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Show Summary
In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, host Skyler Byrd interviews Matias Daroch, an architect and developer based in Miami. Matias shares his journey from Chile to the U.S. and his experiences in the real estate market. He discusses the current state of the Miami market, focusing on high-end developments, project timelines, and the challenges faced in historic districts. Matias emphasizes the importance of community engagement and the unique aspects of his development projects, providing insights into the real estate industry.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Matias Daroch (00:00)
Absolutely. I mean, one of the things that we like most about this developer group is thatwe can communicate very easily and it’s one of our biggest strengths is this horizontal integration. So we get the opportunities, we find the investors, we can even finance it. And then the architecture team designs it while the GC gets the quotes and the numbers in and we can align everything so that the project is very fluid.
What we gain with that is a little bit of a cost efficiency, but most importantly, a time efficiency. Because if we get these construction issues worked out, not 100%, but there’s always going to be something, right? But we get these construction issues worked out more or less at the beginning of the project with the design of the architecture. So it’s kind of cool.
Skyler (02:34)
everybody, welcome to the investor fuel podcast. I’m your host Skyler Byrd and today I am joined by Matias Daroch. Hopefully I got that pretty close. ⁓ But Matias, I am absolutely, you know, very excited to speak with you today because you get to see the real estate industry through two unique lights. ⁓ So yeah, I’m really glad you’re able to hop on the podcast today.Matias Daroch (02:55)
Well, thank you so much for having me. That’s my pleasure.Skyler (02:58)
absolutely. And Matias is both ⁓ an architect and a developer. So Matias, would you mind kind of, you know, just letting our audience know a little bit about your background, how you found your way both to United States and into real estate.Matias Daroch (03:14)
Well, ⁓ I’m originally from Chile and I came to the US in 2016 in Miami. I had some background before in Miami as I grew up like till I was like seven years old. So I just came and go all the time and eventually I I like to call it like I came back. ⁓ And when I came back, was already, I had finished architecture school like two or three years previously in Chile and I startedstarted, I came to work on real estate developments. started small, course, know, the affordable single-family residence, doing that, building something new, selling it, and doing the loop two or three times a year. ⁓ And I…
I wasn’t going to get my architecture license at first, but I realized that architects here weren’t working with the mindset of as a developer, as a real estate developer. And that’s when I said, you know what, I’m just going to get my license, do it myself. And that’s how I started the journey. I know I’m working with the real estate development. once I got licensed, I founded my architecture firm.
to work on those projects I already had started. And eventually, I partnered up with ⁓ another GC and a realtor. And we founded our own developer firm to do exactly the same thing.
Skyler (04:46)
Nice. So as you were telling me earlier, you’re very horizontally integrated and that seems to give you a really good leg up on the development side, is that right?Matias Daroch (04:55)
Absolutely. I mean, one of the things that we like most about this developer group is thatwe can communicate very easily and it’s one of our biggest strengths is this horizontal integration. So we get the opportunities, we find the investors, we can even finance it. And then the architecture team designs it while the GC gets the quotes and the numbers in and we can align everything so that the project is very fluid.
What we gain with that is a little bit of a cost efficiency, but most importantly, a time efficiency. Because if we get these construction issues worked out, not 100%, but there’s always going to be something, right? But we get these construction issues worked out more or less at the beginning of the project with the design of the architecture. So it’s kind of cool.
Skyler (06:46)
I did say very cool and and you’re focused primarily in the Miami area, correct?Matias Daroch (06:51)
Yeah, we focus in the Miami area mainly for the hub that it means with Latin America, with Europe. The migration that is coming into Miami is pretty strong still, and it’s keeping the market very stable. believe it or not, most of our investors from Chile or not in America, they just love coming to Miami to the beaches. it’s like, it’s their excuse.Skyler (07:19)
Yeah, well,I mean, I don’t think anybody can really blame them there. That’s for sure. And tell me about the Miami market in general. mean, are you still seeing some pretty good growth in Miami? What does that look like for you?
