How to Persevere and Accomplish Your Goals

Amy has always been drawn to growth and expansion and knew that she could support and serve even more people through investing in multifamily real estate. Her skillset, heart-set, and mindset were a perfect fit for real estate and she is now, providing clean, safe, affordable housing to working-class families.

[00:00 - 05:58]Opening Segement

• Amy Sylvis, founder, and principal of Sylvis capital, a real estate firm that invests in large multi-family properties and emerging markets
• Amy discusses her journey starting out in Clarksville, Tennessee and acquiring properties in Augusta, Georgia; Decatur, Alabama; and Evansville, Indiana.
• Amy says that one key to success has been partnering with other professionals in the real estate industry and managing properties effectively.

[05:58 - 11:40] Evansville is a great market due to its growing economy and strong infrastructure investments by the state government.

• The construction of a new bridge between Indiana and Kentucky will make rail lines more accessible.
• Amy created a massive spreadsheet and let her VA populate it looking for trends that would

Help them focus on their growing market.

• Amy has an MBA and a Background in Biotech where data analysis was a part of her work.
• She said that understanding numbers and how they change over time are good to stay ahead.

[11:40 - 17:05] A Miracle Medication Came to The Market that has greatly improved Amy’s health.

• Amy discusses how having a setback in life can be difficult, but that it is important to have hope and faith.

• Amy shares that, after going through a debilitating disease, her personal health journey has been a gift in that it has given her a new perspective on anything is possible.
• She emphasizes the importance of mitigating risk when it comes to real estate investments, citing the potential for a recession and interest rates rising as potential risks.
• She also recommends market research as a way to hedge against potential risks.

 

[17:05 - 18:09] Closing Segment

• Reach out to Amy Sylvis
• • Links Below
• Final Words

 

Tweetable Quotes

“The true gift of this perspective. I knew from a very young age how precious life was and that tomorrow wasn't guaranteed. So it was up to me to really take advantage and live life to the fullest and really led me to this career because I wasn't sure how long or if at all, I could trade my time for money.” - Amy Sylvis

 

 

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or  visiting sylviscapital.com

 

 

 

 

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Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below:

[00:00:00] Amy Sylvis: truly understanding where numbers are and how they change over time and being able to just track them and synthesize, Hey, is this getting better or worse? Is this a trend? Is this a blip on the radar? I humbly present to you that it's a bit simpler than maybe it sounds, I think the hardest part is just, compiling the data.

[00:00:17] 

[00:00:29] Sam Wilson: Amy Silvis is the founder and principal of Sylvis capital a real estate firm that invests in large multi-family properties and emerging markets throughout the United States. Amy, welcome to the show. 

[00:00:40] Amy Sylvis: Thank you so much for having me, Sam. What 

[00:00:41] Sam Wilson: a pleasure's mind. There are three questions. I ask every guest who comes in the show in 90 seconds or less.

[00:00:45] Sam Wilson: Where did you start? Where are you now? How did you get. 

[00:00:48] Amy Sylvis: Sure. So started with my first property in Clarksville, Tennessee. Yes. And what, how did I get there? It was a 10-year-long journey of trial and error and some personal medical issues and all sorts of interesting bumps in the road, but it is a story of the persistence never giving up, and making sure I followed my calling.

[00:01:08] Sam Wilson: That is incredible. Now you're based in Los Angeles, right? Yes. So I mean, Clarksville, Tennessee, while for those of you that don't know, it's kind of a submarket almost of Nashville, correct? Clark Clarksville is north and west of Nashville. IFM not mistaken. Yep. how in the world did you end up buying a property in Clarksville?

[00:01:26] Sam Wilson: This is now a decade. 

[00:01:27] Amy Sylvis: No. A couple of years ago. Okay. A couple of years ago. Yeah. Okay. Yes. Yeah. It took me 10 years to get into this space. I've been in this space for a couple of years now. Yes. so thankfully I'm not crazy enough to buy in California learned that lesson. I live here because of my family, but, right control and.

