The Chris Voss Show - The Chris Voss Show Podcast – Crystal Lou, Founder & CEO of CLou Capital

Episode Date: August 3, 2022

Crystal Lou, Founder & CEO of CLou Capital Cloucapitalllc.com

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They have an amazing CEO and founder on the show. Crystal Liu is with us today. She runs the organization out of, I believe, is it Georgia? Yeah. Yeah. Atlanta. Yeah. Atlanta, Georgia.

C. Liu Capital, LLC. She's the CEO and founder of that company. She's joining us today. Welcome to the show. How are you? Thank you. Thank you. Good. How are you? Good, good, good, good. So give us your dot com so we can find you on the interwebs. So my website is seeingthecapital.com. I run a real estate investment and development firm. Awesome. And so give us a little bit of background on you. How long have you been doing that and what got you started in that business? Well, I started about two years ago. I was networking like crazy,

having like 10 to 15 meetings a day with everyone and anyone in the real estate realm from brokers to agents to syndicators, underwriters, kind of you name it. And then met a developer. We had, we started building an amazing relationship and then i started raising capital for him i raised like 10 million in under 30 days and then he was like yeah we should definitely partner so now i raise all the capital for for our companies and help clients as well raise capital also that's pretty awesome yeah what different projects that we have so what projects do you specialize in we specialize in like multi-family mixed use new development that we have. So what projects do you specialize in? We specialize in like multifamily, mixed use, new development projects. We have projects all over from Georgia, Florida. We got a land acquisition deal in Arkansas and one in Franklin, Tennessee, but those are

kind of, they're getting their business plans and stuff like that together right now. But a lot of our new development deals are in Georgia and in Florida as well. And so what do you do for, you know, new clients, prospective clients that you're working with or people that would want to do business with you? Do you handle, you know, all regions across the nation or do you specialize in kind of that region down in the state? So when I'm working with clients, I work from the private money standpoint from the equity position side, but then I also work on debt as well because we have relationships with banks. And so I'm able to raise capital from the equity standpoint and then get debt as well for certain projects that we have. And so able to kind of fund it in and of

itself fully to be able to execute the projects because we do everything from land acquisition to the construction piece to the development to, you know, putting the ribbon at the end. So we're kind of like an all-in-one company. Nice. And so if companies are needing that sort of help, they need assistance in getting everything done, what are the places to go for that? Yep.

Yeah, we're like an all-in-one stop shop. So I'll have clients come to me asking for help in regards to the debt side and or equity. So I'll reach out to Mindbusters that I have and or the capital partners that I have as well to help me raise funds. And then I'll execute it for them. Nice. Is there a bottom line limit to what sort of projects you want to work on, like a lower limit to an upper limit, or how does that work? Yeah, it just depends from project to project. So I'll get the marketing package and the Performa,

and I'll go over it and do my due diligence on my part to see if it's a good project for us to work on, what the ROI looks like, what the equity split's going to be, what the gap rates are, for us to figure out if it's going to be a good project for us to do anything with. And, you know, it says here you raised money within 30 days. I mean, that's pretty darn quick to raise some money, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it is. But, you know, when you have a drive and when you have a why, it becomes different. So, you know, I, again, I was reaching out to people nonstop, networking, you know, having like 10 to 15 meetings a day. Either if it was like in person, Zoom calls, whatever the case may be. And then just networking and building those relationships.

Because real estate is mostly based off of relationships. Workers would rather work with people that they have a relationship with rather than working with someone outside that they have no idea who they are. Is there any top limit to what you can raise? No, I mean, I work with a whole bunch of other private money investors as well because we have to raise like $150 million in a year or so, give or take, from the debt and equity side. It's probably more than that now because we just got a massive project as well. We just walked like 80 acres a couple of days ago. So, you know, I'm bringing on more capital

partners for different projects just because, you know, I would rather share the wealth and bring other people on board that could do the capital raise from the equity position side. And then also show them the ropes and the construction and the development side as well, because everyone wants to learn and develop their skills. And so with that, that's what we like to do. And especially that's what we like to do. And especially that's what I like to do. So like, if I have a capital partner that wants to, you know, raise with me, I'm like, okay, you know, but are you wanting to learn development? You know, if you don't know anything about development, or are you wanting to learn construction, you know, how we put together our construction list and stuff like that, and our schedules for the construction piece, you know, how we get our vendors together, you know, how we do bids and stuff like that. So it's, it's, it's good. And people like it too, because they want

