Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Real Estate Profits. I'm Griselda, and today we're taking your business from busy to brilliant. You're watching now Media Television.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Real Estate Profits. I'm Griselda, your host, and this is now Media Television. And today we have a very interesting topic on business brokerage. So many people in our audience wonder, what does a business broker do? What is a business brokerage, and what are the benefits of that?
Today we have a very dear guest, an expert in the field, Dr. Dennis Burke, who is going to enlighten us on the topic of business brokerage. Hello, Dr. Burke, how are you?
[00:00:41] Speaker B: Hello, Griselda. How are you?
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Wonderful, thank you. Dr. Burke is a president and senior broker at Property Wise Guys based in Sarasota, Florida. Can you just tell us a little bit about yourself before we get going here, Dr. Burke?
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Essentially, I've been in business my whole life, about 40 years.
That's pretty much all of what I've done between business selling in business selling products and services.
But for a lot of this time, being in real estate, you know, owning, managing, and developing real estate projects, both for our own family portfolio and for other people in the last 11 years got involved in the sale of businesses.
Much of our focus is on the restaurant sector. Restaurants, bars, cafes, all types of food and beverage. And so we help people sell their businesses and people to buy businesses.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: Okay, so, so an investor, a developer, a broker, you've done it all in real estate from a business standpoint, huh?
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Well, if you live a while, you know, you get to do a lot of things.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: Well, I'm glad we have you here to share your wisdom with our audience. So now can you explain what a business broker does in the context of real estate? Many people think they understand, but they feel it's a little bit confusing. Can you kind of just simplify what a business broker does in real estate?
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Well, first of all, I'd like to clarify that the selling of a business is very different from the selling of real estate. They actually are two different asset classes.
Real estate as we know it falls into two subcategories, one that primarily falls into residential or commercial real estate. We just happen to focus primarily in that case on commercial real estate. And then the sale of businesses is the total sale of a total different other commodity, which could range in anything from a coffee shop to a dry cleaners to a car lot, essentially their car sales, all kinds of businesses. And the buyer profile is generally very different for each category because not all people who want to buy a business Want to buy real estate and vice versa.
[00:02:52] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: All right. What a business broker does primarily is gains an understanding of someone's business, the operational and financial side of their business. How is this done? This is done through evaluation of tax returns and other financial documents that the business has. And from that evaluation comes up with various recommendations about what the proper. What the value of that business might be and therefore can recommend to a seller what might be a good price to put the business on the market at, based on the information that me as a business broker would have retrieved and analyzed from the business.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: Okay, so. So you have access to all this information database?
[00:03:40] Speaker B: Well, not initially, but the comparisons are right.
Well, initially I don't have access to any information. I just have a business owner that says, hey, I'm thinking about selling my business, my trucking company, for instance. I need to understand, you know, what my options are, what a typical valuation might be for a company of my size.
And so from that, the release, I request documents to be released, such as three years of tax returns, profit and loss, year to date for the current year.
Right. Balance sheet, a copy of their lease, various things that are normal and standard that a business owner would have. And from that, then I go to work, take several hours looking into those numbers and come up with some. I learn about the business quickly and I come up with some recommendations for them.
[00:04:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And so what I see many business entrepreneurs there is that they don't really know the value of their business. They have their cash flow statement, their balance sheet, their P and L, but they don't really know what should I ask for? What is my business really worth? So that's what you help them value, to determine how much they can get or something that they've dedicated their life to in developing. Correct.
[00:04:55] Speaker B: That's what I do. Yes. And I would say that business selling, like other selling, is somewhat subjective. Like, there's no absolute. Like, if you could hit the bullseye on the dartboard, I would say there's no absolute in the selling of real estate or the selling of a business as far as a value. But what I can say is that the value of a business is based on what a willing buyer and a willing seller will be willing to come together on. And generally, if we had an X, you know, our X line set of lines, it's where the pivot in the middle is the right. The center of all of that is that that is the price.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: But.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: But we have to set structure in motion, pricing structure in order for people to come to that conclusion. Along those various lines.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Now, because it is so subjective and there's so much information to go through, and obviously you've done this many, many times. How does working with a business broker benefit someone looking to buy or sell the business?
