How Ira Zlotowitz Is Disrupting Commercial Lending with Flat Fees, AI, and GParency - EP01

In this episode of  The Wealth Clock with Steven Weinstock, I sit down with Ira Zlotowitz, founder of GParency and a true legend in commercial real estate finance.

We talk about:

 The biggest myths in commercial mortgage brokerage
 How Ira helped shape Eastern Union before launching GParency
 Why most borrowers are *not* getting the best financing available
 His revolutionary flat-fee model ($4,500 per deal)
 How brokers, lenders, and technology all intersect today
 The power of AI in mortgage placement
 Capital stack strategy and why you must look at the full picture
 The launch of GPlacer and his vision for a new kind of financing tool

This episode is packed with real tactical advice for founders, GPs, brokers, and investors who want better outcomes and smarter deal flow.

LinkedIN - https://www.linkedin.com/in/irazlotowitz/

Instagram - 

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPTtXx9-uUD7K2gHJTfaxgA

Twitter / X - https://x.com/IraZlotowitz

🎙 About Steven Weinstock
Steven Weinstock is a real estate investor and founder of WeCapital and the Goethals Capital Fund. Since 2001, he has built a diverse portfolio of residential and multifamily assets while helping investors access passive income through strategic real estate opportunities. On this podcast, he shares real-world insights on investing, capital raising, and what it really takes to build and scale in today’s market.

📩 Want to invest or get in touch?
Visit: www.WeCapitalX.com

📱 Connect with Steven:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stevenweinstock1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wecapitalx/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheWealthClockPodcast

Transcript

How Ira Zlotowitz Is Disrupting Commercial Lending with Flat Fees, AI, and GParency (2)

Steven M Weinstock: [00:00:00] Hi everyone, and welcome to the Wealth Clock with Winestock podcast. I'm Steven Winestock. I've been investing in real estate for over 20 years, from single family homes to multi-family syndications, to launching my own real estate investment fund. But this show isn't about me. It's about operators or founders and deal makers who are building real results.

My guest today is Ira Isla, founder of G Parenty, a former co-founder of Eastern Union, and one of the most influential names in commercial mortgage lending. We're gonna be doing this a little differently today. I've got a list of powerful targeted questions covering everything from AI to financing strategy, to building a brokerage today.

If you're an investor, a founder, or a broker. This episode is going to give you real tactical insight. Ira, thanks for joining me. I'm gonna jump right [00:01:00] in. 

Ira Zlotowitz: Thank you for having me. 

Steven M Weinstock: Ira, what was your first real break in commercial lending? 

Ira Zlotowitz: That's the curve roll. I, I try to really look back and it wasn't so much like a first break, like I found was like a bunch of like singles, like little moves that God sent and it takes it to where you are.

I definitely think a, a major part of it is when I started out the career, I started my career at Meridian Capital and then there's, before the technology, before this data play, there's nothing going on. Then you're talking about those public records, like people actually went down to the public records to get the notes and read it to see what, when loans are coming due and things like that.

And that was just when the internet was starting and just when people were doing email and marketing and. Banks were starting to talk about merging together and the laws were changing, and I came, I guess that, I guess the break was joining at that time, and when I came in and being able to start, I think the biggest change was when I started, you know, I realized that the business was becoming a commodity back then.

The level of commodity then and now is a whole different world. [00:02:00] But I started hiring telemarketers to call commercial real estate. Yeah, no, I, 

Steven M Weinstock: I remember back then, uh, I started buying in 2001 and, uh, about two years later, I started buying private notes, private second mortgages. And I used to go to the county clerk's office, uh, in Trenton, New Jersey, and, uh, different parts of Central Jersey.

And, uh, literally look for who has a note. You know, most of it was, you know, bank of America or Countrywide back then. And then every once in a while I would see a John Smith and, uh, I would make an offer, uh, 60, 70 cents on a dollar, and, uh, and try to buy it. Yes, I definitely remember, uh, pre, uh, pre-technology.

Ira Zlotowitz: Yeah. But that, but that was your competitive advantage that you went out to those places. Now every person just picks up their phone chat, GBT, and they're done. You know, they get the same info. 

Steven M Weinstock: You recently launched, uh, G Parcy and, uh, I guess we'll, uh, you'll deep, uh, you know, dive into that. What's the biggest myth you think investors believe about brokers?

Ira Zlotowitz: So it's important. I'm gonna give the answer, but it's f [00:03:00] it's well-founded. Why this myth existed, it's just that don't no, no longer exists. What's the biggest myth that people think today, but no longer exists? Actually, I'll give you two answers. One was always, and one no longer exists. One that no longer exists is that the broker can guarantee you certainty of execution at the closing table.

