How To Leverage The Brokerage Community To Scale Your Real Estate Business

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As the leader of Jacksonville commercial real estate firm Prime Realty Tyler Saldutti has seen his company grow exponentially as the market has rebounded In the past 18 months Prime Realty has more than doubled its staff to meet client demand Tyler is a fourth-generation real estate entrepreneur and before starting Prime Realty was a top producer working for a global commercial real estate firm He has consulted real estate owners and users from a wide range of industries and built a reputation for finding the best real estate solutions through creative deal structures and a project approach to each assignment Let s hear from Tyler as he shares tips on how his company works and how to leverage the brokerage Community to scale your real estate business 00 00 – 07 00 Prime Realty We Do Low Volume High Quality Tyler Saldutti is the founder of prime Realty a commercial real estate firm in Jacksonville Florida Prime Realty is the leading or premier boutique brokerage doing over 250 transactions Tyler started in New Jersey working construction and then moved to South Florida where he worked as a consultant and learned to develop his two passions helping people build wealth through real estate investment and supporting entrepreneurs In 2008 when the economy was tough Prime Realty reinvented itself as a boutique operation that services family offices and small businesses 07 01 – 13 51 Boutique Real Estate Firm Uses Exclusive Relationships and Nimble Marketing to Close More Projects Tyler adds that a high-quantity low-quality business model can t be nimble and custom when it s big How a boutique approach is different and how it results in better quality work for the agent and higher closing rates Tyler recommends that agents work hard to build relationships with brokers and not get sucked into a crony system Agents should also stay in touch with their brokers to ensure they are always on top of new opportunities 13 52 – 20 46 Real Estate Broker Sourced and Assisted with Every Acquisition There is a real estate broker that has been helpful in all of the acquisitions that the speaker has made and he recommends staying in touch with the brokerage community to stay up-to-date on opportunities The role of a broker is different than that of other professionals involved in a real estate transaction and their goal is to maximize their sale price and return on investment It is important to verify information about a property before making an offer as there can be significant differences in how different buyers view it A good business plan for a real estate project should include 20 47 – 24 50 Closing Segment Reach out to Tyler Links Below Final Words Tweetable Quotes Finding those exclusive relationships meaning you may invest in property all over the country but you may have somebody in Chicago that knows the industrial market there and You re dealing with them whenever you re in Chicago and dealing with the industrial market that s going to be the only person you re going to work with – Tyler Saldutti —————————————————————————- Connect with Tyler visit their website at https primerealtyinc com Or call 9043730578 Connect with me I love helping others place money outside of traditional investments that both diversify a strategy and provide solid predictable returns Facebook LinkedIn Like subscribe and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts or whatever platform you listen on Thank you for tuning in Email me sam brickeninvestmentgroup com Want to read the full show notes of the episode Check it out below 00 00 38 Sam Wilson Tyler Saldutti is the founder of Prime Realty in Jacksonville Florida where he is overseeing the funding acquisition development management and leasing of over 2000 retail office industrial multifamily properties throughout Florida and Georgia 00 00 52 Tyler Saldutti Tyler Welcome to the show Thanks for 00 00 54 Sam Wilson having me Hey man the pleasure s mine and 90 seconds or less Can you tell me where did you start Where are you now And how did you get there 00 01 00 Tyler Saldutti I started in New Jersey working construction growing up my father and uncles And that was how I saw real estate It was the physical production of space and there s something that s just very rewarding about seeing the 00 01 16 Tyler Saldutti The result of your labor growing up outside Manhattan So many industries are dollars and cents And something about seeing your end product got my blood in 2008 I started Prime Realty We re a commercial real estate firm here in Jacksonville Florida And now we re the leading or premier boutique brokerage doing over 250 transactions 00 01 37 Tyler Saldutti Like you were 00 01 37 Sam Wilson That is really cool I love that So when you were in the construction business were you guys general contractors Were you guys the owners developing the project What 00 01 48 Tyler Saldutti was your role in that Well you may have picked up from the last name style duty I m a Italian American from Jersey 00 01 54 Tyler Saldutti So you Know I had family members in all sorts of trades Electricians like I said my father is a general contractor I member working for an uncle that was a site works contractor So it was exercise of getting to see a little bit of everything Like I said mostly from the 00 02 12 Tyler Saldutti Property improvement or construction side spending weekends winter breaks off of sports Mostly it was in the summers working in the different trades So this way as my career progressed I have this vision and understanding of what s behind all the numbers and spreadsheets and what it takes