The Blue Cup Podcast

Philly Grit in the South: How Vinnie DeMarco Won

The Blue Cup Podcast Episode 13

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0:00 | 55:35

Building Trust and Success in Real Estate & Business with Vincent DiMarco
Discover how Vincent DiMarco navigates the challenges of real estate investing, builds trust within his team, and balances business success with personal growth. This episode is packed with valuable insights on relationship-building, leveraging diverse capital sources, and maintaining consistency.

Key Topics:
Vincent's background growing up in Philadelphia with Sicilian roots and family influence
The importance of trust and reputation in real estate and business
Lessons learned from the 2008 market crash and how they shape current strategies
Strategies for managing and diversifying capital sources in real estate
Practical steps for new investors to get started and build a repeatable business
The critical role of consistency in success and relationship management
Insights into Charleston's real estate, food, and cultural blend
The significance of backup plans in finance and project management
Personal stories about travel, food, and family influences shaping Vincent’s approach
How to recognize opportunities and navigate market fluctuations

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SPEAKER_03

Imagine navigating the highs and lows of real estate, learning from past challenges, and building a future filled with promise. Stay tuned as we explore the secrets to thriving in the real estate world and beyond. Hit subscribe and join us on this exciting adventure.

SPEAKER_00

His name is Ross. And now he's got a podcast show.

SPEAKER_03

Welcome to the Blue Cut Podcast. Be sure to subscribe and like and click that bell. Very excited for our guest today. Vincent DeMarco Vinny is on with us today. And Vinny and I just completed a transaction. And without going in the weeds at all, it was a buy, renovate, rent, and repeat first strategy. So I bought the house, I brought it to Vinny, and I had hard money where I'm paying upwards of 15% interest. And then I can bring it to Vinny and they do a refinance for me into a long-term loan so I can rent it out. And it was, I I loved your underwriting team. Underwriters can be a pain in the butt. Yours were very uh easy to work with. And you know, there's there's always some some hair on the deal, as it says you gotta you gotta pick the hair off of it. But they were very reasonable about, and it was it was quick too. So I was I was very impressed with that business wise. And um always talk about the way we met with all of our guests, and you and I met at some real estate investing groups, um, because you were the new kid in town getting started, and uh I was helping my sister with a kitchen cabinet and remodeling business at that time, and ended up doing a kitchen remodel. So that that worked out great. And I said, Well, let me circle back when it's time for me to use some funding. I fund cities, and you know, Vinny's my guy, that's where we went from there. So we have very, very different upbringings. I am Southern Fried, and you're from Philly.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So that'll be fun. That'll be fun to talk about.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. Well, thank you for having me, Russ. Um, I appreciate the introduction and super excited to get into it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, absolutely. So tell me about growing up in Philadelphia in an Italian family.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so um, last name DiMarco, pretty much 100% Italian. Mom growing up, my mom was cooking pretty much every night in the kitchen, making homemade pastas, extremely Sicilian Italian dishes growing up. So was kind of was kind of you know super lucky to grow up in a household like that where you know you have a family that supports you in everything you do. My dad growing up, I played ice hockey. He um he was one of my coaches since I was five years old. We traveled the country, Canada, I'm pretty much all over the world playing hockey together. So me and him are extremely, you know, close knit. And um, yeah, it was just a great childhood and can't thank them enough for doing that for me.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, and I met your dad through the process of doing the kitchen. Yeah. I mean, mad respect for just how cut and dry he is. I mean, there's a thing in the south where we're kind of backhanded about things and we're, you know, nice when we shouldn't be nice. And it's not it's not that New York, Philadelphia people are rude. You're just right at the point. It's like, here's the point. Let's, you know, let's can we do this or not do this?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And I love talking to your dad about details of your project because he kept poking his nose on it. But it was very pleasant to work through, like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Just, you know, this is this and that's that. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and the child in me kind of gets embarrassed at that. Yeah, like growing up now. I I see that what you have to do to get stuff done.

SPEAKER_03

There's not a damn thing you can do about it. So you might as well just accept it. Yeah. Yeah. And he he showed a lot of respect for you too. Um he he did not feel like he was being your dad and doing it for you. He was just making sure, making sure that I was doing the right things and that you and he and everybody were doing. So I never felt like he was treating you like a child or treating me like an outsider. It was just let's let's really get to the point. And it doesn't matter whose fault it is, let's just get it right. And I I really appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03

So very solid dude. So growing up, your dad, what kind of company does he have?

SPEAKER_01

He has his own insurance agency. So he started out at AAA and then he opened his own brokerage.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Okay. That's up in Philadelphia.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I remember calling him at an insurance office. Um, and he did some real estate investing in the early 2000s, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so he uh in around like 2006, 2007, him and um some investors were investing in new construction projects in like the Four Myers, Lehigh Acres area. So my dad was raising capital from friends and family, neighbors um up in, you know, the north, and bringing that capital down south to uh kind of just start that boom that was going on in Florida at the time as far as the the construction space. Um, and we all know what happened in 2008, and it was definitely a rough time for him, and it kind of left a sour taste in his mouth with real estate. But I'm sure you also in 2008, it's a great learning experience. And everyone knows that real estate is a great way to create wealth, so it was just a great learning experience for him, and he taught me so much from it that I almost know exactly what happened in those times and kind of see it now in this market and understand what's going on. So, him going through that helped me a ton, and he has some crazy stories from the that 2008 crisis.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yep. You know, the one of the greatest things we can do is learn from someone else's experience. Yeah. It's great that he was vulnerable enough to say, here's what happened, here's what was unexpected, here's what we maybe could have done differently. But a lot of times you you can't really do anything differently. My family went through something similar. My father bought two houses in the Florida Keys, like luxury rentals, and the same thing. The market just started tanking, and he sold on the way down, but still preserved some equity. It was really smart about when he did it. My siblings and I were saying, No, don't sell it, just ride it out. Well, that that would have been the wrong decision.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Because where it bottomed out was really bad. Where he sold was pretty good.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And now we own a house in Key Largo that was bought pretty close to the bottom on the way up, and so it can work out.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, for sure. And that area is is beautiful, and I I think we're gonna continue to see that grow as baby boomers are heading down there, and people are always looking to retire in the south, whether it's South Carolina, Georgia, or Florida.