to learn and develop and, you know, they might want to do their own whole, you know, development one day too. So it's, you know, I try to be like a mentor in that aspects where, you know, if I have a team and they're wanting to learn, like I will try to teach them as much as they want to learn because, you know, if they want to go off and do it too, then, you know, of course they can, giving them the ability for them to be able to do it. Awesome. And then you're always looking for investors too, I think, aren't you? Yeah. So we're always looking for private money investors that are wanting to invest in our projects because our ROI, it's different from project to project. So it can range from like 22.6% to like 2x their money within two years, or we can cash out refi and get them their money quicker. There's creative financial ways to get their money back quicker as well.

And then we have tier one banking programs where they can make 3% to 5% profit each month, their money, and where it's backed by the banks, by the FDA. And so they're able to pull out their money every single month from those 3% to 5% profits that they, or they can put back into their fund and, you know, they can have it contract for a year, two years, five years, seven years, you know, it just depends on how we structure the contract and how much they're wanting in there to be able to, you know, have their money secure also. That's pretty brilliant. And are you building a team right now? I'm looking across your LinkedIn and seeing some different posts. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm definitely building my team. I just put on

a couple of private money, capital raisers, syndicators, looking for more. So if anybody is out there that is wanting to raise capital and split equity position and stuff like that, definitely let me know. I'm probably going to be hiring on and bringing on more people on my team from an acquisition standpoint, money, and then I'm kind of putting together like a mentorship program to be able to help people like raise capital and how I got started and how I'm doing it as well. That's pretty awesome. So you'll be able to teach people and get them into it. How did you get interested in real estate? What brought, took you down this road? I've actually loved, I've always loved real estate, but I didn't know how to get into it. I started, me and my business partner

started a woodworking company a couple of years ago. And, you know, I started my real estate business around the same time. And so I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna screw it, just go all in, you know. And so then I was like meeting with people and, you know, I was trying to figure out what niche I can get into and where I can fit in in the real estate realm. And now I've kind of found my niche and now I'm here, you know, but it was a lot of hard work, a lot of building relationships, a lot of late night, you know, 10 to 15 meetings a day. Like I'm up at seven and I go to bed sometimes about like 11, 12 o'clock at night. You know, like it's not like I'm working at nine and, you know, done by five. You know, it's

different. You know, when you have a why and why you do the things that you do and why you work so hard, it changes your perspective and it makes you work just as hard. Most certainly does. Most certainly does. Let's talk a little bit about leadership. Touch on that. What are your thoughts on leadership and what leadership is like when you're leading teams or leading a project? Because I mentioned there's some leading that gets done there.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. With leadership, it's, you know, listening to your team, you know, what are they wanting as well to make sure that they are happy. Because, you know, if your team isn't happy, then in turn, they're not going to, you know, be there for you fully. They're going to be like, you know, trying to get out. So I always try to learn and develop my team, always try to listen to their wants and needs and to, you know, teach them in different capacities, different capacities that they are wanting, different things that they're wanting to get into also, and then, you know, help guiding them into different places. And, you know, just being a good person towards them, because some, some leaders, you know,

are very like egotistical. And,gotistical and it's all about them, but you have to make it about us and about how we can better each other and help one another. Yeah, taking people to the front. Growing and developing, yeah. So what's your big vision for your company? What do you see yourself in maybe five to ten years from now? Being the biggest real estate investment and development firm in the Southeast, I mean, we're going to clear probably $150 million in a year, more than that by this year.

