Cosmos

Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. For today’s guest, we have Joe Killinger. Joe is an entrepreneur, investor, and founder who scaled three real estate companies to over $ 5 million in revenue within 18 months. 

Joe has been an active member in the real estate industry for over 30 years, wearing different hats and at times, multiple hats. Over the years, he has served as an agent, investor, syndicator, founder, and operator of various companies, as well as the owner of properties in which he invests. 

He has been personally responsible for the sale of and is directly involved in the marketing of over 6,500 assets, resulting in close transactions totaling over 950 million throughout the United States. Joe invests his time and money into several real estate brands. He collaborates with these brands to ensure they remain at the forefront of what’s achievable through the power of content, community, and business innovation. 

He’s an extraordinary American, and I’m grateful to have him on the show. 

Joe, thank you so much for taking the time to do this podcast with me. I really appreciate it.

Joe

Cosmos. Thank you very much for having me on. I really appreciate you taking the time.

Cosmos

Joe, can you tell me, the audience, a little bit more about yourself, your background, and how you got started?

Joe

Yeah. So I came from Nebraska, Walbeck, Nebraska, a town of 281 people. So the dating pool was pretty shallow, right? However, my father was an auctioneer, and he began auctioning off livestock, then expanded to machine farm equipment, and eventually transitioned into real estate. And, obviously, being from such a small community, farm land was mostly what he was interested in, what he was selling. And, man, that gave me the bug. I couldn’t even really tell you why Cosmos. But it was really something in putting the deals together, structuring them, finding the buyer, and closing the deal. I absolutely fell in love with it when I was just 15 or 16 years old.

 And so, I attended the University of Nebraska, and upon arrival, I obtained my real estate license. And, if you can imagine, when you’re eight, I was just 12 when I got to college, and I looked 18. And so when I was getting started, it was going to be a struggle for me. And this company, Woods Brothers Realties, out of Lincoln, Nebraska, decided to bring me on. And then they threw a phone book in front of me and said, Listen, here’s your potential clients, the people that you need, ” and so they started cold calling. That was kind of the extent of my training. 

So I started listening to some people and just sat in the office, listening, rather than doing cold calling, because A, I was scared to death. I didn’t know what to do, nor did I know how to do it. But I started listening to people. And then, finally, an older gentleman in the office took me under his wing and really taught me how to do it. But I grew up on a farm in Nebraska. And in the process, my family, in the 80s, ended up losing the farm. My dad, my mom, and my little sister moved into a one-bedroom apartment in St. Paul, Nebraska, just 15 miles away from us. And we lost the farm. So I didn’t have any place to go back to. So, I ended up packing everything up and moving to California. I ended up getting my real estate license in California, started working for a residential agent, and quickly learned that that just wasn’t for me. But I still loved it, love the whole vibe of real estate. And I knew I wanted to be an investor, but I also knew that to become one, I would have to nurture my interest by working as a broker or agent. 

And so I moved up to Los Angeles. I landed in San Clemente, of all places, where I worked in the Laguna Hills Mall selling children’s shoes. I then moved to LA, started doing odd jobs, and eventually ended up at a major commercial real estate auction company here in Los Angeles. And I was in the marketing department, and my now business partner of 20-some years, who is also the CEO of our commercial brokerage company, Commercial Brokers International, was in the closing department. The company went public through an IPO and was later caught fudging the numbers. As a result, they initiated a series of layoffs because they needed to return some of that money. 

And so I was one of those who got moved from the marketing department into the closing department, where George was number three on the list, but was quickly moved to number one. Then he laid me off. And then, a couple of weeks later, he got laid off, and I was already working at another auction company, a real estate auction company. And he called and said, ‘Hey, I got laid off. What’s in the marketplace?’ I told him, there’s not much out there, but if you want to come partner with me, we’ll become partners. 

And that’s how we launched the Sands Group, along with one of the largest residential real estate brokerage firms in Los Angeles called Fred Sands Realtors. We took the Sans Group to number one or number two. Within the western region, within the first year and within the first 18 months, we were on fire. We were. And you have to remember, Cosmos, that back then, there was no Internet, so everything had to be done via cold calling. 

