Tiny Homes, Big Wealth: Attainable Luxury, Unlocking Real Wealth & Atlanta Development

Letrice Gholson (00:00)

I think that interest rates are that feature that is giving people the angst about jumping into the market. I will say right now in Atlanta, we’re in a buyer’s market. What that means is there’s a lot of inventory. There’s been an up-suite of sellers placing their properties on the market looking for a sale. However, with the interest rates being so high over the past year, ⁓ you know, about 12 months, ⁓ buyers have become reluctant.

Therefore, now that interest rates are dropping, buyers can now come out from hiding because, you know, prices will be better, but also there’s so much inventory still standing and waiting on them.

Kristen (02:14)

Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m Kristen and I’m here with Letrice Gholson, who is a real estate agent out of Atlanta, Georgia. I’m excited to talk to you today. Thanks for being here.

Letrice Gholson (02:23)

thanks so much for inviting me. Thanks for having me.

Kristen (02:26)

Yeah, we’re gonna talk about how she got into the industry, how she’s been able to get into the wholesaling ⁓ avenue, and we’re gonna talk about what to do when you’re wanting to get into investing and how to start and where to learn everything. So let’s start at the beginning. How did you get into the real estate industry?

Letrice Gholson (02:42)

You know, I started in real estate with a Fortune Builders conference in 2011. 11-11, 2011, and there was a large, it was a large conference and I ended up going as someone’s guest. And so from there, we just had a, I think it was a three day conference and I really got a full gambit of what it is to be a real estate investor to different possibilities and how.

Kristen (02:52)

⁓

Letrice Gholson (03:09)

increasing your cash flow and understanding property appreciation, property value appreciation can be ⁓ the most aggressive way of earning money without exchanging time and labor for income. And that’s where I started. It was definitely a revolutionary transitional idea for me. And knowing that most millionaires are invested in real estate,

Kristen (03:24)

Right.

Letrice Gholson (03:37)

was also a motivating factor and I just began bird-dogging, wholesaling from there.

Kristen (03:45)

That’s awesome. So you started wholesaling and at what point did you decide to get your license?

Letrice Gholson (03:50)

You know, I did that for five years, just kind of networking, connecting with people, going to the Real Estate Investors Association meetings here in Atlanta, getting to know people’s strategies and learning more about off-market properties. And then in 2016, I was licensed, started out at the McDonald’s of real estate at Kelly Williams and just have grown from there.

Kristen (04:12)

Mm.

Amazing. mean that’s a that’s a good transition because then you I mean getting into Actually selling is a whole different ballgame than wholesaling where you really form relationships with people How how has that been do you love that part of the job?

Letrice Gholson (04:32)

think for me the transition was understanding that the rejuvenation and revitalization of Atlanta is done by the sweat equity and the labor of investors, right? You have lots of rental companies that come into the market to purchase dilapidated and distressed homes for cash and then they’ll create rental properties, know, do minimal, you know, reface of the property and rent it out and then…

they’ll sell them.

Similarly, you have smaller investors who do the same thing who will take a distressed property, they’ll renovate it and then resale it. A lot of people consider that gentrification and it’s kind of a socio-political thing but I thought on the one hand I want to be able to advocate for sellers who have these older properties where they may not be able to ⁓ invest the capital and the cash flow ⁓ to make the market ready.

And so putting myself on that end was one motivation in terms of finding vendors and tools in my toolkit as an agent. And then on the other hand, ⁓ empowering investors to find these properties and making sure that they’re able to create new inventory as sellers. So those are two ways that I advocate for eventual sellers.

Kristen (06:18)

you

Yeah, absolutely. so you work with both. You work with lot of investors. You work with also family, stuff like that. ⁓ Can you talk about Atlanta and what makes the market so special and some of the work you’ve been able to do within it?

