We are the premier real estate organization for everything from networking to mentoring successful real estate investors. 
Sprout Financial
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Keith Fleischer
Profile under construction.
Marty Granoff
Profile Under Construction.
Charles P. Castellon – CPC Law, Founder and Managing Attorney & Esquire Title Company, Managing Member
Charles Castellon began his legal career as a trial attorney in New York City. Charles is active in community, civic, and professional associations and has presented and served as a panelist on legal issues for organizations and associations throughout Florida as well as actively publishing articles and blog posts on his areas of expertise.
Professional
· CPC Law, Founder and Managing Attorney
· Esquire Title Company, Managing Member
Education
· B.A., University of Florida.
· J.D., The American University, Washington College of Law
o Law Review
Irv Blander – Owner Blander Mortgage Corporation
Irv Blander owner of Blander Mortgage Corporation has been in the South Florida real estate business for more than 45 years. In addition to being a real estate agent for those many years, he has notably bought, fixed and sold more than 200 investment properties.
For the last 20 years, Blander’s primary business is hard money lending for both flippers and landlords.
Investors not only arrange loans from Blander, but often consult with Irv regarding property valuations, deal merit, marketing strategy, and case by case problem solving. Irv is a frequent speaker at the local real estate investment clubs. He lives with his wife and two children in N. Dade, Florida.
Ivanhoe Alvarez – Estate Agent SRS, RE/MAX Advisors
Bio under construction.
Evan Klinek
With more than 12 years of litigation experience in state and federal court, Evan B. Klinek is a member of Greenspoon Marder’s Litigation practice group. He is an experienced trial lawyer, handling matters from inception through appeal. Mr. Klinek’s practice covers a broad spectrum of areas, including but not limited to: admiralty and maritime; bankruptcy; contract disputes; consumer finance; creditor’s rights and collections; cyber-squatting; fraud and deceptive trade practices; non-competition agreements; partnership and shareholder disputes; real estate disputes; TCPA violations; and other business litigation matters.
Throughout his career, Mr. Klinek has represented financial institutions in contested collection, foreclosure and litigation matters, including for purported violations of FDCPA, RESPA, TILA, FCRA and fraud. Moreover, he has extensive experience representing secured and unsecured creditors in out-of-court workouts and in all facets of Chapter 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcy proceedings, including adversary proceedings (e.g., fraudulent transfers, discharge ability, and preference actions) and contested matters such as dismissals of bad faith filings, relief from stay, adequate protection, cash collateral, valuation of cash collateral and objections to claims. Mr. Klinek also has experience representing clients faced with governmental and administrative investigations and enforcement actions. While he has extensive litigation experience, Mr. Klinek’s goal is to keep clients out the courtroom, when possible; therefore, he actively counsels clients on ways to resolve disputes without the necessity of protracted litigation.
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Court Admissions
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U. S. District and Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida
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U. S. District and Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida
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Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Bar Admissions
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Florida
Education
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J.D., University of Miami School of Law, 1997
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B.A., Political Science, University of Florida, cum laude, 1994
Megan Schmidt – Clear To Sell
Megan Schmidt is the Senior Staff Attorney and Certification Manager at Clear To Sell, LLP. She has a thorough knowledge of the state statutes, case law, and due process protocols pertaining to tax deed sales in the state of Florida. Ms. Schmidt has also published on the topic of lien survival, Let’s Be Clear – Not All Liens Survive a Tax Deed Sale, ActionLine – A Publication of the Florida Bar RPPTL Section (Mar 2016).
Marlena Das Changas (The Diva)
Marlena Burstein das Chagas is known as “The Real Estate Diva Investor,” for her unique ability to find ways to creatively help buyers and sellers no matter which direction the real estate market is heading. Marlena has over 25 years of experience in real estate investments, focusing on pre-foreclosure and foreclosures.
She is a pioneer in the short sale strategy and was negotiating her own short sales with banks in the 1990’s, before the Banking Crisis of 2008 and before most even knew what short sales were.
Her expertise encompasses a multitude of investment exit strategies from short sales, wholesale flipping, rehabbing, retailing, lease optioning, landlording, tax liens and tax deeds.
Marlena graduated with a BA from SUNY Binghamton in Spanish Language/Literature and Latin American Studies. She lived in Spain for 2 years for her undergraduate studies and traveled Western Europe extensively.
She also has a MBA in International Business from USC and worked in Brazil for General Foods for one year. She speaks fluent Portuguese and Spanish and has a high competency in Italian. Upon graduation, she worked in the corporate world for over a half a decade, but soon found she could no longer keep her entrepreneurial spirit at bay and decided to explore several business ventures within the Marketing and Real Estate arenas.