So we’d cold call from. We arrive at 7:00 a.m. and make cold calls to developers and banks across the country, even though we will end the day in Hawaii, speaking with banks there. And then we would stop and fold the letters to the people we had actually spoken to that day, and mail them. And that’s how we grew that business. And so, yeah, it’s really. It was a tough way to get started, but man, it was. But, here’s the thing: the reason we were a startup was that we were against a lot of tough competition out there. We were by far the smallest. I mean, it was George and me and the. We were using the residential firm’s marketing team, but it was just George and me handling these properties. And they gave us this little Mac, which is probably very valuable now, but it was the first really skinny, kind of tall one. We ran that entire company off that. We ended up doing six or seven hundred properties a year. We were selling. 

And so it came in pretty quickly. However, the reason people started working with us is that one day a week, George and I would get in the car and drive all over Los Angeles, down to Orange County, and to San Diego. And we would never take a freeway. We’d always take the side roads and make sure to hit every development. Now, there was really nobody tracking it. We just drove the streets. We had a somewhat predictable pattern. We go in, but when we would get in front of somebody and we start pitching them, we knew everything about the marketplace because we’d actually been to the properties, and nobody else was doing that. 

And so, getting out there and knowing your market boots on the ground works for both brokerage agents and investors. And so, that’s how we started that company. Now that the company, Fred Sands Realtors, is a corporation. The parent company ultimately sold to NRT, a division of Coldwell Banker. Then, George and I went over to DBL Realtors, where we started their commercial division. It was the second-largest residential real estate firm in the Los Angeles area. We grew that very quickly and hired four or five agents. And that company ultimately sold to NRT through the Sotheby’s division. And then, that’s how Commercial Brokers International is now. It came to be because they called us on December 9th. And they just said, Hey, we need to close this company down. This is  21 years ago. We need to shut down this company. I said, Okay, when do you want to close it down? They go, well, on January 1st. 

So we had just a few weeks to shift everything. And that’s how Commercial Brokers International was launched. Because we got tired of everybody partnering with everybody, then they end up selling the companies off. And so Commercial Brokers International has been around ever since then. So since the late 90s.

Cosmos

Well, Joe, you literally went from both you and your partner getting laid off.

Joe

Yeah.

Cosmos

You ended up going from there to basically becoming partners in Commercial Brokers International. Was that the same company that basically laid you off?

Joe

The. No, I can’t say which company laid me off, because there’s still competition. But it was George who actually laid me off, and he’s my business partner now, so I’m making him pay for doing that for 20-some years now. But. But yeah, it was, it was a challenge. 

We’re always being forced to start up, and because we started the Sans group, which was a startup, we built that up. It was incredible. Took DBL, and it was complete. The Internet was just getting started when we did dbl, and we achieved this by going out and talking to residential agents to bring the business into the commercial division. 

So, we had a completely different mentality. We still conducted cold calling for the commercial division, but we also collaborated with the residential agents within the company to generate referrals. And so we had to change.

Cosmos

And yeah, Joe, I have so many questions to ask you because this is incredible. You literally went through a lot of hurdles and obstacles. 

And you obtained a massive success from there. But my question is, what was the time when you and your family lost the farm from which you are now? How did your vision, your strategic vision for what you wanted to achieve in your career, change over that period of time?

Joe

I always knew what I wanted because I knew I wanted to be in brokerage, as I love the business. I mean, it’s just, I’ve been struggling since I was a kid. Right. But I also wanted to be an investor, and I love it. I wanted to build that passive income. 

And so my vision has always been there. And we now own single-tenant at-lease properties around the country. We’re launching a new syndication initiative and aim to raise approximately $5 million. We’re going to go out, and when we want to do that, because of our agents, I want them to be able to invest with us. It’s kind of their 401(k), I suppose, since they’re all strictly commissioned. 

