REITD 013: Todd Brittingham and John Rospierski - New Construction Builders
08/13/14 • 47 min
In this episode I talk to Todd Brittingham and John Rospierski.
Together they formed a new build construction company about a year ago. John's background is in homebuilding, and Todd and his wife Kelly are real estate investors here in the metro are. I'm having Kelly on the show in a couple of weeks to talk about their other real estate investing activities.
Oh and Todd also has a day job. Talk about being productive. These guys are just flat out getting it done.
Crowdfunding News
As I mentioned in a prior REI News segment, for the last couple of months I've been working on a project involving Crowdfunding.
If you're not familiar with it, Crowdfunding is where you openly solicit investors you don't know to invest in your business. If you'd looked into this before you know that this used to be highly illegal, and there are several people that you would probably know by name in jail right now for running afoul of the SEC rules regarding general solicitation.
But that has changed. A couple of years ago Congress passed a law allowing general solicitation, or Crowdfunding. But as the federal government is prone to do, the implementation of the law has made it about as difficult and expensive as it was before.
Michigan, however, recently passed its own law on Crowdfunding within the state. It's much simpler to do. It's less regulated. And it's FAR less expensive to implement than the federal law.
So I've teamed up with a local securities attorney to put together an educational program on how to implement Crowdfunding in your business.
It will be held on Saturday, September 27 at 9am in Southfield.
If you've been looking for a way to take your business to the next level with additional funding, then I highly recommend you attend the seminar. By the time you leave you'll have all the knowledge you need to get started with your own Crowdfunding campaign.
You can find the details at CrowdfundingEducation.com.
Current Business
Todd and John are primarily doing new construction, although they have taken on a major fire restoration project as well.
If you haven't seen pictures of the project they just finished, you should take a look at the website below. It looks spectacular.
How They Got Started in REI
John's family has been in the home building business for years, and it was natural to follow in the family footsteps to do the same. He rose to be the youngest construction superintendent ever at the company he was with, but that was cut short by the economic downturn in 2006 and 2007. Todd has been a real estate investor for five years, first buying rentals for his own portfolio and then starting a highly profitable Turn Key rental business. When that business started to wane he started looking for something else. He then partnered up with John and they formed Edwin Anthony Homes.
Money Talks
Todd and John are using various sources of money for their business. They're looking for additional private money to grow their business so they can take on more and larger projects.
Have / Want
Todd and John are looking for additional private money. They're also reaching out to real estate agents who have vacant lots to see if there might be an opportunity to add value by building something. They're also seeking retail buyers and additional investors with lots or tear-downs who are looking for a high quality builder to work with.
Links and Resources and Information
1. You can contact Todd via his cell phone at (248) 917-4416. His email address is [email protected].
2. You can contact John via his cell phone at (248) 929-2474. His email address is [email protected]
3. You can visit them on their website at Edwin Anthony Homes
4. You can see their recently-completed new build project at 507Gardenia.com
If you have feedback on the show, a question you’d like answered, a news item, or perhaps a recommendation of someone you’d like me to interview, or if you’d like to be a guest on the show, go to http://www.REITalkDetoit.com/contact and let me know about it.
In this episode I talk to Todd Brittingham and John Rospierski.
Together they formed a new build construction company about a year ago. John's background is in homebuilding, and Todd and his wife Kelly are real estate investors here in the metro are. I'm having Kelly on the show in a couple of weeks to talk about their other real estate investing activities.
Oh and Todd also has a day job. Talk about being productive. These guys are just flat out getting it done.
Crowdfunding News
As I mentioned in a prior REI News segment, for the last couple of months I've been working on a project involving Crowdfunding.
If you're not familiar with it, Crowdfunding is where you openly solicit investors you don't know to invest in your business. If you'd looked into this before you know that this used to be highly illegal, and there are several people that you would probably know by name in jail right now for running afoul of the SEC rules regarding general solicitation.
But that has changed. A couple of years ago Congress passed a law allowing general solicitation, or Crowdfunding. But as the federal government is prone to do, the implementation of the law has made it about as difficult and expensive as it was before.
Michigan, however, recently passed its own law on Crowdfunding within the state. It's much simpler to do. It's less regulated. And it's FAR less expensive to implement than the federal law.
So I've teamed up with a local securities attorney to put together an educational program on how to implement Crowdfunding in your business.
It will be held on Saturday, September 27 at 9am in Southfield.
