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Show Summary
In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, host Leo Wehdeking speaks with Steve Haddadin, a real estate broker and attorney, about his multifaceted approach to the real estate industry. Steve discusses his integration of legal expertise into his real estate practice, the impact of the Big Beautiful Bill Act on commercial real estate, and the importance of networking and credentials in building a successful business. He shares insights on navigating challenges in real estate transactions and emphasizes the significance of communication in maintaining client relationships.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Steve Haddadin, Esq. (00:00)
Absolutely, so ⁓ I don’t want to spoil a lot of information because I actually have a talk coming up on October 10th literally literally next month so I Will be going into details there.But in short, the bonus depreciation is big. So it actually helps both of my businesses, the real estate and the law side. It also has estate planning provisions that is favorable. And the climate we’re in right now, it’s a great time to do your estate plan.
Leo Wehdeking (02:01)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Leo Wehdeking, and today I am joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, Steve Haddadin, who’s been making serious moves in the real estate industry. Steve, glad to have you here,Steve Haddadin, Esq. (02:21)
Good to be here, Leo.Leo Wehdeking (02:23)
Perfect, ⁓ Steve,think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’ve been approaching your real estate business as a real estate broker, as a real estate attorney, if I’m not wrong. You can correct me if I’m wrong. ⁓ Can you, you know, dive in a little bit, okay, and tell the audience ⁓ that are not familiar with your world.
Alright, can you give us the short version on what’s your main focus these days?
Steve Haddadin, Esq. (02:57)
let’s talk about the real estate landscape and let’s talk about how I play a role in it because there’s so much in real estate and you know most people when they think of real estate they just think of homes, big buildings and you know that kind of stuff but there’s so much more in it and I’m gonna break down the service side, the entrepreneurial side and the investing side and I play a role in all of that. So I got in real estate as a real estate agent when I was young and became a real estate broker.started my brokerage and served clients by selling their property, advising them on their properties and market conditions and stuff like that. And the more you have education and certifications and things under your belt that you can provide value to your clients, the better you’re going to do in the service side. So the law has been something I’ve always wanted to do as well. So I became a real estate attorney.
Now my clients have the benefit of both worlds with me. The legal side is important, and a lot of times it’s lacking in people. And I have it as a benefit for my clients and as a benefit for myself, because I mentioned I play a role in investing. I have my own portfolio. I invest in real estate. And being an attorney gives me a different perspective on things as I’m in the middle of a transaction, as I’m going through agreements.
The way I approach everything is strictly from how much can I do and what can I learn? And I’m continuing to learn. And as I’m learning, I’m building my network, which we can get into in a bit. But that’s a short summary of where I am and how I’m playing in the industry.
Leo Wehdeking (04:36)
where you are. Allright that’s cool and Steve can you tell us in what markets are you operating in?
Steve Haddadin, Esq. (04:45)
Yes, I am operating in Orange County, California, Riverside County, California, a little bit of LA, but most of my business has been in Riverside and Orange County.Leo Wehdeking (04:54)
right? Love it, love it. Steve, something that actually caught my attention is the way that you’ve been able to integrate your real estate broker business and also being at the same time an attorney.You know, can you be a little bit more specific in how you’ve been able to manage and ⁓ integrate those sides of the business?
Steve Haddadin, Esq. (06:10)
Absolutely, there’s two sides of doing that. There’s first how you benefit each business from each other, give it synergy. The second side is making sure you do things right and you disclose because doing similarly affiliated businesses comes with risk and if you don’t disclose, in this side I’m not your attorney and without a side retainer, you’re risking them thinking that you you’re also providing legal services and it’s you got to disclose all that. NowThe other side is, have you coming in to buy a property with me. Most likely you’re gonna need to integrate that to your estate plan. Most likely you’re gonna need asset protection to come with that. I’ll come and talk to you about that. Now, you come and you get involved in my legal business. So now I have you on both ends. Or sometimes somebody will come with me with an estate plan. And then I’ll say, I’m also a real estate broker. And then later on, they might wanna sell.
Property so they’ll come through me because they know I did good work in the law side So they’re gonna give me a real estate transaction, you know, so having businesses that cross connect with one another is The greatest advantage anybody can have but if you have two Unrelated businesses that have nothing to do with each other now You’re gonna have to do double the effort You’re gonna have to work on lead gen here and work lead gen there for me I have a way of connecting them through the estate planning and through the asset
So that’s how I’ve integrated the businesses.
