What It Takes to Join the Top 6% in Commercial Real Estate - CCIM | Charles Patawaran

like the most important guy in the room. What I realized from her is the guy that can bring money in, right? Like the capital guy. We were doing about 300 some odd change, $320,000 in Ebido. >> Mhm. >> Right. So, we sold it just under $2 million. >> Nice. >> You have 350 million in transactional volume now with Gatsby Advisors. >> That is correct. We we opened up No. So, it's Remax Commercial. So let's actually talk

about that real quick. So what is the difference between Gatsby Advisors and Remax? So in like Fort Ben, we have a $65 million um shopping center development with like 60 office condos in the back. >> That value on that was $65 million on an exit. >> No, we did we did a raise. Yeah, >> we did a $9 million range. Yeah, we're at $4.5 million towards our $9 million raise. We have no debt, all equity, >>

all equity. >> We have uh our dis I represent the largest independently owned cannabis dispensary in Chicago. Welcome to another episode of Pick up the phone podcast. My name is Jose. I'm the founder of Gets You.AI, the emotionally intelligent voice AI for the real estate industry. It's on artificial intelligence. It's emotional intelligence. Today's guest is Charles Padawaran. Uh Charles Padawaran has a CCIM accolade uh that puts him in the top 6% of all commercial practitioners globally.

Uh he's got the first reax commercial uh only commercial only office and you've got 350 million in transactional volume in the pipeline as of Friday May 8th today. >> That's that's correct. Thank you. >> Thank you so much for being here, brother. >> Yeah, man. First and foremost, no, thank you. I'm so honored to to be here present with you. Um I I love what you're doing. I'm a big fan. Phenomenal guests already all from basically

the Houston market and uh let's make it happen. >> Yeah, absolutely, bro. >> So um I I know like like last time we came to uh I came to your office and we were talking a little bit about uh what it is that you're doing, what you've accomplished, and uh you gave me a lot of insight about the CCIM accolade. >> Yeah. And I' I'd really love to go into that and kind of what it took

to to be able to get that because I think it's >> it's very important that a lot of people understand >> the the amount of effort, energy, and resources are required to be able to get that done. So, I think that's pretty uh pretty amazing. But before we get into that, >> let's go ahead and get started with uh your background, bro. Where you where you from? Where were you born? Where'd you go to school? >>

Actually, uh before we get started with that, I have a I have a gift for you. And uh I'd like to uh change it up a notch. So I've got this uh collagen eye mask. >> And if it's okay, we'll we'll put it on together. >> You want to put it on? >> Let's Let's go, man. Change it up. Is that okay? Mine. You're going to do you. >> And then you know cuz here here's the

thing, man. Like I want like >> a old mentor taught me. >> Uhhuh. >> That like if you look good, then you feel good. >> Yeah. >> And then if you feel good >> Oh, I think I got stuck in the >> you do good. So, >> you know, let's just change it up a notch a little bit and then let's put this babies on, right? >> Okay. So, how does this work? >> I don't know

if the maybe the women in with your audience can maybe, you know, >> see, can you switch to me real quick? >> Yeah. Get get a little bit of a acquaintance here. >> This is going to be the first podcast that >> we're going to film >> with this on. I think this is great. >> What do you think? >> I think this is fantastic, >> dude. We're going to look so fresh after this podcast. >>

I feel I feel great already. >> It's like it's got collagen. Um, it's soothing and cooling. I actually had this refrigerated before I got here. >> I do feel it. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I feel I feel the coolness on my face. I like it. >> Yeah. Right. >> Yeah. I normally I do this whenever I'm going to uh whenever I'm relaxing, I'm at the spa. But, uh, first time I'm doing it at a podcast. So,

why not? >> Why not? >> I'm sure this will this will work up the views. >> It'll it'll increase views for sure. >> It'll increase the views. people are going to see this and be like, "What the [ __ ] are they doing? >> What the hell is going on?" And here's the thing, man. Like, guys, right? Like, we're we're so busy with our businesses and just grinding, >> we forget to do two things. Number one,

we forget to take care of ourselves, right? And then number two, >> we forget to compliment each other as men, right? Like men don't compliment each other enough, >> right? You got all these women, you know, and use, you know, saying good things about each other, you know? Oh my god, you're so beautiful. But like as guys, dude, you're a rockstar, bro. Bro, you're a rock star, bro. >> Phenomenal. >> You look good looking amazing right

now with with that gold underneath your eyeballs. >> Look at this, man. >> I don't know if I did. Did I do this right? >> It's kind of funny looking, but I'm not going to >> I'm not going to hold you to that. >> Yeah, I think one is like blocking a little bit of your >> Is it blocking my eyeball? >> It's a little bit, man. I think that's >> Did I put it on right?

>> That's Hey, man. Let it be. >> What am I doing here? >> Your cheeks might be glowing. I don't know about your eyes. >> You want to help me out real quick, babe? come over here and help me out. >> Is it good? >> I think it's good. >> Yeah. >> Okay, cool. >> One's like in the corner and the other one's like in your cheek. It's all good. >> This is great. This is fantastic.

>> Let's go. Let's go. >> Um here, if you want to like adjust your mic to the side. >> Is that better? >> No. Like don't put it in front of your face like this. Yeah, like this. Yeah, like that. >> That's kind of awkward, man. Just holding a mic in front of my face. >> I know. It is. It is. >> Um dude, whoa. Oh, there we go. >> I'm sorry I threw you off. That

was that was that's a that's a new start to the podcast for sure. That definitely is the first >> I got a lot of compliments like, "Hey man, I love I love like I'm in meetings right now. Like I'm in the middle of a meeting with an investor and then like right in the middle I'm like, "Oh, hold on." >> So then I bust out with like 10 packs of these. These are like $5 packs, right?

Like, "Hey, let's put this on." And then it just creates this whole sense of like all the walls go down and we end up just doing a deal, right? Kid you not on on eye patches alone. >> Look at you. I got you laughing. This is the most you've laughed on your own podcast. >> Yeah, it might be. It might be. All right. So, um, dude, let's let's talk. >> Let's get started, man. What are we

doing? >> What What are uh Where are you from? Are we going to do this with the >> the whole the whole way? >> The whole way? >> Yeah, it's 15 minutes. 20 minutes. >> Okay. All right. >> The whole way. Don't take them off. >> We'll do the first section of the We We do this in in three bursts. The first uh burst is 15 minutes. >> Then 15 minutes and 15 minutes around an hour

more or less for 45 minutes to an hour. So >> I got two more packs. So if you need, you know, if you need to do another round, we can be so looking fresh today. >> Yeah, it's Friday. You know, we go out tonight. >> Yeah, you're right. You're right. Let's go. All right. So, um background, bro. Let's talk about your background. What's your background? Where you from? Where were you born? >> Yeah, man. So, I'm

actually um not from here. Like not from Texas, not from the States. I was born outside the country. Yeah. >> Uh in the Philippines. So >> Oh, you were born out there? I was born in the Philippines. Yeah. So, >> I I speak Tagalog. English is my second language. >> No [ __ ] >> And um you know, moved when I was like five or six to Chicago. >> To Chicago. Okay. >> What What took you

from the Philippines to the Philippines to Chicago? >> My mom My mom, you know, she uh my aunt raised me in Chicago. My mom couldn't raise me, so she I was conceived in Chicago, I think. And then I was born in in in the Philippines so that my aunt can take care of me. >> Mhm. And then I moved to Chicago when I was five or six and then uh you know she raised me for a

couple years and then you know just life was chaotic growing up. >> Really? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Was it uh what was chaotic about it? >> It's your like typical Chicago like statistic, right? Like single mom, you know, basically like we grew up homeless as a child. We were bouncing around from like, you know, home to home, shelter to shelter. And uh I think that was like one of those you know pivotal like situations as growing

up as a child. It's like this is not what I wanted to be. >> Yeah. >> So I did everything in my power like beginning 15 16 years old >> to get away from this life. >> You mentioned before you know you're looking for people who are who have a chip on on their shoulder. Is that would you attribute would you say that you had a chip on your shoulder growing up or >> 100%. So what

gave you kind of the motivation to succeed or? >> Yeah. Yeah. It was it was what I wanted not to be. Right. So like the life that you know I I grew up in it was like I needed to figure this out and not be it. Right. Not be a statistic. >> Right. >> Right. In Chicago like there's there's gang wars, there's you know drugs, there's all this, right? Like the the the stereotypical like shy. It

exists. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. People getting shot like all of that. >> Yeah. Yeah. No. Yeah. I mean it exists for reasons. It's a statistic for a reason. So, >> man, that's uh that's wild odd. Um, >> at what point, you know, in your growing up did you make that decision to say I'm sure it doesn't happen like overnight, right? I think it's like a something that develops over time, but at what point did you >>

know that you wanted more for your life? Because a lot of people grow up in this environment, Charles, and they don't make it out of there. They they just stay there all their lives. >> Well, they think it's a norm, right? like this is like I accept I accept my faith, right? Or I accept my fate, >> right? So, >> um I think it was around 13, 14, 15 where just like it just got too much,

you know, uh literally not having like not having money to go to school, right? >> Mhm. >> So around 15, I dropped out of high school. I went to high school for like 2 months, right? I just kept on getting into not just fights, but more like I just couldn't afford to go to school like the bus. Like the bus was too bucks and we just couldn't afford that, right? So I kept on missing school, >>

right? >> Mhm. And then just end up like working after hour or after school and it just didn't make sense for me to go to school. So >> I dropped out. I forged my mom's signature. 15 years old. >> You did? >> I did. Yeah. I'll say it on record, too. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Forged my mom's signature and and in in like in Chicago, well, you know, all in the US, you can be I think

16, but 15 with like the permission of your mom, right? Or your parent. >> Yeah. So what I did was I found that loophole like why do I need to go to high school? Right. I think high school is just like to build to to make you be a social butterfly. >> Yeah. >> I'm already social like I'm already a natural extrovert. Right. >> Right. Right. >> So >> so um what was your first uh kind

of entrance into entrepreneurship? When did you know that? Because a lot of people grow up in this environment and maybe they go and pursue a career in corporate, right? I'm going to go work for this company. I'm going to I'm going to climb the corporate ladder. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do that. But for you, you made a decision to choose the entrepreneur route. And so, >> it was given to me actually like

by God's grace. >> Yeah. >> Um I think I've always been a hustler. I've always been like the quote unquote entrepreneur. Like I've always like selling slinging something on the streets, right? Selling candy like when I was 13, right? Like I took a box of chocolate that the school wanted you to sell and I sold everything and then doubled up. So I I reinvested the money, bought more chocolate, right, to sell it more, right? >> So,

but you know, just through random mentorship, random random people taking me in in into their family, into their business, and then being obsessed with the business and and so on and so forth. >> Wow. >> So, I was I remember I was a bus boy at 15. I would I would leave like sixth period my first two months of high school, right? like the the last two three periods I wouldn't go to school because I needed

to start my shift at a as a bus boy in this like fine dining restaurant in like on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and then I'm a bus boy so usually we don't we don't really get tips right we just kind of do our thing and then some guy tipped me a hundred bucks for just having a conversation with them I just said hi >> tip me $100 >> and then that was like very profound because it's

like that's what I like that's what I make in a week right at that time 15 years ago >> right >> for him to tip me $100 I was so upset. So like I just couldn't like understand how this guy can just tip me $100. >> Yeah. >> So next the next time I saw him, I asked him, "Hey, what do you do for work?" And he's like, "I own my own business. I'm in finance." >>

And that like that changed my life. >> Right. >> Yeah. Three-piece suit, good-looking guy. Like Like that's it. I want to be that guy. >> Yeah. >> That's it. >> That's it. I don't know. I never met him again. Just met him twice. >> Just twice in your life. >> Mhm. It's it's funny how you know certain people come in your life and they make an impact to the point where it it drastically changes the direction

of your life. >> 100%. >> Yeah, that's uh that's absolutely incredible, man. I think that that's uh God's force kind of working through >> through and uh putting you in the right path. >> So, what happened uh what was kind of your exit out of Chicago? What what happened? What was your first um business? Uh tell me about, you know, after you got out of Chicago. Yeah. So like being Filipino, you know, you're like usually in

the healthcare industry. So most Filipinos are nurses. So that was like the route for me, right? So there was a lady um she passed away a couple years ago, but basically she took me in as her personal assistant. >> I was her driver. She was a registered nurse. She had she owned a home health company at the time. And we went around all of the streets of Chicago visiting patients, right? M >> and because I knew

Chicago so well and I've like lived on the streets, that's really why she wanted to hire me as her driver, right? To kind of drive her around. And we would just go to the most ganginfested like neighborhoods. Really? Right. >> And um I was I was nervous. We were driving like a brand new Range Rover, right? It was like a 2015 2016 brand new Range Rover. >> Yeah. And we would drive that around in the city

and like you know I remember like going to one house it had like maybe 10 15 like you know gang bangers on the street or like literally in front of the house like 11:00 in the morning. And as she gets out the car it's like she's like Moses where like the whole like the entire gang just kind of like divides right in the middle. So then she can go up you know stairs and visit their mom

and take care of mom as a nurse, right? So like providing all the skilled services and and things like that. So she had so much respect and I respected her because of that. >> So I I think this was kind of like your introduction into home healthcare. I know you did a lot of business in that. So >> it was my intro in healthcare. >> So it kind of showed you kind of the ropes, showed you

the game, showed you what other people are doing. >> Yeah. >> Did she teach you the business or >> She taught me everything. Everything. Like the way that I speak, the way that I that I walk, like how like we started going to luxury like fine dining restaurants. I learned that there's like different forks for different, you know, meals and like you know what's like how you like just sit down and just talk to people. >>

Wow. >> Yeah. And I was again from the streets, right? So from the streets you you learn things differently, right? You have a different type of mentality, >> right? >> But for her like money was endless like you know and then my biggest thing for her it's like I I I was so obsessed with her how she operated and then my whole mission was to give her value and buy her time cuz her time was very

limited. >> Yeah. Yeah, I start so I started finding ways to buy her more time. So our days became like 10 12 hour days. I was able to just kind of help her with that and then we made that to you know four or five hour days. And really I just wanted to get out of work early. >> Yeah. >> And then so I would just bring her you know to like her spa days and she

would ask me to take her to you know all these little things so that she enjoyed her life more. >> Yeah. How long were you working for her? >> For a long time. It was like six years. >> Six years. >> Yeah. So I actually worked my way up. So I didn't know she owned the company till like 6 months later. I thought she was just an employee. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And I think she was

cautious. She was trying to fill me out, right? So she kept kept me in the car. >> Kept me out of the loop of the of the office. And then you know few times I just went in the office and >> you know they they speak they speak to Gollock. So I'm able to just kind of be obsessed and learn the business. >> Yeah. >> And then I said I'll do everything. So I started like doing

filing and then fax like back then we were just faxing orders so we can get you know patient a doctor signature and I learned how she'd take out clients, how she'd take out physicians so that we can get referrals and so on and so forth. It was like the most amazing like thing. >> Yeah. So how old were you when you started working with her? >> 15 16. >> 16. >> Yeah. She pulled me off the

streets. >> Wow. Got saved, bro. >> I got saved. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Wow. >> Miss Norma. >> Miss Norma. Shout out Miss Norma. It's amazing. Yeah. >> So 15 uh 6 years with her. You're 21 now. >> Yeah. 21. Like like ended up just making ended up making like six figures with her, right? So like she promoted me to office to office administrator to like So then I ran the entire shop basically >> over

the course of six years. >> Over the course of six years. Yeah. Like from the like revenue cycle management. So I end up like the most important guy in the room what I realized from her is the guy that can bring money in, >> right? Like the capital guy. >> Mhm. So, I made it I made it my obsession to be the guy that would do the billing so that we can get paid from the hospital

or so from the insurance companies and so on and so forth. >> There was one guy that they were paying like 50 bucks an hour. >> Uhhuh. >> Um and and he was getting paid over 140 grand a year, right? Just with like bonuses and whatnot. >> Yeah. >> And I'm like, I'm going to take his job. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I'll do his job at half the cost, right? >> And then I learn everything there

is about his job. >> And you did it? >> I did at half the cost. Yeah, >> that's hilarious. >> So, you at what point did you decide, okay, I think I know everything. I'm I'm pretty good. I'm going to go off on my own. >> It was uh during the time I was working with her. So, I think I was like 19, 20. I know buy like I bought my first house when I was like

20, 21, you know. Um it was during the time when I was working with her and then I started doing like side gigs, like side quests. So, like other people started hiring me um on a on a monthly retainer. Mhm. >> So I think at one point I was making like $180,000 with her and then as a contractor with other companies >> and I think there was like one situation where she was like having lunch with

her friend and then you know the friend was like yeah I got to talk I got to introduce you to my biller and my coder he's like amazing his name is Charles and then she's like what like Charles like my Charles? >> So apparently you know people from the industry know each other. >> Yeah. >> And then one person was recommending her to me even though I already worked for her. Oh yeah. Did that cause some

issues? >> It caused a little bit of issues. She's like, "Hey, what what are you doing? You know, you just gota, you know, you got you got to pick at this point." I'm like, "Look, I'm doing everything you're you know, you want me to do and then I'm doing everything outside and everything I do is outside of ours, so what's the big deal?" >> Mhm. >> So, you know, basically I ended up just on my own

and then we grew that business. >> So, we had like 30 40 clients, right? Like in a matter of 6 months, we built a book of 40 businesses. >> Wow. Wow. >> So instead of me working for one, right, at 50 bucks an hour, I was working for like 30, 40 of them. >> Yeah. And now you had other people working for you. >> That's right. So that was like my journey into entrepreneurship. It started outsourcing

to the Philippines, you know. >> Yeah. >> And just made it happen. >> I I bet it helped having uh learning or knowing the language back home and being able to hire people back in the Philippines to be able to scale quickly. >> Yeah. I mean what what made me scale was that like in in there's there's an certifications and accolades within the industry. So I made it known that like I went to college, right? So

even though I'm a high school dropout, I did go to college. So I went to college for that business >> health informatics, >> right? >> So not only did I know what I did or what I provided through experience, >> I showed everybody that I was the best through accolades. >> Yeah. >> So getting my certifications, getting my degrees, right? I was one of the very few, if not the only one that actually had a degree

in what we were doing. And that's all I did. I flexed this. >> Yeah. >> I was like, you can hire him or you can hire me >> at the same rate. >> Mhm. >> Who would you who would you rather hire? Someone that actually has a degree in this formally that has experience and work with others that had, you know, letter recommendations or that guy? >> Yeah. >> What happened with that business? What where did

you take it? What did you do with it? >> Yeah. So like the industry just you know like in healthcare there it's always cyclical right same in real estate. So eventually a lot of the businesses started going down because healthcare reimbursement started decreasing profit profitability started decreasing margins went >> like it everything decreased. >> Yeah. >> So I saw the trend and then I actually started um you know owning my own business like my own home

health agency. So I ended up partnering with a home health agency and focused on building that business. Gotcha. and we ended up selling that business and then later on I I ended up just buying and selling multiple companies in the home health space became an expert at that >> that entire field. >> So uh um I mean it sounds like you kind of have kind of shifted and pivoted in business multiple times, right? >> 100%. You

have to pivot. >> Yeah. >> What was what was the purpose of those pivots and >> how did it lead you to where you're at today? >> Yeah. There's so there's something called pattern recognition where being like the medical biller right in the healthcare industry you're able to see patterns >> and so you can almost forecast you know the future based on patterns in the past. >> Yeah. >> And then also updates from like you know

CMS and Medicare and things like that. So the whole thing it's like we've seen decreases in revenue for the last four years. >> Mhm. >> So I can you can only project that it's going to decrease even more. And every time it decreases, you have revenue going down and then cost of labor going up. >> So you can almost see that there's a broken system, right, that like businesses are going to end up closing because profitability

isn't there and margins are not there anymore. >> Mhm. >> That's going to affect my business, right? If I'm servicing these companies that are going to close down, then I'm going to end up closing down. So you have to pivot. >> Yeah. >> You have to be proactive and not reactive. >> Absolutely. Um, so just so I can follow here and kind of like your your journey. >> Yeah. in entrepreneurship. You >> you were working with

this lady um working in healthcare running her business and then you started doing it for multiple people. You shifted that and then you went into what what was the business? Home services. >> So home health and hospice. >> Home health and hospice. >> What does that business look like? >> Basically taking care of elderly people. Yeah. >> Do you go to their homes or do you have like a real estate and then they come to you?

>> No. No. So we we would go through their homes. Okay. So again, just to kind of give you clarity, I was a provider for the home health company. I was the one servicing their books, their billing. I was getting them paid. >> Got it. >> And because I know that business really well, I ended up partnering and buying my own company. >> Got it. >> In that space. >> Got it. Yeah. >> So the people

that were the the people that I was servicing, I ended up playing in the same space as they were. And it became becoming like like very obsessed and very good at what we did. >> Yeah. >> And it's all a relation of business, right? So because me working for Norma, right, and then she taught me that game, I was able to, you know, grow this company for, you know, doing several million dollars in revenue and it

would end up selling that later on. >> You Yeah, I remember you, I think right around the time that we met. I think um I think you you had just sold that company. >> Yeah, just sold that, exited, you know, and just did it over and over again, right? So it's like I became in I became like an operator. I became you know a consultant. I became you know the broker then selling my company and then

basically provided the same service to other people. >> Yeah. >> So I have 10 15 years of experience in healthcare >> from A to Z the whole every single nuance in healthcare. >> It's a long time. It's a long time. >> Um man I really want to get into a little bit about the exit of that business and kind of what that looked like. you know, >> yeah, >> we've we've talked a lot in the past

about uh business valuations. Um I think you're even a specialist when it comes to SBA loans, >> correct? >> Um so let's let's talk about that. And before we do, let's just uh take a quick commercial break here. >> Let's go. Cool. >> Let's go. Done. >> If you're a nationwide real estate investor, you need to go check out gethardmoney.com. Gethhardmoney.com is the number one place to find local hardmoney lenders. You can connect with them directly.

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Business. >> You grew that. >> Um what kind of revenues did you have? What kind of, you know, employees? Uh how did that process look like to be able to sell a company? >> Yeah. So, I didn't know what I was doing, right? >> I still don't know what I'm doing half the time. But basically, it's all a numbers game. So, you know, we sold the company based on a 3x multiple of our IBIDA. >> Okay.

>> Um, that's basically our net profit. >> Yeah. >> And we did that at a, you know, 4x multiple. We were doing about 300 some odd change $320,000 in IBIDA. >> Mhm. >> Right. So, we sold it just under $2 million. >> Nice. >> Sold that. And then, um, you know, I moved to uh moved to Texas. >> Did you have a business partner in that? >> Yeah, we had multiple partners. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. They

were a lot older than I was. >> Nice. And then um you know everyone cashed out. >> Who made the the decision to want to sell the the company? >> I did. >> You did? >> Yeah, we had to. We had to because I saw the decline in revenue and I was, you know, one of the main guys bringing in the business in. >> So I just I just I was so overworked. I was so like

just what's burnt out. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. to to work 9 to5, be the administrator, and then from like, you know, 5 to midnight, you're out there, you know, meeting and greeting. >> I I think that you have specialized knowledge right here when it comes to selling a business, and I think that a lot of viewers would benefit from listening to the process of actually selling a business. >> Yeah. >> So, uh, would you mind sharing

a little bit about what that process looked like? Did you, >> Just like with real estate, you know, there's some bracers that you have to get, right? U what is the process with selling a business? You know, like what is the what documentation do you need to do? >> Um what preparations do you need to get? What appraisals do you need? >> Uh you know, walk me through that process. >> There's a lot of logistics when

selling a company and we actually work with clients that hire us to help them prepare to sell the company. So we probably have outside of the 350 that 350 million that we mentioned, we have about $20 million in businesses and entities that need to be sold. Okay. >> So, the way that it works, it's you you basically figure out who the end buyer is. There's only two end buyers. There's, you know, you're a small business, you

know, maybe previous W2, and they're going to leverage something called the SBA to finance the company, >> right? >> That limit is up to $5 million. >> Yeah. >> Right. So what we'll do is from a very basic perspective you're looking at the market trading at 3 to 4x of IBIDA >> earnings before interest taxes amortization >> all of that right >> so if you are a small business owner >> Mhm. ideally doing more than a

million dollars in gross revenue. >> Yeah. >> Assuming a 20% market in the ind industry standard kind of profit margin, right? >> You're looking at, you know, $200,000 per million in revenue. >> Okay? >> Assuming a Forex multiple of that $200,000, you're going to basically trade anywhere from, you know, $600 to $800,000 for that business. >> Okay. >> Plus any FFE or real estate. >> Yeah. So, FFF, furniture, fixtures, equipment, whatever that cost is, right? You

can maybe include that into the sale as an add-on. And then also the value of real estate if the value of real estate is being purchased as well, >> right? >> Mhm. >> So, so, you know, to to recap, >> what sort of documentation um or preparation I know you help people that, but you know, so that people kind of get a little bit more insight into what it is that you're doing. >> Yeah. >> What

does that look like? >> No, good question. So typically any buyer would want to see the last three years financials. >> Okay? >> And then any buyer that is leveraging the SBA would also want to see last three years financials. >> Right. >> The last two years financials would have to have to to show profits. >> Right. >> Right. And not just any type of profit like not declining revenue or not declining profit but increasing profit

because again if you look at something called pattern recognition you're able to see the future just from the past. Mhm. >> So if you have a company that is growing 20 30% every single year >> and revenues are increasing, >> margins are increasing, that's good. >> That's a good thing. That's good news. >> So >> um >> good books. So hiring a good CPA, hiring a phenomenal bookkeeper, making sure that your your reconciliations every month is

on point, right? And then your tax returns are showing profits. The problem these days is you have all the CPA and all this, you know, tax advisors advising their clients to write off every single thing from Rolex to cars to everything to lunches and they're showing paper losses under companies, negative negative tax returns. >> Right. >> So from that perspective, you are not financable and you have no enterprise value in your business because you're showing losses.

>> Right. >> Mhm. So if you are interested in selling or ever considering selling, you need to basically position yourself so that your company can tell a story for the next two two to three years. >> Right. >> Right. And that story is basically is it profitable? >> Mhm. >> Can the buyer or the borrower service its own debt through the business? >> Right. >> And if it cannot then it's not it's not sellable, >> right?

>> Yeah. So basically it it it boils down a lot to the financials, making sure you have good bookkeeping and you position the company as a profitable or increasing profits in future projections. >> Absolutely. Another big thing is having the owner be something called a semi-absentee owner. >> Okay. So if the business revolves around the owner, >> 100% of all the books, all the revenue comes because of the owner. >> From a buyer's perspective, if you

if they are considering buying your company and they remove the owner, what happens to the business afterwards? >> Right? >> So the therefore the buyer or the the seller, the owner has pretty much given him a disadvantage because the business revolves around him or her. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> So, becoming a semi-absentee, like working like hiring managers and hiring sales people to bring in business and not just you. >> Usually, as business owners, we're all

we're all like we're everything, >> right? We're CFO, CEO, business development, all of that. >> But if you want to actually give value to your business, you have to figure out how to start exiting yourself before you actually exit. If that makes sense. >> Yeah. >> Makes makes perfect sense. Okay. Cool. So, how did you even get into that like into consulting with businesses? because you went through the process of actually selling your property the company

yourself. >> Yeah. So I I sold I sold my own company. I've consulted for other people to sell their company. >> Mhm. >> And because of that I became very obsessed with how this thing works. >> Yeah. >> And then you know not only being hired to help people buy and sell companies, putting together the financing of it all, right? So the business plan, the proforma, there's probably 300 pages of SBA documentation that need to be

filled out. >> 300 pages >> probably. Yeah. Between 413s, 19 all these SBA specific forms. >> Wow. >> Mhm. >> It's a lot of documentation. A >> lot of docu It's very documentation heavy. That's why SBA is one of the hardest things to get financed, but it's such a powerful tool if used correctly. >> Right. >> Yeah. So, everyone gets basically $5 million of buying power, >> right? If you are a good citizen and you pay

your dues and you know you show profits on tax returns and you know because you can't b you can't get the benefit of SBA and not pay Uncle Sam, >> right? >> If you pay Uncle Sam then you get the benefit of SBA. And what that means is everyone has $5 million to buy either commercial real estate at 100% finance, right? Potentially. >> Mhm. >> Or buy a cash flowing company. >> One of the two. >>

One of the or both. >> Or both. Yeah. >> Or both. Put it together. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, >> that you can buy Hback company, right, that's doing, you know, $3 million in revenue at a 30% margin cuz those are very high like high high uh high revenue, high margin companies. >> Yeah. >> So, man, that's incredible. Okay, cool. So, then home services, you sold that. You sold it for what, 2 million? >> Yeah. >> Cashed

out. >> Yeah, cash out. >> Now you're Now you got some money in the bank. >> Yeah. And then, uh, >> life's looking pretty good. I was a kid, so I moved to Texas, you know, bought a house in the lake, you know, moved to Town Lake, bought boats, cars, trucks, like the whole thing, like keeping up with the Jones. It was nuts. >> Yeah. Yeah. Lost all my money, you know, >> lost all the money.

>> Went through a separation and, um, had the best friends, like grew up like like built a really good circle of influence. >> Yeah. >> And so, uh, why Texas? >> They said everything was bigger in Texas. >> Yeah. Wasn't true. >> Everything including the people. >> Yeah. Like the the people here are bigger than any other city. I love it. Yeah. They're there nicer. The cars are bigger, the trucks, the houses. Like >> it's crazy.

>> It's amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I love it here. >> So, um you built a good circle of influence. What was next in your story then? >> Um I was trying to figure it out. So, I was doing a lot of consulting work. >> Yeah. >> I was, you know, I had some cash. I didn't really need to work. I was kind of retired for a little bit. I traveled the world. Went to Hong Kong, Macau, and

like did like a one-year sbatical. And I quickly realized that like my money stopped and the people that I hung out with, right, I was like 26, my money stopped. The guys that I hung out with, their money was endless. >> They had investments in both real estate and businesses, right? So they made money while their eyes was closed in their sleep. >> Right. >> And my money ended because I was too busy hanging out with

them. >> Yeah. >> Right. So active money versus, you know, passive money. >> Right. >> Yeah. >> So that's kind of when you saw the light. >> Yeah. I saw the light again. >> Okay. So now you have to shift. Now you have to shift again. >> I had to shift. Yeah, exactly. So, started kind of getting into the commercial real estate space, doing a lot of lending, you know, on on companies. A lot of the

um at that time we were doing, you know, interest rates were low. So, we were doing a lot of refinances on commercial real estate. >> And I got actually I got recruited by a by a title company. Yeah. I think that's how we met. Yeah. >> Yeah. What title company? >> Uh it was Patriot Title. >> Oh, yeah. Nice. Nice. Nice. >> They don't exist anymore, but >> Yeah. >> Patriot Title. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. >>

Yeah. I was like business development like had had my own branch in city center. Yeah. >> Nice. Very nice. >> That's kind of how I know everybody from the industry. >> Yeah. Okay. So, what happened after that? >> That was shortlived. That was like one year just one year of just straight business and straight hustle, right? So, I took I've taken everything I learned from business development and just built a community and you know brought in

business. >> Yeah. >> Then I got recruited back into healthcare. So, I had another another company reach out and say hey we got to do a home health hospice you know assist. We started getting into assisted living. That was a big thing in Texas. It still is. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, my background in healthcare, you know, brought me back into commercial real estate through >> assisted living. And because I have a SBA background, a lot

of people hired me to start buying up assisted living facilities. And even till this day, like we we specialize in, you know, the acquisition of and financing of assisted living facilities. >> Yeah, man. That's cool. So at that point um when did when did the path lead you to say hey you know what it's time for me to start a brokerage and to become a commercial broker like how did how did that path kind of clear

up for you? Yeah. So, Gatsby Advisors, we've been around for about seven years. Again, we started as a, you know, debt advisory firm. So, we would bring in, you know, debt to different properties and different businesses through SBA. And then we started getting a lot of referrals through like the industry in terms of, you know, hey, I've got a buyer and a seller and I need to do this deal on a commercial deal. I need help

with the financing. >> Yeah. >> It just made sense to get licensed. I went up just setting up shop. Um, I got my license, opened up a brokerage through, you know, Texas Real Estate Commission. That was 5 years ago. >> Yeah. >> And then, you know, we did phenomenally well in the DY community. So, the Daisy communities, the Indian, the Pakistan community. We did all their hotels, all their financing, just really built a great, you know,

reputation and build a good rapport with the with that community. >> Yeah. >> Mhm. >> We made a lot of money. We made a lot of money. We made a lot of other people money. >> Yeah. We started solving people's problems which is why our like philosophy at the office is we are all janitors. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. We are not presidents CEOs. We're not brokers. We're all janitors. We are here to solve people's problems. >>

Yeah. >> Whatever it is. >> It's a great outlook to have on business. >> Yeah. >> I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that janitors. >> Yeah. Look me up on LinkedIn. Look me up on Instagram. Like it's literally there on my business card. It says janitor. >> Really? >> Yeah. >> And then people some people don't get it like like what do you mean janitor? like it. Do you do you like clean like the

office? Like you have a like I need a one guy asked me like I need to hire your janitorial services. >> And I was like let's go. >> Let's go. Like you know we're kind of expensive but yeah let's go. >> Yeah. So he came to my office. He's like what the heck is this? I thought I was going to hire you know a janitor. I was like you you are. What problems do you have? >>

Yeah. >> So he started talking about like his you know reo like schedule like his investments and things like that. >> Yeah. >> So it's it's a cool play on word. It it gives us a a it makes us be humble and forget, you know, and remember where we're from. >> Yeah. I like that. >> Okay. So then, uh you started Gatsby Advisors around 7 years ago because you were doing commercial lending. >> Yes. >> And

then uh you know, the light popped off again. >> Yeah. >> Let me start a brokerage. >> Start a brokerage. >> And started doing that for for clients and started >> now doing the lending and representing them on the sale. That's correct. >> Is that kind of like how it happened? the clients that hired us for lending, there was an opportunity in the marketplace for me to also represent them on the real estate side, and they

preferred that. >> They did. >> They did. They said, "I prefer you. I I prefer a one-stop shop, Charles. I would rather you take care of everything than me having to deal with four different people." >> Yeah. >> Right. >> That doesn't make any sense. >> Doesn't make sense. >> And I'm like, "Well," and then we ended up just getting paid on both sides. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. All in. Like we we we would buyer, seller,

fees on the uh consulting, fees on the on the loan, fees on debt, fees on equity. >> Yeah. >> Fees on everything. >> Janitorial services. Yeah. We were highly paid Jan janitors. Yeah. We still are. >> Yeah. The whole the whole shebang in one. >> The whole shebang. Yeah. And they're okay with that. They love that. >> Yeah. Yeah. Everyone uh I mean if you're solving problems, you know, name your price and doesn't matter, right? >>

Doesn't matter. Yeah. >> Okay. And uh what what happened for you to say okay cuz you're doing a lot of things right SBA lending >> home home services and hospice. >> Well I ex exited from that >> 100%. Yeah. >> Now when did you exit from that? >> When kind of when I moved to Houston. Yeah. >> Yeah. I mean well and then I got back in. So it's hard to remember. Yeah. >> But it was

a lot of overlap. >> I got you. Cool. Um home health and services. I mean, you did mention you did some sort of consulting here in town. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, because of my background, it's like there's always that opportunity where like I meet another healthcare provider and they're like, "Hey, this is what these are my problems." >> Yeah. >> And I said, "I can solve them." >> Yeah. >> Yeah. These are my fees. >> Yeah.

>> I'll solve them. >> Are you okay with that? >> Let's make it happen. >> Right. >> That's it. >> So, SBA, home health and ser and uh hospice. >> Uh you're talking about uh commercial lending and now brokerage. >> Mhm. So, a lot of different experiences that you had and a lot of background. >> Uh, what happened over the course of time that made you decide to just go all in on the brokerage side of

things? >> I saw that there was an opportunity in the marketplace for us to provide that one-stop shop. >> Mhm. >> And, you know, again, going back to my roots in healthcare, right? It's like, yeah, we can be very good at something. you know, we can have really like wellversed and well experienced in something >> which is why I wanted to open up and get I'm seriously get my CCM designation. >> Yeah. >> So, I wanted

to show the world that not only do I know what I'm doing, >> I have the institute telling me that I know what I'm doing bonafide through like accolades and credentiing. >> Yeah. >> And you did mention a lot about the CCIM. So, uh why don't we take some time now to talk about the CCIM? Um, >> yeah. >> But before we do, let's go ahead and uh hear from our sponsors real quick. >> All right,

Charleston, we're back. So, >> we were talking about the CCIM accolade that you have. Um, would you mind sharing with the audience a little bit about what CCIM is and >> Yeah. >> what it represents for the community? >> Yeah. So, the CCIM, in my opinion, is the godfather of commercial real estate. >> Yeah. >> They actually started in 1967. >> 1967. Mhm. as a uh professional organization that basically taught the community on everything there is

to know about commercial investments. Right. So it stands for certified commercial investments member. >> And this designation is probably the most prestigious one of the most difficult you know it's considered your PhD level in commercial real estate. >> Mhm. >> And um you can't just take the exam. >> Yeah. >> Like you have to go through all this coursework, all this exams just to get to the main exam. But more importantly, you have to go through,

you know, ri rigorous um uh rigorous coursework. So what that means is you have to submit a portfolio of deals. Yeah. >> In order for them for you to be considered to take the classes and take the exams. >> You have to you have to submit deals that you've done in the past. >> That is correct. Okay. >> And these deals have to be like there has to be attestations to it like like people there's a

lot of signatures that need to be signed on these things. >> Yeah. And then um you have to get like letter recommendations from your broker, the whole nine. Do you have to have a meeting with the local uh Houston chapter or whatever chapter that you're in? It it's it's very intense. Yeah. Uh what kind of deals are they looking for whenever they see uh your your application? Like do do they want to see like a like

a transactional volume or amount of deals? What are they looking for >> exactly? So you have to do anything from 10, 20 or $30 million of deal volume, >> okay, >> funded, right? >> In commercial real estate, >> for every deal that you submit, you have to almost write a thesis paper on why like you know your investor or why you provided the service or what cap rates and what internal rate of returns and kind of

provide like a scenario of the deal. >> And then you know the deals that I submitted, I was both the lender and the broker. >> Yeah. So they actually questioned that like what's going on here, right? How do you have both like perspective? And because they questioned it, I guess they weren't familiarized with like how that works. So >> I had to almost rebuttle and say, "Hey, I was I was acting on, you know, two different

perspectives here. I was I was sourcing debt and then I was also providing the brokerage services, >> right?" >> They finally accepted that. And um but yeah, so you have to do anywhere from 10 20 $30 million of deals >> just to be able to get the CC just to be able to apply for >> just to apply to take the test. Exactly. And then as far as actual testing, I mean, you were talking about a

bunch of course work. How long did it take you to get the CCIM? >> Honestly, it it could have taken me like less than two years. >> Yeah. >> But the actual exam is only hosted about once or twice a year. >> Yeah. >> And at that time, 2 years ago, the national exam was in Houston. It was on September 30th. Um, 2025. 2024, sorry. 2024. >> Yeah. >> Uh, no, 2023. Two years ago. And uh

that's actually on my birthday. So I did everything I could to try to sit for that exam on my birthday because usually I buy like a nice watch or a nice car or whatever >> for my birthday, but I wanted that as you get older you you have kind of different priorities. >> So I wanted that as my gift to myself. >> Yeah. >> Unfortunately, those were the best those were the worst months for me. >>

