Master Multifamily Investments: Your Ultimate Guide to Property Management

John Harcar (00:01.088)
All right. Hey guys, welcome back to the show. I’m your host, John Harcar, and I’m here today with Cody Journell and what we’re going to talk about besides his real estate journey, growing into other verticals, really, you know, growing your business that way. Guys, remember at investor fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers. mean, all real estate entrepreneurs, two to five X their business by providing tools and resources to grow your business at which in turn helps you live the life that you want to live.

So Cody, man, welcome to our show.

Cody Journell (00:32.492)
It’s great to be here. Thanks for having me.

John Harcar (00:34.498)
Yeah, appreciate you coming on. I know we had a good conversation prior to, and I’m excited to talk about, you know, growing into other verticals. think it’s a, something I’ve been hearing a lot on other podcasts I’ve been on, with folks, but before we get into all that stuff, kind of tell us a little bit about your background, right? You know, what got you into real estate and kind of what got you to today.

Cody Journell (00:54.646)
Sure. So I’m based out of Virginia. I grew up in a small, very small town here, right outside of Blacksburg, Virginia, which go Hokies, you can see the helmet behind me. Waited for Coach Beamer while I was there and we’re on some pretty good teams, ACC championship teams, things along those lines. And that took me to Florida and then up to DC after school, just training, trying to find a spot on a team, which is…

John Harcar (01:06.35)
You

Cody Journell (01:23.756)
kind of difficult for place kickers, which was the position I was in. And ultimately led me to Germany for a few years, got the play ball over there. And when I came back, I was starting to kind of get burnt out on the training side of things and having tryouts and not necessarily ever getting my foot in the door. So I started to look at careers, just past grabbing a job at a gym or something like that, which I’d been doing the years prior.

you know, had some, some family stuff that brought me back home, landed in Blacksburg, Virginia, which is, which is where I went to school. And this area was, you know, just, it’s growing. It still is even, you know, through COVID and some of these crazy years that we’ve had here recently, it’s a really strong market. So I started as most investors do probably reading the, purple Bible, Robert Kiyosaki’s rich dad, poor dad and

it captivated me and I just wanted to jump into real estate investing full time. And I started to really dive into certain topics and I realized pretty quickly that one, I didn’t know enough necessarily to just start. I needed to figure out a way to further my education, but also didn’t have a lot of capital after chasing the dream for four or five years after school. So.

John Harcar (02:48.867)
Mm-hmm.

Cody Journell (02:49.194)
the best thing that I thought to do would be to learn on the job. So I went out and got my real estate license probably in, I think 2016 it was 2017. So really kind of time that perfectly right before COVID hit and the market took off and everybody was buying and selling. And I got to learn more than I ever thought getting started that way. So that’s really what spurred my investor journey. I was able to start.

John Harcar (02:57.719)
Okay.

John Harcar (03:02.872)
Bye.

Cody Journell (03:19.286)
buying single family properties at that point and it’s kind of just snowballed from there into another brokerage and we can talk about some of the verticals that you mentioned we’ve built since then.

John Harcar (03:31.32)
for sure. And I want to kind go back because I think mindset is a big part of anybody’s real estate investment journey or journey through life to tell you the truth. I played football all the way up through. had a short stint on San Diego State. I know how much football was ingrained in me. And once that day ended, it had to be a mindset shift. So I like to ask you the same question. It’s like, I’m sure that was a big part of your life. And when that part ended and you had to make that shift, what were some tools, resources?

Cody Journell (03:40.286)
Absolutely.

John Harcar (04:00.972)
I you mentioned Rich Dad Poor Dad, but what else can help you with that mind shift changer? That whole really life change.

