How to Get Into Commercial Real Estate: Pharmacist to $50M AUM (w/ Tanh Truong) [TJP Ep57]

In this episode of The Journey, Leo sits down with Tahn Truong, a PharmD turned commercial real estate investor with over 250,000 square feet of retail, office, and industrial across the US, and author of Value Over Volume. He started as a pharmacist, went into residential real estate to put his money to work, and eventually sold everything to go all in on commercial after finding a mentor who changed the trajectory of his career. Tahn runs a lean operation managing over 200 tenants and $50M in AUM with himself, his partner Ash Patel, and one and a half other people. He buys value add commercial assets, optimizes them, and exits in three to five years. His thesis is simple: find good deals, add value the right way, and never let volume distract you from what actually matters. This episode is part commercial real estate masterclass, part partnership cautionary tale, and part blueprint for building wealth without a big team. 👉 What you’ll learn: 🏪 Why retail, office, and industrial are easier to manage than residential 💊 From pharmacist to commercial real estate investor with $50M AUM 🤝 Hard lessons on partnerships: trust but verify and get everything on paper 🏗️ Outlots, ground leases, and how to unlock hidden value in a strip mall 🏙️ How to work with city officials to get tax incentives and expedited permits 📋 Gross leases vs. triple net leases and how to optimize your lease types 💰 Why knowledge and network are the only two things you need to start over 📈 The debt fund, two deals a year, and a vision to change how commercial real estate transacts // Timestamps // 00:00 Intro: Tanh Truong, PharmD turned commercial real estate investor 00:27 Biggest lesson of the year: partnerships and trust but verify 01:45 From pharmacist to real estate investor 04:00 How he landed mentor and partner Ash Patel 07:48 Picking partners and why early partnerships failed 10:29 How to structure equity splits in a partnership 13:48 The “5 whys” exercise to find your real motivation 15:52 Breaking into commercial real estate 17:56 First deal: $5M strip mall and the lessons learned 20:19 Working with cities and economic development for incentives 24:57 Retail vs industrial vs office: where the opportunity is now 26:43 Self-managing vs hiring a property manager 28:51 Target markets and avoiding tenant-friendly states 29:43 Learning new asset classes through a mastermind 31:32 Value-add levers in commercial real estate 34:03 Outparcel strategy: sell, ground lease, or both 36:25 Running lean and the real bottleneck: finding deals 38:04 Cap rate criteria in today’s market 38:42 The commercial “flipper” model and 3 to 5 year holds 40:10 How they raise capital from investors 41:10 1031s, TICs, and the deferred sales trust 43:20 Most valuable lesson: knowledge and network 44:27 How to connect with Tanh 45:24 Ten-year vision: debt fund and fixing how CRE transacts 🤝 Connect with Tahn Truong Instagram: instagram.com/pro_tanh Website: investbeyondmultifamily.com protonprofits.com 👋 Connect with Leo linkedin.com/in/leo-young instagram.com/leoyoungrealestate Invest with us: tidycal.com/leoyoungrealestate/investor-alignment-call 👍 If this episode brought you value, follow, rate, and share. ⚠️ Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. Not financial, legal, or tax advice. All investments carry risk. Consult licensed professionals before making investment decisions. #CommercialRealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #ValueAdd #TheJourneyPodcast #LeoYoung #TahnTruong #RetailRealEstate #OfficeRealEstate #IndustrialRealEstate #Syndication #WealthBuilding #Entrepreneurship #ValueOverVolume #TripleNet