How One Rental Property Pays Her Mortgage | Single Mom’s Real Estate Investing Story
Show summary
In this episode, we explore Eunice Combs’ inspiring journey from buying her first home as a single parent to becoming a successful real estate investor and agent. She shares valuable insights on real estate strategies, overcoming challenges, and building wealth through property investments.
Key takeaways
- Eunice bought her first home in 2000 for $155,000; after refinancing when rates dropped to about 3.1% and remodeling with the cash-out money, the home was worth about $700,000 by 2026.
- She now rents out that first house, and the rental income covers the mortgage on the new Bakersfield home she lives in.
- On her current house she put only $5,000 down, locked in a 3.99% 30-year fixed rate from the builder, and collected a $9,000 commission as the agent on her own purchase, netting roughly $4,000 to move in, plus the home came with solar panels.
- Her first real estate sale, near USC, sold for $850,000 despite the house looking rough, because of location; she double-ended the deal by selling to an investor.
- She generates business through relationships, not cold calling or door knocking, striking up conversations naturally with people she meets, including contractors working on her own property.
- She pulled out up to $200,000 via a HELOC on her first property to help fund the purchase of her current home, and plans to reinvest an upcoming commission check into a third or fourth property.
- Her advice for buyers worried about today's 6-7% interest rates: look at new-construction homes from builders, who may offer lower rates (she got 3.99%) since they already own the materials and want to move inventory.
In this episode
- 02:20Intro: meet Eunice Combs, single mom turned investor and agent
- 03:33Origin story: buying her first home in 2000 at $155,000
- 06:14How her passion for real estate started at LA Unified School District
- 08:25What the journey taught her: discipline and being a go-getter
- 09:28Her lead-generation strategy: relationship-based, no cold calling
- 10:54Pivoting around high interest rates by buying new builds
- 11:50What's next: going for a third property in Bakersfield
- 13:06Philosophy on business relationships: loyalty and communication
- 13:58Closing message: HELOCs, refinancing, and not being afraid to invest
About the guest
Eunice Combs bought her first home in 2000 as a single parent while putting her daughter through law school. She got her real estate license about eight years ago, sold her first listing near USC for $850,000, and is a full-time real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in West Covina who also invests in rental property in Bakersfield, California.
Listen to the audio
“My mortgage at the first house is $1,500. My renters are paying $4,000. And if they're late, it's $200 more. It's easy peasy money.”
Eunice Combs
“Instead of the empty nester, I became an investor.”
Eunice Combs
“I pretty much sold this house to myself with a $5,000 down payment. They gave me a commission check of $9,000. So do the math. They paid me $4,000 to move in this property.”
Eunice Combs
Questions answered in this episode
How did Eunice Combs turn her first home into a rental that covers her new mortgage?
She bought her first house in 2000 for $155,000 as a single parent. When rates dropped to around 3.1%, she refinanced, pulled cash out, and used it to remodel and raise the home's value to about $700,000 by 2026. She then rented that house out, and the rental income now pays for the house she currently lives in in Bakersfield.
How did Eunice buy her current Bakersfield home with little money down?
As a licensed realtor, she bought the new-build home from the builder with a $5,000 down payment and secured a 3.99% 30-year fixed rate. Because she represented herself as the agent, she received a commission check of about $9,000, meaning she was effectively paid roughly $4,000 to move into the property, which also came with brand-new solar panels.
What does Eunice recommend to investors worried about today's high interest rates?
She says buyers shouldn't be scared off by rates of 6-7%; she got hers at 3.99% by buying directly from a builder, who she says is often motivated to move inventory since the materials are already purchased. Her advice is to stop listening to the noise about rates and look for builder deals.
What basic financial habits does Eunice say are necessary before investing in real estate?
She stresses paying bills on time, raising your credit score, and avoiding high-interest credit cards where you end up paying more in interest than the value of what you bought. She says staying in good standing with your mortgage lender keeps options like refinancing and HELOCs open.
How does Eunice generate real estate business without cold calling or door knocking?
She says she doesn't cold call or door knock; instead she lives naturally, carries business cards, and strikes up conversations with people she meets day to day, including contractors and electricians working on her house, asking if they want to buy or invest in property.
What is Eunice's long-term plan for her current and future properties?
She plans to rent out her current four-bedroom Bakersfield house to a family that isn't ready to buy, with the intent of grooming them toward eventual homeownership rather than selling it. She's also pursuing a third property and mentioned using a HELOC (she pulled out up to $200,000 from her first property) plus an upcoming commission check to fund her next purchase.