And that's what the biggest myth and the best proof is that whether someone uses the most prestigious brokerage firm in the country, or they're going direct or they're using a a, a fly by night. Mom and pop brokerage deals have issues before closing and some deals blow before closing. At the end of the day, it's about the credit of the deal.

If a deal makes sense and the credit is right, the deal's gonna close. Can people massage things, work it over, talk to the bank, tell a story 1000%. Ultimately credit makes the decision. 10 years ago, if a mortgage broker did a lot of volumes, a speci specific lender walked into the lender and said, listen, him, Mr.

The Lender, let's say, Steven, it was your deal. You're not gonna close with Steven. We're never [00:04:00] showing you another deal. You know what happened an hour later? No problem. We're gonna close. That same broker could be 10 times as big today and not just today. Go back two years ago. What? It started in 2019, 20 calls up the bank and says, Hey, Mr.

Bank, if you're not gonna close this deal. We're never showing you another deal. You know, the response would be, lose my number. We're not showing closing this deal and we're not closing any deal from you. And the conversation goes off the phone. That's number one. The second myth, and this is the craziest part, this is the power of brokers.

I spent my time training mortgage brokers and like one lender told me, what's amazing to him is that how a broker owns nothing on either side. They don't own the bank, let 'em own the client, and yet they're able to create this aura that they're worth whatever fees and they structure to go to. You have actual owners who believe.

It's an insult. If they would ever go to their broker, they're scared of the broker, I'm gonna shop my broker. In the micro I, you negotiate your countertops. You don't negotiate the broker like it's the opposite. As a broker, my whole career was, give me a shot. Every mortgage broker was just gimme one shot.[00:05:00] 

A broker you should wanna shop. So the myth is you should be shopping every deal. You should never, ever give an exclusive ever. I never signed, took an exclusive and I never advised someone to give an exclusive ever. You wanna give a good faith, it's your deal to lose all that. But no exclusive. As a mortgage broker, I can't talk about sales brokers have a whole different thing in there.

I thinks they're huge value. Each individual sales broker, I'm talking specifically mortgage brokers and especially the market we are living today. 

Steven M Weinstock: Uh, yeah, no, I agree. I, uh, I feel a little guilty every time another broker calls me up and I entertain their, uh, their phone call. But, uh, I guess that's just, uh, natural.

Ira Zlotowitz: No, but Steve, I can tell you on that point, it's natural to feel that way when you have a relationship with somebody. Yeah. But you, what you should be doing is call back the first broker and tell the first broker, you're my first love. It's your deal to lose. Just wanna let you know I have a fiduciary to my investors.

And investors invest in you. 'cause they assume, Hey, this guy Steve is gonna shop it around. You have that fiduciary, but at the same time, you need to balance relationships. So go back to that first broker and say, I'm working with you and I'm working with you, but carve out the [00:06:00] lenders you want. They gotta go somewhere else.

Any broker that doesn't let you is a bad broker. There's something wrong. There's something wrong. They're probably getting kickbacks and who knows what's going on, how they deal with every other relationship that they have there. You wanna deal with someone who's able to go ahead and respect that? Yes.

It's a mutual relationship to be able to go ahead and get that business going. 

Steven M Weinstock: You recently launched, uh, G Parenty. You've been in the, the commercial mortgage broker business for a long time, and, uh, you're very legendary. You are a legend in the business. Tell us a little about g Parenty in your own words, what's different about it, and let's hear it from you.

Ira Zlotowitz: Thanks. So first of all, in the same, you know, if it is to, what's the myth that your parents see is that clearly when I opened up, you know, everything is God sent and uh, God decided that. I'm gonna get the messaging out a certain way. I'm venture-backed and the people who invest in the business invest in the business where we believe we can build a Netflix of the industry.

Netflix, the industry. The mistake that I made, I take full responsibility, is that what I told to the investors, I [00:07:00] told to the public when Netflix opened up, they opened up and they only spoke about, I'll give you a disc in the mail, I'll charge you a subscription. And then they spoke about streaming. They didn't mention streaming at the beginning.

My mistake was I came out and at one time I threw everything at the same, at the wall at the same time to the clients. So the clients were thinking, am my technology's gonna close your deal? Am I telling you don't need a broker? All mixed messaging were flying and the brokers were on the defense and they told their clients, you're crazy.

You're gonna go there. You think they're gonna close the deal for the same price I could close? I was a whole hodgepodge of wrong information. Took me a long time to fix it and thank God for living on the other side of the mountain. We're doing, we're having this recording here at the end of May. We're doing $250 million a month of business this month.

Got away 300 million. We found out messaging, we found our problem statement made a very, very clear focus. This one problem is one solution. I, I'm not competition to your brokers. I work together with every broker, with every relationship. So here's what I do. Here's the problem that I solve. I'll start with the problem that I solve.

