In this episode, Ben and Felipe sit down with Isaac Toledano, Co-Founder and CEO of BH Group, for a very honest look at what it really takes to build a major real estate platform in Florida.
Isaac shares how he grew up between Morocco, Poland and Israel through his parents’ stories, started visiting construction sites at twelve, and dropped out of school at fifteen because he “could not be put in a box.” By sixteen he was running a landscaping crew of nine adults, then moved to Tel Aviv, got into hard money lending, and began flipping land by changing zoning and selling at the right moment.
At twenty-four he moved to the United States with about 1.5 million dollars, promptly lost almost all of it in the stock market, and found himself broke in Hollywood, Florida with a young family. His wife refused to let him take a low-paid stockroom job and pushed him into a commission-only mortgage role. Within six months he was the top producer in the company, earning six figures a month and paying back every family member who had helped him.
From there Isaac moved into apartment buildings, condo conversions and large-scale deals, got his ribs broken in 2008, then rebuilt by buying distressed assets and partnering with top developers such as The Related Group. Today BH Group is behind projects like Ritz-Carlton West Palm Beach, Fisher Island, ultra-prime Naples waterfront and Hammock Dunes, with a business model built on speed, relationships and never compromising on location.
Isaac also speaks about Shabbat, being a father of eight, becoming a grandfather, and why his wife is his first and last advisor on every single deal. If you care about deal flow, discipline, and making a comeback when everything falls apart, this one is a masterclass.
Guest bio
Isaac Toledano is the Co-Founder and CEO of BH Group, a Miami-based real estate investment and development firm focused exclusively on prime Florida assets. After starting out in construction and land deals in Israel, Isaac moved to the US in 1999, rebuilt from losing his entire net worth, and went on to become a leading investor and partner on projects such as Ritz-Carlton West Palm Beach, Fisher Island and several flagship coastal developments. He lives in South Florida with his wife and their eight children, and is known for his speed, discipline and long-term partnership mindset.
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