September 17, 2024 • 43 mins
Ever wondered how the young guns are revolutionizing the real estate landscape? Craig McGrouther from Lone Star Capital, at just 29, is here to shake up your perceptions of multifamily real estate syndication and equity. Join me in a vibrant discussion where we clink glasses to Craig's shift from the cutthroat world of capital markets to the community-driven approach of raising equity for substantial investments. Discover how accessibility in investment opportunities is changing the game for investors big and small, and why a people-before-profits mindset isn't just nice—it's crucial.
Hold on to your hats—real estate syndication just got a whole lot more interesting and less of a labyrinth to navigate. If you're a landlord tired of the property management grind or a Wall Street skeptic looking for steadier waters, this episode is your lighthouse. We'll reveal the mighty benefits of syndication, from fractional ownership to professional management that frees you up to live your life. Hear my own tale of transitioning from a hands-on investor to someone who leads a team that plays to my passions in the industry, ensuring that every day is as much about joy as it is about profits.
Finally, we're turning up the volume on education in real estate investing and syndication. As we examine the roller coaster of historical interest rates and the inflation beat, learn about the strategies that could shield your investments from economic turmoil. From music to million-dollar ambitions, we're tying in the essence of lifestyle, discussing how alternative rock, Thai food, and morning workouts might just be the secret ingredients to achieving that billion-dollar asset management goal. So, whether you're pondering your next investment move or just love a good mix of business acumen and life's finer things, this episode promises to be as refreshing as a Blood Orange track on a summer playlist.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (00:02):
Hey everybody , welcome to the most
Dwan-derful real estate podcastever.
I'm your host, dwan Bent-onTwyford.
I am America's mostsought-after real estate
investor and I'm so excited tohave another new episode for you
.
As you can see, I've got a veryhandsome young man over here,
so we're going to find out whohe is in just a minute.
(00:23):
And if you're new toDwan-der-ful, I took my name,
dwan and wonderful, and I made anew word Dwan-der-ful.
So you are now in theDwan-der-ful zone with me and
we're going to talk, hang out,we're going to have fun.
Our motto at Dwan-der-ful ispeople before profits.
So if there's something thatresonates with you, dwanderful
is people before profits.
So if that's something thatresonates with you, I'm your
(00:45):
girl.
And if you'd like to get somefree things like an e-book and
some stuff like that, just go toDwanDerfulcom and opt in.
D-w-a-n-d-e-r-f-u-lDwandDerfulcom, opt in.
Follow me on the socialsInstagram you know all the
(01:07):
things.
I'm on all the things.
So today we have a wicked smartman.
So you're the wicked smart manof the day.
Perfect, this is Craig Grother.
Grother, I got it.
Grother.
We have to work on our namesometimes.
You know, dwan's a tough nametoo.
So how are you today, mr Craig?
Craig McGrouther (01:28):
I'm incredible .
I'm very happy to be here todayto have a nice conversation
with you just to unpack what'sgoing on in the ever-changing
real estate market, especiallyin the times that we're in today
.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:40):
So much so.
So everyone that watches wehave a toast, so everyone grab
your drink and you cheers.
Thank you for being on the showand spending time with me today
.
Thank you, guys.
Craig McGrouther (01:51):
Cheers.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:53):
And then everyone just you know, take a
deep breath and just you know,stretch out all the stuff that's
going on in your mind and justsit down for a few minutes and
hang out with us.
And if you want to watch usbecause I mean, who would not
want to watch this Go on myYouTube channel and you can
watch.
And if you're driving andlistening and running and all
(02:15):
those things like that, I highlyencourage you to go watch,
because you get to know peoplebetter and you know we're going
to have so much fun and you canbe more part of the fun if you
watch us.
All right, so, craig, we liketo just throw our guests
straight into the world.
So what I'm going to have youdo is just tell us who you are,
(02:37):
all the ways to reach yousocials, emails, whatever you've
got websites and then just giveus like a sentence or two of
what you do, and then I'm goingto ask you questions and we're
going to backtrack and see howyou came to be Craig, my wicked,
smart man.
Craig McGrouther (02:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (02:53):
What's your deal?
Craig McGrouther (02:55):
Yeah, so grew up in the Bay area, silicon
Valley, which is, of course, inNorthern California.
Before joining Lensler Capital,the firm I'm working with right
now, I used to be inresidential real estate, so I
had that residential acumen thatwas the foundation to my real
estate journey.
And then I kind of backfellinto getting into the private
(03:16):
equity space doing multifamilyacquisitions with a firm that I
work with now, lone Star Capital.
We basically buy apartmentcomplexes, typically purchase
price size around $30 to $50million.
We've got over a half a billiondollar portfolio right now and
we're looking to grow.
And then, essentially, as towhat I do specifically for the
firm is I'm actually on thecapital market side where we
(03:38):
raise equity for opportunitiesand I'm spearheading the capital
table, bringing in ourinvestors, finding capital
partners, finding institutionalequity partners like you know,
front of the Black Rocks, beforeyou know big conglomerates,
things like that, or the maybesmaller bespoke mid-market ones
that you know, right, you knowsomewhere between 15 to 20
million, $5 million checks, andthen we go as far as down, as
(04:01):
you know, $ dollar checks andkind of one thing that I like to
say is I want to give someoneI'm going to ask you a bunch of
questions.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:07):
We just want to quick and then tell us how we
find you.
I need your, I need all yourinfo at the very top of my show
notes cool, yeah, so you canfind me probably anywhere.
Craig McGrouther (04:15):
you find anyone else on youtube, just the
full name, craig mcgrouther, orif you go to the lone star
capital, I'll be able to find uson YouTube as well.
Find me on LinkedIn, just fullname, craig McGrother, or an
Instagram, as you know, we'rethere.
That's more personal, I wouldsay.
But for the meat and potatoesof real estate stuff, you can
find me on Facebook or, ofcourse, linkedin and YouTube.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:38):
And YouTube.
Yep, that's it.
So you guys put up all kinds ofvideos and talk about the
multi-units and raising themoney and all the things.
Yes, now I'm going to ask youhow old are you?
Because you look I'm 29 29.
I swear to you every year.
It's like y'all just keepgetting younger and younger and
younger.
It's like, oh, wish I wouldhave known all those things back
(05:00):
when I was the age that you areright now.
So that's amazing.
All right, right.
So you guys work in themulti-units.
So are you in the business ofbuying the multi-units or are
you in the business of fundingthem?
Are you in the business ofbringing in partners and like
doing syndications and thingslike that?
Craig McGrouther (05:19):
Yes, we buy them and we typically syndicate
the equity for the opportunities.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (05:24):
Okay, okay.
So because I heard when youstart talking about the
different checks and levels tocome in, there are people that
would be brand new and theywould say I thought syndications
are only for super wealthypeople.
And I, you know, I'veinterviewed a few people that do
syndication.
The thing I love about it isit's not necessarily for super
wealthy people.
You have smaller and you havelike accredited.
(05:47):
So for a newbie, like reallyfirst time they're ever hearing
this kind of a syndicationconcept.
Explain briefly what that means.
Craig McGrouther (05:57):
Yeah, so are you saying for just syndication
at large or accreditation?
What specifically?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:01):
would you like to know?
Syndication at large.
Craig McGrouther (06:04):
Yeah.
So essentially what we try to dois basically pool money
together, right?
So if you think about if you'rein New York City, if you're in
Texas, if you're in Miami, ifyou're in Des Moines, iowa, you
see a beautiful commercialbuilding, right.
So of course there's some REITsand big institutions that buy
these.
But then there's people like uswho kind of come in or kind of
somewhere in the middle of that,where we pull together
(06:26):
investors that might be in theirfirst real estate investment,
who've never invested beforewith $50,000, or someone who
wants to write a million dollartrack, or a big group that might
want to throw in severalmillion dollars into the
opportunity.
We pull it together and thenthe investor with a $50,000
check can get the fractionalinterest in that investment.
And the beautiful thing is thatit's direct to us.
(06:48):
There's not a ton ofintermediaries need to get paid,
and because of that yourreturns are, generally speaking,
a little bit more creative andhigher than if you were to kind
of invest on Wall Street, onMain Street, if you will.
So the private sector and wayto do this, in our opinion, is
the way to go and way to do thisin our opinion, is the way to
go.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (07:05):
Now, see, I agree, I did, and I've been
investing for almost 35 years.
I did not know much aboutsyndication at all until like
the last five years.
It's just not anything that waslike in my wheelhouse or I was
around people that were doing it.
But I tell you, since I startedmy podcast, I've interviewed a
few people that do do that and I, even as an investor with a lot
(07:28):
of experience, thought it wasfor people that had like a bunch
of money and they had to beaccredited, and it was things
that, like you know, the WallStreet people do and, like, a
regular person can't getinvolved in things like that.
So, as I've learned more aboutit, I was like, oh, I didn't
even really know that that was athing.
Craig McGrouther (07:46):
Yeah, no, and you're totally right.
There's so many misnomerspertaining to that, and so
there's basically two structuresof deals for syndications, for
what we do.
So there's 506Bs and 506Cs.
So let's unpack that.
A 506C is for an accreditedinvestor.
Well, what's an accreditedinvestor?
Someone who's got a milliondollar net worth outside of
their primary residence.
So let's say you've got abrokerage account with a million
(08:09):
dollars in the S&P 500.
Okay, great.
Well then you're accredited.
Or other syndications, otherinvestments like that, maybe
into a hard money account, youname it.
There's so many angles out there.
Maybe it's in cryptocurrencyand Bitcoin.
Those are credit investors.
But, typically speaking, thedeals that we do are 506Bs.
506bs are for sophisticatedinvestors who we have a pretty
existing relationship with.
(08:30):
So, hypothetically, if we speaktoday and then we've got a deal
coming up in three months,since that month-long
relationship has been started,you would technically be able to
invest in one of our privateofferings where you wouldn't
have to have a million-dollarnet worth.
You'd basically just have tohave $50,000 to meet our minimum
check requirement in order toget a seat at the table to
invest in an opportunity likewhat we're doing.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (08:51):
And then they get interest checks monthly.
Craig McGrouther (08:56):
Yeah, it just depends on the opportunity.
Yeah, it just depends on theopportunity.
Generally speaking, we're doingmonthly checks, monthly
distributions, monthly kind ofdividends on cashflow on the
property.
So that's number one.
And then, secondly, what alsohappens as well, too, is we do
monthly reporting and thenquarterly reporting as well.
