June 3, 2025 • 41 mins
Ever wondered what's behind those small metal industrial buildings you pass on the outskirts of town? They might just be the commercial real estate sector's best-kept investment secret. Austin Edelmon, with 20 years of experience specializing in small bay industrial complexes, pulls back the curtain on this lucrative niche that's outperforming traditional commercial investments.
While retail, multifamily, and office sectors continue to navigate post-pandemic challenges, small bay industrial spaces are delivering impressive returns that have caught the attention of sophisticated investors nationwide. Austin explains why these metal construction facilities with multiple small units are especially attractive: "These parks offer better returns in some instances and even more upside on rental rates and other key factors," making them ideal for yield-seeking investors looking to diversify their portfolios.
The appeal extends beyond just returns. Austin walks us through why development in this sector is more accessible than other commercial projects - from simpler metal construction methods to fewer zoning restrictions when building in county areas. We learn how a portfolio of several 50,000-75,000 square foot complexes can create substantial value, and how even simple cosmetic improvements like exterior paint can significantly boost rental rates and property performance.
Whether you're a seasoned commercial investor or curious about expanding your real estate horizons, Austin's insights provide a roadmap to understanding this growing asset class. His co-authored book "Flex Space Domination" and the resources at FlexParksUSA.com offer even deeper dives into this investment strategy that's helping clients nationwide capitalize on the small bay industrial boom. Ready to explore what could be your next wealth-building opportunity in commercial real estate?
Thanks again for listening. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a FIVE-STAR review.
Head to Dwanderful right now to claim your free real estate investing kit.
And follow:
http://www.Dwanderful.com
http://www.facebook.com/Dwanderful
http://www.Instagram.com/Dwanderful
http://www.youtube.com/DwanderfulRealEstateInvestingChannel
Make it a Dwanderful Day!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (00:02):
Hey everyone, welcome to the most wonderful
real estate podcast ever.
I'm your host, Dwan BentTwyford.
I'm America's most sought afterreal estate investor.
I'm really excited that you arehere today.
In case you haven't heard thenews the most wonderful real
estate podcast ever just reached1 million downloads.
(00:23):
So thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you, thank
you.
And it's taken a couple ofyears, so why not in 25?
Why don't we try to hit 2million by the end of this year?
So y'all got some work to do,but let's get to the 2 million
mark and not take five years todo it.
So how about that?
But I am super happy about themillion, so I'm super thankful
(00:45):
and I you know I appreciate yourtime.
I have an awesome guest, MrAustin Edelmon.
How are you today?
Austin Edelmon (00:56):
I'm doing good.
How are you?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (00:58):
Yeah, I'm good.
Yeah, I love the uh, the brickwalls.
Is that in your office or isthat a background, or is that
where you are?
Austin Edelmon (01:06):
So it's our office.
We have a we're in a hundredyear old industrial building
that was converted so they keptsome of the original touches.
So, yeah, we use it for thepodcast and some of the stuff
that we do online.
Just because it's rustic, itlooks good.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:22):
It does, it does.
My husband and I are rehabbinga bunch of buildings in Clinton,
iowa and people put stuff overthe brick, I think like to
modernize everything and we'retaking everything off, it's like
, but the brick walls are sopretty.
Austin Edelmon (01:38):
Yeah, I mean, they're just iconic.
They look good and you know alot of people are trying to
modernize it now and everything.
So it just it takes away fromthe color and just you know the
years of history in them.
So we like them a lot.
A lot of people give us goodfeedback on it.
It's better than the gray wallthat I'm looking at.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (02:00):
One of our buildings.
Someone came through in the 60s.
This is a beautiful brickbuilding and they put some kind
of metal squares and they musthave went through the whole
downtown so you can see all thebuildings where they did it we
decided to take it off last year.
But you know, you got to becareful because you don't know
if they just smashed through allthe bricks or and we took it
(02:20):
off and there was hardly anybrick restoration that we had to
do and just, you know, cleanedthem up and got any little bit
of that goopy stuff off and theneveryone's like your building
looks so beautiful and fresh,it's like it's all original
brick has been pressure washedand it looks amazing.
(02:40):
So I know everyone wants tomodernize everything.
It's like you know, just somethings just need to be left
alone yeah, yeah, that's how weare.
I mean, that's why I have thatwe work on I almost bought one
of those brick, fake brick andbrick walls that do and I
thought, no, because it'll looklike fake brick and I really, I,
I love it.
So, anyway, let's talk aboutyou.
Let's talk about you, mr austin.
(03:00):
So what we like to do over hereat Twanderful, everyone knows
we're just going to have aconversation like getting to
know you, and we just want youto tell us in like a sentence or
two, just tell us what you doand I'm going to ask questions
about you, know how you gotthere and just what you do and
how to find you on all of yoursocials, emails, giveaways,
(03:26):
whatever you want to do.
Austin Edelmon (03:28):
Oh yeah, no, I'm pretty easy to find online.
Everything's my name, so if youjust type that into LinkedIn,
instagram, youtube, any of thoseplaces, I'll pop up pretty
quick.
But basically so I work incommercial real estate.
We do investment sales.
Our primary focus is small bayindustrial complexes.
(03:51):
So when you're driving aroundtown, if you see, like you know,
four to 10 buildings, metalconstruction, small units within
each of those buildings, wesell those on the investment
side.
So we've got a large networkacross the US.
We're based primarily out ofDFW.
We focus on a lot of the Texasmarkets, but that's what we do
(04:16):
specifically is we sell thesetype of investments to
individuals, funds, anybodyacross the US.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:24):
That's amazing.
So then you have or find thebuildings and then you sell them
to people or are youconstructing them?
Austin Edelmon (04:34):
So we do a little bit of both.
We started off just on theinvestment side.
So we were just calling owners,getting in touch with them,
giving them you know criteria ofwhat we've sold similar parks
for in the past and you know,kind of went through the process
of getting them ready to list,market their facility and sell
(04:55):
it to you know groups.
But we have recently startedgetting into the development
side.
There's a lot of individuals,partnerships, cross-asset buyers
, anybody from retail,multifamily office, some of that
stuff that's been strugglingfor the last few years coming
out of COVID.
These guys they primarily liketo chase returns.
(05:18):
So the Small Bay Flex offers alot better return in some
instances and even more upsideon rental rates and other key
factors.
So just with a lot of peoplewanting to get into this, we
have begun partnering, workingwith individuals groups that
want to start building this forthemselves and you know, either
(05:42):
sell them off, keep growingtheir portfolios, whatever they
want to do.
We're just kind of helping themget the jumpstart on that side
as well, and so you help them.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (05:53):
if they want to build, you help them with the
financing.
Austin Edelmon (05:58):
Yeah, so we can help out with financing.
We're investment sales the firmthat we work for, colliers
International.
They have loan originatorsgroups throughout the US so we
have put a lot of people incontact if they need help on the
financing.
But where we really, you know,hone in with these groups as we
(06:19):
start the process on the landside.
So you know, these guys arelooking for parcels that they
want to buy.
We do a world engine scenariowhich just gives them a very
brief overview, kind ofhighlights some of the key
metrics household income,population growth, number of
businesses in the area, percapita spending metrics that we
(06:42):
like to see, that we think theseparks will do very well in for
rent growth.
So we kind of start that withthem.
We have them send us in landlistings across the US.
Right now we're working a lotof sites in New Jersey, north
Carolina, arizona.
We kind of tend to stick awayfrom California just because
(07:05):
pricing is very aggressive outthere and fire yeah.
So there's a lot of yes, there'sa lot of things that we kind of
push them away from.
But yeah, we just you knowthey're looking for anything
from one acre up to 10 to 15, 20acres, looking for anything
(07:27):
from one acre up to 10 to 15, 20acres.
So if they're not too familiarwith that area, we just want to
give them something to havebetter understanding of that
market going into.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (07:34):
So I've got five acres somewhere around the
Dallas-Fort Worth area and I'mlike, hey, listen, I want to put
something on here, I want torun something, build something,
put something, put a park, putwhatever.
How would I like?
What would be like my firstcouple of questions?
I find you because I listenedto the most wonderful real
(07:55):
estate podcast ever Like, hey, Iwant to do that.
How, what would be thebeginning process?
I say, awesome, I got the land,it's paid for.
I want to put a park on it.
Austin Edelmon (08:07):
Yeah.
So you know, in that case too,if you've already purchased the
land, we would kind of run amodel for you to show you what
square footage you can build.
A lot of these guys, a 30% lotcoverage is standard for the
flex development side and,depending on where you're at the
Houston market is one of thetougher ones because you have to
(08:28):
incorporate some kind ofdetention pond so it can limit
the square footage that you'rebuilding.
