Michelle Byers-Robson
Appearances
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Thanks so much for having me, Scott. Have a great day.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Awesome. So, well, I got into the business that I'm currently in a little bit. I like to tell people I tripped and fell over backwards into it. I actually was working in industry in the pharmaceutical biotech and medical devices industry and was an executive doing that and actually found myself at a position where my job was being outsourced
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
and had an option to take the job as a contractor versus staying on with a kind of a revised structure to the company. And so when I took that job as an outsourced employee, I started to realize that there was, again, this need out there to create medical conferences put on by physicians, put on by clinicians, for clinicians.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
And so said, hey, you know, I guess what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. So I jumped in. I had a few friends of mine who needed some help putting together their conferences. And learned, I like to say, by drinking from the fire hose. There were a lot of things I didn't know that I didn't know. But when I survived it, I went, hey, that was a lot of fun. And I think there's something here.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
I think there's something that I can grow. And that was about 20 years ago. So also during that time, I was living in California. And One of the things that I learned as a very young child was that real estate is a tangible asset. And that while we can't always understand what's going on in the markets, and you say it yourself, Scott, you can't time the market.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
I didn't really feel comfortable in the stocks and bonds and that sort of investing, but my family had done a lot in real estate. So I actually did my first real estate transaction at the grand old age of 24 years old and started getting into it in California. thankfully for me, at a great time for flipping properties. And so I learned a tremendous amount about what to do, what not to do.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
And again, like I said before, I survived it and learned from that and found some pretty incredible professionals to work with that taught me a lot that I now feel the need to share with others. And just some things that you can learn by not stepping on the landmines if someone tells you where they are.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Awesome question. And yes, real estate is, just like any major investment, it's scary. And one of the biggest differences, Scott, about real estate investing versus stocks and bonds is that usually in stocks and bonds, you aren't going in all in at $500,000 in one stock, right?
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Whereas in a real estate investment, you are going in $400,000, $500,000, $600,000 in one thing, and you're putting all your eggs in one basket. One of the things that I learned very early on was, especially in real estate investing, two things. One, run it like a business. Don't get emotional. Run it like a business. Be smart. Number two, know you're out before you go in. Do your homework.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Make your projections. Come up with your plan for managing your business or your investment and then work that plan. Don't get greedy. Don't get ahead of yourself. know you're out before you go in.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
And that is really important, especially today when you start looking at interest rates that are going up or the market that's fluctuating, is that if you keep your eyes on that original projection, was your original projection to be in to do a flip and to be in in less than five years? Well, that's a very different projection than
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
than if my goal is to hold on to this property as a short-term or long-term rental for 30 years. Very different emotional on that, but you have to know you're out before you go in. And then I think number three is continuously do your homework, read the market, know sometimes, hey, this isn't going the way I thought it was going to go. What do I need to change? And do I need to get out?
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
It's really important to keep your eye on it the whole time and not just assume that just because it worked yesterday, it's gonna work today.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Really depends on the market. That's an excellent, excellent question. It really depends on the market. For example, in the California market, I really enjoyed flipping properties. At the time, I also lived in California, so I could take advantage of some of the tax advantages of living in the property while I was doing the construction, which is
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
a terrible idea if you really got to do the gut check and you got to really know what you're willing to put up with. But living in the property two out of five years, you can actually offset some capital gains in that scenario. If you're not living where you're flipping the property, that's not possible because it wouldn't be your primary residence. So really know the market you're in.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Some other markets are better for short-term or long-term rentals, but may not have that equity gain that you would see in a bigger market. So for example, if I was in the California market, an 8% gain on the California market, let's say the property was valued at a million dollars, is much bigger than a $150,000 condo in, I don't know, Ohio. So you have less of an equity game.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
But what I've seen in some markets is that you can look at, depending on your projections, what I like to aim for is a $1,000 or $100,000 turn in rent.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
That actually pays out, if you look again at that $150,000 property, Scott, and if I'm making $1,000 per 100,000 in and on rent, so maybe I'm making $1,500 a month in rent, that adds up really to a nice, a significant amount of money after one year, five years, 10 years. And then if you sell it, let's say you sell it for a small gain, what you've made over the past five, 10 years,
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
