Brandon Mardenfeld flips lots of houses — dozens every year.
The Jacksonville real estate professional and investor also has made a name for himself selling property the old-fashioned, commission-based way.
But what Mardenfeld really likes to do is buy a house and sell it, say, two days later.
As is.
For most of his dealings, he partners with an investor — often a business associate in Mardenfeld’s hometown of Miami.
“No carpet to rip out, no roof to replace, no headaches. Just money in our pockets,” he said. “I really, really like the wholesale side of this business.”
Mardenfeld’s far from a Realtor’s Realtor.
Much of his wheeling-and-dealing occurs outside the purview of the firm under which he hangs his real estate license.
Rather, by working with various investment partners, he has established a niche in the local market of turning distressed properties into a profit.
The high school dropout and former restaurant server cut his real estate teeth in the Miami timeshare business. Mardenfeld says he has gradually acquired the proficiency to calculate real estate numbers on the spot.
He doesn’t bother with spreadsheets.
“It’s all in my head and I’m all self-taught,” said Mardenfeld, 38.
He is as inclined to invest in a $125,000 home as he is one for $500,000. He says that strategy is for efficiency’s sake — he’s a huge subscriber of “time is money” — and to avoid having to write big checks up-front.
“I like to consider myself as a borderline hedge fund manager,” he said.
Mardenfeld curses a lot, doesn’t network much with his Realtor peers and passes on seminars and other education opportunities.
“I go by the beat of my own drum,” Mardenfeld said, as he showed his latest investments — seven single-family homes in largely middle-class Jacksonville neighborhoods from San Souci to Avondale to the Westside.
Mardenfeld typically chooses Fridays to check on his properties, mostly acquisitions through foreclosures and tax sales. The Duval County Clerk of Courts office administers the auctions online Mondays through Thursdays.
“Fridays, I start winding down from all of the auctions and check on my properties to see who’s doing what, what needs what and whether my subs are (expletive) drunk on the job, you know,” he said.
That’s Mardenfeld.
Candid. Transparent. Playful. Sometimes vulgar.
“He’s a goofball, but he’s a lot smarter than he acts,” says Mardenfeld’s assistant, Sallie Fulmer. “And he knows the business from tip to tail.”
The two met five years ago when Fulmer bought a house from Mardenfeld. She’s been working for him since early 2015.
“He’s very business-oriented at the same time he’s got a train horn in his truck,” she said.
Mardenfeld says focusing too much on work and not enough on family likely contributed to his recent divorce.
Still, he says, being attention-challenged likely has helped his real estate career, particularly as an investor.
“ADD. OCD. Everyone thinks it’s a curse. I think it’s a great (expletive) thing because I can do the job of three or four people by myself and not care what other people think,” he said.
He shares custody of his three kids with his ex-wife.
“I’m managing the work thing better now,” he said.
From the Ford F-150 that serves as his mobile office, Mardenfeld paused during an interview to complete the $15,000 sale of a Springfield home he bought for $6,800 at a tax sale two days earlier.
“The house isn’t bad; it’s already remodeled. It’s just in a (expletive) neighborhood,” he said. “All I had to do is change the locks.”
Indeed, he readily pursues properties in horrible condition.
“The crappier the house is, the bigger the opportunity is, a lot of the time,” he said, jokingly referring to holes in roofs as “skylights.”
“You just have to know what you’re doing,” he said.
Because many of the houses he purchases are long-abandoned, the post-purchase scrutiny of new acquisitions is often hairy for Mardenfeld.
He says on occasion, he’s had to pull his .22 Magnum from his pocket to encourage a squatter to make a quick exit.
“This is a nasty little thing. It’ll do what needs to be done,” he said, while holding the weapon.
Mardenfeld says when buying and selling investment property and rehabs, he sets out to make at least a little more than 15 percent profit.
Of hundreds of investment deals he’s made over the past five years, he says he’s only had two or three losses.
“There’s other people who do it (in Jacksonville), but I don’t think they do it as carefully as I do ...” Mardenfeld said. “The partners I deal with are very trusting. ... I can buy whatever I want. I’ve got carte blanche to whatever money I need.”
Mardenfeld readily provides advice to people who ask him to share secrets of his success, including that reality television shows largely don’t reflect what he’s experienced in the business.
“I have a lot of people come to me who have just watched HGTV and they want to try their hand at it,” he said. “The first thing I tell them is to do their research — to know what they are getting into.”
He also advises prospective flippers to account for the time they will put into the project, properly estimate repair costs, work with qualified buyers and set the right price for the property.
Also, he counsels them to keep restoration projects simple.
“Make it pretty. That’s really all you need to do,” he said. “If you over-improve it, you’re really wasting your money.”