Letrice Gholson (06:58)

Well, know, Atlanta is a beautiful city because it is one of the most architecturally diverse of any city, right? So I went to college in Chicago, my family’s from New York. Atlanta is the most concentrated city of architectural variety that you’ll see, right? So the Atlanta, the historic American craftsman home is one of the Atlanta’s signature architectural styles. It’s more of a home that you’ll find.

downtown, downtown, like near all of the landmarks here in town. But you also have estate style homes here, which are very popular, ⁓ which, know, mansion style and estate style kind of go hand in hand. ⁓ European homes are considered, are considered those mansion style homes. But you also have like ⁓ A-frame homes, cottage homes, have farmhouse.

style ⁓ architecture as well. You have modern homes throughout the interior of the city. And then also the way that Atlanta is designed, I find is very unique as well. Cities like Chicago, you know, have the city and then you have like several different ⁓ directions of growth. Whereas Atlanta is designed in such a way that the city is central and our ⁓ main highway.

in circles of city and there are suburbs all around. So our suburban sprawl goes just out radio out circumferentially. So I find that also very inspiring about the way that Atlanta grows and the way that you you find new inventory as well as how properties are refaced to create new character and fresh color and fresh you know what I mean life here in the city.

Kristen (08:37)

Yeah.

And isn’t there a big or like a budding film industry in Atlanta? Aren’t a lot of people taking their productions over there?

Letrice Gholson (09:02)

Absolutely, there are. There are film studios throughout the city. I mean, from east to west, north to south, right? So Tyler Perry, of course, is in town. He is ⁓ the leading African-American ⁓ director, film writer, film producer ⁓ here. And so I compare him to like Walt Disney, right? Black Walt Disney.

Kristen (09:26)

Thank

Letrice Gholson (09:27)

But then you also have David Cathy, who is the founder of Chick-fil-A. And Chick-fil-A is kind of an Atlanta hometown signatory-like brand as well, along with Coca-Cola and all of those others. But David Cathy and his The Truett Family, started a development called Trillis City, which is far south in Fayetteville, where they have real estate, they have film studios, have walkable shopping, et cetera.

Kristen (09:38)

Mm-hmm.

Letrice Gholson (09:57)

And they have a neighborhood called Serenby and the great thing about Trillis is that

in addition to the film right it’s Trillis City there is a variety of real estate opportunities down there from like Manchester homes to to cottage homes and tiny homes as well. And so Trillis is really exciting as well as Far East you have in Covington you have a film development as well and ⁓

Far West I think there’s one as well. I don’t know if there’s anything up north, but yeah There are several different in addition to just the film industry credits and and commerce initiatives around them and development

Kristen (11:11)

Yeah,

that’s awesome. I mean, you obviously know the area so well and I feel like partnering with someone like you would be really important if you’re looking to invest or even just move to Atlanta and you do strategic advising as well, correct?

Letrice Gholson (11:29)

Yes, I advise investors regarding investment strategies such as buy and hold, short-term rentals, as well as fixed and flip. I also help investors who may want to build. There are lots of opportunities to develop and build here as well. As a caveat to what you were saying, yeah, my target demographic would be those professionals that are relocated into Atlanta, for example.

I worked with Morehouse’s president when he got here to Atlanta to find a home. So lots of professionals are migrating here for the opportunities and job spaces here in Georgia. So helping those professionals to get settled and find somewhere where they’ll see not only the lifestyle and the vibrance of the city, also be able to invest for the long term is also really important to me. So yeah, there’s kind of a…

kind of a breadth of knowledge that I have in that sense for sure.

Kristen (12:34)

Yeah, I mean that’s amazing. And one of your big specialties is you’re really great at cost-effective redesign and staging and all that. So can you go into kind of just generalities of what you do in that space?

Letrice Gholson (12:48)

Absolutely that helps our sellers right so sellers who may be in distress properties as well as sellers who may be investors right so In terms of sellers who have to stress properties they may not have the liquid capital to be able to do that So I’m able to go in and make cost-effective Recommendations about this the staging that I’m sorry the redesign that needs to be done, but also I’m able in my toolkit to connect them with ⁓ pay at closed vendors who are able to

renovate that property before the sale of the home. Additionally, it comes to investors, if the distressed property is not a slam dunk, it easily translatable into from an obsolete foreplan to a buyer, an enticing foreplan for a buyer, I would able to advise them in that regard as well because there are investors oftentimes who can make

Kristen (13:39)

Yeah.

