Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Real Estate Empire with Dr. Caroline Jaffee

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Show Summary

In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Micah Johnson speaks with Dr. Caroline Jaffee, a seasoned real estate expert with a rich family legacy in the industry. Dr. Jaffee shares her current focus on mentoring individuals in real estate investment, emphasizing the importance of work ethic, consistency, and education. She discusses her early experiences in real estate, the significance of global connectivity, and the impact of giving back to the community. The conversation highlights the evolving landscape of real estate, including sustainable projects and the importance of clarity in investment strategies.

Resources and Links from this show:

• • • Investor Fuel Real Estate Mastermind
    • Investor Machine Real Estate Lead Generation
    • Mike on Facebook
    • Mike on Instagram
    • Mike on LinkedIn
    • ErFinc’s Website
    • Dr. Caroline Jaffee’s Phone Number: (404) 731-2143

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (00:00)
  Let’s get you to the point that you’re diving in the pool, but you’re working up to your pace and then you’re not getting stagnant because you’re challenging yourself. Okay. But let’s not go to the point that we are trying to break Michael Phelps record. Okay. ⁓ in just a few short minutes, let’s give ourselves a minute of time and a plan, and then we’ll improvise, adapt and overcome as we need to.

  Micah Johnson (00:25)
  Right.

  everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Dr. Caroline Jaffee, who’s been making some serious moves in real estate since pretty much birth. Dr. Caroline, welcome in. Glad to have you.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (02:15)
  Good to be here, Micah. Thank you so much for the invitation. I greatly appreciate it.

  Micah Johnson (02:21)
  Absolutely, absolutely. I’m excited for our talk today. Our listeners are gonna find out what I’ve learned in our pre-recording calls that you’ve been at this a long time. There’s a family history and really just your way of going about it. I love your passion for what you do. So let’s dive in. People may not know you yet. What’s your main focus right now and what markets do you operate in?

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (02:43)
  Basically, my main focus right now is creating more of a mentoring environment for folks that are within the United States, as well as those that might be from other marketplaces globally. We have a 25-year tenure working with people from literally all over the planet ⁓ that are interested in some type of real estate investing, some type of portfolio building, some type of ⁓ leveraging of funds and assets, some type of moving forward.

  right with projects that they are building and those projects are vast they could be ⁓ tremendously different from land development to resort development ⁓ to luxury resort development including cruise ship lanes and ⁓ amphitheaters and all kinds of different cool things or they could be multi-family you know they could be hey we want to build another

  You 50 units another 200 units we want to build another 300 units ⁓ whatever that might entail it could also be something like an entertainment complex it could be something like a shopping center or something such as that ⁓ vaguely familiar with hospitals and medical not as much as the other pieces that I’ve advised so far. ⁓ However ⁓ we also see that there’s a tremendous amount of interest right now.

  in different parts of the world. And that’s really including a lot of green effort to help Mother Earth. There’s green building materials that are being facilitated. There’s different energy sources that are being facilitated. There’s electricity that’s being made from waste and garbage, if you will. ⁓ There’s a lot of different aspects to helping Mother Earth that’s being included in creations of things like smart cities.

  I’ve served on committee for the Government Affairs Committee in different states with ⁓ holding a real estate license or whatever that might be. ⁓ But realistically, as a consultant, I think that one of the most interesting ⁓ trends that I’m seeing and that I’ve gotten to be invited to take part ⁓ in pieces of creating smart cities,

  be they in Africa.

  We’ve gotten a couple of different projects there that we’ve been able to talk about. We’ve been able to talk with engineers without borders. We’ve been able to see interns and college students and graduate students that have tremendous talent coming to the table with everything from, hey, there’s this battery that we that we’re creating that we’ve done R &D on. That battery might be able to power not just a cruise ship, but a barge.

  Or perhaps there’s a way that we can get some of the fuel ⁓ to combine with these electric ⁓ components. Maybe there’s a way that we can use hemp for something other than rope and clothing. Well, honey, there is. It’s called concrete. And you can use that ridiculously effective in so many different things. It is so cool. It also gives the architectural structure of the buildings.

