Chris & John
- Apr 6, 2021
- 3 min read

Ep 137: Go Bigger, Faster: Scaling from Single-family to Commercial Multifamily with Brian Briscoe

If you’re new to real estate investing, scaling from single-family homes to 100-unit apartment buildings can feel intimidating, but today’s guest shares some practical advice to help you go bigger, faster! Brian Briscoe is a Cofounder and Principal at Four Oaks Capital, a national real estate investment firm specializing in the acquisition, re-positioning, and rebranding of multifamily assets through a private equity fund structure. Brian is also the Cohost of the Diary of an Apartment Investor Podcast, an active duty Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, and an Advisor in the Michael Blank Deal Maker Mastermind, bringing years of leadership and management experience to his real estate investments. In this episode, Brian shares his journey from single-family to multimillion dollar commercial multifamily and his advice for adapting to the larger numbers, which might seem overwhelming at first. Tuning in, you’ll learn how to find your feet, overcome imposter syndrome, and share what you are doing with others, as well as add value, build credibility, and match your role with what you enjoy doing. Even those with billion-dollar portfolios had to start somewhere! So, tune in today to find out more about taking those first steps.

Key Points From This Episode:

Brian shares a bit about his experience in the Marine Corps and his real estate journey.
Scaling from single-family to a 50-unit; why the amount of extra work required isn’t linear.
Learn about the process of acclimatizing to larger numbers that seem insurmountable.
Advice for finding your feet in the commercial multifamily space: start a little smaller and iron out your internal procedures first.
Some mindset shifts that were crucial to Brian’s success, including the value of teamwork.
How changing your social media profiles to ‘real estate investor’ can be an effective first step.
The fear of failure that became an obstacle in Brian’s journey and how he overcame it.
How changing his LinkedIn profile helped him reconnect and invest with former colleagues.
By making what you are doing known to the world, people who are interested will self-select.
When Brian discovered that adding value for others was a valuable tool, starting with finding questions he didn’t know the answers to.
Find forums in which you can add value and start building your credibility and your network.
Brian shares what he believes is the most difficult part of having a podcast: matching experienced with aspiring guests.
A reminder that even the person with a billion-dollar portfolio had to start somewhere.
Hear about Brian’s process of self-evaluation and matching his role to his strengths.
How his approach to help educate others has attracted more and more people to his brand.

Tweetables:

“You buy a 50-unit and it’s more like a buy one, get 49 free sale, because the process of purchasing a multifamily property – if it’s a 50-unit – is not 50 times as hard as purchasing a single [family property].” — Brian Briscoe [0:06:09]

“There’s something to be said about starting a little bit smaller, dealing with smaller dollar amounts, getting your systems set up so that, when you get into those larger and larger deals, the process isn’t a lot different between a 20-unit and a 200-unit.” — Brian Briscoe [0:14:55]

“When you make it known to the world that you are doing something, people who are interested will self-select, especially people who you already have a relationship with.” — Brian Briscoe [0:29:50]

“If somebody is looking for that, looking to add value, you’ve got to find forums in which you can actually add value and you can start building that credibility and your network.” — Brian Briscoe [0:35:21]

“Recently, my approach has been trying to help others learn more and, in so doing, we’re attracting more and more people to our brand.” — Brian Briscoe [0:45:07]