SPEAKER_03

My family's from North Carolina, South Carolina, and so, and I've been to Philadelphia, it's a beautiful city, and I was very impressed with the blend of modern art and history as you go through the city. There's just there's all kinds of cool murals and statues and all sorts of things with an enormous amount of history. And you played hockey, was kind of a center point, and the family with the um with the cooking and the is most of your family close by, like aunts and uncles and everybody is right there.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so it's funny. We we were talking about this the other night because we're planning, me and my fiance are planning our wedding, and it's just like how no one in my family ever moved out of the state. They all pretty much stayed in the Philadelphia area, and um, it's funny because my dad, I was talking to my dad last night, we're gonna have the wedding in New York, and he's like, Oh, like it's a destination wedding. I'm like, that is not a destination, like it's a two-hour drive.

SPEAKER_03

It's one state over.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and it's just like so funny to me how like they think leaving the state is so much. It's just yeah, it's very old school Italian, and it's yeah, it's super funny.

SPEAKER_03

I love it. And you're here in Charleston.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so me and my sister um were like the first. So my sister went to USC, yes, and I went to University of Tampa, and everyone in my family was like, What are you doing? I was like, I'm getting out of here because I don't want to be here like my whole life, obviously.

SPEAKER_03

You can't get a good cheesesteak in Tampa.

SPEAKER_01

No, no, not at all. So yeah, that's it's funny how things work. My brother's still in Pennsylvania, um, and then my sister's in Georgia now, and then I'm here, so okay.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

How do you like the low country?

SPEAKER_02

I love it.

SPEAKER_01

So I I I'm a big foodie. Um just growing up with my mom, cooking all the time. I yeah, I was never ordering off the kids' menu. I was five years old ordering filet mignon and chicken parm, and people thought I was dude, but um, me and my my fiance love going out to dinner here. So many great restaurants. Everyone's so nice, as you know. Um, and we love it. We think it's somewhere that we definitely want to raise a family and you know have kids.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, it's a great. I mean, I'd the only the only city that I would cities I would personally put over Charleston on food, just my opinion, are New York and New Orleans. Nice. Other than that, to me, Charleston's number three. Yeah. And anything you want. How's the Italian food in Charleston?

SPEAKER_01

It's pretty good. It's it's nothing crazy. We went to a place called Cota del Peche on Isle of Palms. Very happy with that place. We like Melfi's pretty good. I didn't love Palado. Uh I also like Costa, which is downtown as well.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I haven't been there. Yeah. Melfi's is pretty, I mean, it's solid. It's not, you know, it's not mama's food from Philadelphia, but it's yeah, it's solid. Yeah. So yeah, it's a pretty good place to land. So I've never been in New Orleans, so it's do you go a lot?

SPEAKER_01

Is that why you said that?

SPEAKER_03

I've been well, my wife is from um the Mississippi Gulf Coast, about an hour from New Orleans. Got it. And and even before that, you know, for a birthday trip, I asked uh girl I was dating back then, she said, Where do you want to go? I said, New Orleans is my first choice. I've only been there three or four times. Okay. If you especially I mean it's very seafood based, but if you like seafood, the um the quality is just the flavor. Yeah. It's unbelievable. And I feel the same way about New York, like with Chinatown and Little Italy. You know, you eat in those places, it's like a different level.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

For me, of Chinese food or Italian food or from what I can get in the deep south.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So a hundred percent. And I think a lot of the influence in Charleston restaurant scene has been from New York, from Philadelphia, and people have been bringing their business down here. It's it's been really cool to see.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's a pretty cool blend of the low country, because my my whole family kind of a weird story because I grew up in the mountains in Virginia, but we didn't belong there. My whole family is in Beauford County or Charleston County. Yeah. Period. Like everybody. Yeah. So this is home, and I love the way some of the restaurants are blending below country with some of the the New York and Philly influences. So it's a pretty cool thing. Do you get to travel much?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So I've been uh we did Italy two summers ago. I was in London this year, Paris, and then we go to St. Martin a lot. I don't know if you've ever been to St. Martin in the Caribbean. They also have a great food scene. It's kind of like a Dutch and a French side to the island, which is cool. But Italy, Italy's my favorite. We did Sicily for 14 days and it was just beautiful.

SPEAKER_03

So St. Martin has a lot of French food? Yes. French food. Yeah. Really? Yeah. I haven't known them.

SPEAKER_01

It's very interesting. Yeah. Have you been to Italy? Been to where? Italy.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. Been to Italy.

SPEAKER_01

Got it. Nice. Yeah. Sicily is very different. So it's a lot of like Persian influence rather than Italian. So it's a much different culture and food in Sicily. Much more laid back than I would think, you know, like a southern amalfi coast or things like that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah. So you're able to go to Italy once in a while.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we did. Yeah, we flew into Venice. Venice is great. And then did 14 days in Sicily. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Oh wow. I haven't been to Sicily. I we went to various smaller Italian places. Of course, Tuscany is amazing. Yeah. Then I really enjoyed Rome. I mean, for a for a city city, we ate it just kind of sidewalk cafe type places, and the food's phenomenal. I mean, they're making the pasta as you sit and wait for the table. They're making the pasta right there in the window. So it's hard to beat.

