How an IT Project Manager Scaled Into Multifamily Real Estate | Hugo Macau

Hugo Macau (00:00)

And one very interesting story is a week before closing, we had an investment of 450,000 dropped out a week before closing. So he backed up. That’s fine. It happens. So the way that you feel that you can be resilient is the team that it’s supporting around you.

So I think the best way for success is surround yourself with a very good structure. So I had good attorneys, I had a good team as well on site. I got a good CPA and they all supported and we quickly pivoted and we got that remaining equity filled out in about four days, not even a week. So we got it to the closing finish line.

Issa Hanna (01:14)

Welcome back to another episode of the Real Estate Pros Show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I have Hugo Macau here to share his knowledge with us. Hugo, welcome to my show.

Hugo Macau (01:22)

Thank you, Issa. Very glad, very excited to be here. Appreciate the opportunity.

Issa Hanna (01:25)

Man, I appreciate having you. you’re gonna bring in such a different perspective, right? I have a lot of single family guys come on the show. I have a lot of guys that have been in the game for 30 years. You come from a whole different background and you just decided I’m gonna go for it a few years ago. Before we get into that though, can you just give my viewers a day-to-day in Hugo’s world?

Hugo Macau (01:44)

Definitely. I wake up, I have a wife, two kids, so take care of the small children. then have around twenty, thirty minutes where I can stay in my quiet zone, plan the day, because I have my nine to five job, as everyone say it, I’m in IT for twenty five years now. I’ve done everything in ITC since technical managements, portfolios, director roles, and so I

manage my time between that and real estate. So because it’s both worlds that demand a lot of attention and action. I dedicate most of my morning to my normal work and then afternoon and evenings I go full force on real estate. So it’s like you said, it’s been a couple of years since I started to invest my time on real estate.

so day by day on a normal day I have constant contact with my property manager. That manages my personal portfolio because I have personal portfolio and I also have the commercial deal that’s we’ll dive into that, we just closed two weeks ago at twenty five unit. So it’s a lot of transitioning, a lot of onboarding, a lot of families to make sure they know what our strategy, to know our intentions for the future for that portfolio.

So that’s what I do. Mornings, I’ll do IT, afternoons, I’ll focus more on real estate and then always have time to for the evenings with the family. I’m a soccer coach. I like to play soccer. I like to run. So I’m a very active person. I think that’s the most fundamental part to keep your sanity, like I normally say.

Issa Hanna (03:12)

Yes, one hundred percent, man. I always start the day with going to the gym, having a good run, a good workout. You’ve got to be mentally clear to help others, right? when you’re in real estate, when you’re in IT, you’ve got to deal with the general public, you’ve got to be in a good mental space to help and figure problems out because ninety percent of our days are figuring out problems, figuring out how to put the best practices and systems in place.

And I’m gonna leverage off of a point I made earlier before we went live is your time management. You gotta know how to delegate your time so you don’t get lost in the fray of you’ve got so much stuff going on. And let’s pivot into your strength, right? You come from an IT world. There’s a lot of crossover in the real estate world and IT world. One of the main strengths that you’re bringing that the IT world taught you is resilience. Can you shed some more light on the resilience you’re bringing in?

Hugo Macau (04:01)

Exactly. I think it’s the most strength you can bring from the IT role to real estate, alongside with organization and how to manage people and leads and negotiate contracts. There’s a lot of vendor contracting in IT. So resilience, I think, because my current position right now, I’m an IT project manager, and you have to get the project to the finish line. So

You have to be resilient. You have to be willing to face problems every day, be open minded, find out the solutions. I can tell you, I normally 80% of the times when people ask me questions, I don’t know the answer. But I know how to get the answer. So that’s the most important thing. resilience, what led me through for the first couple of properties that I bought and where I did everything. So I manage, I did the renovations myself.

I did the listings. I did the showings to the tenants. I chose the tenants. I did the background checks on them. managed the repairs. I did the repairs myself. So everything because I always feel like if you talk about something, you better understand how it works on the background. Because yeah, you can be a very good teacher, but if you know how to do it manually, it’s a missing link right there. So

That’s exactly where resilience come.

Issa Hanna (05:13)

And I love it. And I want to make a point to the viewers at home. Hugo making, he’s climbing that natural progression of an investor, of a real estate investor, right? He started from the ground up, doing everything on his own, figuring out things, learning through the fire. I always say, right, even if you lose a little money, you never lose, you always learn. He’s figuring out all this stuff. He’s learned it, and he’s just progressed to the multifamily level. So he started a smaller level, now he’s progressed up and buying better.

More properties, more doors under one roof. And then I do wanna talk about that. Two weeks ago you just closed your first large multifamily deal, twenty five unit portfolio. a lot to take on, a lot to jump into, right? can you give us some of the struggles you’ve encountered with the transition?

Hugo Macau (05:56)

Yeah, we can be here the whole afternoon if I talk about the struggle. But let’s resume this a little bit. So it was a five month process since we got the deal on the contract, went through the due diligence, underwriting, search for the lender, get all the things during closing, a lot of back and forth with the seller broker. but the main struggle, because this was a form of a syndication.

So was getting the right investors, finding the right team from a property management perspective. I already got a very good one. He’s a close friend of mine, he already manages my current properties too. So he got into the deal as well. So he was very excited. after all these five months, and I can tell you I have pages of lessons learned that I will apply to the next deal. and it was a

great learning experience. Again, resilience. It’s all about that. And one very interesting story is a week before closing, we had an investment of 450,000 dropped out a week before closing. So he backed up. That’s fine. It happens. So the way that you feel that you can be resilient is the team that it’s supporting around you.

So I think the best way for success is surround yourself with a very good structure. So I had good attorneys, I had a good team as well on site. I got a good CPA and they all supported and we quickly pivoted and we got that remaining equity filled out in about four days, not even a week. So we got it to the closing finish line. Now we are ready into the second week.

To transition, onboarding all the tenants to new platform, new property management. we’re on track to do everything on execution. And I also have a very detailed plan for rehab between zero to three months to six months, nine months, two years. And again, that experience comes from the IT world. Be organized step by step, how to delegate, how to put in the things you want to put in place. And that’s very exciting.

Issa Hanna (07:51)

One hundred percent. And I love that you said plans, right? so even before you got into this deal, you had a meticulous plan, right? And that’s why we say resilience, because before you get into a deal, especially a commercial, especially a large multifamily deal, these take months of preparation on your own end, in your own mind, how to get the investors lined up, best financing products to use, all this kind of stuff. So you think you have this plan and then boom, you got

Something that you may not have foreseen hits you and it feels like, my gosh, what do I do now? I’m gonna lose the deal. But you can either fold or you can stand up and walk through that fire, right? and the great real estate investors always find a way to, like you said, Hugo, get to that finish line. and once you’re done and you make it through that problem, you learn the way out of these problems. So it might seem like the worst problem in the world while it’s happening. but after you get through it.

You look back and you’re like, okay, it wasn’t that big of a deal. If I ever see this again, I know exactly what to do. And another thing I want to touch on, all good, not just real estate investors, entrepreneurs in general, your team, right? a football team. What is an NFL football team? This is a business, right? They spend millions and millions of dollars getting the best coaches, the best players, everything together so they can win championships, right? So if you don’t have a good team, if you have an inexperienced team, that team

needs to be rebuilt just like the NFL, just like the major leagues, right? you can bring that whole concept into business. You always have to think like that when you’re getting into business. and man, Hugo, you’re just dropping golden knowledge on the viewers today. Exactly. I want to ask you why’d you decide to make this pivot now into the multifamily space?

Hugo Macau (09:26)

So that’s a very good point. this has been a passion for me. it’s all about leaving a legacy for your kids, general generational wealth, creating something from scrap. so and a little bit of background on my side, I’m Portuguese. I decided to move to Canada My wife was already pregnant, we’ll go to adventure.

We didn’t have any families, any friends in Canada. We didn’t speak the language because we went out on French part. we lived there nine years. Great enriching experience in terms of culture and experience. Then we moved here. But I always had in the back of my mind that one day I will do real estate. Not I don’t know when, but I will do it. I started small, I bought that three multifamily property completely vacant.

I decided to invest our savings in it. We renovated everything by ourselves. I didn’t get help from anyone. Always that little anxiety, that nervous, that risk. Will I get this rented out? ‘Cause it’s my first time. I don’t know what I’m doing, but It was natural. I renovated everything, took two weeks to rent it out, and they are my best tenants soever.

They always weekly touch point with me, Hugo. How are you doing? and amazing people. So it feels like it was natural. So it’s a passion now that I’m putting live and continue to grow. And a little bit to your point, Issa, I had other deals in the beginning, a hundred plus units, but I decided to start with a smaller one because let me understand the wheels of it for a smaller perspective.

and then get that lessons learning, be more comfortable when we scale up. So it’s all about perception and again resilience and know when to start or know when to take that next step.

Issa Hanna (11:03)

I love that. So you learned it from the ground up, with smaller, less riskier things. And then what once you became a real estate pro, you’re on the show, you decided, okay, it’s time to scale up and get this thing going, Major. I love it. man, I could see big things in your future. You’re a planner, right? So what’s the five year plan? I look you up in five years. where do I see you at?

Hugo Macau (11:22)

I get that question a lot. almost every week. I don’t have an end goal. I can tell you that. So a lot of people ask me, what’s your end goal? Is it a hundred units? Is it five million AUM? Is it ten million? I don’t have an end goal right now. I just wanna build and scale up. I feel more motivated every day to continue to go.

I strongly believe when it’s your passion, you don’t have an end goal. You just Continue to work on it. Now, if you ask me, well, will you fill this in about five years? I don’t know. Kids grow up, life changes, probably have a good portfolio, probably won’t. But I can tell right now I don’t have an end goal. It’s just keep building up, keep working on the deal with just close. I already have a couple of the deals that we’re already looking at in the pipeline. They are way bigger deals.

But again, like you referred, now I have a good team around me. So now it’s gonna be more natural to go into those deals. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a hundred units, a thousand units, it doesn’t matter. The structure is there and you just have to scale up in terms of numbers.

Issa Hanna (12:19)

100%. I always say it on the show. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. It’s already there. Just have to find a better way to make that wheel turn faster and keep efficient. You found a way you put the team, the systems together. Man, I could see you doing major, major things in the game. And I can see you probably having to take all your time into the real estate world and have to pump the brakes a little on the IT game in a few years, man, because you are definitely.

Killing the game right now. I’m loving it. I want to give you the floor, Hugo. If you have a business, if people wanted to get a hold of you, they wanted to reach you, maybe ask you a question, where could they reach you at?

Hugo Macau (12:53)

So I’m very easily reachable. I have social media accounts everywhere on my company side and on my personal side. the fastest ways through email, hugo.macau at Forest CRE as in commercial real estate. So ForestCRE.com, or you can reach out to myself as well, 774-786-8183. I will be most glad to connect with anyone that is starting, that is looking for

find out more about commercial real estate, passive income, syndications, anything around multifamily real estates. I know that I’m in a minor time there, about a couple of years, but I can already share a lot of things and I’m also willing to learn. I think that’s important. So we’re always willing to learn.

Issa Hanna (13:35)

Definitely. A guy that learned it from the ground up. He’s bringing so much integrity to the game. We touched on it earlier. I didn’t get a chance to touch on it in the interview. The care he brings to the tenants, right? He actually cares about the tenants. He cares about the people that work for him. So he’s got the system. He’s got the team. He’s got the integrity. Investors that watch this, if you guys want to get involved in some of Hugo’s projects, this is the guy to do business with because he’s bringing all that to the game.

And then new people, if you guys have anything you want to bounce off of them, super personable guy. I’m sure he’ll answer all your questions. Make sure to contact him, visit those websites. Let’s leave off on a piece of advice for our new people, right? Our game is about building and growing your network, right? you don’t put together a great team without knowing how to build business relationships. So if you had to give these people one piece of advice on how to get that ball rolling on building their first relationship, what would you tell them, you go?

Hugo Macau (14:27)

So the way I build my team, and I always say that my two best friends are my CPA and my property manager. without those, I think you don’t go too far. So try to build from there. I was lucky when I got connected to my PM, my property manager, right now, through a real estate friend. So again, find out within your networks anyone that is already connected and has that experience and ask them questions.

listen, I don’t know, John, Matt, whatever is his name. I’m thinking about going into real estate. Who would you think that I should talk to start getting this on track? because like I said, my first property that I bought, we took all of our savings. We bought a three family completely empty. And this real estate friend, he was the one that guide me through those first steps. So I took all of the action, but

You have to have someone that also give you that push. But again, don’t be afraid. Risk it. If it’s something that you believe in, if it’s something that you like, you’re passionate about, don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t take the opportunity. I can tell you during those first two months that I was doing renovations on that first property. I was scared every day. I was anxious every day. But put your mind in the end goal, not through the anxiety, not through the fear. If you see the end goal, you’ll get there.

Issa Hanna (15:40)

One hundred percent. Keep your eye on that prize. golden advice you’re bringing on the show today, Hugo. we’re all out of time today, but I wanna invite you back on the show in a few months just to check up on you and see the different projects you got going on if you’ll have us.

Hugo Macau (15:52)

Yep, let’s go.

Issa Hanna (15:53)

Hundred percent. I’m definitely gonna contact you in a few months to my viewers at home. If you enjoyed this conversation with Hugo and wanna see more like it, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of real estate investing. Until next time. The Real Estate Pros are out.