Hello and welcome to the SunLeaders podcast. My name is Whitney Smith and I am the owner and attorney of your rental property Attorney pllc, which is a real estate law firm that focus primarily on landlords. Due to my firm’s unique niche, I spend the majority of my time and energy thinking about the real estate industry, landlord tenant relationships and the affordable housing community.

I find both positive and negative factors that affect the real estate industry are interrelated with the housing community and likewise trickle down to affect our landlord and tenant relationships. I, I believe through effective leadership we can make more positive changes in these industries. And therefore I wanted to focus my episodes on the for the Sun Leaders podcast on female leaders in either the real estate industry or affordable housing communities that are specifically leading a team or a
community to betterment.

And so today I am very excited to introduce my next guest, Kim Meredith Hampton, a powerhouse in the real estate industry with a background in education and a passion for empowering others. Alongside her husband, Scott Hampton, Kim has built a thriving real estate empire managing a diverse portfolio of properties across Central Florida. As co brokers and spouses, Kim and Scott navigate the intricacies of business and marriage, showcasing the dynamic intersection of love and leadership and their
journey to success.

Kim, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Happy to be here.

Thank you for inviting me. Yeah, I am super excited. We have, I always do a little pre interview so I was wowed in the pre interview.

I was wowed with your resume which we’ll get into in a little bit. I am super excited with talking about kind of all of your contributions you have made in this industry. But first I want to kind of have you explain how you even got started to.

To where you are today. Wow. In my previous life I was a school teacher and when it.

What grades did you teach? Kindergarten and first grade. Oh the little one. Which they’re just the little ones but they’re so fun and they’re curious and all that and I absolutely loved it.

That’s what I went to college for. Yeah, early childhood education. So my mom was taken aback when I go I think I’m going to do something else.

And so I actually just kind of fell into property management and multifamily on a brand new community. And I worked my way up. I did new lease ups and I went to a bad property which was a C property, did that and then they moved me up to another one and then I did million dollar rehabs and just kind of went through all those motions and learned a lot along the way.

And then eventually got my real estate license. And do you like, do you feel that you’ve had to employ any of your education background? Like, do you have to treat people like kindergartners? Sometimes, I’m assuming I call it herding cats. So yes, there are times when I do have to do that.

I guess I am somewhat of a teacher in that respect because I train all of my agents and believe it or not, it’s probably one of my most enjoyous parts of my job. And the same thing with the investors. I’m teaching them about passive income and how to buy and what not to buy.

And so you’re always leading them through all these processes. So it really is an education piece. And so it’s very strange how it kind of burned, you know, into that.

So I, I do, I, I love that part of it. Yeah. And so you said you just kind of fell into it.

But was there a role model or did you. There was. Did you always love like, you know, the idea of real estate or you just.

I think all of us go, oh, I love looking at houses. Right. You know, one of those things.

But really I just wanted to do something completely different. Right. And I heard property management was fun.

And I saw a hiring sign over here in St. Pete at the time. Born and raised here. So I walked in and the, the manager and the district manager happened to be there and I got an interview and they explained everything to me and how it worked and how you can make money.

And I just saw great dollar signs and good opportunities and so I kind of went with it. And it’s led me to where I am today. Right.

Which is pretty cool. And along the way you met a special man. Yes, I did.

And so how, tell us how you, for when you first met your husband. We were both working, both were brand new, actually. He’d been there maybe for a month or two.

And I came in, he had an office next door to mine. And we went to work for a real estate company that did property management for single family homes and associations. And we met each other that way.

We started dating probably about three or four months after I started there. But we never told anybody. Kind of kept it hush hush.

We’re like, do they allow us to fraternize here? We don’t know. So we get in trouble. But eventually we left there and I went to century 21 and he went to another company.

We were still together and dating, dated for a couple of years. And when I went to century 21, they. I started their property management division from nothing wow.

And they asked. Then asked me if I wanted to become a partner. Wow.

Because I treated it like it was my own, even though it wasn’t. Right. You know? And then I hired the next person, and I gave them 10 of my houses so it would give them something to put gas in the car and some groceries and get them going instead of them starting from nothing.

And they were like, wow, she’s, like, doing this stuff, and she doesn’t even own this. Right. So then Scott and I became owners of that.

