How He Turned One Deal Into Millions (Without Managing Tenants)

Medical Real Estate Investing as a Defensive Wealth Strategy

Medical real estate investing has emerged as a powerful alternative for investors seeking stable cash flow and long term durability outside traditional multifamily assets. Rod Khleif sits down with Sterling to break down why healthcare driven real estate continues to outperform through economic cycles. The conversation centers on demographic tailwinds, recession resistance, and how medical tenants fundamentally differ from standard residential renters.

Sterling explains that medical real estate benefits from essential service demand rather than discretionary spending. Doctors, clinics, and healthcare operators need to stay open regardless of market conditions, which creates consistent occupancy and long lease terms. This stability makes medical properties particularly attractive to investors focused on capital preservation and predictable income.

Why Medical Tenants Create Stronger Long Term Stability

One of the most valuable insights from the discussion is how medical tenants view their space as mission critical. Buildouts are expensive, licensing is location specific, and patient retention depends on accessibility. These factors significantly reduce turnover and vacancy risk, creating a more durable income stream than many traditional commercial assets.

Sterling also highlights how medical real estate often avoids the rent volatility seen in residential markets. Lease structures are typically longer, increases are built in, and tenant credit quality is often stronger. For investors concerned about economic uncertainty, these fundamentals provide an added layer of downside protection.

Structuring Medical Real Estate Deals the Right Way

The episode dives into how successful medical real estate investing requires thoughtful underwriting and conservative deal structure. Sterling emphasizes understanding tenant use, reimbursement models, and local healthcare demand before acquisition. Investors who take time to learn the operational side of healthcare real estate are better positioned to avoid costly mistakes.

Key considerations discussed include tenant concentration, lease length, and aligning debt terms with long term occupancy. Rather than chasing appreciation, the strategy focuses on stable income, thoughtful leverage, and sustainable growth over time.

About Sterling

Sterling is a medical real estate investor focused on healthcare driven properties that provide stable cash flow and long term resilience. His background includes structuring deals around essential services, understanding tenant demand, and positioning assets to perform across market cycles. His approach blends disciplined underwriting with a strong understanding of healthcare real estate fundamentals.

If you want to hear the full conversation and detailed insights, watch the podcast video or read the complete transcript below.

Medical Real Estate Investing FAQ

What is medical real estate investing?
Medical real estate investing involves owning properties leased to healthcare providers such as doctors, clinics, outpatient centers, and medical specialists. These assets are designed to support essential healthcare services and typically feature long term leases. Investors are attracted to the stability created by consistent demand for medical care.

Why is medical real estate investing considered recession resistant?
Medical real estate investing is viewed as recession resistant because healthcare services are not discretionary. Patients continue to seek treatment regardless of economic conditions, which helps tenants maintain revenue and occupancy. This stability often results in more predictable cash flow for property owners.

How does medical real estate investing differ from traditional multifamily investing?
Medical real estate investing focuses on commercial tenants rather than residential renters. Leases are usually longer, tenant turnover is lower, and rent increases are often built into contracts. These factors can reduce volatility compared to traditional multifamily properties.

What types of tenants occupy medical real estate properties?
Tenants commonly include primary care physicians, dental practices, imaging centers, physical therapy clinics, and specialty medical providers. Many of these businesses invest heavily in buildouts and equipment, which encourages long term tenancy. Strong tenant commitment supports stable income streams.

What are the main benefits of medical real estate investing?
Key benefits include long lease terms, lower vacancy risk, and demand driven by aging demographics. Medical properties often experience less sensitivity to market cycles. These characteristics make the asset class appealing to investors seeking durable income.

What risks should investors understand with medical real estate investing?
Risks include tenant concentration, specialized buildout costs, and regulatory changes in healthcare. Investors must also evaluate tenant financial strength and local healthcare demand. Proper due diligence and conservative underwriting help mitigate these risks.

How do demographic trends support medical real estate investing?
An aging population and increased demand for outpatient services continue to drive healthcare utilization. These trends create sustained need for medical facilities in both urban and suburban markets. Long term demographics provide a strong foundation for ongoing demand.

Is medical real estate investing suitable for passive investors?
Yes, many passive investors gain exposure through syndications or partnerships with experienced operators. This allows participation without managing day to day operations. Evaluating the sponsor, tenant mix, and lease structure remains essential for success.

Disclaimer: This summary was written with the help of AI and reviewed by Rod’s Team.

01:20:07:26 – 01:20:25:13
Rod Khleif
Welcome back to life time cash flow through real estate investing. I’m Rod Khleif and I am thrilled that you’re here. I have a very interesting guest today on a lot of fronts. He’s interesting on a lot of fronts. His name is Sterling Griffin. And Sterling is in the medical development space. Medical office development, commercial real estate space.

01:20:25:13 – 01:20:47:07
Rod Khleif
He develops medical offices, which we’ve never talked about on this show, but you guys may or may not know this. I’m going to start introducing other asset classes on this show. And this is an example of that. It’s first time we’ve ever talked about this asset class. It’s a fascinating asset class and I’m frankly interested in personally. But what else is cool about Sterling is before we started, he went down into my exercise room downstairs and did some affirmations.

01:20:47:07 – 01:20:48:20
Rod Khleif
And if you guys know me.

01:20:48:23 – 01:20:49:04
Sterling Griffin
You know.

01:20:49:04 – 01:21:11:14
Rod Khleif
I love frickin affirmations. I’ve got I am statements all over my walls, in my office, in my exercise room. Because, as you know, anything you put the words I am in front of is an identity statement. And in fact, as a funny aside, you know, I tell people, I used to run down the street yelling, this shit, you know, I am courage, I am fearless, I am driven, I am success, and my kids, they come to my bootcamps and that’s the question they get most often.

01:21:11:14 – 01:21:22:29
Rod Khleif
Do you really do that shit? No. Like, oh God. Yeah. We had to listen to that shit. Now I’ve got an exercise room, so nobody has to suffer through it. But anyway, we’re gonna have some fun today. We’re going to talk about motivation and lots of other things. Sterling. Welcome, brother. It’s great to see you, man.

01:21:22:29 – 01:21:24:23
Sterling Griffin
It’s an honor to be here, man. Thanks for the.

01:21:24:23 – 01:21:44:11
Rod Khleif
Invitation. Well, I appreciate that. And so why don’t you take a little bit of time and talk about your journey, which is kind of cool? You know, you’ve got some interesting things that have happened to you, like I do, and I’m not gonna steal your thunder. So I wanted to come from you. So talk to talk about who you are and and bring us current.

01:21:44:13 – 01:21:52:06
Sterling Griffin
Sir, would you like me to start add more of my my real estate investing or just my entrepreneurship? Kind of the beginning. Beginning.

01:21:52:09 – 01:21:58:00
Rod Khleif
Start start wherever you like. But, you know, if you think it’ll add value any piece of this, I I’d love.

01:21:58:02 – 01:22:27:10
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. Let’s let’s start a little further back then, because I think it’ll inform how I’ve created a life that I really love on all fronts. And it really starts eight years ago when I’m living in my Honda Accord. I’ll. I’ll say this. When I graduated college, I’d never imagined I’d end up homeless. But yet there I was, two and a half years later, driving my Honda Accord to church on New Year’s Eve, looking for a handout so that I wouldn’t have to sleep in my car again that night.

01:22:27:13 – 01:22:42:03
Sterling Griffin
And I remember that day so vividly because all those same negative voices showed up. The voice that says, oh well, the first one just supercritical sterling. How did you screw up your life this bad from where you come from?

01:22:42:03 – 01:22:45:08
Rod Khleif
I want to ask that question. Okay. So I’d love for to hear how will that happen?

01:22:45:09 – 01:23:01:08
Sterling Griffin
We’ll get to it, don’t worry. But then the other voices showed up with that said, well, it’s not your fault, it’s your it’s your alcoholic mother, it’s your absent father. It’s their fault. But then the truth came in. Is it? No, Sterling. It was your choices that brought you here. And it’s only your choices that can get you out to somewhere better.

01:23:01:14 – 01:23:24:16
Sterling Griffin
In that moment, I made a decision that after a lifetime of struggling with depression and at that point, three months of homelessness, I was ready for something new. And I told myself, right then, Sterling, it’s time to get out of this position in life and to do it so fast that one day you’re going to inspire the person who’s sitting where you are right now, because you are not alone.

01:23:24:18 – 01:23:41:24
Sterling Griffin
That drove me to not just succeed, not just to have enough to eat, but I had a vision in my mind, a kind of a crazy one that I wanted to grow a business really quickly so that my story, I just had a sense that my story one day could be a voice of hope for somebody else that was just like me.

01:23:41:27 – 01:23:51:06
Sterling Griffin
Well, two years later, from that moment, I became a millionaire with my first company, and it’s due in no small part to one main thing mentors.

01:23:51:13 – 01:23:52:00
Rod Khleif
Yeah.

01:23:52:03 – 01:24:08:17
Sterling Griffin
Mentors. You see, I don’t come from an entrepreneurial family. I don’t come from an early development family. But what changed for me was just a couple months prior to that moment, I started to have belief that I could be someone different. And that happened in Unleashed the Power Within.

