Habits and Mindset That Build Generational Wealth in Texas Real Estate

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Show Summary

In this conversation, John Harcar interviews Joaquin Lopez, a commercial broker from Austin, discussing his journey in real estate, the importance of mindset and habits, and the value of generational wealth through real estate investment. Joaquin shares insights on navigating the commercial real estate landscape, building a team, and offers advice for aspiring brokers.

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
    • Joaquin Lopez on LinkedIn
    • Joaquin Lopez’s Email: [email protected]
    • Joaquin Lopez’s Phone Number: (512) 567-6429

  Listen to the Audio Version of this Episode

  Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

  Joaquin Lopez (00:00)
  You’ve got to think in habits and processes, not necessarily in tasks. For me, tasks are too granular. You’ve got to have the right habits.

  And know, they’re saying your sayings for a reason. You want to have a boring business and an exciting life. What I mean by boring business is there’s habits that create successful people and it’s not by time wasting. It’s by being consistent. I mean, like Tom Brady, he was the most prepared person on the field in all the Super Bowls he played in.

  John Harcar (00:23)
  Yep, consistency.

  All right. Hey, guys. Welcome back to our show. I’m your host, John Harcar. And I’m here today with Joaquin Lopez. Joaquin’s a commercial broker out of Austin. And what we’re going to talk about with him today, know, besides his journey in real estate and really what brought him up to today, we’re just going to talk about real estate, right? What he loves about it. Why it’s, you know, why investing is such a great tool, not only for that generational wealth, but also passive wealth. So Joaquin, man, welcome to the show.

  Joaquin Lopez (02:44)
  Thanks for having me, John. I look forward to the next 15 or 20 minutes.

  John Harcar (02:49)
  Yeah, man. Yeah, I’m looking forward to talking more. I love real estate for all the things you do as well. But before we dive into the weeds of all that, why don’t you give our audience just a little background on, know, your journey, you know, where you started, what got you into real estate and really what brought you to today.

  Joaquin Lopez (03:06)
  Well, I guess the outline of my life and in my brain growing up went till I graduated college. I always knew that was going to be a goal. One of my degrees is in architectural engineering and so began getting recruited by the public sector and different recent institutions and basically it was just I had to have a job and start making money. So I started off ⁓ working for a real estate investment trust learning. ⁓

  how you develop predominantly retail real estate. And so that’s what got me into it. it’s now an itch I can’t scratch enough.

  John Harcar (03:46)
  When you were in the study stage, right, when you were in college and getting your degree and doing all that, you did architectural engineering. Did you have a focus that you, I mean, did you have an idea that you wanted to be in real estate or do something in real estate, you know, or have a business in real estate, anything like that?

  Joaquin Lopez (04:09)
  Yeah, I did. And it actually was watching a movie with the late Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek called Fools Rush In. In that movie, he was he was based out of New York, but got assigned to go build a club out in Vegas. And just how the funny story unfolded. But I thought it was really cool how when he started, it was just dust. And at the end of it, it was a club that he had built. And I thought, man, development of real estate

  John Harcar (04:18)
  Tools rush in, yeah?

  Joaquin Lopez (04:39)
  Sounds like a fun endeavor. Of course, movies make everything look fun. They don’t show you all the behind the scenes frustration and it’s not just my kids, but you probably can’t see all the gray hair. Probably half of that is due to ⁓ being a director of development in real estate. You’re constantly herding cats and it’s a fun environment for me. It’s a lot to manage and juggle.

  John Harcar (04:42)
  All right.

  Right, and I’d like to ask this question to my guests. Was there anybody back in the day, and I can’t talk about think back in your life, growing up, your friends, family members, cousins, aunts, uncles, the new one you grew up, maybe some of your other college friends, was anybody else in real estate that subliminally planted that seed?

  Joaquin Lopez (06:09)
  Really? Not really growing up? No. mean, my dad was a… Both my parents got master’s degrees in a time when Latin men or women didn’t even graduate college. So education was always stressed. So, but nobody really said real estate. I think I’m a touch and feel guy. That’s why I’m not like a huge day trader. I love the fact that real estate is an insurable product.

