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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Micah Johnson interviews Cindy Beier, a capital raiser in the multifamily syndication space. They discuss the intricacies of real estate syndication, the importance of education in investing, and the dynamics of building a successful team. Cindy shares her experiences in raising capital, the benefits of syndication over other investment methods, and how to evaluate potential syndication opportunities. The conversation emphasizes the long-term nature of real estate investing and the significance of communication and trust within teams.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Cindy Beier (00:00)
So when you start out, I like to use the example of 32, wish I was 32 again, and I have $25,000. I’ve decided, okay, I’m gonna invest $25,000 instead of buying a really nice car.And so I take that 25, I invested into a multifamily syndication. And then when I’m 37, I now have $50,000. And then I take my 50,000 at 37 and I reinvest that. And at 42, I now have 100,000.
Micah Johnson (00:27)
All right.Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Cindy, who’s been making some serious moves in the real estate industry for quite some time now. Cindy, welcome in, glad to have you.
Cindy Beier (02:19)
Ithank you so much for having me today. It’s great to be here.
Micah Johnson (02:23)
I’m excited.I’m excited for you to be here. I think our listeners are really going to take something away from one, how passionate you are about what you do. I love the energy that you have about it. And then two, just the value of really a syndication world that most don’t understand and how you can start leveraging it in your life earlier to really make sure you’re creating the life that you want ultimately. So let’s dive in on that. People may not know you yet. What’s your main focus right now?
and what markets do you operate in?
Cindy Beier (02:54)
Well, my main focus right now is raising capital for multifamily syndications. And people are probably going to say, what is syndication? I get that 99 % of the time when people ask me, what do you do? And then they say, how did you get into that? Because it is, it’s like, you just don’t sit around and say, I’m going to be a capital raiser today for syndications.So, ⁓ yeah, I just started in real estate early. I worked in different avenues of real estate, realtor, office manager, new construction, all of those things. And then I just moved to different real estate investing groups, different masterminds, and just continued to educate myself on real estate. And then you realize, hey, there’s this thing called capital raising.
And you also realize it’s a team effort. And that is one thing that I love about it. I don’t do this by myself. I have a team of knowledgeable people.
You know, I live in the Denver area, but I really don’t do a lot of capital raising here. Most of the markets that I work with with my teams are in like North Carolina, South Carolina. I have a property in Mississippi, Petersburg, Virginia, Cincinnati. So those areas that are areas where people are moving to and renting, know, Colorado,
is kind of in a turmoil market right now, but I won’t go into that. you know, that’s a whole nother discussion and a whole nother interview, right? But, you know, those other markets is where rent is at a good level for people to live their lives and they can still do things. You know what I mean? It’s just it’s a good place to be for those types of properties.
Micah Johnson (04:37)
Yeah.Well, it’s one of the benefits too about when you’re getting into that higher level real estate world where you’re doing multifamily and that’s a different asset class than most even get into where the nation starts to become your playground. Where it really matters where the deal pencils. I know a lot of folks that they didn’t buy deals over the past couple of years in that space because it was just getting harder and harder to pencil deals finding things that price was right. Because I mean, any investment got to get it at the right price. You set it in the pre-call. You make all your money at the buy.
And it is completely true. If you start behind the eight ball there, it ain’t getting better. You’re not going to recover later. ⁓ But yeah, that’s it’s one thing I love about real estate is that is is that growth pattern that lets you find that thing that you enjoy doing in the business that really lets you be yourself. I call it your emotional paycheck where you can make a great financial paycheck in real estate. Really, really good.
Cindy Beier (06:24)
Yeah.Micah Johnson (06:43)
It also has a way to pay you emotional paycheck, which keeps you coming back each time, keeps you doing it, where you start to find that thing that lights you up. Cause you mentioned it, you like networking, you belong to multiple groups and through knowing those folks, it started to lead to this reality of, a second, I can actually take this next step. So take us through your day to day a little bit now with what’s it, what’s your day look like in terms of capital raising, any projects you’re excited about coming up?Cindy Beier (07:11)
Yeah, I am. I’ve got one project. I’m just finalizing the raison and that is in Cincinnati. It’s a three apartment complex deal. So we’re just winding that up with some final reserves. And that’s a whole nother piece of vocabulary for multifamily. There’s just so many new words for investors. And one of the things that I am excited aboutMicah Johnson (07:34)
ThankCindy Beier (07:39)
is that recently my previous ⁓ raise that I was in, I brought in five new investors who didn’t know really anything about multifamily. And that really spoke to my heart because I’m helping educate them in learning that, you you don’t have to be a landlord. You don’t have to manage the day to day that having a multifamily investment is a good investment to create passive income.and to also create a legacy for you and your family because you can have your investment double every five years if you do it right with the right team.