Leo Wehdeking (07:41)
Alright, alright. Yeah, actually what you’re doing it’s not easy especially in this climate. Now Steve, another thing that actually caught my attention is how you are able as an attorney to help people with the Big Beautiful Bill Act. So can you tell the audience how you are able to help people understand the Big Beautiful Big Act and how it works for them?Steve Haddadin, Esq. (08:10)
Absolutely, so ⁓ I don’t want to spoil a lot of information because I actually have a talk coming up on October 10th literally literally next month so I Will be going into details there if you guys are interested, please look up the RCA OC Realtors commercial alliance of Orange County and they will be having a Registration link where you can go on it’ll be on a YouTube live and if you miss it, it’ll be on the on the channel, butI’d advise to be there live and get it in person and go from there. watch it. It’ll go over all the details. But in short, the bonus depreciation is big. So it actually helps both of my businesses, the real estate and the law side. It also has estate planning provisions that is favorable. And the climate we’re in right now, it’s a great time to do your estate
And it’s never been as favorable as it is now.
The stuff I’m talking about right now is a highly politicized topic in Washington DC, which means that while it’s a great time, that could change in a midterm election and a presidential election. But for the time being, it’s perfect. And while residential real estate’s had its shortcomings a little bit, commercial real estate due to this bill specifically is going to boom. Because what happens as an investor, you’re going to come in, you’re going to want to
property your money’s gonna be parked in it for some time but if you’re getting all these tax benefits via depreciation that gives you more of an incentive that benefits you that’s in a way if you want to look at it it’s almost like more cash flow even though you recapture that in the future it’s almost like more cash flow upfront because you’re saving on your taxes so it stimulates commercial real estate so the way I approach it you come to me you want to invest your money I’ll talk about commercial real estate I’ll talk about
this bill, I’ll refer you to some people that will do like a cost segregation report for
I have people in my network that do it, which goes back to the topic of networking. We’ll tap into that in a bit. having these people in my corner to do that service for my clients, and then my clients benefiting in putting their money into an asset for tax shelter, and then what’s going to happen? They bought a new property.
Leo Wehdeking (10:51)
Correct.Steve Haddadin, Esq. (11:08)
They’re going to want asset protection. They’re going to want to integrate that to their estate plan. So I come in for that too. I come in for that after the transaction closes, separately. Separate business, again, the key word is you separate the businesses, but you give them synergy. Because if you link them in one, that’s a liability concern. It’s other things. Separate business, but synergy. And the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, especially the timing of it coming out, it’s perfect.Leo Wehdeking (11:21)
except for a business.All right.
Steve Haddadin, Esq. (11:35)
Because the real estate market does need this stimulation. And it’s going to help my business and other businesses.Leo Wehdeking (11:39)
Yeah, actually it does.Alright, alright. Now Steve, can you tell the audience what’s been the key to keeping your business running smoothly?
Steve Haddadin, Esq. (11:53)
Well, I wouldn’t always say my business is running smoothly because a lot of things happen, right? You get different clients coming in with different needs. You have some months slow a little bit and then some months pick up way more than the other months and then you make adjustments. But the key is to be ready and is to have your tools and your skills honed enough to where you can do what comes your way. And for me, what I do is I keep abreast of the law. That’s number one.And I use that to my advantage to basically keep my clients informed through the transaction. The other thing is I’m always networking. I’m always going out there and I’m always learning. So one part of my networking is the learning. I get certifications. And as I join these groups and have certifications, that opens me a channel of networking with other professionals. And they would refer me or I would refer them business. And that grows my business.
Leo Wehdeking (12:26)
That’s correct.Steve Haddadin, Esq. (12:50)
The more people you meet, the more hands you shake even. The more hands you shake, the better you will do in your business. So I’m always ready to shake a new hand and meet a new group and put myself out there.Leo Wehdeking (13:03)
That’s good. That’s good. That’s good. Now, Steve, I know that every operator has a moment where things got real. All right. Maybe a deal that went sideways or a time that they have to pivot real fast. Do you mind sharing one of those moments?Steve Haddadin, Esq. (13:21)
Yeah, absolutely. So I had a moment without getting into full details. There was a sale going on where one of the parties was ⁓ hospitalized, not my client, the other side. And it didn’t seem to be too serious at first. Like they were able to execute all the documents, get things going. But when you have enough experience in transactions and dealing with people, you start to sense things ahead of time. So I…from the tonality of the other party’s agent was able to detect that they might be dying anytime soon during the transaction. So we moved forward with things, but we were very cautious about how we did it and making sure that if something were to happen, that we were backing out without losing a bunch of money in the due diligence spending and all that. we maintained communication. And then when I said,
It looks like this client is going to die soon based on the way the agent’s talking. They’re not disclosing anything. It’s confidentiality. But it looks like we need to find another transaction and work getting out before, you you’re going to have to wait for a representative on their behalf or a successor to approve getting out of the deal and all that. And then we got out of the transaction and we found another property and things were great. And the buyer was very happy with my foresight and said, wow, you know, if I
If I didn’t have this foresight and this ability to see ahead of time, I would have been stuck. My deposit would have been stuck for months, if not a year, maybe even more. You never know how things go with the successors or the probate. I don’t know if they have an estate plan even. The key goes into that. need to have a good estate plan for your properties and your assets and everything you’ve got.
