How Eduardo Monasterio Builds 50+ New Construction Homes a Year in South Florida

Eduardo Monasterio (00:00)

And we did our math with rentals and stuff and we started renting these houses out. And we said, “Listen, let’s not lose money right now.” I way I prefer leaving the money in the— in the property. And in a few years the market will be back up, and you know, we’ll— we’ll sell it. we can— we’ll have— we’ll have our rentals, our— our rental income in the meantime and that’s— that’s— that’s what we do. And I guess being in real estate is there’s good years and there’s bad years. You just can’t— you— you can’t quit with it— with in— in the bad year, you know?

Issa Hanna (02:09)

Welcome back to another episode of the Real Estate Pro Show. And today I have Eduardo Monasterio with me, a single-family residential home builder who’s been able to build over 200 homes in the last five years. Eduardo, welcome to my show. How are you?

Eduardo Monasterio (02:22)

I’m pretty good, pretty good, Issa, and you? How’s everything?

Issa Hanna (02:25)

I’m doing good and I’m super glad to have you and— and glad to pick your brain about all the knowledge you have in this real estate, especially in building— building up, you know, your business from the ground up. So— so first question for people that don’t know what you’re doing right now and you’re doing big things, give them a little bit of a run— rundown of, you know, what you’re doing, how your business is— basically what kind of business are you into.

Eduardo Monasterio (02:50)

No, perfect. Yeah. I’m a general contractor here, based out of the Miami and South Florida area— South Florida, Southwest Florida. I— I’ve been building homes, single-family homes down here for the past five years. Have about two hundred homes under my belt now, and we have been building to sell and building to rent also. so yeah, it’s— that— that’s pretty much it. that that’s what— that’s what my company does. We— we’re developers and general contractors.

Issa Hanna (03:22)

Beautiful. And you’re building about fifty houses a year, correct?

Eduardo Monasterio (03:26)

That— yeah, that— that— that’s our main target. We— last year we built sixty-five homes. The previous year we built eighty-five. So, you know, we were kind of riding— riding the— the market, you know. things— things are good, we build more. when things are a little bit tight, we kind of hold back. But yeah, that’s it. That’s— that’s fifty a year.

Issa Hanna (03:47)

Nice. Well, one thing that s— stuck out with me when we were talking earlier is how you’ve been able to get into the real estate business, but also started a GC company that you subcontract your work out to. Can you shed a little more light on that for us? Yeah.

Eduardo Monasterio (04:02)

Sure, for sure. So I started this right around this time 2021. I— I was working for— for a company as a— as a— as a project manager and that company went— went bankrupt. They gave me three-month severance pay and I was like, “All right, what can I do with my savings? I— I always wanted to go into—” the real estate world. My family is a— is a big real estate family from Venezuela. I’m from Venezuela. So I figured, hey, what can I buy with my savings? I went on Zillow, I— I looked up the lots that— that fell under my budget within two hours of Miami. And yeah, I— I found this area, I bought my first two and I was like, “All right, that— this is it, I better make it happen.” Did the first two. It went really well. And I managed to find a contract with another builder— well, not with— with another developer for Ten Homes. Did that, started to grow the company and we— we got more— we got more contracts, we got more equity in the company from our sales and stuff, and yeah, that’s— that’s how— that’s how it worked. That— that’s how it came to be.

Issa Hanna (06:08)

Definitely. And a lot of people have that story where they’re— they’re doing some type of job, things go bad, they get laid off, and they decide, “You know what, let me try this real estate.” And next thing you know, they get bit by the bug, you know, and everything and you can make life-changing money in real estate, everybody, for those people that don’t know. but also every investor has a time where things went bad, a real estate nightmare. And I always find it very informative and also a little fun when our big-time investors come on and tell us one of their nightmares. So if you can give us a time where you had something go bad and then maybe you had to overcome it.

