From Chaos to Growth: How to Integrate Teams and Scale Real Estate Operations
Show summary
In this episode of the Investor Fuel Podcast, Host Leo Wehdeking interviews Giano A. Pace, a dynamic figure in the real estate industry. Giano shares insights on his focus in the market, strategies for integrating teams, and the importance of consistency and follow-up in business operations. He discusses the challenges faced in real estate, particularly in pricing and client perceptions, and emphasizes the significance of networking and building relationships. Giano also outlines his goals for expansion and growth within his organization, highlighting the need for effective systems and a strong team.
Key takeaways
- Split your team by individual strengths: Giano handles acquisitions and negotiation, his partner JP handles dispositions and marketing events, and Rob manages operations and the CRM.
- Do business only with people you know and trust, and keep constant communication through group chats and meetings to keep a small team aligned across different schedules.
- When a client disputes pricing (e.g., a seller upset that a comparable house is listed $50,000 higher), go back to the table, re-review comps and numbers, and investigate the competing listing agent before re-presenting the deal.
- Consistency and follow-up are the keys to keeping the business running: picking up the phone and taking disciplined daily action feeds deals to the whole team.
- Current goals are to double the company from 4 to 8 employees within 12 to 18 months and grow managed leads from 6,000-10,000 per month to 15,000-21,000 per month, without taking on more volume than the team can handle.
- Niche focus is duplex and quadplex properties in South Florida (St. Petersburg, Orlando, Miami); Miami offers strong equity appreciation but lower monthly cash flow.
- For networking, treat yourself as a walking brand: hand out business cards, talk to five people a day, post free marketing on Instagram, and have a ready elevator pitch.
In this episode
- 02:01Intro: Meet Giano A. Pace
- 02:41Giano's main focus: for sale by owner deals and cash buyers
- 03:09Market niche: duplex and quadplex in South Florida
- 04:12Integrating teams and departments
- 08:44The recipe for running the business smoothly: consistency and follow-up
- 09:18A deal gone sideways: pricing disputes and client perception
- 12:31Next goal: expansion from four to eight employees
- 14:02Building relationships and networking advice
- 15:46How to connect with Giano
About the guest
Giano A. Pace runs a real estate company (referenced as GTH Enterprises) focused on acquiring for sale by owner properties and connecting cash buyers and investors for fix and flips, operating primarily in South Florida including St. Petersburg, Orlando, and Miami. His niche is duplex and quadplex properties, and his team currently manages 6,000 to 10,000 leads per month with four employees split across acquisitions, dispositions, and operations/CRM management.
Listen to the audio
“Be codependent on your partners. Be codependent on your people. Be codependent on utilizing people and their strengths, as well as yours.”
Giano A. Pace
“Honestly consistency is key and follow-up. You got to pick up the phone. You got to take a lot of action.”
Giano A. Pace
“Scared money doesn't make money, but you got to move it into where you're going.”
Giano A. Pace
Questions answered in this episode
What is Giano Pace's business model in real estate?
He focuses on getting deals at the lowest rate with for sale by owners, then connects cash buyers and investors to do fix and flips. His company works both acquisitions and dispositions.
What market and property type does Giano Pace focus on?
He operates in South Florida, specifically St. Petersburg, Orlando, and down through Miami. His niche is duplexes and quadplexes, which he says carry a lot of equity for rentals, though cash flow per month in Miami is lower while equity appreciation is strong.
How does Giano Pace structure his team to avoid chaos while scaling?
He splits the business into roles based on individual strengths: he handles acquisitions and negotiation, his partner JP handles dispositions, cash buyers, and marketing events, and another partner, Rob, manages operations and the CRM. He says trust and working in your strength zone, combined with constant communication through group chats and meetings, keeps the team aligned.
How does Giano Pace handle client pushback on pricing or comps?
He described a situation where a seller got upset after seeing a similar house listed for $50,000 more than theirs. His approach is to acknowledge the client's frustration, go back to the table, re-review the comps and numbers, dig into what the competing agent is charging and listing, and present a clear picture so the client can decide with full information.
What are Giano Pace's growth goals for his company?