[00:05:59] Speaker B: So a business broker from experience has learned an awful lot that everyday person who owns a business wouldn't know about at all. There are about a dozen steps from beginning to end, from the day they sign the listing agreement all the way to the closing table. If you don't stay on track with those steps, that sequence and follow that sequence rigidly, you run the risk of the sale falling apart in any cases throughout the process, and you end up shortening yourself on what money you could collect. There's a lot of little nuances, maybe call them tricks of the trade in business brokerage that everyday owner wants know anything about and won't have the skills to be able to overcome objections and deal with issues that come up. Because selling a business is a highly complex process.
There's an awful lot of emotionality involved because sometimes a seller has owned a business for 25 years and they have some, their heart is still tugging on them about letting go of their baby, so to speak. Yes, we deal with the emotionality that some owners feel about letting go of business that they've owned for a long, long time. We also deal with some of the issues that the adult children have about dad or mom selling the business. And then we have issues with the buyer because the buyer never, most cases, never bought a business through a broker before. So they need a high level of education and consultation as well. So there's a lot of moving trucking parts. It's not like buying a house or a boat or any other thing you might want to buy in your life.
[00:07:30] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. So there's so many pieces and like you say, it's very subjective.
So having a business broker is truly benefits the person buying or selling, because you can make it. It's a business transaction and obviously you're there to do the best or whomever you're representing. Right. The buyer, the seller. But taking all the emotion aside and making sure that you're doing the best for your customers and your clients.
So wonderful. Thank you.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: In about 35 states in the United States, you have to have a license to become a business broker.
And so most people don't really know that.
In Florida, for instance, where I am, Georgia next door, and other neighboring states, you have to be licensed. However, the state and the states of the United States have not identified a true Business broker licensing process.
So what they make you do is take a residential real estate licensing course and pass the state examination.
[00:08:27] Speaker A: Yeah. And so, so do you. I mean obviously that's not enough. Right. There's so much more to buying and selling a business. Not, not just the licensing, but like you say, you have to be well versed in the regulations of many different states to be able to support customers from around the the nation or the world.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: So a couple of things that I've done differently. I went to a specialized school and got an M and A certification. M and A stands for merger and acquisitions. Of course I also have an MBA, went back to school after 26 years out and got an MBA and then subsequently got a DBA. And so I'm sure you know what the differences are, right?
[00:09:05] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:09:05] Speaker A: The Doctorate of Business Administration. Now not many people know that you tell them DBA and think doing business ask not for Dr. Burke. This is a doctorate in business administration. So so obviously you know your stuff. Right. You've been in the business for a long time through experiences and all the transactions that you do. There's a lot of wisdom that you share with your customers. Now last question for you is choosing a business broker. How do I go about. There's so many things to think through.
How do we go about in choosing the right business broker to partner with when we're going through this process?
[00:09:39] Speaker B: I think you have to go, you can go online and do your own due diligence on business brokers. There are companies out there where the individuals that are, they might have a sales license, you know, with the state real estate sales license versus a broker license because it's two different levels of education.
So if your business broker has a broker license in real estate, that means he's held to a much higher standard in the industry of business brokering.
There are classes and courses you can take which designations you wouldn't know anything about if you saw them. They don't need, they wouldn't like be the same as an MBA or a cpa, but they would just be a designation. And you could look and see if they have some of these business brokering type of designations. But if you look up the Internet, where, where I'm at here in Florida, I'm all among just the very three people that I know in the whole state of Florida that have a doctorate in business.
[00:10:43] Speaker A: Wonderful.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Want someone who is high level, who has been a court expert in disputes, you know, between families about valuations and business. You want someone who also can do your real estate as well as your commercial real estate. That is the building that house the business. You want them to sell that or lease that as well as sell the business that you need someone who has an expertise in both areas, not just a sales license in residential real estate.
[00:11:13] Speaker A: Excellent. Well, thank you so much. So we've learned about business brokerage, we've learned about the benefits of using a business broker and even how to go about selecting one. And obviously the purpose is to maximize your profit.
So we'll be right back with more insights on how to optimize scale and succeed. I'm your host, Griselda, and this is NOW Media Television. We'll be right back. We'll be right back with more ways to optimize scale and succeed. This is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television. And we're back. I'm Griselda, and this is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television. Let's keep building smarter together. And we're back with Real Estate Profits. I'm Griselda, your host and this is NOW Media Television. And today we're going to be talking about interesting topic on business brokerage from the man, president and senior broker at Property Wise Guys, who has done many of these deals before, Dr. Dennis Burke. Hello, Dr. Burke.
