Data Center Development with Chad Fowler

 

Data Center Development with Chad Fowler

 

Guest: Chad Fowler is an architect specializing in data center design at HED Design part of the mission-critical team which is dedicated to advancing technology integration and implementing sustainable practices. Chad emphasizes the importance of educating communities about the significance of data centers in the digital landscape. His work aims for a better understanding of how data centers support modern technology and infrastructure.

 

Big Idea: Chad discusses the evolution and significance of data centers in supporting modern technology, particularly in the context of AI advancements and arguing that their crucial role in the digital age requires innovative design and community engagement.

 

 

    

Dan Breslin: Yeah. So so for the listeners here. You’re with HED design. And you’re on the mission critical team, which is mostly focused on data center development. I guess data center design throughout the US and around the world. Or what’s the deal with that.

Chad Fowler – HED: We’re primarily in US, based. The global market is there. And it’s something that we have done a little bit of work and and future expansion into.

Dan Breslin: Perfect. So this will be a little bit of a diversion from probably a lot of the topics that we have on the show here. But I think this actually fits for a few reasons. Number one, we’re talking about real estate development. I’d argue one of the most niche value I would probably guess this is the highest value per square foot transactions that we saw in 2024 and 2023 if I had to guess on a price per square foot basis, like $2,300 a square foot, I think, was one recently traded in Elk Grove Village, which our Chicago audience will know that name, but maybe not so much the rest of the folks around the country. So we have real estate development really high price niche kind of real estate that we normally probably don’t look at. But I thought, Hey, this is really an interesting topic, and I think you, I’m hoping we can get a nice little overview of the industry on today’s podcast. Episode. Chad, what else did I miss from the short introduction here that might help fill in any holes.

Chad Fowler – HED: I’ll I’ll expand a little bit. I am an architect by training, so that is, my background is architecture. HED is an Interdisciplinary Company concentrating on promote and advancing our world. That is a it is where we focus on positive impact and and the future of what we can offer to our built environment and our communities.

 

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://www.HED.Design/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Chad Fowler & I Discuss Data Center Development:

  • Data Center Definition and Evolution (00:11 – 00:30)

  • Power Consumption and Cooling Technologies (00:49 – 01:20)

  • Impact of AI on Data Center Design (05:45 – 06:08)

  • Community Education and Sustainable Practices (42:20 – 43:10)

 

    

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.

Hampshire Capital CEO Shane Carter on Real Estate Development

 

Hampshire Capital CEO Shane Carter on Real Estate Development

 

Guest: Shane Carter is a seasoned real estate developer and entrepreneur with over 27 years of experience, specializing in multifamily and single-family development. He is the author of “Optimize Your Life,” which emphasizes balancing professional success with personal well-being. As the founder of Hampshire Capital, Shane leverages his expertise in construction and development to create value and foster community growth.

 

Big Idea: Shane shares his journey from home builder to successful real estate developer.

 

 

    

Dan Breslin: So I’m sure people who will have read the description, and the bullet points from our conversation are looking forward to hearing about all of the large scale. Single family development deals and the multifamily assets. But before we dive into that, you have recently, just in 2024, I believe September it may have been released. The book you wrote optimize your life, and I know that a lot of our audience is about family and about freedom and living life to the fullest. So would you mind kind of taking us through a little bit of the journey of putting that book together, and maybe what the top line message is.