Matias Daroch (07:31)
I would say right now, ⁓ and I’m very thankful for it, I think it’s in stable mode, stability mode. I wouldn’t say it’s growing, but it’s not declining either. You have some price increases on one side, some price decreases on the other side. It’s slower than a year and a half ago, yes, absolutely, ⁓ but it’s not like completely stopped.Especially for the new construction new construction is still good still moving You know old older constructions might be not that old Those are I would say a little bit more complicated right now But in general, wouldn’t we’re not looking other where than Miami because out of Miami. It’s already it gets much more complicated
Skyler (08:21)
No, I can understand that, absolutely. And as both the developer and the architects on either most or all of your projects, what are you looking for in terms of land to develop? Are you doing multiple homes at once? Tell me about that.Matias Daroch (08:41)
Yeah, we kind of like…know for multiple homes it’s a little bit harder in Miami you have to find that piece of land that is huge which don’t really exist right now. So we love doing our high-end projects right now so those are the ones that give us more margin of error and margin and to get to those we actually have to find an old house a tear down house you know demolish it and build brand new and those are basically infill houses so we have to go
one
at a time. I like to call them the custom spec homes because it’s not like you have one spec home, one design and just use it in multiple lots because every single lot is different. And that gives us also the high-end vision of it because they’re all unique, know, somewhere or the other. Yes, we might use one or two pieces in the design here and there but they’re basically unique.
Our target is those types of properties. We want to grow into the waterfront properties, that’s for sure. So anything that has a dock, that you can put a boat, not only waterfront in the lake, a boat that actually gets into the bay. And those are also very hard to come by these days.
Skyler (10:43)
I would imagine and would you be kind of looking for the same at that point the same type of project ⁓ an existing property where you can do a tear down and and do brand you know and go brand new again or is it more renovation at that point what does that look like for you?Matias Daroch (10:59)
No, if it’s a waterfront, it’s definitely a tear down and build brand new for different reasons. And I can get very technical, but we have the FEMA and the flood elevation issues that, ⁓ know, older homes don’t comply with. So you still have to bring them up, which is very inefficient. But especially because with a new construction, can, it’s much faster. It’s easier to build and you canSkyler (11:15)
Okay. Okay. Yeah.Matias Daroch (11:29)
use the lot space more, maximize you can call it because yeah developers all today we love to maximize the lot you know put as much AC area you can in it but when you do it with a certain thought of today’s world and today’s Sony codes it’s ⁓ I would say much more efficient and much more comfortable in the end.Skyler (11:55)
Okay,all right. And I know you’re focusing on the high end side of everything. And so when you say high end, are you talking about properties that where you’re putting in basketball courts and stuff like that on the outside and different casitas or what does that look like for you?
Matias Daroch (12:16)
Today, high-end is a very broad aspect. For us, it’s anything that is over $3 million, $4 million in the sale price. But we’re talking about, like in construction style, architectural style, high windows, big windows, lots of natural light. It could be a fat roof or could be a sloped roof.doesn’t really matter in the high-end stuff but it has a nice landscaping you know the kitchen appliances are top of the line it has finishes that are out of this world you know and one bathroom per bedroom is a must and you know those are small details that make it a high-end product but it’s also about the neighborhood because a well
any property in the waterfront that you can get into the bay, would say has to be a ⁓ high-end project today. But there’s neighborhoods that are, you know, one street is a normal, you could say, two million dollar project, but in front of it, it’s an eight million dollar project. So it kinds of depends there.
Skyler (13:32)
Absolutely. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate you clearing that up. It was interesting. I was kind of just going through my head trying to figure out say, okay, exactly like on the high end side, how high end are we talking? And that’s that that is that is good to know. So how right now since you’re operating in Miami, how are you finding, you know, these current properties? Do you have a team that’s out there that’s that’s actively looking for our people bringing you these deals and looking to come in on the development side with you? How does that work for you and your business?Matias Daroch (14:02)
First off, want to say I would love that someone bring in the properties to us. That would be my dream. Now we have, ⁓ yeah, on one of the partners ⁓ is a broker, realtor, and he’s the person that is like in charge of looking for these opportunities, ⁓ going out, networking, looking every single morning, you know, for what’s new in the market to sell. And…Skyler (14:06)
youThere you go.
