Gino Barbaro - "The Pizza Guy" With $350 Million In Real Estate
Gino Barbaro is an investor, business owner, educator, entrepreneur & podcast host on 4 different shows. You may know him from "Jake & Gino", where along with his business partner Jake Stenziano, they teach others how to invest in multifamily real estate. Jake & Gino have a real estate portfolio of over 2,200 units transacted & $350 Million assets under management, and have helped their student close over 76,000 units and over $5 Billion in deals!
In this episode, you will be able to:
- Discover the path to financial freedom through real estate investing and unlock the key to long-term wealth.
- Explore the unique advantages and strategies for transitioning from the restaurant industry to real estate investing, opening the door to new opportunities.
- Uncover the untapped potential and lucrative benefits of multifamily real estate investing, maximizing your returns and diversifying your portfolio.
- Elevate your real estate success with the power of education, gaining the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the competitive market.
- Master the art of raising capital in real estate, unlocking the potential to scale your investments and achieve financial independence.
The key moments in this episode are:
00:00:00 - Partnering up for Financial Freedom
00:04:00 - Finding Your Path in Real Estate
00:07:29 - Taking Calculated Risks and Adapting
00:10:51 - Scaling from Solopreneur to Entrepreneur
00:11:40 - Shifting Mindset in Real Estate
00:12:44 - Investing in Education
00:15:32 - Importance of Community
00:24:26 - Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
00:27:20 - The Power of Partnership
00:31:56 - Financial Intelligence and Impact
Follow Gino 👇
https://www.facebook.com/jakeandgino/
https://www.youtube.com/@JakeandGino
https://www.instagram.com/jakeandgino/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gino-barbaro-03973b4b/
SUBSCRIBE IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO BUILD WEALTH THROUGH OPPORTUNITIES IN THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY
✅ http://relfreedom.tv
GET STARTED INVESTING TODAY AND ACCESS OUR DEAL LIST!
📈 http://investwithelite.com
PARTNER WITH US ON BIG DEALS!
💵 https://eliteadvantagepropertieshq.com
BUILD YOUR REAL ESTATE AGENT CAREER WORKING WITH INVESTORS
👨👩👧👦 http://eliteadvantageagent.com
LEARN ABOUT REL FREEDOM & HEAR MORE REAL LIFE STORIES
🎙️ http://www.relfreedom.com
FREEBIES: DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE FREEDOM FOUNDATION BLUEPRINT
💵 https://www.relfreedom.com/blueprint
LOOKING FOR A REAL ESTATE AGENT ANYWHERE IN THE US? FIND A TOP AGENT IN YOUR COMMUNITY
🏠 http://www.eliteagentreferral.com
JOIN OUR FACEBOOK COMMUNITY
👨👩👧👦 https://www.facebook.com/groups/relfreedom
SUBSCRIBE TO THE REL FREEDOM PODCAST
🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rel-freedom-podcast/id1535281574
🎧 Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNDA3NjIyLnJzcw==
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5nXA5hLHbDzRwxypc2wLur
LET'S CONNECT
👉 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mswenson13
👉 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getrelfreedom/
👉 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@relfreedom
🏠 Minnesota Real Estate: https://www.eliteadvantageteam.com
Gino Barbaro
We partnered up in zero nine because he hated his job. I wanted to find some type of. At the time, I thought it was financial freedom. But what I think most of us honestly crave, I think we crave autonomy. I think we want to have the ability to have decisions, and through the financial freedom, you do get the autonomy. But that's what I think we both were craving, and we partnered up. In 2011, Jake moved down to Knoxville. It took us 18 months to find the first deal.
Mike Swenson
Welcome to the REL Freedom show, where we inspire you to pursue your passion to gain time and financial freedom through opportunities and real estate. I'm your host, Mike Swenson. Let's get some REL Freedom together. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of real estate leverage Freedom, where we talk about building time and financial freedom through different opportunities in real estate. I'm your host, Mike Swenson. If you want to get started on your real estate investing journey or learn more about maybe what your path might be, check out our website, freedomthroughrealestate.com. that's freedomthroughrealestate.com. we've got blogs, videos, lots of stuff. It's really tough to know kind of where to start. And so that's why I love highlighting great stories of different people doing different things to be able to inspire you and hopefully find a path that's the best fit for you. So today we are here with Gino barbaro, and he's a pizza guy, right? So if we talk about past stories, where you're coming from, guy that was in the restaurant industry got into real estate. You may know Jake and Gino. Heard of Jake and Gino. They help with education, educating people, getting into the multifamily space, 1800 units, over $350 million in assets under management, six kids living in Florida. And obviously, you can share more about kind of your story, how that came to be, but certainly somebody that is very well known in the multifamily space and helps a lot of people achieve their goals. So, Gino, we're so excited to have you on the show.
