Unlock the power of strategic real estate investment with George Pino, Co-Founder of Commercial Brokers International (CBI), who brings a wealth of knowledge on maximizing cash flow. Transform your portfolio to work for you today and lay the foundation for a more prosperous tomorrow.
Beyond the numbers, this episode delves into the human element of real estate, focusing on the cultivation of new talent and the immense value of community service. Learn why integrity and mindset trump skill in George's playbook for mentoring agents, and how an ethos of giving back can elevate both personal satisfaction and professional success.
This isn't just a conversation about property; it's about building a legacy of trust, relationships, and service that stands the test of time. Join us for an enlightening discussion that redefines what it means to thrive in the commercial real estate industry.
Unlock the power of strategic real estate investment with George Pino, Co-Founder of Commercial Brokers International (CBI), who brings a wealth of knowledge on maximizing cash flow. Transform your portfolio to work for you today and lay the foundation for a more prosperous tomorrow.
Beyond the numbers, this episode delves into the human element of real estate, focusing on the cultivation of new talent and the immense value of community service. Learn why integrity and mindset trump skill in George's playbook for mentoring agents, and how an ethos of giving back can elevate both personal satisfaction and professional success.
This isn't just a conversation about property; it's about building a legacy of trust, relationships, and service that stands the test of time. Join us for an enlightening discussion that redefines what it means to thrive in the commercial real estate industry.
Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE rundown today I have from the lovely California, George Pino. He is one of the co-founders of CBI, George welcome.
Speaker 2:Welcome. Thank you for having me, heather. It's been really looking forward to this very excited Perfect excellent.
Speaker 1:Well, we've known each other for a little bit, but if you can, please share more about you so our guests can get to know you a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. I'm a commercial real estate agent managing partner of the company. I formed the company back in 2005 as a full-service brokerage company to really identify and go after the client's best interests. So with Commercial Brokers International we've been able to bring in a lot of clients. But we have a different format with working them where it's almost more advisory, with a lot of intake and understanding what their goals are and then giving them the options and education to accomplish those goals. And then we help them go forward and place the funds or whether it's investments or leasing so we have a full service. We have about 14 agents in here and myself I specialize in investment grade properties a lot of single tenant net lease retail centers, things like that around the country.
Speaker 1:Perfect, and you touched on advisory, which I think is a great distinction. There's a lot of standard agents out there and the way I see it is, they have a certain caliber of knowledge and expertise, but when you get to that advisory role, it definitely is a distinction and you're able to provide more. Can you give me an example of maybe one of your recent advisory projects? Obviously not the confidential stuff we know, but just an example of how you do go above and beyond helping your clients.
Speaker 2:Well, for instance, when we first take on if it's a buyer representation, for instance, one of the things that we're gonna do initially is we have an intake interview and we really start talking about it. But it's not so much about what their type of properties are looking for, because that's really a fill in the blank down the checkbox down the road. I wanna know what they're looking to accomplish, so whether it's a little bit more work life balance, like, for instance, I had a client that we've actually repositioned her assets over the last four years from California. She wanted to retire. She had a lot of properties, but there are a lot of internal management on the type of assets that she had and she's at that age where she's like, well, I just want long-term secured income coming in. So we started selling her assets out here in California and then repositioning them into single tenant netweights with corporate guarantees, long-term leases.
Speaker 2:We were actually able to after we really worked out what she was looking to, which was asset preservation and increased cash flow.
Speaker 2:We're able to increase her cash flow by over 30%, but also and that's before tax benefits, because we worked very closely with her CPA to identify certain types of assets, whether it was, for instance, a zero cash flow property which both her CPA and her had never even heard of, but we had brought it in to fill in one of the groups that they were looking. She was looking to take some money out of the exchange and buy in a state in Mexico, and you can't do an exchange from California to Mexico, but so the zero cash flow just fit the bill perfectly. So she ended up owning a Walgreens in Orlando, florida, right next to the convention center. Although it takes zero cash flow, it's the same amount of money that she put into it that she would have had to pay capital gains on, and she was able to take the cash out by this state without incurring a tax liability, saving her almost a million dollars. So, and initially they were just gonna cash out- yeah, it's frightening to think about, isn't it?
