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Show Summary
In this conversation, Michael Beckwith, a commercial realtor in Tampa, Florida, shares his journey from being a teacher to becoming a successful real estate investor and agent. He discusses the importance of understanding the investor mindset, current trends in commercial real estate, and the shift from residential to commercial investing. Michael also highlights the lifestyle and culture in Florida, emphasizing the outdoor activities and community engagement that come with living in the area.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Michael (00:00)
it makes it easy because I can literally go to an investor and say, hey, these are some properties that I’m looking at. You know, is this something you’re interested in as well? And if you don’t want to buy it, I will. You know, almost put a little pressure on them as well, unintentionally. But it’s also like, hey, like I actually like this for myself. If you want it, you know, you can do it. But I might get this too if you don’t.Dylan Silver (01:55)
Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest, Michael Beckwith is a commercial realtor with Grimaldi Commercial Realty in Tampa, Florida. Michael, welcome to the show.Michael (02:08)
Dylan, thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.Dylan Silver (02:12)
It’s great to have you on here. And I’m actually a big fan of Tampa, Florida. I didn’t let you know this before hopping on here, but I’ve looked at St. Petersburg. I’ve looked at Tampa. I believe Sarasota is fairly close. How’d you end up in Tampa? Are you lifelong Tampa?Michael (02:26)
Yeah, so I’m from New York originally, but I was very blessed. I got a scholarship to play lacrosse at the University of Tampa. So that’s what brought me down here. And then when I came down here, I was just fascinated. I was like, this is such like a small, unique city and there’s so much potential. And I went to school initially to be a teacher. I was a teacher for about four years, but then I just started seeing the growth of Tampa and I kind of wanted to be a part of it. So that’s what kind of brought me into the commercial real estate space.Dylan Silver (02:55)
I want to walk through making that transition from realtor to real estate. Did you have friends, family, people that you knew who were active in real estate at that point?Michael (03:07)
Yeah, So I had a couple, well my dad had a couple rental properties, which was very helpful for me to see. I had purchased a property at the time and I had a four bedroom house and I was renting out each room in my house so I could live for free, because a teacher salary unfortunately doesn’t pay too much. And then I met a couple guys that owned gas stations and they were talking to me about gas stations and it was fascinating, all of the information that they had for me.And I kind of just dove right into it and it started me just working with them and they kind of helped me get on my feet. But they taught me a ton of information and it’s helped me with my success.
Dylan Silver (03:42)
So you were getting in as an investor yourself with a multifamily deal.Michael (03:47)
Correct, yeah. So I, when I was a teacher, I was realizing I was making zero dollars. So I, well, I was making $30,000, but I saved enough to make a 3 % down payment on a four-bedroom house. And I was able to rent out each of the units, each of the rooms, and that was able to make me live for free. And then I was like, wait, if I rent my room, I can buy another house, and then I can buy another house. And I’ve been doing that for the past few years now. And I’ve sold some, but now I have about five rental properties.Dylan Silver (04:17)
Okay, so investor first, then commercial realtor. At that point when you were buying those properties, were you thinking of getting into it on the realty side or were you strictly looking at investment?Michael (04:32)
First, it was just for investment. And then I was like, wait, I’m looking at these contracts, these buyers agents are making, you know, 3 % of the commission of these houses I’m buying. I’m like, I feel like I could easily be a real estate agent. I’m like, I’m like, I’ve been telling them what I want to see, you know, I could do the same thing. So it just seemed like a seamless fit for me. And I enjoy looking at properties. So it just like worked out seamlessly. And I was like, I want to do this myself.Dylan Silver (05:59)
Now, I think it’s interesting you mentioned that because I’ve worked in the single family space prior to getting my license earlier this year. I was working with distress sellers, folks who are facing foreclosure, You know probate, divorce, you know death in the family, any number of sources of distress, be it financially, emotional, or in the property itself.And along the way, what I realized is that being able to think like an investor is probably one of the biggest, you know, key ingredients to being able to work with investors. so realtors, I’ve noticed tend to either work with investors exclusively or almost avoid them. But as an investor yourself going into it with the investor mentality, I can imagine
Michael (06:47)
ThankDylan Silver (06:51)
that has helped you tremendously, especially while you were just getting started as a realtorMichael (06:56)
⁓ tenfold Dylan. Soit makes it easy because I can literally go to an investor and say, hey, these are some properties that I’m looking at. You know, is this something you’re interested in as well? And if you don’t want to buy it, I will. You know, almost put a little pressure on them as well, unintentionally. But it’s also like, hey, like I actually like this for myself. If you want it, you know, you can do it. But I might get this too if you don’t.
