July 1, 2025 • 17 mins
Joao Macavilca shares his journey from growing up in an attic with undocumented parents to flipping over 70 properties and owning a 54-unit commercial property, demonstrating how early hardships can fuel business success.
• Growing up in difficult circumstances in East Orange, NJ shaped his drive to create a better future
• Reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad created a powerful mindset shift from "I can't afford it" to "How can I afford it?"
• Networking and finding complementary partners is crucial for scaling from residential to commercial real estate
• Mistakes with building codes and renovations can cost thousands - befriend your inspectors and understand code requirements
• Building genuine relationships, not just exchanging business cards, creates a powerhouse network of suppliers and contractors
• Skip the painful learning curve by learning from others who have already found the best subcontractors and vendors
STF Capital | CEO and Founder
🌐 www.stf-capital.com
IG: @Joaomac_stf | https://www.instagram.com/joaomac_stf/
FB: @STF_Capital | https://www.facebook.com/STFCapital
LinkedIn: Joao Macavilca | https://www.linkedin.com/in/joao-macavilca-478383136/
📞 +1 (864) 256-1333
✉ construction@stf-capital.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
make sure you are best friends with your
inspectors.
So you know doesn't I've hadpartners before that like to
yell and scream at inspectorsdoes not work at all.
You do not want to get on theirbad side.
You want to make sure you'redoing things by the book.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the Five Questions Podcast, where we
unlock real estate and businessinsights one question at a time.
Welcome to the 5 QuestionsPodcast.
(00:38):
I am your host.
Mario Lamar, our guest ontoday's show, grew up in an
attic in New Jersey to flippingover 70 properties and owning a
54-unit commercial deal.
This is truly unbelievable.
He is the definition ofresilience and results.
The CEO of Start to FinishCapital blends in deep expertise
(00:59):
in commercial construction witha strategic investor mindset to
help others build lastinglegacy wealth.
Welcome, joao Makavilka.
Thanks, man, joao.
Welcome to the show today.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Thanks, mario, glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So, joao, the concept of the podcast is five
questions either about businessor real estate, and we get
straight to the point.
You ready, yep, let's do it.
Business or real estate, and weget straight to the point.
You ready, yep, let's do it.
As I mentioned in the intro andyou know, you put it publicly
you grew up in an attic in NewJersey, raised by undocumented
parents.
How did those early experiencesshape your mindset that you
(01:41):
carry in today's business?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So, at that time I mean, I was really young so I
didn't know any better of whywe're it's East Orange, new
Jersey, so it was not thegreatest part of Jersey and
being young I just didn't knowwhy we're doing this.
Being older and having back somememories and things like that,
I can put two and two together.
But back then it was just myparents came here trying to get
(02:05):
a better life, trying to workand provide what they can for me
.
So I didn't know any better andas I kept getting older and you
know, kind of thinking back onthings, realizing how much
sacrifice they really did toprovide for me and my sister Now
she came along a little laterbut just seeing everything they
did to get work, find work andjust get us food necessities,
(02:27):
the basics, so just knowing thatI had the opportunity to speak
English and go to school hereand do things, I just want to
make sure I can pay that backand make sure my kids or my
future family never goes throughthat.
I mean, it's something you knowwish on somebody else.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah.
So basically you're realizedthat obviously when we're young
we don't realize always what'sgoing on.
But realizing now what you wentthrough shaped your mindset to
I don't wish that on anybody andlet me make sure that my
surrounding doesn't go throughthat and that pushed you or
(03:04):
fueled you to succeed in yourbusiness ventures.
Yeah, that's a big eye opener sothat's truly remarkable because
you know a lot of successfulbusiness owners don't have
always the easiest start in life.
The easiest start in life andit seems like it's a common
(03:30):
tread among you know successfulpeople because of what you went
through, it pushes you to gofurther.
You don't want to never go backthere.
So truly remarkable story youhave there.
And it brings us to our secondquestion no-transcript.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
So it took me, to be honest with you.
I mean, the first time I readit, I read it and finished it.
It didn't really click anything.
