How Land Developers Profit From Ground Leases in Tampa Bay (Low-Maintenance Wealth Strategy)

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Show Summary

In this conversation, Vin, the CEO and founder of Anointed Warrior KO Investment Group LLC, discusses the critical role of timing in business growth, particularly in the context of the pandemic. He emphasizes the importance of not just selling but also developing opportunities that benefit the community.

Resources and Links from this show:

• • • Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
    • Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
    • Mike on Facebook
    • Mike on Instagram
    • Mike on LinkedIn
    • Vin Ko’s Email Address: [email protected]
    • Vin Ko’s Phone No: (727) 744-0018

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Vin Ko (00:00)
  For us right now, we’re, I shouldn’t say one of the few, but we have a beautiful concept of our site being over four and a half acres and we’re putting in an express car wash. And I’m gonna jump back into my brand again. The other brand, the name of our strip center would be Winter Circle. And you know, the car wash reached out to us, boy, your name Winter Circle, what better way to have it than.

  have me create my car wash there. So we’re gonna have a car wash with a coffee in-cap drive-through. That’s the, not only that you heard it from me, but that’s the up and coming boom everywhere, rather it be Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or Tidal Wave. So it’s kind of good little blend for right now.

  Michelle Kesil (02:18)
  Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil Today I’m joined by someone that I’m looking forward to chatting with, Vin Ko who’s been making serious moves as a land developer. So excited to have you on the show today, Vin.

  Vin Ko (02:19)
  you

  Thank you so much, Michelle, for having us. And just a small note, I got a little quick glance of what you guys create. And I just want to give my two cents to thank you for doing and expressing the freedom.

  that we have and what we create and do just to find the freedom to be able to stand and do. So thank you.

  Michelle Kesil (02:55)
  Yeah, of course.

  Yeah, thank you. So first off, for those who are not familiar with you and your world, can you share what your main focus is?

  Vin Ko (03:07)
  Our main focus is that we were able to grab our marketing company, which is in the greater Tampa Bay area. And I’ll give their name out there. It’s Yellowtail Marketing. And the reason I say that is getting ourselves out there, who we are, we need some strength, which is marketing company allows us to do that. Rather it be aerial shots or

  just advertising or just connections and dealing with people, saying hello to people. So that’s really kind of what I’m able to be in front of you today is giving the confidence and the belief that the marketing company can carry us. And there’s a lot of great people out there, but I think what makes a difference in a little bit that we do as a land developer ⁓ is finding the right marketing people to team up with.

  Michelle Kesil (04:00)
  Cool. And are you only focused in the Tampa market?

  Vin Ko (04:52)
  currently, yes, we were, we’re focused on the Tampa market, but our goal is to, you know, start eventually branch out. And there’s, there’s so many great cities and great towns that’s adjacent to us. For example, in North Carolina, Tennessee, but those wouldn’t have to be down to stretch for us, but we’re focusing on Tampa because of what Tampa is creating in the greater Tampa Bay. And, ⁓ and plus, ⁓

  I made a note on saying, you know, we’re at creating the land development. We have 40,000 cars that pass us each and every single day. And that’s a pretty good amount of, you know, little leverage that we want to focus on.

  Michelle Kesil (05:32)
  Awesome. What got you started with this business?

  Vin Ko (05:35)
  I think just like any of us that would be sitting is the, I believe it’s the brand. We, you know, what we do as entrepreneurs, as the, you know, as creators is a brand. We just, we have all these different brands that we want to do. And it seems like the way we can fit them is even if we have to put eight doors, where there’d be a coffee shop, pet store, a diamond store, a salon. So all those brands can fit into what we want to create.

  So, you know, I might not be a coffee brewer, but I could definitely reach out to a good coffee company such as Dunkin’ Donuts or, you know, just or some people that started here in Tampa Bay that we’re sitting down talking to, such as like Cowell Coffee. so I really think it’s more of the brand that I wanted to create and be a part of. And I think doing land development is like really the quickest way to get in there to the core of everybody.

