Phil Gutman is a jack-of-all-trades in the real estate market. He’s worked with numerous developers on all aspects of the sales process. He’s helped facilitate the acquisition of multiple properties worth several millions of dollars. He’s an expert in real estate marketing and he’s even a licensed real estate broker in New York, Nevada, and Florida. And he’s here to give you essential advice on building your luxury real estate portfolio.
What excites Phil the most about the Miami market:
“I think, right now, one of the most exciting things to me is really seeing the Miami area leap into its near future. Meaning there is development that is going up that is really world class development by world class developers. The architecture is changing a lot as well. There are neighborhoods that have been overlooked for the last 30 years that have now gained some momentum and some steam.”
And why Miami is (in his view) the best market in the country:
“What is really different about the Miami market is that sometimes we’re pulling our clients from the northeast and the New York markets. Sometimes it’s South America. But now it’s pulling from the northeast, South America, you have some states in the Midwest, you have California, you have Texas. You really have heavy-duty momentum all laser focused in the South Florida area.”
For investors, where are the upcoming opportunities:
“I think that I would be looking at undervalued, underdeveloped areas, and that could be in either the multifamily side or the condo side.’
Is it better to invest in new construction or a rehab:
“It’s easier to start from the ground up because when you’re buying somebody’s old product and then you completely redo it, you’re still dealing with something that has outdated plumbing, outdated electric … I mean, sometimes it’s really more cost-effective and more efficient to start from the ground-up. Also, in my market, which is the ultra-luxury high end, to get top dollar per foot people won’t buy a rehab at those numbers. They want to know that everything is brand spanking new, and high end, and really gone over with a fine-toothed comb.”
What was Phil’s biggest real estate deal”
“The developer of the Continuum (in Miami), after he took a liking to me, they wound up offering me a position and they moved me to Las Vegas. And I started with them on the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino. And we sold 1,879 units in a 12–14-month window, which was $1.3 billion worth of real estate. For a twenty-something year old kid who just got into real estate maybe three years before that, that changed the course of my career.”
What makes Phil so successful at real estate sales:
“I like to, every four or five years, look in the mirror and really assess myself. And I’ve done a lot of asking the developers that I’ve worked with ‘why me,’ because I like to know for myself. What people like is the easygoing, the honesty, the transparency, my ability to deliver good news or bad news, but you have to really back that up with data.”
The major lesson Phil learned in his real estate career:
“I think really, a lot of the time, it’s to not really overthink. When you’re looking at a deal or you’re looking at an opportunity, you use your gut, and you make that decision. You pick a horse, and you go with it.”