SPEAKER_01

It's awesome. And you, as everyone knows, you can go and eat as much pasta as you want and not feel crappy after, like here, you know.

SPEAKER_03

Right, right, because it's so pure. I mean, it's there's no preservatives. They just made it ten minutes ago.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, I loved I loved visiting Italy and we'll go back. I love Spain too. If you haven't been to Spain, Barcelona is awesome. Really? Very cool place. Paella is the food. Yeah. And there's the Picasso Museum and all sorts of things that we enjoyed.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I've never been to Spain. When we were in London, we went to um I forget what it's called, but this it's this famous market in London where they have a bunch of cultures that come together. Yeah. And they have a big thing at Payo and they got um, you know, sandwiches from Italy. They have all this stuff, and it's really cool to see the blend of cultures come together, which London is a great food scene as well. Uh so yeah, it's it was a fun trip.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that was um I haven't been to London, but one of the highlights of Barcelona was the market. Market it's huge. And they have prepared food, or you can buy a leg of lamb and take it home and cook it. Or I mean, they it's such a different um culture from what we have here with our you know, piglywigly supermarket. It's a very different, and I I enjoyed being exposed to that, and um amazingly inexpensive compared to I feel like our cost of living is so much higher than some of those European areas. Yeah, a hundred percent. Is your family Sicilian?

SPEAKER_01

My mom's side is, yes.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, yeah. So uh I don't understand it, but I I've heard those are two different cultures.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so it's a lot of like Persian influence from an island that's nearby. They almost like took over Sicily and then moved all the Italians out of it. Really? So it's a much different culture, it's a different language. Like my fiance's father speaks fluent Italian and then he's in Sicily and he really didn't understand anyone, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_03

So Yeah, that's wild.

SPEAKER_01

It's a much different culture and the food's much different. It's it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, what what did you say the influence was? I missed the uh Persian. Persian.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, Persian.

SPEAKER_03

Really? Yeah. So how does that influence the food and the culture?

SPEAKER_01

There's just some different dishes. There's this nice chickpea dish that they make, other food they make um spleen sandwiches. I don't know if you've ever had one of those. So that's a dish. And then the people are just much different, they're darker toned, uh different language, like I said, and it's it's a cool blend of you know, some Italian people there, and then a lot of the Persians as well.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's fascinating. I know in France, in particular, we noticed from northern France to southern France the people are so different. Yeah, almost like two different countries. Yeah. And then Sicily is an island. If I have my geography correct, it it's an island not far from Italy. I mean, you're just off the coast of Italy. Yeah, but they they've developed a really different culture, it sounds like.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, yeah. It's it's really cool. And there's a volcano there, Mount Etna, um where there's wineries everywhere. It's it's really cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's something I learned in Tuscany, and then we went to California this year, that wine grapes can only grow on five percent of the planet surface because it needs a certain type of soil drainage, certain amount of rainfall, and not too much rainfall. I mean, it's it was fascinating hell because we visited vineyards in Tuscany and we drove by them in France. We didn't really stop at any in Napa Valley in California. It has that same sort of mild, dry climate that sounds like Sicily. And I remember the soil drainage was really important when you talk about volcanic. I'm a big gardener, so I think about enough water, not enough water for plants. So that soil drainage with the volcanic rock would make a lot of sense.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And and that Mediterranean climate, because it I mean the whole time we were there it was it was um September, early September, and it was hot, you know, not to us. We're South Carolinians not hot, but it was you know full heat in the middle of the day. But it is a dry heat. Yeah. And then cool morning and evening. So you could really see how um things like tomatoes and grapes would would thrive.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And uh olive trees, right? Olive trees.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I I came home and bought an olive tree and put it in my yard. See what happened. How's it how's it doing? Is it growing yet? It's he he's he's maturing well, no olives yet. Yeah. He is definitely hanging in there.

SPEAKER_01

I'll have to come over and steal some off. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03

I'll let you know when I have some. Yeah. I um so this is my my ridiculous nature, and everybody who knows me well knows this. If we're hiking through the woods and I see a berry, I'm gonna taste it. Just and my wife is like, don't eat that, you're gonna get sick. And it's like, I'm not eating it, I'm just tasting it.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So we're waiting for our table at a Italian cafe, left and right, and picked a nice black olive off the tree and ate it, and it's disgusting. Because they have to marinate for 11 months. I yeah, looked it up later. It's like, it's 11 months of marination and vinegar and oil before you can eat them. It's like, God, that was terrible.

SPEAKER_01

That's funny. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And that's my sister is the same thing. Like, why do you just pick random things off trees and think you're gonna eat them? They're not.

SPEAKER_01

I would never I personally I could I couldn't do that. I I'd be like, is this thing poisonous? Am I gonna die? Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

So I hear that you're recently engaged. Yeah. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. I I appreciate it. Maybe um, so I met her when we were at school at the University of Tampa down in Florida, and we've been dating for over four years now. We've owned a house together for two years. Her family's awesome, very Italian as well. So yeah, we I thought it was a great time to bend the knee and finally make it official. So um, super excited about that. She's great. She lets me get work done when I need to get work done, and she's a great supporter.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Have you set a wedding date? We're thinking um August of next year, it's looking like. So pretty soon. It's gonna be in under a year.

SPEAKER_03

Um, I heard it's a destination wedding in New York.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah, for for my side of the family, they have to drive two hours. That's a destiny. Is she from New York? Yeah, she's from Westchester, New York. Yep.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I have a good friend, had a good friend, just died in April, was in Westchester for many years. So I actually have several friends who have lived there over time. Beautiful, beautiful place.