He wants to double his team from four employees to eight within 12 to 18 months, adding more people in roles like dispositions, operations, and acquisitions. He also wants to grow the leads his CRM manages from 6,000-10,000 per month to 15,000-21,000 per month, while being careful not to take on more volume than the team can handle.
What networking advice does Giano Pace give to investors trying to grow their business?
He advises treating yourself as a walking brand: go to networking events, hand out business cards, talk to at least five people a day, and use free marketing on social media like Instagram. He also recommends having a ready elevator pitch that clearly explains what you do and how you help customers.
Resources and links
Full transcript
Giano A. Pace (00:00)
Great question Leo, really. Well put, well asked. And you know, I like to relate this as
when we’re born, right? We’re born, you know, hopefully, obviously everybody comes out of their lovely mothers, right? And you’re codependent on your mom when you’re born, right? Everybody’s holding you, your mom’s holding you. It’s the same in business. Be codependent on your partners. Be codependent on your people. Be codependent on utilizing people and their strengths, as well as yours.
Leo Wehdeking (02:01)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host Leo Wehdeking and today I am joined by someone I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, Giano, who’s been making serious moves in the real estate industry. Giano, glad to have you here,
Giano A. Pace (02:17)
Thank you so much, Leo. Really appreciate it. It’s an honor to be here today, really.
Leo Wehdeking (02:22)
Hey, very good, very good. Giano, I think our listeners are really going to take something away from the way that you’ve been handling the real estate business nowadays. So ⁓ let’s dive in. And for people who may not be familiar with your world, can you give us a short version on what’s your main focus these days?
Giano A. Pace (02:41)
Yeah, of course. The goal is to get as many deals as possible at the lowest rate with for sale by owners. And then we’re able to help a lot of cash buyers, cash investors, do fix and flips as well. So we work a very good landscape. We’re a part of everything through acquisitions and dispositions as well.
Leo Wehdeking (03:04)
Okay, perfect. Now, in what market are you operating in?
Giano A. Pace (03:09)
Right now we do a lot of duplex and quadplex. That’s usually our niche, that’s our market. Obviously a lot of equity in there in regards to rentals and obviously cash for a long term.
Leo Wehdeking (03:21)
Okay, all right, all right. And it’s only in Florida or it’s nationwide.
Giano A. Pace (03:26)
South Florida, very specific markets. So St. Petersburg, Orlando down. However, our aggressiveness is the lovely South Florida and Miami, of course. You’re not gonna get too much cashflow per month, but equity rise here is doing very, very well.
Leo Wehdeking (03:29)
Okay.
I know I know I I was in Florida for a while a long time ago and I understand Florida Trust me. One of the reasons I moved out of there is because it was getting too expensive Man, yeah the real estate market over there. It’s it’s it’s very good. You know, it’s yeah, it’s excellent I have a lot of friends, you know that you know the real estate realtors over there. Okay, cool cool. Love it ⁓
Giano A. Pace (03:49)
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.
Wonderful. It’s wonderful.
Mm-hmm.
Leo Wehdeking (04:12)
Giano, something that actually caught my attention about you was the way that you’ve been able to integrate all of your teams and all of your departments together into one. Can you explain us how you’ve been able to succeed in implementing everything into one thing? Because for me, actually, that caught my attention. And I really wanted you ⁓ to tell the audience how
Giano A. Pace (04:30)
Yeah.
Leo Wehdeking (04:41)
how you don’t go crazy with everything that you do.
Giano A. Pace (04:46)
Great question Leo, really. Well put, well asked. And you know, I like to relate this as
when we’re born, right? We’re born, you know, hopefully, obviously everybody comes out of their lovely mothers, right? And you’re codependent on your mom when you’re born, right? Everybody’s holding you, your mom’s holding you. It’s the same in business. Be codependent on your partners. Be codependent on your people. Be codependent on utilizing people and their strengths, as well as yours.
Okay. How we handle everything and how we do stuff. One is, is, is trust. got it. You got to do business with the people you know and trust. Okay. ⁓ and secondly, working towards your strengths. Okay. For instance, my role in this organization, as well as obviously overseeing, managing, delegating, all the other stuff that comes with owning a business, managing a business, owning several OCs, all that good stuff. You still have a role though, that you’re good at.
