January 22, 2025 • 27 mins
Jake Clopton is a serial entrepreneur, author, and economist specializing in real estate and
finance. He founded Clopton Capital in 2009 to provide efficient access to debt and equity for
commercial properties. Jake also owns Clopton Insurance Services, a national commercial
insurance agency, and several apartment communities in Chicagoland.
He is the author of "Commercial Real Estate Investing" and contributes regularly to publications
like Benzinga and National Mortgage Professional. Jake has appeared as an expert guest on
shows such as "Good Morning Chicago" and "The Viewpoint" with Dennis Quaid.
During the show we discussed:
- Founding Clopton Capital In 2009: Share The Journey And Key Milestones
- Misconceptions: Explain Common Myths About Accessing Debt And JV Equity Today
- Financing Differences: Highlight Challenges In Mid-Market Vs. Large-Scale Deals
- Securing Terms: Outline Factors To Obtain Optimal Financing For Real Estate
- Insurance Needs: Discuss Commonly Overlooked Areas For Real Estate Investors
- Profitability Strategies: Share Insights From Managing Chicago Apartment Communities
- Lending Trends: Describe Current Trends And Their Long-Term Impact On Borrowers
- Advice For New Investors: Provide Tips On Finding And Securing Financing
- Scaling Strategies: Suggest Ways To Leverage Existing Assets For Growth
- Interest Rates: Analyze The Effect Of Current Rates And Potential Future Hikes
Show resource/s:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to the Business Credit and Financing Show.
Each week, we talk about the growth strategies
that matter most to entrepreneurs.
Listen in as we discuss the secrets to
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And enjoy as we talk with seasoned business
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(00:22):
of topics from advertising and marketing to the
nuts and bolts of running a highly successful
business.
And now, to introduce the host of our
show, financial expert and award-winning author, Ty
Crandall.
Hello, and thanks for joining us today.
I'm super excited you could be here.
Today, we're talking about some really cool things.
We're talking about commercial real estate.
We're actually talking about real estate investing.
(00:44):
We're really also diving in to how you
can get the best financing terms when you're
out there investing in real estate.
Look, let's be honest, you and I both
know how powerful real estate investing could be,
but you probably haven't been able to take
the leap as much as you'd like to,
because you probably are having a tough time
accessing the capital that you need to access
to succeed.
So we're gonna solve that problem today.
(01:05):
We'll also be diving in and talking a
lot about commercial real estate investing, which is
something we typically talk about, talk a lot
more on the residential side.
And with us today is Jake Clopton.
Now, Jake's actually a serial entrepreneur.
He's an author and economist specializing in real
estate and finance.
Now, he founded Clopton Capital back in 2009
to provide efficient access to debt and equity
(01:25):
for commercial properties.
Jake also owns Clopton Insurance Services, a national
commercial insurance agency, and several apartment communities in
Chicagoland as well.
And he's the author of commercial real estate
investing and contributes regularly to publications like Benzinga
and National Mortgage Professionals.
National Mortgage Professional, Jake has appeared on as
(01:47):
an expert guest on shows such as Good
Morning Chicago and The Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid.
Hey, Jake, what's up, man?
Thanks for joining us today.
Appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on today.
Yeah, what, you know, out of curiosity, what
made you take this leap?
So I think you jumped in like in
2009.
So what made you kind of take the
leap to jump in and start Clopton Capital?
Yeah, I mean, the, well, I was trading
(02:09):
interest rates at the time, so like three
-month LIBOR Fed Fund futures.
And those are interbank hedging products, right?
So we got a really good look at
what was happening with the credit crisis at
the time.
And everybody knows about what happened with the
residential space, but one of the biggest problems
was actually finding loans and credit.
And so I wanted to get out of
trading, and my idea was to start an
(02:30):
intermediary that helps people find credit and loans.
And really not having a background in it,
but really just the idea to do so,
just started cold-calling banks and private equity
firms and all this stuff.
And, you know, we found people that had
money to lend, and it just, over 16
years since then, it's just evolved into a
real kind of wide-ranging commercial real estate
(02:51):
services company.
Again, I still run all of our capital
market stuff, but we've got the various other
verticals as well.
So what are some of the things you
guys do specifically?
Okay, so my day-to-day is arranging
debt for commercial real estate deals.
I have other people here that help arrange
equity.
So we really like to focus on the
different product types.
(03:12):
We're also a nationwide commercial property insurance agency,
so we really focus on insurance products for
commercial real estate.
We're also a 1031 qualified intermediary.
We do commercial solar, and we're building up
a sales brokerage as well.
So, I mean, the idea is it's all
the same people, right?
And we're trying to offer different services to
all the same clientele.
(03:33):
So if I'm looking to get into commercial
real estate investing, then you could basically help
with all the aspects from getting the money,
the insurance, everything I would need.
That's the idea, right?
I mean, eventually we want it to be
a one-stop shop throughout the entire life
cycle where we're helping people acquire property, finance
and insure it, and help obviously add parts
(03:54):
to it with the commercial solar, and then
eventually dispose of it with the sales side.
So a lot of people hear about residential
and commercial, and then a lot of apartments
fit into commercial.
So when you describe commercial real estate for
all those people that are looking to invest
or maybe already investing in something and want
to do more in the commercial space, what
is the most common type of commercial property
(04:15):
somebody's investing in?
Usually anything like five units and up is
classified as commercial.
That one to four unit residential space is
really, that's what's classified residential.
But when, it's kind of a gray area
too, right?
So you can get commercial lending for those
units that have like one to four units
(04:37):
and are rented out, and that's still a
commercial loan.
But as soon as you get somebody who's
owner-occupied, like the person who owns the
property lives in one of the units, then
it's back to being residential.
And you really want to go for residential
mortgage type lending.
So what is the most common type of
property you're dealing with?
Are a lot of people coming to you
(04:57):
to buy four unit, five unit, 10 unit?
Are they buying commercial buildings?
Like, what are some of the most common
things that you're seeing?
I mean, the deals that we typically do
are like our minimum loan size is usually
a couple million bucks and up.
So depending on where it is, I mean,
at minimum, that's going to be five units.
But we'll do portfolios, single family homes and
(05:18):
residential properties as well.
But I'd say the average person that is
our clientele is buying a little bit larger
properties.
I rarely see things that are below 10
units.
So I'd say that's usually like our minimum.
So what are you seeing?
What's the difference in financing between somebody that's
buying a four unit versus buying a 10
unit?
Like, what's the financing look like?
(05:39):
What kind of money does somebody need down,
for example?
How's the qualifications work?
Yeah, I mean, it depends what their strategy
is, but let's say you're just buying something
that's already stabilized and rented out, right?