So when you start out, I like to use the example of 32, wish I was 32 again, and I have $25,000. I’ve decided, okay, I’m gonna invest $25,000 instead of buying a really nice car.
And so I take that 25, I invested into a multifamily syndication. And then when I’m 37, I now have $50,000. And then I take my 50,000 at 37 and I reinvest that. And at 42, I now have 100,000.
Micah Johnson (08:47)
All right.Cindy Beier (08:55)
And you add the five years and then you keep doubling. And right around 60-ish, 65, you’re going to have about $400,000.you’ve doubled over every five year period. And it could be a little less, could be a little bit more. I just like, we like to use that as a standard. We say three to five. Well, if the market’s really good, they might be able to turn that property a little more quickly. ⁓ So, but basically you can see how it works. And I mean, you can literally just start with 25,000, as long as you just keep it in there and you keep rolling it over and rolling it over. So I really like to educate people about that.
teach them the different words that go with multifamily like reserves and NLI and things like that. Things that sound boring but actually are creating wealth for you and wealth is not boring.
Micah Johnson (10:24)
No, not at all. And it’s the nuts and bolts stuff, right? It’s the part that you’re not supposed to know if you’re not in the industry and being someone who can take that language and then help other people understand it, especially in a way that changes their life. gives them access to the real estate market because in the end, there’s not too, too many ways to make passive income in real estate, but there are a few. that is definitely one of them whereYou don’t, you already have a job. You’re already doing stuff full time. You’ve got those things. However, you’re thinking about your future. You’re thinking about your family. You’re trying to set yourself up and syndications is a way for you to take that money and put it out there, get it working for you. I came from the medical field before I got into real estate and there was a, an anesthesiologist I used to work with who he was very big into investing. And he’d always say, Micah, every dollar is an employee.
You just need to think about it that way. Every dollar you get some employee. as I, especially as I grew in the real estate industry years later, I think about him telling me that I’m like, see what he was saying now about how to get that money back into the system, how to keep it working for you. can either spend it and it’s gone or use it a certain way where you’re just putting it away for later. And like you said, having the ability to get into it at an earlier age and not having to do it full time.
Cindy Beier (11:26)
Yeah!Micah Johnson (11:44)
That’s one that gets a lot of folks that start getting in because you said you started with single or had some single family properties in your past. That’s not passive. It’s not. There’s a lot of stuff that goes on and you can’t really get property management involved until you’re at least maybe eight to 10 somewhere in there. It starts to make sense. Most folks buy a house one every year.Cindy Beier (11:57)
Nope.Micah Johnson (12:08)
It’s not like you can have money. So it’s like, what are you going to do? Another full-time job for eight years until you have that ability to put this next person. And so I love how you’re showing folks, all right, let’s try a different way. So let’s dig on that syndication word real quick, just for folks that are listening, make sure. Because there’s another type of financing or another type of capital raise that’s its opposite. Can you explain the difference between them for us?Cindy Beier (12:33)
a different kind of capital raise that’s opposite?Micah Johnson (12:36)
Well, you were explainingit earlier about, ⁓ in our pre-call where you believe in syndications more than another version. And I wanted to tease out that version.
Cindy Beier (12:44)
Yeah. Okay.Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I did raise capital for some other multifamily and it wasn’t through syndication. It was just some investors and there were supposed to be returns, you know, within a year or two, not even a year or two. It was probably more like a year because the market was really good and it was like, okay, we can turn these buildings much more quickly, but the market changed. The market went down and
The positive thing about syndication is that you can work through the cycles. And so if you have a down year or two and you’re planning on holding, if the operator is planning on holding the property three to five years and the investor already knows that, then they’re fine. But when you have an investor who’s thinking, ⁓ I’m just going to invest this for a year,
Micah Johnson (13:36)
Right.Cindy Beier (13:41)
and the market was good and then it changes, they aren’t as happy. But when you can turn around after that three to five years and give them what you promised, then that is much better. So I really feel like the syndication model works better. I started out early not using the syndication model and I am sorry that I did it that way. So I really think it’s much safer this way.Micah Johnson (14:08)
That is the gate when you’re syndicating this to this The the GPs are gonna hold the property for three to five years So you’re already going out of the gate knowing that money’s going out and it’s not supposed to come back quickly Which allows you like you’re saying to look at the market in a way where some of the most stressed out people I know are the ones that watch Wall Street every day because it’s just Right where when you know, you got space that it can have its its thing likeCindy Beier (14:31)
Yeah.Micah Johnson (14:38)
