What Is a Real Estate Buy Side Advisory Strategy?
A real estate buy side advisory strategy is an approach where investors proactively source, negotiate, and acquire assets or businesses on behalf of a buyer, rather than waiting for listed deals. In this conversation, Aubrey Linville and Nick Gonzalez break down how this strategy helped them scale acquisitions across multiple industries, including automotive, childcare, and health and wellness. Instead of relying solely on traditional brokerage listings, they built systems to directly approach owners, uncover off-market opportunities, and structure deals that include both real estate and operating businesses.
This strategy becomes especially powerful in competitive markets where traditional deals no longer pencil. By controlling the sourcing process, investors gain a significant edge, allowing them to find value where others are not looking.
From Foreclosures to Scalable Deal Flow
Both Aubrey Linville and Nick Gonzalez started their careers during the chaos of the Great Financial Crisis, using adversity as an opportunity to build deep experience. Aubrey began by buying and flipping single-family homes before transitioning into commercial brokerage and eventually founding his firm. Nick entered real estate at a time when most were exiting, aggressively acquiring rental properties and building a strong foundation in distressed assets.
Their early exposure to distressed markets shaped their mindset. They learned to think contrarian, act decisively, and focus on long-term scalability rather than short-term wins. This foundation ultimately led them to develop a buy side advisory model that allows them to consistently generate deal flow across cycles.
How Buy Side Advisory Creates a Competitive Advantage
One of the most valuable insights from the discussion is how buy side advisory flips the traditional deal model. Instead of waiting for opportunities, their team actively creates them. This includes:
- Direct outreach to business owners to uncover acquisition opportunities
- Structuring deals that combine operating businesses with real estate
- Scaling acquisitions for large operators looking to expand rapidly
This approach enabled them to help a client grow from just a handful of locations to hundreds, demonstrating the power of consistent, proactive sourcing. It also highlights a key shift in today’s market: the best deals are rarely found on listing platforms.
Partnership Strategy and Long-Term Success
A major theme throughout the conversation is the importance of partnerships in scaling real estate businesses. Aubrey and Nick emphasize that successful partnerships are built on trust, integrity, and complementary skill sets. One partner focuses heavily on analytics and underwriting, while the other excels in relationship building and intuition.
They also share a practical framework for evaluating partners:
- Look for alignment in values and long-term goals
- Ensure both parties can handle conflict without ego
- Prioritize trust and accountability over technical skill alone
Their experience reinforces that real estate is ultimately a people business, and the quality of relationships often determines the outcome more than the deal itself.
Lessons from Failure and Deal Selection
Another key takeaway is their disciplined approach to deal selection. Despite underwriting hundreds of opportunities, they only close on a small percentage. This level of selectivity protects capital and ensures they focus on high-quality investments.
They also highlight an often-overlooked metric: return on time. Some deals may appear profitable on paper but require excessive time, energy, and stress. In many cases, walking away early or exiting quickly is the better decision, even if it means taking a small loss.
Why Geography and Focus Matter
As their portfolio has grown, Aubrey Linville and Nick Gonzalez have become more intentional about geographic concentration. While they initially pursued opportunities across various markets, they now focus on building density within specific regions. This allows them to improve operational efficiency, leverage local expertise, and create economies of scale.
Their strategy reflects a broader trend among successful operators: start opportunistically, then refine and concentrate as you scale.
Leveraging Systems and Technology for Growth
The conversation also touches on the importance of systems and technology in scaling a real estate business. From CRM platforms to operational frameworks like EOS, they emphasize creating structure within the organization. By reducing friction and optimizing workflows, they are able to move faster and handle more volume without sacrificing quality.
Small improvements in efficiency, compounded over time, create a significant competitive advantage. This mirrors the broader principle that consistent incremental gains lead to exponential results.
Guest Bio: Aubrey Linville & Nick Gonzalez
Aubrey Linville and Nick Gonzalez are partners at Linville Team Partners, a commercial real estate firm specializing in brokerage, investment, and buy side advisory services. With backgrounds in distressed assets and commercial brokerage, they have built a diversified platform that spans multiple asset classes and industries. Their expertise includes syndication, M&A advisory, and scaling acquisition strategies for large operators across the United States.
Real Estate Buy Side Advisory Strategy FAQ
What is a real estate buy side advisory strategy?
A real estate buy side advisory strategy is a proactive approach where investors or advisors identify, source, and negotiate property or business acquisitions on behalf of a buyer. Instead of waiting for publicly listed deals, this strategy focuses on uncovering off market opportunities, building direct relationships with owners, and structuring transactions that create long term value. It is commonly used by experienced investors to gain a competitive edge in tight markets.
How does a real estate buy side advisory strategy work?
This strategy works by actively searching for opportunities that are not widely marketed. Advisors conduct outreach to property owners, analyze potential deals, and negotiate terms that align with the buyer’s investment goals. It often involves combining market research, relationship building, and financial analysis to identify undervalued assets or businesses that include real estate.
Why is a real estate buy side advisory strategy effective in today’s market?
In competitive real estate markets, many of the best deals are never publicly listed. A buy side advisory strategy allows investors to bypass crowded marketplaces and access exclusive opportunities. This approach also gives buyers more control over deal flow, pricing, and negotiation, making it easier to find investments that meet specific return criteria.
Who should use a real estate buy side advisory strategy?
This strategy is ideal for experienced investors, syndicators, and operators looking to scale their portfolios. It is especially valuable for those who want to acquire multiple assets, expand into new markets, or gain access to deals that are not available through traditional brokerage channels.
What types of assets can be acquired using a buy side advisory strategy?
A real estate buy side advisory strategy can be applied to a wide range of assets, including multifamily properties, retail centers, industrial buildings, office spaces, and even operating businesses that include real estate. It is also commonly used in niche sectors like healthcare, childcare, and automotive service businesses.
What are the benefits of a real estate buy side advisory strategy?
The main benefits include access to off market deals, reduced competition, improved pricing, and greater control over the acquisition process. Investors can also build stronger relationships with sellers, which can lead to repeat opportunities and long term deal flow.
How is buy side advisory different from traditional real estate brokerage?
Traditional brokerage focuses on representing sellers and marketing properties to the public, while buy side advisory represents the buyer’s interests. The advisor’s role is to find and secure the best possible deals for the buyer, often through direct outreach and creative deal structuring rather than relying on listings.
What skills are needed to execute a buy side advisory strategy successfully?
Successful execution requires strong negotiation skills, financial analysis, market knowledge, and relationship building. Investors must also be disciplined in underwriting deals and patient in sourcing opportunities, as the best deals often take time to uncover and close.
How can beginners start using a real estate buy side advisory strategy?
Beginners can start by building relationships with brokers, investors, and property owners while learning how to analyze deals. Partnering with experienced operators and focusing on a specific market or asset class can also help accelerate learning and improve results. Over time, consistent outreach and networking can lead to a steady pipeline of opportunities.
What are common mistakes to avoid with a buy side advisory strategy?
Common mistakes include being too narrow in investment criteria, failing to build strong relationships, and lacking proper financial analysis. Another mistake is expecting immediate results, as this strategy requires persistence and consistency. Investors should also avoid overextending themselves and focus on deals where they have a clear competitive advantage.
Disclaimer: This summary was written with the help of AI and reviewed by Rod’s Team.
01:20:07:26 – 01:20:27:26
Rod Khleif
Welcome back to lifetime cash flow to real estate investing. I’m Rod Cleef and I’m thrilled you’re here. And we’ve got kind of a unique interview today with two gentlemen. That, are with, the company is Linfield team partners, and we’ve got our Aubrey Linville and Nick Gonzalez, and they’re from Charlotte. Is that right?
01:20:27:28 – 01:20:28:24
Nick Gonzalez
Our north of Charlotte.
01:20:29:00 – 01:20:29:16
Rod Khleif
North Quincy.
01:20:29:17 – 01:20:30:12
Nick Gonzalez
Salem, North Carolina.