We soon discovered that we were not up for partners, unfortunately, in that way, not for us. But not everybody works the same, obviously. And not everybody has the same goals and aspirations.

And so we ended up leaving, and we did not take any of our business. We started completely over. And that is what you see today.

Wow. Yeah. And that was back then, 2004.

So you started completely over. I mean, you had the experience. Yes.

But you took no clients. No, no, none. And.

And you both decided to do it together. Yes. And do you.

When you made that decision, was it based on the fact that you guys just got along? So. Because let me tell you, I. I am in love with my boyfriend. We’ve been together since 2016, but we fight like cats and dogs.

You know, I’m Sicilian, he’s Colombian. There’s a fight once a day. Yes.

You know, and I just don’t know if we could work together. And I am sure there’s a lot of people that cannot. Right.

And I don’t even know if it was just kind of that thought process that we even really thought it through. We just knew that we both loved what we did. And I always say it’s not like we sit and stare at each other all day.

Right. You’re working, and that’s. We’re.

We’re working. I’m out and about. Look at this property.

Look at that. And then he’s there. So it’s not like you’re just staring at each other all day long and going, all right, you know, and fight.

Do we fight every once in a while? Absolutely. You know, but not a lot. Right.

I think it’s both our love for this. It’s a love hate sometimes, you know, but it’s what we love to do. And I think that is a big piece of it.

And it also must be a respect for each other’s opinion, 100%. And you have to know, what are my strengths and what are his strengths? And how are we going to divide and conquer? Because we’ve built this further over all those years and now we have a sales company, we have a property management and we have a short term and co working space. So it has evolved over time and there are reasons why we did it that way.

But he runs something I run, you know, and so. But it’s great. At the end of the day or in the middle of the day, we can come together and we can say, hey, I’m having this problem or you know, so I can hear his feedback and that’s mutually, mutually beneficial for each other.

And I like that I can throw things off of him because obviously if you get home and your, your husband or your partner like what you do today and you’re like, well, I can tell him, but I can’t really tell him, you know what I mean? All the. That we can do. Yeah.

But it also gets hard sometimes because sometimes you can’t turn it off. Right. And that’s, that’s one of the.

I think that’s one of the hardest parts. Yeah. That work.

Work life balance. Yeah. Because I go turn it off.

We’re moving on to another topic. So it can get. Sometimes get tough.

Yeah. Because you’re just like, I just want to mentally drain here and think about something else to sit out the pool, you know. Right.

So do you, do you have you guys had to put in like rules for when you get home or. We don’t. I mean, because there are times when we will discuss things until we go to bed, you know, it may be something really important, you know, but I think we both get it and I can just say, yeah, I don’t want to talk about this anymore, you know, and that’s the end of it and we’ll have a drink and there we go.

We’re fine. So no, no rules. Really hard, fast rules.

It’s just I think we both kind of know when it’s time and I think we both know when we need a break and meaning go away for a weekend. And we do probably do a lot more of those than taking long vacations. Right.

Because it’s just kind of that mental break from that day to day because you’re immersed in real estate, you know, 24 7. Right. Yeah.

Weekends, I think weekends are very underrated. Just two days. I mean we just.

My boyfriend and I just went to Miami for two days and I’m like, oh, you. Thank goodness. Yes.

And you need that have to do a long vacation. No, no. And those are those mental breaks that I think we all really need.

You know, no matter what you do, you just need to have that break in there to go. Yep. We’re not going to talk about that.

We’re going to go away for the weekend to Sanibel or whatever and just enjoy ourselves. Right. And have fun.

So the two of you have been married for. It’s going to be 28 years. 28 years.

April 30th. And business partners for the major. 20.

Well, really. Well, 30 years, because we worked together for two years before we got married. So really, we’ve been together for 30 years.

Yeah. I mean, that is an incredible testament to your relationship, but it doesn’t feel that long when I say that out loud. I’m just like 30 years that, like forever.

But it really doesn’t feel like that. I love that. I. I mean, I know that you’re very con.

Cohesive. Con. Cohesive.

Thank you. Cohesive. Now the way that you’re talking that you guys, you keep saying, like, you just know, like.

And that’s probably an evolution of being together so long and having. Sure. Right.

So. But. And now you have businesses that are together but separate.

Right. You. You have the sales and the Florida nest.

Yes. And Scott has the property management. Yes.

