XN STATE

Today we welcome Glenn Gonzales to the show, CEO and Co-founder of Austin-based Obsidian Capital. 

Glenn has over 30 years of real estate experience. Prior to founding Obsidian, Glenn spent many years working in multi-family and commercial property management with companies such as Equity Residential, Evergreen Management Group, Glacier Management, as well as Pacific Property Company, a value-add investment firm. 

This year Glenn published his first book, From Maintenance Man to Millionaire, a fantastic read that we discuss in today’s show. We also discuss the three things Glenn looks for in a multifamily project to identify opportunity. How he has been able to build equity in projects while having $0 in the bank. And how to find opportunities in a world that has been shaken by Covid-19. 

You can reach Glenn directly at [email protected] as well as through Obsidian's website: www.obsidiancapitalco.com.

Today we host Evan Holladay, founder of Nashville based Holladay Ventures, a development firm that specializes on the affordable housing niche of the multifamily sector. 

Throughout his career, Evan has developed and invested over $225 million across over 1,300 multifamily units. 

In our interview we talk about the factors that are driving the affordability crisis that we are seeing in the US today, as well as what needs to be done to tackle this issue. 

We discuss Evan’s journey of branching out on his own to found Holladay Ventures, something that he as a kid always knew he wanted to do. 

And we discuss the impact that Covid-19 has had on his projects and how he is reacting accordingly. 

To learn more about Evan please tune in to his Monumental podcast, as well as visit https://evanholladay.com/ and https://holladayventures.com/. 

Here is the link to the article mentioned in the show: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/great-affordability-crisis-breaking-america/606046/

Ten years ago, Juan Vargas was working at a BMW dealership in Houston, he had a wife, two young kids and felt that he was not spending nearly enough time with them as he should. And that’s when he decided to turn to real estate. 

Today, through his company GenWealth Capital Group, Juan oversees the operations of over 700 units and is an equity partner in over 1,500 units. 

In our interview we discuss: 

• Exactly why multifamily often makes more sense than investing in single family. 
• The process of acquiring an out-of-state property, and how to start from zero in a new market. 
• And we go into some pretty specific aspects of the multifamily investing process, such as what banks want to see in a borrower in order to get comfortable with making a loan. 

You can find out more about Juan through his Commit To Wealth podcast, his all-Spanish podcast El Cashflow Café, as well as by e-mail at [email protected]. 

Today we welcome real estate investor, speaker and co-founder of Austin-based Obsidian Capital, David Toupin. 

David first acquisition was a 12-unit apartment complex in Michigan back in 2016. Today, David has acted as a key principal in over $50M in real estate holdings and has raised north of $10M in capital. 

In our interview today we dive into:

• How David got his start in real estate on the back of a strong financial background and underwriting skills. 
• We talk about the key metrics and numbers to look at when evaluating a real estate deal. 
• And we discuss Obsidian Capital’s current undertaking, a 50-unit garden style multifamily development that is breaking ground shortly. 

You may find David on Instagram @realestatejedi and at Obsidian's website https://www.obsidiancapitalco.com/. 

Today we host a developer that is leading one of the most prominent mixed-use active developments in Houston. He is the Co-Founding Principal at Collaborate, Saul Valentin. 

Saul has been involved in more than one billion square feet of design and construction space. Today, Saul’s focus is on developing Village Center, a large P3 development in Jersey Village, that integrates Office, Multi-Family, Retail, and Hospitality.  

In our interview we discuss: 

• The process of developing a vision for a project such as Village Center. 
• We discuss how Collaborate got their hands on the site as well as other development specifics. 
• And we discuss the intricacies of P3 developments. P3 being short for public-private partnerships. 

Today we welcome yet another multifamily investor, the founder de’ Medici Group, Mauricio Ramos. 

In 2016 Mauricio decided to take his life on a different trajectory, he decided to leave his career in the commercial construction industry to become a full-time entrepreneur and investor. It’s a decision that has proven to be both gratifying and lucrative, as he has currently controls over $2.7M in apartment properties in South Central Texas, and is doing better than ever. 

