From Dirt to Legacy: Building Wealth That Endures with Jose Berlanga - Episode - 560

When you find a piece of property, you have to look at its potential. You have to look at a number of things, the economic environment in the area, the timeline, what do you see as possible in relation to what you intend to do with this piece of land? And all of them have their beauty, their characteristics, and their timing, whether it's rural areas that, you know, enjoy certain characteristics to urban areas that are growing.

From Dirt to Legacy: Building Wealth That Endures. Trends fade, cycles reset, but land endures. From Dirt to Legacy unpacks the long-game mindset behind building wealth that survives markets, recessions, and time itself. Welcome to Streams to Impact, brought to you by Steetalker Capital. I'm your host, Dr. Allen. You've built a meaningful career and achieved financial success, yet many high performers quietly realize that working harder doesn't always lead to greater freedom. Markets feel uncertain, taxes feel relentless, and the traditional financial playbook starts to feel incomplete. There is another way, a quieter path followed by those who build wealth patiently, intentionally, and with a long-term view, where capital is put to work in assets designed to endure. Beyond the paycheck is the Financial Clarity Compass, a private educational mini masterclass that I created to help you rethink how wealth is built, protected, and aligned with the life you want to live. This experience is our gift to you. To claim it, just go visit www.go.stetucker. Now take a deep breath, settle in, and let's step into today's conversation. But before we do that, just a brief disclaimer. All information shared on Streams to Impact is for educational purposes only and should not be considered investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. All investments carry risk, including the loss of capital. Always consult your professional advisor before investing. So what does it take to build real wealth that lasts not just through market cycles, but across decades? Well, today's guest understands that question at a level few ever reach. José Berlanga is a veteran and real estate investor with more than 35 years of experience spanning land development, construction, and large-scale residential communities. As the co-founder of Tricon Homes, he helped shape one of the most successful housing platforms in the country by focusing on fundamentals that don't make headlines, but quietly compound over time. José is also the author of Dirt Rich, a title that reflects both his philosophy And his life's work, building wealth from the ground up through patience, discipline, and a deep respect for land as a long-term asset. So in this conversation, we go beyond tactics and trends. We explore the mindset required to think in decades, the lessons learned from cycles both brutal and generous, and what it really means to build a legacy that outlives any single deal. So Jose, welcome. And as we go into today's show, when you look back on your life before the deals, before the companies, before the success, what early experiences or inner drive most shaped the way that you see land risk and long-term commitment today?

Well, hello, Allen. It's great to be here. Thank you for having me. That's certainly a deep question that I believe I understood at a younger age, which was the effort of preserving wealth and preserving financial stability via real estate. I grew up in a country where currencies— and we live them, we see them in different countries that have a lot of inflation, a lack of stability, government stability or currency stability. And I always saw real estate as a way to compensate for some of those issues. And that's, that's what drew me to real estate, that, that over time it allows you to grow wealth, to protect yourself against inflation. hedge against those bad cycles. And ultimately, it's worth more over the years, over decades, assuming that you're able to understand values, to understand the purpose of land, and to not over-leverage yourself where you can ride those ups and downs.

Well, those were some good lessons learned at an early age. Particularly given that where we are in terms of dollar devaluation, and with that, of course, extended inflation, and looking at that into the years to come, that looks like it's just going to continue. So yeah, good lessons learned for particularly the times that we are in and entering into. So you said that land is one of the most overlooked paths to building real wealth. Why do you think so many investors miss it? And what makes land uniquely powerful really over the long run?

There are so many aspects of land in relation to this whole entire industry of real estate. First of all, what I talk a lot about in my book is the Understanding that the fundamentals of real estate begin by the proper selection, by the accurate selection of a piece of land. Understanding the purpose of each parcel, understanding its potential, understanding how societies, how neighborhoods are created based on what developers foresee some of these neighborhoods becoming. And, um, and yes, it's a speculative aspect of real estate. I think most of us are enamored by buildings, architecture, the, the, the, the possibilities of rental income or building, um, the whatever it is, the, the type or style of construction that we like or understand, without really understanding that the real value is beneath all those precious and wonderful buildings. Over time, those buildings depreciate. They wear out. They require a number of things. And the proof is something that clears this point very, very simply in the most elemental ways, whether it's— Accounting-wise, investing-wise, taxation-wise, assets that sit on a piece of land depreciate over time. Their value goes down. The only thing that does not impact the same in the aspect of devaluation, even when you're talking about tax Deductions, land is the only one that continues to appreciate. And when the value of a property or a building or a home or an apartment complex goes up, is because the neighborhood improved and because the piece of land is the one that actually enjoyed most of that appreciation. So understanding where the values are is sort of what I what I focus on on this book and discussing how it all happens.

