Finding Secure And High Return Deals With Thomas Braegelmann

“I believe that collaboration and working together where everyone is working for the same outcome, everybody has the interest of each other in mind and the best interest of each other in mind where there's a true alignment of interests.”

Thomas Braegelmann is the founder of GCA Secured Investments and the Kensington Fund. He also mentors and helps a lot of people who are trying to get into investment and real estate. He's also participated in more than a hundred million dollars in real estate transactions nationwide in under 18 months, and 30 years of experience in real estate investing, commercial construction and land development, and private lending.

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Brett: 

I'm excited for our next guest. He is out of Puerto Rico today, but really is from Minnesota and has spent a lot of time helping people all over the US. He is the founder of GCA Secured Investments and the Kensington Fund. He also mentors and helps a lot of people who are trying to get into investment and real estate. But then, in particular, he has an eye for finding deals that perhaps have higher returns, but also that is very secure. So he has some lending that he helps people do. They can invest in his lending business and/or real estate opportunities. He has been a speaker and has hosted multiple groups, in particular in the Bay Area. I've found that if you're anywhere near San Francisco, over 1,600 members of REIA private investment club, as well as another 400 passive investors that he has a group that he leads and mentors investors across the country. He's also participated in more than a hundred million dollars in real estate transactions nationwide in under 18 months, and 30 years of experience in real estate investing, commercial construction and land development, and private lending. So please welcome my guest, Tom Braegelmann.

Tom:

Great. Thank you, Brett. Thank you. Appreciate that.

Brett:

Yes, Tom. You're welcome. Welcome to the show. So let's talk a little bit, Tom. Tell our listeners a little bit about your story and your current focus.

Tom:

Yeah, so my focus, what I really like doing in real estate is structuring real estate transactions, structuring deals. I was a contractor developer, like you mentioned, for quite a few years and I know what it's like to be on that side of the fence, where I find a great deal, but then I need to find the money to help fund it, to get the deal funded, get the work done. A lot of times, it would be either a fix and flip or new construction projects. So I feel really comfortable from that perspective of wanting to find money partners to do deals with. And so now over the last 10 years, I've been on the other side of the equation, nearly 10 years, where I am the source, or I helped source money for the active investors that have the deals. And so I like bringing those two parties together, the active investor with the deal and the passive investor with money, and help facilitate those projects to get the deals done in a way that's safer, more profitable for everyone. It's a very collaborative approach that we work with and it's been very successful for us.

Brett:

Excellent. Before your success as an educator and a connector with active investors and passive investors in commercial real estate, who was Tom growing up? And what gifts were you given? And how did that shape how you help others today?

Tom:

Well, you mentioned I'm from Minnesota originally. About 10 years ago I moved to California, but I grew up on a small family farm in central Minnesota, learned how to work. Dad always seemed to have plenty of work for us. There were six boys and one girl. Seven boys and one girl, including myself, and a big family. And he always had plenty of work for us to do on the farm. So I had a great life, a great childhood growing up that way. From there, from very early on, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I liked putting deals together. I liked making things work. I started real estate investing while I was in college. I bought my first home. The very first home was a mobile home and then from there, I went to a duplex and eventually bought another duplex. But yeah, that was that's pretty much what it was. Like I say, I had a pretty decent childhood growing up and learned how to work.

Brett:

I'm curious. Out of the seven, eight total of your brothers and sisters and yourself, what number were you in the order?

Tom:

I would say I'm either seven or eight, either the last or second last because I have a twin brother.

Brett:

Oh, you have a twin brother. Wow. And are you guys opposite in a lot of ways and are more the same? What is it like?

Tom:

I would say we're very similar in a lot of ways. Pete was his name he did pass on, but super, super wonderful guy. But we were definitely best friends growing up, and enjoyed doing a lot of things together. 

Brett:

Sorry to hear about the passing. Yeah. Sorry to hear about the passing. Were you guys connectors? I'm trying to connect what you do now with what you were as kid. Were you guys connecting the brothers and sisters growing up or negotiating whatever kids might negotiate on a farm growing up? Were you guys kind of the entrepreneurial younger brother?

Tom:

Yeah. No, I think that's a good description. In my book, I talk about how we started out. I remember the very first thing that I did was I helped dig worms for selling. In Minnesota, there's a lot of lakes. And so therefore there were a lot of weekend fishermen and fishing people that would come in for vacation and they wanted to buy worms. And so, we would dig worms up in the garden. And we did that for a couple of years to the point where eventually we were able to buy a bicycle from the proceeds of the selling of the worms. And so that was really my first endeavor. Then I got involved with growing sweet corn and raising sheep and different things like that. So yeah, it's always been in my blood I guess.

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