However, my vision never really changed. It’s just that I was forced to start over with the same vision several times, going, ‘ Okay, well, now we’re on to the DBL commercial, same vision. ‘ How do we get there? And that’s really. DBL is where we started buying our first properties. We started in multifamily here in LA.

Cosmos

So Joe, I know you’ve made a million. You’ve helped me with millions of real estate transactions. So, what is the motivational factor, the inner why, that drives you to push forward despite all the hurdles and helps you scale to such a level, because not many people can do what you have done?

Joe

For me, it’s just doing the deals. I love being an entrepreneur. I enjoy negotiating deals, structuring transactions, and witnessing businesses flourish. It’s kind of an addiction. I get up in the morning, I think, okay, so we’ve got Icon Capital Advisors, it’s our commercial real estate mortgage company. I’ve a commercial Real estate affiliate network and am affiliated with Commercial Brokers International. 

I also have my own brand that I’m working on, and I love scaling businesses; it’s a real passion of mine. And, when I talk to. We have a lot of extremely wealthy clients, and you can ask them how much money they have; they’ll never tell. They have no idea. A lot of them have no idea. They go, I don’t know. I know it’s there, and I’m comfortable. 

But I don’t do it for the money. I do it for. This is what I, this is what’s in me. This is what I love. And so, for me, it’s just the way I was raised. I think cosmos, growing up on a farm,  I said, a farmer is probably the most entrepreneurial person you’re ever going to meet because they have to be the mechanic, they have to be the weatherman, they have to, they have to know all of the, they have to be the veterinarian. Probably not as much now as when I was growing up, because it’s completely different now. But a lot More mechanized than it was back then. But that’s where I think my roots were, to be an entrepreneur, and I just have that passion to build things.

Cosmos

Well. So, Joe, I know you’ve actually helped all three real estate companies scale to 5 million within 18 months. 

For the sake of the audience, what is your strategy for scaling companies, and do you have a metric system in place to facilitate this during expansion?

Joe

Here’s the thing: each of those companies was completely different, right? It’s the first one, the Sans group; there was no Internet, so how did I scale? Got on the phones, got in the car, and just started reaching out to everybody. 

But I also knew that our basis and the reason we were winning was our knowledge of the market. That was the thing. And because when any bank would call and say, ‘Hey, what’s the interest rate?’ we even got to the point where banks, at that time, had their own in-house brokers, and they could do their own pricing on their properties. They would still call us after we had done a sale with them to compare it against what was in the bank. 

We really had a reputation for knowing the market better than anyone else. And so I think that was really it, with the Sands Group. DBL Commercial. Dbl, commercial. The part of DBL Residential was again, it goes back to everybody that we knew in the banks and, and then our way of taking that knowledge and sharing it with the residential brokers that were working or residential agents in that firm and coming to them and showing the value and the knowledge that we had in our experience, that was a lot of it. 

And then, Commercial Brokers International, we still had many of the connections, but we had also hired several people, right? We had hired a significant number. We had four agents when we started, actually. However, we still had connections to everything we’d done in the past. We really doubled down on those connections and expanded our sphere of influence, and we worked them effectively. However, we were also really embracing the Internet, where, first, I don’t know of another commercial real estate company that was working on its SEO before we were. We were putting content out before anybody I know was. People would laugh at us, and they would say, ‘What are you guys doing?’ You’re putting all this out there. Well, then the business started coming in, and our company began to grow larger and larger. 

Essentially, it was about looking for opportunities and gaining market knowledge. We were always looking for opportunities, and when we found one, we could discuss it because we had the best market knowledge.

Cosmos

So, Joe, from your perspective, right, there’s a lot of real estate agents out there, a lot. Lots of brokers, right? Real estate is often touted as the primary means for people to become millionaires, but many fail to achieve this goal. Many agents and brokers struggle to succeed in the real estate business. 

So what perspective? What is, what are the? What is the. What are the factors that make them fail versus the successful ones that end up succeeding in the business?

