Family Values & Real Estate Investing with Jim Sheils, A #1 Wall Street Journal Best Seller

 

Family Values & Real Estate Investing with Jim Sheils, A #1 Wall Street Journal Best Seller

 

Guest: Jim Sheils is a seasoned real estate investor, #1 Wall Street Journal Best Seller and founder of 18 Summers, a family education company. Jim shares his journey from clueless investor to building a thriving real estate business while putting family first.

 

Big Idea: From his early days as a clueless investor in California to his thriving new construction projects in Florida, Jim’s career is a testament to resilience and adaptation. Beyond his real estate prowess, Jim is known for his family education company, “18 Summers,” which advocates spending one-on-one time with loved ones every quarter, fostering deep connections and lasting memories. Discover the power of intermittent tech fasting, detaching from distractions during these moments, and prioritizing family to achieve a harmonious balance between personal and professional life.

 

 

    

 

Jim: Yeah, sure. Like most of us, I started out pretty clueless 24 years ago. I remember the first offer I had accepted in Lompoc, California for 152,000 on a three-family house. And I hyperventilated in my kitchen when it got accepted because that just seemed way above my anything. And that was the first deal. And I went into a pretty active model in the central California area, a place called Bakersfield, buying, fixing, and reselling, and renting HUD foreclosures. I did that for a number of years. It was crazy in California. I didn’t like the landlord laws or the taxes. I’d always liked Florida. I had grandparents there and went off to Florida and started doing the same thing. The meltdown happened, which was not fun but we survived it and there were tons of deals. So we went into bulk foreclosures, buying, fixing, and reselling HUD foreclosures, not HUD foreclosures, bank foreclosures. Fixing them up, keeping our own portfolio, working with investors. And then by about 2015, we just got two screwy around here. It was getting bid up, you had to cut corners as a rehabber. So my now building partner and I said, well, what if we could build our own houses in properties instead of finding old ones? And that started as about a $3 million experiment and bring it up to last year we did 185 million in sales. So we build new construction only. No more rehabs. Rehab shoes got hung up. We’re just new construction, single-family, duplexes, and quads are our main focus. And we’re in high-growth markets in Florida. And all that means is markets that are experiencing economic growth, population growth, have a good affordability index, healthy supply and demand, and something desirable drawing them to the area.

Dan: Fantastic. Before I go down the tangents of real estate-specific questions, and we’re going to dive deep into that in a few minutes, but you have 18 Summers on the wall behind you. And for the listeners who are in the audio version only, we’re on the video, you could check that out on YouTube. Would you mind kind of touching on that and the family values-driven nature of how you’ve built your career over the past decade-plus?

Jim: Yeah, about, whew, 12 years ago, my wife and I started 18 Summers. It was just a simple family education company that was doing some retreats and workshops, and it was about bringing families together with this simple premise. We wanted to be successful in business and at home. And getting invited to some real estate events at a young age, Dan, I got to get too close to some heroes with huge balance sheets and absolute nightmare personal lives. And I didn’t want to be like that. I was like, I don’t think it has to be that way. And now a father of five, myself ranging from two to 20 and both biological and adoptive, it was just a big value that I held for myself. So it was really built out of a need for my own that I didn’t want to fail at home. So how could we find easier ways to get it done? How could we be more present at home? How could we bring more families together to kind of mastermind, if you would, family life and how to be more engaged and enjoyable? And that’s where 18 Summers started and our book came out of just some simple stories and strategies we were using at home and just got a following that we were not expecting. So it was an unexpected thing, but I’d say I’m definitely known more for family than I am for real estate, and I’m okay with that.

 

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.jjplaybook.com

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Jim Sheils & I Discuss Family Values & Real Estate Investing:

  • The art of balancing family values and business success.

  • The “18 Summers” paradigm which emphasizes creating meaningful family connections.

  • How Intermittent tech fasting fosters mindful living.

  • How Build-to-rent opportunities can lead to an evolution in real estate investing.

  • Methods to mitigate risks in high-growth markets through new construction.

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 225 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Multifamily Strategies for Success with Ava, CEO of CPI Capital

 

Multifamily Strategies for Success with Ava, CEO of CPI Capital

 

Guest: Ava Benesocky is the CEO and co-founder of CPI Capital, a successful real estate investment firm specializing in multifamily assets in the Sunbelt States. Known for her strategic approach and data-driven decisions, Ava focuses on acquiring stabilized properties and implementing targeted renovations to generate significant returns for investors. With a hold time of 3 to 5 years, she leverages growth indicators and business-friendly markets like Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tampa to capitalize on market opportunities. CPI Capital offers attractive preferred returns and provides monthly distributions, while Ava remains committed to delivering consistent results, education and value creation for investors.