Shane Carter: Yeah, yeah, thanks, Dan, I appreciate that. So this is a book that just just so we’re clear about it upfront. I didn’t write to be a lead magnet, or to be a funnel into a course, or to be anything other than frankly, a cathartic process of getting my thoughts out and and wanting to share with others all that I’ve learned in the, you know, 27 years of my professional career and my personal growth journey. And so I’ve been a preferred, you know, a personal growth junkie from the very beginning, and and I’ve I’ve read and absorbed just about every book you can. And so this is sort of my recounting of the main lessons that I’ve learned on that journey. And so, you know, it’s obviously starts with mindset and how we quite literally create the world around us via our mindset on a daily basis. And if you do that consistently and long enough, you. You craft your own life in a very meaningful way, and then the rest of the book also goes into what I believe to be a critical balance between mind, body, and spirit, and I think that’s a piece that a lot of entrepreneurs, miss. There’s a lot of influencers out there right now. I’m not going to name names, but you know their sole focus is business growth. Grow your business, eat, sleep, live, and die, and breathe it, and you know, just grow for the sake of growth, and I offer many counterpoints to that that I don’t think are very healthy for most of us to try to engage in. And the the main one is relationships. It doesn’t. Doesn’t matter how much money you have. If you don’t have good relationships with your significant, other with your friends and family, with your children, etc…

 

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://HampshireCap.com/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Shane Carter & I Discuss Real Estate Development

  • Balancing Personal Growth and Professional Success (00:01:46)

  • Real Estate Development (00:07:45)

  • Strategic Insights on Market Conditions (00:30:00)

  • The Impact of Kindness and Networking (00:49:09)

 

    

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.

“Work Shop” Author Joe Brady on the Evolution of Retail Real Estate

 

“Work Shop” Author Joe Brady on the Evolution of Retail Real Estate

 

Guest: “Work Shop” author Joe Brady is an expert in retail commercial real estate. He served as CEO of Americas at The Instant Group as well as head of real estate for Walgreens. His early career includes capital markets & brokerage with a business-sale exit to JLL.

 

Big Idea: Real Estate may go up in value, but it certainly comes with an expiration date. Retail & office are the 2 recent asset classes where much of the product is simply useless and worthless-as many properties have sold at land value minus demolition costs. Joe has observed that retail has been forced to evolve because of the iPhone and now office is facing the same challenges.

 

 

    

Dan Breslin: Yeah, for sure. So, Joe, we’ll talk about his background with Walgreens as head of head of National Real estate. I believe we were talking before we hit record about how we’re both Philadelphia guys, then Chicago guys and then Florida guys still to this day. But with that, do you want to give a brief background of your career history and how that’s led up to what you’re currently doing, Joe.

Joe Brady: Sure happy to. You know, I’ve been in commercial real estate for 35 years or so, and during that time I’ve had a chance to sit almost at every seat at the table. So I’ve been on the capital capital market side. Been on the brokerage side, the advisory side. I’ve been on the principal side. And so I really grew up in the retail business, and it was a part of some very high volume rollouts, including Hollywood Video back when that was actually a that was actually an industry. Right? There’s only one blockbuster left. Did you know that. Somebody mentioned that to you. Yeah. It must be like a museum now, or something. I mean. It’s a swag shop. It’s.

Dan Breslin: Okay.

Joe Brady: Bend Oregon of all places, right? So that industry doesn’t exist. But was part of the team that rolled out 2,000 of those stores. And then we we took that business we took the skills and the relationships and rolled that into an outsourcing business. That, we ran from 2,000 to 2,008 and T-mobile, U.S.A. Became our biggest client. So we opened another 2,000 of those stores, the 1st 2,000 T-mobile stores in the Us. And wound up selling that business to Jll. January 3, rd 2,008. So for those who, you know don’t track history that was really really lucky timing and I’ll take it so.

 

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://JoeBrady.ai/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Joe Brady & I Discuss The Evolution of Retail Real Estate:

  • How to Engage a Mentor with Cold Outreach

  • Effectiveness is Superior to Productivity

  • Recent Grocery Anchored Retail Development

  • Tenant Driven Development = Lower Risk Development

 

    

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.

Real Estate Development with Darcy Marler

 

Real Estate Development with Darcy Marler

 

Guest: Darcy Marler is a seasoned real estate investor and developer with over two decades of experience in flipping houses, rental properties, land development, and new construction. From an MIT graduate to a successful real estate entrepreneur, Darcy’s journey has been marked by valuable lessons and insights. Passionate about transforming raw land into subdivided lots ready for construction, Darcy specializes in building and flipping houses, duplexes, and small multifamily properties.