Hopefully, and that you love to do for the organization. Me, it’s acquisitions. I love calling. I love speaking to people. I love getting deals. I love talking to people about deals. love negotiation. Okay. And I think when you, when when you have a structure in acquisitions and then you get your contract, you get your deal for X amount of dollars, and then you have your partner, for instance, in this case would be our partner JP.
He does the disposition side now, deals a lot with our amazing investors, our cash buyers, deals a lot with our events and our two marketing events that we deal with monthly. Okay. And we’re walking business owners as well as walking brand image to now sell our product through our dispositions department. Okay. He headlines that as well as overseas, manages, delegates.
communicates, all do those roles as leaders and CEOs and presidents and operators, but we have the niche within the roles that we are specialized in. Okay. And then we have our lovely friend that deals with the systems, Rob, and he’s everything and everything in operations, manages our CRM. You can’t run a business or sell a business nowadays without a CRM, you know, and, and he manages all the operations. So
Leo Wehdeking (07:39)
Alright, alright.
That’s correct.
Giano A. Pace (07:55)
Very grateful that everybody plays their role. We all have different lifestyles, different clocks. And a group chat, know, and constant communication keeps us all, you know, filled together and meetings. And that’s how we don’t go crazy, man. So I know that’s a long answer, but great question, Leo. Great question,
Leo Wehdeking (08:12)
No, no, no, actually, actually, I like I I like your answer very much and and because of that I’m actually gonna shoot you another one Okay, because what you’re doing it’s not easy, especially on this climate and in South, Florida Okay, so it seems like you have everything in place. Okay, like you all of your departments are working, you know ⁓ together What’s being? You know with that being said what’s what’s been the recipe or the key?
Giano A. Pace (08:19)
Demon.
Yes, sir.
Leo Wehdeking (08:41)
to keep that business running smoothly.
Giano A. Pace (08:44)
Honestly consistency is key and follow-up. You got to pick up the phone. You got to take a lot of action And make sure that you’re being very disciplined towards the business towards your role and doing your part We don’t get a deal JP can’t sell it Robert can’t manage the system if we’re not putting stuff in it Okay, I think the biggest thing is keeping the bus moving now
Leo Wehdeking (09:04)
Alright, exactly, yeah.
Yeah, it is. is. is. Actually, that’s very important. It doesn’t matter. You know, if you hit a bump, you need to keep going. All right. Learn from it and keep going. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I totally agree with you in that, Giano. Now, ⁓ I know that every operator has a moment where things got real. OK. Maybe a deal that went sideways or a time that you had to pivot real fast. Do you mind sharing one of those moments?
Giano A. Pace (09:18)
You’ll serve.
Of course, of course, real estate, it’s a crazy game. It’s, it’s going to be a great game, an ugly game, but a confusing game too, because everybody has different ideas, right? Or different calculations or comps when it comes to a price tag for a customer. People charge 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, right? There are so many factors before that price tag comes up. I can have a house and a contract out for, let’s say,
103 house a for a hundred grand, but a real estate agent can have another house in the 103 house B for 150. The person in house A sees the house B listed 50 grand more. Oh, you guys are cheating me out of money. Oh, you guys are not being honest. Oh, the mindset comes right. The disrespectful feeling, the speed bump.
Leo Wehdeking (10:32)
Yeah, because they’re
just looking at the number. Yeah.
Giano A. Pace (10:35)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
And I get it. We all get it. Right. Defensive. what’s going on here? ⁓ you didn’t talk to me. No problem. You handle it with service. Mr. Crossover, completely acknowledge and understand you right now. Let’s absolutely get back to the table. Let’s review those comps again on the street. Let’s review our numbers. Let’s see what you have to take home. Okay.
Let’s dig a little bit more on that real estate agent and what they’re listing, what they’re charging, what company they work for, right? To get some more information to plan out and paint the picture that is real and clear so they understand what’s happening. We’ll get back to the drawing board. We’ll get back to the table. We’ll re-evaluate the deal and we’ll keep continuing to move forward. Is that fair enough?
Let them decide.
Leo Wehdeking (12:02)
Exactly. Yeah, that’s what it is man. And honestly, think yeah, I think that people that does that are actually do the ones, you know, that’s what separates actually the folks who just dabble from the one who stay in the game long term. All right. So that’s what it is. Yeah. Okay. Now, Giano, let me ask you something else. Now, what are you most focused on solving or scaling next?