I mean, the biggest difference you're going to
get with larger commercial apartments is you can
access Fannie and Freddie on the commercial side.
And that's going to be really competitive financing
for multifamily properties that's also non-recourse.
(06:02):
Other than that, there is a lot of
bank lending out there for sure.
I mean, multifamily is a product that I
think just about every lender is going to
look at and want to lend on.
In the residential space, you do get a
little bit more, and like our space is
not really like residential mortgage lending.
So I don't know all the products there,
but you're going to get a little bit
more, I would say, low cost, maybe a
little higher leverage if you're doing a couple
(06:24):
of these residential properties with what would look
like a similar to a home mortgage.
I mean, that's pretty low rate, kind of
higher LTV, maybe 80% LTV, something like
that.
There are a lot of secondary market lenders
in that space that you'll see with what
people call the SCR loans that I think
(06:44):
probably cap out around 75%, but they're typically
higher rates than you're going to get with
those residential type mortgages that are similar to
like a home loan.
So if I'm looking to do this, like
on the commercial side, is a lot of
the financing full dock?
Like am I approving tax returns, bank statements?
Is it more stated income?
Like DSCR, as you mentioned, that we're looking
(07:05):
at debt service ratio coverage, right?
So like, is it more looking at the
property?
Is it more looking at the borrower?
Like how does the income part of it
work?
When you're dealing with a commercial loan, and
this is kind of how I like to
describe it best, when we're dealing with the
commercial side, we really look at the property
first, then the actual owner, right?
The person that's buying it.
And you can kind of think of it
(07:25):
more as in a commercial loan, the LLC
that holds title to the property, that's the
borrower.
And then if it's a recourse loan, the
people behind the LLC guarantee it.
And if it's non-recourse and they'll just
guarantee like the non-recourse carve outs, there
certainly are aspects to, you know, underwriting the
individuals themselves.
Again, if it's a recourse deal, you're gonna
(07:47):
do global, you're gonna have full tax returns,
all this stuff.
Absolutely, personal financial statements according to the clarification.
If it's non-recourse, which again is a
no personal guarantee loan, you're still gonna have
to provide a lot of personal stuff.
And credit score does matter, but it's not
so important.
Really I just see like a minimum credit
score of like 650.
The better way to describe residential lending is
it kind of starts with the individuals first
(08:10):
and then goes to the property, right?
So think about like a homeowner, you can
go get pre-approved for X number of
dollars and then go shopping for a house.
In commercial, it's not like that.
And so I do quite often get asked
for like commercial pre-approvals, but just that
doesn't really exist in this industry.
But on the residential investment side, you can
do that.
They're certainly gonna underwrite the property as well,
(08:30):
but it's more individual focus than just the
property.
So if I come in and I've got
average credit 660 score, for example, and I've
got good income, but not a tremendous amount
of disposable income, but I'm looking at a
property that's a 10 unit property that just
has insane cashflow.
I mean, this thing is like, making $10
,000 above the mortgage payment net.
(08:52):
Does something like that work if the property
has really good cashflow or are they really
more reliant on my personal income for qualification?
No, that should still work actually, right?
So again, in commercial, your primary source of
repayment is gonna be the property itself.
That's what they're really looking for.
So if you've got the down payment or
you're syndicating some investor equity, I think that
(09:13):
deal still gets done.
And even if you run into one lender
that says like, hey, you're not personally strong
enough, there's probably gonna end up being somebody
out there that would do it.
On the residential side, that's where it might
get more challenging.
But I think as long as the property
supports itself, I think that's still something that
you can get done.
The areas where I see people get tripped
(09:35):
up on both sides is when you go
to underwrite somebody globally and let's say it's
like a bank, right?
A bank is always gonna do like a
global underwrite and you wanna buy a new
property, but you've got two other properties that
are not really cash flowing and they're negative
debt service and your global income can't support
it.
That's where I see like bank type lenders
(09:56):
get tripped up.
But if you were, let's say, going to
buy a $2 million property and the thing
cash flows itself and you put together the
equity, I think you could access non-recourse
lending and they wouldn't care so much about
your personal income.
They would wanna see, however, certain net worth
and liquidity requirements, which is typically a net
(10:16):
worth equal to loan amount and 10%
liquidity of the loan that they would wanna
see outside of the deal, but not necessarily
how much income you're personally bringing in.
Now about the 10% liquidity, when it
comes to these type of properties, what kind
of money can somebody expect to put down
as a down payment to close on a
transaction?
Yeah, I mean, again, if you're going to
agency, you can get up to about 80
(10:36):
% loan to value, so 20% down,
but that's also subjective, right?
And the property still has to be debt
service.
So even though they may go up to
80% LTC, if the thing's like a
one-one cover, right, you're not getting up
there.
You're gonna get debt service constraint first.
So there's really the two metrics, the debt
service coverage ratio and LTV.
(10:57):
And as long as you're not like bumping
up into one of those, you probably get
up to 80% of total cost.
Do you find that you help your clients
or do your clients usually just have the
cash to put the 20% down, or
are they using other creative means, like other
types of financing and things like that to
come up with the 20%?
I mean, I run everything, right?
(11:17):
So I run into people that just have
the cash personally to put it down.
Maybe they sold another property or they saved
up to put it down.
I deal with a lot of syndicators who
will put down a certain smaller course themselves
and then raise it from a friend and
family or other investors.
And I do see people trying to do
like just piecing it together, right?
(11:38):
They'll try to get seller carry and get
credits and all this stuff.
That doesn't work so well in the commercial
space like it does in the residential space.
I think the commercial guys are very sensitive
to like cost basis and how much skin
in the game you have and doing a
lot of seller, like for instance, if you
were found a property and you were able
(11:59):
to get like an 80% motor cost
loan, right?
The things that we don't wanna see are
seller carry for the other 15% and
then credits for broker fees and then there's
very little cash in the deal.
I think the rest, that's already pretty high
leverage.
The rest is gonna really have to be
like cash equity.
So if you're talking about, if you're helping
(12:20):
somebody get into something like this and you
mentioned, for example, syndication, so you also said
you work a lot on the debt side,
you work a lot on the equity side.
Does it all really come down to debt?
Meaning that even your private investors, are they
loaning money or are you helping somebody come
in and actually find the syndicators per se?
(12:41):
Like, are you working with the investors that
may wanna invest for one of your clients?
Are they coming in as a syndication with
their own group and you're getting a money
from just debt sources and equity sources that
ultimately just comes down to debt, like normal
money that's being borrowed at an interest rate,
whatever the APR is, for example.
Yeah, I mean, we do equity, right?
But there's, I think you have to be
(13:03):
really careful when you're talking about like doing
equity for commercial real estate deals because you
can very quickly get into this like real
estate security space and that's where I've seen
a lot of people get kind of tripped
up doing things that they shouldn't be doing.