SPEAKER_01

Beautiful, and 45 minutes from the city, it's yeah, it's a great area.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Talk about what you do in your business and how how that affords you the lifestyle that you can go to Italy and you can go to New York for your wedding. And that's kind of something we like to weave through is you know, what people can do to have a rewarding career and a rewarding lifestyle.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. I guess I'll I'll start out with the beginning. So when I was down in Tampa, our founder of iPhone Cities came in and pitched uh this company that I was interning for on a townhome project. And uh the company's based in Philadelphia, their headquarters are in Philly. So me and the founder kind of hit it off, and he was like, What do you got after school? Are you gonna stay here? What's your plan? And I really didn't have much going on other than that internship. So he offered me the opportunity to either move to Charleston, Austin, Texas, or Fort Lauderdale. And um, me and my now fiancee in between probably Austin and here. Um, and then her sister is at the College of Charleston. She's so we ended up picking here. And my job would be to manage all of South Carolina for the company. Yeah. Um, so thankfully, Charleston is a very like close, tight-knit real estate community. Um we'll admit the first six months it was pretty tough to break into. The first six months were definitely brutal. I had the founders calling me being like, what are you even doing down there? Like, we're not closing any deals. Who are you talking to? Like, who do we need to set meetings with? Um and then after the six months, it just it blew up. Um, you know, staying in this market. Being, as you know, being someone that's trustworthy, respectable, it's super important for your business. And I think it's kind of helped me grow the book of business that I have today. So that's kind of the beginning.

SPEAKER_03

And you got dogs barking on the background. What kind of dogs do you have?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so I have um a golden doodle that we got. She's about to turn two in November. Um, and then my fiance's college dog, which is a cockoo named Millie. Um, she's gonna be she's almost four. So we got Coda, who the golden doodle, we got her. to kind of be friends with Millie and they love each other, so it's been it's been fun. Yeah, I was a lot, but it's worth it.

SPEAKER_03

I was awakened at 6 45 this morning. My dogs usually bark, but they were singing the song of their people and oxen's technically a hound. And there's there's one particular fire truck siren or something that just sets them off. Yeah and they howl for like 10 minutes. That was 645 this morning. So time to get up.

SPEAKER_01

Same thing here whenever they hear the trash come by whenever someone closes a car door it's just yeah it's it's a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah the barking is normal but about once a month they'll do that howling. It's um I mean it sounds like a very small wolf pack. Yeah. Yeah that's funny. So yeah that's fun. They're fun. So do you have any trips trav uh trips or travel planned for this year?

SPEAKER_01

Not at the moment. I'm going up to Philly for our Christmas party. We're gonna do probably like a week and a half up in New York and Philadelphia for the holiday. So it'll be good to see all the family. And then just planning for the wedding I think that's gonna be the main priority and then obviously the honeymoon I've been looking at too so yeah have you decided where you're going to buy any we're thinking about either doing like two weeks in Japan. So you're like doing a week in Tokyo and then a week relaxing at like a beach resort or um maybe Hawaii or Greece. That's kind of what we're narrowing in on.

SPEAKER_03

Well wow this that all sucks I wouldn't want to do any of those so yeah no I'd I would be hard to choose.

SPEAKER_01

I know so we're we're thinking about it. I think Japan would be awesome.

SPEAKER_03

I've never been so yeah I hear good things.

SPEAKER_01

Apparently somebody slammed a car door yeah that's exactly what it is yeah I'm familiar that's why I do this at the office and not at home because my dog should be making noise too yeah no I thought about um doing a co-working spot to work during the day but they're expensive they're very expensive.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah they they can be yeah um the home where we are is is quite reasonable if you wanted to look into the and I I won't spit out numbers and that sort of thing but I will give a plug to the home we're recording we have a media room we have a conference room we have a golf simulator and then the co-working space and I use the printer to print one page I try not to print up a lot of ink but I needed a page for this so I would be probably stuck in the golf simulator all day just be in the golf simulator all day yeah it's hard to resist sometimes for sure.

SPEAKER_01

That's the thing about Charleston the the the golf is just awesome. Like I'm a big golfer so I I'm playing about once a week at this point. Oh wow where do you play I do so I'm I live in Park West so I play like Dunes West Rivertown a lot Charleston National those three are kind of the main ones that I've been playing okay yeah and then the Muni if I could ever get a tea time but it's tough.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah the last time I played the Muni was with Dusty Keefe who you know and James um Hickey my acquisitions guy and I was like let's play the Muni we'll just keep it easy and this was three or four years ago and there were um there were seven holes open because they were remodeling it. Yeah it was like the worst round of golf ever. It's a nice course I mean today I would go play for sure but I should have done my research ahead of time because we showed up at the clubhouse and it's like well there only seven of the 18 holes are open because we've got bulldozers and and they've done a really good job on it. So what you just played the seven holes twice or like kept going around so you played eight we got frustrated and quit we played the seven holes and went home because it was a lot of it was a lot of you know going through construction sites to get but it it's a great course and today it's even better because of all the work they did.

SPEAKER_01

And it's affordable like it's the only affordable course in Charleston so yeah it's public it's affordable they have a great hamburger yeah restaurant at the end at the end of the round.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. It's funny I had a neighbor who used to live or a friend who lived right behind it and he said I'll just go to the club and get a burger and not even play golf. Yeah that's funny that the Muni is is a nice course. So let's go back in time and we talked about you know you're growing up in in 2008 you were how old? I was eight years old I was born in 2000 so gotcha okay so your your dad had invested in the Florida market and took a beating as all of us did. It's an eight so what do you remember about that?