Has it always been that way or did you guys first work on the businesses together? We. We were together on the property management side, and then we actually had our son eight years ago, which was a whole other. Whole other thing that was very difficult to have a baby.

I have ms, and so it took us a long time to be able to have him. And I said, oh, I’m probably not going to work. He goes, okay, sure, Kim.

I think he knew me better than myself. And so then after a couple years, me staying home, I’m like, I think I’m going to do sales part time because. Okay.

Because we’ve always worked with investors. I go, that’s what I want to do. That’s going to be my business model.

Well, part time quickly led into full time, like on warp speed. And then we were like, I think we need to separate it because it was under Hampton and Hampton management Leasing to say anything about sales. And so we thought, let’s co brand this and do Hampton Real Estate advisors, because that’s really what we are.

Okay. And so that’s kind of how that transitioned into that. And the reason why we did it.

Right. And so before, when you were both under just Hampton and Hampton, as a female beside your. Your partner, besides your husband, did you feel like your voice was always.

Did you have challenges in having your voice? Not necessarily. Like, Scott didn’t hear your voice. But when you’re dealing with clients or your team or, you know, did you feel like your voice was ever not heard? I have a feeling no.

Are we a personalities? Yeah. No. I’ll tell you probably the most difficult part, because I deal a lot in the commercial world.

Yes. I sell multifamily. That was really difficult for me.

And why. And because there are so many men. Right.

It’s huge with men. And they’re like, oh, who are you? You know, and we’re not even going to call you back. And you probably don’t even have a buyer and you don’t even know Capri.

They’re just kind of assuming because there’s not as many women. And I thought, you know what? I am going to learn everything I can about this. So I joined ccim and now I’m working on my ccim.

And they have more respect for you. It’s almost like you have to penetrate that boys club and be just as smart as they are and join this and do that. And now most of them know me, know who I am, so at least return your phone call or send you their om or whatever or financials.

And so that took me a while to really break into that, and that was disheartening because I wasn’t used to that. Right. Because I’ve always belonged and participated in so many things related to real estate.

So I’m always out there and I know a lot of people. I know a lot of things. And so that was hard for me at first.

Right. Yeah, I can imagine. You know.

Right. I think Scott. I think he believed in me to do that.

I don’t think he. But he knew I was going to go work and. But I didn’t.

I was just going to work part time. And he knew better than that. And I didn’t.

I’m just. I just did my thing and what I like to do. Yeah.

And speaking of the things that you have been involved with, I’m going to break out your resume real quick since we’re kind of jumping around on what I had planned. But I’m just. I mean, I’m.

Do you mind if I say some of these things that are fine? I just think that it’s really incredible. You currently serve on the Florida association of Realtors Board of Directors, the NAR Task Force. I’m not even sure I know what that one is.

NAR through the. Actually, the Orlando board. I belong to Orlando and I belong to Pinellas.

I belong to both and I’ve served on both. It’s A task force that is within the Orlando board that is tasked with finding people who we think are strong enough to run for NAR positions. Oh, okay.

And so that’s the national association of Realtors. And so it’s pretty cool because I’ve been around so long, I know all these people, and, like, who do we think is going to be next? Who do we think we can put out there? That’s a strong, you know, candidate, Right? Proud RPAC Platinum R Hall of Fame. Yeah, I am.

I am so proud of that. I am a diamond Platinum something something. I don’t even know what the heck it is, but it means I have given $50,000 for the realtor political action, and I am deeply appreciative of that.

I mean, they are fighting for property rights and. And all these different things and what we do for a living and for our clients. And so I am all in on that.

I. And there’s so many Realtors that don’t. And that’s really sad, Right, that they don’t belong to that or don’t give at least to that. Right.

So, yeah, that’s what that is. And I love going to Tallahassee and D.C.

and meeting with legislators and senators and all that. And just seeing that whole process was very eye opening for me. I probably went about 12 years ago, and that was kind of the start of, wow, you know, kind of opened your eyes to what really goes on and how you can make a difference.

Yeah, I know. I think efficacy is a problem. Right.

People don’t think that we can make a difference, but locally is where we actually do make 100%. I’m on public policy right now with the Pinellas Board, and I absolutely love it. We got to interview all of the incoming candidates for Clearwater Race, Dunedin, Pinellas, whatever, and you.