There's a difference between real estate securities and
joint venture equity.
We arrange joint venture equity for like larger
(13:25):
transactions, right?
Like a minimum check size of like three
to 5 million bucks per deal.
And typically for like middle market type guys,
it's really not gonna be for investors that
are gonna buy like a 10 or $20
million deal.
But this next part is important for those
people.
When you're raising equity as a syndication, you
gotta be really careful about whether or not
(13:47):
you're actually selling real estate securities or what
you're doing, right?
Because if you're doing that, you're regulated by
the SEC and I see a lot of
people not go through that to do like
write the offerings and do the offerings like
the right way.
And now a quick break to hear from
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(14:08):
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So in that respect, like we do stay
away.
We're not a broker dealer, right?
(14:28):
To arrange, let's say like 50,000, $100
,000 at a time selling securities for people,
we would have to be like a registered
broker dealer and that's not us.
So we participate in the joint venture equity
space.
But for anybody who is putting together deals
and raising really passive equity like that, they
do need to structure it the right way
because I've seen a lot of people get
(14:49):
in trouble not realizing that they were actually
selling securities and then that's an SEC violation
and all this stuff.
So just something important to keep in mind
as people are raising equity.
We hear a lot about commercial trends following
residential.
And we hear a lot about commercial real
estate, maybe potentially taking a hit because during
(15:10):
COVID so many people went and worked from
homes.
So those of us not in the space,
these things float around all the time.
What's the reality of that?
Like where's the market industry currently and where
do you see it going?
Has COVID had an impact where people are
buying less commercial?
And again, I know we've been talking about
apartments and I'm talking shifting a little to
commercial buildings, but have you seen the industry
(15:32):
really hit at all or where are we
now and where do you kind of see
things go?
Right, so the big thing that happened in
COVID was everybody worked from home.
And commercial real estate is not, it's hard
to just lump it all into one thing.
There's very, very distinct sectors and the sector
that was affected most by working from home
was obviously office.
(15:52):
And I think that that stayed in longer
than it should have because if you remember,
there was this dislocation in the labor market
where there was two job openings for every
employable person, right?
And so that really put the power in
the hiring process in the hands of the
labor, right?
Because you couldn't find labor and anybody that
(16:15):
was applying for jobs could just say, all
right, I'm either gonna work from, I'm not
gonna go to the office.
I'm either gonna work from home or I'll
just go pick another job because there's so
many jobs out there.
And honestly, a lot of people thought that's
just how it was gonna be for the
foreseeable future.
Since the Fed raised rates, right?
You've seen a cooling off in the labor
market and job openings are not outpacing job
(16:36):
seekers at this point.
And a lot of that dislocation has gone
away, if not all of it.
And the power in the hiring process, I
think it's pretty obvious it's gone back to
the employer.
So if you look at all the headlines,
a lot of that work from home is
reverting back to the office.
Larger employers are requiring people to go back
and this and the other.
So office space absolutely took a hit.
(16:59):
I don't, I think a lot of it
is just gone, right?
Because a lot of the work from home
is staying but they're bringing a lot of
people back.
I'm seeing a lot of activity around office
space with people wanting to figure it out,
right?
I mean, I know several towers in Chicago
that are basically have been acquired to convert
(17:19):
over to residential buildings now.
This is like CBD, like in the loop
office, old legacy office buildings.
But the challenge with that is, and it
sounds like a great idea, but most office
buildings can't be converted into residential.
The floor plates just aren't there, right?
And the layouts are different and they won't
jive.
(17:40):
So some of these office buildings are probably
just gonna end up sitting vacant until somebody
can figure something else with them or they
just get torn down.
Some would get converted to residential.
But then I think that the nicer stuff,
the newer class A stuff, like that's gonna
end up performing well in the future.
And there still are some good stuff in
there.
Multifamily, I just think the demographic trends have
been so strong for housing and just continue
(18:02):
to be so that multifamily will be just
fine.
I think some of the rent projections and
some of the properties aren't panning out today,
but I mean, the occupancies are very, very
high.
So as long as you did the math
the right way and didn't get over leverage,
and I think pretty much any multifamily is
probably gonna be fine as long as it's
well taken care of.
We're involved in all the other commercial real
(18:24):
estate sectors, right?
Like industrial, retail, hospitality, all this stuff.
I don't really see a lot of pain
in the other sectors.
I think there's something certainly to be said
about the restaurant space and what's gonna happen
there.
I think there's probably too many restaurants and
rents are getting jacked up and there's definitely
(18:45):
gonna be some pain there.
But overall, I think that the sector is
healthy, commercial real estate in general.
But there are like specific parts of it
that there's a lot of challenges and for
various different reasons.
You do some stuff in Chicago, you do
stuff all over the country, right?
Nationwide with insurance amongst others.
But when it comes to multifamily, are you
fine hot bed areas?
(19:06):
Like some areas are just really doing really
well right now for multifamily?
Yeah, I mean, the areas that are typically
gonna do really, I mean, I think multifamily
just in general, everywhere is doing well, right?
Because the demographic trend is so strong towards
housing, right?
There's a housing supply issue.
But the areas where you'll find that multifamily
(19:27):
has performed exceptionally well is areas of large
population growth and job growth.
That's where you're gonna see the most upside
in any multifamily deal.
And I'm sure you can probably tell like
where those areas are, right?
Like Florida, Sunbelt, anywhere like that, the North
Carolina, areas that saw like a lot of
population growth.
But even so, like Chicago itself has an
(19:47):
incredibly stable and like upward trajectory rent market.
So even though I wouldn't say there's a
lot of population growth here, the multifamily asset
class has done really, really well in Chicago.
Counterintuitive to what a lot of the headlines
are that people kind of get about Chicago.
But just in general, I mean, I think
the asset class is gonna perform well.
And if you're looking for somewhere outside of
(20:10):
your own area to invest in, I would
say follow demographic trends, job growth, population growth.
And I think you'll probably end up doing
well as long as you pick a good
asset in those markets.
What do you find about, if I'm looking
to get into commercial real estate and I
am interested in securing financing, what would be
some of your best advice that you could
give me to be prepared to come in
(20:33):
to do my initial transaction?
I mean, I would just say, I mean,
listen, when somebody brings something to me, the
easiest way for me to help them is
for them to be organized and have as
many like underwriting documents as possible.
So like, let's say it's an apartment building,
have the rent rule, have the P&Ls,
basically do the homework on the property.
What's incredibly challenging is when somebody brings a
(20:54):
deal to me and said, hey, I wanna
buy this property.
Here's the loop that listing.
Let me know what you can do.
