Emerging Assets: Residential Assisted Living
It's November, and for me, a time of reflection on the blessings in my life.
One of those blessings was knowing the late great, Gene Guarino. Gene was on our board of advisors and tragically passed away from complications with COVID earlier this year. In his honor, I wanted to share a story on how he inspired Katie and me to, "Do Good & Do Well".
This is the story of Melissa's House, BMD Investment Group's latest project. The project started in the fall of 2019.
Quick background for those who don’t know me, I had been married to my beautiful wife for 12 years when we started investing in real estate in 2014. Katie Is a physician's assistant, and I was employed as a client relationship executive for a Fortune 500 company.
(left, my wife Katie)
In 2019 we had a fire at one of our small apartment complexes. That was the moment we realized changes were needed. The rentals were a good investment, however, we knew more was possible. Earlier that year I attended a Real Estate Guys Investing conference and met a man named Gene Guarino.
Gene had a passion for people and very similar to Katie, he needed a home where his mother could live comfortably as she grew older. He couldn’t find a good solution, despite his search and connections. This was Katie’s story and the similarity that we connected on. Katie's mom had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia and couldn't live by herself anymore. Katie and her sister tried everything they could but struggled to find a good home for their mom to live.
This is what made the serendipitous connection to Gene so Important. Gene started developing residential assisted living homes in 2013 to solve this exact problem and was on a mission to create a platform that would transform the assisted living industry.
When I told Katie about Gene, she was naturally curious. She went out to Scottsdale to meet him and attend one of his 3-day workshops in the Phoenix area. When Katie got home, she was impressed. We reflected on how this concept aligned with our personal values. We started Investing In real estate because it served a primary need. The concept of Residential Assisted living not only provided housing, but it was also a service that solved a massive problem, a problem that hit close to home for Katie and me - it provided a home for those that needed help with activities of daily living. Residential Assisted Living is not a facility, it is a home aligned with the needs of aging Baby Boomers, or as Gene would say the "Silver Tsunami".
In business and life, most innovations are often a new product or service that builds on an existing concept. This fundamental concept is what has propelled Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and others to become the richest men in the world.
They are the modern men carrying the legacy of the historic names that shaped the world today. Think Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Astor, Ford, and Morgan - all of whom are highlighted in the mini-series, “The Men Who Built America”. These men were known for transforming every industry they touched, be it oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobiles, or finance. Jeff Bezos took the emerging internet and built software to create a market for selling books in a new way. Elon Musk developed his wealth through PayPal, transforming how individuals could exchange goods and services using the internet. Bill Gates capitalized on the emerging computing trend and developed software that empowered people to easily create content, knowing that computers eventually would connect seamlessly- exponentially increasing the value.
The timeless pattern that each thought leader followed was building a new product and service that enabled people in new ways not thought possible.
This was exactly what Residential Assisted Living offered. An innovation that combined a luxurious home with a dedicated team of caregivers supporting senior citizens with activities of daily living. It was an asset class that Katie and I felt uniquely qualified to tackle. We knew we could combine my 15 years of healthcare IT operations and Katie’s 10 years of physician's assistant clinical practice along with our combined 6 years of real estate experience and capitalize on this proven model.
Once we knew the concept would empower people, following the timeless principles of innovation, I developed a business plan to determine feasibility. The business plan is a tool to communicate how your systems and team are uniquely qualified to execute on an opportunity. Thus, the Melissa's House concept was born.
There is so much more to the story, of course. If you are interested in seeing the business plan, send an email to info@BMDInvestmentGroup.com and we will get a copy to you right away. We also have a dedicated investor report that offers detailed updates on the project, timelines, milestones, and changes. If you're interested in getting those updates and learning more, send us a message.
In the next newsletter, I will introduce why saving dollars may decrease your standard of living. I will walk through how subtle changes over the last 100 years have created this loss in purchasing power of your dollars and what you can do about It.
Until next time reflect on the blessings In your life and share the wealth with family and friends.