Episode 6 | Wholesaling To Multifamily In 3 Years w/ Carlos Jimenez

Welcome back to the New and Experienced Investor Podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Alex Barnett.

And I'm Joe Homs.

And today we have a very special guest, Carlos Jimenez. Carlos, how you doing?

Doing well, doing well. Thank you for having me, guys. I'm excited to be here.

Absolutely. Yeah. Carlos is a king closer around here at the office. Investor, wholesaler turned flipper turned Airbnb investor. Amazing stuff. We're going to get into that. Why don't you go ahead and start us off? How did you get into real estate and maybe, you know, paint a picture of what your life was like before and then what led you to real estate?

Yeah, definitely. Definitely. So to start off, I, I wasn't born here. I was born in Mexico. I born and raised. I moved here to the States at 16 by myself. Didn't really speak any English. That was 2009. My dream was to make it to the NBA, so that's kind of why I came here. And long story short, I worked my butt off. I was able to— I didn't make it to the NBA, but I was able to earn a scholarship, went to college for free, and that allowed me to stay here in the States. Once I graduated, I didn't really wanna work at a desk, didn't really wanna do a 9 to 5. So I started my youth basketball academy and did that pretty well. I was training kids, I was coaching and doing all that good stuff. I had about 300 kids up until COVID hits. We were doing international camps. I had an app developed, like, Social media, millions of views over social media, and then COVID hits. So COVID 2020 shuts down my business completely, like no income. I'm refunding parents like thousands and thousands of dollars. And backtrack couple years, 2018, I started to get into like podcasts and like listening to all this stuff, YouTube. I met Joe here. I reached out to him through BiggerPockets. I took him out to lunch and he He like drove me around his flips. He showed me what he was doing. He was teaching me. But because of my academy was doing so well, my excuse was always like, oh, let me save more money. Like, let me let me let me continue to grow this, and then once once I have money, I'll pull the trigger with real estate. So fast forward to 2020, I was forced to. I was forced to pull the trigger. I reached out to Joe, and and I was like, hey Joe, like what can I help with? Like I'm ready to go all in. I had an option. Had no option but to go all in in real estate. And so about April 2020, that's when I showed up here to the office and him and his son-in-law were like, here's this script, here's this list. And they just told me to cold call. And I was literally cold calling all day, every day. I was leaving this office at 9:00 PM at night. And I had to leave because there's no people to talk to at 9:00 PM.

Right.

But yeah, 6 months straight cold calling all day, every day. Didn't really get anything. January 2021, January 21st, I got my first check from wholesaling and it was $2,500. $2,500. But that month I did 7 deals. So it changed everything for me. Literally changed everything. Like, life-changing. And then from there, it just took off.

Wow, that's incredible. 7 deals?

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, 4 of those were from this first owner. Not the first owner, the same owner. I was driving for dollars. This seller lived in Banning and I was driving around. He was outside his house, struck up a conversation. He's from Mexico, started speaking Spanish, all this stuff. And little did I know, he literally owned half of the town. We looked him up and he owned literally half of the town. In the '90s, he bought like 50 houses or something. So he sold those, like 4 of those. And then 3 other ones we found through other methods. But yeah, crazy.

That's really good. I mean, especially for just starting out, I think it was just maybe your consistency and your tenacity.

Yeah.

And does that come from your sports background or were you always like that?

I think a little bit of both. I think I was able to, ever since I moved here, just really put my head down and understand the sacrifices that my parents made, understand that the opportunities that are here, I don't think a lot of people take advantage of those, especially when you're born here. It's not your fault that you're born here, but I feel like a lot of people, they don't realize how good they have it. So then they don't take advantage of it. So when I moved here, I was like, I'm going to make the NBA and I'm going to do whatever it takes. So that didn't happen. But then I translated that into business. And I just— I knew I was going to do whatever it took to be successful in real estate.

I love that. Joe, what were your first thoughts about Carlos when you met him?

I was training him and 2 others. And we were literally looking up properties that needed rehab and then driving out to the properties and, you know, looking at how much it would cost to rehab the property, putting all our numbers together. And then we were doing YouTube as well and Instagram. I would have each of them walk through the property and, you know, tell me what What they're looking at, what they're seeing, and stuff like that. So that was the process. Like anything else, I do this all the time, and I may do this once with somebody and never see them again. Carlos and the other 2, I call them kids because they're about your age, they were all very interested. We were literally going out twice a week. For a couple of months, weren't we? Or maybe even longer than that.

Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Yeah.

Longer than that, for sure.