And the second time was when ithit, and I don't remember which
part of the book it was, I justremember the first mindset
shift.
Like you said, I grew up.
You know even my parents tothis day.
You know if we want something,they say no, we can't get it,
it's too much, or whateverreasoning it being and whatever
(04:24):
reasoning it being.
And the Rich Dad, poor Dad bookhe mentioned where we had to
stop saying no, I can't affordit.
No, because once you say no,your mind shuts off yeah, versus
saying okay, well, how can Iafford this?
Now you open up possibilitiesMaybe I get a side job, a
weekend job, maybe I sellsomething I don't need, maybe I
do this.
So instead of automaticallyturning your mind off saying no,
you figure a way out of it.
And the same thing goes forbusiness.
I mean, there's so many timeswhere things go wrong or things
(04:47):
don't go the way you planned.
You can't just give up andclose shop.
You got to figure a way out ofit or find a different solution.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, you know, one of my mentors often says this.
There's two categories ofpeople.
They're consumers and investors.
And consumers will give exactlythe answer that you said.
You know, oh, I can't afford it.
And the investor mindset itsays like Rich Dad, poor Dad,
(05:16):
and you just said how?
The word how is very powerful.
How can I afford it?
That pushes your brain, likeyou said to.
You know, find solutions to theproblem.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, I mean that's the biggest thing.
I mean there's so many timeswhere you have a plan and then
something happens and you got tochange, you got to shift, you
got to pivot and you figure itout, or you just go back to
doing what you did before.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, and that's where the difference where you
know the separation, where youknow the investors, the
successful people and themajority of other people in
society in general.
They will stop at.
Just as soon as it requires alittle bit of efforts or for you
(06:03):
to figure out a problem, theywill stop there, yeah.
And then the people who pushesfurther.
Well, guess what after thatsuccess come.
It's not always easy from thestart, but once you keep on
pushing, that's when it happens.
Exactly brings us to our thirdquestion.
Uh, now we understood whereyou're, where you came from.
(06:24):
You know your mindset shifts.
You had to, like you said,transform your mindset.
Now you flipped over 70properties, including 48
commercial deals.
You know there's certainlylessons that you went through.
What is the biggest lesson mostpeople miss when scaling from,
let's say, residential tocommercial real estate?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So the biggest thing in scaling wise.
So I started with my ownresidential properties duplexes
and the goal was to get thecommercial down the road a few
years later.
And that was just my plan.
I always wanted to do things onmy own.
What really shifted was goingto real estate events, meeting
other people, building mynetwork and building other
people that have experiencesthat I don't have, and teaming
(07:09):
up with them to be able to getthere faster.
So you know, I got buddies thatdo underwriting, capital raising
, and they don't do muchconstruction.
So we fit perfectly as far aswhat can we do?
Where I'm good at you're notthat great at, or where you're
good at I'm not that great at it.
If we get together, there'salmost nothing we can not handle
.
I mean, I love the fact that onthese commercial deals we're on
(07:31):
now, there was very minimal, ifany, involvement with
construction from my partners,because they know once that date
hits and I go, it's going toget done.
So it's kind of hands off atthat point and I bring that
experience for them.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You mentioned something about another shift or
another change.
You said you go to a lot ofnetworking events or you network
with people and then after thatyou find the proper partners to
partner with the proper people.
That fits like a puzzle, right?
(08:08):
They don't do the same thingsas you do.
You have to complement eachother and I'm a big networking
(08:28):
guy finding people thatcomplement each other.
How really important is it, doyou think?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I would not have any commercial properties.
If I did a network, I wouldprobably have, from when I
started, maybe an extra four orfive properties of my own, but I
would not have been able toclose on buildings or be a
partner on buildings.
It just wasn't gonna happen.
My expertise is in constructionmanagement, things like that.
So I have zero idea aboutcapital raising for big deals.
(08:56):
I have zero idea onunderwriting a commercial deal
or finding these brokers.
That's where they step in,where they already had that
experience, they already knowpeople and they can fill in the
gaps.