  A tremendously different feel and flavor. So there’s all kinds of neat things that are taking place around our planet with people that are really interested in not just enjoying their moment with their family, but also giving back to others in our communities, ⁓ in our countries. You know, that community could be a nation or it could be a small Providence, right? So there’s a different feel and flavor.

  Micah Johnson (06:56)
  Really?

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (07:22)
  that I get excited about and that always goes back to the mentoring. I’m at a place, luckily, that I don’t have to worry about a pipeline necessarily. I can actually focus on helping others to grow their pipeline or start a pipeline. Let’s say that you don’t know anything about commercial real estate, nor do you know anything about investing in it. Okay, that sounds good. Let’s say that now you wanna do your first multifamily, you’ve had some single family.

  Now you want to jump into multi, you want to swim in that pool. Great, let’s swim in that pool. But let’s do it step by step in a methodical way that has had proven results so that your exposure to possible issue, drama and stress becomes limited and your availability to put energy and positivity and actually get something acquired and make it successful becomes greater.

  OK so I do like a five deal or 50 million whichever comes first a small fee a monthly coaching platform basically is how it works OK and we schedule what class times or mentorship times are going to be available for them over the next three weeks with calendar those things out we get on zoom call just like this we walk through what they need and what they want but also what they have to have.

  Okay, so there’s a great thing about needs once and have tos. Okay, everybody has them, right? But we just need to get them organized a little bit so that we’re not just talking about, yeah, I’ll just go to the bank and get a loan and yippee. I think SBA handles that, right? Like a 7A, 7B. I don’t really know for sure anything about them because I’ve never done this before, but I think I’m just gonna go ahead and dive in that pool. Well, okay.

  Micah Johnson (08:51)
  Mm.

  Right? Right.

  Right.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (09:17)
  Let’s get you to the point that you’re diving in the pool, but you’re working up to your pace and then you’re not getting stagnant because you’re challenging yourself. Okay. But let’s not go to the point that we are trying to break Michael Phelps record. Okay. ⁓ in just a few short minutes, let’s give ourselves a minute of time and a plan, and then we’ll improvise, adapt and overcome as we need to.

  Micah Johnson (09:43)
  Right.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (09:48)
  Does that make sense?

  Micah Johnson (09:48)
  Right.

  Right. It does. It does. And it’s what makes honestly good mentoring and coaching valuable is it keeps you in the right. The right thing happens at the right time. Right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing. And that is where a lot of stuff gets off. It’s not that you’re doing the wrong thing. It’s the right thing. You’re just not doing it at the right time. And the sequencing is everything

  when it comes to that. So I appreciate that for sure. Just the viewpoint. Now let’s take them back.

  What led you to having all of this expertise? How’d you get to where you are today?

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (10:56)
  Well, I was very, blessed. was born into a family that real estate is not taught, it’s experienced. Okay. ⁓ My grandfather was a commercial real estate developer. He had lots of different little businesses going as well. Entrepreneurial is definitely something that is a family theme.

  I have served as vice president of the Real Estate Investment Trust. I have helped in different areas of the financial aspects of how we do things and why we do them that way, the planning out of things as well. So realistically, I was raised in this business. ⁓ My grandfather always told us that if we couldn’t do math, we didn’t need to be in real estate. We’d need to go and get some other type of a degree.

  so that we could make a weekly paycheck and somebody could feed us for the rest of our days. So that’s the way he made us realize that, first of all, forget about a calculator. Up until the time we were 10, 12 years old, ⁓ none of us were able to use a calculator. We had to actually do math in our head. And he was a ⁓ very strong person as far as act right, do right, be right.

  And that made sense to us. He also made sure that we were able to be raised on a farm. And I know that a lot of people don’t have that kind of experience or haven’t had that kind of life experience at an early age. But when you’re out there working for egg money, that means that you’re out there working with chickens, okay? And you’re going out and it’s early o’clock in the morning. It’s, my goodness, the sun’s not up and the moon’s still out. And you’re out there

  doing what needs to be done and taking care of animals and showing up every day and it’s a consistent thing. ⁓ And then you’re able to take those little eggs and you’re able to barter them ⁓ for things like candy and gum and cool stuff that every child needs so you know that’s kind of how I started okay in this and he said that we had to go to a pracer school first before we could do anything else so.

