Boston Voyager Magazine
- Nate Fournier
- Oct 4, 2017
- 3 min read
Nathan Fournier from Property Providers featured in Boston Voyager Magazine!
Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Fournier.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I graduated from WPI with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, which I quickly put to use as I got my first job after college. I had an hour-long commute and began listening to audiobooks and podcasts every day. I happened across the book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki and my life’s path forever changed.
The book is about achieving financing freedom through real estate investing. I became enthralled with the subject and learned everything I could. I read every book, listened to every podcast, and went to every seminar. About a year later, I decided to take action. The only problem was, I had no real construction experience and that’s one thing you really can’t learn from books!
So, I called my good friend from high school, Daniel George. While I was in college, he worked his way up from an apprentice to a master electrician. I knew he had the drive and experience to be an invaluable partner in my journey, so I explained my plan and he jumped on board.
What we do is help homeowners who are in distressed situations by giving them an opportunity to sell their homes quickly, without the need for repairs. Many of these houses need a significant amount of work and would take a long time to sell if they were to be listed on the market. We purchase as-is, with cash, and can close in 10 days.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Of course not! When starting any new business, potholes and detours are inevitable. But, it is the struggle that weeds out those who are determined to be successful from those who give up.
One of the biggest issues we faced was coming up with the money to buy with cash since most banks won’t touch the types of properties we are after. We had to learn creative financing techniques and convince friends and family to lend to us. We do buy with cash, but it isn’t necessarily our cash. Typically, we use other people’s money to purchase properties while we pay them interest. This way, they are essentially acting as the bank (holding a mortgage on the property) and getting paid a much higher interest rate than they would see in most other investments.
Another problem we faced was finding deals. Since there is so much competition on the open market, we had to hustle to find deals. While other investors might have the capital to pay a company to send thousands of letters a month or hire a call center to call potential sellers, we had to do it all by hand. This was a great experience though because it taught us the mechanics and the process of acquiring deals.
Please tell us about Property Providers.
We buy distressed properties that we can renovate and either resell or rent. This adds value to the home, the community, and the city as a whole.
We put a special emphasis on energy efficiency as our company values revolve around being environmentally friendly. Even though it may cost us more, we are proud to brand ourselves as energy efficient renovators.
Our vision is to breathe life back into properties that have been left to wither away. We bring these older properties up to date with the best quality construction and efficiency practices. Once our job is done, a new homeowner can raise their family in a beautifully updated home without worrying about major repairs for years to come.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I don’t think I would have done anything differently, to be honest. We made costly mistakes but they were an essential part of the learning process. It’s important to find the balance of being educated enough to avoid the really devastating mistakes, but risky enough to make the plunge and take action.
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