MB483: 33,000 Units Later: What Smart Passive Investors Really Want—and How Great Operators Deliver It - With Jeff Gleiberman

Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing

Michael Blank

Business, Entrepreneurship, Investing

4.7 • 577 Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does it take to scale from a 38-unit syndication to 33,000 units across six states—and still never lose investor capital? Jeff Gleiberman of MG Properties breaks it down. In this episode, Jeff shares the core principles that helped his family-run firm grow into one of the top 50 apartment owners in the U.S. You'll hear how they’ve weathered multiple market cycles, why they’re buying newer assets right now, and how disciplined underwriting, fixed-rate debt, and vertical integration have become their unfair advantages. Whether you're raising capital, comparing asset classes, or trying to read the market—this episode is required listening.

Key Takeaways

From Family Syndication to Institutional Scale

Started with a single 38-unit deal and scaled to 33,000 units over 30+ years.
Built trust and momentum through word of mouth and disciplined execution.
Added institutional capital partners while staying grounded in syndication fundamentals.
Grew from a home office to over 1,000 employees with fully integrated operations.

How MG Navigates Market Cycles

Survived and thrived through the S&L crisis, dot-com bust, GFC, COVID, and today's rate shock.
Adapted strategy for each cycle—moving from value-add to core-plus when needed.
Buys below replacement cost today to minimize downside and maximize long-term upside.
Maintains focus on fixed-rate, long-term debt and low leverage to protect investor capital.

Why Vertical Integration is a Competitive Advantage

In-house property management, asset management, and construction management from day one.
Enables real-time decision-making, tighter expense control, and stronger performance in down markets.
Allowed the firm to pivot quickly during COVID and deliver consistent returns.

How to Attract Serious Capital (Without Chasing High IRRs)

Always invests 10–20% of their own capital into each deal—creating strong alignment.
Focuses on risk-adjusted returns, not marketing inflated projections.
Educates investors on cycles, deal structure, and realistic expectations to build long-term trust.

Current Strategy: Core-Plus Over Value-Add

Acquiring newer, well-located properties at 30–40% discounts to replacement cost.
Cash flow is lower today—but risk is also lower, and long-term upside is strong.
Value-add deals don’t pencil right now due to rent compression and renovation risk—but they will again.

The Discipline Behind $1.8B in Acquisitions (In a Down Market)

Maintains a consistent buy box and underwriting discipline—despite competition and volatility.
Relies on lender relationships, low-cost insurance, and scale advantages to stay competitive.
Sticks to one asset class—multifamily—and executes at a high level, deal after deal.

For full episode show notes visit: https://themichaelblank.com/podcasts/session483/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, dealmakers, welcome to the show where it's all about financial freedom with real estate.
0:03.6	Let's do this.
0:09.6	Today's episode is going to be very exciting.
0:12.0	I'm talking with Jeff Glaberman, and he and his company, they own 33,000 units, which is the usual.
0:18.5	We normally don't have people here to have this chart
0:21.1	large of a portfolio as companies called MG Properties, top 50 owner of apartments in the
0:26.7	U.S. And they have over 2,000 active investors in a gigantic network as well. And his dad
0:32.7	founded this thing in the early 90s in 1992 was the first time that he had built his portfolio,
0:39.3	and he slept Jeff along in the early days, and now Jeff is president of the company.
0:45.3	And it's fascinating because in this episode, we not only talk about how we got started,
0:49.3	but how they fared through various different market cycles going back to the early 90s.
0:53.3	And it's really interesting. We also talk about different market cycles going back to the early 90s. It's really interesting.
0:55.3	We also talk about different market cycles with perspective of whatever, 30 plus years
0:59.2	and how they modify their strategy as the market adjusts.
1:04.4	And it really is very interesting.
1:07.1	And they bought $1.8 billion worth of real estate last year.
1:10.7	So their company is much,
1:12.2	much larger. It was just very interesting to get insight into such a large real estate company.
1:17.6	It's going to be a fly in a wall. It's going to be awesome. Let's do this with Jeff Glabberman.
1:21.8	Jeff, welcome to show today. Thank you for having me. Happy to be here. So you've got a few units,
1:29.2	which is kind of cool.
1:32.5	And tell us about your business.
	...

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