Joe Spence is an investor from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, whose journey began after he was laid off from his sales job in early 2016. It had always been his and his wife Sarah’s dream to become real estate investors, and this quick turn of events made them ask, “Do I really want to go back to a 9 to 5?” With a baby on the way Joe knew he had to do something, and there was no better time than the present to take action and make it happen.
Joe began by calling anyone and everyone he knew in real estate, asking if there was possibly anything for him. Within a week and a half he had his first deal from someone who knew someone who knew someone, and so on. He shares that his first time walking through the house calculating costs to make an offer, he had almost no clue what he was doing. He was familiar with the formulas because he had educated himself with books and podcasts, but he says that “there’s no substitute for the real thing.”
Joe and Danny also discuss contractors, and the importance of checking up on the progress when you’re rehabbing houses. Joe talks about the many lessons he’s learned along the way in regards to trusting and overseeing those carrying out his flips. He says that at first, it was intimidating to ask contractors what was going on in the rehabs out of fear of sounding uneducated or unqualified. Once he was able to get past this fear and speak openly with the contractor about what was going on in the project, he says that their relationship only grew stronger and now there is a mutual trust and respect between the two throughout the process.
In the beginning of 2018 he turned his business more towards wholesaling rather than rehabbing houses. When asked if it can be difficult sometimes to walk away from a bigger check by deciding to wholesale instead of rehab it yourself. “I’m not afraid to leave a little meat on the bones for the next guy,” says Joe. He gives a lot of credit to those who helped him in the beginning of his journey, and he hopes to be able to help others in the same way.
