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Show Summary
In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, host Leo Wehdeking speaks with Matthew Schneider about the digitization and tokenization of real estate. Matthew discusses how technology is transforming the industry, making it more efficient and accessible. He emphasizes the importance of standardization in real estate practices and shares insights on networking and building relationships in the industry. The conversation highlights the potential of technology to improve property valuation and investment opportunities.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Matthew Schneider (00:00)
Kind of. There’s still regulation in place that controls who can invest into real estate. So we can’t necessarily get by that. But you can make that process of splitting up the ownership and tying that back to the property value really seamless. So if you have real time inputs on your property, imagine almost as if you were getting an appraisal every week instead of every couple of years, and then associating that withthese shares that people are buying, the same way that you see Apple stock go up and down, or you can look at the underlying information, you’re seeing something similar in real estate. And this is really interesting because real estate is often an opaque and risky market. And that’s why people avoid it sometimes. So if you can bring the data forward, have this digital strategy and have ownership that people could buy, that they could collateralize, that they could sell at a
notice, it really opens up a lot of capital opportunities for this industry.
Leo Wehdeking (02:34)
everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Leo Wehdeking, and today I am joined by someone I’ve been forward to chatting with. His name is Matthew Schneider, who’s been making serious moves in the real estate industry. Matthew, glad to have you here,Matthew Schneider (02:50)
Leo, thanks for having me on the show.Leo Wehdeking (02:51)
Excellent excellent Matthew. I think that our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’ve been approaching the real estate business nowadays With everything that comes together automation Let’s dive in a little bit, you know So for people who may not be familiar with your world with what you do Can you give us a short version on what’s your main focus these days?Matthew Schneider (03:14)
Yeah, we’re really focused on the digitization of real estate. A lot of the paperwork, the documentation, the workflows, the ownership. We’re in the internet era. And so I’m really focused on how we can start to bring this antiquated industry online and how to realize different efficiencies from that. Some of it is automation and just the benefits of software and programming.Others is connecting to the entire world, right? You’ve got the world at your fingertips when you bring stuff online, especially capital and investments, as well as knowledge and tapping into different real estate expertise, kind of like people tuning into the podcast right now. So bringing real estate into the 21st century so that it can be faster, more streamlined, more transparent and less risky.
Leo Wehdeking (04:04)
cool man and in what markets are you operating in?Matthew Schneider (04:08)
We’re just in the U.S. right now, although our pipeline has been expanding all across the world because this is a universal conversation at this point. Everyone is trying to figure out how to modernize real estate and even future-proof it. So I’ve seen some properties from Hong Kong to Scotland that are interested in working with us, trying to figure out how to digitize, capture their data, and start to turn that into value.Leo Wehdeking (04:32)
to you something that actually caught my attention about your business ⁓ it’s the way that you’ve been able to handle all the digitization and tokenization of real estate you know and making it yeah making it ⁓you know, like available on the internet, all right? So can you be a little bit more specific with how you’ve been helping people, all right, to get used to this new type of digitized, tokenized, real estate internet world?
Matthew Schneider (05:50)
Yeah, so starting with digitization, it all comes down to a really friendly interface. We’ve all got smartphones in our pockets, so we know what it means to open up an application and start using it. But then you have to translate that over to real estate and integrate it with workflows that people are already familiar with. If you’re talking about design practices or construction workflows or financing, what does it mean to digitize that?And so we show this to people, we introduce the concepts and hold their hand a little bit as they implement a strategy to start to digitize a lot of their documentation around their properties or even some of their operations themselves. There’s so much cool technology out there that you can embed into your property and connect it to some software or dashboard and start to automate things a little bit further. mean, just think about your thermostat. That’s a really good example, but
at scale so you can realize energy efficiency by connecting things throughout your property. So we just talked to folks and asked them what are you trying to accomplish by using technology and then we really want people to realize the value of that technology. If you’re making improvements to your property, top line is probably going up. If you are improving your
your workflows or you’re saving time somewhere, your bottom line, right? After all of your expenses should also be improving. And this is value that should be realized somewhere, either in the property valuation or a friendlier spread by the bank. So lower cost of capital or better premiums by the insurance companies because it’s overall less risky and more compliance or even in your investors. Can you attract more capital? So
We help them understand how implementing these practices can start to show up as dollar signs somewhere in their property. And that’s where the tokenization idea comes in. This can be a big word for a lot of folks. And I think in the future, we won’t even be talking about it, but blockchain tokenization, they are buzzwords right now. They’re very exciting. Capital markets and real estate are changing. They’re modernizing, they’re digitizing.
