All Forum Posts by: John Garuti

Hi Bigger Pockets,

I am a real estate agent servicing Southwest Florida. I primarily work in Babcock Ranch which is the #5 master planned community in the United States. Have a growing team of 5 agents and 1 operations manager. Since my first sale in August 2020 I have closed ~ 150 homes. I currently have about 70 pending sales. I have focused on new construction sales so always have a big queue of upcoming sales.

I have helped multiple clients buy long term rentals. In my primary area however, this opportunity is drying up. The developer of Babcock Ranch is about to flood the market with way too much supply of rentals. 370 apartment units and 240 single family homes are coming in to the marketplace. We also have an HOA so no short term rentals are allowed. So while Babcock Ranch is a great place to live and invest as a primary home, I have dissuaded many people lately to buy here as a pure investment.

This kind of led me down the rabbit hole of what other markets to work in locally and how I can attract investors. So 1 of my three reasons to join the Pro Community is to network with investors. I'd love to better understand what investors expect from their agents when purchasing investment property. I have a pretty good idea but real time feedback from the community would be appreciated. There are some great opportunities in SW Florida for short term rentals. Some of the best properties in this area do $300k+ in revenue. I have a nationwide AirDNA account so I can analyze properties and opportunities throughout the region.

The second reason to join is I am really interested in wholesaling. I had a listing recently in Cape Coral that I realized I should have wholesaled. I could have made $20k wholesaling instead of $7500 as the listing agent. I wound up meeting a few property flippers and after talking to them realized many of them are not great at sourcing deals. They are good at fixing properties. I believe with my marketing skills I could source strong opportunities with my team, and of course pocket more money when the wholesale opportunity is there. I am definitely interested in getting a coach for wholesaling and making this a division within my team. Would love to hear recommendations on who the best coach is for this.

Lastly, I do want to get in to more real estate investing myself. As I mentioned earlier, I think the short term rental opportunity in SW Florida is still strong. I am not opposed to other opportunities. At the end of the day I like hustling and want to build as much wealth as I can while I am still here to leave to my children.

Anwyays, that's enough about me. Would love to connect with people in the region. Reach out anytime!

Investment Info:

Retail commercial investment investment.

Purchase price: $1,200,000
Cash invested: $1,200,000

Have a salon suite which is a different type of commercial real estate investment. We leased a space, built out 40 individual units, and rent those units to hairdressers, estheticians, etc.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

The business eventually becomes fairly passive after getting the right people and systems in place. Is a recession proof business. This is the evolution of the salon industry.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

A commercial real estate agent found the location.

How did you finance this deal?

Family money

How did you add value to the deal?

Personal family deal

What was the outcome?

Salon has been 100% booked for 6+ months now.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Build out is difficult. Trusting general contractors is not enough. You have to actively manage them.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

We used a commercial real estate agent that specialized in retail leasing.