I'm like, I can't do it.
Like they need underwriting documents.
They need all this stuff.
So really like have your ducks in a
row.
And then also like buying commercial property, you
gotta realize like you're buying a business and
you have to have all the players kind
of in place before you go down the
(21:15):
road.
So that's having the right property management company
if you're not gonna do it yourself, various
vendors, stuff like that.
So really just being organized and prepared and
getting as much finance backing as far as
documentation, that's what helps the most, right?
I mean, the other thing is sometimes I
do see people come to the table and
(21:36):
not have their equity either raised or prepared.
And that's a big issue, right?
When you're getting into this thing because what
happens is they'll get the debt arranged and
then they have to go try and find
equity.
And that time gap a lot of times
will cause complications with sales contracts.
And then we have to reprice debt and
all this stuff if it goes on for
too long.
(21:56):
So really just preparation and like the process
and what you're trying to do.
Well, on the other side of the coin
and I'm already doing some stuff with commercial
real estate but now I'm looking to scale.
What's some of your best advice to be
able to do this and make it into
a full-blown business where I do it
to scale?
Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest roadblock
that I see people run into is not
(22:17):
having equity resources ahead of time before they
find deals, which I know can be difficult
because you have to present deals to equity,
right?
But what's gonna light a scale is if
you don't have millions of dollars sitting on
the sidelines yourself is really having those equity
resources.
And anybody from, you're like, you're not gonna
find equity on Google, right?
(22:37):
Like you need to network, you need to
find high net worth people, all kinds of
money, friends and family, all this stuff.
That's what's gonna really allow you to scale.
And so getting that whole network and investor
network together, I think it's just really the
most important thing because if you have that
together and you have the properties, the debt
will fall into place, right?
I mean, it will, you'll have to look
for it but it'll fall into place.
(22:57):
And the debt is really more dependent on
the property itself than just this strategy of,
hey, I wanna build up multifamily property or
something like that.
But the most important and the main key
is having equity resources.
What about insurance?
What are some things I should know about
insurance before going in and purchasing a commercial
estate?
Insurance is an interesting animal today.
(23:18):
It's not like it was before.
I think, let's say like in the mid
teens, right?
You could pretty much go out there and
get a couple insurance bids easily and they
were all pretty similar.
It is a completely different animal now.
I mean, we've seen insurance risk has just,
a lot of these insurers are just mispriced
(23:39):
risk for so long and now things are
changing.
You've got insurance carriers that are leaving markets
completely and or pricing things wildly differently.
So I think when you're pricing insurance today,
I mean, the biggest thing we do is
we don't just go to a couple of
carriers like people used to in the past.
We go to like everybody, right?
And that's the number one rule in today's
(24:00):
world is widely shop any insurance policy because
one, their most insurance agents are only gonna
go to a couple of people.
And then two, like the variability in actual
premium between one carrier to another, I've seen
for the exact same policy, one guy be
three times as much as another.
(24:23):
And if you didn't do your homework and
you didn't have your agents really out there
scouring the market, you wouldn't know, you would
kind of take it for face value.
So really just, I think the days of
just getting one or two quotes are over.
You really need to hit the market hard
if you wanna get the best deals because
there's a huge gap in between different premium
funds.
What's something I maybe should have asked you
that I didn't for somebody that's looking in
(24:45):
to break in or scale on commercial real
estate and especially has questions about getting the
financing to do so?
Good question.
I mean, I would say the number one
thing I usually tell people that maybe they're
thinking about things differently is to treat commercial
real estate as a business, not just an
(25:06):
investment, right?
I mean, even if you have a third
-party management company, you have to treat it
like a business.
It's not mailbox money.
It's not that you're gonna have to be
involved and you're gonna have to treat the
thing like a business.
And even if you've been multifamily property, treat
your tenants like customers.
And I think if you look at things
with that approach, you get a really good
sense and you'll have the right mindset to
(25:27):
properly manage these investments.
Because again, even if you have third-party
management company, you gotta stay in those guys.
You gotta manage yourself.
You're ultimately the one responsible.
And the guys that I see get in
trouble in the past are the ones that
buy a property, stick a third-party management
company in there, and then that's it.
They never think about it again.
And then all of a sudden, a year
from now, their bank's like, hey, you haven't
(25:48):
gotten your mortgage payments in two months and
you're the one responsible for it.
What's going on?
And then they find out the building's half
full, right?
So, I mean, that's the number one thing
I would say for people to keep in
mind as they wanna scale or grow or
getting into the commercial space.
It's absolutely a business and not just investment
that you can keep your eyes off of.
(26:09):
Makes a lot of sense.
Where can everybody go that's watching here and
listening, if they wanna learn more about financing,
they wanna learn more about getting into the
industry, they wanna learn more about scaling and
working with you guys, especially on the financing
side and the insurance side to do so,
where can they go to learn more?
Yeah, cloptoncapital.com or find me on LinkedIn.
It's Jay Clopton.
I'm exceptionally easy to find.
(26:31):
I'm always around.
Happy to chat.
All right, man.
I appreciate you covering all of this today.
Likewise.
Thanks so much.
All right, so listen, if you're watching this,
commercial real estate could be phenomenal opportunity for
you.
If you're not in it already, there's a
ton of money you can make, even if
you're looking at the multifamily to other different
types of properties as well.
But the biggest thing that most people get
stuck on is you have to be able
to get the financing.
(26:51):
And even if you get the financing, you
have to have the insurance or so many
other things you have to do.
And as we just talked about today, what
we're talking about here ultimately is that Jacob's
working on putting together something where you've kind
of got a one-stop shop for everything
you need.
But a lot of the financing, a lot
of your insurance needs, you can take care
of right here at one place.
So what you should do is make sure
you go to cloptoncapital.com.
(27:12):
That's C-L-O-P-T-O-N.
So if you go to cloptoncapital.com, they've
got all the information you need right on
the website.
I mean, you can even really break down
the financing different ways, even including based on
the property type, for example.
So it's really easy to find what you
need for insurance information and for financing information
to start taking the next step.
As Jacob mentioned here, you've got to make
(27:33):
sure you have everything lined up.
Like if you don't have everything lined up,
you're going to fail if you try to
jump into this.
So one of the first steps is you
wanna be talking to them about financing options,
know what your options are in insurance, be
able to get those ducks in a row,
then they can even help you take the
next steps from that point forward.
But you don't wanna take other steps other
than this first.
(27:54):
So make sure you go to cloptoncapital.com
to take the first step in either investing
in commercial real estate or growing your commercial
real estate portfolio because they are the kings
of actually helping get the financing and insurance.
So make sure you check it out at
cloptoncapital.com.
Well, I'll say that like five times really
fast.