So I truly feel, without thembeing on the team, I would not
be where I'm at today.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
And this is what I'm trying to extract.
The information for ourlisteners is you know, you say
it yourself You're part of abigger team and different
players, and a lot of time wetry to do it on our own, which,
(09:32):
in my mind and in a lot ofpeople's minds, it's a mistake,
because you're going to takelonger and you're going to
achieve smaller things.
If you surround yourselves withthe proper people around you,
man, can you accomplish a lotmore.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Oh yeah, Faster too Easier, so much less stress yeah
.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's great.
That's great.
That's good insights you gaveus there Brings us to our fourth
question, talking aboutmistakes.
Mistakes are part of a journey.
Obviously, we try to do theleast amount possible, but can
you share maybe one majormisstep that you had or you made
and, more importantly, how ithelped you grow as an investor
(10:15):
or a business leader?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Wow, there's so many to pick from One mistake I made
so pretty much when it comes torenovations.
I mean, there's so many thingsyou learn as you go through and
as you get bigger and scale up.
There's some things I wasn'taware of as far as the building
codes where you know I wasn'tstairs for, for example, were
built.
Let's say, a house I gotrecently, like 100 years ago.
(10:40):
Um, as long as it's stillstanding, cities will respect
that, it's good.
But the minute you touchsomething and modify it, you've
got to bring it up to currentcode.
Yeah, well, just imagine a stairstaircase made 80 years ago.
It's 28 inches wide, the risersaren't seven and a half inches
tall.
So, bought a house that had thestairs taken off and didn't do
(11:05):
measurements, it's like, oh,building stairs isn't that hard,
it can be done.
Come to find out that house wasso old and to bring stairs to
current code, it's not going tomeet height requirements, it's
not going to meet widthrequirements and that's why the
builder who sold the housepretty much had it empty for two
and a half years.
Yeah, that delayed it by months, which was thousands of a month
(11:29):
that you have to pay.
Um, the city was not workingwith us at all.
It came down to the point wehad to get engineers, architects
, framing teams down there tojust sit down and say what do we
need to do here?
like yeah, they're not acceptingthis, not through that.
So, understanding justdifferent levels of renovations
and how much the city getsinvolved with certain things, I
(11:50):
mean I even asked them.
You know, if the stairsoriginally were here creaking
and beat up, you would pass itno problem.
But now that we're doing abrand new set of stairs the same
way they were before, strongerthan ever, it's just not going
to pass.
So make sure you understandwhat you're getting into, make
sure you understand the buildingcodes and make sure you are
(12:10):
best friends with yourinspectors.
So you know doesn't I've hadpartners before that like to
yell and scream at inspectorsdoes not work at all.
You do not want to get on theirbad side.
You want to make sure you'redoing things by the book.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So you know, you said something very interesting that
resonated with me is mistakesare going to happen, right,
that's how we grow.
You try to avoid them.
But mistakes in real estate arenot $10.
They're not even $100.
They're thousands and thousandsof dollars and they can last
(12:43):
for months, like you mentioned.
So knowing and doing yourproper due diligence beforehand
is key to success.
You cannot skip that step.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yep 100%.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And, like you said, having those inspectors on your
side is certainly a benefit toyou.
It's key.
Well, joao, that brings us toour fifth and final question for
today, but before we go, I'dlike to ask you you've built a
powerhouse network we talkedabout it of suppliers,
(13:22):
subcontractors.
What advice do you have forsomeone trying to build
relationships that really movesthe needle to where you are and
where you want to go?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Pretty much you've got to put yourself in the room
where you want to be.
So go to these events, find outwho's done 50 flips, 100 flips,
whatever you want to call them,who has buildings and just see
how you can get in the same roomwith that person, whether it be
taking them out to dinner,coffee or a drink, random texts
here and there.
Whatever you can do to kind ofbe in that same room to see how
(13:54):
they think, how they flow, andjust ask them what, how did they
start?
How did they, you know, getbigger and everything.
I mean the people I meet.
They can give my company nameto Sherwin Williams.