01:20:30:12 – 01:20:48:23
Rod Khleif
Okay, okay. And they’re in multiple asset classes. They’ve got they’ve got their own brokers that they’ve had for years, 20 year career. They’re both Kim’s, which I will tell you is saying something. My brother’s a Kim and I decided I thought I would try and do it. I made it through one class. I’m like, nope, this is not me.
01:20:48:24 – 01:21:01:21
Rod Khleif
I mean, do you guys love numbers? You have to love numbers to be a Kim. And I’m the mouthpiece. I am not the numbers person, but, you know, congratulations on that because that is an impressive designation. Like I say, my brother is. Is that as well? So welcome.
01:21:01:23 – 01:21:03:19
Nick Gonzalez
Thank you, thank you. Appreciate you having us.
01:21:03:21 – 01:21:18:15
Rod Khleif
So why don’t one of you, you guys take turns and just. You maybe give me a much better background than I just did? Talk about, you know, where you came from. And why this business and, you know, kind of to fill in the fill on the pieces.
01:21:18:17 – 01:21:20:16
Nick Gonzalez
I’ll let Aubrey take. I’ll take the first thing.
01:21:20:22 – 01:21:38:13
Aubrey Linville
I’ll take the first one. I grew up in a very entrepreneurial family. My father was in the Putt-Putt golf and games business. Putt putt. Putt putt. Oh, wow. East of the Mississippi was kind of his his playground. And, location was always the most important part. He was in it for the real estate more than operating it.
01:21:38:13 – 01:21:43:27
Rod Khleif
Just like storage. Yeah. You buy, you buy, you have something that makes money, and then you do it for the real estate.
01:21:43:27 – 01:22:03:09
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. So he was very passionate about family entertainment, but he was really, much more passionate about real estate. So what we talked about around the dinner table was typically real estate. So it’s always been a part of my life and a part of the fabric of my family. And, graduated from college, started a couple small businesses, just hustling, rubbing two nickels together, trying to make a quarter.
01:22:03:12 – 01:22:18:11
Aubrey Linville
And, found myself in my mid 20s, I had exited a business, had a little bit of money, not much trying to figure out what was next for me and to keep from getting a real job. I started buying foreclosures at the courthouse, for $33,000. Single family house.
01:22:18:11 – 01:22:19:21
Rod Khleif
Where and when?
01:22:19:23 – 01:22:25:18
Aubrey Linville
This would have been in 2004. Okay, where? So I’ll I’ll give you the evolution of that in a quick way in Winston-Salem.
01:22:25:18 – 01:22:26:19
Rod Khleif
North, this wasn’t the same place.
01:22:26:19 – 01:22:40:18
Aubrey Linville
Okay. So, sort of flipping houses, you know, buying a house for 30, put in 20 in it, trying to get it, 20,000 net out of it at the end of the day. And that worked really well until the GFC came. And then going through the GFC at 41 houses, I was.
01:22:40:24 – 01:22:42:03
Rod Khleif
What do you what was the GFC.
01:22:42:03 – 01:22:43:03
Aubrey Linville
Great financial crisis.
01:22:43:03 – 01:22:45:17
Rod Khleif
Oh okay. Yeah I, I’m well I know that one.
01:22:45:17 – 01:22:46:08
Aubrey Linville
Well yeah.
01:22:46:08 – 01:22:56:15
Rod Khleif
The you know my recent depression. Yeah. No. Yeah I lost 50 million in that GFC. I’ve never heard it called that before but yeah that was, that was my I had 800 houses. Yeah. Crashed and burned anyway.
01:22:56:15 – 01:23:17:28
Aubrey Linville
So 41 houses, mid mid 20s, two kids at home. Wow. Trying to figure out what the hell I’m going to do. And fortunately, I was offered a job to get into commercial real estate brokerage. And, I saw it as an opportunity to to pivot my career, do something that was, you know, I really enjoyed the thrill of the hunt more than fixing the house up and flipping it.
01:23:18:00 – 01:23:31:04
Aubrey Linville
Dove in feet first. Started a little special asset service division of a brokerage after three and a half years there. Cut out with, gentleman by the name of Coleman team, which is where the name level team partners came from. Gotcha. No longer business.
01:23:31:08 – 01:23:33:16
Rod Khleif
I’m sorry. Let me stop you for as a special asset.
01:23:33:17 – 01:23:46:24
Aubrey Linville
What special asset services division? So, basically, we were, the guy that offered me a job at this brokerage shop, and I went to all the local and regional banks that the foreclosures were coming in so fast, they didn’t have the staff.
01:23:46:25 – 01:23:47:06
Rod Khleif
Right.
01:23:47:11 – 01:23:52:18
Aubrey Linville
To, to execute on, on these properties that were coming in. So they needed us to go out and give them an opinion.
01:23:52:20 – 01:23:55:11
Rod Khleif
To rise them. They had to do all these things and remember.
01:23:55:11 – 01:24:08:12
Aubrey Linville
Yeah, yeah, they they were trying to figure out what the hell they had. Right. What are they going to do with it if they do foreclose on it, take title back. So we help them figure that out. And it turned out to be that that was what was transacting during the financial crisis. That was about it.
01:24:08:16 – 01:24:09:21
Rod Khleif
That was all that was transacted. Yeah.
01:24:09:21 – 01:24:34:09
Aubrey Linville
So we went from zero to hero pretty quick. Cool. And after three and a half, four years struck out and started level team partners, which is which is where we are now. Nick is my business partner, and friend. And we’ve just having a great time doing what we’re doing. That’s that’s the history of it. I think, we both love to surround ourselves with young, energetic people that love the hustle and love to have a material impact on whatever it is that they’re doing.
01:24:34:09 – 01:24:40:12
Aubrey Linville
And for us, it’s, you know, buying, syndicating deals and running our brokerage shop in our M&A business.
01:24:40:15 – 01:24:48:01
Rod Khleif
So you’ve got, you’ve got, 38 agents, as it were, brokers, salespeople. We have 30.
01:24:48:04 – 01:25:04:07
Aubrey Linville
Call it mid 30s people in our company. All of those are brokers. Got you. So, we our business has three different divisions, and one of those is a brokerage shop. And the closer you get to our home town, the more revenue that comes from that brokerage operation. But we are operating all over the country.
01:25:04:09 – 01:25:28:06
Rod Khleif
And and you’ve got to fund syndicating deals. Like you told me before we started recording. You’ve done, recently, you’ve done, some office, more single tenant, but or 1 or 2 tenant office stuff because I raised my eyebrows when you said office and you clarified, retail and some industrial. Yeah. Right. Okay. And, and then you also describe that M&A, piece that you’re doing, which is really cool.
01:25:28:07 – 01:25:47:03
Aubrey Linville
It’s unique. So, we, we, we fell into this doing work for a client of our Stricklin brothers, ten Minute Oil change. When we got engaged with them, they hired us to help them do site selection work. And, it was becoming more and more of a seller’s market, becoming more and more of a contractor’s market. And it was getting hard for deals to pencil.
01:25:47:03 – 01:26:05:10
Aubrey Linville
So we started picking up the phone and like I said, there are ten minute oil change shop. And so we started calling. I’m going to make a name up Billy Bob’s oil change and Timbuctoo. And convincing them that we had a real buyer in our pocket. They wanted to buy their business and it almost always came with real estate.
01:26:05:10 – 01:26:23:04
Aubrey Linville
So we found we had the skill set, obviously in the real estate. But we also had the skill set to help them acquire the business. And so we did that at scale. We started with about seven locations with them. They’re eclipsing 300 locations now. Wow. And we’re doing that in, several other.
01:26:23:07 – 01:26:25:20
Rod Khleif
And you’re calling this buyer advisory. Yeah.
01:26:25:20 – 01:26:26:07
Aubrey Linville
Buy side.
01:26:26:07 – 01:26:32:00
Rod Khleif
Advisory. Right. Yeah. For it. And and it’s automotive child care.
