Sara McDaniel moved to Minden, Louisiana in 2016 and fell in love with the city. She also saw potential to expand her real estate investing business.

In 2020, a childhood friend contacted McDaniel about a property they owned and asked if she was interested in buying it.

The property in question was eight villa-style apartments that had been abandoned for almost 40 years. Two of the villas are about 750 square feet and six of them are 500 square feet.

"The villas weren't my first rodeo with abandoned properties," McDaniel tells CNBC Make It. "But this project really pushed my skill set and really pushed me to the next level."

At the time, McDaniel already owned over 20 properties in the Minden area in the form of short-term rentals, long-term rentals and vacant land.

McDaniels, 47, had joined the Financial Independence Early Retirement, or FIRE, movement, and started saving about 50% of her income in her early 30s with the intent to invest in real estate and retire early.

She bought "The Villas at Spanish Court" apartments in 2021 for $51,306 — using the savings she had accumulated.

"I saw the potential that real estate had to give me a life of freedom and flexibility," McDaniels says. "I was very confident when we closed the deal but it wasn't long thereafter that I literally started having panic attacks, wondering what in the world did I get myself into."

The ceilings on the old apartments were caving in and some even had bullet holes in the windows. And only after closing the deal, did McDaniel realize she'd "made a rookie mistake" by not getting an environmental hazard assessment. The process includes testing properties for substances like lead, mold, radon and asbestos.

"Come to find out they are filled with asbestos and lead paint," she says.

Like most people would do, McDaniel turned to Google for answers. There she learned of the Brownfield Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The fund provides low-interest loans with flexible terms to help with the environmental cleanup of vacant and underutilized properties.

McDaniel was able to secure a $46,731 LDEQ loan with 0% interest rate.

In an effort to get the villas up and running, McDaniel sold one of her properties in Texas for $175,354 and put an additional $8,000 from other income streams toward renovation costs.

She was also able to secure an interim construction loan from a local bank for $202,725 and got a permanent mortgage of $290,710, which she used to pay off the interim loan and finish construction.

18 months later, the villas were fully restored and renovated at a final cost of $729,885. Now, McDaniel has a monthly mortgage of $3,298 and is paying back the LDEQ loan in $400 monthly payments.

Welcome to 'The Villas at Spanish Court'

In February 2023, "The Villas at Spanish Court" officially opened for business.

McDaniel listed the short-term rentals on Airbnb and via direct booking. "Each villa is designed individually. I want this property to be an experience," she says.

"When people walk in, I want them to feel happiness and joy."

McDaniel also wanted to keep some elements of the original design, so each villa has archways and some other architectural details from when they were first built in the 1930s. The bathrooms also have most of their original tiles.

McDaniel added patio chairs, tree lights, and solo stoves outside so "guests can enjoy the great outdoors while they're here."

By 2023, the villas were booked for about 1,000 nights. Just a year later, that number increased to 1,300 at an average of $143 a night. The villas brought in $224,133 in revenue in 2024.

"Right now, every single piece of income is going right back into the business," McDaniels says. "Walking through this renovation almost brings me to tears because I am so proud that I did this."

McDaniel's goal is to make The Villas at Spanish Court profitable within five years.

For McDaniel, buying this historic property and turning it into "a work of art" was her way of leaving a legacy for her town that "was going to have ripple effects for generations to come."

"As we move forward, I think the thing I am most excited about is continuing to bring people into our community...," she adds. "We are literally in the middle of a great revitalization and I truly believe this is just the beginning and I am just one small part of what is going to be the future of Minden."

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