Stop Working for Dollars: How to Build Passive Income Through Real Estate Investing

Catherine Inniss (00:00)

Thank you. Absolutely. So I am currently in the process of building a real estate real estate investment system, and it’s gonna be going from earned income to passive income. And the title of it, the course is the choice is yours, right? Yeah, so you can choose to make a difference or you can choose to stay working for your dollars.

Catherine Inniss (00:24)

And so instead of having to go get a real estate license, instead of learning by mistakes because someone on YouTube told you how to do something, you can literally come to someone that educates people and has been through the business and can walk you through the system on getting to the end of building a real estate portfolio.

Meghan Escobar (02:16)

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Meghan Escobar, and today I have the pleasure of sitting down.

Meghan Escobar (02:24)

With a fine young woman who is out here doing some incredible stuff. Really, I had the honor of chatting with her before we hopped on here today. And I’m gonna let her tell her story. But just to introduce, this is Catherine Inniss, and she is the owner and founder of NorthStar Realty Group, who has a five-star Google rating. And today, folks, I don’t know if you guys know this, but it’s pretty difficult to get a five-star rating on Google. which means she’s probably doing some things the right way. So

Meghan Escobar (02:52)

Super excited to have you on the show here and bringing your wisdom to the audience.

Catherine Inniss (02:57)

Thank

Catherine Inniss (02:57)

you so much, Meghan. Thank you for having me.

Meghan Escobar (03:00)

Absolutely. So diving into this, I got to know you a little bit and I’m so excited to, expand on your story and the way that you position yourself as an operator out here in today’s world. I think it’s really incredible. But I want you to kind of share with us, like from someone who might not know the name of Catherine Inniss or NorthStar Realty Group, give us a 30,000 foot view of what your focus is these days and what markets you’re operating in.

Catherine Inniss (03:26)

Absolutely. So thank you again, Catherine Inniss. I am the broker and owner of NorthStar Realty Group. We are a, as Meghan said, five-star rated real estate brokerage firm and we offer services in the commercial real estate, residential real estate, as well as real estate development. and so those three areas keep me busy in the state of Maryland, which I am currently living in and I love.

Meghan Escobar (03:53)

Yes, absolutely. one thing that caught my attention was that you you’re kind of like a one-stop shop in this space, you’re like the real estate guru, if you will. So you’re not just, focusing in a one sector of like commercial or residential. So what you mentioned to me was this statement really, hit home for me. Guiding people to their real estate dreams.

Meghan Escobar (04:16)

in all aspects from consulting to helping them understand what type of property they need whether that’s commercial or residential can you dig a little deeper into that for me?

Catherine Inniss (04:28)

Absolutely.

Catherine Inniss (04:29)

so our tagline is guiding people to their real estate dreams, right? And so when I started my brokerage, it was coming from already, 20 years, 15 plus years of real estate experience on helping people. And then of course with my knowledge

Catherine Inniss (04:48)

And able to expand on my customer base working with commercial clients, helping them find a location for their business, which as a business owner, I know how important that is. And so having conversations between the rental of a commercial space for your business versus the ownership of a space for your business, really help guide, clients to make decisions that are best for them.

Catherine Inniss (05:13)

And so a company that I actually I drive by the building all the time and they’re, they’re open, they’re flourishing, it’s beautiful. I helped them, get into a space that they were looking for, ideal for them, provided everything that they wanted, saved them almost $500,000 in negotiations. And yeah, it was a it was a really big deal. And they needed additional parking, so I worked with the local

Catherine Inniss (05:36)

synagogue to be able to get an arrangement done so they can use parking. So it was like it was a whole situation, right? Yeah. And everybody was happy at the end. And so when it’s guiding someone to their dreams, it’s not, okay, this is what you want. So this is what I’m gonna give you. No, you we need to really understand what’s the reason for why they’re doing it. Yeah. So that way you can guide them to where they want to go. Because, the Google is there, right?

