Big Mike Fund Podcast

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today it is a pleasure and a privilege to welcome Tim Bratz. Tim is a multi-family real estate investor from the Cleveland, Ohio area. He buys, develops, and holds apartment buildings, vacation rentals, & other commercial real estate properties throughout Ohio, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, & Texas.

Today we’re talking about the impact that COVID-19 has had on one of his biggest projects: Georgia Plains. We’ll talk a little bit about the background of Georgia Plains and the mechanics behind it. Tim and I also go over his plans for the rest of 2020 as well as his view on the future of multi-family real estate investments.

 

Minute Markers:

00:29 – Welcome Tim Bratz

04:15 – The courage it takes to trust a sponsor and operator

08:00 – A little about Georgia Plains

14:13 – The mechanics behind Georgia Plains

17:00 – How Tim pays an overfunded project

18:00 – Rent per door on average

21:12 – How did the virus affect the overall project?

28:00 – What are Tim’s plans for the rest of 2020

36:25 – How to get a hold of Tim

37:25 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund podcast

 

Resources:

Tim Bratz, Facebook

Tim Bratz, Instagram

Tim Bratz, LinkedIn

 

Quotes:

“I buy pretty heavy value-add deals like the one that you’re involved in. There is a lot more work but there’s a lot more upside to those.” – Tim Bratz

“When you have that distressed of a property and the property has that bad for reputation, you got to go in and you got to clean up everything before you start rebranding, marketing, and bringing in new tenants because otherwise, you’re just going to track the same type of tenant who’s not respecting the property, not respecting their neighbors..” – Tim Bratz

“When I invest, I want a predictable rate of return. At the same time, I want some equity upside. If I’m going to help somebody make a million dollars. Isn’t that only fair that I get $100,000 or $200,000 also?.” – Tim Bratz

“All this money goes back into the property to reinvest into the property to make sure that we’re providing a clean, safe, functional, cosmetically improved housing for you as the tenant. We explain that. We said, that being said, if you are facing hardship, please reach out to us. Proactively, reach out to us. We’re not going to chase you down, but if you reach out to us, we will put some workout plan together on a case-by-case basis to help you through these difficult times.” – Tim Bratz

“It’s hard to find deals but we do have one deal and it’s a decent deal. It’s the same thing. You can give the deals in the middle of a COVID situation. It’s the right value-add plan. You feel comfortable based on all the numbers you look at, but the uncertainty is still out there. It’s possible that there could be better deals in the future. On the other hand, it does appear. Who knows, right?” – Mike Zlotnik

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today I have the pleasure of chatting with Frances Newton Stacy. She works for Optimal Capital as the director of portfolio strategies. Frances is also a frequent guest on both CBS, CNBC, as well as Fox Business News as a commentator on Central Bank Policy.

She also blogs about the trading community by helping to recognize key cycles and significant support and resistance levels. Today we’re talking about her thoughts on the future of the economy: jobs, the stock market, real estate, and the general overview of what we may see in the upcoming year.

 

Minute Markers:

00:50 – A bit about Frances Newton Stacy

04:50 – Frances’ thoughts on the current state of joblessness

07:10 – Things to look out for in the near future

12:00 – Incentive programs for people to go back to work

13:36 – Things happening in real estate

15:20 – Frances’ proposals and thoughts on how to prevent rates from going negative

18:25 – Stocks, the markets, and trading

29:00 – Economist market projections

31:45 – Airlines stocks as an example of cyclical recovery

34:45 – Parting thoughts on what people should or could do with their money

41:55 – What’s the best way to get ahold of Frances?

43:30 – Thanks for listening to the Big Mike Fund podcast.

 

Quotes:

“Lower rates usually support the real estate market but in a situation where you don’t have banks willing to lend, then that kind of restrains that area. So you may not see that traditional reaction to the rates falling.” – Frances Newton Stacy

“In New York City, 30% of restaurants will never open their doors again. And how many of those 30% actually default somewhere in credit-land?.” – Frances Newton Stacy

“In real estate, you have to wait. We don’t know what the data is going to do but I personally wouldn’t pay pre-COVID prices until I saw what the defaults look like.” – Frances Newton Stacy, on what to do with your money in the near future.

“It would be so much better to give employers and employees incentives to go back to work.” – Mike Zlotnik

 

Resources:

Previous episode with Frances Newton Stacy

Optimal Capital

Welcome back to the Big Mike Fund podcast. Today I’m talking with my good friend, Jimmy Shiels. We’ve known each other for many years. He’s a humble and genuine guy who classifies himself as a speaker, consultant, and the crazy glue that can help keep families together. The mission for his company, 18 Summers, is to help create relationships between entrepreneurs and their families, which can get strained due to the lifestyle and professional pressures of being an entrepreneur.

