Miami Luxury Real Estate with Charles Fistel | Ultra-Lux Construction & Development Insights

CHARLES FISTEL (00:00)
I’m taking advantage of that because I think at that point they think they own everything every relationship and they’re complacent about it and I am bringing other value First of all, my value proposition is more intense if you will and more broad than than my competitors like we bring our spec builders off-market listings To acquire waterfront property or oceanfront property and we also bring them ⁓

Dylan Silver (00:05)
Right.

CHARLES FISTEL (00:27)
spec builder land acquisition financing opportunities because I have all of these relationships so I realized I have to make a differentiator not just be the next windows and doors expert

Dylan Silver (02:10)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest is based in beautiful Miami, Florida and works in the specialty subcontracting world for luxury residential projects from ultra luxury single family to multifamily developments. Please welcome Charles Fistel. Charles, welcome to the show.

CHARLES FISTEL (02:31)
Thank you for having me, Dylan. It’s pleasure.

Dylan Silver (02:33)
It’s great to have you on. said this to you before hopping on here. I’m a little jealous, lifelong Floridian, lifelong Fridian. I mean, that’s something that I could only wish for, but does it ever get lost on you just how great it is down there?

CHARLES FISTEL (02:48)
Now I just have to look outside my balcony every morning and, you know, like I said, it’s hashtag Paradise305. ⁓

Dylan Silver (02:56)
I’m curious, based on your lifelong residence in Florida, it’s grown so much over the years. I mean, from where it was even 15 years ago, has that been very visible or has it been a progression over time?

CHARLES FISTEL (03:13)
I think it’s been a progression over time. mean, it’s kind of like I’ve lived here forever. So it’s kind of like watching grass grow. You know, if you watch it every day, you don’t really see it. But, you know, I’ve ⁓ experienced all that Miami was through childhood and then in business, the business environment and how things used to be primarily just tourism here, tourism and export

Dylan Silver (03:37)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (03:39)
And now it’s become an international city where it used to be transiency related to people coming here. And then, but I do think that over time it became more international where people wanted to live here and then COVID blew the lid off of it, where people were coming from all around the U.S. ⁓

Dylan Silver (03:57)
all

around.

CHARLES FISTEL (03:57)
all around US and foreign investment increased and the real estate market, you know, it goes through cycles here like everywhere else. But right now it’s definitely on an up cycle, especially in our sector where, where the ultra wealthy are when we do, you know, large scale mega mansion projects, they’re not really impacted by inflation or by the price of eggs or, or, or interest rates, because most of what’s done in our world starts with being all cash transactions.

land acquisition building.

Dylan Silver (04:27)
I want to

pivot a bit here and ask you about really how you got into the real estate space because you’ve got an interesting entrepreneurial journey, which you were talking about him before hopping on to the show here. How did you get into the real estate space?

CHARLES FISTEL (05:31)
I’ve been, as I mentioned to you, serial entrepreneur. I’ve always been in the C suites and since I was a CPA after college for about five years, got involved in business early on, very eclectic.

path that I’ve been on as we chatted about. And I was recruited in because I was a CPA. knew most of the large CPA firms here in South Florida. The managing partners are all my peers now. We all started at the same time. And I left public accounting, but my friends, a lot of my friends didn’t. And so I was recruited in or suggested to be the CFO, COO guy who was going to…

who was going to help a company be sold, because I had an M&A corporate finance background through my journey as well. And so it just happened to be in the ⁓ real estate world through construction specialty subcontracting for a business that did technology like access control and CCTV for large condo towers and government projects as well. And that was the beginning of me being in the business.

full-time basis. And then now I’m in my third business as a specialty subcontractor and

So it’s my knowledge base is markedly different, but my skill set is malleable to really any industry at this point. And so I love what I do. It’s not work to me. And it’s a high professional, highly professional industry where I’m with top tier, really top tier world-class architects and builders and spec developers and interior designers. ⁓ so yeah, I love the industry and I love what I’m doing.

Dylan Silver (06:57)
Yeah.

It’s really a fulfilling space. I can say for myself, I’m not in top tier ultra lux. I come from a background of wholesaling in Texas, got my real estate license and I love working with investors. And I tell people this, I would do this if there was probably very little money in it. I just love the idea of being able to facilitate ⁓ people’s homes and where they live and.

In my case, coming from a distressed real estate background, we were really solving a lot of problems as well. But I think talking about your journey, that’s really probably what you would say is a strong suit of yours as well. The ability to solve problems that are tricky, sometimes thorny, and you don’t necessarily need to have that ⁓ immediate long-term subject matter expertise spanning decades, but the ability to put people

and in places and solve problems that maybe others are struggling with is a strong suit, I would say, of real estate operators.