to construct and develop and manage 00 02 35 Tyler Saldutti Manage office industrial retail and multifamily property So you see all the different colored logos We have that That s what that s all about Those are our four main food groups and how we divide and conquer and commercial real estate 00 02 50 Sam Wilson How did you make the jump from working in the trades 00 02 53 Sam Wilson Working as a GC to I know I should go start a brokerage That kind of seems a little disconnected 00 02 59 Tyler Saldutti there Sure After growing up in New Jersey I traded commodities in south Florida a very business development intense environment You might picture a large bullpen of financial advisors making 00 03 18 Tyler Saldutti Business calls and developing new relationships in the dozens of conversations today sometimes hundreds from there I worked for a small business consulting firm in London and really developed my two passions are helping people build wealth through real estate investment and supporting entrepreneurs 00 03 40 Tyler Saldutti And Working for mostly medium size companies in London and consulting a lot of it was geared towards their marketing systems and operations You developed an appreciation for that small and medium sized business owner that as you help them get results kind of back to you can there s a transparency and a visual when you help a business that 00 04 06 Tyler Saldutti Versus maybe a the when we consult bigger firms and bigger organizations maybe it s not as clear there So all of that to say that the boutique operation that services a lot of family offices or family groups small businesses is where I ve found my life and my passion and it s been a good fit ever since 00 04 31 Sam Wilson So let s talk about your brokerage then So you launch a brokerage in Florida you say Hey we re gonna do commercial brokerage in 2008 The timing seems a little rough Tell me tell me how you guys made your way through that period And kind of what I guess what lessons 00 04 48 Tyler Saldutti you learned along the way 00 04 49 Tyler Saldutti Well 2008 was the great recession and it was very there was a lot of Turmo And the economy at that time I was working for the largest commercial real estate brokerage in the world doing investment sales which meant I got to touch multiple different property types And you I saw I had to reinvent myself into more leasing and management in addition to the investment sales 00 05 17 Tyler Saldutti And it s what people needed at the time they needed Their building s full so that they could cover their debt service They needed property management that was finding ways to be more efficient and save money And again coming back into that from having a very deep understanding of the investment side the ownership side balancing that with the leasing and the management There was we did I didn t complete a sale transaction for over a year after starting Prime 00 05 52 Tyler Saldutti So we saw that there was a need for a boutique approach We saw that The quantity over quality of work model was not gonna work In other words 2007 you could put a sign in front of a property Somebody s gonna call you You re gonna get a transaction done Let me tell you in 2008 times were tough and you built a lot of good habits 00 06 14 Tyler Saldutti And this firm was built on those habits So when things are let s say more normal we re really hitting on all cylinders because we ve been built with a very proactive and project oriented approach that truly is effective in the most difficult of times Which Which it which was a very difficult process to do 00 06 37 Tyler Saldutti Right But boy hasn t served us well ever since So 00 06 41 Sam Wilson I m really curious when you say the need for a boutique approach and the other phrase you said there was you built a lot of good habits What are the things that come to mind when you say that Because obviously not being a broker on this side I don t can you paint a picture there for us that you said Hey here s the problem I saw 00 06 58 Sam Wilson And this is kind of how we decided we re gonna do 00 07 00 Tyler Saldutti it differently Sure So we turned the quantity over quality equation on its head if you re at a big firm you re gonna have different overhead you re gonna have a corporate office that you re feeding constantly And your business model is built to make that corporation money 00 07 20 Tyler Saldutti And it s very successful and you might need to have three dozen listings in order to effectively close half of those transactions And it works for the broker right And the broker makes money and the agent makes money But it s high volume Low quality you re fitting everything into a system that has to be somewhat effective for a variety of different projects 00 07 49 Tyler Saldutti Right You can t be nimble when you re big You can t be custom when you re big And the boutique approach is the opposite So we ve got our systems we test and measure We ve got all the same technology all the same marketing platforms All the gizmos that the big firms have technology s been a great equalizer amongst all firms but we do low volume high quality 00 08 13 Tyler Saldutti So project approached with the unique business plan for each project The critical non-essentials whether we re working with a buyer or a seller a tenant or a landlord we Get to have a curiosity and get to know their business more so than you can if you re in a high volume business So it s the customization you can do 00 08 37 Tyler Saldutti It s the expertise you can develop and then it s just being proactive So if we re on the marketing side we if we re working on maybe 20 deals instead 40 it s not rocket science It s picking up the