  John Harcar (06:10)
  No.

  Mm-hmm.

  Okay.

  Joaquin Lopez (06:36)
  It’s a long-term game. It’s a marathon. It’s not a sprint. And so like you can flip properties, but that that’s not my focus. I’m a buy and hold kind of investor. So, and you make your money on the buy and you, you how much money you make is on the sale.

  John Harcar (06:40)
  Mm.

  Got it. ⁓ What were…

  Yeah, yeah. Well, you really make the money on the buy, right? And then what were some of the challenges when you first started getting into real estate? Like what were some of the things that you ran up? You ran up against that where speed bumps in your journey, you’re in your growth.

  Joaquin Lopez (07:09)
  I mean, acquiring real estate. when I’m a Texas native, but when I graduated, I moved out to California. So the first issue was prices are high, cap rates are low. ⁓ And so, and then there were just other distractions, but I mean,

  John Harcar (07:22)
  you

  Joaquin Lopez (07:27)
  managing and saving were probably my bigger things as I left the broke college world and into young professional life, right? Acquiring funds to own my own property without, you know, other investors or partners. So that, but again, that was a limiting belief of mine that you can’t partner because I own a couple of properties with friends, you know, and it’s just the two of us. So, um, yeah, I guess it was just, uh,

  funds was the and and time to focus on it.

  John Harcar (08:02)
  Got it. ⁓ As you learned and grew, you seek out mentors? Did you, and was it just that on of on the hand, on the job type of learning? How did you learn the skills that allowed you to progress?

  Joaquin Lopez (08:18)
  Yeah, I mean, it was working for Mace Ridge, which is again, predominantly retail read. Yeah. The reason I took that job over others was actually the individual that was going to be my boss. He subsequently went on to be the director of develop delivery for Disney. But yeah, this gentleman named Neil Juergens, and he was the one who I told you, you know, communication can solve or start 99 % of your problems.

  And so he was just a real influential, I mean, just a likable guy that you could tell, I don’t know, it was no BS and get your stuff done, but we’re going to have fun doing it. You know, just my type of individual, right? And so that’s, that’s what got me started. And then his replacement was not the most fun experience, but I, you know, you learn a lot with that too.

  John Harcar (09:01)
  Yeah, I love it.

  You

  Joaquin Lopez (09:15)
  Right? Not just what you like, but what you don’t like and who you don’t want to be.

  John Harcar (09:15)
  Right.

  Yeah.

  Well, and it’s really about, you know, pivoting. You know, it’s about, you know, when you find those different times in life, how you turn and change. What were some of the biggest things for you mindset wise or maybe habit wise that you can attribute to getting up to where you are today?

  Joaquin Lopez (09:37)
  is, I mean you hit it, it’s habits and processes.

  You’ve got to think in habits and processes, not necessarily in tasks. For me, tasks are too granular. You’ve got to have the right habits.

  And know, they’re saying your sayings for a reason. You want to have a boring business and an exciting life.

  What I mean by boring business is there’s habits that create successful people and it’s not by time wasting. It’s by being consistent. I mean, like Tom Brady, he was the most prepared person on the field in all the Super Bowls he played

  John Harcar (10:40)
  Yep, consistency.

  you

  Joaquin Lopez (10:53)
  And yes, he had a natural ability, but those habits and that focus and that work ethic are what get you where you need to be. so, you know, leaving the adolescent college life of, know, and life can always be fun, but it’s habits and consistency that wins the race.

  John Harcar (11:02)
  Yeah.

  Yep, 100%. One of my favorite books I’ve read like three or four times, Atomic Habits. It’s just piecing those little things together. And what a lot of people don’t understand, it’s like, it’s not necessarily about what that habit is. It’s about a lot of the things that lead up to the habit that you correlate with the habit that when you do something, that produces that habit. It’s a great book if anybody can read it. Or rather, has it read it, read it.

