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Welcome back to another episode of the IRA Cafe podcast! Join your host Kyle Moody, Business Development Manager at American IRA, as he sits down with Christina Wright, investor relations lead at Branch Wealth Partners, for an insightful discussion about property management, real estate investing education, and how self-directed IRAs can power your way into real estate. In this episode, Christina shares her own journey from an executive assistant role in the corporate world to becoming a licensed realtor and passionate real estate educator in the Charlotte and Concord, NC area. Together, Kyle Moody and Christina explore how Branch Wealth Partners is redefining the investor experience by providing a one-stop shop for everything from property management to investor mentorship and consulting.

Whether you’re looking to buy your first rental property, wanting to scale your portfolio, or just curious about creative funding options including using retirement accounts this conversation delivers valuable insights every step of the way. Christina outlines the different services and pathways Branch Wealth Partners offers, from beginner educational programs to tailored consulting and seasoned property management. She also demystifies the tenant screening process and emphasizes the importance of building relationships with both property owners and tenants alike. Plus, the episode highlights collaborative community-building, from monthly deep-dive workshops to ongoing mentorship, ensuring investors have the support and knowledge they need to build lasting wealth.

Key takeaways:

1. Branch Wealth Partners is more than just a property management or brokerage firm—it’s a comprehensive resource for real estate investors at any stage, offering property management, consulting, education, and strategic planning all under one roof.
2. Christina Wright’s own career path exemplifies how anyone, regardless of background or age, can get started in real estate with the right mindset, guidance, and access to supportive communities and mentors.
3. The firm emphasizes mindset and goal setting as the foundation for investment success, focusing on honest expectations and personalized strategies whether you’re new to real estate or looking to accelerate your growth.
4. Property management at Branch means building strong, responsive relationships with both tenants and owners—diligent tenant screening, consistent communication, and a personal touch set them apart in the marketplace.
5. Funding your real estate deals can be more approachable than you think, as Branch Wealth Partners and American IRA partner to educate investors on how to use self-directed IRAs and old 401(k) plans to purchase investment properties and grow wealth tax-advantaged.

Whether you’re a seasoned investor ready to scale, a first-time landlord, or simply curious about leveraging retirement savings for real estate, this episode is packed with practical advice, relatable stories, and inspiring encouragement to help you take your next step!

Schedule a free consultation with our team today!

Are you considering buying your first rental property? Do you think that you need a little bit more knowledge before you go into the landlording space? Do you need extra funds, a self directed IRA maybe to power all of this? In this episode we speak with Christina Wright with Branch Wealth Partners, who's going to tell us everything that you can learn in property management and funding the deal and how to get that education that ties it all together. We'll see you then. Hi and welcome everyone to another installment of the IRA Cafe, powered by American ira. I am Kyle Moody, your host today and if you are, if you've been listening to all these programs in succession, you're probably wondering where we've been a little bit. We are at this time when we're recording. We are just coming off the Christmas break and the new year break and I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing time with friends and family. But here we are in a new year 2026 and launching our new season of the podcast series. And I tell you, I'm really excited about having our guest for today for numerous reasons, but none more so than really for you.

As we've always talked about, you know, why are you here? Why are you tuning in? What is your why? And that is why we're always here for you. And we try to taper the guest list to but really hope that someone listening today is going to be able to learn something that could not or that could possibly, you know, change your life in a multitude of factors. Is it your finances now? Is it what you want your finances to be in the future? Okay, so further, when you hear the company name Branch Wealth Partners, you know, when you think of a branch you think about is it a bank branch? When you hear wealth and partners, are you really just thinking about this is a finance financial advisor. I'm gonna financial education. What if I told you that it's that. Oh, but wait, there's more. Okay. And what's really great about this company and our guest today is that you're going to learn so much more of than just a financial piece.

It's just one piece of everything that they offer. Okay, so without further ado and further delay, I want to introduce Christina Wright to the cafe. Christina heads up the investor relations with Branch Wealth Partners. She's a real estate investor. She's a knowledge gatherer and educator. She understands the equities and banking from her other workforce days. She hails from Charlotte, North Carolina and currently resides in one of the neighboring towns there in Concord. She's a double major in Psychology and sociology.

Oh, and by the way, she's a licensed North Carolina realtor, which is talking about education. That's the one that she's always keeping up with. And it's the type of education that you learn something from every single day. So, Christina, thank you so much for joining us here on the IRA Cafe. We are so pleased that you could make it.