01:24:08:17 – 01:24:09:02
Rod Khleif
You went to.

01:24:09:02 – 01:24:10:12
Sterling Griffin
Tony and Tony Robbins.

01:24:10:16 – 01:24:29:19
Rod Khleif
Wow. If for those of you who don’t know, I spent 20 years following Tony around the planet. Went to my first event 23 years ago, Unleash the Power in Fort Lauderdale. And, I was on his team for eight years. And he’s obviously you can tell he’s impacted every area in my life just by what I talk about on my show.

01:24:29:22 – 01:24:33:24
Rod Khleif
And it’s so wonderful to hear that he impacted you like that. That’s beautiful. Where was it?

01:24:34:00 – 01:24:36:20
Sterling Griffin
It was in in Los Angeles. So that’s where I was living at the time.

01:24:36:20 – 01:24:37:15
Rod Khleif
And this was when.

01:24:37:18 – 01:24:40:05
Sterling Griffin
This was in October 2015 is.

01:24:40:05 – 01:24:43:02
Rod Khleif
When I was at that event and I was working security at that.

01:24:43:09 – 01:24:47:07
Sterling Griffin
Wow, big muscular guy like you probably scare some people.

01:24:47:08 – 01:24:50:01
Rod Khleif
It’s different than you think. But yes, it was. All right. Please continue. Sorry.

01:24:50:01 – 01:25:11:12
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. So. So that was the most important event in my life for sure. Because I showed up to that event and that was my first month being homeless. And I chose to pay for a ticket to go to that event instead of paying the $250 a month rent to be the fifth in a two bedroom, 400 square foot apartment, which is where I had been staying in the previous year up to that point.

01:25:11:14 – 01:25:29:13
Sterling Griffin
But I chose to buy a ticket instead of another month because I’d heard through this. I don’t know if you heard of this little app. It’s on our phones. It says podcasts. So I had recently discovered the podcast app is not. They were popular eight years ago and obviously in the way they are today. And when I start looking through it, I’m like, wow, all this information is free.

01:25:29:13 – 01:25:46:07
Sterling Griffin
I couldn’t believe it. It was incomprehensible to me. But one day I found on the School of Greatness podcast. I saw Tony Robbins at the time he was promoting his book Money The Master of the game that fall. And so I’m listening to this guy. I’m like, he’s so inspiring. He came from nothing. He came from a place not unlike where I’m starting.

01:25:46:07 – 01:25:48:20
Rod Khleif
Very similar geographical location is literally.

01:25:48:20 – 01:26:04:20
Sterling Griffin
Just down the street in a Glendora I think is where his journey really began. And so I’m like, I got to do whatever it takes because this guy has been where I am and has gotten where I want to be. He’s helping people for a living. That was my drive. I want to I want to make a living just helping people in the way that Tony is.

01:26:04:22 – 01:26:27:24
Sterling Griffin
So maybe not at the scale. I certainly didn’t have that kind of belief, but just to eat and have a place to sleep, that was that was what was on my mind. So. So I bought that ticket and it was the best decision I ever made because on day three, you know this better than anyone, rod. At one point, Tony leans in and he says, look, if you take nothing else from this entire event but this following phrase that I’m about to share with you and you use it, you apply it to your life, you will more than get your money’s worth.

01:26:28:01 – 01:26:47:20
Sterling Griffin
And of course, the position in life I’m in, I’m on the edge of my seat, literally scooting for pen to paper. Tony, please tell me. And he whispers. He says proximity is power who you surround yourself with. So you become. He goes on to explain that the five people closest to you are going to determine your trajectory in life, not just financially, but in every qualify.

01:26:47:20 – 01:27:07:02
Sterling Griffin
Will metric, happiness, ambition, fitness, everything. And so I started taking inventory. I’m like, oh no wonder I’m depressed. No wonder I don’t believe in myself. No wonder I allow any money that’s the same as the people closest to me. So it became the obsession in my life that I would live by those two things that he says, and he repeats them over and over without the business.

01:27:07:03 – 01:27:27:27
Sterling Griffin
Proximity is power, and success leaves clues get around higher performing peers that want more out of life, and get around mentors that have already achieved what it is that you want. I believe that achievement actually isn’t always so hard. It isn’t always hard, especially if we have a proven map in front of us. We don’t have to, quote unquote, figure it out.

01:27:27:27 – 01:27:37:15
Sterling Griffin
Like somebody that wants to become wealthy through investing apartments. They should not do it alone. They should talk to you. They should join your mastermind because you’ve done it. And also, when he beat me, I.

01:27:37:15 – 01:27:57:21
Rod Khleif
Paid him to say that. But let me just tell you something. You know, we’re talking about peer group and, you know, and of course, I learned all this from Tony as well. I, I give him credit every day for, for, you know, proximity is power is absolutely the truth. And I started my own mastermind, actually, I’ve kind of slowed it down with it’s probably 40 or 50 billion in assets represented by that group.

01:27:57:21 – 01:28:14:22
Rod Khleif
I started it here at this compound was 16 hitters, but a billion in assets at the time. Because I want to be around people think what I think is hard is easy and, and and now it’s 40 or 50 billion. But but that also ties into why my warriors are so freakin successful, my mentorship group. Because they help each other.

01:28:14:22 – 01:28:34:29
Rod Khleif
They hold each other up, or somewhere between 180 and 190,000 units that they own. I’ve only been teaching for five years. It’s because proximity is freakin power. So get around people that want more out of life. You know, so many people default to somebody I went to school with, or they work with those people out of their own limiting beliefs or their own fears, or their fear of losing your.

01:28:34:29 – 01:28:50:08
Rod Khleif
Of the fear of feeling less than if you don’t succeed. Now, if they succeed rather than they don’t and you don’t, they’ll hold you back. And sometimes it’s family. And so, you know you love your family, but you choose your frickin peers, right? So anyway, please continue. A peer group is a huge piece of success in anything.

01:28:50:13 – 01:29:06:09
Sterling Griffin
Absolutely. And when I decided that I would stop, I would stop being so heavily influenced by who I’d inherited in my life, and instead I would create intentional relationships in my life. Everything changed.

01:29:06:09 – 01:29:07:01
Rod Khleif
Proactively.

01:29:07:01 – 01:29:21:22
Sterling Griffin
Proactively, because the people that I knew automatically they were not going to help me get somewhere better in life, they just weren’t. And I remember a lot of those people were family. Rod. I had to limit my communication with family specifically during that time. I felt like my life depended on it.

01:29:21:22 – 01:29:26:08
Rod Khleif
You got to limit their ability to influence you. Exactly. Sometimes that means cutting off communication.

01:29:26:08 – 01:29:44:18
Sterling Griffin
So and and sometimes that meant very specific language patterns when, say, my mom would give me business advice or my brother would give me business advice or ambition, advice, whatever it was about how I should live my life, I would say, thank you for caring, and I am choosing not to accept your advice because you don’t have the results in life that I want.

01:29:44:24 – 01:30:03:13
Sterling Griffin
And I said it very gently at first, but if they would repeat it, I would just say, look, you’re not going to influence me because I am taking who I received my advice from to be the people that have what I want in life. So that being said, a month after I had this moment in the car, New Year’s Eve, I was having a conversation with a successful coach.

01:30:03:13 – 01:30:16:28
Sterling Griffin
My first business was I was an online fitness trainer. Okay, that was the area of my life that I felt like that worked for me. It was working and people always ask me, hey, how did you get in such good shape? And so I was like, oh, okay, maybe they pay me for this. Well, one day I was talking to a life coach.

01:30:16:28 – 01:30:34:13
Sterling Griffin
She was making a couple hundred thousand dollars a year now again, from where I was at that moment, it might as well have been $1 million. It was so much money. And that night we were speaking and she asked you, all those mentoring you? I said, nobody, I don’t have enough money for a mentor. And that that answer didn’t faze her at all.

01:30:34:13 – 01:30:57:13
Sterling Griffin
She said, no, you don’t have enough money not to have a mentor. In her mind, it wasn’t. You get money, then you can afford a mentor. It’s you get a mentor so that you can have money, right? My problem was I didn’t know how to make it when I needed it. And that and especially being in America, where we have so many options to get money needed to acquire skills, in that moment, I was like, okay, I’m going to get a coach.

01:30:57:13 – 01:31:20:24
Sterling Griffin
So I said, do you recommend somebody she recommended somebody that was specifically for what I wanted to do, which is growing online fitness business. Month later, I bought my first month program is $2,500. I use that to do it and $300 for my dad, thank goodness. And I did okay the first month, but nothing dramatically changed. And so going into the second month, I had to make a second $2,500 payment to that coach.

01:31:20:27 – 01:31:38:25
Sterling Griffin
And so the coaches call me. I didn’t have the money. I didn’t have any more room on credit cards. I was dead in the water. And he said, look, if you don’t pay by tomorrow, I’m going to have to remove you from the program. Well, so I’m looking, I’m thinking, how do I solve this problem? And I’m looking outside my apartment and my eyes fall to my car.

