The Real Estate Investing Experience

Most real estate businesses and investment groups follow the trajectory of starting with syndication and transitioning to funds. Our guest today has taken the opposite route, with excellent results. Brian Adams is the President and founder of Excelsior Capital, where he spearheads the investor relations and capital markets arms of the firm. In today’s episode, we get together with Brian to discuss what prompted him to choose syndication over funds and what he has learned and gained from it. Tuning in you’ll hear Brian discuss the pros and cons of this model and why he is dedicated to raising capital in a way that fosters positive relationships with his clients. We unpack the effect that the COVID 19 pandemic has had on his client needs as well as where people are investing.

The duties of a successful real estate investor are almost too long to list. Instead of trying to find a way to do it all, what if there was a way to achieve even more by allocating tasks to the right team members? Today, we hear from Whitney Sewell, director of Life Bridge Capital and host of The Real Estate Syndication Show, who achieves more than most would believe possible on any given day. In this episode, you’ll learn how the mission behind his work motivates him to be effective and the pivotal role of changing his mindset in reaching his ambitious goal of producing a daily podcast while also running a hugely successful real estate syndication business. Whitney touches on hiring the right people, why most of your work can be outsourced, and why the first assistant you hire probably won’t be the one that is with you the longest.

Today’s guest is Dwaine Clarke, net lease brokerage and investment expert. He kicks off our episode with an introduction to his work and his journey with real estate investment and tells us what drew him to this area of real estate: mailbox money. We talk about the properties that are part of our everyday lives that are unexpected investment opportunities, the difference between selling non-essential spaces versus selling essential land, and why it is advisable to seek out tenants with long track records of success. Next, we dive into who triple net leases are most appropriate for and why, and Dwaine stresses the importance of seeing if a triple net lease fits with your specific investment strategy before telling us why he chooses to have multiple strategies at the ready to prepare for possible risks.

Rental properties are not the only way to generate a profit from real estate investment. We speak with Scott Meyers, mentor at Self Storage Investing. Scott believes that real estate is the best possible investment, and self-storage is his preferred subcategory. In today’s episode, he tells us why and dives into a comparison of self storage with tenancy. We talk about how the storage landscape has changed during the pandemic, and explore the impact of recessions and economic growth on the storage business. Scott explains why self-storage parallels multifamily investment and tells us why he takes an opportunistic approach to all markets. Next, he tells us how he has benefitted from being in the business for years and having properties in different locations, before outlining some of the mistakes people make when doing due diligence.

The growth of the market in Austin, Texas has been steady and strong for many years already, and the projections show no sign of this slowing down any time soon. Here to talk about the area, his business, career path, and much more, is Ari Rastegar, from Rastegar Property Company! We get the inside scoop from Ari on what makes Austin so special, how he has managed to build such a profitable and flourishing company, and of course his thoughts on the future. We get to talk about what the so-called boom has meant for investors in Texas, and how this has influenced the strategies at Rastegar specifically. Ari also talks about the vital role that data plays at his company, and why he considers them to be in the data business just as much as in the real estate business! Our guest generously shares some of his personal journey and philosophy too, getting into the hard work he has put in and why there is no replacement for his kind of commitment.

In today’s episode of the Real Estate Investing Experience, we are joined by a very special guest, Daniel Weisfield. Daniel is a manufactured housing innovator and co-founder of Three Pillar Communities, a Top 50 owner of mobile home parks in the United States. Their company runs and operates 34 communities across five states, has vertically integrated over 8000 residents, and recently transitioned from individual syndication to starting their first fund. In our conversation with Daniel, we discuss how mobile home parks have changed in the last few decades and why he is so passionate about what they offer residents. Listening in, you'll hear Daniel discuss how the COVID 19 pandemic affected their priorities as a company, their current approach to expansions and why they decided to start their first investment fund.

Many people dream of leaving their day jobs and entering the world of real estate investment, but few take the plunge and even fewer find success. Today’s guest is a multifamily syndicator and apartment investor who has raised over 80 million dollars of private capital through real estate. On today’s episode, Josh Cantwell, Strategic Business Coach and CEO of Freeland Ventures, shares his story of starting with nothing, overcoming health issues, and using his knowledge in financial planning to make informed decisions that supported his career. He tells us about the steps he took to integrate commercial investing into his business, how his workload has drastically reduced and his net worth has increased in recent years, and what motivated the decision to stop lending at the start of the pandemic.

In today’s episode, John and Chris have a solo conversation where they discuss topics they are currently occupied with and their thoughts on the current state of investing and real estate. In their conversation, John and Chris discuss where they recognize current and future opportunities in real estate. John explains why he believes prospective opportunities currently lie in sellers and not product types. The opportunities lie in smaller scale landlords, who may be based out of state or don’t have enough time, as opposed to buying deals from large professional groups or very sophisticated investors. Tuning in you’ll hear John and Chris delve into how you can use your expertise to find broken deals and fix them, as well as how to gain crucial advantages in a competitive market.

Today’s guest is on a mission to transform the way investment firms raise and manage capital. Brad St. Onge is Head of Partnerships at InvestNext, a startup investment management platform founded in 2016 and located in Detroit, Michigan. After realizing the countless hours spent on activities that made fundraising, investment management, and investor relations tedious and inefficient, InvestNext developed software that enables investment firms to operate more effectively and provide greater transparency to their investors.

