Real Estate Investor Success Story:
From Curiosity to Confidence

Within a matter of days, Macario reached out to Gabriel.

Macario did more than just his homework on the industry. He talked with other real estate brokerage firms, too.

“Because I honestly didn’t understand the process, I spoke with several other companies at the same time I was talking with New Western”, Macario confesses. ”But what I found was a few just didn’t seem educated enough to answer my questions. I also noticed a lot of wholesalers would say anything to sell me a home. Even if what they said wasn’t 100% accurate. That’s a deal-breaker for me.”

After gathering as much information as possible and weighing the risks, Macario purchased his first investment property from New Western. One that targeted both his needs and preferences. It was a small house (only 700 square feet) and he invested $40,000 into the renovation (which he did himself), but it was the perfect property to begin with. He and his partner still own that property and rent it out on Airbnb™.

With that first deal under his belt, Macario gained not only confidence in himself but trust in New Western. Macario worked with Gabriel to find a good property for his first solo project. “He wanted to build a portfolio and one day retire off his real estate investments,” Gabriel recalls. “Most investors tend to hide their cards so to speak, but Macario has been upfront about everything from Day One. And that has really allowed me to understand what he needs.”

In 2018, Gabriel let Macario know about an available property that fit his criteria, a historic home built in 1913 located near downtown San Antonio. 

It was the property that put Macario’s life on a completely different track.

What made the investment even more worthwhile was the historic features within the house itself. The craftsmanship throughout the property was impressive and deserved to be restored. But historical homes come with their own set of issues—namely, the rigorous permit process.

Renovating a historic home is not for the faint of heart. In addition to potential layers of previous repairs over the decades to contend with, investors are often forced to deal with layers of bureaucratic red tape to get the proper permits. And this doesn’t even begin to address the potential challenges of having to meet current codes in an old structure.

By the time the project was completed, the numbers proved Macario’s approach was the right one. The Barbe house was purchased for $227,900, the estimated CMA was $385,000, he invested $100,000 into restoring the property and it sold 13 days later for $465,000.

This was Macario’s first big flip and it was just the beginning of his success story.

“I could tell after this investment that Macario was great at this” Gabriel observed. “He possesses every trait a top-tier investor needs. He’s very oriented to solving problems. In fact, he’s one of the best problem-solvers I’ve ever seen. He’s also really, really good at negotiating. But the biggest thing is his attitude. He has such a positive outlook on things and tackles every problem head-on. Especially historic properties like this Barbe house. He had completely transformed this investment property into a show home within five months. Just amazing.”

Macario’s real estate investing took off. He continued his successful streak flipping homes in San Antonio and it wasn’t long before Gabriel spotted an off-market deal that had Macario’s name written all over it. Macario went to the property and liked what he saw.

“I always encourage investors to walk the property with someone they trust,” Gabriel advises. “General contractors, subs, even family. Have those people walk around with you before making any decision. Generally, those people have the knowledge and opinions that will help you map out the problems and solutions. As you get more experienced, you’ll be able to do that yourself.”

“When you’re just starting out as a real estate investor, you pay people who know more than you up front” Gabriel explains. “But as you get more experienced, you start learning more and more. You begin to understand how much certain problems will cost to fix, what works and what doesn’t in a given neighborhood, stuff like that. Until then, you pay for what you don’t know on the front end. It’s something everyone goes through.”

This doesn’t mean every real estate investor should focus on obtaining his/her general contractor license or run their own construction crew, but it does mean they’ll need to pay someone for the expertise they don’t have just yet.

Macario agrees for the need of a crew that does everything right, but he’s not necessarily talking about the construction side of the business.

“My advice? Spend the money on staging. I have a great team that stages very well. And this includes a great photographer.”

As with everything else in life, there’s a right way and wrong way to invest in real estate. Gabriel’s seen both and has additional recommendations for avoiding the classic mistakes.

“Cities have really cracked down on permits recently. A lot of investors were doing work and not getting the proper permits. Don’t cut corners. It’s simply not worth it. It’s better to just pay what you need to in order to get it done properly.”

No one could argue Macario’s success as a real estate investor. He’s come a long way since he first answered that loaded question, “Do you trust me?” Looking back over the last few years, it’s safe to say he’s glad he took the leap.

“New Western gave me an opportunity to buy property on Day One and now, because of them, I quit my job and became a successful, full-time investor. It’s changed my life.”

“My advice? Spend the money on staging. I have a great team that stages very well. And this includes a great photographer.”

As with everything else in life, there’s a right way and wrong way to invest in real estate. Gabriel’s seen both and has additional recommendations for avoiding the classic mistakes.

“Cities have really cracked down on permits recently. A lot of investors were doing work and not getting the proper permits. Don’t cut corners. It’s simply not worth it. It’s better to just pay what you need to in order to get it done properly.”