01:31:38:27 – 01:32:10:11
Sterling Griffin
It was 2 p.m. by 4 p.m., I wrote and posted an ad on Craigslist. By 9 p.m., somebody handed me $4,000 cash and drove away with my car. The next day, I took that money brought to the bank, deposited it, and sent that coach the $2,500 I’d sold my car to continue working with that mentor, and that was the second best decision I ever made, because that month I made $12,000 in my online training business, and 15 months later, I was making $300,000 a month and income from my consulting company.

01:32:10:14 – 01:32:37:01
Sterling Griffin
And it was because change. But it it was life changing. And it happened not just because of one mentor, by the way, but because as I continued to earn more, I kept reinvesting into my own mindset. I believe into myself, yeah, into my skill set. Because I knew that the first, most important thing that somebody should invest in if they’re not able to at least earn a decent living, earn enough to live a decent lifestyle, is you got to invest in skills.

01:32:37:04 – 01:32:39:12
Sterling Griffin
Yeah, you got to grow your skills and you got to grow your mindset.

01:32:39:16 – 01:32:58:06
Rod Khleif
No question man. And I have to tell you, wow. Because a lot of people wouldn’t make those sacrifices. They out of fear or whatever. They don’t make, big moves like that. And I will tell you guys, if you have an opportunity to go see Tony, for God’s sakes, go do it. And I just can’t recommend him enough.

01:32:58:08 – 01:33:23:08
Rod Khleif
I’ve sent hundreds of people, his direction. People that have joined his platinum partnership. More than one, and, you know, because it will be an epiphany and a pivot point in your, in your life and in your career and every aspect of your life, frankly, not just the business side of things is that emotional, emotional mastery, your time management, your relationship skills, you know, and your health and everything.

01:33:23:08 – 01:33:42:28
Rod Khleif
And it covers it all. And, you know, people think, oh, I was like, this guru will kind of crap. No, it’s it’s profound. Knowledge is what it is. His skill set is the ability to take complex, profound knowledge and communicate it in a way that you retain it and and hear it and retain it, which is why, you know, it’s impacted.

01:33:42:29 – 01:34:03:24
Rod Khleif
I mean, he’s the reason I’m feeding 4000 children this Saturday. Okay. And I fed close to 150,000 over the last 23 years. I started it because of him. Tens of thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies. We did 1700 in September, thousands and thousands of teddy bears to local police departments. We just did 3 or 400 of the Sarasota Police Department like a month and a half ago.

01:34:03:26 – 01:34:14:18
Rod Khleif
And it’s because of Tony. He’s the reason I lost weight. He’s the reason I got out of my first horrible marriage. And, and on and on and on. Would you agree.

01:34:14:20 – 01:34:15:21
Sterling Griffin
About your first marriage?

01:34:15:21 – 01:34:16:21
Rod Khleif
No. About Tony.

01:34:16:28 – 01:34:37:27
Sterling Griffin
Oh, yes. Yes, yes, definitely. I’m. I can’t tell you how infinitely grateful I am for that man, for his example, for his love for people. Right. I mean, what I saw in Tony is not just a powerful man, but a deeply loving man. Someone that gave me permission to access my own heart. I am by nature, my core nature is very loving.

01:34:37:27 – 01:34:48:00
Sterling Griffin
But I shut down that for a long time, thinking it was weakness. But in seeing Tony, he’s merged love and the ability to choose freely, which is real power.

01:34:48:07 – 01:34:50:28
Rod Khleif
Did you do? Here’s some of his other date with destiny. Some I’ve.

01:34:50:28 – 01:34:53:04
Sterling Griffin
Done. Date with Destiny. Yeah, I did that. The next year I did.

01:34:53:05 – 01:35:01:09
Rod Khleif
I did date with Destiny every year, 11 years in a row, until finally the head of his security team, Mike Miller, was like, dude, you’re here every year. Just join the freakin team.

01:35:01:09 – 01:35:02:11
Sterling Griffin
It’s done. Leadership.

01:35:02:18 – 01:35:10:25
Rod Khleif
Yeah. But anyway. Yeah. So. So, you’re making 300 grand a month doing fitness stuff. Fitness training.

01:35:10:25 – 01:35:30:19
Sterling Griffin
Well, it was both fitness coaching, and by that point I had just transitioned to also helping other fitness business owners grow companies online. Because I’d grown my business so fast. I had a number of them reaching out because, by the way, the average trainer in America makes $20,000 a year. They can’t live on the income that they make.

01:35:30:19 – 01:35:45:18
Sterling Griffin
They have to step in with other jobs. And yet I’d come from literally living in my car to making, you know, multiple hundred thousand dollars a year just from that in my first year. Right. So traders are hearing this story. They’re like, look, you got to share with me what you did. And so I added that in so together.

01:35:45:20 – 01:35:47:01
Sterling Griffin
Yes. That’s how I was making.

01:35:47:01 – 01:35:49:21
Rod Khleif
So why the hell would you leave that to do medical office.

01:35:49:23 – 01:36:15:13
Sterling Griffin
Well, this is a great question. It happened because three and a half years ago, I was standing in the kitchen of my hero, huge, beautiful, gorgeous home. He was had a business that had ten times the size of mine, and it was making 15 times the profit. I mean, this was the king of my industry and looking across the table at him, seeing that his business was where I hoped to get one day right, I had a realization.

01:36:15:16 – 01:36:38:09
Sterling Griffin
And that realization was, wait, I’m happier than him. I realized that what my dream was, which was to have a business as big as him, would leave me if I inherited his emotional state. If I inherited his responsibilities, his lifestyle, that would be way less happy that I than I was. That was a moment. It was a marker right?

01:36:38:12 – 01:37:00:07
Sterling Griffin
It was in Beverly moment. Like more money doesn’t by itself mean more happiness. And it started having me have this question of, yeah, I like making a lot of money, but am I really spending my time doing what I truly love? How do I get both? How do I get great income and great free time and I’ll say this a lot of people say money can’t buy happiness.

01:37:00:13 – 01:37:01:13
Sterling Griffin
And that’s just not true.

01:37:01:16 – 01:37:02:06
Rod Khleif
Oh, I agree.

01:37:02:06 – 01:37:02:29
Sterling Griffin
Because.

01:37:03:04 – 01:37:03:22
Rod Khleif
People say that.

01:37:03:23 – 01:37:08:03
Sterling Griffin
The poor people say that. That’s right. That’s that’s what they want you to leave. That’s how they have money.

01:37:08:03 – 01:37:26:24
Rod Khleif
They justify. That’s that’s how they don’t get disgusted with themselves. You know, I get hate every day online. I get I get entitled young men and and and sometimes women that and you know, and they hate and because they’re not happy they’re miserable. And and I try to it’s sometimes I, sometimes I get sucked in and get a little ugly.

01:37:26:24 – 01:37:34:28
Rod Khleif
But I try not to I try to and try to encourage them and empower them as much as I can, but sometimes they’re just flat out hate and ugly. But but the point is.

01:37:35:00 – 01:37:47:21
Sterling Griffin
I get really tempted when that happens for me to use sarcasm and make fun of them, I get really, but I’ve just. And I’m not saying I’m above it even today, but it’s so tempting. But I just realize it doesn’t have me happier on the other side of it. And it obviously is an change in.

01:37:47:21 – 01:38:05:06
Rod Khleif
Something you said about happy. Yeah, yeah. The beautiful thing about multifamily real estate as well, we’re talking about medical here, but I want to pivot to multifamily for a second is there’s lots of different hats you can wear, frankly, in any commercial real estate, honestly, because you can be the person that finds the deals. You can be the analytical person that underwrites them.

01:38:05:06 – 01:38:22:07
Rod Khleif
You could be the person that that raises the money or any combination of the above. You can maybe your process driven. You could be the asset manager. You’re you’ve got management or construction experience, just lots of different hats. And you want to do what makes you freaking happy. Because if you do work is play. You never work another day in your life.

01:38:22:07 – 01:38:40:14
Rod Khleif
Right? And so, you know, just remember that, that that when you’re, when you’re playing in your happiness and you’re playing in what you’re and that’ll be what you’re strong in as well. Right? And you’ll be passionate and I think you can get a feel for this guy’s passion because he’s doing what he frickin loves. And when you do what you love, you’re passionate.

01:38:40:19 – 01:38:52:21
Rod Khleif
And then you have the ability to influence people. And that’s what’s needed to influence people. And Tony Robbins has a fantastic quote which is live with passion. So anyway, so you had this epiphany, you.

01:38:52:21 – 01:39:14:20
Sterling Griffin
See this happening, and I want to finish this thought because I, I agree with you so heavily. This is this is the way that I have formulated it, is that money can buy happiness because money can buy you time. And with time you can spend it with people that you love doing activities that you love, where you love and frankly, just doing what you want when you want.

01:39:14:20 – 01:39:15:10
Rod Khleif
Time freedom.

01:39:15:10 – 01:39:19:15
Sterling Griffin
Time freedom is what enables you to be truly happy. Yeah.

01:39:19:17 – 01:39:38:08
Rod Khleif
In the last three months, I’ve taken an 18 day trip to Italy. I’ve taken two cruises to the Caribbean. I’ve. I’ve been invited to speak at a military conference, which was just fun for me, you know? And so time freedom is a beautiful thing. And honestly, that’s what I know. If you’re listening or watching this, that’s what you want as well.