Resources and links
- Eunice Combs’ Email: ECRealtor1@gmail.com
- Eunice Combs on Instagram
- Eunice Combs’s Phone no.: (310) 667-0657
Full transcript
Eunice Combs (00:00)
I just want everybody to not be afraid to invest in a property because, like I said, my mortgage at the first house is $1,500. My renters are paying $4,000. And if they’re late, it’s $200 more. It’s easy peasy money. I feel that as long as you own a home, you will always have money if you do everything the right way.
Pay your bills on time, get those credit scores up, stop getting these credit cards with high interest rates that drive your credit. You pay more interest than the actual product that you actually receive. So that’s what I recommend that everybody just pay your bills on time, get a house because it’s so much to invest in between refinancing and a HELOC. I didn’t even touch that yet.
Q Edmonds (02:20)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds, and I am excited about my guest today. This young this young lady, she bought her first home as a single parent, putting her child through law school.
She’s a full-time real estate agent, I believe, in Bakersfield. I think we’ll talk some more about that. And I love her journey. I love the way she’s building, and I’m so excited that we get a chance to peek through her lens. And so I want to introduce you all to Miss Eunice Combs. Miss Eunice, how you doing today, ma’am?
Eunice Combs (02:59)
I’m doing great yourself, Q. How are you doing?
Q Edmonds (03:01)
Doing good. Thank you for asking. I appreciate that, but I’m doing great. I’m so glad you’re here. Again, I’m glad we get to do this episode together. And so I am the type I love to just dive right in. So I would love for you to tell the people what’s your main focus these days. And if you don’t mind, give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into the space that you’re in.
And then tell us what market you’re operating in. I think I kind of gave you gave it away a little bit, but then tell them also where you at. So Ms. Eunice, ma’am, you have the floor.
Eunice Combs (03:33)
Okay. Hello, everyone. Yes, I bought my first home as a single parent in the year 2000. Back then the interest rates were like 6.7 or so like that. So I was doing this while putting my daughter through law school. So currently I rented that house out when the well actually I remodeled the house when the interest rates dropped to like 3.1.
Therefore, I managed to keep my interest rate and my payments low, and I was able to pull money out to put it back into the property, which increased the value of the home. So I purchased that home for $155,000 back in 2000, correct? Now it is 2026 and that house is worth $700,000. Easy. Okay. So I also rented that house out recently.
And now my rental is paying for the house that I currently have now, which is in Bakersfield. So now I’m pretty much living here mortgage free and now want to rent this house out, give it to some family that may not be ready to purchase a home, because I’m also a realtor. Yeah. So I pretty much sold this house to myself with a $5,000 down payment. They gave me a commission check.
Q Edmonds (04:52)
Yeah.
Eunice Combs (04:57)
of $9,000. Okay, so do the math. They paid me $4,000 to move in this property. Brand-new solar panels included. Okay, so I can’t complain.
Q Edmonds (05:58)
Yeah. Yeah. I love it. I love it. So where the passion of real estate, where did it come from? Was it do you feel like it was a necessity or do you feel like this is something you always wanted to do, you know, in the real estate space? Talk to me a little bit about where the passion comes.
Eunice Combs (06:14)
Okay, the passion came from I used to work for a department for LA Unified School District back when I was like 19, 20 years old. And they were inspectors and I liked the way they were doing work. So I got a passion for looking at property. I guess I’m just nosy maybe, but I start just looking. You see open house. I’m like, I want to go in here and look. And I just want to be nosy and see what’s in my community and what I can afford. Now everybody think they can’t afford until you just try.
So that’s where my passion came from. So I saw a lot of those inspectors, they would retire and I unfortunately they’ll pass away. Like if they’re not working, they’re dying. Yeah. So I saw that as 19 years old. I’m like, I’m not gonna die. So I got my real estate license about maybe eight years ago now. Yeah. And I sold my first home by USC College. The house looked horrible, okay.
But that was my first say I sold it for $850,000 because location was everything on that property, right? Sold that, got a nice commission check for my first deal, double ended it because I sold it to an investor. But that’s where my passion came. And I just started loving. I wanted to have something to do when I retired. So I’ve been retired now since what COVID season. I retired as they were remodeling the other house.
Q Edmonds (07:38)
Yeah.
Eunice Combs (07:38)
And I left it. Everybody say you just remodeled the house and you leave it? Yes. Time to move on. I grew out of it, instead of the empty nester, I became an investor. So that’s the way I look at it.
