Big Mike Fund Podcast

In today’s episode, we will be joining a great friend of mine, Brian Pensack. We have been friends for many years now and built a great Financial Relationship by investing in each other’s businesses, we also belong to the same Private Mastermind Group and other Investment groups as well. He is living in Piedmont, San Francisco for many years now as a chiropractor and married with 4 kids and 5 grandkids. Today, he shares his unique type of Real Estate Investment with a twist on it so check it out!

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE

The Basic Plan of Cannabis Cultivation.A Broad Stoke View of How Deal Looks Like and its Financial Side.Difficulties you will encounter and Calculation of Income per acres.The Importance of Investing in this Business Properly and Legally. Talking in-depth about Taxes and How much it costs.Investing Purely in Real Estate.

QUOTES

“Anything is Possible.” – Brian Pensack

RESOURCES

Email : [email protected]

Here with us today are Willie Goldberg and Paul Hersko, the young new members of Collective Genius Mastermind and the Founders of Discount Lots. They are not just into buying and selling property, they are also providing inherit value to anyone that is looking at property and simplifying the process. Hence, their main goal is to make land ownership easy and affordable for regular people. Listen to this episode to learn more about their business journey, what Discount Lots do and a lot more! 

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN FROM THIS EPISODE

Basic understanding of Vacant Land investing and Discount What does “Discount Lots” do?Specific examples of the average typical lots that one usually buys.Importance of expansion path and goal. How to make it easy for the buyers to get into Fair Market Value?Better understanding of who the buyer usually is and what they do with the land.What leads buyers to finally acquire the land. Why are default contracts the best way of selling property?Learning about the heavy marketing side in real estate.

QUOTES

“This business makes a lot of sense. In real estate, your inventories are the lots with no depreciation at all. It’s difficult to make it worth less.” – Willie Goldberg

“The scalability of this business is endless.”- Paul Hersko

RESOURCES

Website : https://discountlots.com/about-us/

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I’m chatting with Charles Dobens, a multi-family attorney. His personal mission statement is to help investors buy multi-family projects the right way. He talks about coaching, his views on the future of the market, his points of interaction in the process of multi-family property investments, and why this is his passion.

Minute Markers:

00:20 – Hello and welcome

01:00 – A bit about Charles and his passion

05:00 – The points of interaction with multi-family acquisitions

07:30 – Coaching

12:30 – Examples of mistakes investors make with letters of intent

19:20 – Personal story about partnerships in business

22:00 – Politics

25:10 – How Charles coaches his students

28:30 – C-class properties and markets with good cash flow

31:30 – Workforce Housing

34:20 – Getting a hold of Charles

35:34 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund podcast

Quotes:

“After it happens, there’s not a whole lot I can do for you but before it happens, I can walk you through the minefield and make sure you’re protected and you do everything the right way.” – Charles Dobens

“I love it so much because it’s so logical. Being in the multifamily business and being a lawyer, you just like logic..” – Charles Dobens

“Multifamily investing is not about real estate. It’s about building a business that invests in multi-family property. You’ve got to build that business the right way, then that runs your life and provides you the lifestyle that you need.” – Charles Dobens

“Plan the divorce before you get married with a partnership.” – Charles Dobens

“Careful who you partner with. If you partner with an idiot, you’re stuck with an idiot.” – Mike Zlotnik

Resources:

Multifamily Investing Academy

Dobens Law – Boutique Law Firm Specializing in Multi-Family Investing

Twitter: @cdomebslaw

Email: [email protected]

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is my pleasure to have Robert Nickell here on the show with me. Rob is another brother from the Collective Genius Mastermind. He’s also known as the “Master Blaster of the Virtual Assistants.” While he is an expert in virtual staffing, it was his career in real estate that got him there.

Today we’re talking about virtual staffing and virtual assistants, productivity, documenting processes, and Rob’s business, Rocket Station. Rob talks about how small businesses and large companies use virtual assistants and what sorts of things virtual assistants do.