95% of owners, I [00:08:00] truly believe the numbers are a hundred percent, but 95% actually admit that when they go for financing, they're not getting the best finance. They're not getting bad. There's so many moving parts in commercial real estate, there's no Bloomberg terminal, so whether it's they stay, they go with that lender 'cause it's close enough or that broker, it's close enough, they have certainty of execution, they have a relationship, so it's good enough they go with That resonates with you that that problem statement 95% that you're not getting the apps the best or do you, do you disagree with that a little bit.

Steven M Weinstock: Ira, I'll tell you, I, I am very impressed that. You're admitting to a marketing mistake, uh, that you made. I usually don't, uh, hear that from anybody. They just, you know, massage and go around it. So it's very interesting to hear you say, we made a marketing mistake. We, you know, told them we would be streaming and not just sending red envelopes in the mail.

So I, I really like that. It's, it's, it's very refreshing to hear that from you and, and I do see you're putting out a lot of content out there and you're definitely marketing g Parenty, and it has taken. Uh, our [00:09:00] world by storm. So it's definitely an interesting concept, and I'll tell you, I, I've spoken to some of your guys, uh, in the past, you know, I'm on their list and, uh, it's definitely something I have to, I, I definitely have to try it out.

So, uh, sometime, uh, in the next, uh, couple of months, yeah, we will, uh, you know, we'll be talking, uh, 

Ira Zlotowitz: offline. If I could just, I appreciate if I just, if I just like, just the, the, once we opened up the mistake and what the clarity is and I think really to lesson to, you know, to, I guess it, it, it is really the, the lessons people are trying to tell me when I'm launching it, but I was so focused by, I thought for sure it's gonna get to, we call the Titanic syndrome when you think it's for sure gonna happen.

That's when it doesn't, you know, but I think we've found our place is that we are, we call ourselves Mortgage Assurance Brokers. We are the only mortgage brokers that guarantee you the best financing and you could stay with your broker. So when, forget about technology, I'm a regular mortgage broker with two differences.

I can, I ask, I was talking to you offline. I ask other people why do they use a broker? The number one reason a [00:10:00] person use a bro broker and should use a broker is to create the competition. So I say the first thing I do that's different is that I stop after you sign the term sheet. So I do everything a mortgage broker does from the beginning through the term sheet, exactly the same underwriter deal, set up the deal, work it, shop the same me I was pre.

The second difference is they only charge 4,500. So whether the deal is 300,000, 300 million doesn't make a difference. So the process, why does it work? How can I guarantee it? It's a process. There's three ingredients that are required to get the best financing Ingredient number one is your existing relationship has to be motivated to the hilt, so someone's going direct to the bank.

Or they using a broker. They call up that broker and they tell the broker, Hey, Mr. Broker, do you want me to go? I'm going like, the first love is yours, but I'm going to your parents also, that broker's gonna get off the phone and you tell him you have five banks to pick. He's gonna focus with his team, which five to pick, work those banks to the bone leave, no meat, no fat on the bone.

Right after the bat, you made back your money. I shop, I'm doing a quarter of a billion dollars a month. We have, we're tracking 3000 lenders and we use [00:11:00] AI only to identify the next 10 to 20 lenders. We shop it there. The biggest value is of no TER motive in real estate. As you know from your whole career, everybody has an ulterior motive.

The same me with without military motive is different than me. With an ulterior motive, I'm human. But now I could sit down and tell you how to leverage all the offers to the best, even if my bank is the best. You go direct. Go to your broker, I'm done. I'm having an upsell. That's my product for $4,500.

Mortgage insurance broker guarantee the best financing to do the deal. So yes, it was a far cry when I opened. Discount broker, technology broker? No, I'm a mortgage insurance broker. Stay with your broker. You're someone who use a broker. Stay with them. You're someone who doesn't use a broker. Let me shop the market.

You're not even sure if you should have a tried a broker $4,800 to try a broker. That's right. 

Steven M Weinstock: You answered my, uh, next question as to, uh, why you went flat fee instead of commission. So, uh, 

Ira Zlotowitz: that's a military, no military motive, but it's really, really the, the example I tells 'em it's half falafel. When I opened, there's one point, it was $11,000.

I'll be a whole broker. People couldn't resonate. I'll tell you the marketing thing I learned. Which is things that subconsciously we all know, but I saw in [00:12:00] cases is that when I was selling, I could be your broker for 11,000. Once someone couldn't fathom how they just did a deal for $20 million and they paid 200,000, I do that for 11.

They sign me up, wouldn't listen to anything I have to say when I'm coming to, lemme just shop it for 4,500. Oh, that makes sense. Oh, you have two. Volume makes a lot of sense. 10 hours of work. They understand the story when they couldn't understand the story. Zoned out by, and now that's where the, I get, I never in my life had inbounds.