So you get to see what. What are their thoughts, what are they thinking about, what’s going to be happening? And. And then you hear their thoughts, too, on things.

You’re like, I didn’t even know that was going on, or I didn’t know they were going to do that. So it kind of gives you an overall feeling of what’s going on in your community. Right.

And I enjoy that so much. Right. Yeah.

We were just talking before we started recording about the new bill that was passed that will be in effect in July regarding squatter rights. So, I mean, that’s. It’s huge.

That’s the work of people, 100% being involved. Yeah. And DeSantis has been incredible.

He comes and meets with us Every year in Tallahassee. I want to go with you. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Okay. So you served on the Orlando Regional Board of Directors, past president of the Women’s Council of Realtors, past chairman of Property management council, Orlando 2018 state president, national association of Residential Property Managers, the member of Vacation Rental managers association, and 2022, 2024 member of public Policy, Pinellas Realtors Association. And not to keep tooting your horn, but I’m going to Real Quick, 2011 Member of the Year from the Women’s Councils of Realtors, 2011
Presidential Award from Orlando NARPAM Chapter, and 2016 Mentor of the Year, which, I mean, if this isn’t an example of a great leader, I love being involved.

I mean, I shared that a couple times. It’s just. It’s one of those things.

And I think we talked about it. My mother said, if you do want to have something to say, you have a seat at that table. And I’ve never, ever forgotten that.

And so I’m like, okay, if that’s how you got to do it, I’m going to have a seat at that table. I don’t care if it’s a chairman, vice chair. I member whatever it is.

You. You have a say and you can share what you think or. Or maybe oppose or like, or whatever the case may be.

Because if you don’t do it, I mean, then what’s that say to other people? How do you have the courage to get that seat? I mean, have you felt, especially being as a female, have you. Have you felt any obstacles in your way to have that chair? I mean, maybe not in the women’s Council, right. But in the.

Where you’re more on an even playing field with. Yeah, I mean, it’s sometimes about reading the room, you know, when you come in to something new. It was just like me with the public policy when we moved over here full time and somebody over in Orlando told the public policy person here, and it was like, I went to the bathroom, all of a sudden I’m on public policy.

I’m like, wow, how’d that happen? But I love it. You know, I did get elected to that, and I love it. And at first I just sat there and I looked and I listened and I interjected my.

The first meeting, I. I just, I felt like it was something that needed to be said, whatever the. The topic was. But.

So my mom is outspoken, so maybe that’s where I got. So you had. Maybe she doesn’t have as much couth or whatever, but she will say anything to anybody.

So maybe that’s why I. And was she as involved in community? No, she was not. But she encouraged that of you. She did, yes.

Yeah. Yeah. She always would tell you, never depend on anybody.

Always. Do you know what I mean? And so very independent person. Although I love my husband and we are a team, but I could tomorrow, if I needed to, I can go out and I can do whatever I needed to do.

And so I thought that was probably always the best advice besides the seat at the table, like be your own person. You take care of yourself and don’t depend on anybody. Yeah.

I tell my daughter, always have your fu account. Yes. You never know.

You never know. And not just for a man, but like a job or a situation or, you know, a landlord or, you know. Yeah, that’s.

She always taught us that. Always. And I’m glad.

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Schedule a free consultation with us today and discover how we can get you on the right track. And so can you share a moment in your career where you felt that you were empowered because you had a seat at the table. Wow.

There’s a couple of times. And it was actually with narpam, it’s the national association of Residential Property Managers. And we had a.

We have a chapter in Orlando and it was kind of flailing and I agreed to move up and serve as the president of that. And it had always been done this way, right. I’m like, okay, I’m going to totally change this up.

And I brought along people that I knew would be great in different positions on the board and I completely changed the whole thing. And I changed how much we charge people like, oh my God, you can’t charge that, you know, and whatever. And I’m just like, nope, we’re going to do it.

And I did a TED style event instead of all these breakouts and everything. And everybody could hear the same thing, you know. So I completely changed it.

And it was the most popular event of the entire year. And we came out on top, had money in the bank and these different things. And I also did that with the local chapter.

So I completely changed it. You know, they’re naysayers and all that, but I knew that if we did this, we would be good. Right.

