Building a Multifamily Real Estate Firm with Ginny Bolling

Foreign. Welcome to Biz Day Global. My name is Ray Hightower, and today we are grateful and fortunate to have as our guest miss Jenny Bowling. Jenny is a multifamily real estate investor based in the state of Florida. She is founder and CEO of Pivotal Real Estate Investments and owner of Acquisition Solutions, both based in Florida. Jenny and I met in Florida and we run into each real estate events all over the country. It seems every time I go to an event where there are real estate investors, I end up running into Jenny. And it's wonderful, and it's great to listen to her. Please join me in welcoming Ginny Bowling. Welcome, Ginny.

Thank you very much, Ray. It's a pleasure to run into you and a pleasure to be here, both. That's always, always a pleasure.

Always, always, indeed. And we're glad to have you here. To kick things off, I'm going to ask you to give us an elevator pitch. And for those who are new to Biz Day Global, Jenny is on an elevator with someone she wants to influence. And we'll ask her, what would you say to that person in the course of an elevator ride?

Okay. I would, of course, say hello. And assuming they have asked me what I do, I. I would say that I help people to grow their wealth and build cash flow while they're investing in commercial properties and improving communities. And that's the short version. And when people ask more, I explain that we invest in properties in various ways, including something called a syndication, which is considered the modern way to invest.

Yes. And. And how would you describe syndication? We've had a few syndicators on here, but it would be good to hear your. Your definition or your description. How would you start the syndication conversation with this person on the elevator or just people in general?

It's simply the pooling of funds with the legal structure to outline who does what, how, when, and what happens if there's extenuating circumstances.

Right. It outlines everything. So we're. We're going in together, multiple people all putting their money. Money together to buy an asset that's bigger than anything we could buy on our own. Right, Wonderful.

Yeah.

Now, before syndicating, you had extensive real estate experience throughout the state of Florida. You did some things for the state. And tell us a little bit about that, please.

Well, most of my career, I was buying property for other others. A lot of times it was the state of Florida for roadways. But I've worked for cities and counties and utility companies and telecommunication folks where you're buying property to place some public facility of Some sort. And when you're doing that, you get a corridor and you know, whatever's in the way, you have to learn to deal with it. So we've got buildings, we've done all kinds of things. Taking away parking.

Yes. So you're definitely familiar with eminent domain?

Yes. Yeah.

Yes. During your time performing this kind of work. And thank you for that because, you know, when I think about what you're doing, if you're doing this for roads and other public uses, you're serving people and there's a very good chance that I've driven on a road or something somewhere that you help to, to provide. So thank you for that. You know, and I know there are many people in Florida who would thank you for that.

Yeah, it's a little known occupation.

Yeah. Yeah. So what would you say would be your. One of your proudest projects or proudest accomplishments when you were during that part of your real estate career?

Well, it always comes down to one of two. There was a two story office condominium on Griffin Road in Broward county and half of it was in the future roadway. So we had to get all of the occupants and all of the tenants and their attorneys and expert witnesses all on board and into one one agreement as to what we were going to do for the least possible disruption. So we ended up cutting off half the building and rebuilding it on the remainder. That ended up being a over 100 page agreement that seven attorneys, all adversarial, and the Department of Transportation and my company all were willing to sign off on. So that was a year long negotiation.

You spent a year roping together seven attorneys who are adversarial into an agreement where you chopped off one half of a building and rebuilt it on the other side of the building.

Right.

I've got to see that building, number one. And number two, what is it about you and the way you work with people that made it possible for you to get all of these folks on the same page?

Well, you know, I had a very good team. The Department of Transportation gave me three attorneys on our side to work with. One that was, that was doing the redlining and oversight on language and another that was more entrenched in the negotiations with me because I didn't want to be promising something that we couldn't deliver.

Right.

I'm just kind of a collaborator at heart. I am grateful that we had attorneys that respected me and I respected them on the other side. So we, we plowed through it. There were touchy times, but it was, it was a phenomenal Completion and a. Unbelievable. And we conduct our own closings. We don't use title companies.

Oh, the state. When you were the state, you did your own closings? Yes. Yeah.

So we had a phenomenal number of documents. We had to do a practice closing.

Right?

Yeah.

You did a practice closing before the closing.

Right.

I've heard of surgeons who are doing elaborate medical procedures, elaborate surgeries who've done practice surgery before they do the actual. Before the actual event.

Right, yeah. Well, didn't want to blow it.

Yes. Right. It was that detailed. And in the end, you pulled it all together. If there's anything that you can send us about that, that event, we'd like to include a link to that in our show. Notes that says that is. That is very unique that you would be able to do that. Because I know typically in a closing, you've got a lawyer for the seller, a lawyer for the buyer, maybe a lawyer for the finance company, but you add seven. Or let me say seven. Is that including the three that were on your side or no. So you had 10 attorneys that you had to bring in line?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You clearly have a gift for negotiation and leadership and collaboration.

