Today we’d like to introduce you to David Friedman
Hi David, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I found my passion early in life at the age of 18 — real estate. I was a bit of a trouble-maker in high school with a lot of energy and probably some undiagnosed ADHD, so my father gave me an ultimatum: If you continue on your current path you’ll end up in jail. If you change your path now to something productive, you could be very successful. I chose the latter and decided to get my real estate salesperson license. This was in 2011 when the market had just started to come out of its decline. Zillow was just starting to sell advertising to agents and flipping wasn’t a thing known by every Dick, Jane and Harry.
In my first year I sold 17 homes using Zillow advertising as well as networking within my circle of friends. Online advertising was a true game changer in those times. I was going to college full time and running a real estate business full time from my dorm. Somehow I still found time to party, I promise. While showing a client a home, they were in disgust at the condition of the carpet. I tried reasoning with them that it would be an easy fix and that the home seemed to be priced well below the market. They refused to see past the carpet and it was at that moment I knew there was a huge opportunity in front of me.
I starting making offers on fixer uppers in the Inland Empire. I put together a team of contractors, investors, and project managers and we started purchasing homes wherever we could get them. We were at the courthouse auctions, working with wholesalers and even sending out our own mailers to try and get deals. We grew quickly. Too quickly. At one point we were flipping close to 100 homes per year and it became impossible to scale. My project managers were running ragged and my contractors just couldn’t keep up. HGTV made flipping “cool” and the margins became less and less. The writing on the wall became apparent. Flipping just wasn’t sustainable anymore with the leverage we were trying to use. We started to sell off all of our homes and decided we needed to invest in real estate that was more scalable. Instead of investing in 10 single-family homes all over the Inland Empire at the same time, what if we invested in commercial property with multiple units in the same location?
We ended up choosing Downtown San Bernardino as our homebase and we got to work. The first commercial property we bought was a two unit retail building that had a few homeless people living inside. I reached out to the owner and he forgot he owned the building! He agreed to sell it to me and carry back a note so we could fix it up and get conventional financing later. 7 years later we own over 150,000 sq. ft. of commercial property in the Inland Empire and we are still eager to expand. At the same time, we realized that the backbone of our business was how well we managed our properties after we purchased them. So we have grown our property management firm tremendously to assist our commercial and residential clients at the same time. We now manage properties for National REIT firms, shopping centers and urban, mixed-use towers.
As we look towards the future and the next step for our firm, we find ourselves getting into real estate development. We created our own tea and coffee concept, Viva La Boba, with our co-founder, Tansu Philip, so we could create a third place for the community, continue investing in commercial real estate without as much speculation as well as test out developing a scalable food and beverage concept. We opened our first location in 2019 in San Bernardino, CA. We are opening our second Viva La Boba in Redlands, CA as I write this article. Finally, we are completing a build-to-suit drive-through for Ono Hawaiian Grill as part of the 5th Street Gateway Project in San Bernardino.
When I see a vacant piece of land or a dilapidated building, I think not about what it is, but about what it could be. A neglected property is just an opportunity for those willing to take the risk. Giving these forgotten spaces new life is what I consider my artform and my way of giving back to my community.
Thank you for reading my story and please stay in touch as I continue building a sustainable business, hiring talented people, providing excellent customer service to our clients, and uplifting our community; all through my passion, real estate.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There is no such thing as a smooth road for an entrepreneur. If the business problem was one that was easily solved, it most likely wouldn’t be a lucrative or fulfilling venture. My company has met many challenges on our road to growth as well as facing many of my own personal challenges along the way.
Finding the right staff has and always will be a challenge. Finding a team that is loyal, has a willingness to learn, understands the company mission and has the work ethic to carry it out, takes time to find and mold. As a new entrepreneur, you will hire the wrong people, but the phrase, “hire slowly, fire quickly,” really rings true. I’ve hired people that quit after two days or that spent most of their time the first day on TikTok instead of going over their training (TikTok wasn’t a part of their job description). I’ve learned its important to be flexible, but not when it comes to the vitality of your team. If you have someone who is pushing their work onto someone else or are creating a toxic environment for your team, you have to let them go.
As a company focused on growth, cash flow will always be an issue. There are pros and cons to taking on investors and you will simultaneously have too much labor cost and not enough business to hire the next person that you need. Obtaining large clients will force you to have solid systems in place otherwise your failure could be a large hit to your reputation. Our first large shopping center client found us from our great client reviews, but we had only had experience managing up to four-tenant retail strip centers at this point. I reached out to a mentor of mine who helped guide us through the property management issues that our new client was facing and we were able to get his property back on track. We had to hire new vendors and renegotiate with 8 expired leases in the span of 3 months. We were able to not only improve our client’s gross revenue, but reduce his vendor expenses, improve services to his tenant and help him refinance to a lower rate with lower insurance. Having a solid network of commercial real estate people you can trust and lean on is important when you are taking the risk to grow your company.
We’ve been impressed with Realicore Real Estate Group, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Realicore is a full-service real estate firm with deep roots in the Inland Empire community. We specialize in commercial property management and development with a keen focus on retail. What started as just a father-son brokerage, has now grown into a multi-faceted business with multiple agents, property managers, and several strong departments. Our company is headquartered in San Bernardino, CA. We intentionally opened in Downtown so that we could be a part of the city’s revitalization. We are very community-oriented and give back by creating opportunities for small local businesses such as art galleries, boutiques, barbershops and other unique businesses to thrive in quality spaces built by us. We are completing our first ever ground-up development in 2024, a drive-though, Ono Hawaiian Grill as a part of the 5th Street Gateway Project in San Bernardino. We are proud of our investments back into the community and we hope to continue growing our firm by providing our clients with the best service of any property management firm out there.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
That characteristics that I feel are important to my success are:
– My ability to follow up and stay organized using my calendar, CRM tools and even old-school pen to paper notes.
– My ability to connect with people and built a trusting relationship with them.
– A strong work ethic and leading by example. If no one is cleaning the toilet, then you bet I’m going to get on my knees and scrub that toilet.
– Knowing when to delegate and how to teach others in a way that they can best learn.
– Knowing when to take the gas off the pedal with my team and reward them for their hard work.
– I am always willing to educate myself, learn from my mistakes and take accountability.
– A strong customer-service oriented approach to our property management clients and their tenants.
Pricing:
- First month of property management free if you mention this article!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.realicore.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realicorerealestate
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realicorerealestate/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Realicore
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/realicore-property-management-san-bernardino