You should try that right now, cloptoncapital, five
(28:15):
times really fast, cloptoncapital.com.
Make sure you check it out right now
today and you will be on your way
to getting all the information you need to
invest in commercial real estate.
Thank you for tuning in, take care, have
a good day.
You've been listening to the Business Credit and
(28:36):
Financing Show with your host, Ty Crandall.
Watch for our next episode to get even
more insight on financing and growing your business.
And don't forget to check us out online
at creditsuite.com for even more business growth
strategies.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to the Business Credit and Financing Show.
Each week, we talk about the growth strategies
that matter most to entrepreneurs.
Listen in as we discuss the secrets to
getting credit and money to start and grow
your business.
And enjoy as we talk with seasoned business
owners, coaches, and industry leaders on a variety
(00:22):
of topics from advertising and marketing to the
nuts and bolts of running a highly successful
business.
And now, to introduce the host of our
show, financial expert and award-winning author, Ty
Crandall.
Hello, and thanks for joining us today.
I'm super excited you could be here.
Today, we're talking about some really cool things.
We're talking about commercial real estate.
We're actually talking about real estate investing.
(00:44):
We're really also diving in to how you
can get the best financing terms when you're
out there investing in real estate.
Look, let's be honest, you and I both
know how powerful real estate investing could be,
but you probably haven't been able to take
the leap as much as you'd like to,
because you probably are having a tough time
accessing the capital that you need to access
to succeed.
So we're gonna solve that problem today.
(01:05):
We'll also be diving in and talking a
lot about commercial real estate investing, which is
something we typically talk about, talk a lot
more on the residential side.
And with us today is Jake Clopton.
Now, Jake's actually a serial entrepreneur.
He's an author and economist specializing in real
estate and finance.
Now, he founded Clopton Capital back in 2009
to provide efficient access to debt and equity
(01:25):
for commercial properties.
Jake also owns Clopton Insurance Services, a national
commercial insurance agency, and several apartment communities in
Chicagoland as well.
And he's the author of commercial real estate
investing and contributes regularly to publications like Benzinga
and National Mortgage Professionals.
National Mortgage Professional, Jake has appeared on as
(01:47):
an expert guest on shows such as Good
Morning Chicago and The Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid.
Hey, Jake, what's up, man?
Thanks for joining us today.
Appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on today.
Yeah, what, you know, out of curiosity, what
made you take this leap?
So I think you jumped in like in
2009.
So what made you kind of take the
leap to jump in and start Clopton Capital?
Yeah, I mean, the, well, I was trading
(02:09):
interest rates at the time, so like three
-month LIBOR Fed Fund futures.
And those are interbank hedging products, right?
So we got a really good look at
what was happening with the credit crisis at
the time.
And everybody knows about what happened with the
residential space, but one of the biggest problems
was actually finding loans and credit.
And so I wanted to get out of
trading, and my idea was to start an
(02:30):
intermediary that helps people find credit and loans.
And really not having a background in it,
but really just the idea to do so,
just started cold-calling banks and private equity
firms and all this stuff.
And, you know, we found people that had
money to lend, and it just, over 16
years since then, it's just evolved into a
real kind of wide-ranging commercial real estate
(02:51):
services company.
Again, I still run all of our capital
market stuff, but we've got the various other
verticals as well.
So what are some of the things you
guys do specifically?
Okay, so my day-to-day is arranging
debt for commercial real estate deals.
I have other people here that help arrange
equity.
So we really like to focus on the
different product types.
(03:12):
We're also a nationwide commercial property insurance agency,
so we really focus on insurance products for
commercial real estate.
We're also a 1031 qualified intermediary.
We do commercial solar, and we're building up
a sales brokerage as well.
So, I mean, the idea is it's all
the same people, right?
And we're trying to offer different services to
all the same clientele.
(03:33):
So if I'm looking to get into commercial
real estate investing, then you could basically help
with all the aspects from getting the money,
the insurance, everything I would need.
That's the idea, right?
I mean, eventually we want it to be
a one-stop shop throughout the entire life
cycle where we're helping people acquire property, finance
and insure it, and help obviously add parts
(03:54):
to it with the commercial solar, and then
eventually dispose of it with the sales side.
So a lot of people hear about residential
and commercial, and then a lot of apartments
fit into commercial.
So when you describe commercial real estate for
all those people that are looking to invest
or maybe already investing in something and want
to do more in the commercial space, what
is the most common type of commercial property
(04:15):
somebody's investing in?
Usually anything like five units and up is
classified as commercial.
That one to four unit residential space is
really, that's what's classified residential.
But when, it's kind of a gray area
too, right?
So you can get commercial lending for those
units that have like one to four units
(04:37):
and are rented out, and that's still a
commercial loan.
But as soon as you get somebody who's
owner-occupied, like the person who owns the
property lives in one of the units, then
it's back to being residential.
And you really want to go for residential
mortgage type lending.
So what is the most common type of
property you're dealing with?
Are a lot of people coming to you
(04:57):
to buy four unit, five unit, 10 unit?
Are they buying commercial buildings?
Like, what are some of the most common
things that you're seeing?
I mean, the deals that we typically do
are like our minimum loan size is usually
a couple million bucks and up.
So depending on where it is, I mean,
at minimum, that's going to be five units.
But we'll do portfolios, single family homes and
(05:18):
residential properties as well.
But I'd say the average person that is
our clientele is buying a little bit larger
properties.
I rarely see things that are below 10
units.
So I'd say that's usually like our minimum.
So what are you seeing?
What's the difference in financing between somebody that's
buying a four unit versus buying a 10
unit?
Like, what's the financing look like?
(05:39):
What kind of money does somebody need down,
for example?
How's the qualifications work?
Yeah, I mean, it depends what their strategy
is, but let's say you're just buying something
that's already stabilized and rented out, right?
I mean, the biggest difference you're going to
get with larger commercial apartments is you can
access Fannie and Freddie on the commercial side.
And that's going to be really competitive financing
for multifamily properties that's also non-recourse.
(06:02):
Other than that, there is a lot of
bank lending out there for sure.
I mean, multifamily is a product that I
think just about every lender is going to
look at and want to lend on.
In the residential space, you do get a
little bit more, and like our space is
not really like residential mortgage lending.
So I don't know all the products there,
but you're going to get a little bit
more, I would say, low cost, maybe a
little higher leverage if you're doing a couple
(06:24):
of these residential properties with what would look
like a similar to a home mortgage.
I mean, that's pretty low rate, kind of
higher LTV, maybe 80% LTV, something like
that.
There are a lot of secondary market lenders
in that space that you'll see with what
people call the SCR loans that I think
(06:44):
probably cap out around 75%, but they're typically
higher rates than you're going to get with
those residential type mortgages that are similar to
like a home loan.