Dylan Silver (07:20)
You know, when we’re talking about networking with investors in general, I think a lot of times people are looking at it from, well, who’s going to buy this deal? I have this listing here, but also you’re coming at it from the perspective of I might buy this deal. So, you know, just like you said, if you don’t buy it, then I’m going to buy it. How often is it that in the commercial space that realtors are themselves investors? Is that fairly common or is it less common than people might think?Michael (07:34)
Mm-hmm.I would say it’s less common than people may think. I would say that a lot of investors enjoy just being investors. I took it upon myself to get into real estate just because I enjoyed the game of real estate. I love you know looking at properties and I literally just sit at home on the MLS or Zillow and just look at properties like just in my free time. So I enjoy just looking myself and if I can see something that will work for someone that I know, it’s great.
But yeah, most investors are strictly investors, but there are some commercial agents that you know run their own brokerage as well as investing themselves. I would say that you know over time, real estate agents become investors because they see how much money they’re making their clients. So they’re like, I kind of want a piece of that as well.
Dylan Silver (08:34)
Yeah, let melet me hop in and be active in the investor space.
Michael (08:38)
And that’s the goal, right? So a lot of times you don’t start with a lot of capital as a real estate agent. So you have to kind of work your way up and then you can start making your investments.Dylan Silver (08:46)
What would be your advice or feedback for folks who may be residential investors and looking at getting into the commercial? Because I know that there’s a lot of residential agents or even aspiring agents who would love to get into commercial.Michael (09:00)
Yeah, so I would say the first thing to do is to study cap rates. It’s funny when I talk to a lot of residential agents and I say a cap rate to them, their knees kind of buckle because they don’t really understand what that is. So the cap rate is the most important part when we’re talking about multifamily because at the end of the day, the numbers never lie. It’s a math equation. You know with residential, it’s a little more emotion based where people are like, this is my dream home, this is my forever home.you know, I have to have that kitchen, I have to have that bath. Whereas in investor side of commercial and you’re looking at multifamily property, it’s a numbers game. What are the rent rules? You know, what are future projections? Where are we now? You know, what’s the cap rate? It really boils down to the numbers. So there’s a lot less emotion tied into it as opposed to the residential side.
Dylan Silver (10:20)
Yeah, the level of emotion tied into the residential side is that the name of the game. I mean, you’ll have and I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. You’ll have people who have such a high sentimental tie to their property that even if it’s heavily distressed, they’re like, no, I need export. Well, home is going to be condemned. So I understand. But you’re in, you know, an hour south of San Antonio, Texas, you know, where I was living. It’s just tough for some of these people. AndMichael (10:23)
No.Right.
Dylan Silver (10:50)
In a sense, correct me if I’m wrong, Michael, you don’t you don’t deal with that as much. Maybe a boutique hotel, something like that people can have a tie to if their family’s been there. But you generally don’t deal with that as much in the commercial space.Michael (10:59)
For sure.Yeah, Dylan, you kind of hit that right on the head. It’s really not so much on the commercial side. But you did mention like boutique hotels and family, you know, sometimes when a family’s owned a business or a restaurant or you know, some type of business for a very long time, there are some emotional attachments to it. And then sometimes there’s part owners, right? Because with business, it’s not just residential where it’s one family or single family owner, you know, so there could be multiple investors. So that’s where things get a little bit tricky. But
trying to get everyone in the room, all the decision makers at the same time and check those boxes. That’s what makes it real seamless. And then when you tell them they’re gonna make a couple million dollars, it makes life a little easy too.
Dylan Silver (11:39)
Yeah, yeah, it’s it’s that’ll smooth things over. I want to ask you about some of the different segments that I’ve seen investors looking at in in commercial. I mean, just to name a few, you’ve got, you know, commercial residential like apartment complexes, you’ve got self storage, you’ve got, you know, mixed user multi use retail, and office space or retail and residential. And I’m sure I’myou know, missing, you know, industrial and some other segments as well. Do you have a segment that you like to look at deals in either for yourself or for investors? And then also, would you say that, you know, some of these segments right now, let’s use in Florida, for example, are riskier than others?
Michael (12:22)
Yes, so I would say right now the most popular investment besides multifamily, because multifamily is always the pulse that keeps going, right, is industrial. Industrial has been absolutely booming. So many people are hitting me up every day for industrial. We can’t even get our hands on it. And once you do, it goes even faster. So industrial is probably the hottest thing in the market right now. I would say office space took a big hit during COVID. I’m sure everyone knows that.it is starting to slowly trickle back a bit, but it’s not nearly where it was five years ago. And then I would say kind of a cooler market would be, you know, the retail space because there’s so much online shopping now, right? Who doesn’t have Amazon packages every day at their house showing up, right? So it’s almost one of those things where everyone’s buying online. So the retail space kind of has taken a hit in that regard.