SPEAKER_01

A lot of crazy stories his um his business partner ended up going to jail for about five years. Another business partner of of him killed himself a few years later. So it's like there's there's a lot of crazy stories that come along with it. Kind of like the high level view is my dad was raising a ton of capital up in the north to bring it down there and his business partner was taking that capital and buying yachts and buying planes instead of putting it into the projects where you have projects that are halfway done and then the market takes a downturn and it's just sitting right and all that capital is elsewhere. So that's what that's what they ran into and it was a major issue obviously for my dad because he's raising money from our neighbors and friends and family and they're like where's our money? Yeah. It was a yeah it's crazy.

SPEAKER_03

So one of the partners went to to prison for fraud.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah yeah so he was taking money that was supposed to go into the deals for the construction and putting it elsewhere into his personal use.

SPEAKER_03

So in your career that's a lesson learned to watch where the money goes. Yeah and to track it and I know as a borrower and a lender I see the as a borrower I see the lenders being much more strict about you know we're giving you a draw. Yeah send us photos tell us where where did that money go? Yeah that's really it's important so you don't end up in that situation with somebody who's defrauded the defrauded the lenders and gone to jail. Five years that's pretty serious.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah and it's definitely tightened up in the lending space like all of our draws now are geotagged to the property pictures have to be clear. We're only really funding stuff if it's in like we will fund 50% if like windows are on the site but we're not gonna give you all the money until they're you know in because you could take those windows to another job site and use them elsewhere. So it's yeah it still happens today but it not as much as it could have back then.

SPEAKER_03

Well you're you're prepared for it and it's not gonna happen as much and then you said an another partner created um committed suicide.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah yeah um so he was the other partner was kind of in with the county commissioners. Yeah they're also taking that money to go to dinners with the commissioners and trying to learn where the the growth is going to be in the area so they can buy the land, things like that. Yes. So I don't know exactly why you did it but it was probably a lot of the pressure from what happened over the last three years I would think.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah it's it's a lot of pressure and a lot of mourning of the loss of something you expected to happen that didn't happen.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Well I'm glad your dad pulled through it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah it's it was um I think over the last 10 to 15 years is it was just a lot of like you know pulling yourself up by the boot traps saving money and you know making your character right again. Right. So he's excited to get back in real estate once he sells the company he's gonna probably do some stuff with me. It's something that he's super passionate about so he's excited to get back into it.

SPEAKER_03

Very cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah timeline for that he's been trying to sell the business this year he's got some offers so probably in the next two years he'll make the move to either he's looking in St. Augustine Florida or here right now so that's um that's gonna happen probably in the next two or three years.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah so I'm not real familiar with the insurance business um how many employees does he have what what does that kind of look like yeah so he has probably about 12 employees two or three guys on the sales side some account managers and in-house underwriters and that's about it. They they run pretty thin so him and his brother are the two owners and so they're managing a lot of the day to day gotcha I'm the last person to ask about insurance like whole we'll be in car rides on the way home from hockey games and he's like trying to teach me about insurance and I it goes one in through one ear out to the other.

SPEAKER_03

So like to this day I I really don't understand all the stuff he does yeah it's like yeah dad whatever yeah I'm like all right it's insurance it's boring come on yeah yeah so um your relationship with your dad again I was very impressed with your father talking to him in person and on the phone. How do you think he influenced what you're doing now?

SPEAKER_01

A lot definitely a lot before I went to college we did like a college tour in Florida where I I looked at probably five or six schools and he was like we want you to go to Florida because the real estate market and we want you to learn about it. We want you to get your hands dirty with internships and working with companies that are smaller so you can be in meetings where you're talking to civil engineers, talking to appraisers. So like that's what I did my junior and senior year in college and he really pushed that on me and I think it definitely helped kickstart my career. But we did the Florida tours University Tampa's campus was beautiful. So right when I saw that campus I picked it and that that market from my freshman year to when I graduated grew so much and it's still growing so like seeing that at 18 19 20 years old was definitely special.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah it is my uh my mentor lives in St. Petersburg and has been in Tampa he kind of moves back and forth from Tampa to Mexico to California and then back to Tampa. So I think he's in in St. Pete right now it's a great area. Beautiful beautiful town and a great real estate market and we had a podcast guest on Chris Aletta move from Charleston they had lived in Tampa moved to Charleston and his wife was like this is not tropical enough for me. Yeah they moved back to Tampa and he's done really really well with house flipping and rentals and all sorts of things in Tampa.

SPEAKER_01

So it was a good place for you to land. It was yeah it was um that skyline grew a ton when I was there and then obviously I think the sports had a huge influence on that Tom Brady went to the Bucks won a Super Bowl the hockey team there won two or three Stanley Cups when I was there so it was a lot of fun and that that city grew a ton.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah it's amazing that a um a Florida hockey team would be the Stanley Cup runners. Yeah what you would expect.

SPEAKER_01

And then you have the Panthers who are in Fort Lauderdale that just won last year so it's like it's just funny to me how it's happening. Then you have all the diehard fans in Canada for the you know maple leafs and the Canadians that have been waiting for a cup for 20 plus years.

SPEAKER_03

So it's fine. Yeah. Yeah I assume you grew up a Flyers fan.