So if I'm looking to do this, like
on the commercial side, is a lot of
the financing full dock?
Like am I approving tax returns, bank statements?
Is it more stated income?
Like DSCR, as you mentioned, that we're looking
(07:05):
at debt service ratio coverage, right?
So like, is it more looking at the
property?
Is it more looking at the borrower?
Like how does the income part of it
work?
When you're dealing with a commercial loan, and
this is kind of how I like to
describe it best, when we're dealing with the
commercial side, we really look at the property
first, then the actual owner, right?
The person that's buying it.
And you can kind of think of it
(07:25):
more as in a commercial loan, the LLC
that holds title to the property, that's the
borrower.
And then if it's a recourse loan, the
people behind the LLC guarantee it.
And if it's non-recourse and they'll just
guarantee like the non-recourse carve outs, there
certainly are aspects to, you know, underwriting the
individuals themselves.
Again, if it's a recourse deal, you're gonna
(07:47):
do global, you're gonna have full tax returns,
all this stuff.
Absolutely, personal financial statements according to the clarification.
If it's non-recourse, which again is a
no personal guarantee loan, you're still gonna have
to provide a lot of personal stuff.
And credit score does matter, but it's not
so important.
Really I just see like a minimum credit
score of like 650.
The better way to describe residential lending is
it kind of starts with the individuals first
(08:10):
and then goes to the property, right?
So think about like a homeowner, you can
go get pre-approved for X number of
dollars and then go shopping for a house.
In commercial, it's not like that.
And so I do quite often get asked
for like commercial pre-approvals, but just that
doesn't really exist in this industry.
But on the residential investment side, you can
do that.
They're certainly gonna underwrite the property as well,
(08:30):
but it's more individual focus than just the
property.
So if I come in and I've got
average credit 660 score, for example, and I've
got good income, but not a tremendous amount
of disposable income, but I'm looking at a
property that's a 10 unit property that just
has insane cashflow.
I mean, this thing is like, making $10
,000 above the mortgage payment net.
(08:52):
Does something like that work if the property
has really good cashflow or are they really
more reliant on my personal income for qualification?
No, that should still work actually, right?
So again, in commercial, your primary source of
repayment is gonna be the property itself.
That's what they're really looking for.
So if you've got the down payment or
you're syndicating some investor equity, I think that
(09:13):
deal still gets done.
And even if you run into one lender
that says like, hey, you're not personally strong
enough, there's probably gonna end up being somebody
out there that would do it.
On the residential side, that's where it might
get more challenging.
But I think as long as the property
supports itself, I think that's still something that
you can get done.
The areas where I see people get tripped
(09:35):
up on both sides is when you go
to underwrite somebody globally and let's say it's
like a bank, right?
A bank is always gonna do like a
global underwrite and you wanna buy a new
property, but you've got two other properties that
are not really cash flowing and they're negative
debt service and your global income can't support
it.
That's where I see like bank type lenders
(09:56):
get tripped up.
But if you were, let's say, going to
buy a $2 million property and the thing
cash flows itself and you put together the
equity, I think you could access non-recourse
lending and they wouldn't care so much about
your personal income.
They would wanna see, however, certain net worth
and liquidity requirements, which is typically a net
(10:16):
worth equal to loan amount and 10%
liquidity of the loan that they would wanna
see outside of the deal, but not necessarily
how much income you're personally bringing in.
Now about the 10% liquidity, when it
comes to these type of properties, what kind
of money can somebody expect to put down
as a down payment to close on a
transaction?
Yeah, I mean, again, if you're going to
agency, you can get up to about 80
(10:36):
% loan to value, so 20% down,
but that's also subjective, right?
And the property still has to be debt
service.
So even though they may go up to
80% LTC, if the thing's like a
one-one cover, right, you're not getting up
there.
You're gonna get debt service constraint first.
So there's really the two metrics, the debt
service coverage ratio and LTV.
(10:57):
And as long as you're not like bumping
up into one of those, you probably get
up to 80% of total cost.
Do you find that you help your clients
or do your clients usually just have the
cash to put the 20% down, or
are they using other creative means, like other
types of financing and things like that to
come up with the 20%?
I mean, I run everything, right?
(11:17):
So I run into people that just have
the cash personally to put it down.
Maybe they sold another property or they saved
up to put it down.
I deal with a lot of syndicators who
will put down a certain smaller course themselves
and then raise it from a friend and
family or other investors.
And I do see people trying to do
like just piecing it together, right?
(11:38):
They'll try to get seller carry and get
credits and all this stuff.
That doesn't work so well in the commercial
space like it does in the residential space.
I think the commercial guys are very sensitive
to like cost basis and how much skin
in the game you have and doing a
lot of seller, like for instance, if you
were found a property and you were able
(11:59):
to get like an 80% motor cost
loan, right?
The things that we don't wanna see are
seller carry for the other 15% and
then credits for broker fees and then there's
very little cash in the deal.
I think the rest, that's already pretty high
leverage.
The rest is gonna really have to be
like cash equity.
So if you're talking about, if you're helping
(12:20):
somebody get into something like this and you
mentioned, for example, syndication, so you also said
you work a lot on the debt side,
you work a lot on the equity side.
Does it all really come down to debt?
Meaning that even your private investors, are they
loaning money or are you helping somebody come
in and actually find the syndicators per se?
(12:41):
Like, are you working with the investors that
may wanna invest for one of your clients?
Are they coming in as a syndication with
their own group and you're getting a money
from just debt sources and equity sources that
ultimately just comes down to debt, like normal
money that's being borrowed at an interest rate,
whatever the APR is, for example.
Yeah, I mean, we do equity, right?
But there's, I think you have to be
(13:03):
really careful when you're talking about like doing
equity for commercial real estate deals because you
can very quickly get into this like real
estate security space and that's where I've seen
a lot of people get kind of tripped
up doing things that they shouldn't be doing.
There's a difference between real estate securities and
joint venture equity.
We arrange joint venture equity for like larger
(13:25):
transactions, right?
Like a minimum check size of like three
to 5 million bucks per deal.
And typically for like middle market type guys,
it's really not gonna be for investors that
are gonna buy like a 10 or $20
million deal.
But this next part is important for those
people.
When you're raising equity as a syndication, you
gotta be really careful about whether or not
(13:47):
you're actually selling real estate securities or what
you're doing, right?
Because if you're doing that, you're regulated by
the SEC and I see a lot of
people not go through that to do like
write the offerings and do the offerings like
the right way.
And now a quick break to hear from
our sponsor.
Hey, it's Ty Crandall with Credit Suite.