Matias Daroch (14:30)
You know, when he finds something, he shows it to me. I do a quick analysis of the architectural side, what we can do, what we can build, what’s the maximum sizes, the setbacks, that sort of stuff. And if we pass that, then we go into, hey, what’s the cost, you know, more or less here. So we do like a quick performance. It takes us like 15, 30 minutes per project, per lot, basically.And if everything goes well, then he throws out an offer. And, you know, that’s just a numbers game right there.
Skyler (15:04)
Okay, yeah. Okay,excellent. All right. And what, you know, are you looking to add a certain amount of developments here within a specific timeframe? What is the future of your business look like as you see it right now?
Matias Daroch (16:02)
There’s one thing I didn’t mention before that ⁓ I maybe have to mention now to answer your question. ⁓ So I started the architecture firm right after I got licensed, but right now when we found the developer firm altogether, I’m also managing that firm. So I have two answers for that. One for the architecture firm. We’re looking to do 10 new projects a year ⁓ with different clients, not only for the developer group. ⁓But on the developer side, we’re looking to have four new projects a year. So that’s like kind of our targets and goals. And we’re talking about, know, a one five or two five million plus, one eight million plus and one 10 million plus project. I don’t.
Skyler (16:52)
Excellent. Andon the architecture side, yeah, let people know what kind of projects are you looking for there if they’re not your own development.
Matias Daroch (17:01)
So the architecture side, because we’re so focused on working with investors and other developers, we kind of have that view of both sides, the developer side, the architecture side, understanding the codes, but understanding also the cost of construction, the marketability, what sells, what not. So I’m very proud to say that we have that mix there and expertise.And we’ve always been that contemporary style architecture firm working for investors in South Florida market.
So that’s like a kind of a niche. Today, if you ask me, we’re doing single family, we can do multi-family up to 30 units, 20 units, like that. My ideal project today would be doing that ⁓ luxury or high-end, whatever you wanna call it today, multi-family that is 20 units. There’s a few lots that are smaller that you can have that.
cool area, the features, amenities in 20 or 30 units. That’s kind of like the top project for me right now.
Skyler (18:19)
Okay,nice. No, absolutely. And I’m kind of curious here. as far as, you know, one of your developments, how long does that take to go from groundbreaking to finishing the final project? What does that timeframe look like right now?
Matias Daroch (18:36)
Well for groundbreaking that’s basically just the construction phase. So that’s taking us in a single family, let’s say a 10,000 square foot home. ⁓ It’s taking us between 16 and 18 months more or less to finish. And then add that, we’re adding in on our performer right now, we’re adding up like three months to sell after having the certificate of completion.but we actually start selling like three months before. So it’s like a six month period. And before that, the permitting phase is about 10 months and just looking for the lot that depends, you So we actually count from the moment we buy the lot until we sell a lot. That’s our development period.
Skyler (19:26)
and how long is that total would you sayMatias Daroch (19:28)
I would say it’s between 2028 to 32 months, more or less.Skyler (19:37)
Yeah,okay. Yeah, so, yeah, well, just a little bit less than maybe three years, two and a half, three years, yeah. All right, so for you, really, when you’re choosing projects to take on, you really have to know exactly what you’re doing, be able to project out what the numbers are really gonna be, because this is a long period of time for you and your company.
Matias Daroch (19:42)
In three years. Yeah. Yeah.Absolutely. it’s basically marrying between us, marrying with investors. ⁓ And it’s also thinking about the future, know, and structure-wise, legal-wise and financial-wise. Those three years do go by fast, very fast, ⁓ but you still have to be very smart in the process and how you structure everything.