Leo Wehdeking (15:02)
current.Steve Haddadin, Esq. (15:53)
And you don’t know. So the way that I was able to detect all that, came frominteracting with people in different situations and being able to read, know, there’s something they’re not telling me. And let me poke the bear a little bit and get the information. And then I was able to get us out of the transaction.
Leo Wehdeking (16:11)
All right, all right. Hey, actually, that’s the kind of stuff that people don’t like to talk about, you know, but the way that you handle it and the timing, I think that the timing when you came up with the timing, like, OK, now I think this person, you know, my. Happened this to them, so let’s just walk out. Sometimes it’s. Very good to know, OK, that’s why I said timing, because you had it right.at that point and I think that particular part is what separates the people or the folks who just dabble from the ones who stay in the game long term like you. Alright? Now, Steve, let me ask you another thing. What are you most focused on solving or scaling next?
Steve Haddadin, Esq. (17:03)
Right now, my focus is going to be more on the estate planning and commercial real estate sales because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has opened up tremendous opportunity for this industry. And it’s a perfect time to work on your estate plan. And commercial real estate is going to be stimulated through the new One Big Beautiful Bill Act. So with that being said, I am making sure that I’m out there.Leo Wehdeking (17:05)
Yep.Steve Haddadin, Esq. (17:33)
adding value to people in my network and solving the problem of, well, you don’t know what you want to invest in right now or you want to and you want to make sure that you’re doing the right move, we’ll have this conversation. We’ll put you in touch with my people to do a cost segregation report, to show you all the numbers, and then work on your estate plan and that kind of stuff. So that is where I’m dialing in right now because this is the opportunity in today’s market.Leo Wehdeking (18:02)
Alright, alright. Yes, I totally agree with you. Now, I think that a lot of people listening are either early in their journey or they’re just looking to level up and I think they will benefit a lot from hearing this from you. I know that you said it but you know let’s try to be a little bit more specific when it comes about building relationships and networking. What’s made the biggest difference?Steve Haddadin, Esq. (18:32)
Great question. So the biggest difference for me is my credentials and my education because that determines or that displays competence. So let’s just say you’re also a certified property manager because I got that credential. You and I are both certified property managers. We’re both part of the same institution which is the Institute of Real Estate Management. We go to a networking event or something like that.Now you and I open a conversation up. I tell you about what I’m working on. I tell you what I’m doing. In the back of your head, you might know someone who needs that kind of support. You are more comfortable making that introduction because you and I both have that certification. You understand the value and you trust me to be the guy to do the work for your person because of what I have. And you have it too. ⁓
Leo Wehdeking (19:13)
Correct.Steve Haddadin, Esq. (19:30)
Also, just having it general, let’s say you don’t have it, but let’s say you’re aware of its value. That’s another side. So the more qualifications you can get and groups you can join, because there’s one thing is getting the qualification, but making sure that qualification is backed by a network of people with it. That’s the key. When you have a network and you know how to communicate with that network and you stay involved, because you’re not going to get leads in every event you go to, but you keep going.people, they’ll come around, you’ll get some transactions, you’ll get some leads, you’ll get some deals going on and you’ll go from there. So going back to my very beginning, I knew I needed to get the CPM credential, the CCIM commercial, Certified Commercial Investment Member credential, and I got them. And I’ve stayed in touch with them. And that’s been a big impact to my business.
Leo Wehdeking (20:29)
Alright, Yeah, actually that’s that and that’s something that you cannot fake. know, having good credentials because you’ve been working on them, you know, for your whole life. That makes you build relationships with all of your customers. Am I right? Alright, that’s cool. That’s cool, man.Steve Haddadin, Esq. (20:29)
education and production.It does.
Leo Wehdeking (20:51)
Now, before we wrap up, Steve, if someone wanted to reach out to you or connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more a little. Yeah, learn more about what you’re doing. What’s the best way for them to reach out to you?Steve Haddadin, Esq. (21:06)
Yeah, they can go on my website, stevehaddadin.com, go on a contact, fill out the form or email me or my socials are listed there. They can go there if they want to watch what I’m up to. And yeah, you know, that’s, I’m pretty accessible. I usually reply within 24 or 48 hours to most people. And if I’ve been established with the person, you know, and we have regular communication, I’m pretty accessible. One of the things that…A lot of people get wrong too in both industries, the real estate world and the law world I’m in is they’re not communicating quick enough for a deal to even happen. That’s what a lot of people have a problem with. it’s a good thing you mentioned this too, communication. I’m pretty easily accessible.
Leo Wehdeking (21:49)
Communication.Yes, communication is the key, man, for everything. Well, perfect. ⁓ Steve, I really
your time, your story. All right. And also your perspective. ⁓ We need actually more people like you in this space who are actually doing it the right way. All right. And now for those of you just tuning in, all right, if you got value from this, just make sure you’re subscribed. All right.
We got more conversations with operators just like Steve who are out there building real businesses. Until then, see you on the next episode.