Gino Barbaro
Thanks, Mike, for having me. I appreciate it, brother.
Mike Swenson
Absolutely. So why don't you just give us a quick background, tell us your backstory to hopefully kind of show people that you can build what you're building and come from a space completely unrelated to real estate. And that's what a lot of people do and be able to create a life for yourself.
Gino Barbaro
I love that. How you said I was the pizza guy. I will always be the pizza guy. And every time I drive by pizzeria, I sort of get PTSD. Cause I remember those days. I love the business, but at the same time, I grew up in the business, and that's all I knew. I went to college. After I left college, I started the restaurant business with my dad, my mom and my brother. And listen, I did it for about 15 years until I really started not liking it. In 2007, my father passed away. And I really needed to ask myself, am I living his dream or was I living my dream? And I really have to say, I think I was partly living his dream. And I loved working with my dad. And when he passed away, I just felt the void. I felt like things weren't what they were. They weren't what they. What they felt like working with him. I missed him. And in zero eight, we all remember what happened in zero eight, I was fortunate to have picked up a book by T. Harvecker called the secrets of the millionaire mind. And when I read that book, to me, everything changed. I mean, I love the quote in the book that says, your fruits are in your roots. And I was at that time blaming everybody. I was blaming the economy. I was blaming the presidents for what was going on in my life. And when I realized, hey, my roots arent that strong, hence my fruits arent going to show, I understood that I needed to accept full responsibility. And thankfully, from that point on, I dove into education. I joined a couple of mentorship groups. My business partner, Jake arrives on the scene in 2008, 2009. Hes the pharmaceutical rep. So were the drug guy, the drug guy and the pizza. The drug rep and the pizza guy, and hes going into the restaurant, taking out these orders and bringing them to doctors offices selling pharmaceuticals. We partnered up in zero nine because he hated his job. I wanted to find some type of. At the time, I thought it was financial freedom. But what I think most of us honestly crave, I think we crave autonomy. I think we want to have the ability to have decisions, and through the financial freedom, you do get the autonomy. But that's what I think we both were craving, and we partnered up. In 2011, Jake moved down to Knoxville. It took us 18 months to find the first deal. And I don't know how many of you are listening to this, but if you remember, back in 2011, there were deals everywhere. There was no money. There was no sentiment. It was as if it's going on right now. There's the recession still going on. But it did take us 18 months after that first deal of 18 months. We bought our second deal three months after that, and then our third deal, six months after that. And listen, after about five or six years, we were able to, you know, purchase over a thousand apartments. And today we have over 1800 units in our portfolio.
Mike Swenson
So talk about, you know, a lot of people on the early end are wondering, how do I get financing? How do I find a partner? How do I find the right deal early on? And it's kind of a little bit of the chicken or the egg, right? Like, it's like, I know I want to do something. I don't really know what to do. You had touched on kind of t Harv Eker and mindset building for somebody in a space where it's like, I don't really yet know what I want to do or what that next step is. How do I figure that out?