 

Big Idea: In this episode, Darcy Marler delves into the transition from fixing and flipping houses to land development and new construction, stressing the need to align real estate strategies with personal preferences. He outlines risk mitigation and profit maximization strategies, emphasizing the substantial benefits of new construction, including higher returns, better tenants, and efficient management. Darcy highlights advantages such as ease of financing and incentives for developers addressing the housing crisis. He underscores opportunities for smaller investors in smaller-scale projects like multifamily units or residential development. Understanding market demand, leveraging financing, and exploring exit strategies are key takeaways for maximizing returns in real estate development.

 

 

    

Dan Breslin: Yeah, absolutely. I was excited by the topic. I think our listeners will be equally as excited. Most of us listening are probably fixing flipping houses. We are interested in buying and selling real estate. We would improve said real estate to get to that profit. And I think that our discussion today around land and development and making that transition will be a very much well-received topic by the audience and by myself today. So Darcy, would you mind giving us the background and the career evolution to getting where you’re at today?

Darcy Marler: Well, a lot of people, I was an actual IT guy way back in the day, about 23 years ago, I got tired of that. So I wanted to get into real estate and I started flipping and doing long term rentals and that led to some land development and construction. The bird, I’ve done all the strategies I’ve owned, had close to a thousand tenants and 240 renovated units, written a couple of books and then yeah. So now I’m doing a bit of everything, but I keep coming back to new. I like new, I like being creative. I like knocking stuff down instead of fixing it up now. [inaudible].

Dan Breslin: So why don’t we start with an example then this could be your first development deal, or you can not do that one. If that one’s not maybe the biggest lesson and maybe you could pick one that came with a really big lesson that helps us expand our vision from single-family fix and flip or buying duplexes that exist to ground up new construction?

Darcy Marler: Yeah, so actually the first one is a perfect one. So I had this 1950s bungalow. I was just going to flip it. The person next to me passed away, so I bought that as well. I said, ” You know what, I’ve always wanted to build. So what does that look like?” Actually I moved both of the old houses off. I didn’t even demolish them. I actually sold them. They got moved off. I split those two lots into four. I made sure all four lots were serviced and then I built four new homes and I loved it. It was exactly what I wanted. So the big thing that I’m all about too is, is not your personality to your strategy. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, what’s a better fit. And I love creativity. I love the pride of watching the stuff come out of the ground. I think it’s awesome.

 

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://www.hrrealestatementors.com/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Darcy Marler & I Discuss Real Estate Development:

  • Budgeting and Risk Management in New Construction (3:31)
  • Philosophies on Holding vs. Selling Properties (10:02)
  • Pre-Selling Land vs. Building Spec Homes (15:54)
  • Identifying Potential Land for Development & Subdividing (18:21)
  • Evaluating Opportunities in Aging Neighborhoods (23:16)
  • Benefits of new construction for rental properties (36:38)
  • Importance of demographics and location in real estate investment (45:36)
  • The significance of partnerships and operational support in real estate ventures (49:48)

 

    

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.

Tom Dunkel: Strategies to Build Wealth Through Alternative Assets

 

Tom Dunkel: Strategies to Build Wealth Through Alternative Assets

 

Guest:  Tom Dunkel is an experienced entrepreneur and corporate finance leader who specializes in value-add self-storage investments, distressed mortgage note investing/dealing, private lending, and private investing in multi-family and self-storage properties.

 

Big Idea: Tom Dunkel is an experienced alternative asset investor who has completed over $40MM of transactions in fragmented, dislocated markets such as distressed debt and self-storage. He has over 25 years of real estate and investing experience, including $1.2B of middle-market M&A and financing transaction experience. Tom is passionate about helping alternative investors build wealth while improving communities through disciplined real estate investment initiatives.