So we're continuously growing and expanding and bringing on more people and more projects and stuff like that. But, you know, that's not really, really the goal. I mean, mine is more so about helping people, bringing jobs into communities, helping bring in, you know, housing to different communities as well, making a difference in communities. I mean, we do a lot of philanthropy as well. So I have a couple of veteran business partners and we're trying to build a veterans facility to be able to give back and help veterans and, you know, give them a place to stay, a place like a trauma center for them to kind of get back on their feet and, you know, get their lives back on track also. Because, you know, when they have all that trauma and PTSD and stuff like that,

instead of just like giving them a pill to like, okay, yeah, you'll be fine, you know, actually like doing something different, you know, like going through therapy and, you know, actually like doing something different, you know, like going through therapy and, you know, really trying to help and resolve the issues that are going on because, you know, a lot of them commit suicide and it's sad. And so then, you know, the parents and then their kids are, you know, suffering because, you know, it's hard to deal with, you know, going overseas and fighting for your country and then trying to come back and live a normal life. You know, they're at high alert all the time. And, you know, they're like watching their six every two seconds.

And, you know, they're like on high, high alert. And then they got to come back home and try to be normal. You know, it's hard. And so, you know, I've spoken with a lot of my veteran business partners and veteran friends, and they're like, yeah, this is definitely something that, you know, needs to happen where, you know, they could not commit suicide, you know, and give them a place of comfort. Yeah, we just had Jason Kander on the show, I think, if I'm getting the name right, he ran for president and he just wrote his book on PTSD. And it's quite a thing that our military folks go through. Yeah. It is. Yeah. Yeah. Most definitely. So do you see yourself spreading across the nation or kind of staying in the Southeast? Yeah. I mean, if that's where it takes me, I mean, I'm in Atlanta, Georgia now,

but if somebody wanted to open up another site, then I'm in Atlanta, Georgia now, but, you know, if somebody wanted to open up, you know, another site, you know, then, you know, I'm willing to, you know, do that if somebody wanted to do that. I mean, I love teaching and developing people and helping other people as well. So, you know, if somebody wanted to do that and I can, you know, kind of show them the ropes and how I got started and what I do. And, you know, it's an option. That's definitely awesome, man. It's wonderful that you're willing to share and teach. And, you know, I think that's what really great leaders do. They share and teach. They educate people.

You know, with my employees, I always teach them, you know, why we do things, how we do things, how we develop the idea. I want them to maybe be able to go, oh, so this is why we do stuff. Here's a better way of doing it. And then they can do it better. It looks like on your website, there's some contact information where people can maybe get in touch with you and, you know, have a call or something.

Is that something like that? Yeah, they can definitely contact me either, you know, on my website or on LinkedIn. I get a lot of LinkedIn messages from people as well. Or if they want to schedule like a calendar invite, I have a calendar link, I believe, on my LinkedIn bio as well. So if they want to schedule a call or a Zoom call or anything like that, they can as well. They can just do a basic call and talk to you about your services, see if there's and all that sort of good stuff, whether they want to develop and stuff. So I think this is

really great. How is the economic areas going on there? I know there's some pressures that are coming from interest rates and stuff like that. How is that affecting commercials? Land is still getting flattened like crazy. I mean, there's like, the excursion of land, I kid you not, being like flattened and developed. Development isn't stopping. It's just, it's going, especially if you have,

you know, the funding in place and you have a good team, you have a good structure, you know what you're doing, you have the funds in place, you could get it done as well. And if you're strategic about it too, with like thinking like three steps ahead, five steps ahead of what can occur and or not occur.

I mean, that's kind of where I get, so I was like a chief of staff for like 12 years or so, give or take. And so, you know, as a chief of staff, you got to strategically plan like three to five years for a company, you know, like, okay okay what are we going to do how are you how are you wanting to grow how fast how quickly are you strategically putting in place of how to get it done and so you know i i you know help will help clients you know as a chief of staff also to kind of come on board and help them grow their businesses so i i do that with my company too you know so i'm strategic'm strategic with me, with my business partners, to be able to figure out like, okay, what do we need to do and how do we plan and execute to make everything work?

