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Send us a textCurious about commercial real estate but unsure where to start? In this enlightening conversation, commercial lending expert Kamyar demystifies the process of acquiring commercial properties and reveals why they often represent superior investments to residential real estate.The financial advantages of commercial property ownership become immediately clear as Kamyar explains the hands-off nature of management - "You're literally just getting rent every month" while tenants handle most maintenance responsibilities. This stark contrast to the constant demands of residential properties makes commercial real estate particularly attractive for investors seeking passive income streams.Before taking the commercial plunge, prospective investors should perform crucial preparation steps. Reviewing credit reports, analyzing tax returns, and understanding different qualifying ratios for owner-occupied versus investment properties form the foundation of successful commercial investing. The conversation explores various financing options, from 25-year fixed SBA loans to conventional structures amortized over decades.Tax strategies emerge as a compelling reason to consider commercial investments. Cost segregation allows accelerated depreciation, while opportunity zones offer potential elimination of capital gains taxes after ten years of ownership. "I have clients that buy one or two buildings a year just to take advantage of cost segregation," Kamyar reveals, demonstrating how savvy investors leverage these advantages to rapidly expand their portfolios.The discussion extends beyond immediate benefits to long-term legacy planning. Establishing trusts that ensure properties remain family assets across generations creates true multigenerational wealth rather than temporary prosperity. First-time investors receive practical guidance: focus locally, determine your investment goals, and leverage free resources like LoopNet to identify properties.Ready to transform your financial future through commercial real estate? Connect with experts who can guide your journey and subscribe to continue exploring wealth-building strategies that stand the test of time. Thanks again for listening. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a FIVE-STAR review.Head to Dwanderful right now to claim your free real estate investing kit. And follow:http://www.Dwanderful.comhttp://www.facebook.com/Dwanderfulhttp://www.Instagram.com/Dwanderful http://www.youtube.com/DwanderfulRealEstateInvestingChannelMake it a Dwanderful Day!
In certain markets, you can buy suburban office property for as low as $10/ft where it costs $200/ft to build. What's more, you don't have to go through the toil of finding off market deals, they're listed publicly on LoopNet, Crexi, and other prominent sites. As workers have left downtown offices, they've chosen to work closer to home. Buildings with smaller one to three person offices in particular are seeing strong tenant demand. As a result, many suburban office buildings are at 90% occupancy. Ash Patel, a successful Value-Add investor, invests in office buildings, flex Industrial, strip retail, and ground up construction. Ash doubles his money on most deals in three to five years.
If you've ever searched for land for sale, chances are you have come across Land.com. Land.com is owned by Costar Group, the owner of brands such as Apartments.com, Loopnet and Homes.com. Today is a conversation with Tom Alexander. He is a fellow traditional bow enthusiast and the Publisher of Land Magazine. We discuss what goes on behind the scenes at Land.com, how it works, and what is in store for the future. Search Land.com Buy, Sell, Lease, or Auction Land
Kerry Lutz and Michael Blank discussed Michael's extensive experience in multifamily real estate investments, highlighting the advantages of scalability and passive income compared to his earlier ventures in tech and restaurants. Michael emphasized the importance of selecting the right markets, favoring cities like Atlanta, Dallas, and Austin, while expressing caution about Florida's rising insurance costs. He advocated for a mindset shift among investors to focus on building a team and seeking mentorship rather than solely figuring out tasks independently. The conversation also addressed the challenges of finding commercial real estate deals, with Michael recommending the use of LoopNet and the importance of establishing relationships with brokers for off-market opportunities. He noted that while seller financing is rare for larger commercial properties, financing options for apartments remain favorable, and he concluded by sharing resources for both active and passive investment opportunities. Find Michael here: https://nighthawkequity.com Sign up for his Free Training here: https://apartments101.co Find Kerry here: http://financialsurvivalnetwork.com/ and here: https://inflation.cafe
Send us a textWhat if the future of SEO is being rewritten right before your eyes? Join us as we explore this fascinating landscape as we recap Brighton SEO in San Diego. Together with my insightful guests, Venkata and Zak, we unpack the engaging discussions around AI integration in SEO, brand consistency, and Microsoft and Google's latest innovations. The event was not just about absorbing expert knowledge but also experiencing the synergy between SEO and paid search, thanks to the concurrent HeroConf. This crossover provided the opportunity for additional insights, especially in the realms of reporting and data analysis.Networking is more than exchanging business cards; it's about building impactful relationships. We delve into the immense value of engaging with speakers and vendors, leading to potential collaborations and deep dives into trends like topical authority. Reflecting on the event's accessibility and supportive environment for newcomers, we highlight the opportunities it offers for both seasoned professionals and first-time speakers. Our gratitude extends to Venkata and Zak for their contribution, as we look forward to future conferences and additional episodes discussing more in depth discussions on topics that stood out.Guest Bios:Venkata Pagadala:Venkata Pagadala is a seasoned SEO and Growth Strategist, driving businesses from startups to enterprises generating over $1 billion annually to online success. With data-driven strategies, he has led campaigns achieving 40+ million monthly organic visits and worked with industry leaders like Apartments.com and Recovery.org.Specializing in AI-driven content creation, site migrations, and technical SEO, Venkata excels at simplifying complex challenges to deliver measurable results. Featured on platforms like Spotify and SEOFOMO, he's dedicated to building impactful online presences, sustainable growth, and revenue optimization in the digital landscapehttps://www.venkatapagadala.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/venkata-pagadala/Zak Perez:With over thirteen years of expertise, Zak Perez is dedicated to optimizing LoopNet.com, the largest online marketplace for commercial real estate, with over 20 million indexed URLs.His background spans SEO, front-end development, UX/UI design, conversion rate optimization, accessibility and AI. He brings a holistic and data-driven approach, aimed at maximizing online visibility, improving user experience, and driving results.https://www.linkedin.com/in/zakperez/
In this company episode on CoStar Group, Speedwell Research draws on their extensive research report to cover everything from Founder Andy Florance's entrance into the real estate data space from his Princeton dorm room to becoming the dominant real estate data and analytics provider. Florance not only beat out competition in the commerical data space, but succesfully entered several new markets including taking a fledging apartments listing platform and driving it to the #1 spot. Today CoStar is looking to do it again with Homes.com, while still aggresviely expanding their growing array of internet real estate businesses. Learn the inner workings of the real estate data and markeplace business, as well as how a company succesfully expanded far beyond their original core product and continues to find new markets to fight after. We hope you enjoy! Company Description: Real estate data & analytics provider and operator of real estate marketplace. Purchase the full CoStar Group Report here. More details on our CoStar Group Report here. Purchase a Speedwell Membership to gain access to all of our Reports here. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Show Notes Section 1: History and Background (2:45) — High Level CoStar Overview (6:15) — Founding History Starts (16:52) — IPOing (26:54) — 2008 Financial Crisis (35:40) — Lawsuits and LoopNet (49:44) — Apartments.com acquisition (59:46) — Xcelligent Lawsuit and the Last of the Direct Competitors (1:04:56) — Closing Out History and S&P 500 Addition * Section 2: The Business (1:07:35) — Business Section Overview (1:21:30) — Multifamily and Apartments.com Business (1:29:00) — Residential Overview (1:30:43) — Loopnet Overview (1:34:07) — Other Businesses/ Wrapping Up Business Section * Section 3: TAM and Industry (1:43:13) — TAM Overview (1:50:29) — How the Residential Industry Works (2:01:15) — Multifamily Industry * Section 4: Competition (2:08:53) — CoStar Competitors (2:15:35) — Why Does CoStar Win (2:23:48) — Why LoopNet Wins (2:25:30) — Zillow and Apartments.com Competition (2:34:03) — Homes.com vs Zillow * Section 5: Growth Opportunites, Capital Allocation, and Valuation (2:40:45) — International (2:46:38) — ROIC, Free Cash Flow, (2:54:06) — Dilution and Capital Allocation (3:00:33) — Valuation (3:05:45) — Risks (3:10:50) — Bull / Bear Summary (3:15:50) — Conclusion -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Purchase the full CoStar Group Report here. More details on our CoStar Group Report here. Purchase a Speedwell Membership to gain access to all Reports here. *~* Twitter: @Speedwell_LLC Threads: @speedwell_research Email us at info@speedwellresearch.com for any questions, comments, or feedback -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Disclaimer Nothing in this podcast is investment advice nor should be construed as such. At the time of publishing, one or more contributors to the podcast had a position in Costar Group. Furthermore, accounts one or more contributors advise on may also have a position in CoStar Group. This may change without notice. Please see our full disclaimers here: https://speedwellresearch.com/disclaimer/
In this episode, Nico provides a comprehensive guide for deal finders and hunters at all experience levels to acquire multifamily properties. Key topics include the importance of loving the search, narrowing down your market and deal criteria, utilizing various resources like LoopNet, MLS, Crexi, and establishing broker relationships. Additionally, the episode covers direct-to-seller strategies, cold calling, leveraging partnerships, attending meetups, and maintaining a consistent, positive communication approach with brokers to ensure success in securing deals. 00:00 Introduction: Finding Your First Multifamily Deal 00:42 The Love for Deal Hunting 01:14 Choosing and Researching Your Market 02:33 Searching for Deals: MLS, LoopNet, and More 04:22 Solidifying Your Deal Criteria 08:23 Building Broker Relationships 09:44 Direct to Seller Strategies 11:20 Networking and Community Involvement 16:40 The Importance of Consistent Communication 19:05 Final Tips and Encouragement
Ashley Fox, CEO and founder of Empify and the WealthBuilders Community App, was a guest on the latest episode of Nareit's REIT Report podcast. She spoke about the efforts Empify has undertaken to educate individuals with limited funds and investment experience, enabling them to build a financial foundation and begin building wealth.Fox left a career on Wall Street in 2013 and set out to “financially empower the 99% that Wall Street often overlooks.” She created Empify with a goal to become the middleman between financial institutions and the everyday person, “because I understood the language of Wall Street, but I also understood the language in the hearts and minds of both adults and children and Empify bridges that gap.”Empify has launched over 10,000 brand new investors, Fox said, adding that members of the WealthBuilders Community App have invested over $650,000 in REITs. She noted that a key takeway from Empify's five-week REIT Investing Accelerator program is the extent to which REIT-owned properties are a consistent feature of investors' everyday lives.This episode is supported by LoopNet.
Ranjini Venkatesan, vice president and senior credit officer at Moody's Ratings, was a guest on the latest episode of the Nareit REIT Report podcast.Venkatesan discussed how capital investment levels have been high for both Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) and Equinix, Inc . (Nasdaq: EQIX), and are expected to remain so.“Over the last three years, annual investment by Digital Realty and Equinix averaged 5.5 % of their gross asset base, which is high,” she said. Both REITs have demonstrated the ability to raise capital at healthy pricing through different credit cycles and with strong leasing execution for the properties being built, she added.This episode is supported by LoopNet.
Do you know how to analyze a typical LoopNet listing? Do you even know where to start? Join Julia as she walks you through a detailed analysis of an 11-unit LoopNet listing in Norwood, Ohio, priced at $1.75 million. Learn how to analyze the executive summary, offering memorandum, income, and expenses, plus key financial metrics like cash-on-cash return and cap rate. Ideal for the beginner investor, this step-by-step guide provides valuable insights and essential tips for evaluating LoopNet deals.
Scott Stubbs, executive vice president and CFO of Extra Space Storage Inc . (NYSE: EXR), joined the latest episode of Nareit's REIT Report podcast. During the interview, Stubbs reflected on professional and personal accomplishments and challenges surrounding the REIT's 2004 IPO and discussed further growth opportunities ahead.August marks the 20th anniversary of the Extra Space IPO. Stubbs noted that in 2004, self-storage was not considered a core asset class for a real estate investor.“We were a bit of an outlier at the time and there were still some negative connotations about self-storage. I think that it did take some time to help people understand that self-storage is a great asset class. It's very stable. It is institutional,” Stubbs said.This episode is supported by LoopNet.
Dominique Moerenhout, CEO of EPRA, the European Public Real Estate Association, was a guest on the latest edition of Nareit's REIT Report podcast.Moerenhout discussed political changes underway in Europe and the U.K. today and their impact on listed real estate. He noted that the EU's new competitiveness focus will create a more business-friendly environment, while the U.K. Labour party's proactive policies and commitment to a new industrial strategy are “very welcome.” At the same time, political uncertainty in France following recent elections poses “significant risks,” he said.“Investors will need to navigate these varied landscapes carefully, balancing their opportunities with the potential changes ahead. The return to, in my view, a normal real estate transactions market will probably take more time than initially anticipated or hoped for,” Moerenhout said.This episode is supported by LoopNet.
Chad Tredway, managing director and head of real estate Americas at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, was a guest on the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast.Tredway said the current environment represents “the best buying opportunity” for commercial real estate. Fundamentals are strong and investors are in a position to purchase assets at a 10% to 30% discount compared with pre-2022 levels, “which represents an amazing return.”“Now is a great entry point for those that have capital. And we also see hope on the horizon as we believe rates will come down...we think it's a great time to think about long-term investment in this space and we do believe in real estate as a long-term anchor for portfolios,” Tredway said.This episode is supported by LoopNet.
If you are a commercial real estate broker you need to listen to this conversation with newly appointted Chief Executive Officer Helen Calvin, of the AI driven platform, Buildout. Helen, at the time of recording, held the role as chief growth officer. You'll discover how Buildout is dramatically changing CRE broker marketing methods, both to find deal flow as well as to sell properties, by providing innovative tools that streamline broker workflows, save time, and boost productivity. Power users of this platform will gain a very significant competitive advantage over brokers who maintain 'old school' ways of conducting business. Don't kid yourself. Buildout is definitely a case of 'you won't be replaced by AI, you'll be replaced by someone who uses AI.' Check out this episode; Helen is a great guest and compelling to listen to. Here's what I've got for you in this episode: Key Topics Covered: Brokers' Workflow on Buildout: Efficiency: Reduces non-revenue generating activities (AKA grunt work). Features: Property research, owner contact info, AI assistant (Al) for task management. Tools: Buildout mobile app for real-time property information and communication. AI Capabilities: AI Assistant (AL): Helps with property valuation, likely to sell scores, and task management. Predictive Analytics: Enhances decision-making by identifying high-probability sales opportunities. Technology Integration and Competitors: AI's impact: Accelerates CRE early adopters' competitive advantage in the industry. Competitors: Buildout competes with platforms like Costar and LoopNet. Innovation: Emphasis on rapid technology adoption and industry-specific solutions. User Experience and Benefits: Power User: Maximizes efficiency and productivity using Buildout tools. AI's role: Automates routine tasks, allowing brokers to focus on high-value activities. From Helen: Why should real estate professionals be paying attention to AI today? AI is advancing rapidly, making it crucial to find a partner who can leverage it. Ignoring AI can lead to becoming obsolete. How do you use AI daily? Uses ChatGPT and other AI platforms for writing and as a better search engine. AI excels in cross-entity searches, providing comprehensive solutions. What is an easy AI win for viewers? Download Buildout's app (buildout.com), available for free with a $59/month promotion for the first three months. Contact current technology vendors and ask how they are addressing AI and its benefits. Evaluate their responses to decide if they are suitable partners. ***** The only Podcast you need on real estate and AI. Learn how other real estate pros are using AI to get ahead of their competition. Get early notice of hot new game-changing AI real estate apps. Walk away with something you can actually use in every episode. PLUS, subscribe to my free newsletter and get: • practical guides, • how-to's, and • news updates All exclusively for real estate investors that make learning AI fun and easy and insanely productive, for free. EasyWin.AI
In this episode of the RE Social Podcast, hosts Andrew McCormick and Vince Rodriguez dive into the world of scaling impact through syndication with Annie Dickerson of Good Egg Investments. Annie shares her inspiring journey from teaching to becoming a successful real estate investor, starting with house hacking a duplex in D.C. and navigating challenges with out-of-state investments. The conversation delves into Annie's transition into syndication, where she discusses raising capital for larger deals and managing the delicate balance between professional success and family life. Her insights shed light on making real estate accessible, understanding the investor journey, and her acclaimed book "Investing for Good." Tune in for insights on scaling impact through syndication and creating a meaningful presence in the real estate space. Key Takeaways - Journey into real estate investing Challenges and learning curves - Transition from limited partner to co-general partner in - Diverse opportunities Strategies for business growth - Making real estate investment accessible - "Investing for Good," and its purpose - Building Good Egg Investments - Insights into the cyclical nature of the real estate market Resources and Links BiggerPockets https://www.biggerpockets.com LoopNet https://www.loopnet.com Good Egg Investments https://goodegginvestments.com Annie Dickerson's "Investing for Good" https://www.amazon.com/Investing-Good-Surprising-Strategy-Building/dp/B085HRMC8B Connect with Annie https://www.instagram.com/uncanniebanannie/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/goodegginvestments https://www.instagram.com/goodegginvestments https://www.youtube.com/c/GoodeggInvestments Learn more about AnVi Invest
Our guest for Episode 17 is Nicole Brambila, CRO at Medely. Nicole brings more than a decade of sales leadership experience to the conversation. Before Medely, Nicole worked at Deputy, Eventbrite, and LoopNet. In this episode, Ross and Nicole discuss how to operationalize deal excellence by being curious and intuitive, and following proven processes.
EPISODE SUMMARY: Have you ever wondered how a tech professional ends up investing in 100+ unit apartment buildings in Florida? Well, today's episode unravels that fascinating journey with our guest, Jim Lee, a former inside sales rep for LoopNet and CoStar who transitioned into a prosperous real estate investor. Fueled by his early career, Jim developed an interest in property investment that led him to purchase his first property, a two-bedroom condo in Ontario, California. Hear about the metamorphosis of LoopNet and CoStar, Jim's navigation through the turbulent market, and the crucial role of having diverse income streams and understanding your purpose. As we traverse Jim's journey, we also delve into real estate syndication in Florida. Our conversation uncovers how Jim, utilizing his tech background, strategized on networking and partnerships to raise capital and contribute to the asset management team. Understand the power of leverage and the significance of continuous learning in the real estate market. This episode is a treasure trove of experiences, covering the peaks and valleys of the market, challenges encountered, strategies employed, and insightful lessons for anyone with an interest in real estate investment. It's not always smooth sailing, but as Jim emphasizes, understanding your 'why' can drive you towards success. Tune in for these insights and more from Jim's captivating journey. JIM'S BIO: Jim Lee received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from UCLA in 2010, and started his career as an inside sales representative for LoopNet/Costar. He began his investing journey of a 2 bed/1 bath condo and now, through real estate syndication, he has invested in over 600 units in the past 2 years where he has participated as a general partner/limited partner. GET IN TOUCH WITH JIM: www.formosainvesting.com https://twitter.com/bzjimlee https://www.linkedin.com/in/formosainvesting/ https://www.instagram.com/formosainvesting/ https://www.facebook.com/formosainvestin/ EPISODE CHAPTERS: (0:00:02) - Real Estate Investing and Success Stories Jim Lee's real estate journey began as an inside sales rep for LoopNet and CoStar, leading to his first investment property in Ontario, California. (0:05:38) - Real Estate Syndication in Florida Tech industry guest's journey from condo to syndication, leveraging debt and networking for 100+ unit apartments in landlord-friendly states like Florida. (0:22:18) - Challenges and Insights in Real Estate Real estate investing challenges, ups and downs of the market, understanding your why, and guest Jim's insights and experiences. If you want to know more about Dr. Jason Balara and the Know your Why Podcast: https://linktr.ee/jasonbalara Audio Track: Back To The Wood by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Leveraging Syndication to Do Larger Deals Jim's family migrated from Taiwan. It's the classic immigrant story, building a great business from ground floor. Learn about his strategies to grow from tenants, toilets and trash to managing a successful syndication company. Key Discussion Points [01:07] Introduction by Eric & Steven [03:19] About our guest: Jim Lee [04:33] How did you end up doing Syndications? [07:33] Is the American dream still alive, even for immigrants? [08:20] How did you get started on your first deal? [09:52] Tell us about your first Synidcation deals in Florida [15:33] What were the mechanics of the deal? Cash? Investors? etc... [18:03] In depth discussion: syndication, waterfalls, preferred return, etc. [20:33] How did you find your business partner? And why did you start doing business with him? [23:13] Talk about the underwriting aspect of this deal and the property management. [25:44] Do you have onsite managers for all your properties? How is maintenance handled? [28:39] Are there amentities you provide in the units to add value to the renter? [32:44] Who were you using to put your documents together? [35:14] How can folks contact you? [35:42] Closing comments by Eric & Steven About Our Guest Jim is a real estate investor and founder of Formosa Investing. Jim received his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics in 2010 from UCLA and started his career as an inside sales rep for Loopnet and CoStar. By winning a $50,000 sales incentive bonus he used that savings to purchase his first two-bedroom one-bath condo and learned the importance of having multiple streams of income. Now, through real estate syndication, he has invested in over 600 units in the past two years where he has participated as a general partner and a limited partner GUEST CONTACT INFO Website: FormosaInvesting.com Twitter (X), LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook: @formosainvesting
Today, I'm joined by my friend Travis Sherry to learn how to use real estate and short-term rentals to support your travel lifestyle. Whether you're new to the game or a real estate pro, this episode has value for everyone! Travis and his wife Heather combined their love for travel and real estate to build a thriving short-term rental business. One of their properties has even been featured in Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top 14 best beach rentals in the United States! Travis is also the founder of the travel community Extra Pack of Peanuts and the co-founder of Location Indie, a global community for people looking to travel and work from anywhere in the world. In this episode, Travis breaks down his top five strategies, from the lowest monetary investment to the highest. He'll dispel common myths, share his favorite hacks, and we'll explore some key mindset shifts that will completely change your perspective on real estate. What was your biggest takeaway? Which strategy will you try first? I'd love to hear your thoughts and hope you'll share them by sending me an audio message. Premium Passport: Want access to the private Zero To Travel podcast feed, a monthly bonus episode (decided on by YOU), exclusive content, direct access to me to answer your questions, and more? Click here to try Premium Passport for only $1. Tune In To Learn: The misconception about real estate Travis' story with real estate and how he ended up in North Carolina Why you shouldn't be intimidated by real estate or more experienced investors The biggest advantage that has served Travis more than anything else The easiest way to get started and make money while you travel How to get in the game without purchasing any property How to house hack and get creative with your property or home to generate income How to earn passive income with short-term rentals The benefits of investing and the unique way he's leveraging investment properties Travis' top resources to dive into real estate and his best advice for getting started And so much more Resources: Join Zero To Travel Premium Passport Subscribe to our FREE newsletter Today's Sponsors - Airbnb, US Bank, Uncommon Goods Learn about Location Indie and Extra Pack of Peanuts Listen to his short-term rental series on the Extra Pack of Peanuts podcast Travis' resources - Zillow, Redfin, LoopNet, AirDNA, BiggerPockets Want More? How to Get Incredible Airbnb Deals (and Save More Money) with Zach Busekrus from Sponstayneous How To Use Airbnb to Fund Your Travels (Even If You Don't Own Anything Or Live Anywhere) The Paradise Pack Sessions: Jasper Ribbers from The Traveling Dutchman on Renting Your Home Out on Airbnb Thanks To Our Sponsors Sometimes, it just makes more sense. Book your next group stay with Airbnb! This episode is also sponsored by US Bank's Altitude Connect Visa Signature Card, with the ability to earn up to 5x the points on travel-related expenses like hotels, and rental cars, this card will get you the most return on your next trip. Get 15% off your next gift from Uncommon Goods by visiting uncommongoods.com/travel.
Welcome to another episode of The Cashflow Project. Today we have a very special guest, an entrepreneur and real estate aficionado, Jim Lee. Born and raised in Taiwan, Jim migrated to the US and began his career at LoopNet, sparking his interest in real estate. His journey is a testament to persistence and determination, as he's successfully scaled to owning 600 units in just two years. Today, we'll delve into the mind of this real estate magnate, discussing everything from the inspiration he drew from Netflix's workplace culture, to the importance of transparency with investors during tumultuous times. We'll also discuss his strategies for increasing revenue, like innovatively charging for amenities. So sit back, tune in, and get ready to navigate the world of real estate with Jim Lee. 02:58 Jobless period helped develop valuable skills. Confidence in business knowledge is key. 04:17 Sales role after college, introverted, successful. Reflecting on past mindset and cultural expectations. 07:59 Struggled to syndicate first real estate deal, educated. 10:51 Networking: Growth requires leaving comfort zones. 13:43 Real estate investment brings substantial financial gains. 17:20 General partner advises transparency, avoid panic. Previous loss due to dishonesty and lack of communication. Current strategy is to inform investors and provide updates. 20:06 "Cut through, improve, opportunities arise, kudos, awesome market" 24:14 Busy professionals can achieve financial freedom through side hustles. 26:54 Persistence leads to eventual success in career. Connect with Jim Lee Website Connect with Tri-City Equity! Website LinkedIn YouTube Facebook Instagram
In yet another significant development that could bring further changes to California's naturist community, Desert Sun Resort in Palm Springs has been sold for $6,950,000 and is currently under contract, as indicated in public listings on Redfin.com and LoopNet. The specific details about the new owners and their plans remain undisclosed. No public announcement has been made by the club on their website or social media. This sale adds to an expanding series of recent transformations in the state's nudist landscape, and a growing malaise among California naturists, who have seen no less than four nudist clubs either go textile or go up for sale just in the last three months.
In this episode, seasoned real estate investor Jonathan Twombly takes us on a journey through the world of independent hotel investments. With over a decade of experience, he shares his insights on finding, renovating, and managing these unique real estate assets. Key Takeaways: Unique Opportunities in Independent Hotels: Independent hotels in smaller markets can often be found listed on platforms like LoopNet and Crexi, providing unique investment opportunities. Brokers specializing in these assets may list them on such platforms to broaden their reach. This accessibility can make finding these opportunities easier compared to larger, branded hotels. The Power of Hands-On Experience: To truly understand the hotel business, Jonathan emphasizes the importance of taking action and gaining hands-on experience. Learning by doing, making offers, walking properties, and engaging in real deals can provide invaluable knowledge and insight. Creative Strategies for Hotel Investments: Jonathan's experience showcases the potential for transforming older, undervalued properties into thriving businesses by applying creative strategies. He highlights the value of market research, renovations, and understanding the local economy to maximize revenue and returns. Jonathan Twombly | Real Estate Background Managing Member - Two Bridges Asset Management LLC Portfolio: One hotel Co-GP in 2,400 apartment units Based in: Brooklyn, New York Say hi to him at: apartmentinvestorsclub.com twobridgesmgmt.com LinkedIn Best Ever Book: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan Greatest Lesson: Step away from your computer, and get out into the real world. You will learn multiples by taking action than you ever did from research. Click here to learn more about our sponsors: Masterworks Delete Me BAM Capital SyndicationAttorneys.com
In this episode we discuss that when working as a real estate agent for investors your reputation is being judged and is on the line with each suggestion. Sending an investor client “deals” with numbers that do not work is a quick way to prove you're an amateur. For investors to be interested in a deal there must be some meat on the bone for them to take advantage of. This means to find something and will take searching high and low and getting creative as to what could be done with the property to create wealth. When searching for properties that may work make sure to think outside the box. Use all your resources to locate a property such as MLS, CoStar, Zillow, Loopnet, Public Record, Reverse Prospecting, Town Hall, ETC. Deals are out there, you just need to find them.
On this episode of The Darin Batchelder Real Estate Investing Show, we have Joseph Bramante sharing his captivating journey in the world of real estate. From dealing with inexperienced property managers to discovering unexpected hurdles during renovations, Joseph's story is full of twists and turns. Joseph's optimism took a hit when he lost his job, putting a strain on the cash flow from his property. But he didn't let that setback stop him. Working two jobs and utilizing platforms like LoopNet, Joseph hustled to find a great deal on a small apartment complex in a prime location in Houston. And guess what? He snagged it for a steal at $25,000 per unit! But the challenges didn't end there. Joseph's career aspirations took a positive turn after a life-changing encounter on a remote island in Papua New Guinea. Inspired by the advice he received, Joseph dove headfirst into real estate investing, devouring books like "Multifamily Millions" by David Lindahl. Armed with knowledge, Joseph purchased his first apartment complex while still living abroad. Now, you won't believe this—Joseph closed the deal without even seeing the property in person! Talk about taking risks. With the guidance of his property management company, he invested more money from his 401K into the property and aimed to double the rents after renovation. Despite spending a year in Australia and being out of touch with what was happening back home, Joseph's real estate venture flourished. His involvement in a massive LNG facility project in Papua New Guinea added to his financial success, even though he couldn't fully enjoy it at the time. But Joseph's journey wasn't all about the money. From a background in engineering and traditional consulting, he found his true passion in real estate and made the courageous decision to pursue it full time. Joining a real estate group and taking their advice, Joseph sold a negative cash flowing property, which was a nerve-wracking experience. However, it ultimately propelled him towards his real estate dreams. As we dive into the current state of the real estate market, Joseph shares his insights on the upcoming elections, potential interest rate changes, and the challenges of property taxes in Texas. Despite some uncertainty, Joseph believes it's an excellent time to buy, with opportunities for those starting out or looking to expand their portfolios. Joseph's company is already involved in development, breaking ground on their first deal and planning more for the future. With a focus on new construction, Joseph aims to provide Class A quality at Class B prices, positioning his company in the upper middle tier of the market. So grab your headphones and tune in to this episode of The Darin Batchelder Real Estate Investing Show to hear more about Joseph Bramante's remarkable journey and his valuable insights on the real estate market. It's definitely a podcast episode you won't want to miss! For links and resources discussed in this episode, please visit our show notes at https://darinbatchelder.com/multifamily-properties
We are thrilled to welcome former lawyer turned hotelier, Diya Liu, to the podcast. Diya is a true powerhouse in the real estate and hospitality industry. Drawing from her academic background in chemical engineering and biochemistry, she pursued a legal career in patent litigation. However, her incredible success in reaching $200,000 net rental income with short-term rentals led her to make the courageous decision to quit her job and fully immerse herself in the world of real estate investing. With her extensive portfolio, she owns four boutique hotels and around a dozen short-term rentals across the USA. As if that wasn't impressive enough, Diya is also the CEO of Welcome Capital, a remarkable $10 million STR and hotel fund. What sets Diya apart is her ability to leverage her legal background to teach others not only how to achieve financial independence through short-term rentals but also advanced techniques such as off-market acquisitions, creative financing with zero down payments, and innovative exit strategies like wrapped note transactions. She is passionate about sharing her expertise and empowering experienced short-term rental operators and owners to scale into hotel investing.We are honored to have Diya share her invaluable insights, experiences, and strategies with us on this podcast. Diya gives us the lowdown on where to find hotel acquisition opportunities in the best markets, unique marketing strategies for boutique hotels, optimizing operations with new technology, what's in her buy box and why now is the golden era for boutique hotels. Get ready to be inspired and gain the knowledge you need to take your real estate and hospitality ventures to new heights.To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: http://thanksforvisiting.meResources:• Instagram: @DiyaESQ• Event: Western NC Hotel Bootcamp & Market Tour August 22-26• Facebook: Airbnb Professional Hosts: Short Term Rentals, Mid Term Rentals, and Hotels• Website: diyaliu.com• Twitter: @diyaesq• Facebook: Diya ESQ• Welcome Capital: thewelcomefund.com• CoStar: costar.com• Cloudbeds: cloudbeds.com• LoopNet: loopnet.com• Crexi: crexi.com• Ten-X: ten-x.com• #STRShareSunday: @thebrooklyninnThanks for Visiting is produced by Crate Media.Mentioned in this episode:Breezeway | Breezeway is our favorite all-in-one property operations and messaging app. We use Breezeway to standardize our cleaning, maintenance, and inspection processes and automate...
One of the methods to find an RV park is to look at “online” listings –typically on RVparkstore.com or Loopnet.com. But there's a lot you need to know about how to properly navigate this deal-finding platform. In this RV Park Mastery podcast we're going to review the basics and give you some tips to be more successful in the online arena.