 

Big Idea: Join us in this insightful episode as Ava, the CEO of CPI Capital, shares her expertise and experience in multifamily real estate investing. Discover how CPI Capital’s strategic investment approach and data-driven decision-making have led to remarkable returns for investors. Explore the key lessons learned, including the importance of educating investors, building trust, and addressing potential risks. Gain valuable insights into identifying value-add opportunities, navigating market conditions, and maximizing returns. Whether you’re a seasoned investor or new to real estate, this podcast provides actionable strategies and valuable information to unlock success in the dynamic world of multifamily investing.

 

 

    

 

Ava: Yes, I would love to, Daniel. I’m the CEO and co-founder of CPI Capital. It’s a real estate investment firm where our mandate is to really partner with limited partners, passive investors, to acquire institutional Multifamily Assets in the Sunbelt States. When I say institutional, I mean 100-plus stores. Our business model is very black and white. We always look for already built stabilized, cash-flowing assets that are 90% or more occupied. What we really love to do is we love to go in there and be fixing flippers on a large scale. We always look for a value-add component. Nothing crazy. We go for properties that we like to call Class B properties.

We do a lipstick renovation. Take out the flooring, add new floors, paint light fixtures, kitchen appliances. My favorite thing is to add washers and dryers to units that don’t have washers and dryers. Then we turn over the tenants. The 10% that’s not occupied, we renovate those. As we’ve done a unit, we go to the current tenants living there, and we kind of say, “Hey, for a brand-new unit, would you like to move in for a $150 premium?” In most cases, they say, “Yes.” This is where the numbers start to get really exciting for investors because this is what we call our CPI Capital wealth creation system. It’s this forced appreciation aspect of how you can literally take one of these multifamily assets. Do these lipstick renovations, turn over the tenants, and increase the value by millions and millions of dollars in the first one to two years of owning the asset.

Daniel: Good stuff. The washers and dryers, 100 units with washers and dryers does what to the water bill?

Ava: Oh, that’s a good question. I’ll tell you one thing it does. Well, we have a community washer and dryer as it is, right? Everybody has all their laundry in the community washer and dryer. When we put it in the unit, it can actually increase the rent up to $50 to $60 per unit. To put it into perspective, say on a 200-unit, if you’re doing all these renovations and you’re increasing a unit by $150 a unit, you can increase the value by about 10 million dollars in the first two years of owning the asset. That’s just forced appreciation. Now, we also purchase in regions that are significantly growing: job growth, population growth, income growth, and rent growth. You’ve got that natural market appreciation as well. We kind of get the best of both worlds. I like to tell investors when I’m kind of explaining the business model.

 

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://CPIcapital.ca/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Ava  Benesocky & I Discuss Clean Tech Meets Real Estate:

  • The “fixing flippers” strategy: Learn how CPI Capital implements targeted cosmetic renovations to enhance property values and rental rates, generating substantial returns for investors.

  • Market selection and growth indicators: Discover Ava’s investment philosophy centered around identifying markets with robust growth indicators, such as population growth, job growth, income growth, and rent growth. Gain insights into the business-friendly states and regions where CPI Capital focuses their investments.

  • Investment returns and metrics: Understand the distinction between preferred return and annualized return, and the importance of grasping the true metrics of investment performance. Explore CPI Capital’s goal of doubling investors’ money within five years and their pursuit of above-average returns..

  • Portfolio overview and market readiness: Learn about CPI Capital’s portfolio of nearly 1,000 rental units and their cautious approach in pursuing buying opportunities, particularly in the Florida market. Discover the strategies they employ to mitigate risks and avoid capital calls.

  • Capitalizing on distressed assets: Explore the potential for acquiring properties at a significant discount due to distress and motivated sellers. Gain insights into CPI Capital’s investment strategy and their focus on value-add opportunities in the real estate market.

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 224 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Clean Tech Meets Real Estate with Owen Barrett

 

Clean Tech Meets Real Estate with Owen Barrett

 

Guest: Owen Barrett is a dynamic entrepreneur with a decade of experience in clean technology and real estate. As the founder of Raven, he is revolutionizing the real estate industry by combining clean technology and net-zero principles with profitable investments. Owen’s expertise lies in implementing energy-saving solutions in commercial properties, and his company offers a unique opportunity for investors to participate in net-zero real estate with minimal capital. With a focus on integrating rooftop solar installations, Owen and his team bring a wealth of knowledge in clean tech, enabling them to optimize energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and increase property value. His innovative approach extends to the development of proprietary software that automates solar billing, streamlining the process for multifamily properties. Owen Barrett is a trailblazer, democratizing net-zero real estate and paving the way for a sustainable and profitable future in the industry.

 

Big Idea: In this eye-opening podcast episode, Owen Barrett, founder of Raven, shares his investment philosophy centered around identifying overlooked secondary markets with strong economic tailwinds and integrating clean technology into real estate acquisitions. He discusses the Inflation Reduction Act, which offers tax credits and rebates for decarbonization and electrification projects, presenting lucrative opportunities for investors in single-family homes.