Mauricio is doing something today that is accessible to many of us who want to invest in real estate and want to have real estate be a vehicle through which we build wealth throughout our lives. 

Today we discuss Mauricio’s unconventional strategy to finding deals, we discuss the signature feature of de’ Medici Group’s buildings, and we discuss the asset classes that Mauricio is looking to get into as well as the projects that he is kicking off today. 

Thank you for being back for another episode of XN STATE. 

You can reach Mauricio on Instagram @Maurms, and reach his company at demedicigroup.com. You can also reach him by e-mail at [email protected].

Mac McElwrath is the co-founder and managing principal of Wayfinder Real Estate, a multifamily and mixed use development firm based in Austin, TX, one of the most active development markets in the country.

Mac has been in the apartment industry for over 15 years. Before co-founding Wayfinder, he was the first employee at Oden Hughes, a company that is today one of the most active apartment developers in Texas. We talk about Mac’s experience as Managing Director there, and the role he played in taking the company to where it is today. 

We also discuss:

• The process behind why and how Mac decided to branch out on his own to co-found Wayfinder. 
• The challenges of developing in a city like Austin that is known for its stringent regulations. 
• The Troubadour, Wayfinder’s first development a 321-unit apartment project in central Austin. 

Mac has been someone I’ve been looking forward to sitting down with for a while due to his reputation in real estate and proven track record. There’s a lot to learn from this episode from a development standpoint.

Thank you for tuning in! You can find out more about Mac and his company at wayfinderrealestate.com.

For today’s episode we interview Bijal Patel, founder of LAUNCH, an award-winning, commercially-focused Interior Design and Graphics firm based in Houston, TX.

Bijal brings a fantastic personality and great energy to the show.

We talk about:

• LAUNCH’s focus on high-end design, regardless of budget.
• Authenticity in design and how newer generations value authenticity more than ever. 
• Bijal's transition from working at two prominent architectural firms to founding her own company. 
• The importance of a designer’s role on the field dealing with contractors.
• The advantage of being a specialist rather than a generalist. 
• New trends in design and the intersection of design with art and culture.

Please follow Bijal on Instagram @welaunchyou as well as on LinkedIn to stay up to date with the latest trends within the interior design industry in commercial real estate.

Today we interview multifamily investor Adrian Salazar. Adrian's background in construction has allowed him to identify opportunistic assets in need of re-positioning in the central and southern Texas markets. Adrian's hands-on approach to re-development has allowed him to achieve excellent returns early in his real estate career through his company, Optimum Buyers.

We talk about:

• Adrian’s start in wholesaling, and what wholesaling is.
• Adrian’s background in the construction industry. 
• The importance of mindset and what Adrian does to keep his mindset at the level it needs to be in order to operate at a high level.
• The speed at which Adrian and his partners are moving in the re-positioning of their properties and how the manage to do so. 

You can reach Adrian on Instagram @adriansalazar or by e-mail at [email protected].

Zach is a real estate broker and investor based in Indiana. At age 19 he bought his first property, a $28,000 house that opened the door for his real estate ventures. 4 years later, he is well on his way to building a stable cash-flowing portfolio.

We talk about:

• What it is like investing in multifamily as an out-of-state investor.
• The underrated Indianapolis market and how it has evolved in the last 3 years.
• What it is like running into investing success at an early age.
• Zach’s first deal, a $28k home that got him in the door of real estate investing. His mistakes and lessons learned from this investment. 
• How brokerage was a great jumping board on to real estate investing. 
• An outsider’s opinion on the Houston market.
• Doing all of this while having fun. Which matters more than the importance we give it. 

I really enjoyed Zach’s down to earth perspective, moving fast but not in a rush. You can reach Zach at [email protected] as well as on his website zachhoereth.com. And on Instagram @zach.hoereth.