So basically what we would do iswe would take the survey, we do
a test fit model where we showyou the number of buildings, a
decent layout, and that willcalculate your square footage
and then we can backtrack thatinto your exit cap rate, which
(08:53):
is just a metric that investorsuse in order to show a rate of
return on the income of a parkthey build.
So we would do basically a proforma financial model where we
just put in a rent rate Ifyou're reimbursing triple nets,
what you could pass through tothe tenants and utilize for
(09:13):
income as well, back out theexpenses, and then we kind of
show them hey say, if you built45,000 square feet, your exit
number would be X amount ofdollars, and that just kind of
helps them understand, you know,if it's economical sense for
them construction cost wise andthen if their exit is going to
(09:37):
net them money, or if it gets alittle hairy and maybe they're,
you know, running closer totheir expenses.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:44):
I got it.
So when the people build theseparks do, most of them do it
with the intention to sell itfor a profit, or are they like,
hey, I'm going to rent thesespaces out?
I'm going to keep this in myportfolio as long-term
commercial rental income.
Austin Edelmon (10:00):
So it all depends right now the majority
of the groups that we're workingwith.
They are looking to eitherbuild several and, you know,
build out a portfolio and thensell that to a larger group.
They get in through thebuilding process, they get it
(10:22):
completed and then they say, hey, you know, a couple of the
units that I leased out are alittle under market and I want
to get those up to market ratethen they can hold on to it.
You know we're in the businesswhere we don't really want to
lead anybody and force them tosell if they don't want to.
So you know we we've definitelyhad several groups that have
(10:45):
gone through all the steps say,hey, we completed this, we
really like it, it's cashflowing, great, we're just going
to hold on to it.
And you know there's nothingwrong with that.
You know you put in on thatwork and effort and got it up
and running.
It's, you know, your pride andjoy.
So if they want to hold on toit, they're more than welcome to
.
But a lot of the people that weare talking to that have just
(11:09):
kind of entered the space.
They are looking.
You know they want to startsmall, so they build five to
15,000 square feet.
They want to sell that and thenhopefully the chances of them
building another one where theycan just, you know, do a ladder,
stair, step and continuebuilding larger parks and they
get comfortable.
(11:29):
And then they do the portfoliowith something that's branded
All the facilities look the same, similar size square footage
complexes.
So we like anywhere from 50 to75,000 square feet is kind of
the sweet spot for the largestbuyer pool and you know, if you
got three or four of thosebundled them together, you know
(11:51):
your exit pricing would bepretty nice on a sale like that,
it would be.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (11:57):
Well, I love what you do.
I don't know if I'veinterviewed anyone that helps
build out these parks for peopleto turn around and sell.
I'm just trying to think.
I think you might be the firstperson.
I've interviewed anyone thathelps build out these parks for
people to turn around and sell.
I'm just trying to think.
I think you might be the firstperson I've interviewed that
does this exact concept.
Austin Edelmon (12:11):
Well, it's just, you know, it's an asset class
that has gotten reallycompetitive and there's a lot of
people that are interested ingetting into it.
The metal buildings are, Iwouldn't say, easy to build, but
they're easier to build than aapartment complex, a retail
strip center, an office tower,because you can do these in the
(12:34):
county where zoning requirementsare kind of not, as you know,
stinging as within amunicipality.
So you can get a kit.
A lot of these metalconstruction buildings are, you
know, a Mueller kit or somethinglike that, where you get every
panel, every bracket that youneed and you just put a slab
(12:57):
down and put them together andput them together, yeah.
Yeah, so it's relatively on theeasier side of developing to get
into compared to a lot of othercommercial assets.
So with that and land costoutside the county you know your
land is a lot more cheaper thanif you were an infill location,
(13:18):
say within the heart ofdowntown Dallas or Fort Worth.
So it's a little bit easier forthese groups to you know, see
the cost up front and get intosomething.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:30):
Yeah, I love it.
My husband and I we live on 10acres and out in back behind our
house we need like a building.
So this year we've been lookingaround all these buildings like
poor slab, absolutely Justconstruct a big giant building
that we can pull in our trainsand our four wheelers and and
all the things that we have.
(13:51):
And so we've been lookingaround a lot in the last couple
of years at these people thatjust like, as long as you have
the slab, they'll just boom,boom, you got a building just
like in a couple of weeks.
Austin Edelmon (14:02):
Oh yeah, and that's when you look on the
outskirts of the DFW market.
A lot of homes are kind of likethat, where they're situated on
five to 10 acres and a lot ofpeople want that.
You know.
They've got the huge barn intheir backyard.
They have, you know, a littlebar set where they can hang out
with their buddies.
The TV, you know, have all thegames on.
(14:23):
And then they've got their cars, motorcycles, rvs, atvs, you
name it just parked in there.
So it's a lot easier than astorage unit, because they can
literally walk out their backdoor with their bags and, you
know, hop in the RV and go crosscountry.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (14:40):
Exactly.
Yes, we have that.
We have an RV.
We have yes, we do a lot ofconstruction on old buildings.
So my husband's got cranes, somany cranes.
I'm like why do we really needso many things and backhoes and
the bobcats, and they sit out.
We're in Colorado.
They sit out and they'recovering the stuff.
I was like, listen, you got toput a building Because the
backyard is starting to looklike I don't know, like a pick
(15:02):
and pull.
You got a million things outthere.
You got stacks of wood.
You've got compressors ofeverything that's on demand.
Honestly, it's that it lookslike people should come shopping
in the backyard, so I am likeput up a building.
Austin Edelmon (15:17):
Well, you know, that's what's great about these
small bay spaces as well,because it's a lot of
contractors, developers,automotive guys and a lot of the
times, if their business is notoccupying the entire space,
they will use a portion of thisfor storage as well.
We've seen that a lot lately,where yard space is a concept
(15:41):
that a lot of these parks aremoving to.
So say, you have a 2000 squarefoot unit with an office and a
restroom in it.
The individual or company theyrun their business out of that,
but then they add on a yardspace and they store trailers,
bulldozers, anything andeverything under the sun, and
(16:03):
they like it because it, youknow, secure, it's fenced in and
everything has good lighting,and they make it a part of
themselves where it's not justtheir business but it's also a
place where they can, you know,keep items that they want
protected as well so, yeah, nowI'm with every just you know, a
(16:24):
couple of months.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (16:24):
Guys, like I'm ridding my four-wheeling,
I'm going to go for the snow,and I'm going to go
four-wheeling, and then itdoesn't start, and then it's got
this much snow on it by thetime I get it scraped up and
clean, jump the battery.
I'm like I'm freezing outside.
Austin Edelmon (16:36):
You're already done with it.
I'm done.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (16:49):
Love the fact that you're building like
commercial and you're buildingthings on with the metal.
Like that it is cheaperconstruction yes, you know
people want to get into it.
Austin Edelmon (16:59):
They can get into it, not that it's cheaper
made, but like it's lessexpensive yeah, so I mean, when
you look at infill product, alot of that is your masonry or
tilt wall construction.
Uh, the prices of concrete havebeen going up drastically, so
it's just, you know it's easy tomaintain.
Uh, they come in prettystandard colors, but obviously
(17:22):
if you wanted to put flare on ityou could do a paint scheme
kind of spruce it up a littlebit.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (17:29):
I have to make mine pink.
Austin Edelmon (17:31):
Yeah, I mean that would be a great look for
it, because what a lot of theseparks look like are?
They're dark natural tones.
So you know, you've got gray,tan, black is a big one.
But if somebody we've got agroup that we worked with on the
north side of Fort Worth andthey bought a park that was, you
(17:52):
know, dust, tan, real dirty,they went in and painted the
exteriors a silver, metallicwith a neon blue door and he was
able to increase rental rates.
He converted a lot of tenantsto triple net.
So, even something that small ofa cosmetic thing can help out
(18:13):
drastically on these facilities.
And you know the investmentgame is all about income.
So if you can increase it at alower basis then you know that's
the best way to play it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:24):
Yeah, as we had this little town in Clinton
Iowa where we bought a bunch ofold buildings my husband's from
there.
We start restoring thesebuildings and I'm like, listen,
you're doing all this work onthe inside which we need to get
done, but the outside looks likethe same old, ratty building,
like let's go put some lipstickon it.
And the outside looks like likethat building with the gray.
(18:47):
Put some lipstick on it outside.
So then people want to look inthe window and see what's
happening on the inside yeah, ohyeah, it's like done first and
I do so.
The last summer I made him allsummer.
I said I want every buildingwe've got.
I said, go put some lipstick onit.
So he spent the whole summerpainting and changing colors and
doing things and then all of asudden it was in the newspaper,
(19:08):
people coming by, what do youguys do?
What's going?
Austin Edelmon (19:11):
on, had a fan base startup.
That's it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (19:14):
That's what you got to do, man.
You got to.
You know you got to bougie itup a little bit on the outside.
Now, how long has your companybeen doing this?
Austin Edelmon (19:28):
So me and my partners, we've been doing this
for about 20 years.
Wow, nice, yes.
So we started out in DFW.
We've kind of started workingour way through some of the
larger Texas markets Houston,austin, san Antonio and over the
past year or so we wrote a bookand then we've started to help
these guys get into thedevelopment side, so that's
(19:50):
what's really helped us getnationwide.
But this is the book.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (19:56):
Flex Space Domination.
Austin Edelmon (19:59):
It's available on Amazon.
You can get a hard copy or youcan do a download version, but
it was basically we were goingto meeting with a lot of these
groups and they were all askingthe same question, so we just
wrote a guideline, basically ofif you want to get into the flex
(20:20):
space, here's how to acquireland.
Here's how to find rental ratesin your market.
Here's how to acquire land.
Here's how to, you know, findrental rates in your market.
Here's how to do the financing.
It's a step-by-step guide thatjust gives you a whirlwind of
everything that you needed toknow to get into it, and it's a
pretty light read.
We just wrote it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (20:40):
Hold your book up again so we can all see
it.
I like it.
Flex Space Domination I love it.
It's great, that's great.
Austin Edelmon (20:49):
Well, you know, me and a couple of guys, we just
wrote it, so we don't have anybackground in, you know, being
an author or anything.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (20:57):
So it's a very easy read.
It's on Amazon and people arereading it.
That's all that matters.
Austin Edelmon (21:03):
So it's been great success.
Everybody that reads it.
They reach out and they saidhey, you know, I picked up some
tidbit in here that I didn'teven think of.
So it's just, you know, even ifyou're experienced, like maybe
you run across something inthere that you never thought of.
So it's just a helpful guidethat we wanted to put together
for these guys that maybe don'thave a lot of experience but
(21:27):
want to get more comfortable.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (21:29):
I'm going to read it.
This is a portion of realestate that I don't teach or do.
Or if someone says, hey, I'minterested in that, I always
need people to send people to ifit's outside of my realm, and I
mean I can help people if theywant to buy a commercial
building that's already there,but all of this is, I don't do
(21:50):
this at all.
Austin Edelmon (21:51):
so that's why I like to introduce my, my
wonderfulness of my audience toall the different things,
because there's so many avenuesof real estate investing, oh
yeah yeah, and that's why youknow we talk to a lot of people
that you know they they want tolook at single family
residential doing a builder rentconcept.
We focus primarily on the flexindustrial, small bay stuff.
(22:16):
So we don't we don't mess withany of the other you know areas.
We are honed in on this.
We see growth paths with itmoving forward.
So anybody that wants to getinto this space we're the go-to
group.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:31):
Yeah, the go-to people.
I always love interviewing thego-to person.
Go-to person is the top of thefood chain, so I love that.
Okay, I want to ask you we'regoing to, we're going to jump
off topic and we're going to getto know you a little bit.
So, austin, what is yourfavorite band of all time?
Austin Edelmon (22:50):
Favorite band of all time, Led Zeppelin.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:53):
Oh, good choice.
Austin Edelmon (22:56):
My dad.
We grew up driving into Austinand every time we got in the
frequency there was a KLBJ wasthe classic rock station.
We would turn that on and drivein listening to whoever.
So I, just I grew up.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:10):
I was going to ask you.
I said Led Zeppelin.
I bet you you're a pig, becauseyou were too young to be a Led
Zeppelin era.
Austin Edelmon (23:16):
I bet you.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:17):
It was your mom or your dad.
Austin Edelmon (23:18):
Oh yeah, he taught me everything about music
, so it just grew into what Ilisten to now.
Led Zeppelin is such a greatband.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:26):
You know it's funny, my husband and I well,
I'm 66.
And so we have grandkids, sowe're teaching our grandkids
about, because today's music,honestly, you know, let's just
be honest it sucks.
There's so much.
Austin Edelmon (23:38):
It's not really, it's not really music, it's not
music.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:41):
It's synthesized.
And what is that?
So, we have these fourgrandkids that are 10, 8, 5, and
3.
So we're teaching them all themusicians from the 70s.
Austin Edelmon (23:53):
Nice Everyone from the 70s.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:55):
Nice Everyone from the 70s and I mean they
know Tom Petty and not like asong or two, like an entire CD.
Austin Edelmon (24:02):
They know.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:03):
Tom Petty, they know the Beatles, they know
who Led Zeppelin is, they knowQueen Nice and they go to school
.
And they'll be like you know myone little grandson's always
walking around Wee, wee, wee,wee.
And they'll be like you know myone little grandson's always
walking around.
Austin Edelmon (24:15):
Yeah, he's fine and he's just like what are you
having here?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:19):
oh, that's queen, we will rock you like.
You know, my Mimi and Papi areteaching me all the cool music
all the good stuff, yeah because, you know, I'm like my
granddaughter, my daughter.
She's like well, teach himTaylor Swift.
I'm like girl.
Austin Edelmon (24:32):
Yeah, no way, I've got my son just turned one.
So on the way to daycare I tryto rotate through the classic
rock playlists.
So blues, just like good music.
To have him start to listen andknow the rhythms and be like OK
, this is better than you know.
The new version of theBackstreet Boys or whoever's
(24:55):
popular.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:56):
And your text says Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Austin Edelmon (24:58):
Oh yeah, oh yeah .
I listen to all that.
Who doesn't?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:01):
love, stevie Ray.
Austin Edelmon (25:03):
Yeah, exactly.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:04):
When we started working because we
listen to music all the time,and we started listening, I said
you know, honey, if you reallygo past the 70s, in the 70s
people, there was no cursing inthe music.
I mean, maybe once in a whilethey used the word damn or
something, but 80s was stillpretty clean.
But from then on, man, themusic it's so.
There's so much.
(25:25):
It's like I don't want my kidswalking around singing in that
duh duh duh, duh, duh.
Like they're not ever goinggonna learn that from me.
Austin Edelmon (25:38):
We are sticking to the 70s, as I know, for sure
the music was clean?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:40):
oh yeah, and it was.
Austin Edelmon (25:40):
Oh god, the music was so good, then everyone
could that's why my dad alwaystalks about the concerts that he
went to, and it's just like man, I wish I could have been there
for those, because it's all thebands that I, you know, grew up
with but never got a chance tosee in person.
So, when you watch like thereruns of their concerts on like
(26:00):
DVD or whatnot.
it's just not the same Like itdoesn't matter what speakers you
have, it'll never be likestanding, you know, three rows
back while they're playingstairway to heaven or something.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:13):
It's not my favorite song song I think now
they're like, everyone's like.
Oh, these are the two cheesiestsongs that I swear.
I think stairway to heaven anddream on or are still today.
I love them, but we I am verylucky that in when I was in my
teens, um, I went to everyconcert and if have continued to
(26:34):
still go to concerts and likewhen people that are older,
bands like six was touringrecently with ario and journey,
it's like I go see them againand again and again.
And I told my husband I saidyou know that I don't think
there's one or there's a lot, ahandful of, like big bands that
are in the 70s that I haven'tseen at least.
So I've seen the Stones threetimes.
(26:56):
It's nice.
I said, well, I know, but Iloved music and when they came
to town, me and my girlfriends,we saw everything.
Yeah, Everybody.
And even still now.
You know we took mygranddaughter last summer to see
Pat Benatar.
Austin Edelmon (27:12):
Oh nice.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (27:12):
He's touring around.
I haven't seen her in 100 years.
She's in her 70s.
I was like let's go see PatBenatar.
I swear to God, she just singsexactly like she sang.
Austin Edelmon (27:22):
Yeah, see, that's because, like none of
them ever had the auto-tune andall that stuff that alters their
voice.
So you know, they're justsinging from the heart and
that's what keeps them going forall these years you know, it's
like they're rolling stones.
You know, they still jumparound on the stage when they're
playing their concerts, so it'slike that's what they're good
(27:42):
at, and it keeps them going yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (27:46):
I always say I like to ask people about their
band because you can tell a lotabout people by the music they
listen to.
I feel like you know and peopleconnect.
I feel like music is one of thethings that connects people
worldwide, whether you speak thesame language or not, because
music is like universal.
There are songs thatuniversally, people love, people
(28:06):
cry, people are sad, like musicbrings out emotions and stuff,
and I've interviewed a fewpeople that like I don't listen
to music, I have no bands, andI'm like what, what do you mean?
You have no, I don't reallylisten to any music ever.
It's like what?
Who raised you?
Were you raised by people?
Austin Edelmon (28:24):
what do you?
What do you do then?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:25):
what is happening.
I have my Spotify open.
Austin Edelmon (28:28):
When I'm working .