[00:01:42] Amy Sylvis: Eviction moratoriums that are still in place two and a half years post COVID. I am not interested in buying in, the state that I call home. Right. Instead, I'm a big market research guru. Endlessly studying markets saw that there was mass migration into the greater Nashville MSA. I knew that, although there was a ton of institutional competition in the main city going an hour Northwest, as you said of this incredible city with great economic growth, job announcements, and people moving, it was such a great space to be in my journey.

[00:02:14] Sam Wilson: Right. And if you did that two years ago, I mean, gosh, that's Tennessees had just nothing but influx. Of residents, even, or ever since then, so that's absolutely fantastic. What do you feel like? So, so, so you bought a property in Clarksville. Where else have you acquired since 

[00:02:29] Amy Sylvis: then?

[00:02:30] Amy Sylvis: Yes. So we also own in Augusta, Georgia. As a GP owned in Evansville, Indiana, right across the border from Kentucky. Yes. And Decatur, Alabama, just outside of Huntsville. 

[00:02:45] Sam Wilson: Yeah. Well, Huntsville's another one of those markets. I mean, not actually too far from it's just straight down 65. From, ex Clarksville is 24, but then 24 to 65 and still is not a far jump from Clarksville then down to Decatur, Alabama.

[00:02:59] Sam Wilson: So that's really interesting. How were you able, I guess you, in a couple of years time to acquire so many assets. 

[00:03:05] Amy Sylvis: Partnership. I am a self-admitted only child's type a personality that loves to, be self-reliant. And if something needs to be done, gosh, darned, I'm gonna go out and get it right.

[00:03:15] Amy Sylvis: Or do it. But, I had great mentorship and realize that I can go further, faster. By partnering with other folks in this space. So, amazing partnerships with people that live in the Southeast and great property management is the recipe to get that going. 

[00:03:30] Sam Wilson: Wow. Yeah. Good property management.

[00:03:32] Sam Wilson: that's harder in some of these more other than say Huntsville. I mean, I think it would be harder in places like Clarksville and places like that to find good PMs. How have you done that? 

[00:03:42] Amy Sylvis: Yeah, we have one property management company that we work with that has scaled with us. So they're outstanding.

[00:03:48] Amy Sylvis: Yeah. They have done us. Good. And we have a mutually beneficial relationship there. 

[00:03:52] Sam Wilson: Wow. So one that has scaled across all of those assets and all of those various Places you said that you love research, right? Yes. So I'm really curious about what research took you to Evansville, Indiana. it's right on the Ohio River.

[00:04:07] Sam Wilson: It's at the bottom of the state, but. I don't know that I've spoken with anyone out of 500 and I don't know where we are when this goes live. We'll be pushing 600 episodes. It's investing in Evansville, Indiana. So 

[00:04:17] Amy Sylvis: let's talk about it. Yeah. Yeah. So think Chatanooga 10 years ago. Okay.

[00:04:22] Amy Sylvis: Lots of parallels. I know that's a hot take. That's a bold thing to say. Fair, but Evansville is the third largest city in the great state of Indiana. Yep. Indiana sometimes is deemed not as sexy. As maybe some of the Southeast markets, but my goodness is it pro-business. The state government is investing heavily in infrastructure, particularly in Evansville, always a dynamic, really dynamite sign that a market is emerging.

[00:04:47] Amy Sylvis: Toyota's bringing a bunch of jobs to the MSA good manufacturing jobs. We're seeing healthcare jobs and hospital expansion there. All of those really great key metrics, as well as decreasing property taxes, which you very rarely hear these days may not stay. But yeah, quite stunning. They've got a state law that property tax can't be more than 2% of the value of the property.

[00:05:11] Amy Sylvis: So it's a great environment. 

[00:05:13] Sam Wilson: Wow now that's that's. Yeah I are a Hoosier. I wore a Hoosier. I am a Hoosier. Okay. I lived there for 30 years, so I know this state fairly well. But yeah, I mean that so which is, I just surprised, yeah, Evansville that's really intriguing.

[00:05:26] Sam Wilson: That's just not something, yes. I would've really thought about, you mentioned the word that the state is, or you mentioned the phrase, the state is heavily investing in infrastructure. What does 

[00:05:35] Amy Sylvis: that. Sure. So specifically in the Evansville area, you may be familiar, but there's for the most part, kind of a disjointed disconnected two lane highway going from most of the way from Evansville up to indie, right?

