Creative Real Estate Investing: Renovating Distressed Homes With Integrity
Suzanne Sharkey explains distressed properties, creative acquisitions, affordable luxury, contractor decisions, and what it means to renovate homes without cutting corners.
7/22/20265 min read
Real estate investing is often described in terms of numbers.
Purchase price.
Repair budget.
Holding costs.
After-repair value.
Profit.
Those numbers matter.
But they are not the whole story.
Behind every distressed property is usually a more complicated situation. A seller may be overwhelmed. A home may have been neglected. A property may not qualify for traditional financing. A family may need a solution that does not fit inside the standard real estate process.
That is where creative real estate investors like Suzanne Sharkey do their work.
Suzanne is a fourth generation real estate investor and developer who buys and renovates homes throughout North Shore Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. As the founder of Creative Elite, she specializes in untangling complex real estate situations, creatively buying distressed properties, and breathing life into neglected spaces.
Her goal is not only to complete transactions.
Her goal is to do more, together.
A Family Legacy in Real Estate
Suzanne’s connection to real estate runs deep.
In her conversation with Mary Foerster on Real Estate Connections, Suzanne shares how her grandmother’s investments helped shape her understanding of security, opportunity, and possibility.
Her grandmother was a teacher, but she was also an investor. Over time, she accumulated properties, records, notes, and systems that showed Suzanne the power of smart long-term decisions.
Suzanne’s mother also worked in real estate, serving clients with a deep sense of care and commitment.
Watching her mother’s career gave Suzanne insight into both the rewards and challenges of the industry. She saw the late calls, the difficult clients, the emotional weight of service, and the effort it takes to help people through major decisions.
For years, her mother worried about Suzanne going into real estate because she knew how hard the work could be.
Eventually, Suzanne explained that the hard parts were exactly where the growth would happen.
Why Traditional Real Estate Did Not Fully Fit
Suzanne has always been drawn to problem-solving.
She loves the idea that, in real estate, anything is possible.
But a traditional role as a listing agent or buyer’s agent felt too narrow for the way her mind works.
She wanted to work on the strange deals.
The complicated deals.
The properties with problems.
The situations where people needed something more than a standard offer.
Since 2020, Suzanne has focused on unconventional real estate transactions, including creative finance, subject-to opportunities, foreclosures, auctions, and distressed properties.
These are not always simple transactions.
But they often involve people who need help the most.
What Is Creative Finance?
Creative finance is an umbrella term for real estate strategies that go beyond a typical cash purchase or traditional mortgage.
One example Suzanne mentions is a subject-to transaction, where a buyer acquires a property subject to the existing financing remaining in place.
Creative finance can be useful when a traditional sale does not solve the problem.
It may help sellers facing foreclosure, owners with distressed properties, or situations where timing, equity, repairs, or financing limitations create barriers.
These strategies require knowledge, care, documentation, and integrity.
They are not shortcuts.
They are tools that may create solutions when the usual path is not enough.
Improving Housing One Property at a Time
Mary points out an important benefit of Suzanne’s work.
Renovating distressed homes improves inventory one house at a time.
In markets where housing supply is tight, neglected properties often sit unused or underused because they need too much work for the average buyer.
A skilled investor can take a house that has been overlooked and return it to the market as a safe, livable, beautiful home.
That work matters.
It creates opportunity for future buyers and helps improve neighborhoods over time.
The Idea of Affordable Luxury
One of the most useful concepts from this episode is Suzanne’s phrase “affordable luxury.”
Affordable luxury does not mean making everything expensive.
It means choosing quality materials, thoughtful finishes, and better details while still staying aware of the project budget and the likely buyer.
Suzanne talks about researching materials carefully.
For example, she wants to understand why porcelain tile costs more than ceramic tile. She wants to know what makes one cabinet better than another. She wants to make choices that are not only attractive but also durable and worth the investment.
This is a valuable lesson for homeowners as well as investors.
When renovating a home, it can be tempting to choose the cheapest possible option.
But sometimes spending more on the right material creates a better long-term result.
Attention to Detail Matters
Suzanne does not want a future buyer sitting in one of her renovated bathrooms and wondering why something was done poorly.
That statement captures her renovation philosophy.
The details matter.
Where the shower meets the wall.
How the tile is cut.
How the baseboards finish.
Whether the cabinets feel solid.
Whether the caulking looks clean.
Whether the project was rushed at the finish line.
A renovation is not only about making a home look good in listing photos.
It is about creating a finished product that feels cared for when someone lives in it.
How to Compare Contractor Quotes
Suzanne also shares a practical lesson about contractor quotes.
When comparing estimates, she tries to make them as close to apples-to-apples as possible.
For example, when getting tile quotes, she clarifies the square footage, tile size, layout, trim details, and scope of work.
That allows her to understand the true market rate.
If one contractor is far higher, she wants to understand why.
If one contractor is far lower, that may also be a warning sign.
The lowest bid may not save money if the work has to be ripped out and redone.
Doing It Right
One of the strongest themes in the episode is integrity.
Suzanne shares that if something is wrong, she wants to make it right.
That might mean replacing a poorly installed surround.
It might mean spending more than planned.
It might mean finding money in the budget to correct a mistake.
But for Suzanne, the integrity of the final product matters.
She does not want to hide problems or pass them along to the next buyer.
That approach is good real estate.
It is also good business.
Relationships Open Doors
This episode also highlights why relationships are central to real estate.
Suzanne talks about her family, her contractors, her investor network, her Facebook group, her mentors, and the professionals who help her solve problems.
She also talks about entrepreneurship being lonely when people try to do it all alone.
That is why she believes in community.
Real estate investors may technically compete with one another, but they also need spaces to ask questions, share challenges, compare resources, and support one another.
As Suzanne says, humans are meant to be connected.
Final Thoughts
Creative real estate investing is not just about finding a deal.
It is about solving problems.
It is about understanding people.
It is about respecting the property.
It is about choosing quality where it matters.
And it is about building relationships with people who care about doing the work well.
Suzanne Sharkey’s approach to real estate is creative, practical, thoughtful, and rooted in integrity.
She is not simply flipping houses.
She is breathing life into neglected spaces and helping show what is possible when real estate is done with care.
Connect With Suzanne Sharkey
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/suzanneksharkey
Guest and Resource Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzanneksharkey