How Alexandre Guilbeault Put 4,000 Multifamily Units Under Contract in the U.S.

Alexandre Guilbeault (00:00)

I made a phone call last week to a guy that I know that—well, a guy that I know that knows a guy, basically, and I made contact with another man. So that guy just sent me a check for a property that we’re buying for over a million dollars. Do you think that AI will make that happen? No. You need to have a connection with someone that’s gonna be able to get in contact because you might be able to get smaller tickets for twenty-five thousand or fifty thousand dollars for your investment project or whatever you want to do and build, but—

Those real checks, the real money, it’s all about relationship.

Meghan Escobar (02:04)

Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Real Estate Pros Podcast, hosted by Investor Fuel. I am your host today, Meghan Escobar, and I have the pleasure of sitting down with a very interesting guest today who is fairly new to the U.S. markets, coming over from Canada, doing some amazing stuff. I have Alex Guilbeault here, who is the CEO of Draxord Group, and—

I had the opportunity to talk to him a little bit before we got on this show. And I am highly convinced that our audience is gonna walk away with some great insights here from the education that Alex is going to share with us and the way that he’s built this business, only being in the U.S. for a very short time and increasing at record speed, I believe. So, Alex, thank you again so much for being here on the show.

Alexandre Guilbeault (02:57)

Thanks for an invitation.

Meghan Escobar (02:58)

Absolutely. And for—for those folks who may not be familiar with the name or what you guys are focused on there at Draxord, can you give us a 30,000-foot view of what your main focus is these days and the markets that you’re operating in?

Alexandre Guilbeault (03:15)

So, at Draxord Group, what we like to do is buy property distressed. So, distressed multifamily assets, but mostly management-distressed properties. And we’re buying right now in DFW, so Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, and on the I-4 corridor in Florida.

Meghan Escobar (03:31)

Beautiful. And the expansion is—is gone much better than you’ve expected. I know you told me a little while ago that you guys expected to have twenty-five hundred units and have actually maintained—now have four thousand. Is that right?

Alexandre Guilbeault (03:51)

So, just—just to clarify, we’re expected to have twenty-five hundred units after about an eighteen-month period in the U.S., but right now we have over four thousand units under contract. So one transaction has been closed. The other ones are on the way. Should be able to close about those four thousand units in the next three months or so.

Meghan Escobar (04:10)

That’s awesome. And, you know, one thing that really caught my attention throughout our discovery conversation, if you will, was the way that you guys perform. It’s very top-tier and very elite from the way that you described it. And sharing value is something that you guys really—I don’t know what the word I’m looking for is—value, maybe. And—

I would like for you to kind of share what that means for you. You know, it’s not an easy thing to, you know, carry in this climate where there’s so many people doing things the wrong way. Talk to us a little bit about why that is such an important piece of your business model.

Alexandre Guilbeault (05:44)

So, providing value is the core foundation of Draxord Group, but value is different for any people that are listening to us right now. So, for example, both my parents were socially—socially assisted when I was a kid and drug addict. When I was a kid, I had to go and run through trashes to be able to eat. Most people don’t know that about me, but it is what it is. And today I’m the CEO and managing partner of a multinational company.

So anybody that is right now in North America has the same capacity to be able to create something that is meaningful if they put their mind to it. So some people will just decide that value for them is understanding that they have the rights and the capacity to do better and to get better. Some people just decide to manage and work with our expertise and invest with us into buying deals that they’re not able to get.

Some other people are just going to be able to follow us on social media and get a free education and understanding how to basically be successful in real estate for free. So, depending on who the—the person that’s listening to us is and what they’re expecting, what they want, we’d like to provide as much value as possible. It’s very important for us.

Meghan Escobar (07:02)

That’s quite the story, even though we only heard a snippet of where you came out of and where you are today. I think it’s incredible. And maybe this is a part of your story as well, but every operator or every entrepreneur I know, they had a moment in their journey where things got real. And, you know, maybe that’s a deal that had gone sideways or a time that you had to pivot really fast, or—

Whatever that is for you, would you mind sharing?

Alexandre Guilbeault (07:33)

Well—

For me, the one of the key element was when I was a kid. I was—I think I was seven or eight years old. And I just realized at some point that my normal was not the same normal as everybody else. It’s not everybody that has to run through trashes to eat. Not anybody—not everybody got—get—got that, sorry. Not everybody that got beaten up by their parents. Not everybody that just had to—to basically take care of themselves when they’re kids.

And at that point, I decided and I understood that normal is something of a perspective, and you can decide what is normal to you based on who you are and what you want. So, for me, that was a—a very, very key point in my life, maybe even when I was very young.

Meghan Escobar (08:20)

Wow, that’s really, you know, things that people don’t talk about enough. We live in a world where so many people see the highlights of success and, you know, the posts on social media, but they don’t know the backstory of what was the passion, what was the drive that actually got this individual to—

create these principles in life, to create these values in life. And so I think that’s an incredible thing to overcome, Alex, especially because most people who go through situations like that kind of stay at that level, right? The—the mental capacity is victim, if you will.

Alexandre Guilbeault (09:05)

Yeah, well, I understand your point and I agree with you, but when you look online, I—I, there’s a few people—obviously, there’s not a lot—but there’s a few people that came from nothing, even went to jail. Not my case, but a bun—a bunch of people even went to jail and ended up being millionaire or billionaire. So nothing can be overcome if you really set your mind to it. And—

No matter how hard life is for you, no matter what is your situation, if you really set your mind to it and you’re willing to make the sacrifice that are part for you to be successful in America, you can be.

Meghan Escobar (09:42)

Absolutely. And what would you say has been the biggest push for you to, you know, get to that mental capacity of knowing that in your mind you can create whatever you want?

Alexandre Guilbeault (09:55)

Honestly, it was through network. So, at some point when I was a kid, I think it was like maybe ten years old, I—I met a guy. His name is Claude, and Claude was owning about three-quarters of the—the town where I was. He was owning, like, all—all of those C-type assets, very distressed properties where people pay half the time—pay the rent—and half the time they don’t. But he was owning a majority of them. The guy was making a killing.

And I realized that some people can change your life and become successful, and some people aren’t. So you have the right to decide to be Claude or to be the one that pay Claude.

Meghan Escobar (11:10)

Hmm. There you go. There it is. Ah, networking. It’s all, like we said earlier, your network is your net worth. We hear that all the time. You know, you hear that from successful people all the time. And I can’t agree with that statement more. Let me ask you this: What are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like, what’s the next real big goal for you guys over at Draxord Group?

Alexandre Guilbeault (11:32)

Well, there’s—there’s actually a few key points that we’re working on right now. So one of which is we have too much amazing deal. I know it sounds weird, but it is. It’s—it’s a wonderful problem to have. But right now, for us, it’s very easy and accessible to get access to big stack of equity for over twenty-million-dollar checks, for which we’re gonna get access to over one-hundred-million-dollar transactions, give or take. So—

Right now, we’re buying a bunch of properties that should be in that range, but we’re paying very under that. So our institutional partners are not going to be able to cut us smaller checks for five or ten million dollars. So one of the big issues that we have right now is to be able to get access to smaller capital stack for either private investors or family office. So we have to create that network from scratch here in the U.S. So it’s a very, very different perspective. Also, the cost of money.

Canadian money just dropped in worth close to nothing. Right now, today, it’s at seventy cent—71 cents on the dollar, which means for 71 cent U.S., you get one dollar—one Canadian dollar. Or with one American dollar, you get one dollar and forty-two cents Canadian. Which means that right now it’s hard for us to be able to get money from Canada to invest in the U.S. because of the exchange rate that is terrible for us. So that’s, right, one thing that we have to overcome and find—basically create our network to find—

better source of capital here in the U.S. So that’s a—that’s a wonderful challenge, but it’s a good one to have. Another one is we just opened our new headquarters in Tampa for the U.S. operation. So we’re right now in a process of getting the best talent possible. Like we said a bit earlier, diamond in the rough. So if you have people, or if people are interested in positions in either sales, marketing, asset management, accounting, in the wonderful city of Tampa, they’re able to work under pressure for—

an incre—an incredible and amazing company, but they’re gonna have to be smart, work hard, and understand that nothing is worth it here.

Meghan Escobar (13:32)

You heard it, folks. So if you—that sounds like a job for you, we’ll have a way to reach out to Alex at the end of this. So keep listening in. And that’s huge. I’m so excited to see the growth and where you guys really take this thing. And I know, you know, a lot of our listeners, they’re either very early on in their journey of real estate, you know, coming into this very green, or we have established individuals who are really just looking for the next best opportunity. And, you know, I always think that—

It’s beneficial for them to hear what, when it comes to building relationships and growing your network. We talked—we touched on this just a little while ago, but just going maybe more into detail on how that’s made such a big difference for you.

Alexandre Guilbeault (14:20)

Well, I was—so when you move to the U.S. and you’re me, it’s kind of a—it’s a funny situation. So I spend over fifteen years building my wealth, reputation, and credit and everything in Canada, and I just moved to the U.S. But when you move to the U.S., it’s something that—they didn’t know you. They don’t recognize your Amer—your Canadian credit score. They don’t recognize your Canadian assets. The credit score is not the same way. So we don’t have a FICO score in Canada. Wow.

Yeah, so you have to start like a seventeen-years-old.

Meghan Escobar (14:52)

Wow. That is interesting. I did not know that.

Alexandre Guilbeault (15:36)

Yeah, so getting mortgages and loan was a bit challenging for start, but even getting a driver’s license—a driver’s license, the Social Security number, bank account, renting an apartment—all of that depend on your credit score. And when you have none and you’re thirty-six, it’s complicated. Yeah, so—yeah, so it’s kind of a catch-22, and it’s a—it’s a funny thing. So to be able to get—to be able to get your Florida driver’s license—

you need to be able to provide two documents, basically, that state who you are. And those documents can be cell phone bills or a lease or utility bills or W-2. But I’m—I’m self-employed. I own the business. So since I own the business, my W-2 is worth nothing. So I cannot provide my W-2. And I cannot get [unclear] without two information on my—on my identity. So, for driver’s license, it’s Social Security number.

I’m not able to get a lease. So without a lease, I’m not able to get utility bill, which means I cannot get a driver’s license. So I’m not able to get a bank account because it’s—it’s all linked together. So it was very, very complicated. And because of my network, I was able to get in touch with wonderful people at good banks, and they were able to find a way through it and help me out. So now I do have bank accounts, credit card, driver’s license, and all of that’s been taken care of. Keep in mind, I moved here—

end of June. So less than six weeks ago, I was still in Canada, and none of that was started. And now I—I do have—I, so I have a U.S. car. I have a lease on the car—well, not a lease, sorry, I have a loan on the car. I have a credit card, bank account, apartment. Everything is taken care of. And I’m gonna buy myself a house here in the—in Tampa in a few weeks. So—

Meghan Escobar (17:24)

So safe to say that it’s all about who you know, and relationships are everything in this space.

Alexandre Guilbeault (17:31)

Yeah.

Well, and it’s not only in this space. I’ve been in business for about twenty years now—a bit shy, or more like seventeen years. And to be able to manage and grow any business whatsoever, you need contact. You need—so even if you decide to say, “Hey, no, my business is different,” you’re gonna need a banker, you’re gonna need an accountant, you’re gonna need a lawyer, you’re gonna need supplier, you’re gonna need clients, you’re gonna need marketing. Otherwise, you’re just gonna have a business of yourself doing nothing. It’s not a real business, or you’re not gonna be able to get any scale. So—

It’s not about hiding behind a computer and trying to say, “Well, I’m just gonna find myself on YouTube, create my own business, and do everything from scratch like nothing happened.” It’s not how you’re gonna be able to build something successful. You need to get out. You need to meet people. You need to reach out, and you need to have a network. Your network is your net worth. It’s the easiest way and the fastest way to be able to grow a business. And if you’re an introvert, good for you. I am an introvert. You can ask Meghan before we get on the show. I’m a very, very calm guy. And—

I’m not someone that just—it’s easy for me to go and meet people and talk to people, but if you want to be successful, you have to get out of your comfort zone and just do what you have to do, not what you want to do.

Meghan Escobar (18:39)

That’s right. And thank you for sharing that and—and highlighting the fact that it’s not just real estate, it’s business in general. So if you want to be an entrepreneur, if you want to be self-built, even though we have AI working and doing incredible things today, there’s nothing more important than human connection and human interaction.

Alexandre Guilbeault (18:59)

So, for example, I—I made a phone call last week to a guy that I know that—well, a guy that I know that knows a guy, basically, and I made contact with another man. So that guy just sent me a check for a property that we’re buying for over a million dollars. Do you think that AI will make that happen? No. You need to have a connection with someone that’s gonna be able to get in contact because you might be able to get smaller tickets for twenty-five thousand or fifty thousand dollars for your investment project or whatever you want to do and build, but—

Those real checks, the real money, it’s all about relationship.

And if you want to do business with me, if I don’t shake your hand, you’re never gonna do business with me. And it’s simple because I cannot believe that you’re true. So even you, Meghan, for example, we’ve never met, and I like you a lot. But for us, even if we decide to do business, we’ll have to meet because, from all I know, in twenty twenty-seven—twenty twenty-six—you might even be a computer talking to me. So unless—unless I meet you, never gonna do business with someone.

Meghan Escobar (19:53)

No. Very true.

Well, hopefully I get to shake your hand one day, Alex. I think you’re an incredible person. I am not—I’m not far, and I’m always looking to network. So, well, we can talk about that offline. And, you know, I—I can’t agree with you more. Relationships are truly everything, especially in the entrepreneur world. So I appreciate you sharing that tidbit of wisdom with the—with the audience here. And before we do wrap up, you know, Alex, if somebody was wanting to reach out to you or—

and learn from you or potentially inquire about, you know, working with you, what would be the best way for someone to connect with you? Is there an email? Is there a phone number or—or a social?

Alexandre Guilbeault (20:38)

So, they can reach out to me. It’s just exactly like I put it on the screen. It’s Alex Guilbeault. You can find me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok. I’m not big on TikTok. I don’t know how that works, but my team is better than me on that. But if you send me a DM on either Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn, I get that all to my phone. So I know my people will get a message as well, but you’ll be able to reach out to me that way. It’s the simplest way to do.

Meghan Escobar (21:06)

Perfect. And we’ll be sure to drop those links below so you can connect directly to them instead of going out there and searching. We’ll make it nice and easy for you. And again, I appreciate your time. I appreciate your story. More importantly, your perspective and knowledge that you shared with us today. We definitely, definitely need more people in the space who are doing things the right way. So I want to just thank you again, Alex, for being here.

Alexandre Guilbeault (21:32)

Thank you for having me.

Meghan Escobar (21:33)

You’re welcome. And for those of you that are tuning in, if you got any value from this, please be sure to hit subscribe and like. We’ve got more conversations coming in like this with owners and operators, just like Alex here. And, you know, he’s out here building real business in real time with real people. And we’ll see you on the next episode.