Cody Journell (04:06.314)
Yeah, definitely. you know, just going back even to my high school days, you know, I grew up in a very, very small town. I think I was actually one of the first ones to ever get a scholarship, full ride scholarship for, you know, a major sport like this coming out of school. So, you know, even at that point, when you accomplish something like that, it kind of triggered something in my mind like, man, this is like

something that no one’s ever done before is possible if it’s your dream and you’re chasing after it. So I think that was kind of the spark before I even knew where I was gonna use that. So that stuck with me and lasted me through my college years and things to come from that. But getting into the real estate part, to your point, having that being my life essentially for the last.

I would even say six to eight years if you’re counting the college and high school days, know, eat, breathe football. When it came to an end, there was definitely a time period between when that happened and when I found my journey into real estate that I felt like I was kind of drifting for a little bit. You know, I had come back home. So having family support helped people that I had grown up with.

John Harcar (05:07.544)
Mm-hmm.

Cody Journell (05:30.092)
things along those lines, being around, kind of helped me get through some opportunities. I had a really good mentor in my trainer, which was, he was up in Chantilly, Coach Cav, and he kind of helped me through that transition process too. So really having a support system, I think, was the best thing to get me moving in the right direction after that big of a change.

John Harcar (05:30.094)
This killing me.

John Harcar (05:45.085)
This is getting ridiculous.

John Harcar (05:52.162)
what they’re

John Harcar (06:01.966)
Alright Cody are you there? I know I froze up, I know you’re frozen.

Okay, are we back?

Cody Journell (06:10.932)
Yeah, sorry, I lost you there again.

John Harcar (06:12.27)
Yeah, I know this is I know it’s we’ll be able to splice it together. No worries. So where do we off? We we were talking about, you know, the change, you know, once you stop, you know, playing football and maybe in your life and then you’re getting into real estate and then it just kind of cut.

Cody Journell (06:17.356)
Okay, what did you hear last?

Cody Journell (06:32.49)
Yeah, so, you know, that gap between when I decided I wasn’t going to pursue, you know, trying to get into the NFL or Pro League and when I really found my foot into the door of the real estate career. You know, there was definitely a time period there where I was kind of drifting around. Didn’t exactly know where to go next. It was, you know, still challenging to kind of find the job that I wanted or what I thought that I wanted to do.

So, you know, I was back closer to home at that point. So I had a good support system with family and friends, you know, even coaches. had a really good mentor that he was actually my trainer after college, Coach Cav up in Chantilly, Virginia. And he was probably the most influential in helping me through that transition process. He gave me a job at the gym and did a lot of marketing and business type stuff for him at the gym that he ran.

And then he kind of urged me when I had this itch to figure out where to land in real estate. So really was kind of that support system that helps that transition process. Because I know that’s tough for any athlete once that’s not their gig anymore.

John Harcar (07:45.816)
Yeah.

Right. You mentioned the Bible, Rich, dead, poor, dad. Everybody reads it. 80 % of the people I talk to, that’s one of their sparks. Was there any background in real estate and your family and friends, somebody you’ve known that’s flipped houses, whatever it might be? mean, something else that kind of planted the seed?

Cody Journell (08:03.616)
Yeah, So my dad, well, my mom was a CPA growing up. So she was kind of the numbers person and my dad was a licensed contractor. So from a very young age, I was swinging hammers and putting up drywall and, you know, I still, so kind of cringe whenever I have to put some mud on the wall, but it happens every once in a while. yeah, I did have, you know, I was in and out of properties all the time. They had a few rentals.

It’s kind of funny looking back on it, but they had the worst luck with their rentals now that I can understand what was going on. They had one that burnt down just from in it, you know, and they had to rebuild it back, which they did well on with, you know, the rebuild and selling it. But they had another rental where the creek, it wasn’t in a floodplain, but the creek got jammed up with some hay bales or something along. Don’t forget I’m in rural Virginia, but.

It got jammed up and it flood so bad that it picked the house up and carried it down the highway. Yeah, so just remembering these things as I’m growing up now, I can’t even believe I thought that was a good idea to try and get into the real estate game. But they persevered and I think it did seeing the success that they had, even though they had the setbacks, it kind of created a spark or it was sitting deep down knowing that that was interesting.

