Today, my guest is Edie Weintraub. Edie Weintraub is the visionary founder of Terra Alma, a boutique real estate advisory dedicated to shaping walkable, community centered spaces and fostering local connections. And in just a minute, we're going to speak with Edie Weintraub about creating vibrant hubs where people gather.
Website: https://www.terraalma.com/
J Darrin Gross
I'd like to ask you. Edie Weintraub, what is the BIGGEST RISK?
Edie Weintraub
Yeah,I think for us, you know, we are commercial real estate brokers for real estate agents, and so we are typically paid on commission only. And so if that deal doesn't come to fruition, that lease doesn't get signed, we don't get compensated. And so here, what I have to offer is my my network, my knowledge and my time, and so we are taking a significant risk every day in choosing who are the clients that we opt to work with. Because, you know, we might put a lot of time, energy and effort into deals that might not come to fruition. So it's, it is definitely the roller coaster. It's not a merry go round. And so I know that our field is not necessarily for everyone, but I do think that we're able to mitigate it in regards to balancing out our portfolio with some consulting opportunities where we're educating brands as well as developers on how to go about creating. Spaces that ultimately will attract the right tenants that they want. So we do try to balance that as much as we can, but I think it's important and we share with all of our clients that how we get compensated and why they should opt to work with us, but also realizing that we're investing in our time in them as much as they're investing their time in us.
Today, my guest is Jay Connor, the private money authority, and in just a minute, we're going to speak with Jay about raising private money.
J Darrin Gross
I'd like to ask you, Jay Connor, what is the BIGGEST RISK?
Jay Conner
Well, when you ask that question, Darrin, the first answer that comes to my mind is definitely not a traditional answer. I'm thinking about Charlie Jones. Charlie Jones is known for his quote that says, within the next five years, there's two things that will have the biggest impact on your growth within the next five years. Those are the new people you meet and the new books you read. So my answer to the question, what do I see is the biggest risk? The biggest risk I see is someone being happy with the copasetic and the static and missing out on all the opportunities that this world has to offer and that God has to offer. And how can you learn about these opportunities? Is what Charlie Jones says, The people you meet and the books you read my good friend Tom Crow, who was the founder of wholesaling Inc, which was the largest wholesaling instruction Company in the nation, Tom preaches, read eight pages a day. Just read eight pages a day of a non fiction book, autobiographicals, biographies, self improvement. Do that? Commit to that and join very reputable networking groups or masterminds, people of like minded goals. So the biggest risk that I see Darrin are people missing out on all that there is out there to be offered by staying static and not embracing and being committed to self growth. By the way, just as an aside, success is a lousy teacher. Success is a lousy teacher. It's where we fail. It's where we make mistakes that we actually grow. I was so blessed six weeks ago to meet John Maxwell in person and have a chat with him. He was our keynote speaker, one of the masterminds that I'm a member of and the audience member asked him says, What do you what's the one thing that you attribute your success to? And John Maxwell says, Well, I just fail more than anybody else. He said, You know, our wins are only about 30% of what we try, but if somebody else tries 10 new things, they fail seven times, they win three times. I'm going to try 100 new things, I'll fail 70 times, but I got 30 wins.
Today, my guest is Mark Willis. Mark Willis is a certified financial planner and is a man on a mission to help you think differently about your money, your economy and your future. Mark is a three time number one best selling author and the owner of Lake Growth Financial Services, and in just a minute, we're going to speak with Mark Willis about Buying Back Debt.
J Darrin Gross
I'd like to ask you, Mark Willis, what is the BIGGEST RISK?
Mark Willis
Well, I was thinking about this some the biggest risk is, is there's so many layers to your great question, and with enough time and enough adult beverages, you might get even deeper than this. But here's a good start anyway, there's a quote by Terry Smith. He says there are only two types of people when it comes to market timing, people who cannot do it and people who have not yet realized that they cannot do it. So what do I mean by that? What does he mean by that? Well, what I mean by what, I guess I'm taking away from that, is we are our biggest risk, the arrogance that comes with humanity's arrival syndrome. And this is something Nelson Nash came and showed me. He said the biggest threat to human survival is the arrival syndrome, and that is the idea that we have made it, that we have found the pinnacle of existence, that we know it all, that we know what the market is going to do tomorrow, or that we know how to buy our next car that, or we know how to invest In real estate, or we already have figured out that whole life insurance is blank, whatever bias we have right to use today's examples. But this could expand itself to everything. We know what the future government's going to look like, or where taxes are headed, or you know what our kids are going to do when they graduate college. We don't know nothing is, I think, the refrain of avoiding the arrival syndrome. So to me, that is the biggest risk.
Today, my guest is Corinn Altomare. Corinn is the co founder of Hearth Fire Holdings, a real estate investment firm dedicated to creating durable wealth through innovation and real estate and technology. And in just a minute, we're going to speak with Corinn Altomare about how to turn your real estate investment goals into reality.
Ph: (818)378-1524
J Darrin Gross:
If you're willing, I'd like to ask you. Corinn Altomare, What is the BIGGEST RISK?