Robert Crum – Housing Hub at Charles Rutenberg Realty, LLC
Robert Crum is the proud owner of the Housing Hub at Charles Rutenberg Realty, LLC, a satellite office of Charles Rutenberg Realty. We specialize in helping investors purchase homes directly off of the courthouse auction and resell them for profit. In today’s Market, it is becoming very difficult to buy affordable homes. But with our help, and our extensive knowledge of buying from the courthouse auction, our clients have what they need the most: OPTIONS.
Jordan Oates
Jordan is no stranger to hard work and the nine to five. He loves helping people who need it the most as well as teaching others to do the same. He has great experience in the areas of default and enjoys sharing his knowledge with the students and members of the default investor association.
His determination and focus has led him to realize many successes and along the way he has changed many live in amazing ways.
Anish Dave
Anish Dave has been in banking and financing since 1999 working with different financial institutions and owning his own mortgage company. He has been a realtor since 2004 working with large investment groups and developing initiatives with non-profit organizations in the South Florida market. His extensive background in financing has led him to close multi-millions in real estate transactions throughout his career. Anish was born in Ahmemabad, India and grew up in New Jersey. He has earned a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Finance from the University of South Florida. Anish has traveled extensively in Central and South America since living in Miami for the last eleven years. This in turn has given Anish the ability to evaluate different trends and evaluate markets, especially the foreclosure and short sale markets. Anish is always educating himself to keep ahead of a very dynamic market in South Florida. Anish has a vast knowledge of real estate and a specialty in short sales.
He joined the Broward Real Estate Investors Association team to direct the new BREIA/MD-REIA Mentoring Program with Ryan Kuhlman. Anish is now the CEO of both the Broward Real Estate Investors Association and the Miami Dade REIA. Recently he received the Top Real Estate Investor of the Year award for 2016 from the International Association of Top Professionals (IAOTP).
John Paul Arcia
Panelist Profile Currently Under Construction.
Ryan Kulman
Ryan Kuhlman has been involved in many aspects of Real Estate since 1990. He started working for a developer at the age of 19 doing everything from painting to collecting rent. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1996, Ryan relocated to Miami, Florida and has been involved in Real Estate investing ever since.
From becoming head of Conversions and Marketing for one of the largest Developers in the state of Florida to then owning K.I. Properties, a wholesale investment company, Ryan has gained experience in many facets of Real Estate. Ryan is now the President of both the Broward Real Estate Investors Association and the Miami Dade REIA. Ryan has recently become the youngest board member for the National Real Estate Investors Association.
Bernie Egozi
The primary focus of Bernie Egozi’s practice is the litigation and trial of commercial, real estate and banking matters for domestic and foreign companies and financial institutions. He has extensive experience in representing real estate developers in the defense of real estate deposit disputes and the prosecution of specific performance actions throughout the State of Florida. Mr. Egozi also represents corporations in connection with their commercial litigation needs in both state and federal courts throughout the United States.He is an active member of the Florida Bar, a member of the bars of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
He has also litigated cases before AAA and NASD arbitration panels, NYSE disciplinary panels and state and federal trial and appellate courts. He has also been recognized by his peers for inclusion in the South Florida Legal Guide of top lawyers in every year of its publication since 2008. Bernie is also rated “A.V.®Preeminent”by Martindale Hubbell, the highestpossible ratingin both legal ability and ethical standards. Bernie has served on the Florida Bar’s Federal Court Practice Committee and the Dade County Bar Association’s Banking and Corporate Litigation Committee, Professionalism Committee, and Federal Court Committee. He has also been court-appointed to serve as a mediator in commercial litigation matters and has served as counsel to receivers in enforcement actions brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. Bernie received his bachelor’s degree, with honors, from the University of Virginia and graduated, cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law. While in law school, Bernie received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award (Book Award) recognizing him as the top student in his class in the study of commercial law and he served as the Executive Editor of the University of Miami Entertainment and Sports Law Review. He also received the University of Miami School of Law Dean’s Certificate of Achievement in commercial law. Bernie lives in North Miami Beach with his wife and their four children
Jose Pena
Jose started out his real estate career, while still in college, as a licensed realtor with keyes company back in 1987. In 1993, jose began his investing career by recognizing the opportunities that hurricane andrew created as home owners were collecting insurance money and walking away from their properties for pennies on the dollar. In the following 3 years, jose would learn the trials and tribulations of rehabbing. Materials were scarce, and although contractors were flooding the area from all parts of the country, you were lucky if you could find one that wasn’t a crook, and that’s not including roofers! After being taken by several roofers and contractors who took deposits and were never heard from or seen again, jose was forced to recruit some friends as partners and completed the rehabs using nothing but the sweat equity from his friends and partners.