John Harcar (09:00.728)
Yeah, right.

John Harcar (09:06.709)
wow.

John Harcar (09:30.424)
Got it. Now remind me, when you started into real estate, did you start with single family? Did you start with a different asset class?

Cody Journell (09:37.184)
Yeah, it was very much the way most people get into the game. You know, got my license. Like I said, I was aspiring to be an investor, but found an opportunity, I think a year in, to figuring out the process and how to sell houses and things like that. I saw one on the market that had been sitting a while and it was a HUD foreclosure. So I purchased it knowing that, hey, I have to live in this for a little while, but I’m going to fix it up as I live there.

And it was a great deal. Interest rates were really good. So the payment was really low. And then, know, six months or I believe it was six to 12 months after living there, you know, moved on and did it at another place and put a renter in that spot. So did that a few times before, you know, my wife and I ended up getting pregnant and needing a bigger place and things along those lines kind of changed it. But the single family game got

more more difficult to make sense over the last few years. So as far as just traditional rental, the prices went up, interest rates went up, insurance went up, cost of construction. So the margins really started to kind of squeeze you down, especially when you had a big expense come up like a heat pump going out or having to replace a water heater. You’re looking around, you’re like, that’s my whole year of cashflow there. That was, it hurts.

John Harcar (11:02.517)
Exactly.

Cody Journell (11:03.818)
So we started looking into the multifamily space. That’s really what led us to start diving into that. The way that you can compound value and the multiples on the NOI with cap rates and things along those lines was super intriguing. we still buy single family homes. A lot of times we’re flipping them now because there’s still the shortage of the market.

John Harcar (11:20.312)
Mm-hmm.

Cody Journell (11:30.762)
Demand still strong and prices are still up. So if you can find good deals and you know your way around construction, you can still do pretty well on the flip side. But as far as long-term holds, we’ve been getting into some very deep value-add multifamily properties in our area, which is like the New York Valley, Roanoke Valley areas.

John Harcar (11:51.544)
Okay.

Okay, what struggles did you have when you first started jumping up asset classes? Going from that single family to the multifamily.

Cody Journell (12:02.228)
Yeah, so, you know, a lot of it is, is you really don’t know what you don’t know yet. unless you’ve, unless you’ve done it or been around people that are doing it. So, we kind of, you know, very cautiously, cautiously ambitious is a term that we’d like to use a lot, but, very cautiously, you know, looked at the market and, you know, a lot of the question marks really come around financing and, you know, the, the, the loans are different.

John Harcar (12:19.512)
Right.

Cody Journell (12:31.612)
and the terms are different and the way that it fluctuates with adjustable rates and things like that, we really had to kind of dig into and make sure that we were, the deals that we were looking at were actually good deals. So there was a lot of, there was a lot of kind of consulting with people in the area that I knew had experience in that. Here recently, we ended up joining another mastermind group, the Warrior Group with Rod Khalif’s guys.

John Harcar (12:52.886)
Okay.

John Harcar (13:00.387)
Yeah.

Cody Journell (13:00.716)
Yeah, so that was a big kind of value add where there’s a group of guys that have done really, really big transactions and some that are their bread and butter or smaller ones. there’s a lot of knowledge in there that we can pull from.

John Harcar (13:16.972)
What do you find or what was your main thing? Like when you joined a mastermind, what was your main thing that you were looking for?

Cody Journell (13:23.852)
Yeah, I think the people within it are huge. part of my marketing gig, I mentioned when I was at the gym was we actually started a mastermind with my coach. It was for gym trainers and coaches and things like that. I had kind of seen the inside of how those things operated and building a team or a community, if you will. And I’m also very cautious when I’m online.

John Harcar (13:37.881)
cool, okay.

John Harcar (13:42.499)
Hmm?