Yeah, longer than that. So I knew that there was a drive there from all of them, which was a lot of fun. So I knew Carlos would do something. And then I wanted to ask Carlos, during that 6-month buildup to your first lead, is that an important process to go through? If you were gonna, Advise somebody, hey, start out cold calling. Is this a good way to start that business?

Yeah, 100%. I think just like anything, if you want to get good at something, you need the repetition. So for me, it was like, you guys gave me this script and I was like, okay, what am I supposed to say? And you guys were like, it's right there on the script. You didn't sit next to me. You didn't say, say this, say that. So I just had to get the reps in. Like, cold calling is scary. Like, nobody really likes cold calling. It sucked. Like, I would stutter, I would get stuck, I would like choke, I would like hang up on people just because I didn't know what to say. Like, and all of those things you have to get through. Even whether you're going to be a one-man show or build a big company, like, I think it's a process that you have to get through just to learn the business and to earn and get that sales skills that will help you with anything.

Yeah. And I agree. And that's why I'm trying to, to ask and say that it is a process that you need to go through. And, you know, I could sit down next to you and listen to the conversations and give you some advice. Uh, but it's something that you need to hear. What kind of questions are being asked by the seller? What, what, you know, what are their hardships? Um, how to resolve those hardships for them. Uh, it's, it's something that, you know, I can talk to you about it.

Right.

Uh, and I can say that, you know, these are the things I've done this. And these are things you're going to hear. But unless you're there calling these people and listening to all that and finding your own voice.

Yep.

Okay. You're not going to be successful. You have to actually get into it.

Yep. Yep. That's it right there.

That's great. What about— because I know you're really big on like mindset and, you know, people follow you on Instagram. They can definitely get some good tips not only about real estate, but how to just stay focused and stay persistent. What's some advice you could give some people if they're just starting out, they don't have their first deal yet, and then that interim, it could take 6 months, it could take 9 months, it could take a year. What's some advice for them?

I will say the first thing is figuring out your why. And I think it's something popular on social media and out there, like your why, your why, and all that stuff. But I think it's important. And maybe that's why people are repetitive about it and all the influencers out there and successful people. Because it's important. Like, if if you don't know why you want to do something, the first month in you're going to get tired. You're going to be discouraged. Like, let's talk wholesaling. The first month in you're going to get hundreds of F you. Don't call me again. Like these people are gonna beat you down. Like they're gonna like and if you don't have a deep enough why, like you're just gonna quit. Like Joe knows it. Like that's what he says. Oh, I will mentor somebody one day and then I will never see them again because it's going to get hard. And whether it's real estate or any type of business, it's going to get hard. It's just life. It's how it works. So if you don't know why you're doing it, then you're not going to get yourself to go through that.

Okay. And do you mind sharing your why?

Yeah, no, 100%. Like I said, I was born in Mexico. My whole family still lives there. And when I moved here, My goal was to take care of all of them, take care of them, take care of those people around me, the generations to come. Like, it's literally life-changing, you know? The impact that you can make when you're yourself, you're successful, like, it could be endless. Like, I was given the opportunity to live here in the US, and because of that, like, My kids and their kids and their kids and their kids will have a different life, literally. And I would like to mention this exercise that I got from Dean Graciosi. It's called the seven levels deep, and it's about asking yourself why seven times. So the first question will be: Why do you want to do real estate? Because I want to make money. Why do you want to make money? Because I want to spend more time with my kids. Why do you want to spend time with my? more time with my kids because I don't spend any time or whatever it is, right? And for some reason on the 7th, it like really digs to like why you're doing what you're doing. And when I did that, my 7th was like, I never wanna skip a meal again. And I did. So that's why, that's my why.

Wow, thank you for sharing that. You started out wholesaling, you're kind of a one-man show. I mean, you had Joe here mentoring, but then you teamed up with Joe's son-in-law Ryan and formed a partnership. How important was that to your now success in real estate? And would you advise that people partner or join a team?

Yeah. I mean, it's that partnership and just being around them here in this office, It's everything. I think partnerships, collaborating, networking, all of that stuff will only speed or fasten your success. I didn't know much about real estate. I still don't know a lot, but I do surround myself with people that do know, and then I go to work. So those two things, like if you surround yourself with somebody that knows, has the knowledge, and then you put the work in, it's a great recipe for success. And you could say kind of fast, like it's only been 3 years for me. Like this May will be 3 years for me full-time real estate. And I'm happy with what I've done and I'm not satisfied, but I think I've done pretty good.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you bought your primary residence. Is that correct?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 3 rentals. We've averaged 50+ deals, flips, wholesales past couple of years.

