ROE vs ROI: How Investors Can Scale From Small Deals to Institutional Real Estate Portfolios

Brandon Greenplate (00:00)
You’ve got to understand you make your money on the buy. Anybody that’s really serious in real estate understands that. Additionally, there’s a huge opportunity, at least in my marketplace right now, with under-rented properties. If somebody’s buying a property and the numbers are, let’s just say, day one, you don’t have to do anything, a 15 % cash on cash return, 25 % down, A, they don’t exist too much because people normally don’t sell those properties. But B, we understand when these properties are rented correctly.

and the reality is you don’t need a rental management company anymore,

Scott Bursey (02:04)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. Pros you know we only bring on the heavy hitters, the people who are not just playing the game, but are rewriting the playbook. Today we have a true visionary, Brandon Greenplate of the Greenplate Group. This man has cracked the code on building massive, operational efficient residential portfolios, and he’s bringing that high octane fuel right to your ears.

If you’re ready to scale your investments and streamline your operations, buckle up. Brandon is in the house. Brandon, welcome to the show.

Brandon Greenplate (02:42)
Scott, thank you so much for having me, big fan of the show. Looking forward to being here and dropping some really good heat here today in our session.

Scott Bursey (02:49)
So stoked to have you. And what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to leverage operational technology and unique financing strategies to rapidly scale the Green Plate Group’s residential portfolios across multiple states. That kind of growth demands precision.

Brandon Greenplate (03:10)
It certainly does, it certainly does. And there’s tons of technology coming out right now that makes this world of real estate investing and operating a game changer and a lot easier than people think.

Scott Bursey (03:23)
For our listeners who may not be familiar with your journey, please tell us how did your career begin and what is your main focus now?

Brandon Greenplate (03:31)
Absolutely, so I’ve been in the business about seven years, 2019. was actually, a licensed real estate broker as well, but I understand that buying real estate is really the name of the game at the end of the day. And I had an internship while I was still at Clemson University, actually on Hilton Head Island where I’m currently based right now with a broker that’s been here for a while. you know, just kind of stumbled into it, didn’t know what I was gonna do, was gonna go to a bigger city, didn’t have the best…

you grades wasn’t from this area a lot of people said I wouldn’t make it right in selling and buying and ⁓ so fast forward a little bit I was

in the business selling real estate throughout COVID. you know, I’m helping people make 100 % on their money in a year. And I’m sitting here, you know, getting the tips on that, right? In the form of real estate commission. I said, I really need to jump in this game. I also had a mentor of mine that started where I started selling real estate at my previous brokerage. Ultimately, he started buying real estate in 1984 and my broker at the time started selling real estate in 1984. Fast forward to today, my broker is still selling real estate. The guy buying real estate is doing whatever he wants and having fun racing cars. And so

Currently what our business looks like is we’re a real estate brokerage that specializes in short-term rental investments in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. We help our clients maximize rental revenue, obviously acquire the properties, but once they acquire them…

leverage technology and local relationships to maximize the rental revenue by automating 90 to 95 % of that entire process. Sold about almost $300 million of individual real estate. I’ve got a $14, $15 million portfolio, 30 years old, and we’re just getting started.

Scott Bursey (05:54)
That journey is pure inspiration. Let’s dive right on in. I know our listeners are going to want to hear this from you. What’s Greenplate Group’s single biggest competitive advantage right now in the market?

Brandon Greenplate (06:08)
Yeah, you know, there is ⁓ there’s a lot of people that, you know, at the time when I was getting into the business that said they they sell investment real estate. But but the reality, Scott, is none of them owned any real estate. Right. And so what what happened is through those experiences that I just shared, I started buying real estate. Right. Like first one, you know, eight hundred fifty thousand put four hundred into it. We caught the upswing in the market. Rear praise for two point seven cash out refi, bought more stuff. My point here is what differentiates us is we are.

actually invested in the market with our clients. We know the properties, we know the systems, we understand the rental real potential because a lot of stuff is under rented. At the end of the day, we are going to bring an actual investor lens and looking at it as if we are the client making that purchase and if it’s a good purchase. And so our investment expertise separates us from the pack.