With this new reality, situations at home are changing and families are being impacted. Today, Jimmy shares his thoughts on what families can do while they’re at home, in order to take advantage of the time that we have together.

 

Minute Markers:

00:35 – A little bit about Jimmy

01:15 – 18 Summers

02:00 – How the quarantine is affecting families

04:45 – The story behind 18 Summers

06:35 – One-on-one time and having conversations with your spouse or SO

08:30 – “You should have known better.”

09:15 – Too much technology

10:30 – Family dinners

11:50 – Keeping work and family life separated/multitasking

14:00 – Being separated from family

16:15 – Family retreats/Virtual events

19:50 – Reaching out to Jimmy

20:36 – Parting thoughts

21:44 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

 

Quotes:

“The average person will spend 85% of the time they ever have with their children by the end of their 18th summer because the amount of opportunities starts to delineate because they’re off to college, they’re going into their own life.” – Jimmy Shiels

“The average person–the average family 60 years ago, dinner was about 90 minutes. Now, the average time length for dinner now? 12 minutes.” – Jimmy Shiels

“The days are long but the years are short.” – Jimmy Shiels

“[This quarantine] is a crisis but also an opportunity.” – Mike Zlotnik

“Be present; that’s the most important thing.” – Mike Zlotnik

 

Resources:

Jim Sheils Official Website

The Family Board Meeting: You Have 18 Summers to Create Lasting Connection with Your Children by Jim Sheils

Welcome to The Big Mike Fund Podcast. Today, I have my friend, John Martinez, from the Collective Genius Mastermind. He is an expert when it comes to training salespeople. That’s what we’re going to talk about today: sales techniques and what it takes to mold or train a successful salesperson. Even if you don’t classify yourself as a salesperson, the information that he shares in this episode can us used in other, related fields (like real estate agents, for example).

 

Minute Markers:

01:52 – A little bit about John

03:00 – John’s bread & butter training

06:00 – Seller motivation

08:15 – “Reframing of the whole question”

13:15 – Summary of the technique

15:40 – Problem-impacting picture-perfect questions

17:35 – The REI sales economy

19:35 – How does this information apply to agents?

21:50 – Midwest Rev

23:00 – Outbound calling and cold calling

26:37 – REI Sales Academy and Branding/Names

27:59 – Final thoughts

30:26 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

 

Quotes:

“The question that the top acquisition agents or investors ask is not how much do you think your house is worth because then you run into that conversation you talked about.” – John Martinez

“[Salespeople] need to discover, through whatever questions, then you can ask why questions and get them to give the seller or house owner to start talking about their problems rather than what they want for the property.” – John Martinez

“Sales isn’t about pressuring anyone to do anything, sales is just about uncovering the reasons why someone would do something. The only way to get there is to remove the pressure, so people feel safe opening up and then asking questions.” – John Martinez

“If you can’t find the motivation, it’s a useless conversation, but once you find it and you explore it, stress the key points, that’s the path to success.” – Mike Zlotnik

“Is it free will or predeterminism? But if they’re already talking to you, if they’re spending the time, if you just help them a little bit to really see why, why they’re doing this and then the decision is just so much easier.” – Mike Zlotnik

 

Resources:

Midwest Rev

REI Academy

Today, I’m once again talking with Whitney Sewell, the Director at Lifebridge Capital. Whitney and I talk about the Coronavirus crisis, and its present and future impact on the multifamily space.

These are difficult times for the country and world. Some of you may be losing sleep, or feeling grateful for a reserve budget and conservative underwriting. Stay healthy, keep your distance, and keep washing your hands. 

Minute Markers:

01:00 – Whitney’s background 

01:56 – COVID-19’s effects on multifamily space now  

03:20 – COVID-19’s future impact on multifamily space 

04:12 – CMBS freeze and next steps with tenants

06:28 – Proactive about possible job loss and vacancy rates

08:20 – Predicted and projected health perspective on the economy

11:00 – Fear, fluctuating numbers, and looking forward to future opportunities

12:15 – Are deals going to be re-priced or re-traded?

15:23 – Marketing and always looking for more deals

18:53 – Distressed sellers, distressed situations, and big enough discounts 

25:40 – Rent’s due: Who will or won’t pay, and why? 

