How Did We Get Here?

Early Clues

Real estate was always omnipresent in the background of my life. 

Growing up in a family that built things — race cars, houses, motocross bikes and more, I decided to go to trade school to learn architectural & commercial HVAC design (CADD/blueprints). This was my transferable and relevant skill that I thought would be useful to my family endeavors at some point. Little did I know that my brothers (1 blood, 2 raised) would take a deep interest in the trades and learn how to build and construct homes from the ground up. And effectively, draft their own plans, lol. 

My earliest exposure to Commercial Real Estate was in the mid 1990’s. At that time I was growing a small business with my partner via bootstrapping. Our office was flex space, roughly 1,500 sq ft. It was an open unfinished space with some drywall. So we had to finish the space to our preference.

I drafted the blueprints (yes, by hand) and helped to do some renovations i.e. drywall, painting, cut and lay tile flooring (or shall I say lay and cut), bc important note – this was pre-HGTV and You Tube University. Sooo yeah,  you had to figure out how to use the tile cutter and other tools by trial and error. Fun, fun. And if you screwed up or guessed a step incorrectly, you would have to redo things usually from the beginning.

(Below: My awe-mazing cousin Diane, posing by a drag race car she built. RIP, Queen of Fiberglass).

Seeing Isn’t Always Believing

In the early 2000s, I had an incredible and super nice client: Marshall Purnell — a globally recognized architect and the lead designer of Washington Nationals Ballpark.

Fun fact: I was his plus-one on Grand Opening Day of the National ballpark.

Over time, our conversations turned deeper — legacy, equity, and how the built world shapes everything around us.

I was going to live sporting events with him (our shared interest), delivering cell phones to his office every couple of weeks, and seeing behind the scenes of a lot of projects he was designing and building.  

In 2001, he became (and still is) my mentor.

Everything he was working on was so cool. Building small towns. Golf courses abroad. Stadiums. Ballparks. All kinds of commercial buildings. I was talking to him about it and learning lots. And it was right there for me to pursue….if I wanted. 

It was interesting. But it wasn’t calling me. I continued with my own business and managing a small portfolio but not trying to go ALL IN so to speak.

Loss, Lost, & Recalculating…

In 2019, my mom passed away unexpectedly. By far, that was and to this day has been the hardest and darkest time of my life.

In the minutes before she completely lost her voice, her final wish was this:
“Go into business with your brother, Adam.”

Hmmmm. We hadn’t spoken since we were younger. But he was at the hospital everyday and we were talking about business, personal development, and all kinds of things. She raised him like her own — cause that is the saintly woman she was. 

Adam and I discussed several ventures together but ultimately landed on real estate investing was our main shared interest. After a year of wholesaling we decided while it was useful to learn, that was not for us. We joined My First Million in Multifamily  MFMIM Deal Room (mastermind) and found, funded, and closed our first commercial property within 31 days of joining the deal room. As my coach would say (results not typical, lol). And we partnered with a developer and launched a small private equity fund 1 year later. Meanwhile,  Adam’s General Contracting and Cabinetry Business ended up growing like crazy on both residential and bulk dropshipping sides. And ultimately he needed to commit full-time to that. 

After 6 months in the Deal Room, I started moderating the group, and dare I say started getting obsessed with the industry. I loved a lot about the industry, the people, and the opportunity it presented. However, I struggled with figuring out what I could do working solo.

So I started direct marketing (cold outreach) on behalf of independent real estate mortgage brokers.  Questionable practices, lack of organization, odd communication styles, and several folks not honoring their word, sent me into a rabbit hole. And through a whirlwind of serendipitous events (and likely the grace of God), I discovered that my experience, personality, and commercial real estate investing background might be well-suited for the  brokerage and lending side. I loved seeing different deal structures and types, solving problems, and trying to simplify a space that I feel most people overcomplicate. I hired an accomplished commercial real estate broker who had over 20 years industry experience and a stellar reputation. Studied and practiced under him for 6+ months. Then decided to launch my indie brokerage firm.

Not everything makes sense right away.
But what’s meant for you always finds its way back.

Today, I give my best and try my hardest to give investors more education, confidence, and access to the part of real estate that actually unlocks ownership, which is securing capital.

Because if you don’t control the capital, you don’t control the deal! 

Through this process, I have also become very fascinated with investor psychology, how they view capital, and what drives their investment decisions.

In terms of working with investors, I consider myself to have tremendous patience.

So I don’t mind working with ghosted, rejected, or first-time investors. 

Or developers working through the lovely HUD 221(d)(4) loan application process.

While I have a small tech-driven operation to control workflow, overhead, and stay agile, I very much enjoy being hands on and working with people (like you). 

My team and I want to help you get your FIRST or next commercial real estate loan approval.

Thanks for stopping by and Let’s Build From Here!