Cody Journell (13:52.136)
about how many are out there. you know, really just, it took me probably a year or two to even decide to join, but, you know, just making sure that the people running it are genuine, that the people within the group are, you know, they’re there to support each other and it’s not a competition. Once you get inside of it, the education piece is obviously super important, but I think the people within the group are the most important, so.

John Harcar (14:19.886)
Yeah, no, 100%. It’s not, what we say nowadays, not what you know who you know, right? And it’s being around people with the same mindset, like-minded people to help you grow. What do you think have been a few of your biggest keys to success, right? Things that have helped you continue to elevate, because it seems like you’re running a pretty good operation. And then after that, we’ll talk about the verticals.

Cody Journell (14:41.9)
Yeah, sure. You know, I always kind of fall back on my sports career. And when you’re playing, especially Division I college, really any sport, you have a set of standards that you have to adhere to. You you have to be on time for everything. Five minutes early is late. But the biggest thing that I think I’ve carried from that is just the pressure.

being able to handle high pressure situations or being comfortable getting into something that might make you a little fearful and trying to navigate yourself through that and figuring out the best path forward and just not taking action while you still have, you know that that fear is there, but you’re just gonna have to learn with it. And the more you do it, the more you look back on things and you’re like, man, that really wasn’t.

wasn’t that stressful, but it being your first time or just the unknowns, you know, it’s, I think that’s what holds most people up, getting over that hurdle, the first time doing something and then continuing to do it after that, even though you felt a little pain, that’s what really gets you to the next step.

John Harcar (16:00.952)
take action and, and, know, there’s a time to learn. There’s a time to just do it. so let’s talk about, you know, you know, growing into other verticals, first tell our folks what, you know, verticals mean. And then also too, why is, why was it important for you to add on these two? You’re already sounds like a great business.

Cody Journell (16:21.206)
Sure. Yeah, so a lot of it honestly has come about organically. You know, mentioned got the real estate license to learn on the job, so to speak. And from there, you know, we started with a remax brokerage here locally and it was great. The broker there has been doing it for 30 plus years, super knowledgeable. She taught me a ton about the process and just things to look out for and really how to run a business.

our team that we started decided, hey, you we’re young, kind of ambitious. We wanted to, we want to go do our own thing now. So, so we created our own brand, created our own brokerage, grew that up to about 25 agents within a couple of years. again, this was, you know, Pete or right before peak COVID time. So, things were tracking in the right direction. And then, you know, throughout a couple of years of us doing the brokerage, we, we had a lot of clients, we were buying rentals ourselves.

We had a lot of clients that were purchasing investment properties and they were asking for recommendations for property managers. And, you know, there’s only a select few in this area, really only a And we didn’t necessarily have a great recommendation for someone. So we said, Hey, look, I’m getting to the point. My wife’s getting the point where she’s going to fire herself. We’re having too many properties. You know, our partners have properties, the agents we worked with did and our clients. So let’s just start a property management company.

and make sure that we manage these to the standards that we would want ours managed at. And that’s really been the baseline for everything that we do within the property management company is making sure that we’re treating our clients investments the same as we would treat ours. And that’s been a big deal in the growth. We’re not necessarily looking to go out and scale to 10,000 units or anything like that, but having a really solid

John Harcar (17:57.08)
Right.

Cody Journell (18:20.214)
property management company with good people and good asset management is really kind of our bread and butter there. So, from that, we’ve got a lot of maintenance requests. We continue to do the single family flips. And we actually had clients that use our brokerage services that when we go on a listing, they say, we need this place painted. I need flooring over here fixed. I’ve got to put a window in.

So there’s always these requests for contractors and really clients trying to manage those themselves. If it’s not part of your full-time job, it’s really tough to do that. You know, have trouble with people calling you back or showing up and things like that. So that kind of started another vertical within this real estate investment firm that we’re running now. And so we have contractor services, most of it’s still in-house.

John Harcar (19:00.385)
Right.