Minute Markers:

00:20 – Welcome

01:00 – A little bit about Robert Nickell

03:20 – Living in a modern world/the need for virtual assistants

11:00 – VA work is scripted work

12:35 – VA productivity with small companies

14:00 – Documenting processes

20:30 – Staffing at VA Services

25:15 – Near-shoring and Out-shoring (outsourcing)

28:40 – The best way to reach Rob

30:38 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

“It’s so easy now, for everything to be interconnected, whether you’re a small business with just a couple of people working in the day-to-day or you’re a publicly traded company. We all operate very similarly today.” – Robert Nickell

“Most companies, they hire people, you sit next to a colleague, you just kinda watch people, you absorb through osmosis I call it, through just, kind of, working in there. After 2, 3, 4 months, you’ve been around it enough and watched enough that you get it. Even big companies don’t do a good job documenting processes.” – Robert Nickell

“For us it starts with that system mapping, that process documentation. That creates the road map.” – Robert Nickell

“We leverage things like cultural index and other profiling resources that are a big investment for our company but our clients are ultimately the ones that get to benefit from that.” – Robert Nickell

“80% to 90% of the real estate business can be outsourced, whether that’s somebody locally, in your market, or overseas. It’s really easy to take marketing transaction coordination, disposition management, all the day-to-day admin, bookkeeping and accounting, reconciliation (month over month), there’s not really anything in real estate that can’t be done.” – Robert Nickell

Resources:

Rocket Station Website

Greg’s email address: [email protected]

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is my pleasure and a privilege to talk to friend and mastermind brother, Fernando Angelucci, a real estate and self-storage guru. In this episode we talk about self-storage trends, numbers, “eviction” (or in this case, lien) laws, and Fernando’s process. We’ll also chat about the future of self-storage and Fernando’s future projects and opportunities.

Minute Markers:

00:22 – Hello and Welcome

01:00 – Who is Fernando?

03:20 – Eviction and motivating renters to pay

05:25 – Absorption rate lease-up

07:00 – Self-Storage trends

09:00 – Fernando’s Self-storage “eviction” process

11:15 – Buying existing self-storage facilities

16:00 – Fernando’s new projects and opportunities

20:00 – Upcoming deals

23:50 – Bank loan interest rates

27:12 – Delinquencies and occupancy trends for self-storage

31:15 – The near future for self-storage and cap rates

33:00 – Getting in touch with Fernando

00:00 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

“Since the COVID pandemic started and really hit the United States, our occupancies across all of our facilities have actually increased. In some of the facilities where we thought we were at an artificial ceiling on occupancy, we’ve actually exceeded those levels. We’re getting a lot of people coming into the self storage facilities. I think the main reason is self storage serves people in transition.” – Fernando Angelucci

“For maybe every 1 development we do, we’ll buy 10 cash-flowing existing self storage facilities to balance it.” – Fernando Angelucci

“What we’ve noticed is unfortunately for the investors that own assets in the B- and below grade areas—West Side of Chicago, South Side of Chicago—their April 1st delinquencies were massive. Over 60%.” – Fernando Angelucci

“When you have your non-sophisticated sellers (what I call the mom and pops) that may own one or two facilities, those cap rates for us are going through the roof. We’re starting to make blanket offers on any facility that comes in before we even look at it. We’re doing 10% plus cap rate offers and they’re getting accepted.” – Fernando Angelucci

“People are going to step down. Everybody’s stepping down, so the demand for the affordable stuff is increasing while the high-end upgrades people just not. They’re delaying their decisions because of uncertainty.” – Mike Zlotnik

Resources:

LinkedIn: Fernando Angelucci

Titan Wealth Group website

Twitter: @TheStorageStud

The Storage Stud website

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I’m talking to Mike Fitzgerald, who lives in (and owns a large portion of) a small town just outside of DC. In this episode we talk about his town of Hagerstown, preparations for the future of the market, what a credibility site is, and we even have a short political discussion on voting for people and not just on party lines.