01:26:32:00 – 01:26:34:26
Aubrey Linville
Child care. And we’re just getting into the health and wellness business.
01:26:34:27 – 01:26:55:04
Rod Khleif
That’s super exciting. Yeah. You know, I and I think that opportunity is going to do nothing but go go crazy. There’s 10,000 people a day turning 65 in this country. And a lot of them own businesses, a lot of them auto repair shops, health and wellness businesses, you know, and and the like. And, you know, I expressed to you before we started recording that’s an interest of mine is to buy these businesses as well.
01:26:55:04 – 01:27:00:18
Rod Khleif
So, fascinating. And Nick, anything to add, as far as background before we.
01:27:00:18 – 01:27:28:09
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah, sure. Aubrey and I have somewhat similar stories. I’ve worked I’ve worked every job you can imagine since 14. Hustled every, so I could ever think of, paid most of college through online poker. And poker. Yeah. Yeah. I, I met my wife when I was in my third year of college and realized that long distance wasn’t going to work, so I kept thinking to myself, like, okay, well, what can I do to make money?
01:27:28:11 – 01:27:45:08
Nick Gonzalez
While, you know, she’s still in college? She was in her first year. And I’ve always gravitated towards sales, but it was like, well, I’m not going to sell knife sets to make $30. I’m not going to sell cars to make $300. What can I sell? And so I got my start in residential. I did residential real estate for two years.
01:27:45:16 – 01:27:46:05
Rod Khleif
Selling real.
01:27:46:05 – 01:27:54:12
Nick Gonzalez
Estate, selling real estate, all foreclosures. Selling. When was this? This was. I got my license end of 2009. Wow. So the.
01:27:54:12 – 01:27:54:20
Rod Khleif
Very.
01:27:54:20 – 01:27:55:15
Nick Gonzalez
Brave. Yeah.
01:27:55:15 – 01:27:56:18
Rod Khleif
To get into the business.
01:27:56:20 – 01:28:10:27
Nick Gonzalez
Everybody was running out of a burning building, and I was the only person that was like, oh, let me get my licenses. There were 30 people in my licensing class, and there hadn’t been a class for four months. Like it was. Yeah, yeah. But, so I figured, you know, if everyone’s getting out, now’s a good time to get in.
01:28:10:29 – 01:28:22:03
Nick Gonzalez
And it was a great time to learn because it was almost like, it’s like you’re walking out into the battlefield. Like asking the soldiers who are like. Like what happened? Like, where did the gunfire come from? Like, what did the enemy look like? Like you learn.
01:28:22:03 – 01:28:29:06
Rod Khleif
So nobody knew what the enemy was, but, you know, it was like a light switch went off. I mean, it was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen or experienced, but.
01:28:29:08 – 01:28:48:06
Nick Gonzalez
I was able to learn so much so quickly. And every single commission check I made, I went out and bought a house at the courthouse. Nice. So if I got a 15 hour commission check, I go out and buy a $1,500 round house. I got a $15,000 commission check on my $15,000 round house. But yeah, I was able to get, 28 rent houses in my first two years.
01:28:48:06 – 01:28:56:02
Nick Gonzalez
Well, got into multifamily, started realizing I was doing more commercial than I was doing residential.
01:28:56:04 – 01:28:57:11
Rod Khleif
And more zeros.
01:28:57:14 – 01:29:13:13
Nick Gonzalez
And more zeros, and Aubrey and I connected, I think in like 2012, really, really hit it off. And by 2013, I was full time commercial, working with him at limited time partners. And eventually we would become, you know, the two owners of the brokerage.
01:29:13:15 – 01:29:14:15
Rod Khleif
01:29:14:18 – 01:29:21:01
Nick Gonzalez
But yeah, it was, it was a fun start, like learning by doing. Yeah. Because.
01:29:21:04 – 01:29:31:05
Rod Khleif
Perfect timing for you, brother. Yeah. I was like, I was, I was on the battlefield world. Knives all over me, hiding under a rock. But, you know, shit happens.
01:29:31:08 – 01:29:41:12
Nick Gonzalez
It’s all well, and I don’t know, again, like it. I think one thing that’s helped me has always been to, like, try to go contrarian, or try to, like.
01:29:41:14 – 01:29:49:09
Rod Khleif
Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. And there’s a lot of fear right now. There was ever a time to be greedy. It’s right freakin now. I keep screaming that from the rooftops.
01:29:49:09 – 01:29:58:00
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah, yeah. So, but that was a great way to get started. A great way to build up a really strong foundation. And, you know, a great way to meet my. Yeah, future business.
01:29:58:05 – 01:30:19:26
Rod Khleif
Let’s talk about that for a minute. So you guys have been partners for a long time in this business is a team business. This is not you’re not going to go out there and buy apartment complexes by yourself. It it happens, but it’s extremely rare. So, you know, how did the partnership develop. What do you look for. You know, maybe you give some advice for what to look for in a prospective partner.
01:30:19:29 – 01:30:36:25
Rod Khleif
And how to, you know, because I’ve, I’ve got one right now I’m going to mediation on. Okay. And I teach this stuff and I know better, but I, you know, it’s it’s it’s, unfortunate, situation. But, you know, I’ve had I’ve had great partnerships and I’ve had some that are not so great. So how did you guys make it work?
01:30:36:25 – 01:30:40:24
Rod Khleif
And maybe you can advise some of the people listening on how they can make it work.
01:30:40:26 – 01:31:04:13
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. I’ll hit this one quick. Let Nick fill in. I think my superpower is, being able to surround myself. Great people. And I think that comes to business partnerships, friends, LPs, you know, anybody. And I think I think the more people you surround yourself with a great piece of advice I heard from Coleman team his dad had given him was, you’re the average of your five closest friends?
01:31:04:16 – 01:31:12:18
Rod Khleif
No question. Show me or show me your five closest friends. I’ll show you who you are in every aspect of your relationships, your health, your happiness, your relationships, and definitely your finances.
01:31:12:18 – 01:31:20:25
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. And or, you know, you’re as happy as your unhappiest child. You’re right. Good as your your worst five investors. I mean, you know, it it comes down to all these different things. You can look at.
01:31:20:25 – 01:31:21:15
Rod Khleif
Proximity.
01:31:21:21 – 01:31:29:02
Aubrey Linville
At the end of the day, things aren’t ever going to go perfect. Sounds like you have some, battle stories.
01:31:29:02 – 01:31:29:28
Rod Khleif
And I do.
01:31:30:01 – 01:31:50:02
Aubrey Linville
The people that you appreciate going to war with are the ones that, that have integrity, that have integrity, great, great ethics and that trust you implicitly. It’s got to go both ways. And I think that’s that’s really where, Nick and I have such a special partnership, but but also everybody in our business. Yeah.
01:31:50:04 – 01:31:51:09
Rod Khleif
So how do you identify those.
01:31:51:10 – 01:31:54:15
Aubrey Linville
Partners on a capital table? Yeah, but we’re partners in some way.
01:31:54:19 – 01:32:17:27
Rod Khleif
How do you identify these qualities? You do your own. I mean, you’re obviously very analytical. If you’re camco, you do you do some some serious due diligence? Yeah. I’ve got a great partner now, Sam. We trust each other completely. But, yeah, you know, again, I teach this stuff, and I, I, by the way, if you’re listening at my link tree, I’ve got a book about the questions you should ask before you get into a partnership.
01:32:17:29 – 01:32:27:08
Rod Khleif
And it’s a great resource because, you know, you get caught up in the emotions. Sometimes you move a little too quickly, but maybe you can elaborate on anything else in that regard. You know.
01:32:27:11 – 01:32:45:26
Aubrey Linville
This business has to be analytical, right? You got it. You got to be able to put most things in a spreadsheet. But I think that’s really where Nick’s skill set lies. He can rip through it through an Excel spreadsheet or, okay, you know, Yardi or Argus model, rather, I can rip through a personality assessment. Okay. You know, and that’s the magic that’s happened.