Catherine Inniss (06:03)

Chat GPT is there. It’s going to give you all the information you want to know, but you can’t put it together and hit the streets with it, right? Because at the other end of that, someone’s either going to be able to tell that you you’re coming from a jet chat GPT, they’re going to tell that you’re a novice and you don’t know, or they’re going to be like, yeah, they don’t know enough. So let me take advantage, right? Yeah. And so that representation and that transaction each and every time, whether it’s commercial or residential, is important.

Meghan Escobar (06:29)

I agree a hundred percent and I think it’s such a genuine part of you that’s kind of shining through here right now, just you can really kind of feel the passion that you have for this. And it I think there’s a lot of people that don’t focus on the why, they focus on the transaction. So

Catherine Inniss (06:44)

Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Catherine Inniss (06:46)

As a as a as a matter of that fact, and just a quick example, I was a top rated agent, agent on Redfin, right? they came as a little random referral, right? And that was a few years ago, and since that time, I’ve helped them with their primary home.

Catherine Inniss (07:01)

which is the point of the referral, and then two additional investment properties. Right? And so you don’t get that business like that unless you’re helping someone.

Meghan Escobar (07:12)

There you go. All right. So I I’m a big believer of that too, Catherine. Like what you give is what you get back times 10. Yeah. Beautiful stuff. And w what do you where do you think that passion for, helping people comes from for you? Because, a lot of people say they want to make an impact, they want to make a difference, but not many people take action on it. It’s not an easy thing to do, especially in this climate where

Meghan Escobar (07:35)

We do have all these different resources and it’s easy to look like what you’re talking about, right?

Catherine Inniss (07:41)

That’s been the funniest thing watching the evolution of the computer. I I would tell people that look well use chat computers, and that’s nothing against it because I’m actually starting to like just like understand it a little bit because I tell anybody I’m not gonna cede my authority and knowledge to something that I watched be born, right? Like I was around before computers, so there’s no way I’m gonna trust a computer.

Catherine Inniss (08:05)

To do and learn more than what I’ve been through. So, but with that, it is part of us now as far as being integrated and in some ways pushed, right? On us. So we gotta understand it because you just can’t be ignorant in the world. And so when you ask, like, where did the where did the want for help come from? And I it’s so funny. Again, you say that because the other day I was driving, I was thinking of all the different things that I could have did, right?

Catherine Inniss (08:31)

And that I might have wanted to do. And when I was, when we’re talking about the military brat side, when I was younger, I used to do like these little classes for the kids in the in the neighborhood for like drawing and like, doing and I was like 12 or 13, and I’d make like these they were really good, bacon lettuce and tomato sandwiches. And my mom’s like, why are you taking my food to give away?

Catherine Inniss (08:55)

But I I would do that and it’s always been kind of in that. And so to still be in that kind of that education space, now that I tie that little story together and what I’m doing, that’s the answer to your question is always about helping and educating. So right now I’m an instructor for a school, five star rated school, that teaches pre licensing for those that wanna get their real estate license as well as continuing education. So those are those

Catherine Inniss (09:21)

The vets that need to keep their licensing up every two years. And it’s so fascinating. I’ll have people in my class. I had a young man in there that was in the business since 1974, right? Like before documents were needed in a real estate transaction, right? Like you shake your hand and that was it.

Meghan Escobar (09:38)

Yeah.

Catherine Inniss (09:38)

Good old your butt right, your bundle of sticks. And at the end of the class, this person that has been taking CE for a very, very, very long time.

Catherine Inniss (09:46)

was like, that’s the best class I’ve ever had. And that’s not the first time I’ve heard that from older OGs, I call them. And so

Meghan Escobar (09:54)

Yeah.

Catherine Inniss (09:55)

that kind of speaks to me and that’s kind of where the education system that I’m working on now kinda came from.

