Real Estate Investing Tips: Creative Financing, Partnerships, and Scaling Strategies

Emil Brown (00:00)
Getting in is probably the best thing you can do. Not being afraid to scale, but also you need to be with a team that has the experience. You gotta do partnerships early and you gotta also deliver your talents within that or whatever resources you have available to make it work. But partnering up early, getting in early.

And sticking it out. Part of that too is education.

Erika Proctor (01:59)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pro Show. I’m your host, Erika Proctor. And today I’m thrilled to be joined by Emil Brown, who’s been carving out a strong path in the real estate investing space. Emil, it’s so great to have you on the show today.

Emil Brown (02:13)
It’s lovely to be here. Thanks, Erika Proctor.

Erika Proctor (02:15)
Emil, for those who aren’t familiar with your journey, give us the rundown. How did you get started in investing?

Emil Brown (02:21)
Well, many years ago I did a condo on the beach back in Antigua and I didn’t realize that would come around to be the one industry that I like the most in that it focuses itself on cash flows and it’s something you could scale with the right team.

Erika Proctor (02:40)
Yeah, yeah. Were, you know, along the journey, were there any deals that you were doing that it made you know that this was the path that you wanted to take?

Emil Brown (02:51)
Of late, yes. It took a minute to get there. I tried different things. Obviously, I lived in different countries too. And so there wasn’t necessarily like a home base that I could say, let’s set up shop. The thing about it is I’m very financially astute with models. And that’s my background has been in financial models and accounting.

and finance and I understand the cash flow and when you see the leverage that’s available for that, that just kind of hit home for me and I thought, well yeah, that’s something I’d love to do.

Erika Proctor (03:25)
Yeah. With your financial background, what would you say is like the biggest misconception that people have about investing when they’re new to the game?

Emil Brown (03:34)
Well, that’s a good one. For me is just understand the, well, leverage is one that is totally misunderstood. And I, one, actually misunderstood that. But also the cash flow. You know, not having the cash sitting in an account or investing, you know, in the wrong type of assets, meaning short term.

using short-term money to buy long-term assets or vice versa, you could get yourself kind of an upside down situation. understanding the importance of having that money move through on a consistent and predictable way is kind of misunderstood a lot.

Erika Proctor (04:10)
Emil, have you done any creative financing to make certain deals happen?

Emil Brown (04:15)
well if you’re referring to maybe using some credit cards, yes, i’ve done a few of those But not not too extensive at this point. I am looking to get into that but as you know that could be a little bit Challenging to do if you don’t fully understand the the complexity of those creative financing that are there If you’re talking about maybe have a seller

finance of a purchase that’s a little different, but when you’re getting into the mezzanine and different waterfalls, it becomes a little bit more challenging and no, I haven’t ventured into a lot of that yet, but that is the goal to get to that.

Erika Proctor (05:34)
Got it. it. And as I’m sure you’re familiar with, Emil, every investor has a moment where a deal goes sideways or you have to pivot fast. Did you have one of those moments in your journey? Can you share one of those?

Emil Brown (05:48)
Well, yeah, kind of yes, you can. I’ve had a few of those. Well, one in particular, it was very early out and the the price that we were certain we were going to get for the particular investment and then not being that and you just had to cut your losses and move on. It was just the the the time horizon ended up outlasting the

Capital that I had set aside and I think you call that the alligator just you know feeding the alligator eventually alligator ate the investment That’s what they said

Erika Proctor (06:18)
Yeah.

Looking back, is there anything you do differently in that situation now that you’ve got more experience?

Emil Brown (06:28)
So what I’m doing differently now is getting a multiple sources of finance of readily available. Because you just never know. There just could be some miscalculations or the time horizon could end up being a little bit less than a little bit more than anticipated. So have many sources of finance available is really where I kind of.

Set my eyes on.

Erika Proctor (06:54)
Yeah, yeah. For our listeners who are early in their real estate and investing journey, what’s one thing that you wish you’d known when you were just starting out?

Emil Brown (07:04)
Getting in is probably the best thing you can do. Not being afraid to scale, but also you need to be with a team that has the experience. You gotta do partnerships early and you gotta also deliver your talents within that or whatever resources you have available to make it work. But partnering up early, getting in early.

and sticking it out. Part of that too is education.

Getting as much education and getting as much understanding about the product or about how finances work and how the other financial institutions also work is very important.

Erika Proctor (07:42)
Emil, when it comes to partnering up with someone, how do you determine if someone’s a good fit?

Emil Brown (07:47)
That’s a great question. I determine a great fit with a partner by truly understanding their investment philosophy. Oftentimes when you’re doing this, it is almost like a marriage. It’s a long-term commitment and they’re going to be communication breakdown. But if you truly understand the principles on which they’re functioning,

and how they view each aspect of the investment, it kind of helps gauge if they’re in line with your investment philosophy versus something else. If it’s a partnership, everybody’s in. If anything changes, everybody has to be changed unanimously to push forward with any decisions. That’s something you’d kind of have to make sure is out there. And the ultimate focus has to be

in line, you know, their focus have to be in line with yours and you what levers you pull and the order in which you pull them, you gotta have to make sure those are actually aligned.

Erika Proctor (08:43)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Along the similar lines of partnership, Emil, has there been any connection that you made in the industry or any networking group that was a real game changer for you?