Joe

M., the numbers I was just talking about. So I met with a guy who owned DBL Realtors. He ended up selling the company; I said it was to NRT through Sotheby. And I said, it’s amazing to me when I look at some of the numbers of these residential companies, how few. And then this applies to commercial. I just haven’t seen the numbers either. But how few agents make enough money even to survive. 

And the reason is that Cosmos is that they’re just not doing everything they can. I mean, our industry – when you watch Million Dollar Listing or any of those shows – that’s not how business is really done. It’s just you’re. You’re in the office, grinding away, making calls, and handling the post. I mean, I think in residential, you can get away with it more than you can in commercial. 

However, many agents will put on a marketing campaign. They put a pretty picture, and they think that’s marketing. 

Well, that’s going to get you s, but it’s not going to get you business. You must demonstrate that you possess market knowledge and consistently bring value to every interaction. And so few people do that. 

And I think in commercial real estate, and here’s kind of my pet peeve, and a lot of the reason I have the Joe Killinger Co. In commercial real estate, you’ll find a firm. You obtain your license, find a firm, and then go out and conduct interviews. They tell you everything that you want to hear, and they’ll throw you an offer. You acknowledge that you haven’t typically conducted due diligence on the company. 

And, you don’t really know. You just know the promises that they made to you, which I advise everybody getting into commercial real estate to do: interview the company just as much, if not more, than they’re interviewing you. Talk to pass. Contact some of their current agents or individuals who have done business with them. Please read the reviews and check on them frequently. However, when companies bring in a new agent, they often do just what happened to me, which is to provide a list of people to call. Good luck. 

And, we’re going to do some mentoring. I’ll probably see you on Tuesday or Thursday. We’ll give you an hour. And then they’re getting on the phone. Well, what the hell are they going to talk about? They don’t know the market. They don’t know what’s going on in the industry, really. They are expected to go out and generate leads for the company. 

At Commercial Brokers International, we ensure that before you touch a phone, you’re already on the system. I want you to be familiar with everything about your asset class in your market. And I’ll give you an example. Let’s say you’re doing multifamily in Hollywood. 

Before I would allow you to get on the phones, I’m going to come and sit down with you and say, ‘ Okay, Cosmos, how’s your first week going? ‘ Okay, great. Tell me about your marketplace. How many properties are on the market right now? Okay, great. What’s the average days on market? Okay, good. What’s the average unit mix, Average size of the property, and average lot size? What’s the average listing price compared to the average sales price? 

Now, if you can answer all that, then we can discuss getting on the phones, because now you’ll have a real chance of having a conversation with someone who can bring value to them. Right. 

So you’re bringing value to the client. I’ve just increased your possibility of actually getting a deal done. The company operates in the commercial real estate sector, which is a highly expensive industry. We cover the costs of all the tools our agents use. Right. For me, losing an agent after four or five months cost me a lot of money. 

So I don’t understand why brokerages don’t take time to really train. And, if you can’t answer any of those questions I just asked you, I say, okay, let’s take another week to really get to know the market before you get on the fence phones. And you’re going to find that that hit rate is going to go a lot higher and your length of conversation. Because in the beginning, your conversation is pretty short, right? Because, hey, are you thinking about buying, selling, or leasing any property? No. Okay, bye. , and then when you start having a conversation with people, it begins to stretch out. And the longer that conversation stretches out, the closer you are to getting business. 

And so, the education, and I think it’s the mentoring, for someone new to our industry, just hasn’t been there. I’m not really sure about residential. I think it’s kind of hit and miss as well. But I’m finding that we’re seeing the value in the training. At our company, we meet with the CEO every morning at 8:30 for about 45 minutes to an hour. 

And then every Tuesday and Thursday night, we sit down with the newer agents and say, Okay, what’s working for you? How’s your week going? Are you getting some appointments? Are cold calls working for you? Double down on what you’re doing, and then let’s take some time to address your weaknesses. 