Scott Bursey (06:56)
Knowing your why is everything. Let’s shift gears. What internal process currently slows down your rapid scaling the most in your view?

Brandon Greenplate (07:07)
Yeah, man, I’ve got a lot of different stuff going on, right? You know, I always have that idea in the back of my head. Chase two rabbits, catch none. Right. And so between, you know, selling $50 million of real estate individually, between running a team, having a leadership staff, buying properties, renting properties, managing properties, I have part owner in a rental management business, new developments that we’re doing. I got a lot on my plate. Right. And so sometimes I need to step back and I need to say, what is most important here? What is going to move the needle? What is the end goal? And so,

And I’m sure like a lot of visionary entrepreneurs, we put everything on our plate and we try to eat it it’s just not possible and we have to be realistic sometimes with what we can and can’t get done.

Scott Bursey (07:46)
Absolutely, and if our listeners ⁓ would like to partner with you that sort of thing what do you want them to know about your business first and foremost?

Brandon Greenplate (07:56)
First and foremost…

got to understand you make your money on the buy. Anybody that’s really serious in real estate understands that. Additionally, there’s a huge opportunity, at least in my marketplace right now, with under-rented properties. If somebody’s buying a property and the numbers are, let’s just say, day one, you don’t have to do anything, a 15 % cash on cash return, 25 % down, A, they don’t exist too much because people normally don’t sell those properties. But B, we understand when these properties are rented correctly.

and the reality is you don’t need a rental management company anymore,

what the true potential is. So the opportunity is looking at properties that people write off because heavy owner use, right? Not rented correctly, no dynamic pricing. And they’re essentially looking at a property and underwriting it at 60 % of what its true rental potential is. So we help people see that and then achieve what that true rental potential is.

Scott Bursey (08:55)
What a great breakdown. Speaking of opportunities, Brandon, which emerging market in real estate tech are you looking at right now as far as trend wise?

Brandon Greenplate (09:08)
Tech trend wise, know again my unique lens is in the short-term rental space and so, know technology wise in the short-term rental space with this AI is getting crazy and it’s really good. So I’m a big proponent of hospitable and people self managing their own short-term rentals. The technology is phenomenal, but there’s also all of these different plugins. So I’m using something right now called HostBuddy AI. And so if you’re a short-term rental host and you get bogged down with the monotonous, you know little

questions here and there that come up. You actually train host buddy for $10 a month per property. It reads all of your messages for forever. You set it custom things of like, don’t respond to this, don’t respond to that. And it will actually go in there and like the same way I talk and respond to guests, it will respond in the same way. And if there is something that comes up or it knows not to answer to it, then I will get the alert to jump in and do the manual response. It has saved me with, you know, with the 12 short term rentals that I do currently own.

hours a week of just the monotonous stuff. I mean, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much of that and you got to be on top of it and understand the pros and cons set it up correctly that can save you time in this space right now more than anything else.

Scott Bursey (10:56)
Brandon, if I’m hearing you correctly, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. The opportunities out there for those who see them are astronomical, but you must implement it correctly.

Brandon Greenplate (11:08)
100%. You have to. you don’t, you know, then there’s no reason to. And at the end of the day, you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with on your team when it comes to buying, selling, real estate, and also the technology today that you are going to be using. And it’s there.

Scott Bursey (11:28)
Brandon Curious, take us back to that first deal. The highlights, the lowlights, how did that first commission check feel? Please walk us down that path.

Brandon Greenplate (11:38)
The first deal that I sold, ⁓ resale wise, first deal that I ever sold fell apart and it didn’t sell. And it taught me this is an industry first and foremost where you’ve got to have some thick skin. Things aren’t going to go your way every single time.

Scott Bursey (11:40)
Please.

Brandon Greenplate (11:53)
Right? You know, and it’s a game of momentum when it comes to reselling and representing clients, right? You you start treating people right, you start separating yourself from the pack and provide the value that people are really looking for and you work hard, good things are going to happen, right? And it was just a snowball momentum game. But yeah, funny. My first deal fell apart.

Scott Bursey (12:13)
If you had to drop one service or asset tight tomorrow, what would it be and why Brandon? We got to know.