SPEAKER_01

I did yeah it's been misery the last 10 15 years but yeah thankfully I have the Eagles and the Phillies they've been doing good. But yeah that's the one thing about Charleston that is a downside the the pro sports I I kind of miss. Yeah. So I wish we had that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah when I uh I lived in St. Louis for five years and during that five years they won the World Series at least once maybe twice. Yeah and the the women in my office knew more about baseball than I did. And everybody was like listening to we had to work Saturdays a lot of times so people are listening to the games in their office and they were like you're from South Carolina who's your baseball team I was like we don't have a baseball team and they said what well who's your football team we don't have a football team. Yeah who's your hockey team I said well there's the stingrays and they were like that's crazy I mean they were so sports obsessed my buddy Kevin that I worked with was like what'd you do this weekend? He said I sat on the couch and watched sports in the basement all weekend long and to me that was insane. Yeah and to him it was insane that I didn't get that. Yeah they grew up with that yeah South Carolina's different I mean we have very different advocations it's not not like Philadelphia or St. Louis or and I had really enjoyed blues hockey.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah St.

SPEAKER_03

Louis were I can't remember if they I don't think they won the championship but they were in the running every year I lived there. I mean they they were real in the playoffs every year and that was fun to see. And it's fun to go to a a Cardinals game live but I can't bear to watch it on TV.

SPEAKER_01

No.

SPEAKER_03

It's just not the same thing.

SPEAKER_01

You couldn't pay me to watch a full baseball game. Unless it's like playoff baseball. Yeah. No I I wouldn't but I've been to that stadium in St. Louis it's awesome.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah it's a great um the old one probably the new one yeah while I was there they built the new stadium. Got it while I I got to go to one game in the old stadium and then one game in the or several games in the new stadium.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So that's a baseball town man they went nuts when they won the World Series it was um it was crazy.

SPEAKER_01

And I I remember that yeah it was yeah that was um who was on that team Carpenter that was what 2000 like seven to twenty twelve at that era I moved there in two thousand six and left in twenty eleven.

SPEAKER_03

Got it yeah okay so maybe two thousand seven or eight yeah and do you see any possibility do we get a pro team of any kind near us?

SPEAKER_01

I don't see it I mean you have Charlotte I would see like something coming in like Jacksonville before like the Charleston area Jacksonville Florida. Got Atlanta that's close Charlotte so I just don't see anything coming into the Carolinas or South Carolina anytime soon at least yeah Ryan's been telling me there are rumors of a NFL team coming this way but I don't I don't know where we'd put them yeah like what I guess Charleston's a big enough city population wise but like you said like a lot of the people that grew up here and lived here they're just big college football fans they don't have a team yeah yeah yeah we're crazy about college football and again my friends in St.

SPEAKER_03

Louis were baffled like I mean there's Mizzou University of Missouri's really good football team yeah but nobody cared because because you had you had uh the Rams left St. Louis right after I moved there. But we had football, baseball and hockey yeah the hockey and baseball teams were fantastic. Rams didn't do that well and they moved back to LA Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

What whose barbecue do you like better St. Louis or Charleston?

SPEAKER_03

Whose what? Barbecue Charleston by far. Okay. There was one place in St. Louis called Super Smokers and well two places it was like Lloyd's downtown which is one of those that they open eleven and you better be at the door at 10 yeah because he's gonna be sold out of robes you know at 1110 yeah that place was good and super smokers I liked which was a city but Charleston I mean we have such a variety yeah the St. Louis barbecue is good but it I'd prefer actually prefer eastern North Carolina over either one but Charleston has good barbecue. I think Charleston goes head to head with like Austin I'm getting dirty looks from Ryan because I mentioned North Carolina barbecue my mother's from North Carolina I grew up on that.

SPEAKER_01

That's funny. No I think we go head to head with like Austin Texas barbecue yeah it's pretty close.

SPEAKER_03

Austin um my mouth is watering it's just I know um yeah in Austin it's different I mean it's just a Texas barbecue is just different. I love it. Yeah yeah it's a completely different thing from Carolina barbecue. Yeah to be the I don't know what they do to the brisket in Texas but it's it's amazing. Yeah and I've had some good brisket here but in Austin it's like how is this even real? So good. Yeah a hundred percent yeah I gotta try um I've been out to the Palmyra barbecue definitely get the beef cheeks yeah I see that on so on uh Instagram all the time and I just I need to get out there beef cheeks the chicken and the barbacoa and palmyra's only open certain days of the week and my wife is a Montessori school principal and she's super curious so the owner of the restaurant came to the table at Palmyra his name is Hector Hector came to the table says everything okay blah blah blah and she said she started just barraging him with questions because I have a ton of photos on the wall of his grandmother holding a shotgun and you know all his family is and uh people that he's cooked with and all boards as he he's won. Yeah and so she said can we see your smokers and he said yeah finish your lunch and then I'll take you on and he took us out in the smokehouse and he's got these massive custom made smokers with like a the lid so heavy it has a counterbalance on the back. Yeah yeah and and Beth was asking him you know tell me the whole process and so he went through well this is how we do the cheeks this is how we do the ribs this is how we do the chicken how many hours you know what time they start so they they start some stuff at midnight because they open at 11 a.m. They start some things at 5 a.m because you don't want them overcooked yeah he went through the whole thing with us that's a that's an experience it's a really small place but the food is exceptional. His I think it was his mother and his niece and the you know several people behind the counter were family.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah that's that's nice of him to do that giving giving away his secrets it's nice.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah yeah yeah well I mean I couldn't duplicate what he's doing so he can yeah he can give away those secrets. But he comes from the Texas barbecue via Puerto Rico. He grew up in Puerto Rico worked in Texas for years and then came to Charleston. Wow yeah it's definitely worth checking out that's awesome. Yeah I gotta check it out I need to my mouth's watering as well I think they're only open Thursday to Sunday or something like as a barbecue joint typically is yeah is that somewhere where you have to get there like before they open and wait in line or not anymore. When it first opened yes but not anymore um but it they sell out like I I went in there once somebody said try the chicken and they were sold out of chicken by the time we got there. Wasn't disappointed because there's plenty of good things to eat but yeah they do sell out. I see the uh beef cheek tostadas they look so good yeah that's what I would get yeah the way he blends with Puerto Rico um I had a roommate years ago who was Puerto Rican and learned a little bit about their food and their culture. So the way Hector blends Puerto Rican with Texas with the low country is is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So it's worth checking out.