You know when I'm in the carwhen I'm working.
You know when I'm in the car,when I'm at the house cooking
dinner, like it's always going.
So I can't live without music.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:40):
I'm with you.
I was out there earlier puttingtogether a patio set and I had
my music full blast.
I found a channel that playsall the hits in the seventies
and the eighties and thenineties and in the eighties I
was really into the disco-y andlike two songs in a row and I'm
sure that my neighbors are likeshe's just dancing in her patio.
I'm just dancing and dancing,using like the pole for a mic
(29:04):
and my name is fine what thehell's wrong with duan?
it's like oh man, I got disco onman, I love that one for sure.
It it's like it's good.
What about food?
What's your favorite thing toeat?
Austin Edelmon (29:19):
So I'm from Texas, so Tex-Mex is the go-to
Enchiladas, tacos, queso,margaritas.
It's starting to get good patioweather right now out here.
So, like mid-70s, low 80s.
So it's nice to you know.
Go grab some chips and salsawith a couple margaritas
afterwards.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (29:38):
Yeah, me too.
I'm all about that too.
Now, I always like to askpeople this part.
So what is your favorite timeof the day?
Where's your time in the daywhere you're like, ah, this is
my happy moment.
Austin Edelmon (29:53):
Probably just when I get home.
My wife, you know, she picks upour son early and then we get
him to the house.
I get off work, you know, getto feed him dinner, spend some
quality time with them, get himready for bed and everything.
So right now that's my favoritetime.
Just because he's so young, youknow, it's like a good time.
(30:14):
He's at daycare all day, soit's just like get home,
decompress a little bit, justhave fun with him and hang out.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:22):
Yeah, I agree .
When your kids are little,especially when they learn to
walk and talk, they're likeDaddy with a little arm running
at you.
It's like oh my heart mygrandkids are like maybe.
Austin Edelmon (30:42):
When they run to me, it's like my heart still
melts.
That's what he just startedstanding up, so he's doing that
and wanting to be held, and he'sgoing dad, dad, dad, dad.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:46):
So that's that's been really exciting for
us.
I will give you someunsolicited advice.
Really take the time, becauseI'm telling you that fast.
You've been asking you for thecar keys and you're gonna be
like what the hell just happenedhere.
Austin Edelmon (30:57):
That's yeah, within the last year.
I've already been surprised byhow quick it's gone, and that's
only been 12 months.
So I can't even imagine theelementary years, the teenage
years, and you know next thing,you know, it's like they're
going to college and you're likewait a minute, where'd the time
go?
So that's just been our biggestthing right now is spend as
(31:18):
much time with them as possible.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:22):
We took him out to the pickleball courts
yesterday.
Austin Edelmon (31:23):
He was so excited, you know, watching us
play and just you know zoned inon it.
So hopefully we'll be able toyou know bond over sports and
stuff like that.
Hopefully we'll be able to youknow bond over sports and stuff
like that.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I just read a
study recently and I think itreally goes super off topic.
But it said that, like mom isthe one that when kids are
little, like the hug and the momyou know, because mom makes
them feel safe.
But it said the time they spendwith dad playing is part of
what shapes.
That is like almost moreimportant because the playing
(31:56):
time and the sport, whateveryou're doing outside, but the
playing with dad, that's whathelps them build um testosterone
and endorphins and serotonin.
And they said, if you donothing else as a dad, play with
your kids every day and everyday outside as much as you can,
because that builds a piece oftheir brain that mom can't build
.
Austin Edelmon (32:16):
I could see that .
I mean, I have this little gamewhere I kind of like you know,
swing him back and forth andthen I toss him into a pillow
and I make like the sound like awhoosh whoosh, and as soon as
he hears that he starts laughing.
So he likes the rough house.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:45):
He wants to be active outdoors, so that
shouldn't be a problem, buildingall those things up with him
all the decades and studyingthis, and that that the playtime
with dad is something that momthey don't get it from mom, it's
only from dad, but it has to dowith, like, the testosterone
and and their leveling,serotonin and dopamine and all
(33:05):
that stuff.
But they said dad's need torough house with their boys or
girls.
The rough housing with dad isis a whole side of their
personality.
Austin Edelmon (33:15):
That that's only where they get it from it's a,
it's a builder, you know, so yougot to do a little bit of
something.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:21):
You got you have to.
Austin Edelmon (33:23):
You have to get them strong, so that that's the
best way I'm with you.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:27):
kids are the great, are we're so rough with
our grandkids?
Oh, my lord, I'm just like Ihope we don't kill.
Yeah, I mean we've got them outlike hammering nails and
building decks.
I mean they're like five yearsold, they got their own tool
belt, they're working.
Austin Edelmon (33:43):
Hey, as soon as my son's old enough, I'm going
to put him to work.
Yeah, they love it.
It builds confidence.
So you got to do something.
You can't just let him sitaround on a screen.
So that's what we want him tobe active outdoors.
And, you know, stay away fromthe tv as much as possible and
goodness, my kids came up beforethe screen time.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:03):
But my grandkids are like.
They know I'm eating pappies.
There's no screen time at allfor anything ever.
You're either playing, hangingout, we're doing a concert or
listening to music, eating,we're playing, or we're in the
hot tub.
There's zero.
Don't even bring them overbecause you can't watch them.
Yeah, they'll stay eight, ninedays and they don't even care
really oh, that's good.
(34:24):
I mean, I don't let them.
They just know that's the rule.
They come here, they can't doit.
And because, yeah, and they'relike, oh, they always cry about
their screen.
It's like, no, I'm too old Iwon't make you go get a switch
off the tree, all right.
So what is your next big goalum in your business, and how can
(34:48):
the wonderful people help youreach your next big goal?
Austin Edelmon (34:54):
uh.
So our big goal is right nowjust trying to get our name out
there as far as we can.
You know we've been reallyexcited about joining these
podcasts and just being able totalk about our business, the
book that we wrote, and just getpeople that maybe might have a
sliver of wanting to get intothe space, that maybe might have
a sliver of wanting to get intothe space.
Maybe that helps push them overa little bit to say, hey, you
(35:18):
know, here's somebody that seemsto know what they're talking
about, has good ideas.
You know, reach out to them andthat's been our biggest push
right now because we're tryingto go to the national scale and
you know that's what our nextprocess is is taking this coast
to coast.
So you know, we really enjoybeing on these and getting to
(35:41):
know the host and just gettingour brand out there.
So, um, that that's that'swhere we're at at this point in
time.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (35:48):
I am excited.
So everyone on my wonderful, mywonderful family, just check
them out.
On my wonderful, my wonderfulfamily, just check them out.
And austin says e-d-e-l-m-o-n,just so you get it right, and go
to all the socials and andcheck it out, because I think
the flux space is is.
I think it's a great space.
Austin Edelmon (36:06):
I don't know a lot about it, which is why I'm
happy to have you on here today,because I also need to learn
about things like that too, anddon't worry, right after this
I'm going to get a book in themail to you, so we'll have a
copy ready for you to read andjust let us know your thoughts
and what you think of it?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:24):
I didn't spell my name right.
Austin Edelmon (36:25):
Do you know what I mean?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:27):
And I'll do a video.
Austin Edelmon (36:28):
I'm not that popular yet, so I don't know if
my signature will help out atall.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:33):
but we'll get you a hard copy.
Yeah, but when you're rich andfamous and you're way at the top
of the food chain.
Austin Edelmon (36:39):
I'll be like I have a signature, yeah, but yeah
, we also.
Flex Parks USA is our website.
It has a lot of good stuff onthere from different types of,
you know, building models, blogposts, just general articles
about the Flex Industrialproduct.
So you know that's also anotherhub where you can go in and get
(37:01):
a lot of information.
If you're looking at this stuffspecifically, Say it again
FlexParksUSAcom.
Dwan Bent-Twyfo (37:11):
FlexParksUSAcom .
Flexparksusacom,flexparksusacom.
And so for my team doing theshow notes, put this at the top
of the show notes tooFlexparksusacom.
Yeah, I like all your stuffthroughout, because some people
are, like you know, just read aparagraph of the show notes to
decide if they want to listen ornot.
So I like all your stuff at thetop.
Well, I really enjoyed gettingto know you.
(37:33):
You're like super fun and youknow you got a baby and you love
what's up, and I mean, whodoesn't love that?
Austin Edelmon (37:40):
Well, I know I try to keep everything simple in
my life so hopefully you knowit pays off.
But I really enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for having meon today and you know, hope the
listeners enjoy the episode andtake some and take a snippet
out of it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (37:55):
Oh, I will.
So let me just say goodbye tothe audience.
You hang on for a second, allright, so everyone.
So again, thank you so much forspending your time.
