Changing your mindset to fuel growth with Jorge Abreu

Every real estate journey is unique, with unexpected detours often leading to exciting new opportunities. Such is the case for Jorge Abreu, Co-Founder, and CEO of Elevate Investment Group. ‍

We had the pleasure of chatting with Jorge for the 11th episode of The DealMakers Podcast. The episode explores Jorge’s real estate path and how he made the jump from single-family to multi-family properties.

Meet Jorge Abreu

Jorge Abreu is the CEO and Managing Director of Elevate Commercial Investment Group. He’s been an active real estate investor for over 15 years, starting in single-family and small multi-family properties.

‍Throughout his early career in single-family investing, he tried different strategies – from fix-and-flips, wholesales, and rentals to starting a construction company and a roofing sales company. ‍

After investing in a few small multi-family properties, he discovered the syndication model, and everything changed for him:

“I did not know you could do that with apartments. I thought you had to come in with a million-plus dollars of your own money to buy these apartments. And I didn’t realize that you could put investors together and [start] a partnership. As soon as I found that out, I became a bit obsessed with it.”

After his eureka moment with syndication over four years ago, Abreu dove headfirst into multi-family properties.

As CEO of Elevate CIG, Jorge has over $325 million in assets under management, including 100+ unit properties. The group has 6849 doors (as of this recording) located throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, and South Dakota.

The transition from single-family to multi-family investing was challenging and required a learning curve and a change in approach.

Abreu’s 4 keys to multi-family investment success

The podcast covered a few of the elements to which Jorge attributes his strong multi-family performance. Four of the most important principles are:

Don’t underestimate mindset

Abreu had to “completely change” his mindset moving from single-family to multi-family properties.

To foster a growth mindset, he needed get used to getting out of his comfort zone. He mentions one Tony Robbins quote in particular that stuck with him:

“If you tell yourself you can’t do something, then that means you must.”

Initially, Abreu was resistant to create video content or speak on stage. But he realized that he had to shift his mindset. He couldn’t market a multi-family business the same way he did when he was focusing on single-family properties.

Now, social media content creation and speaking engagements are key components to the success of his brand and business.

Networking is essential

Building relationships is a must in the multi-family space. And as a General Partner (GP), consistent deal flow is the lifeblood of the business. Abreu has worked hard to build connections and increase his own profile and that of Elevate. He explains:

“I’ve got a mastermind that I host, and I started a coaching program as well. It’s a place for me to connect with co-GPs.”

That’s in addition to the events he attends throughout the year and his active social media presence, which has definitely paid off. With a chuckle, he notes, “My social media messages get pretty busy sometimes.”

Doing everything isn’t sustainable

In the single-family space, Abreu was accustomed to wearing every hat and loading himself with more and more responsibilities. He admits:

“At some point through this journey, I did find myself spread too thin. The construction company was growing and becoming a beast of its own. At the same time, I decided to open a roofing sales branch within my company. Then, on top of that, I was starting to do multi-family.”

Even though he was doing a lot, he admitted he wasn’t doing any of it really well.

If you want to scale, you need a solid team

Once he realized he couldn’t keep working “24 hours in a 24-hour day”, Jorge started focusing on growing his team to tackle the multi-family market. He started bringing in team members that could set his company up for growth.

How did that affect his life and business? “Complete change. My entire life changed.” He attributes a lot of Elevate’s success to the systems and processes they have set up. The team members have defined roles and responsibilities, so the business isn’t solely dependent on any one individual.

Additional Takeaways

Along with his keys to success, Jorge added a few more nuggets of wisdom for the multi-family market:

• Don’t be desperate to make a deal – No deal is better than a bad deal. Don’t go into a deal unless you’re certain the deal makes sense.
• Know your criteria – Have a predetermined set of criteria through which you can filter potential deals. Analyze deals quickly and have an effective screening process, so you don’t waste time with opportunities you know won’t be a fit.
• Learn to say “no” – If you say yes to every task, role, or request, you can’t focus on what’s really important. He explains, “I learned to say no, and that was tough. But once I did, it has really taken me to the next level.”

We appreciate Jorge Abreu sharing so much of his real estate wisdom with us. Check out the full episode to hear more of what he had to share.

And if you haven’t listened to the previous episodes of the podcast, you can check them out on the The DealMakers Podcast.

Bonus content

For podcast listeners, Abreu is willing to share his “arsenal of free content”. Email him at [email protected], and tell him you heard him on The DealMakers Podcast to get the bonus.