01:39:38:14 – 01:39:58:14
Rod Khleif
So you got to pick your freaking vehicle. Yes. Maybe it’s medical stuff here. We’re going to talk about that today and why it’s exciting. The returns are great. And or maybe it’s multifamily, maybe it’s single family, maybe it’s buying businesses. But opportunity is upon us. Guys, I’m just going to tell you that we’re starting to see deals come out because of, you know, the economic environment we’re in.

01:39:58:17 – 01:40:10:24
Rod Khleif
But, but so so you had this epiphany, you saw that we’re. Now why do you think this I want to dig down on that because it’s unusual. He was so successful, as you said, he was ten, 10 to 20%, 10 to 20 times higher than you were.

01:40:10:24 – 01:40:11:12
Sterling Griffin
Yes, yes.

01:40:11:12 – 01:40:13:05
Rod Khleif
It’s unhappy. Yes, he was unhappy.

01:40:13:06 – 01:40:32:10
Sterling Griffin
He built a lifestyle that was only about achievement. It was achievement at any cost. This is again, this is my hallucination. I’m not inside his mind. And I’ll never pretend that I know him, right? I mean, I have trouble knowing myself sometimes I’m a human being, but the the way that I see it is that he was so consumed with.

01:40:32:10 – 01:40:43:25
Sterling Griffin
How do I be the king, no matter the cost to my personal time, no matter the emotional state that it’s driving me into, that he ended up on the other side just angry. Yeah.

01:40:44:01 – 01:41:01:10
Rod Khleif
And probably killed his relationships, killed everything else. You know, Tony Robbins calls it the science of achievement versus the art of fulfillment. How achievements are science. If you want to learn anything, typically there’s someone out there to give you a blueprint for it and you just got to go learn it. But for physical science, achievements of science. But fulfillment is an art.

01:41:01:18 – 01:41:18:22
Rod Khleif
You gotta find what you love. You got to go in and you got to give back as well. I mean, that’s a big piece of it, you know, and, and, you know, I get people on my show here sometimes that are fricking gazillionaire, and I can tell if they’re like I was before I had my epiphany back when I first met Tony, because I was unhappy, too.

01:41:18:22 – 01:41:36:05
Rod Khleif
I was very successful, and I had an epiphany. Just like. Like you did. Wow. And looking in the mirror. But, Yeah. So anyway, so you realized you needed to do something else. How did you stumble on to medical office? Talk about how share how that process happened. Sure.

01:41:36:08 – 01:41:53:10
Sterling Griffin
So over the next six months, from that conversation at his kitchen table, I started putting leaders in my business. And then with the intention of exiting because I knew if I stayed in that industry, first of all, my gifts and talents were not going to be maximized there, and I could not ultimately earn what it is that I wanted to earn.

01:41:53:10 – 01:42:09:14
Sterling Griffin
In the time that I wanted to work. I didn’t have ambition just within the business. In the business world. I also had artistic ambitions as well. So anyway, we don’t need to talk about that. The focus, though, is let’s talk about how I got into investing. I remember when I was standing there in that moment thinking about passive income.

01:42:09:14 – 01:42:28:07
Sterling Griffin
And to me, at that time, the idea of passive income seemed almost mythical. Almost like, yeah, right. Okay, that’s B.S. because every dollar I’ve ever made was active. It was hard earned. Everything I’m hearing is hard work. You got to push harder than somebody else, and that’s how you’ll become successful. But this idea of passive income. I’m like, okay, I’m going to explore this.

01:42:28:07 – 01:42:47:02
Sterling Griffin
And just like I did to get success in my first business, I decided if I’m going to do this, then I need to be in a room with other people who are already doing this. Well, because I’m certainly not the first person to want to solve this problem. So I exited my business and my first step was, I’m going to join a mastermind, a real estate mastermind.

01:42:47:04 – 01:42:51:02
Sterling Griffin
So I joined a group of investors, and there’s about 500 guys in the group that I was in.

01:42:51:02 – 01:42:51:24
Rod Khleif
500.

01:42:51:24 – 01:42:52:20
Sterling Griffin
About 500 guys.

01:42:52:21 – 01:42:53:12
Rod Khleif
Big group.

01:42:53:14 – 01:43:15:06
Sterling Griffin
Yep. And most everybody there had either built their wealth with real estate or were now using their wealth to invest in real estate. And I was in the latter category. So I start looking at deals and I have guys showing me either deals they’re presenting or deals that they’re investing in. And I probably look at about 120 deals in my first couple months, just really trying, first of all, trying to understand the numbers, because all of it was great.

01:43:15:08 – 01:43:28:17
Sterling Griffin
It’s a different language, so I’m trying to retain the language in the process. 95% of what I’m looking at, right. And this won’t surprise you, was down the middle of the fairway. Value add multifamily apartment deals because that’s what true. It tried and true.

01:43:28:18 – 01:43:38:07
Rod Khleif
As long as you don’t get aggressive on the debt that you use, which is killing a lot of world class operators right now with bridge debt, if you didn’t do that, you’re you’re you’re golden. I mean, it’s it’s a it’s a tried and true thing.

01:43:38:07 – 01:43:56:11
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. Yeah. Well the thing was though, as I’m looking at all these deals, it actually had a different effect on me. And that effect was fear. And whether or not the fear was justified, the line of thinking went like this. If everybody is doing this, I just might be catching this on the way down rather than a.

01:43:56:16 – 01:44:13:16
Rod Khleif
Valid, valid, valid concern. And and yeah, everybody jumped on the bandwagon. There was a lot of greed the last few years and, you know, and and you had to concern and it ties right into Warren Buffett’s famous quote, be fearful when others are greedy. You know, of course, the flip side is be greedy when others are fearful.

01:44:13:16 – 01:44:22:01
Rod Khleif
And there’s a lot of fear now. So I’m greedy as hell I found mine, but but so so you saw. You didn’t. You saw the fact that you might be getting a.

01:44:22:01 – 01:44:39:09
Sterling Griffin
Little late, right? And even if I wasn’t, I just had it in my mind. I knew that I wanted to be investing, to eventually offer deals to other people. I knew that I wanted to bring people together. I didn’t know how. I knew it would be years away, but that was my intention. So I’m thinking to myself, these guys are all they’ve been in this game a decade.

01:44:39:09 – 01:44:59:14
Sterling Griffin
Some of them, not all them. Like, I’m not going to be. I’m not smart enough. I’m not smarter than them to be able to figure out this asset class and be able to offer deals that are unique and uniquely valuable. Eventually, one day. So it got me thinking, what is an asset class that I could potentially catch on the upswing of a trend rather than on?

01:44:59:14 – 01:45:01:11
Sterling Griffin
You know, it’s already matured or it’s on its downswing?

01:45:01:12 – 01:45:03:07
Rod Khleif
Very, very astute thinking, by the way.

01:45:03:10 – 01:45:24:06
Sterling Griffin
Thank you, thank you. And by the way, the whole the whole thing about the, you know, catching trends and the way that I think about it is I remember a moment, I don’t know if you had a moment like this where I got my hair cut one day by my stylist when Bitcoin was $58,000 and my hair stylist was telling me, hey, by the way, if you invest in Bitcoin, now is the time to invest in Bitcoin.

01:45:24:08 – 01:45:34:00
Sterling Griffin
And it was like a voice popped in my head that said, now’s the time to sell bitcoin, right? Because if somebody who’s not an investment expert is telling you buy something, right, that’s probably you’re probably late to the point.

01:45:34:00 – 01:45:37:05
Rod Khleif
That’s how it works in the stock market and pretty much anything else. Yeah.

01:45:37:05 – 01:45:52:27
Sterling Griffin
So so there was a couple guys in the group that were doing what’s called triple net investing. And and of course you’re very familiar with this. But if there’s somebody that can describe it yeah. Yeah. Somebody that doesn’t know what that is. Triple that investing is where you have a business as a tenant as opposed to a resident, an individual.

01:45:53:00 – 01:46:07:11
Sterling Griffin
And that business agrees with your lease terms that they’ll cover the property taxes, they’ll pay for the property insurance, and they’ll pay for all the maintenance on the property. And so your income is true straight down the middle income. And they’re net.

01:46:07:11 – 01:46:07:27
Rod Khleif
Net net.

01:46:07:27 – 01:46:32:03
Sterling Griffin
Net of net net net. So they’re essentially self-managed debt. Except that yes your your cost is still your debt. Absolutely. But when it comes to the property itself, they’re self-managing. And the few guys that were in this, I noticed they tended to be the wealthier people in the group. Really, because there’s two things I think there were, first of all, triple net tends to be just right out of the gate, a little bit more passive, okay.

01:46:32:03 – 01:46:34:29
Sterling Griffin
Especially if you don’t have property managers. And so yeah.

01:46:35:00 – 01:46:36:02
Rod Khleif
Yes, doing anything.

01:46:36:03 – 01:46:46:02
Sterling Griffin
And so guys that were more wealthy, it had really strong income from other sources. They just wanted something that was a little bit more simple, get a little bit more passive. And then second of all.

01:46:46:02 – 01:46:52:12
Rod Khleif
So so excuse me one an example of this guys would be yes, I’m I’m not a well I’m sorry a Walgreen’s yes or a CVS.