I always like to thank myguests, as well as my listeners,
because time is your mostvaluable asset, and when you are
out of time, you know you'reliterally out of time.
So we always appreciate peoplelike you that spend time with us
(38:18):
, and also my audience Also.
Folks, if you had fun today youlaughed, you learned anything
go to dwanderfulcom.
D-w-a-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.
I took dwanderful, made a newword.
Go to dwonderfulcom and opt inand take my free real estate
(38:39):
investing quiz.
It's super fun.
You should take it.
You'll love it.
And don't forget to subscribe,leave a five-star review and
write something, because that ishow I'm going to be able to get
to 2 million downloads, and Icannot do it without you.
So, guys, we'll see you backhere next week, same bat time,
same bat channel, and rememberthat the truth is in the red
(39:03):
letters.
Goodbye everyone.
Thank you, austin.
Austin Edelmon (39:07):
Thank you.
Hey everyone, welcome to the most wonderful
real estate podcast ever.
I'm your host, Dwan BentTwyford.
I'm America's most sought afterreal estate investor.
I'm really excited that you arehere today.
In case you haven't heard thenews the most wonderful real
estate podcast ever just reached1 million downloads.
(00:23):
So thank you, thank you, thankyou, thank you, thank you, thank
you.
And it's taken a couple ofyears, so why not in 25?
Why don't we try to hit 2million by the end of this year?
So y'all got some work to do,but let's get to the 2 million
mark and not take five years todo it.
So how about that?
But I am super happy about themillion, so I'm super thankful
(00:45):
and I you know I appreciate yourtime.
I have an awesome guest, MrAustin Edelmon.
How are you today?
Austin Edelmon (00:56):
I'm doing good.
How are you?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (00:58):
Yeah, I'm good.
Yeah, I love the uh, the brickwalls.
Is that in your office or isthat a background, or is that
where you are?
Austin Edelmon (01:06):
So it's our office.
We have a we're in a hundredyear old industrial building
that was converted so they keptsome of the original touches.
So, yeah, we use it for thepodcast and some of the stuff
that we do online.
Just because it's rustic, itlooks good.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (01:22):
It does, it does.
My husband and I are rehabbinga bunch of buildings in Clinton,
iowa and people put stuff overthe brick, I think like to
modernize everything and we'retaking everything off, it's like
, but the brick walls are sopretty.
Austin Edelmon (01:38):
Yeah, I mean, they're just iconic.
They look good and you know alot of people are trying to
modernize it now and everything.
So it just it takes away fromthe color and just you know the
years of history in them.
So we like them a lot.
A lot of people give us goodfeedback on it.
It's better than the gray wallthat I'm looking at.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (02:00):
One of our buildings.
Someone came through in the 60s.
This is a beautiful brickbuilding and they put some kind
of metal squares and they musthave went through the whole
downtown so you can see all thebuildings where they did it we
decided to take it off last year.
But you know, you got to becareful because you don't know
if they just smashed through allthe bricks or and we took it
(02:20):
off and there was hardly anybrick restoration that we had to
do and just, you know, cleanedthem up and got any little bit
of that goopy stuff off and theneveryone's like your building
looks so beautiful and fresh,it's like it's all original
brick has been pressure washedand it looks amazing.
(02:40):
So I know everyone wants tomodernize everything.
It's like you know, just somethings just need to be left
alone yeah, yeah, that's how weare.
I mean, that's why I have thatwe work on I almost bought one
of those brick, fake brick andbrick walls that do and I
thought, no, because it'll looklike fake brick and I really, I,
I love it.
So, anyway, let's talk aboutyou.
Let's talk about you, mr austin.
(03:00):
So what we like to do over hereat Twanderful, everyone knows
we're just going to have aconversation like getting to
know you, and we just want youto tell us in like a sentence or
two, just tell us what you doand I'm going to ask questions
about you, know how you gotthere and just what you do and
how to find you on all of yoursocials, emails, giveaways,
(03:26):
whatever you want to do.
Austin Edelmon (03:28):
Oh yeah, no, I'm pretty easy to find online.
Everything's my name, so if youjust type that into LinkedIn,
instagram, youtube, any of thoseplaces, I'll pop up pretty
quick.
But basically so I work incommercial real estate.
We do investment sales.
Our primary focus is small bayindustrial complexes.
(03:51):
So when you're driving aroundtown, if you see, like you know,
four to 10 buildings, metalconstruction, small units within
each of those buildings, wesell those on the investment
side.
So we've got a large networkacross the US.
We're based primarily out ofDFW.
We focus on a lot of the Texasmarkets, but that's what we do
(04:16):
specifically is we sell thesetype of investments to
individuals, funds, anybodyacross the US.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (04:24):
That's amazing.
So then you have or find thebuildings and then you sell them
to people or are youconstructing them?
Austin Edelmon (04:34):
So we do a little bit of both.
We started off just on theinvestment side.
So we were just calling owners,getting in touch with them,
giving them you know criteria ofwhat we've sold similar parks
for in the past and you know,kind of went through the process
of getting them ready to list,market their facility and sell
(04:55):
it to you know groups.
But we have recently startedgetting into the development
side.
There's a lot of individuals,partnerships, cross-asset buyers
, anybody from retail,multifamily office, some of that
stuff that's been strugglingfor the last few years coming
out of COVID.
These guys they primarily liketo chase returns.
(05:18):
So the Small Bay Flex offers alot better return in some
instances and even more upsideon rental rates and other key
factors.
So just with a lot of peoplewanting to get into this, we
have begun partnering, workingwith individuals groups that
want to start building this forthemselves and you know, either
(05:42):
sell them off, keep growingtheir portfolios, whatever they
want to do.
We're just kind of helping themget the jumpstart on that side
as well, and so you help them.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (05:53):
if they want to build, you help them with the
financing.
Austin Edelmon (05:58):
Yeah, so we can help out with financing.
We're investment sales the firmthat we work for, colliers
International.
They have loan originatorsgroups throughout the US so we
have put a lot of people incontact if they need help on the
financing.
But where we really, you know,hone in with these groups as we
(06:19):
start the process on the landside.
So you know, these guys arelooking for parcels that they
want to buy.
We do a world engine scenariowhich just gives them a very
brief overview, kind ofhighlights some of the key
metrics household income,population growth, number of
businesses in the area, percapita spending metrics that we
(06:42):
like to see, that we think theseparks will do very well in for
rent growth.
So we kind of start that withthem.
We have them send us in landlistings across the US.
Right now we're working a lotof sites in New Jersey, north
Carolina, arizona.
We kind of tend to stick awayfrom California just because
(07:05):
pricing is very aggressive outthere and fire yeah.
So there's a lot of yes, there'sa lot of things that we kind of
push them away from.
But yeah, we just you knowthey're looking for anything
from one acre up to 10 to 15, 20acres, looking for anything
(07:27):
from one acre up to 10 to 15, 20acres.
So if they're not too familiarwith that area, we just want to
give them something to havebetter understanding of that
market going into.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (07:34):
So I've got five acres somewhere around the
Dallas-Fort Worth area and I'mlike, hey, listen, I want to put
something on here, I want torun something, build something,
put something, put a park, putwhatever.
How would I like?
What would be like my firstcouple of questions?
I find you because I listenedto the most wonderful real
(07:55):
estate podcast ever Like, hey, Iwant to do that.
How, what would be thebeginning process?
I say, awesome, I got the land,it's paid for.
I want to put a park on it.
Austin Edelmon (08:07):
Yeah.
So you know, in that case too,if you've already purchased the
land, we would kind of run amodel for you to show you what
square footage you can build.
A lot of these guys, a 30% lotcoverage is standard for the
flex development side and,depending on where you're at the
Houston market is one of thetougher ones because you have to
(08:28):
incorporate some kind ofdetention pond so it can limit
the square footage that you'rebuilding.
So basically what we would do iswe would take the survey, we do
a test fit model where we showyou the number of buildings, a
decent layout, and that willcalculate your square footage
and then we can backtrack thatinto your exit cap rate, which
(08:53):
is just a metric that investorsuse in order to show a rate of
return on the income of a parkthey build.
So we would do basically a proforma financial model where we
just put in a rent rate Ifyou're reimbursing triple nets,
what you could pass through tothe tenants and utilize for
(09:13):
income as well, back out theexpenses, and then we kind of
show them hey say, if you built45,000 square feet, your exit
number would be X amount ofdollars, and that just kind of
helps them understand, you know,if it's economical sense for
them construction cost wise andthen if their exit is going to
(09:37):
net them money, or if it gets alittle hairy and maybe they're,
you know, running closer totheir expenses.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (09:44):
I got it.
So when the people build theseparks do, most of them do it
with the intention to sell itfor a profit, or are they like,
hey, I'm going to rent thesespaces out?
I'm going to keep this in myportfolio as long-term
commercial rental income.
