Financial Planner / Advisor With Real Estate Experience?

[Nikunj Merchant]

Hi BP Community, 

I'm at a point in life where I'm considering getting a financial advisor to advise me on the science behind portfolio construction. I very much enjoy managing my own money, and I'm above average when it comes to understanding personal finance and so I'm not looking for active portfolio management. Rather I'm looking for someone who can take a look at my overall asset pool (across stocks, bonds, real estate etc.) and advise a scientific way of constructing a portfolio that I can then manage and review with her/him periodically. As a result, I'd be looking at flat fee advisors (i.e. they don't charge a % of assets under management). Experience with alternative asset classes (private equity, crypto, etc.), tax strategies, and international diversification strategies is a bonus.

The main reason I'm looking for an advisor at this time is to help make managing my money a scientific process rather than an emotional one. I'm at a point where I could potentially make new investments but right now I'm making decisions because "it seems like a good idea and the math checks out on this individual investment" rather than analyzing what this does to my entire portfolio and net worth. 

The biggest challenge I'm facing is that most financial planners seem to focus solely on securities. While they may say they can "advise" on real estate, they either mean REITS, real estate funds, or something similar. I'm yet to find someone who has their own real estate portfolio and can say "Ok, looks like you have $X in stocks, have you considered purchasing a single family home?" or "By making this specific single family/multifamily/STR purchase, you will increase/decrease your overall portfolio risk to ______". The way I think about it, I'd expect someone advising me to at least own what they're suggesting and have personal experience in creating holistic financial plans for their clients.

Do you have a financial advisor that has real estate chops? How do you work with them as you grow your portfolio and what kind of advice do they provide on this front? How much do you pay and how much value do you think you've obtained?

Finally, if any of you is really happy with your advisor, please send any recommendations my way! California (where I live) and Texas (where my real estate investments are) would be ideal states, but I don't really care where they're based as long as they're good at their job.

Thanks for all your help!