Well, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. And it's funny that you, you said in the beginning, don't really know what kind of company this is. You hear the name brands, wealth Partners, and you're like, oh, what could it be? And it's very funny that a lot of the times I have to tell people, like, I' say who we are and I'm like, I am not a financial advisor. That's not what I do. And that's how I preface it. It's kind of like a joke that I do now.

Gotcha. Well, no, and, and really that, that's why we're so glad of the the podcast series. That's why we're happy with our guests and really glad that you could come on here and talk to us about that. We're going to dig into the company here in just a little bit, but tell us a little bit. I mean, you know, I really just hit some bullet points on your intro. Tell us a little bit and maybe where Christina started, why she's part of Branch wealth, how you learned of Branch wealth and its founder and has gotten you to where you are today.

Yeah, for sure. I love telling the story. So it's funny that my bio says I'm from Charlotte, so I grew up in Charlotte, but I'm actually from Long Island, New York. But I did move down here when I was in first grade. So I am a CMS bred kid. So moved back to New York when I was 20, went to college at Stony Brook University, and then I got my first job at Wells Fargo. I was the executive assistant to the head of commercial real estate. So that's kind of where I got my first taste of real estate.

Honestly, at the time I was 24 years old. Had no idea what the my managing partner that I supported and her team was doing. I was there to make sure she got to meetings on time, answer her emails, answer her phone, things like that. I was the assistant. So I did that for 5ish years and then moved back to Charlotte and then I got a job at a private equity firm called Ridgemont and I worked there for almost six years. I was their office manager. And I supported all of the managing partners. So again, so an executive assistant type of capacity, but just a little bit more, a little bit more responsibility.

So I was working there and loved what I was doing. But I realized I wasn't living in my calling. And you mentioned this earlier about knowing your why I just, I wasn't really feeling it anymore. I was like there has to be more. I was kind of capped out salary wise and what I was doing too. And then interestingly enough at that time I discovered the book Rich Dad, Poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki. If y' all haven't read that, that is the number one book that I feel everyone who wants to become a real estate investor should read. So I read that and I made up my mind.

I was like, oh, I'm going to become a real estate investor. And then another thing Robert Kiyosaki tells you to do is start going to real estate investor association meetings. So I went online, I looked up all the meetings in my area in Charlotte and started going to those meetings. And it's funny, the very first meeting I went to, it was a woman and she was selling a program on subject two. And I was just like the perfect like ready to go aspiring real estate investor. And I bought that thousand dollar program, no problem. Honestly, I did it for a little bit and didn't really work out. It kind of just like faded off.

And this, this will be important when we get to later in, in what I'm going to talk about. Bought that program, went to other meetings, bought other programs. Nothing really stuck. So then I was like, you know what, I'm going to start networking and I'm going to see how I can, I can build my network, build connections and see what I can do there. So I live in the Concord area now. So I asked my real estate agent friend if she knew any attorneys in the Concord area. Because I was just planning on buying long term rentals and then making enough money in my rents to be able to quit my job and do it full time. So I started talking to this attorney and she was like oh you, you really need to meet Greg Lafferty.

He's a local real estate investor in town, has his, has a few businesses. I was like, cool. So I ended up, I think I emailed her like three or four times before I actually got an introduction on, got an introduction to Greg. Had a meeting with him and again like right place, right time. He we talked for like two hours and he actually had me come back another a couple of weeks later and offered me to, to help him start this little property management and real estate investing education business and threw the title investor relations out at me. And I'm like, oh my gosh. Like, I feel like I may be way in over my head, but this is what I want to do. I met may not have any idea what I'm doing right now, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

I've been in financial services supporting multimillionaire geniuses forever. Like, I have to be able to do this. So I accepted the job. It was about a little over two years ago now. It was December of 2023 when I officially started and we have just been growing really nicely ever since. It's been a super exciting journey.

No, that's great. Thank you so much. And for any of you who have not had the chance to meet or see Christina yet, you were in for a treat for the rest of the show today. And I will also tell you when she just referenced the founder of Branch Wealth Partners, Greg Lafferty. I've actually had the chance to meet and listen to him and it is a real pleasure as well. And we will probably delve in and talk about him for just a second here a little bit further on. So thank you. Christina and I actually met.