That's crazy. How are you, I guess, keeping up with all that? I mean, it seems like maybe going from not knowing real estate to jumping in and then having that much on your plate, how are you kind of approaching that?

Hiring the right people. Yeah, I think hiring the right people, it's definitely key. Hiring fast, firing fast, knowing, having clarity of what that vision is so that— there's this book called Traction and it makes you figure out your 10-year vision, right? So once you figure that out, then you need to do Like a 5-year and then like a 3-year and like a year and like monthly and weekly so that you know exactly what to do to get there. So with that in place, then we know, me and Ryan know like, okay, we need to hire this acquisitions manager. We need to create this team of real estate agents submitting offers. We need to— we need this amount of leads a month. We need this amount of offers submitted a month, etc., etc. So, and then when you put the right people in place and the systems and all that stuff, then it just flows, you know? And it's not easy. It's not like we just sit at home and do nothing and everything's automated, you know? And that's the goal. But I mean, not even the goal. Like, we're always going to work, you know? We love working, but it helps. And when you have those in place, like, it helps you to manage a lot on your plate.

Yeah. Absolutely. Wow. Okay, so now you're kind of, you're bringing more people into the team. What's that like, you know, managing people and then ultimately being the leader? Is that something that comes naturally to you or are you working on that?

Both. I think being a leader is a huge responsibility and you have to lead by example and not just talk. And there's a difference between like bossing people around than actually leading them and doing it with them. So I enjoy it. I enjoy hearing everyone's goals. I enjoy keeping them accountable. I enjoy sharing my goals and be like, hey, you can give me crap as well. We're all here in this together. And every person that we've hired, I always tell them, I want you to win as much as we do. Everybody wins here. It's not like we're at the top and then we get everything. It's like, I want to know your goals because I want to make sure that we're helping you And, and we're all aligned with what you're trying to accomplish so that you get there, you know. It's not like you use an employee and then that's it.

Right.

Joe, what do you think, um, if, if, you know, people want to jump in and start maybe mentor under you just like Carlos did and then become, you know, their own investor, what, what are some characteristics that you look for that you saw in Carlos?

He had time. You know, just like the other young kids that I was mentoring, they had the time. Like he said, we were here Tuesdays and Thursdays. I usually run from 10 to 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Obviously, lunch break, and it was on them 3 to buy me lunch. That's really the only payment that I had asked for.

Wow.

I was driving them around, finding the locations to You know, go see early on instructing them on what I look for in a flip and walking them through the process. And then it's important to me that people learn and I need to know if they're learning. So you put them at the forefront and say, okay, now it's your turn to go into this house and walk me through this flip here and tell me, you know, the good, the bad, and the ugly. on this property. So really, I mean, there's got to be a willingness to learn and time. He spent a lot of time here at the office, and I tell my agents the same thing. If you want to learn something, then come into the office and just listen to what's going on in the office. I get leads from different people, and I usually just send them to whoever is in the office. Um, so different things going on at all different points, but it's, it's about— I guess, uh, they need to figure out what their why is and why they want to do this and then move forward on that why, uh, and be, be kind of all in at that point.

Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. So now you're, you know, you're taking down properties yourself. You have some short-term rentals, some long-term rentals. What's one of the favorite deals, your favorite deals that you've done? Let's do like a little deal breakdown.

Yeah.

Do you have one in mind?

Yeah. My favorite deal is hands down going to be my primary, which you mentioned earlier. So that deal was a sub-to, seller finance subject-to. It's a $900,000 million-dollar condo. Ocean View, and I got it for $575,000 with only $10K down. Oh my God. 3% interest rate over 30 years. Yeah, it was a killer deal. Super, super blessed. That lead came from— that seller sold us a rental last 2021, and we did a great job. I kept in touch with her. I would send her Merry Christmas, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Birthday. And then she called me last year and she was like, hey, Carlos, I'm ready to sell my property in Dana Point. And I was like, all right, cool. We did the numbers as a flip and it was a great deal. And then I thought about it myself. I was like, huh, like I've been hearing all this seller finance stuff, all this sub-to. And I asked her, I was like, hey, what's important to you? Get cashed out here and you're going to give like $200,000 to the IRS in capital gains, or would you be interested in seller financing this and I'll give you monthly payments? And she was like, Carlos, I'm selling this because my son is a— she called him a rat. She said, my son is a rat. All he does is smoke pot at home, doesn't have a job, and doesn't pay me the mortgage.

Hmm.