phone If you re trying to find a space where a dental practice you re calling all the dentists in town and you can do that on a boutique approach and be more pro project oriented 00 09 00 Tyler Saldutti We close darn near a hundred percent of the projects we take on And at a bigger high quantity firm you re doing between 30 and 50 closing And that s a lifestyle 50 to 70 of your clients being frustrated with Hey how come I don t hear from Hey what s going on I don t see what you re doing 00 09 20 Tyler Saldutti And when you have lower quantities you re able to do that kinda work Got it It s more enjoyable 00 09 26 Sam Wilson No that that makes a lot of sense Thank you for taking the time to to clarify that cuz that again not being in your business I go that just needed some more deeper understanding of that 00 09 37 Sam Wilson So that s really cool Thank you for sharing that with us Tell me about this The broker and call let s say the broker and buyer and broker and seller relationships are they re unique and have their own nuances to em What are some things or some tips that you would give that you would say Hey here s the way that you should be effectively leveraging your broker relationships 00 09 57 Tyler Saldutti Well there s three things that I think Investor or just real estate entrepreneur should keep in mind when trying to leverage the brokerage community to help them build their business And the first is to really work hard to build those relationships in an exclusive manner And it s always important to date before you get married 00 10 25 Tyler Saldutti As you re trying to engage a brokerage community you can work with somebody quite a bit before You re really like I said committing to them in any sense but a commitment It should be the end goal on both sides The brokerage community is an E what you kill industry They were not able to pay our bills support our families 00 10 50 Tyler Saldutti Unless we get results And so we have to be very disciplined at what we commit our time to And we as you can imagine in a market like today in 2022 there s a lot of buyers right So how do you as the buyer distinguish yourself and try to build that exclusive relationship it goes both ways We re the broker s looking for an exclusive relat 00 11 18 Tyler Saldutti And the buyer wants to be the first one to get the call when a new exciting opportunity becomes available So I don t think anybody ever expects a exclusive relationship That s not logical meaning you re not gonna have one phone conversation with someone and say gosh you re the only broker I m ever going to use on every deal I ever do 00 11 39 Tyler Saldutti But finding those exclusive relationships meaning you may have somebody And you may invest in property all over the country but you may have somebody in Chicago that knows the industrial market there that you through You re dealing with them whenever you re in Chicago and industrial market that s gonna be the only person you re going to work with and so on and so forth 00 12 05 Tyler Saldutti So that s the first Main goal I d say for any investor owner entrepreneur is to try to build these exclusive relationships and they can be one it can be one person one that does and quarterbacks all your deals but it can also be a a group that you formed together 00 12 23 Tyler Saldutti The second thing is I d say don t get sucked into a crony system So again having been in corporate commercial real estate world there is a crony system in a national platform that a customer that works with X Y Z company And that company has offices all over the country You don t want to be dealing with somebody that just has the same logo on their business card because Hey everybody you know what a nice logo right 00 12 56 Tyler Saldutti If you re going into multiple markets and the way that we approach it and most independent firms approach it you re able to be nimble and partner with the right brokers or agents in that market In other words no firm has the Agent or broker in every single submarket in every single property type in every single market 00 13 17 Tyler Saldutti So you may find when you re in Boise that the CBR E broker on the west side of town for multifamily is the best and that s their niche And you might find It s the cushioning Wakefield broker And you might find it s another independent firm So I would say don t get sucked into a crony system that doesn t serve you and your goals don t align with you and your broker that way 00 13 43 Tyler Saldutti And the third I would just say is follow up and stay in touch Like any good relationship I can t tell you I ve been blessed to build a small real estate portfolio There has been a real estate broker that has sourced and assisted with every acquisition I ve made And I can t tell you how many opportunities come from staying in touch with the brokerage community and the experts and the specialists 00 14 06 Tyler Saldutti And and they re given property types and marketplaces And submarkets whether that s a phone call a few times a year with a lunch And I make a point to to go to that lunch once a year make a point to play around at golf or whatever it is That you enjoy with that person and hopefully the broker s doing the same but but if you are disciplined and scheduled about it you d be amazed by how much those once a quarter once a month touching base calls will lead to to really profitable acquisitions 00 14 38 Sam Wilson I love that Thank you for taking the time to break down those three really valuable points there I wanna circle back to the first one However when you said to build relationships that are exclusive my question is this how do you know when a broker is someone who is worth building that