Eduardo Monasterio (06:44)

I mean, in real estate, things go bad every day. Every day there’s— there’s— there’s an issue. It could be that something as simple as the microwave in one of your properties went bad, or there was a change order from the construction. it just depends on how you just take a step back, think through it, and find the best way possible because there’s always a way to— so, to fix something. A— a big case for us was when the market switched from being a— a— a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. We stopped seeing the profits that we like to see in our homes. And we sit down and we said, “Hey, what— what— what do we do now?” And we did our math with rentals and stuff and we started renting these houses out. And we said, “Listen, let’s not lose money right now.” I way I prefer leaving the money in the— in the property. And in a few years the market will be back up, and you know, we’ll— we’ll sell it. we can— we’ll have— we’ll have our rentals, our— our rental income in the meantime and that’s— that’s— that’s what we do. And I guess being in real estate is there’s good years and there’s bad years. You just can’t— you— you can’t quit with it— with in— in the bad year, you know? ‘Cause if you quit it— if you quit in the bad year, I mean, well, yeah, you— if you quit, you’re out. But things will turn back, they’ll turn back around and th— they will— they will be better. It’s— I guess real estate is a very cyclical market. Well, I mean, it is based off of interest rates. So when it just— when interest rates drop, things are better. When interest rates go up, things are not as good and there’s— there’s nothing you can do to— to— to deal with that part. You just have to stick through it, you know?

Issa Hanna (08:40)

Yeah, you gotta roll with the punches. And what I’m getting from you is buy low, sell high. And if you are flipping and building to sell, if the— if it’s not a buyer— or if it’s not a seller’s market, you can pivot and rent those properties. And one thing I love about you is you have a timeline of how— you know, how long you would like to sit on that rental property to make your money back. Can you share that timeline with us?

Eduardo Monasterio (09:05)

Yeah, sure. I mean, we target— we target getting our— into the market, it’s great. And so, you know, the strength is your resiliency and ability to get into the market. And a lot of people, you know, they call it the paralysis of analysis. They they just they spend way too much time analyzing everything. And at the start, you know you’re gonna make some mistakes, right? And so you you just need to get that investment and protect it properly and get started. And I know that properties are expensive right now, but you know, the market is always shifting and there are opportunities coming for people who wanna start investing in real estate.

Issa Hanna (09:51)

What is the one thing they should focus on getting right immediately as far as the LLC is concerned, counselor?

Eduardo Monasterio (09:58)

Well, I think you want to use a reputable service to to set up your LLC. You know, too many people are into the DIY, do-it-yourself. And what we’ve seen is the DIY leads to do yourself in. I mean, people make the mistakes and they don’t know that they’ve made the mistakes. Unfortunately, they don’t teach corporations and LLCs and schools. So you have to gain this information on your own, which is why I’ve written the books, Start Your Own Corporation, Loopholes of Real Estate. but you have to gain that information on your own. And you really need help properly setting up the operating agreement, doing, you know, you’ve got to— you’ve got to issue the stock certificates, the membership interest certificates. If the IRS comes calling on a surprise audit and you don’t have those certificates, which most online services don’t set up for you, you’re in trouble. So you wanna use a reputable service that’s gonna give you all the documents you need to make sure that you’re completely protected.

Issa Hanna (10:56)

Mm-hmm. Definitely. And for those of you hearing nine, ten percent, yeah, you know, when you do an investment loan or a construction loan or something, it’s always going to carry a higher interest rate. So that’s why the interest rate sounds a little bit high, is because when you’re an investor, the interest rates are a little high. Eduardo, what does the future hold for you? What are your future plans?

Eduardo Monasterio (11:17)

I just want to have properties. I want to have properties that— that— that— that give me a profit every month and never stop building. I mean, I— I love building. I— I love building. maybe when I get to— maybe I’ll call you one day and say, “Issa, I have sixty properties, you know, and I’m not working as much.” And hopefully that— that day comes. But yeah, that’s it. Just keep building. It’s a great industry to be in, you— you get to know a lot of people because you get to know the private lenders, they— they— they work with investors, you get to know suppliers, you get to know subcontractors, and there’s a lot of— there’s a lot of ways to— to make money from building a house other than like, you know, what a general contractor buys, you know, it— you— you can— you can buy, let’s say, bulk flooring from overseas, stuff like that. So I— I— I’m out my future— my ideal plan is build less but make more from the construction, so being able to get to a point where I just need to build 12 houses a year and I buy flooring from overseas and I— I make money from there. That— that— that’s kinda my goal. Just make everything smoother and less work. Get more— get more out of the same amount of hours I— I— I put into it, you know?

