From Engineering to Real Estate: Carrie's Transformative Journey
Ever wonder why success doesn't always equal fulfillment? I'm Tim Salmons, and with 30 years experience as an actor and a career spanning work in the blue collar corporate medical field, as well as public service industries, I've seen and experienced the human condition at its best and worst. Here on powerful and unpolished, we will explore the everyday traps, draining our energy and hindering fulfillment. This isn't just another success podcast. It's about breaking free from patterns that hold you back and limit your potential.
Tim Intro:Join me on this transformative journey as we explore and identify limiting traps, detach from draining patterns, and rediscover the power within, creating a life that is truly powerful and unpolished. Welcome everybody to powerful and unpolished. I'm Tim Salmons.
Tim:I'm your host. We have a wonderful new guest today. It's, awesome having her here. I've crossed paths with Carrie a few times, and it's always a blessing to cross paths with her. Our guest today is Carrie Qualters, and Carrie is she actually comes from Atlanta, Georgia.
Tim:We're we're in Denver, Colorado over here where I'm recording. She actually also is part of doctor Roz's networking group out there. And, you know, the the Atlanta chapter is a very powerhouse kinda chapter from from my personal experience of the quality of individuals I meet from there. So, a little bit about Carrie today. Carrie is from the North Atlanta area.
Tim:And on weekdays, odds are you may find Carrie camped out at a local coffee shop having lived in the area since 1985. She knows all the hot spots and enjoys supporting, like, the local businesses while conducting her own business. Never satisfied with her own high standards from what I've known of Carrie for a little bit. She is a a very quality driven person, so she has these high standards, but she's always striving for more, and Carrie is constantly learning and pushing herself to be better. Her continued quest for knowledge helps her to stay up to date on, like, the latest methodologies, technologies, opportunities for motivation, things like that.
Tim:This is this thirst that Carrie has, from what I understand, for knowledge, coupled with her personality, enables her to provide unrivaled real estate expert expertise, a a genuine from the heart service. I would even say when I was first kind of going through this, I was even saying she's she has her own genius in this process. She really has this this gift that she brings, smart, creative, fun. When she's not doing her real estate thing, you might spot her rolling around town with her 2 sons, Cash and Brady, and husband, Tommy. Carrie and Tommy actually met while attending Georgia Tech and are proud to call Roswell home.
Tim:Now, Carrie, first of all, welcome to the show today.
Carrie Qualters:Hi.
Tim:Hi. I have to say, you have the coolest names for your kids.
Carrie Qualters:Okay. Cash
Tim:Cash and Brady. I'm like I'm like, are these kids, like, the coolest thing walking in the door? It's like, these these names got style. I love that.
Carrie Qualters:They're pretty cool. They're pretty cool guys. Yeah.
Tim:How old are they?
Carrie Qualters:Cash is 17, and Brady's about to turn 14.
Tim:Wow.
Carrie Qualters:Yep. Wow. He's been the teenage years.
Tim:You you're now do they play sports? Are they involved in anything extracurricular?
Carrie Qualters:Cash is working, to test for his black belt in karate this winter.
Tim:Wow.
Carrie Qualters:And, Brady is a basketball player. He plays, for the high school feeder team. He's in he's in 8th grade and, plays some AAU in the summer. So he's a basketball player.
Tim:Is he tall?
Carrie Qualters:Not particularly. Taller than we thought he would be, but we don't predict predict him to be all that tall. I'm only 5 4 and my husband's barely 6 foot, so I don't know.
Tim:Yeah. 6 foot's pretty tall, considering, I mean, it's in the middle range there. So, thank you very much for joining us today. I have a question for you around real estate. You've sort of piqued my interest because you are primarily in the Atlanta area.
Tim:But through us talking and discussing, you also build alliances kind of across the nation.
Carrie Qualters:I do.
Tim:Can you tell me a little bit more about that awareness and and what brought you to that?
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. It I mean, it started sort of organically, and then I became purposeful about it. 30% of my closed real estate business is, from other agents. And in the real estate world, we pay each other pretty hefty referral fees, for the connection with clients that are moving from one state to the other. And because I love learning so much, I always went to all the conventions and, you know, tech and real estate and the big Keller Williams Conventions, wherever I could go and plug in, I was there and started making friends, and then those referrals started coming.
Carrie Qualters:So I was like, oh, this is cool. It's a fun way to generate leads. It's just to have other agent friends. And so then I became purposeful about it and really, you know, created a system around staying in touch with agents that I've met and, felt being purposeful about who I'm trying to meet based on census movements and, you know, other predictive things of where people might be coming to Atlanta from, which is just about everywhere. We're we're full.
Tim:Right.
Carrie Qualters:We got lots of incoming movement here in Atlanta, so it's been it's it's a great way to get business. I love working for other agents' clients.
Tim:It's funny you say it's full. It's, it is such a an interesting bizarre time and era because, you know, I think back just to I mean, the crash in 2008 wasn't all that long ago. I mean Right. For some people. You know?