Okay. And that, to me, was probably the most. One of the most powerful things that I can remember, that I made all these changes, even in all these naysayers that had been there since the beginning and telling you, you can’t do it.

Right. But I did it anyway, and it turned out great. Yeah.

I think that’s important to hear for people that are, like. For women that are starting out and thinking about getting involved. It’s scary.

Sure. You know, it’s scary to have a voice and to, you know, be rejected, you know. Sure.

And especially in a public forum. But to hear that you can make change, and then also that change, you know, you being at that table has most likely given people respect for you, and then they come to you when they need something that relates to your business as well, I’m assuming. Yeah.

One of them called me the OG the other day. I go, wait a minute. I don’t know if this is good or not.

You’re like, no, Kim. You’re like, no. And I go, okay, I guess that’s all right.

I am getting older. Yeah. So it was.

It was powerful enough that then other people started to do new things, for sure, from that point on. And I absolutely love that. For sure.

And I’m not there so that I can just get a. Get a title or whatever, because that doesn’t. Doesn’t faze me.

Like, I want to help. That’s me. And it may sound kooky and, you know, wonky or whatever, but I truly do, because this is what I like to do.

And if I can make it better, that’s better for everybody, not just myself. Right. Well, I don’t need to be the president or whatever.

It doesn’t. Okay, whatever. But I knew that I had to do that in order to get what needed to be done.

Right. But with a team, it’s not just me. It was a whole team of people that were incredible.

Right. And everybody did their thing, and we all conversed about it and came up with it, and, you know, it just. It worked.

So do you. So what. How would you define your leadership style when you’re.

When it’s me. Very inclusive. Yes.

Very, very inclusive. And I. I am a really positive, friendly person, so it’s kind of easy. It’s very strange that I can get people to do things that they would normally do, which is really weird.

But I took this test one time with Culture index. And it’s very similar to those tests that, you know, you give new employees, figure out where their strengths and weaknesses are. And it’s really interesting.

It’s not inexpensive, but the back end of it is incredible. We used it for our company for a few years. Okay.

And you give people these two questions. One is, how do you see yourself in your job and what you do? And there’s maybe 40 words on there. And you pick out the ones.

Some of them, you’re like, oh, I have to look that word up. I don’t know what that means, but you pick those. And then the second question is, how do you think other people perceive you in your job? Right.

By those two questions alone, it creates this graph. It is so incredible. It is like this.

They’ve known you your entire life. Yeah. And we.

At first, I was like, I don’t know if I believe this stuff, you know, with these two questions. That’s it. So we did it on our team.

First, she said, let me do it for your. I said, great, because I know all them. You know what I mean? Spot on, like, with everybody.

But the one thing that, for me, I think, was kind of hard for me to hear at first, but. And then I’m like, that is me. Is said that you are great with leadership and getting people to do things and all these things.

And I’m like, am. But then once you get it all put together and got everybody in the right seat, then you want to move on to the next thing. Right? And that is so me.

Right? And I’m. I. It was hard for at first. I’m like, really? I don’t want to finish my task, you know, at the end, you know, But I’m like, that’s me, though.

That is my strength. Right. Is putting it together, you know, what is it? The.

The right butts and the right seats on the bus, you know, the energy bus. And so getting those people in the right seats, getting them placed, putting it together. Coming up.

The idea is doing all that, then you want to move on to the next thing. And that is 100% me. And at first I was like, wow.

I didn’t know if I like that, but it was me. But my husband’s very analytical in numbers, and that is so him and the cpa, there were two peas in a pod, you know, and I’m more social. So you two.

You feel that you two. You and Scott are different. We are, for sure.

And that’s what’s great, because he has his strengths and weaknesses and the Same with me. And we can play off of that. I’m great at marketing and social and doing all those kind of things, and he’s great at the.

Well, you know, we should do this, because this is. You know what I mean? I’m like, really? I don’t want to hear that. You know, but it’s true.

I mean, it’s just two peas in a pod, and it just fits well together. Yeah. So we’ve gone over some of the advantages of working with your husband, which would be that you have someone to collaborate with, to talk about your day, that understands you, and that level that is also picks up where maybe you lack and vice versa.

But where. Where are the challenges? I. I think. Well, I mentioned it earlier is the cutoff of.

It’s like, you know, it’s 8 o’ clock at night and we’re still talking about this. It’s like, I don’t want to hear about this anymore. Yeah.