Austin Edelmon (10:00):
So it all depends right now the majority
of the groups that we're workingwith.
They are looking to eitherbuild several and, you know,
build out a portfolio and thensell that to a larger group.
They get in through thebuilding process, they get it
(10:22):
completed and then they say, hey, you know, a couple of the
units that I leased out are alittle under market and I want
to get those up to market ratethen they can hold on to it.
You know we're in the businesswhere we don't really want to
lead anybody and force them tosell if they don't want to.
So you know we we've definitelyhad several groups that have
(10:45):
gone through all the steps say,hey, we completed this, we
really like it, it's cashflowing, great, we're just going
to hold on to it.
And you know there's nothingwrong with that.
You know you put in on thatwork and effort and got it up
and running.
It's, you know, your pride andjoy.
So if they want to hold on toit, they're more than welcome to
.
But a lot of the people that weare talking to that have just
(11:09):
kind of entered the space.
They are looking.
You know they want to startsmall, so they build five to
15,000 square feet.
They want to sell that and thenhopefully the chances of them
building another one where theycan just, you know, do a ladder,
stair, step and continuebuilding larger parks and they
get comfortable.
(11:29):
And then they do the portfoliowith something that's branded
All the facilities look the same, similar size square footage
complexes.
So we like anywhere from 50 to75,000 square feet is kind of
the sweet spot for the largestbuyer pool and you know, if you
got three or four of thosebundled them together, you know
(11:51):
your exit pricing would bepretty nice on a sale like that,
it would be.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (11:57):
Well, I love what you do.
I don't know if I'veinterviewed anyone that helps
build out these parks for peopleto turn around and sell.
I'm just trying to think.
I think you might be the firstperson.
I've interviewed anyone thathelps build out these parks for
people to turn around and sell.
I'm just trying to think.
I think you might be the firstperson I've interviewed that
does this exact concept.
Austin Edelmon (12:11):
Well, it's just, you know, it's an asset class
that has gotten reallycompetitive and there's a lot of
people that are interested ingetting into it.
The metal buildings are, Iwouldn't say, easy to build, but
they're easier to build than aapartment complex, a retail
strip center, an office tower,because you can do these in the
(12:34):
county where zoning requirementsare kind of not, as you know,
stinging as within amunicipality.
So you can get a kit.
A lot of these metalconstruction buildings are, you
know, a Mueller kit or somethinglike that, where you get every
panel, every bracket that youneed and you just put a slab
(12:57):
down and put them together andput them together, yeah.
Yeah, so it's relatively on theeasier side of developing to get
into compared to a lot of othercommercial assets.
So with that and land costoutside the county you know your
land is a lot more cheaper thanif you were an infill location,
(13:18):
say within the heart ofdowntown Dallas or Fort Worth.
So it's a little bit easier forthese groups to you know, see
the cost up front and get intosomething.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (13:30):
Yeah, I love it.
My husband and I we live on 10acres and out in back behind our
house we need like a building.
So this year we've been lookingaround all these buildings like
poor slab, absolutely Justconstruct a big giant building
that we can pull in our trainsand our four wheelers and and
all the things that we have.
(13:51):
And so we've been lookingaround a lot in the last couple
of years at these people thatjust like, as long as you have
the slab, they'll just boom,boom, you got a building just
like in a couple of weeks.
Austin Edelmon (14:02):
Oh yeah, and that's when you look on the
outskirts of the DFW market.
A lot of homes are kind of likethat, where they're situated on
five to 10 acres and a lot ofpeople want that.
You know.
They've got the huge barn intheir backyard.
They have, you know, a littlebar set where they can hang out
with their buddies.
The TV, you know, have all thegames on.
(14:23):
And then they've got their cars, motorcycles, rvs, atvs, you
name it just parked in there.
So it's a lot easier than astorage unit, because they can
literally walk out their backdoor with their bags and, you
know, hop in the RV and go crosscountry.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (14:40):
Exactly.
Yes, we have that.
We have an RV.
We have yes, we do a lot ofconstruction on old buildings.
So my husband's got cranes, somany cranes.
I'm like why do we really needso many things and backhoes and
the bobcats, and they sit out.
We're in Colorado.
They sit out and they'recovering the stuff.
I was like, listen, you got toput a building Because the
backyard is starting to looklike I don't know, like a pick
(15:02):
and pull.
You got a million things outthere.
You got stacks of wood.
You've got compressors ofeverything that's on demand.
Honestly, it's that it lookslike people should come shopping
in the backyard, so I am likeput up a building.
Austin Edelmon (15:17):
Well, you know, that's what's great about these
small bay spaces as well,because it's a lot of
contractors, developers,automotive guys and a lot of the
times, if their business is notoccupying the entire space,
they will use a portion of thisfor storage as well.
We've seen that a lot lately,where yard space is a concept
(15:41):
that a lot of these parks aremoving to.
So say, you have a 2000 squarefoot unit with an office and a
restroom in it.
The individual or company theyrun their business out of that,
but then they add on a yardspace and they store trailers,
bulldozers, anything andeverything under the sun, and
(16:03):
they like it because it, youknow, secure, it's fenced in and
everything has good lighting,and they make it a part of
themselves where it's not justtheir business but it's also a
place where they can, you know,keep items that they want
protected as well so, yeah, nowI'm with every just you know, a
(16:24):
couple of months.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (16:24):
Guys, like I'm ridding my four-wheeling,
I'm going to go for the snow,and I'm going to go
four-wheeling, and then itdoesn't start, and then it's got
this much snow on it by thetime I get it scraped up and
clean, jump the battery.
I'm like I'm freezing outside.
Austin Edelmon (16:36):
You're already done with it.
I'm done.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (16:49):
Love the fact that you're building like
commercial and you're buildingthings on with the metal.
Like that it is cheaperconstruction yes, you know
people want to get into it.
Austin Edelmon (16:59):
They can get into it, not that it's cheaper
made, but like it's lessexpensive yeah, so I mean, when
you look at infill product, alot of that is your masonry or
tilt wall construction.
Uh, the prices of concrete havebeen going up drastically, so
it's just, you know it's easy tomaintain.
Uh, they come in prettystandard colors, but obviously
(17:22):
if you wanted to put flare on ityou could do a paint scheme
kind of spruce it up a littlebit.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (17:29):
I have to make mine pink.
Austin Edelmon (17:31):
Yeah, I mean that would be a great look for
it, because what a lot of theseparks look like are?
They're dark natural tones.
So you know, you've got gray,tan, black is a big one.
But if somebody we've got agroup that we worked with on the
north side of Fort Worth andthey bought a park that was, you
(17:52):
know, dust, tan, real dirty,they went in and painted the
exteriors a silver, metallicwith a neon blue door and he was
able to increase rental rates.
He converted a lot of tenantsto triple net.
So, even something that small ofa cosmetic thing can help out
(18:13):
drastically on these facilities.
And you know the investmentgame is all about income.
So if you can increase it at alower basis then you know that's
the best way to play it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (18:24):
Yeah, as we had this little town in Clinton
Iowa where we bought a bunch ofold buildings my husband's from
there.
We start restoring thesebuildings and I'm like, listen,
you're doing all this work onthe inside which we need to get
done, but the outside looks likethe same old, ratty building,
like let's go put some lipstickon it.
And the outside looks like likethat building with the gray.
(18:47):
Put some lipstick on it outside.
So then people want to look inthe window and see what's
happening on the inside yeah, ohyeah, it's like done first and
I do so.
The last summer I made him allsummer.
I said I want every buildingwe've got.
I said, go put some lipstick onit.
So he spent the whole summerpainting and changing colors and
doing things and then all of asudden it was in the newspaper,
(19:08):
people coming by, what do youguys do?
What's going?
Austin Edelmon (19:11):
on, had a fan base startup.
That's it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (19:14):
That's what you got to do, man.
You got to.
You know you got to bougie itup a little bit on the outside.
Now, how long has your companybeen doing this?
Austin Edelmon (19:28):
So me and my partners, we've been doing this
for about 20 years.
Wow, nice, yes.
So we started out in DFW.
We've kind of started workingour way through some of the
larger Texas markets Houston,austin, san Antonio and over the
past year or so we wrote a bookand then we've started to help
these guys get into thedevelopment side, so that's
(19:50):
what's really helped us getnationwide.
But this is the book.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (19:56):
Flex Space Domination.
Austin Edelmon (19:59):
It's available on Amazon.
You can get a hard copy or youcan do a download version, but
it was basically we were goingto meeting with a lot of these
groups and they were all askingthe same question, so we just
wrote a guideline, basically ofif you want to get into the flex
(20:20):
space, here's how to acquireland.
Here's how to find rental ratesin your market.
Here's how to acquire land.