You get a corporate discountacross the U S a home Depot so
you can always ask for themanager and just get to know
them.
And they have a certain salesthey have during the week.
They'll call you or text.
(14:19):
I mean I got them calling me ortexting me.
Hey, this is going on clearancesoon.
Do you want it?
And you get things really good.
But it has to be networkingthere.
I mean you've got to know whatyou need, where those vendors
are, where the people are,because they have, you know,
painters, they've got sheetrockers, they've got hvac
connections, like skip thosesteps that they went through,
cause they may have gone throughfive HVAC guys till they found
the one that's really good.
So now, by asking them, they'regoing to give you that person
(14:41):
right away.
You skipped all the headacheand heartache because you found
the person that you know I haveto go through.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
And again, you said something very interesting and I
want to make it clear to ourlisteners networking.
You get into the rooms withpeople and you said something
key you got to ask themquestions and take them out for
lunch and coffee.
This is way different thannetworking at an event, where
(15:09):
you just do a transaction ofbusiness cards you know this is
superficial really get to knowthe people and and before you
even ask for something, right,this is a people business.
Uh, the more you get to know aperson on a personal level, the
better your chance are at aquality relationship, rather
(15:32):
than you just, you know,exchanging a oh, I'll give me
your card, I'll call you Right.
Right, so you, you said, yousaid it.
I love what you said therebecause it's true, I do it every
day in my business and you're ahundred percent right.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
And you, you deal with a lot of different
contractors and people, so yeah,you got to go through all the
bad to get the good, but if youask a question, the guy I'm
going to give you has alreadygone through what he knows to do
absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You're based in uh, still in new jersey no, I moved.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
I'm in the carolinas now I'm in north carolina north
carolina.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So, uh, u contractor, you have licenses in different
States, which is.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
South Carolina.
What's that North and SouthCarolina?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Northern South Carolina.
So you can uh if if some of ourlisteners are looking for a
contractor, uh, we'll put thelinks in uh in the description
below.
You can reach uh Joao and uh hecan help you with your uh
renovations or construction.
Joel, it was a pleasure tospeak with you today.
Um, lots of insights from youknow, growing in a not so easy
(16:46):
environment to turning aroundand uh making a success for
yourself and your family, uh andyour clients as well.
Thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Thanks for having me, man.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Thanks for tuning into the 5 Questions Podcast.
If you enjoyed today's episode,don't forget to subscribe, like
and hit the notification bellon our YouTube channel so you
never miss an episode.
Stay tuned for more insightsand tips to transform your real
estate and business game.
See you next time.
make sure you are best friends with your
inspectors.
So you know doesn't I've hadpartners before that like to
yell and scream at inspectorsdoes not work at all.
You do not want to get on theirbad side.
You want to make sure you'redoing things by the book.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to the Five Questions Podcast, where we
unlock real estate and businessinsights one question at a time.
Welcome to the 5 QuestionsPodcast.
(00:38):
I am your host.
Mario Lamar, our guest ontoday's show, grew up in an
attic in New Jersey to flippingover 70 properties and owning a
54-unit commercial deal.
This is truly unbelievable.
He is the definition ofresilience and results.
The CEO of Start to FinishCapital blends in deep expertise
(00:59):
in commercial construction witha strategic investor mindset to
help others build lastinglegacy wealth.
Welcome, joao Makavilka.
Thanks, man, joao.
Welcome to the show today.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Thanks, mario, glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So, joao, the concept of the podcast is five
questions either about businessor real estate, and we get
straight to the point.
You ready, yep, let's do it.
Business or real estate, and weget straight to the point.
You ready, yep, let's do it.
As I mentioned in the intro andyou know, you put it publicly
you grew up in an attic in NewJersey, raised by undocumented
parents.
How did those early experiencesshape your mindset that you
(01:41):
carry in today's business?
Speaker 1 (01:44):
So, at that time I mean, I was really young so I
didn't know any better of whywe're it's East Orange, new
Jersey, so it was not thegreatest part of Jersey and
being young I just didn't knowwhy we're doing this.
Being older and having back somememories and things like that,
I can put two and two together.