[00:12:15] Speaker B: Hello. Good morning. How are you?
[00:12:17] Speaker A: Good morning. I'm wonderful, thank you. And how are you in sunny Sarasota, Florida?
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Absolutely amazing here.
[00:12:23] Speaker A: Yeah, wonderful. Absolutely. I'm in Florida myself, as you know, in Melbourne. So it's a very great weather that we have out here. So now the next topic is really talking about your real estate portfolio portfolio and having a sustainable real estate portfolio.
So many people try to build their portfolio and one that really provides consistent income. However, it's really a gamble. They really don't know what to choose, what to put in their portfolio or how to maximize their their returns. So that's the topic that really want to talk about in terms of how do we maximize our real estate portfolio and get the best out of our investment.
So, Dr. Burke, what strategies do you recommend for building a real estate portfolio that gives steady returns?
[00:13:11] Speaker B: You understand how real estate is categorized into two primary areas, residential and commercial and residential.
We have come up with new ways to make money in the last 10 or 15 years. Vacation rental especially is fairly new. With Airbnb, VRBO, there are other methods that people buy real estate and then they lease it out on the short term. And the other factor is the commercial real estate side of it. And commercial real estate mainly consists of office, retail, warehouse and other categories. And so what I know is that if you can get into corporate leases with commercial, that's by far the most stable way to have an income stream.
The reason being is that if you sign a five year lease, triple net, which is a term used in the industry for passing on the expenses to the tenant, yes, you can, then you have stability also with the tenant because it's oftentimes a corporation, maybe it's a law firm, maybe it's a medical practice, but it's more stable than people who are in multifamily residential homes or residential apartments because life takes its toll sometimes and there's a lot of volatility on the residential side. People lose their jobs, things go wrong in life, bills mount up and they don't always or cannot always pay their rent. And so we've seen this in times like during COVID Covid and 911 and other times in our economic cycles. And so for that reason, you know, people argue that residential is a great place to be. We've been there for 15 years. But we found that it's very volatile, way more volatile than other aspects of real estate. And this is why today we're strictly in commercial real estate also.
[00:15:17] Speaker A: You're strictly in commercial, but yes, absolutely. So, so it's important to distinguish between the two. And you're right, right. We have commercial real estate properties ourselves and, and those are five, even 10 years. But you also allow for, you know, increase in, in the amount of rent. Right. There's inflation, there's other factors. So you want to be locked in for a full five or ten years. So you have some of those, you know, the leeway to be able to adjust the contract based on what the market is doing. But, but commercial and residential. And so now you've primarily focused on the commercial side, you said then.
[00:15:50] Speaker B: That's correct. And we've developed some niches in niche areas.
For instance, I learned about a unique model called assemblage.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:03] Speaker B: There'S a process where you might buy a couple of properties, but then you'd also buy the one behind it. You'd buy the one next door to the one in front of it. And so we've been doing this for quite a number of years and been successful assembling property.
And we, we buy them in high density downtown districts means that they have zoning that allows for quite a lot of altitudes. So in our region you can go up as much as 20 stories for for example, and the higher you can go, the more available the property.
And so we buy to sustain and maintain. We fix up old downtown buildings and sustain them for years and years and years. But we only buy them in the first place. If they have prime traffic, they're at intersections, traffic light intersections, and they have capacity to go with vertical. A developer converter vertically build quite a number of units. So for instance, in one of the regions we're in, they allow for 70 units as a baseline number per acre. So maximum of 200 units per acre. So if you have two acres or you have say one acre. Yeah, you can build 70 units up to 200 units if you meet certain guidelines.
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Okay, so you've explored between commercial residential and you've told us the benefits and why you chose to go more into the commercial side. But let's talk about within that commercial stream, diversification. How important is diversification in real estate portfolio investing?
[00:17:43] Speaker B: I mean, it's important, but at the same time there are very defined niches like storage units.
[00:17:52] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:17:52] Speaker B: People stay in the storage and industrial sector, which can be very profitable because let's face it, you don't have bathrooms and showers and storage units.
[00:18:01] Speaker A: Right. It's just.
[00:18:04] Speaker B: Very self service driven.
The office market is not necessarily a good space to be in at the moment, has seen a lot of decline since COVID So large office buildings wouldn't be entirely a great idea.