32:24 – Reaching out to Whitney Sewell

33:19 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

“We had such a hefty reserve budget before we ever planned, before we ever knew anything, obviously, like this was going to happen. I’m so grateful that we did. Now, we can even hit something like this and we’re okay. We’re not losing sleep over it because of that.” – Whitney Sewell

“Is it going to affect us? It’s going to. I think it’s going to affect us all in some way. No doubt about it. Already is. We’re working with our management company. We’re taking strides to be proactive.” – Whitney Sewell

“I think there’s going to be some opportunities for operators that are prepared. I think there’s going to be some opportunities. I think there’s going to be deals too that some operators have to sell and that are going to be discounted. I think we’re prepared for that.” – Whitney Sewell

“People who got properties, unless they have extreme distress, they’re not selling. The people who are buying, I guess they want to get a good enough deal. I think that the business now just broadened quite a bit because of uncertainty.” – Mike Zlotnik 

“There’s going to be tenants that are going to still pay their rent because they know they should and they’re supposed to. There’s going to be tenants that can’t pay their rent legitimately, they lost their job, they live paycheck to paycheck, they cannot make it happen. There’s still going to be some that just take advantage of the situation, no doubt about it.” – Whitney Sewell

 

Resources:

Whitney Sewell

Covid-19 and the Volatile Stock Market

On today’s episode, I’m once again talking with Chris Miles, an expert in infinite banking, like insurance, and being a housekeeper (and zookeeper) for his own personal Brady Bunch at home. When he’s not being a family man, Chris works with life insurance and runs his own podcast about money called the “Chris Miles Money Show”. 

Chris and I are talking about the volatile stock market and insurance, life insurance policies (and Chris’ specific designs), using life insurance like extra liquid reserves, and our policies on financial planning and advice.

Minute Markers:

00:23 – Introduction 

00:54 – A little about Chris

02:20 – CoronaVirus and the volatile stock market vs insurance

03:05 – Infinite banking and the Internal Rate of Return

07:38 – Timing the market

09:00 – Investment quadrants

11:11 – How Chris designs policies

12:40 – Needing money from life insurance policies

15:05 – Balloon payments

16:25 – Extra liquid reserves and investing

22:30 – Life insurance and portfolios

26:00 – Financial planning and advice

31:30 – Contacting and following Chris

33:05 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

“If you were to compare apples to apples in a savings account, it’s essentially like a tax-free supercharged savings account. But instead of earning point nothing percent, you’re actually earning about at least 4.5% to 5% average per year tax-free” – Chris

“I never tell people you should absolutely do this recommendation of this investment. But I will say let’s look at the different options that are available out there.” – Chris

“Most people are smart. They don’t even realize how smart they are. Given the right coaching and the right education, they can make these decisions without anybody pushing them into anything.” – Mike

“The good old well-known fact is that 80% of the funds can be the index. The active managers don’t necessarily, I don’t know what they get paid for in essence, in the stock market.” – Mike

Resources:

Money Ripples Website

Chris Miles Money Show, apple podcast page

Today, I have the pleasure of talking with fellow mastermind, Cory Boatright. We talk about the COVID-19 pandemic and what it means to the health of the world and to the economy as a whole. 

Cory talks about some important practical things you can do with your company and your team whether they are in the office panicking or if they are working from home and panicking. We are in the midst of a storm but we can weather it together if we remember to be safe, be healthy, and take this seriously.

Minute Markers:

00:23 – Introduction 

01:10 – Cory on COVID-19 and the economy

05:51 – How do we lead in the midst of a storm

08:10 – Practical things you can do with your organization

13:58 – Summary of important key points

15:45 – Assets and opportunities

24:45 – COVID-19, a regular flu or worse?

30:00 – Shelter in place

32:09 – This is a humanity issue first

34:00 – Finishing on a positive note

35:41 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

“My mentor told me a long time ago that whenever you have a headache, it sucks for you, but fantastic for Tylenol.” – Cory Boatright

“You need to overcommunicate right now. If you think that talking to them one time a day is enough, it’s not. You need to overcommunicate with your folks.” – Cory Boatright

“It’s a humanity issue first. And it certainly affects our businesses and our pocketbooks and all these things. Do your part in using sanitizer and taking this seriously.” – Cory Boatright

“TV can be dangerous–the news can be dangerous–just to hear the bad news. At this point, we should all be thinking about what we can do to make a difference, to prepare. I like to call it ‘observing, analyzing, and preparing.” – Mike Zlotnik

“I agree that the only solution right now is this extreme ‘shelter in place’, very-very aggressive, on all fronts, all states, you know?” – Mike Zlotnik

“This is a time of unity too. We need to forgo all of our political differences, and stop political bickering and focus on the health of the nation and the health of the world.” – Mike Zlotnik

Resources:

Cory Boatright, website

Cory Boatright, LinkedIn

Cory Boatright, Twitter

Cory Boatright, Instagram

On today’s episode, I’m talking with Gene Guarino from The Collective Genius Mastermind group. He’s a new member to the group but not new to the real estate market. He’s an expert and a specialist in converting residential properties to assisted living. Today we’re talking about the assisted living market and what makes it tick: the in’s and out’s of the market, the success rates, the break-even points, and all of the nuances. 

Minute Markers:

00:23 – Introduction 

01:30 – Who is Gene?