01:32:45:26 – 01:32:46:25
Aubrey Linville
Oh, that’s that’s beautiful.
01:32:47:00 – 01:32:49:13
Rod Khleif
That’s that’s a that’s yin and yang right there. Yeah. You know, I.
01:32:49:13 – 01:33:01:18
Aubrey Linville
Think my, my wife would tell you, I trust too soon. I like to trust, verify. And she likes to verify. And then trust him. But I like you know, I think if you if you find somebody that is a good gut check. Yeah. And you feel like you have similar interests.
01:33:01:18 – 01:33:22:14
Rod Khleif
Let me elaborate on what you just said. Yeah. You know, your brain is so freaking powerful. If something doesn’t feel right, trust it. Yeah. Because, you know, you can pick up on these micro nuances that you’re consciously not aware of, but it just doesn’t feel right. There’s a book about this called blink, where an art expert can look at a painting that looks real, but they know it’s a fake.
01:33:22:14 – 01:33:35:08
Rod Khleif
They just don’t know why. They know it’s a fake. Same thing with people. And women are better at this. They’ve got intuition. But, guy, you know, and and and I every time I’ve ignored it, I’ve had my ass handed to me every single time.
01:33:35:11 – 01:33:56:17
Nick Gonzalez
So there’s, What made it click for me was, Adam Grant’s book, Give and Take. So, like, you’re either a giver, immature or a taker. And givers are, like, the top 20%, and the bottom 20% of achievers because they give first. And so they’re really susceptible to getting taken advantage of and like, getting like steamrolled.
01:33:56:17 – 01:34:01:06
Rod Khleif
Wow. Or that book, what’s it called again? Because I’m definitely on the top 20% on.
01:34:01:06 – 01:34:01:18
Nick Gonzalez
That give and.
01:34:01:18 – 01:34:02:18
Rod Khleif
Take, give and take.
01:34:02:19 – 01:34:21:21
Nick Gonzalez
Okay. So again, givers are the top performers and the bottom achievers. And then you have matchers where everything is quid pro quo. And then you have takers which like it’s pretty self-explanatory. And I think like one of the golden rules that Aubrey and I have is if we can have a disagreement about something, I’m sure whoever.
01:34:21:25 – 01:34:22:25
Rod Khleif
And you will.
01:34:22:28 – 01:34:23:21
Nick Gonzalez
And you will, and.
01:34:23:22 – 01:34:24:05
Aubrey Linville
We have.
01:34:24:06 – 01:34:24:17
Rod Khleif
And you.
01:34:24:17 – 01:34:46:05
Nick Gonzalez
Have and we have. But whoever feels whoever feels the strongest about it wins. But you can’t always win, right? So like, we both have full veto, but you but you can’t veto all the time. Right. And so you have to have like an egoless partnership where like you’re willing to concede because you know, the other person is going to do it if they feel strongly enough about it too.
01:34:46:05 – 01:35:06:13
Nick Gonzalez
So like all the partnerships I’ve ever had that haven’t worked out, including ones that I’m in now, it’s where you have, like the immovable, inflexible, unreasonable person. And sometimes that’s you. Like, sometimes that’s you and you don’t know. I mean, I don’t think it’s me currently, right. But like, if you’re, if you have a string of bad partnerships, like at some point you need to ask yourself, like, yeah.
01:35:06:13 – 01:35:07:10
Rod Khleif
Who’s the common denominator?
01:35:07:10 – 01:35:22:00
Nick Gonzalez
Is someone in this me or am I just seeking out the wrong kinds of people for the wrong reasons? Right. Because something like something always goes wrong. Something’s gonna go wrong eventually. But if you’re with someone who, you know, has your back.
01:35:22:03 – 01:35:22:13
Rod Khleif
So.
01:35:22:16 – 01:35:24:12
Nick Gonzalez
In the long run, it’ll it’ll work out so.
01:35:24:12 – 01:35:44:23
Rod Khleif
Important. You know, when I, when I do my bootcamps, I have panelists that are my students that come on and answer questions. And the question I always ask is, talk about a seminar. You know, I call my failure seminars. I was a $50 million seminar. It was an expensive freakin seminar. But, you know, you learn more from those than I think you do from successes and and and we all have, I know you guys have plenty of battle.
01:35:44:23 – 01:35:54:12
Rod Khleif
In fact, you know what? Let’s go there. Talk about a seminar. Talk about a time you got your ass handed to, and maybe one with a lesson. If possible. Because we’ve got we’ve got a menu of them to choose from.
01:35:54:15 – 01:35:58:10
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah, I’ll. I don’t want to give you, like, a cop out answer, but I.
01:35:58:12 – 01:35:59:26
Rod Khleif
Come on now. All right.
01:35:59:28 – 01:36:17:11
Nick Gonzalez
There’s a real there’s a more there’s a point to it. Okay. I would say my biggest failures haven’t been the ones that have cost like the most necessarily financial dollars. It’s been where I’ve had the worst, either the worst return on time or the worst return on involvement. Oh, that’s the good is if you can get out of a deal, if you can pay.
01:36:17:11 – 01:36:38:05
Nick Gonzalez
If so, back to partners. If you have a problematic partner and you can pay somebody out to get out and make them go away quickly, that’s always the right choice. Great. My biggest failures have been ones where something has been long and drawn out, or where my return on time, and I’ve had real estate deals I’ve done where I’m like, man, my return on time on this was $3 an hour is terrible.
01:36:38:07 – 01:36:47:28
Nick Gonzalez
I would have rather lost money, but get out quick then have a really horrible, a great answer. So I think like knowing when to just chop, you know, cut, cut bait.
01:36:47:28 – 01:36:49:21
Rod Khleif
Yeah. Know when to cut bait. Yeah. No.
01:36:49:21 – 01:36:50:06
Nick Gonzalez
No one. That’s a.
01:36:50:06 – 01:37:02:21
Rod Khleif
Great answer. And that’s a, that’s a challenge sometimes, you know, you’ve got so much time invested, you’re like oh but but very often that’s, that’s the get off quick right choice. Yeah. Yeah a great answer okay. You what have you got?
01:37:02:24 – 01:37:03:22
Aubrey Linville
I got plenty of battle scars.
01:37:03:27 – 01:37:06:14
Rod Khleif
We all me that’s why that’s the point. But I would.
01:37:06:14 – 01:37:12:13
Aubrey Linville
Say, you know, when you’re young, you’re naive, which is also a superpower because you don’t.
01:37:12:13 – 01:37:13:28
Rod Khleif
Know what’s around. You don’t know what you don’t know.
01:37:14:01 – 01:37:34:11
Aubrey Linville
Well, when you’re young, you probably you think you can do more and you know more than you actually do. So there’s a couple projects that we bit off that were bigger than we could chew. We bought an office building in, Central business district in Winston-Salem, 8.7 acres, 18 high end of the highest end condos. Didn’t make any money on it.
01:37:34:11 – 01:37:50:29
Aubrey Linville
Lost a little bit, but the the the the lessons we learned there were really valuable. Sure. But at the cost of a couple of years of our life and all this gray hair on my head. So. Yeah, I would say just it’s just one of those things that you have to figure out sometimes the hard way when you’re young and.
01:37:50:29 – 01:38:09:13
Rod Khleif
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I mean, you know, I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t lost 50 million bucks. And I’m losing money right now with this nefarious ex-partner. He. He moved money and did all sorts of shit. But, you know, you learn from it. You know, you just grow, you move past it, and, you know, you still have a roof over your head.
01:38:09:13 – 01:38:14:00
Rod Khleif
You still, you know, you can see I’m doing okay here, but it it it’s painful.
01:38:14:07 – 01:38:17:01
Nick Gonzalez
The key is like, you better learn from it if you don’t.
01:38:17:06 – 01:38:18:16
Rod Khleif
That’s why I call seminars.