I started getting inbound calls. 'cause people are seeing they could stay with their relationship, don't risk it, and also come 

Steven M Weinstock: Yeah, no, definitely. I mean, they're seeing that they could keep their first love with their broker. They could pay a flat fee and they're bringing, uh, other lenders, uh, to their broker.

So the broker might have a relationship with the five lenders, like you mentioned. Uh, you have, uh, relationships or you know, how to, you know, your company could search. Hundreds of lenders, or thousands of lenders, and, uh, you could really, uh, you know, help the client to help the broker, uh, do their job. It's, it's really amazing.

Ira Zlotowitz: Uh, I'll tell you interesting thing, what we found [00:13:00] in most people have the right broker, right? You, you're not an idiot. If you had a broker the last 10 years, you weren't doing the wrong thing. You didn't build your business. So Mo most cases, the goal is not to bring them to a new bank. Again, not an military motive when normally the second broker is trying to tell 'em your first broker, your first bank's a bad, you need a new bank.

No, you don't. Create the competition that your first banks and your broker motivate a little bit more. If someone was telling me to deal with this huge mortgage broker that just not to name the person, they say, I deal with this person, he gets me the best rates. I said, no, he doesn't. 'cause you don't shop him.

He could get you the best rates if you felt the pressure. The competition gets you broker to work better so that that same, their broker is gonna use a favor for your deal as opposed to use a favor on someone else's deal. So if I play my cards right, we don't end up going to my new bank. We create the competition so that you stay with your existing lender, which is healthier and better for the borrower and for those lenders.

Steven M Weinstock: Uh, you mentioned you're, you're using ai, uh, for a lot of this, a lot of people, all they know about AI is chat. GPT if they're lucky, you know, maybe they read [00:14:00] about it. A lot of people are not using ai. Sometimes they see the, you know, the auto complete and their Google search, uh, for ai. I guess Tell, tell us how you're using ai.

And how, how that's helping, uh, g parent 

Ira Zlotowitz: and the client. 

Steven M Weinstock: I, 

Ira Zlotowitz: I, I will say an interesting thing that someone just told me over the weekend that there as a real estate investor and you still have chat gt don't, don't diminish it, it just how they use chat. G pt, this person now is an LP, says now he gets real estate deal from a syndicator.

He types in the chat G PT only once 'cause he remembers you for the next time. It says, I like to invest in multifamily value add and tertiary markets, whatever. He writes with the return, da, da, da. And then he uploads the deal and he goes, does this match my criteria? If yes, yes. No. So at least it's starting point.

It gives 'em like a starting point as a level. So it's just interesting how you use it, you know, there. But I'll tell you an interesting thing, how we use it. The main point we use, like I was saying before, step two of the ingredients is it helps us identify the next lenders. So this is the part that's really fascinating.

It really makes a difference in the business. [00:15:00] Every mortgage broker. Every company. Mortgage broker has a database of the lenders they deal with, and they have a few columns after it with a notes field. So column would mention which states they lend in column two at minimum loan amount, maximum one, interest rate, so on and so forth.

What happens when a lender tells 'em, my minimum loan is 5 million, but if the borrow is very strong, if it's Steve Weinstein, I'll go down to two. Where do they store that note? But if tomorrow they come back and say, I, I have a 2 million loan, it's not gonna flag them about that. If the guy's strong, he's not gonna flag the way AI stores and absorbs data.

It could read those notes. When we have car in relationships, we have, um, email correspondence with banks on the transaction while they turn a deal down. When they like a deal, all that information is now able to get stored in a way that, that AI could read it. So when I go into my database, I have a strong borrower with the 2 million loan, it will gimme the 12 lenders that lend on that property type.

2 million plus it would say, if the guys are really strong, you want to consider this lender, because [00:16:00] that's what they told us. So it allows us to find that in between like the nuances that you, the subtleties that you'll have to, like, it's not scientific, it's artistic somewhere. It gives us that information and that plays a huge difference.

How many times a broker, I should have thought of that bank. I forgot about it. There's no more I forgot about, 

Steven M Weinstock: uh, yeah, I mean, uh, AI is great, uh, especially with the chat gt it, it, it all depends on the prompts. Uh, you give it. The more you give it, the better. Uh, I do notice that at least on the app, on the phone, it allows you to talk into it.

And when you talk, you could really just ramble and give so many details. So I find myself using it a lot. Uh, just a, a little story. I, I'm selling a, a smaller property in New Jersey and Elizabeth New Jersey, and I'm not using an attorney on it. And, uh, the attorney sent me the contract and, you know, I.

