July 1, 2025 • 35 mins
Neil Timmons shares how he built the largest private lending business in Des Moines while creating wealth through commercial real estate syndication focused exclusively on the Iowa market.
• Transforming from commercial real estate educator to syndicator and hard money lender
• Building a syndication business focused exclusively on Iowa properties across multiple asset classes
• Adding $600,000 in property value to a mobile home park by replacing a $5,500/month dumpster with individual garbage cans
• Creating "Little Guy Loans" that deployed over $10 million with zero defaults
• Opening syndication opportunities for passive investors with minimum $50,000 investments
• Expanding lending operations to Kansas City with plans for continued growth
• Emphasizing character and experience when underwriting borrowers
• Focusing on cash flow rather than appreciation when evaluating commercial properties
• Creating investment opportunities with different timelines to match investor needs
Follow Neil Timmons on LinkedIn to learn more about investment opportunities in Iowa and beyond. The Investing in Iowa Show podcast features successful investors from across the state.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (00:02):
Hey everyone, welcome to the most Dwanderful
real estate podcast ever.
I am super excited to have youon today.
I'm Dwan Bent- Twyford.
I'm America's most sought-afterreal estate investor and I've
got a great guest.
I'm having one of my buddies ontoday, Neil and I interviewed
him a couple years ago, so we'redoing a little catch-up to see
(00:22):
what he's doing and where he'sat and what's happening.
But in the Dwanderful world, ifyou are new, my podcast just
reached 1 million downloads andI can't I know I can't tell you.
I got the thing from Buzzsprout.
I was like, oh my god, amillion downloads.
I was lost my mind for a minute.
So if you like the show, youhave fun today.
(00:44):
We need some five-star reviews,we need you to follow and
subscribe and all the things, sowe can get to two million.
And I'm really easy to find.
I took Dwan and Wonderful, madea word Dwan-der-ful.
So just go toD-W-A-N-D-E-R-F-U-L,
d-w-a-n-d-e-r-f-u-l, dwanderful.
com on all places and that'swhere I'm at.
Neil Timmons (01:12):
So my buddy Neil, you and I taught like three
years ago, probably somewhere inthat range.
Yeah, yeah, two or three yearsback.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:16):
Yeah, and I was like so I told Neil, earlier
everyone I interview on apodcast.
I keep them all on my phone andI thought you know I never take
the time to catch back up withpeople.
I'm always just interviewingnew people.
But I have a lot of people Iinterviewed that I really loved
and I loved their story and Iloved what they were doing and
you and I mentioned earlier Isuper had fun with them.
(01:37):
I thought I'm going to invitesome people back on that were
just super fun guests and seewhat they're doing and kind of
update what's happening in yourlife.
Neil Timmons (01:49):
So you've set a high bar, Dwan.
Now I'm going to make sure I'mexciting and fun.
You are.
Not just for the audience, sothanks for having me.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:56):
I interviewed about 200 people.
I told them you know they haveall my phone and podcast and
then their name and as Iscrolled through and I sent out
10 people that I really lovedand I was excited that all 10
people booked the spot back withme.
So you're one of my top 10 babyheck, yeah, give me a plaque
(02:17):
that's it.
That's it.
You know, I should, I should, Ishould, I should.
And I didn't even go back andlook at like what people's topic
was.
I just was, was like, you know,it's like they always say,
people don't always remember you.
They remember how you make themfeel.
And I thought, you know, whodid I like really just have such
a good time with?
And I was like, oh, that wasgreat, and you were one of those
guys.
So what were you doing backthen, a couple of years ago?
Neil Timmons (02:45):
What were you doing?
And also educating people oncommercial real estate, getting
people into the commercial realestate space through education.
So that's what I was doing backthen.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (02:50):
But just real quick I forgot.
Just give everyone your socials.
How to find you like everythingat the top of the show notes.
Neil Timmons (02:58):
The best place to find me is going to be LinkedIn.
Neil Timmons, just go there andyou got Neil Timmons, the Neil
Timmons.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:05):
The Neil.
Neil Timmons (03:05):
Timmons, just go there and you got, you got Neil
Timmons, the Neil Timmons.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:07):
The Neil Timmons Easy to find.
The Neil Timmons T-I-M-N-I-N-S.
Neil Timmons (03:11):
And I'm in Iowa, and so it should be easy to find
me.
You got it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:13):
That's right.
That's right, yeah, so you weredoing so.
You were doing commercial andsee.
It's hard to remember back, soI didn't rewatch the podcast.
Neil Timmons (03:25):
Were watch the podcast, were you teaching
people how to buy it or were youfinancing it?
Yep, at the time, I wasteaching people how to buy
commercial property and it'sjust like monopoly right, the
idea being you trade thesehouses up and trade them in for
hotels.
The idea being it's just somuch easier on the commercial
side than it is on theresidential side, because one
deal could completely changeyour life.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:43):
No, I agree, I agree, I'm you know, you and I
, I was on your show recentlythe investing in Iowa thing, and
yeah, I mean, one commercialdeal can just, it can literally
change everything in your life.
So now you tell me the name ofyour new podcast.
Neil Timmons (04:03):
The podcast the Investing in Iowa Show.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:06):
You know yeah .
Neil Timmons (04:07):
So the Investing in Iowa Show I was talking to my
right-hand gal and we had apodcast a few years back and I
think you know you and Iconnected on that one and so you
know, fast forward, we weretalking to my right-hand gal and
we were talking about the showand kind of where we're going in
our business and how the showsupports our business.
And she's going, you know, like99% of our business that we do
(04:31):
from a, from a residential and acommercial perspective, is all
in Iowa.
She said why don't we justfocus on Iowa?
And I was like that's, that'sbrilliant.
Let's, let's bring it, let'sbring it home both from you know
what we buy, and then ourinvestors, who, uh, who help
support what we buy.
They're all it's largelyiowa-based and so that's what,
that's what we did and it's beenextraordinarily well received
(04:52):
and the guests all have somesort of tie, some sort of impact
, some sort of propertyconnection to iowa and that's
why, um, you and bill both cameon.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (05:00):
Fantastic, that was a great show I know we,
uh, we love that show because,as you know, we do all of our
investing in Iowa.
We have a house in Colorado, wehave a house in Florida, but
really the deals are in Iowa andI always try to work with
people and just say, listen, youdon't have to invest in your
backyard.
I think a lot of investors arelike, oh no, I live in Texas, I
(05:24):
have to buy stuff, I can see it,I can go there, I can be by it.
Neil Timmons (05:30):
I'm like no, but there's better deals in the
Midwest.
I mean better deals from a cashflow perspective.
You know we never see the highsand we don't see the lows.
Right, it's just a nice steadyenvironment and from a cash flow
standpoint it's been fantasticand I always say cashflow is
king.
It is how underwriting takesplace when you go borrow money
(05:51):
from a bank.
If you're in a spot where someof the Californians California,
for an example there's like nocashflow but there is
appreciation right, and it'sbeen really strong appreciation
for years and years and yearsjust known as an appreciation
market.
Well, when I go borrow moneyfrom a bank on a commercial deal
, all the banker wants to knowis how they get paid back, and
they get paid back throughcashflow.
They're just underwriting thecashflow, not the appreciation.
(06:13):
So that's why I say cashflow isking.
It's got to be there to get thebest loan that goes in place to
be able to put a deal togetherto be able to put a deal
together.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:27):
So are you focusing on buying these
commercial properties foryourself?
Are you helping your students?
Are you trying to be thefinancing guy?
Neil Timmons (06:35):
Yeah, so let's fast forward to today.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:37):
Or is that like guess all and then explain?
Neil Timmons (06:40):
No, so let's fast forward.
You asked, I love it.
You asked me the question whatwas he doing back then?
Let's talk about what I'm doingtoday.
