How This Real Estate Attorney Saved a Property Hours Before Auction

Michelle Fusillo (00:00)

So just last month, I had a property that sold at tax deed sale. And it’s an investor that’s very involved in that Jax Rio organization I told you about. you know, he had heard me

speak somewhere. And I’ve known him over the years, you know, kind of at a distance. And ⁓ he called me and told me about the deal. And I was like, you know, he really wanted the deal. It was a good deal that homeowner was very upset that, you know, she it seemed like she had lost her property. This was like at nine o’clock in the morning and ⁓ the auction was at nine. He called me right after. And ⁓ I’m like, you know, we can redeem it until four o’clock.

So somehow we put together a deed I met her at the clerk’s office the investor as soon as she signed the deed the investors paid the taxes We redeemed the property that day and the next morning, you know did the the official closing

Quentin Edmonds (02:26)

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds. You know what I’m gonna say, because it’s so true. I’m excited to be here today. I’m excited to be here because I have another fantastic guest. You know, I say that quite often too, and it’s always true. And so this lady, I think you’re really gonna like her approach. think you’re really gonna like the wealth of knowledge that she have. And I love how she can attack real estate from two different angles.

She can be the lawyer that you need her to be. And she has a title company as well. So she is in a position where she can definitely help you get a deal done. And so I am so excited for us to learn from Miss Michelle Fusillo. Miss Michelle, how you doing today,

Michelle Fusillo (03:12)

I’m doing fantastic. Thank you for having me.

Quentin Edmonds (03:14)

Absolutely. Thank you for being here. Greatly, greatly appreciate you being here. And I’ll be honest, kind of want to dive right into it. I would love for you to tell people what your main focus is these days. I would love if you could give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got started in the real estate and even got started into law, like your origin story. I would love to know. We love origin stories. We call the heroes your journey, right? We love it. And then if you don’t mind also tell us what part of the world you’re in.

So your main focus, your origin story and where you are. Ms. Michelle, you have the floor, ma’am.

Michelle Fusillo (03:45)

Well, thank you so much. I am in Jacksonville, Florida, which is a very active investor real estate market. And I love being a part of that. I am an attorney and that’s a second career for me. So I actually started law school when I was 50 and I had a whole career before that in business operations management. I worked for ⁓ NASCAR and

some of the tracks that they own. did photography, creative services, marketing services, whole different world from where I’ve been for the past decade. And just really wanted to be able to do something that felt more ⁓ like I was giving back and really making a difference. I love to work, maybe a little too much, but ⁓ it’s a big part of my life.

And I just wanted it to account for something that was meaningful to me. And I have really accomplished that. I’m very grateful for the opportunities I’ve had. And when you go to law school, you kind of go through all of the different types of law. And ⁓ I immediately was drawn to real estate and in estate planning, like probate. I think that just the demographics right now in the world, that’s a good space to be in.

you really do get a lot of opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives. you know, that’s my focus.

My practice focuses, you know, almost exclusively with real estate investors. You know, you just kind of fall into that space. I met a very ⁓ prolific investor here in Jacksonville and he made a lot of introductions for me in my first year of practice. And, you know, I just feel at home in this space. And I love real estate investing because it’s a win, win, win, win situation.

So you have a homeowner that has a property that’s in some kind of distress. There’s a reason they’re not just hiring a real estate agent to sell it. most of the time they’re just kind of non-traditional people, marginalized people that don’t really many times know how things operate. they stand in a place in their lives where they could lose the biggest asset they have, maybe a house they inherited.

And real estate investors for the most part welcome these people. talk to them ⁓ in a way that makes everything clear. they’re just very welcoming and supportive of people that many people wouldn’t even spend any time with. So it’s a win for that person. They sell their house. They have a win.

And then there’s a real estate investor. Many of them have companies. They’re hiring people. They’re paying taxes. They’re contributing to the community. So that’s a win. ⁓ If it’s a wholesale or a lot of times they’ll sell the house to a builder or another investor that’s a flipper. could do the construction. Again, more people are being hired, more people, more taxes are being paid. The community’s being, it’s a benefit to the community. And now you have a house that maybe was in,

bad distress. A lot of times there’s, you know, drugs in them and they’re, you know, they’re just left, ⁓ you know, not being taken care of, they’re impacting home prices in the community. And in the end, you have a house that’s rehabbed, it’s increasing the tax, ⁓ tax level for the whole community, making it a safer community. It’s just like every aspect of the transaction is a win.

And so I love this space.

