Our guest today is Nicole Rueth, Senior Vice President at OneTrust Home Loans.  She’s the #1 loan originator for all of Colorado, and an investor herself with over 24 doors.  While that number is impressive, what’s even more amazing is she didn’t even start investing until she was 40 years old.  

She joined me to talk about why she got started, how she selects her rental properties, and why it’s so important for women to find their story and embrace it.

Nicole’s Real Estate Investing Journey

Nicole’s investing journey came from an unlikely beginning.  She attended a gathering as a lender looking for Realtor partners. She walked away from the event as a soon-to-be investor in a fourplex.  The man she sat next to at the event ended up convincing her of the wealth building benefits of real estate investing, and had a fourplex he wanted to sell off-market. 

Once she and her husband purchased the fourplex, she soon realized they’d made the right choice.  Over the next ten years, their portfolio has grown to 24 doors, and each of their 3 young adult children now own their own home. 

How to Select Properties and Scale Your Investments

Nicole’s favored properties are C-grade fourplexes with side-by-side backyards.  She mainly focuses in the north Denver area, up to Fort Collins. 

Her buy box isn’t determined by cap rates or net operating income.  Rather, she looks at her end goal first, and figures out if the property will help her get there. 

She and her husband put a plan together based on when she wants to retire, and what the potential property will look like at that point.  If the property will substantially contribute to that end goal, she buys it. 

When Nicole started investing, she didn’t follow a program or sign up for any courses.  She started to enlist an A-team of people who would help her succeed.  This included a realtor who has her back and helps her find properties, and a financial planner who didn’t know about real estate investing when they met but wanted to learn with her. 

Her team helps her plan for the long term and figure out the best moves to get to her goals.

Nicole’s Advice to Women Investors

Nicole knows that it can be easy for women to step down into the shadow of a strong male.  She’s seen many women who have a story but don’t feel comfortable sharing it.  She encourages women to find their voice and embrace their stories. 

Find the thing you can talk about at length, the skill you bring to the table.  It can be your passion, empathy, or financial wizardry, and be loud about it.  It’s important to accept not to be liked all the time, and be comfortable not being the perfect ideal of what a woman “should be.”

Key Takeaways

• Nicole started investing at age 40 and now owns 24 doors.  It’s never too late to start investing.  Reach out to us for a free investment consultation.
• She doesn’t use the typical metrics of cap rates and NOI, but starts with her goals and sees how the property will help her get there.  It’s important to remember there’s no one “right” way to invest in real estate; pick a method and stick with it.
• Nicole encourages other women to find their voice and embrace it, even though they won’t always be liked.
• Get plugged in with Nicole:
  • Check out her website for weekly classes, videos, and blogs
  • Connect with her on social media to stay up to date on events, and connect with her there as a lender, too

Links

• Website: https://www.theruethteam.com/
• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theruethteam 
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nicolerueth
  • If you are a RE Agent, request to join the Agent Ignite FB Group, and get a goldmine of content and invites to classes and events
• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerueth/

YouTube Video

0-24 Doors in 10 Years Starting at 40 Years Old with Nicole Rueth

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed