Subscribe via:
Show Summary
In this conversation, Mike discusses the current landscape of real estate investment, particularly in South Florida. He emphasizes the importance of building relationships, optimizing systems for growth, and effectively supporting investors through various strategies. The discussion also covers the challenges faced in real estate transactions, the current state of the Florida market, and the potential opportunities in land investment.
Resources and Links from this show:
-
Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode
Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Mike (00:00)
Yeah, it’s a question. ⁓ It’s definitely a lot different than it was six months ago when I got back into real estate. I think now today, the South Florida market has cooled off a little bit. ⁓ The prices have stabilized. It’s ⁓ not a downturn. I’m expecting more of a correction in prices not skyrocketing like they have in the three, four, five last years. So the equity play there is a little bit⁓ it’s harder to find, but there are some opportunities that we’re seeing in the condo market, believe it or not.
Michelle Kesil (02:07)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil, and today I’m joined by someone that I’m looking forward to chatting with, Mike Del Fierro, who’s been making serious moves as a South Florida real estate expert behind the Del Fierro Group. So excited to have you on the show today, Mike.Mike (02:30)
Thanks, Michelle. Happy to be here.Michelle Kesil (02:33)
Of course, I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching helping buyers, sellers, and investors navigate the South Florida market. So let’s dive in.Mike (02:48)
Awesome.Michelle Kesil (02:51)
First off, for those who are not yet familiar with you and your world, can you share what your main focus is?Mike (02:58)
Yeah, absolutely. Our main focus here at the Delphiara Group is to help buyers and sellers, specifically a lot of investors, with navigating the real estate market here in South Florida, to making sure that they have a smooth transaction and ensuring that they are set up for success, from not just finding properties, but also making sure that the properties are profitable after purchase.Michelle Kesil (03:26)
Yeah, absolutely. And how did you get started in your real estate career?Mike (03:35)
So was interesting. That’s a good question. I didn’t take the straight path to becoming a real estate agent. I actually got my license back in 05, 06, right before the bubble. And that’s when I was first licensed and made a few sales, helped a few people find their first home. And then I ended up going into the corporate world when the bubble hit in 08, 09. And I went into the corporate world.to sell software actually. I was in sales, marketing and customer service, played, know, kind of bounced around a couple of different roles at some Fortune 500, Fortune 100 companies. I was fortunate enough to learn a lot over my 12 year corporate career. And just this year, I joined my family’s real estate practice Adelphiero group due to my dad having some health issues. He’s a broker, been doing it for about
almost 17 years. it was everything kind of aligned. So I came back in, got licensed again, and here I am leading the family practice in real estate ⁓ transactions here in South Florida. Me personally, I’ve never lost my love of real estate over the years as a corporate employee. I invested myself. And so ⁓ it’s been a nice kind of reentry into the real estate world this year.
Michelle Kesil (05:54)
Yeah, amazing. That’s cool that you were able to find your way back into the real estate world.Awesome. So what have been some of the major keys that have allowed your real estate career to be able to grow and to run smoothly?
Mike (06:18)
Yeah, so like I said, this is my about sixth or seventh month full time again as a realtor leading the family practice. What has set up our family practice for success ⁓ and the longevity that my family’s had in the business is really, it’s about relationships. And a lot of our business is repeat business. A lot of our customers come back to us. ⁓whether their family’s growing and they have more kids or they’re downsizing or they’re looking for an investment property, those folks always come back to us because we treated them fairly, honestly, and we treat them as family, right? that’s purchasing real estate is usually one of the largest purchases somebody’s gonna make, whether it’s an investment.
or whatnot. So they want to make sure that they can trust and really making sure that the real estate agent is looking out on their best interests. So that I think has been a key for us in staying within the real estate industry this long is the ability to have customers come back to us, refer us to their family. ⁓ And on the investor side, we
We work a lot with international buyers. So the international buyers typically speak to each other. You know, like if they’re in a certain demographic, like in South America, maybe they’re in Santiago, Chile, and they are all kind of in that network. And they say, hey, I’ve got a good real estate agent in South Florida who’s helped me invest and it’s profitable rental income ⁓ purchase for them. And then that’s how.
That’s how things kind of just snowball and grow from there is the ability to develop those relationships and those trusts within the industry, within those groups.
Michelle Kesil (08:26)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s important. Relationships are everything in this space.Are there sort of networking or marketing strategies that you have found supported you in getting behind these groups and connecting to more people?
Mike (08:49)
Yeah, absolutely. It’s, it’s, it’s, you know, not just doing local networking events, because we want to know what’s happening in our backyard, right? We want to know whether the city of Miami has any plans for redevelopment or ⁓ opportunity zones, special tax incentives. So we want to be at the ground level, going to the city commission meetings, maybe to chamber meetings and speaking to your localcouncilmen, mayors, ⁓ congresswomen to understand what the city has plans for in terms of raising the economic whole development of that city or that area. So in addition to that, we also have relationships and events that we do internationally, whether it’s through podcasts, through radio shows, ⁓ other types of social media.
outlets that we can get ourselves out there and then interact with people that are not in our backyard, but you know, our investor ⁓ mind have that investor mindset and want to be able to speak to somebody who’s a local expert.