Keith Weinhold and Ken McElroy discuss the impact of rising mortgage rates on the commercial real estate market. They talk about the foreclosure of a Houston real estate investment firm, and the need for syndicators to anticipate changes in interest rates and have capital reserves in place. The speakers predict that high-rise commercial office buildings will be the first domino to fall in the commercial real estate market. They also discuss the potential fallout from the expiration of commercial debt and the upcoming Limitless Expo event in Scottsdale, Arizona. Resources mentioned: Show Notes: www.GetRichEducation.com/452 Get mortgage loans for investment property: RidgeLendingGroup.com or call 855-74-RIDGE or e-mail: info@RidgeLendingGroup.com Find cash-flowing Jacksonville property at: www.JWBrealestate.com/GRE Invest with Freedom Family Investments. You get paid first: Text ‘FAMILY' to 66866 Attend the Limitless event, June 15th-17th: LimitlessExpo.com $22M Office Building to Convert to Multifamily: https://www.loopnet.com/learn/deal-of-the-month-22m-office-teardown-makes-way-for-multifamily/2115617288/ Will you please leave a review for the show? I'd be grateful. Search “how to leave an Apple Podcasts review” Top Properties & Providers: GREmarketplace.com Best Financial Education: GetRichEducation.com Get our wealth-building newsletter free— text ‘GRE' to 66866 Our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/c/GetRichEducation Follow us on Instagram: @getricheducation Keith's personal Instagram: @keithweinhold Complete transcript: Keith Weinhold (00:00:02) - Welcome to GRE. I'm your host Keith Weinhold last year's spiking of the Fed funds rate caused banks to fail this year and last year's. Doubling of mortgage rates is causing commercial real estate to fail this year. Why is it happening? How bad is it with commercial real estate and how bad will it get? That's the topic of today's conversation with Ken McElroy on Get Rich Education. Speaker 1 (00:00:27) - Taxes are your biggest expense. The best way to reduce your burden is real estate. Increase your income with amazing returns and reduce your taxable income with real estate write-offs. As an employee with a high salary, you are devastated by taxes. Lighten your tax burden. With real estate incentives. You can offset your income from a W2 job and from capital gains Freedom. Family Investments is the experience partner you've been looking for. The Real Estate Insider Fund is that vehicle, this fund investing real estate projects that make an impact. And you can join with as little as $50,000. Insiders get preferred returns of 10 to 12%. This means you get paid first. Insiders enjoy cash on a quarterly basis and the tax benefits are life changing. Join the Freedom Family and become a real estate insider. Start on your path to financial freedom through passive income. Text family to 6 6 8 66. This is not a solicitation and is for accredited investors only. Please text family to 6 6 8 66 for complete details. Speaker 2 (00:01:36) - You are listening to the show that has created more financial freedom than nearly any show in the world. This is Get Rich Education. Keith Weinhold (00:01:59) - Welcome to GRE from Montreal, Quebec to Monterey, California across North America and spanning 188 nations worldwide. I'm Keith Wein. Hold in your listening to Get Rich Education. Real estate investing is our major here. Minors are in both wealth mindset and the economics of real estate. That's what the matriculated graduates with here at G R E. You can think of an interest rate as how much it costs you to use money and to help you understand the preeminence of the cost of money. Let's you and I step back together for a second. If you go buy apples at the supermarket and Apple cost increase affects you. If you go buy a gallon of paint at Home Depot, a paint cost increase affects you. And if you go buy an acre of raw land, a land cost increase affects you. But rising interest rates mean that there was an increase in your money cost and you use money to buy those very apples paint or raw land. Speaker 1 (00:03:04) - And now you begin to realize how interest rates touch and percolate into every single thing that you buy as a consumer or as an investor. And we know that interest rates are not currently high. Historically, yeah, you heard that right now that's not much consolation to those that are in trouble. But the Fed funds rate is about 5% and all year here the mortgage rate on an only occupied home has stayed between a range of six and 7%. Actually, mortgage rates are a little low. Their 50 year average is about seven and a half percent. Well, so then what's the problem? Well, the problem is not what are indeed historically normal rates. It's that rates rose so fast last year. You look at a graph and they climbed a wall. In fact, it's unprecedented, at least in you and i's lifetime to have them rise that fast. Just last year alone, mortgage rates spiked from 3% up to 7%. Economists estimate a 56% chance that they indeed are going to raise the Fed funds rate again. Yep. There is another meeting. Just next week, let's learn about commercial real estate deals blowing up with Ken McElroy. Speaker 1 (00:04:28) - I'd like to welcome back longtime real estate investor influencer and multi-time bestselling real estate author and G R E podcast guest regular. Really? Hey, it's the return of Ken McElroy. How's it going Ken? Speaker 3 (00:04:40) - Great Keith, how are you? It's good chief. Terrific. Great to see you in Arizona too recently. Speaker 1 (00:04:45) - Yeah, that's right. We were just together in Arizona a few weeks ago, both there and everywhere across the United States, we know that residential loans are for the one to four unit space where those properties typically have long-term fixed interest rate debt, 15 to 30 years. The five plus unit department space is tied to commercial lending even though it's residential property and they often have variable rate debt for a shorter term. And commercial loans are where the trouble is in this world of higher mortgage rates. And a few months ago it made a lot of news in our world, Ken, that a Houston real estate investment firm that was at one time one of the city's largest landlords with $500 million worth of multifamily. They got foreclosed on and launched 3,200 apartments at the time. And one major reason were these floating interest rates that rose so much and rents couldn't keep up proportionately and more deals are going belly up like that. So Ken, tell us about what you are seeing out there now in regard to rising mortgage rates affecting the commercial lending market. Speaker 3 (00:05:45) - Well, it's true. Obviously we all know that the Fed raise rates 10 times, so they were obviously fighting inflation. So if you bid around this business enough to know, know, you should have known that the Fed usually increases rates when inflation goes high. And so it is one of the tools that they use to kind of tampering 'em down inflation because that, no, the Fed is more concerned about inflation than interest rates because you obviously inflation affects everyone. So yeah, if you're in the real estate space, you might feel like you're being picked on. But the truth is, it's not surprising to anybody who's been around that they use this interest rate increases as a mechanism to lower inflation or the masses. So some of those mistakes that were made, I think it was Arbor, you have to go back to the experience of the syndicator. They elected not to buy interest rate caps and have other kinds of protections around those assets. And unfortunately, you know, some of those investors that invested in those assets, those were things that maybe weren't very clear to them. Uh, we're not exactly sure of all the details, but what's gonna happen next Keith, is we're going to start to see there's gonna be a big division of the experience versus the inexperience, I would guess Speaker 1 (00:07:08) - A divergency, yes, of course that Fed has that dual mandate of full employment and stable prices since they're still doing pretty well on the employment. They want to get stable prices and the way to get a handle on that is to continue to raise rates. And when the Fed raise rates essentially from zero to five in just about a year, things are going to break. And we're talking about right now what is breaking first in the real estate space. And you mentioned a syndicator, when one buys an apartment building, oftentimes they get what's called a value add project, this renovation stage. And during that time they often have this variable interest rate debt. So often we are talking about apartment syndicators here, sponsors that put the deal together and what the syndicator essentially does is buy the apartment, renovate it, raise the rent, and then they cash it out to investors by either selling it or refinancing it at a higher value. And right here, these are the people that we're talking about that are in trouble due to their rates being jacked up. Speaker 3 (00:08:07) - That's exactly right. I think you always have to anticipate a change in interest rates, whether they're up or they're down. And I think a lot of times people just always believe that they would stay as is. And I think that was obviously a flaw in their thinking and a flaw in their strategy. The other one of course is capital reserves. You know, cash, you have to have all these things in place. It looked to me from the article, the articles and the, and the different pictures and and things I've seen that they may have run into the problems on the management side as well. And you know, so there's a number of issues that I could see potentially that affected them. And I actually am hearing others kind of stories around this Keith as well. The first domino really to fall I think is gonna be some of these highrise commercial office buildings. Speaker 3 (00:09:01) - That would be my guess because in a very different scenario where a lot of the folks that own those and maybe were in those, a lot of those tenants are deciding that they don't want their people to come back. Maybe they're doing a work from home model or the people that work for them decide that they don't wanna be back or whatever scenarios there are. There's definitely a lot of vacancies. I was looking today, you know, we're looking at pretty high uh, vacancies in la we're looking at very high vacancies in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, New York. When I'm talking about high, I'm talking about unprecedented. We're talking about 30, 40% in many cases and in some cases even more so we know that if you have a vacancy that high, you're definitely not paying the debt. And so there's all kinds of these big landlords that are actually defaulting on their loans of those commercial office buildings. Speaker 1 (00:10:01) - Now we're talking about vacancy in the office space there and we think really in our residential world, of course people think of you as a multi-family guy, but you also are in, you know, self stores in some other spaces. But we just think about the crux of the problem and how that's centered on residential. Maybe you can just talk to us, Ken, about exactly the details of the problem or maybe you have an example from a case study and just what that, that structure looks like for those in trouble. Speaker 3 (00:10:29) - Why would I be concerned about it? Is, is probably a really good question. And the reason is is because don't forget, we all go to banks for stuff. So if it's an auto loan, a residential loan, a commercial loan or a business loan, it's still a financial institution and it's all connected even though we might only be going for one piece of that. And so as the commercial paper starts to default and starts to make its way into these large regional, smaller community banks, then what's going to happen is the underwriting criteria is going, they're gonna pull back because they don't care. They just know that they're taking water in the boat and they're in trouble. So, so that's why I look at it, you know, obviously, but you have to look at the real estate, the landscape completely, and you realize that, you know, while you might be just doing one piece of that, there are lot and these banks are connected out in the community in many, many, many ways, right? Speaker 1 (00:11:30) - Yeah, that's it right there. Maybe people, some don't think about just a complete seizure and a reluctance to want to extend loans at all if they have enough on their books that are in trouble, Speaker 3 (00:11:40) - Right? So that's why I'm looking at it from the multi-family standpoint as well, because we're already seeing underwriting criteria or in other words, banks are saying we're gonna give you less 50% loan to value, 55% loan to value. So why would that be? The reason is is that you know, they're looking at their, just like you would be and and all your personal assets that you have, stocks, bonds, gold real estate, whatever it is, business, each one is performing differently. A bank looks at it exactly the same way. So if something's happening over here that's negative, it's affecting over here and it's shining a light on the whole thing. And so we're already seeing a tougher underwriting. And what that means is that means that you're gonna have to come up with more money for down payments. And of course the banks are gonna be very cautious about any kind of lending if it's on a single family, if it's on a multi-family, if it's on a residential or retail or industrial or office buildings or self storage or whatever it might be. It we're all connected. And so that's what I think is gonna be hitting us is we're gonna be in a debt and a credit crisis here in the next 18 months. Speaker 1 (00:12:54) - So there could be downward pressure on loan to value ratios, your bank wanting you to put more skin in the game so that they are less exposed and you are more exposed there. So we're talking about maybe new purchases oftentimes in that discussion. What about those that have a loan? Maybe the interest rate has gone higher, they want to refinance it. You know, a lot of times we talk about cash out refinances is something that we want to do when equity accumulates, but could this be an environment for cash in refinances with a lot of these commercial loans? Speaker 3 (00:13:29) - Yeah, so we've done a couple cash in personally. Yeah. So what does that mean entirely? So what happens is, well let's say you had a load at three and now of course they're over five. Well our rate caps hit us at five, but we still don't forget, we went from three to five. So that little bit of piece was expensive for us even though we had a cap though, recap is simply just an insurance policy on the original purchase, that's all. So we're like okay, that cost us about 20 grand a month on this one property as an example, Speaker 1 (00:13:59) - The rate cap below Speaker 3 (00:14:00) - The rate cap below the rate cap purchase was less, but the three to 5% that increase in the mortgage payment was about 20,000 a month. Okay, so call it 250,000 for the year for one asset. So you're like, uh oh. I went from having great cash flow to having a lot less cash flow because my rate went out now it hit the cap. Well I was protected but it still went up 2%. So we started to take a look at what would it cost for us to fix this rate and it was uh, about a million bucks for a cash in. So we did it, we said let's do a million dollar cash in, fix the rate because I'm also afraid of future rate increases. So that $1 million that we put in to fix the rate at 5.2%, we know it's a four year payback or 250,000 times four is a four year payback. Speaker 3 (00:14:52) - So it's a four year loan. But really what we're doing is we're hedging the entire time and of course we have that cashflow coming out each and every month. And the beauty of that E as you know, is what you do is you hedge the upside. You can always re refinance on the doubt. And all I was trying to do was protect that thing from when the recap expired, what's usually caps for two or three years, let's say. I didn't wanna be in a position where it was, you know, six or seven or something. So that's why we did it. We were just protecting against the future. And these are the kinds of things that you can do if you've been in the room before, you know what I mean? You, if you have the experience and and you see these kinds of things happening, you could take action to help yourself and help your investors. And that is clear that the arbor had not set up their loans that way. They had not set up their cash that way and they perhaps weren't looking at some of those things critically like that. Speaker 1 (00:15:49) - Anna and I were each active real estate investors through the global financial crisis. So we know a crisis well, we see what each crisis is a little different when we talk about hedging ourselves against the crisis. Can you talk about rate caps, which is basically this insurance that one can buy to put a cap on how high their rates can go. If you go ahead and buy a property to 3% interest rate and you have a 2% rate cap, that means your cap cannot exceed 5%. So therefore if rates go up to 7%, you're kind of in the money. Speaker 3 (00:16:19) - That's exactly right. And so it's clear to me that they didn't buy those cap, by the way, they're not the only one. There are others. And so if you shine the light on the multifamily industry, there's a fair amount of people that didn't do that either, not just them. And also there's other people that don't have the cash perhaps like the million dollars that we used to do a cash in. And so they're going out to their investors to try to preserve the asset. The crazy thing about it, as you know is we're still very under supply and on a housing stamp. Yeah, the fundamentals of the apartments are actually good though we're still seeing a a little bit moderate red growth and we're hitting theis and the occupancies are good. The apartment industry is not in any kind of crisis. The one thing that's changed is the cost of debt has got up a lot. Speaker 1 (00:17:14) - Why don't we talk about that some more and just how bad is it going to get Ken, maybe through the perspective of just how much commercial debt is about to expire. Speaker 3 (00:17:24) - If you google this, you'll see that there's about 1.4 trillion expiring by the end of 2024. So that's a lot . And so what has to happen is, Keith, let's say you all bought something. Well actually there's already examples. If you Google, there's an office tower that was appraised and valued at 250,000,002 years ago and it just traded at 70 as an example. Wow. So there's a big, big haircut there, right? So first of all, all the equity on that original deal gone wipe down and then the that 70, all that does is cover part of probably the debt. So some bank somewhere took it in the shorts, you know, on that deal. And so that is a good segue to say what happens is anything that was purchased, let's say in uh, call it one to three years ago, is subject to massive valuation change. Speaker 3 (00:18:23) - And if they have a situation where they're trying to do a cash out refi and they're not going to be able to, if they have a situation where they're going to sell, they're not going to be able to because the value of that asset is probably 20 to 30% less than it was just two years ago. So what's going to happen is if they can wait, they might be able to wait it out. If rates go down like everybody's hoping it will, or cap rates go back down like everybody's hoping it will, then you're going to be fine. The issue is going to be the maturities and when they hit, Speaker 1 (00:19:01) - There's a 20 to 30% loss in value as we know at a 75% loan to value loan. Yes, that is a complete wipe out of the equity. Ken, when we think this through, of course apartments have debt that someone is holding onto and apartments also have equity that someone else is holding onto and equity could be held by. It's not just investors in a syndication, it's also a pension fund or a family office. And if these go under, we have to think about those ramifications of course, but we think about equity that's held by LPs limited partners, which are those individuals that invest in a syndication. What do you think that LPs should do? What kind of situation are they in? I mean are syndicators communicating with their LPs and letting them know things like, hey, there just isn't gonna be a distribution this quarter and I don't know about next quarter either or, how's that communication been? Speaker 3 (00:19:52) - So it's hard to know. Obviously if you read the article about Arbor, there was not much and a lot of the investors were surprised. It's interesting though, cuz if you really dial into it, there's no way that they were making distributions for a long time as the things were defaulting. So there must have not been distributions on those assets for some time. That would be obviously a red flag. So I think that some syndicators are probably communicating very, very well. But in this particular case, that wasn't happening because of what some of the people were saying in the article that had invested with them. Speaker 1 (00:20:31) - And when you're talking about Arbor, you're talking about that group in Houston that I brought yeah, up earlier. That's really become sort of like the poster child for what's coming can often that might make one think like the LP that invests in someone else's syndication that might make a savvy investor wonder, well gosh, I wonder if there's going to be a contagion effect. Even if a syndicator shows me a deal and that one particular deal looks really good, does that syndicator have other deals behind him that are blowing up and could affect this good deal that looks good in front of me right now. So what are your thoughts about any sort of contagion effect that way? Are you seeing any of that out there? Speaker 3 (00:21:08) - It's certainly possible. I know that a lot of it's gonna be based around the debt itself. So if somebody got a deal like we did like two years ago or one year ago that put fixed rate debt on it, not a problem. So you have to take a look at the maturity of the debt. There's a lot of people that have bought properties that where they assumed alone in the commercial space you can assume something, people are still doing deals, you know, so if you could step into somebody else's loan at three, three and a half percent, let's say you're not gonna have a default issue, you're not gonna have a debt issue where the debt's gonna go up while you bought something, it's fixed. And that was kind of the whole point. As you know, I've been telling people to get in fixed straight debt for two years. If you go back and look at my videos, I probably said it a hundred times, getting fixed straight debt, getting fixed straight debt, getting fixed straight debt because you have to know what your debt payment is month to month to month for a long period of time. You don't want a fluctuating variable number. And so the people who didn't do that, the people that in my opinion were inexperienced and didn't by caps, this is the result of that. Speaker 1 (00:22:23) - We've been talking a lot about problems here. Of course the flip side of any problem is an opportunity. You are an excellent opportunist. You just talked about situations where apartment values could be down 20 or 30%. So are you seeing opportunity, especially with respect to apartment buildings and what's going on coming ahead? Speaker 3 (00:22:43) - We looked at four deals on Tuesday, we've been in opera on one of 'em. So to your point, if somebody's sitting on some assets and they need cash for ones that aren't doing well, for example, they might sell a couple of the good assets. And what's a good asset? A good asset would be something that's highly occupied and is stable and has fixed rate debt and it's something that you can easily underwrite, easily buy, and you know it's gonna be like clipping a coupon moving forward. That would be what I would call a good asset purchase. And those are definitely hitting the market. So I mean, you think about your own portfolio, you know, at any given time you're looking at the winners and you're looking at the losers, sometimes you have to sell a winner to pay for some of the losers. So we're starting to see some good assets hit the market. Speaker 3 (00:23:32) - That might be great. They help somebody that's um, in a situation that might need cash for something else. So that is exactly what does happen. That is what's happening. So we're gonna be all over those issues and try to snap up some of these really, really nice assets. Another really good opportunity is going to be on brand new class A apartments that are just now being completed. So you know, as you know on a new construction deal, you do not get fixed straight debt because there's no asset. It doesn't exist. So you have a land, you have to build it until it's considered in service, which means you have all the occupancy certificates and it's blessed and the city says, okay, it's all ready to move it. That's in service. And until that point you can't put fixed rate debt on anything. So there's going to be this many opportunities on assets that are under construction that are in trouble because of these high interest rates. People that come in with all cash, for example, are going to be able to buy some of those properties. What I would guess at under replacement costs, it's going be a very exciting time moving forward for buying perhaps real trophy assets or assets up that people have already done a lot of work on or under what they're worth. Speaker 1 (00:24:51) - That could be a good niche to exploit. You're listening to get Resu education. We're talking with Ken McElroy about trouble in the commercial lending market and how that affects real estate. Warren, we come back. I'm your host Keith WeHo with J W B Real Estate Capital. Jacksonville Real Estate has outperformed the stock market by 44% over the last 20 years. It's proven to be a more stable asset, especially during recessions. Their vertically integrated strategy has led to 79% more home price appreciation compared to the average Jacksonville investor. Since 2013, JWB is ready to help your money, make money, and to make it easy for everyday investors, get started@jwbrealestate.com slash gre. That's jwb real estate.com/gre. GRE listeners can't stop talking about their service from Ridge Lending Group and MLS four 2056. They've provided our tribe with more loans than anyone. They're truly a top lender for beginners and veterans. It's where I go to get my own loans for single family rental property up to four plexes. So start your pre-qualification and you can chat with President Chaley Ridge personally. They'll even deliver your custom plan for growing your real estate portfolio. start@ridgelendinggroup.com. This is peak prosperity's. Chris Martinson, listen to Get Rich Education with Keith Wein old and don't quit your daydream. Speaker 1 (00:26:33) - Welcome back to Get Education. We're talking with Ken McElroy, longtime influencer and very successful author, A great influencer in the real estate space. And can you hit mentioned some other sectors outside of the residential and the apartment space earlier, and we look at potential problems or opportunities outside of residential and we think about what's happening to office space. You touched on that earlier, that's probably about the worst real estate sector I can imagine in their high vacancy rates, hotels and retail and warehouses, which actually think about one sector as doing pretty good since the pandemic and online shopping really lifted the warehouse sector. But do you really have any other thoughts about those sectors, how commercial loans affect them or any good opportunities in those outside of residential? Speaker 3 (00:27:24) - As everyone knows, you know, when you buy a home, they look at your FCO score, right? They look at your credit and they look at you or me as the person paying that home as they should. When you move to the commercial side, they look to the asset. So they're very, very different. One's an individual. Another one is the actual asset. So as these asset values go down, as interest rates go up, I think that anything that's going to need any kind of a loan and the next year or two is going to have a problem from an asset value standpoint. Because what we were all used to in the last 10 years were these value add. So you'd buy something and then you would improve it and it would be worth more money at the credit and debt markets were stable, you know, so you could go, uh, you had a very calculated model where you can go put new debt on there and scoop that out and do a cash out refi that's gone right now because the values are down and of course the cash out refi option is off the table. Speaker 3 (00:28:30) - So th those are the real problems that people face moving forward. So that could be all kinds of things. It could be retail, it could be industrial, it could be multi-family cuz everything is impacted even though we've had high cracy and red growth in some of those areas. If you're a seller that has a 3% loan and you're trying to sell it to somebody like us who's a buyer, we're probably at six or seven. We're looking at cash flow very differently than they are when our debt costs are almost double. So we're not gonna be able to pay that price. And so that's what the debt, rising debt costs have done. If the income, any expenses are the same, but the debt costs are double, then we as buyers can't afford to pay that. So therefore the prices that we're we can afford to pay are gonna be a lot less. And so that's actually what's happening Speaker 1 (00:29:26) - And what we think of as perhaps ground zero for problems in the real estate market. I think office first comes to mind, you've talked about office vacancy rates in many American cities being really high earlier, it was a particularly noteworthy stat that was released not long ago that in New York City they have 26 Empire State buildings worth of empty office space. So we talk about all this open office space with more of the work from anywhere crowd and this dearth of residential housing. You know, can you experience, do you learn about very many office buildings being viable for tear down and conversion into residential? Or is that not feasible very Speaker 3 (00:30:07) - Often? Yeah, so that's the million dollar question. What are we gonna do with these big, big office buildings? And think about this, Keith, let's say it's a 50 story building, which is a very common building all over the place and it's got 20 or 30% occupancy. My guess is, you know, what do you do? Like you have to wait until it's a hundred percent vacant, obviously before you can even do something. So what's going to happen is the banks are actually gonna be taking these back, the banks are gonna be managing these and they're gonna have to figure that out. And the only way to take down an office building is if it's a hundred percent vacant. And even then it might not be worth it because let's don't forget, you step into the shoes on day one of the property taxes of the utilities of the insurance, regardless if it's full or not in order to maintain it. Speaker 3 (00:30:59) - So there's an operating cost that exists whether there are people in it or not. And so you have to be careful that you're not catching a falling knife. You know, like, I mean if somebody said to me, I'll give you this vacant office building or a dollar, I probably wouldn't take it because unless I had some kind of a solution for the, uh, on the income side. So I'm not saying I wouldn't, but you have to have a solution on the income side to cover your operating expenses. Otherwise you're just gonna be writing checks just like the person before you Speaker 1 (00:31:34) - That is so well explained on the difficulty of making a conversion feasible from office to residential. Well, if you're like me, you read a lot of Ken McElroy's books like the ABCs of Property Management, the ABCs of Real Estate Investing. Can I read the Return to Orchard Canyon on a beach in India a little over three years ago? Actually, I love that more recent book from you and you have a great live in-person event coming up really soon where the audience can come to see you at a bunch of other speakers. It's a fantastic event. It's a second year, you're doing it, it comes up really soon here in Scottsdale. Tell us about it. Speaker 3 (00:32:15) - Thank you. It's, I cannot be more excited, especially what's happening right now. It's called Limitless and uh, it's at limitless expo.com. So it's just limitless expo.com. But kicking off the very first day is Joseph Wang, who wrote a book called Central Banking 1 0 1 and he is good. He used to work in New York for the Fed and is going to talk specifically about what's the Fed going to do in the second half of the year in 2024 based on all the things that he did on the open markets desk for the Fed. So that's gonna be very exciting. We've got Chris Martinson as well talking right after him, got kiosaki. We have a whole bunch of people around entrepreneurship and um, kind of side hustle stuff just to try to figure out what the heck is happening and what could we be doing to protect ourself moving forward. Speaker 3 (00:33:11) - So this is really, this year in particular is a not to miss year because these are things that all of us are trying to figure out. I don't have a crystal ball just like anyone does, and I'm studying like crazy to try to figure out what's happening next. We've got 45 speakers all coming to try to help us understand what we can do next. Chris boss, who's, uh, wrote the book, never Split the Difference. If you guys haven't read that book, you need to read that book. He's the hostage negotiator in the world and he works for the FBI and Harvard. And, and his talk is going to be how to negotiate during troubled times because these are going to be real things, Keith, real things that are happening. You know, when there's a debt maturity or a loan coming up or you have problems with your limited partners or, or whatever it might be, this is the room you wanna be and that's the talk you want to hear. Chris is gonna be there, I'm gonna do a podcast with him. He is gonna do a book signing, so it's really fun. It's gonna be Thursday, uh, the 15th, the 16th or the 17th of June. And uh, it's right in Scottdale, Arizona. Speaker 1 (00:34:21) - Janice Prager will be there as well. And yeah, it seems like you just keep adding speakers. Okay, I wanna talk to you. Last month it was 40 speakers, now it's 45. So you, you have a buffet that you can sample there as an audience? Speaker 3 (00:34:34) - We do. I can't wait to meet Dennis Prager. I, I've been to his compasses in la I, I'm a big fan of, you know, his messaging and, and what he, he has a billion downloads last year, A billion with a B. That's incredible. So he's getting to be there. I just think it's like the who's who, right? It's tweet thought Speaker 1 (00:34:52) - 100%. You can get started@limitlessexpo.com. Can I and our audience have benefited from your knowledge for years? Thanks so much for coming back onto the show. Speaker 3 (00:35:02) - Yeah, my pleasure. Always great to be on Speaker 1 (00:35:10) - Most of those speakers at the Limitless event. Were guests here on G R E, so you'll probably find a lot of residents there, including Chris Voss who was the FBI's lead hostage negotiator. He was on the show with us here twice you'll remember. And yeah, you'll remember that pretty fondly because it was entertaining the first time Chris was here back in episode 331, how the World's Best negotiator and I, Chris Voss did a mock face off in negotiating the purchase of a fourplex building. But getting back to imploding apartment syndications, they aren't just blowing up deals and blowing up investors, but also blowing up banks when the borrower cannot repay the loan. And banks have to take back apartment buildings and office buildings unlike, which is actually pretty unusual in a way that they need to take back apartment buildings. I mean, everyone understands how the work from anywhere movement created, the office space decline, but there is quite a demand for all residential types, single family homes and condos and trailers and apartments. Speaker 1 (00:36:17) - But it's those resetting rates that blow up apartments despite the demand for people to wanna live there. So what this does, it makes banks more conservative with lower rent values being delivered, lower rent to value ratios also coming on the way. I would expect more of that ratcheting down. And for more people wanting to refi from a variable rate to a fixed rate, you know those syndicators they have got to put cash in in order to meet that lower loan to value ceiling will well capitalize syndicators. They can do that and others can't. Syndicators might very well be asking for capital calls from their investors then for their investors to help fund that cash in refi to keep those deals alive. The timeline for when you should expect a lot of this activity are from the peak 2021 and early 2022 deals that had short-term debt on them. Speaker 1 (00:37:17) - They are going to face resetting rates late this year and into 2024. You probably noticed that just beyond the halfway point in the chat with Ken. I pivoted from talking about problems to discussing opportunity and the opportunity being that others might sell a good apartment deal because they need the cash to get out of that deal so that they can go take those funds and perform a cash in refi and shore up one of their other deals and get that other deal into fixed rate debt. Most modern offices, you know, they simply cannot be adapted over to residential uses due to their wide and deep floor plates that restrict natural lighting to only the perimeters. And because of the overhauls required to run mechanical and electrical and plumbing to individual residential units in the rare office building where conversions are possible, that sort of thing is wildly encouraged by everyone, developers and brokers and all kinds of governmental bodies. Speaker 1 (00:38:19) - In fact, there was recently a sale of a 150,000 square foot office building in Orange, California oranges between Anaheim and Santa Ana. It's sold for 22 and a half million dollars and it's planning to be converted from office to residential. But yeah, multi-family conversions like that, they just aren't common. And the full story about that from LoopNet is in the show notes for you today. We've been discussing the difference between one to four unit properties and five plus unit multi-family apartments today. The difference in lending is really what makes all the difference. So those larger apartments bought with variable rate debt, say one to three years ago, they are problematic where the one to four unit space instead stays shielded with long-term fixed interest rate debt. Next week here on the show, you're gonna meet our new investment coach at GRE Marketplace. You have heard this person on the show before. I'll introduce you next week. Yes, we're adding a second one to keep up with demand for you. Until then, I'm your host Keith Wein. Hold, don't quit, it's your daydream. Speaker 4 (00:39:31) - Nothing on this show should be considered specific, personal or professional advice. Please consult an appropriate tax, legal, real estate, financial, or business professional for individualized advice. Opinions of guests on their own information is not guaranteed. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. The host is operating on behalf of Get Rich Education LLC exclusively. Speaker 1 (00:39:59) - The preceding program was brought to you by your home for wealth building. Get rich education.com.
One of the first places that buyers typically look for self-storage facilities are on-line listing services, such as Loopnet.com. But this is actually one of the least productive sources, coming in last against brokers, cold-calling and direct mail. Nevertheless, there are deals to be found using this high-tech option – if you know how the process works. In this Self-Storage University podcast we're going to explore on-line listings from a buyer's perspective.
Ask Me How I Know: Multifamily Investor Stories of Struggle to Success
Bring your knowledge about commercial real estate investing to a new level as our guest, Rinku Patel shares her in-depth knowledge of flex space, industrial buildings, and retail businesses. So, check this episode out if you want to start building wealth around this lucrative niche today!KEY TAKEAWAYSFlex spaces and industrial buildings: What they are and the considerations you need to take before leasing oneRisk mitigation and exit strategies for commercial and industrial RE assetsInvesting in multifamily vs. commercial real estateAdvantages of investing in retail spaces for businessesHow CRE Women Mastermind helps investors get good deals RESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONEDBest Ever Conference 2024: https://www.besteverconference.com/Crexi: https://www.crexi.com/LoopNet: https://www.loopnet.com/ABOUT RINKU PATELRinku Patel works at Invest Beyond Multifamily, which invests in necessity-based commercial real estate properties in growth markets. She is also starting a women-only CRE Mastermind with the goal of empowering women to get into commercial real estate.CONNECT WITH RINKU Website: Invest Beyond Multifamily: https://www.investbeyondmultifamily.com/Facebook: CRE Women Mastermind: https://m.facebook.com/people/CRE-Women-Mastermind/100087267432358/Instagram: @crewomenmastermind: https://www.instagram.com/Crewomenmastermind/CONNECT WITH USSchedule 20 minutes to get to know each otherSchedule 20 minutes to explore performance coaching with JulieSchedule 30 minutes to learn about investing with Three Keys InvestmentsJoin the Book and Networking club via Zoom at: bit.ly/3HBPnQw or sign up at: bit.ly/3c0dr1u to access and interact with an extraordinary group that will help you level up!Visit ThreeKeysInvestments.com to download a free e-book, “Why Invest in Apartments”!Looking to reduce your taxes so you can build wealth? Mode Wealth is a boutique financial firm helping real estate professionals, investors, and entrepreneurs ethically and morally optimize their tax strategy to reduce their tax liability. Learn more and schedule a FREE consultation today! https://modewealth.com/Looking for an affordable healthcare solution? Check out Christian Healthcare Ministries by visiting https://bit.ly/3JTRm1IPlease RSS: Review, Subscribe, Share!
