160: How to Handle Bad News, with Jorge Abreu

Welcome to the CRE Clarity Podcast with Jeremy Goodrich. Our guest today is Jorge Abreu, multifamily investor with a portfolio across Texas and the Midwest. In this episode, we dive into navigating today’s CRE market, transitioning from C-class to A-class properties, and how to syndicate the right way in 2024. 

Learn more about Jorge and his story at creclarity.com!

“There is the age of the property and then the location. So you could have a C-class property in a B or A location.“

01:00

Jorge began his real estate career by investing in value-add, C-class multifamily properties, eventually transitioning to higher-quality A-class assets. Now he manages thousands of properties. 

According to him, it’s more risky to operate C-class properties because of the tenant base and a lot of deferred maintenance. In contrast, A-class properties offer a lower risk profile due to their higher quality and reduced maintenance requirements.

“When your investors are caught off guard when they think the property is running fine, that’s the worst thing.“

08:54

Jorge is doing many syndications with passive investors. He recommends focusing on safer deals with good cash flow from the start and a solid return in 5 to 7 years instead of chasing high returns in risky 3-year deals. 

Jorge shares how he’s navigating the current real estate market. 

  • He spends a lot of time in operations and pushing the NOI to make up for the current high expenses and interest rates. 
  • He brought property management in-house. 
  • He’s making sure to keep open communication with his investors. 

“I’m kind of looking forward to this down part of the market, because there are many opportunities for those that are good at acquisitions, hunting for deals, and negotiating.”

21:05

Toward the end of the conversation, Jorge shares what he’s most excited about in the industry currently. While acknowledging concerns about uncontrollable expenses like insurance and property taxes, he also expresses excitement about a potential market downturn. He sees many opportunities in it.

Finally, Jorge shares one point of clarity with the listeners – if there’s an issue in one of your deals, tackle it head-on, go after it, and get it done. 

About our Guest, Jorge Abreu

Jorge Abreu has been Investing in Real Estate for over 16 years now. He started in Single Family, small Multifamily properties and eventually worked his way up to large 100+ Unit Multifamily properties. Jorge has wholesaled over 250+ Single Family Properties. Fixed & Flipped over 200+ SF. Developed and completed several new development projects, over $40 Million in ground up construction.

He also started and built a Construction Company bringing in over $30+ Million in yearly revenue & growing. He is now an Active & Passive Full Time Multifamily Real Estate Investor. Jorge and his company Elevate combined have acquired 7,737 Multifamily Units as the main Deal Sponsors. He has gone full cycle and exited out of 1,608 of those units and currently has $550M+ in Assets Under Management.

Jorge is the CEO of Elevate Commercial Investment Group and JNT Construction. JNT Construction focuses on helping Multifamily Investors with their Due Diligence & Full renovations. He has also now launched an in house management company, Elevate Real Estate Management, which makes him completely vertically integrated. He also runs a Multifamily Coaching program where he helps others grow their Multifamily Real Estate portfolio.

He is based out of Dallas & currently owns properties in Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Arkansas and South Dakota but is open to other areas as well. Strong points are Locating Deals, Due Diligence, Executing CapEx, New Development & Raising Equity

Mentioned in the show:

  1. His LinkedIn
  2. https://elevatecig.com/
  3. www.shineinsurance.com/
  4. The REI Clarity Framework

Need an instant insurance ballpark for your next Multifamily deal?! Answer 9 simple questions and we’ll give you a sense of what insurance should be. Visit us here for everything you need to know: https://www.shineinsurance.com/ballpark/ 

Special thanks to Jorge Abreu for taking the time to share so many great insights with us

 
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Show produced by Eni Horvath