 

 

    

 

Owen: I’ve spent about a decade of my life being in clean technology, so anything that saves energy and saves money. And what I’ve noticed over time is that commercial real estate as a whole across an industry is the furthest behind when it comes to implementing clean technology into their properties, which is saying a lot because a lot of industry is pretty far behind. Three, four years ago you didn’t really need to get that creative to make money in commercial real estate. The market was going up, everything was going up, but now that’s different. Now rents are more stagnant, rents are even falling in some markets. And so now energy conservation’s an easy way, an easier way for property owners to make properties more valuable. So it’s interesting timing for us because there’s a lot of macroeconomic tailwinds or headwinds, I guess, that are happening that make our value add model a little bit more popular.

So we’re in this interesting space of combining clean technology with real estate acquisitions, we couple the two. Raven is the newest business, the newest brand. And the idea behind Raven is to democratize the ability to invest in net zero real estate. So we pay investors 10% annual interest, the minimum investment is $250 and we were really deliberate behind that because we wanted it to be an opportunity for everyone. I come from a past of regulation or 506D offerings, which is a lot of accredited investors, $50,000 minimum investments. And with Raven we just wanted to make it more attainable for everyone. So we really decreased the minimum investment, tried to make it an opportunity for everybody.

Dan: Yeah, that’s pretty interesting. This is the first time out of 223 guests I think that we’ve ever had that low of a minimum investment. So every single other syndicator is probably $50,000 or $100,000 and it’s going to be an accredited investor type of offering only. The 10% annual interest, how is that paid, sorted out? Is that going to be like a flat interest rate paid at the end of the deal no matter how good or bad Raven does on the deal? Or is that calculated in some other methodology?

Owen: No, yeah, we’ve structured it as preferred debt. So it’s a promissory note to Raven. We pool the capital, we buy and decarbonize buildings. It’s paid quarterly right now. The goal is to move that to monthly. That’ll probably happen in 2024. In investing there’s no such thing as a guaranteed return, so we don’t guarantee 10%, but we do pay our regulation A investors before we pay ourselves. So they earn 10% before we make any money. So we tried to structure it in a way that it’s not risk free, but it’s as low risk as you can get within the real estate realm.

 

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://JoinRayven.com/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Owen Barrett & I Discuss Clean Tech Meets Real Estate:

  • Secondary markets with economic tailwinds: Exploring investment opportunities in smaller, overlooked markets that have significant economic growth potential.

  • Cash flow markets: Emphasizing the importance of investing in markets that generate consistent cash flow rather than relying solely on property appreciation.

  • Tax credits and rebates for decarbonization and electrification: Highlighting the benefits of leveraging incentives provided by initiatives like the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce renovation costs and promote sustainability.

  • Newer vintage properties: Discussing the advantages of acquiring properties directly from developers to minimize repair and maintenance issues.

  • Clean technology integration: Exploring the integration of clean technology, such as solar panels and electric heating solutions, into real estate investments to enhance property value and reduce operating costs.

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 223 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Real Estate Insights and Opportunities From Chicago to Austin with Drew Breneman

 

Real Estate Insights and Opportunities From Chicago to Austin with Drew Breneman

 

Guest: Drew Breneman is a real estate investor based in Austin, Texas. He began his journey at a young age, starting an online business and saving his earnings. As he delved into investing, Drew explored various avenues, including stocks and mutual funds, but found his passion in real estate. Inspired by books on investing, he realized the potential of leveraging properties and their appreciation. Drew purchased his first duplex as a college freshman in Madison, Wisconsin, and continued to expand his real estate portfolio while completing his education. With a focus on multifamily properties, Drew combines his business mindset with investment strategies to create successful ventures in the real estate market.

 

Big Idea: Join hosts Drew and Dan in this inspiring real estate podcast episode as they discuss Drew’s journey from Chicago to Austin, his early entrepreneurial ventures, and his success in real estate investing. They delve into various topics, including the reasons for Drew’s relocation, real estate opportunities in Chicago, Drew’s entry into real estate investing, his early ventures, transitioning to multifamily and value-add deals, expanding into new markets, the importance of real estate education, holding properties for the long term, and the significance of preparedness. Gain valuable insights and strategies from two experienced real estate professionals.

 

 

    

 

Dan: Yes, I love Chicago personally for the rental apartments that I own. I think Chicago is understated in the national investment context when we talk about apartment buildings, although I don’t necessarily know if that would hold true when we get into the main topic here of the size of deal that you are focusing on now. I think it probably is a good market, and I’m not super familiar with, let’s say, 20 to 34 units and up in the city of Chicago. But one unique thing, we do deals in Atlanta, Chicago, Philly, around the country, Florida, a lot of other markets as well. And the one thing I found and love about the Chicago market specifically, Drew, is the abundance of two, three, and four-flat buildings. So like, I’ve found no other market, maybe Los Angeles or New York offers that kind of opportunity to call the entry-level investor to get the two or the three or the four-unit buildings and kind of do the house hacking.