That's awesome, Scott. Thanks so much for having me on today. I guess I would call myself a little bit of a serial entrepreneur and really started finding areas and places where there was a need. It's some of the stuff that you've spoken about on some of the webinars you've done in the past, which is finding that niche and then filling that and filling it really well.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Really, it's a tremendous benefit, right? It's a tremendous asset. So really, it depends on the market. There are also people that like to go in and do more commercial property or doing where you're doing... apartment complexes.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
I personally haven't invested in apartment complexes, but I do have friends that go in with groups of people and they, so you offset your risk by going in in a group and buying a one big property together and then having someone manage that for you. Again, I just really think it has to do with your market. and where you're at.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
It is. I actually tend to pick two or three and really focus on them so I know what I'm doing and I can really get in. Again, I tend to be the person that likes to walk the neighborhood, walk the neighborhood, walk the neighborhood. know what's going on, where I'm investing and what I'm doing there. And I really want to know what's going on.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Once you get to know an area or a neighborhood, you don't need to walk that neighborhood every day, but you might still want to do it once a week. So I like to be in markets where I can actually physically see what's happening there and can kind of keep a good read on it. But there are other, quote unquote, hot markets and opportunities out there that I really am excited about.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
And those are kind of some of these markets where maybe it really is expensive to get in, but you could do secondary, quote unquote, investments through something called arbitrage. I've seen arbitrage work really well in markets like Arizona, right? where there are beautiful brand new apartment complexes, the real estate price to go in is very expensive, but they don't have a whole lot of hotels.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
And all of a sudden, all I'm going in on is, I mean, and I need to get a corporate lease and you got to do your things right. But if I go in and do that right, and I get a corporate lease, I can rent that apartment out as a short-term rental. And I can make the money without ever even going in more than my investment of the rent.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
So there are some interesting things that I think areas like there's, I would say, Arizona or Austin is another great one for that. There are some of these other cities that are just really kind of that would be an opportunity. And those are really exciting to me.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Absolutely. The first is do your homework. Read the small print. What I mean by that, Scott, is Check what the HOA rules are, what the city ordinance rules are, what the county rules are. There are a lot of these. If I were a small investor going in wanting to pick up one, two Airbnbs,
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
I would really, really want to make sure I understood the ins and the outs of what would be required for me from a permitting and a compliance point of view, what I would need to have to protect myself in terms of insurance requirements. and what I would need to be doing price-wise. And so I would really want to do my homework first, and I would want to go in and test the waters and do one,
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
before I did 10. So I really make sure that I'm going in. And then the last thing is surround yourself with smart people that will give you real feedback. And that means a really good attorney if you need some advice and some information on reading contracts and knowing what the ordinances are and making sure you're in compliance.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Hiring a really professional real estate agent that gets the market and is representing your interests. Making sure you have an insurance advisor who is making sure that you're insured. And then making sure you've got a really great investment advisor and CPA who's keeping you on that end safe and making sure that you're paying what you should be paying.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
So throughout the years, I've just kind of kept my eyes open and my ears open and looked for opportunities and places where we can fill a need. And it's really fun to me to have the opportunity to be able to see visions and then bring them to light. So I have a lot of fun doing that.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
And that you're keeping your investment strong and safe. That's what I would recommend is surround yourself with smart people. Do it. Start slow. But then again, the most important thing is know you're out when you go in. Don't get greedy. Make sure you know you're out. You have your eyes on the ball of where you're going and work that plan. And, you know, I think then it gets to be really fun.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
Then you start to see success.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
I'm most excited about the tiny house movement and some of those really exciting that were, you know, where you could actually go in a area where you might be able to buy, again, check your local ordinances and make sure you have the right permits, but you could buy a lot or two and put several of these tiny homes on and have this tiny home community. I think that's really fun.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
I think people really, enjoy that from a Airbnb or Vrbo short-term rental situation. I think management-wise, it's relatively low impact. And I think from a creative point of view, it's really fun. I get really excited about what you can do with one bedroom, one bathroom versus a huge mega mansion, which feels overwhelming to me. So I get really excited about that. I think that's really fun.
Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
From Conferences to Condos: Michelle Byers-Robson on Entrepreneurship and Real Estate 5-12-25
And then arbitrage. I've really been interested in some of these arbitrage opportunities out there that are really exciting.