  Michelle Kesil (06:29)
  Yeah. Can you share more about what the lamb development looks like?

  Vin Ko (06:33)
  Yes, and I think currently right now we’re very blessed with the, ⁓ we have a great civil engineer that we have a commitment with and there’s basically ours is sitting in front of a six lane highway, three lanes going back north and then three lanes going south. And the stretch of the, we’re at is about, you you’re talking 400 miles.

  from Miami South all the way to I-10, where it turnpikes into Jacksonville area. So that’s where we see a great visual for it moving forward. And then at the same time, as we’re dealing with the core of where we’re at in Pasco, the growth of the county and the city and everything else.

  And then the other

  thing I wanted to send out sharing is like, think I know from just one to 30 that our marketing company sent us that’s looking in our area that they sent from anywhere from half of it being a coffee shop from Dunkin Donuts to Seven Brew Coffee and all the way down to 30 is with Dollar General store. So it’s got a big range, but you’re talking about 30 solid.

  businesses that’s ⁓ looking directly in the Pasco area.

  Michelle Kesil (07:52)
  Yeah, amazing. So what are you most focused on solving or scaling to in your business?

  Vin Ko (08:00)
  Scaling too, I believe is creating that retail center ready for them, get it in, get things signed, and then looking in and refinancing and moving on. There’s few businesses that you can put your time into. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re sitting there waiting to eat five or six years, it is a long time. But if you’re

  going in there to create something and refinance something, I think it’s relatively quick within 48 months to five years. And we’re barely just pushing, you know, barely eight months. And that’s with getting our team ready with the marketing, civil engineering, and then just waiting to sit down next year with all the other, with our prospects that we have in front of us. So that’s what our focus is on. our next step is to be able to sit down with them and

  get in place to you know the 10 to 20 year contract with them.

  Michelle Kesil (08:56)
  Yeah, amazing.

  Vin Ko (08:57)
  Thank you.

  Michelle Kesil (08:58)
  So I know that every business has those moments where things get real. Maybe you have a deal go sideways or you need to make some fast pivots. Would you mind sharing a moment like that that you have experienced and how you overcame it?

  Vin Ko (09:50)
  Yes, would go back. I’m sorry it might come up again, Michelle, but I would go back to a good marketing company. Some people can find it in a day. You may take it a little while. I mean, you can start reaching out to bigger brands such as, you know, anything out there, Remax or some big names first. But the reason I brought that up is because there’s going to be legality that you may have to deal with. Sometimes the ⁓ legal language.

  such as the land lease, such as terms, this and that. And those things we have to leave that to the professionals so that way we can focus on what I have to do. Even subsidizing another cash flow to come into it, I can leave those other things to the legality of the marketing company that will allow that for you.

  I would say that going back to that, we’re going to need somebody that will be able to give that cushion for us. I think having lawyers and everything is great, but I think the marketing company, they’re out there and they still have their name out there for 20 or 30 years because they’re able to create and keep on doing what they do.

  Michelle Kesil (11:00)
  Awesome. What are some of the keys that you would say have allowed your business to be able to grow and to run smoothly?

  Vin Ko (11:11)
  Some of the keys, I would say that we’re coming to the table with big national people that have shown a proof that they have good sales revenue each and every month coming into our development and helping us push. you know, the bankers and even investors are real sharp. They can look and see, say, hey, this is the kind of strength we have coming in here to this place.

  It could be an anchor store or maybe one of the five stores, but I would say that the national or regional change that come and work with us is what pushes forward, give us that momentum. Yeah. And you’ll probably hear that more for me moving forward is the word momentum, bringing that together and moving forward with the strength.

  Michelle Kesil (11:56)
  Yeah, can you expand on what that looks like for you?