So I’ve loved this city for that reason. And when I got here, moved here from Philadelphia in 2015 to Chicago, I was blown away by the high prices in areas where I came from. In Philly, we have very, very low prices comparatively. People making the same kind of money in Philadelphia can buy a much lower-cost house in the city. And then the prices were probably almost double in Chicago. So we have expensive real estate and high rents. And my investment philosophy, buying those apartment units over the past couple of years, has been to get into the expensive property and take out, I don’t want to overpay, but I want to take out a higher and higher mortgage with higher and higher rents on a per-unit basis because I’m paying down that at a higher velocity over time. And then the two and a half percent increases are larger dollars. So it allowed me to play a little bit bigger than I might have been able to play in the city of Philadelphia. And there’s just such an abundance of that type of inventory. Whereas in Philadelphia or a lot of other cities, Atlanta having a duplex or a triplex is like a unicorn. It’s a really rare event. But I digress on that. Why don’t we, for listeners, Drew, why don’t you kind of do our evolution of the business model and your origination story so we can get a picture of who you are and what your business looks like?

Drew: Sounds great! And I’ve noticed the same thing about Chicago. If you wanted to get started in a two to four-unit, there might be more there than anywhere. I often give that advice to someone starting out, and one of the people I was talking to was in Phoenix, and he was like, “There’s no three units here. What are you talking about?” So I was like, “Well, you got to figure out where they are. I’m sure there’s some.” But anyway, yes. So I got started really young. So started from the Milwaukee area, and both my parents were teachers. I was living in the suburbs my whole childhood, and I started a business online just buying and selling items and video games. I didn’t make any huge money on any one sale, but I made five or $10 per sale, and I saved all the money.

 

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.Breneman.com/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Drew Breneman & I Discuss Real Estate Insights and Opportunities From Chicago to Austin:

  • Reasons for Relocating: Seeking Safety and Lower Property Taxes
  • Real Estate Investing in Chicago: Abundance of Entry-Level Opportunities
  • Drew’s Early Entrepreneurial Journey: From Online Sales to Real Estate
  • Transitioning to Multifamily and Value-Add Deals: Maximizing Returns in Chicago
  • Expanding to New Markets: Venturing into Sunbelt Markets

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 222 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Unveiling Your Real Estate Edge: Insights from Jeremiah Boucher

 

Unveiling Your Real Estate Edge: Insights from Jeremiah Boucher

 

Guest: Jeremiah Boucher, a seasoned real estate investor, shares his transformative journey in the industry, from a challenging experience during the 2008 financial crisis to finding his competitive edge. With a focus on manufactured housing, self-storage, and small bay industrial properties, Jeremiah emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, building relationships, and honing communication and negotiation skills.

 

Big Idea: Jeremiah Boucher discusses his  journey of self-discovery and growth in the real estate industry. From overcoming adversity during the 2008 financial crisis to finding his niche in specialized asset classes, Jeremiah shares his insights on finding your competitive advantage, building trust, and the importance of continuous improvement. Get ready to gain valuable knowledge on deal sourcing, negotiation strategies, and the power of effective communication and presentation skills in real estate.

 

 

    

 

Boucher: Yeah. Similar to a lot of the listeners, I quit college and got into real estate. I bought a lot of houses. I lost everything in 08 with just like the big short, you know, and had some real challenges with tax liens and foreclosure and credit card debt and all of that whole deal. I didn’t have an edge, so I was doing what everyone else was doing in Vegas. You know, everybody was a realtor, everybody was a house flipper, learned the lesson. I knew something in my gut was wrong in that whole process, and I knew that wasn’t going to survive. I took the hit and had to rebuild, and then the next 10 years really were about building up a manufactured housing portfolio

I did that by just being young and naive and aggressive and reaching out to some guys that started a big mobile home park fund and helped them build that fund by sourcing deals and kind of putting together creative deals and managing and operating some of these deals and then had a nice swap with them in 2016 where I was able to take on my own assets and manufactured housing. That gave me some autonomy to take that cash flow and put it into my own management company. I ran that out of Vegas, a lot of the assets were in Vegas and up near Reno, and I was able to at that point, you know, kind of build up my resources and learn the ins and outs of the operational part of the business, which is rough when you’re dealing with some types of, you know, lower-income housing and, what revolves around that.

I saw at least the writing on the wall for me that I thought asset values were extremely high, and I really wasn’t prepared to grow or scale that type of business at that time, so I had a good exit in 2019 and wrote the book and then, you know, connected with I think you a couple of years later, but it was really through, you know, a bunch of different networks where I started to actually scale and start with some funds rather than doing individual syndications, and at this stage, I only operate out of raising money through funds. I’m a typical, you know, private equity syndicator, like a lot of guys on your show, and then at that stage, you know, my niche, my focus, you know, first was manufactured housing. We still look at it, but it’s not as heavy in the portfolio. Second is storage, you know, traditionally storage and tertiary secondary markets. A lot of them are up in the northeast. We remotely manage a lot of them, and we look for the rough ones and improve them.