We were not at a RIA meeting, but we were at a wealth building monthly meeting. And she's one of the first people that came up to me as I was setting some company things up there. And so I just knew right then I was like, okay, this is going to be a great, great relationship, great partnership. And here we are, Christina, if you will. Now we've kind of, you know, how we want to shape and talk about Branch today and a couple of the different angles of it. But can you give us, you know, a 30,000 foot view of Branch? Just tell us a little bit about Branch Wealth Partners and you know, aside from meeting Greg, you know, what was it about the company and its philosophy that really drew you in?

Yeah, so I'll talk about that before I talk about that. When I had met you at the Rube Club meeting, I think it was when I first started working at Branch Wealth Partners and I started learning about self directed IRAs, it was, it was as if self direct American IRA and self directed IRAs was like the Kleenex brand. So it's like, you know, when you think of self directed IRAs, you just think of American IRA like that's just how it was. So I have ever since I started at this role. I don't even know any other self directed IRA like companies. So that's.

And we really, really appreciate.

So it's just funny how it worked out and then I meet you at a meeting and it's like oh my gosh, this is crazy. So, but, but back to branch. So basically what I tell people about what we are is we're a, we're a one stop shop for real estate investors. We do everything between. Property management is probably where I spend most of my time. But as Kyle mentioned, I'm also a real estate agent. So I do help investors buy and sell real estate. Mostly in the Cabarrus and Rowan county area.

Same place where we do property management. But I will go in the greater Charlotte area. We also consult people who already are real estate investors and help them scale their business. A lot of times they come to us and they have been doing long term rentals and they just get kind of bored and they want to start scaling, selling and see what else is out there. So we help them navigate into maybe doing a 1031 exchange into a large commercial building or multifamily or industrial or start developing, doing build to rent, something along those lines and then we help come up with a strategy and then help them navigate from there. For those people who were like me three or four years ago, we have, we also have a whole education side where we teach aspiring real estate investors everything that they need to know about investing in real estate. Regardless of how they want to invest. If they have a lot of time, a little bit of money, they have a little bit of money or they have a lot of money and a little bit of time and see kind of where they fit on that matrix.

Are they better suited to be a private money lender or are they going to do flips or are they going to wholesale or are they going to have a long term rental or jump in and start buying commercial or multifamily right away. But we teach them basically everything starting with mindset, end their why and their goals. Everything, everything to get them set up for success, get them, get them into the right framework and get them clear on exactly what they want to do. And then they go through our program and we're teaching everything between the math, how to find the deals, the negotiation part, really everything that you could think of that you would need to know as a real estate investor is what we teach. And it gives our aspiring real estate agent investors the confidence to go out there and then start looking for properties and make a commitment to go and buy Something go buy their first store and then we just nurture that relationship from there and then help them branch out. So it works really nicely. I kind of went in reverse order of kind of how it works, but how it has been working is we have these mentees, they're in our mentorship program which is online. It used to be in person but we have brought it all online so we can reach more people.

They will then realize, okay, I want a long term rental. So then I kind of help them as their agent find a property. If it's local, then I typically will manage it for them. And then we just kind of like rinse and repeat and then we have monthly real estate investing deep dive sessions that we host here in downtown Concord where we, we will, we'll talk about self directed IRAs, we'll talk about 1031 exchanges. We'll bring in an investor, friendly lender and attorneys and anyone who, who touches real estate investing in some capacity will come in, donate their time to teach the investors that are in our network really everything that they, they need to know and give them all the tips and tricks, talks about misconceptions, things like that. So we really nurture our relationships with the people that we are connected with and are in, in our tree for, for lack of a better term. So, so yeah, so that's, that's what we do here at Branch.

That, that's it, that, that's all. So folks, I mean I've gotta, I.

Can keep, I mean I can keep going.

I know I've got a complete, I got a complete script here to really go off of because I was able to really delve into this before I got into what I do right now. I was a property or excuse me, I was a broker in charge of a property management company. And so all when, when you really say I did everything possible in that company. I was really excited about how I looked at the property management side here today and so I wanted to unpack some things because Christina has already given you, if nothing else, if you have to hop off now and then come back later, you've already gotten a wealth of information there that she has shared. I want to kind of unpack this a little bit because I have some questions myself. So on the property management end of everything, tell us about it. Looks like you do have these plans you can kind of shape when somebody's coming in. Is it just landlords, seasoned investors, do they really need all the education class? So let me ask you, do you have different types of plans? If somebody Has a property or a couple of properties they're looking for, you know, property management and really that's it.