Decided to chat GPT and then gave my own prompts and the attorney writes me back saying. Chat GT is not really an acceptable method of reviewing contracts. So I actually got on the phone [00:17:00] with him and he said, oh, by the way, I use chat GPT also, but you should keep all the asterisk, you know, all the, you know, the default 

Ira Zlotowitz: they call it the M dashes, the M dash probably between you.

I'm thinking like. I'm not trying to hide it, so put them dashes, like, why are we like putting on a show? Like, just go with it, you know? 

Steven M Weinstock: So, yeah, no, I told him I, uh, and he, he was, he was funny about it. So, uh, it was just interesting that he, uh, he caught me, but, uh, I didn't mind being caught, you know. But I'll 

Ira Zlotowitz: give you an example.

You talk about the legal, and I, I, I have, I have a brother's, a top attorney, and he states as a sole practitioner and people always try to bring him into law firms and work for them. And aside from that, just the quality of life that he wants and he's knowing it. He uses a lot of these like agents and steps and automation because.

The, the reality is that, that what if, uh, you know, people, you know, I, I, I, I, I say quotes all the time that I think 80% of jobs are gone. 'cause I know AI is never replacing me and you and that I agree. It's not replacing any of us. But when you have someone that could use all the AI tools and now they could double, triple, quadruple their [00:18:00] output, the team that had 10 people only now needs two or three.

So the seven weren't replaced by ai, they were replaced by the three that could do all the work of 10. Right. So those using AI replaced those or not, so that's why like that attorney, yes, he reviewed it. He's also saved time but didn't reflect it as legal fees. You know, I spoke to this, he liked this story.

He talking about the AI on the legal side. So from, from the largest uh, law firms, I was talking to the chairman and he, he was big into, it was surprising 'cause he is over 70 and he is into ai. So it's like surprisingly, he really gets it. They invested millions in technology. He says for litigation. The way they use it, it, it absorbs all the, all the discovery documents.

'cause now everything's on WhatsApp and Slack and emails and everything under the sun. By dis, while they're doing a, a deposition, they have an, uh, an earpiece in the air, either video cameras on or Google glass. And while they're talking, it turns around and it says to them, while they're having a communication, like in the ear, like, isn't not this topic, isn't that property type.

It's crazy stuff because this is just like he says, they have to switch how they're gonna [00:19:00] start pricing things in the law firm because it's not hourly anymore. Like just the world is changing wherever we go. 

Steven M Weinstock: Yeah. Let's talk about, uh, first time investors or early investors. Uh, I think a lot of people who are gonna be watching this, uh, podcast are, you know, people who haven't invested yet and, uh, you know, they're looking to get into it.

That seems to be the, the big audience for, uh, podcasts. How should investors vet a lender or a debt broker today? 

Ira Zlotowitz: You talking about the general pa, the person who's controlling deal or the investor? He's, which investors? That's the word investor. Throws, throws off. Uh, correct. I I meant the gp by the way. G Parent is GP for General Paer and Transparency.

Steven M Weinstock: That's the name. Got it. Yeah. No, I, I meant the gp, the, the person, you know, controlling the deal or running the deal, not the, not the lp, not the limited partner. 

Ira Zlotowitz: So I think that. As a starting point. And that's that, that, again, that goes to the same reason, the TER motive on the Ency front. So obviously it solves that issue.

The starting point you have, someone has an military motive that's [00:20:00] gonna bring that information. If you don't, if you're not, if you didn't get hear and you're not using a, so it's definitely getting references. It's references. And I find that you want to get the references from who they're gonna send you and ask the tougher questions.

What issues did you have in the problem when you did have a problem? How they work it through. If I wanna talk to a few of the lenders they did business with, did the lenders like them? Sometimes the lender, I hate that guy, have no choice to do his business. But lemme tell you something, when I have a chance to, you wanna get the census, I would take your research on the references and on the lenders that do business with and you'll, you're asking questions 'cause everyone has alternative motives.

A lot of money at stake. There's a lot of jealousy. How much money is going on? Like attorneys hate brokers. Because they, they come to the closing table and they, they did all the work the last few days and this broker made one phone call and the mine maybe didn't do that much, and they got this fee 10 times what they're making.

So you can speak to people, you'll get the flavor for it, and just go in eyes wide open for the lenders. I need the same thing. I just think that, that, fortunately or unfortunately, it's very opaque. That's one of the things I wanna try to change, but transparency, [00:21:00] there's no real way to really, there's no real way to get that answered.

Resolved and getting a great, like, there's no like five star rating for a broker and how many deals they really did. And, but it's, it's your guts. Who do you feel comfortable with? Checking some references and knowing that no matter where you go, you're gonna have bumps in the road and you can't compare apples to apples because every deal's unique and every person's unique.

So when something blew up, you don't know why it blew up. And that's how, it's a tough question. 

