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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Micah Johnson interviews Buck Joffrey, a former surgeon turned real estate investor. Buck shares his journey into real estate, discussing the current market landscape, strategies for capitalizing on opportunities, and the importance of education and teamwork in the industry. He emphasizes the cyclical nature of real estate and the potential for significant returns in the coming years, urging listeners to take action now while opportunities are available.
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Buck Joffrey (00:00)
There is not going to be these huge discounts. So then if you look into 2027, to me, what’s happening is not as much, know, there’s not that discount stuff there anymore. Huge amounts of money coming in from money markets because the yield is going to go down because of interest rates going down. There’s over trillion dollars ofmore in money markets sitting there, smart money that is going to start chasing yield. That is exactly when things are going to start shifting into income producing real estate.
Micah Johnson (02:01)
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Buck Joffrey, who’s been making some serious moves in real estate now for the last seven years. Buck, welcome in, man. Glad to have you.Buck Joffrey (02:12)
Yeah. Hey, thanks for having me.Micah Johnson (02:15)
Absolutely. Absolutely. I’m excited for our talk today. You’ve got quite a unique background when it comes to real estate, where you got here from. So let’s dive in on that for our folks listening in who may not be familiar with you yet.Tell us a more about yourself and what your main focus is right now.
Buck Joffrey (02:29)
Well, I started out as a surgeon. I mentioned, I basically went down the usual path of like the a student, you know, as Robert Kiyosaki would say. ⁓ But I ended up ⁓ after a few years in practice and. ⁓I essentially shifted completely to real estate and, ⁓ you know, shut the doors and practice, just realized that I wanted to just go full time, in the space, started a podcast and try to get people interested in, in what I, and what was out there beyond, you know, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. And, yeah, so I started that started, ⁓ you know, I’ve been in real estate now for, well, I would say for 15 years, ⁓ or more now since residency, but.
started syndicating real estate about seven, eight years ago. And yeah, that’s what I do.
Micah Johnson (03:16)
Gotcha.Love that, man. Now take us back for a second. You’ve got quite a history in real estate before you even started yourself. Tell us some more of your story about how you got to where you are today.
Buck Joffrey (03:27)
Well, you know, it’s ⁓ actually, it wasn’t hard for me to find real estate because I grew up with it. ⁓ My dad is an immigrant and came here as an engineer, professional, just kind of like the way I turned out, right? Like as a doctor. But in his case, he kind of got the real estate bug pretty quickly after, you know, a couple of years in this country. Nothing fancy, right? Single family homes, ⁓ know, duplexes, things like that. And that’s basically what he’s done his entire life, right? Nothing fancy, but whatI saw from that as a great way to build wealth. so for me, wasn’t a big, you know, well, let’s go into real estate. Real estate was sort of the natural move, right?
So, ⁓ yeah. So, when I started making money about some apartment buildings early on and, ⁓ was trying to learn, ⁓ myself more about sort of how to get bigger and what else to do. Started listening to some podcasts, podcasts seemed to hit sort of part of what I wanted, but I was a guy who was wanting to do things bigger and already had some money. there wasn’t much for me. So I started my own podcast and my own investor group at that point. And we started, ⁓ buying a bunch of, multifamily real estate. ⁓
Micah Johnson (04:06)
Love that, man.Buck Joffrey (04:36)
of it throughout the country. We’ve done a couple billion dollars in transactions and a lot of equity probably three, four hundred, I’d say probably in terms of real estate, about a half billion dollars in equity. So that’s kind of what I do.Micah Johnson (04:57)
Love that man. All right. So you, you’ve seen it your whole life. Now you’re into that multifamily space. You’ve got quite some experience there too. What are you seeing today inthe ⁓ niche that you’re in specifically? What’s going on in that marketplace?
Buck Joffrey (05:59)
Well, like a lot of real estate, we took a beating because of the ⁓ interest rates going historically accelerating at a historical pace. Right. And I mean, I mean, everybody got, everybody got hurt by that. And the good thing is ⁓ that when you have something like that, also creates opportunity. And I think that’s where we’re at right now. The big thing that is happening right now that I think I’m trying to blow the horn on getting people in to see this is that we are.at the end of this sort of down cycle in my view. We’ve got a ton of bridge debt that was floating. That stuff is going pretty much expire by the end of this year. Okay. But what’s happening is we’re seeing properties, we’re buying properties 30, 40 % discounted.
