Homeownership is a great way to build wealth. For many American, homeownership is an excellent way of creating generational wealth. Jamisha Mclvor-Bennett, founder and CEO of Rosebud’s investments got inspired to get into real estate by a conversation with her grandmother, which led her to become a real estate investor at the young age of 19.
After a conversation with her grandmother about being next in kin to own and manage the family home, Mclvor-Bennett was added to the deed. Months later, her grandmother passed away unexpectedly.
“I took what she said to heart…to be responsible and to help my family because this [family home] is all we had. That kept replaying in my mind over and over again,” says Mclvor-Bennett.
She worked as a cashier and couldn’t afford home renovations on her own at the time. That’s when she had to make an executive decision.
“In the back of my mind, I kept hearing my grandmother say, ‘this is all we have’, and one day I asked my myself, ‘why is this all we have?’” and that question led to her selling the house for $152,000. After doing research of her own and speaking with financial advisers, Mclvor-Bennett decided that investing her earnings into real estate would be the best way to never have to work for someone else again.
Like many investors and business owners, Mclvor-Bennett has been met with obstacles. After purchasing nine properties, she began to hit a wall.
“I was down to $15,000 and some of my properties needed to be rehabbed. I wasn’t educated on the loan process. And keep in mind, I didn’t even have credit cards. These are all things that I had to pretty much learn as I went along. But I do remember playing monopoly as a child—so, I decided I was going to sell a house.”
She learned more about the business after selling a few of her properties. Mclvor-Bennett, a first generation real estate investor and entrepreneur, she knew she had to seek formal training to educate herself so she could grow her business.
“It was helpful to me to learn the terminology and more about contracts.”
Mclvor-Bennett further invested in her education by attending industry seminars and conferences across the country to learn other markets and industry trends.
“That was one of the ways that I would meet new friends and gained a lot of mentors,” says Mclvor-Bennett.
