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Show Summary
In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, host Michelle Kesil speaks with Bruce Elia Jr., a prominent figure in real estate and land development. Bruce shares insights into his business model, focusing on brokering and land development, and discusses the pressing issue of housing shortages in the U.S. He emphasizes the importance of community building and creating neighborhoods that foster connections among residents. Bruce also explains his approach to finding and developing land, targeting both homeowners and investors, and highlights the significance of networking and education in the real estate industry.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Bruce Elia Jr (00:00)
But not kids, let’s say you have parents, right? Okay, so you mom and dad. So mom and dad come to you, Michelle, and they said, hey, we want to hire a broker, we want to see who the best in the area is, can get it sold and sold. Okay, say great, I got this guy Bruce, I think he’s great. And then you hire a different broker. Okay, let’s call him Sam. No, against Sam’s or anything, just Sam. And Sam says, oh, okay, your property is worth two and a half million dollars. Ooh.Michelle Kesil (00:01)
yeah.Bruce Elia Jr (00:25)
That’s a pretty big number. ⁓ you know, parents like, look at this. And then I came to you and said, hey, I think you’re leaving a million dollars on the table. And you would go to your parents and say, well, how hard did it work for that over a period of 20, 30, 40 years for a million dollars of actual cash? And what does that look like for your retirement?Does that change your life? Does that million dollars in passive income that you could have tapped into potentially pay for the next 20 extra years of life that not many of the Americans accounted for in the social security system? Maybe it buffers for Michelle and her dreams as she grows.
Michelle Kesil (02:32)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil Today I’m joined by someone that I’m looking forward to chatting with, Bruce Elia Jr., who’s been making serious moves in the real estate space, as well as land development, commercial real estate transactions. So yeah, we have a lot of topics to dive into. Excited to have you here on the show today, Bruce.Bruce Elia Jr (02:56)
Wow, thanks so much. Hi, Michelle. Thanks for having me on and being a part of this and adding some value into your network here.Michelle Kesil (03:04)
Yeah, absolutely. think the listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching land development and all of the exciting projects that you guys are working on. So yeah, let’s get into it. First off for sure, for those that are not familiar with you and your world, can you give a short version of what your main focus is?Bruce Elia Jr (03:20)
Sounds great. Thanks for sharing that.Absolutely. So we run a brokering real estate business with some vertical integrated ⁓ organizations and firms, which is land development, and some property management and other companies. But we focus heavily on brokering. Last year, we did roughly 691 transactions for $590 million in volume, gross volume, which we’re very excited about. And it’s been a rallying effort for all of our teams. We focus on the brokering efforts, which has led us into a new avenue, land development, and helping our
builders and our outtake partners accomplish their dreams and ultimately advance communities and make our streetscapes even more beautiful than they are.
Michelle Kesil (04:07)
And where are you operating from?Bruce Elia Jr (04:11)
So we operate out of Northern New Jersey. Our entire streetscape is really kind of a couple of different areas because we’ve got New York City very close by. We’re on the tip of the northern end of New Jersey. So we go right down the I-95 corridor, as far down as Philly as we could. And we’re looking to advance communities similar to, ⁓ you know, macro level subdivisions, single families, advancing product from townhouse communities that are going to grow with amenities and driving the success ofcommunities within communities and the methods that it creates. know, neighbors know each other, they help each other out, they’re more opt to want to make sure that everybody’s okay and that’s a community within a community. So we love doing that, we love creating individuals just strolling down with their know stroller kid and dog to somebody riding a bike that’s competitive that’s going to go into a ⁓ 5k. You know those types of communities we know that we’re creating and those people are going to be living there so it means so much to us and it just started.
by a simple brokering of a deal one day many moons ago.
