Rod Khleif’s prestigious real estate career began in 1978 with the purchase of a single family home and has spanned 28 extremely successful years, making him one of the country’s foremost experts in the field of real estate investment. He has personally supervised the leasing, renovation and make ready of more than 4000 houses. Mr. Khleif has been a principle in over 1,700 real estate transactions within the last 28 years. He currently owns over 600 houses along the Gulf Coast of Fl and Memphis, TN. Before expanding his business to the South he owned more that 500 single family homes in his native town of Denver. Mr. Khleif obtained his real estate brokers license at the age of 18, making him the youngest broker in the state of Colorado to date. In addition to being one of the most successful real estate investors in the country and having owned more than 1,700 homes in his career, he has also taught seminars and provided mentoring on the fundamentals of buying, selling and financing real estate. Mr. Khleif is acquiring and developing commercial real estate in Florida residential real estate soon.  His passion for discovering the right piece of property that could someday become the perfect home began shortly after Khleif completed high school.

I will never forget my first job as a youngster growing up in Denver. Like many of my peers I worked at the popular fast food chain Burger King. I find it pretty amusing that my first job was flipping burgers and while most of my peers were in college still flipping burgers to make ends meet I was “flipping” houses. I became extremely successful in the real estate business of buying and selling houses. I lived quite an unusually affluent lifestyle, especially compared to the average person in their twenties. I had a beautiful house, a Maserati and a Rolls Royce.

Although I was making more money than I could have ever imagined, I was very young and I had no real clue what I was doing. I ended up losing everything I had worked so hard to acquire. My house went into foreclosure and I was forced to sell my prized possession; my Rolls Royce for cents on the dollar. I had totally hit rock bottom. This realization became quite apparent when I began painting houses for $200 which simply provided enough money for food. I remember as if it were yesterday the shame and disappointment; the countless nights I cried myself to sleep. I was so ashamed of how foolish I had been to let my dreams slip right through my fingers. Everything had been taken away from me within the span of a few short months. I lived in fear every day while reveling in the thought of spending the rest of my life wondering where my next meal was coming from. It was during one of those restless nights that I decided I had finally had enough of feeling sorry for myself. I realized that if I didn’t do something drastic right then to improve my situation, my current lifestyle would quickly become my reality. From that moment on I vowed that I would never let myself fall into that type of situation again and I began reclaiming my destiny.

I have had extreme highs and lows. When I was younger I foolishly believed flipping houses for quick cash was the way to go. I tragically found out the hard way that true lasting wealth comes from holding on to real estate. It was a hard lesson to learn but I’m grateful for it because it has brought me to the place I am at now. I believe that when you sell a house … you lose. To some this statement seems bold, but I stand firmly by this belief. Ultimately the objective of buying a house is knowing that one day it will be free and clear and, in due course, will generate income for the rest of your life.” – Rod Khleif

Rod Khleif will be the first person to tell you that although he has had his fair share of ups and downs he is truly a blessed man. A firm believer in the power and implementation of giving back, Mr. Khleif is the founder of two non-profit organizations: the Tiny Hands Foundation and A Better Choice Foundation. He also derives great pleasure from sharing his wealth of knowledge with all who are interested. Rod Khleif is also the founder and owner of Gulf Coast Management located in Venice, FL. He currently resides in Sarasota, FL with his two beautiful children, Alex and Myles.