So then I'm losing money. And that's what I care about because I'm 70-something years old and I just want to— I'm retired and I just want to enjoy the rest of my life with some monthly income. So with that being said, she said, I would love to seller finance you this. She doesn't have to pay capital gains and she gets that monthly income every single month. So got the deal done. 3% down, 2% down, 3% interest over 30 years. And yeah, she's getting that income. She was happy. I kicked his son out. Hopefully he's not listening to this.

Sorry, man. You screwed up.

And yeah, super happy about that deal.

Oh my gosh. So what about all these people bitching that they can't get a house?

It's crazy. They have to know. Well, they don't have to know, but they have to be open to It's a real thing. Like, no money down real estate, like all of those things, all of those strategies, like it's real. We've done a bunch of flips, seller finance, where we barely put any money in. We flip them, and we make a killing.

But it's about, I guess, it's about the consistency. It's about you're out there prospecting for those leads, talking to people, always on the phone. You know, talking to sellers, solving problems. You know, that was a big problem for her. She wasn't getting any money. And then all of a sudden now she's getting a monthly income.

Right.

And you're her new favorite son.

Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, I mean, if for— I tell all my buyers out there, like, you don't have to be a real estate investor. You don't have to know a lot of things. But like, hey, if you like that house down the street, it doesn't take much for you to go knock on the door and be like, Hey, what's your plan with this house in the next 6 to 12 months? Maybe they'll sell it. And then maybe they're interested in selling. And if they are, then maybe you can pitch, hey, I can give you more money than what you will get. And they'll be like, huh, how? And then you can pitch your sub-to seller finance deal.

Absolutely. Yeah, it's crazy how that happens. I have no problem asking someone if they would consider selling their property now.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I was at my girlfriend's house yesterday. And the house across the street, it's in Balboa Island, Newport Beach. House across the street had a for sale sign, but like a for sale by owner. It wasn't like a realtor. And she was outside and I just went, hi, how's it going? Are you selling the house? Are you going to list it? And she's like, no, no, I'm just getting ready to sell it, but I don't want to deal with a realtor, et cetera, et cetera. Obviously, this property, it's a high price point. But now, like, there's a door there that could be open, you know, and I can make an offer, you know, and whether she takes it or not, it doesn't matter. It's about that I approached her and I was able to get that offer out.

Absolutely. Yeah. Oh, that's great. Yeah. You start seeing opportunities everywhere. Yeah.

And see, that's what I was talking about, the process. When he first started, he's just making calls, you know, trying to get a deal under contract. And the evolution comes where, wait a second, I can take this deal down myself. You know, why do I want to wholesale this out? And that's what his Dana Point property was, that opportunity, you know, for $10,000 to, you know, buy a property with, you know, only that amount of money down.

So that's so cool, dude.

Yeah. Yeah. Crazy. Crazy.

Yeah. So now take us into the future. Where are you headed? I know you said you and Ryan came up with a 10-year plan. Do you have a 10-year plan for yourself? I know you do. I already know the answer to that, but can you fill us in on kind of what you're looking at? What's getting you excited?

Yeah. Yeah. So 10-year plan or like long-term goals, we're going to continue to build the wholesale company. I think wholesaling is good in any type of market. I personally obviously haven't gone through recessions and all that stuff, but we've seen that even with a market shift, we're still able to wholesale deals for Good amount. Like we're averaging like 25 or more K per assignment, and these institutional buyers and long-term investors like they're still buying. You know, they just adjusted their their numbers a little bit, but still really good. Like don't hear all the noise out there that it's not really good anymore or whatever. So we're going to continue to grow that. Flipping is still fun. Airbnb is still fun. So I think I'll keep some along the way, but. The goal is to get into multifamily and I already started the process for that. And yeah, I just want to collect doors. My goal for this year is 100 units. I connected with private equity that they're ready to go and we're finding deals for them. We started marketing multifamily owners. I haven't heard of anyone wholesaling multifamily, but we're doing it and we're about to do it. So that's kind of like the long-term goal, like grow the Airbnb portfolio, flip for fun, wholesale for fun, and then live off of multifamily units and doors and all that fun stuff.

Amazing. Are there certain markets you're kind of leaning towards for the multifamily?

Yeah. I mean, Florida, Texas, Georgia, those are good ones. Tennessee, Nashville, it's blowing up for multi and single family. It's crazy. But yeah, all of those good markets. The Carolinas are— I love the Carolinas. Everybody's buying right now. Still there. The market's super hot over there. South and North Carolina.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Awesome. And are you doing the same process? You're basically just pulling a list and then skip tracing it and then reaching out?