SPEAKER_01

For sure sweet.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah we started that conversation with St. Louis Barbecue and went we did a little tour of the south with the I told you I could talk about food all day so yeah absolutely so what is your why? I mean why why do you get up every day and do what you do?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah um it's a great question. I think a lot of it has to do with helping people like there's nothing that makes me feel better than closing alone and helping someone get their first flip done you know adding to their rental portfolio helping them grow the business where they want to be um and then it's also just building an empire of my own. At 24 years old I think having this job has helped me kind of look at all aspects of real estate and from the investor's view, from the lender's view from so many different aspects it's helped me kind of gain this Rolodex of stuff to be able to go ahead and do my own stuff in the next five years to build an empire and build generational wealth for my family. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah I love it. And having done business with you it shines through you're very good at communicating I always knew what was going on there's great communication which as as a as a client or a customer I don't know which one I am um really really appreciate that. So I like you immediately when I met you and I think that you mentioned it earlier we do business with people that we know like and trust. Yep and that's what it takes. Yeah first I need to know you I kind of need to like you and then most importantly I need to trust you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah and so we're we're there the other yeah the first the first year like gaining trust from everyone was the hardest part. Yeah I think like there was loans where I was like if we don't get this done like everyone's gonna know and everyone's gonna hate me and no one's gonna want to do loans with me. So like we found ways to get it done. So it's yeah it's that first year is super important.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah it is my um one of my mentors said you think about your business you build a rocket ship and you build it you build it you build it you fuel it and then you light it and it sits there and just rumbles and takes off very very slowly. Yeah. But once you can get it up in the atmosphere or out of the atmosphere then the orbit's easy yep much easier. You have to correct it and you know maintain it but it's that initial breaking gravity's pull getting in the door Charleston's uh um as you said We have a fantastic community of investors here, but it it like any place is kind of a closed system like people we're doing business with.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

You had to break in.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. It's um I totally get that. It's like you said, the trust, you know them, you know that they'll get it done. So, like for people to give me a shot at 23 years old, not really knowing much about it. It was a it was huge. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, definitely. Well, you've done very, very well. And congratulations on the upcoming wedding.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. The destination wedding.

SPEAKER_03

Your house looks great. I saw some pictures online of the bathrooms and getting it all wrapped up. So super cool to be 24 years old and have a nice house in a nice area and a great job. Reaching out to people who are watching or listening, we like to let people know that anybody can do what you do if they'll just take the steps that you take.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So can you talk about that a little bit?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, I think it's like you said, taking the step is one. Um, and then my motto is just consistency. The last two years, every morning I'm at my desk at 8 30 a.m. making cold calls. That's just what I do, and then I'm consistent with it. It's what gets you business. So the consistency has been super important for me. Um and then just like not like my first six months, so many times, I was just like about to give up. And um it was tough for me to like see the light at the end of the tunnel. So I think that consistently consistency helped me, you know, just put my head down, not worry about anything else except closing business and um get me to where I wanted to be, which is where I am now. But there's always more goals to hit. So that consistency and just enjoying the journey, I think is is the best way to think about it. Like we've talked about many times. I think there's a book called Trophies where you get a trophy, you hit your goal, and you're sitting there and you're not happy, you're not, you know, feeling any joy when at the end of the day, the joy is in the journey, and enjoying that is the most important part.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, the trophy effect by Michael Knitti.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that's a good one. So I found myself in your position. I'm 30 years older than you are, but 25 years ago I found myself in that position of six months with a new company when I moved to St. Louis. Yeah. And they were paying me a draw against future commissions. It was a straight commission job, but there was a draw, so I could eat. Yeah. Feed my family for six months. And the um the general manager called me in his office and said, Okay, you know, Dave and Gary want to know what's going on because you haven't sold anything in six months. And he said, What do you have? So I went, uh he said, Bring all your folders from your desk and we sit down. So we went through and I showed him I'm gonna sell this and this and this and this and this and this and this in the next month to two months, two months maximum. And he kind of laughed and he was like, Go back to work. He said, They're there, he said, I'm not the least bit worried because I had a track record before that, yeah, with another company. And he said, Gary and Dave just want to know that you're not, you know, just I said, I I can't live on the draw, I gotta make these commissions.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03

The draw is barely enough to keep the lights on. And so I'm motivated and I showed him, and he he was literally belly laughing, like, just just go back to your desk, go to work. Yeah. Because of that consistency of every conversation is critically important. Yeah. Every single one is critically important. And I get lazy and forget that sometimes. So it's good to hear from you about the consistency, and everything builds on everything else.

SPEAKER_01

Yep. And I that's a trait that I think I got from my dad. He's consistent in everything he does in his life, and that's I think why I look up to him and and why I um have that motivation.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, he's a fireball.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. He's yeah.

SPEAKER_03

He really is a ball of energy. You're very laid back. Your dad is just like I didn't get that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I didn't get that. I wish I had that gift, but I I didn't get it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I mean he's very pleasant. It's not it's not upsetting or anything, but he's just like, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. And the 10 minutes I spent with him in person and you know, a little time on the phone. It's like, all right, good. How's it, you know, and I'm I'm trying to keep up with him. Yeah. But he's a dynamo for sure.