Gino Barbaro
That is the, I think, the million dollar question for most of us, and I hear most investors, including myself, when we start out, we're either looking for the deal or we're looking for the rate of return, when what you really need to do is take a step back, do some soul searching. I think we're all taught that we need to work hard for our money. The next iteration is we want our money to work hard for us. But what does that look like for you, Mike, or for Mary listening, or for John? I'm not here to tell you that multifamily real estate, or even real estate, is the best vehicle on the planet. To me, it is. It has transformed my life, and it has transformed hundreds and hundreds of students in the Jake and Gino platform. But if you don't like real estate and you hate tenants and you don't like the slowness of it, because it may take a couple of years to get it, you may be the person who loves to invest in crypto and loves to trade stocks. To me, harder way to create wealth, a lot more tax issues. But if that's what you like, understand what the psychology of money that you have, understand what excites you, and then from there, you need to learn how to dive in and not take massive action. I was taking massive action early on, before I met Jake. Action without education will cause a lot of pain. And in this society that we have now, get that right. People take this massive action, but they don't properly build the foundation step that all of us listening to this is. Understand what the psychology of our money is, what our relationship with our money is. We need to be able to save money. If you can't save money, it's going to be a lot more difficult for you to become, quote unquote, financially free or for you to invest money. You need to have to learn how to save. And my relationship with money is I was an amazing saver early on and to my detriment as well, because I could save that money. But I had the scarcity mindset that that money saved a am I supposed to touch it or am I supposed to save it for a rainy day? And once I understood that savings was there for me to invest in an asset that would produce a yield, things started changing. So first, understand what the relationship you have with money. Next, understand what type of asset or what type of investment you would really love or enjoy to do. And then after that, start taking that massive education. And I think the next step after that is find a community, find the mastermind group, find somewhere where you can be held accountable and take it to the next level, because education is great, action is great, but what most of us miss is the implementation of all that. And thats what I got through my mentorship groups early on. After meeting Jake, id find these great deals, but I didnt know the next step. I didnt know how to underwrite the deals. I didnt know how to put a letter of intent in. I didnt know how to actually close the deals until I had somebody, my coach, walking me through those steps as Im in real time, understanding how to do that through them.
Mike Swenson
And I think for some people to understand, like, your path can change a little bit, right? You may get into multifamily and realize, I don't like multifamily. You know, for us, I had a couple of business partners and we decided to do a flip together. I had had a little bit of past experience with some rental properties, and so I was like, well, let's, let's do a flip together, see if that's kind of where we want to go. We all decided we hated it. We don't ever want to do flips again, which is what kind of pushed us into the multifamily spot a little bit more. And so understanding, like, it's okay to take a path and realize it may not be the fit, but sitting on the sideline doesn't help. And so it's kind of, it's that balance, right? You want to take a calculated risk, but that calculated risk may not be where you end up, and that's okay, but you're not going to know unless you get in and do something.
Gino Barbaro
Mike, you made a great point. And it's that things may change, but you also have to think about what's in it for you. What are your goals? For Jake and myself early on, we both had full time jobs. I had a small business and he had a full time job. We couldn't fix and flip. So we decided early on, lets get into multifamily. I didnt have limiting beliefs because I had already bought a triplex early on. So I understood that, hey, I can get into multifamily. So if youre listening to this, dont have any beliefs about I cant get into apartments because theyre really big and theyre really scary. Most people start in the single family space. Its because theyre comfortable. Theyve bought a single family home. Theres not much difference between single family and multifamily. But ultimately, what are you trying to accomplish? For Jake and myself, we wanted to leave our jobs and go into real estate full time. If youre listening to this, you may just want to supplement your retirement income. You may want to create some other income just to pay for some bills. You may want to leave your job. You're going to take different paths and different strategies within real estate to accomplish each one of those. So to become clear about what you're trying to accomplish is one thing, and you may be saying to yourself, I just want to make some more money. But by year three, you've got 60 units and you're producing seven or eight or $10,000 a month in income, and those that may change. So really being fluid and being open minded and understanding what you want to accomplish, to me, I think, is the very first step that you need to take.
Mike Swenson
You know, for me wanting to get into multifamily too, it was, I had to get out of my own way because I like doing some of the hands on work. And when we did the flip, like, I love doing the work, what I found out is that actually was pulling me more away from my family. So the whole reason why I wanted to get into real estate investing was to spend more time with my family. And we get into this flip and I get in deep and I realize I'm spending nights and weekends away from my family instead of being with my family because I liked doing the work. And in some ways, when I went to a little bit larger of multifamily, I realized, well, I'm not even going to want to touch that because it's too big of a project. So then I got out of my own way. And that's been the best thing for me as well, is realizing I can't go to a property and want to flip three, four, five units because I don't have the time to do that. I felt like I could have the time when it was a single family property. So in some ways, I learned how to get out of my own way so that I can be with my family more.