[00:05:49] Amy Sylvis: That's changing, they're building an actual freeway building up the li the infrastructure there for logistics, which is another industry that's growing in the great city of Evans. They're redoing the bridge to make it wider and will robust across the river over to Kentucky, making rail lines investing in there and partnering, doing a public private partnership there as well to help with logistics.

[00:06:11] Amy Sylvis: So yeah, when the state's willing to invest in doing some of that infrastructure, it's always a good sign. 

[00:06:16] Sam Wilson: Yeah, absolutely. No, that's really intriguing. There's a lot of there's a lot of parallels and things that you mentioned between Evansville. And Memphis, except for the fact that the state is investing heavily in infrastructure.

[00:06:28] Sam Wilson: I mean, I'm thinking about things like rail lines you're on the water, mean Ohio river for our listeners that aren't familiar with. The Midwest is enormous. It's one of the largest feeders into the Mississippi. So, the, in, in the amount of goods that are transported up and down from grains to goods, I mean, up and down the Ohio is is pretty incredible actually to see.

[00:06:47] Sam Wilson: and again, for those of you who aren't listening, that just the fact that they're building a larger bridge, between Indiana and Kentucky is a really it's a really big step, cuz that will actually connect. Now that I think about it, that would then connect really all the way down to Memphis, which is if we get a major highway running through there, that'll be really awesome.

[00:07:03] Sam Wilson: So yes very cool. I love that. How, what resources did you use to research this and say, I mean, cause it's one thing to find a newspaper article like, oh whoop you do. They're building a new bridge across the Ohio. We really don't care. No one pays attention, but to aggregate all this data takes time.

[00:07:18] Sam Wilson: How did you do 

[00:07:19] Amy Sylvis: that? It does yeah, it, it is quite frankly taken quite a bit of time. I've got a massive spreadsheet, I use some VAs to populate it, but you know, really looking at trends from the milk and report that comes out every year to simple things like job growth announced by the bureau of labor statistics.

[00:07:36] Amy Sylvis: A amazing resource that is paid, but for me, it's worth it called housing alerts.com. I don't know if you've heard of them. They're mostly single family focused, but as we know. Single family proceeds. Multi-family, it's a leading indicator by about 12 to 18 months. So a lot of great statistics and forecasting by demographers and economists have that site and pump out that data.

[00:08:00] Amy Sylvis: So I really look for overall trends, not just, a blip in the radar, but you know, consistent kind of green. In all of those metrics, 

[00:08:08] Sam Wilson: is this something you've been kind of, traditionally trained in is in synthesizing this data and then coming up with a conclusion? Cause I think you can throw a lot of data at a lot of us, myself included in this.

[00:08:19] Sam Wilson: And I just kinda, I look at it for an hour and I go. What does this tell me I don't even know how to make sense of this. How do you compile all this into something that's meaningful? 

[00:08:28] Amy Sylvis: Yeah. So, I think I, to, to answer your question, not overly trained, I do have an MBA. I do have a background in biotech where, data analysis and all of that has been.

[00:08:39] Amy Sylvis: Part of, how I've been trained, but nothing specific, but truly understanding where numbers are and how they change over time and being able to just track them and synthesize, Hey, is this getting better or worse? Is this a trend? Is this a blip in the radar? I humbly present to you that it's a bit simpler than maybe it sounds, I think the hardest part is just, compiling the data.

[00:09:00] Sam Wilson: Right. Right. And then paint, painting the picture and saying, okay. Yes. Are things moving? What is the general direction that things are moving in that's really, awesome. I love that. Talk to us about what it means to, I guess, have a setback in life. Like what's a setback look like in life for you, and then how have you overcome.

[00:09:19] Amy Sylvis: Sure. I love to talk about this just because everyone has setbacks in life, right? None of us gets through this life without a setback or a bump in the road. Right? So it's, not whether you get knocked down, but whether you get back up I was born with cystic fibrosis. Some of you may have heard of this.

[00:09:37] Amy Sylvis: It is a genetic disease that impacts about 30,000 people in the us. And when I was born in 1981, my parents were told that I would live to maybe be 12 years. spoiler alert in two weeks, I turned 41 . but growing up there really wasn't much medication or treatment. And I was in and out of the hospital quite a bit with virent lung infections that were resistant to antibiotics.