Meghan Escobar (10:01)

That’s so beautiful. I get chills when I hear things like that. That to me I call truth bumps, right? It’s like that’s awesome. And like such a what a reward, right? Like more than any monetary value absolutely to be able to hear that your voice, your knowledge and wisdom is impacting individuals who been in the game.

Catherine Inniss (10:20)

Longer than you. Maam, tell me about it. geez. Right? So in those in those regards, I call them O OGs.

Meghan Escobar (10:27)

They

Meghan Escobar (10:27)

all yeah.

Catherine Inniss (10:28)

geez. Right? But they’re still in the business, right? And that speaks to the business itself. That so no matter what Zillow and all these things come around, right? the question is, will a realtor be needed? I’m of the advocate to say no at the end of the day, because with so much technology, you’re not needed, right? But you are needed. And you learn that after the fact.

Meghan Escobar (10:48)

Yeah, I agree with that a hundred percent. any business is a human business, no matter where technology goes. We need human beings to process these like to create these relationships.

Catherine Inniss (10:59)

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Meghan Escobar (11:01)

now you’ve been in the game for a while. You started back in one, right?

Catherine Inniss (11:06)

Yep. So I’m in the two thousands when you were well when you were scared of Y two K. Yeah.

Meghan Escobar (11:12)

my gosh, right? Bring me back. my God. So every operator that I know, they have a moment or two or maybe a handful, especially when you’ve, been on the journey for quite a while. And for you, is there a moment that you hold on to where throughout your journey there was a deal that had gone sideways or a time you had to pivot really fast where you felt like, if this doesn’t go through, I’m gonna surrender and give up.

Meghan Escobar (11:37)

Do you mind sharing one of those moments?

Catherine Inniss (12:26)

Maam, like you said, there’s been a few. There’s been a few. I think that the first and more profound one was having to leave that initial and first development company that I founded. And I was so proud of that because of how it came about.

Meghan Escobar (12:44)

Yeah.

Catherine Inniss (12:44)

Now, I’ll say out of that relationship, that business is still operational just under a little bit of a different name.

Catherine Inniss (12:52)

We are all still very good friends. One of the architects allowed my son to do an internship with his company two years in a row. Right. So he was able to go to New York for two years two summers to do an internship. And then my other partner introduced my son to his mentor, who lives out in California where my son’s at in school right now.

Catherine Inniss (13:14)

And before I left out, went out, get him situated. the man had a fundraiser because he’s a really big deal in real estate. And so we were able to go to this fundraiser. Like I stayed extra days to be able to go there just to say thank you because my son had did a program at UCLA a summer before that, and he sat down with him, had dinner and was having a con, like just giving him knowledge.

Catherine Inniss (13:39)

Yes, I was able to stay and shake his hand and say thank you for taking that time. But the environment that my son was in, right, and the people that he was able to meet was a direct relationship to that to that original development company. So the relationships is what you’re saying. And so even though that didn’t, manifest in that way, it did manifest, but

Catherine Inniss (14:03)

That relationship also led me to my current development partners that I am, currently in deals in. So so those are, that’s like one of the bigger things. And then recently, not so not too far in the distant past, a deal that I put a lot of time, energy, money, resources, community involvement because of a different partnership didn’t work out. And so, very, very heartbreaking.

Catherine Inniss (14:29)

because of all those things. but more so because I wasn’t able to finish that project, which I’m still trying to work on. so I’m not letting it go, but it’s not in my controlling.

Meghan Escobar (14:38)

It’s sometimes it’s so difficult to let things out of our control, right? I feel like especially as like professional women, we have this like that’s my baby.

Catherine Inniss (14:47)

I

Catherine Inniss (14:47)

gotta hold on. Right, And that literally was, absolutely. And I did everything right. So, I negotiated a good deal, saved like almost 50,000 on a on the on the purchase, got public funding to help, with demolition. I did

Meghan Escobar (15:01)

All the things.

Catherine Inniss (15:02)

it all. I did it all. And at the end, it wasn’t enough, and that was very hurtful.