So it's a really dialed andbuttoned up operation.
(09:19):
As I was kind of saying earlier, we want to give the same
person, or we want to give thesame experience as someone to be
writing a $10 million check ora $50,000 check, with their
reporting, with theircommunication, with their
distributions, to make sure thatthey're getting very good care
on their investment.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:35):
See, I like that and, like I said, I always
knew I knew a couple of peoplethat ran some syndication.
I don't know Sidoti I don'tknow if you knew Jill Sidoti,
but she was like a and I thinkin the REIA the REIA, the Real
Estate Investors Associationlike in that kind of group.
She was big into all that and Ijust never really, really,
(09:56):
really truly understood it andI'm just like what a great way
for people that are sitting onmoney Like there's a million
baby boomers, millions andmillions and millions sitting on
money that don't know what todo with it.
There's no money in the stockmarket Like it's crazy and they
think like, oh, I don't want tolike work on a house, I don't
want to do that, but I want topark my money somewhere so they
(10:19):
can make money.
There's just so many peoplesitting on money that don't know
that.
Craig McGrouther (10:29):
Without a doubt, you're right, and so
let's unpack that actually,because that point that you just
brought up is super crucial.
So there's a multitude and aspectrum of investors who'd be
interested in kind of asyndication as to what we're
doing.
There's the tired landlord.
What do I mean by that?
Well, the people as you alludedto.
They don't want to change thethings, they don't want to deal
with property management.
They don't want to do anythingmanagement.
(10:50):
They don't want to do anything.
They want to sit on the beach,sip a Mai Tai and read their
Kindle.
There's people like that.
Then there's people that havegot money sitting around in
their account.
They have a distrust with WallStreet, a distrust with the
stock market, and they're kindof sick and tired of seeing the
volatility that we get, maybe inmainstream assets, with stocks
going up and down where there'snot really much control of it.
(11:11):
And then there's kind of whatwe have which is, hey, you can
come invest in this deal, havefractional ownership, let us do
the hard work, let us manage it,let us collect the rents and
you get all the benefits of realestate exposure without having
to do the nonsense and thetedious nature of fixing sinks,
of taking care of everythinggoing around, because it's a
very comprehensive process.
(11:32):
I always say this is one of thetaglines that I have and you're
going to appreciate this, beingsuch a long investor but
appreciation is not free.
Properties require a ton ofupkeep, a ton of maintenance to
make sure that you actually havevalue associated there, that
these properties aren't beingrun down to the ground, that
everything is going well withthese.
So appreciation is not free.
(11:53):
There's a ton of workassociated.
There's a lot of sorting,accounting and processes
associated there.
It's a lot of hard work and ifyou're not experienced at that,
you really do need aprofessional to help you out
with that, with the best debtstructure and the best equity
structure and the best businessplan to make sure you get paid
for your money.
Pay the pros to be the pros.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (12:11):
Now I agree, I tell people all the time like
it's not as simple as just.
You know, buy a house and fixit up and you know, get your
first little like starter home.
You need to know about themoney and the problems and the
repairs and da-da-da-da, becausepeople can lose everything in a
single deal.
And if you don't, and if youhave money but you don't really
want to take that risk, you needto get with somebody like this.
(12:34):
But it's hard for people tofind syndications because y'all
can't advertise.
Craig McGrouther (12:39):
Yeah Well, I mean, you can, you can't you
sporadically can if you have a506C.
But the other thing is we wantto make sure that we've got
people that are really boughtinto what we're doing and
typically speaking, that meanswe want referrals.
We want people that have kindof worked with us have an
organic relationship there, asopposed to just spraying and
playing, because we don't wantevery investor to work with Lone
Star.
We want someone who trusts whatwe're doing, knows that we're
(13:02):
going to take good care of themand knows that we are putting
the best structure possible here.
And then just another quickpoint there, duann, pertaining
to why this indication process.
Well, another kind of greatthing about it is getting loans
signed.
Working with lenders is a verycomprehensive process.
It's very intrusive.
Getting pushing paperwork, taxturns the whole nine.
(13:23):
Well, as opposed to us, youdon't have to worry about any of
that.
It's literally served up on aplatter for you to say yes or no
to the opportunity.
So it's an incrediblystreamlined process.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:32):
I agree and people don't that when I first
started investing and after Ihad made a little bit of money,
the very first person that Ihired was a bookkeeper, because
I can't stand paperwork.
I don't understand a lot ofwhat was happening.
I didn't have any background inbusiness and I was completely
overwhelmed by paperwork.
It's like, oh my God.
And then you know everythingyou need for the closings and
(13:54):
the title companies and Ithought, okay, I like all
everything about real estate,except for this piece over here.
So that was my first person thatI hired was someone that said
listen, please do the paperwork,please do the accounting, do
this, do that, get things readyfor the closing.
I just want to show up, I justwant to go there and I don't
mind working on the closing, Ijust want to show up, I just
(14:15):
want to go there and I don'tmind working on the house, I
don't mind any of it.
And to this day it doesn't beall stack of paper.
I'm just like, oh God, I canjust feel my chest clenching.
It's like I hate paperwork.
So I'm with you on that and youknow, and that's the thing
about investing you don't haveto be good at everything.
Find what you like and findsomebody else that's good at it.
Craig McGrouther (14:35):
Yeah, find a team.
And you really hit a pointthere that I want to unpack a
little more as well, that Icannot agree with more, which is
there's some things in lifethat you do that you hate doing,
but you kind of have to do it.
There's some things in yourjobs that you hate doing that
you have to do.
There's pieces of real estatethat I hate doing and I actually
don't want to do it.
I choose not to do them.
Property management and assetmanagement I don't want to do
(14:56):
that.
I want to build relationships,like what we're doing here.
I want to speak and educateinvestors.
I want to talk about the dealsand the opportunities.
I want to go out see theopportunities, place cash.
I want to do that.
I want to build therelationships and harvest that I
want to call.
I want to get everyone fired upfor an opportunity, but I don't
want to do any of that backendstuff.
I don't want to do accounting.
I don't want to do that at all.
So, divide and conquer and findthe team and find people that
(15:19):
are complimentary to what you'redoing.
So I couldn't agree with youmore.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (15:23):
I do, I'm still that way.
My husband now we've beenmarried 20 years and we've owned
a bunch of buildings andcompanies and everything
together and every year when itcomes around he averages like
dude, just hire that.
No, I like to.
He likes paperwork, he likesmath, he likes paperwork.
I'm like you have asked thatand I'll just be over here, like
, if you need me, yell for me.
Um, now you were talking aboutdoing multi units, so what would
(15:47):
be a typical deal?
I'm like hey, I heard you on thepodcast.
I've got $50,000.
I've got a hundred thousandbucks.
What are you going to buy withit?
Craig McGrouther (16:00):
Perfect, yeah, so it's a great question.
So what we look for just atLone Star Capital for my firm it
was we're looking to buy dealsin that 30 to $50 million price
point and there's three bucketsof deals that we buy.
So we buy value-addopportunities.
It's very straightforward Buyit, fix it, sell it.
You've got some sort ofmismanagement on the property.
You've got maybe some unitsthat are original that need to
(16:21):
get turned over.
You've got some sort ofmismanagement or inefficiency
with the property that you'relooking to capitalize on.
It's a very competitivebusiness because there's no free
launch.
But we're looking to buyvalue-add deals.
We're looking to buy core plusdeals, which is a beautiful
apartment building, probably2000s or newer, 2000 to 2024.
That's below replacement costs,meaning you're buying it for
(16:44):
less than what it would cost tobuild in today's market.
Core plus deals at a discount.
And then the third and finaldeal that we buy in Texas.
Obviously there's a lot of highproperty taxes, but we have
relationships with housingauthorities to actually
eliminate all the property taxesin exchange for affordability.
So we get a very big NOI bump.
And then not only do we get anNOI bump, but we also, most
(17:05):
importantly, preserveaffordability, which is a very
big issue in this country,especially with all the
inflation going on around rightnow, with the dollar being
really tighter than that beforepeople getting laid off, being
able to preserve affordabilitywhile also having us kind of
make some dollars off of it too.
It's called public-privateopportunities.
It's the best blind.
It's the way I think moregovernment things should be run.
(17:26):
But those are the three bucketsthat we buy.
We like to kind of give yousomewhere between a 14% to an
18% IRR internal rate of returnand if we're doing a five-year
hold, we're looking to hit kindof that boilerplate 2X equity
multiple and try to returnannually between 5% to 7% of
cash on cash over the holdperiod.
So let's say, if you can giveus $100,000 in investment, we're
(17:47):
looking to give you about fiveto seven grand a year divided by
12.
So it's about call 400 to $500a month in monthly distributions
roughly, which is reallybeneficial because so many of
our investors really do rely onthis for their monthly income
and their livelihood as peoplethat have retired and whatnot.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:05):
They do, I remember.
So my dad is 86 and he, so myfamily is from ohio, so where
are you at right now?
It's called long story.
Craig McGrouther (18:15):
You in texas so we buy in texas.
I'm actually in oregon rightnow, funny enough, because it's
my brother's wedding, um, soyeah, we buy exclusively in
texas I was like it's long soit's gotta be texas um yes but
in ohio, like you know, and Ihigh school, so hold your seat
here in 1977.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:35):
So back in those days Ohio and Michigan
were the car companies.
So we went to graduate highschool, get married, have kids,
work at the factory and work forthe man, and that's what you do
.
So, and you know, I got out ofhigh school, I was engaged.
I worked at a factory and, likea weekend to it, I thought
(18:55):
there is no way.
I'm doing this for the rest ofmy life.
This is the worst, miserable.
They're hot, they're standingall day.
It's like who?
Why would anybody want to workin a factory their whole life
and listen, if you did it, godlove you, but it's not for me.
But the point of that is my dadand my stepmom they did that.
They worked for the companiesand they worked in the factories
(19:16):
and then they retired and thenthey have all their.
A lot of their time is in thegeneral motors stock and then
you know all the things happen.
I remember my dad calling meand he was probably like 70 so
he's 86 now and he's like, well,lois and I sat down, we went
through everything and we'reliterally going to run out of
(19:36):
money in two years and I waslike, wow, how scary is that
when you know you retire at 60and you're running around and
you're like, oh, we're retired,you've got money and then, all
of a sudden, you know the stocksand the things are what control
your income.
I was like what do you mean?
He's like no, based on justeverything in the.
The stocks and the things arewhat control your income.
(19:57):
I was like what do you mean?