Steven M Weinstock: Um, what's the most overlooked part of the capital stack or the financing stack? First time investors in your opinion? 

Ira Zlotowitz: So I think that the most, that what I think over overlooked, and this is where I spent millions and millions of dollars building it.

We just re, we have it on a desktop. We just released it on two. An app is that many investors bifurcate, they're equity and they debt. That's not true. It's one thing. There's a capital stack. Use the word it's capital stack. It's a hundred percent. You wanna look at every single deal. Ultimately you're playing for the most part to an IRR.

Whatever your metric [00:22:00] is, that's what you wanna look at it. So when someone comes to me and says, I want the maximum loan I could get at the, I don't care if I'm paying a higher rate, right? And I'm talking to this person on the phone, I ask, I'm just curious, by the way, what's your deal with your investors?

Those have a very good deal with my investors. I just have a split. I says, is there any pref? He says, no, there's no pref. So I said, why do you want the highest loan? 'cause if everyone tells me I should get, say you're an idiot. So if interest rates are for a low leverage deal of 5%, and a full leverage deal is six, and if you're getting high, high leverage, you're gonna seven.

Why you paying the extra 2% affects your IRR affects your, your personal return. Wouldn't you rather get the loan it at a 5% and the rest of it you're not paying a pre on it anyway, or no? You meaning look at it and you can play with the calculator. Which one works better for you if you're paying your investors?

I tell, another person tells me I want to get a loan. The lowest leverage, I want the lowest rate. Why? You're paying a prep of 8% for the difference. You rather get higher money at seven. It's cheaper than your prep. So people don't look at the whole capital [00:23:00] stack and there's no real good tool out there. So we built a tool, an uh, underwriting calculator.

It's on our website. That if you go, if you go to your parent's website, the bottom, it's a free tool thing called Map Hub or in the app store, there's an app for it. You can underwrite a deal literally in 2, 2, 3 minutes. Plug in what your purchase price is. How you split your investors are where your, where your, what your waterfalls are, and that's what you wanna play.

You wanna make sure you're playing to your IRR, if that's your number. Don't bifurcate the two things. Public opinion is to go off floaters, non floaters, it's about your deal. Take a step back holistically and look at everything. 

Steven M Weinstock: Um, definitely, uh, words of wisdom over there. You know, as somebody who's doing this, uh, a while, uh, there's so many different, uh, aspects and, you know, I've changed, uh, strategies over time and am I better off raising as much as possible or getting the lowest leverage?

Uh, but, uh, yeah, it, it's definitely, uh, definitely I think an ever changing game. Every deal is different, sometimes floating, uh, you know, floating debt works. Uh, sometimes it doesn't. [00:24:00] Um, well, listen, 

Ira Zlotowitz: I wanted just tell, like, tell to certain people, like, you know, what people are scarred with in the past. Not really relevant anymore.

Meaning not anymore. Meaning right now when rates are two, 3%, everyone was saying for years, as, you know, rates are gonna go up. Rates gonna go up, it's gonna, eh, it's then so long, it's gonna stay this way. Right? And then they got messed up with floaters. But when rates where they are now, and for the most part, the belief is it's gonna stay where it is slash go down.

Float is not the end of the world. Bobby money is not the end of the world, you know, so people have to readjust. Don't go with this. The, oh, I, I met someone who got burnt because he. What market was that in? Where did the sales rates were going? His rents were going? Like there's different risk rewards in each, in each new market.

Steven M Weinstock: Uh, correct. I mean, uh, you know, bridge debt, uh, these days, uh, is very popular because people are saying, you know, if it pencils in today, the chances of it going up are pretty slim. Chance of it going down is optimistically very hopeful. And you know, people really think it's gonna go down eventually or at least not go up.

You know, if it does go down, if the deal becomes a home [00:25:00] run, if you're able to, uh, you know, pencil the deal in today, is there still room for creativity in financing? Uh, or is it really just about the rates of the structure, 

Ira Zlotowitz: the creativity? It was never about the rates and the structure, the creativity was a little bit going back to saying before, if you're looking at everything holistically, the creativity is, Hey, it might make sense for this deal to take a low leverage from a bank that's willing to give the lowest pricing today when you're going 65% than take a mezzanine loan.

And the blended rate works out to blank, which is better for you, how you structure your, your from the IRR perspective. So that's where the creativity is in this, uh, in this market that always existed. Level of creativity. The difference is there's less of the options overall, but that concept still applies in a very big way today.

So you have certain people deciding, Hey, it's worth for me to go to a debt fund that will give up to 90% leverage at a blended rate of blank, and based on how much now I have to raise first I can buy this building. [00:26:00] I only have the ability to raise 10 million. That's all I need. Sometimes it's no, based on the structure.