Join Steven Jack Butala and Jill K DeWit on the Land Academy Show as they discuss Land Academy Ladies, their sense of confidence and community, and the importance of technology and innovation in the land flipping business. In this episode, they also talk about their busy week, upcoming events like Career Path, and answer questions from their Land Academy Discord forum. Tune in for valuable insights and advice on land-related topics and how to succeed in the industry. Check out their Land Academy Discord channel at landacademy.com for more resources. Transcript: Steven Jack Butala: I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill K DeWit: I'm Jill K DeWit. This is the Land Academy Show. Steven Jack Butala: In this episode, number 1,948, today, we are talking in-depth about Land Academy Ladies and their sense of confidence and community. That's topic number one. Then, a little bit later on in the episode, I'm going to talk about what I've learned about technology and innovation from our other career path members in those sessions. How was your week, Jill? Jill K DeWit: Great. Steven Jack Butala: You were out of town the whole time. How is working from out of town in warm California? Jill K DeWit: Piece of cake. It's amazing how much I'll get done without you around. No offense. Steven Jack Butala: I'll take it. Jill K DeWit: It's funny. Yeah. Steven Jack Butala: It's amazing how that's a win-win situation. Jill K DeWit: It's amazing how little you get done when I'm not around. That's really the common theme here. Steven Jack Butala: Is there that much that we need to get done? Jill K DeWit: Wow. We've been busy gearing up for stuff. We've got a couple things coming up. I'm excited about it. Steven Jack Butala: We have Career Path. Jill K DeWit: We always have things going on. I don't know if it's a problem. I don't know if it's a positive or a negative. But you and I don't sit still. That's a fact. Steven Jack Butala: I wonder if it's good or bad. I question that, also. Jill K DeWit: I know. Steven Jack Butala: Hey, I hope you're also enjoying our 2023 format. Each week we answer questions from our Land Academy Discord forum. We review land acquisitions from our weekly Thursday member webinar. That's every week. We take a deep dive into two land-related topics by popular request that I just described. Now let's take a question posted by one of our members on the Land Academy Discord online community. If you want a sneak peek at that, at our Land Academy Discord channel, please go to landacademy.com. It's free in read-only format. People love it. Jill K DeWit: Yeah. Okay. Clay wrote, "I'm looking for some advice concerning a commercial property that I've come across. The owner wants to sell and has two adjacent parcels with road frontage in East blank. Right around this area, there've been a lot of development recently. I mailed him concerning one of the properties, and he asked me if I'd be interested in both. I am, in light of their location, but I have no idea how to comp what the commercial property will be worth. Does anyone have any insight, tips, or suggestions on how to effectively do this? It may not be any different. This is just the first possible commercial deal I've come across." Steven Jack Butala: This is a regular Tuesday for Jill. Jill K DeWit: Yeah. Exactly. I love this. Okay. The first thing I would do, I look at both. I'm still going to go look at active numbers, just ignoring the type of property it is, in a site like Zillow or Realtor, something just for land in that area. I'm going to try to zero in based on the size. I don't think Clay mentioned the size here. Let's just say there are two properties. It's four acres. So I'm going to look at the two- to five-acre properties active for sale, and then what's sold in the last, sometimes six months, sometimes last 12 months, just to get a gauge. Now, I know it's commercial. I needed to take it a step further. I'm going to go to LoopNet.
Join Steven Jack Butala and Jill K DeWit on the Land Academy Show as they discuss Land Academy Ladies, their sense of confidence and community, and the importance of technology and innovation in the land flipping business. In this episode, they also talk about their busy week, upcoming events like Career Path, and answer questions from their Land Academy Discord forum. Tune in for valuable insights and advice on land-related topics and how to succeed in the industry. Check out their Land Academy Discord channel at landacademy.com for more resources. Transcript: Steven Jack Butala: I'm Steven Jack Butala. Jill K DeWit: I'm Jill K DeWit. This is the Land Academy Show. Steven Jack Butala: In this episode, number 1,948, today, we are talking in-depth about Land Academy Ladies and their sense of confidence and community. That's topic number one. Then, a little bit later on in the episode, I'm going to talk about what I've learned about technology and innovation from our other career path members in those sessions. How was your week, Jill? Jill K DeWit: Great. Steven Jack Butala: You were out of town the whole time. How is working from out of town in warm California? Jill K DeWit: Piece of cake. It's amazing how much I'll get done without you around. No offense. Steven Jack Butala: I'll take it. Jill K DeWit: It's funny. Yeah. Steven Jack Butala: It's amazing how that's a win-win situation. Jill K DeWit: It's amazing how little you get done when I'm not around. That's really the common theme here. Steven Jack Butala: Is there that much that we need to get done? Jill K DeWit: Wow. We've been busy gearing up for stuff. We've got a couple things coming up. I'm excited about it. Steven Jack Butala: We have Career Path. Jill K DeWit: We always have things going on. I don't know if it's a problem. I don't know if it's a positive or a negative. But you and I don't sit still. That's a fact. Steven Jack Butala: I wonder if it's good or bad. I question that, also. Jill K DeWit: I know. Steven Jack Butala: Hey, I hope you're also enjoying our 2023 format. Each week we answer questions from our Land Academy Discord forum. We review land acquisitions from our weekly Thursday member webinar. That's every week. We take a deep dive into two land-related topics by popular request that I just described. Now let's take a question posted by one of our members on the Land Academy Discord online community. If you want a sneak peek at that, at our Land Academy Discord channel, please go to landacademy.com. It's free in read-only format. People love it. Jill K DeWit: Yeah. Okay. Clay wrote, "I'm looking for some advice concerning a commercial property that I've come across. The owner wants to sell and has two adjacent parcels with road frontage in East blank. Right around this area, there've been a lot of development recently. I mailed him concerning one of the properties, and he asked me if I'd be interested in both. I am, in light of their location, but I have no idea how to comp what the commercial property will be worth. Does anyone have any insight, tips, or suggestions on how to effectively do this? It may not be any different. This is just the first possible commercial deal I've come across." Steven Jack Butala: This is a regular Tuesday for Jill. Jill K DeWit: Yeah. Exactly. I love this. Okay. The first thing I would do, I look at both. I'm still going to go look at active numbers, just ignoring the type of property it is, in a site like Zillow or Realtor, something just for land in that area. I'm going to try to zero in based on the size. I don't think Clay mentioned the size here. Let's just say there are two properties. It's four acres. So I'm going to look at the two- to five-acre properties active for sale, and then what's sold in the last, sometimes six months, sometimes last 12 months, just to get a gauge. Now, I know it's commercial. I needed to take it a step further. I'm going to go to LoopNet.
If you're hesitant to kick-start your real estate journey, this episode with Agostino Pintus will guide you. Stay tuned to learn how he stepped away from the corporate ladder, immersed himself in the industry, and created the secret sauce for his multifamily investing success!WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE The reality of having a job in corporate AmericaUrgent advice for those who want to invest in real estateHow crucial is it to work with a capable team?Next-level systems to accelerate your real estate successWhy hard work should be part of an investor's arsenalRESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONEDOn the Shortness of Life by Lucius Annaeus Seneca | Paperback: https://amzn.to/3JZwmc2 and Kindle: https://amzn.to/3xcgNFYCoStar: https://www.costar.com/LoopNet: https://www.loopnet.com/ ABOUT AGOSTINO PINTUSAgostino Pintus is a real estate investor, developer, entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of Bulletproof Cashflow, where he applies nearly two decades of experience to source, negotiate, and acquire commercial properties. He is a sought-after speaker for international real estate events, MeetUps, and media engagements. Agostino oversees strategic partnerships, capital development, and platform development for Realty Dynamics Equity Partners, an investment firm focusing in asset acquisition and asset management services for commercial properties. He is the host of the Bulletproof Cashflow Podcast, a show covering topics on how to build success as a real estate investor. He invites experts to teach and talk about their real-life experiences as investors, marketers, and capital raisers.CONNECT WITH AGOSTINO Website: Agostino Pintus https://agostinopintus.com/ | Bulletproof Cashflow https://bulletproofcashflow.com/ | Realty Dynamics Equity Partners https://rdyne.com/ Podcast: Bulletproof Cashflow https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bulletproof-cashflow-multifamily-apartment-investing/id1438321254CONNECT WITH USWant a list of top-rated real estate conferences, virtual meetups, and mastermind groups? Send Tate an email at tate@glequitygroup.com to learn more about real estate using a relational approach.Looking for ways to make passive income? Greenlight Equity Group can help you invest in multifamily properties and create consistent cash flow without being a landlord. Book a consultation call and download Tate's free ebook, "F.I.R.E.-Financial Independence Retire Early via Apartment Investing," at www.investwithgreenlight.com to start your wealth-building journey today!
How can you own 600 units in just 2 deals? This is the power of real estate syndication! In this situation you don't own them 100%, but it's a fractional stake in the properties. However, there is a lot of power in the economies of scale and the way the syndication is set-up and run. Meet Jim Lee, who was born and raised in Taiwan and came to the United States at the age of 11. He graduated with a degree in Economics from UCLA in 2010 and began working as a sales rep with LoopNet & Costar, which exposed him to commercial properties. During the COVID lockdown is when he began to explore ways to scale his real estate investment business more quickly and discovered syndications. He formed Formosa Investing and acquired 600 units in Florida, along with other general partners on the deal. Jim shares why syndications are such a powerful asset to investing in and how you can get started in your journey today.FOLLOW JIM
Don't miss today's episode with Philippe Schulligen as he shares expert tips to unlock effective vehicles that'll help launch and scale your real estate business successfully. You'll also learn diverse passive investment opportunities for financial security when you listen until the end of this podcast!WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE The perks of joining a real estate mentorshipInvesting as a limited partner vs. general partnerPractical tips on finding and closing your first dealEssential things you should consider when buying older propertiesWhat is the "Boost Wealth Fund" all about?RESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONEDBiggerPockets: https://www.biggerpockets.com/Deal Maker Live: https://dealmakerliveevent.com/LoopNet: https://www.loopnet.com/Boost Wealth Fund: https://www.boostmycapital.com/fundABOUT PHILIPPE SCHULLIGENPhilippe is a co-founder of Boost Capital Group, an active investor in 2,400 units, owns a $180 million portfolio, and contributed to raising $29 million from investors. He also has first-hand experience in commercial multifamily real estate, identifying, acquiring through syndication, capital raising, operating, and divesting. Today, Philippe mentors new multifamily entrepreneurs and advises investors and other syndicators.CONNECT WITH PHILIPPEWebsite: Boost Capital Group https://www.boostmycapital.com/LinkedIn: Philippe Schulligen https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippe-schulligen555/Email: philippe@boostmycapital.comCONNECT WITH USWant a list of top-rated real estate conferences, virtual meetups, and mastermind groups? Send Tate an email at tate@glequitygroup.com to learn more about real estate using a relational approach.Looking for ways to make passive income? Greenlight Equity Group can help you invest in multifamily properties and create consistent cash flow without being a landlord. Book a consultation call and download Tate's free ebook, "F.I.R.E.-Financial Independence Retire Early via Apartment Investing," at www.investwithgreenlight.com to start your wealth-building journey today!
In today's episode of The Render Podcast, we are going to end this series by chatting all about The Multi Storage Stage and what this means for us in real time. If you have been with us for the last handful of episodes, we are ending this rental business with storage solutions, tips, and tricks to use within your company. Our current HQ has a little less than 10,000 sq ft and we are quickly running out of room. We have navigated the storage unit stage, and the small warehouse stage, and now entertaining the multi stage, we are working through these things to find the best solution. Here is a sneak peek of what this episode consists of: [5:20] Assessing Your Situation [9:45] LoopNet [14:17] Keeping Connection [15:50] Understanding Your Costs Next week on The Render Podcast, we will drop an episode about the 12 Days of Christmas and are excited to see you there! As always, thank you for listening in and we will see you next week!
Today, we are joined by Steven Nguyen to talk about using direct mail. In five years he has scaled from zero to 90 units. While working a full-time job as a pharmacy director, and he's done it completely without partners and on his own. [00:01 - 10:11] How to Scale a Direct Mail Campaign Stephen has been working as a pharmacy director for 10 years and has recently started scaling into real estate His strategy for scaling is to buy properties in areas where the rents are low and then value add them How Steven spends $3,000 a month on 300 handwritten letters to target mom and pop owners with deals underpriced by going direct to owner [10:12 - 20:24] How Real Estate Investor Uses Outsourcing to Manage Large Portfolio He emphasizes the importance of delegating and trusting others, and views time as a precious commodity He shares that one of his goals is to scale his real estate portfolio to 300 units or more He uses Prop Stream to find a list of qualified candidates, and then sends personalized letters to those candidates [20:25 - 19:37] Starting Multifamily Course He shares how he created a course called Making Multifamily Money He teaches people how to acquire multifamily properties using his Making Multifamily Money course Steven emphasizes the importance of asking questions during negotiations and stresses the importance of trust [19:38 - 20:36] Closing Segment Reach out to Steven! Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes “The more cash you get, the more you force the appreciation. So it's more in your control” - Steven Nguyen “You have to be able to delegate and leverage other people and have trust in people.” - Steven Nguyen ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with Steven! Follow Steven Nguyen on Instagram. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@stevendnguyen. Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@makingmultifamilymoney Connect with me: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns. Facebook LinkedIn Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on. Thank you for tuning in! Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: [00:00:00] Steven Nguyen: Typically I send about 300 letters a month. I have about 3% response rate. So about maybe nine to 10 people will call me and add that 10, maybe one to two might be serious. So it's really a numbers game. And then on top of that it compounds cause sometimes people will call me to this day for letters I sent out almost a year and a half ago. Cause they throw it in a dresser and all of a sudden they find it. So, you know, because of that. You know, I shared my journey about direct mail campaigns and it almost came to the point where people were asking me, Hey, Steven, can you just do it for. So now I kind of do offer that service where I will do a direct mail campaign for people, and all they have to do is just pick up their phone. [00:00:50] Sam Wilson: Stephen Nguyen has scaled from zero to 90 units in five. While working a full-time job as a pharmacy director, and he's done it completely without partners and on his own. Steven, welcome to the show. [00:01:02] Steven Nguyen: Hey Sam. Happy to be on and to share my journey. [00:01:05] Sam Wilson: Absolutely. Steven, I'm looking forward to this. There are three questions I ask every guest who comes in the show, and 90 seconds or less, can you tell me where did you start? Where are you now, and how did you get there? [00:01:13] Steven Nguyen: So apparently I've been working full-time as a pharmacy director for about 10 years. When I graduated, I made two 50,000. I had two $50,000 of student debt. So out the gate I decided, wow, I'm two $50,000 in debt. Grinded for four or five years to pay off that student loan, which was humongous. But after I paid that off, I said, well, what's next? Right? I just paid off this massive student debt. So the natural progression was to start a single Family Oaks. So that's exactly what I did. I recently caught house hacking, so I bought a house with 10%. Lived in the master bedroom and I rented out the three other bedrooms that were vacant. So that was $3,000 a month. And from there, that covered my mortgage. So I just had to cover my property tax, insurance and utilities. So I was living for $1,500 a month in California, which is pretty good, uh, especially in like San Francisco area. And my goal was to do this one single family home a year for 10 years. And after year three, I quickly realized that this was not sustainable. In California, you don't cash. It's purely appreciation. You're lucky to break even despite self-managing. So once again, that was another sticking point. How do I scale from here and make more cash flow? That's when I learned about, uh, apartment complexes and started direct mentally campaign. So I sent out a bunch of letters to Oklahoma City, about 1800 letters, 300 a month for six months. From that direct mail campaign, I got my two first apartment complexes. I got a 26 unit in Oklahoma City and a 20 unit in Oklahoma within about six months of sending these letters out, and it just completely blew my mind. The moment I learned that apartments were based on the NOI divide by the market cap rate. Versus single family, it's based on the sales. Comparable, right? Or single family. It doesn't matter how much rent you get, you can get one single family. You can get 10,000. The one next door can get 5,000. They're both the same. But apartment complexes, the more income you have, you forced the appreciation, right? So you have cash flow, air appreciation. And once I learned that I, my mind was blown. I just said, you know what? I need to go to the apartments. And what was crazy was in Oklahoma, The apartment was $5,000 for my 26 unit and 350,000 for my 20 unit, and that's cheaper than a condo in California. Like literally a condo in California costs more of that. My single family homes were close to a million each, and I just said, wow. I gain more cash flow, it's cheaper, and after I do my value add strategy, I can double or triple the value by doubling or tripling the ribbon. So that's when I started to scale massively during Covid. So that started during 2021 when it was a hot real estate market. But because I did a direct billing campaign, I was able to get these deals off market and work as a directive owner and negotiate. And then from there it led me down the rabbit hole mobile home parks, where I basically started sending letters out to mobile home park owners and, and same thing, I was able to get a 200 lot mobile home park in Alabama. About 40, uh, lots occupied, 160 lots, uh, vacant. And you know, same thing I got for a million dollars or 1.1 and I was able to negotiate seller financing cuz the owner owned it free and clear. And I was able to build that trust and leverage my skills as a pharmacist. So I know that's pretty fast there, but that's kind of how I, I scaled from zero to 90 units in, in five years, starting off in single family home. And honestly in the past year and a. Um, that's when I bought, you know, my two apartment complexes and a mobile home part. So all my success was pretty recent, I'd say. [00:04:44] Sam Wilson: That's awesome growth though. I mean, in a very short period of time. And especially being able to do it on your own, you know, without partners, that's that. There's a lot of moving pieces there. Direct mail gets a bad rap. Yeah. You know, it takes a lot of time to manage it. It takes a lot of money to send out the mail. Tell me about, I mean, just how you built the list. I mean, that in of itself is a bit of a feat in going, okay, how do we narrow this down into the most qualified candidates for whatever it is you're trying to acquire? Talk to us about the process. [00:05:17] Steven Nguyen: Yeah, so for my direct mailing list, I use Prop Stream and there's a lot of, uh, multifamily criteria that you can use. Mm-hmm. You know, kind of off the top of my head, you can click on like commercial real estate multifamily, a hundred plus units, multifamily, five plus units, Garda style apartment. There's about 10 criteria points that I use, but the key is you want to find a sample listing on LoopNet and then put it into Prop Stream and see how they classify. Because sometimes each county and each state classifies it differently. And you know, I will say it's kind of an art, like no matter what list you get, there'll always be some inaccuracies. Like even when I sent my letters out, sometimes you have owners calling you duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, as well as retail strip centers. That's just the nature of the beast. But you know, that's what my first step was the criteria but what kinda led me to my most success is making a very personalized letter. So my strategy's a bit different. I don't use a postcard. I actually send two envelopes, it's invitation size. So it's almost like a thank you card from a friend or family member. Right? And you know the name address is handwritten on the backside. Um, I put my address, and that's where I use my title. So I'm technically a doctor. I used Dr. Steven Dwin. You know, pharmacists are doctors. Not many people know that, right? Um, and then from there they opened up my letter. And in my letter I just kind of talk about myself. I don't come off as a big syndicator, a big corporation. I just said, Hey, I'm Steven, I'm a pharmacist. Been working for 10 years. I own X amount of real estate units and I'm just looking to buy some more real estate so I can provide for my family in the future. You know, just come a very casual, very low key, very humble, right? You know, I have this humbleness by scaling a 90 unit. I try to stay humble. Um, you know, my girlfriend helps me with that they always do. And. From there, you know, basically I just write, Hey, you know, I wanna buy, make an offer for your partner complex. I make it easy, simple, you know, the typical letters that come out there. Oh, and then, but the difference, what I do is I have, you know, hand write my name and signature and I write a call to action and written. So I'll write, Hey Sam, call me. This is my phone number. So, you know, this is kinda the strategy that I've honed by doing multiple direct mailing campaign. And typically I send about 300 letters a month. I have about 3% response rate. So about maybe nine to 10 people will call me and add that 10, maybe one to two might be serious. So it's really a numbers game. And then on top of that it compounds cuz sometimes people will call me to this day for letters I send out almost a year and a half ago. Wow. Cause they throw it in a dresser and all of a sudden they find it. So, you know, because. You know, I shared my journey about direct mail campaign and it almost came to the point where people were asking me, Hey Steven, can you just do it for me? So now I kind of do offer that service where I will do a direct mail campaign for people, and all they have to do is just pick up their phone. Respond to their texts, respond to an email. Cuz I know a lot of people are busy. Yeah, they have kids, families, elderly parents to take care of. But for me, I don't have that yet. So I'm just trying to help people out and get their first deal. Cause some of the deals that I bought were just insanely underpriced, by going direct to owner for sure. [00:08:38] Sam Wilson: What is the process of handwriting each of those, I mean, that's a mind numbing process to write 300 handwritten letters especially if you're doing it for other people, how do you scale that? [00:08:54] Steven Nguyen: So I actually tried my first myself. It took me eight hours to prepare 300 letters, but I actually outsourced my letters to a company, called Yell Letters Complete. Okay. And they will actually do the handwritten handwriting for you. So they'll hand write the address, they'll hand sign my name, and then they'll also hand write that call to action and also prepare the. Um, and the way I tell them to do it. So because of that, I'm able to kind of leverage a direct mailing campaign and then free myself at a time. Right? So, you know, it, it's, people can use that company as well, but even on top of that, some people feel it's overwhelming to like, send a list from Prop Stream as well as your letter template for them. Despite me teaching it, that's why people start reaching out to me, despite me, like basically telling people A through Z how to do a direct mailing campaign. They just still, it sounds very intimidating and it has a bad rap. As you mentioned, most people like to text an email. That's kinda the modern day. Yep. But because of that, direct mail is more effective, especially if you're trying to target a more, you know, mom and pop owner, which I do. Right. So it's highly effective for mom and pop owners. You know, I spent about $3,000 for my direct mailing. 1800 letters and that made me $300,000 equity day one, just my two apartment complexes. Wow. To be honest, that's a hundred x return on my money. Anyone will take that. [00:10:08] Sam Wilson: I like those return profiles. That's not bad. So tell me, you spent $3,000 a month. that was 300 letters a month times six months. Yeah. And so then, so then you're basically at, what is that, a buck 50, A buck 75 a letter, roughly? [00:10:27] Steven Nguyen: Yeah, it's about a dollar 50 a letter and prop is about a hundred bucks a month. So you know it's about 500 bucks a month, uh, to do your direct mailing campaign. And like I said, yeah. [00:10:38] Sam Wilson: For a very targeted list. I mean, you know, I go back to, I mean, all the, all the, all the stuff I get in the mail, you know, for our house here, it's like right where I live, like, Hey, I'll buy your house. I'll buy, which, you know, there was a time in my real estate career when I did that too, and most of it's just the same thing over and over and over. I'm like, there is no differentiator between the one letter. You put it in the letter and you put it in an envelope, but it's still some, you know, pre-print. You know, we buy houses and then there's postcards. That's just all that stuff. Of course for me, I'm not looking to sell my house, but so I just throw it away. Mm-hmm. But I mean, I think that's why direct mail gets a bad rap, cuz it's all washrooms repeat the same product coming to the potential seller. And you found a unique way, unique way to scale that. How did you build, I know you said you used Prop Stream to build the list. What gave you, what gave you the idea? You know, pivoting and going after mobile home parks, especially, I mean, there's, it, it's a big country. How did Alabama and say, you know what, I'm gonna put this one in Alabama, one of my 300 potentials on the list. [00:11:46] Steven Nguyen: Yeah. You know, for me, I was really focusing on the southeast, you know, kind of like more cash flow markets cuz I own single family homes in California. But I just wanted more cash flow. If you buy up apartments, the more cash you get, the more you force the appreciation. So it's more in your control. Like Oklahoma, if you buy a single family home, that thing only goes up 3% a year. At best. It's a steady Eddie market at best, but if I can, yeah, at best. Right. But, so I call it an unsexy market, but because of that, it's less competition. So I focus on small apartment complexes between five to 50 units and it's usually a mom and pop owner. And like I said, if I can get an apartment, my, my 26 unit, I got for half a million dollars. I negotiate $60,000 of seller repair credit during the hottest real estate market, and they appraise at seven 50,000 a day one. So that's $300,000 right there by me sending out a letter. And on top of that, the owner hasn't raised rents in five years, so I'm renovating all the units, eight to $10,000 per unit. New kitchen, new flooring, new paint, everything brand new, and I can effectively double the rent from. Three 50 to 700 and I've done that already. So my unit, so now my NOI has increased significantly. I think it'll be worth around 1.3 to 1.5 million due cash out re. At that point, you know, you pull all your down payment, all your renovation costs, plus extra money, and then you can buy another apartment complex. Right? So to me, that's why I started targeting that market. But what kind of led me to mobile home parks, honestly, like any real estate investor has shiny object syndrome. Um, you know, honestly, I am actually listing it for sale ironically. But for me, what I really liked about mobile home parks is it's affordable housing. Yeah. Like in my mind I just said, where could I. 50 acres of land, 200 lot mobile home park for $1.1 million. That's $6,000 per lot. It costs 20 to $30,000 just to build one lot in a mobile hom park. So if I, so I bought it, I knew I was buying it, right, and I was the type to, I kinda jump out the airplane first and figure my parachute on the way down. So I kinda did the same with my mobile home park where I started consuming a lot of podcasts. But I just kind of knew that like at some high level numbers, It was around maybe 30 units or 30 units occupied when I got it. If you can get, and I got for a million dollars, if you get to half, so that's a hundred unit lots filled, it's gonna be worth about 6 million. If it's all filled at 200, that's gonna be worth closer to 10 million. Wow. So I just said, I think I just need to get this park to a certain level, so I got to around 40-50. At that point, I think I can sell it for double. So now I'm engaging, you know, larger operators who can actually infill 160 lots and have a team infrastructure to do it. For me, I feel like I brought it as far as I could as just a single operator, and I just realized my limitation that in order to bring in like three to five homes per month and sell it or rent it out, you need boots on the ground. Like you need to be there with a. I think I just don't have the infrastructure, but maybe large syndicators do. Cause they usually have like regional managers and build teams that are built out. So they have the economies of skill and I feel like I don't have that currently. So, you know, for the right price, I'm willing to sell and then hopefully take that and scale my apartment portfolio of Oklahoma City. Cuz I have a really strong property manager, Oklahoma City. That's why I chose Oklahoma City and I know that I can easily scale. 200, 300 units easily and not even be stressed and still work full time. Right. Versus my mobile home park is taking about 80% of my time and energy and money right now, to be honest. So it was just kind of a lesson I learned, but I don't regret it. I mean, I learned quite a bit and in the future when I wanna do mobile home parks again, I know how to do it successfully. [00:15:32] Sam Wilson: Right. That's really cool, Steven. I love that. And I love, I love the use of direct mail you've given, really the secret sauce. Thanks for breaking that down here. Yeah. On, on the show today. Talk to me. You have 40 pharmacists, you know, that work for you currently. I think at the hospital it's a lot of people to manage and, and like you said earlier, you know, time is your most precious asset and you're kind of, that's, it's not something you. You can't create more of it. Yes. Talk to me about outsourcing and leveraging and how you've effectively done that with your portfolio. [00:16:06] Steven Nguyen: Yeah. So, and as you alluded to, I manage about 40 pharmacists and, you know, pharmacists were very detail oriented and, and borderline oc d. That just comes with the profession. And a lot of people have a hard time delegating, but to me, you know, when you're running such a large hospital operation and running a large real estate portfolio, which translate, you have to be to delegate and leverage other people and have trust in people. If they can do something 70 to 80% as good as you, it's time to delegate it out. Right? And you gotta view your time on a per hour basis, right? Is it worth my time to do a letter, which costs me a dollar 52? You know, per letter, and it takes me eight hours to do it. I'm actually better off working at a pharmacy chef, for example, and I'll make more money and it'll cover that direct mailing campaign. But, you know, for me, um, the first person was finding my who, so they said, why do I choose Oklahoma City? The only reason I say is because I had a strong property manager there. Plain and simple. Nine outta 10 property managers are terrible, unfortunately, and it takes about three to six. to determine if they're good or not. You know, I have a very extensive interview process, and despite that, it's hit or miss. Mm-hmm. , it's almost like the NFL draft in the first round. It's, it's hit or miss. Right. And. So because of that, I, I built a system where I have multiple, I, I have my main property manager. I have two backups in case my first one does not perform, and I just go down my list, right? First one doesn't perform, I engage my second one, second one doesn't perform. I engage my third one. And you just go down. It's the same thing in the workforce, right? Like if you hire someone, they don't perform, what are you gonna do? You're, you're gonna give them warnings and then eventually bringing someone to replace them, right? Slowly, right? So it's the same, it's very translatable from a W2 to pharmacy. Then also, so number one, my property manager, right? So they take care of my renovation for me as well. So they typically serve as my property manager and my general contractor. If they don't do both, they can usually refer you to a general contractor that they use, right? So at that point, you're using your referrals, and then you do interview them to see if they fit your vision. So from there, if they do that, then you know, you try 'em out. But like you said, unfortunately, you don't know until you use them. Like everyone talks a great. When you're trying to give 'em a job or give them money, right? Whether that's property manager or con. So you just use it and then you test them and say, Hey, you know, I know I'm a small fish. I only own 26 units and you're gonna renovate it. But if you help me successfully renovate this and raise the income, I'm gonna buy more. And guess who's gonna manage the next one? Right? It's gonna be you and now I'll own two. After the same thing, raise the rents, cash out, refi. Now I own four. You know, so that's how you get that slow, slow compounding. So you just make it known that you wanna scale alongside with them. And also, you know, just be easy to work with. Like, this is a skill that I learned, you know, a lot of investors and business owners, unfortunately not easy to work with, but I try to be the easiest person to work with so that when they have a another owner that wants to sell, who do you think they bring the deal to? First, it's always, because they love working with me. I, I always say, well, what would you do? Like, how would you renovate this unit? You tell me, I'm, I'm in California, you're in Oklahoma City. You tell me how to renovate my apartment so that I can spend the least, like get the most rent while still looking very nice and very practical. Right. Right. So it's just, and then people feel appreciated when you do that for them. Cause a lot of people will come in and say, Hey, I want, you know, whatever, laminate flooring, granite countertops, but that might work in California, but Oklahoma, they don't, they don't need it. Right. Right. So, I, I. Trust and leverage your skills and experience and, and just know they may mess up. But as long as you learn and pivot for the next time, that's all that matters. So I, I just always kind of had that mindset where, you know, I'm able to leverage and, and same thing like with my direct mailing campaign, you know, I outsource that all. The only thing I have to do is pull up the data from Prop Stream, you know, send it over to the company that does it for me. I already have a copy and paste template that they have, and they've done something in my letters. They know exactly what I'm. So at that point, you know, it's pretty automated and if I wanna take it to the next level, I can hire a virtual assistant and, and they can do it for me too. But, you know, I'm not, not quite there yet, So, uh, but there's just ways to outsource yourself outta the job. Cause at the end of the day, you know, I buy a real estate to have time freedom and options, but if I'm bogged down with this like massive real estate portfolio that I'm managing myself, that that sounds miserable to me. For sure. For sure. So that's why like to outsource. [00:20:24] Sam Wilson: Yeah. I love where you said that.There's a great book on who, not how, which is, you know, that's music to my ears certainly. And I think I also like that the point there when you say, what would you do? Right? It's, I think that's really cool because putting, letting them do the thinking for you, and also probably they're gonna tell you things that you wouldn't have thought through. It's not that you're lazy, but it's, it's, it's just like, Hey, what would you do? How, how, how would you solve this problem? As opposed to you being the one that always have to think it through. Use your mental, your cognitive bandwidth, which is limited across this many properties, running a pharmacy, running the hospital, or the director of a pharmacy to the hospital. You've got a lot of things to think about. Let other people use their expertise and tell you what they do. I think that's really awesome. Last, uh, last question for you. One of the things that you have built in this process, Is a, what did you call it? I think we talked about this before we kicked the show off. Not your direct mail service, but you built a course, I think, around acquiring multifamily properties. [00:21:21] Steven Nguyen: Yeah, yeah. No thanks for that. So I created, it's called Making Multifamily Money. It's basically a course that has 120 modules and it basically just shares my journey and my experience about how I closed on an apartment complex from A through Z. Like I said, I literally did everything by myself from A through Z, right? So I created, I chose my market. I chose my property manager, I chose my direct mailing campaign. I chose my criteria for that. I create a system and a process, uh, to basically acquire off market apartment complexes that typically you negotiate directly with the owner. So I teach everything from A through Z, like how to pick a general contract, how to pick your insurance, how to manage a property manager, how to select your property manager. It's literally a through Z system. Just sharing my experiences and I felt I made a lot of mistakes throughout the past, like two, three years. Like, I'll be honest, I, I've. A hundred thousand dollars mistakes. But I hope to kind of condense that into a quick course for people to kinda learn and, and not make the same mistakes for me. Right. Because like me, I wish I had that opportunity where I could have paid money to basically learn and not make these hundred thousand dollars mistakes. Right. So, you know, that was kind of my intent and. It was funny, it just kind of started as me wanting to create it, uh, to provide to like my, my future kids one day. But whenever that happens I just say, Hey, you know what, let me just try to bring it out there and see if other people wanna learn. Cause like you said, some people just wanna know it's possible to scale large real estate portfolio that's 90 units plus while working full time. You know, most of the people in my position, you know, they're typically syndicators. That's their full time job. And so I just wanna kind share my story and, and kind of create that into educational content. You know, it's come, comes very natural for me. You know, I work at an academic hospital, so we teach a lot of pharmacy students, so it just came very organic to me. And I just kind of want to do that as well. And I kind of take the educational approach when, you know, talking with owners, honestly, like a lot of. You know, we start negotiating about price, it gets very tense. Sure. I'll just say like, Hey, can you educate me? You know, I'm here in California, you're the person that lives in Oklahoma City, like, what's a good price for this apartment complex? I literally ask that question like, what's a good price? And a lot of 'em are pretty surprised. A lot of 'em will just say, Hey, you make me an offer. Or they'll, or sometimes they'll gimme a price and one guy came and said, Hey, I want the task says, For the property. And I know out the gate if the tax and price is under market value. Right. Already Inly. Yeah. Yeah. So , so it's just asking that question. It builds that trust, but also it helps you learn because sometimes if I came at like, Hey, I wanna give you 600,000, but maybe they're okay with half a million, right? By me just asking the question, I saved a hundred thousand dollars. Like right now.Valuable questions, Yeah. That's the value questions. Right? And you know, like for me, I'm not, you know, I know what to do. So it's really the power of questions. That's funny. I can write a book about that [00:24:17] Sam Wilson: There you go, Steven. We'll look for that here in the next year after you get done, uh, you know, selling off your mobile home parks and everything else, the power of questions. Here's your, here's your title. You got your next project right there in front of you. Steven, thank you for taking the time to come on the show today. This was a blast learning about everything that you've done. Uh, I won't rehash it all here, but it's pretty cool. So I'm just glad to have you on the show today. Thanks for being so direct and. With us about your processes and just kind of how you do it. So that's been, that's been really refreshing and, and nice to hear. If our listeners wanna get in touch with you, learn more about your course and or your direct mail service, what is the best way to do that? [00:24:53] Steven Nguyen: Yeah, so you can reach out to me at Steven Nguyen on YouTube and at making multifamily money on TikTok and Instagram. And once you find my social media, it has a link to my course. Um, it's published on Teachable and it's. Making multifamily money. And from there you can have access to my course, you can have access to my, uh, direct mailing campaign service. So there's three plans. There's bronze, silver, and gold. The bronze is just the course, the silver. I'll do six months of letters for you and the gold is I'll do 12 months letters for you. Cool. If it typically takes about six to 12 months to have that success, right. Of the direct mailing campaign. [00:25:31] Sam Wilson: Yep. Absolutely. Steven, thank you so much. I certainly appreciate it. Have a great rest of your day. [00:25:37] Steven Nguyen: You too, Sam. Happy to share my journey and thank you for everything.