  Micah Johnson (13:04)
  Right.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (13:13)
  got the appraisers licenses and then, you know, able to do project management, able to do ⁓ commercial investing, performance, ⁓ work with bankers and lenders and folks that are issuing SBLCs and top tier banks and understanding, you know, what the different tiers of banking are. If there’s a tier one G7, then that’s a good fella or a nice young lady to get to know. ⁓ You know, you just sort of have to fall into it. ⁓

  I think wherever your comfort level lies, whatever you gravitate toward is always helpful. And then learn as you go, but learn in small steps that are effective, efficient, consistent.

  Micah Johnson (14:01)
  I couldn’t agree more education is it’s the number one thing in any anything is to be is to educate yourself, but especially in real estate. What I appreciate about your grandfather is he literally taught you basically the same method you use now. Work ethic work ethic up front, then special specialization after that, like learn how to work, then learn how to work at a specific thing. Learn this and then keep applying it because it’s

  Learning how to work, that’s every human’s job. Like how to have your own work ethic. And it’s not a born with thing. It’s a learning just to do it thing. Some like it more than others. ⁓ I grew up out in the sticks myself. I remember being 13 is the first time I worked on somebody else’s farm, watermelons, where you’re up again before daylight. You’re walking mile long rows all day. You’re with…

  10 other people and you’re just working and you’re in the Florida sun. But I look at it now and it paid me the most money I ever made at that time, right? You’re working on a farm, it’s like seven bucks an hour, you’re super excited, you have money at the end of the week.

  However, I get more value out of it now than I did then.

  learning how to work hard then has taught me, it teaches me more each day. Like I value the experience more and more each day, even when some days I wasn’t so fond of it out there, but it’s, once you do that, you learn that work ethic and put in that time, it’s amazing what it does for you just as a person.

  just how you feel about yourself. feel like, like if I don’t know it is because I don’t want to know it, not because I can’t know it, right? I can go learn whatever I want to learn. I can go do whatever I want to do. And that kind of empowerment, it comes from working hard and getting jobs done and not just one or two, but a consistent basis for it. That’s where sports are really helpful to me during the school year. You farmed all summer, you played sports during the school year, and you were always at practice. You were always doing something.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (16:23)
  Exactly.

  Micah Johnson (16:43)
  that got you working in the world I was in. I appreciate it every day now, because it doesn’t stop helping.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (16:50)
  It sure doesn’t and let me tell you, know, listen, you’re right. ⁓ Learning how to work, learning how to be consistent, learning how to show up, know, ⁓ learning how to show up for yourself, but also learning how to show up for those that are dependent upon you or for those that are within your ⁓ purview of helpful collaboration. Okay, so that’s kind of an interesting thought for a second.

  where you were doing the farm work and then you were doing the sports, I was doing the trials of the horses, right? For like the three day eventing, I eventually worked up to that. For the ⁓ reigning associations and such, I eventually worked up to that. ⁓ But realistically, I started my first hunt seat class at six years old. So, know, every day we were at the barn, you know, every day.

  Micah Johnson (17:42)
  Right.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (17:47)
  We were working with the horses. Now I didn’t know that staying in the stall and not being at every single mall was doing me so much good at that time. All of my friends, we were the same. We said, okay, if there’s a fella, know, once we got to high school and whatnot, if there’s a fella that we’re interested in and they want to hang out with us, well, you know what? They’d come to the barn, you know? And I’m sure you might’ve had that experience in your moment, but you know, realistically that’s how

  Micah Johnson (18:11)
  Right.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (18:17)
  That’s how those communities work. And if the fella can actually interact with the horse and the horse likes that guy, then hey, he’s date material. We can actually go and hang out. But they’re tested, I’m telling you. It’s just that way. So once you find someone that your horse gets along with, then that’s a long-term relationship right there. Because horses hang out and they’re

  Micah Johnson (18:42)
  Right?