I need you to find the tenants, collect the rent, take care of any maintenance issues. Just send me my check at the end of the month. Right. So are there different stages or different levels of plans that somebody can sign up with with your company?

Yes. So. Well, they're kind of just, I guess, different pathways that they can go. I have people reach out to me all the time just for property management. Um, so they can come in that way. They can come in the consulting way where they're already a real estate investor and they just need a little bit of help. They need that little extra push. And then we have the online membership Real estate Wealth mastery program that is really for the beginner.

So it kind of. There are different lanes. I would say the. Our online wealth mastery program is for people who are just getting into it. Like I said, how I was when I started going to rea Real Real Estate Investor association meetings. That's for that of person who maybe is a little bit more serious because you're going to spend a little bit of money, a monthly. Monthly membership to have access to a whole online course. And then we do live Q and as.

And then we can do live sessions with either me or Greg or Leanne. So. So there's that side and then the consulting side is just. It's kind of like if you're having an appointment with your accountant or your attorney or your financial advisor, it's kind of an hourly fee that these investors come and pay. And it. It really is. We have a big whiteboard in our conference room and Greg will whiteboard. The whole board will be full and like it'll heal completely.

Like if someone has a bunch of different LLCs and they're trying to figure out what to do there, we'll strategize what that should look like or an organizational plan or help with goals. Whatever they are looking to. To get some help on is what Greg can pivot and help them with. It really is quite amazing. And I will see these investors sitting across the table and their minds just kind of explode. Like he'll. He'll be talking. He'll say the smallest thing that they just didn't think of and it changes their whole trajectory.

So. So we have that. And then the property management, a lot of them most of the time are pretty seasoned. If they're not and they're just starting out, they will. They learn what we do because I tell them. And then they, they instantly are coming in and coming to our monthly meetings. They're, they're buying more properties because we also didn't mention this, but we have a sister company, MC Creek Development and they are a developer. So they build single family homes to spec around Cabarrus and Rowan county here in greater Charlotte area.

So a lot of our investors actually will buy those new construction homes and then we will just manage it for them. So that is another, another way that investors work with us. And I think Kyle, when you saw Greg speak, it was all on build to rent. So, so that, that fits really nicely here too. So I think those would be, those are the different pathways. And then sometimes I just work with people just in the brokerage capacity. I've had people house hack by duplexes, live in half, rent out the other half, buy a house that they are just buying for themselves but has extra rooms and then they're considering getting roommates. So there really are so many paths and so many ways that I can work with, with real estate investors.

It's, it really is crazy. My days are full.

Well, and folks, I can't say this enough to be able to have her time right now and even when she and I want to just hop on a call together, I mean we almost have to email to schedule a call. She is that busy. I will say that. And I do want to unpack this thing right here to make sure that people heard this and can understand it, that this isn't just you're calling up someone to manage your property. I mean if that's what you want to do, great, it is. And they can take care of you on that front. But if you also have questions on how your investment property, it's kind of like what Kiyosaki said. People don't, don't work to make the money.

They make the money work for them. And one thing that you will learn when you get to this level, property management, real estate leveraging using your self directed ira. Okay. These are all ways that that money is now going to start working for you. You have a place to where you don't just have to leave your property management company, set up an appointment with your financial advisor CPA which everybody's always encouraged to talk to all professionals that they have. Right. My point is, is that at Branch Wealth Partners you've got this all under one roof. Okay.

And then there's the relationship that they have with us that if you're thinking, okay, well I do want to add on another property, golly, I'm A little short on this one. Well, Christina's going to help you remember that. Hey, you just told me about, you know, your retirement or a 401k that's sitting there. Did you know that you can open up a self directed retirement account and now use those 401k dollars to now purchase your next retirement or your next investment property that branch can manage for you. It is a perfect system that you pretty much get all in a phone call or all under one roof. And that is something that I really haven't seen before and that was something that is so intriguing about you. The other thing is this, is that it's piecemeal. Someone can come in and get the brokerage, they can get the investment tips, they can get that education and they don't have to have, they don't, they don't have to feel compelled that if they don't have a property yet because now this is leading to the real estate.

