How Emilio Mejia Lost Money in Real Estate and Built a Successful Land Investing Business

Emilio Mejia (00:00)

one property had termites all over the place. Sixty five thousand dollars worth of termite damage, which it was not in my budget. And the other one had nasty but a foundation issue.

And I almost lost my shirt. I lost my shirt. I lost a ton of money in those new deal in those deals and I went to a little bit of a funk, if you will. And then I saw somebody on YouTube, land, you don’t worry about the termites, the tenants or or the toilets. And once I said don’t worry about termites, I said, you know what? Maybe I want to go into land investing.

Scott Bursey (02:05)

Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast, powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey And pros, we have a real pro in the building today. Emilio Mejia of IEM Properties has been in the trenches since 2002. He started as an agent, pivoted to wholesaling in 2012, and is now in land investing. Today we’re digging into how he scaled his operation and what it takes to build big.

in today’s market. Emilio, welcome to the show.

Emilio Mejia (02:35)

Pleasure to be here, Scott. Pleasure to be here and thank you for having me.

Scott Bursey (02:38)

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.

Emilio Mejia (02:49)

Okay, so as you mentioned, I started real estate in two thousand two as a real estate agent here in South Florida and had a very successful career all the way up to two thousand seven slash two thousand eight, where you know that’s where that whole incident occurred. And then I saw myself like just pouring in money into investments that I had and and I said, you know what? I need to get out of this and get a full time job. I don’t want you know, I had made good money, my worst

year when I got out of real estate as an agent was literally eighty-five thousand dollars. So then I went into Progressive Insurance and I started my career there as a claims adjuster, starting at $35,000 a year. They almost let me go because they thought I was a flight risk, which I could have been. But I ended up developing some friendships along the way and it was great. And then in 2012 I saw myself

wanting to go back into real estate, but this time as an investor. So I became wholesale a wholesaler. I became good at locating properties for other individuals. And I will sell my contract to these investors. My first contract was literally $2,000 and I could have made easily $12 to $15,000. But you know, they talked me into this, into that. So I was like, sure, just to make anything. And ⁓ once I found out that I left so much money on the table, you know

I learned how to do better negotiations. And I became very good at locating deals here out of the Miami Broward County area and enjoyed it. Believe it or not, knocking on doors, having people slam the doors in my face, it’s not an easy thing. But I kept growing from it and oddly enough, I enjoyed it when I went out and did it and eventually made pretty good money. And then I said, you know what?

I now want to flip the properties. I want to make the bulk of the money. So right before COVID, I bought not one, but two properties. Not in Florida, because in Florida was too much competition, but in beautiful Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Sight unseen, bought it from a wholesaler. And not one, but two properties. On my way back, I got the second property and I messed up where I did not do my

inspections thinking I’ll handle whatever comes my way, I’m gonna handle it. Because I was gonna be down ten thousand dollars because non you know, non non-refundable EMD. I said I’ll handle it.

To make a long story short,

one property had termites all over the place. Sixty five thousand dollars worth of termite damage, which it was not in my budget. And the other one had nasty but a foundation issue.

And I almost lost my shirt. I I lost my shirt. I lost a ton of money in those new deal in those deals and I went to a little bit of a funk, if you will. And then something I saw somebody on YouTube, I forgot who, and then hey land, you don’t worry about the termites, the tenants or or the toilets. And once I said don’t worry about termites, I said, you know what? Maybe I want to go into land investing.

And I started

Slowly, my first deal ever was in Jasper, Georgia. A deal that was around fifteen thousand dollars market value. I got it for twenty five hundred dollars from an 80-year-old couple that was not gonna sell. Closed on the deal, I got a and then sold it, I put it on the market with a local real estate agent. Then very first day I got an offer, I said this is not gonna this is impossible. Guess what? It was a couple from New York that was about to retire.

and bought my deal for eleven thousand dollars. And I said, my God, the proof is in the pudding. And needless to say, that’s what puts wins in my sales. And I just took off with land investing.

Scott Bursey (07:05)

Thank you for that breakdown, Emilio. It’s wild to see how your career has evolved since 2002. And it gives the pros a lot of perspective on the grind required to get there. what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to pivot from traditional brokerage to the high stakes world of land development. And ⁓ this has all been real recent over the last year or so. That’s amazing.

Emilio Mejia (07:32)

Yeah, thank you. It’s comes with a lot of sweat equity, that’s for sure, but the fun is in the learning, believe it or not. after that bunk, and it’s been amazing. And my wife is also a partner of mine. ⁓ I roundtable deals with her. She has this knack of going, you know what, let’s go forward or you know what, maybe this is not the best DLC if we can get it for a lower price.

And she has been a rock. Even when I lost almost all that money, she was nothing but positive and literally my rock that saved me from going to a depression. And here I am land investing, about to go into new construction soon.

