Josh: What is the biggest mistake you made when starting out?

Alex Ruch: One mistake I made early on was trying to do deals everywhere with every property type. I was doing it out of desperation because I started out not making any money and wanted to make something happen. But most of those efforts didn’t pan out. The majority of the money I’ve made so far has come from focusing on my particular submarket. If I could go back, I would have just focused from the beginning—learning who the players are, understanding what’s going on, and ultimately being able to provide the best level of service possible to my clientele.