So what we do is we took, we buy old random office buildings that are less than 5,000, 6,000 square feet, maybe 3,4000, and we repurpose them, we convert them into salon studios and we.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: Into office suites for niches like law firm offices, specialty and other specialties.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Retail as a commodity is still popular, like your neighborhood strip center where you can get the sandwich, the coffee, the pack of beer, the cigarettes in the convenience. So that's still think about next to your house, 10 or 15 minutes from your house, the little convenience store. Whereas big shopping malls are kind of also on their way down.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Yes. That's a lot of rent. Right. For a very big shopping mall, for even the rent within the mall. But. But now, yes, like plazas.
[00:19:08] Speaker B: Right.
[00:19:08] Speaker A: So there's a coffee shop, a tire shop, a crossfit gym. There's different things. And that basically has a lot of customers, a lot of volume coming through. And that is what keeps the commercial side going. Right. But like you say, any office spaces, people go hybrid or just close shops, stop paying the rent and work from home. Right. So. So a lot of that has not been as profitable. So diversifying between the different businesses is what you recommend for our viewers.
[00:19:33] Speaker B: I would say diversifying, but being Being aware of what the key areas are, the key sectors of commercial real estate, knowing that and knowing how to specialize or niche those areas is, is critical because Salon Studios is a profitable business. And you can take old random office buildings and repurpose them into, into Salon Studios.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: Okay. All right. So is it more the services based? So, so businesses that provide a service to customers.
[00:20:06] Speaker B: Yes. So I would just generally say there's still a lot of people who want to work from their house, but state government requires people to have licensing and they need an address. Google required to have a physical address as another example. So what people are looking for is more a small office, what we term is small office for small business that you can get for about maybe anywhere from a thousand dollars upward to $2,000 for one office.
And it's fully turnkey. It has utilities included, it has all the CAM included, it has a wi fi included. And people can work from home and travel, but they have a designated spot to go for to meet people and do their business outside their house.
[00:20:56] Speaker A: Got it. Now let's talk about property management companies. What role do they play in maintaining a successful portfolio? I mean obviously you have several businesses, probably different states, different locations.
How do you manage it all and what role does property management come into play here?
[00:21:12] Speaker B: I think the biggest gripe you'll find in the Investor Real Estate investor section is finding quality and qualified property management companies. There's a lot of volatility bearing in mind that property management companies, you know, they don't own anything, they're just on contract to manage all the nuances, deal with the issues, keep your occupancies up and manage the numbers accordingly. And so they get paid a percentage of the rent collection every month and they may even get paid a percentage of different repairs and such. Handyman goes out or the plumber goes out, whatever that invoice is, they get a portion of that. But the point is that they don't have millions of dollars invested. They haven't personally guaranteed any large loans with any lenders. So their commitment may vary.
And it all comes down to who they hire, you know, because the property management also runs into problems hiring people and then the investors run into problems hiring property management companies. And so it's not so simple, you know.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: Right. So it depends. Right. So is it helpful? Now you mentioned the percentage and we're all well aware of some of us, I have short term rentals myself.
What's a good percentage? Like what is the range out there that you're seeing for. Let's say, Florida.
What's a good percentage that a property management company would ask for in terms of managing your property?
[00:22:39] Speaker B: I think there are just a lot of variables depending on the size of the complex. Like, say if you have 300 units or call it 300 doors or 600 doors or you have 20 doors. Are you just.
I think there's so much goes into. But I believe that in general, it's a general standard of about 10% across the board.
Yes, I think that's fairly consistent. And it's a crapshoot, you know, if you hire a property management company. Yes, we have a. We have a family business, so our adult son is in the business. My wife's in the business.
[00:23:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:15] Speaker B: Other people that we trust in the business, and then we, we do also subcontract. We have a lot of different handyman people we've used, tried and tested over the years. It's a business like a lot of other businesses. You have to weed through a lot of people to get good people that you can rely on to show up and trust.
[00:23:33] Speaker A: Absolutely. And it's very important to make sure that you trust the property management company that you partner with because they're essentially in the business with you and you're paying them a pretty hefty fee. So thank you so much, Dr. Burke. It was a pleasure. And thank you for enlightening our audience with how to sustain a real investment portfolio that provides a steady income. And thank you for the difference between residential commercial diversification and obviously when and when you would not use a property management company. Thank you so much.
[00:24:01] Speaker B: And Griselda, thank you for having me. It was being. It's a pleasure answering your questions and enlightening the audience. Thank you very much.
[00:24:09] Speaker A: Thank you. This is Real Estate Profits with NOW Media Television. We'll be right back with more ways to optimize scale and succeed. This is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Griselda and this is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television. Let's keep building smarter together. Hello and welcome to Real Estate Profits. I'm Griselda, your host and this is NOW Media Television. And today we have a very dear guest, attorney Christopher Nudo from Integrity Law llc, based out of Chicago. And the topic is about protecting real estate investments through estate planning. That's something that we all know we should do, want to do, want to get started. And we put it off for a year and another year and essentially we don't have someone to guide us like Chris to, to really Put it all together.
So really don't know how the real estate assets fit into the estate plan and it kind of just feels like an afterthought. But we have Christopher Nudo here from Integrity Law joining us and I read your bio. Very interesting. I would love for you to share with our audience a little bit about, you know, how you run your law firm. You know, obviously there's a lot of faith based, you know, concepts in how you proceed, which is a little unique and different. We talk about, you know, value proposition. You have a very unique one in your law firm. Can you tell us about that, Chris?
[00:25:38] Speaker C: Absolutely, and thanks for having me. That, you know, we launched Integrity Law based on Christian principles.
We think maintaining a strong value system in our community is important.
Paying back to the community in every way that we can really resonates with the folks in the area and those core Christian beliefs, you know, we hold very dear to ourselves and we share with our clients.
[00:26:16] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And so. So it's very unique. Right, because you don't really see that anywhere. I know, I haven't seen it. I read your bio, bio and I was very impressed. I'm like, wow, people are not just a number or you're not just going from the no. 1 case to the next case to the next client. You really treat someone like a person. You get to understand their needs and, and really you bring this biblical, you know, philosophy, it seems like. Right, so. So it develops a trust, I'm sure, amongst your clients.
[00:26:43] Speaker C: Right, that that is absolutely correct.
[00:26:47] Speaker A: Absolutely. So now let's get into a little bit about the topic here on real estate investing and estate planning. So that's one of your areas of expertise. I know there are many, but why is it important to clue to include real estate holdings in one's estate plan planning, Chris?
[00:27:03] Speaker C: Well, you know, I always like to start from the beginning and say that estate planning is really nothing more than making sure that you've directed your assets to the people you want to receive who, who you want to receive your assets. And having the right people in charge of your estate when you die. And you know, real estate often makes up a great portion of somebody's portfolio, whether it's just your single family home or whether you're an investor with several properties, ensuring that when you die, there is clear direction as to how those properties are to be treated and to whom is supposed to be in charge of them and where ultimately they're supposed to go is absolutely essential.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: Absolutely. And like you say, when it's a single family home, Whether it's a mansion or small home, whatever it is, you want to make sure that it falls into the right hands. But now you also mentioned the investing side of it. So let's talk about that, because obviously, as real estate investors, an entrepreneur would have multiple properties, you know, residential or commercial. So what strategies can investors use to ensure that their properties are passed on according to their wishes? And keep in mind, it could be that they split those up and they wanted to go into several streams or different people. What strategies do you have for our investors?
[00:28:23] Speaker C: You know, I'll just mention a few.
The first one is using the limited liability model, which, you know, in certain states, limited liability companies can be individual companies or you can create what's called a series llc. And when we put individual properties into either a standalone limited liability company or we create a series LLC which, imagine just a master LLC with a number of them in succession below.
In each instant, we can direct different outcomes. We can treat the profits differently, we can treat the ownership differently, we can treat the manager or the person in charge differently. So this gets, gives us ultimate, it gives us a lot of flexibility in the way we treat each property. So if an investor has multiple partners, different, different people, each LLC or each series in the, in the LLC can be treated differently. We can even treat each property different for tax purposes. So it creates tremendous flexibility.
[00:29:49] Speaker A: So, so if you have some people have investments like ourselves, we have investments across five different states, my husband and I. So, so it's important to know that you need to really understand the nuances with, within those different states where you're invested in. Right. And so it makes a difference. Now what about. So for example, some of the complexities that I hear out there is, hey, I have 35 different properties. Wonderful. Obviously they're investing all over the place, but does that mean that they could potentially have 35 different LLCs if they want to keep those separately?
[00:30:22] Speaker C: Absolutely, yes. And they could even have multiple LLC over multiple jurisdictions if their properties cross different states.
