Jewel Tankard is one of the country’s most prominent real estate investors and the CEO of Assetify. Her mission is to share the investment knowledge she learned with more people who look like her. She came through rolling out and was a guest on the “Business Exchange,” where she shared some gems.
What is Assetify?
So Assetify, that’s my baby. I started Assetify because I was passionate about building my own real estate empire through affordable, single-family, and multi-family housing. And then I began to share my journey with many people in my community and friends, and they were like, “Oh, girl, can you, you know, hook me up with a lender?” Or, “Oh, child, what zip codes should I buy in?” Or “Should I sell this right now?” “Should I get a tenant right now?” The questions just kept coming, and I realized that this was a space that I wanted to see a lot more people of color really start to invest in, and that’s how it started. And so we’ve been blessed to help people from all over the country invest in their cities.
What is a common mistake you see in real estate?
A common mistake is not going in with enough credit. When you look at a property, you first want to get a contractor to do a walk-through to get what we call a scope of work. Do we need new drywall? Do we need HVAC? It needs to be updated. Plumbing, maybe electrical. So, the contractor gives you a list of everything that needs to be done. Right? Well, once that price, let’s say it says it’s $20,000 to do a rehab. Well, by the time you get going, and he ends up uncovering things that he didn’t anticipate, then it could end up being $30,000 even though he told you $20,000, but the reality is that’s a part of real estate, so now you have that mortgage and the utilities, that you still have to pay. But if you have enough credit, you can use your credit to make those monthly payments until you receive rent payments. A common mistake is insufficient credit to take care of miscellaneous things and ongoing expenses.
It is Women’s History Month; who inspired you?
So, yeah, I love Michelle Obama. I love her stance as a woman and as a thinker. She’s a very independent thinker. I love her heart for humanity, Oprah, and her businesses. I love how Oprah said that she keeps her hands on all of the entities, and even though she has a big team, she keeps her hands on the money, which is important. Listen, Barbara Cochran, who is killing it, is a billionaire in real estate. You know, she started in New York years and years ago, and now she’s built a billion-dollar company. I love Barbara. I love her vulnerability.