Many of our subscribers wanna get the most
money to grow their business at the best
(14:08):
terms.
Whether you're looking for startup capital, low interest
credit lines and loans or business credit, we
can definitely help you.
So give us a call at 877-600
-2487 or schedule your free consultation at creditsuite
.com forward slash consult to see how much
money you can get approved for today.
So in that respect, like we do stay
away.
We're not a broker dealer, right?
(14:28):
To arrange, let's say like 50,000, $100
,000 at a time selling securities for people,
we would have to be like a registered
broker dealer and that's not us.
So we participate in the joint venture equity
space.
But for anybody who is putting together deals
and raising really passive equity like that, they
do need to structure it the right way
because I've seen a lot of people get
(14:49):
in trouble not realizing that they were actually
selling securities and then that's an SEC violation
and all this stuff.
So just something important to keep in mind
as people are raising equity.
We hear a lot about commercial trends following
residential.
And we hear a lot about commercial real
estate, maybe potentially taking a hit because during
(15:10):
COVID so many people went and worked from
homes.
So those of us not in the space,
these things float around all the time.
What's the reality of that?
Like where's the market industry currently and where
do you see it going?
Has COVID had an impact where people are
buying less commercial?
And again, I know we've been talking about
apartments and I'm talking shifting a little to
commercial buildings, but have you seen the industry
(15:32):
really hit at all or where are we
now and where do you kind of see
things go?
Right, so the big thing that happened in
COVID was everybody worked from home.
And commercial real estate is not, it's hard
to just lump it all into one thing.
There's very, very distinct sectors and the sector
that was affected most by working from home
was obviously office.
(15:52):
And I think that that stayed in longer
than it should have because if you remember,
there was this dislocation in the labor market
where there was two job openings for every
employable person, right?
And so that really put the power in
the hiring process in the hands of the
labor, right?
Because you couldn't find labor and anybody that
(16:15):
was applying for jobs could just say, all
right, I'm either gonna work from, I'm not
gonna go to the office.
I'm either gonna work from home or I'll
just go pick another job because there's so
many jobs out there.
And honestly, a lot of people thought that's
just how it was gonna be for the
foreseeable future.
Since the Fed raised rates, right?
You've seen a cooling off in the labor
market and job openings are not outpacing job
(16:36):
seekers at this point.
And a lot of that dislocation has gone
away, if not all of it.
And the power in the hiring process, I
think it's pretty obvious it's gone back to
the employer.
So if you look at all the headlines,
a lot of that work from home is
reverting back to the office.
Larger employers are requiring people to go back
and this and the other.
So office space absolutely took a hit.
(16:59):
I don't, I think a lot of it
is just gone, right?
Because a lot of the work from home
is staying but they're bringing a lot of
people back.
I'm seeing a lot of activity around office
space with people wanting to figure it out,
right?
I mean, I know several towers in Chicago
that are basically have been acquired to convert
(17:19):
over to residential buildings now.
This is like CBD, like in the loop
office, old legacy office buildings.
But the challenge with that is, and it
sounds like a great idea, but most office
buildings can't be converted into residential.
The floor plates just aren't there, right?
And the layouts are different and they won't
jive.
(17:40):
So some of these office buildings are probably
just gonna end up sitting vacant until somebody
can figure something else with them or they
just get torn down.
Some would get converted to residential.
But then I think that the nicer stuff,
the newer class A stuff, like that's gonna
end up performing well in the future.
And there still are some good stuff in
there.
Multifamily, I just think the demographic trends have
been so strong for housing and just continue
(18:02):
to be so that multifamily will be just
fine.
I think some of the rent projections and
some of the properties aren't panning out today,
but I mean, the occupancies are very, very
high.
So as long as you did the math
the right way and didn't get over leverage,
and I think pretty much any multifamily is
probably gonna be fine as long as it's
well taken care of.
We're involved in all the other commercial real
(18:24):
estate sectors, right?
Like industrial, retail, hospitality, all this stuff.
I don't really see a lot of pain
in the other sectors.
I think there's something certainly to be said
about the restaurant space and what's gonna happen
there.
I think there's probably too many restaurants and
rents are getting jacked up and there's definitely
(18:45):
gonna be some pain there.
But overall, I think that the sector is
healthy, commercial real estate in general.
But there are like specific parts of it
that there's a lot of challenges and for
various different reasons.
You do some stuff in Chicago, you do
stuff all over the country, right?
Nationwide with insurance amongst others.
But when it comes to multifamily, are you
fine hot bed areas?
(19:06):
Like some areas are just really doing really
well right now for multifamily?
Yeah, I mean, the areas that are typically
gonna do really, I mean, I think multifamily
just in general, everywhere is doing well, right?
Because the demographic trend is so strong towards
housing, right?
There's a housing supply issue.
But the areas where you'll find that multifamily
(19:27):
has performed exceptionally well is areas of large
population growth and job growth.
That's where you're gonna see the most upside
in any multifamily deal.
And I'm sure you can probably tell like
where those areas are, right?
Like Florida, Sunbelt, anywhere like that, the North
Carolina, areas that saw like a lot of
population growth.
But even so, like Chicago itself has an
(19:47):
incredibly stable and like upward trajectory rent market.
So even though I wouldn't say there's a
lot of population growth here, the multifamily asset
class has done really, really well in Chicago.
Counterintuitive to what a lot of the headlines
are that people kind of get about Chicago.
But just in general, I mean, I think
the asset class is gonna perform well.
And if you're looking for somewhere outside of
(20:10):
your own area to invest in, I would
say follow demographic trends, job growth, population growth.
And I think you'll probably end up doing
well as long as you pick a good
asset in those markets.
What do you find about, if I'm looking
to get into commercial real estate and I
am interested in securing financing, what would be
some of your best advice that you could
give me to be prepared to come in
(20:33):
to do my initial transaction?
I mean, I would just say, I mean,
listen, when somebody brings something to me, the
easiest way for me to help them is
for them to be organized and have as
many like underwriting documents as possible.
So like, let's say it's an apartment building,
have the rent rule, have the P&Ls,
basically do the homework on the property.
What's incredibly challenging is when somebody brings a
(20:54):
deal to me and said, hey, I wanna
buy this property.
Here's the loop that listing.
Let me know what you can do.
I'm like, I can't do it.
Like they need underwriting documents.
They need all this stuff.
So really like have your ducks in a
row.
And then also like buying commercial property, you
gotta realize like you're buying a business and
you have to have all the players kind
of in place before you go down the
(21:15):
road.
So that's having the right property management company
if you're not gonna do it yourself, various
vendors, stuff like that.
So really just being organized and prepared and
getting as much finance backing as far as
documentation, that's what helps the most, right?