Tim:I mean, if you're a young child, yeah, that's a big deal. But for adults, it's like you remember there was so much surplus on the market as far as houses and places to live and stuff like this, and now it's like, oh, we have a housing shortage.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. The dichotomy of those two markets Yeah. Of right now versus then is pretty wild.
Tim:So did you always know that you wanted to work in real estate, go into real estate, or how how did how did you find the secret sauce?
Carrie Qualters:No. When I was little, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I I wanted to be everything.
Tim:I can relate.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. I have so many interests. Had a little trouble choosing. So I went to a really generalist school at first just to see where that would lead me, and, I kinda thought medicine at first. I think just because I'm an academic, and I thought that's kind of the most elite thing you could do.
Carrie Qualters:Pretty quickly decided I didn't wanna be in school that long. So, I ended up declaring engineering because my dad's an engineer, and I was wicked good at math. Mhmm. Which isn't really a great reason to be an engineer, I later found out. But with really, no other direction, which is one of the reasons I'm so passionate about helping our young people know who they are earlier, or at least have an inkling is, you know, I ended up in an engineering job for 9 years that I was so mind numbingly bored that it made me sick.
Carrie Qualters:And it wasn't until that illness incident kind of inspired me to think that there was something else that I started even considering it. There was a lot tied up in my engineering degree license, elite university. My parents were proud of me. There was income that I was bringing in that to change all of that felt impossible. Mhmm.
Carrie Qualters:But lying in that hospital bed, I thought, well, something's gotta change because I can't do this anymore. So I, hired my very first coach at 27. I thought, who was a coach for creatives was sort of his shtick, but I was I was just looking for career change. This was not long after Who Moved My Cheese, you know, all of that
Tim:Oh, yeah.
Carrie Qualters:Kind of stuff had happened. And really, the most 2 2 impactful things that he gave me as part of that process, and one was, he had me write short stories about times in my life I'd been proud of myself. And so I wrote 6 or 8 of these stories. And the first thing he said, well, Carrie, none of these have happened in the last 7 years. And that was just mind blowing to me.
Carrie Qualters:And no wonder I'm not happy, you know, to give me permission and almost push me to make a change. Like, if you don't, you're not this job is not for you, quite obviously. So then we took those stories and we drew out of them what my core values looked like. Because when you're in your core values is when you feel that pride. You're doing things well, and you're enjoying them.
Carrie Qualters:And so that's where smart, creative and fun came from. That was my first headline in real estate was, it's really core values that we came up with and then searched for careers where I could be those things a lot. Real estate was just on the list. It wasn't like, oh, I love houses or I love real estate or I'm so interested in the economics of real estate. It was, we narrowed it down to teaching, opening a retail shop, because I was a knitter.
Carrie Qualters:Remember how hot knitting was?
Tim:Oh, yeah.
Carrie Qualters:And all the knitting shops that were opening up? Well, I could be one of those corpses now of failed knitting shops.
Tim:Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:Well, real estate. And so Tommy, so wisely said, well, you could get a master's degree and then make, you know, 30 something $1,000 a year as a teacher. Or we could borrow $200,000 to go off, open a yarn shop. Isn't it like $500 to get your real estate license?
Tim:Mhmm.
Carrie Qualters:Why don't you try that first? So the support I had from him to not only just imagine that something different could happen for us, but to encourage me to go take this leap, put in my notice and go sell houses. Nice.
Tim:Nice. Well and wise upon Tommy for his listening and awareness. And and some people might some people who are listening might see, like, well, yeah, that was, you know, you're measuring cost and expense and that kind of stuff. And even though that is part of the layering that comes into play, what I hear was he kinda also heard, alright. It costs $500, but it's also an open field for you to go out and kind of explore.
Tim:You know? It wasn't just, alright, go now be in a classroom as a teacher, you know, or or go now be an owner that you're you're locked into this this shop.
Carrie Qualters:Well, we had already narrowed the list down by values.
Tim:Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:I think is the important thing. And then it was like, okay, of these, which which would makes more sense to try.
Tim:Right.
Carrie Qualters:Man, it's been a blast. I get to do marketing. I get to do p and l's. I get to hire. I get to coach.
Carrie Qualters:I get to, like, the the gamut.
Tim:K. I love I love that you, that gets you energy and stuff like this. I wanna throw this out there though, sir, because I I I know that you are really committed and you're really professional in what you do. And I'm sure there's a lot of people out there listening who are in real estate and people who aren't in real estate but know people who do real estate that, you and hang with me here on this conversation. The sort there's sort of a common conversation out there in circles of, oh, well, I can always go do real estate.
Tim:Like, it's sorta like this this default of these people of, I could go sell a house and make $10,000 or more or whatever. Right? And and it it baffles me how many of these people limp along if they are doing it because, oh, well, you know, I've got my social calendar to manage, and I've got this, and it's like, they don't ever really hone it or treat it or engage with it like a real business. Like, they are their own boss. Like, to them, they act like they're their own boss, and it's like, hey.