01:38:18:16 – 01:38:34:24
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah. You’ll be on the same place in five years or ten years or 15 years. Yeah. So I think that’s like when you’re when you’re an active broker, that’s one of the really valuable things being in brokerage is you get all these free learning opportunities from hearing like, oh, you see them. Yeah. Like you you hear all these stories from your clients.
01:38:34:24 – 01:38:46:05
Nick Gonzalez
You want to be the best advisory clients, that you can be. But you also see repeating patterns where it’s like, okay, like this isn’t somebody who necessarily learned from they did the last time they made this exact same mistake.
01:38:46:05 – 01:39:19:22
Rod Khleif
They weren’t conservative. They were aggressive. They did. They wanted to buy no matter what. You know, you I’m sure you’ve seen that time and time again. So, talk about, let’s talk about some strategies around working with brokers, because I get a lot of newbies that say, oh, the broker won’t give me the time of day, or they’re asking me for proof of funds, you know, which is a screening mechanism most of the time, you know, can you speak to how you know, prospective operators, which have a lot of them listening, would approach you and be taken seriously?
01:39:19:24 – 01:39:36:03
Nick Gonzalez
Absolutely. So I, brokerage is still a very big part of my day to day. I’m a top three broker in my market and have been for each of the last 6 or 7 years. And so I’m, I am the receiving end of a lot.
01:39:36:03 – 01:39:37:06
Rod Khleif
Of.
01:39:37:08 – 01:39:49:01
Nick Gonzalez
Different inquiries of people who are in different stages of their investing careers. Right? So like wannabe operators, operators who have one, two, three, four, multifamily assets currently, is that your.
01:39:49:01 – 01:39:50:13
Rod Khleif
Primary focus is multifamily?
01:39:50:18 – 01:39:53:18
Nick Gonzalez
Multifamily probably makes up 20% of my book right now. And what what’s.
01:39:53:18 – 01:39:54:26
Rod Khleif
The rest of it?
01:39:54:28 – 01:39:57:27
Nick Gonzalez
Just investment sales of every other sort.
01:39:58:00 – 01:39:59:12
Rod Khleif
Okay. Every asset class.
01:39:59:12 – 01:40:19:10
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah. Every other asset. If there’s yield to it. Okay. Is is what my client book gravitated towards. Okay. But I will say, like, early on in my career, somebody said something to the effect of like, I’ve never met a rich guy who didn’t appreciate, like, a free breakfast or something along those lines. It’s. I’m sure it’s quoted somewhere.
01:40:19:13 – 01:40:43:10
Nick Gonzalez
Or like he didn’t appreciate a free coffee. And I’ll say, like, the more brokers are used to getting these calls and I get them every single day where my desk, phone or ring, I’ll pick up and it’s like, hey, my name is, you know, John Smith. I’m looking for 16 to 64 units. They have to be C, and I have to be able to take them to B or B plus, and I only need to be in these like it’s like they’re ordering off like a Chinese menu.
01:40:43:12 – 01:40:57:09
Nick Gonzalez
It’s like man, like I can’t. First of all, I don’t know who you are, right? Why? I mean, I want to be a good broker, but like, we have there’s no connection whatsoever. And I know the second I hang up, you’re going to call the broker one office over, right? And give him the same exact spiel.
01:40:57:12 – 01:41:02:05
Nick Gonzalez
Right? So, like, it’s hard. You know, brokers have to be selective with their times, too.
01:41:02:07 – 01:41:04:19
Rod Khleif
And you don’t get paid unless something happens.
01:41:04:21 – 01:41:18:14
Nick Gonzalez
So it means a lot if you can make it find, like the top three brokers in your market right, and see which one’s going to be receptive and be okay with the fact that, like, maybe 1 or 2 of them aren’t going to be receptive to meeting with you, but tell them, hey, let me buy you breakfast. Yeah.
01:41:18:15 – 01:41:28:03
Nick Gonzalez
Hey, let me buy you coffee. Make a personal connection with them. Yeah. And I would say the number one mistake I find is people give themselves way too narrow of a box. Like telling a broker.
01:41:28:03 – 01:41:31:06
Rod Khleif
Hey, you mean on investment criteria or whatever specific?
01:41:31:06 – 01:41:36:29
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah. So, hey, I’m open to purchasing, multifamily in this part of Florida. Okay, great.
01:41:37:01 – 01:41:38:13
Rod Khleif
So keep it. Keep it more general.
01:41:38:13 – 01:41:43:05
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah. But when you tell me I need 464, it has to be this way.
01:41:43:05 – 01:41:44:27
Rod Khleif
Gotta be painted ready. Yeah. Okay.
01:41:45:02 – 01:41:49:04
Nick Gonzalez
That’s like, what am I supposed to do? That’s, you know, you just made it 100 times harder.
01:41:49:04 – 01:42:04:11
Rod Khleif
Got it. Let me let me add something. You know, when I teach this, I tell people, you know, you can buy out of state. You know, it’s done and very successfully. And ultimately, you’ve got to go there and meet with them. The broker needs to meet you. They need to. They need you need to break bread with them.
01:42:04:11 – 01:42:09:21
Rod Khleif
They need to see your real, see your passion, see your integrity. That’s what makes all the difference in the world. So we’re saying the same thing.
01:42:09:21 – 01:42:13:11
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah, yeah. Cold calling is great to start the relationship.
01:42:13:11 – 01:42:17:11
Rod Khleif
But but but but you know let them know you’re going to be there and meet with them. Absolutely. Okay.
01:42:17:15 – 01:42:29:25
Aubrey Linville
I’ll also add, you know if you’re a beginner investor, right. Have your approval letter in hand. You know, because because a lot of we get a lot of calls and, you know, some wouldn’t.
01:42:29:25 – 01:42:33:20
Rod Khleif
Really have an approval letter on a, on a commercial or maybe, maybe it’s.
01:42:33:20 – 01:42:39:28
Aubrey Linville
Maybe it’s, pieces of a balance sheet or something that you could show just to show a little bit of horsepower.
01:42:40:00 – 01:42:41:10
Nick Gonzalez
Website resume or.
01:42:41:14 – 01:42:57:19
Rod Khleif
Something. Yeah. What my students do is they lean on each other, you know, like they’ll say, hey, if I bring you a deal and, you know, I use your resume so they’ll use the word and they’ll say, you know, we own 500 doors in Winston-Salem or Charlotte or wherever. And then, you know, obviously, you’re take they’re taking a little more seriously when they’ve closed on deals.
01:42:57:19 – 01:42:58:28
Nick Gonzalez
And have an email signature.
01:42:58:28 – 01:42:59:27
Rod Khleif
And you know, exactly.
01:42:59:27 – 01:43:07:27
Nick Gonzalez
I get inquiries all the time. And if there’s no email signature, I’m like, I have no, I don’t know what company or with some generic email. I have no idea if you’re a real.
01:43:07:29 – 01:43:18:10
Rod Khleif
And teach people you got a brand yourself, you know, you’ve got to legitimize yourself. I’d say hang your shingle in the back in the day. Used to cut a shingle and paint your name on it. Right. That’s that’s what I tell them to do. But yeah.
01:43:18:17 – 01:43:37:01
Aubrey Linville
But there’s also something to it coming to the call, holding a broker, knowing, you know, how much horsepower you have. Yeah. And just heating that on the first call. Sure. Somebody calls you and there, you know, you spend 30 minutes on the phone, you found out they’ve got $50,000 to invest, right? You know, you’re not going to get a lot of brokers excited about going to find you a deal.
01:43:37:02 – 01:43:39:01
Aubrey Linville
Like, yeah, even if you got to fluff it a little bit.
01:43:39:02 – 01:43:39:20
Rod Khleif
No, no.
01:43:39:20 – 01:43:41:04
Aubrey Linville
Say we as in yeah.
01:43:41:04 – 01:44:03:12
Rod Khleif
No. And that’s you know, I mean I mentioned you know my my students I believe we believe on about 300,000 doors. We’re counting. We’re at 270,000. We know we’re missing a ton and they’ve raised over $1 billion, but they’ve done it amongst each other. Yeah. So there’s there’s power in that team, you know, getting around people that are doing it and, and, you know, do it, do a couple with somebody else.