[00:10:00] Amy Sylvis: and it made it really. To attend school regularly. And as I became an adult, hold down a job regularly, because the nature of the illness is progressive deterioration of my lungs in addition to several other organs in my body. So, it. Yeah, there were some bumps in the room there. Happy to dive in with whatever direction you wanna go down.

[00:10:22] Sam Wilson: Wow. I guess, where does that bring you today? Some mm-hmm something has either changed medically or medicinally or something where, we get to have this conversation today. Yes. 

[00:10:33] Amy Sylvis: well, really scientifically, Explanation until about three years ago as to why I was doing so well.

[00:10:39] Amy Sylvis: And what, brought me so far, I say, maybe my hopeful attitude and my faith is how I explain that. But thankfully, a miracle medication did come to the market for the vast majority, not all of people with cystic fibrosis right before the pandemic in November of 2019. And. Almost all of, kind of my struggles.

[00:10:58] Amy Sylvis: I'm no longer in and outta the hospital. All of this has virtually disappeared. So, I get to enjoy the great health and live like most people, thankfully. Wow. 

[00:11:08] Sam Wilson: Wow. That's gotta be just, I mean, literally life changing. Yes. 

[00:11:13] Amy Sylvis: Yeah, it was, there were again, a bump in the road where COVID came and , so I didn't get to fully kind of experience it until quite recently, but.

[00:11:21] Amy Sylvis: The true gift of it is this perspective. I knew from a very young age how precious life was that tomorrow wasn't guaranteed. So it was up to me to really take advantage and live life to the fullest and really led me to this career because I wasn't sure how long or if at all, I could trade my time for money.

[00:11:40] Amy Sylvis: And that was a big realization where I thought, although I'm sure my parents would've taken care of me, I wanted to be financially independent, not be a burden on them. So, gosh, darn, I'm gonna figure out a way to generate income regardless of my health. So I can continue to pay my bills and live by myself and have a prosperous life.

[00:11:57] Amy Sylvis: So, that is really one of the gifts of going through that struggle that has led me to where I am 

[00:12:01] Sam Wilson: today. Wow. Wow. That's an incredible perspective. And not one, I think that many of us, would imagine or be able to share if it's like, Hey, I've had a debilitating disease, the bulk of my life, and yet it's been a gift in its own.

[00:12:14] Sam Wilson: Right. 

[00:12:15] Amy Sylvis: Yeah, that perspective is everything right? Because there truly are. I mean, it's hard when you're going through it, right. I can relate to, maybe people have had other struggles with, family or health or, an inordinate number of things. But, I think it is so important to look back.

[00:12:28] Amy Sylvis: Once things do pass as they always do sometimes sooner, sometimes later and see what the gifts are because they're, they are there and they can be utilized as a superpower moving forward in. 

[00:12:40] Sam Wilson: Wow. Wow. That's really cool. What did you do before you got into multifamily real estate? 

[00:12:46] Amy Sylvis: I was in biotech.

[00:12:47] Amy Sylvis: Raise your hand if you're surprised. but the notion that I could be involved in, developing and distributing medications to people that all also suffered, grievous illness was just really fulfilling. And it was a space I was very comfortable in, both personally, but of course, professionally.

[00:13:05] Amy Sylvis: So I was there for 13 years doing. 

[00:13:06] Sam Wilson: Right, right. Wow. that's absolutely cool. I love that. Let's talk a little bit. Let's take let's thank you for taking the time to really share your sure. Personal health journey and using that as a springboard to say, Hey, look, anything's possible. So, thank you again for being so willing to talk about that.

[00:13:22] Sam Wilson: Certainly appreciate it. Of course. Let's go back a little bit. And rewind the tape to the data conversation, a touch, and just kind of caught maybe not so much look in the rear view mirror, but maybe look a little bit out the windshield and say, all right, what do you see? You guys, you're in the multifamily space, right?

[00:13:37] Sam Wilson: And it's been crazy hot, been lots of money flooding into it. And we have this potential recession on the horizon. We have inflation that's outta control. People are calling for stagflation, which wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. Where are we going from here? And how are you guys preparing for 

[00:13:52] Amy Sylvis: it? I love this question.