But then you also said you have real estate investors who are seasoned, who say, you know, I think I'm gonna check out this class. It almost becomes, well, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Because they, it's so true, you know, do you give a man a fish or you teach them how to fish? And in this case folks, both of them are happening at the exact same time. Okay. And it's for me, who has worked in the self directed realm for close to a decade and also worked in real estate and the property management realm for the years that I did for Almost a decade, 20 years, have now just slammed in together and here it is. And if you take nothing away from what you're learning so far today is that you have the best of both worlds and it's really, really cool. Tell us a little bit about, we talked about the landlords coming in. Tell us about your tenant process. Because it's not always about the landlords.

You know, it's also about the tenants. And great tenants stay, they take care of properties, they feel ownership. Tell us a little bit about that.

Yeah, for sure. I sometimes say, I mean tenants are equally as important as the owners. Like, you know, you need the houses so that tenants can live in them. But you get a ton of tenants reaching out when you have properties listed. So it, it is about screening all of these people since I am. So I'm going to tell you a little bit about the process. So basically when we have an investor with a property, we list it on our website and then it also syndicates to Zillow.com, rent.com, apartments.com, all the. Coms.

So I'm constantly fielding leads and really at any given time we have 10 to maybe 20 properties on the market that we're actively marketing for. So the influx of tenants is just constant. And since I am a real estate agent, I have an app called Forewarn which is super cool. So as soon as I get a lead and I'm very quick, that executive assistant background that I have has really set me up for success. And being a property manager, I will tell you because that is being organized and being responsive and being a good communicator is like number one in being a good property manager. And I'm going to, I'm going to say this. A lot of people, when I first started this and told people I was doing property management, they were like, why, why would you do that? Why would you give yourself that headache? And I was, didn't know what I was getting myself into. Now I understand when people, people say that.

However, when people would say that to me, I'm like, it's because I'm going to be the best property manager and I am going to be different than anybody else that you have ever worked with on the property management side because I treat all the properties that I'm managing as if they were my properties and all the tenants that I screen, if they were my tenants and tenants I would want in my properties. So I, I really kind of take it personally, maybe too personally. But that, that's, that's just kind of how I view it. And being responsive, being quick to reach out to these leads that come through, that is key. Setting up appointments immediately. Like if you get them on the phone and they're ready to see the property, try to get them in that day, the next day. Because if you have them wait a few days, chances are they're not going to show up or they're going to forget, they're not going to reply to you. So I really try to get them while they're hot, especially when I have a lot of property is sitting on the market.

So, and, and when we list, I have found, like we actually list under market rents. Market rent is surprisingly high. Like if you were getting into Section eight and they gave you the, the classifications and the numbers that you need to be at or below, like we are typically below. It still seems a little high, but that's just the way our market is. But we typically are below that market rent. So. But when I look for tenants, I, like I said, I Pre screen them. So I'm not going to call someone who is a murderer, like known felon, assault charges like them.

I just completely like, I'm not even going to call you. Right, makes sense. So then if they pass that quick test, then I will send them a text, give them a call, usually both and, and, and pre screen them, do the second screening. So we like them to have a 630 or better credit score or somewhere around there. That's, it's, we're in the kind of world where you just have to be around there making about three, three times the rent and take home, pay two and a half to three having no felonies or misdemeanors. Also kind of depends. Felonies, definitely not. But misdemeanors, you got to look and see what, what, what they were.

And then having no evictions, repossessions, bankruptcies, foreclosures. But again, we're a small boutique firm so everything is, everything's up for discussion. If you have consistent stories, if it happened way in the, in the past and you've cleaned up your life, then, then we can have a conversation. And that's also a conversation I have with the owners because it's not 100% my decision. I'm kind of the one just like sifting through and finding the few hidden gems. And then once I find them, I go to the owner and I'm like, hey, this is who I found. I feel good about it. Since I'm a woman, I have that like gut instinct that, that I'm like, I feel good about people.

Sometimes I feel bad about like, you know, you can sense when people are lying or telling a story that you're like, it's not, it's really just not adding up. I really just don't feel good about this. And then I'll sometimes pass on those people because it's just, just, I just don't, I don't know. But before I place tenant, I always talk to the owner, make sure that we're on the same page. Nine times out of ten the owner's like, you know what? I trust you. Just go ahead, do. If you feel good, then I feel good. But that's, that's our typical, our process with the screening of applicants and we, we always do all of our showings in person.