01:44:03:12 – 01:44:09:20
Rod Khleif
And then then, you know, you’re off to the races, you’ve got something on your resume and, and can speak more intelligently and so on. And so forth.
01:44:09:28 – 01:44:28:16
Nick Gonzalez
I’m going to go back to something you brought up earlier real quick too, that I think is really important for people who are starting out. You want to grow your network, you want to build your network, but go where? Like go where you’re in the bottom 20% of the achievers in the room. Like when I started out, I go to all of these, like Reia meetups.
01:44:28:16 – 01:44:34:25
Rod Khleif
Yeah, yeah, that’s a that’s what they were called back in the day. They’re they’re meetup groups now, but they’re called they were real estate investor association meetings.
01:44:34:27 – 01:44:46:06
Nick Gonzalez
I would go to these meetings and there would be 20 people in the room, and none of them had ever done a deal before. So like it was like it was it was great to go participate in that. But I was like, well, what am I? What am I getting out of this? Because everyone else here is new too.
01:44:46:08 – 01:44:50:08
Nick Gonzalez
So like jump in the deep end in a pool that’s got, you know, like.
01:44:50:10 – 01:44:52:11
Rod Khleif
Where you want people to think what you think is hard is easy.
01:44:52:11 – 01:44:53:00
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah, exactly.
01:44:53:00 – 01:45:07:02
Rod Khleif
You know, I started I started a mastermind years ago called the Multifamily Boardroom. I kind of let it go a couple of years ago because it was like herding cats, but there’s about 40 or 50 billion in assets in there. And I did it because I wanted to be around people that I that what I thought was hard was easy.
01:45:07:05 – 01:45:07:27
Rod Khleif
And, and.
01:45:08:00 – 01:45:17:03
Nick Gonzalez
We did the exact same thing in brokerage. We got successful brokers in the southeast, right. We said, hey, no territoriality, we’ll all sign Sears and let’s just compare notes on stuff that’s worked.
01:45:17:03 – 01:45:19:20
Rod Khleif
Well. You learn so much on you. Yeah. How to market.
01:45:19:20 – 01:45:23:05
Nick Gonzalez
I would pay thousands of dollars and we just did it to do it. Yeah, yeah.
01:45:23:08 – 01:45:46:18
Rod Khleif
Yeah. No, I think I’m going to do another meeting just because of where the market is at right now. And I think we’d all learn from it. So I’ve been thinking about I’ve been threatening that for about a month or two. But now let’s talk about geography, because I was mentioning, we talked about this specifically that, you know, when I took over this shit show that my ex partner created, we had assets about 2300 units in seven states.
01:45:46:21 – 01:46:06:03
Rod Khleif
And it was it was a mess. You know, he it was it was very difficult to manage. And he had taken over the management. I that’s a long story. I, I won’t bore you with but I stepped in to do the asset management and I came to the realization that most successful operators are geographically specific. Would you agree with that?
01:46:06:05 – 01:46:06:26
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah.
01:46:06:29 – 01:46:09:17
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. We may have slightly, differing views on it.
01:46:09:17 – 01:46:22:29
Rod Khleif
Okay. Well, no, I’d I’d love to hear it. Yeah. So that’s what I saw. Like the multifamily operators that were killing it were vertically integrated. They had their own construction company, their own property management. And they were, you know, more geographically specific.
01:46:23:05 – 01:46:35:23
Aubrey Linville
So most of our assets are net leased, maybe not absolute net okay. Net leased. And when we when we started our fund and before our fund, Nic and I had both been syndicating deals on our own four years ago, we said, you know what? What are we doing? Let’s bring this under the level.
01:46:35:23 – 01:46:37:26
Rod Khleif
Yeah. Same here. I’ve got a fund to. So it’s much easier.
01:46:37:26 – 01:46:56:01
Aubrey Linville
Let’s institutionalize it. Let’s create a fund. And so we looked for the right deals. So the right story of the right deal where we knew we could add value and we knew we could raise the capital in places that geographically felt like they were growing markets, you know, touching anything that was down on the vine. And now we’re at a point, okay, we’ve got a portfolio now.
01:46:56:01 – 01:47:09:24
Aubrey Linville
Now we need to densify these areas. So we started saying, yeah, we want to be within kind of three states a quick flight I’m a pilot. So so where we can get us within like an hour and a half to hour flight. Gotcha. And now that we have that, like, let’s fill in.
01:47:09:24 – 01:47:17:09
Rod Khleif
No, no, that makes complete sense. No, no, we’re on the same page here. But you got to start somewhere, obviously. But no, I we’re on the same page for sure.
01:47:17:11 – 01:47:41:16
Nick Gonzalez
It’s about margin to. So like to your point being geographically spread out like on a lot of these deals, you’re going to make the same dollar, you’re going to make the same gross dollar amount. So like, what’s the point of going to a state you’ve never like. You bring no value to no expertise to right when you can work 10 or 20% harder and maybe buy an asset that’s in a market where you have some competitive edge, you haven’t got.
01:47:41:22 – 01:47:45:19
Rod Khleif
Armies of scale. You’ve got you’ve got other assets there. Yeah, that’s that’s a no brainer.
01:47:45:19 – 01:47:59:24
Nick Gonzalez
So yeah, I mean I think the the groups that stick within again, not just geographically but who are also like efficient and like systems and processes driven operators. Yeah. I like geographic geography is very important.
01:47:59:25 – 01:48:20:15
Rod Khleif
Yeah, yeah. Well, in Europe, experiences, you know, I know you come to the realization that every business is nothing but people and systems. We talked about bringing in the people. What, you know, do you have any tools or resources that you use on the system side that you like any.
01:48:20:15 – 01:48:45:20
Aubrey Linville
And yeah, I mean, we we’ve been through a total transformation on our, what we would call our tech stack, which feels like a big word for a company that Nick and I own. But we we kind of had it. We were using Excel, we were using Yardi, ArcGIS, Salesforce, you know, all these different random pieces of technology. And last year we made the largest investment we’ve ever made in anything other than a piece of real estate in a tech platform that’s built on Salesforce.
01:48:45:22 – 01:48:51:02
Rod Khleif
That it’s built on, Salesforce built on. So interesting. So. So somebody built it on Salesforce and you invested in it.
01:48:51:09 – 01:48:54:05
Aubrey Linville
That’s it. Yeah. For our business specifically.
01:48:54:07 – 01:48:55:17
Rod Khleif
Okay. Which one?
01:48:55:20 – 01:48:56:09
Aubrey Linville
All three.
01:48:56:11 – 01:48:56:23
Rod Khleif
Oh no.
01:48:56:23 – 01:48:58:28
Aubrey Linville
Kidding. Yeah. So everything everything lives there.
01:48:58:28 – 01:49:19:13
Rod Khleif
Interesting. Yeah. You know, I got to tell you, I don’t want to pee on your parade, but we just did open claw, and my guy that handles all my marketing said it’s it. Once it’s set up, it literally will do 95% of his job. And and we and and this is where I don’t want to pee on your parade.
01:49:19:13 – 01:49:35:20
Rod Khleif
But I offered to buy a CRM from one of my students who built it for my students. He wanted 100 grand. I got it built for ten grand. Yeah, well, with AI and so, you know, I don’t know if you could have saved some money, I guess is my point. Sorry to throw you under the bus.
01:49:35:20 – 01:49:40:07
Aubrey Linville
Well, it’s a lot more than just CRM. Is it? Yeah. I mean, it’s the backbone of our entire business, so.
01:49:40:08 – 01:49:41:25
Rod Khleif
Yeah. No, but you know.
01:49:41:28 – 01:49:42:20
Aubrey Linville
That runs through it.
