Brian Green
Brian Green has been a guest on Collecting Keys, the real estate investing podcast hosted by Mike DeHaan, Dan Austin and Dylan Koch.
Vertically Integrating for Massive Gains with Brian Green
Brian Green of Green Springs Capital Group explains how he moved from owning Verizon Wireless stores to building a vertically integrated real estate company in Saratoga Springs, NY, with over 100 rental units, short-term rentals, brokerage, in-house property management and a 36-unit ground-up development. He walks through finding multifamily deals with direct mail, heavy-renovation underwriting based on ARV, building construction scopes and systems, and how his entitlement-contingent land contract is structured.
Key takeaways
- Direct mail works on small multifamily: Brian's letters produced a six-unit and two 20-unit buildings, and a year of follow-up offers on one deal ended with the seller giving him first right of refusal at $50k above his last offer.
- Underwrite to after-repair value, not current condition — he bought a 20-unit for $1.25M and spent roughly $1M–$1.1M on renovations, with rents going from about $750 to $1,250 a unit.
- Taking buildings to zero occupancy (paying tenants moving fees and buying out leases) lets the whole renovation finish in about 10 months and get recapitalized faster than phasing it.
- Detailed, written scopes of work per kitchen and bathroom make contractor bids apples-to-apples, reduce change-order padding, and tighten renovation estimates for offers.