Tim:Since I'm the boss, I get the half day off. I get this. It's like going and that's why you're not the top of the top Yeah. When it comes to real estate. So tell me about, you know, the I'm sure people out there listening know, you know, have a cousin, a brother, or somebody who's, like, sort of doing this on the side but struggling.
Carrie Qualters:A 100%. Yeah.
Tim:Tell tell me about that a
Carrie Qualters:little bit. So, you know, Tommy says it's only $500 to get into the business and a quick test. Right? Right. You know, since then, do I wish it was easy or harder?
Carrie Qualters:Absolutely. I think we needed a higher bar to get into real estate, honestly. I think some of the real estate practicing that I see out there is scary.
Tim:Mhmm.
Carrie Qualters:Of people who are untrained, unqualified, don't treat this as a real job, that are dealing with people's largest financial investment in most cases, and making mistakes. You know? It's I it it frightens me, but this is a real job. I know plenty of agents who are very part time, do a deal or 2 every now and then, and it is extremely difficult to know the market, know what's going on. I feel like doing one deal a year is 10 times as hard as doing 12 deals a year because of the effort that you have to reacquaint yourself with the contracts with, okay, well, what's going on in the market today?
Carrie Qualters:12 months ago, it was this. Well, not anymore, sister. You know, I've received offers that are completely off market, dynamics. You know what I mean? They're actually still a hot market from 2 years ago.
Carrie Qualters:You didn't have to make your offer that high. I'll take it.
Tim:Every every deal has its own nuance.
Carrie Qualters:Really, really bad service by not knowing what the heck's going on.
Tim:Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:So, you know, it's 80 20 rule like everything else. I think 20% of the agents who put in the the work and treat it like a real job and a real business are the ones that are really, you know, able to profit and make it into a living. Otherwise, you know, I think even 12 deals a year is is borderline poverty, believe it or not. I know those commission checks look big, but you have to keep in mind that our broker gets a big chunk of it. The IRS gets a big chunk of it.
Carrie Qualters:My marketing expenses are 30% of my gross income.
Tim:Oh, yeah.
Carrie Qualters:So it's it's not a whole lot that of that $10,000 that makes it to the checking account at the end of the day.
Tim:Right. There's, well, like I was saying, I didn't mean to talk over you, but, yeah, every deal has its own nuance. And we had, I'm not sure if I shared this with you. This year, we, we're in Colorado, and my mother-in-law lives in California, and we had to sell her home, get her house ready to sell her home. And, luckily, she chose to move into an independent living on her own, which is great.
Tim:Love you, mom. That's great. And, she but, you know, we had to fix up the house, and this realtor knew that we were out of town. And, you know, my mother-in-law was hanging on the best she could with all the information, but it was a lot for a 90, 89 year old woman at that time. She turned 90 this year.
Tim:And to see this agent pick up and create rapport. I'm like, I, I guarantee you anybody in that area, I will highly recommend this woman.
Carrie Qualters:This agent. That's awesome.
Tim:Because she, she is the epitome of service, you know, and that and that's that's actually one reason why I asked you to be on the show because, one, I know you and we do networking together, but you remind me of that kind of experience, someone who really is invested, not just it's a deal.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. A 100%. Yeah. To me, it's the relationship.
Tim:Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:You know, for life. And it's, you know, it's a perfect example of kind of the generational relationships that happen, I think, similar to a financial planner. You work with, you know, the person who's my age, who's kind of sandwich generation. Right? And I also get to help, you know, the the mom and dad train and and that transition to assisted living even when it's voluntary and a happy thing and there's no, you know, resistance to it, it's still a lot to deal with the stuff and the finances and fixing the house and all of the things.
Carrie Qualters:And then we've also got the generation that is coming into, you know, buying age and to work with kinda all those generations together and to know them as an extended family is really cool. And it it really is, I think, you probably recognized energy. I think
Tim:Oh, yeah.
Carrie Qualters:Energy in this business is super important, and you can see when somebody is the kind of person that that connects rather than just transact. Right?
Tim:Absolutely. It's it's well, it's essential. And the interesting thing is is our culture, you know, this is sort of my arena. Our culture really promotes transaction.
Carrie Qualters:Mhmm.
Tim:We talk we talk about all these sound bites and these good feely things and, oh, you know, energy and coaching and all this kind of stuff. But it's like, wait a minute. Going to your point, what is the real energy? What is the real connection? What is the real relationship that is taking place during this, you know, experience.
Tim:Right. It's not just a transaction.
Carrie Qualters:Right? Yeah. And not every transaction leads to a successful closing. No. No.
Carrie Qualters:If there's, you know, I call it business karma. If I'm just out there serving the people to the highest ability that I can, it always works out.