  Joaquin Lopez (11:18)
  I’ve read that.

  yeah, I love that book and I love the part

  where there’s two individuals that are trying to stop smoking and when asked, one of them says, hey, no, do you want a cigarette? And he was like, no, don’t want one, The other individual said, I’m not a smoker, right? And it’s just a mindset and a belief that it’s a difference in goals, right?

  John Harcar (11:46)
  Yes.

  Right.

  Yep.

  Mm-hmm.

  Joaquin Lopez (12:04)
  Are

  you going to find a reason to reach your goal or are you going to make excuses because it’s hard to have both?

  John Harcar (12:08)
  Yep.

  Yep. You can’t have both. mean, it’s I have a big thing. No, no excuses. You can’t you can’t be successful and have excuses. It doesn’t work that way unless you have a ton of money. Alright, let’s talk about where your business is at today. So, you’re a commercial broker. Do you own your own brokerage? You work for brokerage. What what does all that look like? What does your team look like?

  Joaquin Lopez (12:11)
  You’re kidding!

  Yeah, true.

  I run my own group within

  KW, Keller Williams. So when I moved back to Austin from California, I got offers from CBRE and the larger commercial brokerages.

  John Harcar (12:30)
  Okay. Okay.

  Joaquin Lopez (12:40)
  but they wanted to do what I call swimlaning you and just say, well, you either do retail or you do office or you do this or you do that because of how they’re structured. And I always just wanted to be, I knew you’re always learning in our business, but I didn’t have a deficit of education at a deficit of business. So why not go to KW where you prove competency? First of all, I don’t have a mentor over there.

  John Harcar (12:45)
  Mmm.

  Joaquin Lopez (13:06)
  Right? I mean it’s a residential brokerage, right? So I get the influx of business from all the residential agents and I have autonomy to work in the asset classes that I’m competent in. So to me it was the perfect fit.

  John Harcar (13:20)
  Okay. How many people are on your team today?

  Joaquin Lopez (13:21)
  If that makes sense.

  Right now, two. Yeah, just two. At my highest, in a bigger market, we read about eight or nine ⁓ agents.

  John Harcar (13:26)
  Two, okay. Are you looking to grow and expand that team?

  Okay, so you’re looking more to stay lean, you’re looking to scale up, what are you looking to do?

  Joaquin Lopez (13:38)
  I’m looking to

  stay lean and just really keep and gather the businesses and investors and developers that do business. that’s my goal. It’s not to, because I’ve mentored and trained the younger generation and you know, I believe there are square pegs and round holes and I think I just found mine in that. That there’s other things I’d rather do with my time. I’d rather hire staff.

  John Harcar (13:48)
  Right.

  Joaquin Lopez (14:08)
  than train agents. I’d rather train support staff and kind of be, even though I look like this, be the face of the franchise, so to speak.

  John Harcar (14:10)
  Yeah.

  Right, got it. All right, well, let’s talk a little bit, know, how we mentioned in the beginning, why you love real estate, the generational path. Because I know you have a lot of goals in business, but you also have a lot of goals outside of that. So talk to me about that. Talk to me about your love and your passion and why generational and passive income is something that is important to you.

  Joaquin Lopez (14:33)
  Sure.

  Yeah,

  so the things that are important to me are my three kids and they give me the motivation and waking up every day and being consistent and grinding and just doing what you’re supposed to do because they’re counting on me. And so what I like about it is real estate for me is a race to passive income because it’s money that comes to you through tenants, whether you really work or

  And so

  that’s my path is to accumulate real estate that pays me in the form of an annuity that is always increasing in value over time. We’re talking long scale time. Like right now we’re in a dip in the markets for most markets. So it’s a long play to get to that point. then ⁓ having something that when I pass on and leave it to my kids,

  They can either keep that income coming in and have that asset or sell it and take that money because not everyone has the real estate bug and is meant to own real estate, you know, or wants to, because they see tenants as a problem, right? Whereas I see it as an opportunity. To me, it’s mindset. So I like it for that very vehicle that it’s something at that point.