01:46:52:13 – 01:46:53:02
Sterling Griffin
Yes. That’s right.

01:46:53:02 – 01:47:02:24
Rod Khleif
You know that those are typically triple net. They don’t typically own the land. They, they they they do a triple net lease. So that that’s a that’s an example. What are some other examples that are common?

01:47:02:24 – 01:47:06:17
Sterling Griffin
I mean Amazon is Amazon doesn’t own most of their land that they operate out of.

01:47:06:17 – 01:47:09:02
Rod Khleif
Yeah. Or warehouses. So that’s right. That lease interesting.

01:47:09:02 – 01:47:16:28
Sterling Griffin
Yeah okay. Or double net or triple net. But yeah they they do that because again their their capital is more valuable in their core business as opposed to owning the property.

01:47:16:28 – 01:47:18:02
Rod Khleif
Makes sense. All right. So please.

01:47:18:02 – 01:47:37:20
Sterling Griffin
Continue. So sure. So there were guys that were doing this and I thought this sounds great to me because especially coming from the background of really having a stressful first business where I was working 70 hours, I was like, how can I make it as passive as possible? These guys allowed me to have both where I had passive, but then I also had as much ownership and therefore as much upside potential as possible.

01:47:37:22 – 01:47:38:19
Sterling Griffin
Because if I was going to.

01:47:38:19 – 01:47:40:05
Rod Khleif
Be you invested in a couple of these.

01:47:40:05 – 01:47:54:20
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. So I’ll tell you about the first deal that I bought. So the first thing I bought was an industrial property. Okay. It’s in the Midwest. And this is another example of types of buildings that are in the triple net leases, manufacturing, logistics, shipping. So I got a manufacturing building and I’m sorry.

01:47:54:21 – 01:47:56:01
Rod Khleif
So you did it yourself or you.

01:47:56:03 – 01:47:59:16
Sterling Griffin
Bought it okay. You didn’t I bought 100%. No no no it wasn’t a syndication. You just.

01:47:59:16 – 01:48:04:12
Rod Khleif
Used. They were just an example of what you thought. That’s right dude. So you went out and found an industrial building?

01:48:04:17 – 01:48:13:20
Sterling Griffin
Yes. Yes. And it was off market. One of the guys in the group introduced me to a broker. Okay? I got the deal through him, and I purchased it $3.65 million building you had.

01:48:13:20 – 01:48:16:10
Rod Khleif
You had a nice chunk of change from your exiting your other business.

01:48:16:10 – 01:48:24:24
Sterling Griffin
Yes, definitely. And I mean I use bank debt on it. So I didn’t pay all cash for it. Yes. That’s right. So I purchased it and an interesting thing happened.

01:48:24:26 – 01:48:30:04
Rod Khleif
Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry I’m sorry I don’t I just have to ask. Did you already have a tenant for it?

01:48:30:04 – 01:48:47:27
Sterling Griffin
Yes, exactly. Yes. There was a tenant already inside. Yeah. So it was going to be passive for me. Okay, so six months after purchasing it, something very interesting happened. The tenant was purchased by a large public company, and that new company extended the lease. And so literally. And I had nothing to do with it. It happens. The tenant on its own got bought out.

01:48:47:29 – 01:48:58:00
Sterling Griffin
But when I started asking brokers what my property was now worth, they said I’d added $1 million of value to my property just by who was paying the lease. And that was.

01:48:58:06 – 01:48:59:03
Rod Khleif
So the quality of.

01:48:59:05 – 01:49:02:05
Sterling Griffin
The quality of the tenant and the length of the lease.

01:49:02:05 – 01:49:16:28
Rod Khleif
Term. Yeah. So so guys, what happens is in this space, which is, which is you know, leased does triple net space. They’re going to look at the financial wherewithal and grade the caliber of the tenant. And so the caliber of the tenant went way up.

01:49:17:02 – 01:49:42:19
Sterling Griffin
Yes. That’s right. Okay. That’s right. And it was truly a passive value add, which is very interesting. Yeah. So when this happened, I was ecstatic, of course, because just by a paper being signed by somebody else, I’d added all this value without any construction or anything being done. Right. So that’s great. And on the other hand, it spoiled me because now I want all the deals I buy to be just like this, set up for a big value, added a very short period of time.

01:49:42:19 – 01:49:54:04
Sterling Griffin
Sure. So I start calling brokers and I literally over the next eight months, I called a thousand brokers and I gave them criteria that said I want it to have this kind of lease, this kind of tenant, this like they’re.

01:49:54:04 – 01:49:58:04
Rod Khleif
Looking for additional property that actually was already triple net leased.

01:49:58:04 – 01:50:05:04
Sterling Griffin
Already already leased out. Yeah. And we’re primed for a they’re basically I was getting them at a massive discount. That’s what I was looking to purchase okay.

01:50:05:04 – 01:50:15:19
Rod Khleif
Not net and then let me stop undervalued. Yeah. So how did so what was the criteria for you to to to realize when you got presented a deal that it was undervalued.

01:50:15:21 – 01:50:23:02
Sterling Griffin
So it was based on the cap rate. So I had all my basic criteria of I want to lease that for example, is about ten years long. Still ten years or.

01:50:23:02 – 01:50:23:27
Rod Khleif
Maybe ten years remaining.

01:50:24:00 – 01:50:29:28
Sterling Griffin
Ten years remaining. It’s triple net or absolute triple net. Gotcha. It is a certain rate.

01:50:29:28 – 01:50:31:04
Rod Khleif
What’s the difference between those two?

01:50:31:04 – 01:50:42:17
Sterling Griffin
Yeah, yeah. So triple net is everything except for long term capital improvements. So something like a roof repair or a parking lot repaving. You know Hvac would still be in a normal format.

01:50:42:17 – 01:50:43:10
Rod Khleif
But a roof for.

01:50:43:10 – 01:51:03:02
Sterling Griffin
Parking. But a roofer parking or something like a major remodel, like moving walls around. So absolute net also includes those things. So I wanted something that was like really bulletproof lease. Yep. And I wanted a tenant that had multiple locations. So it wasn’t a single location. It was at least eight locations, like a big corporation. Yeah, because that would mean that they’re not going to go out of business.

01:51:03:02 – 01:51:07:24
Sterling Griffin
Right. Exactly. Lower chance of course, to comes to me. Yeah yeah yeah.

01:51:07:26 – 01:51:08:26
Rod Khleif
Definitely chance.

01:51:08:26 – 01:51:32:22
Sterling Griffin
Less chance. That’s right. So I’m just and I wanted at a cap rate which is either at or above, I think it was 8.5% is what I was looking at or 9%. And so I start condo. Exactly. Yes. Yes. And so I start calling these brokers. And one by one they say, look buddy, you came. If I, if I found this deal, I’m buying it or I’m going to sell it to my buddy who I’ve already done 20 years of deals with, I’m not going to give it to a fresh face.

01:51:32:24 – 01:51:50:18
Sterling Griffin
And well, I, I’m pretty. I’m pretty persistent. So I kept trying anyway for a while. Clearly I’m a slow learner in this context, but one day this one broker took me aside and he was very, very nice. He took the time to me with me to explain that. Look, I understand what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to make this money.

01:51:50:18 – 01:52:07:15
Sterling Griffin
You’re trying to, like, set yourself up really well with your capital that you’ve worked very hard to, to acquire. If you’re wanting to do this, here’s what I’d recommend. And he explained to me focus on medical space and for whatever reason, medical. Even more so at that time. Not a lot of people that are high net worth individuals were focusing on it.

01:52:07:20 – 01:52:20:13
Sterling Griffin
A lot of the bigger institutions are buying it. But he saw that there were a few of these medical companies. The people that were buying them were doing very well with it. So he said, look, if you want to be in something that’s going to be around a long time that the market hasn’t quite adequately priced yet.

01:52:20:13 – 01:52:29:04
Rod Khleif
Dry medical care. You said the companies are doing very well, not the medical companies. You saw operators that were working in the space providing space to these medical.

01:52:29:07 – 01:52:50:29
Sterling Griffin
That’s right. The landlords, the landlords. Yes, yes, yes. But they were they were doing well because they were working with tenants that were very good, that were very stable. And so it just it was unusual for these medical corporations to go out of business. So anyway, he explains this and he said what you should consider doing if you’re looking for larger returns or short period time, is development where you’re going to you’re going to manage construction.

01:52:51:01 – 01:53:12:06
Sterling Griffin
And what you’ll do is this explain the model very simply. You go to a tenant, you get them to. If you try and find ones that are looking to expand to new locations that already have a certain number of locations, and this is the script, you say, hey, I’ll pay for the land on a new location. I’ll pay for all your buildout, and in exchange, you’re going to sign a long term triple net lease once the building is built.

01:53:12:09 – 01:53:30:11
Sterling Griffin
So you’re going to give me passive income for 15, maybe 20 years once I finish building it. And not all of them will agree, and certainly not all of them will agree at the rental rate that you’re looking for. But some will. And when you find those, get all the agreements signed by the land. And then once it’s done, sell it.

01:53:30:15 – 01:53:35:25
Rod Khleif
Do you typically have the land selected when you approach them? Do you have a lot selected or.