Is that fair?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:47):
That's what I want to do yes I want to
transition, because before, yeah, you were and I was in so much
agreement, I was like, which youjust did, and I think what
you're doing now seems like it'sjust.
It's a now that you justleveled up big time yeah, well,
(07:11):
we do two things today in myworld.
Neil Timmons (07:14):
we buy commercial property.
So, yes, some deals I buymyself, yes, some deals we bring
in, we syndicate, so we bringother investors in, and so that
has been very, very good, verystrong.
We got a deal last year we puttogether I think we're going to
go full cycle on it sometimethis year.
It's just going to be afreaking home run of a deal
(07:36):
right here in the backyard inDes Moines.
It has been very, very good.
And then, secondly, about 18months ago, the commercial deals
really started getting dry,really about two and a half
years ago.
But last year, 2024, really arelatively quiet year for
commercial opportunities here inAnd so I was sitting here
(07:57):
thinking what else can we do?
How else can we employ somedollars and cents?
My background I grew out of thesingle family space had been a
broker, had brokered nearly 2000properties fixed and flipped,
then several hundred here inIowa and then dozens and dozens
and dozens of rentals.
So I'd always loan money toguys off and on over years who
would fix and flip.
(08:18):
And so about 18 months ago,maybe 20 months ago, I was like
you know what, why don't we lendmoney to people around town who
I don't yet know?
And so we put together a littlebrand little guy loans and we
started it, which is comicalgiven that I'm almost six and a
half feet tall.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (08:36):
I see the sign little guy loans, that's
cute.
Neil Timmons (08:38):
Yeah, and started lending money in and around town
to people who are fixing,flipping or executing our birth
strategy and they just refinanceus out and again,
extraordinarily well-received.
I had no idea there was goingto be this level of demand for
hard money loans right, that'swhat we do so much.
It took us a year became thelargest private lender in Des
(09:00):
Moines Again very well-received,and I think some of that has to
do with, I mean, the rates andterms are competitive.
They're in line with what you'dexpect from a hard money
standpoint.
But past that, I strive realhard to add value to people past
dollars and cents.
I have been in their shoes.
I have fixed and flippedhundreds of these things.
So there are avenues which Ithink we can add value to to an
(09:23):
investor that go way past justlending them money.
It's been so well-received.
You know we have grown so wellhere.
We just added Kansas city, sothat just launched here about 15
days ago.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:35):
Oh nice.
Neil Timmons (09:37):
Connected with somebody really well down there.
We get along super well, sohe's he's running a a really our
market manager there formeeting people and connecting
and lending money down to thatmarket.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:47):
So you are.
So now, I did not know that youwere syndicating, yeah, or
maybe I did.
No, I don't know or understandwhat a syndication is.
(10:10):
Let's talk about, like, the jobyou're getting ready to do,
like what?
Tell me about your syndication.
Neil Timmons (10:15):
Yeah, I'll give you the deal.
I'm going to give you twoexamples, one in real estate and
one on lending side, becausethey are distinctly different.
So the one we did last year webought a mobile home park.
So in Iowa it's either you gowide, for example, you could buy
apartments and buy themanywhere across the country.
I chose to go deep in a marketand wide asset wise.
(10:37):
So we've bought mobile homeparks, industrial, self-storage,
retail office, medical office,so I've got a whole multitude of
assets, but in Iowa.
So this was our second mobilehome park that we bought.
We bought it in the middle oflast year and it had some
relatively in my opinion,relatively low hanging fruit in
(11:01):
terms of how we could go addvalue real quick to this
property and we've executed onthat really, really well.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (11:08):
Yeah, that's a couple of examples.
Neil Timmons (11:11):
The easiest.
You're going to love thisgarbage.
The Boba Home Park has about 63, 64 pads that are occupied
Garbage.
When we bought it was done witha relatively large dumpster
that was picked up six days aweek costing them about $5,500 a
(11:37):
month Five grand a month ingarbage.
So just imagine having a60-unit apartment complex
spending $5,000 a month ingarbage.
This dumpster became thedumpster for all these people,
along with whatever they did intheir day job.
So if they went out and wereroofers, they brought all their
roofing stuff back right whenthey tore up shingles.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (11:57):
That was it.
Neil Timmons (11:57):
I know exactly what you mean, and then it was a
dumpster for the wholeneighborhood, because the whole
neighborhood knew that thatplace had a dumpster, so you can
just throw all your crap inthere and it just goes bye-bye.
So, they were spending that kindof money a month.
So we changed that.
The day of closing thatdumpster went bye-bye and what
got brought in was individualgarbage cans 64 individual
(12:17):
garbage cans, one for each house, one for each property.
We went, took the bill fromover $5,000 a month to $750 a
month.
So we added about that is sohuge, Just like that.
We added about it's better foryou too, Correct.
We added about $500,000 invalue to the property the first
(12:41):
day, just for making that change, because $4,200, $4,250 got
dropped to the bottom line,nearly $50,000 in net profit
dropped to the bottom line, andyou cap that out of a.
You know, at a 10 cap it's 500grand, but we're probably closer
to a seven-ish cap.
So you know, $600,000 plus getadded to the value of the
property.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:01):
I mean $5,000 a month for garbage is so much
money.
Neil Timmons (13:06):
It's bonkers.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:06):
You know we have and so we're going to be.
We're going to be in Clintonfor June, July and August.
You got to come over and spenda day with us in.
Clinton, one of our buildings.
It has a dumpster and so Istarted noticing like how is
this dumpster like completelyfull Like all the time?
So we put a camera.
(13:28):
So Bill's sister, she sort oflike takes care of, you know,
the cameras and making sure thebills and electric and heating,
like she does all the stuff tomake sure all the different
buildings have all the stuff.
So she put these cameras upthat you can talk through them
and so she'll see people puttingtrash in.
She's like, hey, get away fromthat trash, can?
(13:48):
The police are on the way andpeople are looking.
She's like I see you looking upat me.
Get away.
And I'm telling you within amonth of her doing that, people
stopped putting their stuff inour dumpsters because lynn is
like she just watches thecameras all the time, never
sleeps.
She gets up, she looks she's adumpster nazi oh my god, one
(14:10):
poor guy.
I was there so they're on herphone.
So she was with us in iowa.
She's like, oh my god, she gota beep, that you know.
And so we look out the windowbecause I can see the dumpster
and she's like get out of thedumpster.
I saw what you put, take itback out right now.
The guy's looking around.
She's like the police are onthe way and she made some sound
like like a siren sound and Ithought I was gonna die and I'm
(14:31):
laughing and laughing and thispoor guy's pulling stuff out,
don't go back in his car.
And I was like lynn, you arelike the dumpster queen.
So she keeps an eye on thoseand just yells at people through
the cameras and they don'tthink they can see the cameras.
Neil Timmons (14:45):
I don't like girl yeah, that's, yeah, it's, it's
incredible.
Yeah, so that for us was thelowest hanging fruit, the
easiest way to add value to thatthat park.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (14:54):
Let me go back to your question something
that you had done before, or isthis?
Hey, let's try this and seewhat happens.
Neil Timmons (15:01):
No, we have done it before in a couple of places,
never to that extent where itwas that big a margin.
But yeah, one of the line itemsthat we do as we go through a
process and we acquire aproperty is review all vendor
contracts and then you know ifwe can approve either through
renegotiation or changingvendors.
That's what we do, so there aresome very easy ways.
(15:24):
That's the most extreme onewe've ever been involved in.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (15:28):
Yeah, but that's such a good tip for any
fine.
Oklahoma or anything like that.
I don't even know if I wouldhave thought about that.
That's a great tip.
You think about this?
Neil Timmons (15:39):
We added over $600,000 in know if I would have
thought about that.
That's a great tip.
You think about this, we.
You know we added over $600,000in value to that that park,
just like that.
We paid 1.2 million for theplace.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (15:46):
Wow, that's crazy.
Neil Timmons (15:48):
So, from a from an ROI standpoint, huge.
So let me go back to yourquestion.
Tell me about syndication.
You know we got, we got off tothe underlying asset of
syndication Syndication the bestway to say it is it's a group
of people coming together to buya property, and so you have
general partners in this case,myself, my team and the limited
(16:13):
partners, people who writechecks to participate in that
type of an investment, and sothere's always a business plan.
In this case, it was hey, we'regoing to reposition this park,
it's just a value-add park.
We're this case, it was hey,we're going to reposition this
park, it's just a value-add park, we're going to churn it and
then we're going to burn it,this thing is going to get sold
out and then, obviously, we'regoing to reap the rewards, the
idea being that we should benorth of 20% a year in annual
(16:34):
returns.
So if we land it, in one year ortwo years it's 20% or 40%,
somewhere in that range was whatwe projected and we're right on
track to do exactly just that,based on where we're at and the
other pieces of the puzzle thatwe put together.
So somebody can participate incommercial real estate or
whatever the syndication may beand I'll tell you about the
(16:56):
lending stuff in just a minutebut so somebody can participate.
What's?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (16:59):
the buy-in.
Neil Timmons (17:00):
Buy-in varies.
That one was $50,000.
So typically you're seeingbuy-ins from $50,000 or $100,000
.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (17:06):
I think $50,000 is common.
You know they've lowered itdown.
Sure yeah, Do they have to be?
Neil Timmons (17:16):
Accredited is the word you're looking for.
Yeah, it depends on.
Accredited is the word you'relooking for.
Yeah, it depends on that deal.
I don't remember off the top ofmy head if they had to be
accredited or not, since it wasabout a year ago, but I'll tell
you about the lending one injust a minute.
So every deal is a littledifferent.
Some have income with them,meaning you're going to get
quarterly distributions,quarterly returns.
Others, you know, there is noincome.
(17:42):
We did one a couple of years agowhere it was an industrial
property 100% vacant, andtherefore it requires filling
that thing up before there'sever income.
So in that scenario we telleverybody hey, it's going to be
a couple of years, one to twoyears, before we start writing
checks because we're not in aposition to do that.
It's a complete reposition ofthe property and then eventually
a sale to be able to captureour biggest gain.
(18:04):
But let me talk to you aboutthe lending side.
We just launched oursyndication for the little guy
loan business to help supportthe growth that we're getting
there and the benefit of that isit's all income, meaning we
don't own a property.
Investors in our syndication forour loan business, we own loans
, we're originating loans, we'rein first position on every
(18:27):
property that we lend money on,just like a bank.
These folks pay us.
They pay us back in interestand fees and so in that
syndication, people are gettingdouble-digit returns.
They're getting interest paidout to them, profits paid out to
them on a quarterly basis orthey can reinvest their return.
(18:48):
They can come back in on aquarterly basis, reinvest their
returns and get that compoundingoption over a period of time.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:54):
So I think that's amazing.
So, like someone like me, Icould have the option to say,
hey, I want to come in andpurchase and be part of this
building, or, you know, I justwant to throw some money so I
can get some money back.
Yeah exactly Right, and peopledo both.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Neil Timmons (19:12):
Some people do both.
It just depends on what, whatyour goals are, what your return
habits are and when you needthe money.
For example, on every propertywe buy on the syndication side,
every property is different.
Sometimes it's one to two years.
We did one a couple of yearsback.
We went out to everybody andsaid, hey, we got a 10-year
tenant.
They've signed a 10-year leaseon this thing.
(19:32):
This is set and forget it.
We're going to be in the fiveto seven-year range before this
thing gets sold.
So if you need your money backbefore then, this is not the
investment for you.
You know, our lending side ofone is is much better because we
can get liquidity for somebodyinside of six to 12 months.
If you need your money back ina relatively short period of
(19:53):
time or want to have the optionto do that, that's a much better
.
That's a much better spot.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (19:59):
Yeah, no, no, I love both.
And yeah, I think I rememberwhen I first started my podcast
and I interviewed my first fewpeople that did syndication and
after having been in thebusiness for 25 years, I was
like you know what?
I know nothing aboutsyndication.
I don't know why, it's never.
When I was working in SouthFlorida, I don't even know.
(20:21):
And then I started learningmore.
It's like wow, this is like areally amazing cause.
There's just so many people youknow, especially like in their
sixties, seventies, eighties,they're just sitting on so much
money.
Neil Timmons (20:33):
So much cash?
They don't know what to do withit and you take it to the bank
and you can still get in thefours today, the bank on a CD,
but who knows where that's goingto go.
Right, yeah, and that's why I aterrific spot to be able to get
some very healthy returns andI'm in it in a very large way to
(21:08):
make sure this thing works.
And to date, duann, we've lentover $10 million here in Iowa,
over $10 million here.
I'm going to give you this.
We've had zero defaults, notone late payment, not one person
missing our payoff.
In our terms.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (21:27):
I don't know, I don't think I'm worried about
me talking to you.
Neil Timmons (21:31):
No, it's been a fantastic business.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (21:34):
You know what that number is, though.
To have lent out $10 millionwith zero defaults Like that
doesn't happen.
Neil Timmons (21:41):
Well, we underwrite.
You know, for us, we don't haveto say yes to every deal.
It's okay to say no, it's okay.
The goal for us and for ourinvestors, the goal is to make
money, not to do deals, and sowe focus very heavily on
underwriting the person, theindividual.
We focus very heavily onunderwriting the person, the
individual right, what islargely what's their character?
(22:02):
Right, Credit scores areobviously a good one, but what's
their character?
What's your experience, what'stheir history?
And then we underwrite theproperty.
Secondly, because if I don'thave the right person, the
property is not going to matter.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:14):
No, I'm with you on that.
So you guys are.
So now are you buying some ofthese commercial buildings and
like just keeping them foryourself?
Neil Timmons (22:23):
I yes.
On occasion I'm trying to thinkit's been two years, it's been
syndicating, turning them over,getting the money, lending the
money.
Yeah, it's been.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:33):
We're like I'm just going to buy all these
and keep all these for myself.
Neil Timmons (22:36):
If I do, it's on the smaller side, to where
syndication?
Because there's real costsassociated with syndication, to
where it just isn't going tomake sense to be able to go do
it.
So if there's a smallerbuilding I bought one a few
years ago it was like $450,000.
It just the cost to syndicatethat just do not align.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:55):
Yeah, they don't align.
No, no, no, just do not align,yeah they don't align.
Neil Timmons (23:00):
No, no, no.
So what's your average pricerange of a building on the
commercial side?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:02):
well, good question, let me think here to
make it worth your while and doall your stuff.
I mean you're, you're yeah, amillion yeah are you looking
like?
Neil Timmons (23:11):
everything's over a million yeah, everything's
over a million on oursyndication side, a million to 2
million on average.
We've crossed the $4 millionmark a couple of years ago on a
property, but about 2 million onaverage.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:27):
Yeah, that sounds about right.
It's okay, I'm going to changetopics.
I want to talk about you.
Yeah, tell me your favoriteband of all time.
Neil Timmons (23:35):
Oh, you asked me this.
Last time I was prepared.
I was not prepared last time,and so I gave you my favorite
band of all time, as, as I, as Iwas growing up, I remember
being in the, in the, in the car, listening to tunes with mom
and dad.
I'm gonna give you a new onethis time, because I I listened
to these guys growing up, andnow my youngest son, who's 15,
(23:56):
loves our music, which is queenI love queen too love queen.
My son is into it.
He'll, he'll put it on, he'llgo work out to it.
I'm like, oh, that, that's socool it is.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:07):
You know, it's funny.
I started asking that questiona couple of years ago and I've
been podcasting for five.
So with the people I'm like Idon't know if they were in when
I started asking those questions, or if they were, it was like
pre that, and so I'm just likeI'm just asking everybody again.