Gino Barbaro
What's amazing, what you just said is if you take a step back, you are acting as a solopreneur or as the Im a guy in the single family space. Imma do this, Imma do that. Imma gets burned out. But I think if you had adopted the mindset in multifamily, and a lot of people do, who are very successful in single family, where theyre becoming entrepreneurs, where theyre understanding that the real estate is not just an investment, but it's a business. It's scalable, it has standard operating procedures, it has systems. We call it people systems and culture. If you were able to adopt that in the philip and do that, then that may have been a more profitable adventure or you may have enjoyed it more. But the fact that you moved into multifamily and understood, hey, these 30 or 40 units really need to be run like a business. That's where I think most people fail when they get into real estate. They think it's a hobby or they think they have to do it all by themselves. But they don't take a step back and say, I'm the asset manager here. I am managing an asset. I am managing a business. It's really a future stream of revenue. And when you look at it from that perspective, to me, everything changes, everything becomes clearer. And you can understand, wow, this is why I'm getting into this. It's not only an asset, but it's a business that I'm building here.
Mike Swenson
You touched on education, being willing to invest in your education. I tell people, too, and I've heard you say it, it's like if I'm going to go to college, I'm going to spend money on my education. So why shouldn't I feel like I should be spending money on education to get me further in my career in real estate? But people feel like everything out there is free, right? I can go to YouTube, I can go to webpage, and I consume the content for free. Why would I want to pay for something like that? And it's just a totally different mindset. So curious to hear your thoughts. Obviously, I know what your stance is, but for people out there listening, like, why is it important to be able to invest in where you're headed?
Gino Barbaro
Im going to try to make an analogy here, and this may make sense or it may not make sense, but when youre looking at the student debt, I was doing research on it. Half of all the people who have student debt dont even have a degree yet. And if you think about it, its free money to them. Early on when the bill comes due, things start changing. So if youre thinking about getting into something and you havent really invested in it and youre getting into real estate and youre saying yourself, im going to watch this YouTube video. I may do the thing that Gino says at the end of it, but I may note, but once you start having skin in the game and you're invested and you invest in it, you start taking it real seriously. When somebody says to you, I just want to pick your brain, that means I want free advice. And I'm probably not going to use it because I have nothing, nothing vested in it. And how do I know? Because I've been that person until I said to myself, how do I figure out this multifamily game? There are so many people out there. And I decided to put some money down and really invest in my education. I thought it was an expense in the beginning, but once I started investing in it and I said to myself, I've got a call next week with my coach. I'm paying for that call. I better do my homework and I better underwrite three deals before I get on the call. So I don't waste that call. And I'll give you a perfect example. One of my hobbies right now, I love singing opera, and I've been doing it for the last three years. Every Tuesday at 06:00 p.m. i have a standing lesson with my opera teacher. Guess what? I show up every Tuesday. I pay my money. But during the week I practice. And when I show up on Tuesday, I go to every single lesson. Now, if I was getting that lesson for free, there'd be some Tuesday nights like, oh, I can't make it tonight. I'm sorry, I just can't be there. I don't really feel too good or I'm a little bit tired from the day, but guess what? I'm paying. I'm showing up to that. And it sounds so crazy, but that accountability piece that you get from the education is probably one of the most important aspects of it. I think the second component that I received and that, you know, people who join our community is the community. Multifamily is a team sport. If you think you're going to sit on the sidelines by yourself and try to build a portfolio all by yourself. You're going to be spinning your wheels. You're going to be trying to do everything. And at a certain level, you're going to get burned out and you're going to want to, you're going to hate this business. So finding out what you really enjoy to do, trying to find others who can complement what you're doing is another amazing way that you should get out of the education. And like I said, that third part, it's really good. Watching YouTube videos, you understand the concepts. But when Monday morning comes around, well, how do I go on a property tour with a broker? How do I underwrite this deal? Whats the next step after that? Thats what education really shows you and holds you accountable to taking those steps.
Mike Swenson
RObert I think a big key piece of it is kind of knowing the right piece of information at the right time. And thats where a community can come in. Because going back to a college analogy, I can learn a 400 level lesson. But if im only at a 100 level mindset, Orlando, if my business is only at a 100 level, I can't really implement the 400 level piece of information. And so it's a little bit of knowing the right piece of information at the right time from the right source is what's going to help you climb up those stair steps.