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (18:45)
  parts of our family for 30, 35 years, you know, it’s not just a little, a little short term relationship, you know, so you, so your, your mindset, I guess is, is ⁓ always your perception, you know, and, and, and how you’re viewing the world and everybody has their own filter ⁓ for that. And I think that when you grow up in a farming community and you grow up working ⁓ every day with animals,

  Micah Johnson (18:50)
  They’re not short term.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (19:13)
  and you have those responsibilities even as a six year old or seven year old kid, ⁓ it changes your perception and it changes the way in which you’re going to tackle a challenge. OK, it’s going to be different than someone that’s not had that experience. And then, you know, in the mentoring piece I started during COVID doing the. What is it? The virtual ⁓ Thursdays a class lasted I think two hours.

  We were able to attract people from all over the world. It was so much fun. And we had folks from different levels of experience, people that were investors, people that had real estate license, people that were brokers, people that were from the banking segments, people that were actually ⁓ working heavily in lending for commercial projects, people that were issuing SBLCs, people that knew about how you have to go about getting one of those standby letters of credit, people that know about how you’re going to take that into an international level.

  and get the equivalency of an SPLC without being in the United States because there is a difference. ⁓ People that are leasing, people that are asking to purchase, people that are leveraging assets, people that are leveraging their money and leveraging it the smarter ways. ⁓ We were able to have those folks coming in to some of these sessions and it was just a lot of fun. We had a great time and I just kept doing it. ⁓ The way in which people get started with me is very organic. It’s very simple.

  You simply send me a text message. 4047312143, Dr. Caroline Jaffee. My doctorates in philosophy, not in anything mathematics. I know you’re shocked, right? Because I was too. And I’m serious. It’s like what? And you know, because again, I learned through real estate, the diversity of humans can be appreciated more than it can be detested or feared. Okay? Bottom line, big life lesson. All right?

  ⁓ People that are doing things are coming together regardless of background, regardless of how we were raised, if it was a farm environment or if you were raised in a city. People are coming together because A, the world has gotten so much smaller in our lifetime. Micah, I mean, how long has it been that every day, you know, there’s a smaller community, but it’s worldwide. And our connectivity has increased tremendously.

  So folks can just say, hey, I wanna text Dr. Caroline. I wanna start with the mentoring program. I’ll sign you up. It’s simple, it’s organic. It’s not a big deal. We’ll get rolling. And the good news is you’ll get trotting forward, okay? My goal is to get people off at a good trot that’s gonna be consistent for them for five years, okay? Not, we’re gonna do one deal and then see you later, bye. I’ve got friends from all over the place. I’ve had them for 20 something years.

  And most of them I’ve helped in some capacity or they’ve helped me. you know, having that community build is huge. And then figuring out, huh, well, golly gee, I got to 50 million in my portfolio. What am I going to do now? okay. What else is there? Well, my goodness, honey, there’s something called giving back. There’s something called, how do you want your vehicle of community help to look?

  Okay, do you want to be rolling in a Bentley convertible or do you want to be rolling in a Jag or do you want to be rolling in a Ford F-150 from 1972? Which one? I don’t care. It’s up to y’all. Okay, but whatever it is, I want you to be comfy cozy in it. And nine times out of 10, folks will get together and like they’re going to JV to buy a large investment in real estate, like a hotel, a boutique hotel. By the way, we’ve got experience in those two.

  But maybe they want to do something on a 501 C3 basis, a nonprofit. Maybe they want to come together and help sports with children. Maybe they want to help kids that are in the defects custody system. Now that speaks to me because I’ve worked in that for 18 years in horse therapy. We have helped kids from all walks of life that are in a foster home environment.

  Micah Johnson (23:24)
  you

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (23:36)
  Over 3,572 families to date have been assisted. Foster parents have been trained. Interns have been able to try on those jeans of, I want a career in psychology or large animal veterinary. There’s a span, okay, of where you want to go. But they try on those jeans before they get to college, okay, and they see how they fit for 26 weeks. And if they fit really good and snug and actually perfect, then yee-haw, let’s go.

  You know, but if it’s something that they tried the jeans on and they just don’t fit, then we know, hey, look around for whatever is going to fit. Let us help you figure that out. Right. You can start out in large animal veterinary or ag and figure out, well, I like being a social worker. I like that. Or I want to be a psychologist for kids, or I want to go and be a neurologist for children or for adults, or I want to focus on folks that are, you know.