SPEAKER_01

After like a 10-minute phone call with him, I'm like ready to take a nap or something. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_03

Well, he instilled that consistency in you. And as an insurance, somebody in the insurance business, I know there's a ton of building that business um to get anywhere. And the mortgage business, too. I mean, you're in kind of a unique kind of mortgage business building your customer base, and you know, I'll be a repeat customer, and that's that's really the best thing any of us can hope for.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Even in my um, in my flipping and back in the wholesaling days, I bought um two houses from a woman who was a nurse because her mother passed away and then her brought brain injury on the job and needed to go and do assisted living. So once I bought the first house from her, she sold me the second house. And then we had a guy we bought seven houses from.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Somebody else we bought eight. It's that that repeat business is and you'll do that. I mean, I'm sure you've got lots of people who are coming back because the service is so good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, if if I'm executing on my end and you guys are executing on your end, we do as much as you know there is.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, you're definitely providing value, and everybody in your company's been easy to work with.

SPEAKER_01

No, thank thank you for that. I it means a lot. And um at the end of the day, it's the borrowers like you that are easy to work with that makes me get up in the mornings.

SPEAKER_03

I try, but I'm not the most meticulous record keeper.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But I I do the best I can.

SPEAKER_01

It's all about the organization. As long as you're organized on your end and get docs over in a timely manner, the deals get to the closing table quick.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, definitely. Getting the getting the signal from Ryan.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, we're at an hour. Jeez.

SPEAKER_03

We'll see right see what's next. Yeah, we try to go try to go a bit over an hour. Oh, I love this. It's a great question. What is it that you wish more borrowers knew?

SPEAKER_01

Wow. Jeez. I don't want to give a stupid answer. Let me I gotta think about this.

SPEAKER_03

Take your time, looking at it.

SPEAKER_01

It's gonna sound interesting, but like for a lot of the new borrowers I talk to, I wish they knew how much capital is out there and how many different types of lenders there are. Um, because I talk to people every day that are talking to me about doing their first deal. And um, for us, it's tougher to do deals where the borrower doesn't have experience. So, like, I'm glad to make introductions to private lenders and hard money lenders that don't have an issue with that. So, like being able to have a diversified capital stack of lenders is probably the most important thing you can have, in my opinion. And every lender should have every borrower should have more than one lender. Because you never know if that capital is going to go dry the next day, and then you're sitting there at the closing table losing on a deal. So having a diversified group of lenders is super important.

SPEAKER_03

I love that. I have been pretty successful with private lenders over the years because my coach drilled that into me from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

As a matter of fact, Tim said, I think I'm quoting this correctly, he had done hundreds and hundreds of deals on department buildings, houses, and had never used hard money at all. All private lenders. Crazy. So he he really taught us how, and I'll I'll share this with the audience, building on what Vinny shared, is you already listening, watching, you already know people who are perfect private lenders. They don't know it and you don't know it. So making that connection and the big mental shift that I had to make at the beginning was I'm not begging them for money. Yes. Good return on your investment secured by real estate in one of the best markets in the country with a promissory note and a mortgage, just like a bank. So, you know, Joe that I'm talking to and saying, Do you know anybody who might be interested in something like that? Not going to be him directly, but do you know anybody? And that has worked for me in several ways where people will say, No, I don't really care about that or understand. People will say, Well, I'd like to hear more about that. Or literally, four months ago, I had somebody say, I I understand what you're talking about, I'm topped out, but my brother wants to do that. And literally his brother what became my lender. So having conventional lenders, I think you're more of a creative lender, and then the hard money lenders and private lenders. The private lenders are gold. Yeah. As you said, I love that you brought that up because you could see that as competition for yourself, but it really isn't. It's an augmentation of what you do.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. 100%. You want to have relationships in place if a case that ever happens, you know.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah. With without exaggeration, I was lying in bed at 3 a.m. thinking about what's my plan B for several situations.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And what's the plan B? What's plan B? And Dusty Keefe, who's my coaching partner and a good friend, just talks about that all the time. It's like, not everything works the way you think it's gonna work. So let's go full steam on plan A until it, you know, it's obvious that that's not gonna work. Then what's plan B and maybe plan C? And I think that's the point you were making is have having multiple avenues. I've not heard of I've I've not experienced that, and I hope to never experience that as a borrower. You're trying to get a project on and you submit a draw request and the your lender's out of business.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's a nightmare. So having a backup plan and being able to so you were able to re five people out of those.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, because they they have so much equity in the deal from the work they've done. Most of the time they didn't have to bring cash to close our loan, so it it works out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yeah, that's that's really good knowledge. I d I appreciate you sharing that. Another thing that I've done just a couple of times is pull a second mortgage if the rehab becomes more than we thought it was going to be, but there's plenty of equity there. And I've paid off. I don't have any outstanding second mortgages right now. I've paid so, but it is it can be a tool or refinancing, like I did with you, is a a great tool that I don't think people always think about. You get very tunnel vision. So I think you brought up a great point. That's something people need to know.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, 100%.

SPEAKER_03

All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Vinny. Of course. Enjoy talking to you. Again, congratulations on the upcoming wedding. Thank you. And all your success in business.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate it. Thank you guys so much for having me. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. And thanks to the audience for watching or listening. And this has been the Blue Cup Podcast. Make sure that you like and subscribe. Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and our good faith websites. Brian will post those in the comments below so you can find it. Make sure that you comment on it. Anything that you heard from Vinny or me today that you disagree with, agree with, would like to know more about, or subjects that we should cover. Your comments are super valuable. So we look forward to hearing your comments. Thanks again, Vinny. Thanks to the audience. And this is the Blue Cut Podcast.