I find that to also be helpful because it's just good to meet the person before you're going to have them sign a lease and live in your property. You want to see who they are, want to ask them questions, make sure it's consistent between what they're saying on the phone when you pre screen them, to what they're saying there, to what they're saying to different people. I always like that. And then you always just get a vibe from people. You can tell if someone like seems like a scammer, you can tell if someone's genuine. So I, we always do in person showings. So that is super helpful with screening people. And then pretty much after that we, we really do handle everything.

We collect the rents, do the walkthroughs. We actually do walkthroughs right before they move in to make sure everything's good. And then we do walkthroughs every six months thereafter. And then we even will do drive bys every couple of months just to make sure the landscaping is good, there's not trash all over the yard. And, and the whole meeting in person with the tenants too, that, that builds the relationship with them because as you said, Kyle, like, it is important to have good tenants because good tenants that are going to communicate with you, they have a good relationship with you, they're the ones who are going to keep your property nice and they're going to pay on time. It's a lot of the times the ones that I inherit are, are the ones that like, aren't good payers and don't communicate with me because they haven't, they didn't get that precedent set off the bat. Like I, I set that with all of my tenants. Like, hey, I'm here for you, I'm here to help.

I don't. And I even say like, the reason we have these screenings are because I don't want to have to evict you because I will be the one doing that if, if I have to. And I don't want to do that to you. So this is why all of these things are in place, is to protect you. So, and that, that often kind of builds that relationship with the tenant too where they're like, okay, cool, cool. Like I like this girl and she's answering my maintenance requests and getting things fixed quickly. So that's, that's how the process is typically.

Well, it sets the level of expectation that, you know, we're going to service your needs, but then we're also going to collect your rent. And the, the rents, the rent's due on the first, it's, it's late on the second and you know, all those types of things. And there's nothing like showing up to a property to show it. And you look down at the, the car when you're walking in and it already looks like they're either. You can always tell I came from a car business family. You can always maybe tell how someone keeps their house by you know, hey, it may have been rainy or snowy. So that the outside of the car is one thing, but what does the inside of that car look like? Did they say they didn't have any pets? And next thing you know there's a couple of cats and a dog in, in the car. You know, whose are those? Are they just dog sitting now? Those, those pets are probably going to end up in a property that is, is no pets.

So. Yeah, I mean it, it really is. It's not just assumption. I don't think it, it really is. There's just something about property managers. I think we could all write a book about it and, and the pages would probably all tell the, the same stories. You know, I always joke and tell folks, I used to be 6 foot 4 when I started property management. Now I'm 5 7.

But this leads us into. I want to talk about the education piece and this, this actually might have us coming back for round two. Whether we have you on or whether we need to bring Greg on as well sometime. I'm always excited to learn more, but you know, go back to you a few years ago, but think about someone who is much older than you and who might say, I can't. This all sounds great. I don't, I don't, I don't know if I understand it, but I don't know if I can do it. Am I too old? How do you help someone find that aha moment that you can really do this?

I think you just have to be honest with people and you have to, like you just said, you have to set the expectation. Like we, our real estate wealth mastery program is not a get rich quick scheme. Like you're not, it's not, you're not gonna make a million dollars in a year. Like if you're just buying, flipping houses and, and accumulating long term rentals, that's, it's not gonna happen. And I think the fact that we are real about that upfront and this is, this is a get rich slow process and we want to teach you the things that you need to know and we want to be here for you and be your mentor and help give you that clarity and that guidance and, and get you in the right mindset. That's really where it starts. So it's from turning their Their mindset of I don't think I can do this. The scarcity mindset, the fixed mindset, it's getting them out of that, that's step one and getting them into that growth mindset, into the abundance mindset, becoming good stewards.

It's really just that's where it starts and that's how our course starts, is getting there. So and, and honestly like, like I said earlier, it's one of those things where we show a quadrant in one of our, our classes where it's time and it's money and then it shows like what ways you can invest in real estate if you have more or less of the other. So a lot of times if you don't have a lot of money then maybe wholesaling is going to be where you're going to start because you can get in there at a relatively low, low barrier of entry. But on the flip side, private money lending, you, you really need cash and honestly to start investing in real estate, like if you want to start buying long term rentals, you do have to have some, some money in the bank. Like I'm, it's just, that's how it is. You need to have 10, 20, $30,000. You need down payment money and then you're going to need a little bit of rehab money. But the cool thing is if you are working at a job and you have an older 401k, your self directed IRA can help you with that too.