You know I've got fourgrandkids.
(24:27):
They're three, five, nine andten.
They love Queen.
They're like, yeah, all thetime and they're on the piano
and the drums and they loveQueen.
I always said my favorite bandwas Styx sticks, but I feel like
my favorite band is queen.
Right now.
I'm so into it with mygrandkids.
It's like god, freddie murphywas just brilliant are you just
(24:50):
incredible incredible,incredible.
yeah, so I didn't know, becausethat I interviewed someone
earlier and I had not asked, andshe's like, oh, that's a really
good question.
I was like okay, that was pre.
I don't know where the line waswhen I started asking that, but
I just I don't know.
I always am of the mindset thatpeople work with people that
they like.
Neil Timmons (25:08):
For sure.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:10):
And you know we all talk business, business,
business.
But it's like I like to know,like what people do and what
they eat.
What people do and what theyeat, where do they go and like
what are they about?
Because, like I told youearlier, when I was going
through my phone to re-interviewsome people, I didn't remember
the specific interview as much,as at the end of the interview I
thought, oh, what a greatperson.
That was so much fun that itstuck with me long enough to
(25:32):
like scroll through and pick outmy my faves, yeah.
Neil Timmons (25:41):
And so I probably didn't ask you what was your
favorite food that you may have,but I don't recall off the top
of my head if you did or not.
Uh, I'll tell you what this islike.
It's, it's my favorite and it'salso dangerous.
So my my team knows that we can.
Neil can only go so many timesbecause it's gonna be in a food
coma when I leave.
Of course it's mexican.
They're like there's.
I'll you what.
There's something that they dothat is that one can take away
in life.
(26:01):
They lead with value.
The first thing you get whenyou go into a Mexican restaurant
is chips and salsa.
They lead with value.
I'm like it's just it's.
It's incredible.
There's there's something totake away from that about it's
like it's like there's a givingmindset.
Yeah, I like the margaritas.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:16):
It's like there's a giving mindset.
Yeah, I like the margaritas.
Yeah, now I know I did not askyou this question because this
is a new question what's yourfavorite time of day, like from
all of your day?
Where is your space whereyou're like oh, this is my happy
time of day, this is like, thisis my part of where makes it
all worth it.
What's your favorite part ofyour day and your favorite time
(26:39):
of day?
Neil Timmons (26:40):
Yeah, probably 7 am at the gym.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:42):
Yeah, okay, good, so you are a morning
person.
Neil Timmons (26:45):
Yeah.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:46):
Yeah, I know I've interviewed one guy.
I go to the gym at 4 am and Iwas like, but why 4 am,
seriously?
And he's like you know, and Ididn't mean for it to come out
that way.
So I think he was like felt alittle bit defensive, I mean no
but seriously, 4 am Like youhave to go to bed like noon.
Neil Timmons (27:02):
Yeah, I'm thinking 4 am sounds cool because
nobody's there.
But yeah, that's what I'mwondering is how do you balance
that work at the same?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (27:09):
time and if you go to the gym at 4 and then
you do all I would, I would, Iwould think, yes, I would think
that was real tough, all right.
So over here at the DeWonderfulfamily, what can we do to help
you reach your next big goal?
Neil Timmons (27:29):
Wow, that's a that's a great question.
What can you?
You know I this thisconversation and is is fantastic
, allowing a platform for us tohave a conversation, share
people with what it is that I do.
If it resonates with somebody,which really means if it sounds
(27:50):
like something that'sinteresting, worth us getting
connected, having a conversation, I would certainly welcome that
.
Or plug into the podcast theInvestor in Iowa Show.
That has been fantastic.
We've had everything frompeople who fixed and flipped
four or five houses in theirlife and they've found some
(28:11):
early success, but really justgetting going all the way up to
a couple of developers who havedeveloped hundreds and hundreds
of millions of dollars incommercial real estate.
We've had everything in betweenand so it has been extreme.
I mean, when I go out to eventsand in the intra industry it's
(28:32):
I get a lot of positive feedbackbecause we're just bringing
people together who love Iowa,who are in real estate and who
invest in Iowa All right, yeah,so I'm, you know I like to ask
that question.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:44):
next.
I'm like you know.
I have a little bit of apodcast presence now.
You're certainly not thebiggest in the world, but a lot
of people listen, so I'm alwayslike you know.
What can we do to help you growyour business?
Because everyone I interview isin some kind of business that I
approve of.
Neil Timmons (29:00):
Sure.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (29:01):
I think people should do syndication.
I agree with people that justwant to buy, you know, rehabs,
or they want a storage, or theywant mobile or whatever they
want.
I'm like listen, I believe inall of it.
So, someone that's listeningand you don't know who Neil is,
then go to find him on LinkedIn.
Like you said, neil Timmons,the Neil Timmons.
(29:23):
And then, of course, theinvesting Iowa is called the
investing Iowa show.
And if you're like hey, I'msitting on money, I don't know
what to do with it, or I want tobe a part of things and you
don't know where to start, thisis your guy right here.
When you, when you get intosyndications and you don't know
where to start, this is your guyright here.
When you get into syndicationsand you work with people like
Neil, you're not learning by theseat of your pants.
(29:45):
You're not trying to figure outhow to rehab or how to flip or
how to do it.
You're not figuring all thatstuff out.
Someone's already done it andyou're benefiting from their
knowledge.
Neil Timmons (29:54):
It's a shortcut.
I always tell everybody you can.
I always tell everybody youknow you, somebody.
People should invest in realestate, should invest in the
private credit market, which isreally what our debt stuff is.
But if you're you're, you'resuccessful at what you do doctor
, lawyer, I'm just naming acouple of things.
Nurse, it doesn't matter whatit is Don't quit your day job.
You're great at that.
(30:15):
Do that and just invest inanother area.
You know those who invest inthe stock market.
None of us quit our day job togo invest in the stock market,
right.
So you don't need to give upwhat you do and what you love
just to invest.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:30):
Yeah, and I just I like the fact that people
can get like with your specificbecause they know you and I
know what you do.
And I like your specificsyndication because there are a
lot of you out there, like youknow.
You said, dr Lloyd, or whateverthere's people are sitting on
money.
I'd like to have a little fixedrubber, but they don't know
what they're doing.
So, like you know what, putsome money into something.
Let someone else run it for you.
Neil Timmons (30:52):
Yeah.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:54):
It makes really good sense and your
chances of failure are basicallyzero.
Neil Timmons (30:57):
It shortcuts everything right.
Yeah, to go do it yourself.
I mean, you remember thosefirst days of doing this, john,
and the learnings that you hadto take early on in one's career
Yep.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:10):
My learning curve was so long, so long, okay
, so I'm going to ask one morequestion out of you, and I want
you to leave us with a word ofwisdom, but just one single word
, a word.
Neil Timmons (31:29):
Thankful.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:31):
Can I hang on before you say Okay?
So everyone that listens to meregularly we take the word
thankful, we put it on a littlesticky and we put it up on our
mirror and that is the word ofthe week in the Dwandiful world
is thankful.
So what does thankful mean toyou?
Neil Timmons (31:51):
The easiest way to get grounded and no matter what
stress you have going on inyour world is just simply to
reflect on something that youcan be thankful for in your life
, and the stress can simply justevaporate.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:07):
I love it.
All right, guys.
So that's what thankful is toNeil.
So that's how we're going toapproach the word thankful this
week, and I always like to knowpeople when they say their word,
like what it means to them,like what it means to you may
not be the same as it means tome or somebody else.
So we take what your meaning isand that's what we focus on
this week, so you'll have allkinds of people focusing on
(32:28):
thankful, neil Timmons.
Neil Timmons (32:32):
Wonderful.
Well, hey, with that, I'mthankful for you having me on
here, duann, I'm thankful foryou having me on here.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:37):
Duann, so I appreciate it.