If I do it this way and I think I'm selling out the deal within two years from an IRR perspective, this is better. So the creativity is not so much. In, it's, it's, it's a holistic creativity. It's again, but it starts, you have to fully understand what you want to get to and also have the math in front of you.

So many times, that's why we, we built out this tool. 'cause I'm meeting people. The most sophisticated people, they don't wanna talk the talk, but who's putting that action in the spreadsheet? They can't do it on the fly. So they're waiting to come back to the office and give it to our analyst who's gonna take two days to get 'em all the scenarios back.

Imagine while you're talking to somebody who can play with those scenarios. Interest only piece is how it works. How the equity multiplier, that's where the creativity comes in. But that's, that's gonna be the same forever. 

Steven M Weinstock: Yeah, when I started, uh, buying, uh, smaller assets in New Jersey, in oh 1, 0 2, I was doing a lot of creative financing.

My first deal, I was able to put down 10% to get a loan. Back then it was, you know, getting an 80% loan, a 10% loan, and, you know, putting, let's say 10% down on a, on a three family house. [00:27:00] But I quickly pivoted to a lot of seller financing, a lot of seller seconds, uh, sometimes a seller first. And I took that creativity aspect.

I. Even to my multifamily, uh, you know, I, I bought a 102 unit property in Cleveland, Ohio about three years ago, and I was able to get, uh, the seller to sort of hold paper, so to speak. Uh, it wasn't traditional with the second lien or anything, but he, you know, he stayed in the deal. And, you know, I used my previous experience by always asking for the seller to, to stay in the deal somehow.

And use that to my advantage when, uh, raising capital. So, uh, creativity is, is really great. Hundred percent. So, 

Ira Zlotowitz: so, I I I, that those things you're describing always existed will always exist. The difference is what level the metric is and like, you know, what are new Pres people? I have to reset those numbers.

But yeah, that's always gonna exist the same. Beyond that, there's no, um, yeah, that, that, that to say better. Yeah. That's what's gonna exist. That direction always exist. [00:28:00] 

Steven M Weinstock: Okay, we're gonna end, uh, in a minute or so. I just have a question. Uh, you've been in the business a while. Uh, you've seen some success or a lot of success.

Uh, you're definitely legendary in our world. What keeps you motivated at this stage of your career? 

Ira Zlotowitz: Um, first of all, thank you for ac compliment. The two things that keep me motivated is, one is I have a passion to be able to help and give back. And I see so many people that are. Like, yes. Well, how could you check out the right broker?

And people not getting the best financing, they think they getting the best financing. This, the whole industry is. Like a revolutionizing of the industry to be able to like, get it where the, the make it efficient, be able to help people. And that's the, the foundation of J'S model. Like ultimately the goal is to get to a point where you're not just on, when they come to an acquisition, how can I provide you that tool to make sure that when your eyes wide open and if all the tools you need to make sure you're not gonna take advantage of, and if you make a decision, it's 'cause you made a [00:29:00] decision.

It's worth the risk to buy that note, to buy that property. And not because someone like you didn't know enough information. So the transparency across the board for the GP from Tommy, it's looked at a deal to look at through the whole entire financing. But the truly, what do you wanna do with the money afterwards?

It's like, what's the goal? You raise the money here, God decides that, uh, um, this is on the right trajectory. Keep going this way. And, um, you know, as as mentioned, you were launching a, a business in the next couple weeks, a spinoff from like from Japan, where we're gonna allow the placers calling it G Placer.

We're gonna give all the data and tools for those doing placement. Whether you're a mortgage broker or whether you're doing, you're the in-house team, you're in charge of placement, giving you all the bank information, all the, the same data that we using to, to do. Parents do their work if you wanna do it yourself, how can I give those tools?

And the end of the movie goal is, is I'd like to be able to go give back and create. In, you know, in the rest of the world there's Facebook and there's there TikTok and there's all different social media platforms and the different segments of the, of the Orthodox Jewish [00:30:00] world. It's not there 'cause it's just certain levels of sensitivities that they want to have to different things that they do.

So I was fortunate enough to build out an app, remember my dad, uh uh, a site go D and for time come in, I found the person down and upgraded the technology. My goal is to build the one Jewish app from cradle to grave. And everything in between. Like why is it that when you fundraising apps, fundraising, everyone has to donate to a bunch of different platforms that exist?

Why can't one person build one platform for half a million dollars and give it to every organization? Why can be one thing like an Uber technology for, for rides and, and doing good deeds, have it in one end to end type of thing for matchmaking shit, everything along the lines. That's the vision to get there.

So that's the drive. If I, uh, you know, I, if I get there, I think that, you know, hopefully it's up to God if he decides that, uh, I do my thing. It happens. You know, it, this, you know, I, I tell people that the blessing, I, I, the thing I pray for the most now is that the humility and the clear, even clear realization of that all, it's all on, on God's hands.