That's the real key is to plan and execute. Because when you're doing projects, especially timeline projects that move out. Right. Yeah. Construction. I mean, you need to have a schedule okay you know it's going to take me 16 to 18 months to do this development this is the construction schedule and this is how it needs to stay and it can't slip up nothing can you know

interfere if stuff does you know so that's why i have relationships with different vendors construction companies gcs and different concrete companies so that if any of them fall through and screw up any of the projects that we have, I have like 15 other people I can throw in to make sure that nothing gets thrown off track so that we're keeping on our construction schedule and also our development schedule so that our investors are getting their money back

before the timeline that we gave them. You know, we try to, you know, say it would take, you know, 16, 18 months, but it might take 14. You know, it depends on, you know, the development and the construction piece. But we try to get their money back, you know, quicker than normal. Yeah. Sounds like there's a lot of growth that is still going on down there in the South. It is. But I mean,

there's a risk in everything, right? There's, there's risk in starting a business. There's risk in driving your car, you know, every day in your car, you can get in a car accident and you can die.

But yet, you know, everyone gets in their car every day. Everyone drives every single day, you know, going to a nine to five job. You can, you can get let go that day, you know, so there's risk in every, I mean, risk in having a kid, risk in, you know, leaving the house, risk in, you know, walking out nowadays, you know, so there's risk in every single thing that you do, but it's the fact

is that are you willing to take that risk? And, you know, are, are you, are you willing to take that risk and you know are are you are you wanting to grow are you wanting to develop are you wanting to you know take that risk and do you know things that you have always wanted to do definitely definitely you know it's life is risk that's why i stay in bed all day but even then you can still die in bed. Right, right, exactly. A spider would come and bite you or something. So what have we covered about your business and how you guys do it? What, what, what, what, the business?

Yeah, what have we covered on your business and how you guys do it? So, so what the business side, you know, we, you know, I'll raise the private money from the equity position standpoint and then also work on the debt side. I'll raise the private money from the equity position standpoint and then also work on the debt side. And then we'll do the construction and the development. We'll also do the land acquisition. We'll put a marketing package together, the performa to prevent to investors, to present to them, to make sure it's a good fit for them. We'll get all the numbers together, the ROI, the gap rates, stuff like that, figure out if it's something that we even want to pull the trigger on also. Do people have to have the land already in place or they maybe just have a project and they don't know where to put it and they just...

Yeah, it could be either or. So it could be like, hey, I found this land. I think this might be a good opportunity. And then we'll kind of do our due diligence like, hey, okay, these are the demographics. This is what's happening in the area. You know, like this is what's being built over here. I think we could add, you know, mixed use property on the, on, you know, on this parcel of land, you know, this, this is what the land acquisition is going to look like. You know, these are the parcels we might need to sell, you know, erosions in the land, you know, this is what the land acquisition is going to look like. You know, these are the parcels we might need to sell. You know, erosions in the land. You know, there's beaver dams.

You know, stuff like that. Like going over the due diligence of the land, the area, the property, everything around it, what's coming in the city, what's not. You know, what the pay rates are for in those areas. So we can see like, okay, this is the kind of material we need to put in. Because, you know, if you build something like in the Avalon, in the Halcyon, here in Alberta, it's different than trying to build it, you know, like somewhere else, you know, in a different city. And so being strategic with that as well. Yeah. I imagine, yeah very environmental

conditions are definitely going to change probably laws rules regulations right things yep so helping helping investors or developers navigate that is really important oh yeah yeah because i mean any of that can mess up your deal you, like if you don't have the, when you're going through the land and the zoning, you know, if you don't have it in a certain way, you know, you could lose millions of dollars by putting the property that you want in the wrong place. And it sounds like relationships are a really important aspect of business. Oh, yeah. A little bit about that. I mean, it sounds like it's important, but how did you realize it was important and how much of a difference does it make in your business relationships? Oh, yeah.

I mean, just in business in general, relationships are really important. I've learned that along the way in my career, but definitely in real estate, relationships are key. Because, you know, again, brokers are wanting to work with people that they have a relationship with rather than people that they don't. Like a developer and or architect and stuff like that, you know, like they wouldn't want to partner with somebody that they have had a relationship before that they knew that relationship went well rather than working with somebody brand new.