 

 

    

Dan Breslin: Tom is an experienced entrepreneur and corporate finance leader who specializes in value add self-storage investments, distressed mortgage note investing in dealing private lending, and private investing in multi-family and self-storage properties. Today, Tom and I are going to discuss this $40 million plus of transactions in fragmented dislocated markets, such as distressed debt and self-storage. Tom also has over 25 years of real estate experience and investing experience, including $1.2 billion of middle market M&A and financing transaction experience.

We’re going to discuss the internetization. Yes, I made that word up. The internetization of real estate as a trend, especially pertaining to the self-storage real estate industry. We’re also going to touch on market selection and of course generating high passive returns. Let’s begin. Hi, welcome to the REI Diamond Show Tom, how you doing today?

Tom: Doing great, Dan. It’s great to be with you. It’s been a long time.

Dan: Yeah, for sure, so for listeners, Tom and I go back to the early days, probably 2006, when we were both dipping our foot into the Philadelphia Regional Real Estate Networking meetings.

Tom: That’s right.

Dan: What a path since then, right Tom?

Tom: I know, man. It’s been quite a wild ride, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I know about you. It’s been a lot of fun.

 

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.BelroseStorageGroup.com

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Tom & I Discuss Real Estate Development:

  • Pitfalls for High-net-worth Investors and How to Avoid Them

  • What are the Hidden Risks for Self-Storage Investors

  • Why should I Consider Participating in an Equity Syndication

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 213 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Real Estate Development with Karl Krauskopf

 

Real Estate Development with Karl Krauskopf

 

Guest: Karl Krauskopf is a multi family real estate investor and developer based in Seattle, Washington. He is the managing partner of Auroras Investment Group.

Big Idea: Real Estate development, specifically the entitlement process can produce large gains without the risk of construction. Flipping houses is a great place to start in real estate, but can be challenging to scale. This is why many real estate developers progress to development of land and larger projects after finding success in single family homes.

 

 

    

 

Dan Breslin: Welcome to the REI Diamond Show. I’m your host, Dan Breslin, and this is episode 209 on real estate development with Karl Krauskopf. Karl is a multi-family real estate investor and developer based in Seattle, Washington. He is the managing partner of Aurora’s Investment Group. Real estate development, specifically the entitlement process, can produce large gains without the risk of construction. Flipping houses is a great place to start in real estate, but it can be challenging to scale, which is why many real estate developers progress to the development of land and larger projects after finding success in single family homes. On this episode, Karl and I discussed this as his recent or past transition to larger deals and the same transition that I am currently going through myself.

Karl: Sure. Happily. So, how I got into real estate was probably a little bit different from most folks. I got into real estate. That was 10 years back, I was a veteran and working in the healthcare industry. I was a director of corporate strategy and business development. So, that is where my passion lies, which is really around growth partnerships. How do we basically, how do we grow an entity of business?

And what ended up coming to fruition and what bore the real estate endeavour was my wife and I going into a conversation about wanting to start a family, wanting to have a kid, and what better way to start a side business, which would become my future business, is having a kid. So, spent about six months during my wife’s being pregnant, self-educating myself, really learning how to maximise my income, as well as getting into diversifying my income by adding additional streams of revenue. Decided it was time to take the first leap, which was buying a duplex, a remote duplex across the state from me, and with full intentions of rehabbing, refinancing it, and repeating it. Come to find out that I was not the right asset for that. And now I just spent about $75,000, the majority of my at that time, disposable income in putting it, parking it into a duplex that had no direct path for the refinance. So, I started sweating. I was nervous, didn’t know what to do. We were about to have a baby. So I figured what’s the best next step? Well, the best next step, apparently at the time was to flip a massive home. My first flip ever, it was a hoarder home too. Fantastic idea, right? No, it was awesome. I believe it was four dumpsters’ worth, 440-yard dumpsters’ worth, of junk that we took out of this home. All this direct to say back is, I’m working a 40, 50 hour a week job as well as we just had our newborn, and apparently I’m a glutton for punishment.

