Do you want to become a bold entrepreneur with robust connections to private money borrowers and lenders?
Entrepreneur Laurie Halter has an incredibly unique perspective on private money. She and her husband, John, have spent over a decade flipping homes and land, and they both lend and borrow private money.
Through the years, she’s learned a tremendous amount about flipping and how to be an effective borrower and lender. However, with her wealth of knowledge, she also recognizes that education never ends. She’s continuing to learn more about lending and borrowing private money through the Private Money Club members. Additionally, Laurie educates other PMC members so they can start flipping land too.
She is truly a gifted and diligent entrepreneur, and in this article, you’ll learn how PMC has helped take her flipping business to the next level.
Becoming a Fearless Entrepreneur
Laurie’s entrepreneurial journey started at an early age. When she was 14, she served as the president of her local Junior Achievement group, and her organization had tremendous success selling a product they developed.
From there, her entrepreneurial career never stopped. She and John have owned multiple businesses and franchises — including Custom Quality Millwork, which specializes in creating custom kitchens and sinks for homeowners — and for the last 15 years, they’ve sharpened their business acumen by flipping homes and land.
Although the pair have had a great deal of success with their property investments and other entrepreneurial endeavors, their journey certainly hasn’t been easy:
“We would buy some flips, … and we’d flip it, but we [would] use our own money. … We’d get stuck, and we wouldn’t be able to do [a flip] for a long time. [We weren’t] able to do what we wanted to do with the house because we … only had so much money, so then [we] wouldn’t make a lot of money [from the deal].” – Laurie Halter
Laurie and John used their money for flips for a long time because they couldn’t secure bank funding. They would upgrade and repair their properties, but they often lacked the financial resources to optimize the flip.
Fortunately, they discovered the Private Money Club, which provides private money borrowers and lenders with the opportunity to meet one another. Now, they’re building long-lasting professional relationships with lenders who are more than happy to provide loaning toward Laurie and John’s flipping endeavors.
“It’s just way easier [to secure private money]. You don’t have to fit into [the bank’s narrow] box. Just because you don’t fit in that box doesn’t mean that you aren’t a great borrower.” – Laurie Halter
What sets Laurie apart as a borrower is her tremendous mindset and ability to work tirelessly amidst adversity, and she recognizes the importance of being courageous as an entrepreneur:
“You have to have a mindset [of hardwork and courage] or you won’t get anywhere. … I think as an entrepreneur you have to be fearless and just go for things.” – Laurie Halter
On top of her many professional accomplishments, Laurie even lost 120 pounds within only three years! Her ability to work tenaciously toward her goals is truly inspirational.
Joining Private Money Club
Laurie first learned about Private Money Club through another member. She attended what’s known as the “Inner Circle” event back in 2020 and immediately took to borrowing private money to finance flips and rental properties.
Since joining the group, Laurie and John have almost tripled their rental portfolio, and now, they’re feeling more ready for retirement than ever before:
“It helped us. I’m 60, [and] John [just] turned 61. We are now looking forward to retirement even though we won’t [fully] retire. We don’t have to think about … how we are gonna live on social security. … Through the members of the Private Money Club, we’re lending our money [and] borrowing money. We’re able to do … a project here and there that we wanna do and make money.” – Laurie Halter
Now, Laurie profits by both lending and borrowing private money. She loans out money through her self-directed IRA, and she borrows money when she and John don’t have enough liquid to finance a flip.
“A lot of times we don’t have the amount of money that we need to actually do a flip. This last one was like $413,000. I was able to go into Private Money Club and raise the money in a few days.” – Laurie Halter
With her hard work and knowledge in flipping homes, it’s no surprise that Laurie has had great success securing and lending private money. She’s found numerous opportunities and continues expanding her professional network.
“[With PMC], you start making new relationships [with private money lenders and borrowers], … and you can never have too many. … The more we get into it, the more relationships that we make.” – Laurie Halter
With its growing community of lenders and borrowers, PMC has empowered Laurie and John to make remunerative deals.