01:53:35:25 – 01:53:39:04
Sterling Griffin
Good question. So I find the tenant first. Always find the tenant.

01:53:39:06 – 01:53:41:12
Rod Khleif
It’s just that expresses interest.

01:53:41:12 – 01:53:42:09
Sterling Griffin
Yes, yes.

01:53:42:09 – 01:53:47:19
Rod Khleif
And so I’m on the hunt. I’m going to find something when I do. Would you like to see it. Have a conversation.

01:53:47:19 – 01:53:48:02
Sterling Griffin
That’s right.

01:53:48:03 – 01:53:48:26
Rod Khleif
Buying it okay.

01:53:48:26 – 01:54:04:05
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. So I get I get all the basics together. Like here’s our basic lease template that we’re going to have. So we’re going to go shooting all those elements right. What guarantees I want. Right. What responsibilities each of us have the rental rate. All that is the rental rate. It does change a little bit based on construction costs and things like that.

01:54:04:05 – 01:54:19:07
Sterling Griffin
But anyway, we’ll get to that later. But yes, I get them to say yes, we want it. And then when I find a piece of land, I’ll then present it to the tenant and say, hey, does this match? Like, can we get the building plans drawn up? And if it works for you, then I want you to sign at the rental rate that we’ve agreed to before I close.

01:54:19:07 – 01:54:21:06
Sterling Griffin
Right. So that I’m not holding the risk of.

01:54:21:12 – 01:54:21:27
Rod Khleif
Your money goes.

01:54:21:27 – 01:54:25:12
Sterling Griffin
Hard. Exactly. Or in that and not due diligence period. That’s right.

01:54:25:14 – 01:54:29:17
Rod Khleif
Okay. So so you’ve pre framed the relationship.

01:54:29:17 – 01:54:30:09
Sterling Griffin
That’s right.

01:54:30:12 – 01:54:52:18
Rod Khleif
You go out there and find a great location. You probably get an answer convention agreement signed and so they can’t go around. You bring somebody else in. That’s right. And then and then you say you know if we’re going through the due diligence, you know, it looks like that’s zoned properly, the entitlements are right, blah, blah, blah. All the things you got to work on when you’re developing.

01:54:52:21 – 01:54:56:29
Rod Khleif
And let’s sign the lease and we’ll get this baby done. That’s right. That’s it.

01:54:57:04 – 01:55:17:28
Sterling Griffin
That’s right. And what’s important to note about this is, I was not actually managing the development myself. I added a partner that has the experience of doing this. I saw a couple of different options, but one a decade, another three decades in this business and hundreds of millions in transactions. So I’m knowing that this is not my area of expertise.

01:55:17:28 – 01:55:20:00
Sterling Griffin
I want somebody else that can handle that portion.

01:55:20:00 – 01:55:29:12
Rod Khleif
Now, you, what surprised me is that you sell this, but talk about that. Yeah, yeah. So you you you build them, you throw in, an urgency.

01:55:29:12 – 01:55:45:24
Sterling Griffin
I haven’t sold all of them, so. So I’ll explain. So I did this. I did this model with one tenant that right out of the gate was like, yes, let’s, let’s do this. And I did first three urgent cares. And I just wanted to I didn’t take any outside investor money because again, I’m sort of testing a model here.

01:55:45:24 – 01:55:50:04
Sterling Griffin
Like I want to make sure is this going to work? And I, I just wanted to grow my own money first.

01:55:50:07 – 01:55:51:10
Rod Khleif
Three urgent care centers.

01:55:51:11 – 01:55:52:02
Sterling Griffin
Three urgent care.

01:55:52:02 – 01:55:52:19
Rod Khleif
So with your.

01:55:52:19 – 01:56:09:04
Sterling Griffin
Own risk, with my own capital. Yep. And I purchased them. And then the way that this worked is two of them I sold the same day that I closed on them. So I did what’s called a double closed transaction, where I purchased it for one price, basically arranging all the components of the deal.

01:56:09:04 – 01:56:12:13
Rod Khleif
I’m sorry you purchased the land or this or I’m sorry.

01:56:12:16 – 01:56:21:06
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. So that same day I purchased the land. Okay. I had the lease go into effect. Buy the tenant. They were willing to do it. That structure. This was last year that this house, even.

01:56:21:06 – 01:56:25:01
Rod Khleif
Though payments don’t start till the building is done, obviously. But the lease starts that date.

01:56:25:02 – 01:56:45:17
Sterling Griffin
That’s right. Gotcha. That’s right. Yep. And, Well, actually, no, let me clarify that point. So I had it as part of the transaction that they would get funded enough rent to start the lease immediately. And they would they would have enough basically to, to fund the first year’s worth of lease payments. This had the lease actually start immediately, even.

01:56:45:17 – 01:56:48:08
Rod Khleif
Though they weren’t occupying the asset. That’s right. That’s interesting.

01:56:48:08 – 01:56:49:25
Sterling Griffin
That’s right. Yeah. And I did that.

01:56:49:25 – 01:56:50:26
Rod Khleif
Because skin in the game.

01:56:50:26 – 01:56:53:09
Sterling Griffin
That they did they had to get it. Yes. Exactly.

01:56:53:16 – 01:56:59:25
Rod Khleif
So so I don’t understand the double closing. Sure. So you so you hadn’t even broke ground yet and you’d sold it already.

01:56:59:25 – 01:57:16:28
Sterling Griffin
That’s right. Because when I took that I had an appraisal appraiser come in and say, this is actually worth a lot more because of the lease starting this is worth a lot more than what your total costs are on the deal. And then I also had a broker say, I agree, I might have a buyer that wants to get into this deal.

01:57:17:05 – 01:57:18:26
Sterling Griffin
And so then I sold. It’s right.

01:57:18:26 – 01:57:27:08
Rod Khleif
So help me understand why one of these urgent cares would be paying you rent on a space they don’t even have yet. What is the advantage to them?

01:57:27:11 – 01:57:47:29
Sterling Griffin
It was part of a package deal, so I agreed to do multiple of these properties at one time. And they’re wanting to expand quickly. And because they know their development time frame is of a certain amount, I agreed to find this part of the transaction, the first bit of rent that they need during the developer time, plus a few more months, so they’d actually get more or less a few free months of rent as part of the transaction.

01:57:47:29 – 01:57:49:22
Sterling Griffin
So, and have some operational code.

01:57:49:22 – 01:57:52:09
Rod Khleif
I don’t understand how you got them to pay anything.

01:57:52:11 – 01:57:58:17
Sterling Griffin
So they didn’t pay anything. Oh, as part of the transaction that I agreed to pay, that was understood.

01:57:58:18 – 01:57:59:07
Rod Khleif
You were.

01:57:59:07 – 01:58:00:28
Sterling Griffin
Paying. That’s right. No, they’re not rent.

01:58:00:29 – 01:58:10:16
Rod Khleif
Okay I completely missed. Yes yes, yes. Saying okay. That just didn’t make any sense to me okay. Yeah. So so you just flipped it. I mean, basically it was a it was a flip. It really is what it was.

01:58:10:16 – 01:58:15:13
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. It’s like on two of them. And then one of them, I closed on it with my own capital and then sold it a month later.

01:58:15:14 – 01:58:20:28
Rod Khleif
I think. So. So why sell that one a month later? You couldn’t you didn’t see the benefit of cash flowing it?

01:58:21:03 – 01:58:30:12
Sterling Griffin
No. I just wanted to increase my own capital so that I could then buy the next deal. Stuff. Yeah, yeah. So then I purchased an emergency room with my.

01:58:30:12 – 01:58:33:04
Rod Khleif
With what’s the difference between an urgent care center or an emergency.

01:58:33:04 – 01:58:36:29
Sterling Griffin
Room? So basically emergency room is like a big urgent care. It’s it’s a larger.

01:58:36:29 – 01:58:42:13
Rod Khleif
Bigger, bigger urgent matter. So that’s just what they’re called an emergency room. So it’s it’s more sophisticated. They can actually.

01:58:42:13 – 01:58:46:26
Sterling Griffin
Have 24 hour services included that they handle more types of surgeries, more types of.

01:58:47:02 – 01:58:50:02
Rod Khleif
Yeah. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha. Okay. So you did an emergency room.

01:58:50:02 – 01:58:58:17
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. And so, I bought this one for 8.5 million, and then an appraiser comes in and says it’s actually worth 11.987 million.

01:58:58:19 – 01:59:00:26
Rod Khleif
And so you can break ground before it’s done.

01:59:00:26 – 01:59:03:26
Sterling Griffin
That’s right. Because of, again, that same structure with that lease.

01:59:04:02 – 01:59:05:00
Rod Khleif
Based on the lease.

01:59:05:00 – 01:59:07:05
Sterling Griffin
Based on what. Yeah.

01:59:07:08 – 01:59:19:13
Rod Khleif
Back into the NOI, just like you do on multifamily. There you go. Remember guys, commercial real estate is based on a multiple the net income. So what they did is they analyze what they anticipated the net income to be. And they came up with a value higher than the construction cost.

01:59:19:15 – 01:59:24:15
Sterling Griffin
In this case it’s a little different than multifamily in that you know because of the lease what the net income is.