 

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.AurorasInvestmentGroup.com/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Karl & I Discuss Real Estate Development:

  • Entitlement Process-Real Estate Development

  • Finding Mentors doing Larger Deals

  • “Covered Land” play-teardown deals

  • The Microsoft Real Estate Market-Seattle, Washington

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 209 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Franchise Investments with Kim Daly

franchise_investment

 

Franchise Investments with Kim Daly

 

Guest: Kim Daly is an independent franchise consultant with FranChoice. She is also the co-author of Franchising Freedom & Mission Matters Volume 5, Top Tips to Success.

Big Idea: Kim Daly is an expert in franchise investment. Kim Daly has spent the last 20 years helping people achieve financial freedom by enabling them to find the perfect franchise opportunities. Her skill for matching a client’s background, interests, skills, finances and life goals to the ideal opportunity has made her one of the top franchise consultants in the country. On today’s episode we discuss the way some real estate investors transition from house flipping to owning a portfolio of franchise businesses-which might be a great solution in today’s low inventory real estate market. We also discuss the process of getting started and then building to scale, where you reap the real rewards of the franchise business.

 

 

    

 

Dan: Love it. I found a quote online. I think this would be a good place to start. I don’t know if you wrote this or someone wrote it about you, but it said “She worked as a personal trainer and had medical school dreams before entrepreneurship and franchising found her.” Tell me about that.

Kim: That is all true. In franchising, Dan. The question that’s commonly asked is, how did franchising find you? Because nobody really wakes up and says, “Oh yeah, I think I’m going to go get into franchising.” Right? It’s more like you’re looking for some outcome in your life and you stumble upon the advantages of franchising and go, “Ooh, this is a way to get where I want to go.” That’s pretty much what happened to me. There were two things I wanted to do when I was young. One was to become a motivational speaker, but like, how does one do that? You pursue the more logical thing. I was a straight-A student. I’m going to go to medical school and help people. Like I just always desired to be a person of influence, to do something that genuinely improves the lives of other people.

After undergrad, I answered a classified ad in the newspaper that was for a franchise consulting company, not the one I’m part of today. But literally, that classified ad changed my life when I found what franchising as an industry is and does for people, which is, it’s an industry of people helping people. It’s an industry where every single day people are realizing their dreams, living their dreams, just inspiring, and helping each other. I knew that I had found my homeland. I did make a temporary deviation into entrepreneurship because like every good business owner, I think we all think that we can go out there and do it on our own. I tried to do that for five years and figured out how hard it is and mainly how lonely it is and the things that I now help other people realize and learn about in franchising like that.

In a franchise, you’re in business for yourself, but not by yourself. You have the comradery of, not just a corporate office, but all of the other franchise owners that are out there that are part of this brand. Together you are building something. It’s like people who go off to war together often talk about the part they miss about being in the military is the comradery, right? People that go through an intense situation together in anything in life, they’ll reflect back fondly on the people that they went through that experience. Like if you’re bringing a company up to an IPO, right? I think the same thing is true in franchising. We’re all trying to achieve our own individual dreams, but collectively we’re coming together to build a brand altogether and so it has that same sense of camaraderie. Once I came back to entrepreneurship at the very old age of 29, I’m sorry, but once I came back to franchising at 29, I never left. I’ve spent 20 years now as a franchise consultant.

 

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:

How to Invest in a Franchise Business with Jon Ostenson

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Kim & I Discuss Franchise Investing:

  • Is Franchising Safe in an Uncertain Economy?

  • Why does Franchising Grow in Challenging Times?