Micah Johnson (06:42)
Okay.Buck Joffrey (06:50)
⁓ huge cost-based reductions, not because these properties are not functioning. It’s just, you know, the, the, the debt is expiring. There’s no way these guys are going to refinance. It sucks for them, but what we’re going to do is we’re going to buy it. Now here’s the thing. We’re buying things that are, are, you know, cash flowing at today’s interest rates, today’s, you know, new set, ⁓ you know, variables that we have up in place.Micah Johnson (07:15)
Right.Buck Joffrey (07:16)
But I want to tell people this is that Trump just announced Kevin Warsh as the new Fed chair. Kevin Warsh has gone on record saying, literally, I think that interest rates can be brought down a lot. He really, he used the word a lot. Okay. Now, if you focus on that and you look at people who made a lot of money in the eighties and the nineties, a lot of it was simply luck. And I say luck because what happened was they bought good stuff. Okay.they were going to do fine, but all of sudden you had a reduction, you get into a descending interest rate environment.
Again, that descending interest rate environment that compresses cap rates. At the same time, all this bad debt is going to be gone in 2026.
Micah Johnson (07:54)
Right.Buck Joffrey (08:04)
There is not going to be these huge discounts. So then if you look into 2027, to me, what’s happening is not as much, know, there’s not that discount stuff there anymore. Huge amounts of money coming in from money markets because the yield is going to go down because of interest rates going down. There’s over trillion dollars ofmore in money markets sitting there, smart money that is going to start chasing yield. That is exactly when things are going to start shifting into income producing real estate.
So that confluence of things we’re talking about end of bad debt, end of distressed financial stuff like that.
Micah Johnson (08:34)
Mm. Mm.Buck Joffrey (08:43)
the compression of cap rates because interest rates coming down, and then a shift of smart, big institutional money into real estate all at the same time. And I think what you’re going to see is 12 to 18 months from now, you could very easily go from what everybody knows right now is a depressed real estate market into switching into a potential frothy market. That could be two years from now. And so that’s why I thinkMicah Johnson (09:07)
Right.Buck Joffrey (09:09)
trying to make sure that you’re prepared to be a net seller in that environment is really critical.Micah Johnson (09:16)
And what are you doing to make sure you’re prepared? How can folks that are listening in be ready to take advantage of what’s coming?Buck Joffrey (09:23)
You gotta buy now. You gotta buy now. Like I think if you’re seeing things at 30, 40 % discount from a few years ago, like I said, we’re doing one right now that, you know, we’re buying, you know, like 40 %discount basis compared to even one year ago from comps, right? If you can get that kind of deal right now, I think you got to not be scared because you know, this is when people make money. You know, it’s this is when people make money. It’s not when everybody gets on board and wants to invest in real estate because it’s a frothy market because everybody else is making money. They saw people making
You want to be on that side where you’re accumulating assets now that you can sell two years or three years from now.
Micah Johnson (10:44)
Right. And so y’all do it nationwide, correct? You’re out there looking all around. Is there any particular locations you’re seeing more of that or hotter markets? What are you noticing?Buck Joffrey (10:56)
Yeah, so ⁓ yeah, we’re all over the place. You know, we’re in in Texas, Arizona, Atlanta, ⁓ Carolinas. We’ve been hitting the Carolinas real hard lately. ⁓ Just, you know, these these these are these are incredible markets that have.huge population growth. think generally speaking, you’re finding that there was a lot of building going on, but a lot of that’s getting absorbed and there’s not a lot of startups in the last couple of years because of interest rates again. Great markets to look at. mean, obviously we like Phoenix, we like Dallas and all that too, but we’ve been hitting the Carolinas a lot.
One of the goals for us is to build up a significant portfolio ⁓ in the Carolina markets, for example. And then again, when a couple of years comes down, you can wrap up seven or eight properties and sell to a really big institutional buyer at a premium. So that’s kind of what we’re looking at.