Michelle Kesil (06:02)
Amazing, I love that. That is so beautiful to bring people together into community. So yeah, I would just love to learn a little bit more about what you’re focusing on solving or scaling next. What are like those big projects that are in the works?Bruce Elia Jr (06:18)
Michelle, thanks for asking that. That’s so cool. So what we want to solve is we want to solve the homeownership solution that nobody is really attacking at scale. And when we look at that, we look at these communities where post ⁓ COVID, we don’t have enough homes for the individuals that we have in our area, especially in New Jersey, but also macro level United States, there’s a shortage of housing. Now, let’s peel the onion back a few layers here to understand why that would be the case. So prior to COVID, what we had waswe had political capital at play that would want to hold back certain communities, especially from advancing due to density and due to a number of different reasons. School systems, making sure that ⁓ the communities are at whole. So they, in their eyes, are protecting them and being safe. over time and over generations, things change. So when you look at that change, a single family on large acreage lots in our area just doesn’t make sense for the community as a whole. We’re talking less tax dollars. We’re talking less home
homes in the community, we’re talking less people to buy a sandwich from the local restaurant, right? The sandwich place also lends to the dry cleaners, etc. So when we look at creating new areas within new areas, i.e. a community within a town that doesn’t have that footprint, doesn’t have that density, it’s a really nice lend in a pass of the baton. Now, it doesn’t mean that you do it all over. It means that there’s certain pockets and areas that we can create. But the same people, my mother, my family, siblings,
those people are going to be living there and advancing that community. Now without that, let’s say, the opposite side of the coin is the crunch that we’ve gone in. Now ultimately recently we’ve seen some shifting back to normality and as we anticipate some debt rates in the 30, 60, 90 days ahead, hopefully we can get into a position where we’re sub 6 % and it’s a very transactable market. But if we don’t, what we’re seeing is stall outs. We’re seeing a lot of the rental figures that are kind of tapering out. The sales are beginning
to taper out beginning to increase again, but they’re pocketed in certain areas. And that’s going to be something that we can attack and go through a process of getting that mid-level criteria instead of having high-end luxury single families where if you’re a developer, you’re going into the market and that’s only product that you have because the cost to acquire the land and build is so high, it becomes a natural luxury single family. However, how do you attack that problem? You attack it by creating some more
within reason. Now if you look at our Trellia campaigns towards density, we always go towards a more favorable density for the town because ultimately the towns who were in partnership with to get these approvals had and to get these giant projects built. Now certain times what we come across is going to be problems from interior, let’s say landscape, political, the mayor, individuals within towns, they don’t want to see certain things. Those things are solved by the solution.
of the individuals living there. So we encourage, we get involved with our communities, we get involved with the individuals. So much so to, you know, four or five years ago, we had to rally around business owners within our Jersey City community to get one of our 40 units approved and passed on because what we saw was a desert and just food. So we rallied around a food campaign for that area that all the community needed and they were looking for a small grocer just to get in there. Ultimately, that was one of the big movers of the needle there.
And what we realize is that it’s really the community drive that’s within. So if we can create a win-win there, then we can create a win within our organization each time.
Michelle Kesil (09:55)
Amazing, I love that.Yeah, that’s such a unique and interesting concept. really like how you’re thinking of people and the future in this unique way. I would love to just hear a little bit more about how this works. Where do you just find land and create these communities or what does the process look like?
Bruce Elia Jr (10:51)
Great questions, Michelle.Yeah, it’s a great question. Thank you for asking. they come in very interesting ways. ⁓
We run our commercial division. the managing director of our KW commercial in Fort Lee. So opportunities for listings are the first ⁓ intake of where we are. somebody raises their hand from one of our campaigns from past client over the last decade plus new agents that we have that we’re servicing and training. And they raise their hand and say, I got a property. And we say, OK, you’re looking at selling the property. I am terrific. Have you looked at the way that we value real estate? Because we do it three ways. They say, can you
tell
me more about that. And I say, I’d love to tell you more about that. We go through our three methodologies. So in commercial real estate, you have a price per square foot. You have a income and expense.
And then what we call the dirt to dollars, the untapped potential. And that’s going to be the development front. Now, to give you a real life example of something like this, where we talk about the difference of that development metric and why we promote to homeowners to understand what that looks like, especially in our area, is because we were looking at something that was the difference of millions of dollars on purchase price. So if they came to me and they hired me, I’m going to give discretion as to this so it’s not out there. But there was a $2 million
difference in the way that the price would be if it was open market versus if it was a development. Now, Michelle, let me ask you a question. You have a family, right?