Tim:Absolutely. And like you said, a relationship with a financial adviser or a financial planner
Carrie Qualters:Mhmm.
Tim:Is, you know, when you've done right by someone, they'll talk within their family, they'll talk within their circles.
Carrie Qualters:Right.
Tim:You know, that's, you know, it's a for everything. It's a lot easier getting referrals when you build a rapport than trying to create a brand new off, you know, seedling of a of an age of a client.
Carrie Qualters:I mean clients that you like working with.
Tim:Yes.
Carrie Qualters:Because they have that same energetic wavelength as your client that you liked.
Tim:Right.
Carrie Qualters:Instead of going out there and trying to find some stranger who you don't even know what they're gonna be like, and they usually end up being not great.
Tim:Yeah. It's worth more than the commission. Right? It's like, pull my hair out, but, you know, hey. We hung on the
Carrie Qualters:Or they don't appreciate you or they're negative the whole time. You know? That's not the people I wanna work with.
Tim:Absolutely. So here's a question for you. So you sorta mentioned it, and let's explore this. What do you notice? I mean, of the the years that you've been in there, what do you notice in trends that potential clients, either their generational influence or just transition through different, markets that we've had over the last maybe 5, 10, 15 years?
Carrie Qualters:Purely from a real estate market?
Tim:Well, that you that you well, you real estate as well as coaching. Because I know as a coach, you know, you have to be aware of how the person is showing up, how how people right? So what are you noticing?
Carrie Qualters:So in coaching, we are different since COVID, and we have to figure that out.
Tim:Oh, yeah.
Carrie Qualters:It's been a a real challenge to get people engaged again in life, not just in their business. You know, it's people are are stuck in their homes, they're stuck in their mental health, they're stuck in their income level. Mhmm. And, the the inertia has been, exceedingly difficult lately. And I think and it's been since we all locked ourselves up, you know, I I have no you know, did we do it right?
Carrie Qualters:I think in Georgia, we did great. You know, we were reasonable, but not overkill here in Georgia. I'm proud of how we kinda managed COVID. But we still all walked away. You know, those teenage boys of mine don't like going out to eat even when mom's treating.
Carrie Qualters:So it's to see them, they don't, when I turned 16, I couldn't wait to get down the road to my friend's house and I was out cruising anywhere I could go and these kids aren't anxious to get anywhere, physically. And I think it's it's a phenomenon that is I see in coaching, I see in parenting, I see all around me.
Tim:Right. And I don't think it's just I don't think it's just the, I don't think it's just the coaching. I think not coaching, just COVID. I think it's because we had this discussion because we've seen it experienced in our own family awareness of, you know, kid gets 16 years old, can get his driver's license, and doesn't wanna drive, doesn't wanna go anywhere, wants still wants mom and dad to take him around. And it's like, you know, I'm like, oh, and this just baffles me because, you know, the morning of my 16th birthday, I was at the DMV taking the test.
Carrie Qualters:Yes, sir.
Tim:I was, like, driving an hour later solo. I'm like, I'm out of here. I'm like this. But but I don't think it's just COVID. I think part of it too is it's the technology era.
Tim:Yeah. I don't have to go see my friends because I see them now.
Carrie Qualters:I see them all the time.
Tim:On on Facebook, all this. It it's that illusion that I think that I have this and it's like, no, you're, you know, and and
Carrie Qualters:The connection isn't there. But is it from? We may are we possibly judging that connection too harshly because it's not what we want.
Tim:Oh, no. I I I think it's one of those things. It's just the awareness. Yeah. Now, if you are judging it, then it's like going, but but it's the awareness that it's like going, wow.
Tim:They don't have to go out and see their friends because they see them online all day long.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. Yeah. My sons have really quality social interactions gaming, and they're all in their separate houses. They're playing games. They're talking.
Carrie Qualters:They're connecting. I look at that and say, gosh. That would never be enough for me. I need to see you and put my arms around you and, but that just might be my generation and theirs is this.
Tim:Well, like with everything, I think you're you're you're smart to sit there, and, yeah, it is. That's that's their generation. But every generation, I don't care what you do, whatever you look at. There's the pros. There's the cons.
Tim:COVID has pros and cons. How it was handled has pro you know, for me, where I come from it, when I'm working with clients or I'm working with potential teams, it's like going, are you frustrated? Are you, struggling? Are you in reaction? Because if you are, you're putting a lot of energy into something that doesn't serve you.
Carrie Qualters:Right.
Tim:You know what? The universe is giving you some sort of feedback and you being all disheveled and looking for an excuse or justification rather than going, wow. Maybe the universe has me uncomfortable because I'm not supposed to be sitting here right now. I'm supposed to be doing something else.
Carrie Qualters:Yes.
Tim:You know, instead of this concept of, well, you know, it needs to fit what I wanted to fit. Well, no. No. Life has never been like that for anybody that I know. I don't care what generation you're in.
Tim:Right?