Well, that's certainly, you know, something that, you know, I've certainly been aware of and I suppose most of us are, but I have really never looked at it really from that really basic perspective. Well, for someone evaluating land for the first time, what is the very first thing that they should learn to see, something that most people overlook or misunderstand?

The number one perhaps formula or the first step in identifying a piece of property is understanding your objectives, understanding your purpose, the timing. How long do you wish to hold the piece of land? What are your objectives? What is the purpose of you investing and buying this property other than the obvious, which is to make money? So Performing the exercise of research, which is identifying what the possible scenarios are before you acquire a piece of property, is very important, which we call entitlements. When you find a piece of property, you have to look at its potential. You have to look at a number of things, the economic environment in the area, The timeline. What do you see as possible in relation to what you intend to do with this piece of land? And all of them have their beauty, their characteristics, and their timing. Whether it's rural areas that you know enjoy certain characteristics to urban areas that are growing, one of our specialties was to determine what neighborhood was coming up, what neighborhood was about to explode and get redeveloped and attract. economic attention and development attention. So that was one of our objectives, to identify those. And everyone needs to make that first step. What do I want to acquire this piece of land for? And what is its potential?

Any tips or suggestions on how to really assess the future? Because that's really essentially what you're saying here. And projections and predictions are so difficult. So any suggestions on how we can hone in on really determining what the future is going to be for this piece of land that we're looking at?

There's a difference between small investors and larger, deeper pockets, of course. The companies that have resources to change an ecosystem, an environment, they go in and buy acres by the hundreds. They can create communities, they can create areas of town, whether it's in the inner city or in the suburbs, where they create their own economic environment. They can combine mixed-use properties— commercial, residential, multifamily— and bring traffic. So they have the ability of the demographics and understanding where the growth is headed. When you're a small investor like, like ourselves, you know, the little experience that, that we had when we started, and now we have a little bit more, but we still have those limitations of not being able to develop entire cities as some of these public companies do. So we try to do enough research in, in different aspects. And the information is available, interestingly enough. If you do some research with your local authorities, with a city, with a county, as to what corporate headquarters are moving into your area, what other replats are happening, what other developments are happening, where are permits being applied for, whether it's for commercial or residential, you can follow those other bigger investors, which is something that we did at first. And eventually we had other builders and developers follow us. They would see our company, see where our signs were, where our up-and-coming construction and developers were, were headed, and they would follow us. So this is something that an entry-level investor or developer should do. They should understand what the bigger guys are doing and, and, and research where the activity, where the economic activity is, and perhaps buy something smaller and estimate more or less how long they need to hold the property before they can either flip it or develop it into something else. So that would be one of the main recommendations.

Well, you often talk about land as more than just a financial asset, that it's cultural, emotional, and even in some respects spiritual. So can you explain what you mean by that and how that belief actually has influenced your decisions throughout the years.

Yeah, I've been lucky enough, blessed enough to be able to travel, to spend time in different parts of the world. I grew up in different cities, including Mexico City, where you get to understand not just the economic value, but also the cultural value of real estate. what it means to societies, what it means to the people that live in them, how they treat their areas, and how from one area to the other, certain areas, certain parts of the world have different meaning, different purpose. Some countries are designed more for tourism. Some are more in the growth, the financial aspects of— of the economy. Some areas are more farming. And the more you move around and start understanding that people see their territory for what it is, different religions, different values, different growth, different government strategies, you start to understand a little more about why certain areas develop faster or better than others. Which ones are more impacted by their government? Which ones increase in value faster than others? And what are the causes? So I've always loved to see how one corner of the world has been impacted completely different by its regime, by the people that rule it, by the people that run it. and how it impacts investments and the logic behind you investing in the different parts of the world. So I've always been fascinated by that. And in the United States, we enjoy the ability to own land, to develop land, to have an economy and a government that supports entrepreneurship and development in every aspect. So that's something that I've always liked to to evaluate and see the differences between one area and another. Why some areas grow more and develop better and retain their values versus some other areas and some other countries that little by little deteriorate and depreciate.

Yeah, I think, I mean, that seems, that is interesting to me just thinking across the United States in terms of areas that develop and then areas that are going in exactly the opposite direction and how that does have to do with culture, with— but it goes beyond culture. It goes, you know, really into macro politics and into governance and different things like that, whereas, I mean, I can think of you know, very close-knit communities, particularly here in my area, that have potential for growth, but they are so, I don't know, isolated from everything else that they don't tend to grow because of that isolation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And your investment is always tied to the people who rule the area. The, the, the— fortunately or unfortunately, some areas, the way that they are managed by their local government, their regional government, is what truly affects their value. It makes a big difference whether they're promoting their industries, whether they're promoting industry, whether they're helpful to the people that are trying to develop and grow their, their areas and, and create new economic environments. So, so yes, we— land and investment is as good Yeah.