CHARLES FISTEL (08:13)
Well, think, you know, depending on the type of project, ⁓ I have the best of both worlds. So I’ve developed myself over a long period of time into somebody who gains people’s trust. I have a great reputation here locally. at the same time.

At the same time, ⁓ I gained enough knowledge to be able to carry the conversation, but I’m not a technical expert. We have a team of people. My business partners are excellent in the operating side of the business. I’ve become pretty good in getting people to want to do business with me and then fulfilling the promise, which is ultimately, in our case, what happens when the material arrives.

in the field and how you perform in the field. There’s an old saying, like, you can win it on the front end, but you can lose it on the back end. And so ⁓ I have great partners who are responsible for the operational side of the business, all the way through logistics, procurement, ⁓ through installation, completion, punch closeout. And thank you very much. Let’s work on the next one with you guys.

Dylan Silver (09:03)
Yep.

CHARLES FISTEL (09:23)
And so, for me, this industry, because I come from being a professional since I’m 20 years old, ⁓ there are things that we do as a specialty subcontractor. Most guys just flip the owner or flip the builder, spec builder of a luxury home, a blase looking, you know.

Dylan Silver (09:23)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (09:45)
unimaginative, non imaginative type of proposal. We’re value engineering experts, which sets us apart. But we are most importantly, great communicators with our clients. And we have, we give our clients transparency and that’s how we’re able to take business away from incumbents. I’ve only been in the business two and a half years, Dylan. My competitors, the key competitors that I have, have been in the business for 15 to 30 years. So.

Dylan Silver (09:59)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (10:47)
I’m taking advantage of that because I think at that point they think they own everything every relationship and they’re complacent about it and I am bringing other value First of all, my value proposition is more intense if you will and more broad than than my competitors like we bring our spec builders off-market listings To acquire waterfront property or oceanfront property and we also bring them ⁓

Dylan Silver (10:52)
Right.

CHARLES FISTEL (11:15)
spec builder land acquisition financing opportunities because I have all of these relationships so I realized I have to make a differentiator not just be the next windows and doors expert

⁓ and then so I just said well I’m going to bring all of these different types of things that nobody none of my competitors are even thinking about and so it’s allowed me to get traction and to ⁓ begin to grow this business the way that I know it’s capable of.

for the next few years.

Dylan Silver (11:46)
I want

to ask you a granular question, maybe give away some of the gold, but not all the gold, Charles. ⁓ Ultra Lux single family and then multifamily developments. These are two in my mind, different spaces and one could easily make a niche out of either one. Was it a conscious thing to be involved in both or was it a progression over time that you said, hey, we’re going to tackle both of these?

CHARLES FISTEL (12:10)
Well, I was recruited into this world solely for Ultra Lux Single Family, ⁓ which is different than multifamily. ⁓ So our multifamily business side is really split into two. One, where we are a full service provider, which includes procurement of the windows and doors. ⁓ But we do boutique-sized stuff, nothing really over eight stories.

because the economics and the risk factor and all the requirements of going high rise as a procurement side is not something that we’re interested in. So we have that within multifamily, but it’s smaller buildings, if you will. And then we’re one of the top glazing contractors in South Florida in the high rise world where we don’t do the procurement. We’re hired as the installers for towers like the Missoni Tower here in Miami, 830 brick

Dylan Silver (12:44)
Yeah.

Mmm.

CHARLES FISTEL (13:09)
which is where Ken Griffith and ⁓ Citadel is parked now and all across South Florida, high-rise projects where we are just the glazing subcontractor, is a fancy word for installation.

Dylan Silver (13:24)
I want to ask you a question pivoting a bit here about maybe some of the obstacles that are unique to this space. can only imagine you’re talking about much larger deals where there’s significantly more leverage but also and especially in the ultra lux space you’re dealing with a defined you know set of people and really you mentioned the competition that you have people that have been doing it for you know 15 to 30 years you know much longer right. And so.

CHARLES FISTEL (13:50)
Mm-hmm.

Dylan Silver (13:53)
How is this ⁓ different in many ways and what are some of the obstacles that you face in this space that other areas of real estate will not ever see?

CHARLES FISTEL (14:44)
Well, I think that on the builder side, they have their guys. You know, the spec builders, I deal with spec builders who have been in business anywhere between 10 and 25, 30 years. And so they have their guys. So cracking that shell of, give us a shot, is something that I work very hard at. And I am always fine tuning my, quote, pitch, if you will, to them. But I, you know, one of the little differentiators is I basically insist on face-to-face meetings.

Dylan Silver (15:06)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (15:15)
Okay, most people can do Zooms and team meetings and you know, I’m here local, you’re here, you’re five minutes from me, why not just come to your office and let’s sit down and talk. And so I ⁓ am ⁓ professionally ⁓ persevering through.