Speaker 1:And at the same time, people don't. They only know what they know. And we've all been in that scenario, so I'm so glad that they were able to connect with you, because that's a vastly different outcome than what they would have experienced, and at times it's still the thought of what people could have lost out on if they didn't get connected with someone like you and CBI. It's a complete game changer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's taking the care for the client. I mean there's a lot of agents out there that just try and do a deal transaction, transaction, transaction, right, and if they can be successful as an agent by doing it, but they're always chasing the deal and they're always chasing new clients because they don't build that community or really that relationship with the client where they're gonna trust you and come back in over and over. I know I'm never worried on any of my listings if somebody calls one of my clients. I'm never worried if somebody calls one of my clients even if it's not listed, because what ends up happening is 99 plus. Well, assuming I know every one of my clients are doing this, but from my experience all my clients automatically say he's my agent, go talk to him if you have anything interesting and even properties.
Speaker 2:I mean I had a client that is he was actually a GC of one of the largest multifamily REITs in the US and he wanted to start buying investment grade retail property, single tenant that we mainly for repositioning asset and things. So he actually called me up and said you know, after the conversation and talking to him we had a great conversation. He said I really don't need you to find me properties, because I have resources to do that. I just need you, when I send you a property, to tell me if I should buy it, what we're gonna do with it and how we're gonna implement that plan. And you know my favorite clients and we've done a few deals already and that's one of those and even outside the realm, if something comes up, he just reaches out and asks questions and that's what we're here for. You know, I always look to the perspective. I look at it is. I'm always trying to give some sort of assistance or advice. I'm not expecting anything from it.
Speaker 2:And by taking that approach. It actually gives me a better return where people you know they're always like, oh, this is a great guy, I'm gonna come in. I even have other agents referring me from other companies a lot of clients, so that's a bit.
Speaker 1:That says a lot right there. George definitely yeah. So, speaking of referrals and transitioning into growing your team, so 14 agents, that's great, and I was able to meet Young Lee the other day, which was great. What would you say has been the recipe for your success with really recruiting the right talent, also bringing in brokers that have been in the industry for a while? What would you say are a couple of your tips for people Patience number one.
Speaker 2:I'm recruiting the right team and I think that's the exactly the biggest thing that you actually brought up and said you know we could fill this. I can fill up any office in a couple of a month or two, but it's not gonna be the people I want. And we're looking for the same type of the same mentality. I mean we can train commercial real estate. We can explain how it works, what they need to do, how they can be successful, and we've actually have a pretty good track record for even new agents. You know, on average, when a new agent comes into commercial real estate, most companies say expect about a year, year and a half, before you make any money.
Speaker 2:Most of our new agents are doing deals within four to six months and we're really advising, like how you go about it. And we have a program in place for teaching. We do training every day at 8, 8, 15 am for about 45 minutes to an hour and then we do a follow up for the new agents at 5 pm just to say you know what? Have you heard what's going on. So it allows all the agents now that are sitting in that meeting to get the feedback from five or six other new agents of what they're hearing in different markets, that they can speak eloquently about what's going on overall on a macro scale, but also micro into their own sub market. So we're using that. But then the hard part is really getting the more experienced agents, because the one thing we can't train is personality and work ethic and we've made some mistakes on those two both of them and that's the hardest thing. But we do find the right people and a lot of it is when you do a deal with somebody that's really good and nice.
Speaker 2:I have a steal that's closing next week. The agent's been fantastic. He's probably a good higher level agent, does 60, 70 million dollars a year in sales and I'm going to go out and you know, I know we're closing. It was kind of a hard escrow. We both worked on it pretty diligently and I just reached out and said you know, when this closes, I want to take you out to lunch and I know the company's at and I know I can out pitch it. But I really enjoyed working with them, so I'm just going to lay it out on the line. I like to be upfront, put everything, all my cards on the table, because I'm not playing games. Here I'm trying to create a business.
Speaker 1:Definitely, you know and I think that's a common key amongst you know, people that have done well, where we're sharing from the start, we're clear on what we want, what our goals are, and then also sharing that, versus beating around the bush and playing different games, which wastes everyone's time. And you know life is too short, as is the day, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I don't have time to waste in that. You know if, for instance, the property that we're actually closing next week, it's a multifamily building. When I gave the pitch we were up against two of the big fives and one, actually three of the big fives. The other one, I was going to say more regional, but they are technically a national and international company. I'm not going to mention it, but they specialize in multifamily. And the interesting part is I actually came in as the lowest priced for my BOV. But when I came in I explained why and I sat down and I do.