Here's how to, you know, findrental rates in your market.
Here's how to do the financing.
It's a step-by-step guide thatjust gives you a whirlwind of
everything that you needed toknow to get into it, and it's a
pretty light read.
We just wrote it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (20:40):
Hold your book up again so we can all see
it.
I like it.
Flex Space Domination I love it.
It's great, that's great.
Austin Edelmon (20:49):
Well, you know, me and a couple of guys, we just
wrote it, so we don't have anybackground in, you know, being
an author or anything.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (20:57):
So it's a very easy read.
It's on Amazon and people arereading it.
That's all that matters.
Austin Edelmon (21:03):
So it's been great success.
Everybody that reads it.
They reach out and they saidhey, you know, I picked up some
tidbit in here that I didn'teven think of.
So it's just, you know, even ifyou're experienced, like maybe
you run across something inthere that you never thought of.
So it's just a helpful guidethat we wanted to put together
for these guys that maybe don'thave a lot of experience but
(21:27):
want to get more comfortable.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (21:29):
I'm going to read it.
This is a portion of realestate that I don't teach or do.
Or if someone says, hey, I'minterested in that, I always
need people to send people to ifit's outside of my realm, and I
mean I can help people if theywant to buy a commercial
building that's already there,but all of this is, I don't do
(21:50):
this at all.
Austin Edelmon (21:51):
so that's why I like to introduce my, my
wonderfulness of my audience toall the different things,
because there's so many avenuesof real estate investing, oh
yeah yeah, and that's why youknow we talk to a lot of people
that you know they they want tolook at single family
residential doing a builder rentconcept.
We focus primarily on the flexindustrial, small bay stuff.
(22:16):
So we don't we don't mess withany of the other you know areas.
We are honed in on this.
We see growth paths with itmoving forward.
So anybody that wants to getinto this space we're the go-to
group.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:31):
Yeah, the go-to people.
I always love interviewing thego-to person.
Go-to person is the top of thefood chain, so I love that.
Okay, I want to ask you we'regoing to, we're going to jump
off topic and we're going to getto know you a little bit.
So, austin, what is yourfavorite band of all time?
Austin Edelmon (22:50):
Favorite band of all time, Led Zeppelin.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (22:53):
Oh, good choice.
Austin Edelmon (22:56):
My dad.
We grew up driving into Austinand every time we got in the
frequency there was a KLBJ wasthe classic rock station.
We would turn that on and drivein listening to whoever.
So I, just I grew up.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:10):
I was going to ask you.
I said Led Zeppelin.
I bet you you're a pig, becauseyou were too young to be a Led
Zeppelin era.
Austin Edelmon (23:16):
I bet you.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:17):
It was your mom or your dad.
Austin Edelmon (23:18):
Oh yeah, he taught me everything about music
, so it just grew into what Ilisten to now.
Led Zeppelin is such a greatband.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:26):
You know it's funny, my husband and I well,
I'm 66.
And so we have grandkids, sowe're teaching our grandkids
about, because today's music,honestly, you know, let's just
be honest it sucks.
There's so much.
Austin Edelmon (23:38):
It's not really, it's not really music, it's not
music.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:41):
It's synthesized.
And what is that?
So, we have these fourgrandkids that are 10, 8, 5, and
3.
So we're teaching them all themusicians from the 70s.
Austin Edelmon (23:53):
Nice Everyone from the 70s.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (23:55):
Nice Everyone from the 70s and I mean they
know Tom Petty and not like asong or two, like an entire CD.
Austin Edelmon (24:02):
They know.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:03):
Tom Petty, they know the Beatles, they know
who Led Zeppelin is, they knowQueen Nice and they go to school
.
And they'll be like you know myone little grandson's always
walking around Wee, wee, wee,wee.
And they'll be like you know myone little grandson's always
walking around.
Austin Edelmon (24:15):
Yeah, he's fine and he's just like what are you
having here?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:19):
oh, that's queen, we will rock you like.
You know, my Mimi and Papi areteaching me all the cool music
all the good stuff, yeah because, you know, I'm like my
granddaughter, my daughter.
She's like well, teach himTaylor Swift.
I'm like girl.
Austin Edelmon (24:32):
Yeah, no way, I've got my son just turned one.
So on the way to daycare I tryto rotate through the classic
rock playlists.
So blues, just like good music.
To have him start to listen andknow the rhythms and be like OK
, this is better than you know.
The new version of theBackstreet Boys or whoever's
(24:55):
popular.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (24:56):
And your text says Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Austin Edelmon (24:58):
Oh yeah, oh yeah .
I listen to all that.
Who doesn't?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:01):
love, stevie Ray.
Austin Edelmon (25:03):
Yeah, exactly.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:04):
When we started working because we
listen to music all the time,and we started listening, I said
you know, honey, if you reallygo past the 70s, in the 70s
people, there was no cursing inthe music.
I mean, maybe once in a whilethey used the word damn or
something, but 80s was stillpretty clean.
But from then on, man, themusic it's so.
There's so much.
(25:25):
It's like I don't want my kidswalking around singing in that
duh duh duh, duh, duh.
Like they're not ever goinggonna learn that from me.
Austin Edelmon (25:38):
We are sticking to the 70s, as I know, for sure
the music was clean?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (25:40):
oh yeah, and it was.
Austin Edelmon (25:40):
Oh god, the music was so good, then everyone
could that's why my dad alwaystalks about the concerts that he
went to, and it's just like man, I wish I could have been there
for those, because it's all thebands that I, you know, grew up
with but never got a chance tosee in person.
So, when you watch like thereruns of their concerts on like
(26:00):
DVD or whatnot.
it's just not the same Like itdoesn't matter what speakers you
have, it'll never be likestanding, you know, three rows
back while they're playingstairway to heaven or something.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (26:13):
It's not my favorite song song I think now
they're like, everyone's like.
Oh, these are the two cheesiestsongs that I swear.
I think stairway to heaven anddream on or are still today.
I love them, but we I am verylucky that in when I was in my
teens, um, I went to everyconcert and if have continued to
(26:34):
still go to concerts and likewhen people that are older,
bands like six was touringrecently with ario and journey,
it's like I go see them againand again and again.
And I told my husband I saidyou know that I don't think
there's one or there's a lot, ahandful of, like big bands that
are in the 70s that I haven'tseen at least.
So I've seen the Stones threetimes.
(26:56):
It's nice.
I said, well, I know, but Iloved music and when they came
to town, me and my girlfriends,we saw everything.
Yeah, Everybody.
And even still now.
You know we took mygranddaughter last summer to see
Pat Benatar.
Austin Edelmon (27:12):
Oh nice.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (27:12):
He's touring around.
I haven't seen her in 100 years.
She's in her 70s.
I was like let's go see PatBenatar.
I swear to God, she just singsexactly like she sang.
Austin Edelmon (27:22):
Yeah, see, that's because, like none of
them ever had the auto-tune andall that stuff that alters their
voice.
So you know, they're justsinging from the heart and
that's what keeps them going forall these years you know, it's
like they're rolling stones.
You know, they still jumparound on the stage when they're
playing their concerts, so it'slike that's what they're good
(27:42):
at, and it keeps them going yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (27:46):
I always say I like to ask people about their
band because you can tell a lotabout people by the music they
listen to.
I feel like you know and peopleconnect.
I feel like music is one of thethings that connects people
worldwide, whether you speak thesame language or not, because
music is like universal.
There are songs thatuniversally, people love, people
(28:06):
cry, people are sad, like musicbrings out emotions and stuff,
and I've interviewed a fewpeople that like I don't listen
to music, I have no bands, andI'm like what, what do you mean?
You have no, I don't reallylisten to any music ever.
It's like what?
Who raised you?
Were you raised by people?
Austin Edelmon (28:24):
what do you?
What do you do then?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:25):
what is happening.
I have my Spotify open.
Austin Edelmon (28:28):
When I'm working .
You know when I'm in the carwhen I'm working.
You know when I'm in the car,when I'm at the house cooking
dinner, like it's always going.
So I can't live without music.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (28:40):
I'm with you.
I was out there earlier puttingtogether a patio set and I had
my music full blast.
I found a channel that playsall the hits in the seventies
and the eighties and thenineties and in the eighties I
was really into the disco-y andlike two songs in a row and I'm
sure that my neighbors are likeshe's just dancing in her patio.
I'm just dancing and dancing,using like the pole for a mic
(29:04):
and my name is fine what thehell's wrong with duan?
it's like oh man, I got disco onman, I love that one for sure.
It it's like it's good.
What about food?
What's your favorite thing toeat?
Austin Edelmon (29:19):
So I'm from Texas, so Tex-Mex is the go-to
Enchiladas, tacos, queso,margaritas.
It's starting to get good patioweather right now out here.