I'm thankful for you coming onand spending time with me and
I'm so excited to come to Iowaand hook up with you this year
and show you what we're doing inour little town over there.
So much fun going over there.
So, folks, remember, if youlove the show, learn something,
have fun, give a five starreview, subscribe, follow, share
all of the things and we'll beback next week, same bat time,
(32:59):
same bat channel.
And remember that the truth isin the red letters.
All right, thank you, mr nam.
You're awesome and I'll talk toyou soon.
Bye, everybody.
Hey everyone, welcome to the most Dwanderful
real estate podcast ever.
I am super excited to have youon today.
I'm Dwan Bent- Twyford.
I'm America's most sought-afterreal estate investor and I've
got a great guest.
I'm having one of my buddies ontoday, Neil and I interviewed
him a couple years ago, so we'redoing a little catch-up to see
(00:22):
what he's doing and where he'sat and what's happening.
But in the Dwanderful world, ifyou are new, my podcast just
reached 1 million downloads andI can't I know I can't tell you.
I got the thing from Buzzsprout.
I was like, oh my god, amillion downloads.
I was lost my mind for a minute.
So if you like the show, youhave fun today.
(00:44):
We need some five-star reviews,we need you to follow and
subscribe and all the things, sowe can get to two million.
And I'm really easy to find.
I took Dwan and Wonderful, madea word Dwan-der-ful.
So just go toD-W-A-N-D-E-R-F-U-L,
d-w-a-n-d-e-r-f-u-l, dwanderful.
com on all places and that'swhere I'm at.
Neil Timmons (01:12):
So my buddy Neil, you and I taught like three
years ago, probably somewhere inthat range.
Yeah, yeah, two or three yearsback.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:16):
Yeah, and I was like so I told Neil, earlier
everyone I interview on apodcast.
I keep them all on my phone andI thought you know I never take
the time to catch back up withpeople.
I'm always just interviewingnew people.
But I have a lot of people Iinterviewed that I really loved
and I loved their story and Iloved what they were doing and
you and I mentioned earlier Isuper had fun with them.
(01:37):
I thought I'm going to invitesome people back on that were
just super fun guests and seewhat they're doing and kind of
update what's happening in yourlife.
Neil Timmons (01:49):
So you've set a high bar, Dwan.
Now I'm going to make sure I'mexciting and fun.
You are.
Not just for the audience, sothanks for having me.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:56):
I interviewed about 200 people.
I told them you know they haveall my phone and podcast and
then their name and as Iscrolled through and I sent out
10 people that I really lovedand I was excited that all 10
people booked the spot back withme.
So you're one of my top 10 babyheck, yeah, give me a plaque
(02:17):
that's it.
That's it.
You know, I should, I should, Ishould, I should.
And I didn't even go back andlook at like what people's topic
was.
I just was, was like, you know,it's like they always say,
people don't always remember you.
They remember how you make themfeel.
And I thought, you know, whodid I like really just have such
a good time with?
And I was like, oh, that wasgreat, and you were one of those
guys.
So what were you doing backthen, a couple of years ago?
Neil Timmons (02:45):
What were you doing?
And also educating people oncommercial real estate, getting
people into the commercial realestate space through education.
So that's what I was doing backthen.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (02:50):
But just real quick I forgot.
Just give everyone your socials.
How to find you like everythingat the top of the show notes.
Neil Timmons (02:58):
The best place to find me is going to be LinkedIn.
Neil Timmons, just go there andyou got Neil Timmons, the Neil
Timmons.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:05):
The Neil.
Neil Timmons (03:05):
Timmons, just go there and you got, you got Neil
Timmons, the Neil Timmons.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:07):
The Neil Timmons Easy to find.
The Neil Timmons T-I-M-N-I-N-S.
Neil Timmons (03:11):
And I'm in Iowa, and so it should be easy to find
me.
You got it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:13):
That's right.
That's right, yeah, so you weredoing so.
You were doing commercial andsee.
It's hard to remember back, soI didn't rewatch the podcast.
Neil Timmons (03:25):
Were watch the podcast, were you teaching
people how to buy it or were youfinancing it?
Yep, at the time, I wasteaching people how to buy
commercial property and it'sjust like monopoly right, the
idea being you trade thesehouses up and trade them in for
hotels.
The idea being it's just somuch easier on the commercial
side than it is on theresidential side, because one
deal could completely changeyour life.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (03:43):
No, I agree, I agree, I'm you know, you and I
, I was on your show recentlythe investing in Iowa thing, and
yeah, I mean, one commercialdeal can just, it can literally
change everything in your life.
So now you tell me the name ofyour new podcast.
Neil Timmons (04:03):
The podcast the Investing in Iowa Show.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:06):
You know yeah .
Neil Timmons (04:07):
So the Investing in Iowa Show I was talking to my
right-hand gal and we had apodcast a few years back and I
think you know you and Iconnected on that one and so you
know, fast forward, we weretalking to my right-hand gal and
we were talking about the showand kind of where we're going in
our business and how the showsupports our business.
And she's going, you know, like99% of our business that we do
(04:31):
from a, from a residential and acommercial perspective, is all
in Iowa.
She said why don't we justfocus on Iowa?
And I was like that's, that'sbrilliant.
Let's, let's bring it, let'sbring it home both from you know
what we buy, and then ourinvestors, who, uh, who help
support what we buy.
They're all it's largelyiowa-based and so that's what,
that's what we did and it's beenextraordinarily well received
(04:52):
and the guests all have somesort of tie, some sort of impact
, some sort of propertyconnection to iowa and that's
why, um, you and bill both cameon.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (05:00):
Fantastic, that was a great show I know we,
uh, we love that show because,as you know, we do all of our
investing in Iowa.
We have a house in Colorado, wehave a house in Florida, but
really the deals are in Iowa andI always try to work with
people and just say, listen, youdon't have to invest in your
backyard.
I think a lot of investors arelike, oh no, I live in Texas, I
(05:24):
have to buy stuff, I can see it,I can go there, I can be by it.
Neil Timmons (05:30):
I'm like no, but there's better deals in the
Midwest.
I mean better deals from a cashflow perspective.
You know we never see the highsand we don't see the lows.
Right, it's just a nice steadyenvironment and from a cash flow
standpoint it's been fantasticand I always say cashflow is
king.
It is how underwriting takesplace when you go borrow money
(05:51):
from a bank.
If you're in a spot where someof the Californians California,
for an example there's like nocashflow but there is
appreciation right, and it'sbeen really strong appreciation
for years and years and yearsjust known as an appreciation
market.
Well, when I go borrow moneyfrom a bank on a commercial deal
, all the banker wants to knowis how they get paid back, and
they get paid back throughcashflow.
They're just underwriting thecashflow, not the appreciation.
(06:13):
So that's why I say cashflow isking.
It's got to be there to get thebest loan that goes in place to
be able to put a deal togetherto be able to put a deal
together.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:27):
So are you focusing on buying these
commercial properties foryourself?
Are you helping your students?
Are you trying to be thefinancing guy?
Neil Timmons (06:35):
Yeah, so let's fast forward to today.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:37):
Or is that like guess all and then explain?
Neil Timmons (06:40):
No, so let's fast forward.
You asked, I love it.
You asked me the question whatwas he doing back then?
Let's talk about what I'm doingtoday.
Is that fair?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:47):
That's what I want to do yes I want to
transition, because before, yeah, you were and I was in so much
agreement, I was like, which youjust did, and I think what
you're doing now seems like it'sjust.
It's a now that you justleveled up big time yeah, well,
(07:11):
we do two things today in myworld.
Neil Timmons (07:14):
we buy commercial property.
So, yes, some deals I buymyself, yes, some deals we bring
in, we syndicate, so we bringother investors in, and so that
has been very, very good, verystrong.
We got a deal last year we puttogether I think we're going to
go full cycle on it sometimethis year.