[00:13:54] Amy Sylvis: Let me get out my crystal ball. thank you. 

[00:13:57] Sam Wilson: You're the first person that's ever said. You have one 

[00:13:59] Amy Sylvis: it's my superpower. No, you it is all about mitigating risk, right? Because none of us has a crystal ball, but, to your point, there are ways we can hedge ourselves. We can protect our investment, protect our investors contribution to our investments by a going back to market research. There is no one United States real estate market. Right. We all remember 2008 when some markets, I'm in LA completely tanked.

[00:14:25] Amy Sylvis: Right. Other markets, some in Texas were like recession, what? Housing Christ, who, right. It really, it was. Almost a non-event it's a great reminder that there are markets in the United States that are so robust and job fr or economically friendly job friendly. All of this. It's not to say, we assume that there won't be issues, but you can really hedge yourself with a recession.

[00:14:49] Amy Sylvis: And, being in a market that has recession-resistant industries where we know historically jobs aren't being cut and mentioned Decatur, Alabama. The FBI is expanding thousands of jobs there. The United States space force, which is such a wild thing to say, but that's a real thing is located from Denver to Huntsville.

[00:15:09] Amy Sylvis: These are recession resistant jobs. Not to say that there won't be layoffs or pay cuts, but they really position ourselves, to have still great renter demand. But yeah, interest rates are rising for how long? I don't think any of us know, but we do know the fed is really in between a rock and a hard place.

[00:15:25] Amy Sylvis: Midterm elections are coming up. The interest on the debt on the national debt is gonna become a little tricky if they raise too much. And we're all familiar with the term, a tape or tantrum, right? The stock market is not happy about this prospect. So in our mind, simply data-wise is looking historically.

[00:15:42] Amy Sylvis: It's only a matter of time before the fed starts cutting again, could be two years could be three. But history shows us that's usually the time period from when they fed raises to when cuts start happening again. So right. We are. Yeah, go ahead. That was a bit of a monologue. 

[00:15:57] Sam Wilson: I'll take a breath.

[00:15:58] Sam Wilson: Oh, I love it. I love it. That's a great way to, that's a great way to frame it, cuz you hear some people, I've been asking this question a lot recently. And some will tell you, how they're buying, right? They'll tell you, changes in their underwriting strategy. They'll tell you changes in, what they're forecasting or how they're, changing the debt they bring on.

[00:16:16] Sam Wilson: And for you, you said, Hey, we're not really, you're not really focused on that as much as you are just saying, we're buying in the right locations. And I think, that's a great answer. So I appreciate that. 

[00:16:25] Amy Sylvis: Thank you. Yeah, our underwriting, it has definitely changed as well, just to be fully transparent and most of our deals could survive half renters, not paying at all, we're conservative in that respect and always making sure we protect capital, but yeah, the macro economic environment's really fascinating 

[00:16:40] Sam Wilson: as.

[00:16:41] Sam Wilson: Right, right. Yeah. The macroeconomic is certainly fascinating, but a again, just to reiterate, it's not like the microeconomic environment is what you are more focused on. 

[00:16:50] Amy Sylvis: Precisely precisely. 

[00:16:51] Sam Wilson: Yeah. Is awesome. Amy, I thank you for coming on today. I certainly appreciate it. Are there any other closing thoughts you would have for our listeners or things you'd like to share before we sign off?

[00:16:59] Amy Sylvis: Sure thing. I would just encourage folks as they're on their journey, wherever they are in this journey to know. That obstacles are simply a sign that you're getting closer to your goal. And so keep going on, keep persisting I'm cheering you on. And if you'd like to get in touch with me, would love for you to reach [email protected].

[00:17:18] Amy Sylvis: If you wanna chat about market research, the economic environment, or investing anything like that I love to talk to people. It's one of the best parts of what I do. So look forward to speaking with. Awesome. 

[00:17:28] Sam Wilson: And for those of you who are listening that Silvi capital S Y L V I S. capital.com. Thank you, Amy, for your time today.

[00:17:35] Sam Wilson: I appreciate it. 

[00:17:36] Amy Sylvis: Appreciate you. Thanks for having me.