If you've been looking for a way to take your business to the next level with additional funding, then I highly recommend you attend the seminar. By the time you leave you'll have all the knowledge you need to get started with your own Crowdfunding campaign.
You can find the details at CrowdfundingEducation.com.
Current Business
Todd and John are primarily doing new construction, although they have taken on a major fire restoration project as well.
If you haven't seen pictures of the project they just finished, you should take a look at the website below. It looks spectacular.
How They Got Started in REI
John's family has been in the home building business for years, and it was natural to follow in the family footsteps to do the same. He rose to be the youngest construction superintendent ever at the company he was with, but that was cut short by the economic downturn in 2006 and 2007. Todd has been a real estate investor for five years, first buying rentals for his own portfolio and then starting a highly profitable Turn Key rental business. When that business started to wane he started looking for something else. He then partnered up with John and they formed Edwin Anthony Homes.
Money Talks
Todd and John are using various sources of money for their business. They're looking for additional private money to grow their business so they can take on more and larger projects.
Have / Want
Todd and John are looking for additional private money. They're also reaching out to real estate agents who have vacant lots to see if there might be an opportunity to add value by building something. They're also seeking retail buyers and additional investors with lots or tear-downs who are looking for a high quality builder to work with.
Links and Resources and Information
1. You can contact Todd via his cell phone at (248) 917-4416. His email address is [email protected].
2. You can contact John via his cell phone at (248) 929-2474. His email address is [email protected]
3. You can visit them on their website at Edwin Anthony Homes
4. You can see their recently-completed new build project at 507Gardenia.com
If you have feedback on the show, a question you’d like answered, a news item, or perhaps a recommendation of someone you’d like me to interview, or if you’d like to be a guest on the show, go to http://www.REITalkDetoit.com/contact and let me know about it.
Previous Episode
REITD 012: Brian Borawski - CPA for Real Estate Investors in Metro Detroit
In this episode I talk to Brian Borawski.
Brian is a CPA who happens to have several real estate investors as clients in this area - including me. I've used Brian for several years now, and it's been great to have a knowledgable person like him available when issues come up like the sale of one of my apartment buildings back in January of 2013.
The great thing about Brian is that he's versatile. I found him during my search for a CPA who knew real estate investing in depth, but he's also been very helpful in creating and managing a corporation that I set up for an Information Technology consulting business I started two years ago.
A Word About Motivated Seller Leads
Just a short year ago the question that I got most often from real estate investors here was how to fund deals. Lately though, with the market tightening up and a ton of new investors entering the space, the question I get most often is how to find motivated seller leads.
I started in REI here in 2004. And the source that I started with was Probate leads.
And ten years later in 2014 - I'm still using them. In fact, I never stopped. The reason is that they are a tremendous source of leads. There's not a lot of competition, and there are plenty to choose from. Plus - they're easy to find, cheap to buy, and simple to process.
If you're someone who's having trouble finding motivated sellers, then I highly encourage you to start chasing probates.
And I also encourage you to use my educational program as your roadmap.
It's $97 and it includes my six letter sequence and my excel tracking and follow up spreadsheet. In short - it includes everything you need to start chasing probates today.
Check it out at Probate Real Estate 101.
How He Got Started Working with Real Estate Investors
Brian has an interesting story.
He started with a day job at the Taubman Company, which develops and owns upscale shopping malls around the country. There he was exposed to complex real estate accounting transactions. While working for Taubman he started a blog website for the Detroit Tigers because he's a huge baseball fan.
He started accepting advertising on his site - and he realized that it could be a very lucrative side business. So he started additional blogs, and at his peak had over three dozen active baseball-related blogs with 30 college students writing for him. When it got to the point where the advertising revenue provided enough income, he quit his job and went full-time into blogging.
That lasted two years until Google changed their search algorithms and 70% of his revenue disappeared.
He flirted with getting another day job, but decided to open his own CPA practice instead.
Having had an interest in real estate investing, and also realizing that it might be good for business development, he started attending REIA meetings and he also attended several real estate seminars. He picked up numerous real estate investor clients along the way, which was good for his bottom line, but it pushed his desire to get into real estate investing to the back burner.
Taxes and REI
You don't need a crystal ball to know that taxes are only going one way - and that's up.
I asked Brian if there's anything that we as real estate investors can do to prepare for it. His main piece of advice is to keep excellent records and documentation, because he thinks that the IRS will be going after "low hanging fruit" - and that means real estate investors.
He also offered to sit down with you to take a look at your business and prior year taxes. That would be a great way to understand what your options are in an environment where taxes are expected to rise sharply.