Q Edmonds (07:51)
That was—that’s a great tagline. Instead of empty nester, I became an investor.
Eunice Combs (07:57)
Lowsbury.
Q Edmonds (07:59)
I love that. Listen, I’m gonna love asking you this, Ms. Eunice. Like I have a saying where I say destiny has no wasted moments, right? Destiny has no wasted moments. We are learning from every leg of the journey of our life. And so I would love to know throughout your journey within this real estate space, what has it taught you about yourself? Has it taught you discipline, humility? Has it changed your you know look on innovation? What has the journey taught you about you, man?
Eunice Combs (08:25)
It definitely taught me discipline. Definitely. Because you have so many people, what they want to call them in these days and times, haters. You shouldn’t do this. You shouldn’t do that. Well, your name is not Eunice. So I don’t let nobody distract me. I’m a go-getter. I go for what I want. If I don’t get it one way, I go for another way. So I definitely am a go-getter. And being that I know technical stuff.
That branches me out to podcast, educate them. Since I come from an educational background, it comes from different angles where I can help people in so many different levels if they want to learn.
Q Edmonds (09:02)
Yeah. Yeah. Nope. Love it. Thank you so much for that effective X answer. I appreciate that. And and I love, you know, you kind of head into like strategies, right? Maybe, you know, different systems that you have in place. So I know you’re a full-time agent, also an investor. So what are some strategies or operational things that you’ve put into place that has really helped you be successful?
Eunice Combs (09:28)
Yes, just be a people person. You have to be a people person. And you know that door knocking and cold calling. I don’t do none of that. I just live a natural lifestyle and keep plenty of my business cards and with when I go, I’m I’m from the South. So
For hospitality, we talk to everybody. So hey, how you doing? Did I hear you say you want to buy a house? And we just start talking. Yeah, no problem. You know, electricians come work on my house. You guys are you making all this money? Yeah. You want to invest in your house? And I start educating them.
Q Edmonds (10:37)
Yeah. I love it. Now we know things don’t always go the way we wanted to. Things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes we have to pivot. So what are some situations that you kinda had to pivot or maybe switch up the way you do things in order to really get past the obstacle that was in front of you?
Eunice Combs (10:54)
Obstacle right now that’s going on, everybody say they don’t want to buy right now because what the interest rates are high. Interest rates are high. Wah. Right. Right. I bought this house from the builder themselves. Okay. Interest rate 3.99. 30 rate, 30-year fixed. Yeah. Okay. Can’t complain. Come on. So the interest rate is what, six and seven points or whatever.
Yeah. I got mine 3.99. So that’s where I’m beating some of the odds. Yeah. You don’t have to listen to everybody else. Go out there and buy that new home. Because they bought all the the material already. Just buy it. They’re trying to give away these houses. So that was that’s the main obstacle that I found people having and myself as well.
Q Edmonds (11:37)
No.
I love it. So what’s next for you? What’s the next real goal? Where are you looking to go? Where are you looking to solve at scale next?
Eunice Combs (11:50)
Next, I wouldn’t mind. I’m going for that third property. It’s like the kids say they get a tattoo. Once you get one tattoo, you get another. Once I bought one house or bought another one, like you know what? This house is too big. It’s nice for a nice family. It’s four bedrooms, two bath. My backyard, since I got such a deal on the property, I put a Jacuzzi back there. It’s looking beautiful, but it’s just too much land for me. I’m not gonna be greedy. I want to share this wealth. So
Somebody that can’t afford to buy a house for me, I could rent this one out for them. Maybe groom them to buy it. But I’m not selling it. But groom them to buy their own property because they building up so much out here in Bakersfield, they just put a casino out here. And eventually I have properties. They’re gonna have workers out here. It’s an Air Force base not too far from here. So
Q Edmonds (12:37)
Yeah.
Yeah. That’s income coming up. So you so you in the right spot. You can continue your investments like you see that you in the right the right spot for it. I I love it. I absolutely love it. So talk to me a little bit about your philosophy when it comes to relationships. When it comes to relationships within business, who are some of the people that in your corner that’s that’s help you get to where you are, you know, key players. Talk to me a little bit about relationships, man.
Eunice Combs (13:06)
Relationships with anything, personal, business, loyalty, and communication is the key on all level. Minute I call you, you don’t respond in a timely manner, I might take your big business card and throw it out the window somewhere.
