Savvy Chicks in Real Estate founder, Makeda Smith, brought over 200 women together for the Licensed & Unbothered®conference held at Swissotel in downtown Chicago.
The 4th annual conference took place from Friday, June 10 to Sunday, June 12, 2022.
If you missed the event, I’ll share a few highlights here.
But make sure you are in the room for the 2023 conference because Savvy Chicks in Real Estate is going global. On Saturday, June 11th, Makeda announced that the 5th annual Licensed & Unbothered®️conference will take place in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic from Friday, June 9th through Monday, June 12th!
Getting into Real Estate
Here’s an overview of this year’s conference so you can grab your girls and get ready for next year.
You don’t have to be a real estate agent to attend. However, if you want to get your real estate license, you can make it happen in the next 30 days. I jumped in a class in October 2018 and passed my real estate exam the beginning of November.
A day later, I went to the National Association of Realtors conference and then made my way to the REITworld conference. 2018 was also the 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act. I researched the past and present to develop a story about Fair Housing Act for Black Enterprise.
I shared my story on a podcast, but if you have any questions, I’m on Instagram @charlenerhinehart.
The 4th annual Licensed & Unbothered conference was nothing short of inspiring. The conference kicked off on Friday evening, and women from all over the world were dressed in their black and gold attire for the big event.
The event started with a fireside chat featuring Davonne Reeves, Alexis Hart McDowell, and Brandee Harrington. If you don’t know who these women are, you need to take note.
Meet Davonne Reeves
My mastermind sister Davonne Reeves came through with the hotel ownership gems. Sis is dope, and she’s changing the game out here.
Davonne is the owner of 3 hotels, and that’s not a typo.
She started at the front desk of a hotel and learned the game inside and out so she could move to the top of the industry.
During the fireside chat, Davonne revealed she is the youngest African-American woman to own 3 hotels. She’s created 80 hotel owner investors to date.
You better believe she sprinkled gems all over the stage. Davonne introduced the idea of hotel ownership to Savvy Chicks in Real Estate in 2021, and this year she took the inspiration up two notches by sharing her progress.
Meet Alexis Hart McDowell
If you’re not sure how you can make money in real estate without being an agent, Alexis has the game on lock.
Alexis Hart McDowell is a real estate attorney, private money lender, and the founder of Buildings $ Business.
You’re probably familiar with the role of real estate attorney, but let’s break down private money lending.
Through her firm, Alexis provides hard money loans. That means loans are backed by a hard asset, such as real estate. Traditional lenders don’t operate in this space. Flippers and developers come to hard money lenders for loans to finance their renovation projects.
There are two ways to access the private money lending space. If you are seeking a loan to acquire or rehab a project, you can pursue a hard money loan. If that’s not your cup of tea, you can become an investor. Hard money lenders get money from investors and distribute it to flippers and developers. This is a form of passive investment in real estate.
Alexis provides access to funding and investing opportunities. Her firm, Epic Impact Investors, educates people on how to passively invest in real estate by becoming a capital investor.
Meet Brandee Harrington
Getting the bag in real estate is about first identifying your options. There’s no one size fits all way to get to the bad in real estate.
After you’ve researched your plate of options, it’s time to test the waters. Determine what you want to do by attending conferences and seeing what others are doing. Your biggest job on this journey is to find the best path to achieve your goals.
You can try various paths in real estate, and then narrow your area of interest. That’s how Brandee Harrington turned her passion for real estate into over five streams of income.
Brandee is a real estate investor, managing broker, property manager, AirBNB Super host, and author of COINZ®️. She owns 18 properties, and half our debt-free.
Her real estate isn’t just in the United States. She’s an international investor with properties in Puerto Rico. Recently, she closed on 45 acres of land in Jackson, Mississippi.
Meet Makeda Smith, Founder of Licensed and Unbothered
Throughout the event, speakers shared their gratitude to Makeda for bringing life to the Licensed and Unbothered conference. Every conference starts with a vision, and Makeda’s big why is what keeps her going every day.
“I want to make sure agents in the room have multiple streams of income,” says Makeda during Friday’s fireside chat. “When I became a real estate agent at 29, no one told me that I should reinvest my commission checks into my business. I didn’t know the power of reinvesting my money so that I could buy my first investment property.”
She adds, “Licensed & Unbothered is about being unbothered because you never have to worry about where your next check is coming from.”
Makeda celebrates the possibilities in real estate by bringing other women to the stage to share their stories. Don’t forget to grab your tickets to the 5th annual licensed and unbothered conference scheduled to take place next year from June 9-12, 2023.