Yeah. We just do a criteria. Okay, 20 units plus, year built from here to this, X to Y. And then we're just targeting those, cold calling those. Obviously, those sellers are going to be more sophisticated. There's things such as NOI and cap rate that are involved. So just got to learn. Again, I've been cold calling multifamily owners for about 2 weeks now. And it reminded me of 3 years ago when I was cold calling. for wholesaling. And it's the same thing. Like, I'm not super savvy with the multi-verbage, but it doesn't matter. Like, I'm not going to be afraid to still do it. And then, and because that's what it takes, you know? So it's just like a higher level type of wholesaling, I guess.

Absolutely. And that's what's one of the great things about, I think, starting out wholesaling. It's basically just lead generation. And it's going to be something you're going to have in your business forever because it's It's kind of where your deals come from, your own pipeline. And then if you want to move into a different space, then you just got to learn the terminology, how to comp, how to analyze, all that kind of stuff.

Yeah. Yeah, whatever it is, I think wholesaling, it's a great entry. Whether you want to do short-term rentals, long-term rentals, or flip, or multifamily, any of those things, it's going to be about finding deals. And wholesaling is about finding deals, you know? So it's a great entry, like Joe said, it's a great way to start in real estate.

Okay. Why don't you, let's say, give it— leave us with some advice that you would give yourself when you were first starting out, you know? Something that you know now that you wish you knew then, that you can give to, you know, some beginners.

Let me say something real quick. Okay, Alex got married last year. I did get a phone call from your girlfriend. She said her 1-year plan is a ring on her finger, just to let you know. Just to let you know.

All right, all right, Joe. Let me get like 1,000 units first, and then I'll be able to afford a ring.

Let me get that house in Balboa first.

Awesome. So what was it? Yeah.

Got you.

Now he's like, now I got to think. He's like, first, like, did my girlfriend really call? Did she really say that? Just some advice you would give yourself. I mean, your trajectory is pretty much skyrocket, but some people take a little bit longer. What's some advice that you'd give yourself when you were first starting out that something that you know now?

Yeah, good question. Let's see. Don't be scared. When I started, I was scared of sending out offers because I was like, What if they accept and then I don't want it anymore? What if they accept? Am I going to be stuck? I signed a contract. A contract was such a huge deal. And Ryan laughed and I was like, bro, you can back out of anything. Now we're literally submitting offers like crazy. But yeah, don't be scared whether it's numbers or rehabs or anything that might scare you. It's fine. Like, just talk to people, submit offers, and you'll be good. Take action for sure. Like, that's going to be the main thing, just taking action. Because I've talked to so many people used to social media and like mentoring people, and so many people get stuck. So many people get stuck and then they're afraid, or they think they feel like they don't have the knowledge, or they feel like they don't have the partnerships or the mentorship. But it's it's out there. Like you just gotta do it.

I love that.

And then once you start, then don't quit.

Yep.

That's that's gonna be a huge one too. Don't quit.

Yeah. Well, you were never gonna quit. That's just like yeah.

No, it's not an option. It's not an option.

Oh, that's great. Okay. Now you mentioned you mentor people. Where can people reach you? What's the best way to get a hold of you?

I'm pretty active on Instagram. My my handle is Carlos Closes. Yeah, it's cheesy, but whatever. I close deals.

It's true.

Yeah, that's where I'm pretty active. And Joe has my information too. If you guys reach out to him, he'll do a better job than me. But if he doesn't feel like it, he can send you my way. Yeah, that's— I'll answer as best as— to the best of my ability, and I'll help in any way that I can.

There you go. So if you need help closing, make sure to hit up Carlos. We'll drop your Instagram in the show notes as well. You guys do us a favor, please subscribe, share this podcast with any investor, new or experienced. And Joe, you want to take us home? You got anything else to add?

You know, I do. And I can tell you, if I was looking back At my 22-year-old self, which is when I bought my first property, I am very conservative by nature. I still am. But I would tell my 22-year-old self to be way less conservative and buy as much as you can at an early age. Learn the business. Here in California, we have ups and downs.

Yeah.

You know, learn those real estate cycles and stuff so you don't get burned buying something at the top. But I think we're headed for a great opportunity. There's going to be a lot of deals out there that, you know, people are losing their jobs. And yeah, it's unfortunate, but there's people that are going to lose money and there's people that are going to make money. And, you know, hopefully you learn to be on the right side of that equation and don't be as conservative as I was. And you know, maybe I could run for vice president with Donald Trump, but I'm not there. So you know, who knows?

I don't think you want to be there.

Yeah, I don't.

That's great. Right on. Okay, you guys, we'll see you next week.

Later.

See you later. If you want some more advice on real estate investing, reach out to us one on one.