02:48 – An example of assisted living real estate

04:53 – The typical monthly cost

07:08 – The operating cost for an average facility

08:21 – A break-even point

11:13 – Three-pack 

12:14 – Gene’s educational program

14:36 – The average time a given customer stays in a home

16:39 – Comparison to bigger senior living facilities

17:48 – Home environments versus larger Class A facilities

20:03 – What kind of time investment is required?

23:25 – Passive investment options for folks who want a return

25:00 – Success rates

27:56 – Gene’s BHAG’s

29:30 – Reaching out to Gene

31:19 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes

“Yes, the economy of scale is a very different environment. Certainly, the home feels cozier as long as they like it. Also, it depends on the type of market.” – Mike Zlotnik

“That is the miracle of technology. It accelerates and continues to accelerate. I don’t think it will ever stop.” – Mike Zlotnik

“The lower your activity or involved in, the lower your rate of return. If you just want to own the real estate and lease it to the operator, you can get twice the market rent and have a nice cash flow in the real estate they couldn’t cash flow otherwise.” – Gene Guarino

“The key to this whole thing is location, location, location. The people that live in the house in the assisted living is all about the demographics of those people..” – Gene Guarino

Resources:

RAL101.com

Today, it is my pleasure and privilege to talk with, fellow mastermind group member (and fellow “phone book celebrity”), Nick Aalerud. Nick talks candidly about his reset stories, the lessons he learned from them, turnkey real estate deals, and the importance of stress-testing the deal. He also talks about his book, Don’t Quit: Stories of Persistence, Courage, and Faith; all of the profits from which go to charity.

Minute Markers:

00:23 – Introduction 

02:16 – A little about Nick and his background in real estate

05:37 – Nick’s first hard reset button

08:38 – Where to find cash flow deals/cap rates

12:00 – Multi-family flip/bird strategy

15:09 – Nick’s second hard reset and the lesson learned after

17:11 – Nick’s other real estate investments and business

18:12 – Nick on bigger assets

24:15 – Don’t believe the hype

26:42 – “Don’t Quit: Stories of Persistence, Courage, and Faith” book

28:34 – How to get in contact with Nick

29:28 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

08:05 – I certainly agree with you to do the due diligence learning, to do the due diligence is the absolute key. And owning your own failures or successes is important. An indomitable spirit, you fall, you get up. That’s another key lesson so, it makes a lot of sense. I appreciate your sharing. It’s not easy to share, but it shows you’re not afraid to share even failures, which is a sign of strength.“.” – Mike Zlotnik

14:44 – “And small assets. They’re not necessarily bad assets at all. In fact, they’re great assets. It’s much easier to manage a small renovation than a big project. The exit happens to take place a whole lot faster.” – Mike Zlotnik

06:51 – “Learning to do my own due diligence with partnerships, learning that also taking ownership. I spent 6–9 months being just angry at this other person, other individual. I really couldn’t let it go until someone told me. It was actually Marshall Sylver, the national hypnotist, you might know him. He basically just said, “Own it. This was your failure. No matter what he did, you went through with it. You didn’t do enough due diligence. Why buy out of state your first five deals. Just own it, you made this mistake.” Once I own that for myself, it really helped propel me forward to sharpen my pencil.” – Nick Aalerud

26:35 – “Stress test the deal. I’m sure, I know you do that too. Stress test every deal, 100%.” – Nick Aalerud

Resources:

Nick Aalerud, Facebook

AA Real Estate Group, website

Nick Aalerud, LinkedIn

On today’s episode of the Big Mike Fund Podcast, I had the pleasure and privilege of having Al Beahn from Detroit, Michigan. Al is a real estate investing expert, a lifelong entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Pioneer Homes, the leading source for cash flow rental properties in Detroit. We talk about the multi-family vs. single-family market, best practices with contractors, and future plans in the real estate market and in the Detroit real estate market in particular.

Minute Markers:

01:19 – Who is Al? What does he do and what is his background?

04:20 – The Detroit market for turnkeys

07:52 – Average, typical cost of rent generated today (for a $60,000 home)

09:19 – The multi-family market vs. single-family market

15:09 – What is driving the Detroit market?

18:34 – What does the future hold for Al?

19:00 – How Al manages his crew

21:29 – Al’s best productivity tools and advice

28:35 – Getting a hold of Al

29:17 – Thank you for listening to the Big Mike Fund Podcast

Quotes:

“It has been, I guess, margin compression issue in many markets. It has happened and is happening today, all over the country.”

“To me, it starts with the construction. Every deal we’ve ever done that had any construction, our success and/or failure, came from the construction side of the deal, always.”

“It’s the key to success. You’re measuring and monitoring progress daily.”

“When it comes to contractors, I have always found that trying to find the cheapest guys, you always, always end up spending more money in the end.”

Resources:

Al Beahn, email: [email protected]

Al Beahn, LinkedIn

Al Beahn, Facebook

Pioneer Homes, website