We're excited to welcome back Jeff Rappaport on today's show to tell us what it takes to become a successful investor during shifting markets. Join us to learn how the housing market has changed, plus strategies to master your business using real-world examples.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE Reasons to invest in commercial real estate during a recessionWhat is a transition period, and how does it impact the housing market?Economic factors that affect rent pricesCreative financing: Definition, benefits, and examplesTips to keep your business thriving during volatile marketsWhy interest rates could keep increasingRESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONEDEpisode 011: 5 Ways to Get Started in Apartment Investing with Jeff Rappaport https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-011-5-ways-to-get-started-in-apartment-investing/id1500967265?i=1000476808133Crexi https://www.crexi.com/LoopNet https://www.loopnet.com/ABOUT JEFF RAPPAPORTJeff is the owner of We Offer Options, Inc., a family-owned business committed to providing solutions to homeowners through buying and selling real estate properties. His primary investing roots are in Sandy, Utah, but he also focuses on other areas across the country where he currently does fix and flips, wholesale deals, and purchases income-producing properties.CONNECT WITH JEFFPodcast: The Creative Financing Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-creative-financing-podcast/id1380904648Email: jeff@weofferoptions.comCONNECT WITH USTo book an exclusive FREE consulting session with Tate or to view his current investment offerings, please go to www.investwithgreenlight.com.Want a list of top-rated real estate conferences, virtual meetups, and mastermind groups? Send Tate an email at tate@glequitygroup.com to learn more about real estate using a relational approach.Special Announcement! Tate's brand-new audiobook "F.I.R.E.-Financial Independence Retire Early Through Apartment Investing" is downloadable! Go to: Green Light Equity Group: http://www.investwithgreenlight.com/.Do you have difficulty underwriting deals? Never worry about getting your numbers wrong with Real Estate Lab, a cloud-based platform for investors. Sign up at https://www.realestatelab.com/ using the promo code TAG2 to get 10% off your first 12 months. Automate your acquisitions and underwriting like a boss now!
David Schwalb is a real estate entrepreneur based in the Chicago area. He is President of Schwalb Realty Group, Inc. a firm specializing in privately-brokered commercial real estate and finance transactions nationwide. He joins us today to give valuable advice on how to win over people, make meaningful connections, and get access to off-market deals. He believes building relationships is key to growing your business and he shares his experiences where he found opportunities through networking. He also offers expert insights into industrial real estate and what it takes to be successful in the space. [00:01 - 07:30] Finding Deals No One Knows About David talks about how he got into real estate Focusing on below-the-radar deals It's about looking for owners who don't want to list and who want to transact confidentially He tapped into his network to gain introductions and open up opportunities [07:31 - 15:52] Scaling Through Smart Networking Use your brain and follow your interests in order to reach out to people David tells us how he joined a club to find leads It's essential to be committed to develop these relationships Be a giver, not a taker Benefits come if you do good deeds Have discipline and use your time efficiently You need to be realistic about what opportunities are available and how you can make the most of them [15:53 - 20:37] The Potential of Industrial Real Estate There's always a demand for industrial properties and there are so many niches David discusses how he created connections with people in the railroad, barge, and truck fleet industry Find businesses because they would always need facilities [20:38 - 21:47] Closing Segment Reach out to David! Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes “There's some psychology to it 'cause we do try to bring together parties, buyers, and sellers that are compatible. Just because someone's sitting on a pile of money doesn't mean that they're the right buyer for it.” - David Schwalb “I like to meet people and I have like zero expectations about what they can do for me. I want to help 'em and maybe one day, it comes back and benefit me.” - David Schwalb “You got to meet people that are successful and you got to meet people off the beaten path.” - David Schwalb ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with David at david@schwalb.com! Connect with me: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns. Facebook LinkedIn Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on. Thank you for tuning in! Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: [00:00:00] David Schwalb: Sometimes that lower, you know, a smaller commission piece might be a stepping stone, so don't always pass on it, especially if it opens up the door to deal with someone that is, you know, a long term relationship and maybe has bigger assets. [00:00:28] Sam Wilson: David Schwalb was a real estate deal maker specializing in below-the-radar deals with a big focus on companies that make or move things. David, welcome to the show. [00:00:37] David Schwalb: Thank you. Thank you, Sam. [00:00:38] Sam Wilson: Absolutely. David, there are three questions I ask every guest who comes from the show: in 90 seconds or less, can you tell me where did you start? Where are you now and how did you get there? [00:00:46] David Schwalb: Born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and I went to college at Boston University, majored in international relations, minored in business. After that, I went to University of Illinois Law School, graduated from there about 26 years ago. I started out in private law practice. I was involved in transactional work with corporate law and real estate law and some franchising law. And 20 years ago I really felt that it was more of an entrepreneur than just someone sitting at a desk, you know, doing law. Well, I enjoyed the practice of law. I didn't like the business of law and I was seeing clients who are involved in real estate, you know, making money and that might be more interesting than worrying about billable hours the rest of my life. So I got into, I actually started to invest in multifamily properties in the south shore neighborhood of Chicago. And you know, worked fine in the beginning. And then after a while, I realized it was a saturated market and I needed to peace out of that. And during that time I also obtained a real estate brokerage license, which being a licensed attorney is a lot easier to, you know, get a license and hang out a shingle on your own. And I had people coming to me looking for deals, particularly apartments, and they said, Hey, we're having a hard time to find apartments to acquire, you know, can you find us something? And I early on, you know, I was kind of feeling my way around and I poked around on the MLS and, you know, LoopNet, some other online things. And yeah, I realized like, you know, my clients had access to a lot of those things. And it would be hard to add value for them to find them things that the whole world knew about. And one client in particular said, David, you know, find me deals that like, just know what knows about, you know, find them. He suggested to me, oh, how about you drive up and down the, you know, some quiet streets, you know, in Chicago, like in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, maybe there's a a building that looks like there's an out of town owner. Go, I'll reach out to them, look 'em up, you know, call 'em, send 'em a letter. So I actually, you know, tried that for a few weeks and with limited success. And I liked the idea of finding deals that were below the radar, but I felt that, you know, that still involved an element of cold calling. And what I also learned is that, you know, in traditional real estate brokerage, it's very focused on sellers where, you know, people are cold calling owners all day long, you know, saying, Hey, we can sell your apartment complex. And you know, being myself, a principal and multifamily, like, I get those calls and postcards and emails and so forth. And so I realized like that's just not the best use of my brain. I mean, anyone can, you know, do cold calling, and not the most efficient use of time, at least in my opinion. It must work for someone, but some small percentage of population, I think. So I realized when I was a private law practice, I met a lot of really neat people along the way in the law firms I was at, clients, bankers, CPAs, you know, professional advisors, and I realized that that that's my network. That's where I probably could find warm introductions to deals, to potential opportunities. . And so I then just focused on that and it was a refreshing, you know, message to people that, hey, there's someone out there looking to deals below the radar. I got introductions to some really great buyers who were tired of being, you know, one of a hundred recipients of a deal. And there were owners who I met who didn't necessarily want to list. I mean, despite the conventional wisdom out. There are a number of situations where an owner does not want to publicize that their properties for sale, and they don't want to do an exclusive listing because, again, don't want it even to be circulating amongst multiple people. So, like, a great example early on, there up Milwaukee. There was an office part called Brookfield Lakes Corporate Center. And I was introduced to the owner through a banker, private banker, had a nice relationship with, and the owner wanted to sell to someone from outside the Milwaukee market. And the rationale was that if they were to hire one of the usual big brokerages, and even if they handled it confidentially, very likely the brokerages there would approach local competitors. And they could sign confidentiality agreements all day long. But anyone can feign interest and obtain operating data, and they did not want their local competitors to gain operating data about their office complex. They also had some tenants that were in renewals to major tenants. They didn't want those tenants to get wind that, you know, their landlord is thinking about selling. So on our end, took this investment banking approach where we identified through our, you know, relationships a few different prospects to approach. And within about three or four, you know, parties that we approached, we had one that said, hey, let's go out there. Let's look at it. And they made an offer. And you know, and to this day, I never mass email below-the-radar deals, no fax blasts, nothing. It's just, it's very low-key. There's, you know, some psychology to it 'cause we do try to bring together parties, buyers, and sellers that are compatible. Just because someone's sitting on a pile of money doesn't mean that they're the right buyer for it, whether it comes to penciling the deal or personality issues, you know, different people work in different ways. Although I must say that I'm lucky enough that I can, you know, choose who to really focus on. And if there are clients that, they're not behaving appropriately, then I don't have to work with them. And by the way, we do handle some exclusive listings once in a while, but those come to us because we have an existing relationship with someone they say, hey, we want this to be shown to the whole world. We want there to be a pretty open process, and so we'll gladly tackle that. You know, we can put that out there so we do it. But for the most part, you know, 97% of all the deals we've ever done have been done non-listed deals. So yeah, we're a niche player. There are other people that do it, but I like to think that we're also thought leaders in that approach. [00:07:30] Sam Wilson: That's fantastic. I love that. What are some ways, I know you said you kind of mind your own network in the beginning going, oh, hey, who are the attorneys, who are some of these people that I can connect with that might know people that have assets to sell? What advice would you give to somebody in today's environment if maybe, you know, like you cold calling all day long isn't their bag? Like, what would you say to them to say, hey, you're going to go out and find off-market deals, you're going to find, or as you put it below the radar deals, what's an effective strategy may be that you're using or that you'd recommend? [00:08:04] David Schwalb: Well, I think a big part of it is the networking and it's about smart networking. Not just networking, smart networking. Smart networking involves using your brain, you know? Sure, LinkedIn's a wonderful tool, but it's a tool. It's not going to find for you the deals of the people. And you really should try to go out there and meet people in person. And, you know, I have associates in my brokerage, when I'm, you know, coaching them about how to network, I tell 'em, you know, follow your interest. And, you know, I have this kind of this extreme example, it's kind of a joke. I say, you know, if you have a hobby, if you're into knitting, go join a knitting group and, you know, be involved in that knitting group. And over time you never know where you may get your next deal from. Somebody in the knitting group might be sitting on a major property. And so that's why I made sure to be. And different things and you know, charitable things, volunteer things, professional groups. But the big part of it is that you have to have a commitment to those things. You can't just like show up once and expect to, you know, bring in business. I mean, a long time ago when I lived and worked in the city of Chicago downtown, I joined this downtown club called the Standard Club, and, you know, it's by invitation and there's a lot of old guys who have done really well there. And I just remember a lot of, you know, people like my age or younger, well, I'm going to join there and I'm going to get him to sell immediately. Like, no, it doesn't work like that. You then got to get involved in the club. So I started to get involved in committees at the club, you know, helping to plan events. I eventually found myself on the membership committee, the house committee, and then I eventually found myself on the board of directors at the club, and I served on the board of directors at that club for six years. And you learn a lot, by the way, that's the other neat thing you learn about how a business runs 'cause a club is a business. You have paid employees and assets and so forth. And so as you interact with those people, those committees, those boards they get to know you. You build a level of trust and that's how you get connected. So there's no one way, it's just about, like, how do you connect with people? And then, you know, the other thing, the really important thing is try very hard every day to be a giver, not a taker. And so, and especially at the point in my life, I'm at, like, I like to meet people and I have like zero expectations what they can do for me, I kind of feel like, hey, I like this person. I want to help 'em. And you know, maybe one day it comes back and benefits me. But, you know, it's part of like just doing a, you know, good deeds every day. And so I help people looking for jobs, you know, looking for jobs in industries that maybe have nothing to do in real estate but, like, I know people in those different businesses. We have a friend, you know, she was CPA looking to work in a big corporation and, you know, I got her an introduction to the CEO who got her an interview and do a nice thing. I don't know if it will turn into a real estate lead for me, but if I do, you know, enough good deeds on an ongoing basis, hopefully, something comes back out of it. You know, and I know enough people where I'm at my career that it gets even easier. But you have to be really committed to developing relationships. People have to really trust you. I mean, if someone wants to quietly, you know, sell a property. They don't want you to spill the beans, and they want you also to be knowledgeable and they have to see you kind of in action, maybe in other environments. [00:11:46] Sam Wilson: What you've proposed to me sounds like the get rich slow game, right? And I'm not saying it's a bad method. Don't mishear me. It's one of those things where it's like this is something that you build over time. Is there a way, you know, if someone were starting out to follow in your footsteps, but do it in such a way that they can build momentum? Because I feel like momentum begets momentum. And I love your method. I love the idea of finding off-market properties, I love the idea of doing below-the-radar deals, helping out sellers and buyers, and keeping it all in a pretty quiet, low profile. That speaks to me. I like that entirely. But is there a way to execute your plan purposefully, such that you find scale in a meaningful amount of time? [00:12:31] David Schwalb: Sure. Well, certainly, it does have to do with the focus on what kind of opportunities to find through that network. And I do think that someone that is committed, even a young person that's committed to connecting with people, can scale up pretty quickly. You know, it's not necessarily all, like, relationships just through years. You may meet someone over the course of weeks or months that you develop a relationship with, especially if you're involved in, you know, volunteer grant or, you know, professional. So then you gotta look at like, what kind of deals you got to go, you got to spend time on and, you know, like, an hour spent on a commission that makes you say, only $5,000 is the same one hour that you could spend on a deal that could make you a hundred thousand. It's about using your time effectively. If you are chasing too many small things, then it's inefficient. How are you going to scale up on that income aspect? So there's a discipline. You know, there is some risk taking, I think there's risk-taking in anything. I mean, you know, whether if someone's looking to be an investor and they want to, you know, scale up to like, you know, a few hundred departments and they set out a timeline, it's all about the vectors that they choose to go on, right? So it's the same thing with brokerage. You got to find that balance, you know, like, and you have to be realistic about some things. So like, yeah, everybody would like to make, you know, a million dollars a year, you know, okay, well, but how do you get from point A to point B? And so what kind of commissions? What's the frequency? And what kind of deals produce that? What's the timeline? And so, like, when I was younger, you know, I was kind of feeling my way around. You know, I was doing also a lot of deals involving development. I had a whole stable of clients that were looking to develop sites for Walgreens and other, you know, net lease tenants. And that was hot, you know, 15, 20 years ago. And it was something that, you know, obviously changed. But one thing I learned early on was that those commissions don't come within 90 or 120 days. Those commissions are contingent upon the developer client getting their zoning contingencies, you know, maybe some financing contingencies, et cetera. I had some deals where I waited like 18 or 24 months for commission. And frankly, the commissions, when it's land, you know, that's usually kind of at more bottom of the whole thing because, you know, it's unimproved. So there's not as much value to make commission off of, but I still learned a lot of things. I was glad I did some of those deals because it did actually open up the door to selling existing Walgreens. So those same developers said, hey, Dave, you know, we want to sell those Walgreens. And then other people at Walgreens saw me selling them. And I had people saying, well, I've got this older Walgreens, it's got like seven years left on it. What do you think I can do with it? Sometimes that lower, you know, a smaller commission piece might be a stepping stone, so don't always pass on it, especially if it opens up the door to deal with someone that is, you know, a long term relationship and maybe has bigger assets to get involved with. [00:15:52] Sam Wilson: What would you say are some opportunities you're seeing right now in commercial real estate that you feel are compelling? [00:16:01] David Schwalb: I think right now, Industrial is like one of the neatest areas, but it also depends on what part of industrial. So like I don't go chasing, you know, the shiny balls, so to speak, in industrial, which would be now your Amazon lease facilities, you know, things that are, you know, capital markets deals. I mean, even when I hear that term, capital markets deal, it's like, is that a real estate deal? Is that a finance play? Is it financial alchemy? You know, what heck is that? So industrial, I focus on my B and C grade industrial, stuff that, you know, is value add, stuff that's not exactly pretty, you know, but, there's still a need. And you know, we work also with users, by the way. We don't just work with investors, we also work with users. And then what's neat about industrial is that there's so many different niches. There's industrial outdoor storage. There's user deals, there's investor deals, and then there's one of my sub-niches is railroads. I develop relationships with some railroads, some shortline railroad. And a couple of them even hired me for consulting work with some potential real estate deals. They actually were paying me to help explore some things. That's kind of nice to get paid for your time as a real estate broker without having to wait for a commission. And then, you know, when I got involved in that, then all of a sudden I picked up also a client that's in the barge business. And so, you know, I've learned a lot about barges and I, again, going back to rail, not too many people have much expertise on rail. So that enables me also to work with users who have needs that may involve rail. And then, you know, the other thing, kind of as an aside, going back to me being a real estate entrepreneur, I am also in the truck stop business. I got into that about 10 years ago, and so I have some partners in that and I'm one of the founding partners of this business. We took an old truck stop and turned it around. You know, it was a foreclosed truck stop. We approach it as a real estate play, and we realized we better operate it. We said let's apply professional grade management in an industry that's surely lacking that. So through my involvement in the truck business, guess what, I met owners of truck fleets. And so, look, people are very, very successful individuals. and they have real estate needs. They also like to invest in real estate. I met guys who, like, were maybe even nearly 40 years old and they sold their truck fleet for like a hundred million dollars, and that was a cash deal. So, you know, you got to meet people that are successful and you got to meet people off the beaten path. And so, you know, I kind of going back to the industrial, we like to work with companies that make or move things, truck fleets, manufacturers, logistics, distributors. That is the key cornerstone of our economy. And right now there's also a lot of onshoring. You know, that a lot of manufacturing is coming back. And so that's where the opportunities are. I think, you know, I, I strongly recommend to people like trying to find businesses that need facilities, and whether they want to lease them, buy them, maybe, you know, bringing in an investor that's going to be, you know, their landlord, you know, do like a sale lease bout. There's so many different opportunities in industrial. I think that's a great place to focus on, versus like with multifamily. Sure, the demand is very robust. But the supply is very meager. And I have the perspective of an owner in multifamily. And so within my family, we have zero interest in selling anything because how do we replace the cash flow? You know, we're not like a REIT, we're not a syndicator. We're a family. We have some cousins occasionally that participate with us in our deals. So if it's hard to, you know, acquire a multifamily and, like, why pursue that as a broker? And I know a number of, you know, successful real estate brokers and they focus on multifamily, they tend to be involved in deals in very specific areas, specific niche. And, like, I don't think I want to be too narrow. You know, I don't want to be the guy that's the expert on apartments in the eastern part of the northwest section of Western Chicago. You know, like, that's scary, you know? [00:20:37] Sam Wilson: Absolutely. Absolutely. David, you've given us so much to think about today. This has been a blast learning about all the various things that, both business-wise that you're involved in and just how you've built your business over time and then how you just got started in the industry and finding those below-the-radar deals, and then connecting buyers and sellers, and then also, you know, what you personally have invested in. Certainly, a lot to learn from you and appreciate you taking the time to come on today. If our listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about you, what is the best way to do that? [00:21:05] David Schwalb: They're welcome to email me D A V I D @ S C H W A L B.com. [00:21:14] Sam Wilson: Fantastic, David. We'll make sure we put that there also in the show notes. And thank you again for coming on today. Certainly appreciate it. [00:21:20] David Schwalb: Thank you, Sam. Have a good one.
Today's Flash Back Friday Episode is from Episode #124, which originally aired on September 20, 2016. In this week's show we'll be speaking with commercial real estate investor, Ash Patel. Ash is quite the visionary as he commonly takes vacant and/or commercial properties and repositions them into highly valuable investments. And the best part, Ash did most of this all while working a full-time IT job. He has since gone full-time as a Real estate Investor, but you could say that he built a very successful real estate investment business in his part-time. I'm positive that you'll find our show with Ash both inspiring and motivational…I know I did. Here's what you'll learn in todays show. How Ash made the transition from being a full-time IT consultant to a full-time real estate investor. Why he prefers commercial investments to residential? The reasons why he was forced him to remain vacant for more than 6 months in one of his multifamily properties and the lessons he learned from this experience. Why he feels local bank relationships are paramount in this business, especially when it comes to smaller scale commercial projects. The opportunity he saw in a vacant single use tenant building that had an abnormally small amount of parking and turn it into a highly desirable asset. How he's been able to find all of his recent deals without having to do any direct marketing strategies like direct mail or cold calling. How he's been able to hedge his risk from another potential real estate down cycle by negotiating longer terms with his banks and also selling off any of his higher priced assets. Why he feels that there are a ton of opportunities that exist on the local MLS, not Loopnet or CoStar, but the local MLS. The reasons he wishes he would have sought out a mentor in the very beginning to help offset his learning curve and how he would have gone about finding this mentor. Learn About Investment and Partnership Opportunities with Kevin and His Team Recommended Resources: Check out our company and our investment opportunity by visiting www.SunriseCapitalInvestors.com Self Directed IRA Investment Opportunity – Click Here To Learn More About How You Can Invest With Us Through Your SDIRA Accredited Investors Click Here to learn more about partnering with me and my team on Mobile Home Park deals! Grab a free copy of my latest book “The 21 Biggest Mistakes Investors Make When Purchasing their First Mobile Home Park…and how to avoid them MobileHomeParkAcademy.com Schedule your free 30 minute "no obligation" call directly with Kevin by clicking this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/KV2D2
Kenny Simpson and Krystle Moore are real estate investors, and Kenny's expertise is residential lending while Krystle's is in commercial lending. They have helped over 1000 clients on their path to creating generational wealth. 2019 has been about focusing on growing our business through marketing for them. Until this point, their business was solely from referrals. They started a podcast – Value Add with K&K – and have focused on using their influence on social media to educate their clients, potential clients and followers. They talk a lot about real estate and building wealth on the podcast but also about health, fitness, mental health and other areas where they feel they can add value. In this episode, Krystle and Kenny talk about how they got started in buying multifamily properties and what they did to leverage that to buy more properties. Additionally, they talk about what borrowers should do to be well equipped, as well as things to look out for as your purchase different property types. Episode Link: https://getinthecashflowgame.com/ Before we jump into the episode, here's a quick disclaimer about our content. The Remote Real Estate Investor podcast is for informational purposes only, and is not intended as investment advice. The views, opinions and strategies of both the hosts and the guests are their own and should not be considered as guidance from Roofstock. Make sure to always run your own numbers, make your own independent decisions and seek investment advice from licensed professionals. Michael: Welcome to another episode of the Remote Real Estate Investor. I'm Michael Albaum and today with me, I have Krystle Moore and Kenny Simpson, a real estate power couple in the lending space, Kenny in the residential side and Krystle on the commercial side and they're gonna be talking to us today about things that we need to know about each space, what we can do as borrowers to be well equipped, as well as things to look out for as we're purchasing each type of property. So let's get into it everyone. Just a quick shout out before we get into the episode, definitely want encourage everyone to go check out roofstockacademy.com It is a one stop education shop for both new and seasoned investors comes with tons of access to on demand lectures, potentially one on one coaching with me or some of the other coaches we have at the academy as well as marketplace, cashback credits for you to use on the restock marketplace as you're making a purchase. So come check us out roofstockacademy.com, look forward to seeing you there. Krystle and Kenny, what is going on. Thanks so much for taking the time to hang out with me today. I appreciate you. Krystle: Thanks so much for having us. Kenny: Yeah, thank you excited to be here. Michael: Oh my gosh, I am, I'm super, super excited. We are going to be chatting today about all things real estate financing related. So give us a quick and dirty insight into the two of you. who you are where you both come from and what is it you're doing real estate today? Kenny: Sure, who we are well, people for short, if you want to cheat they call us K and K, because we both have K surname. So our background is in financing commercial for Krystle residential. For Kenny, we've been doing it for about 18 years here in San Diego and we've you know, we invest as well, too, primarily in multifamily. Gosh, how did we get here, you know, basically just jumped into the business and then kind of built our businesses up and then at some point in our career, we decided to get real crazy and start a property manager company and that grew way too big, way too fast and we said, how are we going to have you ever have kids in a life and do anything else because we can't work 80 100 hours a week. So we sold the company to start up and kind of took that time continue to work on building our brands starting our podcast doing a lot of content while doing our main businesses that finance and you know, and we just are active investors. So that's kind of the short story. Michael: Right on, so you both kind of tag team in the residential side of lending, and then also the commercial side but it sounds like you're investing mostly on the commercial side. Krystle: Yeah, so we invest primarily in multifamily and I think, you know, they kind of call us the one stop shop in terms of financing just because there's a lot of crossover between the residential and the commercial. So in Kenny's gotten really experienced at dealing with complicated real estate investors and people who own you know, several properties, I mean, things like we always say that those clients are like an underwriters nightmare but Kenny knows how to walk them through the income and how to do all that kind of stuff and then a lot of times they want to cross over into buying apartments. So it's a good partnership for us and it works out well for our clients. Michael: Perfect and I feel like so many of our listeners as well kind of go through the single family organic progression, start with single family then maybe a duplex triplex quad up and therefore. So where have you seen from your experiences, like people do really well, in the commercial space, as opposed to sticking in the residential space at one to four unit, like when's the appropriate time for someone to graduate, if you will, or make that leap from one to four into five plus? Krystle: Honestly, I mean, at least for us in Southern California, or probably any major metro, your biggest issue is going to be qualifying for the loan amount. So I think when you're trying to make that transition from residential to commercial people come to me and they say, well, what LTV can I get and I'm like, well, I need to underwrite the property because it's not like that just because we can go to 75 or even 80%. LTV, it doesn't mean that the property is going to qualify. So in San Diego, at least for Southern California, where we're at, we're usually debt service constrained, so cashflow and I like to tell people the lower the cap rate, the bigger the down payment. So obviously, cap rates have been super compressed recently and then now with rates going up, that means people are having to put more money down so the best time to make that transition is when you have the cash to make it I tell people I always recommend the more units you can buy, the better because you know if you have a four unit building and one person vacates, you have a 25% vacancy, maybe you'll break even on that property but if you have a 10 unit building and one person vacates, you have 90% occupancy still. So you're likely still cash flowing even with one person vacating. So you really want to get to that point, but you might have to, like, you know, I the BRR method, or those kinds of things to trade up but the biggest thing is just making sure you have the down payment, I think people should always be underwriting because that transition from four units, let's say to like a five, or a six unit building, you know, you've got to kind of like look at four to six units, just to make sure that you can get the down payment before you take that step. Michael: Okay, that makes a ton of sense and let's maybe even take a step back for anyone that's not familiar with either the lending space as a whole or what commercial financing is. So I'd love to hear from both your perspectives. What do you look for on the residential side, like what pieces of information you're looking for and then on the commercial side, because I think it's a little bit different, what pieces of information are you looking for and how do you treat those two different types of loans? Kenny: Yeah, so the residential um, I don't want to say it's very straightforward, because we do have we have more options, and probably Krystle and the reason why is because with Krystle like she says, if you just do not have the down payment, then you might just not qualify with us, the property could like not cashflow and you could put 25% down and still, if you qualify with your income, you could still get it but we also have full doc programs, maybe bank statement or debt coverage service ratio programs. So we have multiple, so really, what we're looking for probably is, depending on what if you're buying a four unit, most of the time, you're going to be looking at least 25% down, like I said, the property does not necessarily have to cashflow on a DSCR program that might be a little different. But we have people buying an example for unit, it's way under rented, they're going to buy it, they're going to kick people out, they're going to raise the rent, and it's going to eventually cashflow. So that's number one, obviously, number two, you're looking at credit, can you go full dock, and kind of the traditional stuff of everything else, so but when you're looking at a two to four unit property as an investment, you're definitely gonna have to put like, at least 25% down and some people are putting more because rates are higher, and they just want to make sure if they buy it that it's cash flowing, too. So that's probably like the general quick, like overview with wonderful like two to four, for example on investments. Krystle: I think that's the issue like for me, when I look talk to people who are buying four unit properties, the biggest thing I want to make sure of is, like Kenny said, a residential lender will give you a loan even if the property is cashflow negative, but the purpose of buying investment properties is to be cashflow positive. So, you know, you kind of have to do more of your own due diligence upfront, when you're buying a four unit versus apartments, I mean, I like to say like a bank is never gonna let you really fail, because they're not going to give you like a loan that's higher than what the property can support and they're going to put a lot of like cushion in there, too. We have replacement reserves, if you're self-managing, we're still going to use a management fee, we use a vacancy factor, we have all these kinds of things to kind of set you up for success, as an owner, I always say like with apartments, you can you can like you basically have to ignore your property and not pay attention to it and completely neglected in order to run in the ground, like apartments are very forgiving. So when it comes to the four unit space, I tell people like you should be underwriting your four unit, just like you underwrite an apartment building, because probably the agents not going to do that. I think that there's a little bit of a hole in the realtor space where, you know, people that sell homes are also selling two to four unit investment properties, but they don't even know how to underwrite an investment property. So you just want to make sure of that and underwrite it like an investor. Like I always tell people marketing is marketing, right? So you want to look at it as an investment through an investor's eyes? What, what's that really going to cost you not the pretty package, if everything goes 100%- perfect. You want to like kind of factor in, you know, additional expenses that are unforeseen, because these are properties, and especially in southern California, you've got a lot of older properties. So you're probably dealing with plumbing or electrical, you're gonna have more maintenance than what's probably in the marketing package. Michael: So is it fair to semis for a residential, you're more interested in the borrower itself and on the commercial side, you're more interested in the property itself? Krystle: Yes, so we're definitely more interested in the property but I people say that to me, they'll call me and I'll go like, I doesn't matter about what I have. It just matters about probably well, no, we also want to make sure that you have decent credit, we look at what we call global debt service. So we are going to make sure that you can afford your monthly bills and things like that. So you definitely need to qualify, but it's not as strongly looked at as you would on residential. Like for example, if I'm going to do a commercial loan, and I'm getting copies of your bank statements, I'm not going to ask you to source your $1,000 cash deposit. It's painful. So we I like to say that we have common sense. So we allow, you know, cash from business accounts, we allow personal accounts, we're not going to question you about all these things. So yes, we're a little bit more easygoing. because we look at you, as a sophisticated business investor, you're coming to me for a business loan, that means you're a savvy investor, not an unknowing, you know, potential homeowner. So we do look at it a little bit differently, you do need to qualify personally, but we do put most of the weight on the property. Kenny: And you do, but you guys do require, like, if you are getting into bigger loan amounts, like some people, like, hey, I want to go out and buy this 30 unit building, and there is a net worth requirements like that. So the bigger you go with the buildings and the loan amounts, I would say, it's like, they're gonna look at you not just like, you know, net worth but you know, probably like a lot of people like talking about that, like, it's for me, it's going for a bigger building, I'd like to, you can look a little bit more. Krystle: So the big things that you need to pay attention to, because when if you go to a commercial lender, or you want to buy an apartment building, they're not going to give you a pre-approval, they're not going to get you pre qual, if you ask for that, they're going to immediately know that you're a rookie, and you've never done this before, what we look at as your personal financial statement or real estate schedule, and what we're looking at specifically is that your net worth is at least equal to or greater than the loan amount and then we also want you to have 10 to 15% of the loan amount and post close liquidity. So that means after your down payment, after paying out all your closing costs, so let's say you're gonna get a million dollar loan, we want to see that you have 100 to $150,000 of cash or cash equivalents, most of the time retirement doesn't work, that's not going to unless you're close to the age of being able to access it. So and then credit score, it's like, you know, we're kind of like 680 score, I mean, some big owners have like things on their credit. So, you know, that are like maybe a tenant eviction, or like, you know, they've got little things on their credit. So we're not really paying attention to that as long as you look your credit worthy, you don't have a bunch of mortgage lates and you didn't file bankruptcy last year, you know, like, those are the kinds of things that we're looking for, but net worth and liquidity are the two big things that we require looking for experience to a certain level, there is they do want you to have experience, but if you don't, then they want you to hire a professional property manager. Michael: Okay, and yeah, Kenny, you me to the question the words right out of my mouth. So when you do send, because that's like, I've got a mortgage package that I send all the commercial lenders that's got my PFS my schedule, real estate, but for anyone that's just getting started, like if they want to go buy a five unit building as their first one, is that going to be an obstacle for them from a lending perspective? Krystle: Not typically, they might they, they'll more than likely want you to have a professional property manager. That's what most lenders are looking for and quite frankly, though, I've been telling my lenders this more recently, and I feel like believe it or not of all the things, especially with where we're at in the world, and everything in the economy, that I feel like lenders have led up on is the experience because I tell my lenders, you know, it's really funny that anybody can go buy a two to four unit property and again, negative cash