Michelle Kesil (12:17)
⁓ I don’t have kids now.Bruce Elia Jr (12:18)
But not kids, let’s say you have parents, right? Okay, so you mom and dad. So mom and dad come to you, Michelle, and they said, hey, we want to hire a broker, we want to see who the best in the area is, can get it sold and sold. Okay, say great, I got this guy Bruce, I think he’s great. And then you hire a different broker. Okay, let’s call him Sam. No, against Sam’s or anything, just Sam. And Sam says, oh, okay, your property is worth two and a half million dollars. Ooh.Michelle Kesil (12:20)
yeah.Bruce Elia Jr (12:44)
That’s a pretty big number. ⁓ you know, parents like, look at this. And then I came to you and said, hey, I think you’re leaving a million dollars on the table. And you would go to your parents and say, well, how hard did it work for that over a period of 20, 30, 40 years for a million dollars of actual cash? And what does that look like for your retirement?Does that change your life? Does that million dollars in passive income that you could have tapped into potentially pay for the next 20 extra years of life that not many of the Americans accounted for in the social security system? Maybe it buffers for Michelle and her dreams as she grows.
And eventually she becomes that person that inherits that. That’s what we promote because your family deserves that.
And if we look at a model where you can untap that potential and give your family that extra passive income vehicle, or you know what, maybe it’s just something that you’ve never had and you want to blow it all and you buy one thing with it. The whole point is it’s your money. So if you have somebody that’s smart in the area that can untap land development for a property, not everyone works, but many do, then it would be like untapping dirt to dollars and turning it into gold.
And for Michelle and her family, that’s what we would promote and say, well, let’s scan through that and let’s see if it’s an option. Because we’re the purchasers. You work with me, like me, our division, our partners, you can meet everybody. It’s vertically integrated. We want the best for you.
You know, nobody’s transacted until closing tables, so rest assured. we go through the whole process and the formality and we give them a virtual guarantee. Listen, we would purchase in this fashion, etc, etc. Or we can go into open market. And here’s the difference of what that looks like. Not to mention if you just sold it as is in a fire sale, here’s that pricing. So we give them options. The whole point is for people to have options so that they can make the right choice based on what their needs are.
an irony of it, giving them all options has led to many of our developments in that sense, if it’s applicable, because they looked at it and they say, well, have some time. You have a better number. And I like working with you, Bruce.
I think that, can I go with this option? This one seems like the best one. I say, sure, let’s go with that option. Other times they’ll come to me, other properties, hey Bruce, I need it sold. I got some things I got to get done. My daughter’s having a wedding. I had some college bills coming up, need to clean it up, get it sold. I don’t want a development. It’s not going to take a year, two years. don’t want to. Then all of a sudden we transition the conversation, but we gave them the option that they could have made an extra $200,000 if that was the case.
made an extra $80,000 from Michelle and her family just by making sure they just did things right, which is scan through a commercial broker that knows that third component, land development.
Because that is what I see as the bigness weakness in the marketplace. And that’s what we gather against other agents. One of our big differentiators is that homeowners, property owners, anyone come to us for that potential. And multiple single family R1 zones, we’ve turned into massive developments with good reason and low densities per acre for the town, untapping those dollars for the homeowners, which they should be receiving anyway.
and all of sudden creating the win-win with our development company and with our nationals. And when that happens, Michelle, nobody is more happy than me because across the board you have wins and those reviews and the people that pick up the phone calls from the professionals, they continue to put some more win in your sales and you get more and you get more. Hence, I got to make sure systems and models are in place properly.
Michelle Kesil (16:10)
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for explaining that concept. seems very powerful and yeah, something that’s definitely unique.Bruce Elia Jr (16:14)
My pleasure.Michelle Kesil (16:59)
So are you like working with more home like people, regular people just wanting to have homes or investors or a mix?Bruce Elia Jr (17:10)
Great question. just as so much as today and yesterday, multiple property owners, they own warehouse buildings, 15,000 square feet, 28,000 square feet, 12,000 square feet, one manufacturing warehouse in terms of 18 foot ceilings, import, export, distribution type. And then the other one having a business component attached to it, which I’m gonna have to unpack a bit. yeah, they come, Bruce, we’re looking at moving. One of them moving and retiring overseas. Bruce, I’ve had enough.I think that I’m at the point where I want to kind of close up shop.