It's just going to be afreaking home run of a deal
(07:36):
right here in the backyard inDes Moines.
It has been very, very good.
And then, secondly, about 18months ago, the commercial deals
really started getting dry,really about two and a half
years ago.
But last year, 2024, really arelatively quiet year for
commercial opportunities here inAnd so I was sitting here
(07:57):
thinking what else can we do?
How else can we employ somedollars and cents?
My background I grew out of thesingle family space had been a
broker, had brokered nearly 2000properties fixed and flipped,
then several hundred here inIowa and then dozens and dozens
and dozens of rentals.
So I'd always loan money toguys off and on over years who
would fix and flip.
(08:18):
And so about 18 months ago,maybe 20 months ago, I was like
you know what, why don't we lendmoney to people around town who
I don't yet know?
And so we put together a littlebrand little guy loans and we
started it, which is comicalgiven that I'm almost six and a
half feet tall.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (08:36):
I see the sign little guy loans, that's
cute.
Neil Timmons (08:38):
Yeah, and started lending money in and around town
to people who are fixing,flipping or executing our birth
strategy and they just refinanceus out and again,
extraordinarily well-received.
I had no idea there was goingto be this level of demand for
hard money loans right, that'swhat we do so much.
It took us a year became thelargest private lender in Des
(09:00):
Moines Again very well-received,and I think some of that has to
do with, I mean, the rates andterms are competitive.
They're in line with what you'dexpect from a hard money
standpoint.
But past that, I strive realhard to add value to people past
dollars and cents.
I have been in their shoes.
I have fixed and flippedhundreds of these things.
So there are avenues which Ithink we can add value to to an
(09:23):
investor that go way past justlending them money.
It's been so well-received.
You know we have grown so wellhere.
We just added Kansas city, sothat just launched here about 15
days ago.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:35):
Oh nice.
Neil Timmons (09:37):
Connected with somebody really well down there.
We get along super well, sohe's he's running a a really our
market manager there formeeting people and connecting
and lending money down to thatmarket.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:47):
So you are.
So now, I did not know that youwere syndicating, yeah, or
maybe I did.
No, I don't know or understandwhat a syndication is.
(10:10):
Let's talk about, like, the jobyou're getting ready to do,
like what?
Tell me about your syndication.
Neil Timmons (10:15):
Yeah, I'll give you the deal.
I'm going to give you twoexamples, one in real estate and
one on lending side, becausethey are distinctly different.
So the one we did last year webought a mobile home park.
So in Iowa it's either you gowide, for example, you could buy
apartments and buy themanywhere across the country.
I chose to go deep in a marketand wide asset wise.
(10:37):
So we've bought mobile homeparks, industrial, self-storage,
retail office, medical office,so I've got a whole multitude of
assets, but in Iowa.
So this was our second mobilehome park that we bought.
We bought it in the middle oflast year and it had some
relatively in my opinion,relatively low hanging fruit in
(11:01):
terms of how we could go addvalue real quick to this
property and we've executed onthat really, really well.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (11:08):
Yeah, that's a couple of examples.
Neil Timmons (11:11):
The easiest.
You're going to love thisgarbage.
The Boba Home Park has about 63, 64 pads that are occupied
Garbage.
When we bought it was done witha relatively large dumpster
that was picked up six days aweek costing them about $5,500 a
(11:37):
month Five grand a month ingarbage.
So just imagine having a60-unit apartment complex
spending $5,000 a month ingarbage.
This dumpster became thedumpster for all these people,
along with whatever they did intheir day job.
So if they went out and wereroofers, they brought all their
roofing stuff back right whenthey tore up shingles.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (11:57):
That was it.
Neil Timmons (11:57):
I know exactly what you mean, and then it was a
dumpster for the wholeneighborhood, because the whole
neighborhood knew that thatplace had a dumpster, so you can
just throw all your crap inthere and it just goes bye-bye.
So, they were spending that kindof money a month.
So we changed that.
The day of closing thatdumpster went bye-bye and what
got brought in was individualgarbage cans 64 individual
(12:17):
garbage cans, one for each house, one for each property.
We went, took the bill fromover $5,000 a month to $750 a
month.
So we added about that is sohuge, Just like that.
We added about it's better foryou too, Correct.
We added about $500,000 invalue to the property the first
(12:41):
day, just for making that change, because $4,200, $4,250 got
dropped to the bottom line,nearly $50,000 in net profit
dropped to the bottom line, andyou cap that out of a.
You know, at a 10 cap it's 500grand, but we're probably closer
to a seven-ish cap.
So you know, $600,000 plus getadded to the value of the
property.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:01):
I mean $5,000 a month for garbage is so much
money.
Neil Timmons (13:06):
It's bonkers.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:06):
You know we have and so we're going to be.
We're going to be in Clintonfor June, July and August.
You got to come over and spenda day with us in.
Clinton, one of our buildings.
It has a dumpster and so Istarted noticing like how is
this dumpster like completelyfull Like all the time?
So we put a camera.
(13:28):
So Bill's sister, she sort oflike takes care of, you know,
the cameras and making sure thebills and electric and heating,
like she does all the stuff tomake sure all the different
buildings have all the stuff.
So she put these cameras upthat you can talk through them
and so she'll see people puttingtrash in.
She's like, hey, get away fromthat trash, can?
(13:48):
The police are on the way andpeople are looking.
She's like I see you looking upat me.
Get away.
And I'm telling you within amonth of her doing that, people
stopped putting their stuff inour dumpsters because lynn is
like she just watches thecameras all the time, never
sleeps.
She gets up, she looks she's adumpster nazi oh my god, one
(14:10):
poor guy.
I was there so they're on herphone.
So she was with us in iowa.
She's like, oh my god, she gota beep, that you know.
And so we look out the windowbecause I can see the dumpster
and she's like get out of thedumpster.
I saw what you put, take itback out right now.
The guy's looking around.
She's like the police are onthe way and she made some sound
like like a siren sound and Ithought I was gonna die and I'm
(14:31):
laughing and laughing and thispoor guy's pulling stuff out,
don't go back in his car.
And I was like lynn, you arelike the dumpster queen.
So she keeps an eye on thoseand just yells at people through
the cameras and they don'tthink they can see the cameras.
Neil Timmons (14:45):
I don't like girl yeah, that's, yeah, it's, it's
incredible.
Yeah, so that for us was thelowest hanging fruit, the
easiest way to add value to thatthat park.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (14:54):
Let me go back to your question something
that you had done before, or isthis?
Hey, let's try this and seewhat happens.
Neil Timmons (15:01):
No, we have done it before in a couple of places,
never to that extent where itwas that big a margin.
But yeah, one of the line itemsthat we do as we go through a
process and we acquire aproperty is review all vendor
contracts and then you know ifwe can approve either through
renegotiation or changingvendors.
That's what we do, so there aresome very easy ways.
(15:24):
That's the most extreme onewe've ever been involved in.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (15:28):
Yeah, but that's such a good tip for any
fine.
Oklahoma or anything like that.
I don't even know if I wouldhave thought about that.
That's a great tip.
You think about this?
Neil Timmons (15:39):
We added over $600,000 in know if I would have
thought about that.
That's a great tip.
You think about this, we.
You know we added over $600,000in value to that that park,
just like that.
We paid 1.2 million for theplace.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (15:46):
Wow, that's crazy.
Neil Timmons (15:48):
So, from a from an ROI standpoint, huge.
So let me go back to yourquestion.
Tell me about syndication.
You know we got, we got off tothe underlying asset of
syndication Syndication the bestway to say it is it's a group
of people coming together to buya property, and so you have
general partners in this case,myself, my team and the limited
(16:13):
partners, people who writechecks to participate in that
type of an investment, and sothere's always a business plan.
In this case, it was hey, we'regoing to reposition this park,
it's just a value-add park.