After a brief hiatus, jose met his mentor rich meyer at a local investment club where he was introduced to a whole new world of making money in real estate. With rich’s coaching and guidance, jose quickly became a seasoned surplus recovery agent bringing in tens of thousands of dollars in business. Today, jose manages all their rehabs and properties, and oversees their training center where he and rich teach students, hands on, the business of making money in real estate.
Abel Gilbert – Acre Investment Group
Abel’s fascination with what he calls the ‘art of the deal’ keeps him searching endlessly for the opportunity to craft a profitable situation for him and his clients. His passion for business has led him through various aspects of Real Estate where his expertise as a Mortgage Lender, Agent, and now Broker have exposed him to every aspect of this business.
Throughout his career, he’s successfully represented buyers and sellers in hundreds of transactions, single handedly purchased over 100 properties through foreclosure auctions, handled the acquisition and disposition of over 30 million dollars in non performing loans, and successfully manages his own Real Estate brokerage firm.
Recently, Abel has turned the personalized service he offers to investors into a company that facilitates the purchase of foreclosure properties and non-performing mortgages.
Gail Gates
Gail Gates – Founder, affectionately known as Mom by her customers, has been the “Mother of Information” Since 1991. She began working part time for a small publication doing Orange and Seminole county foreclosure data. After realizing the need for timely, comprehensive information, she packaged her hand written case file research for distribution to investors. Years later with the addition of the Internet Gail created irsfl.com, Information Resource Service of Fl. Gail provides personalized support and service, and extensive over sight on our data and research.
Brad Emmer
PRESIDENT, EQUITYMAX, INC.
In 1990, Brad entered the residential real estate investment business, buying, repairing, and selling nearly 50 homes over the next two years. He became licensed as a real estate agent in 1990, with New Horizon Realty in Hollywood, FL., where he quickly became the company’s top producer. At the same time, he formed his own licensed mortgage lending company, RGS Investments, Inc. In 1992, Brad shifted from property investing to become a full time real estate agent and mortgage lender, catering strictly to the needs of fellow real estate investors. In 1998, Brad became a licensed real estate broker, and combined all real estate and mortgage activities under the newly established name, EquityMax, Inc.
EquityMax has built on the early successes of RGS and Brad’s work at New Horizon to become one of the leaders in our segment of the real estate and mortgage industry. Brad was born and raised in Miami, and has lived his whole life in South Florida. He is a proud graduate of Coral Gables Sr. High School and the University of Miami.
Sharon Restrepo
Always wanted to invest in real estate but didn’t think you had enough funds to start? Think again. Sharon Restrepo will teach you how you can start wholesaling now and earn your way into bigger deals and more opportunities, including rehabbing, rentals and more.
Sharon has been investing in foreclosed and distressed real estate since 1993 and is a nationally-acclaimed author and real estate educator, specializing in hot topics such as wholesaling, flipping foreclosures, short sales and growing retirement-worthy rental portfolios. She is an experienced savvy investor as well as the Broker of 32 West Realty, a full-service brokerage catering to real estate investors. She began her career at the young age of 25 after a tragic accident left her widowed.
Soon after her husband’s death, she made the decision to pursue his dream of real estate investing…quickly discovering that it was actually her passion. Sharon’s favorite niche, and by far the most popular with folks seeking to become real estate investors, is Wholesaling. In a nut-shell, real estate wholesaling is a low-risk, high-reward strategy that allows investors to begin investing with limited capital and no real estate license, never having to “own” the property in order to earn a nice profit.
Phil C. Rosen
Philip’s practice is focused on commercial and residential real estate matters and business transactions. With more than 15 years’ experience, he has counseled countless clients through the life cycle of their transactions. His clients include investors, developers, REIT’s, commercial landlords and tenants, private and institutional lenders, franchisees and business owners across Florida and the U.S. He routinely collaborates with brokers, lenders, and investors to help push his clients’ deals across the finish line. Philip also assists clients with all aspects of probate and trust administration, including marshaling assets, communicating and negotiating with beneficiaries and creditors, and the distribution of assets.
Awards and Recognition
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Recognized by Florida Super Lawyers – South Florida Edition as one of South Florida’s Rising Stars for 2009
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Recognized by the Miami Herald as a Top Rated Lawyer in 2015
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AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated
Professional Affiliations
Florida Bar – Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
New York Bar – Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
Jewish Federation of Broward County – Real Estate Committee
Broward County Bar Association- Young Lawyers DivisionBar Admissions
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Florida, 2002
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New York, 2000
Education
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Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1999
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Binghamton University, B.S., 1996
Richard Meyer
Rich’s over 25 years of experience and real-life examples in the field of default investing create powerful teaching tools for real estate investors of all interests and levels of experience.