Thank you.

Yeah, that's very clear. How did you develop that talent?

I think just upbringing. I was the youngest of four, so you could be to beat around a bit, I guess. School of hard knock.

Okay. So being the youngest of four, you were not in a position where you could power your way through, so you had to develop other influential skills. Finessing. Perfect word.

My mom called it finessing.

Moms are so wise. Moms are so wise. So let's move forward through your career. You've been in brokerage, you're owner of acquisition solutions. Tell us a little bit about that. How did you launch that? And how did you move from what you were doing with the state into acquisition solutions? Or was there some overlap there? Tell us some stories.

There was. There was. When I worked for the Department of Transportation most of those years, I was a consultant. And the engineering firm that won the contract included real estate services within their contract. And so then we would have a real estate arm that would conduct the land acquisition program. And generally I would be a project manager and have a staff of acquisition people, relocation, property management, and business damage folks and whatnot. So. So there was a lot of people involved that gave way to doing a lot of consulting work, basically. So what I did ultimately, after working more for other engineering firms, was created my own company that could be a small business consultant and did some work that way. And then did some brokering as well. But the acquisition solutions entity, that is the brokerage, hasn't done a huge volume of brokerage transactions. It wasn't established for that. It was more a consulting entity.

Yes.

Okay. But then when I started truly thinking to get into multifamily and get serious about investing and buying for me, then that was what, what led to launching pivotal real estate investments. And so I've been building my foundations for that and getting acclimated. You know, after 40 years in real estate, or almost 40, I thought that I pretty well understood the business.

Yes, yes.

But investors are a whole different niche. It's really, it's very different. So it's, it's been really valuable for me to build that base and the new network. And they overlap, of course. Yes. But it's been very, very rewarding because they, the, the, the investors have that entrepreneurial spirit and drive, which I identify with greatly.

Yes.

So it's been like finding my home.

Finding your home. And I'm sure that in the conversations you have in investors there, there's a lot of common ground. You certainly have entrepreneurial drive. You've shown that throughout your career. And, and they do. And I'm sure you've had some good conversations as a result of that.

Right, right. There's, there's kind of a natural attraction.

Okay, so take us on the path or connect the dots between what you did from the state to acquisition solutions to pivotal real estate investment. When you, when you founded that, tell us a little bit about your thought process that caused you to found pivotal.

I wanted to start getting some passive income going and be able to, to build my retirement base and whatnot. And wanted to also share that with so many of my friends and peers that don't know anything about it. I thought at least some of them were more familiar with the fact that now everyday people can participate in the ownership of commercial property. And most do not realize that even the people in our local RIA do not realize how simple it is and how rewarding it is because it really builds wealth exponentially. And. Yes, in most all cases.

Right, right. And that's got to be very.

It depends on the location, of course. The team and the business plan. Those are kind of the three main legs. Yeah.

The location, the team, and the business plan. Right, got it. All right, so when you're making a decision about an acquisition, say for what you're doing with syndications, what are some factors that you consider? You mentioned location, the team, and the business plan, but how do those Blend together. And what's your thought process when you're, when you're building that out?

Well, so that's where. Belonging to so many different organizations, where it brings together investors, has been especially important because I'm able to find other sponsors and people doing the same thing, because in my backyard here in Orlando, these are a bit overpriced.

Yeah.

So I'm looking in other areas, too, and teaming with people that I know like and trust that are active and experienced and have gone full cycle in the business as well. I'm teaming with people that have considerable experience. I have lots of real estate experience, but I want to bring people into deals that, that they can see that the, the team members have gone full cycle and established a track record. It's not going to be their first rodeo.

Right, Right.

Yes, that's. So I got property in Houston, Texas, with a gentleman that's, I think eight projects have gone full cycle. Mark Schuler, you know who he is, right? Yes. Maybe the architect interviewed him, right?

Yes.

He's been in. He's been an architect for 25 years, and he's a phenomenal authority on many things. Syndication.

Absolutely.

And so. And he's an advisor to us as well. And so the general partnership project that we just wrapped up, we bought a property in Jacksonville that was with another group that's gone full cycle on hundreds of projects. So it's been very rewarding to get involved with projects with people that have that much experience. And so I, that is one of the criteria. So for me to be bringing an offering to my people, I need to fully vet it and make sure that it's really something I am very comfortable to offer to. To my stakeholders.

That is, that's a powerful statement that you, you make. You make it a point to vet the deals that you're bringing to people, bringing to your investors and you're vetting not just a deal, but you want to work with someone who's gone through full cy multiple times. Yes, that's. Yep. That, that says a lot. That says a lot about how you, how you value the relationship with your investors and how you value the relationship with the operators you work with, too.

I suspect you do the same.