Gino Barbaro
And Mike, also, when you're in a community, you should have all the resources. I have a student named Barbaro about a year and a half ago, he calls me up and he's like, I'm working with a community bank. They're at seven and three quarters for this loan. I said, braun, let me give you my credit union. Call up the credit union. He got a six and three quarter interest rate. He probably got about $800 a month savings on that one deal. That's ten grand a year saved on that one deal. And I saw him last month at our event in Nashville and I pointed him out. He's like, no, Gino, that's not even the best of it. I've done five more deals with that credit union. So can you imagine just from one phone call, from one relationship that you create within the community, you can save tens of thousands of dollars. And it goes down to also things like cost segregation. You know, a lot of investors don't know what cost segregation is. You're on and then all of a sudden, wow, I never heard of this cost segregation thing. How does it work? Well, this is how it works. Or self directed IrAs, when I started investing back in 2010. I heard of the self directed IRa. I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. I had never heard of it, and I had learned it through my mentor. I could have gone years and years without understanding what it was. But that tool in and of itself, if you're in multifamily and you're raising money on our last syndication, half of the funds that we raised came from a self directed IRA. So if I didn't know what a self directed Ira was, or the benefits or to be able to, how to use it, I mean, that's what. That's what education is all about, understanding it and then being able to implement it in your business.
Mike Swenson
My wife, she has been at our current employer for a long time, but she knows that the second that she leaves and that 401K opens up, she knows that things going into a self directed IRA. But we actually had tried, tried to or had inquired about moving those funds out, and that's how we found out that, yeah, you can't. You can't flip funds out when you're currently working for your employer. And she's been there since she graduated college, so she's been there a long, long time. But she knows that as soon as she, you know, moves on, or whenever the time is on, that self directed Ira is going to happen.
Gino Barbaro
So it's amazing. There's so many strategies. I was just at an event this past weekend. People are talking about a backdoor Roth Ira where you have a. You have an IRA and you want to get it into a Roth, and you're using cost segregation, timing, everything. There is so much information out there. You just need to find the right people. And wherever you are in your journey, that's what you do. Maybe it's okay to get it from your 401K into a self directed IRA. If you're not going to use the funds yourself and invest in other people's deals, that's great. But if you're out there raising money, understanding the self directed IRA and targeting people who have funds in their iras, that's an amazing strategy.
Mike Swenson
I did want to touch on capital raising, you know, for people out there that want to get started, maybe don't have the funds themselves, what advice can you give? Or maybe how can you help them see that? If I need to focus on saving my own funds, however, how can I work with people? Or maybe, what are some ways that I could look to raise capital if I don't have it?
Gino Barbaro
Well, this is, to me, the most important piece of it. Before you take a dollar of anybody's money, you need to understand the business itself. You need to understand how to buy right, how to manage right. How to finance right. That is the most important bit of information that I can give you. When you're raising capital, you're becoming a steward for people's capital and you need to understand the business implicitly. Then the next part is, if you can't do your own deals, what I would say is go out and find people who are doing deals, lead sponsors, try to get onto their teams, try to understand and align yourself with people who have a ton of experience, you know, who've been in the business for a long time, who resonate with you and who you. It's not just trust, G. I trust but verify, but understanding. Let's say you find an operator like Jake and Gino and you're like, hey, Jake and Gino's raising money. Can I be part of your team? You can't get compensated just for raising capital. But there's other things you can do on that team, maybe investor relations. So when you're first starting out, understanding the business is really important, understanding your business plan is really important. And then becoming an expert in a market, I mean, when you're starting to raise capital, you really need to become an expert in a market and start creating relationships within that market. And then from raising capital, it comes down to really the first iteration is friends and family, which can be difficult because the friends and family know you as the pizza guy. They may not invest in that first deal or they may test the waters, right. But it's important that you let everybody know that you're in real estate. I had a student who joined and it was funny, he was working for the state of New Jersey. And I said, hey, you know, Jason, when you join, let everybody know what you do. Two days later, he went to his chiropractors office. He told him, I'm investing in multifamily. His chiropractor says, when you find a deal, let me know, I'll invest. A month later, Jason found the deal and he partnered up with his chiropractor. I think for me understanding that its all about self identity, I mean if you can identify as that capital raiser. My epiphany came when I was at the restaurant and Im sitting there going, Im still this pizza guy. How do I shift into becoming a full time real estate investor? And when I was underwriting a deal with Jake, I remember I was in the shed of my restaurant. Im surrounded by all these pizza cans. Im putting away the tins to go. Im doing this real crappy $10 an hour work, and yet Im sitting there and we are underwriting an $11 million deal, all seller financed. And I said to myself, Im done with the restaurant right now. Im that multifamily investor, and it takes a little bit of work to build up to that. But it really comes down to self image, understanding the business, and then finding people within the business that if you cant find deals yourself early on where you need to find other people who can help you, but you need to be able to bring value to that team as well. So understanding that, I think, is really just, I guess, the genesis or the beginnings of someone who wants to raise capital.