Right. I was overleveraged. I was building a brokerage. I was in school, you know, dealing with relationships and it just it just got too much. Mentally I was not ready to take the exam. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I almost just wanted to like shut down my door like like f this. This is like this is nonsense. >> Right. >> But um you know you have that 1hour moment where it's just like the [ __ ] am

I doing >> and then you just like you know you just man up and you just you know do your thing. So >> unfortunately I wasn't able to take the test. Then I had to wait the following year which was last year in Miami. >> And like what better city to take the exam in Miami, right? So >> the actual exam is is difficult. It's 6 hours long. I took 6 hours and 5 minutes to take

this exam. >> Wow. >> Yeah. The whole thing. >> Long time. >> Yeah. It's all case studies. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, they give you a crazy case study >> and then there's probably six or eight questions on that case study. So, if you get the first question wrong, then most likely this the remaining six to seven questions from that original case study is also wrong. >> Wow. >> And then you fail the exam. >> Damn.

>> Right. And you have to wait next year. Seems like if you fail the exam, you got to go wait till next year. You're never going to get it. Seems like a very lengthy process. >> It is. >> So, very few people ever get this accolade. >> The top 6% of commercial brokers represent the CCIM >> and I wanted to be the best. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Well, congratulations on that, man. Sounds like it

was uh >> a huge uh undertaking and uh commend you for actually going through and and getting it done. You know, I'm sure it wasn't easy. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then it's it's opened up so much opportunities not just with the CCM but getting getting different deals and you know having speaking engagements and I'm actually in the incoming president for the CCM uh Houston chapter. >> Wow. >> So that's like a big that's a big

thing in itself right like to be one of the youngest if not the youngest like broker owner coming in from a you know exe executive position like becoming the president. They want to set me up for >> future presidency of the CCM Houston chapter. >> Amazing. And that'll open up so many doors too. >> Yeah, I bet. >> The next, you know, 5 years of my career. >> Absolutely, >> man. That's incredible. So, you have 350

million in transactional volume now with Gatsby Advisors. >> That is correct. We we opened up No. So, it's Remax Commercial. So, let's actually talk about that real quick. >> So, what is the difference between Gatsby Advisors and Remax Commercial? >> So, Gatsby Advisors, we were independent for so many years >> until 111 of last year. We decided to open up a franchise. >> Mhm. >> With Remax Commercial. >> Okay. >> As everyone knows, Remax as a

company, they just got acquired by Real Real Brokerage. >> Mhm. >> They were like the godfathers of commercial or the godfathers of real estate. So, they're known to be a killer in the residential space. >> Yeah. >> So, they actually headunted me a couple years ago. One of the contingencies was that I become a CCIM. you know, I submitted a business plan and officially 11-11 of last year, we opened up the first commercial only office with

Remax Commercial. So, I own the entire state of Texas >> in Texas. >> Mhm. And that is why we're able to get, you know, a good enough volume, exponential growth because we're, you know, the only office in the state of Texas. >> How was there no office before before this for Remax for commercial? So there's thousands of residential offices and they might have a you know commercial designation but not a true commercial only office. There's only

31 commercial only offices globally. >> The closest one to me is a guy that owns it in Louisiana and he was actually he's been in the business for 30 years CCM as well and he was actually one of the CCM instructors that taught me for CI 103. >> Richard Jude. >> Yeah. >> Very cool. They don't give this out like it's like it's like cake, right? They just they really wait, you know, for the right guy

to come out. >> Yeah. >> And give it. So, >> Right. >> Yeah, >> man. That's incredible. Uh, so why Remax? Why not any other brokerage out there? >> You know, I actually considered several other companies. Um, I didn't want to be recruited into some whole MLM Ponzi scheme overrides and all that. Like, I just it wasn't for me. Like, I've always been entrepreneur and like I wanted to own my own stuff, right? >> Yeah. So,

Remax allows you to be independently owned, >> but have that name brand behind you. >> Mhm. >> U, there's other companies as well, SVN, other franchises, things like that. Just didn't make sense. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. They flew me out to California. I met all the broker owners. Every single Remax agent that I know, every single broker owner of Remax has has renewed their franchise agreement over and over and over again. Some of them have

been around for 40 years >> and they've renewed it over time. >> Yeah. I've se like I I've se like they've dominated their market. >> What do you think is the reason for that? >> Culture. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. The culture is so intense. Like they drink that Kool-Aid hard. That Remax Kool-Aid is hard. I've I've seen guys with like Remax tattoos. Really? >> Oh, like balloon tattoos on their on their like next to their eyelids.

It's crazy. >> Wow. And I said, "Any any company where the employees, the broker owners, the subcontractors, the contractors put a tattoo on their on their body >> to represent the company." Dude, that's game over. >> That's game over for me. That's every That sold it. >> Yeah. >> A guy that I met had renewed his his brokerage like >> six times. He's been in business for 40 years. Same office. >> Six times. >> Yeah. Same

office. >> Wow. Yeah. Yeah. >> So, I signed a 5-year contract, a 10-year contract with these guys. >> Yeah. >> So, now what happens to Gatsby Advisors? >> We still exist. >> We still exist as a sister company to Remax and we provide the debt services there. So, go it goes back to its original roots. >> Gotcha. >> Right. The the debt consulting, the advisory services, right? But the culture is still there. But as a commercial

practitioner, we are Remax Commercial. >> Yeah. So, $350 million in transactional volume there. >> In the pipeline. that's in the pipeline. Um, >> what is what is kind of the mix of that? Cuz that that's a lot, right? That's a lot of transactional volume. So, what is the mix of that transactional volume right now? >> Yeah, 70 60% of that is probably development. >> Okay. >> So, retail shopping centers, um, hotels, we're doing a lot of

pre-leasasing, things like that, right? So, in like Fort Ben, we have a $65 million um shopping center development with like 60 office condos in the back. >> M >> That value on that was $65 million on an exit. >> How much was it? >> $65 million on an exit. But that's just one that's one deal, right? We have many hotels. We got probably $60 million worth of hotels that we're putting together, right? All offmarket. We've got

shopping centers. We've got, you know, land deals. >> Are a lot of these deals that you've got going on, are they um with the desi community that you mentioned before? >> 100%. Yeah. >> So, you really built a really good foothold here within the community then. >> That is correct. Yeah. >> And that itself was a challenge, right? Like the last 5 years of building business, right? Specifically in the community >> for them to trust you,

right? >> Not you being dy yourself, right? I'm not Indian, I'm not Pakistan. Right. >> Right. Right. So for them to trust you as if you were part of their community, >> it means a lot. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to them. >> Yeah. >> That takes a lot, >> especially to be able to be taken into the community. >> Yeah. I'm like the honorary brown guy. >> Yeah. >> Like unofficial

like, you know, DY guy. >> Yeah. >> That's amazing. So what's um out of the out of the 350 in transaction volume, what does that look like in terms of deals closed? You know, how often do deals get closed? Um because I know a lot of these are like bigger projects that take a long time. >> It's not something that is like residential 30 days out boom you close right. What what kind of sales cycle do