In addition to that, speaking about relationships, we have relationships with financial advisors, insurance agents, other types of investment professionals throughout South America, for example, who refer us.
business. Refer us people who are looking to diversify their portfolio of investments and want to get into some real assets like real estate.
Michelle Kesil (11:03)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s awesome that you guys are putting all of those efforts in to grow your network.What are you most focused on solving or scaling to next in your business?
Mike (11:22)
Good question. For us and me personally, since joining the team, the family practice was really the effort has been to ⁓ optimize our systems and processes so we can make sure that we’re not letting anything slip through the cracks, whether it’s a customer request, whether it’s a new lead coming in, whether it’s keeping our customer base informed about the market, like interest rates.⁓ certain micro markets within our our area. So our our ability to ⁓ keep our network informed has been really my primary objective in the last six months to really set the groundwork to be able to scale up. ⁓ So systems and processes has been my focus for the first three to six months. Now that that’s starting to kind of smooth out a little bit. Now we’re focusing on
generating content, getting educational material out there to our network so they’re aware of any road pits that they need to be aware of when investing in real estate.
Michelle Kesil (12:36)
Yeah, amazing. That’s really important. Love that you guys are focused on that.So every business owner has moments where maybe a deal goes sideways or you have to make some fast pivots. Would you mind sharing a moment like that that you’ve experienced and how you overcame it?
Mike (13:05)
Yeah, I are you referring to like when you’re in the middle of a transaction or middle of a deal and something happens? Is that what you’re referring to? Yeah. Yeah. Those happen in real estate transactions. That’s common, right? You always have to prepare for contingencies for things that could happen, could go wrong. You got to have a backup plan. So that’s why having, ⁓ proven professionals working alongside you.Michelle Kesil (13:12)
Yeah. Yeah.Mike (13:33)
during that transaction is so critical, right? From good title people to making sure that there’s nothing wrong with the properties, the title of the property to ⁓ if it’s a finance deal, making sure that the lenders, every core, really the job of me as a real estate professional, once that property is identified as a potential good investment is really to be the quarterback, the coordinator.to making sure that the transaction runs smoothly. When something comes up, maybe it’s an appraisal, didn’t come in at the right, maybe it came in low. We have to make sure that we’re prepared and informing ⁓ all of people, all of the interested parties about that and talk about a game plan to overcome it. Whether that’s coming to the table with more cash or speaking to the seller to see if there’s a middle ground there. ⁓
Most of the time it’s usually an appraisal that’s come in a little bit low or maybe an inspection that, you know, raise some red flags and you kind of got to make sure that you’re communicating effectively and clearly to all the parties interested.
Michelle Kesil (14:47)
Yeah, absolutely, that’s always important.So when it comes to the investors in your world, how specifically do you support them? Are there certain strategies that you work with them on? Or what does that process look like?
Mike (15:48)
So when we speak to investors, we want to make sure that we understand their goals and their objectives and how that’s going to line up with their current situation. So we got to make sure that we’re aligning our property search ⁓ to meet their goals. So what I mean by that is, for example, a lot of folks, a lot of our investors wantto buy a property and they want to put it on Airbnb or Verbo, right? They want to do short-term rentals. But today in our market, especially in South Florida, for example, in Miami Beach, there’s a lot of cities have put in these ordinances that you have to, you gotta get licensed. If you’re going to do an Airbnb, less than 30 day rental, more than three times a year, you gotta have a license. And in some cities, they won’t even let you.
do it, right? So you got to make sure if you’re focusing on short term rentals, that the areas that you’re focused on allow for that number one. And if you’re not focused on that, and you’re looking maybe for a combination of short term and long term rentals, you know, then you got to focus on those areas that allow that. So obviously, location is still number one in real estate. So depending on where the investors want to want to invest,
We present them with the opportunities that are there in that area to see if it aligns with their goals. And then making sure that the investors know that we have the network, because it’s not just finding the right property, but it’s also finding the right team from day one. When you buy a property from an investor-friendly agent or an investor-experienced agent, you’re not just buying a property, you’re buying
you’re tapping into a network that took years to build a network of contractors who are reliable, who ⁓ you have property managers that can do proper tenant screening. You have to make sure that you have an investor friendly lender for future deals if that’s the case. And then you also need to make sure that you have an insurance person that understands rental coverage. So there’s a lot of professionals that
are in our network that have been vetted out over the years and that we trust. So when we go to the table and present, hey, here’s a good property and here’s our team behind it, they can rest assured that it’s gonna be a profitable investment, not just this year, but for years to come. What we see a lot of times is investors who are starting out for the first time, they try to develop these relationships in a short amount of time and they end up getting…
you know, seeing those returns diminish because maybe they can’t find a contractor who’s reliable, right? Or they’re charging higher prices. Or maybe they have a property manager that is not doing proper tenant screenings that can leave you open to risk. So there’s a lot of factors that go into it, not just finding the right location.
Michelle Kesil (19:02)
Yeah, definitely. That’s awesome that you guys are supporting people throughout that whole journey and have all those pieces laid out.When it comes to the Florida market, like how is that looking for investors when it comes to their return? Like how do you kind of see the state of the market right now?
Mike (19:33)
Yeah, it’s a question. ⁓ It’s definitely a lot different than it was six months ago when I got back into real estate. I think now today, the South Florida market has cooled off a little bit. ⁓ The prices have stabilized. It’s ⁓ not a downturn. I’m expecting more of a correction in prices not skyrocketing like they have in the three, four, five last years. So the equity play there is a little bit⁓ it’s harder to find, but there are some opportunities that we’re seeing in the condo market, believe it or
Now that the dust has settled from all the state. Less legislation that passed after the surfside collapse. So a lot of the condos that are three stories or higher had to get insurance, ⁓ had to get the inspections done, had to get all these extra things done. And the assessments were placed on all the homeowners within those condos.
Now all of that has been settled and we’re seeing condo prices kind of almost, you know, stabilize and go down a little bit. So there’s actually a buying opportunity right now. We feel like in the condo market because people who want to sell who need to sell are, are, are considering reasonable offers. Now there’s a caveat to that. You got to make sure that you’re an investor looking at condos in South Florida or anywhere in Florida.
you gotta make sure that you’re looking at the financials, meaning the insurance, the HOA fees, and making sure that there are no assessments coming down the pipe, because those can really kill a deal, can kill your profits. So, doesn’t matter that you’re getting a great deal on the purchase price, but if those HOA fees and assessments are gonna put an extra $1,000, $2,000 a month payment on that, then that could really…
really diminish your return. ⁓ that’s on the condo side. On the single family home side, believe it or not, in Miami Dade and Broward and Palm Beach, the prices have pretty much have gone up a little bit, about 1.7 % specifically in Miami Dade from year over year. Residential ⁓ single family homes have actually ⁓ ticked up a little bit. ⁓ So that’s a good sign. So things are, it’s a healthy market. ⁓ Not a lot of inventory.
in the single family home side. But there are lot of inventories, inventory available in the condo side right now. So that’s where that’s where I think there’s some buying opportunities. We, as a group, as a family, we are looking more at land right now. ⁓ So we’re buying up dirt in different areas, different areas of Florida, specifically, through different avenues. So we actually, we purchased a lot of our vacant lots.
through tax deed auctions that are done by the county. And that’s a whole nother process in itself that really takes a lot of due diligence.
Michelle Kesil (22:40)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s awesome that you guys are also taking part in developing and working on new land projects. That’s exciting.Mike (22:55)
Yeah, no, is. know, it’s a buying up the dirt is a good way to kind of get your feet into the real estate investing side of things. It’s a little less capital required, not as much complications involved because you’re not dealing with a home, less stuff to worry about. And you can kind of get in from the ground up. No pun intended.Michelle Kesil (23:17)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s awesome. So before we wrap up here, if somebody wants to reach out, connect, learn more, where can people find you and connect?Mike (23:30)
Yeah. So people can find this on our website. We have a beautiful website that we just launched a few months ago. It’s delfierrogroup.com and on there has all our social media channels. ⁓ We’re on YouTube, we’re on Instagram, we’re on Facebook. ⁓ And I would suggest that any of your listeners follow us on YouTube, TikTok, because we’re putting out content all the time for investors and buyers and sellers in the real estate market.And it’s really evergreen content. It’s content that is not just good for today. It’s good for years from now. It’s really a foundational educational content that we’re trying to educate our network about ⁓ investing in real estate.
Michelle Kesil (24:19)
Awesome. Well, I appreciate your time, your story and your perspective. Thank you for being here.Mike (24:26)
Michelle, thank you so much for allowing me to share our story and our passion for real estate. It’s a really, it’s one of the, if you look at it, you search the internet about real estate investing. It’s one of the proven strategies for Americans to build wealth. Whether you’re that first time buyer or an investor looking for rentals or flips.Real estate investing is one of the best ways to ⁓ build wealth in the United States. ⁓ And diversifying that portfolio of stocks and bonds and things like that is always a good strategy.
Michelle Kesil (25:12)
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Sure. For the listeners tuning into the show, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Mike who are building real businesses and we’ll see you on the next episode.Mike (25:15)
Thanks, Michelle.