And you know, if you're looking for that real isolation, that protection that against a slip and fall or cross contamination between creditors or things of that nature, the limited liability company works really well. However, if you are not as concerned about that limited liability that the LLC provides, using trusts works just as well. And you can use one trust or multiple trusts and create that same type of isolation.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: Okay, now give us a difference between why a trust versus an estate, like what would be the difference and why would you go one way versus the other?
[00:31:16] Speaker C: That's a fantastic Question. So a trust is an instrument within an estate.
So there are many documents that we use in estate planning. We use the common will, we use various trusts, we use powers of attorney, all of these things, when we bring them together, that's considered an estate plan.
So when we talk about the estate, it could have multiple vehicles, it could have the trust, it could have the wills, it could even have the limited liability companies like we discussed. And many times, depending on the size of the investor, we can intertwine many of these concepts together.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Wonderful. Absolutely. So now let's go back to the, the faith base. So obviously you're protecting people's assets, right? You're making sure that they're passed on to whomever the families would like to pass them on. So, so what about the, the faith based concept of really taking care of your customers, taking care of the people, and making sure, number one, that they understand, but also that as they pass on, they have that peace of mind that their assets are going to go to according to their wishes, whatever it is that they wanted to divide the most by. But, but tell me a little bit about how you intertwined the integrity side of it and that trust factor to take care of your customers.
[00:32:41] Speaker C: You know, I hear very often that my clients had been with other attorneys. They sit down with other attorneys and basically that attorney just tells them, they, hey, this is what I'm doing for you. And they use confusing jargon. They basically just say, this is what you're going to pay me and this is what I'm going to do. And the clients leave the meeting with a vague understanding of what's going on. At Integrity Law, we really change that by stopping and listening to what our clients, clients, what's important to our clients. We, we want to know what is, what are your values? What are your family values? What, how does the family relate? You know, families aren't all the same. As a matter of fact, I think as many families as there are, there are differences. And so in each client understanding, sitting and listening and knowing what it is they want. And then I take paper to pen, pen to paper, and I craft the documents to accomplish what they want. And then, most importantly, I take out all the legal jargon. Now, it might be in the doc, it might be in the documents themselves, just for legal protection, but I ensure that I go through those documents with each client and explain to them this is where we have taken the time to craft the outcome that you're looking for based on your goals and values.
[00:34:22] Speaker A: Absolutely. And you know what? I'm here listening to you. And I wish I had met you several years ago when I did my trust in my estate and my will. Because exactly how you described it, right. I felt it was a number. It's a questionnaire. This is my fee. And fill out these questions. And you know, my husband and I went off and did that and. And there was no personal feeling to it. Right. It was just a matter of completing a transaction. Right. I was a number. I was paying my fees and I was actually getting that done. But, you know, obviously yours is different. So highly recommend people out there if you're planning your will, your estate, trust, any of that integrity law. And Christopher Nudo is here to guide you through that process. Like I say, I wish I would have met you several years ago. Ours is done. But heck, if we need to update or anything, I know who to call.
[00:35:08] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: But now, how does proper estate planning really give you that peace of mind for. For real estate investors and for families? I mean, you've talked to us about the process per se, but, you know, as they engage with you and the different philosophy that you bring, how does that give people a peace of mind to work with you or your firm?
[00:35:29] Speaker C: You know, I always start with trying to establish the goals because everybody comes in and they know they're there for estate planning and they know they own a lot of real estate, but they don't really understand what their ultimate goal is. And you should never approach anything that you're going to do in life without knowing what your ultimate outcome is supposed to be. So goals that I speak to, items that I bring up with my clients are, are there. Is their estate going to be subject to any type of estate tax?
So if it is, how do we minimize it? How do we develop the right tools to have a smooth transfer of the asset when they die?
Creditor protection. Are their children creditor protected? And I always say this, and it shocks people.
The greatest transfer of wealth doesn't come from when people die.
Honestly. It can come from divorcing children, children where their spouses get divorced if the assets get commingled as marital property.
Now your assets, which your children have inherited, go off with a dis. With a divorcing spouse. That's often not an outcome people desire. And so it's creating that type of predator protection for your children, addressing special circumstances.
You know, unfortunately, in today's society, we have a lot of children who have health challenges and they might be on Medicaid or Social Security or something at a very young age because of their health challenges. And so making sure that we do special needs trust and various specific planning, they're really taking the characteristic of that family unit.