Letrice Gholson (13:45)

renovations that are not attractive to today’s market. they’re a waste of and time on the market.

Kristen (13:50)

you

What are some common mistakes that you see?

Letrice Gholson (13:57)

Common mistakes that I see is sometimes making too many bedrooms for the size of the home, right? Because oftentimes on the buyer’s viewpoint of that is this house is not spacious enough, but you have five bedrooms and two bathrooms. You have so many bedrooms and very small ⁓ living space that it’s not attractive or the bedrooms are too small and it’s not attractive for their family. Whereas that same square footage could be better used as a three.

bedroom to bathroom and likely get a higher sales price because it’s more attractive and more competitive in the market with more spacious appointments and thoughtful design.

Kristen (14:39)

so they can see that where everyone’s kind of crammed in together. That’s obviously, yeah, not a great living situation. And when you were talking about floor plans, what floor plans do you see are really enticing to these buyers?

Letrice Gholson (14:42)

Thank you.

Here in Atlanta a three-bedroom two-bathroom with a garage is always going to the attention of buyers. A two-part garage is always going to get the attention of buyers, however that may

Whether that’s a Georgian style home, right? When we talk about architecture. Whether that’s a Georgian style European. Whether that’s a, you know, a kind of, if it has a good garage and there’s three bedrooms and two complete bathrooms, oftentimes buyers are going to jump for that. And then if you go up to the next four threes are…

So, for your quote, larger.

Kristen (16:04)

Yeah, nice. And then what are some of your best tips for cost-effective redesign?

Letrice Gholson (16:10)

Well, buyers are looking for open concept living. So being able to create an open concept for a plan with maybe an island is always attractive, right? That’s definitely something that’s enticing. But also buyers want a really nice bathroom oasis. So however you could maximize the space in your master ensuite to create a very relaxing space. I mean, I…

often don’t recommend a shower over a bathtub. I would say that the same money you would spend to tile a full shower can be spent on a bathtub and tile in the shower, half of it. Because I just think today’s modern bodies really want that fashion forward design as well.

Kristen (17:05)

Absolutely. And what would you say to people who are a little nervous about the market right now, don’t really know if it’s a good time to buy or sell?

Letrice Gholson (17:14)

think that interest rates are that feature that is giving people the angst about jumping into the market. I will say right now in Atlanta, we’re in a buyer’s market. What that means is there’s a lot of inventory. There’s been an up-suite of sellers placing their properties on the market looking for a sale. However, with the interest rates being so high over the past year, ⁓ you know, about 12 months, ⁓ buyers have become reluctant.

Therefore, now that interest rates are dropping, buyers can now come out from hiding because, you know, prices will be better, but also there’s so much inventory still standing and waiting on them.

So in that way, Atlanta is a buyer’s market where if you do get out and try to purchase something now, there’ll be lots of choices and therefore lots of negotiation power on your behalf because these sellers are ready to let go of these properties.

right now.

Kristen (18:15)

Yeah, and there’s no perfect market. mean even when interest rates drop then there’ll be more competition and so I feel like it’s always if you’re thinking of getting into the market I think it’s always a good idea to do it sooner than later. ⁓

Letrice Gholson (18:30)

Absolutely.

Kristen (18:31)

Yeah, when you’re talking about, so I know that you’re kind of getting into the development world, which is really exciting. And it feels like the next natural step. You know the area so well. What have been the steps you’ve taken to really educate yourself and get ready to make this jump?