Carrie Qualters:Right. Right. So And how brilliant the discoveries we make when we actually become aware of what's making us uncomfortable and then work at it.
Tim:And the discomfort, I mean, if we really think about it, the discomfort, what is that? It is the fuel for growth. I mean, we don't we don't build a muscle by sitting here saying, alright. I'm just gonna hang out and sit here and not do anything. Your muscle's gonna get weak and flabby.
Tim:You have to stress it. You have to help break it down some so it could rebuild itself back up. It's like that everywhere else in your life. I mean and it's sort of like, I wouldn't didn't know this was going there. That's why I never know where these are gonna go.
Tim:But it's like, sort of like the people that you coach or that you work with or the the colleagues that you interact with. Maybe you are starting out doing real estate part time here and there, but what little patterns can you add in so that you can increase your consistency, so that you can increase your energetic footprint? Or are you just sitting back looking for a reason, a justification for why it's not working?
Carrie Qualters:Yes. Yes. Yeah. And I think the thing that I am able to drive to them that the ones who get it will succeed is, look, you have a full time job, and you want to become a realtor, whether it's in addition to this job or you wanna transition eventually, you are gonna be busting your butt. You have a full time job and you wanna add another job.
Carrie Qualters:This is going to be a lot of work for you and you have to recognize that and be okay with it or don't. No just it's gonna happen for me because it doesn't. You have to put in the the hours, and those hours are gonna be 5 to 9 PM for you. Is that okay? Are you willing to make the sacrifice to get you through to where you wanna go?
Carrie Qualters:Because it is effort heavy upfront.
Tim:I, I am totally agree. I I'm not in your field, but I've been around people who I've known personally who do it. Yeah. And that's why I I know the quality ones that I'm kinda like, oh, this is someone who's invested. This is someone who's engaged.
Tim:This one this is someone who has a wherewithal of the experience. Being in real estate too, it's not only coming up to speed on handling transactions and deals. There are so many strategies when it comes to applying your your your yourself or your life to what can real estate do for you. I mean, what do you what do you share to those people that, you know, it's not just the buy and sell kinda thing. You know?
Tim:It's Look.
Carrie Qualters:Real estate is the biggest secret opportunity out there. It like, when you can be working in the real estate field and seeing the deals come over your desk, You know, Tommy and I have picked up 3 rental properties ourselves just because I'm I'm looking. And if my condo doesn't want it, I'm gonna buy it. And I've walked into a listing appointment before and said, well, I'll buy it. You know, because I know this will rent way more than my mortgage is gonna be on it.
Tim:Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:And that's gonna cash flow and, you know, that's part of our retirement plan is is real estate income. So to be exposed to that, I guess, I would say, not to mention all the kind of ancillary, you know, title company, mortgage software, You know, there's so many tools involved in our business that
Tim:Right.
Carrie Qualters:As an expert in the field 20 years, I get the opportunity to meddle with. You know, there's there's a lot of it's it's just a lot of opportunity, I have to say.
Tim:So I love that you you shared a little bit of your own personal strategy, you know, having some real some cash flow properties and stuff like this. From the agent yourself, what do you notice because I know in a lot of states around the country, there's there's different ordinances that are popping up for, like, VRBOs, Airbnbs, and stuff like this. I'm not sure if that's a big deal where you are, but, what do you notice in how that's influencing the market of real estate?
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. So the Airbnb VRBO investment has been super hot the last few years and right now is a little bit flooded. It's not super easy to get your hands on one that's gonna make money because there's, you know, you go look for an Airbnb to rent, You notice there's just such options now that there weren't before. Right.
Tim:A lot
Carrie Qualters:of people are doing this with their properties. It is higher cash flow because you're making so much per night that your vacancy rate can be higher. So especially if there's a property that you wanna use part time, Airbnb is a great strategy. I really love the old fashioned buy and hold. It just when you get the bonus of appreciation, which I never count on, that's just added profit.
Carrie Qualters:But if if I see a brick, 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch home, I'm almost I'll buy it if I can't find somebody else to buy it because it'll rent all day long. Yeah. The rent for a few $100 more than I'm gonna pay in mortgage, and that, you know, hasn't changed even with interest rates going up a little bit.
Tim:So are they doing, I guess my question for you is, are there certain counties might be at a state level too. Are there certain counties
Carrie Qualters:It's more it's more municipalities than counties.
Tim:Okay.
Carrie Qualters:Not the cities that are that are putting no new Airbnb ordinances in place. So you definitely have to know those. And, you know, I'm all about leverage. So I've partnered with an Airbnb maintenance company that I'll go identify the property and I can make sure it's gonna be profitable, but then I hand it over to these guys who manage the cleaning crew, manage the booking system, manage the advertisement, and I know that they're on top of those ordinances. So I'm always just checking with them so that I keep up with it.
Tim:So your so your profession is, what I'm hearing you say, it's a very layered experience because you're always out there working for your clients, but you're a client to yourself.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah.
