Gino Barbaro on Large Multi Family Real Estate Investing in 2024

 

Gino Barbaro on Large Multi Family Real Estate Investing in 2024

 

Guest: In this episode, we sit down with Gino Barbaro, co-founder of the Jake and Gino brand and a titan in the multifamily real estate space. Gino shares his incredible journey from running a small family restaurant to managing over $350 million in assets. Gino Barbaro is a seasoned real estate investor, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Jake & Gino, a multifamily real estate education company. With years of experience and numerous successful deals under his belt, Gino is dedicated to educating others about the intricacies of passive investing and multifamily real estate management.

 

Big Idea: Gino Barbaro emphasizes the importance of education, mentorship, and strategic partnerships in achieving success in multifamily real estate. He shares how investing in personal growth and building a strong network can transform a small business owner’s career into that of a real estate mogul. Gino highlights the importance of understanding the key pillars of passive investing: the sponsor, alignment of interests, and the deal itself. By focusing on these aspects, investors can make more informed decisions and avoid common pitfalls, leading to more stable and profitable investments. The key to success in multifamily real estate is viewing properties not just as buildings, but as revenue-generating businesses. Gino emphasizes the importance of systems and processes in managing properties, whether they are small six-unit buildings or large 97-unit complexes. He also highlights the significance of deal flow, broker relationships, and understanding market cycles to seize opportunities and maximize returns.

 

 

    

 

Dan: Why don’t we start with the origination story, like how did your career develop to where it’s at now? And we’ll do the Reader’s Digest version. We don’t have several years to experience the whole thing.

Gino: I got to take you back to when I got into business after college because that’s where it starts for me. I got into the restaurant business because my dad owned the restaurant and I went to college and I sat in a cubicle working at AIG back in 1992 on John Street in New York City, and that sucked and I’m like, “I can’t be doing that anymore.” And I went and bought a business, a restaurant with my family, and I loved it for years. You could actually earn an upper middle class income with a small business with 3 families eating from a seventy seat, a little Italian place in New York. Yes. That was the team, and the dream was alive in the 90s and even the early 2000s. In 2007 my dad passed away and I had to assess my life. I had to say, I’m I living his dream or am I living my dream?

I have to be honest with myself, I loved working with him, and I think the thought of working with him at the restaurant was greater than the thought of me scaling and building this restaurant thing, and in 2008 came, the great recession sort of wiped out a lot of people. I was working harder, making less. I got introduced to T. Harv Eker’s book, Secrets in the Millionaire Mind. I put off bookshelf, I start reading it and I’m like, “Damn, this guy’s a dick.” But he wasn’t, I was the dick. Everything he said in that book was the truth. Your fruits are in your roots. My fruits were non-existent. I couldn’t create value for the people. My roots were shallow.

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

https://JakeAndGino.com/

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Gino Barbaro & I Discuss Large Multi Family Real Estate Investing in 2024:

  • First Steps in Multifamily Real Estate (03:14): How Gino partnered with Jake to start their first multifamily deal and the challenges they faced.
  • Importance of Mentorship and Education (10:43): The value of mentorship and continuous learning in overcoming initial fears and scaling up.
  • Three Pillars of Passive Investing (00:14:31): Explanation of the jockey (sponsor), saddle (alignment of interests), and horse (the deal) framework.
  • Loan and Financing Strategies (33:57): Gino discusses using community banks for 80% loan-to-cost financing, including renovations, and how he and his partner funded their deals.
  • Market Cycles and Investment Timing (36:03): The discussion covers market cycles, cap rates, and why certain assets are better investments during different market phases.
  • Interest Rates and Investment Viability (38:00): Gino explains why interest rates shouldn’t deter investors if the deal’s fundamentals are strong.
  • Advice for New Multifamily Investors (43:06): Gino provides advice for those looking to transition from single-family homes to multifamily properties, stressing the importance of mentorship and community.
  • The Role of Community and Networking (47:34): The value of joining groups and attending events to gain insights and build relationships with experienced investors.
  • The Importance of Autonomy in Financial Success (1:00:29): Understanding the relationship with money and its role in achieving freedom and autonomy.

 

    

Relevant Episodes: (200+ Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Redeveloping U.S. Malls Part 2 with Brait Fund Saul Zenkevicius

 

Redeveloping U.S. Malls Part 2 with Brait Fund Saul Zenkevicius

 

Guest: Saul Zenkevicius is a personal friend and prior business partner of mine.  We used to flip houses together in Chicago & Miami. Now he’s moved on to redeveloping underperforming Malls with his partner Rafik and their team. 