And then investors, you know, are wanting to invest in projects, but, you know, if they don't know you and know how you are, you know, kind of like your personality, are you a good person? Are you going to do right by me? You know, then they're not, they're not going to want to invest in projects. You know, so relationships have always been, been key for me. I always try to build amazing relationships with people that I have. And I'm always networking every single day still just to keep building the relationship base that I have. Because I love getting to know people,

their stories and how I can help them. Because I'll introduce them to people that I know and connections. If they're looking for like a certain architect, developer, I'll email intro them so that, you know, that they can start the conversation to themselves. And you being a good networker, being a good connector. I mean, I have friends that like, like yourself that, you know, they, they know everybody and everybody knows them. And they, and they're, they're always, they always can give you a referral.

Right. They'll reach out to you and go, Hey, I talked to this guy and i think you you two might be a fit that really makes a difference how did you get good at all this with setting up relationships how did you learn to do it and you know how did it how did it come together for you over the years i mean i kind of learned it on my own i mean you know i was, you know, people want to know genuinely who you are because, you know, like you could get a couple of drinks in you and you could, you know, become a completely different person. And so, you know, it's like, okay, who, who are you and how, you know, why, why'd you change from this person and this person? And, you know, like,

it's like, okay, now do I really trust you? Because now you're acting like a totally different person than what you told me who you are, you know? So it's like, hey, I try to keep it very genuine to people with who I naturally am. And I don't sugarcoat it and I don't change who I am so that, you know, in any arena that I'm put in, people know that I'm genuinely with the person that I naturally am. And, you know, I love networking and building relationships with people. I keep it about them and, you know, what they're needing as well. You know, not just me because, you know, you want to make the world go around in a better place and people and you want other people to trust one another. And so I try to do that as well. Like I try to stand by my word and who I am and what I do.

And, you know, and if I'm presenting to like a group of investors, I'm like, hey, you know, these are the numbers. There's what we're looking for with the roi and stuff like that so that when we get to the project and we get to the development and the construction piece i am you know on the phone with you like every day like hey you know this is what's going on these are the pitfalls this is what's happening this is how we're correcting it and this is how we're moving forward you know rather than not saying anything kind of being nonchalant sending them you know like the the quarterly views you know every quarter like hey views, you know, every quarter. Like, hey, this is what's going on in the project. It's like, dude, how come you didn't tell me this like three months ago prior before you sending me, you know, the financials and what's going on?

You know, so it's like building trust with people, being my authentic self. And because, you know, I would want that for me you know like i would want somebody to show that to me so why not show that to them you know first first and foremost yeah there you go there you go well this has been pretty insightful and it's it sounds it's just awesome that you've developed this just over the last what two three years? Yeah, two. Awesome. Awesome. Well, that's, I mean, you sound like you work extremely hard. You know, work hard and you're building great relationships. And I applaud you. I think that's just going to make great for your future and make you the largest.

What would you say in five to 10 years, the largest? The biggest real estate investment and development firm in the Southeast. That would be awesome. Are there any competitors that you have your eyes on? You know what? I don't pay attention to competitors. I'm more so about collaboration-based competition. And so if I can collaborate with people and help them grow and develop and learn,

that's all that I'm wanting. I don't look at my competitors and see what they're doing. You know, I, I focus on me and my team and the people that I bring on and the people that I have in my circle and how I can better other people because, you know, I, I worry more so about that than I do about, you know, other competitors and you know what they're doing because it, it just, it wouldn't help me in any way. You need, you know, then you'd be stressing about, oh, they're doing because it just, it wouldn't help me in any way. You know, then you'd be stressing about, oh, they're doing this and, oh, why can't I do that?

And, you know, then you're worrying about things that you shouldn't worry about. You know, so I focus on me, how I can better myself every single day. You know, I'm reading books, listening to podcasts, bettering my mind and my mental health to make sure that I'm all in sync and make sure that the people around me are well taken care of as well. There you go. There you go. Well, Crystal, it's been wonderful to talk to you. Anything more we need to tease out on your company and you and what you do? I mean, they could check out my website. That's bluecapital.com. And also, they could follow me on LinkedIn at Crystal Liu and or message me there. If people have questions and are concerned and wanting to, you know, schedule a

calendar, I have my calendar link in my LinkedIn, but anybody can message me there as well to chat. There you go. There you go. Well, thank you very much for coming on the show, Crystal. We really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Continued go. Well, thank you very much for coming on the show, Crystal. We really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. Thank you for having me. Thank you.

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