My conversations with them are much different than with the 20, 30 year old whippersnappers out here trying to get ahead. So it really is discretionary towards the person, the individual and the goals. It’s kind of where that needs analysis comes in, which has led to we don’t really market much at all for our land developments because our natural intake within the listings and the MOFERS, the MOFERS are make offers for immediate response, which is directly from Gary Keller, directly from leadership
there, they are so on top of making sure that we as the representation in there succeed that I usually flow a lot of those theories and mindsets towards it, which allow me to just grow our vertically integrated business that’s selling real estate and then create a couple of components. Because then my sales team, my leasing team, they then lease and sell the units on the backend as they’re built. So it’s a leverageable model. I encourage agents to get into that because it’s like getting 40, 100,
or if you have two two families like we have in Englewood, it’s like getting two new listings. So kind of making sure that people cover those bases in real estate, I like to harp on and educate because I have a family, I’ve got a lot of responsibilities and if you are a go-getter with a 1099 and you’re an agent driven, you need to be able to work smart. If you can work a little smarter than the rest and you don’t have to the business beat you up like it normally does everyone else and you jump out and then investing,
you’re going to have to have a little bit of a long-term theory because that criteria that you’re creating, because I’m suggesting that you make sure that you have a dialed in criteria, because then you could raise money around it, you could build trust around it, you can have something that’s proven. So with those things in mind, as long as you’re preaching, somebody’s going to believe in you. Somebody’s going to take that next level step with you. Or you know what? You did an extra five or 10 transactions next year. Go you. Woohoo. Maybe you did one in
investment
transaction that led you to more because every single one is going to lead you to multifamilies, to commercial real estate investing, and to any bit of either retail, pad sites, office, mixed use, all of that leading it. And it starts with just having that one unit.
Michelle Kesil (19:54)
Yeah, definitely. I love that. So let me ask you this when it comes to like growing your network and creating new relationships, what has made the biggest difference for you?Bruce Elia Jr (20:06)
biggest difference has ⁓I’m right now over at PBD, Patrick Bette-David’s, the Vault Conference in Orlando, Florida. And I’m here to meet entrepreneurs to help scale and systemize my land development business and also be around the sharpest minds that I can find. So these groups, the private groups, their entrance groups, however, the people that I’m meeting in them, those people are the ones that could potentially change my life, my business’s life and get to the next step. And I figure if those people aren’t those individuals, it’s okay. I now have friends.
with sharp minds that I can introduce myself, my ideas to. I can be a little vulnerable around, but I know the intelligence level and what I’m goaling-wise, mindset-wise, critique-wise. It’s not criticism, it’s encouragement. know, things like that. When you’re on your path and on your journey, you know, as an agent investing, as a property owner, as a seller, buyer, it’s all going to come down to a lot of yourself.
Which side of the equation are you on? Education, training? Yes, but if you don’t have a little bit of that first start, which is just knowledge base and understanding.
It gets really chaotic and a lot of people lead you into so many different directions. So I always say like a stool, you want to kind of sit on your stool, like we’re on the four legs right now. You can kind of go off of that base, you know, not every chair looks the same, but every chair has the same four legs, maybe three, you know, but it has that same base. So then it’s different above it. That’s kind of what I’ve coined a lot of this too. It’s really having that base and then everyone builds a different chair on top of it.