But back then it was just myparents came here trying to get
(02:05):
a better life, trying to workand provide what they can for me
.
So I didn't know any better andas I kept getting older and you
know, kind of thinking back onthings, realizing how much
sacrifice they really did toprovide for me and my sister Now
she came along a little laterbut just seeing everything they
did to get work, find work andjust get us food necessities,
(02:27):
the basics, so just knowing thatI had the opportunity to speak
English and go to school hereand do things, I just want to
make sure I can pay that backand make sure my kids or my
future family never goes throughthat.
I mean, it's something you knowwish on somebody else.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah.
So basically you're realizedthat obviously when we're young
we don't realize always what'sgoing on.
But realizing now what you wentthrough shaped your mindset to
I don't wish that on anybody andlet me make sure that my
surrounding doesn't go throughthat and that pushed you or
(03:04):
fueled you to succeed in yourbusiness ventures.
Yeah, that's a big eye opener sothat's truly remarkable because
you know a lot of successfulbusiness owners don't have
always the easiest start in life.
The easiest start in life andit seems like it's a common
(03:30):
tread among you know successfulpeople because of what you went
through, it pushes you to gofurther.
You don't want to never go backthere.
So truly remarkable story youhave there.
And it brings us to our secondquestion no-transcript.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
So it took me, to be honest with you.
I mean, the first time I readit, I read it and finished it.
It didn't really click anything.
And the second time was when ithit, and I don't remember which
part of the book it was, I justremember the first mindset
shift.
Like you said, I grew up.
You know even my parents tothis day.
You know if we want something,they say no, we can't get it,
it's too much, or whateverreasoning it being and whatever
(04:24):
reasoning it being.
And the Rich Dad, poor Dad bookhe mentioned where we had to
stop saying no, I can't affordit.
No, because once you say no,your mind shuts off yeah, versus
saying okay, well, how can Iafford this?
Now you open up possibilitiesMaybe I get a side job, a
weekend job, maybe I sellsomething I don't need, maybe I
do this.
So instead of automaticallyturning your mind off saying no,
you figure a way out of it.
And the same thing goes forbusiness.
I mean, there's so many timeswhere things go wrong or things
(04:47):
don't go the way you planned.
You can't just give up andclose shop.
You got to figure a way out ofit or find a different solution.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, you know, one of my mentors often says this.
There's two categories ofpeople.
They're consumers and investors.
And consumers will give exactlythe answer that you said.
You know, oh, I can't afford it.
And the investor mindset itsays like Rich Dad, poor Dad,
(05:16):
and you just said how?
The word how is very powerful.
How can I afford it?
That pushes your brain, likeyou said to.
You know, find solutions to theproblem.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Yeah, I mean that's the biggest thing.
I mean there's so many timeswhere you have a plan and then
something happens and you got tochange, you got to shift, you
got to pivot and you figure itout, or you just go back to
doing what you did before.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, and that's where the difference where you
know the separation, where youknow the investors, the
successful people and themajority of other people in
society in general.
They will stop at.
Just as soon as it requires alittle bit of efforts or for you
(06:03):
to figure out a problem, theywill stop there, yeah.
And then the people who pushesfurther.
Well, guess what after thatsuccess come.
It's not always easy from thestart, but once you keep on
pushing, that's when it happens.
Exactly brings us to our thirdquestion.
Uh, now we understood whereyou're, where you came from.
(06:24):
You know your mindset shifts.
You had to, like you said,transform your mindset.
Now you flipped over 70properties, including 48
commercial deals.
You know there's certainlylessons that you went through.
What is the biggest lesson mostpeople miss when scaling from,
let's say, residential tocommercial real estate?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
So the biggest thing in scaling wise.
So I started with my ownresidential properties duplexes
and the goal was to get thecommercial down the road a few
years later.
And that was just my plan.
I always wanted to do things onmy own.
What really shifted was goingto real estate events, meeting
other people, building mynetwork and building other
people that have experiencesthat I don't have, and teaming
(07:09):
up with them to be able to getthere faster.