And I’m seeing that we have one agent who has been in the business since last September, so it’s not quite a year yet. And he’s done six deals. They’re not huge deals, but there aren’t many agents who can say that they’ve done that many deals in their first year. We also have another agent who started in January. He has completed two deals in his first year. Pretty good-sized ones, too. One of them is of a pretty good size, so it works. And I think that’s probably our biggest downfall, a lack of training and mentoring.

Cosmos

I think what you mentioned about training and mentoring is particularly relevant because, ultimately, the right type of training can determine success or failure. It’s also the will to overcome obstacles. And that. That’s what made me want to ask you.

The next thing, Joe, is, I know you got laid off and then you just rebounded back from there, right? So a lot of people, when they get laid off and everything, they go into, they go into a depression or they blame everything else. 

From the perspective of a successful person, how do you go about rebounding from that and then succeeding?

Joe

Well, I can tell you, for me, I was broke, so I didn’t have a choice. So I had to, because I called my father and said, ‘Hey, I got laid off.’ He goes, okay, because, well, how much did it cost you to move to California? And I told him, he goes, okay, well, when you get home, I’ll give you that money. And I’m okay, all right, so we’re just going to get another job. And you, know, but I think it’s. This industry is challenging, and if you enter with the mindset that you’re going to make money right away, you need to be able to tackle these obstacles. And for me, it had to. 

I also took really good care of my mental health. I exercised every night. It was very stressful. I mean, I can tell. I can remember the exact day. I remember the date, but I don’t recall the day we received the details of all the properties on our first list to auction off. I recall when that fact stood out among the others without being included. I kind of think I was even. There were tears somewhere because I was so excited. But it’s a mindset. You need to have a conquering mindset because that’s what will set you apart, and most people don’t possess it. I mean, in our industry, I see very good young people, but they’re. They either have a trust fund or are still living at home. 

So they’re very comfortable. And it just does not create the urgency. And now you take somebody that doesn’t have that behind them, I did, all of a sudden, that urgency gets created. You’d be surprised how creative you can be if you have to be. So, you’ve got to find that creativity.

Cosmos

So, Joe, what you mentioned about urgency is so relevant, but how would someone create urgency if they already have a comfortable financial situation? They’re comfortable, but it’s a moderate setting, neither extreme nor the other. 

Can you create it at will? Or is it only when we attain desperate times that creativity and an urgency come by to attain success?

Joe

And we’ve dealt with it too; it’s about setting goals. I aim to reach $100,000 within my first 16 months of being in business. That’ll help you create that urgency, and you want to hang it up there, or it can just have a goal that you want to hit, and don’t keep moving the goal. Set that date, set that goal. If it’s $100,000 in 16 months, set that as your goal. 

And then look at that. You have to create that urgency, even if you don’t have it. I mean, I’ve had agents that were very com. I mean, I have. Agent’s been in the business for 30 years, and honestly, I can barely keep up with her. And I don’t know what makes her tech, but I tell you what, she’s out there. She had seven showings the day before and another the next day. I think it was eight. And she doesn’t need to work, but she wants to. She creates that urgency in her mind. 

I hardly ever see her because she’s so busy, and it’s just that she has created goals that she wants to hit every year. And she got a little behind earlier in the year, and, man, she’s on a tear now. But goals are really where you want to be. To achieve those goals, you need a daily structure to help you reach them.

Cosmos

So, Joe, another thing I wanted to ask you, this is different from mindset. It’s more of just how do the wealthy in the real estate, commercial real estate, see money and life and people versus most people, the middle class, and all of that, what is the most important mindset that they have versus the rest of the population?

Joe

It’s funny because I just had this conversation the other day with most of the wealthier people I know; they use their money to buy time, hire somebody to do this for me, so I can do what I want to do. In contrast, the less wealthy buy things, and that’s something that has always amazed me. 

And the wealthy know that they can obtain it at any time, but they’re more interested in gaining their freedom and doing what they want to do. And so, I think that is really a goal of mine, which is to be able to buy more time so I can accomplish more and have a greater impact on more people. However, with wealthy individuals, I refrain from discussing money. I know that they can afford this piece of real estate. I know that they can pick up the phone and call her bank and get a loan. It’s just. They can make it work and are. Does it fit into their portfolio the way they want it to? There’s no. They’re not anxious to buy another property. They’re just trying to determine if it aligns with my goal.