Mike Swenson
And I think partnering with people that know what they're doing, too, helps to raise. I remember when I first started on the admin side of a real estate team, and we're recruiting agents to come onto the team, and it's a brand new agent, and we tell them, look, part of the reason why you're joining the team is because you're leveraging our experience. So now we've sold x number of houses, x number of volume, and you're partnering with us because you see the value of joining with somebody who's done it there before. And I think that's the key for, you know, getting into investing as well is, yeah, you're partnering. It's a strategic decision, right. You may feel like the little guy partnering with somebody else that's done a lot more, but it's a strategic decision because now you get to learn from them. And so you don't have to be just the pizza guy anymore. It's the pizza guy partnering with somebody who's been there, done that, has the experience. And so when you're talking to friends and family or whatever that might look like, it's like, hey, we're, we're working together now to do this thing. And I am hopefully more the real estate guy versus the pizza guy.
Gino Barbaro
That's a great analogy, great story. And then what happens is once you've been with Mike for a year or two, you've learned Mike's systems, you've learned Mike's, you know, like I said, his operating procedures, you can start taking that for yourself as well. And then maybe you go do a deal by yourself and help, you know, bring Mike along. But I think the other way to get into it is if you're looking to get into it, maybe you invest passively into one of these syndications yourself. Invest 25,000 or 50,000, see how that process goes. You know, learn as you earn. That's another great way to get into it. And if you're unsure of it, just invest passively. You'll learn what the operator, what the operator has. You'll learn the whole system. You'll learn, you know, the speed with which syndication occurs. You'll learn the timeline of syndication. And that's another great way to get in, to start raising capital is by yourself becoming what they call an equity partner, equity participant or a limited partner in a deal.
Mike Swenson
You get a chance to see the system, see how the deals are marketed, get to see the reporting that happens, the communication that happens, all of that backend stuff. And so there's a ton of value there as well.
Gino Barbaro
Yes, I agree.
Gino Barbaro
I had that feeling around three years ago and I'm sitting on a bus tour with one of our coaches, Bill Handheld. And I turned to him and Im like, sometimes this is really challenging. I cant figure this out. And he said to me bluntly, he says, hey, Gino, guess what? Were all winging it and figuring it out. And this is Bill, whos got at the time, had over 1000 units. He was self managing his deals, had a vertically integrated company. So to hear that from him and then to hear that from a lot of other people, I think if youre listening to this, everyone on this planet is winging it and we're all figuring it out as we go. I think those of us who are really clear what with what you're trying to accomplish, because I don't think any of us on this call lack motivation. I really do think we lack clarity. And once you have the clarity, once you understand what you're trying to accomplish, it's okay. The challenge in this economy is you're on instagram and you're on Facebook and everyone's beautiful and everyone's closing deals, but you don't see the challenges that comes with that. And you have to realize there are challenges. It took Jake and myself 18 months to close the first deal. It's stenziano and barbaro in east Tennessee in 2011. Y'all ain't doing business down here. We heard a lot of that, but I was so, I don't want to use the word desperate, but I was so consumed with wanting to succeed that I didn't even think about failing because I saw a lot of other people in this industry. It's not rocket science. We're not going to the moon on rocket ships. All we're doing is we're investing in real estate. If you learn a few of the metrics, it comes down to what I think, 80% psychological and 20% mechanical. We can teach you the mechanical. It's not really difficult. It really comes around the psychology of what's going on within your life, what you've learned, what you've been programmed. And for myself, when I bought that first deal and I got it with Jake, and I understood the power, that second deal was a lot easier. That first deal, whether you're looking at a 30 unit deal or a three unit deal, once you close that first deal, everything changes, because all of a sudden you're a closer. The broker is like, congratulations, you did what you said. You said what you did, you closed the deal. So if you're out there, that's why I really, I really love these communities, because you're going to really see people out there struggling, trying to close deals. That's why you partner with people. My life before Jake was vastly different. Different than life after Jake. Life before Jake, tons of mistakes, all by myself. Tons tended to quit. When I met Jake, I didnt have the option of quitting. Im like, hes my partner. I cant let him down. I cant let his family down. And I lived in that, with that model for the last 15 years since ive known him, and it has served me well, unfortunately. Its pretty weird to say, hey, ill let myself down before I let my partner down. But thats how we are and thats how I was. And I go to work every single day thinking, how can I add value to this relationship, to this partnership you mentioned about.
