Yeadon's First Deal

Episode 2: Yeadon’s First Deal

Jennings:
Hey, welcome back to the My First Deal podcast! Last week, Yeadon interviewed me about my first deal—a 12-unit apartment complex. Today, we’re flipping the script and talking about Yeadon’s first deal.

Getting into that first deal is critical. There’s excitement, fear, and a ton of emotions that come with it. So, Yeadon, let’s start here: why did you want to do this?

---

Yeadon:

Leading up to my first deal, I was working full-time as a realtor. Real estate sales are purely transactional—no pension, no 401k, no safety net. I realized the only shot I had at retirement was to actually own rental properties.

My plan was simple: someday I’d save up $50,000, buy an under-market rental house, do that a few times, build cash flow, and hopefully retire by 60.

But I hadn’t done it yet—because life with three kids (eventually four) is expensive. There was never $50K left at the end of the year. New cars, roofs, transmissions, school stuff—you name it.

---

Jennings:

Right. I remember you saying, “I’ll do it in five years.” But honestly, most people never get there. As income rises, lifestyle expenses rise too. That’s why people get stuck.

That’s why we started going to conferences. And when we went to that event in Ohio, I could see something click for you.

---

Yeadon:

Exactly. Up to that point, I thought buying apartments was out of reach. But at that conference, surrounded by people already doing deals, it suddenly became real.

I remember seeing Tim Bratz on stage and thinking, What does he have that I don’t? He just focused, worked, and executed. I can do that too.

I came home fired up. I told myself: Who do I need to meet? What relationships do I need to build? I’m going to make this happen.

---

Jennings:

I still remember you saying, “Dude, we can do this.” And that’s the shift—when you go from they can to I can.

So you come home pumped. But what did you actually do next?

---

Yeadon:

I started leveraging my real estate network. I was in a BNI chapter—30 local businesspeople meeting weekly. Instead of pitching property management services, I started telling everyone: I’m looking to buy apartments. Do you know any owners or brokers?

And it worked. A commercial contractor in the group introduced me to his friend Chris Wilson, who had an 18-unit apartment complex under contract. His family decided not to close, and he was willing to assign the contract.

We met Chris at Starbucks, reviewed the deal, and I thought, I can’t believe I’m actually looking at an apartment contract that could be mine.

---

Jennings:

I remember that meeting. Instead of just writing him a check for the assignment, we offered Chris equity so he could stay in the deal. And he said yes.

---

Yeadon:

That’s right. Chris kept 5% ownership, and we got the contract. The property was 18 units in Moncks Corner, South Carolina—$740,000 purchase price, about $41K a door. Rents averaged under $500, but market rents were $800–900.

It needed work: green shag carpet, outdated kitchens, old roofs. We budgeted about $10K per unit plus exterior work—roughly $260K in renovations. All-in, we were looking at a $1M project.

---

Jennings:

At the time, that was huge. We needed $250K cash for down payment and renovations—and a $750K loan. And neither of us had the capital or loan qualifications.

---

Yeadon:

Right. We had the deal under contract, but no money and no financing. That’s when we leaned on relationships from the conference.

We partnered with Chad and Nick—guys who had capital, net worth, and lending ability. They liked us, liked the deal, and agreed to bring the $250K and sign on the loan.

---

Jennings:

That was massive. We structured it with a 10% preferred return for the investors, plus equity. Chad and Nick brought most of the capital and qualified for the loan, so they ended up with about 50%. You and I split the other 50%.

---

Yeadon:

Yep. We used a bridge loan through Lima One—two years, interest-only, 6%. Risky in hindsight, but it allowed us to finance both the purchase and the renovations.

We closed in August 2019—just six months after that conference. Signing those papers felt like I had solved my retirement problem in one deal.

---

Jennings:

Talk about what happened after closing.

---

Yeadon:

We went to work. Renovated units, raised rents, replaced a roof, fixed septic and well systems. We even converted an unused garage into a 19th unit.

Within 15 months, rent roll doubled—from $8,500 to over $15,000 a month. Then we refinanced with Freddie Mac into long-term, non-recourse debt:

• $1.15M loan proceeds

• 30-year amortization

• 10-year term

• 5 years interest-only at 4.75%

That refinance returned all $250K to investors, ended the preferred return, and left everyone still owning equity.

---

Jennings:

That’s the dream: investors get all their money back, but they stay in the deal forever.

---

Yeadon:

Exactly. And today, rent roll is close to $20,000 a month. The property’s worth about $1.8–2M, with debt under $1M. In 20 years, it could be worth $4–5M, largely debt-free. That’s generational wealth from one deal.

And the tax benefits—bonus depreciation at the time wiped out years of taxable income. That one deal literally caught me up for decades of not saving in a 401k.

---

Jennings:

And the cool part? That deal directly led to the next one.

That’s why we’re doing this podcast—to tell the real stories of first deals. The obstacles, the doubts, the messy parts, and the wins. Because the first deal is the hardest, but it’s also the most life-changing.

Thanks for joining us! Subscribe, share, and leave a review—it helps more people discover how commercial real estate can change their lives.

See you next time.