Cody Journell (19:16.224)
you know, servicing our own properties and our own projects. But we’ve started to have clients that, you know, going through a listing process or even looking for investment properties, they’ll come to us to buy it and then we’ll help manage the construction and then we’ll manage the actual asset on the backend. So it’s kind of become this one stop investor shop, I guess you could call it. It’s fun though. It’s enjoyable that way.

John Harcar (19:27.533)
Mm-hmm.

John Harcar (19:39.662)
Right.

Okay. What do you think, you know, having all these different verticals, what do you think the main thing is? Is hiring right? Is it systems and processes? I mean, what is, what’s the main thing that you need to nail?

Cody Journell (19:55.658)
Yeah, mean, systems are absolutely key. The people have to be the right people. And not only the right people, but you have to make sure you have them in the right place. Yeah, exactly. So you could bring somebody on that’s not strong in this area. And if you try and fit them into that mold, it’s not going to work out. But really, at the end of the day, it does come down to your systems. It’s a lot like the military. You kind of fall back on your training when things get hairy.

John Harcar (20:06.711)
Right seat, yeah.

Cody Journell (20:24.972)
We’ve worked a lot on building that out. The continuity within the verticals, being able to know what’s going on at each part of the process has helped out a lot. And it’s helped us get from point A to point B at this point.

John Harcar (20:42.968)
Got it. OK, awesome. So if there’s anybody on here listening and they let’s they want to reach out to you, what would be the you know, even maybe to the newbie? mean, what is the best advice you want you can give someone that wants to get into real estate?

Cody Journell (20:58.252)
Yeah, I probably tell them to, you know, it goes back to the fear thing. You can read books all day and listen to audible, you know, all night and jump on as many podcasts as you can. But really getting just your foot in the door, whether that’s getting on as a JV or, know, on a syndication and learning with someone else that they’re doing it or finding a very kind of low entry point on a single family house.

And you you got to find the niche that interests you, but then you actually have to go out and really do the work. And there’s so much out there on YouTube and Instagram and in audible books and things like that where there’s no shortage of education. And you just have to you have to be disciplined enough to take that information and go out and start. And you might find out that, you know, that’s not the avenue that I want to take. But you wouldn’t have known that unless you tried it and you pivot into a different area.

You figure out as you’re doing fix and flips, well, I really don’t like the pressure on the back end of having to sell it, but we’re getting good deals and we’re doing good on the construction. Let’s hold it long term and rent it. And you can shift models as you go along, as long as you’re paying attention and doing things the proper way.

John Harcar (22:20.14)
Like Nike says, man, just do it. Get off the sidelines and just do it. Cody, thank you so much for coming on here and sharing all your information. If folks want to reach out to you, they want to maybe talk to a little bit about your journey a little bit more. Maybe they’re Hokie fans and want to say hello, man. How do they reach out to you?

Cody Journell (22:22.252)
That’s right.

Cody Journell (22:37.718)
Yeah, I think best place is probably Instagram. It’s just my name at Cody Jurnel, J-O-U-R-N-E-L-L. It’s like that on all platforms, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and email as well. If you have a business inquiry or if you’ve got a multifamily property that you’re looking to sell or have asset managed, we do that. for that, it’s probably best to get on my email, which is Cody James Realtor at gmail.com. And that goes through.

to kind of all of our channels, brokerage, property management and everyone there.

John Harcar (23:12.206)
Perfect. And well, I think you sent me a lot of the stuff. We’ll put it all in our show notes so everybody can reach out. Thank you again, man, for coming on. It’s been a pleasure to have you on here. And guys, I hope you took some good information, some good nuggets. If you have any questions or want to reach out to Cody, like I said, all the information will be in the show notes. Guys, thank you, Cody. Hope you had a great show. I’ll see you on the next one.

Cody Journell (23:31.724)
Thanks, John.

Cody Journell (23:35.838)
Absolutely.