 

Big Idea: The biggest opportunity in commercial real estate is leasing up large amounts of vacant space.  This is how to earn profits exceeding $10,000,000.  The key to doing this is building a business focused on attracting tenants and building an ecosystem of tenants that will bring traffic to those properties over a long period of time.

 

 

    

Dan: Saul Zenkevicius, welcome back to the show. How you doing?

Saul Zenkevicius: Good. How are you, Danny?

Dan: Good. For listeners who’ve been around a while, March 1st, 2019, Saul was on the show. We talked about leveling up in real estate, and he was just getting into industrial properties, and I think getting out of the house, flipping business. Saul and I were also partners in the Miami market, and we did quite a bit of business together in the Chicago market before the focus became commercial. Saul is the founding member of Z Equity. Do you have another company or any other company associations at this point we know.

Saul: Yeah. I am also managing partner in Braid Fund where Rafik Morris is my partner over there and we’re buying malls with that company.

 

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

www.Zequitygroup.com

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Saul Zenkevicius & I Discuss Redeveloping Commercial Real Estate:

  • Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro
  • Leasing 300,000 sq. ft. in 15 months
  • Creating $10M in value in that same period
  • Simplifying Life instead of Chasing Money Exclusively

 

    

Relevant Episodes: (200+ Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Redeveloping Dying Malls with Brait Capital Founder Rafik Moore

 

Redeveloping Dying Malls with Brait Capital Founder Rafik Moore

 

Guest: Rafik is a seasoned commercial real estate operator with extensive experience in retail & industrial property.  His company, Brait Capital is now focused on very large retail & industrial assets.  Recently, he has closed on 3 shopping mall properties with large vacancy and is in the process of repositioning those assets.

 

Big Idea: Commercial real estate success is found in 3 components.  First, finding an asset at a favorable cost basis. Second, assembling the capital to buy & redevelop that asset. Finally, and perhaps most important, operating the business of leasing at a high level to quickly fill the asset with paying tenants – tenants who draw the missing traffic back and bring that asset back to life.

 

 

    

Dan: Yes, smart. I like that. Why don’t we start with a little bit of a back story, right? How did you get in real estate? How did your real estate career developed to the point where we’re taking down and running 200,000 plus square-foot dead boxes and bringing them back to life?

Rafik: I started with a job as a credit analyst at a bank. So, my approach into this industry came from the finance or ability to borrow money to buy real estate. As an underwriter, I worked for two years, learned a lot about credit analysis and what banks to look at when they want to borrow your money. It was a very critical experience in my understanding of how to get banks to lend me money later. After being a credit analyst, I became a sales guy. At first, I was an account executive, sales guy for the mortgages, and then ultimately, became a mortgage broker in 2003. From 2003 until 2008, I was a mortgage broker. We had about four shops and over 100 people, and that basically was my full-time job.

But my part-time job was flipping houses and starting from one house duplex after that and that flopped on a couple of first houses. It’s so hard to believe that starting with that and to sort of fast forward to what we’re doing today, which is four and a half million square-feet of real estate all over the country it’s just mind-boggling and very, very exciting and I guess, humbling. I have been very blessed to have met a lot of friends along the way. I’m all about building long-term relationships with long-term people. But yes, after flipping houses… Oh, by the way, when things collapsed, I started flipping houses professionally. We do 50 to 60 houses a year for about seven to 10 years and in 2012 and parallel, I bought my first commercial warehouse building which was a life-changing event. On that first deal, we made a million dollars, me and my investors. And we continued flipping houses, but commercial real estate became a thing for me, first thing. So, my partner continued running flipping business while I got into commercial full time.

This Episode of The REI Diamonds Show is Sponsored by the Deal Machine. This Software Enables Real Estate Investors to Develop a Reliable & Low Cost Source of Off Market Deals. For a Limited Time, You Get Free Access at http://REIDealMachine.com/

 

This Episode is Also Sponsored by the Lending Home. Lending Home Offers Reliable & Low Cost Fix & Flip Loans with Interest Rates as Low as 9.25%.  Buy & Hold Loans Offered Even Lower.  Get a FREE IPad when you Close Your First Deal by Registering Now at  http://REILineOfCredit.com

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

www.BraitCapital.com

 

For Access to Real Estate Deals You Can Buy & Sell for Profit:

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Rafik & I Discuss Redeveloping Dying Malls:

  • The Evolution from Flipping Houses to Buying Malls
  • The System for Creating Astonishing Leasing Velocity
  • Creating a “product”, as opposed to doing a “deal”
  • Managing 700 Commercial Tenants

 

    

Relevant Episodes: (200+ Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

The transcript of this episode can be found here.
Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.