So, like mid-70s, low 80s.
So it's nice to you know.
Go grab some chips and salsawith a couple margaritas
afterwards.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (29:38):
Yeah, me too.
I'm all about that too.
Now, I always like to askpeople this part.
So what is your favorite timeof the day?
Where's your time in the daywhere you're like, ah, this is
my happy moment.
Austin Edelmon (29:53):
Probably just when I get home.
My wife, you know, she picks upour son early and then we get
him to the house.
I get off work, you know, getto feed him dinner, spend some
quality time with them, get himready for bed and everything.
So right now that's my favoritetime.
Just because he's so young, youknow, it's like a good time.
(30:14):
He's at daycare all day, soit's just like get home,
decompress a little bit, justhave fun with him and hang out.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:22):
Yeah, I agree .
When your kids are little,especially when they learn to
walk and talk, they're likeDaddy with a little arm running
at you.
It's like oh my heart mygrandkids are like maybe.
Austin Edelmon (30:42):
When they run to me, it's like my heart still
melts.
That's what he just startedstanding up, so he's doing that
and wanting to be held, and he'sgoing dad, dad, dad, dad.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (30:46):
So that's that's been really exciting for
us.
I will give you someunsolicited advice.
Really take the time, becauseI'm telling you that fast.
You've been asking you for thecar keys and you're gonna be
like what the hell just happenedhere.
Austin Edelmon (30:57):
That's yeah, within the last year.
I've already been surprised byhow quick it's gone, and that's
only been 12 months.
So I can't even imagine theelementary years, the teenage
years, and you know next thing,you know, it's like they're
going to college and you're likewait a minute, where'd the time
go?
So that's just been our biggestthing right now is spend as
(31:18):
much time with them as possible.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:22):
We took him out to the pickleball courts
yesterday.
Austin Edelmon (31:23):
He was so excited, you know, watching us
play and just you know zoned inon it.
So hopefully we'll be able toyou know bond over sports and
stuff like that.
Hopefully we'll be able to youknow bond over sports and stuff
like that.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (31:36):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, I just read a
study recently and I think itreally goes super off topic.
But it said that, like mom isthe one that when kids are
little, like the hug and the momyou know, because mom makes
them feel safe.
But it said the time they spendwith dad playing is part of
what shapes.
That is like almost moreimportant because the playing
(31:56):
time and the sport, whateveryou're doing outside, but the
playing with dad, that's whathelps them build um testosterone
and endorphins and serotonin.
And they said, if you donothing else as a dad, play with
your kids every day and everyday outside as much as you can,
because that builds a piece oftheir brain that mom can't build
.
Austin Edelmon (32:16):
I could see that .
I mean, I have this little gamewhere I kind of like you know,
swing him back and forth andthen I toss him into a pillow
and I make like the sound like awhoosh whoosh, and as soon as
he hears that he starts laughing.
So he likes the rough house.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (32:45):
He wants to be active outdoors, so that
shouldn't be a problem, buildingall those things up with him
all the decades and studyingthis, and that that the playtime
with dad is something that momthey don't get it from mom, it's
only from dad, but it has to dowith, like, the testosterone
and and their leveling,serotonin and dopamine and all
(33:05):
that stuff.
But they said dad's need torough house with their boys or
girls.
The rough housing with dad isis a whole side of their
personality.
Austin Edelmon (33:15):
That that's only where they get it from it's a,
it's a builder, you know, so yougot to do a little bit of
something.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:21):
You got you have to.
Austin Edelmon (33:23):
You have to get them strong, so that that's the
best way I'm with you.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (33:27):
kids are the great, are we're so rough with
our grandkids?
Oh, my lord, I'm just like Ihope we don't kill.
Yeah, I mean we've got them outlike hammering nails and
building decks.
I mean they're like five yearsold, they got their own tool
belt, they're working.
Austin Edelmon (33:43):
Hey, as soon as my son's old enough, I'm going
to put him to work.
Yeah, they love it.
It builds confidence.
So you got to do something.
You can't just let him sitaround on a screen.
So that's what we want him tobe active outdoors.
And, you know, stay away fromthe tv as much as possible and
goodness, my kids came up beforethe screen time.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (34:03):
But my grandkids are like.
They know I'm eating pappies.
There's no screen time at allfor anything ever.
You're either playing, hangingout, we're doing a concert or
listening to music, eating,we're playing, or we're in the
hot tub.
There's zero.
Don't even bring them overbecause you can't watch them.
Yeah, they'll stay eight, ninedays and they don't even care
really oh, that's good.
(34:24):
I mean, I don't let them.
They just know that's the rule.
They come here, they can't doit.
And because, yeah, and they'relike, oh, they always cry about
their screen.
It's like, no, I'm too old Iwon't make you go get a switch
off the tree, all right.
So what is your next big goalum in your business, and how can
(34:48):
the wonderful people help youreach your next big goal?
Austin Edelmon (34:54):
uh.
So our big goal is right nowjust trying to get our name out
there as far as we can.
You know we've been reallyexcited about joining these
podcasts and just being able totalk about our business, the
book that we wrote, and just getpeople that maybe might have a
sliver of wanting to get intothe space, that maybe might have
a sliver of wanting to get intothe space.
Maybe that helps push them overa little bit to say, hey, you
(35:18):
know, here's somebody that seemsto know what they're talking
about, has good ideas.
You know, reach out to them andthat's been our biggest push
right now because we're tryingto go to the national scale and
you know that's what our nextprocess is is taking this coast
to coast.
So you know, we really enjoybeing on these and getting to
(35:41):
know the host and just gettingour brand out there.
So, um, that that's that'swhere we're at at this point in
time.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (35:48):
I am excited.
So everyone on my wonderful, mywonderful family, just check
them out.
On my wonderful, my wonderfulfamily, just check them out.
And austin says e-d-e-l-m-o-n,just so you get it right, and go
to all the socials and andcheck it out, because I think
the flux space is is.
I think it's a great space.
Austin Edelmon (36:06):
I don't know a lot about it, which is why I'm
happy to have you on here today,because I also need to learn
about things like that too, anddon't worry, right after this
I'm going to get a book in themail to you, so we'll have a
copy ready for you to read andjust let us know your thoughts
and what you think of it?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:24):
I didn't spell my name right.
Austin Edelmon (36:25):
Do you know what I mean?
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:27):
And I'll do a video.
Austin Edelmon (36:28):
I'm not that popular yet, so I don't know if
my signature will help out atall.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (36:33):
but we'll get you a hard copy.
Yeah, but when you're rich andfamous and you're way at the top
of the food chain.
Austin Edelmon (36:39):
I'll be like I have a signature, yeah, but yeah
, we also.
Flex Parks USA is our website.
It has a lot of good stuff onthere from different types of,
you know, building models, blogposts, just general articles
about the Flex Industrialproduct.
So you know that's also anotherhub where you can go in and get
(37:01):
a lot of information.
If you're looking at this stuffspecifically, Say it again
FlexParksUSAcom.
Dwan Bent-Twyfo (37:11):
FlexParksUSAcom .
Flexparksusacom,flexparksusacom.
And so for my team doing theshow notes, put this at the top
of the show notes tooFlexparksusacom.
Yeah, I like all your stuffthroughout, because some people
are, like you know, just read aparagraph of the show notes to
decide if they want to listen ornot.
So I like all your stuff at thetop.
Well, I really enjoyed gettingto know you.
(37:33):
You're like super fun and youknow you got a baby and you love
what's up, and I mean, whodoesn't love that?
Austin Edelmon (37:40):
Well, I know I try to keep everything simple in
my life so hopefully you knowit pays off.
But I really enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for having meon today and you know, hope the
listeners enjoy the episode andtake some and take a snippet
out of it.
Dwan Bent-Twyford (37:55):
Oh, I will.
So let me just say goodbye tothe audience.
You hang on for a second, allright, so everyone.
So again, thank you so much forspending your time.
I always like to thank myguests, as well as my listeners,
because time is your mostvaluable asset, and when you are
out of time, you know you'reliterally out of time.
So we always appreciate peoplelike you that spend time with us
(38:18):
, and also my audience Also.
Folks, if you had fun today youlaughed, you learned anything
go to dwanderfulcom.
D-w-a-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.
I took dwanderful, made a newword.
Go to dwonderfulcom and opt inand take my free real estate
(38:39):
investing quiz.
It's super fun.
You should take it.
You'll love it.
And don't forget to subscribe,leave a five-star review and
write something, because that ishow I'm going to be able to get
to 2 million downloads, and Icannot do it without you.
So, guys, we'll see you backhere next week, same bat time,
same bat channel, and rememberthat the truth is in the red
(39:03):
letters.
Goodbye everyone.
Thank you, austin.
Austin Edelmon (39:07):
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.