I wanted to rest. I wanted to do a game on my phone and watch one of my reality shows or something. Escape from that.

Exactly. That. That part is challenging sometimes.

Yeah, for sure. And then sometimes, just seeing that person all the time, sometimes you’re like, I need a break, you know, and that’s why I’ll try to. I have an art studio, so I’ll try to go there.

That’s kind of my outlet. I’m not a professional by any means, but I do love to paint, so that’s kind of one of those things. It’s like, I’m just going to get away for the day.

Right. You know, and so maybe that’s that part of it, But a lot of times everything leads back to real estate. Right.

And even though you love it, it’s like, okay, we need to stop now. Need a break. And to me, that’s one of the biggest challenges.

Yeah. I can just send that. Yeah.

What has been the key to you and Scott’s success? Let’s start with. I mean, and maybe is it the same for your marriage and your business? Maybe a little bit. I’m sure there’s some crossover in there, but we both have respect for each other and we both listen to each other.

And like I said, it’s not like we haven’t ever had fights, because we have. Right. You know, that’s just how it is.

But I think as you get older, that you learn to. This too shall pass. Oh, I love that.

That is one of my favorite sayings. I just said that it’s stress. I think probably when I got diagnosed with Ms. In 2006, it was really, really hard.

It was hard for both of us, you know? And you think in your mind, oh, my God, is my husband gonna love me anymore? Is he gonna leave me because now I’m sick and I have this disease? And, I mean, your mind just goes in 20 million directions, and am I gonna die next week? And my doctor’s like, no, Kim, you’re not going to die. Right, Right. All right.

And so that. That portion of our life at that time was really funky, but my husband would not leave me. But you, you know, your mind runs.

You don’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know yet. Right.

And so you just have to work through these things. And I learned early on, my neurologist at the time, I said, should I go to one of these help groups and they meet up? And he goes, no. I go, really? Why not? I go.

He goes, no, Kim, listen. They’re going to be in wheelchairs and be their walker. They’re going to.

He goes, and you are going to think that that’s you. And I go, well, am I going to be an. He says, I don’t know.

Right. Go live your life. Yeah.

And so from there, I said to myself, okay, and I always say this. I only get one time around the sun, and I’m going to enjoy it the whole time. And that’s kind of been my mantra.

After he said that to me, I was just kind of a bop on the head, like, don’t be a woe is me. Right. Go live your life.

And you get one time around the sun, and that’s it. Take advantage of it. Right.

So that’s kind of what I think helped a lot. Absolutely. And it could have been.

It could have been a burn, you know, all the way around, but we did not let that happen. That’s amazing. Yeah.

And so what is. What do you two have planned for the future? Still investing in real estate. We’re looking for our next multifamily right now, and it may be with some partners because we do that a lot with some joint ventures.

So we’re not slowing down. Not. Not yet.

We like to invest, and I like to have things that will be passive income for us when we retire. I do want to slow down a little bit, and with having these two surgeries just recently, I. I actually was able to take a month off, and my team and my assistant were functioning and high functioning and did a great job without me there. And that is a big testament to our team.

Yeah. It really is. And I want to be able to do that now.

I know that I can maybe go take a couple week vacation and maybe do something else other than our long weekends. Right. You know, and it’s a testament to how you run a business.

I think a lot. And I, I, I’ve, I’ve said this often in this podcast, but I think a lot of challenges for entrepreneurs is they’re not necessarily educated in business and so they just end up owning a job. Oh, yeah.

Instead of owning a business that you can walk away from. Right. Like, if you can’t walk away from it, then you’re just, you’re just owning your own job, you know, and that takes time and experience and.

Yeah. And it’s, I’ve read several books where, I mean, you need to set your business up so that anybody, not just anybody, but somebody could come in and run your company. It shouldn’t be that it’s running you.

Right. You know, and that kind of taking a month off, like, I just had to do it. I mean, I worked up until 9 o’ clock the night before my surgery.

Right. But I even had somebody call me, can you come look at my property? And I said, sure. And my Scott’s like, came at spot clock and I’m like, oh, hey.

I mean, business is business, so I’m going there. But I mean, obviously to just like, literally, I could not even walk. I couldn’t do anything.