Corinn Altomare:
for self storage, specifically? And I'll go there. First, something that we keep a very close eye on is over saturation, because it is such a niche market kind of service and real estate and business. So that's something that we head off very early in our underwriting process. We use a number of technology tools that not only track existing inventory in any given market or region, but also what's coming in the pipeline, what kinds of either zoning, zoning applications or new development, new construction permits are out there to make sure that we are not either buying or developing in a market that's already teetering on the brink of over saturation. So that's something very specific to what we do in self storage that we look at that's a primary risk, I would say, just because it's the laws of supply and demand. So that's something that we keep a close eye on throughout the acquisitions and due diligence process. We also verify that when we visit potential new acquisitions in person and tour the market, make sure there's nothing that we missed virtually, that we can then find out while we're there, in person, on the ground, and then on a more macro level, I mean, there's, there's so much in in our world that we can't control, and so that the biggest risk is simply the unknown, unknowns, and I can't solve or protect against those other than, other than building our team and business on the best possible quality and caliber of people that we can at the end of the day, you want to be able to know and trust who's at your side in a storm. And while it's very it's tough to it's really tough to know who it is you're doing business with, and to get to know people and vet them, especially, especially when you're you know, considering investing with somebody right and considering handing over a decent portion of your retirement or your savings. I very much believe that it comes down to people. The wrong people can take the best deal and turn it upside down. The right people contain can take something that's, you know, on paper, pretty modest, but through their commitment, through their integrity, through their work ethic, deliver on what that is supposed to be, what that is supposed to return to our investors. So for me, the end of the day, it's all about the people that you surround yourself with, that you trust, that you invest with.
Ph: (818)378-1524
Today, my guest is Josh Goldberg. Josh has over 20 years of experience founding and operating businesses in solar energy and technology. Josh is currently the CEO and co founder of Sunstone Credit, a technology enabled Clean Energy Financing platform that helps businesses go solar.
Josh.Goldberg@Sunstonecredit.com
J Darrin Gross
I'd like to ask you, Josh Goldberg, what is the BIGGEST RISK?
Josh Goldberg
Well, I'll throw you a bone first. So when you go solar, we actually require that all of our borrowers have insurance on the system. A lot of times it's covered in the underlying property insurance, but it is a great asset. You do want to make sure it's insured. Weird things happen, like hurricanes and whatnot. So there's, and we actually have had a casualty event where something happened to the system, unfortunate, but insurance covered it, and we got made whole. The borrower got made whole. Everybody was happy. So I think, like for us as a business, you know, we're 40 person startup, and so there's a lot of risks. Some of them are execution, right? Like, can we continue to deliver a great we sit in between three parties. We partner with capital providers to deploy capital, we partner with solar installers who offer our financing, and we partner with business borrowers, right? We have to deliver a seamless, efficient experience as we grow, and we have to keep getting better and better and better at it. So the our biggest risk, I think, is just execution. Can we kind of control it? But at the end of the day, like, like interest rates, right? Interest rates, their problem for a lot of for a lot of reasons. As rates rise, our cost of capital rises, as our cost of capital rises, we have to pass that on, right? And so, I mean, we've seen just like, an innate and an 80 basis point increase in Treasury rates in the past month. Unfortunately, despite the fact that rates were coming down, right? And so that that at some point makes our our capital more expensive, and at some point, if, if our cost of capital keeps getting more expensive and utility rates don't rise, the deal is not quite as good, right? So that's like a risk that it's kind of out there in the world. I think another risk is this is a relatively immature market, right? And so I mentioned like referral all works, like, if the one business owner has a great experience, they'll offer folks. If they don't have a great experience with us, or with the installer, or with solar in general, they will detract folks don't go solar, right? And so I think it's incumbent upon us to help, and then we spend a lot of time helping make sure that our borrowers are getting what they think they're getting right. We're a little parochial, because we want them to have, like, a fantastic experience. I think as the market matures, though, that'll be less of an issue, because, you know, you'll have higher quality installers, and some of the newer entrants who aren't good will kind of filter that out. But really it's like, this is everyone's first time doing it right. And so you just you can't afford to have bad experiences. You can't afford to have buyers. You know, they think they're saving 20% they only save 10. Well, they're gonna be upset, right? So how can we kind of nip that in the butt? Or they think that their utility is going to pay them for the surplus, but not that they don't, right? So how can we make sure that they're kind of getting what they felt they're getting? And really, I think that's that's key, because if I think this, if done right, it's a fantastic experience for everyone involved. The installers create local jobs in their communities. We deploy capital and make a decent return and grow our business. Our borrowers save money. They can save money and they can up. They can invest in their in their properties. They can get higher sell prices. If they're owner occupied, they get more cash flow for themselves. Maybe they can grow their business. They can, if you're a farmer, you can hedge your rates into the future. That's great, as long as it works, right? And so really, it's just great customer experience, expectations met, which is all about reducing risk, right? High quality installer, long term financing. Make sure the proposal is accurate, get it insured. So if you know, reduce risk, and you got a great producing asset that will save you a lot of money. And that's what we do.
Josh.Goldberg@Sunstonecredit.com