I’ve heard this statement growing up or growing through real estate and it’s not always true, but it’s sometimes true that the difference between a bad deal and a good deal is just time. If you wait long enough for, for something, it will, it always appreciates. There’s a way that you can wait yourself out to where it does come back. not enjoy it, but that fact that time and real estate are best friends. And one of my favorite quotes in real estate is it’s the best get rich, slow scheme out there. And when you approach it that way.Cindy Beier (14:58)
Yeah.Yeah
Micah Johnson (15:48)
It is what you’re doing. is that true building wealth through a very specific process.Cindy Beier (15:55)
Right, and when people think I’m gonna get rich quick, that’s when they need to rethink it. So I totally agree on that.Micah Johnson (16:04)
Right. Right. It’s not a speed thing. You’re still, you still want to have money three years from now too, don’t you? Five years from now, 10 years from now, 20 years. That’s where I always taught to be like, it’s okay to think in those longer terms because you’re still gonna be doing it. What are you planning? You just want one deal and you’re going to get out. Even if you nail it, what’s that going to last you? Four years, maybe five years for the lifestyle you want to have. Like it’s, it’s not a, you’re not trying to hit home runs. You’re trying to hit singles and doubles for years. And the more singles and doubles you hit.The longer you’re in the game, the more home runs you’re going to have because they naturally come around. They don’t just happen. It’s not a luck thing. It’s just by participating in the game long enough. And I’ve seen folks get knocked out because all they’re trying to do is hit home runs. That’s it. They’re just, they’re taking huge swings and it’s, Hey, Hey, chill out the best in the business. If you go meet the pros, the groups that you’re talking about, that you go to, you will see it is not hope ain’t their strategy because it’s not one.
It’s a very methodic process of what they’re doing, how they’re processing the information, what the data actually means. And one thing that you’re passionate about that I am too, is the education part. Education is the most important part of real estate, knowing what’s going on. Cause one, it changes a lot. You’re in a, you’re in a fast moving environment, especially when you’re nationwide, you’re going from market to market. If for those that are out there and don’t understand this real national real estate statistics, statistics.
They kind of matter, but really it is a market by market thing and nothing is just a blanket statement in this industry.
Cindy Beier (17:41)
Definitely. totally agree on that. And that’s why I don’t necessarily raise capital and have multifamily in Denver, you know? So yeah, because other markets are a little bit better right now.Micah Johnson (17:50)
Right.Let’s dive into, you mentioned a team aspect earlier and one of the things that you have is a team and you make sure that you work with good teams. What is it that makes a good team and how does that help your business stay consistent and successful?
Cindy Beier (18:10)
I think that a good team is someone that really, know, the team that communicates well together and to the investors. ⁓ You know, even when things aren’t going well, hopefully they are, but I’m just saying in case they’re not, you know, you definitely need to communicate. Yeah. And you need to let them know, hey, this is what’s not going right. Here’s how we’re going to fix it. We’re going to pivot this way.Micah Johnson (18:27)
Yeah, real estate.Cindy Beier (18:39)
But then also on the good things, hey, guess what? Your returns are going to be a little bit higher because we did this, right? And I used an example earlier about ⁓ an investment that I’m in and brought investors in, we had a fire and everybody was like, my gosh, you just brought me into this investment. Now we had a fire. because we had the right team with the right experience.who knows how to handle this and knew how to pivot, ⁓ they handled it better than I ever anticipated. And I think it’s going to actually be a home run for everyone. So you just got to make sure you have teams who have experience, who can pivot, who can communicate, who are trustworthy, and that they do what they say they’re going to do. So I think that’s important.
And I have met several teams that I work with and they when they find a property that they feel the numbers are working, they call me and they say, hey, here’s the pitch deck. You know, what do you think? I think this is a great deal and we’re going to, ⁓ you know, purchase it. Now we need some capital. Can you bring us some investors? And so that’s what I do is I go out, educate people on multifamily syndication and the different opportunities that I have.
and that are brought to me with my different teams.
Micah Johnson (20:09)
It makes complete sense too, especially with the fire scenario. what could have, but had folks who don’t know what’s going on, throwing their hands in the air has the folks who know what’s going on saying, okay, this might actually be an opportunity. Wait a second. What did actually happen? What can we do? And that is what makes the most effective real estate professional. Like you said, great values, really good at communication. And no problem is a throw your hands in the air problem. It’s a, okay, hold on. How do you do this? So what…So now what? That’s one of my favorite questions. Okay. So now what? What is that next thing? It’s not because again, real estate is not easy. You’re going to, especially if you’re in it for a long time, you’re going to hit the bumps. You’re going to hit the bruises. But like you’re saying, anybody that will communicate clearly with you about what’s going on. One, they are definitely the kind of people to work with making sure you’re with high quality people in the industry is very important. Actually, that makes me think of a question.