Skyler (20:27)
Okay, so let me ask what, know, in your experience that you’ve had so far with this, what has been one of your biggest headaches or things that has been, you know, kind of kept you up at night on one of the projects, what’s happened?Matias Daroch (20:38)
YouWell, there’s a lot of things. What can I say? We went into a project that was in a historic development. We… I hate to say it, but yeah, it was a mistake. It was a headache. It took a year longer than it should have. It just impermits. And once we got, went out of that and, you know, we started construction, that’s amazing. We can go all, you know, full speed.
Skyler (20:46)
Yeah. Yeah.Matias Daroch (21:15)
we realized that it wasn’t that… ⁓ The construction itself is fast, all the paperwork that we had to do afterwards, because it was an historic district…that made it a little bit slower. So that was a big headache. We thankfully are just a few weeks away of finishing it finally. And thank you. And it’s still gonna be a good project because ⁓ it’s in a very desirable neighborhood. And it’s one of the first or the few new homes that are on the new put because it’s an historic district. So, you that was the bet and I wouldn’t do it again. don’t, I…
Skyler (21:34)
Congratulations.Matias Daroch (21:55)
I recommend to get away from anything historic related. And then I have a few other that is a subdivision project that everyone said it was like a year, a year and a half to take. And it’s been two years and we’re a little bit closer, but things change in the process. And you have to…the permitting or the people that are looking at the subdivisions to approve it change and those things you don’t account for. So that was another thing that I would say. If you want to do it, just think for the few years right away before starting anything.
Skyler (22:39)
That is a good piece of advice. Absolutely. man, I can’t imagine what kind of paperwork you had to fill out to build an historic district. ⁓ I could see getting nosebleeds over something like that.Matias Daroch (22:56)
It’s more about the people actually in the neighborhood, know, meeting with them, getting to understand what the vision is. And once and, and we got, we got it barely approved. but I’m.Skyler (23:02)
Mm-hmm.Matias Daroch (23:10)
proud to say right now that the same neighborhood has been sending us amazing emails thanking us for being so polite with the construction. We kind of like to tell them what’s going on, when the trucks are going to come up because they also have small streets so one truck can disrupt a lot. So we just give them a little bit of heads up, hey today’s going to be a pouring day and they just love that.they say is like with the other person like you, you you know you prove that developments and community can work together. So that I love them.
Skyler (23:50)
Now that is a, that’s an awesome story. I love that. And, and with that particular development, did you have to kind of stick to a specific style because it was in, a historic district and, and make it fit the neighborhood?Matias Daroch (24:03)
Yes, absolutely. I had to reassign a few stuff there. ⁓ But it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t bad. And in the end, it kind of went with the neighborhood, but also you can see that it’s contemporary in a way, you know. And it’s not like just mimicking the other house, which is kind of you cannot actually do that either than the guidelines of the historic districts. ⁓ But yeah, at the end, someone, one of the architects of the board ⁓the historic board told us that it was like kind of a new style for the street. So that was also nice.
Skyler (24:40)
Thatis very cool. That’s awesome. And Matias, yeah, we’re kind of coming up on time here. So if anybody’s in South Florida, in the Miami area, and especially wants to build in a historic district and give you a lot more headaches there, but how can someone get ahold of you on the development side, architecture side, tell us that.
Matias Daroch (24:51)
Please don’t.Yeah, so the best way is just going to a website and you can find our contact information there. mikarchitecture.com that’s on the architecture side or in agdmiami.com for the developer side and you can find us the phone number there or an email or just can write us at hello at mikarch.com and we’ll be happy to receive
And if you tell me, hey, I heard you on this podcast, and I’m going to be even more eager to respond to that.
Skyler (25:37)
There we go. No, I love that. And Matias, thank you very much for your time today. To all of our listeners out here, ⁓ if you’ve got anything of value from this conversation, please hit subscribe. We have got many more interviews coming down the road, just like always. And we will see you all on the next episode. Thank you.Matias Daroch (25:54)
And thank you.