Scott Bursey (08:07)

Yes, yes. How exciting and curious to know regarding your evolution, from agent to investor, what was the most transformative achievement that validated your decision to stop just listing homes and start creating them?

Emilio Mejia (08:21)

Well, the that crash from two thousand seven, two thousand eight was the pivotal factor for me. That I said, Well, I had saved all this money and nothing was really happening and everything was just dire news. I’m like, Well, I need a steady income so I don’t waste the money I have made until the market turns around. And Progressive gave me that chance and the market turned around, but I never left Progressive because I made great friends there.

And the benefits are pretty good as well.

Scott Bursey (08:49)

is just remarkable. ⁓

Emilio Mejia (08:50)

Yes, thank you.

Scott Bursey (08:51)

Thank you for highlighting that. It’s always powerful to hear how someone makes that jump from serving others to building their own portfolio.

Emilio Mejia (09:00)

Yes, yes. Indeed it

Scott Bursey (09:02)

And we’d love to hear your thoughts on this. What do you consider your greatest strength in identifying viable land deals compared to your early days in wholesaling?

Emilio Mejia (09:13)

So my greatest strength, and it goes back to wholesaling, is being able to speak to anybody, just cold turkey, let’s just say that. I have no problem having a conversation and I have no problem presenting an offer as low as it can be, because trust me, the no’s there are many. There’s right now for every 125 deals is why 125 no’s is when I give my first yes. So

I think my ⁓ dedication to being able to speak and at first you know, the very first conversation, they don’t start out right. But people do give me the chance and we speak we converse and at the end of the conversation they’re like, you know what? Let’s go ahead and move forward with the deal. And I have that gift of gab is I guess in the streets they call it.

Scott Bursey (10:31)

It’s interesting to ⁓ think about the friction points. In your transition to new construction, let’s say, which is on the horizon here for you, what’s been the biggest operational hurdle you’ve had to overcome?

Emilio Mejia (10:44)

Well, I haven’t started new construction yet. I should start literally in three to six months. And there’s a reason behind that. But that’s when I start because now I know where to locate the deals with the land where building something and knowing what to build and when to build it is pivotal. I already have that ’cause I I’ve located land for other people that do construction, whether custom homes

or spec home building. And because of that, I’m like, well, you know what? I’m gonna become a builder myself. I just need a GC and I’ll make sure that the five to ten percent that they charge is gonna be added into the land purchase deal when I move forward.

Scott Bursey (11:22)

That makes perfect sense. And Emilio, where do you see the biggest untapped opportunity for investors in this current market?

Emilio Mejia (11:29)

untapped opportunity. I would say people, you know, obviously real estate is a buyer’s market if you’re a buyer and it’s still located right now. The best land deals are out there right now. Because land is highly liquid, right? But when the market is not so great and you have a land there that either inherited or was passed down to you or

You’re aging, you’re not gonna do nothing. And somebody offers you maybe not the ideal price, and you say, Well, you know what? It’s cold cash. They’re gonna pay for your all this ⁓ seller’s closing cost. Sometimes a lot of the they just say, you know what, let’s go fine, I’ll accept your five thousand dollar offer on this twenty thousand dollar land deal. And right now, this is the best opportunity to buy is now be and then have it ready.

To resell once the market changes. I mean, you can still put it to sell. And ⁓ but you can for sure you’re gonna have something there available for you once the market changes to seller. right now I got three deals on the market right now. Two are been on the market for five months, which I expected. I just closed the land deal last week in North Carolina, Birdie County, and it’s on the market, and ⁓

My real estate agent’s telling me, Hey, we’re about to get some offers here, and there might be competing offers. And it’s like, great. You know, land. I’m not sure if a lot of investors that don’t do land, they don’t realize that you buy land outright, the taxes at the end of the month, it’s literally next to nothing. We’re talking about $80 a year in taxes. The most expensive land deal that I had, my taxes were $225.

for the year. And yet it’s an appreciating asset, knowing when you buy it correctly, and I have it there, ready to go.

Scott Bursey (13:10)

Emilio, let me ask you this. What’s the biggest external threat that ⁓ you’re seeing or hedging against right now in the land development space?

Emilio Mejia (13:21)

Biggest threat I think is these ⁓ I’m not gonna say it’s the what’s the name of this individual? Like you’ve heard the stories of Bill Gates buying a whole bunch of land, but there’s also corporations buying a whole bunch of land, and I don’t know why. I’ve noticed they’re they’re buying lots of land. I don’t know the reasons behind it. I’ve seen a couple of names out there.

not gonna mention the names now, but ⁓ right now they’re not my competition. But if I’m scaling up, they will be my competition. If I start looking for land deals over a hundred fifty thousand, five hundred thousand dollars, these will be my biggest our competitors and sometimes deep pockets and they pay much more than you willing to, you know, you’re gonna lose out on those deals.