Cindy Beier (20:42)
Yeah.Micah Johnson (21:08)
For someone that’s listening that could be talking to somebody about a syndicate right now, someone asking them, Hey, we want you to get money. What are some questions they should be asking that capital raiser to make sure, Hey, I want to know I’m working with someone that’s high quality.Cindy Beier (21:14)
Hmm.Yeah, you want to find out ⁓ how ⁓ many buildings they’ve actually closed on, how many syndications they… How many… I’m trying to find the word and I’ve lost the word. There’s a three to five year cycle, thank you. That’s what I’m trying to say. How many cycles they’ve been through. Now, everybody has to start somewhere.
So maybe they haven’t been through a cycle, but you can talk to them about, let’s say we had this situation. What would you do? So you’ve got to find out where their mindset is. Are they only focused on one thing? It’s like asking a fix and flip or, okay, what are we going to do if the numbers go wrong? we’re just going to fix and flip and take a loss. No, maybe we’re going to have to turn it into a longer term rental for a while or some other option. So you want to find out what ⁓ options
they’re thinking they might need to do. ⁓ Of course, the experience. ⁓ You want to find out about their background, maybe even get a reference. Sometimes you can find out. And it doesn’t have to be in that field. Maybe they worked for another company and they did something else, but they’ve decided to pivot their life. But usually, a person who is doing well in one ⁓ area and has decided to pivot is normally
Micah Johnson (22:39)
Right.Cindy Beier (22:50)
in general, right, gonna do well in the next area that they go into. and you wanna see what associations they’re in, I guess, you know, ⁓ not necessarily associations or just different groups, who they’re associated with, you know, and you can easily just do that by looking at social media. You know, people will post things on social media they shouldn’t post. And so those are some of the things that I would look at.⁓ I definitely, I have a list of about 40 questions and of course I can’t remember them all right now, but I actually do have a list of questions. And ⁓ on my Petersburg deal, I did have one of my investors, I think she might have gone on chat GPT, but she put in there, what are the questions that I should ask my, ⁓ should I ask this potential operator that I’m going to invest in? And we answered every single one and I kept that. And I told her, thank you, I really appreciate this because
This actually helped us realize what questions we need to answer.
Micah Johnson (23:53)
Right the ones that actually matter because that’s the biggest difference in a pitch deck is you can think it’s awesome but if it doesn’t convey the information that they want to hear which is usually it’s not the recipe we love to give the recipe people just want the soup they don’t want to know how to make the soup so the making sure that information gets all the way across the line I love that now last thing before we go you’re getting ready to start teaching a class too right what classes are you have coming upCindy Beier (24:20)
Yeah, I have a local group that I’m a member of, and I am looking forward to teaching classes just about syndication and educating people on the basics. Why do we need reserves? What is an acquisition fee? ⁓ Why are we holding it three to five years? Because we’re doing value add. What does value add mean? What does net operating income mean?What does that do to the value of the building and how does that increase my investment? So all those things are things you need to know before you just jump in and invest.
Micah Johnson (25:02)
If they’re listening or watching and want to learn more about you and follow along with what you have going on, what’s the best way for them to find you?Cindy Beier (25:09)
Yeah, the name of my company is Emerald Peak Solutions and I do have a website, emeraldpeaksolutions.com and I do have a free ebook there that has a lot of this information. I am on social media. I’m under my name, Cindy Beier, B-E-I-E-R, like buyers and sellers ⁓ on LinkedIn and ⁓ I have Instagram at Emerald Peak Solutions. I’m not sure.The exact name. My social media person does that for me, right? One of my team members. And ⁓ I have ⁓ a Facebook group or a Facebook page, also Emerald Peak Solutions. I am sure if you put it in, you’d find me. So I have a green background and ⁓ a logo that ⁓ is a house with a little dime green or a green emerald, excuse me. ⁓ I just love emeralds, but
green is also the color of money. yep.
Micah Johnson (26:11)
There you go. That’s how you know her. Well, we’ll make sure the links thatyou just said are in the show notes for everybody listening. Check out Cindy, follow along with what she has going on. If you want to learn more about one of the projects, reach out to her, touch base with her if that’s something that you’re interested in. Finding true professionals in the business that are willing to shoot you straight, that’s who you want to look for. Cindy, thanks again for being on. Really appreciate your time, your story, your perspective.
I think we need more folks out there doing it like you the right way, teaching, educating, showing folks how to change lives while you’re also doing it yourself. thanks again for being with us, for everybody listening. If you got value out of this episode, please like this episode, share it with somebody else you think would get value out of it. As always, please don’t forget to subscribe. We appreciate every single one of you that’s following along out there with us. We have more conversations coming up with operators just like Cindy out there building real businesses in the industry.
Thanks for watching. We’ll see everybody on the next episode.
Cindy Beier (27:06)
Thanks for having me.