Well, many of our audience are professionals looking for various different ways to diversify their investment processes. So, but without millions to invest, where would professionals with, you know, significant amounts of capital to invest but no experience in ground-up or land development. Where's a good way for them to begin to look at this and understand these processes without overextending themselves? Because they're probably already overextended in many ways.

Yes, yes, that's a great question. And that's something that we're always looking into. And the biggest recommendation Start small, buy a small property. And by the way, something that I like to clarify sometimes, that the meaning of land represents not just raw land, but perhaps a piece of land in areas that are already developed, that were in decline and that are perhaps ready to come back, to make a comeback, which is what we have really specialized over the years, looking at transitional neighborhoods that were once great neighborhoods. Over time, they deteriorated and got forgotten, and little by little start coming back. So that is what we focus in understanding. Step number 1 is where— what is the trend? Where do we see new construction, new development approaching? In what direction of the city, in what direction of our area do we feel that new construction and new development is going? Once we try to identify that, make a small investment. It doesn't have to be necessarily a clear piece of land. Buying land doesn't necessarily mean acquiring a property with nothing on it. What I mean by it is acquiring it at land value. If it has particularly a small dilapidated teardown, you can rent those. You can clean it up a little bit, spend as little money as possible, rent it so that it covers itself, whether it's commercial commercial, whether it's a duplex, a small multifamily, or a small home, or a small strip center in areas that perhaps are coming, turning, that is a great investment because meanwhile it's covering itself. The small rent that you receive covers for the expenses, covers for the rent or for the property taxes, for all your expenses. And before you know it, once the economic trend starts hitting your area, If you put a little bit of a down payment and the rent is covering the mortgage and the expenses, if the property doubles in value, with that small down payment, you can turn your principal several times what the investment was. So this is where things tend to work out very well, where you are able to finance a property, because the rental is covering, but not buying a new property, not buying something that is going to deteriorate. You buy something that's already very deteriorated and it needs to be demolished, let's say. But meanwhile, it can support your project until the right time.

Yeah. Well, that makes a lot of sense. In so many ways. And even if it's not cash flowing, as long as it's paying that mortgage and the expenses on it, you can sit on it for extended period of time and reap the benefits when that neighborhood does turn around.

Yep.

Well, excellent, excellent advice. So, when all the projects are finished and the numbers fade into the background, What do you hope remains true about the way you've lived your life, built your life, and how you have stewarded the land entrusted to you?

Well, I hope that I, over the years, I've created the right reputation, integrity, consistency, credibility in what I do. I'm someone that I believe The people that I've worked with and the people around me understand that what I say, it means a lot to me. My my my my my word, my commitments, the to to my family, to the people around me, doing my work with the proper ethics, with with the right ethics, understanding what you're doing, not just financially, but understanding how you're contributing to your. Environment, to your society, to the people around you, to the economy around you, that you're providing opportunities for others around you. And ultimately, to do enough where you can outlive your life by some of the things that you leave behind. This is why I'm enjoying this process of writing now, writing books so that at least I can pass on some of this information, some of these experiences, and some of the learning curves that I've had so that I can hopefully minimize the impact on new people that are getting into this business or any other business. Because it is— entrepreneurship and investing is difficult, is speculative, is risky. So if I at least can contribute a little bit of some of the experiences that I've had in the past, it's It makes me feel a lot better.

Yeah.

Well, thank you, José, for being with us today. And today's conversation was a reminder that enduring wealth is rarely built by chasing speed or trends, and it is shaped by patience, respect for fundamentals, and the willingness to think in decades rather than just quarters. And José shared what only long experience can teach, and that is that risk is best managed through discipline, and that real opportunity often hides in what others overlook, and that the most meaningful returns are not just financial but generational. So if this conversation resonated with you and you want to go deeper into José's philosophy, And hard-earned insights. His book, Dirt Rich, is available wherever books are sold. And if today's conversation sparked a deeper question about your own path, how to move beyond income toward intentional, durable wealth, I invite you to claim Beyond the Paycheck: The Financial Clarity Compass. It is our gift to you, and you can access it at— www.go.steedtalker.com/beyond-paycheck. So thank you for joining us on Streams to Impact. Until next time, think long-term, steward your capital wisely, and remember, true wealth is built to endure.

Thank you, Allen.

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