After college, Rich worked his way up the corporate real estate ladder to become the broker and owner of Era Prestige Realty. For the next few years he grew Prestige to a formidable four office operation with over 250 full-time agents. He sold his real estate offices and went to work for a leading foreclosure law firm where he studied the legal aspects of real property law and foreclosure litigation.
In 1993, his expert understanding of the consequences of default lead him to begin investing in foreclosure and tax deed auction properties. To date, he has participated in the acquisition and sale of over 1,800 action properties.
Rich’s default mastery has helped him to create multiple streams of income from tax deed auctions, foreclosure auctions, and surplus funds. He personally participated in surplus funds recovery at a gain of 9 million dollars. He has purchased 1,000s of non-institutional first and second mortgages and institutional second mortgage notes.
Rich remains extremely active in the field of defaulted consumer debt collections and receives over $12,600 per month in passive income from monthly settlement payments from judgment debtors.
Elliot Eisenberg
Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. is a nationally acclaimed economist and public speaker specializing in making economics fun, relevant and educational. Dr. Eisenberg earned a B.A. in economics with first class honors from McGill University in Montreal, as well as a Master and Ph.D. in public administration from Syracuse University. Eisenberg is the Chief Economist for GraphsandLaughs, LLC, an economic consultancy that serves a variety of clients across the United States. He writes a syndicated column and authors a daily 70 word commentary on the economy that is available at www.econ70.com.
Dr. Eisenberg has spoken to hundreds of business groups and associations, often as keynote speaker on topics including: economic forecasts, economic impact of industries such as homebuilding and tourism, consequences of government regulation, strategic business development and other current economic issues.
Dr. Eisenberg has been invited to testify before lawmakers and is often asked to comment on proposed legislation. His research and opinions have been featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Bureau of National Affairs, Forbes, Fortune, and many other publications. He is a regularly featured guest on cable news programs, talk and public radio.
Dr. Eisenberg was formerly a Senior Economist with the National Association of Home Builders in Washington, D.C. He is the creator of the multifamily stock index (the first nationally recognized index to track the total return of public firms principally involved in the ownership and management of apartments), the author of more than eighty-five articles, serves on the Expert Advisory Board of Mortgage Market Guide and is a regular consultant to several large real estate professional associations, hedge funds and investment advisory groups.
Elliot’s interests include keeping the rate of restoration of his 60 year old house ahead of its rate of deterioration and doting on his daughter. He loves ice hockey and talking economics with crowds large and small!
Key Note Speaker – Coach Ken Carter
Coach Carter’s strategy for winning in life ranges from learning about the quality of one’s character to the love of learning, as well as the importance of self-discipline and spirituality. Coach Carter takes you through his own life experiences and shows how you, too, can become successful in your everyday life. His fundamental beliefs are that you must start with respect for others, your community, and your environment before you can attain your own goals, both personally and professionally.
Ken Carter is a successful author, speaker, and philanthropist who continues his message of teamwork, accountability, integrity, and leadership. Doing over 5,000 presentations, and speaking to over a million people all over the globe, Ken Carter is one of the most highly sought after motivational speakers and business leaders in the world today.
Robert Van Winkle AKA Vanilla Ice
The iconic Robert Van Winkle, AKA Vanilla Ice, exploded onto the rap and pop music scenes in 1990, selling 10 million albums in four months and hitting number one on the Billboard charts with his single “Ice Ice Baby.” His worldwide album sales are over 25 million and individual songs total over 160 million and are still selling.
Vanilla Ice won two MTV Awards, a People’s Choice Award, and was nominated for a Grammy. He starred or appeared in the movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Cool As Ice,
The Helix Loaded, The New Guy, The Bros, Big Money Hustlas, That’s My Boy, Ridiculous Six, and Sandy with Adam Sandler. His TV credits include Celebrity Boxing, Hollywood Squares, The Farm UK, Surreal Life, Celebrity Bull Riding, Dancing On Ice 6, Canada Sings Seasons 1 & 2, The Vanilla Ice Project, Ice My House, Vanilla Ice Goes Amish, and ABC’s DancingWith The Stars. Vanilla Ice performed on stage as Captain Hook in Peter Pan and did a 20-city Dancing On Ice tour.
His latest TV appearances include guest spots on ABC’s The View, Good Morning America, Good Afternoon America, The Today Show, The Late Night Show, and guest spots on The Food Network and ABC Dancing With The Stars. Vanilla Ice is a real estate investment success story and launched VanillaIceRealEstate.com where he offers courses in real estate investment. His current TV show, The Vanilla Ice Project on DIY, won The Factual Award for the Best Home TV Show.
