From Home Inspection to Real Estate Wealth: Greg Clatterbuck’s Journey

Greg Clatterbuck (00:00)

real estate is a very powerful tool. majority of your millionaires and billionaires either got there with real estate or made real estate part of their portfolio along the way. ⁓ The classic example I use is if you walk into a bank today and want $100,000 to buy gold or stocks, they’re going to laugh at you.

But if you ask them for $100,000 to buy real estate, most likely they’re going to give you the money. So it’s a very powerful tool. Leverage, mortgage pay down from the rent. There’s tremendous tax advantages. I love the tax advantages.

If you, as opposed to other investments such as stocks, bonds, whatever, you actually get to control the asset. If you buy stock in Amazon or Boeing or some other large corporation, you have no control over that. But if you buy real estate, you are in control. know where, you get to choose where you buy it, who you rent it to, how you buy it. ⁓ You’re completely in control.

Michelle Kesil (02:52)

Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. Today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Greg Clatterbuck, who is a real estate investor as well as a home inspector. So excited to have you here today, Greg.

Greg Clatterbuck (03:11)

Thank you, Michelle. Looking forward to it.

Michelle Kesil (03:13)

Absolutely. So let’s dive in. First off, for those not familiar with you and your work yet, can you share what your main focus is?

Greg Clatterbuck (03:25)

I’ve got a full-time W-2 job as a firefighter and I operate a home inspection business and then I basically take the proceeds from the inspection business and invest it into real estate. So, you my focus is growing the home inspection side of things and then taking that capital and putting it towards real estate, you know, kind of.

as a retirement plan for the future.

Michelle Kesil (03:55)

Awesome. How did you get started in real estate?

Greg Clatterbuck (03:58)

So I started out doing home inspections for a gentleman that I knew and I was doing home inspection one day for a guy who was buying a townhouse that he was going to rent out. And he told me what he was going to rent it for and I knew how much he was paying for it. And the numbers kind of clicked and I’m like, well that kind of makes sense. Maybe I should look into this. And so I ended up buying a townhouse.

really very unsophisticated, didn’t understand the big picture. My goal was to buy a piece of property, rent it out, have it paid for by somebody else at the end of 30 years.

Couple years later I bought another one and got more into the understanding of how real estate works. Read, rich dad, poor dad.

kind of grew from there but really when I got in it was like I said very simplistic a mindset not not understanding the big picture.

Michelle Kesil (05:47)

Right. And how do you see the big picture now?

Greg Clatterbuck (05:51)

I think

real estate is a very powerful tool. majority of your millionaires and billionaires either got there with real estate or made real estate part of their portfolio along the way. ⁓ The classic example I use is if you walk into a bank today and want $100,000 to buy gold or stocks, they’re going to laugh at you.

But if you ask them for $100,000 to buy real estate, most likely they’re going to give you the money. So it’s a very powerful tool. Leverage, mortgage pay down from the rent. There’s tremendous tax advantages. I love the tax advantages.

If you, as opposed to other investments such as stocks, bonds, whatever, you actually get to control the asset. If you buy stock in Amazon or Boeing or some other large corporation, you have no control over that. But if you buy real estate, you are in control. know where, you get to choose where you buy it, who you rent it to, how you buy it. ⁓ You’re completely in control.

Michelle Kesil (07:09)

Absolutely. And what type of real estate investment strategies are you working with?

Greg Clatterbuck (07:19)

Primarily do single family ⁓ duplexes. I do have a multi-family townhouse.

development I guess you would say. But again it’s kind of all more still more really on the single family side. I like the opportunities in single family. The exit opportunities are much easier. It’s much easier to get into it I think.

So the short answer is single family.

Michelle Kesil (07:57)

Awesome. What do you feel have been some of the main keys that have made the biggest difference in allowing your business to be able to grow and to run smoothly?

Greg Clatterbuck (08:10)

I would say…

On the home inspection side, from that business aspect, is systems.

You have to have systems, otherwise you’re not going to build with a grill. It’s the one thing I’ve learned along the way, being part of coaching groups and hanging out with other successful people.

You get ahead a little bit and you feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water and you’re forced to put in systems and you think everything is where you need it and then you grow some more. And then you’re kind of, you’re back barely keeping your head above water so you implement more systems. And I would say the more systems you have, the more processes you can put in place, the less things you have to touch on a daily basis, the better off you’re going

Michelle Kesil (08:57)

Yeah, can you expand on what that process looks like for you?

Greg Clatterbuck (09:02)

Well, for example, on the home inspection side of things, we have a call center, we have…

For example, when somebody places an order, all of our pricing is based on specific criteria for the house. That can be entered by anybody. There’s a specific process on how that gets entered into the system. For example, once the inspection is finalized, emails are automated.

payment collection is automated, notifications to inspectors, to clients, realtors, all that’s automated. so ⁓ anything that you have to explain to somebody more than once, you should have a system in place so that you don’t have to explain that again.

For example, I make loom videos on how to do different processes and then send that out to the inspectors and they can review that so that everybody’s doing it the same way. So again, I would say anything that you can.

make automated and systematic the better off you’re going to be.

Michelle Kesil (11:00)

Yeah, definitely. What has been like an obstacle or challenge that you have faced on your investing journey that now looking back in hindsight, you can see the lesson.

Greg Clatterbuck (11:16)

you

Well, for example, the multifamily property that I have, we closed on it in January of 2020, so just before COVID hit.

which obviously was a scary time in the real estate world. You weren’t able to evict tenants if they didn’t pay. So.

think the biggest thing with that is staying the course, understanding that there’s going to be an end.

having enough reserves in place to cover those unexpected turn of events, whatever comes along, having enough reserves to handle those events. So whether it’s a HELOC, whether it’s an actual cash set aside, whether it’s another…

W-2 income job that you have, but being able to cover those unexpected costs and occurrences that come up that were not.