Cosmos

Well, yeah, I think. I think it’s just the way the 1% and the 99% view things. If the 99% started adopting some of these mentalities, especially one of the major ones, which is the abundance mentality versus the scarcity mentality. Versus, and also the concrete mindset you mentioned earlier. 

Because when the same event can happen to two people, they can just perceive it differently. What I’ve noticed is that successful entrepreneurs view challenges as opportunities for growth and then embrace adversity.

Joe

Yeah, yeah. They’re always looking for opportunities. Right. It’s just a completely different mindset.

Cosmos

So, Joe, is this something that made you lean towards commercial real estate versus residential real estate? What made you prefer one over the other?

Joe

I love structuring the deals. And I think this goes back to when working on the. When my father was farming. I just love structuring deals, finding the right asset class in the market, and then being the number one person in that marketplace. I love doing that. What has worked well for me is that I enjoy being able to structure the deals and attract the right tenants. That was just a passion I had. It was just born in me. I think.

Cosmos

I see.

And from your perspective throughout your entire career, right,  in investing in real estate and everything, what? What was the biggest lesson you took away, regarding people, money, and life in general? People are the most.

Joe

This business is a people business, and we have to remember that. I know that we all tend to think it’s about making money, and that’s true, but it’s also a people business. You will still need to shake hands. You’ll still need to get in front of people. You need to consider building trust. 

And if you go into every relationship thinking, ‘How am I going to build trust with this person?’ Because you do business with people, and trust, right? Therefore, you need to maintain a relationship that is constantly being built. You have to find a way to build it. And it’s really kind of simple. 

And that’s the thing: if you own a property, Cosmos, and I think what? I haven’t talked to Cosmos in a while. Let me look at this property. I just sent you a broker’s price opinion on your property. And I say, ‘Hey, I just did some rough numbers on your lease rates.’ If you’d like me to drill down on the numbers, please send me your rent roll, and I’ll review the details so you can get a more accurate view of your property’s value. That works a lot. Or even this, when you’re out networking and somebody says, Hey, Cosmos, how’s the market? You say, Oh, it’s good. You shouldn’t say that. 

Currently, I’ve a client in multifamily in Dallas. In my market, there are 12 properties on the market. The average time on the market is extended slightly. It’s 102 days. There’s a mix of units. It’s really when you see the bigger properties selling that the market really breaks down, because now you’ve allowed yourself to show that you’re a professional in that marketplace. Capitalize on it. Instead of just saying, yeah, it’s good, because that’s what everybody else is going to do. Set yourself apart.

Cosmos

Yeah, I think, I think one of the biggest things in real estate that I’ve learned from all the people that I’ve known in real estate is just, people are just different and then they, a lot of them talk about human nature and especially, I don’t for in New York, let’s say  New York, commercial real estate. 

Is it true that most people are ruthless in that one city versus the rest of America?

Joe

I know one of the top brokers there, Bob Nackle, and he’s the nicest guy and most sharing, no stereotype then, right? Yeah, it’s, it’s everywhere. I mean, this is in the commercial real estate sector. Many deals occur off the market. 

And so, we all know each other; the people who are producing know each other, and they talk to each other, and we actually just got a deal. George, our CEO, just got a deal this morning. Not because he was the highest price offer or even had the best terms. The broker knew him personally and was confident that his client would close on the deal, as did the seller, who needed to close on this deal. There’s not a big difference between the two offers, not by much, but the fact that they knew who George was made them say, ‘Okay, let’s just go with this broker because I’ve closed multiple deals with him and I know he’ll get the job done.’ He vets out his clients before he even steps out of the office. 

So I know the client’s vetted, and I know that George will close it. And that happens frequently in our industry. Residential properties are listed for sale and then made available to the general public. Well, that’s completely different.