Emil Brown (08:55)
Well, I’ve had a couple of lectures slash conferences that I’ve attended, but I’m with the Big Deal Mastermind and they’ve kind of been very instrumental in getting me to the next phase. I was able to learn a little bit quicker with them. They spent a lot of time walking me through the fundamentals.

supporting my ideas, testing my analyses or my underwriting ability and refining that. But they also give me an opportunity to be a part of the general partnership by bringing people in or contributing my own capital. So I felt like we were true partners in that and I was really pressing on their ability to

acquire properties, raise capital, manage these properties, and ultimately do a, I guess, an exit, getting a great exit for everybody involved.

Erika Proctor (10:28)
Yeah, that’s awesome. Emil, when it comes to networking, what kind of advice would you give to someone who is either new or, you know, let’s say they’re not a people person and they’re not really wanting the network. How do you break that?

Emil Brown (10:41)
Well, you know, the easiest way to break into the networking field, there are a few sales book that I’ve gone through, is either to go to conferences and, you know, make the first step, have a easy conversation, exchange your contact information, reach out to these guys, reach out to these individuals.

One good way to think of things also is try to find common interests with people. You know, you it’s easier to talk to something that that you are passionate about and they are actually aligned with also. The. The other thing I’ve been doing is just following people that are doing what you want to do so you could pick up.

how they do their business, whether it’s on LinkedIn or Facebook, because ultimately you could learn a lot by reading what they read, seeing the type of groups they associate themselves with, and hearing how they talk about what they do. Eventually, if you follow enough of them, you’ll start understanding the language, of course with the education that helps too, and then you’ll be able to talk more comfortable with anybody you meet. It is…

Somebody said, I don’t remember, so don’t quote me on this one, everybody’s into the people business. And so, and you know, we’re all people, we have friends, childhood friends coming up all the way up through to anything you do. So doctors are in the people business because they’re talking to doctors, but so are carpenters. They’re in the people business by way of carpentry. You’re in the housing business.

But it’s the people business. Everything revolves around people, the way you communicate with them. And finding the common interests ultimately will help you significantly more than you think. And they are interested in what you have to say. So worst case scenario, rehearse a few things that you’re very confident about and make sure you’re able to

show that in light of how they view their interests, especially within the real estate world.

Erika Proctor (12:42)
Yeah, that’s awesome advice. Emil, let’s talk a little bit more about you. What do you see next on the horizon? What are you looking to do in your future? What goals do you have in mind?

Emil Brown (12:54)
Um, so, you know, I don’t know if you’re the Moslos hierarchy of needs. Yeah. You know, housing is really the bottom. So you need security, you need housing and shelter. Um, so in, in my mind that is providing a service that is essential just to, um, for a base, a place where you could rest, relax.

and put out your best work once you’re grounded. Yeah, some look at it as in a housing. But my next step is to make ⁓ as big of an impact on the people’s lives that I serve by providing quality housing in a safe, friendly neighborhood or environment.

That actually helps them, you know perform at their highest level Hopefully this is a step in stone to the next Their next, you know big move, but also some people are very comfortable. They don’t want to worry about you know having to do the maintenance They want to be surrounded by enough people with her which are like-minded and for me is to build as bigger portfolio as I possibly can

impact as many lives as possible in the form of housing. And raising capital to do that, that’s really what I’m going to be doing most of because that’s kind of the fuel that makes everything work.

Erika Proctor (14:16)
Yeah, yeah, that’s awesome. How do you plan the structure you’re funding for those goals?

Emil Brown (14:20)
So that is the theory I’m working. That is the reason that’s where I’m at right now trying to structure those. Right now, I think the initial thing is to do a deal by deal syndication approach. Eventually, I’ll move it into a real fund where we’ll focus primarily on real estate. And I do have a lot of experience within the small business world and understanding how credit works.

And so maybe 20, 30 years down the road, expand that offer into maybe helping a little bit more small, some more small businesses. Those that are close to me, I’ll definitely be able to help them, but just on a, just like a friendly type basis. But the next phase is to really get a a lot of investors interested in what I’m doing.

and hopefully give them the type of return they want in the vehicle, as I would refer to it, of real estate.

Erika Proctor (15:58)
That’s exciting. And I can tell that you’re thinking strategically about how you’re going to grow. Are there any tools or systems that you’re leaning on to keep everything organized as you scale?

Emil Brown (16:09)
So right now, just the outlook, general ⁓ outlook, keeping people there. I am looking at getting into some other platforms for CRM and communications. We’re going to be building a website out. Funny you should say that I’m actually in the process of writing a book and actually honing my message. I didn’t quite say that. And so hopefully this is going to be published here. And so.

The of the book is, know, burned boats. It kind of delineates my experience of leaving my home country at a very young age and coming to the U.S. and really trying to understand what the people doing vacation in my home country were all about, know, the freedom they experienced there. And so that’s kind of where I’m at.

Erika Proctor (16:53)
cool and very exciting, Emil. Before we wrap up, if someone wants to connect with you, ⁓ maybe do a collaboration, learn more about your approach. What’s the best way for them to reach you?

Emil Brown (17:05)
You know, just my LinkedIn profile, it’s Emil Brown and you’ll see me out there. I guess you could send me an email and you know, [email protected]. I’d love to chat with you. We’re going to be doing some great things. My team now is looking at doing a lot of housing here in Cincinnati and we’re going to just keep extending that for sure.

Erika Proctor (17:28)
Great. Emil, thank you so much for dropping all this knowledge today. It’s awesome having you on the show.

Emil Brown (17:33)
Thank you very much, Erika Proctor.

Erika Proctor (17:34)
for everyone tuning in. If you got value from this episode, make sure that you’re subscribed to the Real Estate Pro Show. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Emil who are building their real estate empires the smart way. We’ll see you on the next episode.