[00:37:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. So, so wonderful. And thank you for sharing all of those strategies, the peace of mind and really that trust factor. Right. I actually fall into that category of, you know, having someone in our family that, you know, has been served well by different, you know, psychologists and help that we received medically. But it makes a difference. Absolutely makes a difference. So I'm here to testify that absolutely how you do that, it matters. Right. And obviously, when you're just diving into it and learning it all, you need someone like Chris and your office to really bring it all together and help you understand and help you give you that peace of mind for your estate planning.
Chris, thank you so much for sharing your insights and your experience. We've learned a lot, Appreciate it very much.
This is Real Estate Profits and I'm your host, Griselda, with NOW Media Television. We'll be right back.
We'll be right back with more ways to optimize, scale and succeed. This is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television. And we're back. I'm Griselda and this is Real Estate Profits on NOW Media Television. Let's keep building Smarter together. And we're back. This is Real Estate Profits. And I'm Griselda, your host with NOW Media Television. And we're back with Christopher Nudo, attorney from Integrity Law llc, really talking to us about estates trust and how do we do all that with the context of real estate management?
Hello, Chris. Welcome back.
[00:39:00] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:39:02] Speaker A: So the topic today is understanding the role of trust in real estate management.
So many people are unfamiliar with how trust can be used in managing the real estate, and it often feels like a complex legal tool and they basically shy away from that. Can you give us a little perspective as to how that works? Can you explain how trusts work in the context of real estate ownership?
[00:39:24] Speaker C: Absolutely. So I always like to describe a trust as nothing more than a family contract.
It is a contract that you put together where you get to dictate all the line items and things that are important to you that you want to have happen when you can no longer be in control because you either have become incapacitated or you've died. And so what I like to do is sit down with the client and say, how are you running your business today? How do you foresee the business transitioning and to whom you're going to transition it to? And how would you like the profits from that real estate to be either accumulated or paid out into whom and how.
And then how long do you want to hold that real estate in as a package, as an investor package, or do you want to liquidate it and transform it into other investments?
[00:40:27] Speaker A: Excellent. So now in our prior segments, you also talked to us about your very unique approach. And it's really this base based concept of getting to know the people, establishing trust, and really educating them and making them feel comfortable throughout the process.
Can you tell us how you do that? Obviously, I can just tell from speaking with you that that comes naturally to you. How do you make sure that everyone within your law, law firm is doing the same thing, basically representing you and acting like you?
[00:40:55] Speaker C: Yeah. So, you know, there's that old adage about children. Things are caught, not taught. And so we're. The last thing we are here at the law firm is preachy.
We hold our faith very near and dear to our hearts and we just, you know, try to live life according to the biblical model that Christ laid out. And so, you know, just living a life of integrity, which by the way, one definition of integrity is doing the right thing at all times, even when nobody's looking. And so that is, that's kind of the standard that I try to model and everybody, everybody within this great team of mine tries to model that as well.
[00:41:50] Speaker A: Wonderful. And absolutely. And that is something very unique and very valuable. So obviously integrity law has been very successful. Making sure that they're taking care of their clients and making them feel like a person.
[00:42:01] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:42:01] Speaker A: Now, on the real estate front, what are the benefits of placing real estate assets into a trust?
[00:42:08] Speaker C: The number one benefit is the avoidance of probate.
Probate is the court administered process that a will goes through. Or if you die without a will, your estate has to be administered through this probate process. A trust acts outside of the probate process, and so it is more efficient, it is less expensive to administer, and it can be administered more quickly. And it has many more. You can craft it to be far more flexible and complex than you can your traditional will.
[00:42:48] Speaker A: So, so there's specific scenarios where using a trust is particularly advantageous. For people who invest in real estate.
[00:42:55] Speaker C: I would say a trust is always more advantageous than a will. When you're investing in real estate, even if you use the trust as your holding company, where ultimately all of your assets flow into this trust, then you have just one document that is crafted to care for the family, and that's what the trust would do.
[00:43:21] Speaker A: Absolutely. Wonderful. So, so you've told us about trust the benefits of. And obviously how you at Integrity Law and your team really get everyone's understanding, their values, their what is it that they want? Post life, obviously, making sure that their wishes come to life. Right. That it is according to what they want to have happen.
Now, how do our viewers get a hold of you? Can you share your website or you know, how. How do they get a hold of Integrity Law and yourself?