So you know, I got buddies thatdo underwriting, capital raising
, and they don't do muchconstruction.
So we fit perfectly as far aswhat can we do?
Where I'm good at you're notthat great at, or where you're
good at I'm not that great at it.
If we get together, there'salmost nothing we can not handle
.
I mean, I love the fact that onthese commercial deals we're on
(07:31):
now, there was very minimal, ifany, involvement with
construction from my partners,because they know once that date
hits and I go, it's going toget done.
So it's kind of hands off atthat point and I bring that
experience for them.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You mentioned something about another shift or
another change.
You said you go to a lot ofnetworking events or you network
with people and then after thatyou find the proper partners to
partner with the proper people.
That fits like a puzzle, right?
(08:08):
They don't do the same thingsas you do.
You have to complement eachother and I'm a big networking
(08:28):
guy finding people thatcomplement each other.
How really important is it, doyou think?
Speaker 1 (08:34):
I would not have any commercial properties.
If I did a network, I wouldprobably have, from when I
started, maybe an extra four orfive properties of my own, but I
would not have been able toclose on buildings or be a
partner on buildings.
It just wasn't gonna happen.
My expertise is in constructionmanagement, things like that.
So I have zero idea aboutcapital raising for big deals.
(08:56):
I have zero idea onunderwriting a commercial deal
or finding these brokers.
That's where they step in,where they already had that
experience, they already knowpeople and they can fill in the
gaps.
So I truly feel, without thembeing on the team, I would not
be where I'm at today.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
And this is what I'm trying to extract.
The information for ourlisteners is you know, you say
it yourself You're part of abigger team and different
players, and a lot of time wetry to do it on our own, which,
(09:32):
in my mind and in a lot ofpeople's minds, it's a mistake,
because you're going to takelonger and you're going to
achieve smaller things.
If you surround yourselves withthe proper people around you,
man, can you accomplish a lotmore.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Oh yeah, Faster too Easier, so much less stress yeah
.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
That's great.
That's great.
That's good insights you gaveus there Brings us to our fourth
question, talking aboutmistakes.
Mistakes are part of a journey.
Obviously, we try to do theleast amount possible, but can
you share maybe one majormisstep that you had or you made
and, more importantly, how ithelped you grow as an investor
(10:15):
or a business leader?
Speaker 1 (10:17):
Wow, there's so many to pick from One mistake I made
so pretty much when it comes torenovations.
I mean, there's so many thingsyou learn as you go through and
as you get bigger and scale up.
There's some things I wasn'taware of as far as the building
codes where you know I wasn'tstairs for, for example, were
built.
Let's say, a house I gotrecently, like 100 years ago.
(10:40):
Um, as long as it's stillstanding, cities will respect
that, it's good.
But the minute you touchsomething and modify it, you've
got to bring it up to currentcode.
Yeah, well, just imagine a stairstaircase made 80 years ago.
It's 28 inches wide, the risersaren't seven and a half inches
tall.
So, bought a house that had thestairs taken off and didn't do
(11:05):
measurements, it's like, oh,building stairs isn't that hard,
it can be done.
Come to find out that house wasso old and to bring stairs to
current code, it's not going tomeet height requirements, it's
not going to meet widthrequirements and that's why the
builder who sold the housepretty much had it empty for two
and a half years.
Yeah, that delayed it by months, which was thousands of a month
(11:29):
that you have to pay.
Um, the city was not workingwith us at all.
It came down to the point wehad to get engineers, architects
, framing teams down there tojust sit down and say what do we
need to do here?
like yeah, they're not acceptingthis, not through that.
So, understanding justdifferent levels of renovations
and how much the city getsinvolved with certain things, I
(11:50):
mean I even asked them.
You know, if the stairsoriginally were here creaking
and beat up, you would pass itno problem.
But now that we're doing abrand new set of stairs the same
way they were before, strongerthan ever, it's just not going
to pass.
So make sure you understandwhat you're getting into, make
sure you understand the buildingcodes and make sure you are
(12:10):
best friends with yourinspectors.