In today’s episode, we get together with Aaron Zucker to talk about his career in leasing, family office, and acquisitions and development. Aaron is the founder and principal of Zucker Investment Group (ZIG), where he has put together a competent team that complements his skill set. He shares how he first became interested in leasing after buying a bar with his friends after college and he credits the Wiener family for introducing him to leasing and allowing him to gain valuable experience.

Moving into your asset might sound like an extreme thing to do, but it’s a decision that changed Ryan Narus’s life. Ryan is a mobile home park operator, owner, and investor, who was fed up with the lie that so many millennials bought into. He went to school and even got an MBA because he thought that is what he needed to do to get a good job. Instead, after slogging away in the corporate world, he chose to sleep on a blow-up mattress in a mobile home park and bootstrap his now successful business.

As a first-generation Mexican immigrant in the US, military veteran and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologist (CRNA), Maricela Soberanes started building a rental portfolio in 2005 with the private acquisition of small multifamily. In 2017, she joined forces with her husband, and together they self-manage 35 doors, from small to medium multifamily. They have recently transitioned to large multifamily properties as limited partners and, at the same time, they successfully joint venture other real estate investment projects as hard money lenders.

On today’s episode of Real Estate Investing Experience, we speak with Abel Pacheco from Texas about his business 5TCRE and the success he’s had with multi-family real estate and investing. Abel shares how he got his start in the tech sector and working in IT and how he made the transition to working in real estate and investing full time. Abel lays out his mission to educate the broader public on the investment opportunities in multi-family real estate for reliable and scalable investments. We talk about expanding one's business and Abel recounts how he transitioned from doing one-off deals to a fund structure.

While working with single-family residential mortgages, Dovid Preil, our guest on today’s show, witnessed the difficulties that so many people experience when trying to enter the housing market. He believes that there is no bigger driver of wealth than real estate, so he made it his goal to help more people get into the industry. In order to achieve this, he founded a company that pulls capital for diversified, quality real estate investments in the multifamily space. Dovid shares with us some of the important learnings he has had throughout 20 years of investing experience, including attributes to look for in potential partners, elements that decide whether or not he invests in a deal, and why he so strongly believes in maintaining a diverse portfolio.

Suzy and Michael are real estate investors who have approached their business in a way that differs from the norm. They have chosen to focus on people rather than focusing on money (while of course still making sure the numbers work!), and Returns on Impacts rather than Returns on Investments. Through their company, Adventurous Real Estate Investors, their goal is to add value to their residents and create thriving communities within their investments. In today’s episode, we discuss the impetus behind Michael and Suzy’s entry into the world of real estate, how changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic benefited them, and some of the deals they have been involved in so far.

When your searching is driven by the right datasets you will find better deals, and today on the show we talk data with Aaron Norris, VP of Market Insights at PropertyRadar. Aaron is a multifaceted man whose talents lie in the fields of marketing, data, and education, and he also has experience in the hard money lending game with The Norris Group owned by his father Bruce. Our conversation with Aaron is all about the movements he is privy to in different markets and how he can locate the best opportunities by leveraging unique datasets. We kick things off hearing about Aaron’s interesting career beginning as a broke actor in NYC before he fell in love with marketing and data on Wall Street.

Unexpected curveballs are inevitable in all facets of life, and learning how to deal with them is one of the most essential keys to success. We are joined on the show today by Julie Holly; self-proclaimed recovering perfectionist, wife, mother, podcast host, ex-school teacher, and current real estate investor, who is about to launch an impact investing network. Julie believes that mindset is everything, and she shares with us the concept she has developed which helps her maintain a balance in her jam-packed life and which keeps her on track to reach her goals, no matter how much her path may change along the way.

There are so many reasons for foreigners to invest in the US real estate market. There are also a number of elements that make the process difficult, that investors may not realize they need to consider before they dive in. On today’s show, we are joined by Kenneth Kastner, who has focused his professional career on American taxes for foreign investors. He currently lives and works in Israel, but he deals with clients from all over the world.

Growing up in Manhattan and having a father with vast experience in architecture and design, architect Eli Meltzer gathered a lot of insights into the multifamily sector in the metro, specifically in affordable housing. As a Principal at Meltzer/Mandl Architects (MMA), a firm that has designed over 12,000 units of affordable and market-rate housing in the NYC area, Eli brings his skills as a designer and a leader, his expertise in zoning regulations and building codes, and a sophisticated understanding of the development and construction process. Notably, he spent several years working on Hudson Yards, the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States.

Our guest today is no stranger to hardship, but his “million-dollar mistake” turned out to be the life experience that he is most grateful for. Seth Ferguson joins us on the show to candidly share the blunders he has made along his real estate investing journey, the moment when he hit rock bottom, and what he has learned along the way. He offers sound advice to anyone else working in the industry, including the importance of setting up partnership agreements, having a consistent cash flow, not spending money beyond your means, and setting goals that pave your direction into the future. Having a vision is vital, but don’t let that vision prevent you from taking action, and don’t be afraid of changing it as you grow in your own personal and professional capacity.