The Tokenization of Real Estate with Neal Bawa, the Mad Scientist of Multifamily

Feb 21, 2022

avatar
Neal Bawa
This podcast guesting of Neal Bawa is hosted by Nico Salgado of Small Axe Podcast
Ever heard someone geek about something? Today’s guest is the Mad Scientist of Multifamily Real Estate, Neal Bawa.

Neal Bawa is a technologist who is universally known in real estate circles as the Mad Scientist of Multifamily. Besides being one of the most in-demand speakers in commercial real estate, Neal is a data guru, a process freak, and an outsourcing expert. Neal treats his $508 million-dollar portfolio as an ongoing experiment in efficiency and optimization. The Mad Scientist lives by two mantras. His first mantra is that We can only manage what we can measure. His second mantra is that Data beats gut feel by a million miles. These mantras and a dozen other disruptive beliefs drive profit for his 440+ investors.

Neal serves as the CEO / Founder at Grocapitus, an iconic, data-driven commercial real estate investment company. Grocapitus’ 28 person team acquires and builds multifamily & commercial properties across the U.S. With more than 440 active investors and over 2,000 reviewing our projects, the Grocapitus portfolio currently spans across 10 states with 22 projects (1 sold) and 3,300 units/beds. The powerful Grocapitus brand has a cult-like following of data-driven investors. The result – Completed equity raises of $146 million* for Multifamily, Mixed-Use, and Industrial acquisitions in the last 18 months, over 3,000 units purchased. Grocapitus is on track to close another 1,500 units in the next 12 months.

Let’s dive in!

[00:01 – 06:20] Opening Segment 

  • Neal Bawa shares more about his work these days
  • A blockchain Real Estate introduction
    • The immutable, untouchable bitcoin idea

 
[06:21 – 14:39] Deeper into the Tokenization of real estate

  • A backend infrastructure
    • Attempts to make Real Estate liquid
  • The backend called blockchain
    • Ethereum is a smart contrast
  • The dawn of tokenizing assets
  • The timing now is critical
  • What Real Estate tokens can and can’t do

 
[14:40 – 25:23] Convergence of technology and real estate transformation

  • How do we easily get investors into this conversation
    • Everything is going to be different from now on
  • What are we tokenizing?
  • This stuff REALLY works for Real Estate
  • The process for investors and syndicators getting to blockchain
    • It might be a disadvantage in a few years
  • More and more people are getting on it

 
[25:24 – 29:34] Closing Segment

  • Instant gratification is powerful
    • The high cost involved
  • You Live and Die by the Numbers 
  • Final words

 
Tweetable Quotes:

“Stocks are liquid, and real estate is not.” – Neal Bawa

“The word ‘decentralize’ is very key to bitcoin.” – Neal Bawa

“More and more people realized that blockchain is superior.” – Neal Bawa