓ Elite Selling Accelerator, we talk about goal setting. And like I said earlier, write your goals down. Write down, you may want to just start with just brainstorming and just quickly write down everything you want to do. It doesn’t have to be any type of order. Just randomly write down keywords or phrases.

that come to mind, you may do that for 30 minutes or 15 minutes, just randomly write down things. And then all of a sudden sit back and say, okay, let me organize my thoughts. What would it take for me to get to A to B to C? And you write that out. And then if you need a mentor or someone to help guide you to those steps, that’s where you go back to your Rolodex and look at all the relationships you’ve built and nurture and see who can help you get to that next step.

and then you might further those from that point.

Dylan Silver (21:57)

And we are coming up on time here, Mitanni. Any new projects that you’re working on or what’s the best way for folks to get in contact with your team?

Mitanni Spruill–LeSueur (22:06)

Yeah, everything that we’re pretty much doing is on our website and that’s thespruillagency.com ⁓ We’re also on social media, thespruillagency_shop or my personal Instagram, realestate_mitanni. And yeah, they can get in touch with us or they can follow us toll free 1-888-854-1222.

Dylan Silver (22:32)

Mitanni thank you for coming on the show today.