flow, here you go, here's a loan, you're gonna be negative $1,000 a month. But now you want somebody have all this experience for apartments, like, if you can survive owning two to four unit properties, and as an investor, then you can definitely own five plus units. I think that's sufficient experience. So we've been getting around that but yeah, some lenders are still going to want it, I still definitely stand by my argument, though, that if you can own a four unit, that you can definitely own it, you know, a 10 unit, it's not like you're gonna go from four to 400. You know, if you go from four to six or seven or 10 units, that's pretty comparable but some lenders might require a signed Property Management Agreement. Michael: Okay and from both your experiences on the owning and operational side of things, I mean, what are some of the big differences that you see and obviously, we talked about lending, but like, just between like a two to four, and then a five plus, like, what are the differences that people should be aware of? Kenny: Yeah, so two to four? Well, one of the things is, especially here in San Diego, a lot of people on the four units, they're, they're moving into them, right. So you're probably how you can have an owner user, if it's an investment, you could live in it, and you have the tenants there helping to pay your mortgage, the other thing is on for units, a lot of times the trash, you might come with the property tax, you don't have to have a dumpster on the property and paying that additional, a lot of times the tenants are paying their own water, electricity and things like that. So the cost of running, it could be cheaper, just from that standpoint and then otherwise, like the for unit, I mean, if you're managing it, you're going to manage it pretty much the same. I mean, Krystle can kind of get in when you're getting bigger, but when you're getting bigger, you know, five to 15 or 16 probably the same when you get over 16 the difference really is you're gonna have that onsite manager by law but then you know, as you get bigger and bigger, if you've got 100 unit, then you're gonna have staff and this so it's really like Chris says, as you scale and size. It's it makes more sense because you know, if you have 100 homes compared to 100 unit property, you know, it's a lot more work 100 homes driving around 100, roughs, 100, things like that. So, you know, I don't know what else you have on a larger scale. Krystle: Yeah, I would say the management of like a four unit to like a 15 unit building is roughly the same. Besides the fact that you have economies of scale, like Kenny, you mentioned, it's like you have all these roofs to take care of all these walls to take care of things like that that are going to be, you know, cut down, the larger the building is so and then once you get 16 plus you have the onsite manager but honestly, I think the psyche of the person owns a four unit is the biggest difference, because like I said, I mean, it's stressful, you bought this property as an investment, you saved a bunch of money for it, if you have to come out of pocket for that investment, that's an extra expense that you didn't anticipate if you have vacancy, or if you know, you've got to evict someone, or things like that. So I just, what I've noticed is that the real estate investors who own like the single family home to the four unit have a lot more stress when they have vacancy or someone that doesn't pay because they're going to be negative. Whenever you own a larger apartment building, you have a little bit more comfort, because you have a little bit more margin for error there. So I think the biggest thing is just the psyche of the person that owns the four unit versus owning the larger building and of course, there's like this kind of break through transition that you have to have to feel have the confidence to make that step. But I tell people, it's 100% going to be easier, the more units you own, like you're just going to feel more safe, more confident, you're going to have a cashflow. No worries, you're not going to be negative, you're not going to be putting money into your investment property. Kenny: Yeah and when we managed, we managed from homes to one point that was over 100 units. The single families would do great until somebody wouldn't pay rent or they'd move out and they had to do a unit turnover and they cost more than the deposit and then it would sit there for maybe a month or two sometimes because they're trying to get this high rent and they didn't listen to couldn't get it and you're losing money and the other thing is, is we know guys that like flip properties, for example, like they flip houses and then you come to environment like now where it's sitting maybe you know could sit 30, 60, 90 days, they're getting zero cash flow and then when the guys started saying, well, I could just flip apartment buildings, and maybe they're going to even hold them for a year or two. In exchange, they started realizing why I'm sitting here on the market. I'm actually making money I'm getting paid, I'm not sitting there going, I need to get all my books, it's cost me money, that private money. So it there's you know, like the bigger the better. So when we manage it all we realize, like, if you really own a house, it's like man, it's almost has to be free and clear to like really make sense. Otherwise, we always thought like, gosh, it's tough, you know? So that's just from our experience here, just managing and then on the bigger when you're more like when you do those little rent raises, right? Yeah, but small rent raise across 3040 50 100 units. That adds up, you don't think so? You're like, oh, 100 bucks a month times 100? Holy crap. That's a lot of money. You know? Yeah. 10 grand, so… Michael: Totally. Okay, that makes a lot of sense and Krystle, you mentioned it before, but I just want to come back to it from the underwriting perspective. What do you do with seller provided pro formas? Do you think there's any value in those? Krystle: Totally, I primarily just pay attention to like utility cost and yeah, like trash and stuff like that. So I pay attention to like, the things that aren't going to change for a new owner and I pad those even a little bit because obviously utility costs have been rising. So those are the biggest things that I pay attention to and then I also want to look at, like I usually ask for the GL, like the general ledger from a seller to because I want to see what repairs they've been making and see look for any kind of patterns. Okay, this property has a lot of plumbing issues, like we need to focus in on that. Maybe we look at replumbing. Maybe we need to get the camera, you know, camera, the lines like we need to look at this. What capex have they done, like I want to know what kind of capital improvements they've done on the property. So I can kind of get an idea of what the condition is. So I definitely do pay attention to sellers, pro formas but I build my own and they usually like for example, brokers here we'll use like a 3% vacancy factor. I use five lenders use five, they'll use like $200 a unit for replacement reserves, we use 250 or even 300. You know, so there's just little things like that where I am going to be more conservative, but certainly actuals are very, very helpful. So if nothing else for the utility costs. Michael: Yep, I was hoping you would say something to that effect. I always say that. They're good for lining your garbage can… like in place rent 400 market rent 1200 It's like, then you get it to 1200. Yeah, you know. Krystle: And you know what, I've seen it both ways. I've seen it where sellers are under estimating what the building's worth. So that's why it's so important for you to do your due diligence because they can be too aggressive. They cannot be aggressive enough. I mean, the whole like, value and finding real estate as an investor is where you can find value where other people aren't, like I've heard so many people say, you know, LoopNet is the worst place to find apartments. Well, I found really good deals on there because I was able to get it in a way that nobody else did. I was able to see value and you know, adding creating additional income or reducing expenses, like there's deals everywhere to be had. It's just are you going to do the work and investigation to find where the little like pops of income and you know value ads are. Michael: Krystle didn't mean it LoopNet is a terrible place. No one should go on and look at it ever. We should all stay off it. Krystle: All right, no, I'll get more deals. Michael: That's exactly right. That's exactly it. Like, I love that it has that stigma because I think it does turn a lot of people off and I like you have found some amazing deals from there. So it's like, awesome, keep thinking that it's like surfing sucks. Don't start, you know, I let people think that… Krystle: People in the water… Michael: Yeah, that's it so from a borrower perspective, and this is I kind of want to give you to the soapbox and the podium to sing it from the rooftops? What are some things that borrowers can do to be better borrowers, both on the residential side, and on the commercial side, like if you could describe your wish list your ideal borrower, what things do they have and what is their kind of their picture look like so to speak? Kenny: And it's kind of funny because I, I'm forbidden to even work on my own loans because I'm not a good borrowers. Michael: Really? Kenny: Yeah, it's funny, right? I'm not a good borrower, I'm impatient but I will tell you, it's very simple. If somebody sends you a list of 10 things, and you actually have those 10 things we actually need them. Not like it's nine out of 10 out of maybe another 10. Yeah, so I always tell I joke, but always tell borrowers this. I said, I'm like your doctor and your attorney. They're like, huh, I said, so if you lie to me, I can't discover the cancer and eventually, we'll probably find the cancer but it will be like, when we're three weeks and underwriting and somebody pulls some report, and something pops up and they go, what's this, you're like, oh, I didn't think you'd find that. So I'm like, whatever you think we're not going to find, just tell me now and so I can tell you, let's deal with it now, and not three weeks down the road. So you know, filling out a full application. Letting us know if there's anything else we should know going on with income with job changing with changing bank accounts with maybe recently purchased property, that you're just not going to tell us that you think we're not going to find, you know, the skeletons in the closet, right, especially for us, because that's really what they're doing. They want to give you a loan, but they also need to go like, what is it that you're not telling us and we pull reports and the reports they pull, they can find things. So for me, it's just being transparent. I mean, the list is pretty easy to follow. I would say one of the things is also a lot of people think I'm self-employed, I don't really show the income or this or that and I can't get a loan, that's really not true. There's many alternative solutions for self-employed. There's solutions for people that might just have you on property rich, I got some cash in the bank, and I you know, I got equity, there's options that don't think because you're not this cookie cutter person, there's not an option, you should talk to somebody and you'll explore it and see and really beat a dead horse and really make sure that there isn't. Michael: Fantastic and what about on the commercial space? Krystle: I again, we're so much easier. I just found that people go like, what do I need to get called and I'm like, send me your personal financial statement or real estate schedule. They're like, okay, what else do you need? I'm like, I'm pretty good. You know, I can tell you. I still want your tax returns and your bank statements and all that. So I think for me, just obviously getting stuff in a timely manner. I, you know, we have those clients that take forever to send you something and then the second they send it to you, you're like, they're like, okay, what are we doing now, like, or have you? Are you done yet? Are you close and you're like, you know, I can I also need time. So I think just having somebody that sends you the information that you need, again, someone like Kenny said, someone that's upfront with you about things, like the other thing that I find is like people are just so like, they don't want conflict, right? So if they're shopping you like they don't want to tell you and I'm like, I've lived my entire life, 18 years doing this business competing, like I'm aware, but you have to be upfront, because if a banker finds out like, you know, if they hear the deal for me, and then they hear it from three other people, like that doesn't look good on you as a borrower. So you want to be upfront with whoever you're working with, hey, look, I'm getting quotes from a few other people. Okay, well, do you know who they're shopping because I just won't go there. Like, that's, that's fine. I don't want to screw the deal up for you. So there's little things like that, where reputation and commercial is so important and this is a small, small business, we all know each other, we all talk to each other. My bankers call me sometimes they go hey, so I just saw this deal from another, another broker, like do you know who's gonna you know, and it's a problem because if I dissected the information, like I don't just take information and throw it at the lender, I dissect it all i breakout capex, I say, okay, I got my insurance, quote, I it's lower than what's projected here. I get a lot of things. So what I submit might be different one than what the other guy is going to submit and so I think, you know, just making sure that you're upfront with people and what you're doing then I can strategize with you like I'm not gonna get upset or work on your deal any less because you know, you're shopping me so I think just being upfront with people is gonna get you the best deal ultimately in the end. Kenny: Yeah, I will say funny to piggyback on that. I might even end Krystle's business. but I know they're really good at what they do. They just do it and they know what they want the bankers, but bankers will say like, if I'm out there like, oh, Krystle limits are so good. I go, well, what's alternative they go You wouldn't believe how many like commercial mortgage brokers just take the stuff from the seller or whatever just send it to us go, hey, what do you think we can do and they're like, did you look through this? No, you do it and you're like, that's the person that's taking your loan and getting a loan, and Krystle, that's what happens. They could submit that to the lender and lenders like, hey, we already saw this, like, that's not right. I know about, we can't just throw it out the window. So who takes your information, how they present it can literally, like cost you a deal at a good lender and it has. So that's one thing to make sure you work with the right people. Michael: Yeah, I mean, to that point, Kenny, what questions should people be asking, of their lending professionals are working with and how do they spot some red flags? Kenny: Well, number one, I would say, you know, if you're working with like, I know Krystal or myself, because I know as you're let's say you're buying an investment property, if your first one, you're probably going to have a, you know, conversation up front, and we're gonna ask you a bunch of questions. So we're going to kind of interview you and we get your stuff. You know, you should be leery when somebody's like, yeah, they took my stuff and I haven't really heard from them. Like, they haven't really asked me anything. I'm like, nothing. They're like, no, I'm like, so did they talk to you about the loan or no and I'm like, so you've had it over there for two weeks? So they mentioned rates? No, I'm like, so when I call somebody to ask them five questions, they can't answer. One, they've been working with somebody, I'm like, what have you talked about that, like, I don't really know. So you should feel very, very informed by the person you're working with and you should feel like, they're getting a lot out of you and they're also even if you're not asking me the questions, I'm kind of like telling you like the things you should know, you should be asking, because, like, so that way, if you do shop, you're like, This conversation was way different with Kenny than then. So and I know you're shopping, I want to be like on your guy, you know. Krystle: You want to feel like the person like advising you and I don't think it's super common really to find that. For me, I think a big thing that's important is if I'm working with somebody, even a broker, like if I want to go work with a broker to buy properties, they should own properties to like, you should be drinking the Kool Aid, like you're selling it, so you should drink it too. You know, so I think you know, somebody who also is an investor, because I think they're going to understand and look at things as an owner and as an investor themselves. Like, when I look at a deal, I'm looking at it as if I was buying it as if I owned it. So a lot of our clients call us and say, What do you think about this deal? You know, and they get, they get our advice, and they want to get like, you know, their brokers advice. So you can listen to a couple of different people, because we all have a little bit different perspective but especially if you're getting into this, you want somebody who can kind of guide you through this and walk you through the process. So I think, you know, if you're interviewing people, or you're wanting to like work with a broker or lender, you should ask them, hey, what's the loan process? Can you walk me through it, and how much that person says is going to be really telling, I think you want to work with somebody you like, you know, you just have to like them as a person and then secondly, ask them about the process and see what they say. I mean, either they're going to say something, you know, a few short sentences, or they're actually going to walk you through and let you know what to expect. I think that's the biggest thing is for us, we're advisors, but we also need to manage expectations and so you're going to find out real quick if that person will manage your expectations or not by you know, just understanding what the process is and how they how they answer that question. Michael: I just want to come back and double click on what you said about liking the person. I can't tell you how many lenders I've worked with that it feels like such a combative relationship, whenever they call, I'm like, oh, god, like so and so is calling, like, kill me now. So versus I've worked with people that I love answering their phone calls, and I've paid more in rate, because I like them and because it was a partnering relationship, as opposed to this, you know, U-verse me type of thing. So I think that that's huge. Krystle: For sure. I mean, it's somebody you're gonna be working with a lot and like, this is like getting like a physical, you know, like, stripped down, look at your… Michael: Full cavity search. Krystle: Yeah, all of it. So, uh, you definitely want to like that person and you want to have like, a sense of trust and I think we only trust people we like, you know, so if you don't really like someone, you know, or they're not getting back to you or they're not really communicating, you're gonna have like, these these, like, you're gonna feel really insecure the whole process and I mean, even as people who do loans, like Kenny says, I'm a bad borrower. Like, yeah, he is because he's always like micromanaging the situation and like, you know, freaking out that there's like, some weird thing that's gonna pop up out of nowhere. So it's like, you want somebody to kind of walk you through that process and manage it. If people who do loans for a living are already stressed out getting loans, like we can guarantee that borrowers who don't do this for a living are probably having a lot of insecurity. Kenny: Yeah, and one more thing I'll say is, this is a good this is good to know, is like I'll get a complicated real estate investor with a lot of stuff. There are certain lenders you go to and there's certain lenders you do not go to and the problem is they're like I was is that this lender that and I get a lot of people that like I went down the road this guy and couldn't get it done. How do you know you can get it done? I'm like, Well, I don't know where he went but this is definitely a doable fall but I can tell you, there's a lot of lenders, I wouldn't take this, why am I because this is just not what they want. They're not good at this, you know, this is not what they do and Krystle is the same way and I think it's like so some people that are not doing you know, the investment stuff that often they just don't know that they just throw it against the wall, hope it sticks, and they come back to sorry, I know you're we're in escrow, we're not going to get it done. You got to we got to start over again. You're like what I'm supposed to close. So, you know, like, like, goes back to like, and trust is good, but also work with somebody that just has it, like, have they closed these loans? Have they done many of them, you know? Michael: Yeah, no, that's great. Y'all, this has been super, super fun. The last thing that I want to touch on, which I'm sure is on everybody's mind, I would love for you all to get out your crystal ball and no, that wasn't a play on words, legitimately. Where do you think rates are going? Krystle: So yeah, I wish we all had a crystal ball for that I've had I have certain clients who think the sky is falling and rates are going to be at 10% by the end of the year and then I have other people who are like, you know, I think you know, because of the amount of debt that we have, we've never had so much debt ever. Real estate inventory is still down, there's still a lack of housing. So in terms of real estate and interest rates, I think rates are gonna go up a little bit more of most of our lenders are predicting another point to a point and a half by the end of the year. But I think after that they're gonna have to start bringing scaling back because this last Fed rate hike, like definitely caused a lot of panic in the market. That was like a rough week for us, just everybody calling is everything, okay and what's happening lenders just raising rates, like multiple times a day, which does not happen in commercial. So things like that. So I definitely saw the scare the next Fed rate hike, I think they will raise the rates again, I think we'll be looking at another half to three quarters hike. So I think we're in like a little low right here, right now I really like okay, treasuries have come back down and finished my summer vacation, you know, but the winter is going to be a cold road, you know, like, I think that things are gonna slow down a little bit, and people are just going to wait and see what happens and rates will be up maybe another point or so and then I think we're gonna have to start heading the other direction, because corporate debt, like there's a lot of debt, besides just our home loans and our apartment loans, there's all the corporate debt, there's government debt, all this stuff, and that's all tied to prime. So if the country can't pay their bills, you know, like, they're gonna have to keep, they're gonna have to keep rates low. Like, we can't keep going like this. So that's, that's my opinion. Michael: There's no such thing as a cold winter in San Diego, come on. Krystle: I mean, 16 degrees is cold. Kenny: Yeah, I think I mean, like Krystle said, you know, piggyback off that, I think at the end of the day, we have to understand why the rates were raised and it's simply we've learned, it's like, yes, Jerome Powell, we got you loud and clear that until inflation, not just stops, but we see it progressively go low, and it stays there, they're gonna keep doing what they only know to do is to I look at it this way and I keep saying this over and over is, the more I studied this stuff, is where they want the economy to boom, they just put liquidity in, they either give it to people, they give you gas credits, give you money, don't pay, well pay your rent, you know, let's lower rates, let's you know, it's all that's monetary coming in, when they want to slow it down and hit the brakes. They just pull the liquidity out and they're pulling tons and tons and tons of liquidity out of the system. It's parked on the sidelines, they don't talk about it, but it's a massive, massive number that's sitting there and so on top of pulling liquidity out, which actually is the bigger issue, right? They are obviously in pushing rates up, so they're gonna hike and then we all know that even if they stopped hiking now and they started doing QE, we probably still have some type of recession, you know, so they're gonna put, we're going to have some pain. I mean, unfortunately, the party went on too long, they spied the Punchbowl and they left it out too long and we are going to have a massive hangover and we're all going to feel it and then they're going to put us to pain right there. We're going to be held down, we're gonna get to two, three wave hold down and then the Jetsons gonna come along and grab you and pull you back out and then when they do that, they'll probably do the same type of thing. So you know, lower rates, no, no one knows the Krystle ball, like how long this is gonna go but I just tell people, you just have to listen to the Fed and they mean business now ad there and when we start feeling pain, but I think like Krystle said is I think we're already starting to hear little this and that, you know, from people we know that owns jewelry stores or people that have you're starting to hear things that in the last couple of months, things have slowed down and you're starting to hear that. It's in one way, it's like not good, but one way it's good because if we don't slow down, they're just going to keep raising rates and we're going to have more probably Oops but I feel like the next hike is definitely going to do. I feel like that's going to be it. That's going to be like the nail in the coffin nail. Yeah, I feel and I think they're going to let that run and then I think like Krystle says, come after summer, I think a lot of people are going to be like, you know, we're gonna start pulling back and I'm already hearing it, I'm hearing it from people, we're gonna do a addition on their house. Now they're not people, we're gonna go buy this or do this. Now, they're not people, you know, you're hearing talks of people and it's not that they don't have the money. They're like, I should probably not do that right. Now, that doesn't make sense but that's because what the Feds doing is working. So once this all happens, of course, we'll be back to QE, lower rates. My prediction is, we probably see start seeing some lower rates definitely by like early next year, q1, q2 starting to see rates come down and look, we might be shocked, depending on how much pain is in the market itself, they might have to really like COVID really hit the hammer on him and drop rates for a small period of time. So I think a refi boom, and the pent up demand that's going to come on the backside of this is going to be pretty insane. The amount of commercial guys that are big syndicators that aren't doing deals. They're just chomping at the bit there waiting. Where's the bottom? So everybody's sitting here going, we're kind of waiting for this recession. Where's the bottom? Where do I enter, right and it's just as unknown and it's kind of weird that we're just sitting here. Usually we get blindsided by it. Michael: Yeah, interesting. Well, we will definitely have to have you both back on and q1 q2 of 23. And see how the predictions panned out. Krystle: If we were right or wrong. Michael: Yeah, well, we'll either be celebrating you are nailing you both up to this… Kenny: But this is but it's funny, because we do we do month over month. I do month over month, a webinar on the housing market and in January, not I mean, you couldn't find one person that we looked at our study that they thought by q4 of this year, the worst highest rate prediction was 4% of this year. We were there like the first month. Yeah, everybody that thought we were gonna go this fast. Nobody predicted that sort of like, I thought this is like we're just kind of like in this. Like, they didn't think that you know, so we're just sitting here going, wow, nobody predicted this. They all thought we'd be raised to be at least a point or two lower, which is crazy… Michael: Oops… Yeah…. Okay. Well, you too, this has been so much fun, really, really, really informative. Thank you so much. If people want to reach out to you both directly, where's the best place for them to do that? Krystle: You can go to https://getinthecashflowgame.com/ and that links to both Kenny and I's, separate sites for financing, whether it's commercial or residential and then we're on Instagram and all the things so I'm Krystle Moore, and he's Kenny Simpson, the opposite the two best places. Kenny: Yeah, appreciate you having us on. This has been fun. Michael: Awesome. No, totally, totally my pleasure and definitely looking forward to chatting with your again soon. Krystle: Absolutely, thank you so much. Michael: Take care you two! Okay, everyone, that was our episode a big thank you to Krystle and Kenny for coming on a lot of fun, super insightful, and especially if you're thinking about making that transition that leap from residential two to four units up to commercial family, this was a good one to listen, definitely keep it in your back pocket and as they mentioned, have some of those documents at the ready and you'll be really well prepared for getting into some of those commercial mortgages. As always, if you liked the episode, please leave us a rating or review wherever you get your podcasts and we look forward to seeing the next one. Happy investing…
Looking for actionable advice to achieve profitability in CRE? In this episode, we welcome Terry Hale, author of “The Two Best Strategies to Profit with Commercial Real Estate.” Terry is an active investor and CEO of a private commercial real estate firm that provides acquisitions for all commercial property types and investment opportunities. Today, he brings his wealth of knowledge and experience to talk about non-conventional investing methodology, value-add assets and self-storage, and how to thrive in the current market. [00:01 - 06:14] Working Smart as an Investor Why Terry decided to reverse engineer his buying approach Getting into value-add plays Terry's advice: Don't do personal guarantees How he's able to protect his portfolio [06:15 - 21:34] The Best Strategies For Profit Terry discusses his book: The Two Best Strategies to Profit with Commercial Real Estate Wholesaling and changing how contracts are written Repositioning and capturing lift and upside How to find distressed sellers Common mistakes that investors are doing right now Networking and building relationships with brokers who are specialists in a particular asset Focusing on recession-proof properties [21:35 - 22:30] Closing Segment Reach out to Terry! Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes “It comes down to the story, the reasons of why they're selling. Once you deal with a motivated seller… They just want you to perform and they're going to play by your rules.” - Terry Hale “Most people are result driven in their mindset, but they just don't make the connection and follow through.” - Terry Hale “So I see that a lot of people are just overpaying for property. They're not looking at opportunity in the growth area.” - Terry Hale ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with Terry! Go to TerryHale.com or email him at support@terryhale.com. Resource Mentioned Reonomy Connect with me: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns. Facebook LinkedIn Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on. Thank you for tuning in! Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: [00:00:00] Terry Hale: when you write it in the contract that the deposit is put down and that you're utilizing a unilateral clause, it's unilateral, meaning it only takes your signature to get your money back. So no one can actually tie up your money. And you always make sure in the contract that there is a specific performance box, make sure that that is always going to be unchecked, meaning that they cannot sue you if you decide to pull out at the end of the day. You have control earnest money and they can't go after you for a specific performance because you didn't perform. [00:00:42] Sam Wilson: Terry Hale is a commercial real estate investor, author, and mentor of 25 plus years in the business. Terry, welcome to the show. [00:00:49] Terry Hale: Thanks, Sam. Thanks for having me. [00:00:51] Sam Wilson: Pleasure's mine. There are three questions I ask every guest who comes in the show: in 90 seconds or less, can you tell me where did you start? Where are you now? And how did you get there? [00:00:58] Terry Hale: Where did I start? So I started off, I'm a third generation contractor. I saw my dad working his fingers to the bone, decided that I didn't want to get dirt underneath my fingernails. So we were doing a big job of development project for a very wealthy individual and I begged and completed for his help. And he put me to work and I worked for 5% and I learned the rich man's game. That's where I, that's where I started off. And I realized quickly once I got my financial legs, that my debt to income ratio was hurt because I guarantee too much debt. [00:01:26] Terry Hale: So I had to reverse engineer my thought of how I can pursue these deals. And I stopped buying property utilizing a capitalization rate. And I started looking for distressed properties that have lift, that have upside. And where I am today is, very successful already, came back out of retirement. And, now I work with people one on one, and we move forward and we mainly acquire recessionary-proof properties, like multifamily, self-storage, and mobile home parks. [00:01:52] Sam Wilson: That is a lot of moving pieces, 25 going on, I think you said 25 plus years there in your bio. And I know it's been longer than that, probably over 30 at this point, from what I understand, most of what you've done has been a pretty non-conventional approach to buying assets. Is that right? [00:02:09] Terry Hale: Yeah, I had to, because in the beginning of my career, I was just, again, buying on cap rates. So I would look at the gross income. I'd look at the itemized expenses, the property's expenses. I'd look at the net income, simple formulas, the NOI divided by the purchase price, that yields the cap, right? Very simple. I was just buying two rips Sam, and I had to reverse engineer and start looking at these value- add plays, vacancy, low rents, mismanaged, property, inheritance property, partners feuding, all those wonderful things that people want to sell. [00:02:39] Sam Wilson: Right. And so when you got into those, were you finding seller financing opportunities? Were you finding, I mean, you know, there's a lot of hair on a lot of those deals, so break some of those down for us and how you've used that as a springboard to really, I mean, the rest of your career, it sounds like you've spent using those same strategies. [00:02:56] Terry Hale: Yeah. And the strategies continued to evolve, just watching and seeing how people are buying businesses and just looking at creative ways. Like, I just continued to go back after I closed a deal and realized, you know, it's going to be a little bit of, of a challenge. And I knew it was a challenge at a time, but, you know, it's just going to be a challenge of time to reposition. [00:03:17] Terry Hale: So we actually went back and worked a deferment of payment where it actually stops the payments and puts the actual monthly debt service to the end of the loan. So they're still going to make their money, but they make it later, which gives us an opportunity to free up capital and kick in the marketing and efforts to fill the vacancies. [00:03:34] Terry Hale: But yeah, some deals have seller financing right out of the gate. Obviously, Sam, they would because they don't, you know, they don't qualify for bank financing, something that's sitting at say 50% occupancy, any lender, regardless it's of a conventional lender or private lender or hard money lender even, they're going to look at it and say, wait a sec, you know, this thing has, like you said, a lot of hair on it and we don't want to take on that risk. [00:03:57] Terry Hale: So they're going to want someone to buy it and come in with a ton of money where it just makes sense for us to approach it from a seller-financed aspect. But for, for the listeners, I want to give some value- add to that. When I was personally guaranteeing these deals, that's what hurt me. That's where I hit the ceiling. [00:04:14] Terry Hale: My credit was good and I still had cash reserves in the bank, but I just guaranteed too much debt. So that's why lenders were shying away from me. So I would encourage all the listeners, whether you're doing residential commercial or buying businesses or doing anything where you're making money, try not to give personal guarantees. It's non-recourse structure. And when you're doing a non-recourse, that means that you're actually signing on behalf of a company versus putting it all the weight on your own shoulders. [00:04:40] Sam Wilson: Right. Yeah. And you've been in this business long enough to have weathered the 2008 crisis where a lot of people got hammered because of their personal guarantees that were out there. How was your portfolio structured differently such that maybe you didn't suffer the same effects that other people did. [00:04:57] Terry Hale: Yeah, it was a bad, big, bad banks, man, with those negative deferred amortized loans. People, you fog a mirror, you get a loan, right? That's what we're talking about. I stopped, when I went into retirement in my late thirties, I was already doing nonrecourse structures. [00:05:11] Terry Hale: When I came back into the game, I realized, Sam, that people, they want really good deals, right? And when I resell these, I'm not selling these at a heavy retail price. I'm still selling them at discounted prices. Because I've created so much value and being able to buy it with creative structures. So one of the things that I did during that whole 2008, that whole upside-down situation. I was all set up in non-recourse structures, but I also did a very slick technique on all my contracts, where I had the contracts written in the way as such where they said that they are assumable, transferable, non-recourse seller finance notes. [00:05:51] Terry Hale: So what that means in layman's terms is that I can actually take that deal at any point in time 'cause everything's for sale, that the wife, the dog and the kid, right? So somebody wants the deal. I can actually take all that work that I put into it, working smart, and putting the deal together, and someone else wants it, they can step right into my shoes and just assume it assume that non-recourse seller finance note. [00:06:15] Sam Wilson: Gotcha. That's very, very cool. I love that. Tell me, you know, about this, you're still using, I think, today two strategies for profit. You guys kind of have two separate parts of your business. How are you finding opportunity, especially as it pertains to these two strategies? Can you break those down for us and tell us how you're finding opportunity in that? [00:06:33] Terry Hale: For sure, Sam. So I did author a book and the name of the book is The Two Best Strategies to Profit with Commercial Real Estate. And the one strategy to profit is everything that we write is always going to be, and I said this earlier, put into a company, right? So our contracts are written in a way where it is, you know, buyer, Terry Hale or one of my companies, but it's always going to be, and/ or signs. So, what that does is that gives the person who has it written in and/or signs the ability to assign the contract. [00:07:03] Terry Hale: So, one of our strategies, when we start going through our due diligence, which typically could be 30, 45, 60, sometimes even 90 days. If we find that there's money in the deal, of course, cause we recognize that up front, but that the juice just really isn't worth the squeeze. We don't want to put our time and energy there ''cause time is money, right? We could focus on something bigger and better that's going to produce more money. So some of these smaller deals, maybe in a smaller tertiary market out in the sticks, we just decide that it's a good deal, but it just doesn't fit our model. So that one strategy we just assign the contract. It's basically flipping our wholesaling commercial property, but it's done in a way where you're not putting any of your capital at risk . 