I mean, the other thing is sometimes I
do see people come to the table and
(21:36):
not have their equity either raised or prepared.
And that's a big issue, right?
When you're getting into this thing because what
happens is they'll get the debt arranged and
then they have to go try and find
equity.
And that time gap a lot of times
will cause complications with sales contracts.
And then we have to reprice debt and
all this stuff if it goes on for
too long.
(21:56):
So really just preparation and like the process
and what you're trying to do.
Well, on the other side of the coin
and I'm already doing some stuff with commercial
real estate but now I'm looking to scale.
What's some of your best advice to be
able to do this and make it into
a full-blown business where I do it
to scale?
Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest roadblock
that I see people run into is not
(22:17):
having equity resources ahead of time before they
find deals, which I know can be difficult
because you have to present deals to equity,
right?
But what's gonna light a scale is if
you don't have millions of dollars sitting on
the sidelines yourself is really having those equity
resources.
And anybody from, you're like, you're not gonna
find equity on Google, right?
(22:37):
Like you need to network, you need to
find high net worth people, all kinds of
money, friends and family, all this stuff.
That's what's gonna really allow you to scale.
And so getting that whole network and investor
network together, I think it's just really the
most important thing because if you have that
together and you have the properties, the debt
will fall into place, right?
I mean, it will, you'll have to look
for it but it'll fall into place.
(22:57):
And the debt is really more dependent on
the property itself than just this strategy of,
hey, I wanna build up multifamily property or
something like that.
But the most important and the main key
is having equity resources.
What about insurance?
What are some things I should know about
insurance before going in and purchasing a commercial
estate?
Insurance is an interesting animal today.
(23:18):
It's not like it was before.
I think, let's say like in the mid
teens, right?
You could pretty much go out there and
get a couple insurance bids easily and they
were all pretty similar.
It is a completely different animal now.
I mean, we've seen insurance risk has just,
a lot of these insurers are just mispriced
(23:39):
risk for so long and now things are
changing.
You've got insurance carriers that are leaving markets
completely and or pricing things wildly differently.
So I think when you're pricing insurance today,
I mean, the biggest thing we do is
we don't just go to a couple of
carriers like people used to in the past.
We go to like everybody, right?
And that's the number one rule in today's
(24:00):
world is widely shop any insurance policy because
one, their most insurance agents are only gonna
go to a couple of people.
And then two, like the variability in actual
premium between one carrier to another, I've seen
for the exact same policy, one guy be
three times as much as another.
(24:23):
And if you didn't do your homework and
you didn't have your agents really out there
scouring the market, you wouldn't know, you would
kind of take it for face value.
So really just, I think the days of
just getting one or two quotes are over.
You really need to hit the market hard
if you wanna get the best deals because
there's a huge gap in between different premium
funds.
What's something I maybe should have asked you
that I didn't for somebody that's looking in
(24:45):
to break in or scale on commercial real
estate and especially has questions about getting the
financing to do so?
Good question.
I mean, I would say the number one
thing I usually tell people that maybe they're
thinking about things differently is to treat commercial
real estate as a business, not just an
(25:06):
investment, right?
I mean, even if you have a third
-party management company, you have to treat it
like a business.
It's not mailbox money.
It's not that you're gonna have to be
involved and you're gonna have to treat the
thing like a business.
And even if you've been multifamily property, treat
your tenants like customers.
And I think if you look at things
with that approach, you get a really good
sense and you'll have the right mindset to
(25:27):
properly manage these investments.
Because again, even if you have third-party
management company, you gotta stay in those guys.
You gotta manage yourself.
You're ultimately the one responsible.
And the guys that I see get in
trouble in the past are the ones that
buy a property, stick a third-party management
company in there, and then that's it.
They never think about it again.
And then all of a sudden, a year
from now, their bank's like, hey, you haven't
(25:48):
gotten your mortgage payments in two months and
you're the one responsible for it.
What's going on?
And then they find out the building's half
full, right?
So, I mean, that's the number one thing
I would say for people to keep in
mind as they wanna scale or grow or
getting into the commercial space.
It's absolutely a business and not just investment
that you can keep your eyes off of.
(26:09):
Makes a lot of sense.
Where can everybody go that's watching here and
listening, if they wanna learn more about financing,
they wanna learn more about getting into the
industry, they wanna learn more about scaling and
working with you guys, especially on the financing
side and the insurance side to do so,
where can they go to learn more?
Yeah, cloptoncapital.com or find me on LinkedIn.
It's Jay Clopton.
I'm exceptionally easy to find.
(26:31):
I'm always around.
Happy to chat.
All right, man.
I appreciate you covering all of this today.
Likewise.
Thanks so much.
All right, so listen, if you're watching this,
commercial real estate could be phenomenal opportunity for
you.
If you're not in it already, there's a
ton of money you can make, even if
you're looking at the multifamily to other different
types of properties as well.
But the biggest thing that most people get
stuck on is you have to be able
to get the financing.
(26:51):
And even if you get the financing, you
have to have the insurance or so many
other things you have to do.
And as we just talked about today, what
we're talking about here ultimately is that Jacob's
working on putting together something where you've kind
of got a one-stop shop for everything
you need.
But a lot of the financing, a lot
of your insurance needs, you can take care
of right here at one place.
So what you should do is make sure
you go to cloptoncapital.com.
(27:12):
That's C-L-O-P-T-O-N.
So if you go to cloptoncapital.com, they've
got all the information you need right on
the website.
I mean, you can even really break down
the financing different ways, even including based on
the property type, for example.
So it's really easy to find what you
need for insurance information and for financing information
to start taking the next step.
As Jacob mentioned here, you've got to make
(27:33):
sure you have everything lined up.
Like if you don't have everything lined up,
you're going to fail if you try to
jump into this.
So one of the first steps is you
wanna be talking to them about financing options,
know what your options are in insurance, be
able to get those ducks in a row,
then they can even help you take the
next steps from that point forward.
But you don't wanna take other steps other
than this first.
(27:54):
So make sure you go to cloptoncapital.com
to take the first step in either investing
in commercial real estate or growing your commercial
real estate portfolio because they are the kings
of actually helping get the financing and insurance.
So make sure you check it out at
cloptoncapital.com.
Well, I'll say that like five times really
fast.
You should try that right now, cloptoncapital, five
(28:15):
times really fast, cloptoncapital.com.
Make sure you check it out right now
today and you will be on your way
to getting all the information you need to
invest in commercial real estate.
Thank you for tuning in, take care, have
a good day.
You've been listening to the Business Credit and
(28:36):
Financing Show with your host, Ty Crandall.
Watch for our next episode to get even
more insight on financing and growing your business.
And don't forget to check us out online
at creditsuite.com for even more business growth
strategies.
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