The financial institutions are very excited about this. And so we just kind of introduce this concept to the real estate owners or asset managers and say, as you digitize, we hope that you can get some value out of this. For example, if you could quickly liquidate 15 % of your property, off a portion of that in a share format, almost like you’re going public, but not quite. That’s pretty cool. It’s a really quick way to bring in capital.
and doing that off of evaluation that is backed by really good data.
Leo Wehdeking (08:32)
So just to see if I understood what you were saying. Now tokenization, when you said that if you’re willing to sell 15 % of your properties. So tokenization means that everyone can actually buy that 15 % of the property.Matthew Schneider (08:50)
Kind of. There’s still regulation in place that controls who can invest into real estate. So we can’t necessarily get by that. But you can make that process of splitting up the ownership and tying that back to the property value really seamless. So if you have real time inputs on your property, imagine almost as if you were getting an appraisal every week instead of every couple of years, and then associating that withthese shares that people are buying, the same way that you see Apple stock go up and down, or you can look at the underlying information, you’re seeing something similar in real estate. And this is really interesting because real estate is often an opaque and risky market. And that’s why people avoid it sometimes. So if you can bring the data forward, have this digital strategy and have ownership that people could buy, that they could collateralize, that they could sell at a
notice, it really opens up a lot of capital opportunities for this industry.
Leo Wehdeking (10:27)
Okay, I hear you, I hear you. Now, according to everything that you’re saying, that must not be easy, right? Or it is?Matthew Schneider (10:34)
Well, currently it would not be easy, but as this new technology comes out and people are looking to implement it, yeah, there’s a lot of things that are being simplified and that’s value in and of itself. Simple saves time and that saves money.Leo Wehdeking (10:48)
Correct, correct, correct. Now Matthew, can you tell us ⁓ what’s been the recipe to keep your business running smoothly?Matthew Schneider (10:56)
Well, a lot of it is that I have quite the work ethic. So I’m always pushing things forward. I love to see progress all the time. I believe in incremental gains and this is just part of our culture. So the people that are around me and adopt that as well. And we’re always looking for ways to continuously improve. And I think that this growth mindset has just as a business, no matter what industry we’re in, elevated us.⁓ But of course, being a technology company, I’ve got different technologies embedded throughout my workflows. I’ve got every application and every tool imaginable to keep myself organized and on task and just kind of working through everything in a very timely manner. I’ll slip in one extra, think that social media, people really need to learn how to leverage that. It’s a phenomenal growth tool.
great for business development and marketing and sales even. I don’t know how you run a business without hopping on LinkedIn nowadays. It’s this growth mentality and always looking for opportunities wherever I go, whether that’s some sort of new tool or new practice to keep things growing.
Leo Wehdeking (12:06)
Cool, cool. Now, Matthew, every operator that I know has a moment where things got real. All right? Maybe a deal that went sideways or a time that you had to pivot real fast. Do you mind sharing one of those moments?Matthew Schneider (12:18)
Well, I’ve had quite a few. That’s for sure. This isn’t my first startup in the real estate industry. And one of my previous companies, that get real moments, that reality, I’ve shaped my current company now. And it’s why I took a second stab at the problem that we were trying to solve. But what we were dealing with was onboarding this massive $200 million property for a syndication effort.And now I’m not so much in syndication. Raising money is really difficult and I would prefer to put my time elsewhere. But we were working on that and this was an innovative real estate project that was using new construction methods, a new composition. instead of predominantly steel and concrete, they were looking at timber alternatives and this led to all sorts of yield on cost issues and eventually they were hit by tariffs. So
It was really struggling, but this kicked back to my own company because we were trying to service them. And ultimately, I just realized if I want to improve the real estate industry, it’s probably not going to be in syndication, which is what that company was focused on. Rather, I want to make the underlying real estate more attractive. And that brought about my current company, which is all about elevating real estate, this data-driven mentality.
finding different ways to improve the top line and the bottom line because that’s what makes deals attractive. It’s not so much the marketing, it’s whether it’s just a good real estate project. But I have many different stories that have taught me so much about how to be agile, how to pivot and just make sure that I am constantly on the move. You have to, especially when you start talking about technology, this is something that changes all the time. And so
You need to roll with the punches and figure out where you’re going to be going next.