[00:43:49] Speaker C: Yep. The. The easiest way is to go to our website, which is Integrity Law, and that's N T G r I t y law.com integrity law.
[00:44:03] Speaker A: Okay. And then you service what areas? I mean, you say you're based in Chicago, but where. Where do you service? Only that area or is the different.
[00:44:10] Speaker C: We mainly service the Chicago and Chicago metro area, which is extremely large, but we have many contacts with many good colleagues throughout the country.
So if we don't service that area, we're glad to make a referral to a law firm that holds the same values that we hold.
[00:44:36] Speaker A: And so you have a network and obviously you're referring people to others, and that's fantastic. How do you ensure that they are. So obviously, if someone would go to Integrity Law, like you've told a lot, you know, shared with me here, how do we make sure that it's going to be the same feeling, the same trust factor, the same philosophy?
[00:44:54] Speaker C: Well, for our strategic partners that I work with, we meet quarterly with these law firms and share our values, our approaches, and the way we do business. So I have those personal relationships with those strategic law firms throughout the country that I work with closely.
Obviously, I don't have a strategic partner everywhere in the country. That would be wonderful. But I don't what, what I do is many times I will vet law firms that I've never worked with ahead of time, calling the firm, learning a little bit about their practice and how they approach things. It's not 100%. It doesn't work every single time. But we've been very successful in creating alliances with many very good law firms throughout the country and making strong referrals.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And so you mentioned a lot. We talked about trust, wills, estates. Now, can you give us a list of all the different services? Obviously, and I read through your bio, there's a lot of services that you provide. I want to make sure I didn't miss any. And then obviously, what are, what's your client base? Like, who are the organizations or people that you primarily work with?
[00:46:10] Speaker C: So the areas of law we really focus on is the estate planning, which is the wills and trust and powers of attorney. We also do the probate side of it because as you can imagine, there's a great deal of people who don't plan before they die. So we care for their families after their loved ones have passed on. We also do a lot of mergers and acquisition. That's business succession law, where individuals who own their own businesses die. What we really the missing piece that a lot of people don't put together is that mergers and acquisitions and business succession law is just estate planning for people who own their own businesses. Those two things go hand in hand. So we do a lot of that and then finally we do a lot of real estate work, whether it would be on the residential or commercial side. All of these areas, these four areas really intertwined together very nicely.
Finally, we do a lot of work with not for profits churches and ministries and we help them with their contracts and their tax issues and their bylaws and things of that nature. Just, you know, trying to support the Christian faith.
[00:47:28] Speaker A: Wonderful. So now on the M and A front. So a lot of people when they're doing mergers and acquisitions, they talk about succession planning. Is that what you mean by this or is there beyond succession planning to make sure that not only successor while they're still, you know, living with us, but beyond that. Can you tell us more about that?
[00:47:45] Speaker C: Absolutely. So as there is with creating your estate plan and then administering it after you die, succession planning and mergers and acquisitions are the same thing. You for these, the investor who has just a few folks, or maybe they're there by themselves, owning their business by themselves, making the plan ahead of time will ensure that the succession of it either before they die or after they die, goes according to their terms. And so mergers and acquisition and succession planning really do our synonymous in with as we're discussing it here?
[00:48:29] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, Christopher Nudo, thank you so much for sharing your unique concept and really engaging with your clients and customers. Thank you for sharing about Trust Estates Wills. So for our viewers out there, if you have one in place already, fantastic. But if you don't, contact Chris Nudo here who can either help you themselves and or connect you with someone that will treat you like a person as he mentioned in his Christian faith beliefs, greatly appreciate you and so you've shared your website. Anything else you want to share as to how our viewers can get a hold of you? Chris?
[00:49:06] Speaker C: No, that's honestly the best way at our website. They can either chat with a live person or call us or email us. Those are the they can even text us. So there's many, many ways once you get to the website to get a hold of us.
[00:49:23] Speaker A: Okay. And once again, the website name is.
[00:49:26] Speaker C: Integrity law.com NT NTG R I T Y law.com Perfect.
[00:49:36] Speaker A: And I wanted you to spell it because I actually put the I in there before I was getting to know you, but nt egrity integritylaw.com well, thank you so much. Love having you on our show and thank you for sharing your wisdom with our audience.
I'm Griselda, your host, and this is Real Estate Profits with Now Media Television.
Thank you, Chris.
[00:49:58] Speaker C: Thank you.