I love communication. If you start off wrong, it’s going to end wrong. So you give me bad vibes, I don’t even want to deal with you. If I have to chase you down to get my business, I’m not going to do that. So yeah, that’s one of my main things.
Q Edmonds (13:39)
Absolutely. Absolutely. Ms. Eunice, is there any topic that I have not brought up that you would like to talk about? Like maybe you came in with something on your mind that you feel like our viewers would need to know. Maybe it’s like encouragement, motivation, inspiration. Kind of just want to open up the floor that you have a message that you want to land, that you can land it for our listeners.
Eunice Combs (13:58)
I just want everybody to not be afraid to invest in a property because, like I said, my mortgage at the first house is $1,500. Yeah. Okay. My renters are paying $4,000. Yeah. And if they’re late, it’s $200 more. It’s easy, easy peasy money. I feel that as long as you own a home, you will always have money if you do everything the right way.
Pay your bills on time, get those credit scores up, stop getting these credit cards with high interest rates that drive your credit. You pay more interest than the actual product that you actually receive. So that’s what I recommend that everybody just pay your bills on time, get a house because it’s so much to invest in between refinancing and a HELOC. I didn’t even touch that yet. So
I pulled some money out on a HELOC on the first property as well. Yeah. And I pulled up to $200,000 out to buy this house. But if you were doing the math earlier, I didn’t have to pay a hundred thousand down or nothing like that. So I’m gonna put some of that money back with this commission check I’m about to see because I have a house currently in escrow right now. Hopefully we close in this Friday. I’m gonna take that money and put it back into my
next home or maybe the fourth home. So who knows? I think you could do a two-in-one deal. So it’s a lot of ways to get money as long as you have a home and you’re in good standings with that mortgage lender.
Q Edmonds (15:24)
Love it. Yeah.
Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am. I love it. Like thank you so much. I appreciate it. Now, now listen, we started off talking about how you bought your first home as a single parent, putting your child through law school. How is that child doing today? You gotta talk to me. How is she?
Eunice Combs (16:29)
My daughter’s doing great in law school. In fact, she represented me on a case.
We won, cause somebody’s trying to take my commission check. And I guess he failed to remember I had an attorney in my back pocket.
Q Edmonds (16:47)
Come on now. See that see? See that look you you was playing the long game. Like you like, listen, we’re gonna put my daughter through law school because when I need you, baby, I need you there. So no. Exactly. Absolutely.
Eunice Combs (16:58)
Exactly. Absolutely.
And the whole firm loves me. I’ll go to their Christmas parties in the whole nine yards. So the perks of lifestyle. I paid my dues.
Q Edmonds (17:12)
Yeah, absolutely.
You literally took the words out of my mouth. I was about to say you paid your dues. Like you you planted seeds. Those seeds has come to grow. And so no, I I appreciate you so much. If someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can I get in contact with you, ma’am?
Eunice Combs (17:20)
Absolutely.
I appreciate you.
Okay, there’s several ways. I’m on Instagram @EECTheRealtor. Okay. On Instagram. Also my email address address is EECRealtor1@gmail.com. And also my telephone number is (310) 667-0657. Yeah. So currently I’m with.
Q Edmonds (17:48)
Yeah.
Eunice Combs (18:08)
Coldwell Banker in West Covina, but I might branch out to Bakersfield as well and plant some seeds out here.
Q Edmonds (18:17)
Yeah. Well, Ms. Eunice, let me say three things to you sincerely. One, thank you for your time. You know, I know how podcasts work, but our time is our most precious commodity. And I could not do this this episode without you. So thank you for your time. Secondly, thank you for your story. Thank you for coming planting seeds. And we don’t know when those seeds are gonna take root, but you’ve planted some seeds in the past, you planted seeds today, and those roots can happen at any given time. So thank you so much for planting seeds.
Lastly, thank you for your mindset. Thank you for the way you think and bringing that mindset to this platform. I appreciate you coming on, man.
Eunice Combs (18:53)
You’re welcome. Thank you so much.
Q Edmonds (18:54)
Absolutely.
Well, listen, y’all heard Miss Eunice. Her information is in the show notes. So please get in contact with her. But definitely make sure you’re subscribed here because I promise you we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people, just like thee, Miss Eunice Combs. So ma’am, I appreciate you. Thank you so much.
Eunice Combs (19:12)
You’re so welcome. Thank you, Quentin, for allowing me that time.
Q Edmonds (19:15)
Absolutely.
And listen, everyone else, y’all have a phenomenal day.