So you know doesn't I've hadpartners before that like to
yell and scream at inspectorsdoes not work at all.
You do not want to get on theirbad side.
You want to make sure you'redoing things by the book.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So you know, you said something very interesting that
resonated with me is mistakesare going to happen, right,
that's how we grow.
You try to avoid them.
But mistakes in real estate arenot $10.
They're not even $100.
They're thousands and thousandsof dollars and they can last
(12:43):
for months, like you mentioned.
So knowing and doing yourproper due diligence beforehand
is key to success.
You cannot skip that step.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Yep 100%.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
And, like you said, having those inspectors on your
side is certainly a benefit toyou.
It's key.
Well, joao, that brings us toour fifth and final question for
today, but before we go, I'dlike to ask you you've built a
powerhouse network we talkedabout it of suppliers,
(13:22):
subcontractors.
What advice do you have forsomeone trying to build
relationships that really movesthe needle to where you are and
where you want to go?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Pretty much you've got to put yourself in the room
where you want to be.
So go to these events, find outwho's done 50 flips, 100 flips,
whatever you want to call them,who has buildings and just see
how you can get in the same roomwith that person, whether it be
taking them out to dinner,coffee or a drink, random texts
here and there.
Whatever you can do to kind ofbe in that same room to see how
(13:54):
they think, how they flow, andjust ask them what, how did they
start?
How did they, you know, getbigger and everything.
I mean the people I meet.
They can give my company nameto Sherwin Williams.
You get a corporate discountacross the U S a home Depot so
you can always ask for themanager and just get to know
them.
And they have a certain salesthey have during the week.
They'll call you or text.
(14:19):
I mean I got them calling me ortexting me.
Hey, this is going on clearancesoon.
Do you want it?
And you get things really good.
But it has to be networkingthere.
I mean you've got to know whatyou need, where those vendors
are, where the people are,because they have, you know,
painters, they've got sheetrockers, they've got hvac
connections, like skip thosesteps that they went through,
cause they may have gone throughfive HVAC guys till they found
the one that's really good.
So now, by asking them, they'regoing to give you that person
(14:41):
right away.
You skipped all the headacheand heartache because you found
the person that you know I haveto go through.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
And again, you said something very interesting and I
want to make it clear to ourlisteners networking.
You get into the rooms withpeople and you said something
key you got to ask themquestions and take them out for
lunch and coffee.
This is way different thannetworking at an event, where
(15:09):
you just do a transaction ofbusiness cards you know this is
superficial really get to knowthe people and and before you
even ask for something, right,this is a people business.
Uh, the more you get to know aperson on a personal level, the
better your chance are at aquality relationship, rather
(15:32):
than you just, you know,exchanging a oh, I'll give me
your card, I'll call you Right.
Right, so you, you said, yousaid it.
I love what you said therebecause it's true, I do it every
day in my business and you're ahundred percent right.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
And you, you deal with a lot of different
contractors and people, so yeah,you got to go through all the
bad to get the good, but if youask a question, the guy I'm
going to give you has alreadygone through what he knows to do
absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You're based in uh, still in new jersey no, I moved.
Speaker 1 (16:08):
I'm in the carolinas now I'm in north carolina north
carolina.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
So, uh, u contractor, you have licenses in different
States, which is.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
South Carolina.
What's that North and SouthCarolina?
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Northern South Carolina.
So you can uh if if some of ourlisteners are looking for a
contractor, uh, we'll put thelinks in uh in the description
below.
You can reach uh Joao and uh hecan help you with your uh
renovations or construction.
Joel, it was a pleasure tospeak with you today.
Um, lots of insights from youknow, growing in a not so easy
(16:46):
environment to turning aroundand uh making a success for
yourself and your family, uh andyour clients as well.
Thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
Thanks for having me, man.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Thanks for tuning into the 5 Questions Podcast.
If you enjoyed today's episode,don't forget to subscribe, like
and hit the notification bellon our YouTube channel so you
never miss an episode.
Stay tuned for more insightsand tips to transform your real
estate and business game.
See you next time.
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