He's like no, based on justeverything in the housing and
all the things, because we'regoing to run out of money.
And I'm like okay, what do youwant to do?
He's like, well, I don't know.
So now, after my whole familywas like you need to get a real
job.
They're like, oh, so tell meabout that real estate investing
that you do, and that wouldhave been such a great time to
put them into syndications,except I didn't know about those
yet.
So and I know they're reallyhandy I was like, well, why
(20:18):
don't you guys get a couple ofrentals in town and you can
putter around and work on yourrentals and this and that?
But they ended up getting a few, maybe four or five rentals,
but they ended up their monthlyincome went up to like $10,000 a
month and they didn't owe adollar to anybody.
So now they're taking theselike world cruises and like, oh,
(20:40):
we're so good with our money.
It's like y'all literally saidyou were running out of money
two years ago.
But that's the people like that.
They're depending on thatmonthly income and that 500 or
400 a month.
If they have those in a coupleof different places, they do
rely on that.
And people that work for allthe man they're, they're losing
(21:02):
money left and right.
And people that are, you know,seven years old are having to go
back and work part-time.
Craig McGrouther (21:08):
Well, to your point there.
This is such a fascinatingconversation.
So, tony Robbins, there's areel going around on Instagram.
For those who like Instagram,I'm sure it's on TikTok.
I'm not a TikTok person, I'mmillennial.
Don't want against me, not aTikTok guy.
But Tony Robbins said this.
He's like if you put a milliondollars in the stock market 35
(21:28):
years ago, which was obviously35 years ago, that wasn't a
million dollars, it was actuallya million dollars.
Don't get me started oninflation, but yes, a million
dollars is a million dollars.
Back then that million dollarsin the stock market would turn
into.
If you put in the S&P 500,which I'm a big believer in kind
of doing that, let that workhard for you, very challenging
to pick individual stocks, butif you put that $1 million there
(21:49):
, that would turn into $26million.
Conversely, if you put thatinto just average private equity
, that same $1 million over that35-year period, that would be
over $100 million now.
So the amount of hands that istrading for you to make money is
a lot.
So doing syndications, doingthings like this, are more
direct to the source.
(22:09):
So if we're looking to achieveand basically return to you
about five to 7% cash on cash onour deal.
That's basically just a littlebit below what the S&P 500
market beta would be giving you,which is just general stock
market appreciation over timegains, but then you also get the
lift on the back end.
So it's basically just asubstantially more creative and
(22:31):
you know time money compoundinginterest is really one of the
craziest phenomenons for peopleto be thinking about there.
So you know, I couldn't agreewith you more, just a smoother
way to go.
And direct ownership has a lotof benefits.
You know, I think, alsosomething else you mentioned.
It's kind of the premise ofkind of being diversified as
well.
You know, if you've not gottenkind of your hands in that, you
know syndication world into thereal estate world, you know
(22:52):
you're doing yourself adisservice.
I think just real estate issuch a fabulous vehicle for
wealth creation.
And also the other you knowloopholes that are around it.
You know there's two bigdrivers for really not paying
taxes and more accretive returns.
So oil and gas is actually thebest.
We don't invest in that butit's a little more risky.
But oil and gas gets you reallyoutsized depreciation that
(23:15):
anyone can apply.
And then secondly is realestate.
So if you provide energy orshelter, you will get deductions
and the government willbasically incentivize.
And the way to think about thatis the government doesn't care
if you invest in oil and gas orreal estate, but it incentivizes
you to do so if you reallystudy and understand the tax
(23:36):
code.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:37):
Yeah, now, every year, when they do like
you know how many million Ithink Forbes has a list of like
new millionaires or something,and then the number one asset
class forever is always realestate and there's always people
that did like, you know, youalways have like the Facebook
guys or the this or that, butlike the number one asset group
(23:59):
for new millionaires every year,since I think the beginning of
time is always in real estate.
So like, listen, that's how westarted our country and that's
it.
If you provide housing, I tellpeople all the time you provide
housing for people, you'llalways have something happening,
because that's what people needand you know, and all the stuff
(24:21):
that's happening right now,like you know, our country's on
fire.
A lot of people can't afford tobuy houses.
Interest rates are too high andyou know, and it's hard, it's
like it's hard for well, hardfor to your point there.
Craig McGrouther (24:33):
To your point, there it's.
I saw something as well ontwitter x I guess it's called
now from unusual whales, whichis a very interesting uh twitter
follow x follow if you'refamiliar with it, and basically
the statistic was it's 80 hardernow to buy a home than it was
about four years ago.
So why is that?
Well, obviously so many homesnow are owned for inklair.
Hedge funds have gone into themarketplace to suck up inventory
(24:56):
, so these houses will be goingto nice.
You know factory workers.
You know the common person.
You know the, the average.
I guess you know incomeproducing household in America.
Well, now that's consideredghost inventory, meaning it
probably won't ever sell again.
It's basically just treated asa commodity or as a stock.
It's going to appreciate andalso give you a dividend of cash
flow.
So you're double dipping thereon.
(25:16):
You know wealth creation toolsthat real estate provides, but
if it's going to get that muchharder, it's not going to get
easier.
Things generally rarely gobackwards and you've had so much
of the housing market as well.
That was sucked up by, ofcourse, groups like that when
Zerp got really low and alsothere's basically, I would say,
(25:36):
over 80% of the marketplace aswell, either owns their house
free and clear or has sub 4%interest rate long-term 30-year
fixed rate debt where thosehouses they're not going to
trade because you could rentthem or keep them because it's
too expensive to move elsewhereto that point.
So I feel very fortunate.
I just sold my house and I'mbuying another house right now.
My mortgage payment's a lothigher, but I know that if you
(25:59):
can buy a house right now whenthe markets and the rates do go
down, well, real estate is aninterest rate sensitive business
.
When those rates do get cut, Iwill refinance.
I'm sure the market will staystagnant with where I'm buying
or at least go up and I'll havea lower monthly payment.
But it's just going tosuffocate and make the process
that much harder to acquire.
So I'm going to tie that backjust to investing in real estate
.
I don't know if rents are goingto go up or going to go down,
(26:25):
but what I do know is that it'sgoing to be more expensive in
five years than it is today tobuild.
Wages will be more expensive,rents will likely increase and
cost per door is going to go up.
So you're hedging against thenegative aspects of inflation by
investing in real estate and,as Mark Twain says, I'm not
making more land to buy realestate.
So this is your opportunity todo so and to kind of put your
(26:46):
capital into that and work it.
So that's kind of my two centson the matter.
Yeah, no, I agree and back.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:51):
I don't even know how many years ago the rate
was like 2.2 there for a minute.
Was that like-?
Craig McGrouther (26:59):
I mean, I sold less than that.
Actually I think it wasbasically about 2021 is at the
interest rate low.
I sold a buddy a house.
He put 3% down and got a 2.6%interest rate and he put nothing
down on the house.
I mean his equity multiple onthat.
Granted, this is a very rareoccasion, but he put less than
15 grand down and has made over$300,000 in equity on that deal.
(27:23):
It's incredible and his ratewould never exist again and
probably won't.
So he's going to let the thingamortize his payments.
Nothing.
He could live there, he couldrent it out, he could Airbnb it,
he could do a multitude ofthings to make it a very
profitable investment.
Um, and then also provide someshelter, which everyone has to
solve for you cannot, and justgenerally from real estate
perspective, you know.
You think about what's going onright now.
(27:43):
Well, you can outsource.
You know offices, becausepeople are working from home.
Now you can outsource.
You know many things, right,retail well, amazon's kind of
taking that but you cannotoutsource where people live.
So you know you can't automatethat.
There's always going to be aneed for that, so it just goes
back to, you know, providingshelter and buying in the market
(28:04):
and letting you know the marketdo its thing, letting American
growth happen, is the smartestthing you can do.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:10):
Yeah, when those interest rates were really
low, like that.
We have a house in Colorado andI was like we're gonna
refinance that house becausewe're able to refinance it, pull
a little money out, use it forsome other things, and it rates
like 2.6.
It's like I've never seen itafter 30 years.
And here it is.
So we're gonna take advantageof it, because you might not
(28:30):
ever see it again and if we doit'll it's gonna be a minute.
That's gonna be a minute, butlike you can't get money that
cheap yeah, you can't and youprobably won't be able to again
yeah, yeah, I mean, I don't know.
I remember back in, I'm gonnasay maybe the 70s or the 80s, uh
, how interest rates on houseswere like 18 and people still
(28:54):
bought houses.
But it's like, oh my god,there's so much interest, this
is a crazy amount.
And now I don't know what'sinterest rate right now like
seven and a half today, do you?
Craig McGrouther (29:02):
know?
Yeah it just it just dependswhere you are.
I'm getting rate locked on myhouse in a buy right now at
about a 6.8 because my buddy's awholesome mortgage broker.
But generally speaking they'rejust a couple of basis points
above, maybe 10, 20 basis points, bips, as I call it, above 7%.
So probably around 7.1 to 7.3%,depending on your credit score
and whatnot.
I would say.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (29:23):
That's not even terrible.
Craig McGrouther (29:25):
Well, it's all that we've been trained for
right.
And the other issue, too aswell, is real estate is a very
dense, bad, sensitive issue andcommercial real estate.
There's obviously not a secretthat there's a ton of distress
going on right now.
Well, when interest rates go upover three times in a very
short period, there has to be aworkout process that needs to be
unpacked and unwind andunfortunately that's not going
(29:47):
to happen overnight.
So it's certainly problematicfor the industry, but I do know
that people are going to need aplace to live.
I do know that we're buyinggood real estate with a very
good business plan to createvalue there and over time, when
rates get cut, value creationwill be had.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:03):
It will be so if someone's listening to this
and this is the first timethey're hearing about like a
syndication, does someone justcall you?
Do you have educational callsfor people?
Like how would someone learn?
Instead of just saying, hey, Iheard you on Dwan, I want to
give you some money becausethere has to be some, you have
to somehow educate people alittle bit on what it is they're
(30:25):
actually doing.
Craig McGrouther (30:27):
Yeah, well, rob and I the founder of the
firm and I do a weekly podcastpertaining to what's going on in
the world of multifamilycommercial real estate.
Rob, additionally, has writtenand published two books that are
very niche and specific tocommercial real estate.
They're bestsellers and getsold over 40,000 copies
collectively between the twobooks.
(30:48):
So one of them is called theDefinitive Guide to Multifamily
Underwriting.
One of them is Structuring Debtand Equity for Real Estate.
So these are two very greatfundamental books that are very
lean.
They're like about 100 pages.
You can crank them out in a dayor less.
If you're a good reader, youcan read it in a week, no
problem.
Not too comprehensive, no extrafluff there, but those are
(31:09):
great resources, as well as ourYouTube page.
If you follow us on LinkedIn,we're always posting there as
well, too, to kind of educate,attract, nurture folks.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:17):
That's nice.
So they call you up like, hey,I want to put some money in, I
just want to learn more about it.
You've got a couple of books,you've got some videos, do you
have?
Craig McGrouther (31:30):
and you have a podcast, so so people can
listen and learn that way,because a lot of people I feel
like would do syndication andmore people knew about it.
Yeah, no, it's certainly.
Uh, it's funny, I'm so kneesdeep in the industry I feel like
everyone should know about it.
I definitely think it is known,but I don't.
Yeah, but the issue is thatthere's not that much out there
and as much as as I think that'sthe case, I'm proven wrong once
more.
Like doing shows like this thatyou know, not everyone realizes
that's there.
(31:50):
And I think another kind offactor as well, as if it's not,
with some you know megaconglomerate corporation that
they've seen no like trust fortheir whole life, they're almost
feel like, oh well, it must notbe a good idea, it must be too
risky.
That's that where you know.
I understand that, but you knowyou, if you want to get
outsized returns and bettereconomics, it's probably with
(32:11):
working with stuff like this.
But there obviously is.
You know it's very easy to losemoney in this business, um, but
you can also make money as well.
So just do your research, doyour homework, go slow into
anything.
Never be too rich, uh, tooquick or too rushed to make an
investment.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:25):
Yeah, no, I'm with you on that.
All right, so we're going toswitch up topics for a minute.
What's your favorite band ofall time?
Craig McGrouther (32:32):
That's a great question.
I'm going to have to go with1975.
I love them.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:36):
That's the name of the band.
Okay, I see it.
Right there.
I'm showing my age.
The band's called 1975?
.
Craig McGrouther (32:41):
Yes, they're modern, though I assure you
they're from Manchester.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:44):
I believe, yes, they're, they're modern,
though I assure you they're fromuh, manchester, I believe.
Yeah, they're great youtubelistening to them today as you
should because almost everyone,everyone had like two people
getting you're like one of threea name to ban.
I didn't know.
And I stay up with me.
I love music.
I love music my whole life.
I stay up.
I've got grandkids.
I'm teaching them all the stuff.
I was like I'm 75.
(33:04):
What kind of music is that?
Craig McGrouther (33:07):
It's like alternative, alternative, slash
rock.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:11):
Nice, I like alternative.
Okay, well, now see, I'velearned something new there
myself, so I will.
I've had a few people give me acouple and I never heard of it
and I went and listened I waslike, wow, I really love that
music.
Craig McGrouther (33:22):
I'm curious, what were the band's names?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:26):
uh, one was uh, orange, something um.
Gosh, I'd have to go back to mynose blood orange maybe maybe
yes, and there was another one Ican't think of off the top of
my head and I had never, likenever, heard of it anywhere.
And I thought I listen to lotsof music on lots of different
(33:46):
places and even the newer bands.
I usually know pretty much alittle bit about everybody, even
country, and I didn't know andI was like, wow, okay, I love it
, because now I'm going tolisten and I'll probably like it
.
What's your favorite food?
Craig McGrouther (34:05):
Specific food or food type.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:07):
Food type.
Craig McGrouther (34:07):
Thai food Thai food.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:10):
Thai food.
Mm-hmm Is that what you said.
Craig McGrouther (34:14):
Yeah, yeah, I love Thai food.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:16):
Oh, thai food , Thai food, yeah, okay.
I was like Thai food.
What is that?
I love Thai food too.
This little town that we're inright now, in Clinton, they
opened up a.
They took an old building, soit's like on my block that I'm
on right now.
They took an old building andthey turned it all into lofts.
Took an old building and theyturned it all into lofts and the
(34:39):
entire downstairs is um set upwith little kitchens where
people can come in and like do alittle startup restaurant and,
I guess, test the water beforethey commit to like a building
or something like that.
So it's kind of like a foodcourt, but not anything like at
a mall.
These are little people thatwould like to start a restaurant
maybe.
Anyway, they just put a thaifood restaurant in there and I
just ate there the other nightfor the first time.
I'm telling you I think itmight have been the best type
(35:01):
you'd have ever had.
There's like a little grandmathat works in there and she's in
the back and she's making stuffand jim's beginning english and
like maybe the grandson is atthe front taking orders and I
was like you guys can neverleave the downtown, so now I'm
walking down there every day andgetting some, some Thai food.
It's just, it's all so good andthis little restaurant is
(35:22):
amazing.
Mr Craig, what is your favoritetime of the day?
What's your favorite part ofthe day?
Where's your happy spot?
Craig McGrouther (35:31):
Wow, that is an incredible question.
I you know I really like towork out.
I just think the endorphins youget from it and how it sets up
the day is super crucial.
So I've been trying to be asmilitant as possible while away
from my home home, Uh, while I'mhere in Oregon and I typically
like to do this in general, buttry to wake up at like six, 15
every day wake up, roll out ofbed and just go straight to the
(35:54):
treadmill.
So I think the mornings arereally nice, my energy is
highest.
I'm the biggest fan.
I like to be a productiveperson.
So certainly I would say thefirst half of the day is my
favorite part of the day.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:06):
I like that.
Everyone is so different ontheir times and what they like
and don't like.
You see all these people likeoh, you got to get up before you
.
I and what they like and don'tlike.
You see all these people likeoh, you got to get up before, am
, you got to work out and stuff,and I was like no, it's
whatever's good for you.
Craig McGrouther (36:18):
I've just noticed that if it's 4 pm for me
, not am but pm, I'm not goingto want to run 30, 40 minutes
like I did today, so I'm notgoing to want to do it day.
Get my cardio in.
I'm more inclined and likely toalso go back to the gym, maybe
steam sauna, get some weights inand enjoy that there and just
kind of double up, if you will.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:43):
Yeah, no, I like to work out.
If I don't work out first thing, I get up and say I'm going to
do this one thing before I do it, and then that thing turns into
85 phone calls later.
It just doesn't get done Like Ihave to do that before I even
look at my phone, it's likedoesn't get done, like I have to
do that.
Before I even look at my phone,it's like once I'm on there,
I'm shot.
What is the biggest goal thatyou are working on right now,
and how can the D'Wonderfulfamily help you reach that goal?
Craig McGrouther (37:06):
Yeah, I think the biggest goal we're looking
at right now from a firm levelis getting to a billion dollars
of asset center management.
So we're about 600 millionright now.
Depending on what the marketlooks like and holds for the
next couple of years, that couldtake us probably two years to
get there, to kind of climb overthat.
So we're looking for moreinvestors, as always.
So reach out to me the email iscraig at lserecom if you're
(37:27):
looking to learn more and I cangive you some information
happily.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (37:30):
Awesome, I love it.
Well, we always like to helpand encourage other investors,
because I've been investing foralmost 35 years and people are
like oh, you know, I think a lotof speakers and trainers are
like there.
So I am a big believer in likelisten, share the wealth.
Someone calls me aboutsyndication.
I can't help them with that.
I'll be like listen, I don'teven know, I don't know, I don't
(38:06):
want to know, it's not my thing, but I know a guy named Craig
and he's got it going on.
So I am all about referring andhelping and that's why we
always want to know what yourgoal is, because I want all my
family, all y'all out there thatare like asking me questions
when did I put my money?
Well, right, here's your guy.
Craig McGrouther (38:21):
Perfect.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (38:22):
Put some money in with what you've got
going on, all right.
So first I want to thank youfor being on the show.
I've got one more questionwe're going to take just real
quick.
If you, if you all like theshow today, I want you to do me
a favor and I want you to findthe podcast.
Subscribe, leave a five-starreview, write something, go to
(38:42):
my youtube page, subscribe, hitthe bell, do all the things so
that every time I put up a newvideo or new training and and
craig as well you are notifiedand you are in the loop.
We we always have training foryou over here.
He has a lot of training overwhere he's at, and this is all
you know.
Podcasts are a labor of love.
We all work very hard to havepodcasts, so all we want you to
(39:05):
do is follow and share it withthe other people.
You don't need to be a secretagent.
Tell them like hey, I heardthis podcast One was amazing,
craig was great.
Share and tell them like hey, Iheard this podcast One was
amazing, craig was great.
Share it around, help share thewealth, because they are a
labor of love, don't you think?
Craig McGrouther (39:19):
I couldn't agree more.
It's a lot of effort that goesinto these and it's nice to see
it grow and all that good stuff.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (39:27):
I do too.
Yeah, I love it too.
All right, now I want you toleave us with a parting word of
wisdom, but only one single wordUrgency.
Hmm, okay.
So everyone that listens knowsyou're going to get your little
yellow sticky.
You're going to write the wordurgency.
(39:47):
You're going to put it on yourmirror.
So urgency is going to be ourword of the week in the
wonderful universe.
So what does urgency mean toyou?
Craig McGrouther (39:58):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like things need to get
done accordingly and promptly,and we're in the service
business.
If you're taking investorcapital and anything you do,
time's always slipping away.
So I don't think you can be outto lunch if you want to really
get ahead of life.
So, although you might belistening to this at lunch,
that's fine, but have a goal, beimpactful and make it happen.
(40:19):
So, although you might belistening to this at lunch,
that's fine, but you know, havea goal, be impactful and make it
happen.
So I think if you had urgencythere to get things done as
quickly and as promptly aspossible, you can achieve a lot
more as opposed to just, youknow, procrastinating and
waiting.
So I think urgency is a veryhigh indicator of someone's
success.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (40:28):
I think it's a great word I always like to
have.
I used to ask people like, giveus a parting word of wisdom.
But some people go off for 20minutes and talk to you about
stuff.
It's like, okay, listen, let'sjust get a word, Give me a word,
and then what does it mean?
And then so everyone knows thatlistens regularly, but that's
the word.
This week we're going to focuson urgency and you know, I'm
sure, like you, I've met peopleyou know for two years.
(40:50):
Oh, I'm going to get started,I'm going to soon, soon, soon.
It's like they still haven'tdone anything.
It's like, listen, it'semergency Light, a little fire
there, because you know, today'sthe best day to start.
If you haven't started, today'sthe best day.
I love your heart and I loveyour spirit and I love what you
do and I love that you're soyoung and you're like all in on
(41:13):
this and so smart and educated.
It's like you're great.
You remind me of my kids.
All my kids are millennials andthey're all into business and
they're all into real estate andthey're just so amazing.
And then you see other kidsthat are just like they're doing
nothing.
It's like come on, man, theyouth is our future and right
now, all the people that we haveup here running everything,
(41:34):
they all need to go and get someyoung, fresh blood in there.
Craig McGrouther (41:37):
I'm going to drink more.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (41:38):
I need some new blood.
All right, folks, we'll be backnext week.
Same bad time, same bad channel, and remember that the truth is
in the red letters.
All right, everybody, Ciao andCraig, thank you.
Thank you, come back next week.
Hey everybody , welcome to the most
Dwan-derful real estate podcastever.
I'm your host, dwan Bent-onTwyford.
I am America's mostsought-after real estate
investor and I'm so excited tohave another new episode for you
.
As you can see, I've got a veryhandsome young man over here,
so we're going to find out whohe is in just a minute.
(00:23):
And if you're new toDwan-der-ful, I took my name,
dwan and wonderful, and I made anew word Dwan-der-ful.
So you are now in theDwan-der-ful zone with me and
we're going to talk, hang out,we're going to have fun.
Our motto at Dwan-der-ful ispeople before profits.
So if there's something thatresonates with you, dwanderful
is people before profits.
So if that's something thatresonates with you, I'm your
(00:45):
girl.
And if you'd like to get somefree things like an e-book and
some stuff like that, just go toDwanDerfulcom and opt in.
D-w-a-n-d-e-r-f-u-lDwandDerfulcom, opt in.
Follow me on the socialsInstagram you know all the
(01:07):
things.
I'm on all the things.
So today we have a wicked smartman.
So you're the wicked smart manof the day.
Perfect, this is Craig Grother.
Grother, I got it.
Grother.
We have to work on our namesometimes.
You know, dwan's a tough nametoo.
So how are you today, mr Craig?
Craig McGrouther (01:28):
I'm incredible .
I'm very happy to be here todayto have a nice conversation
with you just to unpack what'sgoing on in the ever-changing
real estate market, especiallyin the times that we're in today
.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:40):
So much so.
So everyone that watches wehave a toast, so everyone grab
your drink and you cheers.
Thank you for being on the showand spending time with me today
.
Thank you, guys.
Craig McGrouther (01:51):
Cheers.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:53):
And then everyone just you know, take a
deep breath and just you know,stretch out all the stuff that's
going on in your mind and justsit down for a few minutes and
hang out with us.
And if you want to watch usbecause I mean, who would not
want to watch this Go on myYouTube channel and you can
watch.
And if you're driving andlistening and running and all
(02:15):
those things like that, I highlyencourage you to go watch,
because you get to know peoplebetter and you know we're going
to have so much fun and you canbe more part of the fun if you
watch us.
All right, so, craig, we liketo just throw our guests
straight into the world.
So what I'm going to have youdo is just tell us who you are,
(02:37):
all the ways to reach yousocials, emails, whatever you've
got websites and then just giveus like a sentence or two of
what you do, and then I'm goingto ask you questions and we're
going to backtrack and see howyou came to be Craig, my wicked,
smart man.
Craig McGrouther (02:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (02:53):
What's your deal?
Craig McGrouther (02:55):
Yeah, so grew up in the Bay area, silicon
Valley, which is, of course, inNorthern California.
Before joining Lensler Capital,the firm I'm working with right
now, I used to be inresidential real estate, so I
had that residential acumen thatwas the foundation to my real
estate journey.
And then I kind of backfellinto getting into the private
(03:16):
equity space doing multifamilyacquisitions with a firm that I
work with now, lone Star Capital.
We basically buy apartmentcomplexes, typically purchase
price size around $30 to $50million.
We've got over a half a billiondollar portfolio right now and
we're looking to grow.
And then, essentially, as towhat I do specifically for the
firm is I'm actually on thecapital market side where we
(03:38):
raise equity for opportunitiesand I'm spearheading the capital
table, bringing in ourinvestors, finding capital
partners, finding institutionalequity partners like you know,
front of the Black Rocks, beforeyou know big conglomerates,
things like that, or the maybesmaller bespoke mid-market ones
that you know, right, you knowsomewhere between 15 to 20
million, $5 million checks, andthen we go as far as down, as
(04:01):
you know, $ dollar checks andkind of one thing that I like to
say is I want to give someoneI'm going to ask you a bunch of
questions.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:07):
We just want to quick and then tell us how we
find you.
I need your, I need all yourinfo at the very top of my show
notes cool, yeah, so you canfind me probably anywhere.
Craig McGrouther (04:15):
you find anyone else on youtube, just the
full name, craig mcgrouther, orif you go to the lone star
capital, I'll be able to find uson YouTube as well.
Find me on LinkedIn, just fullname, craig McGrother, or an
Instagram, as you know, we'rethere.
That's more personal, I wouldsay.
But for the meat and potatoesof real estate stuff, you can
find me on Facebook or, ofcourse, linkedin and YouTube.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:38):
And YouTube.
Yep, that's it.
So you guys put up all kinds ofvideos and talk about the
multi-units and raising themoney and all the things.
Yes, now I'm going to ask youhow old are you?
Because you look I'm 29 29.
I swear to you every year.
It's like y'all just keepgetting younger and younger and
younger.
It's like, oh, wish I wouldhave known all those things back
(05:00):
when I was the age that you areright now.
So that's amazing.
All right, right.
So you guys work in themulti-units.
So are you in the business ofbuying the multi-units or are
you in the business of fundingthem?
Are you in the business ofbringing in partners and like
doing syndications and thingslike that?
Craig McGrouther (05:19):
Yes, we buy them and we typically syndicate
the equity for the opportunities.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (05:24):
Okay, okay.
So because I heard when youstart talking about the
different checks and levels tocome in, there are people that
would be brand new and theywould say I thought syndications
are only for super wealthypeople.
And I, you know, I'veinterviewed a few people that do
syndication.
The thing I love about it isit's not necessarily for super
wealthy people.
You have smaller and you havelike accredited.
(05:47):
So for a newbie, like reallyfirst time they're ever hearing
this kind of a syndicationconcept.
Explain briefly what that means.
Craig McGrouther (05:57):
Yeah, so are you saying for just syndication
at large or accreditation?
What specifically?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (06:01):
would you like to know?
Syndication at large.
Craig McGrouther (06:04):
Yeah.
So essentially what we try to dois basically pool money
together, right?
So if you think about if you'rein New York City, if you're in
Texas, if you're in Miami, ifyou're in Des Moines, iowa, you
see a beautiful commercialbuilding, right.
So of course there's some REITsand big institutions that buy
these.
But then there's people like uswho kind of come in or kind of
somewhere in the middle of that,where we pull together
(06:26):
investors that might be in theirfirst real estate investment,
who've never invested beforewith $50,000, or someone who
wants to write a million dollartrack, or a big group that might
want to throw in severalmillion dollars into the
opportunity.
We pull it together and thenthe investor with a $50,000
check can get the fractionalinterest in that investment.
And the beautiful thing is thatit's direct to us.
(06:48):
There's not a ton ofintermediaries need to get paid,
and because of that yourreturns are, generally speaking,
a little bit more creative andhigher than if you were to kind
of invest on Wall Street, onMain Street, if you will.
So the private sector and wayto do this, in our opinion, is
the way to go and way to do thisin our opinion, is the way to
go.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (07:05):
Now, see, I agree, I did, and I've been
investing for almost 35 years.
I did not know much aboutsyndication at all until like
the last five years.
It's just not anything that waslike in my wheelhouse or I was
around people that were doing it.
But I tell you, since I startedmy podcast, I've interviewed a
few people that do do that and I, even as an investor with a lot
(07:28):
of experience, thought it wasfor people that had like a bunch
of money and they had to beaccredited, and it was things
that, like you know, the WallStreet people do and, like, a
regular person can't getinvolved in things like that.
So, as I've learned more aboutit, I was like, oh, I didn't
even really know that that was athing.
Craig McGrouther (07:46):
Yeah, no, and you're totally right.
There's so many misnomerspertaining to that, and so
there's basically two structuresof deals for syndications, for
what we do.
So there's 506Bs and 506Cs.
So let's unpack that.
A 506C is for an accreditedinvestor.
Well, what's an accreditedinvestor?
Someone who's got a milliondollar net worth outside of
their primary residence.
So let's say you've got abrokerage account with a million
(08:09):
dollars in the S&P 500.
Okay, great.
Well then you're accredited.
Or other syndications, otherinvestments like that, maybe
into a hard money account, youname it.
There's so many angles out there.
Maybe it's in cryptocurrencyand Bitcoin.
Those are credit investors.
But, typically speaking, thedeals that we do are 506Bs.
506bs are for sophisticatedinvestors who we have a pretty
existing relationship with.
(08:30):
So, hypothetically, if we speaktoday and then we've got a deal
coming up in three months,since that month-long
relationship has been started,you would technically be able to
invest in one of our privateofferings where you wouldn't
have to have a million-dollarnet worth.
You'd basically just have tohave $50,000 to meet our minimum
check requirement in order toget a seat at the table to
invest in an opportunity likewhat we're doing.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (08:51):
And then they get interest checks monthly.
Craig McGrouther (08:56):
Yeah, it just depends on the opportunity.
Yeah, it just depends on theopportunity.
Generally speaking, we're doingmonthly checks, monthly
distributions, monthly kind ofdividends on cashflow on the
property.
So that's number one.
And then, secondly, what alsohappens as well, too, is we do
monthly reporting and thenquarterly reporting as well.
So it's a really dialed andbuttoned up operation.
(09:19):
As I was kind of saying earlier, we want to give the same
person, or we want to give thesame experience as someone to be
writing a $10 million check ora $50,000 check, with their
reporting, with theircommunication, with their
distributions, to make sure thatthey're getting very good care
on their investment.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:35):
See, I like that and, like I said, I always
knew I knew a couple of peoplethat ran some syndication.
I don't know Sidoti I don'tknow if you knew Jill Sidoti,
but she was like a and I thinkin the REIA the REIA, the Real
Estate Investors Associationlike in that kind of group.
She was big into all that and Ijust never really, really,
(09:56):
really truly understood it andI'm just like what a great way
for people that are sitting onmoney Like there's a million
baby boomers, millions andmillions and millions sitting on
money that don't know what todo with it.