Micah Johnson (11:53)
Man, that’s fascinating. One thing I love about real estate is, you’re right, it’s cyclical. Where are you at in it? Identify all the data points, what’s out there. And like you’re saying, those folks that got rich after the 80s and 90s, they would think interest rates are cheap right now, that same person, right? So it’s really a mentality towards what an interest rate is and then how to leverage it.Buck Joffrey (12:10)
Yeah. Yeah.Micah Johnson (12:18)
You know, a couple of years ago, there was so much moaning and so many things. It’s like, get it. It’s, hard. It’s not easy to do, but what you were just pointing out now is when the best rise to the top. This is when the deals exists. Like you can wipe that blood off your face a little bit, get your nose down there and start finding deals out there in the markets. You’re finding them a 40 % discount on a property at a year ago comp. That’s not insignificant, man. That’s a real deal. And people have been looking for deals for a while.Buck Joffrey (12:37)
Yeah.No, no, no.
That’s right. And, you know, we’ve been lucky because we’re big enough buyer where, you know, we get these things off market, right? We’re not, we’re not, ⁓ we’re not waiting for things to go on. There’s distress, there’s distress out there and they know to, you know, they start looking for quick outs, you know, they got one month left to do it. Can you do it? Yeah, we can do it. So.
Micah Johnson (12:54)
Right.Right. Well, it’s where buyer, again, those professional buyers are best positioned in the hardest markets. Like if you’ve cut your teeth and positioned yourself well to be a professional investor in this market, that’s the benefit right there, especially in the off market properties. They don’t have time. Time’s not what they had. They can’t list it. They can’t do those things. They’ve gotten to a crunch now where it’s like in the single family world foreclosure. It’s coming like you.
Buck Joffrey (13:14)
Right.Micah Johnson (13:33)
You’re either selling the property or it’s being taken from you. Which one do you want? And now it’s like, okay, let’s get out there and take it. And those don’t happen at ideal times. Like again, it has something like we just walked through has to happen to create the environments we get.Buck Joffrey (13:37)
Yep.know, Micah, I think…
Well, problem is a lot of people in this market, even, you know, passive investors got cut, you know, they had some pain. And the real reality is that if you can get the intestinal fortitude to go out there and look at what reality actually is right now, you can make up for it more if you actually do something about it. So you just got to not be scared right now. You got to look at what the reality on the ground is. And it’s pretty clear.
Micah Johnson (13:57)
Right?Right, right. So 2026, y’all have a target on the number of properties you’re trying to find or as many as you can get in the next year.
Buck Joffrey (14:25)
⁓ You know, probably we’ve already done two, probably looking at maybe doing another seven. Yeah.Micah Johnson (14:32)
Nice,nice, excellent. All in that Carolina market.
Buck Joffrey (14:35)
Not necessarily, no, we did one in Phoenix. ⁓ We did one in Carolina. We’re currently doing one in Carolina, ⁓ in Raleigh. And yeah, and then we’ll just see what comes up. Just being able to have your radar out for the entire market, multiple markets, makes it more efficient.Micah Johnson (14:45)
Right on.For sure, for sure. And it’s really the key to scale in that, in that industry. Like if you’re looking for a lot of doors, you got to leave your backyard.
If you’re trying to find the deals and the things that you need to do. Now, were you always that way out of the gate? Were you leaving the backyard looking all around the nation? No.
Buck Joffrey (15:53)
no, no, no, no. Iwas in Chicago ⁓ early on and I…
stuff I was doing was local, right? And honestly, early on, just, again, so much of real estate is like, okay, you buy something that works in the current environment, cash flows, and sometimes you really get lucky, right? And you end up in my situation, what happened was, I bought a few, couple of decent 15, 20 unit apartment buildings in the Chicago area, and areas started to gentrify. So it went from being kind of a working class
neighborhood, all of a everybody want to live there. Right. So I able to like, you know, triple my money in like two years. And, you know, that I could, I pretend I’m a genius, but sometimes a lot of this stuff comes down to buying solid assets that work in the current environment and then holding on. And sometimes you hit it out of the park because of things like, you know, not, not knowing it’s going to happen. Now, obviously you’re going to do value added and continue to create value, but
Sometimes those situations happen. like, for example, right now, think the macro picture is the wild card. It’s the thing that I think could all of a sudden really turn a lot of these properties that are going to be singles and doubles into home runs.
Micah Johnson (17:14)
love that man. Now it’s, it’s, I’ve always been of the persuasion that you hit more home runs when you make sure you’re good at singles and doubles. Like you’re saying, like buying really good things. If you’re only, if you’re going out there only looking for home runs one, you’re going to strike out a lot. And the key to what I’ve really heard, what you’ve said is keeping yourself in the game. When at whatever the environment, how do you keep playing, making sure you’re buying solid assets is always the answer. No matter the market environment, just understandingBuck Joffrey (17:21)
That’s right.Right.