01:49:42:21 – 01:49:54:20
Rod Khleif
Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot to it, but you know, like like what we’re seeing it can do is extraordinary. Yeah I mean I just blows my mind.
01:49:54:23 – 01:49:58:10
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. It’s built into our system. So you didn’t build our system. But it is.
01:49:58:10 – 01:50:25:02
Rod Khleif
It’s built into it. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I you know, I tell people, you know, I’m literally laying off my daughter. She does our SEO, she’s brilliant. And I’m helping her start another company. But but it’ll do everything she does better. Yeah. You know, our, our social posts, better. And, you know, it’s sending me articles every day to, to do, you know, green screens and social posts on and things of that nature.
01:50:25:02 – 01:50:39:01
Rod Khleif
No, it’s it’s extraordinary. What, you know, I was mentioning I, you know, I was thinking about the other businesses and how I used it to identify the sort of partner I would want for that, you know, for that endeavor. And it just blew my mind.
01:50:39:01 – 01:50:46:24
Nick Gonzalez
So sometimes the littlest things like I. This isn’t a plug. Yeah, but I started using, superhuman instead of outlook.
01:50:46:26 – 01:50:49:09
Rod Khleif
And I don’t even know what that is.
01:50:49:12 – 01:51:10:15
Nick Gonzalez
I didn’t either, okay. But it was on some podcast somewhere, and I was like, oh, I’ll check this out. And, don’t quote me on this, but I think it’s like $30 a month is what I pay, okay? And it’s I mean, if it was $500 a month, I would pay it. So all it is, is a very simple skin for outlook, but it has all these shortcuts like you basically do like a one hour training.
01:51:10:16 – 01:51:31:16
Nick Gonzalez
Okay. And by the time you’re done with it, I mean, I go through my emails three times as fast now. Wow. It’ll it’ll auto draft, responses that then like, I can put in my own voice. It’s not like people aren’t getting emails from like, this is clearly like some chat, right? But it sets all kinds of reminders, like it’s it’s the littlest.
01:51:31:18 – 01:51:48:06
Nick Gonzalez
I mean, honestly, stupidest little thing, but it’s not it’s not rocket science, but the amount of money and time it’s giving me back. And there’s so many little things like that that you can optimize like, I have an executive assistant. I tell her, like, hey, like challenge everything, like, where is there friction? And every single day. And then let’s like, solve that.
01:51:48:06 – 01:52:03:12
Nick Gonzalez
Because if we can solve one of those every 3 or 4 months, like you’re going to be, oh, it’s the same thing with like, your health and wellness. Like you can tweak one thing about your intake or your workouts. And in 3 or 4 months you’ll be like, wow, that was a great I mean, it was the smallest little unnoticeable detail.
01:52:03:17 – 01:52:04:14
Nick Gonzalez
Did anybody know.
01:52:04:17 – 01:52:21:01
Rod Khleif
There’s a book called The Slight Edge? Yeah. About those little decisions you make every day or that tragic your life up or down. It’s the same dynamic, you know, and those, those little decisions, they’re not a big deal here. But you take them out five years. They’re a big frickin shift. Yeah. Let’s talk about your M&A thing a little more because it’s so cool.
01:52:21:04 – 01:52:31:04
Rod Khleif
So if someone wants to buy an automotive business, they reach out to you and, and, and you help them find it, identify it, buy it. All the above.
01:52:31:08 – 01:52:36:00
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. So we don’t really do any one off. Okay. Acquisitions. So if, if you know, you.
01:52:36:00 – 01:52:37:16
Rod Khleif
Want somebody you can buy a handful of them.
01:52:37:16 – 01:52:41:17
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. We’re typically working with large operators. Okay. That.
01:52:41:20 – 01:52:42:17
Rod Khleif
They want to expand.
01:52:42:17 – 01:52:53:25
Aubrey Linville
So like the largest child care operators in the world are like so okay I say we’re looking to grow Ebit by X amount in the southeast in the next 12 weeks. We help them execute on that.
01:52:53:25 – 01:52:55:03
Rod Khleif
Oh got it okay.
01:52:55:04 – 01:52:56:15
Aubrey Linville
Okay a lot of a lot of manual.
01:52:56:15 – 01:53:01:22
Rod Khleif
Work. Well I’m massively disappointed because I thought, you know, you could help me with something that maybe we can. All right.
01:53:01:22 – 01:53:02:28
Aubrey Linville
We’ll talk about that at all. Right.
01:53:02:28 – 01:53:06:23
Rod Khleif
All right. Fair enough. But that’s that’s that’s really cool. Okay.
01:53:06:26 – 01:53:23:29
Aubrey Linville
It’s a really interesting business. Like I said it, to you earlier to seller’s market, contractors market all. It’s just really hard to make deals pencil smart. Nobody’s building a lot of new multifamily. I mean, it’s just the land is expensive. It’s cost a lot to build it. And people can only afford to pay so much to occupy a unit.
01:53:24:03 – 01:53:29:02
Aubrey Linville
Right. You’re better off, a lot of times. Not all the time, but a lot of, you know, you’re better off buying by existing.
01:53:29:05 – 01:53:29:17
Rod Khleif
Yeah, yeah.
01:53:29:25 – 01:53:49:12
Aubrey Linville
You can buy it based on, what? You know, specifically, a lot of the assets that we’re buying. We’re buying. Someone signed a lease ten years ago, and they’re in year eight or in year nine. That high likelihood that they’re they’re sticky tenant. They’re going to stick around, but they’re paying on what it cost to build the building ten years ago and what the you know, the landlord, right.
01:53:49:14 – 01:53:58:15
Aubrey Linville
Demanded his yield to be at that time. Right. The buying a business is very, very similar, you know, and a lot of times, if you can buy the real estate along with it, you can help capitalize that.
01:53:58:18 – 01:53:59:21
Rod Khleif
Sure. Oh. Good point.
01:53:59:21 – 01:54:00:13
Aubrey Linville
Opening company.
01:54:00:13 – 01:54:19:26
Rod Khleif
Sure. Yeah. You know, I’ve got a six pack of assisted living facilities under contract right now for 40,000 a unit in Texas. You can’t build one for less than 250,000 units. I got approached by by an operator that’s trying to raise money for one in Orlando. That’s 350,000 a unit, and we’re paying 40. And these are nice buildings.
01:54:19:29 – 01:54:23:00
Rod Khleif
So, just to elaborate on your point.
01:54:23:03 – 01:54:33:05
Aubrey Linville
You hit the nail on the head, right? Yeah. And then what’s going to happen over time is, they’re people are going to have to pay more money to, to stay in that same $40,000 unit. They only everybody kind.
01:54:33:05 – 01:54:49:23
Rod Khleif
Of there’s such a huge shortage of beds. And I mean, I’m seeing articles where, where there may be a lottery system to get into assisted living facility, you know, because there’s going to be there’s going to be no availability. I mean, what is it? 7 or 8000 people a day are turning 80 in this country?
01:54:49:26 – 01:55:03:18
Rod Khleif
Yeah. So it’s, it’s exciting, honestly. But I yeah, I think you have to love the elderly to get into that business, which I do. So what’s what’s next for you guys?
01:55:03:21 – 01:55:04:29
Aubrey Linville
You want to take that?
01:55:05:01 – 01:55:09:22
Rod Khleif
Continue continue doing what you’re doing. You’re going to introduce anything else?
01:55:09:25 – 01:55:37:11
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah. We, It’s been really enjoyable growing our brokerage footprint. It’s been really enjoyable growing the team, growing kind of our reach on the M&A side. And really just making very good investments in this market. We, you know, last year we underwrote or I underwrote, we underwrote last year we underwrote 210 deals, and we closed on eight.
01:55:37:14 – 01:55:44:07
Rod Khleif
So that’s actually not a bad number. I remember looking at 300 to find one. Yeah. So that’s that’s much better. It used to be.