01:59:24:15 – 01:59:32:24
Rod Khleif
Yeah. Because you’re right. Because you know what the expenses they’re covering all the expenses. That’s right. Much easier. Yeah. Yeah. You’re there’s less there’s less projection.

01:59:32:24 – 01:59:35:02
Sterling Griffin
Projection less less pro for pro forma.

01:59:35:02 – 01:59:36:00
Rod Khleif
Yeah. Less guesswork.

01:59:36:01 – 01:59:37:04
Sterling Griffin
Yes, yes.

01:59:37:07 – 01:59:37:28
Rod Khleif
Interesting.

01:59:37:28 – 01:59:52:12
Sterling Griffin
Yeah, yeah. So when the bank went to offer me debt on this property, they, they actually offered me more than what my purchase price was. So even with a cash flowing, I, I actually got $10.1 million loan on the property.

01:59:52:16 – 01:59:54:15
Rod Khleif
Okay. So you got money day close.

01:59:54:19 – 02:00:12:26
Sterling Griffin
Like a money day closing. Wow. Yeah. Which wasn’t actually what I expected when I first put in a contract. But then when that appraisal came back, I’m like, oh, this is awesome, right. So so anyway, yeah. So those were my in total, I did about 18.5 million worth of properties that I purchased and then sold or refinanced them for a value of 25 million.

02:00:12:26 – 02:00:34:19
Rod Khleif
Right. So each of them. Fantastic. So now I know your, your, your domain name on your on your company is passive medical real estate.com. Now you’re ready to start bringing in investors syndicating and going bigger. Yes that’s right okay. Yep. And and so and you’re going to focus on Texas I think that’s that’s right. Yeah. That’s where you live.

02:00:34:24 – 02:00:35:19
Rod Khleif
Are you in Dallas or.

02:00:35:22 – 02:00:42:00
Sterling Griffin
I’m in Austin. But my properties right now are in Dallas. I have more tenants that are looking to expand there than I do in Austin.

02:00:42:00 – 02:01:00:13
Rod Khleif
So yeah, Austin’s a great market. It’s hard. I mean, it’s insane how crazy it is there. And I’ve got assets in San Antonio that are benefiting from I’ve got an asset right now under contract in San Antonio. If you’re accredited, get it. Go to Rod’s links.com and check it out. It is a screaming deal. But we’re getting people that can’t afford Austin.

02:01:00:13 – 02:01:05:05
Rod Khleif
They’re going to San Antonio which is making San Antonio really boom. Yeah, but so you’re in Dallas.

02:01:05:05 – 02:01:15:08
Sterling Griffin
Well, I think they consider that as just one metro Austin, San Antonio. Yeah, Austin, round Rock San Antonio is kind of all one thing interest. And it’s the fastest growing metro in the United States.

02:01:15:08 – 02:01:34:18
Rod Khleif
Yeah. In the country. Yeah. Which is why we we’re excited about this particular deal. It’s a mile away from another 296 units that we have, and it’s nicer. And, we’re paying 100 grand a unit. The one right next door sold for 137 in the last year. That’s how good a deal it is. So, yeah, it’s very nice and exciting, but.

02:01:34:20 – 02:01:45:09
Rod Khleif
So you’re going to go out there and do more of these urgent care centers. You’re going to go out there and do more of these emergency rooms. You’re going to syndicate them. So you’re going to you’re going to let other people have a piece of the pie. That’s right, that’s right.

02:01:45:11 – 02:02:01:09
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. So I mean, I did really well, we’ve already talked about some of the numbers on those first few deals. And then when I start explaining it to my friends that both were in real estate, but even more, the people that weren’t already in real estate like for my previous industry, they’re saying, look, can you just like, bring me a deal?

02:02:01:09 – 02:02:30:07
Sterling Griffin
And I just jump in with you because I don’t want to learn about this. Like, I don’t want to go find deals, find the tenants, you know, all the same stuff, you know, with passive investors. And then some doctors start telling me, some dentists are telling me. And so I got invited to speak some groups about my deals, because what was interesting is when I talk to people that were specifically like doctor groups or specifically dentist groups, they’re very familiar with how stable the income of medical businesses are, because that’s their business, and they’ve never thought about actually being on an owner on the property side.

02:02:30:07 – 02:02:34:00
Sterling Griffin
Or if they have, it’s just for a practice where they aren’t where there are the.

02:02:34:01 – 02:02:36:27
Rod Khleif
Tenant and they buy the building. Yes. Yeah, but they don’t. That’s very.

02:02:36:27 – 02:02:46:07
Sterling Griffin
Common. Yes. But they don’t think about investing passively into, syndication or into a deal where they can participate in just the pure upside. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

02:02:46:09 – 02:03:03:05
Rod Khleif
No, I mean, they’d be they’d be your best source of investors in my opinion, because they’re familiar with it. Exactly. Familiar with the stability. You know, there’s there’s a 80 million baby boomers getting old and and I say getting cold. They’re moving south. But you know in this country and medical it’s just it’s going to continue to explode.

02:03:03:05 – 02:03:22:02
Rod Khleif
Yes. As is assisted living and all the things associated with aging. But, which is another thing I’m interested in. Well, this is a fascinating, endeavor that you’re into, and I’m, I’m really glad that we’re we’re talking about it. And I’m personally interested, frankly. But let me ask you this. If it wasn’t for this, what are the business?

02:03:22:02 – 02:03:24:10
Rod Khleif
Might you be in?

02:03:24:13 – 02:03:37:27
Sterling Griffin
Well, another business that I am actually in is I’m a I’m a filmmaker and a film actor as well. Yes. Yeah. So when I was a kid, my, my dream was to be an actor, to be in film and to be in plays. That’s what I love to do more than anything was being plays.

02:03:38:03 – 02:03:43:04
Rod Khleif
You’re pretty dramatic. Passionate. Go. Thank you. Totally see that. Thank you guys. So so have you done anything?

02:03:43:04 – 02:04:02:09
Sterling Griffin
Yeah. Yeah I’ve done a few films since I exited my company. I had a lot more free time obviously now to do that. And, I’m actually I’m actually debating whether or not I can say this on the show. I’ll just say it. So I’m actually cast into a film that I’m costarring with Anthony Hopkins as well, which will be filming in the first part of next year.

02:04:02:09 – 02:04:14:08
Sterling Griffin
Yeah, I’m actually at a bigger role than he is, which is super interesting, but it is an honor to film with him. And he’s a rockstar. He’s he’s one of my favorite just actors of all time top three. So he’s extraordinary.

02:04:14:11 – 02:04:18:02
Rod Khleif
In the, Hector lamentable, lamentable Hannibal.

02:04:18:02 – 02:04:18:20
Sterling Griffin
Lecter, Hannibal Lecter.

02:04:18:20 – 02:04:21:10
Rod Khleif
Oh, my God, what an incredible acting.

02:04:21:13 – 02:04:44:00
Sterling Griffin
So the reason why I. And I’m really glad you asked me this question, because I think that every single person has a childhood dream. They have a dream. And most people, most adults, forgot about it a long time ago. They just told themselves a story about it’s not responsible or I can’t really make a living at that, or I can’t really have enough time to spend doing that.

02:04:44:03 – 02:05:02:27
Sterling Griffin
And I think it is the duty of every investor to invest in a very specific way, or build a company in a very specific way that allows you to recover that, reclaim your childhood dream. Why? For the reason that you explained earlier, right. And that is the world needs more people that are on fire with their life. Yeah, that they’re happy.

02:05:02:27 – 02:05:19:26
Sterling Griffin
They’re full of joy. Because why? Because they’re going to bring that to their families. They’re going to bring that to their communities. I want to be in a world, and I want my children to grow up in a world where people are happier, where they’re full of joy. And that is only going to happen if more people have more time feeling more free to do the things that they love.

02:05:20:02 – 02:05:53:03
Rod Khleif
Oh, that’s a great way to put it. Great way to put it. So I have a lot of listeners on my show that are aspiring investors, most more active than passive, probably, but, both, honestly, both, and a lot of them haven’t pulled the trigger. You know, they, they got an analysis paralysis or held back by fear or limiting beliefs, which, you know, a lot because you’ve been around Tony and and, you know, speak to them, speak to them for me.

02:05:53:05 – 02:06:15:02
Sterling Griffin
Well, I think the most important reason why somebody is in that analysis process, I’m going to give you three reasons why, three very quick reasons why. I first of all, they’re allowing the primary influences in their life to be from people that don’t have what they want. So maybe it’s their parents group, maybe it’s their parents that are saying, hey, like, you know, be careful, be so careful.

02:06:15:02 – 02:06:22:06
Sterling Griffin
And of course, you should be careful investing, of course. But there’s you also need to understand you gotta get in the game. If you’re going to make progress in you’re.

02:06:22:06 – 02:06:40:19
Rod Khleif
Allowed to take some risk. Yes. My mom telling me. Oh, that’s too dangerous. Don’t do that. Don’t buy houses. My God, that’s too dangerous. And my dad was like, go get a real job, you know? Right, right. Continental Airlines for 36 years and and and got laid off. Yeah. So you know, that’s a real job. But anyway, please continue.