  • How to Find the RIGHT Franchise for You

  • Best Franchise Opportunities in the Market Today

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 208 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Nashville Tennessee Real Estate Development with HBG Capital Founder Brandon Cobb

 

Nashville Tennessee Real Estate Development with HBG Capital Founder Brandon Cobb

 

Guest: Nashville Tennessee Real Estate Investor Brandon Cobb is the founder of HBG Capital.  He is also a licensed and bonded General Contractor in TN managing more than $1O Million of new development annually.

Big Idea: Investing in Nashville Tennessee real estate is like most of the U.S. at the time of this recording:  Low inventory combined with an insanely inflationary environment.  There is also a housing shortage which has created profitable conditions for residential real estate developers who are capable of building with scarce & expensive building materials and labor.  Not an easy task.  On today’s episode Brandon & I discuss this situation and the system he’s developed to build profitably.  Shall we begin?

 

 

    

 

Daniel Breslin: Today’s guest, Nashville Tennessee Real Estate Investor, Brandon Cobb, is the founder of HBG Capital. He’s also a licensed and bonded general contractor in Tennessee, managing more than $10 million of new development each year. Investing in Nashville Tennessee Real Estate is like most of the US at the time of this recording, super low inventory combined with insanely inflationary environment. There’s also a housing shortage, which has created profitable conditions for residential real estate developers who are capable of building with scarce and expensive building materials and labor, not an easy task.

In today’s episode, Brandon and I discussed this situation and the system he’s developed to actually build profitably.

Brandon: Yeah, so I could probably speak to Nashville more than I can in the other markets. I know Memphis is a very heavy rental market. Over there, you can still scoop up properties for pretty cheap, but you got to be really careful because your tenant base is if you don’t have a good system to processes for vetting tenants, you will get hosed on that. Knoxville, you’re probably referring to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, tons of cabins going up Airbnb, right? COVID kind of blew that area up. Everybody wants to go on a vacation, but they’re scared of COVID or there’s a lockdown. So those areas where you can kind of get the whole glamping experience or cabin experience blew up, that area’s phenomenal. The Smoky Mountains are obviously one of the best places to go and hike, especially during the fall when the leaves change. A little tip for everybody, right? If you have not been in the Smoky during the fall, it’s great.

Nashville’s probably the only city that has gosh, 30, 40 cranes downtown. So you can just look if you just had a picture of three cities, you be able to identify Nashville from those three because it’s got a ton of cranes. Nashville’s just exponential growth. I think all the national builders are now officially here. They set up shop in the building. That mean, you’ve got these ginormous developments that are being announced every single year. They just announced one. It was like a $2 billion development over in the Bordeaux area, which is your first development where you’re going to have heavy commercial skyscrapers that are kind of outside the downtown core. If you look at Nashville, you get the Cumberland River that kind of rolls through it, and that’s sort of your barrier to all these heavy, deep skyline commercial buildings. Well, now, it’s starting to get outside of that and it’s across the river now. So it’s very interesting, and you’re going to start to see that area really kind of explode. So Nashville’s just a hot, hot, hot housing market.

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 6.99%.  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.HBGCapital.net

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Brandon Cobb & I Discuss Investing in Nashville Tennessee Real Estate:

  • Nashville Tennessee Real Estate Market

  • Developing Residential Real Estate

  • Lessons Learned from Losing $40,000

  • Getting Past a Bad Deal

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 207 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

How to Become a Real Estate Developer with Adam Gilbert

 

Episode: How to Become a Real Estate Developer with Adam Gilbert

 

Guest: Adam Gilbert is the President of The Firm Commercial where he leads a team of agents specializing in commercial real estate sales, leasing, land acquisition, development, government relations, and value added entitlement development deals.

 

Big Idea: Any Real Estate Agent, Developer, or Investor Generates Consistent Income by Positioning themselves to Receive a Continuous Flow of Deals Crossing their Path.  Adam has a unique way of doing this in the realm of commercial real estate, as discussed during this episode.