So those are the also the kinds of things we, we hear people, I get, we hear their story, we hear what they have and we really try to find solutions. That's, that's what we are. We're solution finders. We want to help you grow, we want to see you succeed. That's just the type of people that we are. We, we are a faith based firm and, and this we, that's why we have that abundance mindset and we teach people the things that we do is because we genuinely want to be there to help them. We're, this is real estate investing and just being in real estate in, in general is a hundred percent relationships and connections. And as you said earlier Kyle, I kind of joke and I call myself a professional friend finder because I am like that one stop shop for people when they're looking for a financial advisor, when they're looking for a painter, for a plumber, for any, any kind of thing that they're looking for.

I'm typically that person that people reach out to because again we genuinely want to help people and we want to help people succeed. So, so that's, that's kind of how. How I would talk to somebody who is thinking about getting into it and, and isn't really sure. Maybe they have this fixed mindset. Maybe their parents told them they couldn't do it, or their friends told them they couldn't do it, or someone told them they couldn't do it. It's really overcoming that and like I said, finding the solutions, giving them the clarity, giving them small achievable goals and steps that they can move forward on to get the confidence to go through and, and save money for a down payment or however they want to invest. So that's where we start, pretty much.

And it's not just the one on ones that you have, but you actually have workshops, correct. That a group shows up to. It sounds like that's what you're talking about when you say that you might see some of your owners or your seasoned investors coming into which I actually, my mind is already going to. Well, that would be a great presenter. Are these investors? If someone that's new into the game wants to be like one of these seasoned folks. Well, what do I do? You know, sometimes you learn more from someone's failures and how they've succeeded instead of just by the how they've succeeded and the good stories alone. And so, so those, those workshops that you have, are those monthly workshops?

Yes, so those are monthly workshops. They are in person and they're here in downtown Concord. And those are completely free. It's. It has that meetup feel. But I will say 95% of the people that come to them are already investors, and they're typically already in our network doing something with us. Whether I'm managing for them, I know them from just being out and about and doing the business development side of my job. But mostly everyone who comes to those meetings are in it.

They are. Have the right mindset. And then they're just, they're looking for these, the small incremental changes and small tweaks that they can pick up from an insurance agent or from an attorney or from, you know, anyone else who comes in and is sharing their knowledge. So, yeah, those. A lot of times, a good handful of our property management clients will come to those and learn more. And it's funny, they. They pick things up and they want to implement it right away. So, like, on the build to Rent side, like after that presentation that Greg gave, people are like, all right, cool, what do you have? Let's, let's go look at them.

So, so it's cool how it all works and it's all intertwined.

No, I think that's great. And I will, and I will tell you, I bring that up because we're actually really excited to be part of the March one. Christina has invited me in. I'm going to be doing some podcast work with her down there in March and then actually attending that meeting and getting to, you know, just spin some of the information. Yeah, plugging American ira. But you know, most importantly in how our company can work with everything that someone can learn at Branch Wealth Partners and then how to be able to fund certain things with their self directed ira. Keep in mind, folks, every single thing that you've heard Christina talk about today and more that she hasn't been able to talk about, that is going to be maybe a tune in later for part two of maybe delving into some examples and scenarios. But every single bit of this can be powered by your retirement account.

And if that's an old 401k, if that is a current IRA that you have somewhere and you're not wanting to touch funds that you're saving up for college or you're not wanting to, you know, touch funds because you know, you know that you gotta replace a car soon. But if you've got enough money in your retirement accounts somewhere that you can use that as a down payment or you know, for 100% on a property, you can absolutely do that with your self directed ira. And if you haven't done so yet, you can always learn about us and at our website, which is www.americanira.com. feel free to go on there, learn a little bit about it. You will have a chance that you can sign up with a consultation with me, be more than happy to speak with you, give you some education and some information for you to be able to make your best decisions. We always want to be a resource for someone to grow their investment portfolio. And once you see our website, if Facebook is Your Thing, or YouTube, wherever you get any of your social media feeds and the entertainment when you're not working, when you're not reading, check us out on our Facebook page and check us out at YouTube where you can also see videos like this along with our live and replay webinars. So we were always happy to host you, always happy to be able to speak with you and streamline your process as you're working with Christina and her folks down at Branch Wealth Partners.