Minute Markers:

00:20 – Welcome to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

00:40 – A bit about Mike Fitzgerald and Hagerstown, MD

04:57 – Mike’s formula for success in real estate

06:35 – “Rehab” projects

08:08 – Preparations for economic downturn

11:30 – Mike’s thoughts on the future of the market

12:25 – The connection of legalizing marijuana to the recession and the market

13:50 – The basics and value of investing

14:20 – Hagerstown investments

18:45 – Credibility site

20:00 – Political discussion: voting for the people, not the party

22:14 – Advice for real estate investors or people interested in real estate

24:00 – How to get in contact with Mike Fitzgerald

24:46 – Thank you for listening to The Big Mike Fund podcast

Quotes:

“Taking action. Moving forward and taking action and not accepting ‘No’ as an answer.” – Mike Fitzgerald, on his formula for success

“I think we’re due for a recession but I don’t think we’re going to get one for another two years.” – Mike Fitzgerald

 “Although I vote (a lot of times) republican, I don’t always vote party line.” – Mike Fitzgerald

 “It’s not about what makes you happy for a minute, it’s about what makes you fulfilled for a lifetime.” – Mike Fitzgerald

“That’s actually a great point. The person matters, especially if they are sufficiently independent and if they have great individual thoughts.” – Mike Zlotnik

“Yeah, it’s a difficult time for middle-of-the-road people. They don’t seem to appeal to the extremes and the extremes on both sides seem to be dominating each party.” – Mike Zlotnik

Resources:

Gideon Properties

Michael T. Fitzgerald credibility site (Password: abc)

Article referred in show: “City developer wants to make downtown Hagerstown ‘great again’”

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is my pleasure and a privilege to have Caleb Pearson behind the mic. He is another brother from the Mastermind group. On this episode, Caleb and I talk about Zoom Offers (Caleb’s web-based real estate software), the future of the market, contractors, interest rates, and the prevalence of remote work in the suburbs even before the pandemic.

Minute Markers:

00:22 – Welcome

01:40 – About Caleb

03:00 – What is Zoom Offer?

05:25 – Zoom Offers’ two main features

10:30 – Zoom Offers details

11:55 – The future of the market

14:40 – Political climates, news, and how it affects the market

16:30 – Caleb’s pulse on the market

17:15 – Contractors, vendors, and labor issues

20:20 – Interest rates

22:30 – People living in the suburbs and working in the city or remotely

24:34 – Getting in contact with Caleb

25:49 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Resources:

ZoomOffersNow.com

Caleb email: [email protected]

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I’m talking with Ramon Gonzalez. Ramon is an investor and entrepreneur, based out of Miami, Florida. In this episode we talk about passive versus active investors, Ramon’s risk aversion and his investment philosophies, the importance of building a good team, market cycles, and future predictions.

Minute Markers:

00:22 – Welcome

00:55 – A bit about Ramon Gonzalez

01:47 – Ramon’s investments and business

06:10 – Market cycles and future predictions

10:00 – Miami condos

13:14 – Areas of opportunity

16:30 – Japan model

17:40 – Passive vs. Active (and hybrid)

22:00 – Risk premium

28:00 – Building a good team

33:30 – Final thoughts and reaching out to Ramon

34:25 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

“I don’t know of any business that, if the business is growing, the owner is not engaged.” – Ramon Gonzalez

“At this state in the market cycle, no one is going to give you a steal. It’s just not going to happen in a primary market.” – Ramon Gonzalez

“Because of my risk aversion, I come to the party late and I leave early.” – Ramon Gonzalez, about the market and rates

“I think that–a lot of operators–they need to know their market. My market has always been a history of booms and busts but I understand my market. I understand what drives it.” – Ramon Gonzalez

“What you want to do is minimize risk; be nimble; if you can wholesale, get out quickly… Again, mitigate risk and get out.” – Ramon Gonzalez

“The deal has to make sense.” – Ramon Gonzalez and Mike Zlotnik

“Are you investing to learn or learning to invest?” – Mike Zlotnik

“Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.”  – Mike Zlotnik

Resources:

“Investing in Real Estate Equity: An Insider’s Guide to Real Estate Partnerships, Funds, Joint Ventures & Crowdfunding” by Sean Cook

TF Management Group LLC Newsletter

Both on Board Podcast

Both on Board Instagram

Both on Board, Facebook Group

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I’m talking with Dr. Merril Rowe, who is moving from his profession as a professional dentist and changing to a career as a professional passive investor. We met through the Freedom Founders community, run by David Phelps. On this episode, we’re talking about how Merril buys himself time to make his financial and retirement goals, how he sets up his portfolio, stock market investing versus passive real estate investments, and advice on how to bring in some passive income.