Michelle Kesil (21:46)
Yeah, that’s a cool perspective. I love that. think, yeah, the people that we connect with and surround ourselves with can totally change our business and our lives. it’s, yeah, relationships are everything in this space.Bruce Elia Jr (22:00)
Yeah, just sometimes a little bit of encouragement, Michelle. You know, everyone doesn’t have great days every day. When I’m having a tougher day, I want somebody around me to help encourage me instead of criticize me, instead of beat me down. Because if you’re having around that a lot, takes a very strong mindset to keep past that every day. So I always encourage, make sure, because we’ve got enough of these issues in the world, especially in real estate investing and commercial world, where you want to make sure that you have some frictionless avenues, i.e. like even just evaluating software.I see people that come to me and they’re like, Bruce, how do I evaluate this property? I told you three years ago, the software I use, didn’t change anything yet. I just learned the software really good. So I was like, let’s unpack a little bit more of that foundation. Because if you knew that one stool leg on how to go about it your real estate career, you would skyrocket that chair on top might have another sale of that $1.6 million property that it came to me with. So I really want people to understand
education and I am not some smart guy. I am probably the dumbest guy in the room most times of the rooms I’m in and I try to be because everyone around me I feel so much smarter in real estate. So I kind of grab their nuggets and I put it into my own little bucket and I implement it and sometimes it doesn’t work and when it doesn’t I toss it out and when it does I go a little deeper until ultimately I feel really comfortable to kind of shout it to the world which is where I started my YouTube channel Red Zone Real Estate. So if you go check out
red zone real estate, you’ll start seeing all our courses from land development to our office to our principal mindset, our mottos. Everything is there because I figure, you know what, let’s leave a footprint on this work that improves people. didn’t get this. I wanted it so bad for a decade and I had to find it in an 82 year old mentor who’s I love and one of my best friends. And that gentleman has given me the wealth of knowledge that I needed for my commercial real estate in every aspect and also helping
with land development and so many other ways. That gentleman opened up so many doors for me just because I cared about him and I wanted him to teach me because I respected him so much. But did I know him? there anything outside of it? No. It was just an admiration towards somebody in the craft. So when I look at that, I always say to people too, if you’re getting an investing commercial, residential, whatever it may be that your avenue of focus is, get the best.
Find out who the best was and try to find somebody that you can relate to. And if you’re not relating to him or her, find another one, because there’s plenty out here. They just raise their hand. And just like myself, I’m here. I want to add value. I want to share. I don’t read all this and do all this not to have other people understand it too. And that’s where you see in an office. I want to share. want to make sure. Because if this is only for me, I don’t want it.
Michelle Kesil (24:37)
ThankBruce Elia Jr (24:42)
This is something I need to share with others and it makes me better. I feel more comfortable with it. I like the way that people respond and then I listen to them. Like this is a lot more me talking, but typically I’d want to be listening a lot more in that context to see what makes them tech, where are they going? They have potential. They have potential to work with me, work in the organization, work for somebody I know. Because a lot of people that we know have some issues with what? Employees, 1099. So if you can always encourage somebody else or give somebody anthrough another door that doesn’t fit in yours, it’s a beautiful thing. And that’s something that we self-realize.
Michelle Kesil (25:17)
Yes, thank you for sharing that. That’s so important. So before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more from you, where can they find you?Bruce Elia Jr (25:20)
My pleasure.Absolutely, so if you want to check me out go to YouTube Red Zone Real Estate just like football I’m a former college quarterback at the University of New Hampshire under Chip Kelly who was spitting buffalo chicken and fries at my face at six in the morning on Sundays and Mondays and I learned that resilient technique called grid
So if you want to find me, find me on my Red Zone Real Estate channel, Red Zone Real Estate on YouTube, on Instagram, my name, all the other channels, socials, my name, Bruce Elia Jr. You can find me, reach out to me. I’d love to help you guys out. I’d love to coach, interpret, help, whatever it may be, and you’ll start seeing all of our coursework, our eBooks, and everything else as well. So if you want to check that out and be a part of our Red Zone community and be a Red Zoner, then check that out today.
Michelle Kesil (26:14)
Amazing. Appreciate your time, your story, your perspective. Thank you again for being here.Bruce Elia Jr (26:20)
Thank you, Michelle. You are a world and a wealth of knowledge. Thank you so much for having me on here.Michelle Kesil (26:24)
Absolutely. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, make sure you’ve subscribed. We have more conversations coming with operators just like Bruce that are building real businesses and we’ll see you on the next episode.