'cause all we do is put up an EMD, which is earnest money deposit. That earnest money deposit is always going to be refundable. And if you're slick enough to do what I do, you never put that money at risk because you have something called the unilateral clause. [00:07:55] Terry Hale: And when you write it in the contract that the deposit is put down and that you're utilizing a unilateral clause, it's unilateral, meaning it only takes your signature to get your money back. So no one can actually tie up your money. And you always make sure in the contract that there is a specific performance box, make sure that that is always going to be unchecked, meaning that they cannot sue you if you decide to pull out at the end of the day. You have control earnest money and they can't go after you for a specific performance because you didn't perform. So that's one strategy. [00:08:28] Sam Wilson: Most sellers, I'm asking for a clarification or tell me why I'm wrong, most sellers, I would think are savvy enough to look at a unilateral clause or a specific performance, you know, clause and just say, you know, we want that in there. You know, Terry, I don't want to do business with you. Thanks for the earnest money. I don't care if it's $10 million, but I don't want you pulling out at the 89 of 90 and then walking. So, no, I'm not working with you. How do you overcome that? [00:08:53] Terry Hale: Well, it does come up from time to time, but not as often as one would think. When it does come up, we just let 'em know that that's the way we do business. And if it doesn't work for them, you know, if time and circumstances changes, circle back and let us know, and we wish you the best. We're not really pulling the wool over people's eyes and trying to sneak stuff through. We have a very high level of ethics and integrity here in my firm, and I've always practiced that throughout my entire career and I always will. [00:09:16] Terry Hale: The main situation here is that the properties that we're going after, and I totally agree with you, Sam, the average person would think just like that, right? Like, Hey, I'm not going to want to do that. I'm going to want to make sure I got you on the hook. And all this, the properties, the differences the properties we're pursuing, and the sellers were pursuing. [00:09:33] Terry Hale: There's either going to be a problem with the property and they can't sell it. There's going to be a problem with the seller and they need some quick relief. As I mentioned earlier, partners feuding, ill health, just out of gas. And it comes down to the story, the story on the reasons of why they're selling. You know, once you deal with a motivated seller, man, I'm telling you, that's stuff that they could care less about. They just want you to perform. And they're going to play by your rules if you're showing them that you have the ability to perform. [00:09:59] Sam Wilson: Right. Absolutely, which brings me to my next question. You know, as far as I can tell, every asset class in commercial real estate is just on fire. And I know you brought up some, you know, points here where you say, Hey, you know, there's, there's partners feuding, or there's, you know, sickness. There's all sorts of reasons why someone becomes a distressed seller. How do you find those distressed sellers? And then I guess on top of that, why don't they just put it out the market? I mean, right now stuff's just selling for stupid prices. So why not just pun it through the traditional channels? [00:10:29] Terry Hale: Yeah. So a lot of times in hot markets, and the market is exceptionally hot right now, there's no doubt, but we are still locating off-market projects. And the way we market to these people, and a lot of people are doing the same is you can purchase lists. You can go on platforms like Reonomy and Reonomy is a platform where you can get cellphone numbers direct to the seller. But the thing about that is, Sam, and you know this, right? Because I'm sure you're like me. We're victims in a sense, because we've been handed a book and we've neglected to read it, cover to cover. We get that gratification right out of the gate that we have that book. [00:11:00] Terry Hale: We have that knowledge in our hands, but until we digest that knowledge, it's still useless. You actually have to digest the knowledge and then apply the knowledge to be able to get the results. Most people are result driven in their mindset, but they just don't make the connection and follow through. And that's just life. That's why that's that 3% rule, that only 3% are actually controlling. The rest of the people are the foot soldiers that are out there kind of, you know, making things happen because they're being delegated the responsibility, and they're given direction and they're following that directly. [00:11:30] Terry Hale: So my point is one would think that even in a hot market like today, that there's tons and tons of competition, but it comes down to also relationship building with brokers beside the fact of doing direct mail or making cold calls through that Reonomy platform or any other way that somebody may use the search engine like Google or being or whatever to actually locate property, go on LoopNet, Crexi, CityFeet, you know, all these different places for self-storage, mobile home parks, mobilehomeparkstore.com. It's also noting that someone out there is advertising to the marketplace. Like you said, slap it up online. Why don't they just sell it? A lot of people just aren't looking for those huge value add deals, where it's going to take a bunch of capital to put into reposition. [00:12:11] Terry Hale: Plus they don't have the connections for third-party marketing management collections to make that happen. And they don't have a team underneath them to really take it serious and move it forward. So we're still finding very, very juicy deals, but the second strategy the one of course is the wholesale strategy. [00:12:27] Terry Hale: The second strategy is to really capture that lift, that upside. And we won't typically touch a project unless it's got seven figures. So it has to have a million-dollar upside for us to really get involved with it, to say to ourselves, okay, we're going to close this deal with capital. We're going to bring on. All of the moving parts, both the physical, you know, automate modernization, and then also the online web presence and all of the way to connect to that third party, put all that energy into it. That's repositioning when we reposition our property for tax reasons, we hold it for 12 months. We stabilize it. We create three things which everyone wants, which is a trailing 12 months, a rent roll and a profit loss. Once we have that intelligent data, we can go back to market. We can slap it up and sell it at retail price. And then we create that lift and make all the money. [00:13:22] Sam Wilson: Right. That makes, that makes a lot of sense. When you look at where we are in the marketplace and you guys are obviously, you know, you've got your own creative strategy for finding opportunity, but as you look at the, and we're going to, you know, just sort of broad, kind of broad brush here, when you look at investors at large and you see the kind of investment philosophy that's going on in the market right now, and especially in this really hot market, what are some mistakes you feel like investors are making right now? [00:13:48] Terry Hale: I've done a deep dive into the way people purchase property. And as I was purchasing property and my original mentor was doing it. And when you're buying property and you're paying these crazy numbers that we just discussed, you're buying it, you know, like out here, you know, California, crazy Malibu, California, where I'm located, you're at like three cap, four cap. I mean, you're not going to make money. The only thing you're doing is playing appreciation and taking advantage of some depreciation aspect. You have, you're lacking in the four reasons why people should buy property to begin with, which is appreciation, depreciation, cash flow, and then to do the cash-out refinance, right? [00:14:27] Terry Hale: So I see that a lot of people are just overpaying for property. They're not looking at, at opportunity in the growth area. For example, we just wholesale a deal in Montgomery, Alabama, and somebody would say, well, why go to Montgomery? Well, look, if you don't have your fingers on the pulse and understanding exactly what's happening in certain areas, we knew just because it was public knowledge where money's going, and there's a couple of hundred million dollars going into the Montgomery area, that tells me something right, tells me something. So when we see things like this happening, or the Panthers are slating out in South Carolina to put in a $32 million arena so they can do workouts and have their athletic field. And we know that money's coming in to little areas like Rock Hill, South Carolina, and you see a self-storage facility sitting at Rock Hill, South Carolina. Well, guess what? People are going to want that deal. And dirt around it, too, for expansion. So just being in the know and I always say common sense, isn't so common. [00:15:24] Sam Wilson: Those are some, some wildly different projects in very different places. How do you stay in front of it? I mean, that's a lot of moving pieces across a very big country. [00:15:32] Terry Hale: Yeah. Well, as they say, the size of your net worth is due to the size of your network. And I encourage everybody to do that networking aspect. I mean, just me meeting up with you and having some common ground. You know, off-topic of this podcast, we could have future discussions. And next thing you know, we're chatting up about something big that's coming into Tennessee in a certain area. And all of a sudden you're like, Terry, put your team to work. Let's find some property. And then voila, there it is. Boom. We land a handful of properties. And it, you know, sky's the limit, man. [00:16:02] Sam Wilson: Absolutely. Tell me about this. I want to circle back on this distressed real estate question a little bit, 'cause I didn't clarify this the way I, that I really wanted to, you know, sure. I used to buy distressed single-family property. I actually cut my teeth for the first six years of real estate only buying at the foreclosure auctions. I can spot a foreclosure right now a mile away. It's like, oh, okay. Yeah, the gutters are overflowing. The grass is high. The trash cans don't come out every week. [00:16:25] Sam Wilson: It's, you know, the paints peel. It's like, you can just pick 'em out, like, once you start buying them, I would say that it's probably not as easy in the commercial real estate space, cuz you don't necessarily know when the partners are having a feud or when someone's suffering from ill health or things like that. How do you build that funnel? For properties that you want to go after you say, Hey, these are potential properties that could have distress. [00:16:48] Terry Hale: Sure. And that's like the shotgun approach due to the rifle approach, right? So if you're doing the shotgun approach, then you gotta kind of keep it apart and ask the bright questions to be able to get to that. There really isn't you know, a website out there that just has, you know, commercial, you know, deals out there that are distressed. Unfortunately, I'm waiting for it, right, when it's there it'll make things a whole heck of a lot easier. [00:17:08] Sam Wilson: Or terrible, ' cause the deals will all go away. [00:17:11] Terry Hale: Yeah, exactly. Everybody would be jumping on 'em you know, So there's a couple of different ways that we approach this. And one of the ways that that is the easiest, right, I'll give the path to least resistance is creating these relationships out there with brokers that are specialists in that particular type of product. [00:17:28] Terry Hale: So I'll use self-storage. For example, self-storage is over 50,000 self-storage facilities across the nation. These are not corporate conglomerates. These are not your cute smarts in your public storage and all, all the new big dogs that are out there, is not the climate control, new generation storage. [00:17:43] Terry Hale: There's 50,000 self-storage facilities that are out there that are second, third generation, second generation, meaning the nonclimate control roll doors. And also the barn doors that still squeak open and close, right, and fall off the hinges. Got it? Now, out of those, out of those 50,000 facilities, statistics show on even Storage Brokers of America's site, that over 85% of those are owned by independent operators like mom and pop, okay? Out of that, what we find, Sam, is the majority of those are lacking in being indexed on Google, having websites, it's all driven by traffic and people don't even know they're there. And to test that, any listener, any listener, you can go right outside the outskirts of your area, 'cause remember the secret sauce here is that self-storage, the particular property type we're in the discussion of right now, that is an industrial zone property. [00:18:35] Terry Hale: So most of these are kind of ugly. They're boxes on dirt. They're not too aesthetically pleasing. It's not like you're looking at something that's appealing. So they're made to go outside of the master plan community. So they're on industrial zone roads. If you locate one storage facility, chances are, you've seen this driving on the freeway. You drive down, next thing you know, you see another one, you see another one, you see another one and they're kind of all somewhat clustered in a particular area. [00:18:59] Sam Wilson: Right. [00:19:00] Terry Hale: Most of those that are out there across the nation do not even have websites. So brokers can do door knocking and you can search the area. And if they do have some type of advertising and they're using something like SpareFoot or something like that, you can find them as well on there. But driving for dollars, the old-fashioned way for brokers, we're finding that mom and pop that are out of gas, but we also use these list brokers and you could get really detailed information, Sam, from these list brokers, like, how long the owners have owned them for. So if they've owned self-storage facilities for, you know, 15 years, chances are, they're tired of waking up in the morning, scratching and yawning, and grabbing their Joe, and rolling back into the box, and sitting there and staring at the television all day long, you know? [00:19:45] Sam Wilson: Absolutely. That's really interesting. I mean, that you say that. I mean, when I think of self-storage, I think of, yes, I think of was still a fragmented market, but I also think of just one step behind multifamily and its competitive landscape in the sense that there's so much institutional money pouring into it. [00:20:01] Sam Wilson: And you're spelling a lot of the myths, probably that people like me, that aren't in self-storage, probably hold, you know, again, you know, unreasonably so. Like, that there still is huge opportunity in this space. So I think, I think that's really, you've given some really helpful insight and information there on certainly on that front. So yeah, I appreciate you giving some insight on how you guys are identifying opportunity. And in this case, you know, just particularly in self-storage and how you're working with brokers as well. I mean, that's the key we hear on this show all the time, which is that the brokers hold the keys. So, you know, getting to know your brokers is certainly the path to success. Terry, I appreciate you coming on. Is there any last thought you have for our listeners before we sign off? [00:20:43] Terry Hale: Hey, you know, I mean, we can all take it with a grain of salt on what people are sitting here with their predictions on what's happening next. We know that there's inflation. We know that gas is up, right? Gas prices are, I just got back from Florida, man, it was like foreign change a gallon and out here in California, almost at like over seven bucks. [00:21:00] Sam Wilson: Wow. [00:21:01] Terry Hale: I know. So like how do you justify this stuff? I think it's just willy-nilly, man. It's just all out there. So I say focus on the recessionary proof property, like the multifamily, the self-storage, and even mobile home parks. There's plenty of those out there and just take some action and get out there and create those relationships. As I said, get educated in, in that expertise of, of where you want to, you know, gravitate towards. And, you know, commercial real estate has made more multi-millionaires and any other product that's out there still to this day, even with the new crypto stuff and all that happening. You know, it's a rock-solid business and it's real estate, you know, it's real. So I'm for everybody to get to it. Yep. [00:21:35] Sam Wilson: That's cool, man. Terry, thank you for coming on today. Certainly appreciate it. If our listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about you, what is the best way to do that? [00:21:41] Terry Hale: Yeah, they can go to my website, which is my name, which is Terry Hale, T E R R Y H A L E.com. I'm huge on support, Sam. So my email is very simple. It's support@terryhale.com. If anybody wants to reach out and have a quick chat, see if we're fit, see if I can help you get in the business. I'd love to do so. That's what I'm here for. And I'd appreciate you having me on, Sam. [00:22:01] Sam Wilson: Awesome. Thank you, Terry. Appreciate it. Have a great rest of your day. [00:22:04] Terry Hale: Yeah, you too. Thanks, man.
Real estate is continuously evolving, and one area that is prime for innovation is construction. In this episode, Mike Angelo discusses what they are doing to usher change and challenge the status quo in the development world. Mike is the founder of NK Development Group which focuses on large multifamily (apartments) and ground-up development. He gives the nitty-gritty on industrialized and prefabricated construction and the challenges and opportunities in the sector. He also shares his journey as an investor and how he's able to grow his business. [00:01 - 09:27] Exiting Corporate America and Entering Multifamily Becoming an investor after being let go of the company he's working for Mike talks about his first deal How they were able to raise capital Breaking down the deal structure Hitting their business and personal financial goals [09:28 - 19:31] Bringing Innovation to Development What Mike and his team are doing to build better properties What are industrialized and prefabricated construction? Balancing quality and affordability The importance of speed to market Why vertical integration is key Navigating local codes and regulations Mike discusses the projects they're working on right now Lessons Mike learned in his journey [19:32 - 20:40] Closing Segment Reach out to Mike! Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes “We're trying to break the rules here and do things differently. We've had traditional home builders doing stick frame building forever. And it's an antiquated process.” - Mike Angelo “We have so much technology around us, but construction really hasn't innovated. And so we're trying to push those boundaries.” - Mike Angelo ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with Mike! Email him at mike@nkdevelopmentgroup.com and follow him on LinkedIn. Fannie Mae Life Bridge Capital Connect with me: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns. Facebook LinkedIn Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on. Thank you for tuning in! Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: [00:00:00] Mike Angelo: in order to break the mold, you got to challenge the status quo and the reason we should challenge it is the profitability. Once you build some of these projects, you're in single digit margins, which is highly risky, especially going into the volatile world where we're now shifting into. How do you increase those margins and also build maybe a lower cost product because the affordability factor is also a challenge. [00:00:32] Sam Wilson: Mike Angelo's a full-time real estate investor focused on value add multifamily and ground up development across the Southwestern United States. Mike, welcome to the show. [00:00:41] Mike Angelo: Hey, thanks for having me, man. Super excited. [00:00:43] Sam Wilson: Pleasure's mine. There's three questions I ask every guest who comes in the show: in 90 seconds or less: can you tell me, where did you start? Where are you now? And how did you get there? [00:00:50] Mike Angelo: Awesome, man. Started in corporate America. I was an executive sales leader for the last 20 years. Basically we worked for the construction supply world, so working on selling stuff to contractors, I love the job. I love the people, but it was brutal and I was trying to find a way out. [00:01:03] Mike Angelo: And my, my exit came in 2019. I got the pink slip and, and a severance package and I said, okay, what do I do now? And I knew for sure it wasn't going to be another corporate job. So, I had been researching real estate multifamily specifically jumped right in convinced my wife to support us for the next couple years until I figured it out. [00:01:19] Mike Angelo: And today we are I don't know, about 50, 50 plus million in assets, under management, couple of projects that we've closed. Now, couple more projects in the works as we speak, including a ground up development deal. And it's been fun, definitely wouldn't go back, but it's definitely been challenging at the same time. So, we love the space. We love trying to provide housing, but yeah, it's not easy. It's competitive out there. [00:01:41] Sam Wilson: Jumped right in. I mean, it's one thing to be like, Hey, by the way, you're fired. And then you said, I just jumped right into multifamily as if there were a pool of water there waiting, you know, for you to leap into what can you, what does that mean? And how did you jump right in? [00:01:55] Mike Angelo: I think the biggest thing was listening to podcasts like yours and there's a, there's a group out there. Life Bridge Capital, Whitney Sewell. If you heard of him, I'd been listening to him. And I had, it was just eye opening to go, you know, my real estate experience was consistent of two flips in 2007. [00:02:09] Mike Angelo: It's all I had. And, and he's talking about buying apartment buildings with, you know, syndication process, pulling, you know, investors together and being able to do this. And it's such a, I always thought the country club guys, or the big corporate America or, or who own apartment building. And so once I realized that, one, it was possible, two, you know, I could do this. [00:02:26] Mike Angelo: It's not rocket science. What, what do I need to do? And it was just go, go for that. The numbers made a ton of sense instead of, you know, buying a duplex or a triplex and just trying to move my way up. I said, I have to find the quickest path to replacing my corporate income and it wasn't going to be through small projects. It had to be, you know, 50, 60, 70 units at a time. [00:02:43] Sam Wilson: How did you find and acquire your first property? [00:02:46] Mike Angelo: Lots of digging around. It was actually kind of by accident, to be honest with you. We, we were under contract on a deal in Albuquerque in New Mexico and another city's called Las Cruces, a couple of hours south of there. [00:02:56] Mike Angelo: And I just didn't know anything about the market other than I had been there a little bit. And I just randomly found a broker on LoopNet, which is the worst place to find deals, by the way ,but great place to find brokers. And I saw his name and I just called him cold call and said, Hey, I'm, I'm going to be in town. [00:03:10] Mike Angelo: Do you have anything that's coming up? He's like, yeah, I'm getting ready to list a 60 unit deal. And great. Send me some info, would love to take a look at, underwrote it, said, ah, it looks interesting, but I'm going to focus on my energy on the other one. The other one fell through, unfortunately. And then I circled back to him about a month later. [00:03:23] Mike Angelo: I said, Hey, is this still available? He said, we're getting some traction, but, you know, put an offer in. Put an offer in, got it accepted. And it took us four months to close it, just working through the nuances of our first raise and all that kind of good stuff. But yeah, we got that done in May of '21. So just a, a little over a year ago. [00:03:38] Sam Wilson: Man, that's awesome. That is absolutely awesome. You know, tell me about this. I mean, going through your first capital raise, I mean, that's the two things and I, and I say this over and over play a broken record on this show, but you probably don't know that. You know, the two things we need this business are money and deals. [00:03:52] Mike Angelo: That's right. [00:03:53] Sam Wilson: You found the deal. How did you solve the money side of it? [00:03:56] Mike Angelo: So fortunately, through, I did get some education in multifamily by the way. So I didn't just listened to podcasts. I went and got formerly educated and I found a couple of folks to help us get the deal done. So one, Michael, my partner, he had some ability to access capital and, you know, the rest of it was us hustling. [00:04:10] Mike Angelo: It was him and I calling our friends and family and, fortunately, it wasn't the first time, you know, our folks had heard about us doing real estate, but this was our first deal. So everyone's always like, Hey, when you have a deal, call me. And so sure enough, if that list is a hundred people, they're like, ah, I can't I'm I'm tied up right now. [00:04:26] Mike Angelo: Or, or there was always some excuse. It's always the first one, right? It's a challenge. So, it was a struggle, but we got it done. We raised just enough money to, to get our CapEx deal, our fees and all that kind of good stuff, but a sprint to the end call it. But definitely not easy. And fortunately through that same network, and I think the network is everything in this business. [00:04:43] Mike Angelo: You know, we found our key principal to help us sign on the note, 'cause not only do you need the money, but you got to have liquidity, net worth, experience. You know, we got a, a Fannie Mae loan and Fannie just doesn't loan to anybody that wants, you know, to buy an apartment building. [00:04:56] Sam Wilson: Right, right. And so it was through, it was through your network that you had joined. It's not like you joined a mentorship group, which there's lots of 'em out there, but where, you know, lots of people putting their heads together and saying, Hey, you know, we can find the key principal here that can help you sign on the loan. We can have the experience, you know, check box, check by this person coming on as a, as a KP in the deal. How much deal equity do you feel like you gave away? Or what did you give away in order to make sure that all of those right people were on the right seats in the bus in order to get the deal done? [00:05:26] Mike Angelo: So our first deal, we were just like, we got to do whatever we can to get it done. I think, as I've talked to other folks that have gone through my shoes, you know, they've given 50, 60% of the deal away to, to get it done. [00:05:35] Mike Angelo: We were very blessed that we didn't need to do that. It was in the thirties, but we did all the other work. So the person that was on our, you know, our key principle for the note liquidity. 30%, everything else we did. And so it's an awesome deal. Our investors are, are super happy right now. The one thing I will say is, man, we structured that deal for, to be very investor friendly. [00:05:54] Mike Angelo: And now that it's crushing it, we're like, man, we'd love to get a little bit more of that on our side. That's okay. It's good. It's a good story to tell because our investors are, are now repeat investors, right? And that's what you want. [00:06:03] Sam Wilson: Right. Tell me about the the way you structured that deal. Can you, can you give us the specifics on the structure of it and how you maybe want to do it differently next time? [00:06:10] Mike Angelo: In the syndication world, you usually hear kind of 70, 30. The limited partner gets 70% of the deal. 30% goes to the house. We did a preferred return of 7% and basically we didn't do any IRR hurdles or any of the stuff. I didn't even know what the hell IRR hurdle was when we were first doing it. So, you know, this thing is cash flowing at like 9% or 10% now. So we're getting a little bit of the scraps, but it's all good. And we've been able to hit our, you know, three year business targets in year one, we just did our first year. [00:06:37] Mike Angelo: And so, you know, the market has definitely helped . So everyone looks to be a hero at this point, but we've been able to find a deal that was under market from a rent standpoint and push it. So, yeah. And we'll do the same, I think, on the rest of the future deals, it's similar. We're just putting in a few more hurdles. So once we hit like a 19 or 20 IRR, then the split changes a little bit. But it's very nuanced buy deal. [00:06:57] Sam Wilson: Right, no. Understood. Understood. I just, you know, I've, I've had people come on the show that, you know, had given away 90%, they're doing 90 10 splits on their first deal, just 'cause they're like, man, I don't care if I don't make a dollar on this or maybe I that's all I make is a dollar. I just need to get the first one done. And then, you know, we'll worry about, you know, making profit later on. We just want to take care of our investors and get a deal done. [00:07:19] Mike Angelo: I challenge that model by the way. Because here's the thing. If an investor's giving you money, they expect you to work for that. That, that is how you're also getting paid. And so you're, you're now you have to be a fiduciary for these guys, and if you're only getting a dollar, how motivated are you to go work on this deal? You have to, it has to be equitable for everybody. And we're very transparent about that. And, and our investors are good. [00:07:42] Mike Angelo: You know, they're good with it, you know. Do they love our three and half percent AC fee? No, but Hey, here's what you're getting for that. And, and I think that's critical 'cause everyone needs to make a good amount of money to support the 'cause it's a lot of work. This is not like, Hey, we bought a building, the PM now does everything. We do nothing. No, that's absolutely opposite. [00:07:58] Sam Wilson: Right, absolutely. On the topic of money, one of the things that you set out to do in the multifamily space was to replace obviously the income that you had before. Have you been able to achieve that yet? [00:08:10] Mike Angelo: This year, we will. I will hit that target. So it took two and a half years, two and a half years. So it wasn't pretty, it wasn't pretty along the way. My wife has a full-time W2. Thank goodness. And, and I think I mentioned, I had a little bit of a severance package and I followed the Dave Ramsey method. So we had some cash in the bank for that rainy day fund and it worked, you know, thank goodness. [00:08:29] Mike Angelo: So you know, we've depleted through a lot of that and you know, this business takes working capital. So there's a lot of that, you know, get it in, get it in, and then you got to wait till, you know, the deal closes and get it back out and then return it. So this year, we'll hit that number. So we're halfway through 2022 and I'm happy to say I was hoping to hit that target last year, but, you know, we didn't close enough deals. [00:08:49] Sam Wilson: Right. No, man. The reason I bring that up is because, you know, a lot of people either have unrealistic expectations, you know, when they jump in and some people do. I mean, certainly we've had the people come on the show that are like, Hey man, a year ago, you know, I got fired from my job and now, you know, I'm making seven figures a year and you're like, wow, good for you. [00:09:06] Sam Wilson: Like, you know, it can happen. But that's the exception that proves the rules, is that the right way to say that? I don't know. Anyway, you get the point where it's like, Hey, this is a, get rich, slow game, and it takes time to build your nest egg, to build your team, to build your properties. [00:09:19] Sam Wilson: It's something that, you know, I like to talk about that because it gives some realistic expectations for people that are looking to get in and grow that this takes a lot of time. So, you know, thank you for being willing to share that. We talked a little bit off air about development and development deals. Tell us what you guys are doing on the development front, how you finding opportunity there and why development. [00:09:39] Mike Angelo: Great. Awesome. So, when I left the corporate world, the first thing I wanted, I always wanted to be a developer. I just had no business doing it 'cause I didn't know anything about it other than, you know, they need stuff to build it. [00:09:48] Mike Angelo: So, you know, we, we said, Hey, let's do multifamily value add first. Let's build a cashflow, let's build a resume. And let's pivot into development 'cause as we, you know, being in Phoenix and is one of the hottest markets in the country, you buying value add deals, there's a kind of per unit cost and that those are trading for, and those are 1970s, 1960s even properties. [00:10:06] Mike Angelo: Here trading for about two 50 a door, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, when you look at the replacement costs and you look at, you know, ground up construction, Those are similar costs per square foot per unit however you want to look at it. And so then the math, you kind of scratch your head, go, I can build something brand new, rent it for at least a few hundred dollars above value add deal. [00:10:26] Mike Angelo: Yes, it takes me two years, two and a half years to build it, but that makes a lot more sense. And the yield is, you know, very good. And so it's just a different way to look at the same problem, which is we don't have enough good housing. And so that was our kind of mantra. Say, we got to figure that out. [00:10:40] Mike Angelo: And then I'm trying to break the rules here and do things differently. We've had traditional, you know, home builders doing stick frame, building forever. And it's an antiquated process. You know, we have so much technology around us, but construction really hasn't innovated. And so we're trying to push those boundaries and there's lots of guys doing those modular solutions and finding ways to, to build better 'cause we have a labor shortage. We have housing shortage. We can't produce quickly enough. So we're trying to figure that out. And we found a great partner. We found, you know, some developer experience and contractors locally that are willing to help us and, and also break the mold of the traditional, Hey, we're going to do it this way. [00:11:13] Mike Angelo: And so it's early on in the phase. We bought the land last year and we're in the entitlement phase. So that's improving the property on paper essentially. And working to get that green light so we can reach up already in the next 60 days, hopefully. [00:11:25] Sam Wilson: What will you be doing to break the mold, as you say? [00:11:30] Mike Angelo: It's finding this network that we talked about. It's called industrialized construction. So think of, you know, Tesla building houses and factories. Now you got to, when you think modular, most people go to mobile homes and that's not what we're doing, right? We're building a high quality product, just in a factory environment. Finding the network, right now, I think 5% or less of all construction projects are built in industrial fashion, industrial modular fashion. So that, you know, pre-fabricated method. So in order to break the mold, you got to challenge the status quo and the reason we should challenge it is the profitability. [00:12:02] Mike Angelo: Once you build some of these projects, you're in single digit margins, which is highly risky, especially going into the volatile world where we're now shifting into. How do you increase those margins and also build maybe a lower cost product because the affordability factor is also a challenge. [00:12:17] Mike Angelo: You know, we have a huge middle market America that can't afford $1,900 rent for a one bedroom. So can we charge $1500 or $1400? Well, you can't if it costs you so many dollars per unit to build. So that's the problem we're trying to solve is how do we build it for lower cost? And the only way to do that is to make it more efficient and use smarter products and, and then try to solve the problem the other way. So, that's the why. [00:12:39] Sam Wilson: Tell me about that a little bit more, you know, industrialized construction. Have you guys settled, assuming you get the property entitled, have you settled on a particular, Hey, this is how we're going to build this product. This is how we're going to put it together. This is going to be the supplier. This is going to be the timeline. I mean, have you solved all of those factors yet? [00:12:56] Mike Angelo: No. I'd love to say yes. And we had, we thought we had it solved from a complete, again, build the entire unit in a factory. The challenge is an uphill battle with majority of America and even local contractors are like, dude, you're crazy. Don't do that. And so what we're going to do is something in the middle. It's pre-fabricated cold form steel. So instead of building out a wood, we're building out a light steel studs. And you still get that fabricated panel. So you got a floor. You get walls. Assembly is, is almost as quick as building it in the factory. [00:13:24] Mike Angelo: And then you have your finishing crews, your mechanical electrical guys coming in and, and putting the rest in. So there's still labor on site. I would love to get to a point where I have an complete, you know, wall exterior, interior, plumbed. And then it gets assembled. That's where I'd like to get to. We're not there yet. [00:13:38] Mike Angelo: I think it's, again, that, enforcing people to think about, you know, even robotics, if you think of a factory, instead of having labor there, you have robots doing this stuff. It sounds super high tech, but that's where we're going. [00:13:50] Sam Wilson: Is where a speed to implementation advantage? [00:13:53] Mike Angelo: Usually you could save between 30 and 40% of time. A multifamily, call it a three story, you know, boring, a hundred unit deal. Wood frame will take you 18 months, 24 months. You might be able to do that in 12 to 15. So speed to market is one of the main reasons, but that comes with a cost. And so folks get hung up on, well, it's going to cost me more on paper. [00:14:13] Mike Angelo: Well, it might cost you a little bit more front, but now you don't have punch list stuff. You're saving holding costs, holding costs are incredibly expensive. We haven't got it all figured out. We're getting there slowly. First project, right? [00:14:24] Sam Wilson: No. Absolutely. And again, these are things, I know you don't, you don't necessarily have all of your ducks in a row on this yet, but I think it's, it's a great time for us to chat about it 'cause you get to see the inside view of kind of the problems you're trying to figure out and solve as you go through this. So maybe you don't have all the answers, but it's like, Hey, here's a way that this could work. You know, if, if we had it in the ideal world. I guess one of the other things I would think about in this, in this kind of pre-fabricated, you know, development space is that you probably have a much more consistent product would be one of the things I bet you would get out of something like that. [00:14:55] Mike Angelo: Yeah. Quality, consistency. And so the other, I would say the other piece of challenge is a red tape amongst municipalities and inspections and, you know, Hey, you're building something in factory. [00:15:05] Mike Angelo: I can't inspect it on site like I've been doing for 50 years. Okay. Yeah. We'll come to the factory, let me show you what we're doing and we're building a better product. So it, it will get there. And I'm telling you, there's probably, I think, a dozen or less firms working to solve this problem. We are the tiniest, tiniest little guy on the development front. [00:15:20] Mike Angelo: I think the solution is vertically integrate. So you're the developer. You need to have access to a manufacturer, whether that's your partner or you're doing it yourself. And that way, those products just flow through. And there's a couple big companies doing that right now. So we're looking to align with them and, and understand how they're doing it. [00:15:36] Mike Angelo: And again, not reinvent the wheel. We'll probably just partner with them and say, put us on your list, 'cause we need, you know, 1500 units in the next two years. [00:15:43] Sam Wilson: My next question is, is about codes on that, like dealing with codes, dealing with your local municipalities. I mean, that's, it's one thing to find a cool product that may be the perfect fit, but getting it through your local zoning and building ordinance departments may be a nightmare. How are you guys navigating that? [00:16:00] Mike Angelo: So all of these manufacturers are building to international building code, IBC, right? The latest building code. So they're better products than anything that's being built on site. The challenge is a local municipality, like you just said, so it's getting them aligned early. [00:16:12] Mike Angelo: You know, those fire marshals, the, the city inspectors say, Hey, this is why we're doing it this way. And the groups that have been successful thus far, they align very early on and they partner with that developer to, you know, say, Hey, you know, we're going to build six of these. The first one's going to be the hardest, 'cause that'll be the one, the trial project. [00:16:29] Mike Angelo: But once that municipality buys in on it, then now you're building within that county or that city, then you're rubber stamping from a production standpoint and that approval process becomes easier. The other challenge is the subs. If you're an electrician and you've been doing it traditionally forever on site, and you got to hire 50 guys to do this, but you might only need three guys now on site because all the work's being done in factory. So that's a mind shift as well, you know, change on how you staff it. [00:16:54] Sam Wilson: Right. Yeah. I can only imagine. Getting your subs educated, getting everybody in your team built around this. But I think, you know, the long term play is what, what you're in it for here in that once you get the kind of kinks worked out, it will become a much smoother process. [00:17:09] Sam Wilson: I look forward to tracking with you on that. You do have two developments, I think you said, underway. Are both of those in the kind of prefab construction space or are those, any of those going just traditional build? [00:17:20] Mike Angelo: So we have one multifamily project that's we started earlier and then this month we're closing on another piece of land that wasn't on our radar. And, and we already had a lot on our plate, but it was such a cool project. So I'm in Phoenix desert, but we have an area called Pinetop. It's up in the mountains. That's like 6,000 feet. And so we're buying some acreage up there for single family development. A couple of modular builders, because again, it's the same problem. [00:17:42] Mike Angelo: How do we build it faster, quicker? And so we'll, we're taking on a single family development. Again, our developer that we partner with or is helping us navigate the complexity of that. But that'll start hopefully in the next couple months as well. And so, yeah, we're taking on a lot of things, but it's, it's fun to try to solve problems, you know? [00:17:59] Mike Angelo: Absolutely. As you review the last two years of your multifamily and commercial real estate experience, is there anything that you would do differently that would either speed up, save time, you know, shave some learning curve off? Is there anything that you would do a little bit differently if you could do it over? [00:18:17] Mike Angelo: I think I spent a lot of time underwriting 'cause, you know, I didn't have a ton of net worth, I didn't have a lot of liquidity, so I passively invested a few deals, but I was like, how do I bring value to a, if you just talk about the multifamily space, you know, again, you need key principals, experience liquidity and you got to find the deal. [00:18:33] Mike Angelo: My goal was I'm going to go find a deal and then I'm going to go find partners to bring in and, and they'll sign on the note for me. And that was kind of the education that they teach you, by the way. And so I just spent a ton of time looking for deals and not enough time finding partners, good partners, vetting them. [00:18:45] Mike Angelo: And that key principal would've made life a little bit easier on, Hey, you know, we need this much cash for hard money, earnest money. We need, you know, this much for, and we need to have an investor base other than, you know, friends and family. And so I would say if I did it again, I would go back and spend a little more energy vetting those partners earlier. [00:19:02] Mike Angelo: It took me like almost a year to kind of figure that out. I had partners come and go. And would I change it? Maybe. What I learned in the process is, man, I can underwrite really well in the conditions that I look at. And now, fortunately, I have a team that can help us do that and they, they do the majority of the underwriting. [00:19:18] Mike Angelo: So delegation and maybe doing more of that for getting out of the weeds. Actually, I told you, I spent, I was up till midnight doing a, a YouTube video for our investment webinar. I need a marketing person, right? I shouldn't be doing that, but it's what you got to do when you're, when you're early in the process. [00:19:32] Sam Wilson: That's absolutely you're right, Mike, I appreciate you taking the time to come on today and share with us your story. You know, how you have grown to where you guys are today. What your thoughts are surrounding development and solving the housing shortage problem and doing that in a, in a very creative way. Thank you for taking the time again to come on and share today. Certainly appreciate it. If our listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about you, what is the best way to do that? [00:19:53] Mike Angelo: Yeah. Awesome, man. Thanks for having me on the show. I'm on LinkedIn. It's Mike Ashish Angelo. You can email me if you want. It's mike@nkdevelopmentgroup.com. Love to reach out. I always challenge folks on podcasts. Call me if you, if you're in the same, you know, struggles, let's set up a call. And I'd be happy to talk to anybody and, and try to help 'em through the process. [00:20:09] Sam Wilson: Awesome. Mike, thank you again for your time. Certainly appreciate it. Have a great rest of your day. [00:20:13] Mike Angelo: Thanks man. Take care. Cheers.
