Ryan Goldfarb · Principal, Goldfarb RE
My Story
I've spent my entire career in and around real estate—but the path wasn't linear, and it certainly wasn't glamorous at the start.
After graduating from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2013 with a degree in Finance and Management, I joined Wells Fargo's Multifamily Capital Group in New York. There, I helped underwrite more than $5.5 billion in multifamily debt across the country—primarily Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financing, with bridge and balance-sheet executions mixed in. I learned how institutional lenders think: how they size risk, assess sponsors, read financials, pressure-test operations, and evaluate every inch of a deal.
But at the same time, I was drawn to the tangible side of real estate—the part where you can walk through a building, feel the bones, and envision what it could become.
The First Leap: a Bombed-Out Row House
While working at Wells Fargo, I bought my first rental property—a small out-of-state deal in Memphis. But I quickly realized I wanted to be closer to the work. I wanted to build. I wanted to solve problems. And I wanted to take on projects in my own backyard.
In 2015, I closed on a vacant, dilapidated 1800s brick row house in Jersey City. It hadn't been touched in a decade. No heat, no plumbing, no electricity—nothing but potential and a long list of lessons waiting for me.
I had zero construction experience. I made every mistake you can make on a renovation. It took longer, cost more, and tested every bit of patience I had. But I learned—about sequencing, subcontractor management, permitting, budgeting, and how to keep a project alive when everything feels like it's going off the rails.
We sold that home for a record price in the submarket. And more importantly, it showed me the career I wanted to build.
Full-Time in the Field
In 2016, midway through that first project and after locking up two more deals, I left Wells Fargo to pursue real estate full-time.
Since then, I've been fortunate to work on an unusually wide range of projects throughout New Jersey:
- High-end single-family renovations in downtown Jersey City
- A Victorian estate restoration in South Orange (purchased from a professional clown, of all people)
- A full repositioning of a 47-unit vacant apartment building in Atlantic City
- A portfolio of 30+ active short-term rentals across New Jersey
- A 125-unit land development with a full redevelopment plan
- Mixed-use buildings, wholesale deals, distressed assets, tax lien foreclosure acquisitions, and Opportunity Zone projects
- Self-managed gut renovations and active construction oversight
- Hands-on property management of both long-term and short-term rentals
Along the way, I became fluent in sourcing deals through almost every imaginable channel: city auctions, MLS systems, wholesalers, direct mail, PPC, SEO, tax lien foreclosures, and referrals from investors, brokers, and operators.
I also maintain my real estate license in New Jersey through eXp Realty, which keeps me closely connected to the brokerage ecosystem.
How I Work
My approach blends institutional rigor with hands-on execution.
From Wells Fargo, I learned disciplined underwriting, risk assessment, and capital-markets structure. From the field, I learned how to build, manage, and operate real estate in the real world—the messy, unpredictable, unforgiving version that never matches the spreadsheet.
My specialties include:
- Underwriting creative and complex opportunities
- Integrating best-in-class technology to scale short-term rental portfolios
- Using remote teams to drive cost-efficient, high-impact design and construction execution
- Navigating tax incentives and complicated capital stacks
- Value-engineering without sacrificing design quality
More than anything, I'm drawn to projects that require problem-solving—where vision, strategy, construction, and operations have to come together to unlock value.
Why I Offer Advisory & Development Consulting
Over the years, other developers, investors, and operators kept coming to me for help—whether on underwriting, construction oversight, deal sourcing, design strategy, or short-term-rental operations.
I realized there was a gap in the market for someone who understands:
- Institutional underwriting
- Hands-on construction
- New Jersey's municipal landscape
- Tax incentive programs
- Short-term rental operations at scale
- Adaptive reuse, land development, and distressed assets
So I built this advisory offering as a way to help others avoid the mistakes I've already made—and accelerate their own projects, acquisitions, and strategies using the systems and experiences I've built over the last decade.
What I Believe
Real estate is local. It's messy. And it's deeply personal.
Good buildings change neighborhoods. Good operators change outcomes. And good strategy turns possibility into something tangible.
My goal—through development, advisory work, and operations—is to help shape better real estate in New Jersey, one project at a time.