And so for them to be able to, to do everything, it was just, it made me cry. I was just like, this is incredible. Yeah.

And so you have, I believe you have like a team of 12 people. Right. And so what qualities have you looked for in finding those team members? A lot of them have come to me, okay.

Actually, from me doing podcasts. Okay. For bigger pockets.

I do real estate podcast for them. I’ve done three or four. And after people hear me, then I get calls from them.

Oh, that’s funny. Wow. Yeah.

There’s one of them that I kind of pursued, Right. She worked for wholesalers. I was like, I really like her.

Hey, can we meet up? You know, and so I, I pursued her and she’s still with me. She’s been with me about four or five years, and so that one. But most of the others came to me.

And do you, when they come to you, is it for a specific spot or do you get to know them and figure out where they’re going to be or how do you. Yeah, I mean, obviously I do need to figure out what they’re doing. And are they going to be okay? I thought at first I’m going to need some hunters, you know, in sales.

But I found with mine, I give them all their business. And I know sometimes that can be a detriment, but I don’t necessarily need to have somebody that’s a hunter. I need to have somebody that is in real estate for investment purposes and invest in real estate themselves.

I don’t like anybody on my team that doesn’t understand that piece of it and how we work with cash on cash and cash flow and all these different things. They need to understand those things. And it’s something I can teach.

But I prefer somebody has a little bit of a background in that so that they are attuned to my investor lingo. Right. It’s a different language rather than somebody just sells residential houses.

Right. So I look for that piece of it. That’s one of the main parts of it.

So you want them to be doers? Yes. Mm. Because they’ve got to go out, they’ve got to source properties, they have to underwrite them, they have to hold their hand.

Some of these may be new investors or seasoned and people who are understanding, who are ethical and honest. And that is the other piece of it. Because I could go and just sell something to sell.

I had it day before yesterday. Somebody wanted to buy a property, went and looked at it. Triplex here in St. Pete.

Great area. Look through it. It needs a full rehab.

It’s about $125,000 got to spend on it. Well, went back, she goes, all right, let’s do 400 cash. So I went back and I started to underwrite.

Lo and behold, it’s not really a triplex, it’s a duplex. It’s an illegal. And I’m like, no, no, don’t buy that.

Could I have sold it to her? Sure. I would never do that. Like, there’s not everybody that’s like that.

Right. Some people just push it through just to get a commission. And we do not do that.

Right. I’d rather have that, you know, relationship that know, like. And trust forever.

I’m not here to just push something for a one time commission. That’s. That’s not.

And my whole team is like that. Right. And they’re like that from the beginning or through your.

No, from the beginning. You can kind of tell sometimes when you talk to people what they are. I mean, obviously you don’t know everything, right.

But yeah, that’s kind of how it is. And are they self sufficient enough that they can withstand a bad month. And, you know, they’ve got a little bit of a cushion, and so.

And there are people that have come gone that they couldn’t. Right. You know, and that’s okay.

You know, maybe they’ll come back at a later time. Right. You know, but, yeah, it’s just some of those things are what I have to look for first, and then we can kind of teach some of the other things.

So that’s interesting. Wait, I just. I’m curious because you do seem so friendly and warm and inclusive when you do have, like, a bad egg on the team.

Are you the one that lets them go? Yes. Like, nicely, or. Yes, I do.

Yeah. Sometimes you have to be nasty. Nice.

Yeah. It is not my most favorite part of my job, obviously. And there are two people that.

From beginning of the year, I know that I have to do that, but I’ve not. I’ve been out for a little bit. So, yeah, I’m not looking forward to it.

But it also is not good for the rest of the team. Right. You know, like a cancer that just infects other people, and you don’t want that to happen.

Yeah. And so it needs to happen, you know. Right.

And maybe find something else to do that you love. Right. And so I’m curious because you and I are similar, where we’ve really niched down our market, our target market.

For me, it’s landlords. For you, it’s. And what.

Essentially investors as well. Same thing. Yeah.

So you just want to focus on. Or you do just focus on investors. So where did that come from? Like, what was that a part of a strategy or.

Yes and no. I mean, when I worked in multifamily, and the people that owned these buildings, they’re investors, and I always had to do budgets and, you know. Yeah, you got to get it down to this amount per unit for, you know, and so I learned that early on, and I think that it was just embracing me that way.