Tim:And so you're not only looking for deals, you're looking for maximizing the opportunity of the property. You know, is it is it short term, long term rentals, you know, type of homes? Like I said, if if somebody else isn't gonna buy it, you're gonna buy it. So
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. And I love working with you know, our millennials are kind of late to the to the first time homebuyer game, and so we have a lot of millennial buyers lately buying their first house. And what's cool about that is they've got decent amount of money. They've been saving for a long time, and so we're getting them some pretty nice properties that are going to be great rental properties for them in a few years. So we're buying a house, we make sure it's rentable, and then they move out of that.
Carrie Qualters:You know? My goal would be to never sell a house. Just move out of it and make it around. It's an easy way to kinda create a property ladder, that makes a lot of money for you.
Tim:Yeah. I think a lot of people miss that concept. They get so into playing, like, anything, whether it's the stock market, whether it's the housing market. They sit there and they they get caught up in the transactional deal and they they, yeah, this is my strategy and this is this, and it's like going, okay. So you got this appreciation, but you are now buying your next property at unappreciated rate too.
Tim:So it's not like you're getting ahead. You're just
Carrie Qualters:Right.
Tim:You're keeping up with the Joneses kind of thing.
Carrie Qualters:Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:We've only sold 2 properties, and one of them was my disastrous, I admit. I made the most disastrous real estate decision when I we call it my spite condo, and it's what I bought when he wouldn't put a ring on it quick enough. When that company got me, it didn't make any money and it was a hot mess of a rental for many years.
Tim:So the universe gave you feedback and you were like going, okay, I'll take it, I'll learn from it.
Carrie Qualters:That's funny.
Tim:You know? He just needed to be sure. That's all it was.
Carrie Qualters:I'm just gonna, you know, sink some money into this and make you pay for it later.
Tim:It's well, and it is. I I I'm a huge believer of of the buy and hold. I mean, you know, there's a book out there years ago when I used to, do advising around financial cash flow and stuff like that. Haven't done it for years. Glad I'm not doing it.
Tim:But, it was a wonderful book, and it was called the millionaire next door. And what was great about The Millionaire Next Door is it really highlighted the illusion of wealth. It highlighted this, what is it? They went down they interviewed all these people that were considered to be, you know, ultra wealthy Yeah. Kind of thing.
Tim:And so they went to these experiences, had invited these wealthy people in to interview them, you know, brought out the caviar, did all this kind of stuff. And they realized a lot of these people weren't touching the caviar. They weren't, you know, indulging in all the things that they kind of assumed or predicted. And, they asked this one gentleman and, and I'm probably messing up the story, but it's, it's what I remember. And, they said, you know, as he was leaving, I said, we just wanna ask you one question.
Tim:He's like, we noticed that, you know, we had all the accoutrements out here and stuff like this, and he's like but nobody really partook that that came in. And he's like, he's, oh, you're looking for what we call here in Texas, big hat, no cattle. And I it was he's like, what's that? And it was a great term, you know, big hat, no cattle, and it was just there was no substance. It was, you know, if you
Carrie Qualters:but the wealth isn't behind it.
Tim:Yeah. And it talked about certain certain, professions, you know, lawyers, doctors. They put on this image, and so to carry that image is a lot of, leveraged money.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah.
Tim:You know? Expended leverage. And so it it I was like, wow. It's and it was a great book. It was, you know, it was all based on research and
Carrie Qualters:Yeah.
Tim:Very powerful book, but that came out 20, 25 years ago. But, yeah, I'm a big believer of the buy and hold because I've known people I know someone who bought their house for 27,500, and over 50 years later, sold it for over $1,000,000.
Carrie Qualters:Yep.
Tim:You know, there was a there was a, years ago, we were in Las Vegas, and this is it wasn't real estate. So we're walking in Las Vegas, and I remember as a little kid going there with my parents, the Strip was, like, sort of a different place
Carrie Qualters:Right.
Tim:Back in back in the seventies. Right? And then they built this whole new Strip that became, like, iconic, you know, mega Las Vegas. And there was this gas station that was spot right on the corner, and all these big hotels that were coming in kept making these insane offers. And from what I understand, the owner was like, no.
Tim:Not selling. Not selling. Not selling. And they were, like, making outrageous offers. Right?
Tim:These are mega casinos.
Carrie Qualters:These are awesome. Yes.
Tim:And so there's this little dinky gas station that was, like, right on the strip that the strip had grown to, and, so all these people walking up and down the strip will go into this gas station. Like, the guy was making bank on cash flow transactions. It was just amazing. So then when he decided, alright, I'm gonna go out and, retire now. So he die decides to sell it.
Tim:He sold it for, like, just as much as a casino. It was insane, and it was just a total buy and hold, but he didn't have anywhere to go. He was he was like going you know, rather than cha ching, I'm gonna look at the money I've got. It was like, oh, I'm I'm content with what I have.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah.