So, you know, as we're drawn to a close here, Christina, is there any personal reflection or any kind of last minute or last words that you want to share with someone to let them know if they haven't bought their first property yet or if they are looking for a new company to take care of properties that they've had. If you could, you know, say, if you could mix a statement to the newbies of the group and the seasoned investors of the group. I'm going to let you finish up before I do my sign off with one more thing that sets Branch Wealth Partners apart from the rest of the group and why folks should come to you.

Yeah, I would say, and I tell, I tell this to people all the time, but if you want to be involved with a firm who genuinely cares about you and who wants to build a relationship with you and who's going to be a mentor to you and give you the education, all the tools, be communicative, that that's what we do. And that's, that's, that's just kind of the baseline of what we do. I'm always looking to ways to be better myself. But it's, it's interesting. I will have people come from other property management firms all the time who were just unhappy with their services and it's, it's as if they're like, oh my gosh, you're just a breath of fresh air. You're so easy to work with. And that is, that's really genuinely what we try to do. So that's what I would leave you with.

And we do do a complimentary 30 minute discovery call with folks who are already real estate investors and they just need, this is kind of the consulting side. So if they, they're already doing it and they just need to have a little session with us and, and get, move, move the needle a little bit, figure out a different strategy, which way they want to go. You can always reach out to me and we can get, get that set up. And I didn't, I don't know if I mentioned that, but Kyle just did. But I also have a podcast, it's called Branching out where Real Estate meets Real Life. And it's on all the different podcast places. Apple, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you go, you can find it. It's our logo.

And then you'll typically see me, I'm typically the host of that. And then if you guys are listening and you're in the Concord Cabarrus Greater Charlotte area, our meetups are at the local bottle shop in downtown Concord. We just changed locations. The owners of the local bottle shop are also real estate investors. They're amazing. So we're partnering with them. So plenty of ways to get in touch with me and I'm sure we can share that, that information, everybody.

Well, and I'll start closing out the show, too, that on her bio it talks about how she's an avid Mets fan. So I'll just finish up everything by putting on my Braves cap there. And, and we will, we will see you when the season starts now, in, in just a few months. So hang on. Oh, oh, here she comes.

Hang on. Here, we'll just, we'll put this here.

There we go. All right. You know, I actually have a connection to the Mets, but, but, you know, have grown up and, and, and always been about the Brave. So that's, that's why the hat is nice and broken in. One last thing here, Christina and I know we were kind of scrolling this earlier for folks to take a look at if someone's heard this today. If, when they are listening to, you know, the recordings are coming back, you know, if they say, you know what, okay, I think I might want a little bit of help on this, but how do I get started? Do you have. What's the best way for someone to get in touch with you?

Yeah, definitely. You can go to our website. I think my email address may be on there, but if not you, if it's just christinaranchwealthpartners.com so you can reach out to me that way. I am on top of my email, so if you send me an email, I will answer you. We also have an info at email box, so you can also do the info@branchwealthpartners.com you can go to our website and in the education tab, there are tons of different places where you can click for more information. So you can get in touch with us that way. But if you reach out to us in any way, we will be reaching back out to you. And nine times out of ten, it'll be me reaching out.

So. And if you're watching a podcast, you comment on a podcast, we'll likely see that. So plenty of ways to get in touch, but going through the website would probably be the best. Or through you if people want to reach out to you. You know where I am.

Love to be able to toss business back and forth. There's no business like the referral business and I'm never too busy for a good referral from Christina or any you out there. So feel free to also give us a call and learn more about our referral program as well. So what we're going to go ahead and wrap up today. Christina, thank you again so much. We we really appreciate you. I know that your time is valuable. I need to let you get on with the rest of your day and I look forward to being part of your podcast in in March and then also being at the at the at the meetup or at the monthly workshop later that day.

So it's going to be a good day down in the Concord area there. So for all the investors, young and old, new and seasoned, for all those Mets fans and Braves fans and everybody else scattered across the country, and no matter whether you are East Coast, west coast and everybody in between, we always appreciate the time that you do spend. And with us here at the IRA Cafe, powered by American ira. We look forward to seeing you again on the next episode. Take care.

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