Flipping Land Deals
Most people are familiar with buying and improving a home to make a profit, but fewer are aware of how to go about flipping land.
Laurie and John purchase land that’s for sale at a discount in order to turn a profit. People sell discounted property for various reasons, one of which is high taxes:
“[The seller] might have bought the property thinking someday they’re gonna retire and build on it, … and they end up not being able to do that. And so they end up with years of just paying taxes on this vacant property, [and] a lot of times [they] aren’t even in the same state. … You’re helping that person by getting that property off their hands.” – Laurie Halter
Laurie also often buys land from those who have inherited property that’s stuck in probate.
“When someone dies, they get to inherit this piece of property that they just keep paying taxes on. And a lot of people haven’t even seen [the land they technically own and] don’t even know what it is. They just pay these taxes because they inherited this property.” – Laurie Halter
On top of issues with taxes, selling vacant land is often harder than a home because of issues regarding representation. Real estate agents usually don’t make as much money from land deals, so finding a realtor who will list the property and find a buyer can be difficult.
Because of these potential problems, Laurie and John have purchased and flipped a great deal of land.
Borrowing Private Money
Laurie knows a thing or two about nurturing good relationships with lenders because she also lends private money. She knows what it’s like to loan money to someone only for them not to communicate and offer updates, and she uses her personal experiences to empathize with her lenders:
“I don’t want [a lender] to come to me and be like, ‘So, what’s going on?’ … I’ve had to do that … because you wonder if you don’t hear from somebody. … You need to think about, ‘How would I feel? What would I wanna know?’ And to me … [just] give me an email or call me and tell me, and then … I’m good with it.” – Laurie Halter
When borrowing private money, it’s wise to communicate regularly with your lender, even if it means simply updating them when you make a payment:
“You don’t have to be extravagant. … Just [let] them know what’s going on. … That can be as simple as just writing an email every once in a while or put[ting] a letter in with your payments … or send[ing] them a video about what’s going on.” – Laurie Halter
Laurie also emphasizes the importance of transparency and sharing as much information about an investment as possible when creating a loan proposal.
“Be transparent right off the bat. … Show them everything. … We provide [our lenders with] everything even though they don’t always want it. We give more than what you need to give. … We give them everything they would ever wanna know about us in a nice little proposal.” – Laurie Halter
With a loan proposal, it’s best to err on the side of sharing too much information rather than too little. Lenders want to know the timeline for their investments, and they want the assurance that their money is safe with the borrower. Above all, make sure to be open and honest with your lender.
Learning From Your Peers
In addition to empowering lenders and borrowers to make new professional connections, Private Money Club is also a great place for entrepreneurs to learn from one another. It doesn’t just connect borrowers to lenders — it also connects lenders to other lenders and borrowers to other borrowers.
“There’s a few people I know I could call … [because of] the relationships that we’ve made within Private Money Club and borrowing people’s money. I know we can call and can ask them [about] their experiences [loaning money] and what they have learned. … So, I mean, we’re constantly learning off each other.” – Laurie Halter
Laurie has learned a great deal from other lenders at PMC, and she’s also taught others about flipping land.
In order to get the most out of PMC and learn from its members, Laurie recommends getting as involved as possible:
“Constantly be involved. … It just helps you grow … [and] helps keep you moving forward.” – Laurie Halter
The entrepreneurs within this growing community help one another stay motivated and become better private money lenders and borrowers.
In addition to learning from one another, PMC members have access to other opportunities for professional growth, including coaching and training.
Learn More About Growing in Your Entrepreneurial Spirit with Private Money Club
Laurie’s hard work and dedication in growing her businesses are impressive and inspiring, to say the least, and you can follow in her footsteps in securing and lending private money through connections on PMC.
Plus, Private Money Club offers awesome educational resources that can help you get started with private money lending or borrowing.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Private Money Club can help you level up your business by connecting you to private money lenders and borrowers, visit the PMC website today!