Have you ever wanted to invest in commercial property but thought it wasn't attainable? We've found the perfect person to lay the ground rules to help you get started on your journey. For She Has a Deal creator and 2023 Leading Women Defined (LWD) Masterclass presenter Tracy Prigmore, having access to a monetary cushion was unheard of when she was growing up. In fact, it's an issue that many Black and Brown households have faced for decades. But, thanks to people like Prigmore, that is shifting.
On March 17, 2023, the real estate investment guru will talk to the attendees of LWD on how they can build passive incomes while also creating generational wealth through hotel investments. She also hosts pitch competitions for those looking to secure capital for potential hotel projects. The next one will be held April 27-28th in Bethesda, Maryland.
"In the class, I'll go through my 9-stage hotel investment roadmap. I want the women to leave enlightened and with a playbook on how they can leverage hotels to build wealth," Prigmore shares.
EBONY was able to chat with Tracy Prigmore ahead of her presentation to learn a little more about her start in the industry, how we can begin preparing ourselves for similar investments, as well as what her She Has a Deal brand is all about.
EBONY: Can you share what inspired you to get into hotel investments specifically?
Tracy Prigmore: : After receiving a copy of the book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I became interested in creating passive income from real estate. My goal was to have my passive income be just as much as the income from my job, although my intention wasn't to quit my job in healthcare. I initially started with buying single-family homes, and my goal was to eventually invest in commercial real estate. After 3 years of successfully investing in single family, I took a class on investing in commercial real estate. I was looking to identify a commercial asset class that I could get excited about, and at the time I traveled extensively for work and enjoyed staying in hotels. At that time, owning a hotel didn’t cross my mind, I didn’t think it was attainable. But, it was after reading an article featuring Bill Marriott where he discussed the company’s franchise growth strategy coupled with my first stay at a Hampton Inn when I had the epiphany that I should buy a hotel. From that day forward, I started pursuing how to buy a hotel.
What have been some of the challenges along the way?
I must say, even now it's still challenging. It's an environment made up of mostly men. And as a Black woman, we're the super-minority. There were initial challenges in finding information in the way that I needed to take the risk, and in finding a mentor, or someone to give me the advice. However, I leaned in and made the attempt to buy a hotel in my hometown but failed to close the deal because the SBA denied my loan
request. Eventually, a few years later I figured it out and bought my first hotel. It was the challenges along my journey that led me to create She Has a Deal (SHaD). SHaD is a real estate investment platform that creates new pathways to hotel ownership and development for women. Through my platform, we expose and inspire women to pursue hotel ownership and development, teach them how to do it, and raise capital to invest in their projects. We don't just want them to know how to do it, we want them to be successful.
Women are brilliant and just as capable as the people making millions in real estate. We just have not had access to the information, and especially access to capital. Systemically, we've been held back from building wealth. I've made it my life's work to empower people to build wealth through real estate and improve the availability of capital for women and people of color who want to lead hotel investments
How can we begin shifting our mindset or preparing to start investing in hotels to build generational wealth?
The first thing is pretty simple. Start where you are. Buy fixed assets, and don’t be so focused on things that depreciate in value. Those fancy cars depreciate as soon as they drive off the lot, but a real estate investment will appreciate in value.
Find an asset class that you can get excited about and invest at a level that works for you. I started with what I had, which at one point was $17,000, and I invested in a 2-bedroom condo that brought in a 600% return. And I continued to invest upward.
Do your homework and educate yourself on the numbers. A lot of people come across opportunities, but haven't taken the time to look at the numbers. Don't let the numbers intimidate you. You can easily be learned if you stop and listen. It really truly is about understanding where the money will come in and where it will go out, and what's the bottom line. Also, you need to learn this for yourself, not based on what someone else is telling you.