Quentin Edmonds (08:20)

Absolutely. But definitely, thanks for sharing. Thanks for walking us up into where you are now. You held out on me. Had no idea. Attorney with the second career. Law school at 50. Then you dropped NASCAR on me. like, wait a minute. Where was all this stuff when we was talking? But no, I love it. You have a very, very impressive resume. And I like to say that I have a saying that destiny has no wasted moments.

Michelle Fusillo (08:32)

I’m

Quentin Edmonds (08:46)

Meaning no matter where we are in life, each destination teaches us something about ourself. Something that make us kind of who we are today, who we are now. So I love, know, attorney, business operations management. You wanted to give back. You wanted to do something that you love. And so this is where you are now, but I would love to know what has destiny taught you throughout the journey? What has it revealed to you about yourself?

Michelle Fusillo (09:12)

I think I have learned over the past decade has really been very revealing to me about myself that I was stronger than I thought I was. I’ve been through a lot of challenges over the past decade. And I am a Christian and

and Jesus is my savior and he has been beside me and gotten me through some very challenging days and I’m very grateful for him being a part of my life.

Quentin Edmonds (09:47)

I’m glad you said you’re a Christian because people that follow me they know I’m often quoting Bible verses sometimes I say a point blank sometimes, you know, I try to slip it in there, you know, but You and I know you and I both know that just you know They are just biblical things that just guard our life that God out steps that God that gives us vision that gives us purpose I mean I hear you talk about you know, you’ve been doing some things, you know, I often say trials come to make us strong

That’s that’s what they are there for and it’s just it’s part of the natural maturation of just growing and evolving and coming from one place to another like Trials come and we come through fortified knowing who we are And so with that being said what are some of some? Adversities that you face within the real estate space because there are times when deals don’t go the way we wanted to You know, go we got a pivot quickly

Sometimes people don’t bring, they’re not full-fledged with all the information that they supposed to bring, right? So what are some of the adversities that you face within this real estate space?

Michelle Fusillo (11:23)

Yes. So, well, I think that one of the things that my team has been able to bring to the real estate market is, you know, a very in-depth, fast response to challenging situations. So just last month, I had a property that sold at tax deed sale. And it’s an investor that’s very involved in that Jax Rio organization I told you about. you know, he had heard me

speak somewhere. And I’ve known him over the years, you know, kind of at a distance. And ⁓ he called me and told me about the deal. And I was like, you know, he really wanted the deal. It was a good deal that homeowner was very upset that, you know, she it seemed like she had lost her property. This was like at nine o’clock in the morning and ⁓ the auction was at nine. He called me right after. And ⁓ I’m like, you know, we can redeem it until four o’clock.

So somehow we put together a deed I met her at the clerk’s office the investor as soon as she signed the deed the investors paid the taxes We redeemed the property that day and the next morning, you know did the the official closing ⁓ so You know, it’s just if you are presented with a situation that You know to me

if there’s something I can do that’s going to prevent a family from losing their inheritance or losing their property, it’s a small investment of my time to spend half a day at the clerk’s office and putting all that together and making sure that it happens. that investor has already given me like three referrals of new clients. So it all comes around. all, it’s…

it’s a family, you know, it really, you comes together when you invest that time, it comes back to you.

Quentin Edmonds (13:19)

Absolutely. So, know, a creed that we live by, you you reap what you sow and it sounds like you are reaping good seeds and you are returning, getting a return on good seeds. And this is why people keep referring to you because I often say at the foundation of any business, sustainable business, is servitude. You serve people authentically. I believe your business is going to thrive. I believe it has no, because it’s just, that’s the root. The root is to serve.

And I just believe that you’re going to continue to keep reaping on that group and continue to sprout up good, know, good fruit and good seed because servitude is the thing. So I love it. I love that you’re serving from an authentic place. Ms. Michelle, let me ask you, what is the next real goal for precision title and service? What is the next real goal for you? What are you looking to solve a scale next?

Michelle Fusillo (14:08)

I am looking, you know, like just business wise i’m really looking to ⁓ get a cohesive marketing plan structure together so ⁓ know, it’s easy for me to get I love the I love the problem solving and I will spend all day long if there’s I will gladly throw away marketing tasks

you know, to run down to the courthouse and save a property from a tax deed sale. Much more fun to me. But, you know, I need to be disciplined as well and devote that time to the, you know, the business side of the marketing and getting, ⁓ you know, getting a plan implemented.

Quentin Edmonds (14:54)

Yeah, yeah, I love it. love it. Well, listen, when I’m talking to you, you you value people, you value connecting with people. So I want to talk a little bit about relationships. Like how has relationships benefited you? Do you think it’s important within the real estate space? Like give me your perspective when it comes to relationship and relationship building.

