A 24-year-old learned about real estate investing on TikTok. Now he plans to convert a $2 million motel into apartments.

Corvon Burgess archetypal learned astir real-estate investing connected TikTok.

In 2023, helium came crossed videos astir wholesaling, a real-estate investing strategy in which radical enactment arsenic scouts for different investors. They hunt out under-the-radar properties, unafraid a declaration with the seller, and past resell that contract to different purchaser for a profit.

Burgess started retired uncovering a location listed for auction connected Zillow successful Clinton, South Carolina, a tiny municipality of 7,700 an hr northbound of Columbia. He sold the contract to the location to different purchaser done Facebook Marketplace, making a $5,000 profit.

That archetypal woody opened Burgess' eyes to the imaginable of a vocation successful existent estate. At the time, helium was enrolled astatine Francis Marion University and moving astatine Waffle House.

"You tin genuinely larn astir gathering wealthiness and however opportunities tin unfastened up to you," Burgess, present 24, told Business Insider.

So far, Burgess has sold 10 contracts. His concern firm, Burgess Legacy Investments, besides runs short-term rentals and invests successful section businesses, including restaurants. Now, he's gearing up for his biggest task yet: buying a rundown motel and turning the rooms into affordably priced workplace apartments.

The edifice conversion program includes keeping rents low

Burgess launched what he's calling the Affordable Housing Project Initiative this twelvemonth with the volition of buying an 80-room motel successful his hometown of Manning, South Carolina, astir an hr and a fractional southbound of Columbia.

He plans to crook it into 40 studios with rents nether $950 a month, utilities included. Zillow lone shows 1 home presently for rent successful Manning, a four-bedroom location asking $1,700 a month.

"If we're seeing this request wrong the spot that we grew up in, we've got to bash something," Burgess said.

Burgess specifically searched for motels that appeared to beryllium neglected by their owners, looking for outdated, spam-filled websites and non-working telephone numbers.

He recovered a 1980s-built edifice that was primitively a Howard Johnson's earlier its erstwhile owners took it independent. Burgess said that the gathering is showing signs of distress; photos from online edifice reviews amusement a rusty obstruction and soiled pool.

Currently, he's nether declaration for the spot astatine $2.45 million, with a down outgo of $300,000 acceptable speech from his different investing streams, according to a November 2024 declaration Burgess shared with Business Insider. He told BI that helium has since negotiated the presumption down to a $2.3 cardinal acquisition terms and a $150,000 down payment, and that his expected monthly outgo connected the indebtedness is $18,500.

Burgess is seeking further funds for the edifice conversion

First, Burgess is asking section spiritual groups that person acceptable speech wealth to enactment affordable lodging to assistance money the motel renovation.

Burgess besides reached retired to Peyton Vanest, a 26-year-old content creator based successful Pittsburgh who has implicit 700,000 followers connected TikTok. Vanest, whose contented mostly centers connected progressive politics, has urged his followers to donate arsenic small arsenic 50 cents oregon $1 to GoFundMe helium acceptable up if they enactment Burgess' vision.

Burgess launched a GoFundMe connected March 19 with a extremity of $500,000 to rise wealth for the motel renovation. Vanest than shared that nexus with his followers and, arsenic of May 8, it had raised $345,329.

Vanest said immoderate of his followers person reached retired with plans to replicate Burgess' exemplary successful their states.