Cosmos

Yes, I was actually curious because there are many stereotypes, and New York City is known for its commercial real estate. So, I just wanted to know from your perspective: is it true, or is that just how people’s perception has evolved?

Joe

It probably was, just as it was in the past, here in LA. Its commercial is just a commercial, which is not easy. It’s a great business; I absolutely love it. However, you need to be the person who, when another broker calls you, calls them back. 

You should communicate with everybody and network within the industry. It’s not that bad. And you can rise above. Once you start doing deals and act professionally, you’ll be welcomed. People will work with you.

Cosmos

So, Joe, when you’re handling all these large-scale transactions involving millions, how do you go about mitigating financial risk and also managing stress? Because I can just imagine that it would be a very stressful time. So, how, what is your mental process when you’re going through all of this?

Joe

Well, I’m not too bad at that. Before we take on a client, we thoroughly vet them to ensure they meet our standards. I want to know if I’m going to work with you, what are your thought, what is your desire? What is your ultimate goal here, and how can I help ensure it happens? Do you have your money in place? Are you pre-approved? What’s your goal? Do you have the means to really make this happen? 

And if you really do your due diligence before you even start the process, it saves a lot of that stress. And that goes for real estate investing too, because I get so many brokers or investors who will call and say, ‘Hey, I want that property; let’s go in at full price, and I’ll negotiate it later.’ Okay.   That’s a way of doing business. But it creates a lot of anxiety, and then more often than not, you have to make sure they have their financials, too. 

And a lot of them don’t. They just want to tie a deal up and then worry about it afterward. However, doing due diligence before you even step out of the office, knowing that the investor or transaction you’re working on has been thoroughly vetted, will save you a lot of stress. But for me, it’s. I sleep a lot better at night when I know that I’ve done everything I can to vet that client out. Now, deals still will go south. There will be things that happen. We had a client pass away in the middle of a deal. We had. Yeah, yeah. We’ve been doing this for a while, so we have extensive experience. A divorce happened in the middle of a deal. We’ve had them. 

So things happen. But usually, as long as I’ve done my business up front, there’s not much else outside of those things that really make it go sideways, and I know then, so I can still resonate. I did everything I could. But if there’s something that I missed that I’m, damn it, I should have caught that. That will stress me out. I try to ensure that due diligence is done properly before I take on anyone.

Cosmos

Joe, for the sake of the audience, let’s say someone’s watching this and they want to enter the real estate industry. They’ve never been involved in real estate investing, nor have they been involved in either residential or commercial properties. 

And they want to get in, but they’re kind of afraid of the dawn because it’s a daunting thing. How would you advise them on entering this industry?

Joe

Again, it comes down to whether it will be commercial or residential real estate. Do your due diligence on the company. Do your due diligence. Due diligence on the marketplace. You want to ensure that if you simply think, ‘Hey, I want to do multifamily in Beverly Hills,’ Okay, sounds great. But on paper, not a great idea. The competition that exists has been there forever, and there are three brokers from whom you’re unlikely to receive deals. It’s just going to be too hard. There isn’t enough activity happening in that marketplace. 

Analyze the marketplace and its prices. So, if you start doing transactions, will each transaction provide you with enough money to survive for a month or two? Or 3. Therefore, ensure there’s activity in the marketplace and that the price point is suitable for what you’re doing. Work it backward from your splits. If you’re going to start in commercial real estate with a 55% split and an average commission of 2-3%, whatever it may be, make sure you can earn enough money to really make it work. And the same with residential. Research the company to ensure they have a strong reputation. Look at the marketplace, look at the competition in the marketplace, and understand what it’s going to take you to really get to be the number one in that marketplace. 

And, I can tell you, Cosmos, about residential and commercial. If you truly know your market better than everyone else, you will move up a lot faster. I would say that approximately 80 percent of the brokers in our industry are not well-versed in the marketplace. They’re working, so be the person who knows it. Now, as far as real estate investing, the same thing. It all comes down to doing due diligence before you even step out into the investing world. Know which asset class, know which market, and completely understand it. Educate yourself. There are numerous videos available for you to watch right now. Please ensure they’re with people who really do the business, because here’s some advice I give to new people. Don’t take advice from people who are where you’re at right now. Get advice from people who are where you want to be. Those are the people you want to talk to, and what did they go through to get there? Take the time to invest in both brokers and talk to the right people. 