We're this case, it was hey,we're going to reposition this
park, it's just a value-add park, we're going to churn it and
then we're going to burn it,this thing is going to get sold
out and then, obviously, we'regoing to reap the rewards, the
idea being that we should benorth of 20% a year in annual
(16:34):
returns.
So if we land it, in one year ortwo years it's 20% or 40%,
somewhere in that range was whatwe projected and we're right on
track to do exactly just that,based on where we're at and the
other pieces of the puzzle thatwe put together.
So somebody can participate incommercial real estate or
whatever the syndication may beand I'll tell you about the
(16:56):
lending stuff in just a minutebut so somebody can participate.
What's?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (16:59):
the buy-in.
Neil Timmons (17:00):
Buy-in varies.
That one was $50,000.
So typically you're seeingbuy-ins from $50,000 or $100,000
.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (17:06):
I think $50,000 is common.
You know they've lowered itdown.
Sure yeah, Do they have to be?
Neil Timmons (17:16):
Accredited is the word you're looking for.
Yeah, it depends on.
Accredited is the word you'relooking for.
Yeah, it depends on that deal.
I don't remember off the top ofmy head if they had to be
accredited or not, since it wasabout a year ago, but I'll tell
you about the lending one injust a minute.
So every deal is a littledifferent.
Some have income with them,meaning you're going to get
quarterly distributions,quarterly returns.
Others, you know, there is noincome.
(17:42):
We did one a couple of years agowhere it was an industrial
property 100% vacant, andtherefore it requires filling
that thing up before there'sever income.
So in that scenario we telleverybody hey, it's going to be
a couple of years, one to twoyears, before we start writing
checks because we're not in aposition to do that.
It's a complete reposition ofthe property and then eventually
a sale to be able to captureour biggest gain.
(18:04):
But let me talk to you aboutthe lending side.
We just launched oursyndication for the little guy
loan business to help supportthe growth that we're getting
there and the benefit of that isit's all income, meaning we
don't own a property.
Investors in our syndication forour loan business, we own loans
, we're originating loans, we'rein first position on every
(18:27):
property that we lend money on,just like a bank.
These folks pay us.
They pay us back in interestand fees and so in that
syndication, people are gettingdouble-digit returns.
They're getting interest paidout to them, profits paid out to
them on a quarterly basis orthey can reinvest their return.
(18:48):
They can come back in on aquarterly basis, reinvest their
returns and get that compoundingoption over a period of time.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:54):
So I think that's amazing.
So, like someone like me, Icould have the option to say,
hey, I want to come in andpurchase and be part of this
building, or, you know, I justwant to throw some money so I
can get some money back.
Yeah exactly Right, and peopledo both.
Yeah, a hundred percent.
Neil Timmons (19:12):
Some people do both.
It just depends on what, whatyour goals are, what your return
habits are and when you needthe money.
For example, on every propertywe buy on the syndication side,
every property is different.
Sometimes it's one to two years.
We did one a couple of yearsback.
We went out to everybody andsaid, hey, we got a 10-year
tenant.
They've signed a 10-year leaseon this thing.
(19:32):
This is set and forget it.
We're going to be in the fiveto seven-year range before this
thing gets sold.
So if you need your money backbefore then, this is not the
investment for you.
You know, our lending side ofone is is much better because we
can get liquidity for somebodyinside of six to 12 months.
If you need your money back ina relatively short period of
(19:53):
time or want to have the optionto do that, that's a much better
.
That's a much better spot.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (19:59):
Yeah, no, no, I love both.
And yeah, I think I rememberwhen I first started my podcast
and I interviewed my first fewpeople that did syndication and
after having been in thebusiness for 25 years, I was
like you know what?
I know nothing aboutsyndication.
I don't know why, it's never.
When I was working in SouthFlorida, I don't even know.
(20:21):
And then I started learningmore.
It's like wow, this is like areally amazing cause.
There's just so many people youknow, especially like in their
sixties, seventies, eighties,they're just sitting on so much
money.
Neil Timmons (20:33):
So much cash?
They don't know what to do withit and you take it to the bank
and you can still get in thefours today, the bank on a CD,
but who knows where that's goingto go.
Right, yeah, and that's why I aterrific spot to be able to get
some very healthy returns andI'm in it in a very large way to
(21:08):
make sure this thing works.
And to date, duann, we've lentover $10 million here in Iowa,
over $10 million here.
I'm going to give you this.
We've had zero defaults, notone late payment, not one person
missing our payoff.
In our terms.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (21:27):
I don't know, I don't think I'm worried about
me talking to you.
Neil Timmons (21:31):
No, it's been a fantastic business.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (21:34):
You know what that number is, though.
To have lent out $10 millionwith zero defaults Like that
doesn't happen.
Neil Timmons (21:41):
Well, we underwrite.
You know, for us, we don't haveto say yes to every deal.
It's okay to say no, it's okay.
The goal for us and for ourinvestors, the goal is to make
money, not to do deals, and sowe focus very heavily on
underwriting the person, theindividual.
We focus very heavily onunderwriting the person, the
individual right, what islargely what's their character?
(22:02):
Right, Credit scores areobviously a good one, but what's
their character?
What's your experience, what'stheir history?
And then we underwrite theproperty.
Secondly, because if I don'thave the right person, the
property is not going to matter.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:14):
No, I'm with you on that.
So you guys are.
So now are you buying some ofthese commercial buildings and
like just keeping them foryourself?
Neil Timmons (22:23):
I yes.
On occasion I'm trying to thinkit's been two years, it's been
syndicating, turning them over,getting the money, lending the
money.
Yeah, it's been.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:33):
We're like I'm just going to buy all these
and keep all these for myself.
Neil Timmons (22:36):
If I do, it's on the smaller side, to where
syndication?
Because there's real costsassociated with syndication, to
where it just isn't going tomake sense to be able to go do
it.
So if there's a smallerbuilding I bought one a few
years ago it was like $450,000.
It just the cost to syndicatethat just do not align.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:55):
Yeah, they don't align.
No, no, no, just do not align,yeah they don't align.
Neil Timmons (23:00):
No, no, no.
So what's your average pricerange of a building on the
commercial side?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:02):
well, good question, let me think here to
make it worth your while and doall your stuff.
I mean you're, you're yeah, amillion yeah are you looking
like?
Neil Timmons (23:11):
everything's over a million yeah, everything's
over a million on oursyndication side, a million to 2
million on average.
We've crossed the $4 millionmark a couple of years ago on a
property, but about 2 million onaverage.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:27):
Yeah, that sounds about right.
It's okay, I'm going to changetopics.
I want to talk about you.
Yeah, tell me your favoriteband of all time.
Neil Timmons (23:35):
Oh, you asked me this.
Last time I was prepared.
I was not prepared last time,and so I gave you my favorite
band of all time, as, as I, as Iwas growing up, I remember
being in the, in the, in the car, listening to tunes with mom
and dad.
I'm gonna give you a new onethis time, because I I listened
to these guys growing up, andnow my youngest son, who's 15,
(23:56):
loves our music, which is queenI love queen too love queen.
My son is into it.
He'll, he'll put it on, he'llgo work out to it.
I'm like, oh, that, that's socool it is.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:07):
You know, it's funny.
I started asking that questiona couple of years ago and I've
been podcasting for five.
So with the people I'm like Idon't know if they were in when
I started asking those questions, or if they were, it was like
pre that, and so I'm just likeI'm just asking everybody again.
You know I've got fourgrandkids.
(24:27):
They're three, five, nine andten.
They love Queen.
They're like, yeah, all thetime and they're on the piano
and the drums and they loveQueen.
I always said my favorite bandwas Styx sticks, but I feel like
my favorite band is queen.
Right now.
I'm so into it with mygrandkids.
It's like god, freddie murphywas just brilliant are you just
(24:50):
incredible incredible,incredible.
yeah, so I didn't know, becausethat I interviewed someone
earlier and I had not asked, andshe's like, oh, that's a really
good question.