Today, we welcome Zach Roesinger, a commercial real estate broker, syndicator, and CEO of CRE Pro Course. Zach is also involved in a lot of obscure deals which he discusses in this episode. With all of these things on his plate, he's able to make it work by building scalable systems and delegating effectively. He also shares the value of actively going out, taking whatever opportunity is out there, and putting yourself in front of people. Zach specializes in Opportunity Zone real estate acquisition, entitlement, and zoning, as well as construction management of new build projects. Specializing in 1031-Exchange consulting and third-party capital placement in QSRs (Quick Service Restaurant) and franchised businesses by providing risk-adjusted returns to investors. He has traveled to over 100 countries and worked on 5 continents for companies like LVMH, Newmark Knight, Cloudera, and Montegra Capital. As a sales leader for Trulia and Zillow, Zach “cut his teeth” outbound cold calling [ >250 calls/day] closing large deals with some of the largest brokerages and real estate teams in the US. A polyglot (fluent in Spanish and Portuguese), Zach has built sales teams that leveraged automation and proven sales techniques, teaching Heavy Hitters to focus their efforts on out-of-the-box solutions to complex commercial real estate deals to provide their customers and clients with unparalleled sales experiences. [00:01 - 10:01] What Keeps You Going? Zach shares his background, CRE Pro Course, and his other ventures How he's able to focus on his multiple businesses Identifying tasks that you're uniquely skilled to do Standardizing procedures Having the right people in the right places Why Zach prefers to personally go out and do listings Picking up new properties and projects Meeting and talking to people, especially the workers onsite The way that you advertise is by doing a good job [10:02 - 19:55] Be The Master of Your Domain Zach discusses his racetrack business and targeting buyers for nuanced properties Exemplifying that you are the expert in the space Make it easy for your clients and contact to complete the task you want them to do Eliminate steps Zach's recommended app [19:56 - 21:55] Closing Segment Reach out to Zach! Avoid pitch slapping Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes “Put the right people in the right places, and make sure that they're happy and well-compensated for doing what they do, and that they're held to the certain standard that you know, a winning team is going to be held at.” - Zach Roesinger “It's really just going to be what is exciting and appealing to you, and what keeps you keeps you going and gets you going every day.” - Zach Roesinger “One of the most fun parts about brokerage and actually selling something is going out, hanging out with the dudes with the welders that are just in overalls. Those are the best people to actually get some insight from.” - Zach Roesinger ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with Zach! Follow him on LinkedIn. Visit the CRE Pro Course website if you want to know more about the work they do. Check out his podcast, Coffee with CRE Closers. Connect with me: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns. Facebook LinkedIn Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on. Thank you for tuning in! Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: Zach Roesinger 00:00If you had considered selling your racetrack, but you had never told anybody about it, but you didn't want to be the guy out there waving his hand saying, Oh, I'm selling my racetrack. I'm selling my, if you want somebody else to be out there marketing it for you, it just brings a prestige to your market. It allows somebody else to actively go out and get those while you run your race track, and it creates this buffer. Intro 00:23 Welcome to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Show. Whether you are an active or passive investor, we'll teach you how to scale your real estate investing business into something big. Sam Wilson 00:33 Zach Roesinger is a commercial real estate broker. He's the CEO of creprocourse.com. And also a real estate syndicator. Zach, welcome to the show. Zach Roesinger 00:43 Sam, good to be here. My man very much appreciative of you and thanks for having me on. Sam Wilson 00:48 Absolutely, pleasure's mine. Three questions I ask every guest who come to the show. In 90 seconds or less, where did you start? Where are you now? How'd you get there? Zach Roesinger 00:55 Great questions. I'll start now. Clock go. I came from Denver, Colorado. My father is a real estate broker did land and big deals throughout my childhood. So I was brought into commercial real estate early, understand the cyclical flow of it, and how some days can be really great and other days can't. You have to come back to your family every day with a positive smile on your face when things are great, when things are not. I've traveled to over 100 countries around the world. Live now in Austin, Texas. And as you mentioned, I am the CEO of CRE Pro Course and CRE PRro Course is an online course that allows or teaches new agents who have yet to close their first deal to get their first listing and the first closing in the first six months so that they can bridge that gap and between coming over from residential real estate maybe or, or they're getting into it from another field altogether. So sometimes it's hard to get into commercial real estate because the closing time for your first closing is so long, most people can't last that long. But we teach you how to do it in your first six months. Some people do it in two months. So I also work in syndication, and I work in brokerage as well. So I sell warehouses, very obscure things a race track I have on a car dealership, a recycling center. So I really liked the obscure deals, and I'm always looking for more. So Sam, let's get together and do a deal soon, man. Sam Wilson 02:14 Sounds like a winner, man. That's a lot of fun. And also a lot of different moving parts. How do you choose which one to focus on? Zach Roesinger 02:22 Great question. It's funny because I have employees, and I work for people in each of these companies. And they say, you know, it's just mind blowing, Zach, I can barely keep one job straight, you know, throwing all the balls in the air and keep throwing them up. And it's just time attention to a particular task and importance, right? I attach a beta to every task that I'm doing. Is it really important? Do I need to do it now? And can somebody else help me do this? So as we talk about a scaling real estate venture, it's really important to be able to identify those tasks which you're uniquely skilled to do. that your company relies on you for and then make sure that you can, that you could probably do most tasks in your company, Sam, it's really helpful to be able to standardize those tasks, and then create a procedure around them and then have somebody who's maybe better apt to doing them actually follow through with it. So a good example is real estate flyers, right? When we get a new listing, you and I could probably sit down to InDesign or Paint program and come up with a really good-looking flyer, but is that the best use of six hours of our time? For me, it's probably not there are other people, my team that are really good at it. But they need to know what goes on there. Because they're really good at design, but they're not in the day to day, right, they don't understand the intrinsic value behind what I'm trying to sell in the commercial property. So it's really important to be able to scale out a business. And the way you do that is by standardizing, creating procedures, and then replicating yourself and really focusing on the things that you're good at. And more so on my teams. I know that there's some like I call them whale hunters, right? Some of the brokers that work for me, they are really, really good at closing deals opening, they're really good at relationship management. They're terrible at paperwork. So I don't want them doing paperwork, it's a bad use of their time, it's bad use of our resources. There are people on our team that are really good at it, right, you know, they're wizards at CoStar, they're wizards at Crexi, they can draft again, they can draft a flyer that makes just like, it's mind-blowing. But for them to do that, we have to have people going out, we have to have team members going out and actually getting the business without the whale hunters out there finding new deals, there's nothing for the rest of the team to do. So it's my goal as a manager or as a teammate, or anywhere in the organization is to put the right people in the right places, and make sure that they're happy doing and well-compensated for doing what they do, and that they're held to the certain standard that you know, a winning team is going to be held at. And if there's a breakdown, if there's an issue, if there's a bottleneck, we as managers, Sam, it's really important to be able to identify those and clear the bottleneck. So a lot of my time is spent addressing what works, what doesn't and how to standardize and scale those things which do work. Sam Wilson 05:05 What about your current mix of of businesses, keeps you going out and still actively doing listings? It seems like that would be one of those things. As you're talking that you would say, Hey, wait, just from an efficiency standpoint. If you have a team of brokers, you guys take this you guys go list it. Why are you still involved in that side of it? Zach Roesinger 05:22 I was asked my father this same thing to why does he not become a director or sales manager. I just think it's a really fun, I can be a little bit more selective on what I take now. But I tell all of our newer guys like take whatever is out there. Somebody that you used to go to college with, we run into them at a restaurant, they say, oh, yeah, I own this restaurant, thinking about selling it great. Let's figure out how to, you know, get you in the door and show you how to list that. Now if you decide you don't like restaurants listing restaurants, well, then we'll try it one time. If you don't like it, we'll move on to something else. But always be willing to say yes, in fact, earn the right to say no. And I know that Steve Jobs and there's others that say Warren Buffett that it's more important, the things you say no to than those that you say yes. However, when you're first starting out, I mean, you want to try, this really pertains to listing, I have oftentimes a listing agent or a newer agent that says, Well, you know, if I can't sell it, what happens? And I said, Well, okay, then you spent some time learning about a new field of study, you practice something new, you met a new potential client who is going to exude your praises, because the property didn't sell that's part of your fault. But also there's a lot of other factors that are out there. And I was referencing before the economy right or just you know, the hot topic of the hour. Here in Austin, we're starting to see a lot of resurgence back to an altered office. So and I say that by I come from Denver, Colorado, and I worked on this project called The Taxi Project, which is taking old warehouses and refurbishing them making them cool offices. Well, I just saw yesterday that I'm now big on TikTok, I'm @cre_pro_network on TikTok. When I saw on TikTok, this guy was highlighting an office building or a new office I called them warehouse, I think warehouse office buildings that were going for top dollar. And I think that that's going to be one of those things where historically, it has been a office building, everybody gets in an elevator and goes up. And now people are saying, you know, I kind of want a hybrid office. These cool, chic new buildings are pretty cool. So to answer your question, it's really just going to be what is exciting and appealing to you. And what keeps you keeps you going and gets you going every day. For me, it's not repetition. And it's not necessarily the money I don't really like when it becomes repetitive. You could sell the same, you know, warehouse over and over again. But is that really that exciting? So picking up new properties, picking up new projects, meeting new clients, one of the most fun part about brokerage and actually selling something is going out hanging out with the dudes with the welders that are just in overalls. And I'm an Italian leather suit. And they're there's this guy over here and I'm like No guys, like I really want to know, what do you, tell me more about this property, tell me more about what you like, and what you don't like, and what you would change. And so there's sometimes that's like those are the best people to actually get some insight from are people that are working and living there every day, not just the expenses and the NOI and the cap rate of it, but actually saying, Hey, I don't know if you know, to a new, let's just say a prospective buyer. I don't know if you saw this over here. But this is a unique feature that you won't find anywhere else. And I wouldn't have noticed it unless I talked to the guys who were on the shop floor. So that's what I really liked about brokerage is actually meeting and talking to people, getting outside of the spreadsheets and delivering, delivering value above and beyond. And I know it's cliche to say but that's how our business I think really scales out is that the way that you advertise is by doing a good job. If you're in residential real estate, you have a big billboard or you know you're on the side of a bus or something like that. But in commercial real estate it's completely reputation when somebody goes to sell their recycling facility and they're like, I don't know anybody in commercial real estate in their their country club or their you know the baseball game and they say oh yeah, Zach Roesinger, I know that guy. He sells just about everything and he was really good. Ge got us top dollar or he did a great job marketing. So all of the above and it feeds into itself Sam I would say that it's just much like your businesses that as I do CRE Pro Course and I have had a chance to launch our television show and we have Coffee with CRE Closers, my clients and some of my best clients today actually were guests on my show just much like this. I had them come on, talk about what they did they got to ask questions about commercial real estate. People gave me social proof by being the, you know, leading this TV show and so when they went to go sell their building, they said you know there's only one guy I can think of the guy keep seeing on YouTube and you know Facebook Live and LinkedIn live, that Zach guy. He sells real estate so they cross pollinate. Sam Wilson 09:57 Man, love it. I love it. A lot of moving pieces there. Let's talk about these nuanced properties. How are, I mean it's one thing to find okay, you know, I'm beat on multifamily quite a bit because I'm kind of bored with it, to be honest, talking about getting bored, but it's like ever. You could find a million buyers for multifamily. I mean, you could be the worst broker in the world. Nothing you could move a multifamily property right now. I think it's a lot easier to move something such as a multifamily property. I'm presuming here. Over something much more nuanced, like a race track? Zach Roesinger 10:30 Absolutely. Sam Wilson 10:31 How in the world are you even finding are targeting the right buyers? Because not like, it's not like people are just hanging out on on LoopNet or Crexi. What are you... Zach Roesinger 10:41 Well, I often think the same thing. And then I think to myself, well, it's a niche product, right? It's much easier, I believe, than selling a multifamily property, because there are only so many ferrous and non ferrous metal reproducers in this planet, and they all know where my client is located, like they do business with this person. And so it makes it very easy that no one's going to get out of a completely different business and just try their hand at a $25 million operation. No, no, they do it right now they're just looking to expand their operations. Yes, identifying the right one, that's a little bit more difficult. And because of that, we enter into a pretty ironclad agreement with the seller, because oftentimes, I say this sort of ingest, but a lot of our job in brokerage, I believe is to come in as a third party and well market a property which you may have thought was for sale or not. But I'm the one who validates that. So if you had considered selling your race track, but you had never told anybody about it, but you didn't want to be the guy out there, waving his hand saying, Oh, I'm selling my racetrack, I'm selling my, if you want somebody else to be out there marketing it for you, it just brings a prestige to your market, it allows somebody else to actively go out and get those while you run your race track. And it creates this buffer. So if you didn't want to sell to somebody, for example, you don't have to address them directly. Because I'm sure in the race track world, for example, it's pretty small, you're going to see that person again at the next race track owner meet up or whatever. So that's what's the great part about having a broker. And I think the other part of it is that as the marketing, I really think that for us, and in order to scale, it's always been an issue with, you know, you don't just stick a sign in the yard anymore when you're trying to sell commercial real estate, you actually have to be pretty dialed in in terms of the ability to replicate and scale. And I think that's much a testament to your show here, Sam, and I come out of commercial or I come out of computer and software sales. And those guys really have it dialed in. I moved from Brazil, up here to Austin to go through an IPO with a company called Cloudera. And the company's they've taken a billion dollars in investment at that point, a company that has a billion dollars in their only objective is to get on as many companies, fortune 500 companies as possible. They're going to spend whatever it takes in terms of software and scaling and, and replication and automation, in order to make sure that their salespeople are utilizing their time the best so that they get the most orders so they get the highest stock price when they do go public. So I just take a page out of the book from the software salespeople in that you want to be, just like you're doing here, Sam, which is a one-to-many approach, allowing people to engage with you when they're ready. But exemplifying that you are a master of your domain or what you're trying to put out there into the world to say, here's who Zach Roesinger is, here's who Sam Wilson is. And if you want to do one of these things, if you want to buy or sell a race track, I know the guy but I'm not calling the people that are selling and buying racetracks. They're calling me because I've talked about it or because somebody said, Hey, do you think this thing is ever gonna go up for sale, or maybe I just got it out there with my marketing team to some degree, and somebody says, Oh, I saw this on Facebook the other day, or I saw this on a Google ad the other day, or I saw a video on this the other day, we may want to buy this asset or we may want to talk to the guy who's trying to sell it. And there's only one of me out there. So I think that's a lot of what it required which is the one-to-many philosophy and then allow people to engage with you but make it very, very easy. I want to highlight one of these things that are might be embarrassing you but you do the same thing on your podcast as I do on mine, which is make it really really easy for your guests, make it really, really easy for your clients and your contacts to complete the task that your objective or your goal is. And I reminded of that this morning when somebody asked me can you write a recommendation for me on LinkedIn because I'm trying to get a job at this brokerage and I said I would love to. I first of all don't have the bandwidth to think that hard through it and look through like what you've been doing over the last few years but I liked you and I'll do it for you, make it really easy for me. Tell me who it is, provide me an email of what that looks like and what you would like me to do. I am more than happy to. I'll edit it. I wouldn't say anything that I don't mean. But it's going to be the same, it's going to be, hey, this guy, Johnny is a great guy, have a conversation with him, Bobby, if it works out great. And if it doesn't, that, you know, it's just another connection for you, but do it as a favor to me, right. And the only way that you know he's going to get that meeting maybe is if I write that letter, but I'm not going to remember to do that after the 97 things that I have to do. So make it really easy for somebody. The same thing on on an email, make it a clickable link, right? If I put up six listings on Friday, and I created or I had my marketing team create six different bullets, six different web pages with six different information sheets on it, so that if I had to give it to somebody, or if I had to give it to, you know, send it out to a few brokers I thought might be interested, I could just send them this, they could click on it, it has a way a call to action at the bottom, makes it really, really easy. But don't make somebody work harder than they need to because they won't, right. Sam Wilson 15:56 That's absolutely spot on. That goes for reviews, LinkedIn recommendations, man, and everybody asked me for something like that I say you write it, send it to me, I'll make my tweaks. I will, it'll come, it'll be from Sam Wilson, but you're gonna write it and I'm gonna just edit a few little words here and there, make it authentic. Because again, as you said, I'm not gonna say anything. I don't mean, and I'll delete it if I don't mean it. But make it easy for me. And that goes for listings, that goes for onboarding clients in you know, investors, I'm dealing with a thing today. And I'm like, Oh, wait, that link is gonna take them here. And then they got to know we're not doing three steps. This is one step. One step, give me your money. Zach Roesinger 16:31 I believe it's Occam's razor as well, right? Make the path of least resistance, the most apt choice and why I say that is at the end of Coffee with CRE Closers, my podcast, I say how can people get in touch with you, but I pre warn them and say, hey, look, have something loaded up. But make sure it's not temporary, right? Don't give me your Clubhouse username, or whatever it is, you know, like, it's something that might not last the test of time, or may not even last as long as this you know, as this podcast or my podcast or whatever. But do something that like is where you're heavily followed. So if it's LinkedIn is where you do a lot of business, but you're trying to grow your TikTok, and I'm speaking personally, because I'm trying to do this right now. I'm big on LinkedIn live, but I'm really small on TikTok live. Yeah, so I tempt myself to say, oh, I can build my audience by sending them to my TikTok channel. Well, if tick tock doesn't work out for me, I know LinkedIn will long term like that's just where business gets done, but don't sacrifice in the short term. Really, you can build your audience organically on tick tock, and you can mention it may be but stay with the channel where you're going to deliver the most value. And then once they get there, once they're on LinkedIn, which you know, has 20,000 People that follow you sure mentioned it on there as well, right? Then they can redirect and go to TikTok. But when there's too many steps, Sam, if you ask somebody to endorse you, here, here, here, here, here, I get like one or two maybe, and then I'm like, okay, like I'm endorsed out, I want to do this for you. And if there was one button, I could push that would syndicate across all of them, I would do it. I wish it would post to all of them. And it there may be something out there where people are going to email in to your program here and say, Oh, well, Zach, you should use this really great plugin, which, you know, that's, that is one of your questions on your sheet here. And I want to I think that knowledge is power. And the more resources we can get out there, the better my number one tool for commercial real estate or real estate in general. And I think everybody should look into this because it's not that expensive. It's maybe $100 A year is one called LandGlide. It's really just the shortcut way. It's available on iPhone, and maybe Android as well. It's in the Apple Store. So maybe it's just anyways, what it allows or what it does is it systematically organizes on a map all of the CAD data so the Central Appraisal District data, it's also kind of a cool parlor trick, right? If you're driving down the street and someone says, Hey, what do you think that house is the value of that house is well, sometimes it's hard on Zillow and Trulia or Redfin or something to like, dial in on that then it's like speculative. It's the Zillow price or Zestimate. This one is actually just the appraisal district and how much of the land is used for agriculture and how much is you know, for the residential, how big is the house square footage? It's all the stuff that's in the Central Appraisal District, but it's just in a very easy to read format. So it's one of the few apps that I pay for, and I relish try to offer that as much as possible to someone who, particularly if you're driving in a neighborhood, you're like, Oh, I really like this neighborhood. I really would love to purchase his building. How do I get in touch with the owner? The owner is written right there, right like it maybe it's an LLC, or maybe it's a business entity, but that's really, you know, go to open corporate.org or calm. You can find out what the phone number is who the head of who the board directors are. It's one more step but it's also like if you really want something you're gonna have to put in some effort. This just eliminates about 10 of the steps going with LandGlide, so I heavily endorsed them outside of my own software which is creprocourse.com. Plug it. Sam Wilson 19:56 On that note, Zach, what is the best way to get a hold of you? Zach Roesinger 19:59 I am Z-R-O-E-S-I-N-G-E-R on LinkedIn. So I'm Zach Roesinger. Find me on LinkedIn and what I was asked him and encourage you to do the same. It's hard for me to always put together exactly who is the best contact for you. So tell me who that is. If we connect today, and you say, hey, great to connect, do not, we call it pitch slap. Don't pitch slap me. Don't tell me how I need auto insurance or, you know, we should jump on a call to find out whatever my car warranty or something. Yeah, let me know how I can help you out. And that's not necessarily going to be buying your product today. But if it's an introduction, I'm more than happy to do that, even if we just connect, because that's what LinkedIn, I believe should be used for. It shouldn't be used for selling, it should be used for connecting, providing connections is what we do, Sam, it's one of the biggest things in commercial real estate, we've connect a and b and we get paid handsomely for that, or at least we solve the connection problem between A and B. LinkedIn helps me do that because it shows me what your skillset is. And it also shows me where it allows me to connect you directly to your next big investment or your next client. Sam Wilson 21:09 Love it. Zach, thank you for coming on the show today. I certainly appreciate it. Zach Roesinger 21:12 I really appreciate it. Please come on Coffee with CRE Closers or follow everything. We're doing it creprocourse.com. I really appreciate your time today, Sam. Sam Wilson 21:21 Thank you. Yeah, we'll certainly make sure put that in the show notes creprocourse.com. Thank you, Zach. Appreciate it. Zach Roesinger 21:27 Yeah, man. Thank you. Thank you to audience. Sam Wilson 21:55 Hey, thanks for listening to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Podcast. If you can do me a favor and subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, whatever platform it is you use to listen, if you can do that for us, that would be a fantastic help to the show. It helps us both attract new listeners as well as rank higher on those directories so appreciate you listening. Thanks so much and hope to catch you on the next episode.