Michelle Fusillo (15:55)

Absolutely. It’s critical. Like, I mean, it’s easy. The relationship building within the real estate market makes sense. think anybody would get that. But I think creating relationships with people, the homeowners and the people involved in the transaction, it just really makes all the difference. We just had a super challenging

closing the investor. Again, was a property scheduled for tax deed sale, not the same day on this one, but it was coming up quickly and the property needed to probate. There were 11 heirs as we got into it. It actually wound up needing four probates because several family members had died. And ⁓ I was able to make a connection with sort of the ⁓ patriarch of the family.

And he was super crusty and frustrated. This was a family that had been through, you know, one of the sisters had had kind of taken care of the dad and sort of an undue influence, a classic, you know, threatened to withhold care for him if he didn’t sign half of his house over to her and then sign a will giving her the other half of the house when he passed away. So this

the 11, well, there was nine siblings ⁓ were just really angry about that situation. So nobody wanted to participate. Nobody wanted to, you but I met him, went to his, you know, near his house and just created a relationship with him where in the beginning he was like, I’m not doing anything. I’m not participating to him being our biggest advocate. And, you know, it was very drawn out and we wound up

⁓ To set aside that will all 11 heirs had to agree to set it aside and we got 10 signatures and the 11th was just Absolutely not going to even speak to us so We were able to come up with a plan to the will left personal property to this patriarch

And so we were able to separate the contract where the portion that that side of the family was going to inherit. They purchased personal property from the house and the rest of it went to the family that was inheriting the house. So we got it closed and we got all those probates done and ⁓ the investor actually wound up paying the taxes because we couldn’t get it done quite before the tax date sale. But it was only a couple of weeks and he trusted

me and the process and, ⁓ you know, it all came just actually closed a couple weeks ago. And so I think that, but if I hadn’t have been able to build a relationship with him, he wouldn’t have been, you know, advocating with the rest of the family to get everything done. So, I mean, I think that’s critical. know, if it’s just a business transaction, you’re not going to, you know, you’re not going to, you’re going to lose a lot of

opportunities because it’s people.

Quentin Edmonds (19:14)

Yep, there it is. I to say people are the real currency, like you said, and it’s not just a transaction, like investment in the person, investment in the relationship. That’s the real currency, and that’s the currency that will keep on giving time after time. will keep them long relationships. You’ll create generational relationships where you will have relationships with their kids and possibly maybe their kids’ kids. And so I definitely hear it, Ms. Michelle. Let me ask you, is there any topic

that I have not brought up that you like to talk about? Or is there any kind of words of inspiration, education, motivation that you want to give to people? Like if there’s anything like that, I would love to hear it, Ms. Michelle. ⁓

Michelle Fusillo (19:53)

Okay. I think, you know, on the business side, I think, you know, my focus is really, really trying to focus more on probate all across Florida. So ⁓ it’s just something we’ve had a lot, my team has had a lot of success with. And so I’m really trying to focus, ⁓ you know, business wise in that space.

So I know there’s a lot of investors that it’s just a perfect marriage of those properties need to be sold in most cases. But on a more of a personal side, I think one of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford. And he said, whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right. And I think that has

been my focus in life. And if I get off track and start to feel down, I have to remember that and just focus on, you know, it’s focusing your mind, focusing your attention, being grounded and believing that you’re going to succeed. And, you know, that’s, that’s the key.

Quentin Edmonds (21:05)

Loving Ms. definitely a powerful message, definitely a grounded message. And I absolutely love that quote. And so absolutely, that’s an outstanding quote. And so listen, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, how can they get in contact with you, Ms. Michelle?

Michelle Fusillo (21:23)

So our phone number is 904-559-1800. And my email address is michelle at fusillolaw.com.

Quentin Edmonds (21:36)

Perfect, perfect. I want to say three things to you. First, I want to thank you for your time because of course, time is a premium. You’re a lawyer. You you get charged for your time. So definitely thank you for your time. Your time is very, very valuable. Secondly, I want to thank you for your story. Thank you for the authenticity of your story, the honesty of your story, being a true representative of somebody that really wants to genuinely help people. Thank you so much for your story. And lastly, thank you for your perspective. Thank you for your mindset.

and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you, man. Thank you for being here.

Michelle Fusillo (22:08)

Well, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Quentin Edmonds (22:10)

Absolutely, absolutely. So listen, y’all heard Miss Michelle. You can’t deny she bought the value. She’s giving you free nuggets. And so please definitely check the show notes. Check her out. Connect with her. But definitely make sure you are subscribed here. Because like I say, we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people just like Miss Michelle. So thank you again, ma’am. And to everyone else, listen, y’all have a fantastic day.