And if you go on YouTube and see how I made my first million by the time I was 25, or how I made my first million by the time I was 30. Don’t waste your time with those videos. They’ve probably never done it. They’re just selling a product or a course. Talk to people who have really done it. I try to do that with the Joe Killinger Co. The website has educational content. 

There are books. I wrote a booklet, ‘Your First 90 Days in Commercial Real Estate.’ It applies to residential as well. That’s free under, under learn. There are several booklets that I’ve written, which are included. There are various tools available for everyone to use. It’s all free. You can visit the website to obtain it. We post videos on the YouTube channel every day. And, as a matter of fact, I’m getting ready to do one here in a little bit. It’s about your reputation in the marketplace and its importance. And most people don’t realize that the content you’re putting out is building your reputation. You have to really think about it. That’ll be a video that comes out next week.

Cosmos

This is amazing, Joe. And I would recommend that my audience, if they’re interested in getting into real estate, look at your website and booklet, because that’s what will help them get on the right track.

And Joe, are there any other projects that you’re working on that you’d like the audience to get a glimpse into?

Joe

Well, we are. I can’t really. We’re raising money for a syndication. Not. I can’t really pitch that because. But we are doing and raising that. So, if you have questions about raising a syndication, I’ve actually written blogs about it, and we’ve done videos on the topic. However, if you require assistance with commercial real estate mortgages, Icon Capital Advisors is one of our companies, and we’d be happy to help you. 

And we’re always looking for. Now, the commercial real estate affiliate network. What that is, is a. It’s, a group of commercial real estate independent brokerages around the country. We also have five outside of the country. We all work together to promote one another in our marketplace. 

And so, if you’re an independent commercial real estate brokerage in the area, reach out to me, and I’ll see if we have somebody else in the marketplace. If not, if you’d be a good fit, we’d love to discuss the opportunity with you. There are no fees. One thing I remember from my childhood is a company from Australia called Lorna Jane. I think they’re still around. We opened nine locations for them here in Los Angeles, and then they wanted to expand nationwide. 

However, we had to let them go as a client because we were only based in LA. And that was painful, as you can imagine, because we brought their corporate. Everybody over, we have nine locations, and they are all situated here. It was great when they wanted to be in California, but when they wanted to move back east, we had to give them up to a bigger firm. That’s when I started thinking we need an affiliate network and that we should be a member of one. And I started contacting those affiliate programs that are available. They’re so expensive that no small brokerage can afford to do it. 

We have now set it up so that I have 20-25 members. And we launched during COVID, since I had nothing else to do other than watch our hair grow. Right. 

And so, we launched it, and there are no fees for it unless you send me a deal. And then, once I complete the deal, I offer a 20% referral fee, which is negotiable. Therefore, it provides a means for independent brokerages to collaborate effectively.

Cosmos

That is awesome, Joe. And Joe, how can the audience connect with you again to learn more about you, your company, and everything you do?

Joe

The website is the best, Joe. You can see it right there—Joe Killinger Co. And yeah, happy to talk to anybody. If you have any questions about investing, real estate, becoming a real estate agent, or becoming a broker, I’d be happy to discuss them with you.

Cosmos

That is amazing, Joe. 

And Joe, I’m so glad and grateful that you took the time to come on this podcast and share your knowledge about the real estate industry. And because that is one of the primary ways people can achieve financial freedom. 

And I definitely hope that you take the time to come back to this show later.

Joe

I will. Just count me in.

Cosmos

Yeah.

I want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow extraordinary Americans know.

Thank you. And I want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow extraordinary Americans know that, hey, look, there’s an extraordinary within every one of us. It’s our duty to awaken it and unleash it. Until next time. Bye for now.