Meghan Escobar (15:07)

Yeah. And it didn’t stop you though, you kept going.

Catherine Inniss (15:10)

Still got two in the process. got one project I got two point six in public funding for, and another one that I’m, working on I’m developing. It’s gonna be single room occupancies for veterans.

Meghan Escobar (15:21)

Yeah,

Meghan Escobar (15:22)

that’s amazing. And I don’t know if you’re someone who believes in this kind of stuff, but like do you believe sometimes the doors maybe close for other doors?

Catherine Inniss (15:32)

Absolutely. Absolutely. I am absolutely a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. Right. And so I was able to go through that to be able to speak and teach on it. Right.

Meghan Escobar (15:45)

And so if maybe that situation didn’t happen, you wouldn’t be able to create those other impacts in the world, right?

Catherine Inniss (15:51)

Right,

Catherine Inniss (15:52)

And overcome right? Because at the end of the day, this whole thing we’re go and I think it’s regardless of where you’re at, right? This whole thing is about perseverance. And it’s not about struggling. You don’t have to struggle to your goal. It’s about having a goal and then persevering towards it. And so like I tell my son, if you have a destination, right, it doesn’t matter how you’re gonna get there.

Catherine Inniss (16:15)

you’ll get there because you have a destiny. And

Meghan Escobar (16:17)

That’s it. Yeah.

Catherine Inniss (16:19)

so it you it might not go the way you think it’s gonna go, but best believe as long as you’re always doing something towards it, you’ll get there.

Meghan Escobar (16:27)

Yeah,

Meghan Escobar (16:27)

that’s great advice. Wise moms. Yes.

Catherine Inniss (16:31)

So proud of him. So proud of him. So proud of him.

Meghan Escobar (16:34)

And thank you for sharing that because I think this is the kind of stuff that people don’t talk about enough, right? Especially because we live in this highlight society world. It’s like everything for the gram.

Catherine Inniss (16:45)

But every

Meghan Escobar (16:47)

Do it for the gram, right? But you’re not seeing the hard work that goes on behind that or the people who give up because a hurdle came through. You’re

Catherine Inniss (16:55)

right. Absolutely.

Meghan Escobar (16:56)

not seeing that. So I really appreciate and respect you for sharing that. Yeah, like you said.

Meghan Escobar (17:01)

There’s been a handful of them, but that’s something that kind of holds, hold you hold near and dear.

Catherine Inniss (17:06)

Absolutely.

Meghan Escobar (17:07)

They keep pushing forward towards that destination.

Catherine Inniss (17:09)

Absolutely.

Meghan Escobar (17:10)

So another thing that I always like to bring into these podcasts is talking about our network, right? Like a lot of our listeners, they’ve been in the game a while. They might be some of those OGs that we were talking about next level up, or they’re brand new, green, right? Like

Meghan Escobar (17:28)

so when it comes to you hear that saying like your network is your net worth, right? I don’t know if that’s something you believe in, but it’s there’s enough research and science behind like you hang around five broke people, you’ll become the next. You hang around five rich people, you’ll become the next. So when it comes to building relationships and growing your network, Catherine, what’s made the biggest difference for you?

Catherine Inniss (17:50)

Knowing who you want to build a relationship with, and then why. Right? I think those two things are important. And then when you are clear about that to the people that you’re meeting, right? and then you see what they need to be able to reciprocate a benefit, if not now or somehow. I think, and being sincere about it.

Catherine Inniss (18:13)

Not like you said earlier, transactional about it. Yeah. I think that is one of the biggest things in building a network. And my network has allowed my son to reap benefits, right? And so that’s more powerful than any money I could have. Anything. Right?

Meghan Escobar (18:30)

Yeah.

Catherine Inniss (18:31)

And so and him seeing how those relationships are built teaches him how he has to then maneuver.

Catherine Inniss (18:38)

Right. So now my network and what I value in that is reaping additional seeds and flowers. So I absolutely do believe in that. and so when I say my network, I’ll give you a quick example. I my from my military on my military brat days, ninth grade, Germany, right? one of my dear friends.