  Unfortunately, having trouble with recollection and memory and having ⁓ early onset issues ⁓ in their latter life, you know. So again, just because there’s a way in which to make something happen that is generational wealth for your entire family, that’s wonderful. That’s a huge accomplishment. But who says you’re done? OK, how many type A personalities that are motivated?

  to build something, actually retire. Raise your hand.

  Okie dokie. Now we understand, right? We don’t stop. Okay? We have fun when we’re fueled, right? So there’s just a next adventure. Okay? Yes, you’ve created a huge real estate portfolio and you’ve made a beautiful, amazing adventure there. But now what else are we going to do? Okay? The sustainable food grow warehouses. I help people put those in all the time.

  Micah Johnson (25:27)
  Right.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (25:32)
  horse therapy ranches, rehab ranches, if you will, like we have running still, 18 years deep in that. you know, there’s a way in which you find the new adventure and then let that write its own book, you know, and see what happens next. Yeah.

  Micah Johnson (25:53)
  Right. Right. Very well said, because none of them stop. You just keep adjusting and adjusting. And there gets that point where when you do hit that life goal, like you were saying earlier, OK, you can just watch your bank account keep going up. And if that does it for you, OK. But for most, it doesn’t. And what is that thing? How do you give back? It’s a natural. There’s a coach I work with. He’s in his 70s and he’s talked about it.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (25:59)
  Exactly.

  Micah Johnson (26:19)
  The longer he’s gone, you start to adjust. You were once trying to conquer the world, you pull off what you’re trying to do. Now you take a deep breath and then all of sudden the desire to give back kicks in. How do I keep this door open for other people through whatever way that looks like for you? So I love that. Thanks for doing that. For all those listening out there, I’m going to have Dr. Caroline give her information one more time. So if you’re interested in speaking with, learning more about

  someone with probably more experience in real estate. She’s probably forgotten more than I’ve learned at this point. ⁓ Coming in with what she does.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (26:56)
  Don’t go that far,

  hon. You’re not a dim light by any stretch, ⁓

  Micah Johnson (27:01)
  Well, it’s I love how many projects you get exposed to. That’s so cool. And for the people that are listening, you get to talk with someone who has a depth of experience that you can really figure out. It’s one thing you’ve nailed it on, not just are you going to invest, but the type of investment you’re looking for. Why that one? Getting that clarity. Clarity is so important in real estate, as in most things. So take that time. Dr. Caroline, what’s the best way for them to find you or reach out to you again?

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (27:28)
  The best way is to shoot me a text at 404-731-2143 after you visit a website. The website is erfinc.net. stands for Endless Ribbon Foundation, Inc. E as in Edward, R as in Ralph, F as in Frank, Inc.net.

  I want you guys to all just go and see what high school and college interns that are interested in IT and website design have set up for a ⁓ 501c3 nonprofit, providing horse therapy, corporate training, retreats, et cetera. ⁓ Very wonderful, amazing little website that can give you a moment, you know, just to see a little bit about what I’m passionate about in the world.

  Okay? And the positive change that I like to see over the last 18 years progressing down that little trail. ⁓ And I’d love for you guys to do that first. Edward Ralph Frank Inc. net, E-R-F Inc. net. And then shoot me a text and let me know what you think about the website. 404-731-2143. And then we’ll get started with figuring out mentoring and having all kinds of fun with commercial real estate and investing. How about that?

  Micah Johnson (28:54)
  Love that. Thanks again for sharing. For those listening and watching in, check our show notes. We’ll make sure the link to the website’s there, her phone number’s available for you, for you to reach out. Again, Dr. Caroline, thanks for joining us. I appreciate your time and your story. I think we need more folks out there doing it like you, putting their real heart out, real heart forward, building something that means something to them and also gives back. So thank you for that. If you’re watching and listening in, again, thank you for joining us. Please like this episode, share it with someone else if you found value in it.

  As always, don’t forget to subscribe to our podcast. We appreciate every single one of you that follows along. We have more conversations coming up with operators, just like Dr. Caroline, who are out there building a real business in the industry. Thanks for being with us today. We’ll see you on the next episode.

  Dr. Caroline Jaffee (29:38)
  Thank you, Micah. Take care.