Michelle Kesil (12:26)

Yeah, that makes sense to have that cushion.

What are you most focusing on solving or scaling to next in your business?

Greg Clatterbuck (12:35)

I’m looking forward this year to ⁓ purchasing properties that, you know, basically doing the borrower method, buying underperforming assets that need some renovation, creating that equity, and then renting them out. I think this year is going to be a good opportunity for that. I think there’s going to be more properties coming onto the market.

I don’t really see prices going up a whole lot, but I think there’s going to be more opportunities. think rents are going to be increasing, if not this year, into next year. So I think it’s a good time to be acquiring.

and doing the BRRRR method is going to allow you to do it for less capital. ⁓

Michelle Kesil (14:09)

Why do you think that is?

Greg Clatterbuck (14:13)

Well, I can already see it from the home inspection side. getting, we’re seeing more inspections coming in. I think.

People are getting a little bit more confidence as far as the economy as a whole has somewhat stabilized. ⁓

Affordability has improved since prices have have gone down slightly or stayed flat Incomes are increasing so that’s a look and rates have come down a little bit not a lot but Rates have come down a little bit. So that is all going towards affordability which is You know allowing people The opportunity to to purchase which

in turn is bringing more, so somebody’s gonna move, they’re gonna sell. So it’s just bringing more inventory to the market.

Michelle Kesil (15:14)

Yeah, definitely. Is there anything that you are looking forward to this year as far as opportunities that you are seeing that are available for you?

Greg Clatterbuck (15:30)

Well again, think from the investment side, think there’s going to be lot of opportunities. And then also from the home inspection side with increased volume, that’s going to bring more business on the home inspection side. I’m expanding that, bringing on more inspectors. And so anticipating that increase in sales transactions.

Again, with looking at rents going up slightly, we’ve actually had decreases in rents across some of our properties. And so those are starting to go back up. So I think it’s gonna be a good year across the board. I think now is the time to acquire additional real estate.

Michelle Kesil (16:28)

Yeah, absolutely. And are you investing in a specific market?

Greg Clatterbuck (16:34)

So I live in Virginia, have properties in Virginia, I have properties in North and South Carolina. I am looking forward to…

would like to purchase more property in the North Carolina area. ⁓ And then also in the central Virginia area near where I’m located.

And I think South Carolina is a good market. The taxes have gone up so much that it’s difficult to.

especially the taxes are higher there for non-occupied real estate which has made it really tough to cash flow. ⁓ I’m looking mainly at North Carolina and Virginia.

Michelle Kesil (17:19)

Awesome. What advice would you give to someone that’s looking to get started in investing or is early on in their journey?

Greg Clatterbuck (17:26)

think the biggest thing is to just take the step to do it. Obviously educate yourself, have your finances in order.

But I think the biggest thing is just taking that first step. Again, listen to podcasts, educate yourself. And the other thing I would say is understand what your goal is. I have people ask me frequently, like, this a good deal? Well, it depends. What’s your goal? Are you looking for cash flow? Are you looking for equity? Are you gonna do short-term rental?

you’re going to do a flip. What are you trying to get out of real estate in this particular property? So you have to know what your goal is. And it can’t just be, I want to make money. Because we all want to make money. But how do you want to make money? Again, do you want cash flow, equity? What is your personal financial situation? What kind of income do you have? But again, I would say the biggest step is to…

I think so many people want to do it and hesitate and never take that step and then it’s ten years later and they’ve never done it.

Michelle Kesil (18:39)

Yeah, definitely. I think the action piece can take people a little bit.

What would you say like the first actions are for maybe someone that’s in the thinking phase?

Greg Clatterbuck (18:50)

would say if you’re brand new and don’t know anything about real estate, first thing I say is read Rich Dad Poor Dad. That’s the classic book that everybody starts with. I actually wrote a book myself called The Millionaire Firefighter. It’s not a how-to book, but it is more of a motivational book.

Understand the objectives, understand your goals, listen to podcasts, listen to what other people have done. ⁓ Go to investor meetups, talk to other investors.

And it’s really hard to say, when do I have enough education? And I think if you understand the basics, you understand the finances, truly understanding what your numbers are. A lot of people think if the difference between the rent and the mortgage is $300, then they’re going to cash flow $300. And it’s not that simple. So understanding the numbers, but…

know, again, educating yourself and then taking that first step. You know, there’s a lot of online calculators that help people with the numbers, know, run a bunch of scenarios.

run those scenarios past some experienced investors get their take.

and then just take that step.

Michelle Kesil (20:19)

Yeah, absolutely. Sounds like having the financials and everything in order is the most important part.

Greg Clatterbuck (20:31)

Yeah, I would say definitely the financials. A lot of people don’t understand the financials. know, turnover costs, the vacancy, taxes, you know, getting a handle on that and you know, it

Michelle Kesil (20:50)

Yeah. Well, before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you and connect with you?

Greg Clatterbuck (21:00)

They can find us, they can go to our website, clatterbuckinspections.com, also on ⁓ LinkedIn under Greg Clatterbuck. And we’ll be happy to chat and answer questions and share experiences.

Michelle Kesil (21:16)

Perfect. Well, appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. Thank you for being here.

Greg Clatterbuck (21:22)

Thank you.

Michelle Kesil (21:23)

Of course. And for those that are tuning in, if you got value, make sure that you have subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Greg who are building real businesses and we’ll see you on the next episode.