Tim:And he made bank for him and his relatives because he's handed it down generational several
Carrie Qualters:times. Well, the other thing about that story is real estate is more about people's lives than about finance.
Tim:Yep.
Carrie Qualters:It was time for him to retire. That's when it's time to sell. Anybody who comes to me and says I wanna try to time the market to make it the most financially opportunistic for myself, good luck. You know, we don't we don't know that that was the right time to sell until almost a year later when we're looking back at the statistics. We say, wow.
Carrie Qualters:That was wish I woulda. Best time to buy a house was 5 years ago. The next best time is today. And, you know, we don't you don't know. You can't time it.
Carrie Qualters:You just can't. But we know that real estate is always gonna go up. And I think people are still a little traumatized by 2,008 through 10.
Tim:Mhmm.
Carrie Qualters:I see that, you know, what if it crashes? What if it well, you know, if you conservatively buy property and don't over leverage yourself against it, which is what happened before, you really are only ever gonna have to wait out 4 or 5 years until we're back on the same track we were on before as far as appreciation.
Tim:I still think there's this as I hear people interact and meet different people, I I think there's may not be as many as 2,008 to 10 sort of, you know, what created that crash.
Carrie Qualters:Right.
Tim:But I still see a lot of people leveraging their equity in their home as if it was an ATM.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. And it's like to renovate. I'm seeing a lot of, like, I'm gonna get a new kitchen, and I'm gonna use the equity.
Tim:Yeah. And if if you can do it and afford it, great. But, you know, make sure you can afford it, not just, oh, tell yourself you can afford it.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. What's different today is, I think I saw a stat recently that about half of American homes have 50% equity or more.
Tim:Oh, wow.
Carrie Qualters:And about a third are owned outright. So we have a lot of equity in America right now. Nice. Because we were traumatized in o eight ten.
Tim:That's a good thing.
Carrie Qualters:More conservative. I think it's a good thing. You know, I think if you're you don't wanna max out your budget.
Tim:Mhmm.
Carrie Qualters:Right? You wanna buy something that's rentable in case you have to move and can't sell it. You know, buy smart, and you shouldn't have to worry about it.
Tim:Right. Well and there's a they asked some of the houses that are selling. It's like you can definitely see the the market. I mean, I don't know about where you live, but when the county starts telling me my house is worth this amount of money and I'm, like, going, alright. If you can get that kind of money for me, you know, let's have a let's sit down and discuss because I'm going you know, it's never been this high from the county before.
Tim:You know, the county's making a lot of money off of this, what it says the taxes are. It's like but, you know, when you love where you live, you know what it's like. Right?
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. Yeah.
Tim:Yeah. So we're gonna change gears here real quick. Okay. You said something that, caught my interest. So you were in school, then you were going to engineering, and then you called yourself a creative.
Tim:So tell me how the creative fits in with now I get the quilting aspect, but tell me how the creative fits in with the engineering because usually engineering is very, like
Carrie Qualters:Yeah.
Tim:You know, exact, and creative is very flow free flowing.
Carrie Qualters:That's why I was miserable. Yeah. Yeah. It's I was drawn here engineering people always ask me, like, do you regret those years in engineering? Like, do you wish that that had never happened?
Carrie Qualters:Of of course, I don't because it taught me what it yeah. I wouldn't be where I am without it. I wouldn't have Tommy if I hadn't gone to engineering school. So there's that. But I think engineering taught me a lot about problem solving and sort of I'm gonna say project management.
Carrie Qualters:That's not the word I'm really looking for, but the the linear outlay of a project from start to finish. Not necessarily full blown project management, but I love to solve an engine a real estate problem. It's like my favorite day. And I don't wish that on my clients that they have a a problem or a hiccup in their transaction. But when it comes, boy, I love it because that's when I really get to shine is how can we think outside the box here to make everybody involved in the transaction happy?
Carrie Qualters:And we've come up with some pretty creative solutions to some to some problems in the past. So that's those are those are my most fun days.
Tim:Nice. I can see that. That creativity of
Carrie Qualters:comes in. Yeah. Plus marketing. I get to, you know, market my business and myself, and there's a lot of creativity there to learn how to use social media and be creative in that in that platform.
Tim:And I appreciate you sharing your story because it's, I mean, you you physically got ill. I I had a different physical illness, but, you physically got ill. And it is one of those things when when you when you're living your life, how you think you're supposed to, kind of that programming, that that concept, and it's incongruent with who you truly are
Carrie Qualters:Yes.
Tim:That you're gonna you're gonna hit a wall. You're gonna go off a cliff. You're gonna there's gonna be something that the universe will sit here and say, you're gonna keep getting this or worse until you wake up.
Carrie Qualters:Mhmm.
Tim:And the fact that, you know, you and your husband and you going through it, being open to the growth and transition and the evolution of who you are, and your support system to be able to give you that support.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah.
