Subscribe via:
Show Summary
In this conversation, Adam Marburger discusses the appeal of real estate investment, emphasizing that a degree is not necessary to succeed in this field. He encourages aspiring investors to start small, such as flipping houses, to grasp the essential mechanics of real estate transactions, including networking, understanding mortgages, and the rehabilitation process. Marburger highlights the importance of education and practical experience in achieving success in real estate.
Resources and Links from this show:
-
Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode
Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Adam Marburger (00:00)
we gutted it completely renovated I hired a small group of individuals to kind of to complete the rehab act as the general contractor Here’s what what I screwed up. Wasn’t involved enough on this transactionWe didn’t get multiple bids. I’m $80,000 over budget. We were supposed to be open two weeks ago when we’re not. So not only were the timelines off, the financial, you know, I’m way over budget on this deal and it’s my fault. It’s not the general contractor’s fault that’s in charge. It’s not the crew’s fault. It’s my fault.
The lesson for real estate investors is you have to take responsibility and accountability for anything and everything and you have to be Ridiculously self-aware
Quentin (02:23)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host Q Edmonds. And you know what I’m going to say? I’m super excited to be here today. Have another amazing guest. Listen, this gentleman has 11 different companies, which you know, I’m trying to focus on the real estate, but this gentleman, is well versed.He has a well range of experience, a well range of great perspective and nuggets that he’s going to bring to the, ⁓
the stage today to our podcast. And so I’m really excited for us to pick his brain. I’m excited for you to be able look through his lens because I believe it’s a very unique lens. And I just know you’re going to find a ton of value from this gentleman here. So I would like to introduce you all to Mr. Adam Marburger. Mr. Adam, how you doing today,
Adam Marburger (03:13)
I’m doing fantastic. Happy Monday to you and I’m excited to be here.Quentin (03:19)
absolutely. Listen, I can tell you guys right now, Mr. Adam, he’s no demon gloom type of guy. Listen, this guy goes full out, whatever he’s committed to, he goes. And so I’m excited, man. I’m excited for them, our viewers to be able to get a clear lens, peek through your lens. And so I’ll be honest with you, Mr. Adam, I want to dive right in. I would love for you to tell the people what your main focus is these days.⁓ I would love if you want to give us a little bit origin story of how you got into real estate. We love origin stories. And then also tell them what markets you’re operating in. But Sir, the floor is yours.
Adam Marburger (03:54)
Yeah, fantastic. Well, youyou said I’m in a bunch of different deals. ⁓ Predominantly, I started in automotive. I started selling cars at 18. I dropped out of college. I started making a little money and I met a mentor in the automotive industry, Ollie Kitchell. We actually own a company together. Ollie showed me a way to retire at a young age through real estate. You know, he told me like real estate’s the vehicle that will set you free in life. And I trusted him and I believed in him.
So I started investing in real estate in the early 2000 2000s and that’s been the engine to my financial train along the way, know I’m getting ready to open a new jujitsu Academy I was kind of chat with you a little bit about that my real estate holdings funded this transaction So without my real estate, I wouldn’t be able to do the things that I do today And you know, I operate in the st. Louis metro area on the I’m right across the river here in Alton, Illinois. It’s a one of the most quaint beautiful
Amazing little river towns in the country
and i’m honored and privileged to be here to serve my people here and you know I do a lot of deals in this area and i’m very proud of that. So
Quentin (05:53)
So listen, very successful entrepreneur over the years. And so I would love to know what are some of the key strategies that you have that keep your machines with an S running smoothly, right? Because you got several machines, but I would imagine you are one of the main engines, if not the main engine, behind the machine. So what are some of the key strategies that keep you running smoothly,Adam Marburger (06:14)
That’s a really great question. So, you know, I used to believe that I could do everything myself and that I don’t need partners and to be honest I will never do a business deal without a partner I can’t scale and go and do the things that I want to do unless I have somebody that is better than me in Position with autonomy to run. I’m the visionary I partner with integrators and integrators can take my vision to the market quicker can get results quickerAnd to look people that are better than me that are also motivated and put them in places of empowerment to run and run fast
Quentin (06:59)
You said a word autonomy. I talk, of course, get the chance to interview a lot of people and I talk to them about some of their bottlenecks, their hangups, and it comes up a lotright? They like, it’s hard for me to delegate. I heard a successful man, just like you said, listen, I delegate to elevate. I have to delegate in order for me to elevate. But you use that word autonomy, which a lot of people don’t use. It’s not only do you put people in a position, you give them autonomy to be in a position. That’s amazing.