Dylan Silver (13:06)
Yeah.You know, it’s funny that you say that because as I was ordering Christmas gifts for myself and my fiance, I was ordering them to Miami because there’s a courier service that will take Amazon packages or any any packages in the US and then ship them to the Dominican Republic where I’m at. And
you know, I don’t know how much this is impacting retail over here. But the effects can be even like international, like I’m not looking, buying something locally, I’m going to say, Okay, I’ll just get it on Amazon, even if it takes some time to ship. Do you think that office space, you know, is is gonna recover? I almost look at office space right now.
Michael (13:41)
yeah.Dylan Silver (13:55)
from the outside looking in and I’m thinking like if I’m an investor and I’m looking at office space, I almost want to make sure that it’s some large company like Amazon or Fortune 500 company. I don’t necessarily want to have individual office space because that’s the first thing that people are going to remove if they’re struggling is that office space.Michael (14:16)
100 % Dylan. So what I would say in that regard is look for office space that’s, you know, either big scale for those Amazon companies, know, Bank of America, know, companies that aren’t going anywhere, right? And then if you’re looking on the smaller side, look at the zoning for those office spaces, right? What could those spaces be converted into? So you could potentially turn an office space into, you know, a multiplex or a retail spot or something like that along those lines whereyou know, it’s got the bones, right? And now you can just restructure it based on the zoning. So that’s where commercial is very different from residential, where you can kind of change things and get things rezoned for development plans, which is just makes it all the more exciting.
Dylan Silver (15:42)
I want to ask you maybe a little bit of a different question here. I’ve noticed that there are some investors, maybe not more than some, it’s I would say, a significant number of investors from the single family space, who be especially in Texas, and I’m curious if this is happening in Florida to who because it’s harder to flip properties. Now there’s there’s new builds all across Texas, Dr. Horton built one our builds, marriage builds, they’re looking at either ground up construction for themselves, they’re looking at maybebuilding out a small subdivision. They’re looking at multifamily as well. They’re looking at getting into the commercial space. Are you seeing any type of this trend, maybe a little bit of a migration from people who were formerly single family investors into commercial or to larger deals?
Michael (16:29)
Yeah, absolutely. I would say Tampa is similar to market to Dallas in that regard. Dallas is probably one of the best real estate markets in the country, if not the best. But Tampa is developing tremendously. Like you said, we have the big box stores like the D.R. Horton’s, the Linars. I’m actually living in a brand new construction home myself. I just bought, you know, two duplex right over here. That was brand new construction. So it’s growing tremendously. I’m Airbnb being the one on the other side.but it’s growing tremendously and so many people aren’t able to compete with these bigger box stores because they can cut those prices down, right? So they’re trying to get more into the multi-family space, buy those six units to 50 units, that’s kind of like the sweet spot, and then renovate those and then get the rent rolls up and then resell it at a higher cap rate and that’s how you make your money
Dylan Silver (17:20)
It’s interesting that you’re, of course, very involved in the commercial space, but then you also mentioned Airbnb. So you’ve got at least one short-term.Michael (17:27)
So yeah, I have one Airbnb. It’s my first time ever doing an Airbnb. I As a real estate investor, Like I kind of like to dip my toe into every little aspect. So it makes it fun and it also makes me more knowledgeable, right? Because I want to know, I can’t tell someone something if I’ve never done it myself. So I’m a big believer in do it first and then you can teach someone because I can say, yeah, Airbnb is great. You should buy this house and Airbnb. You’re make a ton of money. Well, I don’t know that, right? So until I’ve done it, so now I’m…going through the process myself and it’s been a great experience. The first few months weren’t great, but it has been fantastic. So I’m very blessed for that opportunity.
Dylan Silver (18:04)
Igot to tip my hat to you in that regard because you’re involved in so many different segments. I mean, you’re talking about single family, multi-family, short term, short term rentals. You’re in Tampa, West Florida, West Coast of Florida. This is a Florida, very granular Florida question here. I’ve noticed maybe this is my perspective, maybe I’m off here, but I have noticed that there’s a different culture, West Coast versus Southern Florida or East Coast of Florida.
and that you can speak to someone and they’ll direct you to the white sand beaches in Siesta Keys, I believe, is that right?