you have with with what you currently have right now? >> A lot of them are probably about 9 months out. >> 9 months out. >> Yeah. So out of the 350 well we were like 360 like last week but we like this month we're getting ready to close about $10 million like the next 30 days. Like we closed >> $2 million last week. >> So we're starting to trickle that in. But the last 6 months, effect

of 111, we were building on pipeline. >> Yeah. >> And I'm documenting my journey to building my first billion dollar commercial brokerage. >> Very cool. >> So I want a billion dollars in transaction volume in the books. >> What's that going to what's it going to take for you to get there? >> Opening up a second office. >> Yeah. >> So I'm going back to Chicago. >> Chicago. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> What are you going to

do in Chicago? >> I'm going to compete with myself. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I'm building a second office so that that office can compete with my first office in Houston. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And you mentioned before something about development. Yeah. What did you mean by that? >> So because I work for a lot of developers. Last year I told everybody I was Pablo Asco commercial real estate. >> Why? >> And I told everybody that I

can sell their product faster than the Median cartel can sell their product in Colombia. And that that video went viral. I had every single developer calling me in Houston. >> Cool. Sell my [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> I've got office space. I've got retail. These are all These are all dirt, right? It's all land. So, it's the one of the hardest things to sell >> cuz it's not here yet. >> It's not here yet. There's

no delivery date. I mean, we have a delivery date. It's about a year from now. But imagine trying to sell something in the future now. >> Getting contracts in, right, >> for development. >> Yeah. >> But that's where the money's at. That's where the deals are at, >> right? I'm not here to chase one one-off deals. >> I've got, you know, 10 people I got to feed at the office. So, I'm not chasing one-offs. I'm chasing

big deals. Whales, right? Right. >> So, for us to put together a $65 million development deal, like my office is full for the next 2 years, that creates like, you know, revenue for the next 2 years, >> right? >> Yeah. We're in the business long term, >> right? >> Yeah. >> But obviously, you know, like there these deals are not closing soon enough. So, I mean, um, >> what kind of cash reserves did you need to

be able to have that runway? Yeah. Yeah. >> To be able to have these deals in the pipeline and not have to be dependent on them closing, you know, for the next 6 9 months. >> No, I mean I mean good the good news is that a lot of our fees are high. Like we have like, you know, six figure checks, you know, in some of our deals, a lot of our deals. >> So >> that's

a good question knowing that as a business owner, like you have to have cash reserves. Like we got the the the biggest office that we could find in in the Galleria right off the corner, class A, right? Paying a hefty amount. So, with the grace of God, we've been able to just kind of, you know, close enough deals to pay the bills. >> Mhm. >> And then look forward to the to the bigger deals, right? So,

>> right now, we're good, you know, keeping the lights on and whatnot, right? >> But the larger deals, they're starting to close. Like, we just closed a deal yesterday from a guy that followed me on IG for 3 years. Wow. >> It was a cash deal. Yeah. One of the fastest deals I've closed. >> Yeah. >> It's incredible. >> It was like a near six figure check. So that that came in. >> Yeah. >> Now it's

like, okay, cool. We're good for the next couple months, right? >> Right. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> That's cool, man. So, you're seeing now kind of like everything >> almost like a culmination of your life's work kind of >> That is correct. >> Coming into fruition and actually closing, cashing checks. >> Exactly. >> And like a lot of people when they see money coming in, they tend to slow down. They tend to like take their foot off

the gas. >> Yeah. >> And I'm the I'm the I'm double down. >> Yeah. So, I see money coming in, but we got to double down, >> right? Do more. >> I can make a lot of money in Houston only, >> right? >> But then I want to go set up another office and and then do another capital outlay and invest more money into into an office in Chicago. Built the same thing that I did here

in Houston, right? It cost a lot of money to open up office like a brick and mortar, right? >> Yeah. Um, you know, like our I think I think like I'm all in like I don't know between furniture, rent, all of that. I'm all in probably like $200,000 >> in the last 12 months. >> Yeah. >> Just in having an office. >> Just having an office in the galleria. >> Yeah. >> It's expensive. >> Between payroll

and, you know, triple net and then base rent and then furniture and then all of our tech stack. We had a crazy tech stack. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Every single subscription we have. >> Yeah. >> You know. Yeah. Co-star, Loop Knight, Craigslist. Yeah. Yeah. >> Those are very expensive, too. >> All is very expensive. Yeah. My overhead rate is high. >> It's not for everybody. >> We need one more um subscription on your on your payroll.

>> Let's go with my nut. >> Yeah. Get you gets you that >> gets you that. Yeah. Let's go. I'm ready. >> Yeah. Sign the contract today. >> Yeah. >> You saw the you saw the platform, right? >> I did. >> Yeah. What you think about it? >> I think it's just very intuitive, man. Like the color scheme, like the whole user interface is phenomenal. Yeah. >> Yeah. Great job. >> Appreciate it, bro. >> Great job.

Yeah. I always send, you know, anytime that I I'm thinking about creating a product or a service for someone, I think about what the user wants, right? Like >> what are they looking for? >> What do they need? I want to create something that people love. You know what I mean? And if they love it, they're going to use it. They're going to it's going to bring them value. It's going to bring them business. I think

that's the >> the thing that will set this software apart from everything else out there. You know, there's so many things that are going on in AI and, you know, there's a lot of people doing it and I think uh I think competition is good, you know, because it >> forces people to uh to create better products. At the end of the day, it's for the users, right? >> Exactly. So, >> what you think about the

how it sounded? >> I think it's great. >> Yeah. >> I think it's extremely modern. Um it doesn't sound roboticy, right? like like a lot of like you know in the past it's just like you know you want to when when landlords owners they hear like AI and it's very robotic immediately like just >> you know I do it all the time you I get a random call it's it's a it's a bot I'm going to

I'm going to hang up. >> I don't want I don't but it doesn't sound that way. >> No it doesn't sound that way. Yeah. >> Sounds like a it's it's getting more and more to the point where it sounds like a real person. >> Yeah. And they might know but but maybe it's not like a it's not it's not a dumb bot. You know what I mean? For lack of better words, right? It doesn't sound so

robotic that like it just pisses them off like the first two seconds. >> Yeah. >> I get a call from there, I won't get pissed off. I'm actually going to be like intrigued like why what's going on here. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Almost going to be like, "Okay, you're you're a robot, but it's not bad talking to you. Let me talk to you." >> Yeah. I know you're a robot, but I don't feel like you are.

>> Versus this guy's a [ __ ] this is a [ __ ] robot. Yeah. I'm not doing this. >> That's That's amazing, dude. So, um, where do you see your future with, uh, everything that you're doing? What does the next 3, 5, 10 years look like for you? >> It's it's it's clear as day, honestly. It's it's to build my first, you know, billion dollar brokerage. Um, coincidentally, I started getting into development. >> So, you

know, what better way to instead of working for developers, you know, >> and to provide more value to our developers to develop something myself in a different city. >> Yeah. >> So, I'm actually doing my first development in Chicago. So, it's 22,000 ft² of retail space. >> You're going to develop it yourself? >> Mhm. Yeah. We've we're already started. So, we've done all the due diligence. We're actually closing on the on the 32 acre lot. We've

got uh >> Do you have any Do you have any partners in that or is it just you? >> No, we did we did a raise. >> We did a $9 million raise. >> Yeah. We're at $4.5 million towards our $9 million raise. We have no debt, all equity. >> All equity. >> We have uh our dis I represent the largest independently owned cannabis dispensary in Chicago >> and they are our anchor tenant. Okay. >> So,

we've already got cash flow day one. >> Yeah. >> We got phase one, phase two, the whole nine. So, everything I've learned in commercial real estate, I'm applying it not just as a broker, but as my own developer, as my own principal. >> Yeah. >> So, everything from cap raise to due diligence to working with, you know, the GCs and then having all these meetings with the municipalities. Imagine talking to a city and we're asking for