  John Harcar (16:25)
  or wants to, right, yeah.

  Joaquin Lopez (16:41)
  my children can decide whether they continue it or they dispose of it and go find what motivates them because I’m not insisting that they be real estate people.

  John Harcar (16:53)
  Sure. Sure.

  for your business, what separates you, right? What makes you, what other, know, what services do you provide or can you provide to someone that separates you from some of the other commercial brokers out there?

  Joaquin Lopez (17:11)
  So I guess a couple of things. One, ⁓ when I worked for the REIT, I did a little over start to finish about one and a quarter billion dollars of

  real estate development. And so, and that was the institutional side. development is a niche even within commercial real estate. And to me, it’s kind of like doing development is the equivalent of

  like juggling eight chainsaws. If you can juggle eight chainsaws, it makes juggling three tennis balls like a walk in the park. And so you have to have a, you have to be a good communicator. You have to stay focused on things that are important to thrive in that world. And I made it through the last cycle. I started working for the REIT in early 2000 and made it through the

  John Harcar (17:45)
  You

  Right.

  Joaquin Lopez (18:10)
  subprime market crash, right? And not everybody did. And so, ⁓ you know, the development experience, the ability to really one of the most important parts of communication is using your ears. So the first thing we do is really understand our clients needs and goals. And until we really understand that, we can’t wash, rinse, repeat just because we help somebody with office space, they may have a different goal or need that I need to

  make sure I’m aware of. So I think it’s the experience, the fact that I’m not yet a dinosaur and really focus on communication. I think I’m in that sweet spot. still have the energy and I have a fair amount of experience from my background. So I think that sets me apart and kind of like a person that is multilingual.

  John Harcar (18:42)
  bright.

  Joaquin Lopez (19:07)
  I can go in and out of retail, you know, I know how to underwrite all those different asset classes when you’re looking at it and kind of some of the important things to really look out for if we’re talking about an investment. I guess it’s, yeah, it’s being able to put together the puzzle. So I think I do that pretty well for our clients. And the other thing I always ask myself is,

  John Harcar (19:14)
  Mm-hmm.

  Got it.

  Joaquin Lopez (19:34)
  would I do it with my money? Right? And if you personalize, because so many people at Commercial Real Estate are salespeople and they’ll push you to a decision even if it’s not the choice they would make with their money. Right?

  John Harcar (19:38)
  Good question.

  Yeah.

  I like that. If there’s someone wanting to get into the commercial space now, what kind of advice or words of wisdom would you give them to set them up for success?

  Joaquin Lopez (20:04)
  ⁓ From a goal standpoint, if you’re just getting started and you’re wanting to get into brokerage, it’s very important. I think six months, preferably 12 months of living expenses you have saved because it’s going to any business takes take some time to get going. ⁓ And then educate yourself before you leave your day job or before you leave ⁓ before you leave school.

  start educating yourself so that you’re ready to make that effort. make no mistake, like commercial brokerage takes a while to get going. So you need to make sure from a quality of life standpoint, whether you still live with your parents, you have a sugar mama or daddy, or however you do it, that you have at a minimum six months of living expenses set aside.

  John Harcar (20:48)
  Ha ⁓

  Yeah. Yeah. And I think that’s with any business, right? You don’t want to go gung-ho right off the bat. Make sure that, yeah, that you do have your family to take care of. Well, awesome. Well, if there’s any folks that are out here listening that are in the Austin area, they, maybe something you said resonated with them and they want to reach out and talk. How do they get in touch with you?

  Joaquin Lopez (21:01)
  Yeah

  Sure, probably the best way would be to just either give me a call on my cell which is 512-567-6429 or shoot me an email at [email protected]

  John Harcar (21:33)
  And then we’ll put all that in the show notes. anybody out there watching, you want to get in touch, just check out the show notes. We’ll all that. Joaquin , man, I appreciate you coming on here and sharing all that info, bro. It was a really good talk. I hope everybody got some good nuggets that’s out there listening. reach out to Joaquin if you have any interest in the commercial space or questions.