Yep.
Micah Johnson (17:43)
What am I buying? Making sure that you’re taking into the account. That’s why I appreciate podcasts like yours where you’re talking about that macro. It’s not so much individual deal basis, right? It’s explaining here’s what’s really happening in the big world of things. And then here’s how you dial it down to where you are. Because that’s where I’m very big on real estate education, learning from people who are doing it.Buck Joffrey (17:53)
Yeah.Yeah.
Micah Johnson (18:07)
Causeif they’re not still doing it, they’re not keeping up with what’s happening. And it is an ever changing environment. So it’s like making sure you tap into professionals like yourself is something I am highly about because that’s the way we learn. That’s the way we know from other investors, other professionals who are telling us. And if you’re listening and watching in and trying to do this all on your own in a bubble, don’t, don’t that’s not where success lives. This is a team sport, real estate’s team sport.
Buck Joffrey (18:21)
Right. That’s right.Yeah.
Micah Johnson (18:36)
build that crew around you, find folks you can learn from. So that main message on your podcast lately, what has it been? Pretty much what you’ve been talking about today. Pay attention.Buck Joffrey (18:39)
100%.Yeah, 100%. I think I hit the macro very, very hard. Now, I try to make sure that we don’t just become singularly focused on real estate. There’s a lot going on in the world right now, right? And there’s lots of opportunities you look across. And I’ve not traditionally been a stocks guy, right? But it’s hard to ignore what’s going on with artificial intelligence. It’s silly just to pretend that isn’t happening. So is opportunities. There’s opportunities.
Micah Johnson (19:10)
Hmm.Right.
Buck Joffrey (19:15)
you know, energy sector, there’s opportunities, ⁓ you know, it’s all over the place. So what we try to do is do macro and just broad education for across the board in for personal finance, people who want to be educated and make educated decisions about what they’re doing.Micah Johnson (19:33)
I love that, man. I love that. Bringing the opportunities out. Cause that’s, it’s funny. I’m not surrounded by too many people anymore that don’t see all the opportunity all around them all the time. Right. But once you see that and realize it, it’s everywhere. And it’s really getting clear on what do you want to do? There’s, there’s opportunity. can wear the stock market out if you want. You can wear energy out. You can wear real estate out, do all three diversify and be smart about it. Like, but that’s the beauty of it is, man, we are surrounded by opportunity in our world.Buck Joffrey (19:47)
Yeah.Yeah? Yep.
Yep.
Micah Johnson (20:03)
Wehear a lot that makes it seem like that’s not the case, but when you really, like you’re talking about, look at the data, look at what’s on the ground, look what’s actually happening. It’s there. If you can get the information, education, partner with the right people, we’re in an environment where you can capitalize.
Buck Joffrey (20:20)
Yep, agree 100%.Micah Johnson (20:23)
Well, Buckman, I love these kinds of conversations. I myself enjoy learning the macro things. I appreciate your time story perspective here today. So for folks that are listening in that want to be able to check you out, see what your show has going on, what’s the best way for them to find you?Buck Joffrey (20:28)
Yeah, you bet.Yeah, I mean, it’s Wealth Formula Podcast. We’re on all the channels. You know, if you listen to podcasts, if you watch podcasts, Spotify, ⁓ Apple, know, YouTube, wherever, just look up Wealth Formula Podcast and you’ll find us.
Micah Johnson (20:52)
Excellent, man. Thank you for sharing. If you’re listening and watching in right now, check the show notes. We’ll make sure all bucks links are there where you can check out his website, find his podcast. Like I always recommend on this show, when you meet a professional, when we bring someone on who’s good at what they do, listen to them, take their advice. There’s a reason why they’re there. I’ve been mentioning the richest man in Babylon lately. Don’t take jewel advice from the brick maker. Okay. Find the folks who know what the heck they’re talking about.Buck Joffrey (21:17)
There you go.Micah Johnson (21:21)
and listen to them. again, Buck, man, thanks for being here today. Bring some value. Appreciate you. Absolutely. If you all got value out of today’s episode, please like this episode. Share it with someone else you think could get value out of it as well. As always, please don’t forget to subscribe. We appreciate every single one of you that follows along out there with us. We’ve got more conversations coming up with operators just like Buck out there building a real business in the industry. Thanks for being with us. We’ll see you on the next episode.