Adam Marburger (07:29)
You know it allows my people to feel fulfilled and accomplished. I’m not a micromanager I don’t want to lean over you as a matter of fact I don’t even want to check in like ifasked for a task to be done I don’t want to follow up because I want to assume that you were in the place that you’re supposed to be and I shouldn’t have to follow up right so I love you give people autonomy to do their thing and You find that people actually get more done
Quentin (07:50)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.Adam Marburger (07:59)
⁓ When you do that in they live a more fulfilled life as well, youQuentin (08:03)
Yeah, ⁓that’s beautiful. And that’s part of your mental capacity and space that doesn’t have to be occupied with
about somebody’s doing what they need to do. You tell them to do it and then you occupy your mental space with doing something to be successful in another area. And so that’s awesome. I thank you for that nugget. I think our viewers, that’s gonna pay true dividends because like I said, a lot of people get stuck up there. so I’m listening, like I said, you’re very successful. I know
Adam Marburger (08:20)
Amen.Quentin (08:33)
There are times when things get real, right? When deals go sideways, when you have to pivot fast.And I was wondering if you had a story like that. And I’m going tell you why, because a lot of times we show the success, but we don’t show the journey to success, right? And so I was just wondering if you can tell people that sometimes
a journey, you’re going to get some hiccups, you’re going to run into some road obstacles. And so was wondering if you could speak to that.
Adam Marburger (08:58)
I’m in the middle of it. I’m gonna give you an example of what I’m in right now You know, so I’m opening a new jujitsu Academy ultimately and You know, found an off-market deal I’d backstory let me give you the backstory So we were we’ve been in business for eight years under a different name all family martial arts. We were wrongfully evicted And we were kind of put out on the street. I didn’t own the buildingQuentin (09:15)
Yes, sir.Adam Marburger (09:27)
So that’s a tip always own your real estate guys So I did something that I kind of go against I leased a space for eight years. The rent factor was very fair and that business Provided the least amount of revenue, but the most amount of joy. It was kind of on autopilot So we were put out on the street scrambled. I looked at a bunch of buildings Nothing, nothing. Nothing seemed right on the deal until out of nowhereQuentin (09:32)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.Adam Marburger (10:31)
I get a phone call the real another real estate investor in town said hey, I need to unload this property I need some cash and I need to move and I looked at this deal and it was perfect. The bones were perfectwe gutted it completely renovated I hired a small group of individuals to kind of to complete the rehab act as the general contractor Here’s what what I screwed up. Wasn’t involved enough on this transaction
We didn’t get multiple bids. I’m $80,000 over budget. We were supposed to be open two weeks ago when we’re not. So not only were the timelines off, the financial, you know, I’m way over budget on this deal and it’s my fault. It’s not the general contractor’s fault that’s in charge. It’s not the crew’s fault. It’s my fault.
The lesson for real estate investors is you have to take responsibility and accountability for anything and everything and you have to be Ridiculously self-aware
it would be real easy for me to point finger saying it’s that person’s fault They didn’t know it’s this guy’s fault and you can blame I can blame My time because I’ve been busy I could blame other businesses. No, no, no, no I should have been more involved in this transaction than I was and because that I wasn’t I’m in the place that I’m in right now, so that that’s
I didn’t expect you to ask that question, but that question is a good question because I’m in a season right now that relates to that question.
Quentin (12:06)
Yeah, yeah. Well, so you didn’t drop, now you didn’t drop two A-bombs on this podcast. One, you started off with autonomy and then you dropped accountability. A lot of people, when I talk, they try to avoid taking accountability. AndI appreciate you for bringing that up because that’s the only way that you can face, you have to face your situation head on and take accountability for your role. Yeah, it may not be all your fault, but within this,
this scrum of mess that’s going on, there is something that you have to take accountability for. And so I thank you for bringing up that another great A word, accountability. And so I appreciate you bringing that up.