exclusive relationship with 00 14 57 Tyler Saldutti they ve made you they ve made you a lot of money a broker 00 15 01 Tyler Saldutti Should be your most valuable tool in your toolbox I ve often been said throughout the years that the brokerage community is the grease that keeps the gears of the economy going a broker s role the way they re compensated and the value they add is different than everybody else in that transaction whether it s the seller 00 15 27 Tyler Saldutti And their goal to maximize their sale price the buyer their goal to limit the maybe limit the purchase price and achieve the highest returns or limit municipality That s gotta help you with the zoning or the contractor That s gotta do the property improvement So the attorney that s gotta assess the risk 00 15 46 Tyler Saldutti Everybody has their role but even that entrepreneur that s importance is finding the value maximizing return and being creative They are not playing the role and motivated to keep the transactions moving forward Right And bringing people together and finding ways the broker has got to achieve everybody s goal right 00 16 13 Tyler Saldutti In order for there to be a successful transaction And so how do you know when you ve found that Well you ve made a lot of money That s truly it I mean the foundation of any broker relationship is made saved Or achieved a great return on investment and at Prime Realty we work with both sides 00 16 34 Tyler Saldutti So making a lot of money on the buy side is obviously different than making a lot of money on the sell side But you re looking for someone that s got that deep specific niche specialization You re looking for someone that s collaborative right That s not trying to force you into their oh don t worry 00 16 54 Tyler Saldutti I know all the buyers in the market we re just gonna market this off market Don t worry about it And so you re looking for somebody that Goals or aligning with yours or being collaborative They ve got that specialty and they ve proven to you that they re they re able to make you a lot of money 00 17 10 Sam Wilson I love that answer That s great I ve got one final question here for you and this ll come off as harsh or as snarky So I apologize in advance but I guess we don t ever look at the broker brokers PROFOR Like they re all packaged up They re put across and they re part of the shiny brochure And the first thing we do is totally ignore em 00 17 30 Sam Wilson Why is that Why is that the case Well 00 17 34 Tyler Saldutti Gosh I know those brokers that you re talking about and I know those packets you re talking about and I m fighting a good fight here at Prime For that not to be the case But I also believe everyone s doing the right thing in starting from scratch 00 17 55 Tyler Saldutti Right So you take your you take your secondary sources of information but you verify and I would say If I look at a property with three different buyers there s going to be three different ways that they look at that So it makes sense that everybody starts from a blank spreadsheet ideally truly a blank spreadsheet and takes everything I ve been saying about a project approach and customization and does that for each property 00 18 30 Tyler Saldutti So I I think the idea that Any marketing offering memorandum or any one spreadsheet is gonna be adequate in deciphering what an individual or an organization s unique business plan is for that property That doesn t make sense And I don t think you understand our industry if that The way you approach it 00 18 59 Tyler Saldutti Well well here s my spreadsheet It s a template and I and I put this and this is how we doing that is just as wrong as like you re saying trying to take the offering memorandum and say well this is how this is this if that s how that property was gonna perform 00 19 13 Tyler Saldutti The only thing anyone can tell you about their offering memorandum is the property will perform Not to what I have in my offering thatAnd right This is a an estimated summary of what you might expect with the business plan that we ve come up with Right and so I think it s more important to be able like we touched on before understand what s behind those numbers as you help your buyers 00 19 41 Tyler Saldutti evaluate an opportunity that nobody s spreadsheet can tell you what their unique resources are to add value And then what their ability to access capital So nobody nobody s putting out offering memorandums They might have some consumable debt assumptions but One of the two criteria that nobody can do is what are your unique resources to add value and what s your ability to acquire funding for it 00 20 12 Tyler Saldutti So what you re what you re able to source interest rate amortization fix time period versus what I m able to source Is different and it s always gonna be difference between investor a B C and D So I think everybody s doing the right thing by taking the summary analysis from the offering memorandums and then getting rolling their sleeves up and and doing the work on their end to build the B the successful business plan that that a good investment should include 00 20 41 Sam Wilson Tyler Thank you so much for coming on the show today I certainly appreciate it learned an absolute ton from you If our listeners wanna get in touch with you or learn more about you what is the best way to do that Our 00 20 51 Tyler Saldutti website is PrimeRealtyInc com Like incorporated com and you can reach us there 00 20 57 Tyler Saldutti We re easy to find here in Jacksonville Florida Prime Realty Inc 9 0 4 3 7 3 0 5 7 8 And that s my direct Awesome Tyler Thank you 00 21 08 Sam Wilson again Certainly appreciate it Click here to visit this podcast episode