Speaker 2:I'm very big on the analytics and using the actual information to show what the value is. And when I went in there and I explained it to them, I said you know I'm not going to go in and buy your listing. You know, if this is the value, I'm not in this business to list properties. I'm in the business to sell properties and if that's what you really want to do, here's what we can do. And, interestingly enough, two of the other, after we gave through the pitch, went through all the comps and everything else that we had given them, gave our analysis. Two of the other companies came and revised their BOV down and they told me that, and I said, well, that's great. Now, who are you going to trust, though?
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Right, I mean from the start.
Speaker 1:you have to look over their shoulder and sharpen the pencil. For them, it's not a good sign, and good luck when you're fully entrenched, right.
Speaker 2:Exactly so you know we were able to get that assignment. It was actually two multifamily buildings in LA sold one already and we're coming in right at the pricing that we expected. And what's interesting is, I love this because one agent kept saying it was worth probably about almost a million dollars more than what it was, and so before I even put it on the markets, after I signed the listing agreement, I reached out to him and said I have this listing. I understand you may have some buyers because that's what you told the client. If you want to submit an offer, go right ahead. And his response was oh no, I don't have buyers. I think I could get buyers at that price. I'm like, okay. Well, he actually submitted an offer $300,000 below the asking price.
Speaker 1:My asking price. The proof is always in the pudding jar.
Speaker 2:Okay, I see what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's like the oldest trick in the book. It's like come on.
Speaker 2:You and I, we don't have time for that. And so you know, but I think if you can as an agent. People are always so worried as agents that you have to give them the best price, because that's what the motivation is. That's really not their motivation. That's part of their motivation. Their motivation is they want to sell the property.
Speaker 2:So, going into it. They want to have as good of an experience of selling it. So, if they understand, this is realistically what we expect and this is what you're going to have a client for life versus oh my God, this guy came in here and he told me it was worth four million and he actually sold it for a two and a half.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know it's big difference. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And that's why, to your point, the longevity of the relationship and the trust and knowing that you are going to be looking out for their best interests, because unfortunately, as we know, in the industry that does not always happen. People, they stray. And so along those lines, not only with ethics, right, and being a great person, but mindset how would you say that plays into commercial real estate, especially now with the market.
Speaker 2:The mindset. In which way? If I may ask Heather, are you talking about the agents or the investors?
Speaker 1:Sure, as a commercial real estate investor, you know in the advisory role, and then also as a founder of CBI. So kind of a dual aspect in that sense of mindset.
Speaker 2:Dual aspect. I mean I think that you have to lead by example, coming from the founder side, and also you have to hold yourself accountable to your agents. I mean, whenever I recruit somebody, or if I'm talking to an agent that I want to bring on board, I point blank say this is how I speak to my kids, to you, to whomever I'm working with my clients, I'm going to be forthright, upfront expectations, lay them out on the line. More importantly, when it comes to the agents that we're bringing on board, I always tell them that we are we, joe and I my business partner and I consider every single one of the agents our clients. So you know, a lot of brokerage companies have two different. There's two different methodologies. Majority brokerage companies try and nickel and dime the agents, try and get them down and get as much out of their pocket as they potentially can, and you know, whether it's with fees and whatever it may be, we look at it as it's a much better and more synergies. If I can increase that agent's business and show them that from the company perspective, we're supporting them and bringing them and branding them, building teams around them. They're never gonna leave, they're gonna wanna be here, they're gonna be happy because of that support, because it's fair, and then if we increase their business by supporting them, we both win. And that's our methodology, as opposed to trying to nickel and dime them, but rather coming in. So that's from the top down on the agent side With clients currently in the current environment, what's interesting is the last year overall investment sales, we saw probably a 60% drop.
Speaker 2:I myself saw a good 40% drop in sales activity and a lot of that was debt related. Where the well, debt related and also owners expecting still a lot more than the property was, they weren't really willing to admit that they were being affected as much with the debt. So part of what we had to do was try and get a little bit more creative, whether it's sale leasebacks, whether it is owner carry financing things along those lines to be able to get them to really generate and explain why. But also, sitting down the bottom line is with as in an advisory role. In fact, I just talked to a client two days. Well, hopefully they're gonna be a client, but I had an initial conversation with a client that was I wanna get out of the sub market.
