In this episode of Uncontested Investing, Suzanne and I wrap up our two-part series on cultivating strategy by dialing in one of the most important levers in your real estate business: your team. Inspired by our conversation with Tanya Willis, we break down the core partners every real estate investor needs around them to scale and stay in the game long term, including the right real estate agent, lender, contractor, and property manager. 

We talk about how to vet an investor-friendly agent, why you should treat lenders and contractors like true partners instead of one-off vendors, and when it is time to hand the keys to a property manager so you can stop "fixing" and start "building." We dig into responsiveness, negotiation, unit count, renovation comfort zones, funding types, reviews, trial periods, and why every relationship should make your process smoother and your profits stronger.

If you are serious about growing a real estate portfolio that is sustainable and scalable, this episode will help you design a team that supports the strategy you built in Part 1.

Key Talking Points of the Episode

00:00 Introduction

01:10 Process and profit: the two tests for every team member

02:35 What a good investor-focused agent actually does

03:30 How to vet a real estate agent for investing

05:23 Trust goes both ways: being a good client for your agent

06:40 Longevity, commitment, and not burning relationships

08:32 Why you need 1 or 2 go-to funding partners

09:25 Stop scattering deals across 12 lenders

10:31 Being top of the stack: documents, responsiveness, relationship

13:02 Private lenders versus conventional banks

14:35 Contractor as both rehab and maintenance partner

15:25 Setting up the relationship for steady work

16:30 How to structure and vet contractor work

17:23 Why a property manager becomes essential as you scale

18:47 How to vet a property manager

20:24 Reviews, responsiveness, and trial periods

23:25 Strategy plus team equals longevity

Quotables

"You do not want to be a love them and leave them kind of transaction. They want to be there. They want to be the partner. Give them the chance to earn it on the other side."

"If you are stuck fixing, you are not then building."

"A property management company that says no to that is that red flag that you are looking for."

Links

RCN Capital

https://www.rcncapital.com/podcast

https://www.instagram.com/rcn_capital/

info@rcncapital.com

REI INK

https://rei-ink.com/

In this episode of Uncontested Investing, we're kicking off a two-part mini-series on cultivating strategy as a real estate investor. Instead of talking about a specific asset class or loan product, we zoom out and break down the four levers that drive every deal you touch: condition, timeline, motivation, and price.

We walk through how to analyze a property's condition beyond the pretty photos, how to read the neighborhood standard, and why you should never let a seller's urgency shortcut your own due diligence. We also get into red flags like hidden mold, incomplete renovations, and mechanic's liens, the right way to use private lending and flexible timelines to create win–win deals, and how to negotiate price without being a vulture.

If you're trying to get better at deal analysis, negotiation, and seller conversations, this first part will help you ask smarter questions, protect your ROI, and line up more contracts that actually close.

Key Talking Points of the Episode

00:00 Introduction

02:10 The 4 core levers of every real estate deal

03:41 When to tap the brakes: risk, weather, and hidden issues

04:28 Mold, hidden problems, and the flipper mentality

05:16 Reading the neighborhood: matching or beating the standard

06:11 Pricing, concessions, and marrying condition with strategy

07:04 Why distressed properties turn off homeowners but attract investors

09:17 Creative timelines: rent-backs and escalation clauses

10:11 Leverage vs. empathy (don't be a vulture)

11:23 Real-world example: school-year move and deposits

12:01 Seller expectations vs actual market value

13:13 Don't be the serial low-baller

14:01 Ask better questions: open-ended and break-even focused

15:31 Full transparency: water problems, walls, and cost reality

Quotables

"Make sure that you give yourself a timeline to evaluate and see the hidden elements that haven't been divulged yet."

"The bottom line is, does this renovation that's necessary to bring it up to that standard, does it undo your ROI projection?"

"An investor can be a seller's best friend because they're the people that want to come in, get that deal done quickly, make those renovations quickly if they need to, get that property cash flowing at a pretty quick pace."

Links

RCN Capital

https://www.rcncapital.com/podcast

https://www.instagram.com/rcn_capital/

info@rcncapital.com

REI INK

https://rei-ink.com/

In this episode of Uncontested Investing, we sit down in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona with Tonya Willis, Chief Operating Officer at End to End Solutions and American Destiny Real Estate. Tonya has spent more than two decades inside single-family rental, default servicing, and asset management—growing from an $8-an-hour temp to an AVP at a Fortune 500 company, and now running two national platforms that simplify evictions, foreclosures, valuations, and boots-on-the-ground services for SFR operators and lenders. 

Tonya shares how her group approaches eviction and foreclosure work with professionalism and humility, how they adapted during COVID to new SFR challenges, why reviews and client feedback matter so much, and how conferences, networking, and even her Gravitas New York "women in leadership" shirt tie back to empowering people in this business.

If you care about single-family rental operations, vendor management, compliance, and servant leadership, this conversation gives you a real look behind the curtain of the partners who protect your brand in the field.

Key Talking Points of the Episode

00:00 Introduction

00:48 From computer science major to $8/hour temp in real estate

01:46 How a temp job became a career

02:47 COO of two companies: leadership style & complementary teams

03:44 Evictions, foreclosures & human-first field services

04:50 Career turning point: from solo to 57-person department

06:31 The difference between American Destiny Real Estate and End to End Solutions

07:29 Adapting with the SFR industry & less

08:47 Reviews, feedback, and why "everyone is business development"

10:18 Tonya's motto: "Teach and be teachable"

11:08 Gravitas shirt, women in leadership & catalyzing confidence

12:01 Mentors, emotional support & mindset in a tough industry

13:38 Conferences, trade shows & the power of networking

14:25 The impact of great people, great work, and food

Quotables

"I teach my team to approach every situation with professionalism and humility. Professionalism because we're there to do a job for the client, but humility to look at the situation and put themselves in those shoes and see how they would want to be treated in that situation."

"We take every single order from our clients seriously, as if it makes or breaks what we do tomorrow."

"My motto is to teach and be teachable. Know that you need to pass on the knowledge that you have because that's who you are and that's what we're here for."

Links

RCN Capital

https://www.rcncapital.com/podcast

https://www.instagram.com/rcn_capital/

info@rcncapital.com

REI INK

https://rei-ink.com/