  Vin Ko (11:58)
  For us right now, we’re, I shouldn’t say one of the few, but we have a beautiful concept of our site being over four and a half acres and we’re putting in an express car wash. And I’m gonna jump back into my brand again. The other brand, the name of our strip center would be Winter Circle. And you know, the car wash reached out to us, boy, your name Winter Circle, what better way to have it than.

  have me create my car wash there. So we’re gonna have a car wash with a coffee in-cap drive-through. That’s the, not only that you heard it from me, but that’s the up and coming boom everywhere, rather it be Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or Tidal Wave. So it’s kind of good little blend for right now.

  And that being said, Michelle, the coffee shop doesn’t even have to be 2,500 square feet.

  They’re barely 10 feet wide by 40 foot long. So they’re basically a drive through. It’s just a good little blend. And that’s a focus point that we’re doing and looking at with our county. And you said strength. Some of the strength I’ll bring up on that is that there are so many car washes going up in Pasco. Let’s just say a small number, 100. And they’re saying there’s too many.

  So that’s why we’re reaching out to a marketing company. Hey, look, come in here, commit to us now, and we’ll give you five years to build. So that’s the nice thing about what we do in land ⁓ creation is that we go through phases and cycles. We can start one day and then put it off for another 24 months. Now, not every business can do that, you know? So that’s some of exciting things that we’re looking forward to be doing here this coming year.

  Michelle Kesil (13:42)
  Awesome. Have you had any other projects that you’ve had success in?

  Vin Ko (13:48)
  Yes, I think I would call it a success because they were the same thing and they’re more of just buying them and then selling them would be just the land itself. So we invested as small as like eight or 10,000 to as much as 60,000. But those success, we turn around and put those on a market and sold it. Once in a while, we have to just basically walk over there to cut the grass maybe.

  So it’s very low maintenance when you start with land creations. You don’t have to do a lot of maintenance from the beginning. And I would say that was really kind of what propelled us to take those baby steps to keep on going. Is starting with simple land lease investment stuff and then growing from that little by little.

  Michelle Kesil (14:36)
  Can you expand on what the land lease investment process looks like for you?

  Vin Ko (15:22)
  us digging into the ⁓ commercial end of it. With every great city and the growth in our United States, rather you’re in Tampa Bay, or with us is that if you’re in a big city, you’re gonna have to do what they call demo, you’re gonna have to break down and rebuild, it’s called like almost redevelopment. So what we looked at is,

  from what they call land, just pure land. Now we have to deal with the civil work, with the draining and creating for the city, the county. And it just adds growth. Now don’t get me wrong, you’re gonna have different feedbacks of people say they’re losing a lot more trees, and yes, we do, but at the same time, we plant and grow new concepts and new trees that help the environment as well. we kind of create.

  both ways, but I think it’s creating something where you’re doing to help the drainage with the roads and everything. And now I’m in no means to talk more about the civil end of it, but that is something that I am looking at and is a part of because of what has to be done as far as civil engineering. it’s little fun stuff. It keeps us alive.

  It allows us the opportunity, even the blessing to be able to sit here in front of you, to have our voice heard and talk and collaborate and grow. Those things keep us, know, just keeps us, I think, more getting up each and every morning and, you know, going until the candles burn, the old saying on there. So it keeps us active. So I think that’s what really I would say to somebody. It could be anybody from any walk of life. You could have a

  great strong job and there’s people in land development who are doctors and lawyers and they hire the right people and there’s other guys that are just blue collar workers that just want to have a place to be able to park their truck, you know, with that freedom. So it’s a window for anybody really.

  Michelle Kesil (17:28)
  Sure, absolutely.

  What are you most looking forward when it comes to business growth?

  Vin Ko (17:35)
  The one I’m looking forward to is that what we’re creating and doing right now, can refinance. Our goal is to be at about 2.5 mil refinance. And then 2 streets south, we want to tackle 30.5 acres. And we want to take our same concept and just be on steroids with it. That’s it. Instead of maybe 16 condos or townhomes, we want to do 88.