Scott Bursey (14:01)

And Emilio your ⁓ company name is IEM Properties. If somebody’s listening right now and they’re thinking to themselves, hey, this is somebody that I really like, what would you like them to know first about your business?

Emilio Mejia (14:15)

So IEM properties is just my initials, my accountant that I’ve had for since 2002, when I did first started out as a real estate agent, told me, hey, if you’re gonna start buying properties or wholesaling, open up an LLC. It’s just to protect myself. And ⁓ I did, I opened it up like that. And I am properties, one of my main motto is I will treat you.

like my neighbor, not just a number. And that’s been my number one thing because it comes out also when I speak with them. It’s not just a slogan. it’s what I live by. So it comes out when I do speak with all these other these ⁓ sellers and real estate agents.

Scott Bursey (15:32)

Appreciate you highlighting that. And what’s the vision of IEM properties over the next twelve to twenty four months?

Emilio Mejia (15:39)

Glad you asked. And I’m not gonna say I’m gonna a hundred percent transition into new construction because I’ve been enjoying this land investing and then I can keep that if I can buy a great piece of land and land bank, just leave it there instead of leaving my money in my bank and letting the you know inflation take hold of it. I can land bank. If you buy it a property that’s worth fifty thousand dollars, you get it for ten thousand dollars. That’s a a deal.

Whether you sell it immediately or you don’t, it’s great. So I’m transitioning to new construction. One, you got bigger margins there, and that’s always been my goal. I am properties was I wanted to do new construction. I pivoted to land because of what happened to me be right before COVID, where I lost all my money in Oklahoma City. But thankfully I ⁓ have been doing well enough that

I will go into new construction and ⁓ in three to six months I should have my first land development and it’s gonna be I’m gonna concentrate in Florida, anywhere from ⁓ Stewart, Florida to Vero Beach. That’s my main goal. There’s a lot of good land deals to be made and some new constructions. For anybody that wants to copy, please go ahead because there’s a lot to be made. It’s abundance ⁓ out there. it’s so much to go.

And I don’t mind even partnering up with somebody that already has pre existing knowledge in new construction. But I think I’m gonna be just fine in doing the YouTube University, which is how I learned how to do every land investing from wholesaling to land investing and now into new construction. It’s been Youtube University.

Scott Bursey (17:08)

That’s awesome. And with all your knowledge from land development, now parlaying that into new construction, what would be the let’s say the five to seven year plan?

Emilio Mejia (17:20)

So the first two deals in my Nunu construction, we’re planning to live in them just to max get the maximum gains out of it. But once I do that, it’s spec home building where it you know it’s gonna be as soon as that it’s built, it’s to sell. I’m planning retiring out of my ⁓ nine to five, let’s call it, in the next two years. And

I wanna be immersed in just a new construction and land investing where I can get to do it. I’m a native from the Dominican Republic. That’s why I plan back to move. I’m planning back to move back there and occasionally just come back here, see my projects being handled with the GC. And I plan to have cameras in my new construction. So I’m always connected and ⁓ always be in contact with my GC and then

My mother in law still lives here in ⁓ Port St. Lucie, Florida. I plan to visit her with my wife coming to visit and looking at my land deals. So that’s that’s what I have in the horizon right now.

Scott Bursey (18:17)

How exciting. And it’s going to be really fun to follow your journey, Emilio. And let me ask you this. Is there any parting thoughts that you would like to leave with our pros today?

Emilio Mejia (18:28)

Don’t give up. Listen, I went to a very bad stage when I lost all that money. If I would didn’t do anything about it, I would have still that money will still be lost. I would have not recouped anything. I just but it was the biggest I learned the best from those lost deals. I learned two hundred percent so I know for a fact that’s not gonna happen to me again if I were to even flip properties.

But doing what I’m doing now, I’m so much wiser because of that loss. There’s no such thing as success being this way. Success is a bunch of losses and gains that through the with time you’ll end up up there. So just keep at it. Failure is part of the success.

Scott Bursey (19:07)

Perseverance. That’s powerful.

Thank you for sharing that. And for our listeners that would like to keep this conversation going, you know, collaborate with you, follow your journey, which is an exciting one. What’s the best way for them to reach you?

Emilio Mejia (19:21)

Well, thank you for that. I would say my email, emilio@iemproperties.com dot com. Properties is plural. That will be the best way I’ll answer every email that comes my way. it might take an hour or two before you get a reply, but you will get a reply from me.

Scott Bursey (19:37)

Emilio, thank you for joining us today. This has been an absolute pleasure.

Emilio Mejia (19:42)

I appreciate you, Scott, and thank you so much for what you’re doing.

Scott Bursey (19:45)

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 elite guests, just like Emilio, 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.