Adam Marburger (12:48)
Yeah, mylove it. I accountability. First of all, it’s
Quentin (12:49)
Absolutely.Adam Marburger (12:51)
a I talk about process and accountability all the time. Process is very important and accountability on top of the process is most important and the thing is most of us, I say most of us because this is fact. Most of us don’t like to be held accountable. We just don’t like uncomfortable. They’re comfortable. It shines a light. It accountability tells the truth and a lot of times we’re in denial. We’re in denial. So, yeah, accountability.Quentin (13:06)
Talk,Mm.
Adam Marburger (13:17)
If you want to scale and grow your business or yourself at a high high level Having somebody that’s doing more than you that you aspire to be more like holding you account criticalQuentin (13:28)
Mmm.Yes, sir. No, that’s good. I think we may come back to that later on because I want to talk to you about relationships later on. So we may come back to that. So I appreciate you saying that.
So let me ask you this. And I’m actually just too. If you OK, comfortable with it, I want you to give me two answers to this question. One,
what is your overall goals? What are your real goals with your businesses?
but also with your real estate business as well. just an overall goal for you period. And then also if you have an overall goal for your real estate businesses too, I would love to know that.
Adam Marburger (14:06)
Yeah, great questions. I’ll answer the first one. It’s very easy to answer the goal has been the same for a very long time I’m gonna do what I want whenever I want with whoever I want Period that’s how I’m live my life my terms period ⁓ My goal is to own enough realQuentin (14:20)
Seriously.Yeah.
Adam Marburger (14:25)
to offset my personal ⁓ tax liability. So You know, my goal is to becomeknow, I want to say I’m a full-time full-time real estate guy But I’m but I’m not you know I don’t want to call it a side hustle because I mean I do well But I have other business interests and lots of other companies that are that are kind of my focus Right this second,
but I’m looking I’m going I’m kind of reset the clock for 2026 with one of my real estate companies Marburg or investment group. I want to buy commercial real estate I’m looking to get into more apartment buildings. I’m looking to
I want to buy as much real estate so I can offset my tax liability ⁓ in the future so Real estates the engine that has pulled my train My financial train at this point heck without my real estate holdings. I wouldn’t be doing this jujitsu Academy I mean it funded the whole you know, but in the future I’m gonna get pretty heavy again on real estate because I have three beautiful daughters that they’re gonna carry that forward for me, so
Quentin (16:10)
Absolutely. I love it, man. I love it. Thank you for sharing and thank you for bringing up your daughters. I know that’s part of your why, why you do what you do. You know, they so yeah, absolutely. And so you brought up your daughters and I wanted to come back to this idea of relationships. And so it sounds like to me that you are great at building relationships. So I would love to know your outlook on relationships. So when it comes to building relationships, growing your network.What’s made the biggest difference for you?
Adam Marburger (16:42)
That’s a great question, too. So my friend Elijah says one plus one equals 11 So it’s it’s about it’s your connections and your network is everything in life and and if there’s any young folks that listen to this or watch this I think it’s so important at an at a young age to identify You are who you spend time with You are who you study you are who you admire like relationships areQuentin (16:50)
Woo!Adam Marburger (17:12)
Everything especially in the business world doors get opened up by being in the right circles of influence You want to be aYou know you hang out with losers Okay You want to be a winner hang out with winners and I challenge people to roll with people that are doing more than you Try to be the least successful person at that table You want to be the least talented person in the room? And those are the rooms you need to strive to be around but without my network It I wouldn’t be where I am today
Quentin (17:42)
Like you said it best, relationships are everything. I have never heard that before. One plus one equals 11. I’ve never, I wrote it down.Adam Marburger (17:50)
⁓He gets the credit for that that’s I stole that from here, so that’s all him. I love it though
Quentin (17:57)
Man,that is an absolutely powerful statement. Absolutely powerful statement. And that just lets people know how to grow your network. Like one plus one. Now you got that other network and like, it just, it rockets you into the next stratosphere when you connect with people that’s something light-minded. And like you said, even people that may have bigger ideas than you, that way it keeps you pushing. It keeps you focused. And I love earlier you said, being around people that hold you accountable. Like,
Adam Marburger (18:13)
Amen.Quentin (18:27)
You have to make yourself accountable to somebody. Like you can’t be in a solo and just be making decisions on your own head. Like you need to be surrounded by people who will check you. I believe in submission. Like I have a board of directors when it comes to my life. I don’t make anydecisions unless I talk to them about life. So I have a group of accountability brothers that I talk to about marriage, business, health, finances.