Issa Hanna (12:47)

Yeah, maximize your— the time that you work, maximize the profit. Definitely a great, great future plan. And— and with your knowledge, I— I could see you definitely achieving this goal. Eduardo, for people that are just starting out, you know, maybe they watch this and they get inspired by your story— you’ve been doing it for five years and you’re already doing such big things, and then we’ve already touched on your business relationships— can you give us some advice on how to— how to cultivate these business relationships, you know, how to grow your network?

Eduardo Monasterio (13:16)

Yeah. They— they— they don’t come easy. It’s not like you can just buy all the— hit— hit “buy” from Amazon and you get all this whole network. it’s just knowing people and knowing people— sorry, not— not even knowing people. It’s— it’s hitting the street. You know, I— I make a phone call and I— I just off of favors, I can get stuff done, you know. really yeah okay, good tip: you gotta treat the subs as if they’re your bosses. Never treat— never treat the subs in a— in a poor way because you depend on— you— you de— you depend on them. help them do f— if you can do favors for them, help them, you know, they— you— well, in my case, that’s cause I sub everything out. If— if— if someone has their own employees, that’s another case. But definitely help others so they can help you in future. Go to shows, go to trade shows, go to— there’s a lot of— how do I— how do you say this? There’s a lot of events that local real estate brokers have for free. You go there, you— you network, you socialize, that— that— that’s a really good way of getting to know people. And I— I— I guess trade shows are a great place too, because everybody needs flooring, everybody needs the HVAC guy, everybody needs the electrical guy. you’ll be able to find good contacts there. And maybe you don’t use them, but at least you have someone to call to get a quote, or you have someone to call to fix the AC at eleven PM when a— when a tenant calls you, you know? So I guess that’s— that’s— that’s a good way to start.

Issa Hanna (15:53)

Definitely. So in other words, hit the ground, go to these trade shows, talk to people. And the most thing I got from your advice, in a nutshell, was hold yourself with some integrity and show these people that you’re a hard worker. Prove yourself to them. Beautiful. Beautiful.

Eduardo Monasterio (16:08)

Hundred percent. They— I— and there’s nothing— something to that to it, a subs like it when they call you on a Sunday at two PM and you answer. I know you could be in a barbecue with your friends but if you answer them, yeah, and you can tell them, “Hey, can I call you back in twenty minutes?” Sunday at two PM, at least they— they know they can count on you, you know. And that— that— that’s really important because you need to kind of count on them, you know.

Issa Hanna (16:37)

Definitely when you’re calling somebody and they don’t pick up your phone call, it kind of jades them a little bit. But if you make yourself available to people, even just like Eduardo said, and you know, “Hey, I’ll call you back. I’m a little tied up right now,” it makes a world of difference. Eduardo, that’s great advice. Great advice. So if people wanted to in Florida get a hold of you, maybe they want you to build their home, maybe they need some GC services, where can they get a hold of you at?

Eduardo Monasterio (17:02)

Perfect. I’m— right now I am setting up my— my— my— I’m redoing my— my webpage right now. But webpage is greenwoodfl.com. My email emf@greenwoodfl.com. Phone number 786-815-0476. Feel free to— to reach us out. My Instagram— my Instagram is, give me one second, let me get my Instagram handle here— greenwood_builders. You can reach me there too. You can— you can send me a DM. We’re all— we’re uploading photos there of all of our projects of what we do. So it— those are— those are the way to get a hold of me.

Issa Hanna (17:43)

And you know what? I— I took the liberty of peeking at some of your— your project that you’ve done. You know, I was able to look up some of the— the addresses that you’ve done. Eduardo does beautiful work, you guys. So make sure if you’re in— if you’re in the South Florida area, you know, give him a call because he can definitely help you. And he’s a guy with integrity that really, really cares about, you know, his name in the business. So he’s the right— the right builder to deal with. Eduardo, I’d like to thank you for coming on my show. I had a great time picking your brain. You have a well of knowledge and definitely a great man. So thank you so much for coming on the show. And if you guys enjoyed my conversation with Eduardo, make sure to like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the industry we all know and love, real estate. Until next time, the real estate pros are out.