 

Minute Markers:

00:35 – Hey Merril

00:44 – All About Merril

03:13 – Career change into passive investing

04:10 – How Merril generates cash

07:40 – Stock market versus the passive real estate market

08:15 – The rates of return after conversion

10:45 – Diversification and knowing your financial goals

12:29 – Merril’s advice for those getting ready to retire

17:20 – Specific investments and the Tempo Opportunity Fund

25:52 – Merril’s experience with turnkeys

30:25 – Funds and syndications

31:25 – Merril’s additional thoughts and recommendations

35:22 – Thanks to Merril and a final summary

36:15 – How to reach Merril

37:42 – Thanks for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

 

Quotes:

“But for me, most importantly, it was based on my lifestyle and what I wish to do with my life after I get done with dentistry. Was this going to provide me with the money that I wanted to go ahead and live my life the way I chose?” – Merril Rowe

“Understand, (a) what your basic needs are, and (b) what your wants are. Put it all down on paper because what you need to retire and what you would really like to retire are very often different things.” – Merril Rowe

“First off, you have to learn about this stuff. But secondly, what you do after you learn about it is you look at your situation, you look at the market, you look at your opportunities, and you invest appropriately.” – Merril Rowe

“You’re certainly still working and enjoying a little bit of active income, but you’re preparing to go completely passive. From that perspective, you’re ready to turn off the working switch any day of the week if you feel like it but because you’re enjoying the work, you’re still doing it, and you may sell a practice some point in the future, you don’t have to do this.” – Mike Zlotnik

“You’re building a diversified portfolio. You’re not putting all your eggs in the same basket, you’re spreading the risk around, and that helps reduce the risk because you never know.” – Mike Zlotnik

 

Resources:

Merril’s Email: [email protected] (reference Big Mike in the email)

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I’m talking with Nathan Trunfio, a new brother from the Collective Genius Mastermind. Nathan hales from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and has done over a billion dollars in loans on single-family and multi-family assets. He has spent his entire career in real estate as a lender and an equity investor. Now he works as the president of DLP (Direct Lending Partners). Today we’re going to talk about what DLP does, Nathan’s predictions for the real estate market and what trends he sees now, as well as his average costs and returns on flips and new builds.

 

Minute Markers:

00:22 – Welcome to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

00:48 – A bit about Nathan Trunfio

04:00 – What does DLP do?

06:39 – What does Nathan think about the market today?

13:35 – The trends Nathan has been seeing in real estate

19:00 – The average return on flips, margins, and yields

21:11 – Mike’s Golden Max Ratio

22:24 – New construction trends

25:18 – Construction build costs and DLP models

29:20 – Final thoughts and how to contact Nathan

31:09 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

 

Quotes:

“It’s a lot of hard work because I’m not naturally that smart. You just got to work hard to try to learn and retain.” – Nathan Trunfio

“There’s still a ton of opportunities for good acquisitions and good value creation. You just had to be super disciplined and really know what you’re getting in and out of.” – Nathan Trunfio

“You see a lot of deals falling out because a lot of debt nowadays, especially in the agency type side, is debt service constraints, which again, is a sign of good diligence as lenders in restricting the amount that they’re looking to give them leverage.” – Nathan Trunfio

“The average return on flips was around like the high $60,000 about a year ago. That’s not taking into account renovation amounts because they can’t pull the data to know how much renovation was spent..” – Nathan Trunfio

“I think there’s a lot to say about the build-to-rent space, but I think a lot of real estate investors are also becoming and falling in love with that terminology. To me and to us, the build-to-rent space really only works in scale and in bulk..” – Nathan Trunfio

“If you have the liquidity and the experience to build in bulk whether that’s 20, 30, 40 plus starts and or builds in a given year, quarter, or half a year, then the build-to-rent model can make some space, especially since there’s a huge appetite for a lot of the hedge funds out there to buy the end product..” – Nathan Trunfio

“If you’re not learning, you’re dying. Some of the most successful people in the world (from a business standpoint) are also almost always heavy and avid readers.” – Nathan Trunfio

“I like to use the 75% as the golden max ratio. If you’re a rehabber, your purchase with rehab should not exceed 75%. I know a lot of California guys and they push you sometimes to 83%–84%. It’s crazy. You look at this and it’s like a game of perfection. As long as the prices keep climbing up, it works.” – Mike Zlotnik

 

Resources:

Nathan Trunfio, email: [email protected]

What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence (Autobiography) by Stephen Schwarzman