Brandon Greenplate (12:21)
What service I would drop. ⁓ would. When you’re saying service, you’re saying more of like you know what we provide service wise or what we’re using.

Scott Bursey (12:23)
Drop, drop cold turkey.

Acid type.

Brandon Greenplate (12:34)
⁓ man, office space. I think there’s a higher and better use. And a lot of the retail stuff, like we were talking earlier as well, like we were talking about old bank buildings, On our 12-mile island, we had probably 100,000 square feet of bank buildings within a four-mile radius, right? And we actually…

done some projects with that stuff. But I think taking these older retail spaces now with technology coming out that offices aren’t full or nobody’s walking into the bank anymore and they don’t need that 20,000 square foot building, there’s opportunity for housing and getting it into workforce housing, multifamily housing, that kind of stuff is the biggest opportunity.

Scott Bursey (13:18)
Brandon you’re 30 years old if you had a million right now to play with starting all over again where would you put it and why?

Brandon Greenplate (13:28)
love it. Great question. If I would have had a million cash right now starting over, I would find… So the markets that I’m really hot on right now, you know, obviously I’m in Hilton Head, low country resort area, but really everywhere from 95, Highway 95 on the East Coast towards the coast, from really Myrtle Beach, Charleston to Savannah. So let’s say Savannah, Bluffton, Beaufort, right, the Edisto area, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, all of that stuff, guys, it needs to be on your radar.

if you’re listening to this podcast. Second is if I were to do that, I mean, I would go find a multifamily. There was actually one maybe six months ago in downtown Savannah, 24 unit for 875. That 24 unit gutted just the concrete, right? The zoning was already in place. It needed about $2 million to come to put it together. I would probably take that 750, put it down and.

bundle together both a purchase and renovation loan and buy a multifamily in downtown Savannah, Georgia, because it is that hot right now.

Scott Bursey (14:31)
Absolutely. Brandon, you’ve given us so much fuel already, but now it’s time for the high octane stuff. This is the money question. Given the current market volatility, what is the single most counterintuitive piece of advice you would give a pro looking to move from a handful of properties to a fully scalable institutional grade portfolio and what systems must they have in place before attempting that leap?

Brandon Greenplate (14:37)
Let’s go. Let’s do it.

Yeah, I mean, it’s a big leap. I’m a big proponent, guys, of always weighing your ROE, your return on equity versus your return on investment, right? So you got to look at your current portfolio and say, how is it performing, right? And how much equity do I have in that current property, properties, right? And so does it make sense maybe to liquidate some stuff that you might have a lot of equity in the property, but the ROI isn’t very good right now.

And what I’m looking at is, is there an opportunity to create a value add and to force more equity, right, with this new portfolio that I’m going into? And then after I force the equity, still have the opportunity to have that higher ROI. So what I would say is look long-term. find a lot of people that are just focused so short-term, right? Look at both the ROE versus the ROI.

And you really need to align that with your goals. Like, you know, we were talking earlier, if I’m 65, 70 years old, I’m after the cash flow, my friend, man, and that’s what I’m buying. But I’m 30 years old, I want that equity. And so where can I create the equity and what is your goal and how does that align if you’re looking to make a shift in your portfolio is what I would ask myself and what I would think through.

Scott Bursey (16:45)
That’s knowledge bomb after bomb.

you brought the fuel, my friend. And if our listeners want to partner with you, follow your journey, collaborate with you, what is the best way for them to reach you?

Brandon Greenplate (16:57)
Hey guys, hit me up on Instagram, ⁓ at Brandon, B-R-A-N-D-O-N dot green plate, G-R-E-E-N-P-L-A-T-E. You can also find me on LinkedIn, I’m all over the internet. And I would love to connect, and if I don’t have the solution you’re looking for, I have somebody that does have the solution you’re looking for.

Scott Bursey (17:15)
Brandon Greenplate everybody. Brandon, thanks for being on the show.

Brandon Greenplate (17:20)
Scott, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Love the show and God bless.

Scott Bursey (17:25)
And for our listeners,

thank you for listening today. We appreciate each and every one of you. If you got value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We have exceptional guests, just like Brandon coming up, who are making huge moves in the market. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.