Then lastly, my most recent kind of fun asset class is Small Bay industrial up in the Northeast, and I’m building a lot of it. I do construction as well. We can get into all that, but that’s trying to condense it as best I could for you, Dan.

 

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.PatriotHoldings.com

www.StorageBootcamp.com

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Jeremiah Boucher & I Discuss the Unveiling Your Real Estate Edge:

  • Finding Your Competitive Edge: Identify and leverage your unique value proposition to gain a competitive advantage in real estate by specializing in a specific asset class and continuously improving your skills.

  • Building Relationships and Trust: Learn how to build strong relationships and foster trust with sellers, partners, and investors, crucial for achieving success in real estate. Effective communication, active listening, and demonstrating credibility as a buyer are key elements discussed.

  • Understanding Different Asset Classes: Gain a comprehensive understanding of various real estate asset classes, including manufactured housing, self-storage, and small bay industrial properties. Explore the potential benefits and challenges of each asset class to make informed investment decisions.

  • Strategies for Deal Sourcing and Negotiation: Discover practical strategies for finding and evaluating real estate deals, along with effective negotiation techniques. Jeremiah shares insights on deal sourcing, market analysis, and structuring creative solutions that align with both buyer and seller goals.

  • Importance of Communication and Negotiation Skills: Recognize the significance of developing strong communication and negotiation skills in the real estate industry. Effective presentation, problem-solving, and active listening are essential for navigating complex transactions and building long-term relationships.

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 221 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Inside the Self-Storage Industry with Jacob Vanderslice of Van West Partners

 

Inside the Self-Storage Industry with Jacob Vanderslice of Van West Partners

 

Guest: Jacob Vanderslice is a real estate investor and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He is the founder of Van West Partners, a real estate investment firm that specializes in self-storage facilities. Jacob has an extensive background in residential fix and flips, multifamily, adaptive reuse retail, and town-owned development, but his passion lies in the self-storage business. Jacob explains the reasoning behind his shift towards storage, the company’s investment philosophy, and how they create value in their facilities.

 

Big Idea:  Real estate investor and entrepreneur Jacob Vanderslice shares his expertise in self-storage investment. Jacob discusses his journey in real estate investing and how his company, Van West Partners, moved from single-family rentals to self-storage investments. He emphasizes the importance of creating value through income streams and optimizing unit mix for maximum revenue. Jacob also talks about his investment philosophy, which centers around value-add investments in growing markets.

 

 

    

 

Daniel: Okay, nice. Yeah, I’m in Chicago. As listeners probably know. Figure maybe we’ll start with the evolution or the reader’s digest version. Maybe a little bit about who Jacob is, but then also VanWest and kind of how your personal career and your business model evolved to the point where they’re at today in 2022.

Jacob: Certainly. Well, it’s all been accidental and I guess unintentional to a degree like most things are. We started investing real estate full-time in about 2006, and we cut our teeth doing lots and lots of residential fix and flips. We did a bunch of rentals. We did buy, fix and sell deals. We did almost probably 1200 of them over a fairly long period. We really started in 06 and kind of kept going in that business until about we had some overlap, but kind of started to quiet it down in about 19 as deal flow constricted and returns kind of went down. So that’s how we cut our teeth. Just buying residential homes at the auctions and fixing them up, making them better, and either running them out or selling them. We’ve also done a fair amount of multi-family adaptive reuse, retail, some for-sale townhome development, and we got in the storage business in 2015. And we looked at storage for a while, and we like the fact that it’s historically downside protected.

It’s got durable recurring revenue streams. It’s scalable, repeatable, defensible. So we researched it for a while and we kind of jumped in head first on our first deal. We did a ground-up development project here in Denver, and then we did a few other development projects locally, and then we opened up the Milwaukee market starting in about 2016 just north of you. We did a handful of deals out there. And over time, I mentioned accidental earlier. Over time, I just kind of evolved to becoming our main line of business. The residential business is great. Fixed and Flips is a great business. But one of the things we didn’t like about it is it was I guess overly transactional, meaning you’re buying, selling over and over and over again. And to make money, you constantly have to be buying a deal, making it better than selling it. And we wanted to shift to a business that was more cash flow focused versus a quick reversion focused. And that’s why we landed on storage. And through today, we’ve got 38 storage facilities, about 275 million in asset center management all over the country, Midwest, southeast, south, got some stuff in Denver, and we’re buying more and we’re building more.