Mike Swenson
Okay, so about the partnership. You know, there's people out there that maybe have the mindset of, I want to do everything on my own. I don't need anybody, I don't want to split the pie. You talked about adding value, talk about how that that relationship came together with Jake. Was it, I'm seeking a partner. Is it, hey, we're just both going in the same direction. But for people out there that are kind of thinking about the be my own boss, do my own thing myself, you know, I've heard the example of, would you rather have a grape yourself or would you rather split a watermelon? Something like that? Kind of that that partnership, you know, finding somebody intentionally versus stumbling across somebody. What advice do you give for people that are maybe kind of in that, that space mentally?
Gino Barbaro
And we could do a whole podcast on this. But what I would really say is, I mean, it's really comes down to what's holding you back or what is your energy, your block, saying that I can do all myself. I don't need any partners. You probably could, but, man, let me tell you, I was on a call with Jake yesterday and I could not see, what do they say, the forest through the trees? And he just said something to me and I was like, I never thought of that. So I'd rather have that small watermelon because the ideas that he has, the way he looks at things is a lot different than the way I look at things. He brings solutions to the table that are different to the solutions that I bring. When you're getting kicked in the face and things are tough and you're all by yourself, you can get really depressed and get really lonely. Being an entrepreneur is real lonely, only that's the reality. But having somebody that you can share that with, that takes a lot of, lot of pressure off that to me. I love it. I thrive on it. And listen, we've all had bad partnerships, we've all had bad relationships, but it really is incumbent upon you as to why that went bad. Remember, I had a bad relationship before I met Jake with a partner. And I was blaming that partner man, Maserati Mike. I would call him his fault. But then when I stopped, I'm like, time out. I'm the responsible one. I didn't do any due diligence. I never looked at the property. I didn't know what underwriting was. So if you're out there seeking a partner, which I think everybody should, it's a lot more fun. I mean, it's a lot more rewarding. You can get a lot more done. You can gravitate to what you like to do. It comes down to values based decision making. What are your values, and do they align with your partners? Jake and I, both family guys, we both wanted to invest in multifamily. We both focused on long termism, responsibility. We wanted to have control and autonomy in our lives. We didn't want to go by rv parks. We didn't want to go fix and flip. That's what we wanted to do. And that's what I think is the beginning of a great partnership. And then, obviously, to take it one step further, we never, ever look at one of us saying, well, you didn't work today. You took the day off. We are always giving it our all, and we never make excuses, and we always show up up. That, to me, is the beginning of a really good partnership. And if you're just out there starting, maybe you just do a deal, Mike, let's do a deal together, see how it works. And if you can't have a beer with Mike, then maybe you shouldn't be in partnership with Mike, because I talked to Jake three to four times a day for the last 15 years. When I fly up to Knoxville, I stay at his house, and he comes down to Florida on vacation twice a year, and our kids hang out. I mean, that's how the relationship has become. I trust him implicitly with money, and he does the same thing with me. So that's the level of respect, and I think that's the level of biased in and accountability that you need to have with the true partner. Are you going to make mistakes? Yes. Have you made mistakes? As you're listening to this, go back and really be brutally honest with yourself. Was it all your partner's fault, or did you have something to do with that relationship going bad? And I. Most of the times, I would say 95, 100% of the times, there's a little bit of something that you did wrong. How do you correct that? And I think the first step is really to focus on values and really try to align yourself with anyone you're trying to go into business with.
Mike Swenson
Gino, theres a ton of great information here. We talked about a lot of different topics. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your wisdom for people that do want to reach out to you. Learn more about what you guys are doing. How can they do so Jake in.
Gino Barbaro
Geno.com and we just launched a new book called Baby Money Soldiers. Its a small little book, about 70 pages. If you want the ebook copy for free, just email me geno.com. and its a cool book to give your kids to sit down, read as a family. And it's just the understanding of the financial world because I think I'll end with this. I'll end with this. Mike. For me, people with financial intelligence can change the world for the better. And that's what we need. We need people more financially intelligent in this economy to get this economy up and running and make it, you know, man, I mean, if you can understand the power that finance and that money will allow you to do and the impact that you can create, create with money, I think everything will change in your life.
Mike Swenson
Thank you so much for coming on, Sharon. We really appreciate it and best of luck to you in the future.