Yes. I, I want to shine the light on Ginny, though. This is, this is Jenny's moment. This is Jenny's spotlight. So. Yeah. And, and honestly, in listening to you, I'm. I'm always learning ways. One of the things I've enjoyed about talking to you and listening to you is that you've always Caused me to look at things in a different way and in better ways. So even with this conversation, I'm absorbing this and I'm thinking, yeah, that's a good idea. That's a good approach. So I, I always. I always want to learn. I always learn from you. So I'm grateful for that.

Yeah, likewise. I feel the same with you.

Ah, excellent. Hey, Jenny, let's talk about horses.

Okay.

Why don't you tell us a little bit about your experience with horses and your. You know what? Talk to us about horses a little bit. And. And the listeners are probably wondering, hey, you were just talking about real estate. Did he just say the word horses? Yes, I did. Because Jenny is very accomplished in the horse community and. Why don't you just take us. Take it, take it away and tell us about horses, please.

Well, I grew up with them. It was funny because my big sister wanted to ride. We all had to ride.

Yes.

Started that way. Mom had four of us. It's better just to put us all on a horse.

That's better than today. Parents today, they just plop their kids in front of the tv. At least you got to be outdoors and breathe some fresh air. So get some exercise.

It was invaluable. And what's funny was we drove past Mount Vernon in, In Virginia every day on our way to the place where we took riding lessons. And I've recently been back there and I didn't realize how close we lived to it. We were like, really close.

Yes. Yeah.

But anyway, so, yeah, grew up with horses. We were equestrians, so that meant we didn't have the horn on the saddle, you know?

Yes, yes. All right. Yeah.

So we, we were hunters and jumpers, riding and jumping over fences and.

Yes.

So fox hunting was big in Virginia. Still is. And my sister actually got into breaking racehorses. I. My, My last horse was the great, great grandson of War Admiral.

Wow.

So. Or great great yet two. Anyway, he was born in 1950. I got him when he was 14, 15 years old, something like that. And. And we turned him into the jumper.

Wow.

He raced 13 years, though, so it was. That's phenomenal.

That's a long time for a horse to be active in any competition, isn't it?

Well, racing, yes. Hunters and jumpers can be going that long. Yeah. Depending on if they have any problems. Injuries. Big injuries. But. So, yeah, my sister used to steal him. She was the better writer, but she would borrow him, steal him often because he's very fast. You just had to lean over and say, go. And he was yes, that was fun. And so it's funny as we age, how we kind of go back, at least many people I've spoken with, and myself included, we kind of try to dig up those old favorite things we did as a child. So I've been kind of doing a little bit of that and getting back connected with. With my horse's history. And so I found out how much he won and all that. So it was when we were in Phoenix, I think I told you. I was so close to where he was born. I was debating if I should go, go, go to the old farm. But the farm is now a quarry.

It's a quarry now. Oh. So did you drive up there or did you get that info before? Okay, I remember you mentioning that. That you were going to head up there. You blew my mind when you said that you were fox hunting. I remember the first time you told me that you did fox hunting. It's like you don't sound British, but.

Don'T have to be British.

Yeah. Yeah. There we go. Wonderful. It's wonderful to have other experiences, you know, of a variety of experiences. So certainly you have that. We're coming towards the end of our time together and this has gone quickly. I'm. I could go on. And as we close out, I'd like to ask you, what are you reading right now or what are you listening to right now that you'd like to share with our audience?

Wow. I have several books I'm doing kind of at the same time, and podcasts, too. It depends on how much time it I have at the moment. But, gosh, the book that I would say be your future self now is the one I just downloaded.

Be your future self now. Yeah, that's a very intriguing title. Can. Can you perhaps tell us where to get that or tell us maybe give us a brief blurb about it?

And it's by Benjamin Hardy. It's the science of intentional transformation is the sideline name for it. And it's not given a summary here, but basically it's talking about visualization.

Yes.

So that you can kind of break through some limiting beliefs.

And.

And I think that. That it probably has some nuggets in there. I don't know for sure yet because I haven't actually started that. The last good one I read was traction.

Oh, yes.

An awesome one. Yes.

Yes.

But, yeah, I'm constantly doing a few things at once, so. Depends on.

We have multiple listeners who are fans of Benjamin Hardy. They read. He's done multiple books with Dan Sullivan, too, who not how is the one that sticks in my head. And a very prolific writer and rich psychology background, too. Benjamin Hardy has them. I, I know. And then you mentioned traction. Oh, yeah. We're, we're immersed in tract here. Too many of our audience, many audience members are immersed in traction. So, yeah, you're in good company. You're in good company. Well, to close out, can you tell us how can people get in touch with you if they would like to continue the conversation with you?

Okay, well, and I have a background here that gives that information. So Pivotal Real Estate investments dot com. My email, I don't guess I have my email on there. It's Ginny bowling at Pivotal REI for real estate investments. REI llc.com and then my phone number, 321-303-3258.

Thank you so much. We'll make sure we include those in the show notes. Jenny Bowling, it has been a pleasure speaking with you today at Biz Day Global.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.