Giano A. Pace (12:04)
service.
accountability leo
Yes sir! Accountability, Leon!
That’s it.
Leo Wehdeking (12:31)
What’s the next real goal for you?
Giano A. Pace (12:33)
Oh, expansion in the organization. Expansion right now we have four employees. I would love to double that within the next, you know, 12 to 18 months. Get another JP, get another Robert, get another me, get another one of our in-house real estate agents as well. We’re able to spread more. We’re able to take on more leads in our CRM, right? Right now we manage about 6,000 to 10,000 leads a month. I don’t believe in…
Leo Wehdeking (12:54)
Okay.
Giano A. Pace (12:59)
taking in more than what you can handle. That’s how you fail and go out of business. But we have goals. We have targets and we know what we’re capable of. you know, scared money doesn’t make money, but you got to move it into where you’re going. So we can, we can duplicate the company and expand it, you know, from four to eight with the next 12 to 18 months and go from six to 10,000 leads to 15 to 21,000 leads a month.
Leo Wehdeking (13:03)
That’s correct.
Giano A. Pace (13:29)
I think that would be a hell of a goal now. Yes, sir.
Leo Wehdeking (13:30)
That’s big.
Okay, well, especially when you have everything in place, all of your team members are already being and showing you how efficient they are. All right. So that’s actually pretty cool. Pretty cool, man. Okay. ⁓ Now I know that a lot of people listening are either earlier in their journey or maybe they’re just looking to level up. All right. And I think they will benefit from hearing this ⁓ when it comes about building relationships.
Giano A. Pace (13:40)
Yep. Yes, sir.
Leo Wehdeking (14:02)
and growing your network. What’s made the biggest difference for you?
Giano A. Pace (14:07)
Networking, marketing, events, go talk to people, share your business card. You know, I think when you’re a business owner or entrepreneur, you are a walking product, you are a walking brand. I think the most important thing is getting your card, getting your name out there, shaking hands, you know, putting free marketing on Instagram. It’s free. Put it. Post it. You know, go talk to people.
Leo Wehdeking (14:31)
Exactly, put it, correct.
Giano A. Pace (14:34)
Right? Look what we’re doing here. We did that because we connected on a social media platform. Leo. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared. Go, go talk to people. Go talk to five people a day. Have your elevator pitch ready. Hey, my name is Giano. I own GTH enterprises. We’re an amazing tech software startup real estate company where we help customers wheel and deal, acquire disposition, and we can help you make cash for as early as 30 days. Here’s my business card.
Leo Wehdeking (14:39)
On a social media. Yeah, that’s it. Yeah
Giano A. Pace (15:45)
Have your stuff ready, have your systems ready and your people in place to be ready to scale for when the time comes, you’re ready to go.
Leo Wehdeking (15:46)
Yeah.
Exactly, yeah, that’s something. I believe that relationships are everything, not only in the real estate world, but in any aspect in life. All right. You need to have. Exactly, it’s who you know. OK, it’s who you know. All right. All right. Now, Giano, before we wrap up, ⁓ if someone if someone wanted to connect with you, maybe collaborate or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you?
Giano A. Pace (15:57)
Everything.
You gotta, it’s who you know.
Yes, sir.
of course. Yeah, that’s a great question. Please reach out to my Instagram. It’s my first name, Giano G I A N O and underscore and my last name is Pace. My name is Italian P A C E. So once again, it’s Giano G I A N O underscore Pace P A C E. You know, come find me. I’m the hype man. You know, bring some juice in you. I’ll give you some energy. We’ll talk sales tips. We’ll talk real estate tips. We’ll talk landscape. And I’m always here for everybody.
Leo Wehdeking (16:53)
Alright, perfect. Well, listen, I really appreciate your time, your story and your perspective. We need more people in this space who are actually doing it the right way. Alright, so thanks again for being here on the show, And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this, just make sure you’re subscribed. Okay, we got more conversations coming with operators just like Giano who are out there building real businesses. So we’ll see you on the next episode, guys.
Giano A. Pace (17:03)
Yes, sir. I agree.
Yes, sir.
Let’s go.