Catherine Inniss (19:02)

From that time is a PhD teaching out of Florida and helped my son write his entrance letter to U to USC and UCLA.

Meghan Escobar (19:14)

That is so incredible.

Catherine Inniss (19:16)

Right.

Catherine Inniss (19:16)

And so and it’s someone also that I’m gonna be working with to build my curriculum because she’s literally an English major and teaches in writing. Right. And so that’s from ninth grade.

Catherine Inniss (19:29)

And so, those are and some people that I’m working with to build my team once I scale up are people that I made friends on day one when I was in the military, nineteen nineties, right? And

Meghan Escobar (19:41)

Yeah.

Catherine Inniss (19:41)

so that’s the that’s my network and I’ve already mentioned my partner. So yeah, so yes, I think that’s important. it’s not who but it’s who

Meghan Escobar (19:51)

Exactly. And it it’s the tone, it’s that simple slip in the tone that makes the difference. And this is a prime example right now. Like we talked about the evolution of technology and where it is today. And it’s beautiful, right? And it can it can it can help expand and explode small businesses and create and help create impact and help us do the tedious tasks, right, that we don’t want to do. But

Meghan Escobar (20:18)

This right here is proof that relationships, human relationships, and connections are literally everything in this space. And so what you just said was so, so powerful because I asked you how it’s made a difference for you. And it’s made a significant difference for you in your career. But what you said beyond that is way more powerful because now the relationships that you’ve built are creating impact in your child’s life.

Meghan Escobar (20:44)

How much powerful how much more powerful can it get?

Catherine Inniss (21:28)

Right. Right. And the person that he’s becoming

Meghan Escobar (21:31)

Yeah.

Catherine Inniss (21:32)

is gonna be helpful to other people because now he wants to do architecture and engineering to build schools, right? And like churches and stuff like that. So that’s why he’s out there.

Meghan Escobar (21:42)

Right, beautiful. And then that’ll continue down the lives that he creates and the ch

Catherine Inniss (21:47)

Absolutely.

Catherine Inniss (21:48)

Absolutely. So I might not have been able to give him a trust fund, right? But I think that what I’ve given him will last him longer than a bitcoin is gonna go.

Meghan Escobar (21:59)

Yeah. For sure. For sure. That is definitely something that’s priceless. I can’t agree more. So beautiful stuff. And before we do wrap things up here, Catherine, if somebody listening in is inspired by what you’re doing out here and wants to connect with you, learn from you or collab with you, what what’s the best way to find you? Are you on the social medias?

Catherine Inniss (22:20)

Yeah. So I’m working on that. Yeah. So I actually, and full transparency. Listen, I had like a month ago, I had like five followers on IG, right? Because I just there’s, my sister. Look, my sister, her dog, because her dog has an Instagram account that has a lot of followers, right? And I just like, there’s just I I’m not into the I’m that’s not into it, right? But I’m saying, okay, if I’m gonna do this.

Catherine Inniss (22:45)

new business because my real estate business is referrals. I get referrals so and I’m happy with that and then I’m busy because I have development. So I can’t be over, overwhelmed. But I’m starting this business that’s gonna need people and it doesn’t matter where they’re at, they could be anywhere. So

Meghan Escobar (23:02)

Mm-hmm.

Catherine Inniss (23:03)

I went on Fiverr because I love Fiverr. Yeah. And they I paid someone to organic

Catherine Inniss (23:11)

Not bots, organic boost of business, of followers and followings. And so I promise you, in a month, it just ended yesterday. That young lady took me from five people to now I have like I think eleven hundred followers and like eight or nine hundred following. And

Meghan Escobar (23:29)

Any

Catherine Inniss (23:30)

I have meetings. I had one yesterday and I have one Monday from the people that the of course it’s sales, but you gotta engage, right? And so

Catherine Inniss (23:38)

I’m doing the things that I need to do. and then I, had a meeting with a social media, like a content manager and my neighbor, he’s an old videographer for some major, fake news outlets. So so we’re gonna do like a whole day to build content. So, like I’m working through it. I went and bought like a bunch of books.

