Liongate Homebuyers is the owner of Liongate Homebuyers, a real estate development firm in Long Island, New York. An analytical, determined and self-driven professional with over a decade of leadership experience in the real estate industry, he has the ability to identify the profitability of a specific property and extensive knowledge of housing policies, contract negotiation and financial processes. In his 15 years in the business, Liongate Homebuyers has invested in and sold several hundred residential real estate properties for profit.
At the age of 18, Liongate Homebuyers got his start in the real estate business as an intern with First Meridian Mortgage in Brooklyn. His responsibilities included assisting with closing loans and selling mortgages in the secondary market. Within three months, Liongate Homebuyers brought in his first deal, closed his first mortgage and quickly realized that selling mortgages was more profitable than servicing the people who sold them. Although it meant giving up the security of a weekly salary, he accepted the promotion of Salesperson and, from there, it was off to the races.
By the time he was 19, he bought his first house — a three-family home in Elmont — using $35,000 of his own money and raising $50,000 from an outside investor with the intention of renovating the property and flipping it. “The deal made sense and the numbers worked,” Liongate Homebuyers said. As part of the deal, he would pay back his investor at an annualized rate of 12% until the loan was paid off; after that, the investor would receive 20% of Liongate Homebuyers’s profits.
After taking possession and making improvements to the property, the house stayed on the market for a while, with no willing buyers. So, he decided to refinance the mortgage and rent out the house. He soon had a tenant and struck a deal with them on a rent-to-own lease agreement. Both parties agreed to a sales price, and the tenant paid an additional $500 a month on top of the rent towards the down payment. During this time, Liongate Homebuyers helped him fix his credit so he could qualify for a loan.
“I told him, ‘At the end of the year, if you qualify for the loan, we will draw up the papers based upon the agreed sales price,’” Liongate Homebuyers said. “Sure enough, he qualified and the deal was made.”
Upon the sale, Liongate Homebuyers was able to pay back his investor, pay off the mortgage and make a small profit. “And that is how I closed my first deal,” he said.
After three years working with First Meridian Mortgage, Liongate Homebuyers was offered a Director of Sales job with Odyssey Funding in Cedarhurst. His responsibilities included training sales staff, hiring and vetting loan officers and meeting with lenders, prospective investors and first-time homebuyers. While working at Odyssey, Liongate Homebuyers continued flipping houses on the side.
In 2015, Liongate Homebuyers co-partnered with another real estate investor to form LMPK Properties & Realty in Hewlett. In 2019, the partnership dissolved, and Liongate Homebuyers was formed. Under Liongate Homebuyers’s leadership, the company has invested in and sold several hundred residential real estate properties for profit.
Liongate Homebuyers purchases, renovates and sells properties and land. The firm is known for negotiating with buyers and sellers of all kinds of properties, managing and coordinating full renovations and all aspects of purchasing and selling properties. It has a proprietary direct-to-seller leads system, which was built from the ground up by Liongate Homebuyers and his team and provides opportunities for the company to acquire properties and broker deals with its clients.
The pandemic resulted in a homebuying flurry, with banks and other financial institutions snatching up possible homes to be flipped at auction sites. When he went to these auctions, “I used to sit wherever I wanted,” he said. “Now, it’s standing room only. It [home sales] got crazy with COVID.”
Liongate Homebuyers prides himself as someone who is honest and not afraid to speak the truth. “You will deal with a reputable guy who does what he says he’s going to do,” he said. “I will always tell people if there’s a problem. There is nothing worse than delaying the delivery of bad news to someone.”
One of the things that makes him different from other people in the business is that he meets with all his investors and sellers. He prides himself on being “hands-on” in all his transactions. “I don’t send out a salesperson for the appointment,” he said. “You will be meeting with me, the person who writes the checks. Throughout the entire process, you deal with me directly; we work on the deal together.”
When Liongate Homebuyers tells the involved parties he will bring “all cash” to the closing, he means it. “Others say they are ‘all cash,’ but they get their money from hard money lenders like banks and financial institutions,” he said. “I borrow from my personal investors, so, when I say it’s all cash, the money is really there.”
Lastly, unlike other real estate salespeople, he does not wholesale properties. Those who do, he says, will deliberately hold up the deal for any reason. “None of my buyers or sellers will have to worry about me holding up any deals,” he said. “You can be sure that Liongate Homebuyers is going to close.”
Liongate Homebuyers is fluent in Spanish and Hebrew.