Answer to Listener Submitted Question
The listener question I asked Brian was "Why shouldn't I do my taxes myself and save a couple of hundred bucks a year?"
He had a couple of reasons why that's not the greatest idea.
The first is time. It may take him a couple of hours to complete a tax return for a real estate investor. But it could take the investor 10 to 20 hours to complete it. Even if the investor could do the work as well as a CPA, wouldn't the investor be better off putting those hours into his REI business rather than doing taxes?
The second is expertise. Using a retail tax prep software package will not give an investor the same comprehensive view that a human CPA, who know REI can. It's just not possible. So it's likely that by saving a couple of hundred dollars by doing taxes yourself you're costing yourself thousands of dollars in missed deductions.
Haves and WantsBrian has one item to offer.
A complementary one hour consultation.
That's how I met him, and I encourage you to take advantage of his offe...
Next Episode
REITD 014: Dave Sullivan - Regular Guy Buy-and-Hold Investor and DIYer
In this episode I talk to my good friend Dave Sullivan.
Dave is a classic buy-and-hold investor. He characterizes it as "regular guy" investing.
My business is pretty similar to his - and so I agree with his characterization. It's not sexy - there are no frills. But the cash flow keeps rolling in month after month after month after month.
Dave graduated from Western Michigan University in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in Finance. He started in the mortgage industry as a loan officer in 1991. Less than one year later started selling credit reports to Mortgage Companies, Banks and Credit Unions.
On September 19, 1997 he started AIR Credit Midwest out of his car.
Over the next two years Air Credit Midwest grew to a multi-million dollar company. In 2000 he was approached by one of the largest Credit Reporting Bureau’s in the nation to purchase AIR Credit Midwest. He sold it and worked for that company as Sales Manager of the Michigan and Ohio market for the next ten years.
During his career in the credit industry he has personally reviewed thousands of credit reports and credit scores.
He started investing in real estate in 2008.
Crowdfunding News
As I mentioned in a prior REI News segment, for the last couple of months I've been working on a project involving Crowdfunding.
If you're not familiar with it, Crowdfunding is where you openly solicit investors you don't know to invest in your business. If you'd looked into this before you know that this used to be highly illegal, and there are several people that you would probably know by name in jail right now for running afoul of the SEC rules regarding general solicitation.
But that has changed. A couple of years ago Congress passed a law allowing general solicitation, or Crowdfunding. But as the federal government is prone to do, the implementation of the law has made it about as difficult and expensive as it was before.
Michigan, however, recently passed its own law on Crowdfunding within the state. It's much simpler to do. It's less regulated. And it's FAR less expensive to implement than the federal law.
So I've teamed up with a local securities attorney to put together an educational program on how to implement Crowdfunding in your business.
It will be held on Saturday, September 27 at 9am in Southfield.
If you've been looking for a way to take your business to the next level with additional funding, then I highly recommend you attend the seminar. By the time you leave you'll have all the knowledge you need to get started with your own Crowdfunding campaign.
You can find the details at CrowdfundingEducation.com.
Biggest Mistake and Biggest Success
His biggest mistake and biggest success are tied together - and both involve the same house.
One of the strategies he pursued before Dodd-Frank was to sell his homes on land contract.
He sold one on a a two year note. And just one month prior to the two year mark, and after making all their payments, the tenants decided that they wanted out of the deal. So they got the paperwork done and parted company.
When Dave's wife went over to the house a couple of days later however, she found that one of the tenants had broken in, plugged the floor drain on the lower level, and flooded the house.
The repairs cost them about seven grand.
The biggest success came when they sold the house again, and got some good up front cash.
So they turned a really nasty situation into a win.
Money Talks
Dave is using family money to fund his business right now. He'd still like to get into an apartment building some time soon, and at that point he'll likely be open to using private money.
Have / Want
Dave is selling the last of his rentals that he'll be selling.
It's fully updated and so it will be a retail sale. It's listed for $114,000.
The address is 2365 Fairfield in Garden City. You can find the virtual tour here: http://youtu.be/i2QAwiWjKbQ
Links and Resources and Information
1. You can contact Dave via email at [email protected]
2. Or you can reach him via his website at TheCreditGuyTV
3. Here's the site where Dave has his six credit repair videos: 6 steps to improve your score
If you have feedback on the show, a question you’d like answered, a news item, or perhaps a recommendation of someone you’d like me to interview, or if you’d like to be a guest on the show, go to
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