There's no money in the stockmarket Like it's crazy and they
think like, oh, I don't want tolike work on a house, I don't
want to do that, but I want topark my money somewhere so they
(10:19):
can make money.
There's just so many peoplesitting on money that don't know
that.
Craig McGrouther (10:29):
Without a doubt, you're right, and so
let's unpack that actually,because that point that you just
brought up is super crucial.
So there's a multitude and aspectrum of investors who'd be
interested in kind of asyndication as to what we're
doing.
There's the tired landlord.
What do I mean by that?
Well, the people as you alludedto.
They don't want to change thethings, they don't want to deal
with property management.
They don't want to do anythingmanagement.
(10:50):
They don't want to do anything.
They want to sit on the beach,sip a Mai Tai and read their
Kindle.
There's people like that.
Then there's people that havegot money sitting around in
their account.
They have a distrust with WallStreet, a distrust with the
stock market, and they're kindof sick and tired of seeing the
volatility that we get, maybe inmainstream assets, with stocks
going up and down where there'snot really much control of it.
(11:11):
And then there's kind of whatwe have which is, hey, you can
come invest in this deal, havefractional ownership, let us do
the hard work, let us manage it,let us collect the rents and
you get all the benefits of realestate exposure without having
to do the nonsense and thetedious nature of fixing sinks,
of taking care of everythinggoing around, because it's a
very comprehensive process.
(11:32):
I always say this is one of thetaglines that I have and you're
going to appreciate this, beingsuch a long investor but
appreciation is not free.
Properties require a ton ofupkeep, a ton of maintenance to
make sure that you actually havevalue associated there, that
these properties aren't beingrun down to the ground, that
everything is going well withthese.
So appreciation is not free.
(11:53):
There's a ton of workassociated.
There's a lot of sorting,accounting and processes
associated there.
It's a lot of hard work and ifyou're not experienced at that,
you really do need aprofessional to help you out
with that, with the best debtstructure and the best equity
structure and the best businessplan to make sure you get paid
for your money.
Pay the pros to be the pros.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (12:11):
Now I agree, I tell people all the time like
it's not as simple as just.
You know, buy a house and fixit up and you know, get your
first little like starter home.
You need to know about themoney and the problems and the
repairs and da-da-da-da, becausepeople can lose everything in a
single deal.
And if you don't, and if youhave money but you don't really
want to take that risk, you needto get with somebody like this.
(12:34):
But it's hard for people tofind syndications because y'all
can't advertise.
Craig McGrouther (12:39):
Yeah Well, I mean, you can, you can't you
sporadically can if you have a506C.
But the other thing is we wantto make sure that we've got
people that are really boughtinto what we're doing and
typically speaking, that meanswe want referrals.
We want people that have kindof worked with us have an
organic relationship there, asopposed to just spraying and
playing, because we don't wantevery investor to work with Lone
Star.
We want someone who trusts whatwe're doing, knows that we're
(13:02):
going to take good care of themand knows that we are putting
the best structure possible here.
And then just another quickpoint there, duann, pertaining
to why this indication process.
Well, another kind of greatthing about it is getting loans
signed.
Working with lenders is a verycomprehensive process.
It's very intrusive.
Getting pushing paperwork, taxturns the whole nine.
(13:23):
Well, as opposed to us, youdon't have to worry about any of
that.
It's literally served up on aplatter for you to say yes or no
to the opportunity.
So it's an incrediblystreamlined process.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:32):
I agree and people don't that when I first
started investing and after Ihad made a little bit of money,
the very first person that Ihired was a bookkeeper, because
I can't stand paperwork.
I don't understand a lot ofwhat was happening.
I didn't have any background inbusiness and I was completely
overwhelmed by paperwork.
It's like, oh my God.
And then you know everythingyou need for the closings and
(13:54):
the title companies and Ithought, okay, I like all
everything about real estate,except for this piece over here.
So that was my first person thatI hired was someone that said
listen, please do the paperwork,please do the accounting, do
this, do that, get things readyfor the closing.
I just want to show up, I justwant to go there and I don't
mind working on the closing, Ijust want to show up, I just
(14:15):
want to go there and I don'tmind working on the house, I
don't mind any of it.
And to this day it doesn't beall stack of paper.
I'm just like, oh God, I canjust feel my chest clenching.
It's like I hate paperwork.
So I'm with you on that and youknow, and that's the thing
about investing you don't haveto be good at everything.
Find what you like and findsomebody else that's good at it.
Craig McGrouther (14:35):
Yeah, find a team.
And you really hit a pointthere that I want to unpack a
little more as well, that Icannot agree with more, which is
there's some things in lifethat you do that you hate doing,
but you kind of have to do it.
There's some things in yourjobs that you hate doing that
you have to do.
There's pieces of real estatethat I hate doing and I actually
don't want to do it.
I choose not to do them.
Property management and assetmanagement I don't want to do
(14:56):
that.
I want to build relationships,like what we're doing here.
I want to speak and educateinvestors.
I want to talk about the dealsand the opportunities.
I want to go out see theopportunities, place cash.
I want to do that.
I want to build therelationships and harvest that I
want to call.
I want to get everyone fired upfor an opportunity, but I don't
want to do any of that backendstuff.
I don't want to do accounting.
I don't want to do that at all.
So, divide and conquer and findthe team and find people that
(15:19):
are complimentary to what you'redoing.
So I couldn't agree with youmore.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (15:23):
I do, I'm still that way.
My husband now we've beenmarried 20 years and we've owned
a bunch of buildings andcompanies and everything
together and every year when itcomes around he averages like
dude, just hire that.
No, I like to.
He likes paperwork, he likesmath, he likes paperwork.
I'm like you have asked thatand I'll just be over here, like
, if you need me, yell for me.
Um, now you were talking aboutdoing multi units, so what would
(15:47):
be a typical deal?
I'm like hey, I heard you on thepodcast.
I've got $50,000.
I've got a hundred thousandbucks.
What are you going to buy withit?
Craig McGrouther (16:00):
Perfect, yeah, so it's a great question.
So what we look for just atLone Star Capital for my firm it
was we're looking to buy dealsin that 30 to $50 million price
point and there's three bucketsof deals that we buy.
So we buy value-addopportunities.
It's very straightforward Buyit, fix it, sell it.
You've got some sort ofmismanagement on the property.
You've got maybe some unitsthat are original that need to
(16:21):
get turned over.
You've got some sort ofmismanagement or inefficiency
with the property that you'relooking to capitalize on.
It's a very competitivebusiness because there's no free
launch.
But we're looking to buyvalue-add deals.
We're looking to buy core plusdeals, which is a beautiful
apartment building, probably2000s or newer, 2000 to 2024.
That's below replacement costs,meaning you're buying it for
(16:44):
less than what it would cost tobuild in today's market.
Core plus deals at a discount.
And then the third and finaldeal that we buy in Texas.
Obviously there's a lot of highproperty taxes, but we have
relationships with housingauthorities to actually
eliminate all the property taxesin exchange for affordability.
So we get a very big NOI bump.
And then not only do we get anNOI bump, but we also, most
(17:05):
importantly, preserveaffordability, which is a very
big issue in this country,especially with all the
inflation going on around rightnow, with the dollar being
really tighter than that beforepeople getting laid off, being
able to preserve affordabilitywhile also having us kind of
make some dollars off of it too.
It's called public-privateopportunities.
It's the best blind.
It's the way I think moregovernment things should be run.
(17:26):
But those are the three bucketsthat we buy.
We like to kind of give yousomewhere between a 14% to an
18% IRR internal rate of returnand if we're doing a five-year
hold, we're looking to hit kindof that boilerplate 2X equity
multiple and try to returnannually between 5% to 7% of
cash on cash over the holdperiod.
So let's say, if you can giveus $100,000 in investment, we're
(17:47):
looking to give you about fiveto seven grand a year divided by
12.
So it's about call 400 to $500a month in monthly distributions
roughly, which is reallybeneficial because so many of
our investors really do rely onthis for their monthly income
and their livelihood as peoplethat have retired and whatnot.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:05):
They do, I remember.
So my dad is 86 and he, so myfamily is from ohio, so where
are you at right now?
It's called long story.
Craig McGrouther (18:15):
You in texas so we buy in texas.
I'm actually in oregon rightnow, funny enough, because it's
my brother's wedding, um, soyeah, we buy exclusively in
texas I was like it's long soit's gotta be texas um yes but
in ohio, like you know, and Ihigh school, so hold your seat
here in 1977.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:35):
So back in those days Ohio and Michigan
were the car companies.
So we went to graduate highschool, get married, have kids,
work at the factory and work forthe man, and that's what you do
.
So, and you know, I got out ofhigh school, I was engaged.
I worked at a factory and, likea weekend to it, I thought
(18:55):
there is no way.
I'm doing this for the rest ofmy life.
This is the worst, miserable.
They're hot, they're standingall day.
It's like who?
Why would anybody want to workin a factory their whole life
and listen, if you did it, godlove you, but it's not for me.
But the point of that is my dadand my stepmom they did that.
They worked for the companiesand they worked in the factories
(19:16):
and then they retired and thenthey have all their.
A lot of their time is in thegeneral motors stock and then
you know all the things happen.
I remember my dad calling meand he was probably like 70 so
he's 86 now and he's like, well,lois and I sat down, we went
through everything and we'reliterally going to run out of
(19:36):
money in two years and I waslike, wow, how scary is that
when you know you retire at 60and you're running around and
you're like, oh, we're retired,you've got money and then, all
of a sudden, you know the stocksand the things are what control
your income.
I was like what do you mean?
He's like no, based on justeverything in the.
The stocks and the things arewhat control your income.
(19:57):
I was like what do you mean?
He's like no, based on justeverything in the housing and
all the things, because we'regoing to run out of money.
And I'm like okay, what do youwant to do?
He's like, well, I don't know.
So now, after my whole familywas like you need to get a real
job.
They're like, oh, so tell meabout that real estate investing
that you do, and that wouldhave been such a great time to
put them into syndications,except I didn't know about those
yet.
So and I know they're reallyhandy I was like, well, why
(20:18):
don't you guys get a couple ofrentals in town and you can
putter around and work on yourrentals and this and that?
But they ended up getting a few, maybe four or five rentals,
but they ended up their monthlyincome went up to like $10,000 a
month and they didn't owe adollar to anybody.
So now they're taking theselike world cruises and like, oh,
(20:40):
we're so good with our money.