Letrice Gholson (18:40)

Thanks

Well, for me, ⁓ my interest is in tiny home living. I feel like there is a market, a middle market of buyer who may be single or young, who needs education to get into nursing as an investment. A part of my educational consultation is Unlock Real Wealth. And Unlock Real Wealth is a platform in which

Kristen (18:54)

Mm-hmm.

Letrice Gholson (19:18)

I’m teaching people how to build a credit, sustain a savings plan, plan for purchasing a home, and then also inspiring them to the next level of investing, saving, and retirement planning as it relates to using real estate as a part of your financial portfolio. And so in that, I have created a planner called 12 Months to Home Ownership, which talks about all of those different topics in four phases. ⁓ Additionally,

⁓ for me, educating myself as far as becoming a developer, I found that that niche market ⁓ needs to understand that investing in real estate earlier rather than later, not after you get your life together, but earlier rather than later is so beneficial to ⁓ giving them access and mobility considering that you’re always chasing and racing inflation. In a city like Atlanta where

Kristen (20:12)

Yeah.

Letrice Gholson (20:14)

We are, think, 53 % African-American. Our demographic is African-American. I believe that the wealth gap can be something that can be decreased with access and education. And so I think tiny homes would be a great middle market product from this also being a city that’s attractive for rental investors, right? There are lots of

that are coming into town, lots of developers like Invitation Home, Open Door, and who are purchasing up the houses here, ⁓ creating more renters, that a tiny home opportunity for someone who may be fresh out of college, new to the professional landscape, their first job, for the first five or 10 years of, you know, starting their life, could be a really great place for a young couple.

decide okay we’re married now we can purchase our first home together ⁓ and in that way put them ahead in terms of being able to move forward into the next level of ⁓ portfolio management right or ⁓ financial ⁓ access so I really like the idea of the tiny homes in addition to the trendiness of everybody living minimal and etc etc so

Kristen (21:32)

you

Yeah.

Letrice Gholson (21:40)

I am committed to becoming a tiny home developer for that reason.

Kristen (21:48)

I love that. And I mean, the tiny home, the layouts and the design have gotten so beautiful and sophisticated. I feel like the way that space is utilized is so creative. And I think there’s maybe a stigma with some people about it, but there’s, mean, I’ve seen so many beautiful tiny homes that feel like enough space.

Letrice Gholson (22:11)

Absolutely. I agree. And I think for my unique designs, ⁓ I endeavor to be a luxury, an attainable luxury.

Kristen (22:22)

Yeah.

Letrice Gholson (22:24)

developer. And so my floor plans will be more of that tiny but dream home type of feel. In a sense, not like a like a, you know, one off or kind of a bohemian lifestyle, but definitely a part of the larger landscape of Atlanta’s architectural, you know, diversity and dream homes, but on a tiny scale. So I look forward to doing that in the next. Starting in January, I’m looking to property sales. So I’m excited about

Kristen (22:25)

Yeah.

That’s

incredible. Congratulations. Well, I mean, you have such great knowledge of your area and such good advice for people getting into the market. ⁓ Tell everyone where to find you and how to work with you.

Letrice Gholson (23:09)

absolutely.

So I am ⁓

realtor with Indigo Road Realty by Egypt Sherrod. You can find me online there on our company website or you can find me on Instagram at Letrice Gholson Realty. ⁓ I also have a website of my own, Letrice Gholson, L-E-T-R-I-C-E G-H-O-L-S-O-N dot com, where you can find me at book appointments, book education, purchase my ebooks.

as as booking for speaking events if you’d to talk more about, learn more about ⁓ investing and financial portfolio building. Just kind of awareness on ways to secure your family’s wealth. ⁓ So you can learn more about me there as well on letricegholson.com.

Kristen (23:58)

Awesome, well thank you so much for being here Letrice.

Letrice Gholson (24:01)

Absolutely, I certainly appreciate the invitation, Kristen.

Kristen (24:05)

Amazing. Well, thank you everyone for listening. Hope you learned a lot. Maybe had some inspiration about, you know, some investing that you want to do in Atlanta. ⁓ So we will see you back next time.