  ⁓ homes and condo and we ⁓ have a visual for somebody to see. I think what we’re creating is somebody can stand there, sit in our office and look. I believe the Zoom, the internet is wonderful, but somebody before they’re gonna sign on a dotted line, they’re gonna have to sit and look at your office. They’re gonna have to be in there. And that’s what we’re trying to create and do. And I take that.

  Vin Ko (00:00)
  Concept and just grow with it. We want to go from four and a half acres to thirty and a half acres So I know I didn’t talk about that earlier But that is really our ultimate growth is that what we do and create we can just keep on going and moving You know, you can start it at 50 and still be added at 72, you know So it’s something that that we want to keep on growing and going

  Michelle Kesil (00:24)
  Yeah, that’s exciting. When it comes to business growth, that’s networking or other strategies, what has made the biggest difference for you?

  Vin Ko (00:30)
  I know. I was just thinking.

  I think it’s the timing is everything. Even though we went into it, we just let it sit to grow and to sell, that was back when the pandemic, 2020. Now, four and a half, five years later, excuse me, we’re looking at the massive growth that we can come in and now we wanna develop. That’s a different change.

  Dealing with land lease from the beginning you can gain from just letting it sit there and grow or you can come in with a timing is right. Is that the timing always changes. So the timing for us is now instead of just selling it. We want to come in and put the work into it. And create create other aspects for people that that can grow in our town in our city. So that’s that’s really our main goal is to be able to.

  to go from a small acreage to one shortly to go to bigger amount. And just like you’re talking to me, and I don’t wanna throw any names out there, and there’s a fellow that guys who would look back and what I’m doing is always learning and talking. There’s Cardone University in the greater Miami area.

  And he started very little with 10 acres or so, and now they have 200,000 acres. Talking on a small scale, could be bigger than that. it’s always growing and changing. And the timing in what we’re trying to create our brand, what we do is no better timing to invest, rather it be in the Tampa Bay area, Tennessee, California, or Pasco is what’s on the scale.

  And if anybody likes to reach out to us, if you kindly would, Michelle, if you can put my email up there, they’re more than welcome to reach out to me, say, hey, Vin, I want to feedback on this. We’ll be more happy to send that back to them, send it over to a marketing company. We’re here to help each other. And I’m hoping the same thing with you that maybe, you know, by Turkey Day next week, you say, you know what, Vin, I am.

  I got some leads for you that you might want to talk to these people or maybe like you’re saying, you know, maybe get a commit. We’re all about commitment. I always like to hear somebody want to reach out to us and say, I want to be committed to you and hear what we kept on going together.

  Michelle Kesil (03:03)
  Yeah, perfect. So before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more. I know you just mentioned your email, but yeah, if you want to share that or any other ways people can reach you, feel free.

  Vin Ko (03:17)
  Yes, ma’am. My direct cell, Michelle, if you can jot it put it, you can get me directly at 24-7 at 727-744-0018. And then my direct email is a’s in anointed, w’s in warrior, k’s in kick, o’s in orange, 8816 at gmail.com. So that’s A-W-K-O, 8816 at gmail.com.

  And then, you know, just something to peek at, look at it because it’s gonna set different frames and standards in the Tampa Bay area. Here’s our site address. It’s 15807 and 15813 US Highway 19, Hudson, Florida. And our zip code is 33756. I’m sorry, it’s 34667. We’re blessed to have different zip codes to deal with, so sorry about that.

  Michelle Kesil (04:08)
  Sure. Well, I appreciate your time, your story, your perspective. Thank you for being here.

  Vin Ko (04:13)
  Michelle, thank you for having us. just to close, like I mentioned, freedom, thank you for, I just want to give praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, allowing us this opportunity to talk and say hello.

  Michelle Kesil (04:25)
  Thank you. And for the listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators like Vin who are building real businesses. And see you on our next episode.