It's like y'all literally saidyou were running out of money
two years ago.
But that's the people like that.
They're depending on thatmonthly income and that 500 or
400 a month.
If they have those in a coupleof different places, they do
rely on that.
And people that work for allthe man they're, they're losing
(21:02):
money left and right.
And people that are, you know,seven years old are having to go
back and work part-time.
Craig McGrouther (21:08):
Well, to your point there.
This is such a fascinatingconversation.
So, tony Robbins, there's areel going around on Instagram.
For those who like Instagram,I'm sure it's on TikTok.
I'm not a TikTok person, I'mmillennial.
Don't want against me, not aTikTok guy.
But Tony Robbins said this.
He's like if you put a milliondollars in the stock market 35
(21:28):
years ago, which was obviously35 years ago, that wasn't a
million dollars, it was actuallya million dollars.
Don't get me started oninflation, but yes, a million
dollars is a million dollars.
Back then that million dollarsin the stock market would turn
into.
If you put in the S&P 500,which I'm a big believer in kind
of doing that, let that workhard for you, very challenging
to pick individual stocks, butif you put that $1 million there
(21:49):
, that would turn into $26million.
Conversely, if you put thatinto just average private equity
, that same $1 million over that35-year period, that would be
over $100 million now.
So the amount of hands that istrading for you to make money is
a lot.
So doing syndications, doingthings like this, are more
direct to the source.
(22:09):
So if we're looking to achieveand basically return to you
about five to 7% cash on cash onour deal.
That's basically just a littlebit below what the S&P 500
market beta would be giving you,which is just general stock
market appreciation over timegains, but then you also get the
lift on the back end.
So it's basically just asubstantially more creative and
(22:31):
you know time money compoundinginterest is really one of the
craziest phenomenons for peopleto be thinking about there.
So you know, I couldn't agreewith you more, just a smoother
way to go.
And direct ownership has a lotof benefits.
You know, I think, alsosomething else you mentioned.
It's kind of the premise ofkind of being diversified as
well.
You know, if you've not gottenkind of your hands in that, you
know syndication world into thereal estate world, you know
(22:52):
you're doing yourself adisservice.
I think just real estate issuch a fabulous vehicle for
wealth creation.
And also the other you knowloopholes that are around it.
You know there's two bigdrivers for really not paying
taxes and more accretive returns.
So oil and gas is actually thebest.
We don't invest in that butit's a little more risky.
But oil and gas gets you reallyoutsized depreciation that
(23:15):
anyone can apply.
And then secondly is realestate.
So if you provide energy orshelter, you will get deductions
and the government willbasically incentivize.
And the way to think about thatis the government doesn't care
if you invest in oil and gas orreal estate, but it incentivizes
you to do so if you reallystudy and understand the tax
(23:36):
code.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:37):
Yeah, now, every year, when they do like
you know how many million Ithink Forbes has a list of like
new millionaires or something,and then the number one asset
class forever is always realestate and there's always people
that did like, you know, youalways have like the Facebook
guys or the this or that, butlike the number one asset group
(23:59):
for new millionaires every year,since I think the beginning of
time is always in real estate.
So like, listen, that's how westarted our country and that's
it.
If you provide housing, I tellpeople all the time you provide
housing for people, you'llalways have something happening,
because that's what people needand you know, and all the stuff
(24:21):
that's happening right now,like you know, our country's on
fire.
A lot of people can't afford tobuy houses.
Interest rates are too high andyou know, and it's hard, it's
like it's hard for well, hardfor to your point there.
Craig McGrouther (24:33):
To your point, there it's.
I saw something as well ontwitter x I guess it's called
now from unusual whales, whichis a very interesting uh twitter
follow x follow if you'refamiliar with it, and basically
the statistic was it's 80 hardernow to buy a home than it was
about four years ago.
So why is that?
Well, obviously so many homesnow are owned for inklair.
Hedge funds have gone into themarketplace to suck up inventory
(24:56):
, so these houses will be goingto nice.
You know factory workers.
You know the common person.
You know the, the average.
I guess you know incomeproducing household in America.
Well, now that's consideredghost inventory, meaning it
probably won't ever sell again.
It's basically just treated asa commodity or as a stock.
It's going to appreciate andalso give you a dividend of cash
flow.
So you're double dipping thereon.
(25:16):
You know wealth creation toolsthat real estate provides, but
if it's going to get that muchharder, it's not going to get
easier.
Things generally rarely gobackwards and you've had so much
of the housing market as well.
That was sucked up by, ofcourse, groups like that when
Zerp got really low and alsothere's basically, I would say,
(25:36):
over 80% of the marketplace aswell, either owns their house
free and clear or has sub 4%interest rate long-term 30-year
fixed rate debt where thosehouses they're not going to
trade because you could rentthem or keep them because it's
too expensive to move elsewhereto that point.
So I feel very fortunate.
I just sold my house and I'mbuying another house right now.
My mortgage payment's a lothigher, but I know that if you
(25:59):
can buy a house right now whenthe markets and the rates do go
down, well, real estate is aninterest rate sensitive business
.
When those rates do get cut, Iwill refinance.
I'm sure the market will staystagnant with where I'm buying
or at least go up and I'll havea lower monthly payment.
But it's just going tosuffocate and make the process
that much harder to acquire.
So I'm going to tie that backjust to investing in real estate
.
I don't know if rents are goingto go up or going to go down,
(26:25):
but what I do know is that it'sgoing to be more expensive in
five years than it is today tobuild.
Wages will be more expensive,rents will likely increase and
cost per door is going to go up.
So you're hedging against thenegative aspects of inflation by
investing in real estate and,as Mark Twain says, I'm not
making more land to buy realestate.
So this is your opportunity todo so and to kind of put your
(26:46):
capital into that and work it.
So that's kind of my two centson the matter.
Yeah, no, I agree and back.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:51):
I don't even know how many years ago the rate
was like 2.2 there for a minute.
Was that like-?
Craig McGrouther (26:59):
I mean, I sold less than that.
Actually I think it wasbasically about 2021 is at the
interest rate low.
I sold a buddy a house.
He put 3% down and got a 2.6%interest rate and he put nothing
down on the house.
I mean his equity multiple onthat.
Granted, this is a very rareoccasion, but he put less than
15 grand down and has made over$300,000 in equity on that deal.
(27:23):
It's incredible and his ratewould never exist again and
probably won't.
So he's going to let the thingamortize his payments.
Nothing.
He could live there, he couldrent it out, he could Airbnb it,
he could do a multitude ofthings to make it a very
profitable investment.
Um, and then also provide someshelter, which everyone has to
solve for you cannot, and justgenerally from real estate
perspective, you know.
You think about what's going onright now.
(27:43):
Well, you can outsource.
You know offices, becausepeople are working from home.
Now you can outsource.
You know many things, right,retail well, amazon's kind of
taking that but you cannotoutsource where people live.
So you know you can't automatethat.
There's always going to be aneed for that, so it just goes
back to, you know, providingshelter and buying in the market
(28:04):
and letting you know the marketdo its thing, letting American
growth happen, is the smartestthing you can do.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:10):
Yeah, when those interest rates were really
low, like that.
We have a house in Colorado andI was like we're gonna
refinance that house becausewe're able to refinance it, pull
a little money out, use it forsome other things, and it rates
like 2.6.
It's like I've never seen itafter 30 years.
And here it is.
So we're gonna take advantageof it, because you might not
(28:30):
ever see it again and if we doit'll it's gonna be a minute.
That's gonna be a minute, butlike you can't get money that
cheap yeah, you can't and youprobably won't be able to again
yeah, yeah, I mean, I don't know.
I remember back in, I'm gonnasay maybe the 70s or the 80s, uh
, how interest rates on houseswere like 18 and people still
(28:54):
bought houses.
But it's like, oh my god,there's so much interest, this
is a crazy amount.
And now I don't know what'sinterest rate right now like
seven and a half today, do you?
Craig McGrouther (29:02):
know?
Yeah it just it just dependswhere you are.
I'm getting rate locked on myhouse in a buy right now at
about a 6.8 because my buddy's awholesome mortgage broker.
But generally speaking they'rejust a couple of basis points
above, maybe 10, 20 basis points, bips, as I call it, above 7%.
So probably around 7.1 to 7.3%,depending on your credit score
and whatnot.
I would say.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (29:23):
That's not even terrible.
Craig McGrouther (29:25):
Well, it's all that we've been trained for
right.
And the other issue, too aswell, is real estate is a very
dense, bad, sensitive issue andcommercial real estate.
There's obviously not a secretthat there's a ton of distress
going on right now.
Well, when interest rates go upover three times in a very
short period, there has to be aworkout process that needs to be
unpacked and unwind andunfortunately that's not going
(29:47):
to happen overnight.
So it's certainly problematicfor the industry, but I do know
that people are going to need aplace to live.
I do know that we're buyinggood real estate with a very
good business plan to createvalue there and over time, when
rates get cut, value creationwill be had.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:03):
It will be so if someone's listening to this
and this is the first timethey're hearing about like a
syndication, does someone justcall you?
Do you have educational callsfor people?
Like how would someone learn?
Instead of just saying, hey, Iheard you on Dwan, I want to
give you some money becausethere has to be some, you have
to somehow educate people alittle bit on what it is they're
(30:25):
actually doing.
Craig McGrouther (30:27):
Yeah, well, rob and I the founder of the
firm and I do a weekly podcastpertaining to what's going on in
the world of multifamilycommercial real estate.
Rob, additionally, has writtenand published two books that are
very niche and specific tocommercial real estate.
They're bestsellers and getsold over 40,000 copies
collectively between the twobooks.
(30:48):
So one of them is called theDefinitive Guide to Multifamily
Underwriting.
One of them is Structuring Debtand Equity for Real Estate.
So these are two very greatfundamental books that are very
lean.
They're like about 100 pages.
You can crank them out in a dayor less.
If you're a good reader, youcan read it in a week, no
problem.
Not too comprehensive, no extrafluff there, but those are
(31:09):
great resources, as well as ourYouTube page.
If you follow us on LinkedIn,we're always posting there as
well, too, to kind of educate,attract, nurture folks.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:17):
That's nice.
So they call you up like, hey,I want to put some money in, I
just want to learn more about it.
You've got a couple of books,you've got some videos, do you
have?
Craig McGrouther (31:30):
and you have a podcast, so so people can
listen and learn that way,because a lot of people I feel
like would do syndication andmore people knew about it.