 

 

    

Dan Breslin: Some of my best partners have come through listening this podcast. Maybe you’re the next. Today’s guest is Adam Gilbert, the president of The Firm Commercial, where he leads a team of agents specializing in commercial real estate sales, leasing, land acquisition, development, government relations, and value-added land entitlement development deals. Any real estate agent developer or investor will generate a consistent income through positioning themselves to receive a continuous flow of deals that are coming across their desk. Adam has a unique way of doing this in the realm of commercial real estate as discussed during this episode. And we also dive deep on how to become a real estate developer covering details of a few recent development deals and we also touch on the Palm Springs, California Real Estate market.

So, I was doing some research for our show here and I found that you’ve recently exited your vacation rental business. So, I’d like to begin right at that point if we could, and maybe you could touch on how you built the business, how it operated at scale, and then what was the ultimate reasoning that led you to selling and exiting.

Adam: Sure. So, quick background, I’m born and raised here in Palm Springs, and I left for school. I came back in about 2011, which was an interesting time in the market for a variety of reasons. But that summer, I had stayed in this new thing called an Airbnb in 2011, Washington, DC. We had spent the summer in New York and my wife was like, “We’re going to spend the night in someone’s room at their house? This is crazy.” I’m like, “We did it. This is the future, honey. This is going to be amazing.” And so, when I moved back to Palm Springs, there we have like a long history of vacation, rental properties for 50-60 years, but not on the platform of Airbnb. So, I was one of the ones who got just a couple of condos on the platform and they just started crushing. Absolutely amazing because this whole new marketplace of people were looking for properties on Airbnb. So, it kind of just grew organically. I was like, “Okay. Well, I’ve got a housekeeping service, I’ve got a handyman, I know how to do these reservations, and we just built this business.” By the time 2018 came around, I had 35 full-time properties. We had like, 50 around the time Coachella came. It was a great business. It’s a very labor-intensive business and it takes a lot of time, and it’s holidays and all that kind of stuff. So, at that point in my real estate investing career, it was just a little bit too much. And so, I made a deal with TurnKey, who’s a venture-backed vacation rental company out of Austin, Texas and they were acquiring small companies like mine at the time. I made an exit and focus my attention on other ventures.

Dan: Okay, so was it more of a freedom thing? Or was there some timing and pricing that also made it worthwhile?

Adam: There were a few factors in there. Just the perils of running a business, partners, all that kind of stuff. I think it was more timing. I had to decide. It was that point when I had 35 properties, I would have needed to invest in the business, in terms of employees. I did some calculations, I wasn’t going to make any money again until I got 75 properties, and I’m like, “Okay. Is this what I want to spend my time doing?” So, it’s kind of an 80/20 principle thing of “Where am I going to focus my time to have the best ROI?”

Dan: Got you. So, what’s been the focus of your career? Since 2018, you exited, you jettisoned the responsibilities, which was kind of what I was expecting an answer there. So, what’s been the focus since then?

Adam: Yeah. So, mostly since then, it’s been building of my real estate brokerage, both commercial and residential, here. It’s mostly commercial, but on the residential side, I do specialize in short-term vacation rentals, which the Palm Springs Market is well known for and has been absolutely blasting since COVID. Palm Springs has been a great market since that’s happened and then, I’m also working on my own deals and I have a little niche in value-add entitlement deals and zone changes. And so, I spent a lot of my time kind of doing that and entitlement work.

 

Episode Sponsored by the Deal Machine:

Driving for Dollars Software to Build a Team of Drivers, Manage Routes, & Even Automate Marketing.  Free Access at  http://REIDealMachine.com/

Resources mentioned in this episode:

www.TheFirmCommercial.com

 

 

Adam & I Discuss Commercial Real Estate Syndication:

  • Government Relations During Land Development

  • Identifying Value in Underzoned Property

  • Palm Springs California Real Estate Market

  • The Group Any Commercial Real Estate Broker is Wise to Join

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 191 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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