And I have given people permission in my life to tell me you need to be quiet and sit down for a second. That may sound strange to some people, but for me, I know sometimes I need people to reel me in and I have to be submitting and say, you know what? You are the person that I’m going to say, if anybody need to check me and tell me to sit down, you’re to be that person. And I’m going to submit myself to that. And so I hear you, sir. think that’s huge.
Adam Marburger (19:19)
Yeah, it’s a veryQuentin (19:21)
Yeah, yeah. So listen, when I talk to somebody, you know, that have the perspective that you have, listen, is there any kind of other encouragement, education, motivation, anything that you wanted to give people just from the heart, something maybe that you’ve been thinking about, maybe even thinka thought lately, or just something that’s on your heart to really tell people. I would love to hear it if you have it on your
Adam Marburger (19:44)
Yeah, ⁓ actually I was just Kind of speaking on this recently. So You know our our past there’s two there’s two sides of this So i’ll start with our past like a lot of us We kind of are victimized by who we used to be or where we were, you know Our past has gotten us to where we are today But it doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on where we’re gonna go where we’re supposed to go so god’s got a plan for all andHis plans perfect ours isn’t so Most of the stuff that we did in our past the lives we used to live the mistakes that we made that’s trouble that we got into the epic failures and business that we we encountered See you later. That’s yesterday today. I was not here yet. Well, we have us today so it’s important to not live in the past
in regret and This is what I love about real estate Real estate
You don’t need a degree to be a real estate investor Okay. Now there’s some things you need to have in place to be a successful real estate investor You need banking relationships. You need access to capital you need to have wherewithal in your market There’s things that you got to have but you don’t need you don’t need that a high school education not saying you shouldn’t go to high school high school But you don’t need it, right? So average people can become super
Quentin (21:05)
Come on.Adam Marburger (21:11)
Natural powerful human beings in the real estate market for those that truly desire it ⁓ Those that truly desire it and I don’t care. I always hear people. I don’t care what market you’re in I don’t care where you’re at. It doesn’t matter where you’re at There are deals if you look hard enough if you network with the right people you connect with the right human beings I challenge those to start small, you know start with a flip. Let’s not get crazy by a12 12 unit apartment complex small part. Let’s start with a flip understand the mechanics of the transaction Understand the mechanics of the actual rehab understand the mechanics of of these the your mortgage broker Understand the details of going through all of that understand the details of the real estate the whole transaction through your real estate agent Get the education. It’s easy to get it’s not very difficult and you don’t have to spend a ton of money on your first deal
I tell everybody that starts small.
Quentin (22:12)
Listen, there he is. Drop the mic moment. I’m not going to even try to, as they say in church sometimes, preach after the preacher. You know, you just dropped the mic, man. So thank you so much. Listen, before we wrap, if someone wanted to reach out to you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to get in contact withAdam Marburger (22:33)
Yes, so two platforms I suck on Instagram and I suck on tik tok. Okay, so my assistant made me put a tik tok in place I do have one but I don’t really use it but Facebook is where I’m at. I live on Facebook and LinkedIn Facebook there’ll be multiple profiles of me because I get scammed a lot people are trying to I don’t know why someone would try to impersonate me but they do but I’m the one with the blue check mark on FacebookQuentin (22:38)
Yeah.Adam Marburger (22:57)
And then on LinkedIn, those are the two platforms, very easy to communicate and talk with me on those platforms.Quentin (23:05)
Listen, there he is, Mr. Adam Marburger. Sir, thank you so much. Thank you for your story. Thank you for your time. Definitely thank you for your perspective. It was fresh and it was much needed. And I’m sure people will get a ton of value out of it. So again, thank you so much for being here today. Absolutely. Well, listen, y’all heard Mr. Adam. Please go check him out.Adam Marburger (23:22)
My pleasure. My pleasure. It was an honor and a privilege.Quentin (23:30)
also make sure you subscribe. You do not want to miss.this incredible content that we continue to give day after day after day. So again, thank you, Mr. Adam and to everyone else. We will see you on the next time.