Speaker 2:He's in California, he owns one of the it's a 98th percentile Starbucks. And he was like, well, if I sell this, I'm not gonna get as much money as I wanted back out, because I just bought it two years ago. Now there's been a rent increase and this and that. And I ran the numbers and I said you're right, you're gonna lose about $300,000 if we sell this, after commissions and everything else. And when I sat down and he goes well, I can't do that. And I said why. So why do you wanna sell this? What are your goals? He goes well, I wanna get out of California. Said so if I can get you out of California and I can find you a property that is as strong of a credit tenant or similar, with as well as a lease, in a good, strong market and good location with a higher income, doesn't that accomplish what you wanna do, cause you're saying you're not gonna sell it? And he came back with well, yeah, it does. Actually I said okay, so let's not worry about the equity.
Speaker 2:Let's worry about what your cash flow is and what you're trying to accomplish. So now we're finalizing the BOV on his property just so we can tie it down and I think we're gonna get that listing. So that advisory side is kinda. I think how you have to take it in this market is really understanding, you know. Again, going back to what their goals, what they want to accomplish, and then using that to see if we can be of assistance. And sometimes we can't. But generally speaking, if you've been in the business for a long time and they're actually a realistic buyer or seller, then we can usually advise and help.
Speaker 1:Definitely, and I think you hit on a very important point. If it's the right fit and I think that's also where some firms get a little wild is the flea market type attempt of just throwing it everywhere, and you know it's knowing the niche, knowing the area and really just excelling there and referring on to other brokers, firms, for the things that you don't wanna do or that you know it's just not your cup of tea. So, and bring this in for a landing, george. This is the hard hitting question here is yeah, I know this one, this one can get people is what does living fully mean to you?
Speaker 2:You know, I think living fully has to do with a well. It's and this has been played out a lot and you hear the work-life balance, but it's a matter of what you're looking to accomplish as well. You know, there have been some very successful people who you know they put their dues in. I think this is one thing that a lot of people don't have newer generation or the new generation doesn't really understand is that you have to make sacrifices initially when you're starting off, and put your dues in, put your time in. I mean, when I first started off, I was my business partner and I were literally working 16 hours a day, but we became the number two company in a year and a half. In the industry. That works. It's huge and we're closing 700 to 800 properties a year for the next few years doing that, and I mean literally three, four closings a day. It was amazing, great time.
Speaker 1:We're doing real estate auctions.
Speaker 2:But what was so changing from that that allowed us to and, yes, I didn't see my family very often at that time but it has now allowed me, as I have gotten older, to have a lot more flexibility. Whether it's with travel, whether it's with one clients I work with who I wanna work with, I turn down probably two or three clients a week. That it's just not the right fit for me, as you mentioned before. But it also allows me to make sure that I'm home for the kids, like when the kids got to a certain age, I wanted to make sure I was there to be able to volunteer. I wanted to make sure that I was there every night for dinner, and so I structured my day. But I had the leeway and flexibility to do that because of the dues I put in when I was younger, from my 22 to 30 years, when I was of age, and that, to me, is really living life. I mean that also.
Speaker 2:I think that, ultimately, part of that should be a give back as well. Everything that we do, we try and figure out, how can we give back to the community? I have an investment or holding company with Joe and it's called Pono Asset Management, and Pono is actually the Hawaiian word for to do the right thing. Essentially, I mean, it translates to righteousness, but it's really to do the right thing. If you're asking anyone in Hawaii what does Pono mean, it's just doing the right thing. And so we're always looking at how we can give back to the community, whether it's through education, whether it's through support, whether it's through bringing in and revitalizing an area, whatever it may be. We're looking for something that we can actually give, go back, and I can say that not that this is something that we require or even look for, but a lot of our agents do a lot of volunteer work on the weekends. But that just goes to the personality of like I wanna help, I wanna advise, I wanna be able to help.
Speaker 1:So and I think that's such a great differentiator too, because two points that you're saying one, pay an hour, pay later, which is great advice, and two of really assisting, helping community as we can I think that's such a differentiator between people and just also of really living a fulfilling life, right Of you work hard and you wanna give back and shape our community and really improve the lives of others, which is the foundation of real estate, in my opinion. So I agree.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:George. On that note, thank you so much for joining me today, george, and I will include your contact information at the end so people can reach out to you and thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 2:And thank you for having me, heather, this is wonderful.
Speaker 1:Perfect, All right thanks so much. Thank you.