02:06:40:19 – 02:07:01:18
Sterling Griffin
So start surrounding yourself with more people. Who are those risk takers? Who are the people that are experiencing more joy, who are having a little bit more time for you. And it doesn’t mean you got to go have this dramatic life change in two years. You’re gonna quit your job forever. Whatever. You don’t have that in your mind, but just a little bit more freedom every single year, a little bit more investing every year, little by little.

02:07:01:18 – 02:07:19:10
Sterling Griffin
Some people are just, I get it, they’re not going to sell their car to pay for a mentor. They’re just not. And that’s okay. I wouldn’t tell somebody ever to do that. That was my choice. That’s what I needed at that time. However, first peer group get into a different peer group, right. Number two is start practicing gratitude more consistently.

02:07:19:13 – 02:07:34:00
Sterling Griffin
And I’m not just talking about mental gratitude or written gratitude. Not that alone felt gratitude in your heart, because a lot of reasons why people get stuck in paralysis is because they’re living in fear. And the antidote to fear is.

02:07:34:00 – 02:07:51:05
Rod Khleif
Gratitude can be fearful and grateful at the same time, can be angry and grateful at the same time. Gratitude is the most powerful emotion we have available to us. Yeah. Strengthens our immune system, lowers our blood pressure, brings us closer to our spirituality. And it’s how you manifest everything you want in life. You know, I do gratitude. Most mornings I’ll sit in my recliner.

02:07:51:05 – 02:08:07:02
Rod Khleif
I’ll just be grateful for the people I love in my life, my foundation, the work that I do my students. And then I’ll do gratitude for things that I want as if I already have them. And sometimes I’ll get emotional being grateful for things I don’t even have yet. Yes, and people like, oh for God’s sakes, keep me stop talking.

02:08:07:02 – 02:08:15:14
Rod Khleif
The world will stop. Well, this is how I had 50 million to lose. And now I freaking got it back. Okay, so, you know, there you go. So second is gratitude.

02:08:15:15 – 02:08:37:16
Sterling Griffin
Second is gratitude. And then number three. Thank you, rod, for stealing my thunder is is already. So it’s easy fun already done. So if somebody wants to remember easy write that down. Easy fun already done. Easy means follow a proven path. Be around mentors. Number two is fun. What makes life more fun? The antidote actually is gratitude. You will enjoy your life so much more if you just notice.

02:08:37:16 – 02:08:58:10
Sterling Griffin
If you just take time to feel what is already here, that’s already good. And then number three is already done. See the future that you want. See yourself enjoying those passive income distributions. Seeing that operator writing you that check that is bigger than the one you deposited and you forgot that you even invested with them because it was passive for you or whatever your situation is.

02:08:58:10 – 02:09:16:14
Sterling Griffin
But imagine the benefits of investing coming back to you and feel it as if it’s already here. Because like you rod, every morning I sit and I see that future that I want as if it’s already here and I get emotional, I start crying, I see myself impact that person. I see those messages of people saying, thank you so much, Sterling.

02:09:16:17 – 02:09:40:00
Sterling Griffin
This investment, this talk, this whatever changed my life. I see the difference. I see myself acting in that play or that film, and that gives me such drive and focus and purpose to show up that day as my very best self and frankly, to enjoy the process. I think that a lot of people focus only on achievement, but they don’t focus enough on having joy throughout the process.

02:09:40:00 – 02:10:01:12
Sterling Griffin
The whole point of achieving really is to get a specific emotion, and you can give yourself the gift of that emotion right now and carry it all the way through your achievement. So for the person that feels stuck right now is not taking that action. If they focus on those three things, they will get themselves into an action taking state and therefore enjoy the benefits that come with it.

02:10:01:15 – 02:10:26:26
Rod Khleif
No question, I couldn’t have said it better myself. Brother. That’s very well said. And another thing to remember, you mentioned story and stories hold people back, so be careful what the story is you’re telling yourself. You know, if it’s a disempowering story that you’re just using to justify your mediocre existence more, you’re settling. People use stories to settle and so you can change your story.

02:10:26:26 – 02:10:43:29
Rod Khleif
You can change your life. And so keep that in mind. And yeah, I will tell you some of the things we do with my bootcamps. We will actually have you visualize that life like you. Yes, you do have you visualize it. What you do from the minute you get up to the moment you go to bed. That’s one of the things we do.

02:10:44:00 – 02:10:57:24
Rod Khleif
My bootcamp, I see, because that pulls you into it. You know, just like the goal setting, just like, you know, determining what it is you want and why you want it, the more of that you can associate with, the more it pulls you into it. And, it’s very, very powerful.

02:10:57:24 – 02:11:16:29
Sterling Griffin
It’s so, so important. Every time I speak at events, I do some version of visualization. And the reason why is because it’s those moments that have changed my life, especially the habit of them have changed my life. So I always want to give you a little taste of how good it feels and then give them encouragement. Please keep doing.

02:11:16:29 – 02:11:35:07
Rod Khleif
This. Well, you were downstairs in my. Exactly. You want some affirmation? That’s right. You want some forward thinking? Visualize that? Yeah, I would guess. Yes. Yeah. So that’s this because it works, guys. I know it’s airy fairy full V, but this is why we’re successful and so ignore it at your peril is all I will tell you. So let me ask you a question.

02:11:35:09 – 02:11:55:22
Rod Khleif
You know, I do a clip every week on my podcast called All in Your Power. It’s a motivational clip. And, and, and it’s to juice people and get them motivated. And we talk about goal setting, visualization, all these other things. So I like to ask my guests, where do you get your drive? What’s driving you now? Okay.

02:11:55:22 – 02:12:01:05
Rod Khleif
What’s the why? I didn’t see a ring on your finger. It didn’t look like you’re married yet. And I don’t know if you have kids yet. Do you have kids yet?

02:12:01:06 – 02:12:27:12
Sterling Griffin
Not yet. No, no, but I’m intent on having them. Okay. Yes. I’m going to get emotional thinking about this, but. It really is it. It comes from that moment back in my car on New Year’s Eve, where. I got connected to this idea that I’m not the only one suffering right now. I’m not the only person that feels hopeless, that feels powerless, that feels like they’re not enough.

02:12:27:12 – 02:13:01:01
Sterling Griffin
That’s been telling themselves that story for their entire lives. There’s somebody else right here, right now that needs someone to say, you have permission. You are good enough. You are worthy. You are meant for more. It’s time to claim that. And it was the faces of those people in my mind that drove me to do whatever it took to succeed, so that one day I could speak to them, whether it be just in person, sitting across from me at the dinner table, or it was on a stage to a group or is on a podcast where I’m so grateful you and I get to speak to quite a few people right now.

02:13:01:04 – 02:13:26:21
Sterling Griffin
My hope is that if only one person, one person, could hear this message, hear these stories, and say, man, I am meant for more. In my life I have been playing small, I am capable of more and I am claiming now then I will have so much joy at the thought of that. So what is that person it is lifting one other person who, like me, just has has been insecure, has been stuck.

02:13:26:24 – 02:13:31:04
Sterling Griffin
Who knows they’re meant for more that that is who drives me.

02:13:31:07 – 02:13:47:24
Rod Khleif
So drives me to brother. I’m sure you get a lot of love already from your speaking, I would guess that you get you get accolades. You get people telling you they’re grateful for hearing your messaging. And when I tell you this is not ego, when I tell you I get love every single day, I’m not exaggerating. I get emails, DMs, gifts, cards every single day.

02:13:47:24 – 02:13:52:27
Rod Khleif
I’ve got a wall in my office with hundreds of thank you cards. And it’s it is. It’s an incredible blessing.

02:13:52:27 – 02:14:18:11
Sterling Griffin
Well, let me let me stop you there because when I mentioned to a few of my friends that are investors that I was coming to do this episode with you today, I actually was not very familiar with your work before maybe a month or two months ago, but I start explained. Hey, what do you think about Rhod? I’m going to go see him in his studio and one by one, every single one that knew who you were said, wow, Ron, he’s a great guy.

02:14:18:11 – 02:14:28:19
Sterling Griffin
And you know what their second thing was? He’s a mindset guy. You’re going to love him. He’s a mindset guy. So you are greatly and deeply loved by the investor community.

02:14:28:19 – 02:14:46:09
Rod Khleif
Your brother and very kind of you just say that. That means a lot to me. It means a lot to me. Well, listen, brother, I, I, I really appreciate you actually getting in a plane and coming here to meet with me. That’s an honor. Frankly, I’m humbled by that. I don’t take that lightly. And and, you’ve added tremendous value today.

02:14:46:12 – 02:15:01:18
Rod Khleif
Forget the the even the medical piece, really the mindset piece and the inspirational piece is really, you know, what what you’re going to what you’re going to be known for. I can tell already and you’re, you’re going to do amazing things. And it’s absolutely my pleasure to meet you, brother.

02:15:01:18 – 02:15:04:22
Sterling Griffin
Well thank you, rod, so much. So much sir.

02:15:04:25 – 02:15:07:17
Rod Khleif
All right. Well, I’m sure we’ll see each other again very soon.

02:15:07:21 – 02:15:09:00
Sterling Griffin
I look forward to it. All right.