them to approve our development, but for us to open up a dispensary next to a university. Like that conversation, right? >> Yeah. >> Our conversation was so appealing for them that they approved that. >> They said, >> "Hell yeah, we'll do that. We approve." >> So, you don't think it was like a challenge at all to get that approved? >> Highly challenged. Very challenged. Yeah, very challenging. But you got to, you know, just got to tell

a story, >> right? And I think that's what life is all about. It's like telling a story like why us, you know, cuz it's going to it's like number one like they want to hear it from their perspective. It's going to bring tax revenue to them, >> right? >> So, you got to understand your audience and what their wants and put their wants before yours. >> If you put their needs and their wants and you and

you you give them first, yours is automatic, >> right? >> Yeah. And that's a norainer at that point. >> It's a no-brainer. That's a janitorial. >> That's our perspective as a jani jani janitor. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Put them first. >> Put them first and the rest will come. >> So, what does the city want? Right. >> They want tax revenue, they want good development, you know, they want, you know, just >> good stuff. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. >> Man, that's cool. So, uh, when do you think that office in Chicago is going to open up? >> I'm actually flying out, uh, Monday. >> Monday. >> Yeah. I'm solidifying office space. I actually reached out to ReMax. They called me and say, "Hey, we heard you want to open up the Remax office. Number one, we love what you're doing on social media. We love everything you do. The only thing we ask is please

tag us." cuz I don't tag ReMax. I don't tag I don't tag the corporate office. >> Um I know you're independently owned, but please tag us. Number one. And number two, we would love to give you the office. >> Absolutely. So what you need to do is submit the business plan the same way I did in in Houston. >> Figure out what office space is available. We'll approve it. Give us the square footage, the whole layout,

all of that. >> Yeah. >> They're actually coming out um next month. Remax corporate, the entire corporate office is going to check me out next month. >> Are they? >> Yeah. At my office. They're doing a >> quality quality control. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> they're going to be very happy. >> I don't know. I think I think so. >> Yeah. >> You have a barber shop in your office. >> We got a barber shop, a pool

table. I mean, I don't know if we're in compliance. We got a bunch of liquor at the office, but you know, >> we'll see. >> That's all right. >> Yeah, we actually have a corporate event every month beginning May. So, they heard about the corporate event and they said we'd like to be we would love to be at the next corporate event, which is in June. >> So, I have all of Remax HQ >> coming from

Colorado, which is their HQ, >> coming to my office, checking us out and then being at the corporate event. I think that's a blessing. Like that's that that talks really big. >> Yeah, sure does. What are you looking for in business right now? What what is it that something that you need for anyone that's watching this podcast or listening to it? Um what is something that you may need right now in your business? >> Dude, great

question. I don't need any more business. I think we have too much business. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Um I I think what I'm looking for are the guys with chips on their shoulders. >> Mhm. >> The guys that want to practice commercial real estate, right? They want to be obsessed with this because you can't you can't like if >> you can't do both residential and commercial and be an expert at commercial. Like none of our guys

do any residential type of business. >> Yeah. >> But the guys that are looking to give it their all to learn from the best. >> Yeah. >> I'm looking for the guys with chips on their shoulders. >> So you're hiring. >> We are always hiring. >> Yeah. >> But we're very selective on who we hire. >> Yeah. >> But I'll teach I'll teach them the entire game for free. >> Right. >> Yeah. And that's what I

want to do. I want to teach the game for free. >> Mhm. So, we're actually considering doing uh open um office hours at the office once a week, bringing everyone in the bringing their deals, whatever, however we can help. >> Yeah. >> You mean like having like an open office where people come in and >> just network with you, talk to you? >> Not really network. Um it's two hours of the day we either go live

or we do it in person and then whatever challenges they're having, right? How to talk to their clients and so on and so forth, right? The people that are getting into the commercial real estate space. >> Got it. It's a way for us to give back to the community. >> Yeah. >> Well, I think that sounds like a great idea. I think that's going to bring in a lot of traffic and a lot of uh really

good feedback from the community, you know. So, I think that's great, >> man. I'm excited to see what you do in in Chicago and I think um I like I like what you said about competing with yourself, you know. I think that shows a lot of time that you know there's a lot of people that are out there and then they they're looking at you know someone else's business or they're looking at this looking at that

but always comparing you know and comparison is a thief of joy so >> that's correct >> if you uh have only a comparison with yourself then you know you cannot be disappointed right so I think that's a great outlook to have when it comes to business is to create you know different offices and now you're competing with yourself >> yeah yeah I I'm literally going to a different market you a thousand miles away >> to compete

with the office that I built in Houston. >> Yeah. >> So, I told all my guys like I'm competing with you guys. >> Yeah. >> So, we built a solid platform. We built a solid pipeline. Let me go out there and build the same pipeline and I'm I'm I'm hoping that I can do it faster. I'm hoping that I can do it in a third in in a third amount of time. >> Yeah. >> If I

can do that, then I win either way, right? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. You're competing against yourself. You're still winning. >> Yeah. I'm so bored, right, in the marketplace, who's who's my competitor right now. Like, I don't really see anyone, you know, from my side. >> Mhm. >> Let me go out there and compete with myself in Chicago and let me document that. >> Yeah. >> Let me tell the world how crazy this guy

is. >> Yeah. >> It's good how how crazy this guy is that brings uh gold, Collins, and Mass. >> Yeah. >> Makes the host put it on. >> I love it, bro. I love it. Well, bro, if uh if anyone wants to reach out to you either um you know for deals, I know you said you have a lot of deals right now, but if anyone is looking at maybe interning you with you or um coming

to work with you, how can they find out more about you? How can they reach out to you? >> Actually, two ways. Fastest way is IG. So, Charles Padawan. I'm like the only one in the world with that name, right? I'm verified as well. >> And then also LinkedIn, right? So I prefer you to do both so I can kind of get a feeling of like who you are on social media but then who are you

professionally as well right >> because sometimes it's like two different personas right I can almost kind of see if you're a good fit for us from a mentorship perspective right because you know time is very valuable so >> that's number one but yeah just reach out anytime you know we're we have an open door policy we are on in the galleria on the in in the corner of Sage and Westimer across the street from Sax Fit

>> how can people find you online >> yeah LinkedIn Yeah, LinkedIn. >> Are you like on Google Maps or anything? >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. You just Remax commercial or even just type in Charles Padaw Warren. It'll I'm show up there. Yeah, >> you'll show up. >> Yeah. Actually, we we did that. So, our um Google Maps point to me as my first name and last name. >> Yeah. You can't go wrong. Like like >> you can't

you can't miss me. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. I don't know if it's a good good or bad thing, but you know, >> I think it's a good thing, you know. Um as long as you're doing right by everyone, I think uh which I think you are, I think you have nothing to worry about. I think it's just opens the door for more opportunity and more people to come in and >> potentially work for you. So,

>> yeah, we have an open door policy. I post, you know, I try to post every day on social media so I can tell the world like what I'm doing and like, you know, come check me out. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I'm as real as it gets cuz, you know, there's a lot of like in social media is is is he really real? Is he Is it Is that guy a real guy or is he a

facade? Right. Is it a fugazi? >> Right. Right. >> Yeah. No, not at all. Like one guy met me today on he's like, "Dude, like you look like I I wasn't expecting you cuz you're exactly how you are on social media." >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I love it. Yeah. >> Be authentic. >> Be real. >> Thank you so much for being here, man. I really enjoyed uh this podcast. Is there anything else that you'd like to

share to the audience before we wrap up? >> No, dude. I mean I mean number one, it's an honor to be here. >> Yeah. >> You know, you've interviewed all the greats in Houston and I'm honored to be, you know, that came before me, right? All the guys, half the guys I know, I've known them for years and you know, I'm just very honored for me to be here. So, thank you. >> Absolutely. Thank you so

much, brother. Appreciate you, bro. >> Appreciate you. Appreciate you. >> There you go. All right, brother.