As success picks up. I still [00:31:00] remember that. So if someone's listening to this podcast in 2030 and they think I've had the same thing, do me a favor. Something about say, IRA, I listen to 2025. Lemme tell you something. You're not that same guy. I better be the same guy. That's the goal. 

Steven M Weinstock: Ira, you mentioned, uh, G Placer earlier, offline.

Uh, tell me a little about G Placer. 

Ira Zlotowitz: So, G Placer, as we find that was, we're going out into the market, is two types of people that. Are not being serviced within the brand of, it's like when a's brand, it's not a competition to a broker. So when I meet somebody, my vision is I'd like to be able to be involved in every, every financing in the country.

So there's three types of owners doesn't normally use a broker, whatever they use. If they don't, they want a full-fledged broker. Like I say, Hey, my former company Easter, lemme refer you back there. Number two is to your parents. No matter what you're doing, don't you want to. Guarantee the best deal.

Mortgage assurance. Make sure you're getting the best rate. You have higher title insurance, property insurance. That's your parent. I'll help you total The term sheet, there's many mortgage brokers out there, thousands of them that they don't need full help, but they don't. [00:32:00] They might want some data tools, data tools that we have.

Just like every good mortgage broker, there's, oh, there's an in-house team that's placing deals. They don't want to go to Japan, they wanna do it themselves. They don't want in the middle, that segment. So we are giving out access. Selling two products. One product is a custom bank list for your deal, so you have that one deal that it's out of the normal box for $2,000.

We'll give you the full list, the same with the concierge, the same people that put the team together, that put the list together for, put together and sell it to any person who wants to buy it. Or for $5,000 a year, we'll give you unlimited access to our unfiltered and unconfirmed data. The same database that your parents uses.

With the AI as a starting point, which banks to go to that same raw database and then you have a human overland deal with it, that you could have access to that unlimited for the year. So this way now I walk into someone and say, you wanna go totally yourself? You're a mortgage broker. Key. Place your brand to go to.

You want to get something to shop the deal, work the deal as a broker until the term sheet your parent. If you want a full fledge broker, can I, do you mind if I refer you back to my former company? So it's three distinct [00:33:00] brands. It's not one big thing all mixed together that how in Japan first opened.

That's what people are thinking. That's G Placer. Uh, keep it very simple. Each brand does its own distinct thing and, uh, that's the goal. 

Steven M Weinstock: Okay. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. You know, your family is legendary, uh, here in, uh, New York and, uh, Jewish people all over the world know your family. Big publishers arts girl.

Uh, I myself have, uh. You know, many, many, uh, books, uh, star uh, in the house. Uh, you guys really changed the world when it comes to, uh, learning and, uh, you know, just da I know I do definitely every day, and it's always the arts grove that gets opened up and seeing there's a lot of its name is so, uh, special and, uh, you know, you guys are, are really tremendous.

You know, you, you come from great stock as they say, and. I know you're pivoted, uh, more to the business world and uh, you're doing great there. Uh, you know, like I [00:34:00] said earlier, you're legendary and you know, you're doing things to help people, uh, with the investors, you know, especially the flat fee basis is really nice.

And, uh, I'd like to see this app, uh, being built, uh, eventually. 

Ira Zlotowitz: Yeah. So the app is built. You go right now. It's working right now. While we're recording this podcast, it's, we're middle of applying to get into the app store. We had a beta users. Almost 2000 users and over 50% came back a second and third time, and we're getting into the App store.

When, so when you launch this episode, should you already be in the App store and the, so, so again, tell us the name of the app. G Parent Cody. If you're gonna search G Parent, it will be in the app store. If someone's listening to this, it's not there, send me a message, I'll get your access to it. But I can tell you that, you know, I want to just tell you like, no, you're mentioning Art Scroll book.

So the tongue in cheek is that, listen, I didn't, I didn't merit. To be able to revolutionize the fin, the, the Torah world. Hopefully I could revolution, revolutionize the financing world. That's the goal of the here, that's the take that to the end of the movie. 

Steven M Weinstock: Definitely a worthy, a worthy goal. [00:35:00] Yeah. All right, IRA, uh, that's a wrap for this episode of the the Wealth Clock with Stephen Winestock.

So if you got value from today's conversation, please take five seconds to like, follow or leave a review wherever you're listening. It helps us reach more people who are serious about building businesses, growing portfolios. Becoming better operators. If this episode made you think of someone to share, please share it.

If you know a founder or an investor or a peak performer I should have on the show, please reach out, drop a comment on YouTube or find me on LinkedIn, Steven Weinstein. I'm very, very grateful to Iris Ovitz for joining us, and I'm grateful for you listening. Ira, have a great day. Thank you so much.