 

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.VanWestPartners.com

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Jacob Vanderslice & I Discuss the Self-Storage Industry:

  • The evolution of Van West Partners’ investment strategy

  • The state of the US real estate market and the impact of COVID-19

  • The role of technology in the real estate industry

  • The potential impact of government policies on the market

  • The outlook for the real estate market in the near future

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 219 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Maximizing Asset Protection and Tax Savings with Scott Royal Smith

 

Maximizing Asset Protection and Tax Savings with Scott Royal Smith

 

Guest: Scott Royal Smith is a real estate investor, attorney, and founder of Royal Legal Solutions. He shares his background in real estate and law, and how he scaled his wealth through strategic planning and asset protection. He believes in educating people and forming relationships to help them leverage their assets to build wealth.

 

Big Idea: Scott Royal Smith shares his expertise on cost-effective legal structures for real estate investing and tax strategies for asset protection. He presents a practical system involving creating a series of LLCs and a Land Trust to hold assets, which provides effective asset protection and can help minimize maintenance costs. Scott’s insights offer valuable perspectives on how to reduce risk, minimize costs, and ultimately build wealth in real estate investing.

 

 

    

 

Dan: Nice. Scott, so for listeners, would you mind giving us maybe the reader’s digest version of the evolution of your business real estate and law career and then sort of what the business model is today?

Scott: Yeah and so my company is Royal legal Solutions but I got started in real estate when I was in law school. I bought a commercial property and auto repair and transmission repair shop for the back taxes. And I end up flipping the business in the building upon graduating to graduate from law school without any debt. And I thought that was going to be a hotshot litigation attorney. So I took a job suing insurance companies in a law firm. Turns out insurance company’s business model is collecting premiums and denying coverage, especially when things get expensive. And then that’s what attorneys does, they sue them whenever they do that. So, get first-hand experience about how does the whole game of insurance really work and how it’s important for us to have insurance, but also have additional protection in place.

But the whole time while I was working as an attorney there, I continued by real estate and I scaled my own real estate portfolio until I was making more money doing real estate and I was being an attorney. It took me about like a year and a half. I wasn’t sleeping a whole lot at those times in my life, and I didn’t need a lot of money, right? I wasn’t married, didn’t have kids and I was like, hey man, I’ve hit it. I’ve hit my financial freedom. I was like I’m golden, but then I ran into the problem and I think a lot of people run into which is like wait shouldn’t I be structuring this inside of like LLCs and should I be using any of trust to hold my assets and my company’s anonymously? And what should I be doing with all of my taxes and my estate planning, and my insurance? And why do I want to be doing all that? How’s that all suppose to work?

So, I did what everybody does and I was like, well, I’ll try to read the books and I’ll try to contact professionals. And so I did all of that, and I realized that nobody really have a complete system we’d put together. So I had to put one together for my own. So I built my own team of people because I was like, well, I want, I had the financial freedom but I wanted the time freedom. And the only way I can get there is if I built a team. If I studied for myself to understand how to do it for myself and then built a team of people that do it for me on basically managing my wealth for me.

It was great, I finally had everything that I wanted and I was traveling a ton and living a great life. And as I came back in living inside the states, a lot of my friends real estate Investors and asked me like hey man, how are you doing? What is he doing? How are you living this lifestyle? What is going on right now? And it’s like, well, here’s what I built. And this is how it all works. And they’re like, well, can I get in on that? Can you take on more people and help me build this thing? So I was just kind of helping people out, getting them into the things that I’d figured out for myself. And eventually when I was like, hey, you should go in this BiggerPockets podcast and go just share with people about asset protection. It’s one part of whether it’s some of the stuff you know. And I didn’t think anything was going to come of it. So I gave up my personal email and phone number into it.

And what happened was I was getting 30 to 40 phone calls a week from investors all over the country. They were like, hey man, I really need help on asset protection and how all these other pieces are supposed to put together. So then that’s where I realized that whatever you want to call, that higher power in life was really tapping me on the shoulder and says, hey, this isn’t all about just hanging out on the beaches and have a good time. You need to be of service to other people, help them be able to walk the path that you’ve walked and get them to that place of being secure and having the true freedom and protection in place for keeping what they’ve work so hard to be able to build. And that’s Royal legal Solutions is now turning and I, we serve all 50 states, we have over 2,000 clients that we’ve helped that are Real Estate Investors and we have about 30 people of attorneys, CPAs, paralegals and support staff.

 

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://RoyalLegalSolutions.com/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Scott & I Discuss:

  • Leveraging LLCs for asset protection

  • Land Trusts to hold assets

  • Private Foundations for tax savings

  • Strategic planning for building net worth

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 220 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

The Future of Commercial Real Estate Investing in Major Cities with James Nelson

 

The Future of Commercial Real Estate Investing in Major Cities with James Nelson

 

Guest: James Nelson is an industry expert in commercial real estate with over 20 years of experience. He is a Principal and Head of Tri-State Investment Sales at Avison Young, one of the world’s fastest-growing commercial real estate services firms.