01:55:44:07 – 01:56:07:04
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah. So you know again, like, that’s that’s a really enjoyable aspect of what we’re growing that we want to continue to grow. Because again you know, we’re invested alongside, our partners in that. And you know, if you have between between between the properties that are listed, the brokers that you know, you have access to from day to day because you’ve spent years building relationships.
01:56:07:04 – 01:56:21:14
Nick Gonzalez
And when I say you know, we I mean, you two and everybody, and then, you know, trying to find off market opportunities like, I’m not going to lie, I mean, I’ve been doing this for 16 years now, and like, you still get that rush when you find that and you for all deal junkies.
01:56:21:15 – 01:56:22:21
Rod Khleif
When you find that unicorn.
01:56:22:22 – 01:56:34:07
Nick Gonzalez
You’re not in this business if you’re not really like a deal junkie at heart because, like, there’s no greater feeling than finding something that works really, really well and there’s no greater feeling than a win win. Like, I want to make money. You make money, everybody, and you buying.
01:56:34:09 – 01:56:39:01
Rod Khleif
Brokers cold calling people. So you got an opportunity to cherry pick as well.
01:56:39:04 – 01:56:40:11
Nick Gonzalez
So finding finding there’s.
01:56:40:13 – 01:56:41:07
Rod Khleif
Something you want to buy.
01:56:41:12 – 01:57:01:02
Nick Gonzalez
Finding more great deals and and setting up situations where it’s truly a win win for everybody involved. That’s what we’re trying to scale and keep growing. Of course brokerage is great. Growing the brokerage team is great. But yeah, really finding these great win win investment opportunities is, really rewarding. And that’s really what we’re focused on.
01:57:01:03 – 01:57:02:03
Rod Khleif
Yeah. Same.
01:57:02:05 – 01:57:22:06
Aubrey Linville
Also I’ll add, you know, this fund is two years old for us. And so it’s been, everybody running a million miles an hour to get to where we are now. We’ve been successful where we’ve raised all the capital we need for all these great deals that we found. Now we’re hiring an acquisition manager or his only job is going to be to help us densify our portfolio.
01:57:22:07 – 01:57:23:07
Rod Khleif
Help you dense.
01:57:23:07 – 01:57:26:13
Aubrey Linville
Densify just find more assets close to the assets that we already own.
01:57:26:14 – 01:57:29:01
Rod Khleif
So we somebody specifically to hunt deals.
01:57:29:02 – 01:57:35:10
Aubrey Linville
That’s it. Yeah, we we have very little in our hometown. So there’s there’s almost zero comps.
01:57:35:10 – 01:57:36:17
Rod Khleif
You’ve got a nice hometown in you.
01:57:36:19 – 01:57:36:27
Aubrey Linville
Yeah.
01:57:36:28 – 01:57:39:07
Rod Khleif
Great hometowns, great great great demographics.
01:57:39:10 – 01:57:49:04
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. We’ve but we’ve found really, really good assets to acquire and other towns that have great demographics. Also where some of our brokerage clients just aren’t operating, they’re not thinking about these these towns that we’re buying.
01:57:49:05 – 01:57:51:06
Rod Khleif
More tertiary markets or no.
01:57:51:06 – 01:58:09:22
Aubrey Linville
That Greenville, South Carolina, Spartanburg, South Carolina, you know, in South Carolina. Yep. Myrtle Beach, Myrtle beach. Yep. Okay. And so as we’re growing this business, we’re getting more focused on, everybody dialing in on what their roles and responsibilities are within the fund versus all of us kind of. Oh, sure. Doing everything and that’s.
01:58:09:22 – 01:58:11:18
Rod Khleif
That’s, that’s that’s part of the evolution.
01:58:11:18 – 01:58:12:18
Aubrey Linville
Yeah. When I think about what your.
01:58:12:18 – 01:58:13:06
Rod Khleif
Business.
01:58:13:06 – 01:58:13:21
Aubrey Linville
That’s it.
01:58:13:24 – 01:58:19:20
Rod Khleif
You know, do you incorporate any operating like we, we use iOS entrepreneur’s operating system. You’re familiar with.
01:58:19:20 – 01:58:20:22
Aubrey Linville
That we run on EOS.
01:58:20:26 – 01:58:26:22
Rod Khleif
You do the same thing. Yeah. It’s a great, great model. If 90 day goals, and rocks, they call them. But their goals.
01:58:26:25 – 01:58:31:06
Aubrey Linville
Material and personal business. Yeah, right. We were leading by committee three years ago.
01:58:31:07 – 01:58:31:22
Rod Khleif
Oh, God.
01:58:31:23 – 01:58:46:21
Aubrey Linville
You know, every week we’re getting together, we’re talking about, you know, I don’t know, the $100 that we spend on it, right? Right. And now, you know, everybody has clear division responsibilities. We know what everybody’s working on and what we’re working towards and what the vision of the company is and all that and that that really is, put us in.
01:58:46:24 – 01:59:05:20
Rod Khleif
A game changer in it. Yeah, yeah, I have, I, they should pay me money because I talk about it regularly on the show. And in fact, I had, Albert Barris in the book traction. They talk about the McKinley Corporation. He’s a billionaire, and I. Hey, he was my first interview on the podcast, and he’s in the he’s in he’s in the book.
01:59:05:20 – 01:59:22:27
Rod Khleif
And I’m an hour in and I looked down and I forgot to hit record. I was frickin mortified. He’s. I’ll just tell you a funny story. As an aside, so I had I was going to have him speak to my mastermind, and my assistant called his assistant Nina and said, hey, yeah, we’re going to fly Albert down first class.
01:59:22:27 – 01:59:28:28
Rod Khleif
We’re going to put him up at the Ritz Carlton. And she’s like, no, no fly zone. Shut down. It’s all good. Now you’re a pilot too. Yes.
01:59:28:28 – 01:59:31:14
Aubrey Linville
Yeah, but not in a jet. Not a small single engine plane.
01:59:31:14 – 01:59:32:27
Rod Khleif
Okay. Did you fly down here today?
01:59:32:27 – 01:59:46:12
Aubrey Linville
We did. Yeah. We sure that’s cool. Yeah. It’s it’s it’s a little cheat code. You know, we flew into, the Atlanta motor Speedway to look at a deal that was kind of in rural cool outside of Atlanta. Cool pop down here, and we’ll be home tomorrow before lunch. Love it. That helps. That helps with the fund. Really?
01:59:46:12 – 01:59:51:22
Rod Khleif
Oh, sure. Oh, yeah. These other area that my my partner is a pilot too. And it’s, it’s it’s a game changer. Yeah.
01:59:51:24 – 02:00:16:06
Nick Gonzalez
Well you brought up you know I so if I could just say one thing real quick. So EOS has been great but also to, to your credit and for your listeners like we’ve both we’ve both participated in masterminds and in coaching. I’ve, I’ve, paid for coaching for nine years now. And I would say that’s also a really important thing for all the listeners out there who are either getting in.
02:00:16:06 – 02:00:28:00
Nick Gonzalez
Yeah, or who have plateaued, like finding a really great, program, a great coach, like a great, finding like your tribe. Right. Is so important, and it’s worth its weight in gold. So, again, like, I know.
02:00:28:01 – 02:00:38:24
Rod Khleif
Yeah, it’s been a game changer for my students. I mean, honestly, it’s it’s more about the group than it is about me. And, and I have two coaches right now. I’ve got a relationship coach. I’ve got a health coach. So I’m, I’m.
02:00:39:01 – 02:00:39:24
Nick Gonzalez
So valuable.
02:00:39:28 – 02:00:54:21
Rod Khleif
I, I eat my own cooking. Well, listen, I appreciate you guys coming down. It’s been a very much a pleasure to meet you. And, congratulations on all your success. And. Yeah, let’s let’s circle back in a year or two and see how much, things have improved.
02:00:54:25 – 02:00:55:15
Nick Gonzalez
I love it. Great.
02:00:55:15 – 02:00:57:22
Rod Khleif
All right. Pleasure. Thanks, guys. Thank you for.
02:00:57:22 – 02:01:05:11