I was like okay, that was pre.
I don't know where the line waswhen I started asking that, but
I just I don't know.
I always am of the mindset thatpeople work with people that
they like.
Neil Timmons (25:08):
For sure.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:10):
And you know we all talk business, business,
business.
But it's like I like to know,like what people do and what
they eat.
What people do and what theyeat, where do they go and like
what are they about?
Because, like I told youearlier, when I was going
through my phone to re-interviewsome people, I didn't remember
the specific interview as much,as at the end of the interview I
thought, oh, what a greatperson.
That was so much fun that itstuck with me long enough to
(25:32):
like scroll through and pick outmy my faves, yeah.
Neil Timmons (25:41):
And so I probably didn't ask you what was your
favorite food that you may have,but I don't recall off the top
of my head if you did or not.
Uh, I'll tell you what this islike.
It's, it's my favorite and it'salso dangerous.
So my my team knows that we can.
Neil can only go so many timesbecause it's gonna be in a food
coma when I leave.
Of course it's mexican.
They're like there's.
I'll you what.
There's something that they dothat is that one can take away
in life.
(26:01):
They lead with value.
The first thing you get whenyou go into a Mexican restaurant
is chips and salsa.
They lead with value.
I'm like it's just it's.
It's incredible.
There's there's something totake away from that about it's
like it's like there's a givingmindset.
Yeah, I like the margaritas.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:16):
It's like there's a giving mindset.
Yeah, I like the margaritas.
Yeah, now I know I did not askyou this question because this
is a new question what's yourfavorite time of day, like from
all of your day?
Where is your space whereyou're like oh, this is my happy
time of day, this is like, thisis my part of where makes it
all worth it.
What's your favorite part ofyour day and your favorite time
(26:39):
of day?
Neil Timmons (26:40):
Yeah, probably 7 am at the gym.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:42):
Yeah, okay, good, so you are a morning
person.
Neil Timmons (26:45):
Yeah.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:46):
Yeah, I know I've interviewed one guy.
I go to the gym at 4 am and Iwas like, but why 4 am,
seriously?
And he's like you know, and Ididn't mean for it to come out
that way.
So I think he was like felt alittle bit defensive, I mean no
but seriously, 4 am Like youhave to go to bed like noon.
Neil Timmons (27:02):
Yeah, I'm thinking 4 am sounds cool because
nobody's there.
But yeah, that's what I'mwondering is how do you balance
that work at the same?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (27:09):
time and if you go to the gym at 4 and then
you do all I would, I would, Iwould think, yes, I would think
that was real tough, all right.
So over here at the DeWonderfulfamily, what can we do to help
you reach your next big goal?
Neil Timmons (27:29):
Wow, that's a that's a great question.
What can you?
You know I this thisconversation and is is fantastic
, allowing a platform for us tohave a conversation, share
people with what it is that I do.
If it resonates with somebody,which really means if it sounds
(27:50):
like something that'sinteresting, worth us getting
connected, having a conversation, I would certainly welcome that
.
Or plug into the podcast theInvestor in Iowa Show.
That has been fantastic.
We've had everything frompeople who fixed and flipped
four or five houses in theirlife and they've found some
(28:11):
early success, but really justgetting going all the way up to
a couple of developers who havedeveloped hundreds and hundreds
of millions of dollars incommercial real estate.
We've had everything in betweenand so it has been extreme.
I mean, when I go out to eventsand in the intra industry it's
(28:32):
I get a lot of positive feedbackbecause we're just bringing
people together who love Iowa,who are in real estate and who
invest in Iowa All right, yeah,so I'm, you know I like to ask
that question.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:44):
next.
I'm like you know.
I have a little bit of apodcast presence now.
You're certainly not thebiggest in the world, but a lot
of people listen, so I'm alwayslike you know.
What can we do to help you growyour business?
Because everyone I interview isin some kind of business that I
approve of.
Neil Timmons (29:00):
Sure.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (29:01):
I think people should do syndication.
I agree with people that justwant to buy, you know, rehabs,
or they want a storage, or theywant mobile or whatever they
want.
I'm like listen, I believe inall of it.
So, someone that's listeningand you don't know who Neil is,
then go to find him on LinkedIn.
Like you said, neil Timmons,the Neil Timmons.
(29:23):
And then, of course, theinvesting Iowa is called the
investing Iowa show.
And if you're like hey, I'msitting on money, I don't know
what to do with it, or I want tobe a part of things and you
don't know where to start, thisis your guy right here.
When you, when you get intosyndications and you don't know
where to start, this is your guyright here.
When you get into syndicationsand you work with people like
Neil, you're not learning by theseat of your pants.
(29:45):
You're not trying to figure outhow to rehab or how to flip or
how to do it.
You're not figuring all thatstuff out.
Someone's already done it andyou're benefiting from their
knowledge.
Neil Timmons (29:54):
It's a shortcut.
I always tell everybody you can.
I always tell everybody youknow you, somebody.
People should invest in realestate, should invest in the
private credit market, which isreally what our debt stuff is.
But if you're you're, you'resuccessful at what you do doctor
, lawyer, I'm just naming acouple of things.
Nurse, it doesn't matter whatit is Don't quit your day job.
You're great at that.
(30:15):
Do that and just invest inanother area.
You know those who invest inthe stock market.
None of us quit our day job togo invest in the stock market,
right.
So you don't need to give upwhat you do and what you love
just to invest.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:30):
Yeah, and I just I like the fact that people
can get like with your specificbecause they know you and I
know what you do.
And I like your specificsyndication because there are a
lot of you out there, like youknow.
You said, dr Lloyd, or whateverthere's people are sitting on
money.
I'd like to have a little fixedrubber, but they don't know
what they're doing.
So, like you know what, putsome money into something.
Let someone else run it for you.
Neil Timmons (30:52):
Yeah.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:54):
It makes really good sense and your
chances of failure are basicallyzero.
Neil Timmons (30:57):
It shortcuts everything right.
Yeah, to go do it yourself.
I mean, you remember thosefirst days of doing this, john,
and the learnings that you hadto take early on in one's career
Yep.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:10):
My learning curve was so long, so long, okay
, so I'm going to ask one morequestion out of you, and I want
you to leave us with a word ofwisdom, but just one single word
, a word.
Neil Timmons (31:29):
Thankful.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:31):
Can I hang on before you say Okay?
So everyone that listens to meregularly we take the word
thankful, we put it on a littlesticky and we put it up on our
mirror and that is the word ofthe week in the Dwandiful world
is thankful.
So what does thankful mean toyou?
Neil Timmons (31:51):
The easiest way to get grounded and no matter what
stress you have going on inyour world is just simply to
reflect on something that youcan be thankful for in your life
, and the stress can simply justevaporate.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:07):
I love it.
All right, guys.
So that's what thankful is toNeil.
So that's how we're going toapproach the word thankful this
week, and I always like to knowpeople when they say their word,
like what it means to them,like what it means to you may
not be the same as it means tome or somebody else.
So we take what your meaning isand that's what we focus on
this week, so you'll have allkinds of people focusing on
(32:28):
thankful, neil Timmons.
Neil Timmons (32:32):
Wonderful.
Well, hey, with that, I'mthankful for you having me on
here, duann, I'm thankful foryou having me on here.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:37):
Duann, so I appreciate it.
I'm thankful for you coming onand spending time with me and
I'm so excited to come to Iowaand hook up with you this year
and show you what we're doing inour little town over there.
So much fun going over there.
So, folks, remember, if youlove the show, learn something,
have fun, give a five starreview, subscribe, follow, share
all of the things and we'll beback next week, same bat time,
(32:59):
same bat channel.
And remember that the truth isin the red letters.
All right, thank you, mr nam.
You're awesome and I'll talk toyou soon.
Bye, everybody.
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