If you're still unsure whether to go residential or commercial, listen in and this episode's guest will help you decide! Ash Patel talks about starting out and buying a property for all the wrong reasons until a pivotal moment made him cross over to CRE and never looked back. Since then, he has purchased multiple value-add properties in different asset classes and has continuously advocated for expanding your horizons when it comes to investing. [00:01 - 10:10] Commercial Real Estate is the Game Ash tells us about his first property buy and the moment that changed his mind Here's the difference between residential and commercial tenants Finding partnerships and “making deals with friends” How to drive a high cash-on-cash return? This is what he does to find the best deals Listen to his best tip [10:11 - 12:24] Managing his CRE Business From going on-site to working remotely Ash shares the secret of how he makes it work The importance of building relationships with contractors and lenders [12:25 - 16:06] On Financing and Equity The benefits of using a local lender Raising capital can be a way to teach How Ash educates his investors about tax [16:07 - 19:13] Closing Segment Here's what Ash is curious about right now Ash recommends these books Reach out to Ash! Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes “Residential tenants add wear and tear to the properties. Commercial tenants actually improve it on their own dime.” - Ash Patel “Spend more time looking for deals than anybody else… Look for mismanaged or mismarketed deals.” - Ash Patel ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Connect with Ash! Find him on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bigger Pockets, and email him at ashbpatel@gmail.com. Resources Mentioned: The E-Myth Revisited Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan, Dr. Benjamin Hardy Connect with me: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns. Facebook LinkedIn Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on. Thank you for tuning in! Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: Ash Patel 00:00 Really, just having income coming in with negative K-1s to match that. It's a game-changer, right? There's so few people that understand that this is out there, especially business owners, high-net-worth doctors, lawyers, they're too busy in their own world, being successful at what they do to have the time to look for alternative investments. Nonetheless, some of these people that I've mentored over the years have gone on to do their own deals. And when they do their own deals, they asked me to come in. I never force myself into the deal, but they want the 10 plus years of expertise on their side, helping them manage. Intro 00:39 Welcome to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Show. Whether you are an active or passive investor, we'll teach you how to scale your real estate investing business into something big. Sam Wilson 00:51 Ash Patel is a full-time CRE investor for 10 years buying value add properties. He's purchased everything from medical to industrial warehouse, retail, land, office, mixed-use. I'm not sure what you haven't invested in Ash, welcome to the show. Ash Patel 01:05 Hey, Sam, thanks for having me, man. I'm excited to be here. Sam Wilson 01:08 The pleasure is mine. Same three questions I ask every guest who comes on the show: in 90 seconds or less.: can you tell me where did you start? Where are you now? And how did you get there? Ash Patel 01:15 Yeah, I left a 15-year corporate IT career back in 2009. I heard real estate was a great way to offset taxes, decided to take the plunge. My first property was a mixed-use building bought for all the wrong reasons. I bought it because there was a grocery store on the first floor, a college kids' apartments above the retail section. And I thought to myself, man, instead of just having real estate, I can take over managing the store as well and have multiple streams of income. Really bad mindset, in hindsight, but that property showed me the difference between residential tenants and commercial tenants. And I was able to see that residential tenants add wear and tear to the properties. Commercial tenants actually improve it on their own dime. And that changed the trajectory of my life. I dropped everything that I was doing and became a full-time commercial real estate investor. Sam Wilson 02:08 That is impressive. Now you say you bought it for all the wrong reasons. Can you explain more of that to us? Ash Patel 02:16 Yeah, you know, I heard depreciation was the key to getting your taxable liabilities reduced. I didn't even know how that was calculated. And again, Sam, I went in there thinking I would run the store or put somebody in place to manage that store. My mindset was be a store owner, like not a real estate investor. And again, the story, the pivotal moment that I had was I was unclogging, the tenants toilet, and I look out the window. And on the roof, there's an HVAC company replacing all of the rooftop units to the store. And I go downstairs and I'm like, hey, help me, what's going on? Tell me. And they're like, yeah, our AC is not working, so o we're replacing the entire system. And I was blown away that they didn't even have to get approval. They just spent the money and did it, on my way out. They're like, hey, by the way, do you mind if we remodel our bathroom? And I'm like, have at it. So that was an epiphany. So then I realized commercial real estate is the game not being a store owner, or even a residential landlord? Sam Wilson 03:20 Yeah, absolutely. And when you say residential landlord, you include multifamily in that? Ash Patel 03:25 That's correct. So I have a decent-sized portfolio of commercial properties. And I'm able to manage all of them myself, without property managers, without leasing people, without maintenance people. It's much easier to manage a $10 million retail strip mall than it is a $10 million or a $3 million multifamily portfolio. Sam Wilson 03:49 Right. Yes, I would absolutely agree with that. So you're the only you're the sole member of your team. Ash Patel 03:56 You know, for 10 years, I was. And I just hired an operations person. And I am starting to partner up with other people in the space to help me find deals, help me manage deals, do joint ventures. It's just a lot more fun instead of me being cooped up in my office by myself. Sam Wilson 04:15 Fun is not generally the reason that people scale. But I'm glad for you it is. Ash Patel 04:20 You know, it truly is I am an extreme extrovert, and I need to be around people. So you know, if I could bring more people into my world, to share deals with others. I've done a number of deals with friends of mine. And it's been great. It's a lot of fun. Sam Wilson 04:36 How do you structure when you say that word deals with friends of mine? What does a deal look like that makes sense that fits inside of your kind of buy box. Ash Patel 04:45 A deal that makes sense is different than a partnership that makes sense. But I'll get into both of them in terms of the partnerships, Sam, you know, I've mentored a lot of people over the years, especially residential guys, the fix and flip guys and girls. I've tried to convince them to go into commercial. I've been a huge advocate for people to open their horizons a little bit and look at different types of asset classes. And no better time than now, because cap rates and multifamily are so compressed. Nonetheless, some of these people that I've mentored over the years have gone on to do their own deals. And when they do their own deals, they asked me to come in. I never force myself into the deal, but they want the 10 plus years of expertise on their side, helping them manage. So we just do a straight 50-50 joint venture.I put in half the money, they put in half the money. And I teach them how to manage whatever asset we have. Now, in terms of what types of deals that make sense. My minimum cash on cash upon closing is 20%. And much higher upon exit. But there has to be a massive upside, a lot of value add, in addition to that 20% cash on cash. At times we'll go a little bit lower, 17-18% is probably the highest we've ever gone. And that's not IRR, that straight day of closing 17% cash on cash. Sam Wilson 06:05 That's a pretty astounding cash-on-cash return compared to a lot of what we're seeing across. I mean, every asset class, what are you doing to drive that high of a cash-on-cash return? Ash Patel 06:18 Spend more time looking for deals than anybody else. And then we look for mismanaged or mismarketed deals. Great example is our last acquisition. It was a strip mall listed by two commercial brokers, one of them being a second-generation commercial broker, they decided to list this property on their own website, and nowhere else not on LoopNet, not on Crexi. And it was a $5 million strip mall. And the broker literally, you know, I knew of the guy, we had talked, we had mutual friends never did a deal together. But he took my call because he recognized my number. And he's like, gosh, we've had so many people call in wanting to make offers on this property. We just haven't had time to return their calls. Mindblown, right? Like mismarketed, mismanaged all in one. So because I knew the guy and we put the offer in, we got the deal done. Sam Wilson 07:13 That's wild to find that there are I mean, especially second-generation commercial real estate brokers making those sorts of elementary mistakes. Ash Patel 07:22 Well, Sam, one of my best pieces of advice and great tip for your listeners is if you're looking into commercial, often look at residential realtors posting commercial deals. It's amazing when, you know, this story, I've gotten some of my best deals from that, where somebody's moving out of town, out of state, hey, can you sell my house? And by the way, I've got this commercial building, can you sell that too? Oh, sure, no problem. And often residential realtors aren't trained and don't have the experience to properly price the assets, right? So you get steals on them. But you have to have first-mover advantage. Because as soon as that hits the market, the first person that sees that Mispriced deal is going to jump on it. So that's where those hours and hours of just looking through deals comes in. Sam Wilson 08:09 What are you doing? I mean, I love the tip. But practically, there's got to be a practical way to isolate those types of opportunities. Otherwise, you're just looking through an enormous amount of data out there going, well, and each deal, you'd have to then search, search, and find out is this also a residential broker? I mean, that kind of sounds inefficient and almost beyond needle in a haystack. Ash Patel 08:30 Yeah, unfortunately, it's very inefficient. And I agree with you, there's got to be a better way. But I've literally talked to people that have been in commercial real estate for 25 years. And every day, they spent hours and hours searching for deals, maybe not on residential real estate sites, but, you know, hours interacting with brokers and even at their level, they don't need to work, they have all their systems in place to find those deals you got to put the time in. What I do is when I find a residential website that has commercial listings above market, right, and then I open up 200 bookmarks at a time and literally just spend hours searching for deals. And I've done it long enough now to where I can just flip pages pretty quickly. Spend a few seconds per picture and move on. Sam Wilson 09:18 Right? Yeah, you get an idea pretty quick. You know, something that just came to mind, as you're talking about this is just spitballing here, if you will, is that, you know, I hold my license here in Tennessee. And because of that, I have access to all of our local MLS and all the agents on that list. And I could send an email to all of them and say, Hey, do you have any commercial real estate listing? So if you're listening and you have access to that, that's probably a great way to start because you might get turned up some leads just from your own network of residential brokers saying oh yeah, I've got this building over here that they may be listing you didn't know anything about. Ash Patel 09:50 Right and so I don't look at the individual realtors as much as I look at the MLS for a region. So here in Cincinnati, we've got a company called Sibcy Cline that covers multiple states, so I can look for all commercial deals and their realtors are predominantly residential. So it's easy to parse through those. Sam Wilson 10:11 How have you figured out the management side of this? Like, what have you done to streamline this or make it to where, for a decade, you can run, you know, I don't know how many assets under management you have but more than the average investor I'll say, have you figured how to do that on your own? Ash Patel 10:24 It was really COVID. And it was teaching others how to do the same. So, you know, when I partnered with people that were out of state, I had to teach them how to manage their assets. And I had to do that remotely. And you know, my local assets, I love going on-site, and interacting with my commercial tenants, because they're business owners, right? If I can add value to them, it's such a fun conversation. And again, there's a crazy extreme extrovert in me that just wants to hang out with people. So during COVID, we actually moved to a summer home that was an hour away. And I forced myself not to go on-site, because we're living at a lake. I mean, why am I going to drive back to Cincinnati, so I basically put systems in place to remotely manage all of my properties for an entire year, never showed up on site. And the biggest secret to that is have a tenant, probably no different than multifamily. That's your eyes and ears, on the ground, your boots on the ground, so to speak, and just have a great network of contractors. You know, a mistake that I see a lot of residential people making is they treat their contractors as commodities. I've had the same electrician, plumber, a roofer HVAC guy for over 10 years. Wow. And you know, when now when you can't find somebody to do a plumbing job, I have no problem calling these guys and they're there. So build that loyalty and build those relationships, and treat them as partners. And that goes for lenders as well. Sam Wilson 11:54 Yeah. And that's true. I mean, I think people overlook that your service providers, not just your HVAC guys, but your lenders, your insurance people, like those are relationships as much as they are transactions each time. So it's keeping them close to the vest, if you can, Ash Patel 12:09 Yeah, it seems so important with commercial properties. Because our loans don't get sold to Fannie and Freddie, they don't get sold on a secondary market. Typically, whichever lender does your loan, keeps it on their books. So over time, they're betting on you more, so they are on the property, Sam Wilson 12:25 Right. Tell me about that. Talk to us about the financing side of your business, Ash Patel 12:29 It's always been a local lender. I've tried big banks, matter of fact, I've had big banks reach out to me and say, hey, you know, we'd love to refinance your entire portfolio. And I'm thinking, wow, I'd probably get a much better interest rate, and they'll nitpick my portfolio, and anything that's not fully leased, and stabilized for three plus years, they don't want. So I'm not going to take away the good properties from my lender, just to get a point lower on interest, right? So that loyalty, I've always been with the same local lender, I've reached their legal lending limit, they're not allowed to lend me any more money, unless they get partners involved. So now we've got additional lenders in the mix, that we've gotten down to 15% down payments. I thought I was winning at 20%, but we found a bank that's willing to do 15%. Sam Wilson 13:19 That's fantastic. And then what about the equity side of things? Are you raising capital from other investors? Are you all self-funded? Ash Patel 13:27 Yeah, until this year, I never raised capital, it was just all my own money. But again, I have a lot of friends that have wanted to invest with me over the years, never needed their money and never really wanted it. But you know, it's a way to reward people that have led me into their deals. And it's a way to teach. So my high-net-worth friends to stop buying cars and houses and buy assets that produce, right? And then you know, I do want to scale at some point, I'm continuing to scale and at some point, I know I'm gonna run out of money. So good time to start raising money. Plus, our returns are way better than your typical eight in was 815-817. Right, eight pref, 17 IRR. Yeah. So again, the returns right now in commercial just much higher. Sam Wilson 14:16 Yeah, absolutely. Not only higher, but as you've already, you know, alluded to it, you know, much more scalable, and I think it's really cool that up until now, you haven't had to bring in outside capital. But this is the next iteration of business. And for a lot of us, we run out of capital maybe earlier than you did, which kind of forced us into that, Hey, I gotta go out. And initially when I got into real estate, I was kind of ashamed of the fact, this is 10 years ago, and I didn't know what I was doing, but ashamed of the fact that I couldn't sell fund all my deals like, man, that's bad. Like I don't have enough money to get this done. I didn't understand how this actually works when you go out and raise capital, talk to us about the taxes side of things. This is a conversation I was having with someone last night when they're like man and their high-net-worth individual like I just don't understand the tax benefits. We're talking over dinner of commercial real estate. How are you educating your investors on on the tax side of things? Ash Patel 15:01 it's amazing how few people have heard about their real estate professional tax status, if you can take advantage of that great. But really just having income coming in with negative K-1s to match that. It's a game-changer, right? There's so few people that understand that this is out there, especially business owners, high-net-worth doctors, lawyers, they're too busy in their own world, being successful at what they do to have the time to look for alternative investments. And a lot of times you ask them, you know, who manages your money? I got a guy, I gotta guy. How's your guy doing? Yeah, I think he's doing pretty well, like no clue. They have no clue, right? And it's unfortunate that they're so well educated. But when it comes to managing their finances, they're behind the eight ball. Sam Wilson 15:51 Yep, absolutely. Yeah. And that's something obviously, with things such as bonus depreciation, all of that stuff. You know, beginning it's phased out after this year, though, I think it's always an intriguing conversation and time to really educate your investors and let them know what the possibilities are out there. I was telling you this, what's one thing that you are currently curious about? Ash Patel 16:11 The future of our financial markets, obviously. You know, that's a good question. That's a tough question. Just curious to see how things pan out. There's a lot going on in the world right now and be very interesting on what opportunities are presented in the future. Sam Wilson 16:25 That's a great way to put that, what opportunity, there's always opportunity in volatility and figuring out what opportunity is always interesting line to walk. What are you doing right now inside of your portfolio to protect yourself against downside risk? Ash Patel 16:38 You know, so I always boast about the benefits of commercial real estate versus residential. One of the places where you guys have us beat is you can raise rents every year because you do single-year leases, right? With us. A lot of our leases are five years, 10 years long, with renewals built-in at preset amounts. So our, any new lease that I do, I do a three to 6% year over year rent increase. And any renewals are going to be at market rates. It's not the steady 5% renewal after five years, let's look at the market rates and see where things are at. Sam Wilson 17:15 What is market rate? How do you define that? Ash Patel 17:17 You could do, one way to do it is you get one appraisal. If the other party doesn't agree with the appraisal, they get their own. If you still can't agree, you get a third party and average all three. Sam Wilson 17:29 No appraisal is one thing but I was thinking on lease renewals. How does appraisal tie into what's the correlation when appraisal and lease renewal? Ash Patel 17:36 You can get an appraisal on the lease price per square foot. So you know if you have a strip mall or an office building, the appraisal will tell you what that should rent out for. Sam Wilson 17:46 Right. Okay, got it. Okay, very, very cool. I love that. What's the book you're currently reading? Ash Patel 17:50 I just finished The E-Myth Revisited. The book that I really want to recommend, there's two: Rocket Fuel and Who Not How. And Rocket Fuel, I think, is important for a lot of us people in real estate. Because a lot of us are a bit scatterbrained. We don't always focus we don't always follow through. And a lot of us thought that that was a detriment. And Rocket Fuel teaches us that you are a visionary. And that's why you have to pair yourself with an integrator that can stay focused for your job, continue doing what you're doing. Sam Wilson 18:23 Absolutely love it. Ash, if our listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about you, what is the best way to do that? Ash Patel 18:28 You could find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, my email address is ash, A-S-H, b as is in boy, patel, P-A-T-E-L@gmail.com. I'm on Bigger Pockets as well. Pretty easy to find Ash Patel, Cincinnati. Sam Wilson 18:42 Awesome. Awesome. Thank you for your time today. I certainly appreciate it. Ash Patel 18:44 And this was a lot of fun. Thanks, Sam. Great conversation. Sam Wilson 18:47 Cool man. Hey, thanks for listening to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Podcast. If you can do me a favor and subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, whatever platform it is you use to listen, if you can do that for us, that would be a fantastic help to the show. It helps us both attract new listeners as well as rank higher on those directories so appreciate you listening. Thanks so much and hope to catch you on the next episode.
Many people look at a handful of listings on Mobilehomeparkstore and Loopnet and declare “mobile home parks are overpriced!” But is that really true? In this Mobile Home Park Mastery podcast we're going to focus on this topic and examine it factually. Are all the good deals gone? We're going to talk about that.
Schwark Satyavolu, a General Partner at Trinity Ventures, shares lessons from his many years of experience as a founder, operator, technology executive, and now an investor. Schwark talks about unwillingly getting into FinTech when he was building Yodlee, and how he got into investing in crypto startups. He also gives an interesting explanation as to why he likes investing in naive fast learners.In this episode, you'll learn:1:52 The 2000 bubble burst forced me to (unwillingly) get into FinTech - Schwark6:19 A similar thing that happened to FinTech is happening to crypto.19:31 Why naive fast learners succeed in building big companies22:57 Should you pause your startup building until the prevailing macroeconomic volatility eases?The non-profit organizations that Schwark is passionate about: Asha, PrathamAbout Guest SpeakerSchwark Satyavolu is a General Partner at Trinity Ventures. A decades-long financial services insider, Schwark is a serial entrepreneur and inventor with 15 patents. He focuses on fintech, AI and security startups that are laying the fundamental building blocks for the technology-based ecosystems of the future.Before joining Trinity, Schwark co-founded two fintech companies, Yodlee (YDLE) and Truaxis. He also ran a $200 million division of Mastercard and served as a public company executive at LifeLock (acquired by Symantec).About Trinity VenturesTrinity Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in passionate entrepreneurs who are transforming revolutionary ideas into reality. Trinity focuses on early-stage investments in social commerce and entertainment, digital media, Saas, and cloud and infrastructure. The firm has invested in leading companies such as Aruba Networks, 21Vianet, Blue Nile, LoopNet, Photobucket, SciQuest, Starbucks, BeachMint, Infoblox, Trion Worlds and Zulily.Subscribe to our podcast and stay tuned for our next episode that will drop next Tuesday. Follow Us: Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook
Is it possible to find and list commercial real estate properties for free? Caleb Richter has made it possible already through his company, MyEListing. Unlike other platforms where you still need to create an account then log in, you can simply search a city, county, Zip code, or even property ID on MyEListing, and thousands of search results will appear right away. The best part of this experience is that it is totally free. Caleb will talk about his motivations for offering this service to real estate agents without asking for any money and their business model that still allows them to generate revenue. [00:01 - 03:42] Opening Segment Caleb Richter is now focusing on commercial real estate technology What's the story behind He says that you necessarily need a technology background in this space Here's why [03:43 - 13:14] Finding and Listing Properties for Free Caleb gives a sneak peek into the services offered by MyEListing The business model currently not present in commercial real estate Why uploading a listing on MyEListing is totally free If their service is free, how does Caleb's company generate revenue? [13:15 - 15:44] Navigating the MyEListing Website How to utilize the Comp Software in the MyEListing website Caleb talks about how he funded the launch of MyEListing [15:45 - 16:58] Closing Segment Reach out to Caleb See links below Final words Tweetable Quotes “The idea is we want everyone to come to us so that we can monetize the traffic just like what [Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter] do. It's not a new business model, but this business model doesn't exist in the commercial real estate space [yet].” - Caleb Richter “You can come to our site (MyEListing.com) and post [your listing] and the whole world can see it without even logging in.” - Caleb Richter “We take a ton of pride in that we have no automation. [There are] people on the line…” - Caleb Richter ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Email caleb@myelisting.com to connect with Caleb or follow him on LinkedIn. Go to MyEListing to find and list properties for free! You can also reach out to them by calling 512-923-6373. Connect with me: I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns. Facebook LinkedIn Like, subscribe, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or whatever platform you listen on. Thank you for tuning in! Email me → sam@brickeninvestmentgroup.com Want to read the full show notes of the episode? Check it out below: Caleb Richter 00:00 A solution that we're providing is every listing on our site gets a demographic report, and it's the best demographic report you can get. So I had an individual call me and say, “Hey, during COVID, you just because you're giving away demographic reports, I don't have to fire two people at my firm because I'm saving money on that.” Yeah, so the solutions are endless for brokers because we want to give them everything for free everything, and we want it to be the best. Intro 00:26 Welcome to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Show. Whether you are an active or passive investor, we will teach you how to scale your real estate investing business into something big. Sam Wilson 00:39 Caleb Richter is the CEO of MyEListing.com, which is a site to list and find commercial real estate for free. Caleb, welcome to the show. Caleb Richter 00:48 Thank you. Glad to be here. This is one of my first podcast, so I'm excited about it. Sam Wilson 00:54 Oh, good. Well, I'm gonna be sure to grill you hard and make it super uncomfortable. I'm just absolutely kidding. Caleb, there are three questions I ask every guest who comes on the show. In 90 seconds or less, can you tell us where did you start? Where are you now? And how did you get there? Caleb Richter 01:07 Yeah, okay. Yeah, so did real estate, was a real estate agent for a while, did a lot of cool things. As an agent, I did some projects where we raised money for value-add deals, usually industrial office, warehouse, parks, those kinds of things, and then I shifted into tech, but commercial real estate tech, primary drive now is to change commercial real estate commerce itself, and that's why I'm here to tell more people about it. Sam Wilson 01:38 Man, that's super interesting. Did you have a tech background before? Or was this just kind of random? Like, oh, wait, there seems to be an opportunity here and I want to fill it. Caleb Richter 01:47 My tech background is playing a lot of video games as a kid and having an iPhone. That's about my tech background. I have zero and I don't think you need it. But yeah, it's no tech background. Sam Wilson 02:01 That's interesting. You say you don't think you need it? Why do you say that? Caleb Richter 02:04 Because the tech of it is an art form and people, so if you're building a tech company, usually it is an application or software, and if it's an application or software, to have it be decent, it has to be better than WordPress, okay, WordPress are the linking or the Legos of the internet world that 99% of websites are made off of. You put this leg on top of that Lego and you have a website that's good for 99% of people. If you have a tech background and can do that quickly. That's great. But a custom web application where there's an interactive map, users accounts, that's an application, well, you have to be a lifetimer to be able to do that, right? It is a form of art. And so having a tech background is usually, means that well, you're going to outsource it. Like you can't just have a tech, even people who say they have a tech background usually can't do good web applications. So it's truly an art form. And it's kind of like, well, I went to law school to be my own attorney, which I did go to law school for a year. And I thought, “Hmm, do I want a half-decent attorney that doesn't practice law doing all my legal work, aka me or do I want a real attorney who lives it to do my legal work?” So I was like, “Well, I want a real attorney to do my legal work, and it's the same thing with everything else, right?” That's my opinion on it. Right. You don't need a tech background. Sam Wilson 03:43 No. Understood, let's jump right into what MyEListing is. What if you didn't have a tech background? And you said, okay, you know, I see a hole in the marketplace, what hole did you see? And how did you decide to fill it? Caleb Richter 03:54 So listing and finding commercial real estate cost money, right? It can be expensive, which is relative, but it can be expensive currently. And I was we were in the space. I was in the space. I was thinking, you know, Facebook's free, big company. Google's free, pretty big company. Pinterest is free, pretty big company, Instagram, Twitter. Those are all pretty big companies. And they're also the most, some of the most valuable companies in the world. And so we started looking at this and we're thinking, why don't we create a business model that is similar. We want to generate as much traffic as possible through you know, just user experience, quality of listing, so we give everything away to the agents for free, and that includes flyer creation demographic reports, traffic reports, comps off where we power people's websites, like we power in NAI global, we give everything away for free, and we're super amazing, right? And the idea is we want everyone to come to us so that we can monetize the traffic just like what those companies previously listed do. It's not a new business model. But this business model doesn't exist in the commercial real estate space. And so our goal is to bring it to commercial real estate. Sam Wilson 05:16 That's really intriguing. You know, so are you dealing with residential? Are you dealing with strictly commercial, what's your target real estate that gets listed on my listing? Caleb Richter 05:26 So it is strictly commercial real estate. As of now, all companies, if they live infinitely will begin to enter in other markets and began to spread to different parts of the world. Think about Amazon, right? They sell books, then they sell toys, and then they sell Amazon, you know, fire sticks, whatever. So we're yes, it's just commercial right now. But as we grow, we intend to enter into other markets and other parts of the world. But it is strictly at this moment, commercial real estate in the United States. Sam Wilson 06:01 Right, and tell me what did someone if they go to your site, what do they find? Caleb Richter 06:04 So when you go to our website, you have a search bar right on the homepage. And you can and this is for someone looking to find a property, you can search by city, state, zip, county, and we're adding neighborhoods this week, and then the property type, and then you search. And then you can see all the listings in your area. We don't allow people to pay us to post their listings. That is strictly everyone can post listings, if they want to. Sam Wilson 06:36 What are you solving that maybe Crexi, CoStar, LoopNet, what are you solving that those platforms haven't already solved? Caleb Richter 06:44 So there is not one spot that everyone goes because of price and networks within certain cities. And what we're solving is the quality of the, of where you're searching itself. So in multiple cities, you got to look here, you got to look at this website, and this website and LoopNet and Crexi to see every single listing. But what we're doing is we're saying, Look to upload a listing, it's completely free. And we don't even allow you to pay us to get your listing on more exposure, it's a Puritan, you can come to our site and post and the whole world can see it without even logging in. So the solution that we're providing, even today, if you pick a random city, and every time I talk to them, like just pick a random city, search it on our website, Crexi, LoopNet, there has been countless times where I would say that we have, I would argue and say we have more listings and Crexi and LoopNet does on both of their platforms. It's like, okay, that's fine. You say you have this many listings, let's all search a random city together and see how many listings show up on my listing your website and your website. And I would do that in front of the whole world with everyone watching 100 times over. And it's because we're free, right. So since we're free, we have the most listings, and we give your listings the most exposure because you don't have to be logged in to see anything. Like they do say that they do that. But you can't download the flyer without creating a profile. That's a barrier, right? And people claim so many things that their website does. And we don't have to claim and then be like, “Oh, look at the fine print.” It's we're a pure come Puritan, when it comes to you come to our site, you list properties, and you find properties. And on top of that the powering of the website, right, so you can come to us, we give you one line of code. And you have a map that displays all your listings. You can see in NAI Global, they're the second biggest commercial brokerage firm in the world. We power their Mapping Display. Okay, we also do agent directories. We do it for brokerage firms that have two listings or 26,000 listings, it doesn't matter. We've talked to all the top 10 brokerage firms to do the same thing. And demographic reports, right, a solution that we're providing is every listing on our site gets a demographic report, and it's the best demographic report you can get. So I had an individual call me and say, “Hey, during COVID, you just because you're giving away demographic reports, I don't have to fire to people at my firm because I'm saving money on that.” Yeah, so the solutions are endless for brokers because we want to give them everything for free everything. And we want it to be the best, yeah. Sam Wilson 09:34 So you've gotten all these brokerage houses? You guys are powering an NAI Global's would you say it was their Mapping… Caleb Richter 09:40 Display. Yeah, like on their own map. It's the map that shows all the listings with pins, and then their own listing pages. Sam Wilson 09:46 Right, you guys are powering now, which is really cool. You're giving away free demographic reports. And your idea behind this is that you can then monetize the traffic through paid ads and other things there than on the site. Is that right? Caleb Richter 09:56 Correct. So we identified 48 different vendors that were all around the commercial real estate industry. So think title companies, plumbers, roofers, phase one, guys, everything, electricians, architects, and we say, “Hey, if you want to be in front of our users and little ad boxes on the right-hand side of all listings, pay us.” And that's how we make money. Sam Wilson 10:19 That's really, really intriguing. Now, does a broker when they log in, or not log in, do they have when they want to post a listing? Let me start my question over, do they have to log in in order to post a listing? Caleb Richter 10:31 Yes, they have to log in to post the listing because we require that you show your contact information when you create a listing. Sam Wilson 10:39 Right, that's really intriguing. I mean, I haven't heard of your website until you know, here maybe a week or so ago when you guys reached out. And so I'm really curious, how are you guys really driving traffic to it right now? And what's your plan for that going forward? Caleb Richter 10:53 Right. So it's a light switch that I call it a light switch. So we spent with a huge team, one year cold calling every single commercial brokerage firm in the world, in the country. And we said, hey, we're MyE Listing, we're free, we're always going to be free, would you like us to upload your listings for you? And then when they say, yes, we follow up with an email saying, “Hey, you said yes, over the phone, say yes, over email.” And then we go to their website. And once they say yes, over email, so that we have a paper trail for every listing, we went to their website, organized it all, by agent-created profiles for them, and uploaded their listings. And we did that for over a year with a massive team to do it all legit, because you think, well, I haven't heard of you. It's like, I don't want you to hear about me. Because if you're in Waco, Texas, and we just haven't gotten there yet, or gotten enough traction, and we track every single city and how many listings it has, and we didn't want people to come to the site because if they come to the site, and there's no listings for the first time, it's like this is bad. And on even further, the SEO aspect of that is terrible. If you get a ton of bounces, meaning someone goes and then immediately leaves, there's a lot of consequence to that when it comes to ranking. But we just flip the light switch, and again, challenge anyone to compare us to any other website and say, Google Austin, Google St. Paul, Minnesota, do it on ours do it on another one. And then the lights, which I'm referring to is all the SEO terms. So it's all the property types combined with sale for lease with city, zip code. So Austin, retail for sale, we're on the first page of Google when you Google that. Now we are, but we haven't indexed for yet, because we did it in phases, we have an index for 78613 Industrial for lease, it's a slow trickle. But the first step of it was the light switch with the city combined with the property type. And that's just now indexing on Google. So you will start to see us. Sam Wilson 12:56 Gotcha, that's really, really intriguing. And the value proposition for the end-user, not necessarily the listing company, but the end-users that they can get in, they can see all the data, they can generate all the reports, and you're not monkeying with, hey, login, hey, look at this, look at that, it's you can just get in, take a look at it and then move on if it's not for you. Caleb Richter 13:15 Correct. Yeah. And in the Comp Software, we organize all of our live listings in the form of a map. So if you click comps off where it takes you to a new page, you can search, but it'll have the map and an Excel below it. So you can change the zoom of the map in certain areas. So if you want to look over a whole city, or you just want one little block, all the listings that meet your parameters, like if you search retail, 10,000 to 50,000, square feet, all of those listings will show up in the Excel below the map. And it'll show the average price per square foot, the average land price per square foot, the average square foot. So that's free as well, we give away all of our data, our live data, so anyone in any place in the United States can be an expert in any market. So that's another value add prop, but it's pretty cool, man. I'm really excited about it. Sam Wilson 14:13 That's absolutely fantastic. I love the run-up in the runway, I mean spending a year cold calling all the major brokerage houses by getting their listings getting organized, getting them on the site. I mean, that's no small task. Caleb, one of the things that I think is intriguing, I mean, is really just how I mean to have the run-up, the runway to say, man, you know, we're going to put all these people in place, we're going to spend a year kind of developing the plan, getting everybody on board, reaching out to brokers that cost a lot of money in time, you know, is this something, did you sell fund this, that you go out and raise money from investors, just how did that process work, and just kind of break that down for us? Caleb Richter 14:48 Yeah, so when I got the idea, I really just loved it. And I went all in and I had a couple 100 grand, it was two or 50 grand, I can't remember if it was 250, grand or 200, I went to zero. And I was like, shoot, I need money, and then I raised like 500, and then in March or raising or not in March, January of 2021, raise another 2 million and plan on raising more. Sam Wilson 15:15 Right. You guys are a couple of to 3 million bucks in and you know, you still have some ways to go, I guess, you know, maybe on the development side, but it sounds you basically got the product developed. So that's absolutely intriguing. I love that. Caleb, thanks for taking the time to jump on today. It's been a blast. I've certainly enjoyed it. Certainly enjoyed learning a lot about your business, MyELlisting. I mean, that's a lot of fortitude. And you know, a lot of just foresight to say, hey, here's a hole in the marketplace. And we think we can fill it. So I look forward to seeing where you guys and your company as a whole goes. If listeners want to get in touch with you or learn more about you, what is the best way to do that? Caleb Richter 15:48 Yeah, so the best way to reach us is to call our office number. It's 512-923-6373. We take a ton of pride in that we have no automation. There's people on the line if you want to talk to me directly, ask for me, whoever answers and if you want to talk to any of anyone in any of our divisions at the company, just say can I talk to one and sales are the comp software or flyer creation? I forgot to mention that. We do flyer creations as well. No one ever asked. We do custom fliers. Yes, completely free. And it's sweet. Like just trust me. It's incredible. Yeah, that's pretty much it. Sam Wilson 16:29 That's awesome. Caleb, thank you for your time today. I do appreciate it. It was great learning about you guys and your business. Caleb Richter 16:35 Alright, sir. Thanks for your time. Sam Wilson 16:37 Hey, thanks for listening to the How to Scale Commercial Real Estate Podcast. If you can do me a favor and subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, whatever platform it is you use to listen, if you can do that for us, that would be a fantastic help to the show. It helps us both attract new listeners, as well as rank higher on those directories. So I appreciate you listening. Thanks so much and hope to catch you on the next episode.
After working in the oil and gas industry for over 15 years, Christy Keeton's powerful and inspiring transition to multifamily investing has been a rewarding experience. Tune in as she discusses her journey and backstory in real estate and how she has benefited from learning, focusing, and being determined to pursue building her life in real estate. Topics on Today's Episode Why invest in yourself The significance of being focused and determined in your goals. Tips for newbies: When and how to use Loopnet the right way Off-Market Transactions: Risks and Opportunities The benefits of an extensive relationship with investors in raising capital and finding deals Resources/Links mentioned Meetup LoopNet.com Best Ever Apartment Syndication Book by Joe Fairless Audiobook and Hardcover Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Audiobook and Hardcover About Christy Keeton As an Engineering Technician in the oil industry, Christy's expertise was to analyze multi-million dollar acquisitions and build annual budgets. She opened Keeton Realty Investments in 2012 to flip houses. In 2019, focus transferred from single-family to multi-family. In 2021, she sourced and closed over $35 million in Multifamily space. She chose real estate for freedom, to rescue children from trafficking, teach single parents to be financially free, and build a legacy Connect with Christy Keeton Website: Keeton Realty Investments Quotes “There is such a release that happens when you work and you get to the place of peace.” - Christy Keeton 33:36 “ Stay focused on your legacy, stay focused on your future, and don't give up. ” - Christy Keeton 33:48 “If you don't give up you will see the price.” - Christy 34:05 “Success doesn't happen by chance. People go out and take it.” -Corey Don't forget to download my Free Workshop Quick Start Video Series, and if you like what you have heard please leave a review on iTunes.
My name is Jeff Copeland, and I partner with investors from all over the U.S. and abroad to expand their multifamily investment property holdings here in the Tampa Bay Area. I help investors like you find, analyze, inspect, negotiate, acquire, and manage multifamily investment properties here in Florida. I have sold and managed millions of dollars' worth of investment property in St Petersburg, Tampa, and Clearwater. I'm an active real estate investor myself, so I truly understand the numbers, and how they impact the goals and objectives of real estate investors when it comes to analyzing the cap rate, cash on cash return, financing, repairs, and other costs of an investment property…as well as the critical importance of maintaining high occupancy rates at full market rent. I am a member of the Pinellas Realtor Organization, Greater Tampa Realtors, Florida Realtors, National Association of Realtors, National Association of Residential Property Managers, and St Petersburg Chamber of Commerce. My investment property listing listings have been featured on HGTV's House Hunters, Loopnet, and other media, and I've been a featured guest on the Rental Income Podcast and Active Duty Passive Income podcast. I'm also a frequent flyer on Bigger Pockets. In addition to my experience as a real estate investor, real estate agent, and broker, my education and executive management experience in business and the public sector are a tremendous asset to my real estate investor clients. I hold a master's degree in public administration, and a bachelor's in management and international business. I also hold advanced certifications in risk management and human resources. What You Will Learn: Who is Jeff Copeland? How did he get into the Real Estate industry? What are the types of property Jeff is into? What to expect of a Copeland Investor? What is a Snow Bird type rental? Jeff shares short-term rentals, long-term rentals, and Airbnb. There are a lot of different ways to make money in rental properties. What are the methods they use in property identification? Having acquisition and management under the same roof is a tremendous benefit. Their goal is to find their clients a property that could be a success and perform well. Believes in working on your business not working in your business. Jeff shares how he can be contacted. Additional Resources from Leonard Cabral: Website: copelandmorgan.com, copelandmorgan.com/podcast, fivesimpleformulas.com, and themultifamilyguy.com Phone: 1-727-235-7988 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CopelandMorgan/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonardcabral Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/copelandmorganllcvideos
Discover how a busy high-earner professional took action to achieve time freedom through real estate investing. Our guest, Lee Yoder, openly shares about the benefits of passive income and the effects of relying on formal education to pull off financial success. This episode is packed full of insights that would inspire you to do more, have more, and be more!WHAT TO LISTEN FORWhy fix and flip not considered an investment?Benefits of owning more units in one locationReal estate investing risks vs stock investing risksCan debt be used as leverage when investing?Effects on earning potential when relying on formal educationRESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONEDRich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki | Paperback https://amzn.to/3vNNev5 & Audible https://amzn.to/3IQO260Real Estate Investment Association (REIA): https://www.reia.org/LoopNet: https://www.loopnet.com/ Calendly: https://calendly.com/Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki | Paperback https://amzn.to/3vRgdhx & Audible https://amzn.to/3MxZoy0Five Steps to Passive Income for the Full-time Dad: https://threefoldrei.ac-page.com/5-steps-to-passive-income-for-the-full-time-dadABOUT LEE YODERLee Yoder was a practicing physical therapist when he realized his true passion was building his own business and investing in real estate. He has taken this passion and considerable action to quickly build a portfolio of several small apartment buildings, which has allowed him to quit his job and pursue real estate full-time. Lee is also the founder and visionary behind Threefold Real Estate Investing. And he is the host of a weekly podcast called The Threefold Real Estate Investing Podcast, which focuses on multifamily real estate investing along with pursuing better relationships with family and a better walk with Christ.CONNECT WITH LEEWebsite: https://threefoldrei.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threefold.yoderLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-yoder-25793215a/Podcast: The Threefold Real Estate Investing Podcast: https://threefoldrei.com/podcasts/CONNECT WITH USTo learn more about investment opportunities, join the Cityside Capital Investor Club.Follow us on Facebook: Cityside CapitalFollow us on Instagram: @citysidecapital_tim_lyonsConnect with us on LinkedIn: Tim Lyons