235: Twin Brothers Establishing Themselves as BiG Players in the Property Management Business | Matthew & Thomas Carcone of Gordon James Realty

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Background on Matthew and Thomas Carcone of Gordon James Realty:

Matthew and his twin brother Thomas Carcone are co-owners of Gordon James Real Estate Services, which has been in the residential and commercial property management business for 9 years. Thomas started the Gordon James Realty with a former business partner until Matthew came on board later on. Both of them were very entrepreneurial at a very young age. At 14 years old, they were already mowing lawns and doing landscaping services for people within their neighborhood, which taught them great life lessons. As they grew older, their entrepreneurial interest never waned. With all the lessons they accumulated throughout the yearrs, Matt and Tom were able to keep Gordon James Realty growing at a rapid phase. In fact, in 2017, they made the Inc 5000 list for the number one fastest growing real estate company in DC.

Gordon James Realty is a full-service real estate firm serving residential and commercial clients in the Greater Washington Metropolitan Area and New York State, who seek condo association management, investment consulting, real estate brokerage, commercial, and residential management. Their real estate expertise, the latest technology which includes client portals developed on Salesforce.com, and superior customer service combine to maximize their clients’ financial benefits of property ownership while relieving the burden of handling many of the complicated and time-consuming tasks that come with it.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

  • [2:16] Matt: provides the background of their property management company background, as well as its size and revenue.
  • [3:37] Tom: tells the story of how they got interested in real estate and started their property management business.
  • [7:06] Matt: today, their company is 95% property management and 5% brokerage.
  • [8:30] Tom: explains why the name of their company is Gordon James Realty Services. He also discusses the advantages of having a twin brother as a business partner.
  • [10:22] Matt: at an early age, he and his twin brother already have this entrepreneurial interest.
  • [13:23] Tom: mowing lawns when they were younger has taught them important life lessons that they have never forgotten.
  • [17:26] Matt: at 15 years old, they caddied at a local golf club, which is an eye-opening experience for them.
  • [25:51] Matt: after being caddies, they worked in the local drive range, which allowed them to have full management responsibilities. He also talks a bit about their parent’s background.
  • [27:40] Tom: learned an important lesson about money and handling finances from his parents.
  • [29:02] Matt: while in college, they had a job working in the gym.
  • [32:05] Tom: being a twin has its benefits, especially when they were in college and applying for a job.
  • [36:32] Matt: moved to New York to pursue a career in finance.
  • [38:36] Tom: while having a remote job at an IT company, he was working on his realty business with his friend. He eventually quit his job and focused on the realty business, which was a difficult transition for him.
  • [42:01] Tom: when he and his friend were still starting the realty business, they focused on SEO and creating unique content.
  • [50:34] Tom: finally, he decided to quit his day job and go full-time in the property management business.
  • [54:14] Matt: he went to DC to help Tom with the business and he was excited with how it was growing.
  • [59:27] Tom: in the early days of the property management business, there were some challenges and problems that they experienced. He provides some examples of these challenges.
  • [1:02:44] Tom: shares the story of how he was able to buy out his first business partner.
  • [1:08:21] Matt: talks about his transition from working in a company to running a business with his twin brother.
  • [1:11:06] Matt: Getting the right staff and delegating the work appropriately have been the hardest obstacles they’ve had in the last 7 years.
  • [1:11:44] Tom: the rapid growth of the company is also a huge obstacle for both of them.
  • [1:17:22] Tom: transitioning into a new software system to keep up with the growth of the company was also immensely challenging for them.
  • [1:25:05] Matt: the most rewarding part of being in the company is seeing the growth and development of their staff.
  • [1:26:10] Tom: offers a piece of advice for new business owners, startups, and first-time entrepreneurs.

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Fabulous 4 Questions:

  1. 📖📚 Favorite Books? HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business by Richard Ruback, Am I Being Too Subtle?: The Adventures of a Business Maverick by Sam Zell
  2. 🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Embroidery Machine
  3. 🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Salesforce. The ability to customize the platform for our employees and automate internal processes has been invaluable.
  4. 💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Scalability and finding the right people.

Key Point from the Interview:

  • Tom: “Figure out a way to be able to actually test the concept in the market, see if there is a need or a desire or space for respective clients to be able to purchase it, and then once you identify that that is the case, then at that point, spend the money on hiring an attorney to draft the agreement between partners and all the other stuff that goes in to the business. But try not to get too caught up in that front before actually understanding whether or not it’s something that can be sold.”

Resources Mentioned:

 

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