Dylan Silver (15:17)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (15:30)
process of getting people to take meetings and we have a great portfolio drone videos of how some of our most recent work and that really the visual is really what shows people hey we’re big boys and we play in the big leagues here we’re not trying to from duplexes you know key Largo okay to doing a 20,000 square foot house on the ocean or on you know one of the big islands like star island or

Dylan Silver (15:46)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (15:56)
silent or things like that and so ⁓ So that’s probably the challenge is cracking them open to the idea of hey, yeah Let’s see what you can do

And it’s hard to know price is obviously an important factor, but we’re also creative and most builders quite honestly, they’re dealing with 50 different, 40 to 50 different subcontracting areas. So they can’t be, they’re not an expert in any particular area. Their expertise is putting the puzzle together or putting the orchestra together and then conducting it. And so we offer really deep dive type of ⁓ review and…

Dylan Silver (16:20)
Hmm.

rain.

CHARLES FISTEL (16:39)
and proposal details, I think beyond any of our competitors. And we actually go through the process of helping them compare our numbers.

to our competitors. called the level up process. I don’t know you’ve heard that term. And so these are just added extra value add that the others are not doing. And so it helps me crack the egg. Sometimes the egg is easily crackable and sometimes, I mean, I’ve been working on getting some clients for, you know, six months to a year, but eventually they’re in my rotation to keep following up. And the more that I show them, this is what we do. We have a great reputation in what we do. And so for us, the challenge is cracking the egg.

Dylan Silver (16:54)
Mm-hmm.

CHARLES FISTEL (17:20)
and getting into business with people. Because how can I possibly show you what I’m capable of if you don’t give me the opportunity to perform in the field? That’s what they really are most interested in. ⁓

Dylan Silver (17:33)
A lot of

different questions that came to my mind as I was hearing you talk about earning people’s trust and earning their business. One of the questions that I have and not necessarily real estate specific is if someone is in a business where they’re competing with people that have been in that business for a much longer period of time, they may have a different value proposition like your company does. They may do things differently or may have a wider scope or a higher degree of excellence.

But would you recommend any one specific thing to folks who may be trying to ⁓ deal with more established people?

CHARLES FISTEL (18:13)
⁓ Well, I think you have to have I was not a sales marketing business development guy in my earlier life I was a corporate guy CFO CEO CEO ⁓ and then I transitioned over time to Wanting to not have to be responsible for operating things but growing businesses. I’m a biz I turned out to be a business builder and so ⁓

Dylan Silver (18:35)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (18:41)
And so for me, was really, I credit one of my dear friends who’s a former business partner turning me into who I am today when I was 40.

Which was how to sell, how to put, take the client’s glasses off and put your own set of glasses on so the client can see what you want them to see, not in reverse. And so I became a business development and corporate finance and &A guy. I had corporate finance background from taking companies public, but I didn’t apply it to anything other than what I was doing at the time. And so I think you have to have really great

Dylan Silver (19:11)
Turn.

CHARLES FISTEL (19:20)
communication skills. Messaging is so important. Sincerity is really important. All of those things go into, and I think it’s probably testament to me living here my whole life, if I had bounced around in five different business all over the country over the last 40 years, ⁓ then I would have, I would have relationships here and there, but nothing so concentrated. So I’ve been here my whole life and so.

I can call the managing partners of law firms and CPA firms and talk to them about business and talk about their clients and get introductions and things like that because I’ve been here my whole life. But I think the communication is key. Just like in a relationship with a girlfriend or with your family or with friends, communication is everything. And sometimes communication ⁓ really helps you and lack of communication kills all opportunity.

Dylan Silver (20:03)
Yeah.

I think hearing you talk about the importance of face-to-face meetings, I think with so many other people are focused on automation and how can we find better leads and so on and so forth and Zoom calls, ⁓ it can be maybe counterintuitive. So I think it’s good to hear that feedback ⁓ about the importance of communication and face-to-face. Charles, are coming up on time here though. Where can folks go if they maybe like to reach out to you or?

if they’re in the Miami area and are maybe looking at doing an ultra lux deal.

CHARLES FISTEL (20:47)
The easiest way to find me is probably through Instagram to start which is Charles in charge 777 Or my cell phone number from I’ll give it to you 305 785 3900 and You know, we’re open for business and We love creating new partnerships. And so we welcome all

Dylan Silver (20:59)
Yeah.

CHARLES FISTEL (21:11)
Big and small projects, my interest is in gaining and building new relationships. so size of the transaction is usually secondary to my thought process.

Dylan Silver (21:22)
Charles, thank you so much for coming on the show here today.

CHARLES FISTEL (21:25)
Thank you for having me, Dylan. It’s been a pleasure.