Michael (18:38)
So Siesta Key has been rated the number one beach in the United States, I think three of the last five years. Excuse me, it is absolutely stunning. I mean, it is, you literally walk on the beach and it’s like baby powder on your feet. Like I’m from New York, so like we had the Atlantic Ocean, right? And the sand was, you know, the sand. But when you come down here and you walk on the sand, it feels like baby powder. It’s like, where am I? Like we just live in paradise here. is…Dylan Silver (18:56)
Yeah.Michael (19:05)
Amazing and I have so many clients from New York that move down here because they see my lifestyle A and B, you know, it’s just such a great place to live.Dylan Silver (19:14)
I’m actually originally from Northern New Jersey, so 30 miles outside of New York City. I was visiting my parents last week and two weeks ago. And let me tell you, there was no sandy beaches up there. It was very cold. I needed a scarf. I said, I’m underdressed. I actually…Michael (19:19)
nice.Hahaha
⁓ man. Dude, I was
just up for Thanksgiving myself. We were probably up around the same time. I’m guessing you flew into Newark, but I was at JFK and yeah, man, it was cold and the wind smacked me in the face and we have the tropical life, man. You and I, you got the DR, I got Florida. We’re living the dream over here, brother.
Dylan Silver (19:37)
Yeah.You know, when people talk about this is understated. I think you’ll agree with me on this, that people talk about the weather being you know a factor why you would move on like, please, this is the biggest factor. Like, it’s sunny all the time. Like it’s 80 degrees year round. You’re just threading the needle of Caribbean lifestyle. I mean, it’s great. I could not overstate just how awesome it is to be able to wake up every day and it’s sunny, basically.
Michael (20:18)
It makes life a lot easier and it makes you want to go outside. It makes you want to be a part of the culture and just it’s inspiring and seasonal depression is a real thing. I mean when I was up there I went food shopping like just to grab a couple odds and ends for Thanksgiving and people are like bumping into you like looking at you like they’re angry. I’m like like chill baby bubba like it’s all good like everyone’s just in such a bad mood all the time. I’m like I’m so happy I live in Florida people just not like that.Dylan Silver (20:26)
It’s real.Dude, I had the same experience
as you. had the same, keep in mind too, I was flying in from Caribbean country, Spanish speaking country, people are like dancing all the time. I would say, to give you an example, when you touch down at Las Americas International Airport in Santo Domingo, you’re kind of likely to just be greeted warmly. You might see some people who are just kind of generally having a good time. You touch down at Newark International Airport.
Michael (20:45)
It’s a real thing!There. ⁓
It’s on. Getting stiff armed, you know, trying to get your bags.
Dylan Silver (21:11)
Please!I said,
I went grocery shopping, same thing. That’s what triggered this memory. This was just over Thanksgiving and this was Black Friday. So I said to the woman in the grocery store, I was like, how’s your Black Friday going? And she looked at me like I had offended her. And I was like, don’t shoot. I’m just trying to get through this.
Michael (21:38)
Man, it’s a real thing. So we’re very fortunate. That’s why I’m grateful for every day.Dylan Silver (21:43)
Absolutely, man. Are you involved in any of the outdoor activities? I know I was just speaking with a commercial investor out there. I don’t know if he was in your neck of the woods. Of course, you got ample access to water sports. Are you involved in outdoor activities and water sports, anything like that?Michael (22:00)
Yeah, so I mean, would say definitely play a bit of volleyball, pickleball. I go to Lifetime, so we have like the best pickleball court in Florida. Tampa, they have literally all the pros play there all the time. They’re incredible. So I get out doing that. You know, I played lacrosse in college, but I don’t really play that anymore. So I try to stay active with those things and little beach volleyball, stuff like that. But not so much the water sports, but definitely going out on the boat and having a couple with the boys is a good time.Dylan Silver (22:27)
Hey, the pickleball is an amazing sport. I grew up playing tennis and it’s kind of sad to see that tennis is declining. But pickleball is just the most participated sport for adults in the country, which is amazing. It’s like you can just kind of hop on and it doesn’t matter your experience level. You can generally get it across. It’s it’s a I love pickleball.Michael (22:48)
Oh me too, and I mean I’m six four two hundred and fifteen pounds You know I’m in great shape and I see these guys that are like 70 years old and my first couple times going out there I was like, oh we’re gonna smoke these guys and these guys kick my ass I’m sorry if I can’t say that on the podcast, but they’re incredible like the way they place the ball and dink and dunk and I’m just likeTheir skill outmatches my athleticism. So it’s fun to play those guys because you learn so much. And you said it yourself, you know any walk of life you can step on the pickleball court and you can have a great game. So it’s a lot of fun.
Dylan Silver (23:20)
We are coming up on time here, Michael. Where can folks go? Where can our audience go if they’re interested in reaching out to you or connecting with you or your team? How can folks go and get in contact?Michael (23:30)
Yeah, so you can go to Grimaldi commercial realty.com. You can also check me out on Instagram. I am the shirtless realtor on Instagram as well as TikTok. And it’s been a blessing to be on this podcast. I really appreciate your time today. And I look forward to hopefully either getting some business from this podcast or potentially working with you in the future, brother.Dylan Silver (23:50)
Michael, thank you so much for coming on the show.Michael (23:52)
Thanks for your time, Dylan.