Yeah, no, it's certainly.
Uh, it's funny, I'm so kneesdeep in the industry I feel like
everyone should know about it.
I definitely think it is known,but I don't.
Yeah, but the issue is thatthere's not that much out there
and as much as as I think that'sthe case, I'm proven wrong once
more.
Like doing shows like this thatyou know, not everyone realizes
that's there.
(31:50):
And I think another kind offactor as well, as if it's not,
with some you know megaconglomerate corporation that
they've seen no like trust fortheir whole life, they're almost
feel like, oh well, it must notbe a good idea, it must be too
risky.
That's that where you know.
I understand that, but you knowyou, if you want to get
outsized returns and bettereconomics, it's probably with
(32:11):
working with stuff like this.
But there obviously is.
You know it's very easy to losemoney in this business, um, but
you can also make money as well.
So just do your research, doyour homework, go slow into
anything.
Never be too rich, uh, tooquick or too rushed to make an
investment.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:25):
Yeah, no, I'm with you on that.
All right, so we're going toswitch up topics for a minute.
What's your favorite band ofall time?
Craig McGrouther (32:32):
That's a great question.
I'm going to have to go with1975.
I love them.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:36):
That's the name of the band.
Okay, I see it.
Right there.
I'm showing my age.
The band's called 1975?
.
Craig McGrouther (32:41):
Yes, they're modern, though I assure you
they're from Manchester.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:44):
I believe, yes, they're, they're modern,
though I assure you they're fromuh, manchester, I believe.
Yeah, they're great youtubelistening to them today as you
should because almost everyone,everyone had like two people
getting you're like one of threea name to ban.
I didn't know.
And I stay up with me.
I love music.
I love music my whole life.
I stay up.
I've got grandkids.
I'm teaching them all the stuff.
I was like I'm 75.
(33:04):
What kind of music is that?
Craig McGrouther (33:07):
It's like alternative, alternative, slash
rock.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:11):
Nice, I like alternative.
Okay, well, now see, I'velearned something new there
myself, so I will.
I've had a few people give me acouple and I never heard of it
and I went and listened I waslike, wow, I really love that
music.
Craig McGrouther (33:22):
I'm curious, what were the band's names?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:26):
uh, one was uh, orange, something um.
Gosh, I'd have to go back to mynose blood orange maybe maybe
yes, and there was another one Ican't think of off the top of
my head and I had never, likenever, heard of it anywhere.
And I thought I listen to lotsof music on lots of different
(33:46):
places and even the newer bands.
I usually know pretty much alittle bit about everybody, even
country, and I didn't know andI was like, wow, okay, I love it
, because now I'm going tolisten and I'll probably like it
.
What's your favorite food?
Craig McGrouther (34:05):
Specific food or food type.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:07):
Food type.
Craig McGrouther (34:07):
Thai food Thai food.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:10):
Thai food.
Mm-hmm Is that what you said.
Craig McGrouther (34:14):
Yeah, yeah, I love Thai food.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:16):
Oh, thai food , Thai food, yeah, okay.
I was like Thai food.
What is that?
I love Thai food too.
This little town that we're inright now, in Clinton, they
opened up a.
They took an old building, soit's like on my block that I'm
on right now.
They took an old building andthey turned it all into lofts.
Took an old building and theyturned it all into lofts and the
(34:39):
entire downstairs is um set upwith little kitchens where
people can come in and like do alittle startup restaurant and,
I guess, test the water beforethey commit to like a building
or something like that.
So it's kind of like a foodcourt, but not anything like at
a mall.
These are little people thatwould like to start a restaurant
maybe.
Anyway, they just put a thaifood restaurant in there and I
just ate there the other nightfor the first time.
I'm telling you I think itmight have been the best type
(35:01):
you'd have ever had.
There's like a little grandmathat works in there and she's in
the back and she's making stuffand jim's beginning english and
like maybe the grandson is atthe front taking orders and I
was like you guys can neverleave the downtown, so now I'm
walking down there every day andgetting some, some Thai food.
It's just, it's all so good andthis little restaurant is
(35:22):
amazing.
Mr Craig, what is your favoritetime of the day?
What's your favorite part ofthe day?
Where's your happy spot?
Craig McGrouther (35:31):
Wow, that is an incredible question.
I you know I really like towork out.
I just think the endorphins youget from it and how it sets up
the day is super crucial.
So I've been trying to be asmilitant as possible while away
from my home home, Uh, while I'mhere in Oregon and I typically
like to do this in general, buttry to wake up at like six, 15
every day wake up, roll out ofbed and just go straight to the
(35:54):
treadmill.
So I think the mornings arereally nice, my energy is
highest.
I'm the biggest fan.
I like to be a productiveperson.
So certainly I would say thefirst half of the day is my
favorite part of the day.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:06):
I like that.
Everyone is so different ontheir times and what they like
and don't like.
You see all these people likeoh, you got to get up before you
.
I and what they like and don'tlike.
You see all these people likeoh, you got to get up before, am
, you got to work out and stuff,and I was like no, it's
whatever's good for you.
Craig McGrouther (36:18):
I've just noticed that if it's 4 pm for me
, not am but pm, I'm not goingto want to run 30, 40 minutes
like I did today, so I'm notgoing to want to do it day.
Get my cardio in.
I'm more inclined and likely toalso go back to the gym, maybe
steam sauna, get some weights inand enjoy that there and just
kind of double up, if you will.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:43):
Yeah, no, I like to work out.
If I don't work out first thing, I get up and say I'm going to
do this one thing before I do it, and then that thing turns into
85 phone calls later.
It just doesn't get done Like Ihave to do that before I even
look at my phone, it's likedoesn't get done, like I have to
do that.
Before I even look at my phone,it's like once I'm on there,
I'm shot.
What is the biggest goal thatyou are working on right now,
and how can the D'Wonderfulfamily help you reach that goal?
Craig McGrouther (37:06):
Yeah, I think the biggest goal we're looking
at right now from a firm levelis getting to a billion dollars
of asset center management.
So we're about 600 millionright now.
Depending on what the marketlooks like and holds for the
next couple of years, that couldtake us probably two years to
get there, to kind of climb overthat.
So we're looking for moreinvestors, as always.
So reach out to me the email iscraig at lserecom if you're
(37:27):
looking to learn more and I cangive you some information
happily.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (37:30):
Awesome, I love it.
Well, we always like to helpand encourage other investors,
because I've been investing foralmost 35 years and people are
like oh, you know, I think a lotof speakers and trainers are
like there.
So I am a big believer in likelisten, share the wealth.
Someone calls me aboutsyndication.
I can't help them with that.
I'll be like listen, I don'teven know, I don't know, I don't
(38:06):
want to know, it's not my thing, but I know a guy named Craig
and he's got it going on.
So I am all about referring andhelping and that's why we
always want to know what yourgoal is, because I want all my
family, all y'all out there thatare like asking me questions
when did I put my money?
Well, right, here's your guy.
Craig McGrouther (38:21):
Perfect.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (38:22):
Put some money in with what you've got
going on, all right.
So first I want to thank youfor being on the show.
I've got one more questionwe're going to take just real
quick.
If you, if you all like theshow today, I want you to do me
a favor and I want you to findthe podcast.
Subscribe, leave a five-starreview, write something, go to
(38:42):
my youtube page, subscribe, hitthe bell, do all the things so
that every time I put up a newvideo or new training and and
craig as well you are notifiedand you are in the loop.
We we always have training foryou over here.
He has a lot of training overwhere he's at, and this is all
you know.
Podcasts are a labor of love.
We all work very hard to havepodcasts, so all we want you to
(39:05):
do is follow and share it withthe other people.
You don't need to be a secretagent.
Tell them like hey, I heardthis podcast One was amazing,
craig was great.
Share and tell them like hey, Iheard this podcast One was
amazing, craig was great.
Share it around, help share thewealth, because they are a
labor of love, don't you think?
Craig McGrouther (39:19):
I couldn't agree more.
It's a lot of effort that goesinto these and it's nice to see
it grow and all that good stuff.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (39:27):
I do too.
Yeah, I love it too.
All right, now I want you toleave us with a parting word of
wisdom, but only one single wordUrgency.
Hmm, okay.
So everyone that listens knowsyou're going to get your little
yellow sticky.
You're going to write the wordurgency.
(39:47):
You're going to put it on yourmirror.
So urgency is going to be ourword of the week in the
wonderful universe.
So what does urgency mean toyou?
Craig McGrouther (39:58):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like things need to get
done accordingly and promptly,and we're in the service
business.
If you're taking investorcapital and anything you do,
time's always slipping away.
So I don't think you can be outto lunch if you want to really
get ahead of life.
So, although you might belistening to this at lunch,
that's fine, but have a goal, beimpactful and make it happen.
(40:19):
So, although you might belistening to this at lunch,
that's fine, but you know, havea goal, be impactful and make it
happen.
So I think if you had urgencythere to get things done as
quickly and as promptly aspossible, you can achieve a lot
more as opposed to just, youknow, procrastinating and
waiting.
So I think urgency is a veryhigh indicator of someone's
success.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (40:28):
I think it's a great word I always like to
have.
I used to ask people like, giveus a parting word of wisdom.
But some people go off for 20minutes and talk to you about
stuff.
It's like, okay, listen, let'sjust get a word, Give me a word,
and then what does it mean?
And then so everyone knows thatlistens regularly, but that's
the word.
This week we're going to focuson urgency and you know, I'm
sure, like you, I've met peopleyou know for two years.
(40:50):
Oh, I'm going to get started,I'm going to soon, soon, soon.
It's like they still haven'tdone anything.
It's like, listen, it'semergency Light, a little fire
there, because you know, today'sthe best day to start.
If you haven't started, today'sthe best day.
I love your heart and I loveyour spirit and I love what you
do and I love that you're soyoung and you're like all in on
(41:13):
this and so smart and educated.
It's like you're great.
You remind me of my kids.
All my kids are millennials andthey're all into business and
they're all into real estate andthey're just so amazing.
And then you see other kidsthat are just like they're doing
nothing.
It's like come on, man, theyouth is our future and right
now, all the people that we haveup here running everything,
(41:34):
they all need to go and get someyoung, fresh blood in there.
Craig McGrouther (41:37):
I'm going to drink more.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (41:38):
I need some new blood.
All right, folks, we'll be backnext week.
Same bad time, same bad channel, and remember that the truth is
in the red letters.
All right, everybody, Ciao andCraig, thank you.
Thank you, come back next week.
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