And then our property management company, we work with investors now. Some of them are accidental landlords. Right.

Which is where they lived in the house and they couldn’t sell it. Right. Those are accidental landlords.

They sometimes they can be okay, but then sometimes they’re too emotional. Right. Oh, my God.

They wrote on the walls. The kids did. And I raised my children here, you know, and it’s just like, oh, my gosh, this is crazy.

So some of that is, I don’t particularly care for. Because this is an investment. Right.

You know, or, oh, God, let them stay. I know that they owe three months of rent and you’re like, no, we cannot do that. They’ll never catch up.

You know, so it’s just that education piece of it. So I really do like investors that truly are investors. Yeah.

I worry about myself sometimes because, you know, my goal is also to be a landlord. Not just a landlord, attorney. And I already have plans of, like, how I’m going to manage the unit.

And I. I’m hoping I’m not going to be emotional because I was like, should I allow. Kids can’t do that. I know, right.

But only because of my own kids, you know. You know, I’ll tell it, really. I don’t even manage my own.

Really. I don’t separate. You separate.

I give that to our property managers. Yeah. And I said, only bother me, like there’s a fire, somebody dies or something like that.

If you need some money for, like, I don’t really want to hear about their stories. I mean, maybe that’s the best plan. Is he.

It’s where you need to know that and understand that because you’ll. You’ll make more money in the end. And I think that’s probably a big piece of why some people fail at it or don’t make as much, because I see it.

Oh, my gosh. I see it all the time with mom and Pops, especially in multifamily. And they’ll want to get 2 million for this property, but really the income.

Because they just loved everybody there and they kept the rents at 750 over in old Northeast. And you’re like, what? Like, this would be like, you know, 1800, you know, so that is a detriment because they can’t get what they want because they’ve let this happen. Right.

And, yeah. I mean, it’s not to say you can be the mean landlord. Right.

But you’re just trying to be firm, fair and consistent across the board. That’s kind of how I’ve always done it. Right.

And I don’t break the law. I’m, you know, fair housing. Like, I do all of that the right way, but there’s a right way and a wrong way for these owners sometimes of what they do to themselves, even though they think they’re doing something great.

Yeah. And so I just caution people on that. Right.

At the end of the day, it is still your investment and your business and 100% and. And perhaps your retirement. Yes.

Yeah. So it is important to. Yeah.

And you have to think be fair to yourself, not just your tenants. We. I just took over two different multi family buildings in November.

Actually two different ones. One in St. Pete, one in Old Northeast. Actually some of that saying was from that one.

But yeah, true story. So my job is to get their income up. Right.

And so eventually that maybe this year or next year we can sell it. Right. And it’s a process.

Yeah, it is a process that I have to go through and I have to walk every unit and I got to say, okay, what are these rents and what’s these lease renewals and what’s this and how long are they? You know, there’s just. And deferred maintenance and you know, how. What can we do this year? What can be.

You know, so there are a lot of different pieces to the puzzle and I know how to do that and I love that challenge. But some people still don’t want to let you do it. Right.

And that, that part is hard. The obstacle. Yeah, yeah, that part is difficult.

I. We are going to have to have you on the podcast again because I didn’t even touch on pad splits, which I really want to. Yes. I love it because it’s affordable housing.

Yes. So maybe you’ll be back. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean this kind of flew by. I’m going to let you plug everything in a second, but I have to say that you have been a complete joy. Thank you.

I appreciate that this, you know, 45 minutes or whatever it is has been like flown, has it not? So, Kim, where can people get in touch with you? Go ahead and plug. Sure. Yeah.

Mostly you’ll catch me at Hampton Real Estate Advisors and the Florida Nest, which our building is here off of 5922 Ninth Ave North. It’s a co working building. I love it.

And it’s so pretty here. We have the Sun Leaders meeting here twice a month and it’s every time newcomers come in, they always remark on like how beautiful the building. I love how stylish it is.

I always hear good, good things about it. So I love that because this was something completely different for us to do and my husband thought I was crazy. But I do sell investments to people, so I like I know what I’m talking about.

So he’s happy now that we did it, but at first he says no, not doing co working. So. So we have this here and my phone is 407-448-6679 and the floridanest.com and yeah, check me out.

Thank you so much. We’re going to have you back. I love it.

Thank you. I appreciate Sam.