Leo Wehdeking (14:11)
Exactly correct correct always two steps ahead. All right that’s that’s good that’s good. Now let me ask you something else. Now what are you most focused on solving or scaling next?Matthew Schneider (14:14)
That’s right.That’s a great question. I’ve been thinking a lot about standards. And here’s what I mean by that. The real estate industry is sort of like the Wild West. The way that we build, aside from safety codifications, those exist. But the way that we build, the way that we plan, even urban planning at scale, the way that we gather data and use it, appraise properties, this stuff is all over the place. And this is a big issue why there isn’t
more capital flowing into real estate because it lacks so much standardization. So we’ve been wrapping our heads around how to design almost like a gold standard for real estate or as I call it, the digital standard because we are digitizing and tokenizing real estate. So if I were to be offering a deal to someone or helping a property owner become finance ready, what boxes do they have to check through and through?
in order to make this an appealing investment, whether that’s to an investor or a financial institution, an insurance company, or even a future buyer. What do we have to do to make this very attractive? But how do we do it without consuming a lot of time? Are there ways that I can automate compliance or introduce frameworks or AI tools so that you know in the moment whether you’re adhering to all of the
rules or standards that we are supposedly implementing because you see this problem a lot people say well, let’s roll out more policy. Let’s have more laws but that’s so much to keep track of so if you use technology wisely then I think that implementing a standard or standardizing the real estate industry and market is Possible and that’s going to be a net positive for all all stakeholders in the industry
Leo Wehdeking (16:51)
Cool, cool man. Now, I know that a lot of people listening are either earlier in their journey or they’re just looking to level up like someone like you and I think they will benefit from hearing this. Now, when it comes about building relationships and growing up your network, what’s made the biggest difference for you?Matthew Schneider (17:10)
That’s another great question. And I know that we’re on a time crunch, so I can’t think about it too long, but the first thing that comes to mind is going to events. Show up, be there in person, shake hands, be impressionable. That’s really important. Just being someone that people recognize, that’s like the first part of networking, the fact that someone says, hey, I remembered you.Because you can meet people, but what becomes of it? But if someone says, this is so and so, or when they’re making an introduction, they say, you know who you really have to meet? This person. become memorable and impressionable. Have some sort of brand or character about you that people appreciate that they see value in. And they want to see you at the next event, or they want to see you on their podcast or in their network or.
They’re going to remember to send a deal your way because they think you’re a valid candidate. So just make sure that you have a presence that’s really ideal for networking. A lot of people, they can try to put themselves out there, but before they know it, they’re back in the shadows. They’re overlooked. There’s a lot of people and we all have very short attention spans and we’re also very self-absorbed. So if you want someone else to be thinking about you, you certainly have to stand out a lot.
Think of different ways that you could do that to appropriately stand out and make sure that people think about you after you’re gone. Next for networking is add value. And this certainly goes, ⁓ coincides with being impressionable, but make sure that when you show up somewhere or show up to a circle or ask someone for something that you are reciprocating value.
in some way because that’s going to ensure that you get an invite back or that someone is going to go out of their way to offer you something because it’s in kind, right? It’s mutual at that point. So figure out what it is that you know that other people don’t know that you’re the person that they go to. They want insights on something, they go to you, they see that as valuable, they want to make sure that your voice is heard over and over again. So I think that
Those are my two rules for really good networking, be impressionable and be valuable.
Leo Wehdeking (19:24)
Now Matthew before we wrap up if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out?Matthew Schneider (19:35)
LinkedIn, for sure. Matthew A. Schneider. You’ll see me on LinkedIn. I’ve got a blue profile picture with a big smiling face and I’ve closed deals on LinkedIn. I’ve met all sorts of people, spoken at all sorts of events through this medium. So I encourage people to reach out to me. You can see what I’m working on, but hopefully we’ll connect and I’ll see what you’re working on as well.Leo Wehdeking (19:37)
youMatthew Schneider (20:00)
Otherwise, if you want to learn more about some of the stuff that we do, you can go to our website, is building.inc. Super easy to remember, www.building.inc. And that’s INC, like incorporated. So the company’s called Building Inc. But either of those two areas, you’ll have hopefully lots to learn from myself and my company and the really cool things that we’re doing at the crossroads of real estate and technology.Leo Wehdeking (20:26)
Listen, I really appreciate your time, your story, and also your perspective. We need more people in this space who are actually doing it the right way. So thanks again for being over here, Matthew. And for those of you tuning in, thanks, man. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, just make sure you’re subscribed. We got more conversations coming up with operators just like Matthew, who are out there.Matthew Schneider (20:39)
Hey, it’s my pleasure.Leo Wehdeking (20:52)
building real businesses. Until then, we’ll see you on the next episode.