 

Big Idea: In this podcast, James Nelson shares valuable insights into investing in commercial real estate in major cities like New York and Chicago. He discusses the challenges and benefits of doing business in these cities, the importance of thorough due diligence, and the potential for value-add opportunities in “tired” assets. Nelson also emphasizes the significance of location in real estate investing and provides guidance on navigating current challenges in the industry, such as the shift towards e-commerce and the need for more flexible office spaces.

 

 

    

 

Dan: So I was going to make a little bit of a perception of the New York real estate market from around the country, right? Oh, it’s overpriced, it’s outrageous. The price of land in Manhattan and those kind of things that we all hear around the country, it’s like, who could ever buy anything in New York, anywhere in the city and be successful at the way the prices are? So that was growing up in Philadelphia, James, so that’s my perception, right? We would get the New York buyers who would come down and see Philadelphia as just like discount bargain just pay cash for it. Who needs a mortgage kind of a market. Well, when I got to Chicago, Chicago had a similar, very priced out type of feel to it coming from Philadelphia. And long behold, it does work and you can’t make money.

Sometimes those high price points offer things like high commissions and high profit spreads and 8,9,10%, or even 3 or 4% appreciation on a larger number is larger numbers at the end of the day as well. So I’ve gotten more comfortable with the higher price points myself personally. And I’m curious, as we kind of get into today’s show, I imagine cut your teeth in the New York market, and it’s a high price point market we all know that. I’m excited to kind of hear today’s show with that frame, if you will.

James: Sure, yeah. New York certainly is a place to live. It is very expensive. So a studio apartment here is $3,000 a month. The median apartment sells for, I think it’s 1,000,00.

Dan: Wow.

James: So yes, it is certainly expensive. When you’re looking to buy here on the commercial side yes, the barriers of entry are high because there is global demand looking to purchase properties here in New York, when we talk commercial, I’m talking multi-family with five or more units. I’m talking retail, office development, industrial, and there’s only about in Manhattan about five or 600 of those sales that happen a year. So there’s always this supply demand imbalance. And so the New York terms here are very challenging, especially for kind of the first time investor because most of our deals are signed with a 10% hard deposit due diligence done prior to contract signing. So that’s pretty daunting to jump in and have to put in hard money day one, really tough when you’re buyer, but when you’re looking to turn around and sell again, the market is liquid. So there are challenges to break into this, but once you’ve been able to secure an investment, if your business plan is to resell, you’re going to have a much easier time exiting when the time is right.

 

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://JamesNelson.com/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

James & I Discuss:

  • The challenges and benefits of investing in commercial real estate in major cities

  • The importance of thorough due diligence in real estate investing

  • The potential for value-add opportunities in “tired” assets

  • The significance of location in real estate investing

  • Navigating current challenges in the industry, such as the shift towards e-commerce and the need for more flexible office spaces

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 218 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Revolutionizing the Apartment Industry: Mike Kaeding on Disruption, Inclusive Investing and Company Culture

 

Revolutionizing the Apartment Industry: Mike Kaeding on Disruption, Inclusive Investing and Company Culture

 

Guest: Mike Kaeding is the CEO of Norhart, a company designing, building, and renting apartments. Mike and his team are transforming the way apartments are built and managed, incorporating technologies and efficiencies from other industries. After his father’s passing, Mike took the reins of the family business and found success by changing the way construction is done, hiring the best talent and solving chronic construction inefficiencies. Through this process, he has been able to provide cost-effective projects to solve America’s housing shortage and improve the way we all live.

 

Big Idea: Mike Kaeding, CEO of Norhart, is revolutionizing the construction industry by creating an attractive company culture, solving chronic construction inefficiencies, and integrating traditionally unaffiliated trades to achieve higher quality, more cost-effective projects. His mission is to solve America’s housing shortage by transforming the way apartments are built and managed, ultimately improving the way we all live. Inclusive RE Investing is one way that Norhart is paving the way for the future of construction disruption.

 

 

    

Dan: Mike, I did the research, the listeners did not, before today’s episode, do you want to kind of give the brief Reader’s Digest version of your business model and maybe how it evolved to that point in some of your story about how you got there?

Mike: Yeah, I would be happy to do so. At a high level, we design, build and rent apartments, but we’re really focused on solving the cost of housing. And we’re doing that by transforming the way construction is done. We’re already achieving about a 20 to 30% reduction in construction costs, and we believe we can achieve a 50% reduction. But imagine what that means. It means someday your rent could be half or your mortgage payment could be half. And that’s the kind of impact that we want to make. We want to solve America’s housing affordability crisis. Now didn’t always start out that way, we were very small. My parents started the business. They built just small eight unit apartment buildings at the time. In fact, I can remember family outings where we drove off to the local hardware store about a half an hour away.