Tim:You know?
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. I'm so thankful that, it hit me at 27.
Tim:Yeah. And
Carrie Qualters:that I I wasn't numb to it for longer.
Tim:I, you know, I I feel for the people I feel for when anybody goes through that because it's sort of its own dark night of the soul, you know, the the death of who you've known yourself to be to grow into who you are potentially.
Carrie Qualters:Mhmm.
Tim:And it's that aspect of I cross paths with people all the time. They look great on paper. Their resume looks great. Their lifestyle looks great. And yet you feel their energetic struggle.
Tim:You feel, you know, there's just something that is like, you know, keep selling yourself because you're not selling me on it. You know?
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. They're miserable.
Tim:And I I I feel for them, especially people that I know who've, you know, made it to their forties, their fifties, their sixties. Some of them will never learn a lesson. Like, it's it's just been a lifetime of toil and struggle and
Carrie Qualters:Well, the more it goes on, the more depends on you. Oh. You know, to make a drastic switch like I did with children involved, would have been scarier.
Tim:Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:Scary because it was, but I think, yeah, I'm grateful for the journey of it all. Yeah. And I I talked to people about knowing knowing yourself as much as I possibly can, especially young young people making big decisions like what to study at school and what job to take, and it's important.
Tim:Yeah. You support them and encourage them to find their way
Carrie Qualters:Right.
Tim:Instead of the way they've been maybe conditioned or programmed or, you know, encouraged. I mean
Carrie Qualters:Or just floated.
Tim:Yeah.
Carrie Qualters:Sometimes it's just a float or a drift that gets us in a place that is not where we belong.
Tim:What would you say to a potential client? What's what if there was one bit of, advice that you could give to a client that really valued that you had a connection with,
Carrie Qualters:what
Tim:would you share with
Carrie Qualters:them? Learn how to hear your inner voice because it takes I think everybody hears that voice a little differently. Whatever you've gotta do to slow your brain down enough to hear your inner guidance so that you know whether you're on the right path, and you can be confident about it and not questioning. Because constant questioning can really wear you out.
Tim:Mhmm. Absolutely.
Carrie Qualters:Mhmm.
Tim:I would, I agree with that. I would also add to that too if I don't mind throwing something in here, which is, because you had shared it, and and I wanna highlight this for people. People get stuck when I talk about programming and condition. People get stuck in what they expect, and it's because we create what we expect, to be honest with you. We we are such great manifestors.
Tim:We create even our own misery, we create. Okay. And, you know, you had this demonstration of you you were creative, but you were an engineer. And you were able to support yourself as well as get outside support, but you were still able to cross borders with the skills that you have. Just because you learn skills in a may maybe they're hard skills or they're soft skills or they're a combination
Carrie Qualters:Mhmm.
Tim:Doesn't matter. I have worked in so many different industries because I can engage. I can communicate. I can critical think.
Carrie Qualters:Mhmm. That
Tim:you can do that in medical. You can do that in finance. You can do that in virtually anything. Now sure, there are certain procedural skills that you may have to learn, but that's just a that's just a learning application process.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah.
Tim:Yeah. But people oftentimes get struck of, you know, I'm I'm in computer design or I'm in the and it's like going, yes. You can do computer design, but what else can you do? You're not just stuck there.
Carrie Qualters:Right.
Tim:Right. And that's what I would also add to the encouragement of what you were sharing, which is don't be stuck because you assume that that's what you've locked yourself into.
Carrie Qualters:Yes. A 100%.
Tim:Yeah. So, Carrie, you know, I looked down at the clock, and I'm like, wow. These things just fly by. So, so fast. But thank you very much for taking your time today to just kinda share not only of your business but of yourself.
Carrie Qualters:Yeah. You're welcome. Thank you for having me on. A conversation with you is always a blessing.
Tim:Thank you for that. I appreciate that. Did you hear that, listeners? No. Give me a call.
Tim:Let's have a conversation. No. But I do. I just wanna thank you. And and when I do make it out to Atlanta, I do have friends that live out there, so I'm sure I'll get there sometime.
Tim:And if you're you head back here to Colorado, I'd love to connect with you again.
Carrie Qualters:I love visiting Colorado.
Tim:And I will, connect you to a couple of the quality, real estate people I do know. So I will be sending them to you. And So, guests, thank you for listening in on our conversation today. Again, you know, little business with a slice of life. It is a a privilege and a pleasure, and we are really honored for you if you took time out to listen to us today.
Tim:If you did find value in it or thought that it could be helpful for someone else, please share it. If you could also if you do like listening in, please give us a review or a like, click the like button. That just helps kind of, turn more people on to this opportunity that we're trying to grow. So until next time, we wish you all the best, and, you know, whatever real estate investment you go into, make sure that you're doing it for your own best interest and how it honors you as an individual. So until next time, cheers.
Tim:Thanks for joining me today.
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