Catherine Inniss (24:00)

I’m from the Dewey Decimal system, So I went about some quotes. Right. How to how to increase social media followers and all this stuff. And so I’m implementing what I read. I didn’t go to ChatGPT. I read. And so those are the things that I’m doing now. So to answer that, I may not have all of the followers that everybody else has, but I’m working towards it.

Meghan Escobar (24:20)

And I’m sure you probably have more than a than some people do as well. So

Catherine Inniss (24:25)

But

Catherine Inniss (24:25)

not more than my sister’s dog.

Meghan Escobar (24:27)

We’re all still trying to figure it out. So is the your platforms just under your name or is it North

Catherine Inniss (24:33)

Nope,

Catherine Inniss (24:33)

it’s under the business. So the Instagram is N-S-R-E-G-M-D. So at N-S

Catherine Inniss (24:40)

R-E-G-M-D NorthStar Realty Group N S R E G M D. email is the same. but you can reach me at Catherine. C-A-T-H-E-R-I-N-E, period, I-N-N-I-S-S at gmail.com. And then my website is mynorthstarrealtygroup.com. Beautiful.

Meghan Escobar (25:02)

Yeah. And we’ll be sure to drop those links below so that way folks could just click in if they want to shoot you an email or find you on IG, right? It’ll be an easy click of a button as

Catherine Inniss (25:13)

Alright, right, one click rule.

Meghan Escobar (25:14)

day. Yes. Amazing stuff. And I wanna just thank you again, Catherine, for coming on and sharing your story, your perspective. I think it is just such a beautiful thing that you’re doing out here.

Meghan Escobar (25:25)

I think it’s important to bring this up. So the next opportunity that you’re working on, can you talk to us a little bit about that?

Catherine Inniss (25:31)

Thank you. Absolutely. So I am currently in the process of building a real estate real estate investment system, and it’s gonna be going from earned income to passive income. And the title of it, the course is the choice is yours, right? Yeah, so you can choose to make a difference or you can choose to stay working for your dollars.

Catherine Inniss (25:56)

And so instead of having to go get a real estate license, instead of learning by mistakes because someone on YouTube told you how to do something, you can literally come to someone that educates people and has been through the business and can walk you through the system on getting to the end of building a real estate portfolio. And there will be a mastermind part of that as well, with MT as someone that’ll be helping analyze deals.

Catherine Inniss (26:24)

some real world investors and then some cdfis resource partners things like that so yeah so that way you’ll have mentorship for amount of time and then after that mastermind where you’re like with investor fuel you’re able to do deals and analyze them before you go out but with

Catherine Inniss (26:44)

people that know stuff. So the and T, their product is end units that are, leased up. So these will be opportunities for them to have, a bank look at their product.

Meghan Escobar (26:54)

Awesome stuff.

Catherine Inniss (26:55)

Thank you for that. Thank you for that.

Meghan Escobar (26:56)

So

Catherine Inniss (26:57)

Absolutely.

Meghan Escobar (26:59)

All right. Well, thank you again for sharing all of the way that you just position yourself, I think is absolutely beautiful. And we need more people in this space like that. So thank you again for being here, Catherine. It was

Catherine Inniss (27:12)

Catherine Inniss, NorthStar Realty Group, reach out if you need any help, guidance or assistance. I’m here to guide people to their real estate dreams.

Meghan Escobar (27:20)

Love that. For those of you tuning in, if you did get any value from this, please be sure to hit like and subscribe. We’ve got more conversations coming in every single day with operators just like Catherine here, who are building real businesses with real people in real life.

Catherine Inniss (27:36)

The real deal.

Meghan Escobar (27:37)

Yeah, we’ll see you on the next episode.