My brother and I, my mom and dad, we each fill up two carts full of supplies, then filled it at my dad’s trailer as we’re driving down the highway to go work on our building a little bit more. So summers, we’re often working on these small buildings with my family, winter season we’d be in school. So it was very much ingrained in my life and then went after college. But I wanted nothing to do with the family business. It was very small, but I wanted nothing to do with it. And the reason is, deep down, I didn’t want people to think it was given to me. So I really wrestled with my own ego on that and eventually realized that really what I wanted to do was try to make some kind of meaningful, positive impact on the world.

And I started to see that I could take this small business and grow it in something larger, but we can have a wider impact in the world. And so I jumped in with my dad and my dad and I doubled the size of the company in the first few years. And then overnight he passed away. And so at this stage it was horrible. It was a horrible experience. And this stage ended up taking over the company entirely. And since then, we’ve just started to make changes. And now looking back, that was sort of the magic because we didn’t know what we were doing and there’s a lot of pain in that. But we also didn’t know the way things were supposed to be done and we can start changing the way things were done as a result. And we started to have some decent impact. And today we’re at about a 200 million valuation and producing about 500 units a year. And we’ve been doubling in size almost every year.

 

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.Norhart.com/invest/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Mike & I Discuss:

  • Company Culture & Construction Disruption: How Norhart’s Unique Culture Revolutionized Construction

  • Housing Shortage: Solving America’s Growing Housing Crisis

  • Overcoming Leadership Challenges

  • Integrating Traditionally Unaffiliated Trades

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 217 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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

Dani Beit-or: Leveraging Repetition and Reinforcement in Real Estate Investments

 

Dani Beit-or: Leveraging Repetition and Reinforcement in Real Estate Investments

 

Guest: Dani is a 20-year real estate investing veteran with extensive experience in the US market. He has collaborated on nearly 5,000 transactions since 2004 and has helped hundreds of investors cultivate robust property portfolios across a variety of metropolitan areas. Dani’s investment strategies have been refined from his experience during the 2008 market downturn, and he now leverages his expertise to help investors at all levels, from novices to seasoned professionals, optimize their real estate investments.

 

Big Idea: Dani Beit-or shares his 20+ years of experience as a real estate investor. He discusses the need to have each property standalone and pay its own expenses, the power of repetition and reinforcement and the kindness of those in the real estate industry in helping one another. Additionally, Dani explains how he uses his real estate investments as a 401K. This podcast is an invaluable source of advice for anyone looking to venture into real estate investing.

 

 

    

Dan: Cool. So I’m here in Chicago, listeners know I’m back from Florida, spent the winter there. It was pretty cool. I wish I was still there because it’s not quite done being winter in Chicago yet. But one of the things most of the listeners probably know, I think we were talking about before the show started, so I buy, sell. Buy, fixi and sell, I own rentals, and I do that in Philadelphia, originally. I moved to Chicago in 2015, so I could be near my daughter who was heading into late middle school at the time. So I was like, oh, it’s now or never. She’s back in Philly now at college. I’m still in Chicago. That’s how I ended up in Chicago. And then I met someone who we opened up the Atlanta market and we did a lot around the country.

And I say all that as kind of a setup, Dani. I never would’ve probably left my backyard in Philadelphia because flipping houses, making money. I know the market, the brand, people know me, they’re bringing me deals, my contractors are there, my money partners are there. And I was afraid that when I left, the whole thing would crumble when we would go away now. And I was okay with that if that happened when I got to Chicago, but grace of God, the business grew and things continued in all three areas. So that was my catalyst for looking around the United States at other real estate markets. And we’re now eight years later and I feel like the thing that’s most exciting to me right now is market selection and paying attention to the nuances of this huge variety of markets throughout the United States.

I guess I need the challenge of having to underwrite new markets. But I think it was really cool because I was able to see a market like Atlanta. Seeing like, let’s say 8% to 10% or 12% appreciation for several years. And then a market like Chicago, which maybe it had 3% or 4% and probably a 10% bump during COVID or something like that and there’s opportunities in each of those markets. But I would imagine for buy and hold investors, and I’ll allow you to encapsulate your business model here in a moment, but for buy and hold investors, I’m getting in getting out in a 12-month period or less. So it doesn’t matter how much the appreciation is unless it’s significantly negative one year. But to a buy-and-hold passive investor probably has another career or has a lot of rental properties. That appreciation component’s going to significantly drive or hinder the total IRR. So with that setup, I’ll pass it to allow you to describe what you do in the evolution of your business model.

 

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://SimplyDoIt.net/

 

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

https://AccessOffMarketDeals.com/podcast/

 

Dani & I Discuss:

  • Making each property standalone and pay its own expenses

  • The power of repetition and reinforcement

  • Using real estate investments as a 401K

  • Selecting the Best Markets to Invest-No Matter Where You Live

    

Relevant Episodes: (There are 216 Content Packed Interviews in Total)

 

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